1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,440 All right, Luke/Acts for Beginners. This is lesson number 22, Paul's Third Missionary Journey. 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:13,650 We're going to cover Acts chapter 18:23 to chapter 21, verse 14. 3 00:00:13,650 --> 00:00:17,340 So, if you remember correctly, one of the last scenes that Luke describes is 4 00:00:17,340 --> 00:00:22,140 Paul's brief visit to Ephesus at the end of his second missionary journey in Acts 18. 5 00:00:22,140 --> 00:00:28,439 The people there asked him to stay longer, but he didn't, promising that he 6 00:00:28,439 --> 00:00:34,610 would return at a later date. This return would take place on his third 7 00:00:34,610 --> 00:00:38,730 missionary journey. So let's take a look at our outline. This is the outline that 8 00:00:38,730 --> 00:00:44,430 we're following. Note that this will be Paul's final evangelistic trip before 9 00:00:44,430 --> 00:00:50,300 his arrest and imprisonment and confinement in different 10 00:00:50,300 --> 00:00:58,920 locales. So let's go to chapter 18, shall we, and begin reading chapter 18, verse 23. 11 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:03,930 It says "And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the 12 00:01:03,930 --> 00:01:10,710 "Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening the disciples." So we see 13 00:01:10,710 --> 00:01:17,130 here, Paul's mission work strategy in starting each journey with a visit 14 00:01:17,130 --> 00:01:22,340 to congregations that he had planted in previous locations and on previous 15 00:01:22,340 --> 00:01:27,060 mission trips, in order to encourage and teach and strengthen. So he plants a 16 00:01:27,060 --> 00:01:31,439 church, it gets going. He moves on, he goes back to his home congregation, he 17 00:01:31,439 --> 00:01:35,990 comes around on another journey, and he begins each journey with a 18 00:01:35,990 --> 00:01:44,540 visit to existing congregations. So let's keep going here, and we go to chapter 18:24, 19 00:01:44,540 --> 00:01:49,670 "Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, 20 00:01:49,670 --> 00:01:54,720 "came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures. This man had been instructed 21 00:01:54,720 --> 00:01:58,350 "in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching 22 00:01:58,350 --> 00:02:02,969 "accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism 23 00:02:02,969 --> 00:02:08,369 "of John. And he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and 24 00:02:08,369 --> 00:02:13,020 "Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God 25 00:02:13,020 --> 00:02:18,940 "more accurately. And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged 26 00:02:18,940 --> 00:02:22,900 "him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he 27 00:02:22,900 --> 00:02:27,400 "greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted 28 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:33,790 "the Jews in public, demonstrating by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ." 29 00:02:33,790 --> 00:02:38,140 So Apollos, a Jew, who had been born outside of Judea, 30 00:02:38,140 --> 00:02:45,459 in Alexandria, which was the great city in Egypt. It had been founded by Alexander 31 00:02:45,459 --> 00:02:52,420 the Great, the Greek leader and conqueror. It had been - it had a 32 00:02:52,420 --> 00:02:57,130 great university and a library and considered a place of high education and 33 00:02:57,130 --> 00:03:01,930 learning. So by mentioning that Apollos from there, it's suggesting that this is 34 00:03:01,930 --> 00:03:09,970 where he was educated. He was a teacher and orator. It was in this place that the 35 00:03:09,970 --> 00:03:14,400 Septuagint - the Septuagint is the translation of the Hebrew Scriptures 36 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:19,870 into the Greek language. There came a time when less and less Jews were 37 00:03:19,870 --> 00:03:25,330 speaking Hebrew. More and more of them were speaking Greek, and consequently, 38 00:03:25,330 --> 00:03:29,980 could not read the scriptures in their original language. So there was a need 39 00:03:29,980 --> 00:03:33,820 for a translation into the Greek. And that translation is called the 40 00:03:33,820 --> 00:03:38,860 Septuagint, calling it the Septuagint because there were 70 scholars that 41 00:03:38,860 --> 00:03:46,450 worked on that particular translation. Luke describes Apollos, here, an 42 00:03:46,450 --> 00:03:51,459 important character, as eloquent, not simply a good talker, but a 43 00:03:51,459 --> 00:03:57,180 trained speaker, a trained debater. Said he was mighty in the scriptures, 44 00:03:57,180 --> 00:04:02,590 well-versed in the Bible; and able to use his debating and speaking skills in the 45 00:04:02,590 --> 00:04:05,170 teaching of the scriptures. And, of course, when he says he was mighty in the 46 00:04:05,170 --> 00:04:09,700 scriptures, then meant the Hebrew scriptures, what we consider the Old 47 00:04:09,700 --> 00:04:14,860 Testament, okay. It is interesting to note that they were proving that Jesus 48 00:04:14,860 --> 00:04:20,290 was the Christ using only the scriptures, of course, that they had at the time, the 49 00:04:20,290 --> 00:04:26,380 Hebrew scriptures. And also, he wasn't fully trained. 50 00:04:26,380 --> 00:04:30,730 He had been taught about Jesus by some of the disciples of John the Baptist, and thus 51 00:04:30,730 --> 00:04:36,910 was teaching effectively what John the Baptist had taught, and that was that 52 00:04:36,910 --> 00:04:41,140 Jesus was the Messiah promised in the scriptures. He was teaching that 53 00:04:41,140 --> 00:04:47,320 effectively. The fact that Luke says that he only knew the baptism of John, 54 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:52,690 suggests that Apollos may have become a disciple of John, receiving John's 55 00:04:52,690 --> 00:04:57,790 baptism, but was not aware of the complete ministry of Jesus that included 56 00:04:57,790 --> 00:05:03,460 His death and His resurrection, and as well as His ascension; and also the Great 57 00:05:03,460 --> 00:05:08,830 Commission to the Apostles to go preach the gospel and baptize all repentant 58 00:05:08,830 --> 00:05:14,470 believers in the name of Jesus. This may explain why 59 00:05:14,470 --> 00:05:21,100 after being taught more fully about the the Way - the Way, this is howd 60 00:05:21,100 --> 00:05:27,520 Christianity was referred to early on as the Way. He was not rebaptized. He had 61 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:32,350 received the baptism of John, just like the Apostles. You ever notice, 62 00:05:32,350 --> 00:05:35,830 the Apostles, they weren't rebaptized. Why? Well, because they