Are We Nearly There Yet?

Introduce me

Who here has been on a long journey? A really long journey? One of those where you hear the dreaded question “are we nearly there yet?” from the backseat?

I want to hear some really long journeys - who has one they could share? What’s the longest journey you’ve ever been on? [live interaction in the room]

One of our longest journeys when our first children were still very young from the south of France to Seattle on the west coast of the US; First a short hop to Paris - CDG with baby seats that wouldn’t fit through the scanner almost put an end to it; Canada - Calgary if I remember right - where I think heather took her first steps at the gate while we were waiting for the flight. Seemed endless. Thankfully our children were too young for the dreaded “are we nearly there yet?” but I’m sure it’s what they were thinking and it was certainly what we were thinking - all to save a few hundred pounds.

Here at Hope City we talk a lot about “Journey” - about how there’s often a long journey between a first encounter with the message of Jesus and coming to follow him for yourself. Research says it’s often years. But when we talk about “journey,” we want to be really clear that beginning to follow Jesus for yourself isn’t the end of that Journey. It’s a life-changing moment - an eternity-changing moment - but it’s not the end of the journey, just the doorway to another chapter in the journey.

It’s our firm conviction that every person in this room is on that journey - whether you’re still exploring what it might mean to follow Jesus, or you’ve been following him sixty years! And as we continue working our way together through the story of the very first churches, today we’re going to be looking at a passage from the bible which, as I’ve reflected on it, seems to picture this really clearly. But it doesn’t just show us the journey, it shows us some important ways we can move forward in that journey too.

So come with me to the book of Acts in the bible, and we’ll pick up the story at chapter 18, verse 18. We’ve been following Paul, a key character in the life of the very first churches, on his second mission trip and last week we left him in the thriving metropolis of Corinth in Greece where his story challenged us not to be afraid, but to keep on believing God’s promises, and to keep on speaking of Jesus. As we read about what happens next, look out for this theme of journey: who’s making progress in their journey of faith? What moves them along?

We’re on page 1114 in these blue bibles - if you have one nearby, why not open it up and follow along? Acts chapter 18 - big 18 - verse 18 - tiny 18. Page 1114. And Alex is going to read for us this morning. Acts 18:18-19:7 and it’d be great for Acts chapter 18 - big

Acts 18:18–19:7 NIV

Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all.

Thanks Alex. Last week we had a close-up narrative focused on the details of his time in one city. This week what we’ve just read probably spans a year or more and sometimes we just get the outline sketch of what’s happening. Although there’s always so much going on in these passages and so much to learn, we’re going to focus on two things this morning wrapped around this theme of journey that we started with: first, we’ll look at Paul’s encounter with those disciples when he returns to Ephesus that our reading finished with. Then we’re going to dig into what’s going on with that guy Apollos in Ephesus that came a little earlier.

The Ephesian Disciples Acts 19:1-7

At the start of our reading today we followed Paul on the return leg of his second huge journey. Maps always help for this so here’s a map. The far end of this journey was Corinth in Greece, where we picked up the story - and in just a few short verses today, Paul travels a thousand miles or more across the sea to Syria with a brief stopover in Turkey at this place called Ephesus.

Just ruins today, it was a huge city at the time but he’s a man on a mission so he only pops in for a moment, so it seems, and then heads off, with an Arnie style “I’ll be back” over his shoulder. True to his word, at the end of our reading, he is back after another epic journey; again, perhaps a thousand miles, but over land this time rather than sea. You ever walked five hundred miles? Let alone a thousand?

But he finally arrives, and as he arrives, in Acts 19:1 we read he meets some disciples:

Acts 19:1 NIV

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples

“Disciple” can be a bit of a Christian-y word so let’s unpack that. What does it mean? What did it mean? At the simplest level, a disciple is a pupil learning from a teacher. But there’s a little more to it: disciples learn with the intent, in time, of becoming like their teacher. So maybe “apprentice” is a better way of thinking about it - someone who is learning how to do something that their teacher already does, learning how to become something that their teacher already is.

