WEBVTT 00:00:06.959 --> 00:00:12.720 This sermon was recorded at Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:32.880 You know, we all need encouragement and motivation to speak boldly about Jesus. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:34.399 Don't we? 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:42.719 Very, very few of us don't need motivation and encouragement to speak to others about Jesus. 00:00:43.679 --> 00:00:50.640 Especially when those we speak to don't want to hear it. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:56.479 Or when they just flat out reject the good news of Jesus. 00:00:56.960 --> 00:01:15.760 Our passage in Acts provides this encouragement for us by pointing us not to what we do, not to the words that we use, not to the times that we speak of Jesus, but instead by pointing to God's powerful plan and work. 00:01:17.120 --> 00:01:25.200 Now as you're opening your Bible or your device again to Acts chapter 18, I want you to consider an Old Testament passage with me. 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:40.000 So you keep going to Acts, and I'll just keep talking as you turn, because I want us to process a passage in the Old Testament in light of Acts 18 and vice versa. 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:56.400 Because our passage this morning relies heavily on something that God stated through the prophet Isaiah 700 years before the book of Acts. 00:01:58.400 --> 00:02:07.680 I was going to say that I would project this text on the screen since you're in Acts, but you'll just have to listen carefully now instead. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:14.719 The Isaiah passage comes from Isaiah 49, and it's one of those famous servant texts. 00:02:14.960 --> 00:02:20.000 There are several chapters in the book of Isaiah that refer to God's servant. 00:02:20.240 --> 00:02:27.439 It's a special individual, a unique individual that the New Testament clarifies is the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:02:28.000 --> 00:02:35.680 And Isaiah 49 is a call for Gentiles to listen to God's servant. 00:02:35.840 --> 00:02:39.360 Here's what it says in Isaiah 49, verse 1. 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:47.840 God says, listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:54.319 And you need some geography to be able to understand what that's talking about. 00:02:54.560 --> 00:02:58.159 Because in ancient, amen, says the geography professor. 00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:02.479 In ancient Israel, they didn't possess the coastlands. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:08.560 Those were areas that they did not conquer when God told them to conquer it. 00:03:09.680 --> 00:03:16.719 So when God says, listen to me, O coastlands, that means not his people, the Jews. 00:03:17.919 --> 00:03:20.479 In most cases, that would be the Philistines. 00:03:21.919 --> 00:03:29.439 So God is addressing not his people and telling people from afar, listen to me. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:40.479 There are some descriptive statements about God's servant that follow that, with a declaration that this servant has a specific duty. 00:03:40.960 --> 00:03:46.479 His specific duty is to bring back the twelve tribes of Jacob to their God. 00:03:47.599 --> 00:03:49.120 It's a specific duty. 00:03:49.439 --> 00:03:53.120 Then Isaiah records this. 00:03:54.400 --> 00:03:56.479 This is the voice of God speaking. 00:03:56.800 --> 00:04:07.919 It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. 00:04:09.039 --> 00:04:14.400 No, that that that's that's too small, too insignificant. 00:04:15.599 --> 00:04:23.839 No, I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation would reach to the end of the earth. 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:31.199 So God told the coastlands and the peoples from afar, listen up. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:38.720 The message of my servant is not just for my people, it's for all of the world. 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:46.160 And my servant will bring salvation not just to my people, but to the ends of the world. 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:53.920 So sometime around 700 BC, God told his people that he would bring them back to himself. 00:04:55.439 --> 00:04:58.639 That's the servant's primary responsibility. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:05.439 But doing that is too light, it's too insignificant, too small of a thing. 00:05:06.879 --> 00:05:20.639 Meaning that God, saving his special people, Israel, doesn't display God's glory in as magnificent and marvelous a way as possible. 00:05:20.879 --> 00:05:36.319 No, for God to show the weight of his glory in all of its fullness, he would make his servant into a light for the nations so that everyone could partake of God's salvation. 00:05:37.680 --> 00:05:39.680 We can go back even further than that. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:47.519 God promised Abraham that all the nations of the earth would be blessed through him and his descendants. 00:05:48.800 --> 00:05:53.839 When we get to Isaiah, that promise is restated with more specificity. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:06:02.720 God would bring back the wanderers of his people and bless the world by providing salvation for all the peoples of the world. 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:11.600 Now, God didn't just say that he would extend his salvation throughout the world. 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:14.800 He said more than that. 00:06:15.279 --> 00:06:18.000 He told how it would happen. 00:06:19.279 --> 00:06:39.920 See, in Romans chapter 9, 10, and 11, the Apostle Paul takes a break from his in-depth doctrinal exposition to answer a question: why is it, why is it that the majority of Jewish people don't see Jesus as their Messiah? 