had received the 63 00:05:35,830 --> 00:05:40,930 baptism of John, which was the baptism that they needed to have at the time 64 00:05:40,930 --> 00:05:47,140 when John was baptizing. And so, they had fulfilled all righteousness in doing 65 00:05:47,140 --> 00:05:51,640 that. So Apollos was one of those. He was someone who had received the baptism of 66 00:05:51,640 --> 00:05:58,600 John while the baptism of John was required and in effect. He did not 67 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:07,210 need to be rebaptized after the day of Pentecost. Now, the idea here is that all 68 00:06:07,210 --> 00:06:13,630 those who received baptism before Pentecost Sunday, that includes all the 69 00:06:13,630 --> 00:06:18,730 Apostles, the disciples of John the Baptist, the disciples of Jesus, if you 70 00:06:18,730 --> 00:06:24,010 wish, before His death and burial and resurrection. These people did not need 71 00:06:24,010 --> 00:06:31,630 to be rebaptized after Pentecost. How do we know that? No example, no teaching, 72 00:06:31,630 --> 00:06:36,250 not only in the Bible, but nowhere in history did anyone say, oh and by the way, 73 00:06:36,250 --> 00:06:39,600 hundreds and many, many people were rebaptized. 74 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:46,730 No. That's how we know that. Those who received John's baptism, however, 75 00:06:46,730 --> 00:06:53,490 after Pentecost, they needed to be rebaptized according to Jesus's baptism, 76 00:06:53,490 --> 00:06:58,320 which began to be preached on Pentecost Sunday. And that's important because 77 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:04,680 we're going to get to a part here where that plays a major factor. 78 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:10,080 So Luke inserts this episode concerning Apollos, because he was a high profile 79 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:14,790 teacher and preacher. Some scholars believe that Apollos was the one who 80 00:07:14,790 --> 00:07:18,930 wrote the book of Hebrews. Again, that's just an opinion, but many people think - he 81 00:07:18,930 --> 00:07:26,010 was certainly qualified to write this book, but also because his short time in 82 00:07:26,010 --> 00:07:31,380 Ephesus sets up the next scene where Paul returns to the city of Ephesus to 83 00:07:31,380 --> 00:07:35,220 continue the work that he had begun there during his second missionary 84 00:07:35,220 --> 00:07:41,310 journey. So we see that Apollos receives the necessary instructions from 85 00:07:41,310 --> 00:07:46,070 Priscilla and Aquila. Another kind of interesting little story there. 86 00:07:46,070 --> 00:07:51,210 Note that Luke names the woman first. Priscilla is the woman, Aquila is the man. 87 00:07:51,210 --> 00:07:55,950 Note that Luke names the woman, Priscilla, first, indicating 88 00:07:55,950 --> 00:08:02,790 that she was the more able teacher of the two. This did not contradict Paul's 89 00:08:02,790 --> 00:08:07,620 instructions restricting women from teaching men in the 90 00:08:07,620 --> 00:08:11,460 collective assembly when the church gathered, because this was a private 91 00:08:11,460 --> 00:08:16,410 matter not taking place while the church gathered for public worship. You notice 92 00:08:16,410 --> 00:08:20,160 she didn't begin to teach him while they were in the synagogue and 93 00:08:20,160 --> 00:08:23,040 while in the middle of his thing. It says, afterwards they took him 94 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:28,350 aside privately and they taught him more perfectly. And you have to realize that 95 00:08:28,350 --> 00:08:32,460 the order that the names are mentioned, very important in the Bible. 96 00:08:32,460 --> 00:08:37,260 Remember when we started our study of Acts, and when Paul and Barnabas 97 00:08:37,260 --> 00:08:40,500 went off on their missionary, their first missionary journey, they had John Mark with 98 00:08:40,500 --> 00:08:44,640 them. Notice, they always mentioned Barnabas first. It was Barnabas and Paul 99 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:50,250 and John Mark. Why? because Barnabas was the head guy. But after a while, after the 100 00:08:50,250 --> 00:08:54,790 first miracle attributed to Paul and they're moving on their 101 00:08:54,790 --> 00:08:58,510 missionary journey, Luke switches and now it's always 102 00:08:58,510 --> 00:09:02,470 Paul and Barnabas. So those little things are important. This is why 103 00:09:02,470 --> 00:09:07,240 Priscilla and Aquila, she was the one that taught him. So, armed with the 104 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:11,200 complete gospel, we're speaking of Apollos here, armed with the complete 105 00:09:11,200 --> 00:09:15,730 gospel message, we see Apollos continue in ministry, but much more 106 00:09:15,730 --> 00:09:23,140 powerful and effective than before. So we go to the next section where Paul makes 107 00:09:23,140 --> 00:09:28,870 his way back to Ephesus and we read in chapter 19. And now you'll see why it was 108 00:09:28,870 --> 00:09:33,070 important, this section on Apollos, when we begin reading in Acts chapter 19. 109 00:09:33,070 --> 00:09:38,200 It says, "It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper 110 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:43,270 "country and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. He said to them, 'Did you 111 00:09:43,270 --> 00:09:47,440 "receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?' And they said to him, 'No, we have 112 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,820 "not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.' And he said, 'Into what then were 113 00:09:51,820 --> 00:09:58,089 "you baptized?' And they said, 'Into John's baptism.' Paul said, 'John baptized with the 114 00:09:58,089 --> 00:10:02,350 "baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after 115 00:10:02,350 --> 00:10:07,450 "him, that is, in Jesus.' When they heard this they were baptized in the name of 116 00:10:07,450 --> 00:10:12,550 "the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came 117 00:10:12,550 --> 00:10:17,920 "upon them and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. There were in 118 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:23,770 "all about twelve men." So, wow, lots of stuff here that we need to unpack in 119 00:10:23,770 --> 00:10:28,900 these seven verses. A lot of people assume that these men were originally 120 00:10:28,900 --> 00:10:34,630 baptized by Apollos. I've heard that taught many times, but there's nothing in 121 00:10:34,630 --> 00:10:40,300 the passage that supports this. Nowhere does it say, Apollos baptized 122 00:10:40,300 --> 00:10:44,079 these people. That's just an assumption that