So Paul meets these disciples on his return to Ephesus but obviously he can tell something is not quite right so he starts asking questions. They’ve believed - but believed what? They’re disciples, yes, but disciples of who?

And it seems from his conversation that they may be disciples of a guy called John, Jesus’ forerunner - or at least disciples of one of John’s followers who hadn’t yet grasped the full message of Jesus.

In chapter 3 of Luke’s gospel, John shows up, calling people to change their ways because the Lord was coming - you can read about his message there. He used baptism as a sign of that repentance - so the baptism of John that’s spoken about here is like saying to God, “I’m sorry, I’ve done wrong, I’m going to change my ways” - it’s a picture of being washed clean from those wrongs.

But the big thing these disciples had missed was that John also spoke about someone coming after him, someone greater and more significant - and that person had now come: No prizes for guessing that someone is Jesus!

Through Jesus’ death and resurrection the full good news, or gospel, had arrived: it’s not less than this repentance - that is, changing our ways - in the hope of forgiveness like John preached (Luke 3:3). Jesus’ death in our place on the cross is the root of that hope. But it’s more: through Jesus, we can have a new, transformed life, starting now: the power of God the Holy Spirit alive within every believer. And somehow Paul could tell they were missing this - so he invites them into it.

Christian baptism isn’t just about washing, about forgiveness - down into the water - but it’s also about resurrection, about new life - up out of the water, like Jesus rose from the grave. It’s about true life, renewed life, through God himself, God the Holy Spirit, coming to live inside of us.

And that’s what those disciples experience at the end of the passage we read. For them, there are these supernatural signs demonstrating this new life beginning, a new life they’d been missing. But if you haven’t experienced signs like these yourself it’s really important that you know they don’t always mark out this new life beginning - for example, we don’t see them when the Ethiopian comes to faith and is baptised in Acts 8; or with Paul himself as he’s baptised and his new life begins in Acts 9.

The bible teaches us that every true Christian has the Holy Spirit - I think we see this particularly clearly in Galatians. Galatians 3:26 tells us all Christians are children of God through faith, and then Galatians 4:6 tells us because we are God’s children, adopted into his family, he sends his Spirit into our hearts. But you find the same teaching again and again - for example 1 Cor 6:19 tells every Christian the Spirit is in them. So don’t let these signs be your guide, let the bible be your guide. If you are a child of God through faith, you have the Spirit within.

Galatians 4:6 NIV

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.”

Galatians 3:26 NIV

So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,

Ok, that’s our first scene - let’s pull this back to the theme of journey that we’ve been talking about. What do we see here? What do we learn here?

Well, if you’re here today but you wouldn’t call yourself a disciple of Jesus - a learner, an apprentice, seeking to become like him, like we talked about earlier - if you wouldn’t call yourself a disciple of Jesus yet, you’re just on that journey, I’m so glad you are here today. You are in a good place. We believe you are on the most important journey of your life. And we are excited to try and help you journey on.

What I’d suggest you could take away from this section would be the importance of getting the full message of Jesus, not just a part of it. It isn’t just that you’ve gotten things wrong, done things wrong, and you need to be sorry and to change. It isn’t just that Jesus died for your sins - so you are off the hook, free to do whatever you want any old time. Get the full gospel.

And how could you do that? Stick with us as we keep reading the bible together and seeing what we learn. Go to the source: read the bible for yourself and keep reading it. Start with the gospels which walk you through the life of Jesus and keep going. Take one of these books over here - they’re free; all sorts of different books to help you get your head around the message of Jesus. Talk to someone who’s ahead of you on the journey - maybe you know someone here and you could ask them to walk through the stories of Jesus with you. If you don’t know someone, email [e-mail] and we’d love to arrange for someone to do that with you. Do it right now - you won’t regret it!

Get the full message of Jesus - it’s totally life-changing.