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:51.279 And in the middle of that, end of chapter 10 of Romans, beginning of chapter 11, the Apostle Paul says, this is no surprise. 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:54.160 God said this is what would happen. 00:06:54.319 --> 00:07:04.399 And to prove it, he goes all the way back to the Torah, to the law, to the fifth book of the law in Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 21. 00:07:05.680 --> 00:07:08.240 The Apostle Paul quotes Moses. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:12.079 Moses recorded the words of God. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:13.759 Ah, there we go. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:16.079 Oh, it's not up there yet. 00:07:16.240 --> 00:07:16.959 I can see it. 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:18.399 You guys can't see it. 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:21.120 Alright, we'll wait. 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:23.680 Deuteronomy 32, verse 21. 00:07:24.000 --> 00:07:32.160 God said, I will make them, Israel, jealous with those who are no people. 00:07:33.600 --> 00:07:38.720 I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 00:07:40.079 --> 00:07:41.199 Listen to that again. 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:50.079 God said, I will make them, my people Israel, jealous with those who are no people, and I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. 00:07:50.240 --> 00:07:51.600 Who are the no people? 00:07:52.399 --> 00:07:55.279 The coastlands in Isaiah. 00:07:56.160 --> 00:07:58.639 The nations from far away. 00:07:59.199 --> 00:08:01.120 The people who don't belong to him. 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:05.759 He says, I'm going to use all of those people to provoke my people. 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:08.480 That's my way. 00:08:08.879 --> 00:08:21.519 And so the apostle Paul in Romans discusses how God hardened the hearts of the Jews to the gospel so that Jesus would not impact them in the same way. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:32.480 God intended that as the way for the rest of the world to hear and respond to the good news. 00:08:33.120 --> 00:08:34.879 Now think about that for a moment. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:38.799 I just covered a whole bunch of history and geography for you. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:40.639 Let's condense it. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:46.879 Deuteronomy was written about 1400 BC. 00:08:49.600 --> 00:09:02.320 So God said in 1400 BC, shortly after he brought them out of Egypt, a time will come when I will provoke you to anger by people who are not my people. 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:15.600 700 years later, God said through Isaiah, my servant is going to become a light not just for Israel, but for the nation. 00:09:17.600 --> 00:09:23.679 And 700 years after that is Acts chapter 18. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:43.200 That means that Acts chapter 18, 19, 20, and so on display God's fulfillment of his promise to harden the hearts of the Jews to the gospel so that you and I could hear it. 00:09:45.919 --> 00:09:47.919 God kept his promise. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:58.080 He kept his promise in exactly the way that he intended, so that the rest of the world could hear the good news of God's provision of salvation. 00:09:58.559 --> 00:10:04.879 So don't think when you open the book of Acts that it's merely a history book recounting what the early church did. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:06.080 It is that. 00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:16.799 It is the record of God's fulfillment of his word so that you and I could hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:10:17.279 --> 00:10:24.960 So that the rest of the world, the coastlands, and everyone beyond that could hear and believe. 00:10:25.759 --> 00:10:31.519 God did what he said he would do, and we are the recipients of his faithfulness. 00:10:34.720 --> 00:10:39.919 But the gospel is always, the Apostle Paul said, for the Jew first and then for the Gentiles. 00:10:40.159 --> 00:10:46.240 And it comes to the Gentiles, the non-Jews, through the unbelief of the Jews. 00:10:46.399 --> 00:10:49.440 That's what we find taking place in Acts 18. 00:10:50.480 --> 00:10:58.240 This occurs through the establishment of two key churches in major Gentile cities. 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:02.960 Ancient Corinth and Ancient Ephesus. 00:11:03.360 --> 00:11:07.120 You'll have to look at the back of your study Bible to see a map. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:09.120 I can't show it on the screen yet. 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:17.440 These two cities are located on different continents, but they're only about 300 miles apart in a straight line. 00:11:18.720 --> 00:11:21.600 Corinth is in southern Greece. 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:27.279 Ephesus is across the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:29.279 Can we get there now? 00:11:30.320 --> 00:11:31.919 Guys, can we advance to the next slide? 00:11:32.080 --> 00:11:33.519 I can't use my remote. 00:11:37.679 --> 00:11:38.799 There we go. 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:43.840 So Achaea on the left hand side is southern Greece. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:47.759 On the right is Asia Minor and modern day Turkey. 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:57.919 Both of these cities, Corinth and Ephesus, could vie for the sin city of the ancient world. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:00.320 They need the gospel. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:08.559 But the Jewish rejection of Jesus rises to the forefront of Luke's story in these two cities. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:15.200 And Paul's mission becomes more starkly directed, not to the Jews, but to the Gentiles. 00:12:15.440 --> 00:12:28.399 And through it all, God shows that he brings about his plan, started in the Old Testament, by confronting the unbelief of the Jews in the present through the proclamation and progression of the gospel. 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:34.320 So here's what happens: the good news of Jesus does two things. 00:12:34.960 --> 00:12:40.960 It confronts unbelief, and it brings salvation to those who believe. 00:12:41.759 --> 00:12:50.799 Consider this with me by taking a quick glance at the two large segments in this passage and then stepping back to look at the whole. 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:55.279 The first segment is Acts 18, verses 1 through 17. 00:12:55.440 --> 00:12:59.200 And this is where Paul proclaims the gospel in Corinth. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:11.440 And it's in Corinth that we see the work of Jesus confronting unbelief in such a way that it brings about judgment. 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:20.000 Unbelief, specifically in the Jewish people, brings about judgment. 00:13:20.320 --> 00:13:24.480 The first five verses of chapter 18 introduce us to the situation. 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.879 Paul's joined here by a Jewish couple with similar backgrounds. 00:13:29.519 --> 00:13:31.039 They're leather workers. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:33.919 We know it as tent makers. 00:13:34.159 --> 00:13:39.519 They may have actually been making tents, but we don't know that exactly. 00:13:40.000 --> 00:13:43.200 What the language implies is that they worked with leather. 00:13:43.360 --> 00:13:45.919 Maybe they made tents, maybe they did other things. 00:13:46.080 --> 00:13:55.840 It's kind of hard to figure out how Paul could be a traveling tent maker and carry all of the elements necessary for making tents, but it doesn't really matter. 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:01.519 He works with his hands, he works with leather to make things, to provide for himself. 00:14:02.559 --> 00:14:17.120 The couple that he's introduced to here, Aquila and Priscilla, were expelled from Rome by Emperor Claudius' action and driving all of the Jews out of Rome, about 49 AD or so. 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:24.480 What's fascinating is that we don't know how Aquila and Priscilla came to faith in Christ. 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.440 But it's clear they are believers. 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:38.559 Paul works with them to support himself, and he spends every Sabbath day in the synagogue trying to convince people that Jesus is the Messiah. 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:48.639 He's debating, he's reasoning, he's trying to convince them from their Bibles Jesus fits the fulfillment of God's promises. 00:14:50.559 --> 00:15:01.600 Then when Silas and Timothy arrive from Berea in Macedonia, Paul is able to devote himself full time to gospel work instead of being bivocational. 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:06.879 But by that time, the gospel message has already stirred the Jews up. 00:15:07.039 --> 00:15:07.840 Look at verse 6. 00:15:07.919 --> 00:15:15.759 It says, when they opposed and reviled him, there are two distinct actions taken against Paul. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:17.840 One is that they opposed him. 00:15:18.080 --> 00:15:25.840 This implies a verbal kind of opposition that likely accompanied unkind and harsh behavior. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.000 And they also reviled him. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.559 Reviled is the word for blaspheme. 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:37.279 In that culture, that meant they demeaned him in public. 00:15:38.399 --> 00:15:44.080 They shamed him, attempting to ruin his reputation in Corinth. 00:15:45.120 --> 00:15:52.720 So Paul shakes his garments out and in a demonstration of saying, I'm done with you guys. 00:15:53.600 --> 00:15:55.919 I'm innocent of any wrongdoing. 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.519 I've shown you the way, I've declared the gospel to you. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:00.960 I'm done. 00:16:01.519 --> 00:16:05.200 And then he says, Your blood be on your own heads. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:07.759 I am innocent. 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:10.480 From now on, I'm going to the Gentiles. 00:16:10.639 --> 00:16:13.120 There are a couple of things we need to notice here. 00:16:13.840 --> 00:16:20.559 The first thing in verse 6 that we need to notice is that this is a reference to Ezekiel chapter 18. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:31.600 So we notice again, in all of this section, there's this very rich and tight tie to the Old Testament. 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:36.320 We think that it's just this progression of Paul's missionary journey. 00:16:36.559 --> 00:16:37.600 It's not. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:43.519 It's a theological exposition of God's program. 00:16:44.159 --> 00:16:47.200 This is what God said would happen. 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:55.360 In Ezekiel 18, God said that the one who refuses to believe him has his blood on his own head. 00:16:55.759 --> 00:17:04.720 In other words, the one who rejects God, who says, No, thanks, God, I don't want what you have to offer, has chosen his own judgment. 