people make. The main difference 123 00:10:44,079 --> 00:10:49,480 between these men and Apollos, was that he was mighty in the scriptures, and they 124 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:55,779 were not. They didn't know anything about the Holy Spirit. The similarity was that 125 00:10:55,779 --> 00:11:01,570 they knew and had received the baptism of John, as had Apollos. And while he 126 00:11:01,570 --> 00:11:05,230 was at Ephesus, Apollos had not required them 127 00:11:05,230 --> 00:11:10,660 to be rebaptized. Now, we can conclude, however, that they received John's 128 00:11:10,660 --> 00:11:15,670 baptism some time after Pentecost, because after having taught them more 129 00:11:15,670 --> 00:11:20,230 completely about Christ and the Holy Spirit, what does Paul do? Well, he 130 00:11:20,230 --> 00:11:28,470 rebaptizes these people. So it's interesting to note two things here: one, 131 00:11:28,470 --> 00:11:33,850 Paul bases his question about the reception of the Holy Spirit on the kind 132 00:11:33,850 --> 00:11:39,640 of baptism they had. Think about that for a minute. 133 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:47,470 He didn't say, so what kind of experience did you have? Or, how did you feel when 134 00:11:47,470 --> 00:11:52,530 you were baptized? He didn't ask that. In connection with the Holy Spirit, 135 00:11:52,530 --> 00:11:56,950 there was no - he didn't say, did you feel powerful? Did you have a 136 00:11:56,950 --> 00:12:02,770 special insight? He didn't say that. He's saying, what kind of baptism, in 137 00:12:02,770 --> 00:12:06,160 connection with the Holy Spirit, what kind of baptism did you have? Did 138 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:10,840 you receive the Spirit? We don't even know about the spirit. So what's he 139 00:12:10,840 --> 00:12:15,240 talking about here, when he's talking to them. What was he questioning them about? 140 00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:19,630 Well here, he's talking about the - what is it? The empowerment or the indwelling? 141 00:12:19,630 --> 00:12:25,450 Well, he's talking to them about the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, which is 142 00:12:25,450 --> 00:12:31,540 given and received through Jesus' baptism, not John's baptism, right. What 143 00:12:31,540 --> 00:12:38,890 was John's baptism about? It was about preparation, it was about forgiveness of 144 00:12:38,890 --> 00:12:43,720 sins. But John never spoke about the Holy Spirit in connection with his 145 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:49,420 own baptism. And then the second thing, Paul transfers what now, when he says, he 146 00:12:49,420 --> 00:12:52,600 lays hands on them and they start speaking in tongues, what did he transfer 147 00:12:52,600 --> 00:12:58,420 onto them by the laying out of his hands? Well, he transferred the empowerment. This 148 00:12:58,420 --> 00:13:03,550 is a beautiful section here, because it talks about very complicated things 149 00:13:03,550 --> 00:13:07,810 in a very simple fashion. And it shows you the difference between both. 150 00:13:07,810 --> 00:13:11,620 He says, have you received the Spirit? What baptism did you have? No, 151 00:13:11,620 --> 00:13:15,580 we never even heard about the Spirit. So obviously they hadn't heard about the 152 00:13:15,580 --> 00:13:18,550 baptism of Jesus, for the forgiveness of sins and the 153 00:13:18,550 --> 00:13:21,970 reception of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2:38. They didn't know about that. 154 00:13:21,970 --> 00:13:27,310 So he rebaptizes them. And then he lays hands on them and they receive 155 00:13:27,310 --> 00:13:31,660 empowerment, to be able to - How do we know? Because it says, they began speaking 156 00:13:31,660 --> 00:13:38,220 in tongues. They demonstrated that they were the recipients of the empowerment. 157 00:13:38,220 --> 00:13:46,269 So these, then, became the first legitimate converts in Ephesus. In Acts 158 00:13:46,269 --> 00:13:50,980 chapter 19 we continue reading, "And he entered the synagogue and continued 159 00:13:50,980 --> 00:13:54,760 "speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the 160 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,899 "kingdom of God, but when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, 161 00:13:58,899 --> 00:14:03,640 "speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took 162 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:08,350 "away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. This took place 163 00:14:08,350 --> 00:14:12,430 "for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both 164 00:14:12,430 --> 00:14:17,320 "Jews and Greeks." So we see again the familiar pattern of preaching to the 165 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:23,380 Jews, who reacted negatively, and then Paul turning next to the Gentiles. Luke 166 00:14:23,380 --> 00:14:29,740 records that Paul spent a long time in Ephesus, for him, two years, didn't usually 167 00:14:29,740 --> 00:14:34,750 stay that long in any place. He was preaching exclusively to the Gentiles 168 00:14:34,750 --> 00:14:39,700 and he had success, since Luke says that the gospel radiated out from this 169 00:14:39,700 --> 00:14:44,890 economic and political center to all parts of that Roman province, probably 170 00:14:44,890 --> 00:14:49,480 through the various workers who were trained and sent out from this 171 00:14:49,480 --> 00:14:55,209 location to preach. Luke mentions that many miracles were performed by Paul and 172 00:14:55,209 --> 00:15:00,100 that God was using him in a mighty way, to the point where some were trying to 173 00:15:00,100 --> 00:15:04,240 copy and use his name to produce similar miracles, but to no avail. 174 00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:08,680 Of course this information is included in the 175 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:12,760 following passages, which we don't have time to read right away. The results of 176 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:17,920 his ministry were not only seen in conversions and healings, but many who 177 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:22,510 practice the black arts of magic and the occult ended up piling up their books 178 00:15:22,510 --> 00:15:27,220 and burning their books - a true act of repentance, that Luke describes in the 179 00:15:27,220 --> 00:15:32,380 other verses of this passage. And so, Paul, 180 00:15:32,380 --> 00:15:37,780 seeing his work and the church well-established in this region, begins 181 00:15:37,780 --> 00:15:42,100 to make plans to revisit churches that he had planted in the region of 182 00:15:42,100 --> 00:15:47,980 Macedonia previously: Philippi and Thessalonica, and the church at Berea, and 183 00:15:47,980 --> 00:15:53,230 of course the region of Achaia, the church at Corinth, the church at Athens. 