And what about if you are a disciple of Jesus? What’s here for you? I’d suggest this should teach us to go beyond simply swallowing the labels people wear, and challenge us to listen more carefully and to ask more questions so we know where people really are. So we can help them truly find this new life in Jesus.

Do people call themselves disciples? believers? Christians? What does that really mean to them? What message have they heard? Are there parts they’ve missed? Where are they really in their journey? What’s really holding them back? Is it lack of knowledge? Or just not wanting to accept or believe what they are hearing?

Are there people around you who’ve made it part way, but they’re stuck? Who don’t really know this new life Jesus offers, life to the full, as he puts it? Paul doesn’t just ignore these so-called disciples or go around them. He wants to help them continue their journey. Could you care like that too? Could you open your heart to care for those around you who are stuck? Let the Spirit within you warm your heart and open your mouth.

Apollos Acts 18:24-28

So, our second big focus this morning is on this guy called Apollos who shows up in Ephesus after Paul leaves, and who leaves Ephesus before Paul returns. Paul actually does get to know him and writes about him in his letters to the Corinthian church later - but in this section they manage to totally miss each other.

So when Apollos is introduced, he comes onto the scene with heaps of praise. What’s right with him? A lot. Acts 18:24 He’s learned - coming from Alexandria that’s no surprise. Alexandria’s a key city in this ancient world too, set on the north coast of Africa in Egypt. It’s known as a centre of learning, of study, of education, of wisdom.

It had a huge Jewish population - maybe more than a quarter of the city - so when we’re told Apollos has a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures that makes complete sense (remember at the time, much of our New Testament hadn’t even been written; that’ll be the Jewish Scriptures, our Old Testament that he’s knowledgeable in).

Verse 25 adds he’d been instructed in the “way of the Lord” - that’s another early name for Christianity. The way - or the road, the path, the journey. Sound familiar? Built into that description is the idea of a journey. So he’s knowledgeable, he knows the Jewish Scriptures, but he also knows the path of Jesus.

Acts 18:25 (NIV)

He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.

And he doesn’t just know it, he’s trying to share it, not keeping it to himself. He speaks with great fervour - in fact he teaches accurately about Jesus. He’s speaking boldly in the synagogue, picking up from where Paul left off. What’s right with Apollos? Lots

But there is a problem: v 25 also tells us “he knew only the baptism of John” Now this should ring some bells: this is the limit of the knowledge of the disciples Paul will run into when he gets back to Ephesus which we’ve been talking about already.

Were they perhaps disciples of Apollos? I don’t think so because of what will happen next here - but I think it does show us that there was plenty of confusion around the message of Jesus as the church was getting started, and that peoples’ grasp of that message could definitely be patchy.

What happens next is rather beautiful: When Priscilla and Aquilla, the tent-making entrepreneurs we’ve met a little earlier who were travelling with Paul, hear Apollos in action, they gently pull him aside. Acts 18:26

Acts 18:26 NIV

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.

They invite him to their home - they show him hospitality - which in that culture means they accept him, associate with him. Perhaps you’ll remember Pat talking about the significance of giving and receiving hospitality a few weeks back when we explored Lydia’s story?

They’re not labelling him an unbeliever or apostate. They’re not confronting him, shooting him down in public and trying to get rid of him.

But they do privately explain to him the way of God more adequately - or more accurately - the Greek word at the end of v26 is the same one from v25 where Apollos is teaching about Jesus “accurately”. v25 tells is Apollos isn’t inaccurate, off target, missing the point. He’s accurate. But v26 tells us he could more accurate still, more precise, more complete.

knowledge was limited to the baptism of John, it’s likely their conversation was about that fuller understanding of baptism, with the Spirit of God coming to live within us. Maybe he just doesn’t quite understand how that works or what it means for us. Perhaps he’s hazy and becomes clear. Or he has an outline and gets the detail from them. It’s not spelled out for us so it’s not the main thing for us to learn.

But their intervention seems to bear fruit. When Apollos wants to go and help elsewhere he doesn’t get a sharp intake of breath or a “hrrrmmmmmmm”, worries about him being a bit dicey - instead the church encourage him and even write a letter commending him - and we’re told he was a great asset when he arrived.