00:17:06.160 --> 00:17:11.680 And so his blood, his condemnation, his consequence is on himself. 00:17:12.160 --> 00:17:16.400 But more specifically, Paul alludes to Ezekiel 33. 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.759 Ezekiel 33, verses 4 and 5. 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:30.880 There, God spoke of a walled city that was being invaded by a foreign army. 00:17:31.839 --> 00:17:40.319 And a watchman would sit on the wall waiting and watching, and when he saw the enemy, he would blow the trumpet as a warning to everyone in the city. 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:51.119 And so everyone who didn't take notice of the trumpeter and the sound of the warning would have his blood on his own head. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:55.839 He could have taken the warning and saved his life, but he didn't. 00:17:56.000 --> 00:18:00.960 And so the consequence that he faces is his own fault. 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:09.920 So to refuse God's warning and to reject God's word is to choose judgment over life. 00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:20.720 It's to choose consequence over forgiveness, which leaves the cause of judgment squarely on the one who refuses to believe. 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:27.119 Hear me clearly, brothers and sisters. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:37.440 If you don't choose to believe in Jesus, everything that comes to you is your own fault. 00:18:40.160 --> 00:18:43.039 Not only is it your own fault, you choose it. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:52.880 This is where we see that Scripture condemns unbelief. 00:18:53.359 --> 00:18:56.079 And unbelief brings judgment. 00:18:56.319 --> 00:19:07.920 If you refuse the Lord Jesus Christ, you get eternal wrath and divine judgment on your own head by your own choice of refusal. 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:22.000 There's a second detail we need to notice here, and that's the declaration that Paul is shifting his ministry focus away from primarily Jewish people to Gentiles. 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:32.319 The gospel will still go first to the Jews, but this is Luke's marker that God's promise to Moses and to Isaiah is coming to pass. 00:19:33.519 --> 00:19:41.599 The Jews will have hardened hearts, and God will use that time to bring Gentiles, non-Jews, to faith in Christ. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:45.680 This statement is a shift in that direction. 00:19:46.799 --> 00:19:49.200 And I love what happens next. 00:19:50.400 --> 00:19:53.279 Paul isn't welcome in the Jewish synagogue. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:54.799 He's not welcome there. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:56.160 They kick him out. 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:58.559 So what does he do? 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:01.359 He starts preaching next door. 00:20:02.799 --> 00:20:03.680 Literally. 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:05.119 Next door. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:11.519 And not just next door, but next door in the house of the ruler of the synagogue. 00:20:12.319 --> 00:20:12.799 Why? 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.960 Because the ruler of the synagogue has trusted in Christ and become a Christian. 00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:24.480 Look at the kindness and the mercy of God at work. 00:20:26.319 --> 00:20:31.599 On the whole, the Jews of Corinth reject the good news of Jesus. 00:20:32.720 --> 00:20:44.880 But Crispus, the ruler, the president, you might say, of the synagogue, believed in the Lord along with his whole household. 00:20:46.079 --> 00:20:57.519 So even when a kind of hardening of heart exists among the Jewish people about Jesus, there is always a remnant of Jewish people that God brings to saving faith. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:06.319 And here it just so happens to be the guy in charge of the synagogue that he's just been booted out of. 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:14.960 And apparently, that ruler, Crispus, got the boot as well. 00:21:16.160 --> 00:21:25.200 Because in verse 17, a different ruler of the synagogue is present, and he gets beaten by a public mob. 00:21:27.759 --> 00:21:31.839 So do you feel this kind of tension that's happening in this account? 00:21:32.720 --> 00:21:37.200 Paul's ethnic people don't want him or his message. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:44.640 Even the synagogue president can't stem that tide, that movement. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:54.799 But God is gracious to Paul and lets him know you're gonna stay here and I'm gonna protect you, and nobody's gonna harm you because I want the gospel to be proclaimed in this city. 00:21:56.400 --> 00:21:59.599 And so verse 11 tells us he stays for another 18 months. 00:22:02.480 --> 00:22:05.440 So the Jews in verse 12 take the issue to court. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:12.000 Fine, if we can't get you out amongst ourselves, then we're gonna get the Roman government involved. 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.920 They can't stop Paul in their own circles and their own synagogues. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:20.480 So they intend to involve the Romans. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:25.200 You can see then that their unbelief is not merely personal. 