184 00:15:53,230 --> 00:15:58,510 He plans now to visit these churches before returning to Jerusalem and 185 00:15:58,510 --> 00:16:02,710 beginning a possible fourth missionary journey. This time he wanted to go to 186 00:16:02,710 --> 00:16:07,900 Rome. Remember, he wanted to go to Rome. He goes to the major cities of the regions. 187 00:16:07,900 --> 00:16:14,020 Ephesus, major city in the region. Corinth, major city in that region. And of course, in 188 00:16:14,020 --> 00:16:19,150 that day and time, Rome, I mean, Rome was the capital of the world 189 00:16:19,150 --> 00:16:24,880 at that time. So he definitely wanted to go to Rome to preach there. So he's 190 00:16:24,880 --> 00:16:30,370 contemplating these things when trouble springs up, not from the Jews, who have 191 00:16:30,370 --> 00:16:36,250 been his usual opposition, but from the Gentiles in the region, whose, excuse me, 192 00:16:36,250 --> 00:16:40,000 in the region, whose livelihood had been affected by his preaching and teaching 193 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:43,960 of Christ. Remember, he's in a pagan area, he's teaching about Christ. That has 194 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,440 impact, not only for those who believe, but it has an impact on those who 195 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:53,170 disbelieve as well. And we learn about that as we read the section, or look at 196 00:16:53,170 --> 00:16:59,370 the section where Luke describes the rioting that takes place in Ephesus. 197 00:16:59,370 --> 00:17:05,890 So he goes to Ephesus, or he is in Ephesus. Ephesus is a great city of that 198 00:17:05,890 --> 00:17:11,530 region and time. It served as the major port of entry for Asia Minor, which is 199 00:17:11,530 --> 00:17:17,710 modern-day Turkey. There was a great boulevards, 70 feet wide. Of course, 200 00:17:17,710 --> 00:17:21,250 today that's not a big deal, but in those days, to have a boulevard 70 feet wide 201 00:17:21,250 --> 00:17:27,310 was quite amazing, that went through the entire city. The population at that time in 202 00:17:27,310 --> 00:17:33,060 Ephesus, about 300,000 people. Again, amazing for that time, such a large 203 00:17:33,060 --> 00:17:39,850 population. Many streets were lined with marble, they had public baths. The theatre 204 00:17:39,850 --> 00:17:46,250 in Ephesus could hold 50,000 spectators. 205 00:17:46,250 --> 00:17:52,789 The principle structure, of course, was the temple of the goddess Diana, also 206 00:17:52,789 --> 00:18:00,350 called Artemis in the Greek. It was located here. It was considered one of the seven 207 00:18:00,350 --> 00:18:05,419 wonders of the ancient world. In Greek mythology, Diana was described 208 00:18:05,419 --> 00:18:12,010 as the daughter of the gods Zeus and Leto, and she was the twin sister of Apollo. 209 00:18:12,010 --> 00:18:18,200 She was venerated as the goddess of the hunt, the goddess of wild animals, the 210 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:24,110 wilderness, childbirth, the protector of young virgins. Around the temple area 211 00:18:24,110 --> 00:18:28,460 there was a community that housed the artisans who earned a pretty good living 212 00:18:28,460 --> 00:18:32,780 making coins and statues, as you see in the diagram, in the picture here. 213 00:18:32,780 --> 00:18:40,220 They earned a good living making these things in honor of the goddess Diana. And these 214 00:18:40,220 --> 00:18:45,200 people were organized into a guild, or today we'd say a union. And they had 215 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:49,159 considerable influence in a city like Ephesus, where culture, religion and 216 00:18:49,159 --> 00:18:56,510 politics all mixed together as a whole. So into this mix comes Paul the 217 00:18:56,510 --> 00:19:01,429 Apostle, who for two years preaches and teaches that there is only one God and 218 00:19:01,429 --> 00:19:07,309 it isn't Diana. So, so long as you're unsuccessful, nobody pays 219 00:19:07,309 --> 00:19:10,909 attention to you, but when you start succeeding, that's when the 220 00:19:10,909 --> 00:19:16,520 knives come out, right. So it's the same thing here. He preaches that there's only 221 00:19:16,520 --> 00:19:21,740 one God and that worship and obedience to God is expressed by obeying and 222 00:19:21,740 --> 00:19:27,620 following only Jesus Christ. So part of the Christian lifestyle requires one to 223 00:19:27,620 --> 00:19:33,620 abandon worthless idols like Diana and give your life and resources to Jesus, 224 00:19:33,620 --> 00:19:39,140 not to the temple and all the religious trinkets that they sold. So there was 225 00:19:39,140 --> 00:19:43,100 bound to be trouble here. So I'm going to fast-forward, we're going to go to 19 and 226 00:19:43,100 --> 00:19:47,360 pick it up in verse 23, it says, "About that time there occurred no small 227 00:19:47,360 --> 00:19:50,659 "disturbance concerning the Way." Notice, they're always calling it the Way, 228 00:19:50,659 --> 00:19:56,120 meaning, Christianity. "For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver 229 00:19:56,120 --> 00:19:59,330 shrines of Artemis, was bringing no little 230 00:19:59,330 --> 00:20:03,530 "business to the craftsmen; these he gathered together with the workmen of 231 00:20:03,530 --> 00:20:07,580 "similar trades and said, 'Men, you know that our prosperity depends upon this 232 00:20:07,580 --> 00:20:12,200 "business. You see and here that not only in Ephesus, but in almost all of Asia 233 00:20:12,200 --> 00:20:17,420 "this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying 234 00:20:17,420 --> 00:20:20,330 "that gods made with hands are no gods at all.' 235 00:20:20,330 --> 00:20:25,220 "Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also 236 00:20:25,220 --> 00:20:29,660 "that the temple of the great goddess Artemis be regarded as worthless and 237 00:20:29,660 --> 00:20:34,760 "that she, whom all of Asia and the world worship, will even be deep dethroned from 238 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:43,190 "her magnificence." So Luke describes the riot and the threats against Paul that 239 00:20:43,190 --> 00:20:48,110 ensue, with the crowd dragging some of his associates in theater, shouting 240 00:20:48,110 --> 00:20:53,660 confusion reigning. Finally a city official quiets the crowd and warns them 241 00:20:53,660 --> 00:20:58,400 that they could be in trouble with their unlawful assembly. So I've only read the 242 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:03,170 section where one of the union guys stirs up the trouble 