Interesting, but at Hope City we always like to ask “so what?” What does this have to do with us or to say to us? What do we learn from the Apollos episode?

One commentator puts it this way:

Apollos ministers even though he has more to learn. On the other hand, Priscilla and Aquila encourage him to grow even as they recognize that he is an effective minister. [Bock]

And I think those are two big things for us to wrestle with - again, they bring us back to this idea of Journey that we started with.

First, we have this encouragement - or challenge, depending on where you’re sitting - that we can usefully speak even though we have more to learn. See, I think for some of us there’s this kind of defence we put up: “I’m not ready. I haven’t learnt enough. I need more training. I need to understand better (or more accurately)” but actually it’s time to speak. Maybe standing at the front. Maybe just to a friend over lunch.

Every one of us could know the way of the Lord more adequately - even if we’re learned, even if we have a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures, even if we’ve been instructed - like Apollos here. In fact, Paul is clear that he himself is still on a journey, that even he hasn’t arrived - Philippians 3:12 - so if you think you’re the one who’s got it all together, understood it all, has the perfect grasp of everything, you are wrong. None of us does. Humble yourself. Don’t make God humble you.

But this fact that we’re still on a journey doesn’t disqualify us from speaking. And it is definitely true that we can use it an excuse for not stepping forwards, not speaking. Yeah, there can be problems when people who don’t have a good grasp on things pick up the mic - but that’s not the only danger. It’s also a real danger that we can use our place in this journey as an excuse to step back from an opportunity to speak. But God is perfectly able to use even imperfect speech.

So that’s one side: Apollos ministers even though he has more to learn. The other side is Priscilla and Aquilla help him grow.

Don’t get this wrong: If you’re the kind of person who can see errors and gaps, who picks up on questionable words and phrases, this does not demand you always wade in. We don’t have a call here to rush the stage any time anyone puts one foot off of the mark. Priscilla’s not getting in there with a rugby tackle in the Synagogue as Apollos speaks. Sure, there’s a time for that. But it’s not every time.

Perhaps more of a danger in many of our cultures, though, would be falling off the other side and never saying or doing anything. This is a challenge to us not to always overlook, always let it go, always hold back critique when someone’s missing the mark. It can be hard to raise issues with people, right? Easier to stay silent.

This is a call to help others grow, not leave them part-formed. But it’s also a call to do that gently, respectfully. So is there someone you know could benefit from understanding the way of God more adequately? When’s the last time you talked about faith, about Jesus, about doctrine with others in your home, others perhaps you’re ahead of in your journey?

Do you need to explain the way of God more adequately to me? I haven’t arrived. I don’t have it all right so that really could be your call and I’m not above it by any means. But gently, respectfully, please! That’s more likely to win people round than a public attack in any event!

This idea of Journey is woven throughout this morning’s passage. At Hope City, we believe we’re all on a journey, that none of us has arrived. Today’s passage reminds us we all have room to keep moving forward - no matter where we are on our journey. And it gives us some pointers for how we can help one another do that.

So as we close, I want to give you thirty seconds just now to stop and think: what is God saying to you this morning? how can you journey on? how can you help others journey on? Thirty seconds.

..

Let me pray...

Interview

I want to invite Jo back up and Kat too. Jo serves our church as our “Director for Becoming” and that means she oversees and shapes how we pursue our goal of becoming more like Jesus - which is true discipleship. Kat is our ministry leader for groups. As we’ve talked about this idea of journey today, I wanted to take the opportunity to ask them both a few questions about how as a church we’re trying to help all of us keep moving forwards.

So Jo, can you tell us about some of the things we do as a Church which are designed to help with this?

Seven ways we grow card

And Kat, why are groups significant here?

relationships

reflection

How can people get involved with that?

PM, women’s groups

And I believe we’ve got something new in the works too, right?

very small groups

[to discussion questions or Q+A depending on time]