00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:32.640 That is, it's not an individual choice that's that's not being acted upon. 00:22:33.599 --> 00:22:44.880 They are corporately, together, on the whole, rejecting the gospel so strongly that they want it eradicated from Corinth. 00:22:47.680 --> 00:22:51.839 This is why Paul says, your blood is on your own heads. 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.359 They've chosen judgment from God instead of salvation. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:06.880 And it's truly ironic that the government, the Roman government, on the other hand, exonerates Paul. 00:23:07.200 --> 00:23:10.319 They say, he's not done anything illegal. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:12.400 He's not done anything wrong. 00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:18.000 This is the official ruling has been issued now regarding Christianity. 00:23:18.160 --> 00:23:22.160 Remember, times before, Paul's been brought before city leaders. 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:27.039 This is the first time we really see him brought before a Roman government official. 00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:36.720 And this Roman official doesn't see the Christians as a threat to Rome, but as a subset, a sect within Judaism. 00:23:37.039 --> 00:23:39.920 Now it's not always going to be that way in the book of Acts. 00:23:40.319 --> 00:23:44.559 But here, this is a shift where Paul finally has some good news. 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:48.480 Rome says, Yeah, we don't, we don't, you're not a problem. 00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:51.279 Jews, you take care of it yourself. 00:23:53.440 --> 00:24:01.359 Now we know that the New Testament books of 1 and 2 Corinthians stem from Paul's 18 months in Corinth. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:08.559 Paul's 18 months brought people to saving faith, but it didn't fix them. 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:11.279 Because they have massive problems. 00:24:12.400 --> 00:24:18.400 Remember what I said earlier that ancient Corinth and ancient Ephesus could vie for the ancient sin cities of the world? 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:26.240 The gospel work was effective and the church was established. 00:24:27.039 --> 00:24:33.839 But the church is still growing, not just in numbers, but in maturity and in understanding. 00:24:35.519 --> 00:24:41.359 The tragedy within that is that God's chosen people in large part have rejected Paul. 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.839 They've rejected God's message and they've rejected their Savior. 00:24:46.480 --> 00:24:52.000 Rather than having Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they choose to have him as their judge. 00:24:54.559 --> 00:25:01.039 So from this point on to the end of the book of Acts, Jewish unbelief dominates the story. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:06.640 But God knew that. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:18.480 In fact, that's what God intended to use as the way for the gospel to go from Abraham's people to the coastlands and to the rest of the world. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:21.839 We shouldn't be surprised by it. 00:25:22.079 --> 00:25:26.079 In fact, we should rejoice in it because Christ the King has used this. 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:33.759 Unbelief, beloved, does not hinder Jesus Christ. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:39.519 Unbelief does not hinder the gospel. 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:46.160 In fact, unbelief may be Christ's means of actually spreading the gospel. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:26:01.440 At the end of this section, we see that by the time of the end of this period of time in chapter 18 and the first part of chapter 19, all of Asia, that means all of Asia Minor, all of modern-day Turkey had heard the gospel. 00:26:03.119 --> 00:26:10.400 All because of the Jewish people rejecting Paul and him moving and saying, okay, I'm taking the gospel to the Gentiles now. 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:24.160 So, yes, speaking of Jesus, reasoning with people about the gospel and scripture may not result in people right immediately in front of you coming to faith in Jesus Christ. 00:26:26.720 --> 00:26:32.480 It may result in rejection of Jesus, and it may result in rejection of you. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:47.359 But God will use that rejection to fulfill his purpose in building his church, and he will use it to bring about the good work of conforming you to the image of Jesus Christ. 00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:49.920 And that's where we turn next. 00:26:50.160 --> 00:26:53.759 Chapter 18, verse 18 through the end of chapter 19. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:27:00.960 Paul's ministry in Ephesus now shows that unbelief can't stop Christ's gospel. 00:27:02.079 --> 00:27:03.680 It's impossible. 00:27:04.799 --> 00:27:10.960 The end of chapter 18, verses 18 through verse 28, is a transition section. 00:27:11.920 --> 00:27:17.200 It shows us that Paul isn't a lone wolf who functions apart from a local church. 00:27:17.359 --> 00:27:22.319 Instead, he wants to go back to where he started, to Caesarea and to Antioch. 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:26.000 He wants to return to report on the work of the Lord. 00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:36.640 And returning then to Syria from Greece, he stops in several places to reason in the synagogues and visit believers along the way. 00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:41.599 And he takes Aquila and Priscilla with him, at least as far as Ephesus. 00:27:42.000 --> 00:27:46.799 And there, Aquila and Priscilla remained while Paul went on to Antioch. 