243 00:21:03,170 --> 00:21:10,520 and what follows is the riot, where they, the whole city, gathers at the - 244 00:21:10,520 --> 00:21:16,100 you know the arena that I showed you there before. They gathered 245 00:21:16,100 --> 00:21:22,640 there and they were wanting to harm Paul. And then finally, an 246 00:21:22,640 --> 00:21:26,900 official of the city tells them, look, we don't have a permit for 247 00:21:26,900 --> 00:21:31,520 this, basically. We don't have a right to be here rioting and all this, and we're 248 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:36,020 going to get into trouble if we continue, and that calms the crowd 249 00:21:36,020 --> 00:21:42,380 down. So this event here signals to Paul that it's time to leave the city and the 250 00:21:42,380 --> 00:21:47,450 work and move on with his ministry. It doesn't mean he quits the ministry, but 251 00:21:47,450 --> 00:21:52,310 all of a sudden he's become a lightning rod that draws attention, negative 252 00:21:52,310 --> 00:21:55,280 attention, to Christianity. And he feels it's a better thing that I 253 00:21:55,280 --> 00:22:00,470 remove myself, so that the disciples can quietly continue their 254 00:22:00,470 --> 00:22:07,580 work. So Paul goes to Troas. The little map here, there's Troas at the top. 255 00:22:07,580 --> 00:22:12,860 Luke summarizes Paul's journey through Macedonia, encouraging the churches there 256 00:22:12,860 --> 00:22:17,540 and avoiding another Jewish plot to harm him; and eventually finds his way to Troas, 257 00:22:17,540 --> 00:22:22,490 the place where he had received the vision that led him to the fruitful 258 00:22:22,490 --> 00:22:26,960 ministry in Macedonia. Remember Troas? He was there, saw the vision that said, come 259 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:33,380 to Macedonia, we need help. So he goes back there, Acts chapter 20, verse seven to 12. 260 00:22:33,380 --> 00:22:36,830 Again, we're going to move a little bit ahead here, it says, "On the first day of 261 00:22:36,830 --> 00:22:40,880 "the week, when we were gathered together to break bread," a lot of people say, how 262 00:22:40,880 --> 00:22:44,720 do you - why do you have communion every Sunday? Because we read, not only here, but 263 00:22:44,720 --> 00:22:49,340 in many places, something like this - on the first day of the week, when we were 264 00:22:49,340 --> 00:22:53,840 gathered together to break bread. It was a habit for them that on the first day 265 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:57,770 of the week they gather together to break bread. Meaning, to take the 266 00:22:57,770 --> 00:23:02,690 communion. "Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he 267 00:23:02,690 --> 00:23:07,100 "prolonged his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room 268 00:23:07,100 --> 00:23:12,380 "where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus 269 00:23:12,380 --> 00:23:16,910 "sitting on the windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, 270 00:23:16,910 --> 00:23:21,470 "he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up 271 00:23:21,470 --> 00:23:26,600 "dead. But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, 272 00:23:26,600 --> 00:23:32,120 "Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.' When he had gone back up and had broken 273 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:36,049 "the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak and then 274 00:23:36,049 --> 00:23:41,419 "left. They took away the boy alive and they were greatly comforted." Always, the 275 00:23:41,419 --> 00:23:44,600 joke when the preacher reads this - you think my sermon is long, 276 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:50,660 he went until midnight. So Luke describes this miracle in such an ordinary way. 277 00:23:50,660 --> 00:23:55,400 That's the thing, I mean, it says, he was, the kid was dead, and Luke just says 278 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:59,330 Paul went there and he laid on him and he brought him back to 279 00:23:59,330 --> 00:24:04,549 life. He talks about this in an ordinary way. I mean, a thirty foot fall, is that 280 00:24:04,549 --> 00:24:09,440 enough to kill you? Yeah, absolutely it's enough to kill you. And yet, he 281 00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:14,690 brings the boy back with just a word. So Luke's skill is that he's able to 282 00:24:14,690 --> 00:24:20,480 describe in detail great spiritual events, but make them look natural and 283 00:24:20,480 --> 00:24:26,240 familiar and real. Even though this took place in a culture and a time 284 00:24:26,240 --> 00:24:31,100 far removed from ours, we can still relate to the Bible study and the crowd, 285 00:24:31,100 --> 00:24:35,480 even the boy's sleepiness today. Sometimes, I won't mention names, but as I'm 286 00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:39,170 up there teaching or preaching and I'm sure Marty sees the same thing, we know 287 00:24:39,170 --> 00:24:44,120 who's asleep. I mean, we can tell. We can see, so we won't call out any 288 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:52,400 names. For now, anyways. That rule may change with time. And so, we move on here 289 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:59,660 to Acts chapter 20, little further on, Paul's farewell to the elders or 290 00:24:59,660 --> 00:25:05,870 farewell to the people in Ephesus. Luke continues his meticulous accounting of 291 00:25:05,870 --> 00:25:10,820 Paul's movements by describing the details of Paul's trip from Ephesus 292 00:25:10,820 --> 00:25:18,740 through Macedonia back to Troas. And now on to Myletus, a coastal city south of 293 00:25:18,740 --> 00:25:25,550 Ephesus. Now in Acts chapter 20, verse 16, we learn that Paul's goal is 294 00:25:25,550 --> 00:25:30,830 to be back in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost, a journey that will bring him 295 00:25:30,830 --> 00:25:36,290 some suffering, but once he gets to Myletus, Paul summons the elders from 296 00:25:36,290 --> 00:25:41,150 Ephesus to come and meet with him, and he shares several important things with 297 00:25:41,150 --> 00:25:47,150 them. Another important section with a lot of very, very important information 298 00:25:47,150 --> 00:25:55,070 about the church. So let's pick it up in 20, verse 17, it says, "From Myletus 299 00:25:55,070 --> 00:26:00,170 "he sent to Ephesus and call to him the elders of the church. And when they had 300 00:26:00,170 --> 00:26:04,370 "come to him, he said to them, "You yourselves know from the first day that 301 00:26:04,370 --> 00:26:09,650 "I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, serving the Lord with all 302 00:26:09,650 --> 00:26:13,700 "humility and with tears and with trials, which came upon me through the plots of 303 00:26:13,700 --> 00:26:17,600 "the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was 304 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,550 "profitable and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 305 00:26:21,550 --> 00:26:26,660 "solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance towards God and 306 00:26:26,660 --> 00:26:33,440 "faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my 307 00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:37,130 "way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy 308 00:26:37,130 --> 00:26:42,490 "Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city saying that bonds and afflictions 309 00:26:42,490 --> 00:26:47,750 "await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself so that 310 00:26:47,750 --> 00:26:52,820 "I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to 311 00:26:52,820 --> 00:26:58,070 "testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. And now, 312 00:26:58,070 --> 00:27:02,510 "behold, I know that all of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will 313 00:27:02,510 --> 00:27:07,399 "no longer see my face; therefore, I testify to you this day that 314 00:27:07,399 --> 00:27:11,720 "I am innocent of the blood of all men, for I did not shrink from declaring to 315 00:27:11,720 --> 00:27:17,539 "you the whole purpose of God." So he starts with his personal situation. He 316 00:27:17,539 --> 00:27:21,710 begins by reviewing and confirming the basis of his ministry with them, which is 317 00:27:21,710 --> 00:27:25,570 the preaching of the gospel, which he declares he has done in full confidence, 318 00:27:25,570 --> 00:27:32,570 full confidence in all of its truth and power. He also reveals that the Lord is 319 00:27:32,570 --> 00:27:38,149 directing him to return to Jerusalem. If it was up to him, he'd stay in the field, 320 00:27:38,149 --> 00:27:44,360 planting and growing and helping churches, because Jerusalem is 321 00:27:44,360 --> 00:27:50,059 "Peter - Peter and the other Apostles, that's their area of ministry. He also 322 00:27:50,059 --> 00:27:55,549 reveals that trouble and imprisonment await him there. Paul then declares that 323 00:27:55,549 --> 00:27:59,960 this is a final farewell and he reminds them that he's preached the full gospel 324 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:05,269 and he's confirmed it with his good life, so that no one can blame him if they are 325 00:28:05,269 --> 00:28:12,490 lost and miss out on salvation. Don't use me as an excuse to fall away, he says. 326 00:28:12,490 --> 00:28:18,409 You can't use me as an excuse to say all Christians are hypocrites, and 327 00:28:18,409 --> 00:28:22,549 that teacher, well, he talked a good game, but he didn't 328 00:28:22,549 --> 00:28:28,250 walk the walk. Don't use me in that way. I've given you the 329 00:28:28,250 --> 00:28:33,320 full gospel and I've lived my life in such a way as to confirm what I have 330 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:40,100 taught you. Then he makes an admonition, an encouragement, direct, 331 00:28:40,100 --> 00:28:44,120 more precise, and more precise to certain individuals. And those would be the 332 00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:50,029 elders. He says, "Be on guard for yourselves," yourselves here, meaning the elders. "Be on 333 00:28:50,029 --> 00:28:53,270 "guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy 334 00:28:53,270 --> 00:28:57,230 "Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He 335 00:28:57,230 --> 00:29:02,060 "purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will 336 00:29:02,060 --> 00:29:08,270 "come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will 337 00:29:08,270 --> 00:29:13,040 "arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore 338 00:29:13,040 --> 00:29:16,970 "be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I 339 00:29:16,970 --> 00:29:22,610 "did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and 340 00:29:22,610 --> 00:29:26,450 "to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the 341 00:29:26,450 --> 00:29:32,120 "inheritance among all those who are sanctified." So Paul's comments on his 342 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:37,310 personal work and conduct are not a boast, they're an encouragement to these 343 00:29:37,310 --> 00:29:42,160 men on how they should act as leaders in the church. You see what I did? 344 00:29:42,160 --> 00:29:48,320 You do the same thing. That's the nub of what he's saying. You see 345 00:29:48,320 --> 00:29:54,950 what I have done, how I have acted. You act in the same way. In these verses he 346 00:29:54,950 --> 00:30:00,620 gives them a warning to be careful and do their main job as elders, and that 347 00:30:00,620 --> 00:30:07,220 is protecting the church against false teachers and false teaching. Now it's 348 00:30:07,220 --> 00:30:11,390 interesting to see Paul use three different terms in reference to these 349 00:30:11,390 --> 00:30:18,020 men and their ministry. In verse 17 he refers to them as elders. And some of 350 00:30:18,020 --> 00:30:23,540 your translations the word presbytery is seen. He refers to them as 351 00:30:23,540 --> 00:30:29,510 elders or presbyters. What does that word mean? Well, it means a mature man, an older 352 00:30:29,510 --> 00:30:35,000 man, someone with experience. Then in verse 28 he refers to these men as 353 00:30:35,000 --> 00:30:41,390 overseers. Another word for overseer is bishop. What does that word mean? 354 00:30:41,390 --> 00:30:47,420 Well, that word means guardian or leader. It refers to the position and the 355 00:30:47,420 --> 00:30:52,550 authority of that individual overseer, right. We have that in the church, but 356 00:30:52,550 --> 00:30:56,570 you have that even in business. Who's the overseer on this project? Who oversees 357 00:30:56,570 --> 00:31:01,610 the project? Well, it's the same idea here. And then in verse 28 he also refers to the 358 00:31:01,610 --> 00:31:06,860 same men as shepherds. Another word for shepherd, 359 00:31:06,860 --> 00:31:13,840 pastor. What does that mean? Well, that refers to the work itself: 360 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:22,700 caregiver; a leader that provides care for a group. Now the reason I 361 00:31:22,700 --> 00:31:28,010 mention this, is that in the early church all of these terms referred to the 362 00:31:28,010 --> 00:31:34,670 very same persons, and those were the people, or the men, who were charged with 363 00:31:34,670 --> 00:31:41,270 the leadership in the church. For example, elder, presbyter, this here denoted their 364 00:31:41,270 --> 00:31:46,820 