00:27:47.039 --> 00:27:52.799 And there, after Paul's gone, another man joins in named Apollos in verse 24. 00:27:53.440 --> 00:28:00.240 Aquila and Priscilla help Apollos grow in his knowledge and understanding, and so he becomes an effective ministry partner. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:08.400 So the gospel is increasing in that it's growing in the people among whom the church can depend and rely. 00:28:09.279 --> 00:28:12.559 But notice in verse 28 the prevailing mood. 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:14.400 The gospel is expanding. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:18.400 People are coming to Christ, leaders are expanding. 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:26.400 But in verse 28, the Jews are still refusing to believe. 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:33.119 So much so that Apollos, now back in Corinth, is refuting the Jews. 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:37.200 He has to refute them. 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:42.000 That is, they're going to proclaim one thing and he's going to say, No, that's absolutely not right. 00:28:42.079 --> 00:28:44.079 You are not understanding it. 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:46.960 And so he proclaims the gospel to them. 00:28:48.160 --> 00:28:56.079 But even while Corinth is a place of strong Jewish opposition, the Gentiles are more and more open to the gospel. 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:00.160 The Jewish unbelief can't stop the progression of the gospel. 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:04.240 That is evident in Ephesus in Acts chapter 19. 00:29:05.519 --> 00:29:16.720 Because it's in Ephesus where God creates an assembly, a church of Gentile Christians amidst all of this Jewish unbelief. 00:29:17.759 --> 00:29:27.839 Now we're told that Paul spent a little bit of time in Ephesus on his way back to Syrian Antioch in chapter 18, verse 19. 00:29:28.079 --> 00:29:34.319 He spent a little bit of time there, and they asked him to stay for a longer period, but he said, No, I've got to get going. 00:29:34.799 --> 00:29:37.680 He says, I'm going on to Antioch. 00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:42.000 I will return to you in verse 21 if God wills. 00:29:46.640 --> 00:30:05.599 Perhaps then from the work of Apollos in verse 24 and Aquila and Priscilla, when Paul returns at the chap, verse 1 of chapter 19, when he comes back to Ephesus, he finds 12 Gentile men who have come to faith in Jesus. 00:30:07.039 --> 00:30:10.960 That's not his work, at least that we know of. 00:30:11.279 --> 00:30:15.359 Nothing specific is known about these 12 men who shared the gospel with them. 00:30:15.519 --> 00:30:16.720 How did they trust in Christ? 00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:19.839 We don't know anything about it other than Paul stopped there briefly. 00:30:20.079 --> 00:30:21.519 Priscilla and Aquila were there. 00:30:21.680 --> 00:30:22.640 Apollos was there. 00:30:22.799 --> 00:30:23.519 Paul goes on. 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:27.359 Now when he comes back, oh, there's 12 Christians here. 00:30:30.000 --> 00:30:31.920 It's sadly ironic. 00:30:33.599 --> 00:30:48.160 But also so gracious and good of God to choose twelve Gentile men to begin his church in Ephesus when all around them the twelve tribes of Israel are rejecting Jesus. 00:31:00.799 --> 00:31:03.279 Even speaking evil of the way. 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:06.880 That's that's Luke's kind of pet phrase for Christianity. 00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:08.880 The way, the way of Jesus. 00:31:12.160 --> 00:31:15.519 We see this continued Jewish rejection. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:25.519 And then later in chapter 20, Paul refers to the persecution of the Jews to Gentile Christians. 00:31:25.680 --> 00:31:30.559 He says, listen, you you all remember when I was here how much the Jews persecuted me. 00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:40.079 So it certainly appears as though these first believers in Ephesus were Gentiles, not Jews. 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:45.200 Everywhere else that we've seen, we see Jews coming to Christ. 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:49.200 That starts to change a little bit in Philippi with Lydia. 00:31:49.759 --> 00:31:54.079 Lydia was a God-fearer, so there was a connection with the Jews. 00:31:55.039 --> 00:32:01.039 We begin to see transitions all along the way to now there are no Jews apparently believing in Jesus. 00:32:01.200 --> 00:32:05.680 It's all non-Jews who are forming the church in Ephesus. 00:32:05.920 --> 00:32:09.599 And this group of believers serves as a transitional group. 00:32:09.839 --> 00:32:13.680 They're on the edge of this burgeoning Christian church. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:23.519 Now, by edge, I mean they believed in Jesus as the promised Messiah, who was proclaimed by John the Baptist. 00:32:24.480 --> 00:32:31.359 In that way, they are genuine believers who have not yet been incorporated into the church as a whole. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:35.920 And so they need to leave John's way behind and follow Christ alone. 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:42.960 That's what happens when Paul comes back and talks about the Holy Spirit, and they're baptized into Jesus, not John. 00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:53.359 Some ask why John rebaptized them, why there's kind of a mini Pentecost all over again here. 00:32:53.839 --> 00:32:58.160 Because they're baptized, the Holy Spirit comes, they speak in tongues and they prophesy. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:00.480 Why is that all happening again? 00:33:00.880 --> 00:33:10.960 Well, the reason, I think, is that this is Paul's way of incorporating this kind of fringe new group of no Jews, just Gentiles, into the whole. 00:33:11.119 --> 00:33:18.960 He's saying, yes, God is confirming you belong, just like he did with the Samaritans, just like he did with the Ethiopian. 00:33:19.359 --> 00:33:30.640 Each new successive group that's kind of on the edge of this expansion of Christianity has the same experience to confirm this is God's work. 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:38.400 And this happens in Ephesus, where the Jews refuse to believe. 00:33:41.119 --> 00:33:47.359 But even there, in verse 19, we see that Paul is driven out of the Jewish synagogue. 00:33:48.400 --> 00:33:50.880 Chapter 19, verse 9, pardon me. 00:33:51.519 --> 00:33:56.799 And Paul's discussion of the Jews later confirms that. 00:33:58.720 --> 00:34:01.279 Paul is not welcome among the Jews. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:08.239 The gospel is not welcome among the Jews, but it is now welcome among Gentile believers. 00:34:11.039 --> 00:34:20.079 If you look at verse 10, where we stopped reading, you'll see that Paul stayed there for two more years. 00:34:23.119 --> 00:34:37.199 He remained there teaching and preaching, not in the synagogues, but in another place in Ephesus for two whole years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:40.079 It didn't matter if you were Jew or Greek, you heard the word of the Lord. 00:34:40.320 --> 00:34:47.679 Paul is that trumpeter on the wall saying, You must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:57.519 He is Lord and Savior, and if you don't hear that warning call and believe in him, then you are choosing your own judgment. 00:34:57.599 --> 00:35:00.000 Your blood will be on your own head. 00:35:00.639 --> 00:35:03.519 Everybody heard that message. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:12.400 Unbelief cannot stop the gospel of Christ. 00:35:13.360 --> 00:35:22.320 God will build his church, even though it appears and feels as though everything is against it. 00:35:24.239 --> 00:35:31.039 So, friends, don't let the rejection of the gospel keep you from speaking of Jesus. 00:35:33.119 --> 00:35:42.079 Don't let one or ten people's refusal to believe hinder you from telling others about the good news of Jesus. 00:35:42.239 --> 00:35:49.039 Because some will see Jesus as their savior and believe, while others choose him as their judge. 00:35:49.679 --> 00:35:52.639 You have no control over those results. 00:35:53.599 --> 00:35:58.239 We are just called to make disciples by being the trumpeters on the wall. 00:35:59.599 --> 00:36:07.440 Rejection of Jesus as God's promised Messiah, Lord, and King does not stop the gospel. 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:13.199 Rejection of Jesus doesn't steal away the power of the good news. 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:22.800 Rejection of Jesus may be the very means he employs for others to hear and come to him. 00:36:25.199 --> 00:36:29.840 And that is always your hope and your encouragement and your motivation. 00:36:30.239 --> 00:36:32.960 These might not hear, but others may. 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:39.119 That's a brief overview of this section. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:47.840 Highlighting the fulfillment of God's promise to save a people, not from his own nation, but from beyond his nation. 00:37:00.639 --> 00:37:06.800 Luke is saying, this is happening, it's being fulfilled right here, and it continues to our day. 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:13.119 But now, even more briefly, look back at this whole section. 00:37:13.679 --> 00:37:27.039 As we see how Luke uses it, uses this whole section of Acts to show that Jesus' kingdom work is spreading unrestrained. 00:37:27.519 --> 00:37:36.960 It doesn't matter if the Jews believe or not, it doesn't matter if the Gentiles believe or not, God's work is spreading unrestrained. 00:37:37.679 --> 00:37:47.840 We've seen how Luke traces the spread of the gospel in Asia Minor and Greece through the Jewish rejection of the good news and the Gentile reception. 00:37:48.320 --> 00:37:57.840 And as we look at the rest of Scripture, we see that Luke is tracing the fulfillment of God's promise to bring salvation to the whole world. 00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:14.880 While that's happening here in Acts 18 and 19, the people to whom we are introduced reveal how the gospel is spreading outside of the boundaries of the main storyline. 00:38:15.920 --> 00:38:22.000 Notice first what is implied through the introduction of Aquila and Priscilla at the very beginning. 00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:32.800 Chapter 18, verse 1, it tells us that they were Jews from Rome who had moved to Corinth because Emperor Claudius kicked them out. 00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:50.320 Since Luke doesn't record their faith story, he just assumes it, and they begin working with Paul in ministry, we can conclude that they were already believers when Paul met them. 00:38:51.840 --> 00:39:01.920 If that's true, if that's a safe assumption, I think it is, this means that Christians were present in Rome before Paul's first arrival there. 00:39:04.320 --> 00:39:16.639 Before God ever sent a missionary, if we can use that in air quotes, Paul, before God ever sent Paul to the Roman capital, Christians were there. 00:39:17.199 --> 00:39:23.280 The gospel had reached the Roman capital long before Paul's arrest sent him there. 00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:31.039 And not only were Aquila and Priscilla Christians, they were mature Christians, capable of teaching others. 