age and their experience. The term overseer or bishop, this referred to 365 00:31:46,820 --> 00:31:52,520 their authority and their responsibilities. The term shepherd or pastor, this 366 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:59,750 described their work and their ministry. Only much later did churches, contrary to 367 00:31:59,750 --> 00:32:04,730 the scriptures, appropriate these names to describe different positions of 368 00:32:04,730 --> 00:32:12,799 authority in the church. For example, a pastor or a priest referred to a local 369 00:32:12,799 --> 00:32:18,860 minister or evangelist; and a bishop was a man who was responsible for several 370 00:32:18,860 --> 00:32:26,090 congregations or a geographical area. With time new titles were invented with 371 00:32:26,090 --> 00:32:32,510 even more power. You had archbishop, then you had cardinal, then you had pope. 372 00:32:32,510 --> 00:32:39,950 Today we have women, as well as openly gay men and women who 373 00:32:39,950 --> 00:32:44,600 serve as bishops for various denominations. And that's a whole other 374 00:32:44,600 --> 00:32:50,480 book. The question is always, how did we get there? Well, there's a way that you 375 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:55,309 get there, but it's not subject for the lesson that we have this morning. As we 376 00:32:55,309 --> 00:33:00,919 see in the Bible, however. In the Bible, when we read about the construct of 377 00:33:00,919 --> 00:33:09,470 the church, we see that each congregation had its own elders/bishops/pastors, along 378 00:33:09,470 --> 00:33:13,820 with deacons and evangelists and preachers. And these people had 379 00:33:13,820 --> 00:33:21,080 leadership and responsibilities for only one congregation. Just one. 380 00:33:21,080 --> 00:33:26,570 This is why we call brother Harold Weaver, for example, one of our elders. We 381 00:33:26,570 --> 00:33:30,020 could call him a pastor. We could call him a bishop. Those three words 382 00:33:30,020 --> 00:33:35,150 all refer to him, well, not only him, all of our elders, if you wish. 383 00:33:35,150 --> 00:33:41,090 And Mike Coghill, for example, we don't call him a pastor or an elder. No. Why? Because he's 384 00:33:41,090 --> 00:33:46,730 a minister, he's an evangelist. He's not a youth pastor. There's no 385 00:33:46,730 --> 00:33:54,860 such thing as a youth pastor, okay. And Hal over here, Hal is a deacon, and I am a 386 00:33:54,860 --> 00:34:01,250 minister or a preacher, not a pastor. I'm a teacher, that's my role in the 387 00:34:01,250 --> 00:34:06,290 church. So part of our effort here, and I kind of digress a little bit from 388 00:34:06,290 --> 00:34:12,830 the book of Acts. Part of our effort as a New Testament church is to restore 389 00:34:12,830 --> 00:34:18,080 the structure and the order of the church, as it was designed and described 390 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:22,370 in the New Testament. If we were sitting there with a blank piece of 391 00:34:22,370 --> 00:34:26,570 paper and a hundred Christians, let's just say, and we said, well, let's 392 00:34:26,570 --> 00:34:30,920 organize this church. How do we organize it? Who's in charge? Who does what? Where 393 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:36,470 do we get that information? Well, we get it from this. We find out that the 394 00:34:36,470 --> 00:34:42,020 leaders were called by different terms, and these different terms simply refer 395 00:34:42,020 --> 00:34:46,280 to either their experience or their task or their role or their position, but it 396 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:51,530 was always the same person. And in addition to this, there were men who 397 00:34:51,530 --> 00:34:56,300 served as deacons and others who served as teachers. 398 00:34:56,300 --> 00:35:01,970 So this idea of sticking to God's Word, is exactly what Paul encourages the 399 00:35:01,970 --> 00:35:07,250 Ephesian elders to do, if they want to maintain the spiritual and biblical 400 00:35:07,250 --> 00:35:14,330 integrity of the church. In verse 32, "And now I commend you to God and to the word 401 00:35:14,330 --> 00:35:21,230 "of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among 402 00:35:21,230 --> 00:35:28,400 "all those who are sanctified." Luke finishes the chapter here with Paul's 403 00:35:28,400 --> 00:35:34,340 final encouragement to these elders, to serve as he has served, not for financial 404 00:35:34,340 --> 00:35:38,570 gain. And be generous, he quotes Jesus here, in 405 00:35:38,570 --> 00:35:42,530 verse 35, he says, "And everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner 406 00:35:42,530 --> 00:35:46,610 "you must help the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself 407 00:35:46,610 --> 00:35:52,490 "said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive." This is a quote of Jesus not 408 00:35:52,490 --> 00:35:57,860 contained in the Gospels. Very interesting that he would quote this. So 409 00:35:57,860 --> 00:36:02,540 the scene here ends with an emotional goodbye, as Luke notes that this will be 410 00:36:02,540 --> 00:36:10,570 the last time that these brethren will see Paul. So we move on to chapter 21, and 411 00:36:10,570 --> 00:36:15,740 Luke likely sketches out the journey returning Paul to Jerusalem and the 412 00:36:15,740 --> 00:36:21,170 trouble that awaits him there. He received several warnings not to 413 00:36:21,170 --> 00:36:26,810 return, but he is adamant in reaching the city, as we read in the section that 414 00:36:26,810 --> 00:36:31,550 describes the final prophecy concerning what awaits him in Jerusalem. So let's 415 00:36:31,550 --> 00:36:36,080 read that section, he says, "When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived 416 00:36:36,080 --> 00:36:40,100 "at Ptolemaeus, and after greeting the brethren, we stayed with them for a day. 417 00:36:40,100 --> 00:36:44,180 "On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of 418 00:36:44,180 --> 00:36:49,190 "Phillip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him. Now this 419 00:36:49,190 --> 00:36:53,270 "man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses. As we were staying there 420 00:36:53,270 --> 00:36:58,550 "for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us he 421 00:36:58,550 --> 00:37:03,320 "took Paul's belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, 'This is what the Holy 422 00:37:03,320 --> 00:37:07,970 "Spirit says: 'In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns 423 00:37:07,970 --> 00:37:12,830 "this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' When we had heard 424 00:37:12,830 --> 00:37:17,930 "this, we, as well as the local residents, began begging him not to go up to 425 00:37:17,930 --> 00:37:22,250 "Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, 'What are you doing, 426 00:37:22,250 --> 00:37:26,450 "weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready, not only to be bound, but even to 427 00:37:26,450 --> 00:37:30,380 "die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.' And since he would not be 428 00:37:30,380 --> 00:37:35,740 "persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, "The will of the Lord be done!" 429 00:37:35,740 --> 00:37:40,580 Notice that Luke includes himself in the group warning Paul. He says, we. 430 00:37:40,580 --> 00:37:44,930 Where is it, here in verse 14. "And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent." 431 00:37:44,930 --> 00:37:49,040 That includes Luke. That means Luke was there watching 432 00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:55,850 what was taking place at that time. 433 00:37:55,850 --> 00:37:59,570 So we're going to stop here as far as our textual journey, if you wish. A good 434 00:37:59,570 --> 00:38:03,710 stopping point. I want to give you just a couple of lessons that we can draw from 435 00:38:03,710 --> 00:38:12,530 this particular section. Lesson number one, lesson number 436 00:38:12,530 --> 00:38:20,480 one, God lowers his servants, no matter how great they are. My two lessons here 437 00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:24,650 have to do with Apollos. A lot of things I could talk about that we've 438 00:38:24,650 --> 00:38:28,460 covered, but I just want to draw a couple of lessons from Apollos and his 439 00:38:28,460 --> 00:38:35,720 experience. For Apollos to go higher in his service to God, this great man had to 440 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:44,720 first go lower to receive what he lacked. It's a wonderful lesson there. Humility is 441 00:38:44,720 --> 00:38:49,820 a requirement for one who wants to minister effectively in the name of the 442 00:38:49,820 --> 00:38:53,510 Lord. People are always saying, I wonder where my ministry is? I want to be 443 00:38:53,510 --> 00:38:57,170 effective for the Lord. I want to find what I can do to serve, and I 444 00:38:57,170 --> 00:39:00,860 want to serve effectively. What should I learn and what book should I 445 00:39:00,860 --> 00:39:07,790 study? All good questions. But before you you crack open a book, before you take an 446 00:39:07,790 --> 00:39:11,750 online course, before you shadow, maybe, one of the deacons and find out how to 447 00:39:11,750 --> 00:39:19,130 serve, this is a good lesson here. Before the Lord raises you up to 448 00:39:19,130 --> 00:39:26,750 serve Him effectively, He usually brings you down. That you learn, we learn something 449 00:39:26,750 --> 00:39:35,300 about humility. Because I'll tell you something, ministry will teach you 450 00:39:35,300 --> 00:39:44,960 humility in a hurry, so you better be open to the idea that there may be some 451 00:39:44,960 --> 00:39:50,240 humbling experiences in line for you, if you decide to go into ministry; and I 452 00:39:50,240 --> 00:39:54,200 don't just mean, quote, professional ministry - I'm leaving my job, I'm going to go, 453 00:39:54,200 --> 00:39:58,430 and I'm going to study, and I'm going to become a preacher or a missionary. Yes, that, but 454 00:39:58,430 --> 00:40:02,030 even if you decide to - I want to get involved with people in the church, 455 00:40:02,030 --> 00:40:05,359 and I want to serve. Be ready to be 456 00:40:05,359 --> 00:40:09,530 humbled, because it's a humbling experience. Alright, number two, and 457 00:40:09,530 --> 00:40:17,690 they're only two, preach what you know, because you'll never know everything. 458 00:40:17,690 --> 00:40:22,150 Apollos lacked some important information about Jesus and the gospel, 459 00:40:22,150 --> 00:40:29,480 but he launched out nevertheless and God added what he needed in due time. My 460 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:34,339 point here is that sometimes we use our lack of knowledge as an excuse to do 461 00:40:34,339 --> 00:40:38,060 nothing. Oh, I can't teach, I couldn't teach a 462 00:40:38,060 --> 00:40:41,839 class, I couldn't get down there in the auditorium and start teaching a 463 00:40:41,839 --> 00:40:46,640 class. Well, you know what? Nobody's asking you to do that right now, but you might 464 00:40:46,640 --> 00:40:53,240 be able to teach someone else - your neighbor, your grandkid, whatever. 465 00:40:53,240 --> 00:40:59,780 You know stuff. I tell people, you'd be surprised how much you know. You get into a 466 00:40:59,780 --> 00:41:03,770 discussion with someone, a religious discussion, a Bible discussion, and you'd 467 00:41:03,770 --> 00:41:08,480 be surprised how much material, how much information you've absorbed over the 468 00:41:08,480 --> 00:41:17,329 years. Up in Canada, I was preaching and teaching up there, and I 469 00:41:17,329 --> 00:41:24,079 had a class about evangelizing the community and all that stuff and 470 00:41:24,079 --> 00:41:27,260 some people were saying, well I just don't know where to start. 471 00:41:27,260 --> 00:41:31,339 Where do I start? I mean, sixty-six books. Where do I start? In Acts? 472 00:41:31,339 --> 00:41:40,430 Matthew? And I told them, start with your story. Start with your story. How did you 473 00:41:40,430 --> 00:41:44,660 become a Christian? How did you - you 474 00:41:44,660 --> 00:41:47,780 were a kid in the church and you used to come to church and you went to VBS as a 475 00:41:47,780 --> 00:41:53,150 kid, and later on at camp you became a Christian? Start there. You were an adult and you 476 00:41:53,150 --> 00:41:55,910 were married and you weren't a Christian and your wife was a Christian, and she 477 00:41:55,910 --> 00:41:58,790 dragged you to church and one day the preacher said something that piqued your 478 00:41:58,790 --> 00:42:02,660 interest and you asked the question and you had a Bible study with him and then 479 00:42:02,660 --> 00:42:06,980 when he said such-and-such, that really hit you. Tell your story. 480 00:42:06,980 --> 00:42:11,990 You know your story. You're not embarrassed about your story. You won't forget any facts 481 00:42:11,990 --> 00:42:15,920 about your story. You can answer any question about 482 00:42:15,920 --> 00:42:22,940 your story. Start with your story. I guarantee you that will lead naturally 483 00:42:22,940 --> 00:42:28,280 to other things. So preach what you know, because you'll never know everything, all right. 484 00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:32,630 Next week our reading assignment, Acts 21:15 to 23:11. 485 00:42:32,630 --> 00:42:37,910 We're getting down to the end here, all right. Thank you 486 00:42:37,910 --> 00:42:42,370 very much for your attention. I'll see you next week.