00:39:32.159 --> 00:39:40.559 That's an advanced level of faith and maturity in Rome and then in Corinth ahead of Paul. 00:39:42.000 --> 00:39:50.719 That shows us that God works not only through missionaries like Paul, but through ordinary, everyday faithfulness of Christians. 00:39:53.519 --> 00:39:57.920 You might be Priscilla or Aquila. 00:39:59.519 --> 00:40:04.880 Now notice what's implied through the introduction of Apollos in chapter 18, verse 24. 00:40:05.679 --> 00:40:10.400 Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria, Egypt. 00:40:10.880 --> 00:40:16.960 You won't be able to see it very well here, but at the top left-hand corner of this map, you'll see Corinth. 00:40:17.360 --> 00:40:21.920 And then a little bit to the right at the top of the map, near the center, is Ephesus. 00:40:23.199 --> 00:40:29.679 On the right over here, you'll see Antioch of Syria up towards the top of the right-hand side. 00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:36.880 You come down, you see Mount Hermon, and there's Mount of Olives, you see the Dead Sea down at the bottom. 00:40:37.119 --> 00:40:40.880 You come around to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, you see Alexandria. 00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:47.519 So directly south of Ephesus is Alexandria, Egypt. 00:40:48.400 --> 00:40:54.639 Alexandria had a large and thriving Jewish population for at least 200 years by this point. 00:40:55.119 --> 00:40:58.639 It was a center of learning and scholarship in the Mediterranean world. 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:07.760 So it's not surprising at all to hear of an eloquent, learned Jewish man who's competent in the scriptures who happens to be from Alexandria. 00:41:08.000 --> 00:41:09.280 That's not surprising. 00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:14.800 It is somewhat surprising to hear that he believed in and had been taught about Christ. 00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:29.519 Somehow the ministry and methods of John the Baptist had come around the bottom corner of the Mediterranean world and made their way to Alexandria, where this man, Apollos, had believed in the one whom John the Baptist proclaimed. 00:41:35.199 --> 00:41:37.840 But Apollos needed more instruction. 00:41:38.079 --> 00:41:40.800 So Apollos is like the Ephesian believers. 00:41:41.039 --> 00:41:54.800 He's one of those kind of transition folks in those early decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus, who needed to be brought along in the faith, have some things clarified, have some things strengthened, which is what Aquila and Priscilla do. 00:41:54.960 --> 00:42:01.199 But Luke has discreetly sketched the progress of the gospel in the Mediterranean world. 00:42:01.519 --> 00:42:10.719 There are Christians in the Eastern Mediterranean, there are Christians in the Western Mediterranean, there are Christians in the Northern Mediterranean, there are Christians in the Southern Mediterranean. 00:42:11.440 --> 00:42:14.880 Jesus is in heaven, but he's working. 00:42:16.239 --> 00:42:18.800 And we can't always see it. 00:42:20.400 --> 00:42:33.039 Yes, God is fulfilling his plan and his purpose of hardening the hearts of his people so that the rest of the world can hear the gospel of Christ. 00:42:33.280 --> 00:42:39.920 Luke shows Jesus drawing in his sheep as his kingdom work gradually expands around the world. 00:42:40.079 --> 00:42:43.679 And so that can encourage us in at least four ways. 00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:47.760 Number one, geography never hinders the gospel. 00:42:49.360 --> 00:42:51.920 Geography never hinders the gospel. 00:42:54.000 --> 00:42:57.360 Number two, unbelief does not hinder the gospel. 00:42:59.199 --> 00:43:07.199 Number three, Jesus continues his work by known and unknown people to spread the good news of the gospel. 00:43:07.440 --> 00:43:09.840 You never know who God will use. 00:43:11.280 --> 00:43:12.559 And there's a fourth way. 00:43:13.360 --> 00:43:18.559 The work of making disciples should not be hindered by unbelief. 00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:29.199 Friends, it doesn't matter ultimately whether we think people are being saved. 00:43:31.199 --> 00:43:35.199 What matters is our faithfulness to the proclamation of the gospel. 00:43:35.920 --> 00:43:37.599 Because God uses it. 00:43:40.079 --> 00:43:43.920 Refusing to believe brings judgment on those who don't believe. 00:43:44.559 --> 00:43:48.559 But God uses that to continue his work of building his church. 00:43:48.800 --> 00:43:57.039 And he calls us, just like Paul, Luke, Timothy, Apollos, Aquila, and Priscilla, to be faithful in that. 00:43:57.360 --> 00:43:59.760 Let's be about it always and forever. 00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:00.559 Let's pray. 00:44:00.719 --> 00:44:03.039 Lord Jesus, use us, please. 00:44:03.280 --> 00:44:05.280 In ways that we don't even expect. 00:44:06.320 --> 00:44:18.559 May someone even today hear this walk-through acts and be convicted of their sin that keeps them from God and trust in Jesus Christ alone. 00:44:21.280 --> 00:44:24.480 You indeed are the Lord of our salvation. 00:44:25.760 --> 00:44:27.679 And we thank you for that provision. 00:44:28.480 --> 00:44:33.760 May we never forget, though, that judgment comes with unbelief. 00:44:34.880 --> 00:44:42.159 May we be spurred on by this text and by your spirit with boldness and courage in your work. 00:44:43.360 --> 00:44:48.960 Proclaim the good news of Jesus as Savior and Judge. 00:44:49.199 --> 00:44:49.840 Amen. 00:44:51.760 --> 00:44:55.599 That concludes this sermon from Faith Evangelical Free Church. 00:44:55.760 --> 00:45:02.639 Our mission is to declare the Word of God and disciple believers into mature, devoted followers of Jesus. 00:45:02.880 --> 00:45:06.960 You can learn more by visiting our website at faithfree.com.