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He Only Knew John's Baptism

December 29, 2013 · Acts

Scripture referenced 10 passages

The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.

  • Acts 18 Primary text for the sermon, walked through verse by verse

    1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth.

    2 He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

    3 and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers.

    4 He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.

    5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

    6 When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”

    7 He departed there, and went into the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.

    8 Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.

    9 The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent;

    10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

    11 He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

    12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

    13 saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”

    14 But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you;

    15 but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. For I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.”

    16 So he drove them from the judgment seat.

    17 Then all the Greeks laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Gallio didn’t care about any of these things.

    18 Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow.

    19 He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews.

    20 When they asked him to stay with them a longer time, he declined;

    21 but taking his leave of them, he said, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

    22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the assembly, and went down to Antioch.

    23 Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

    24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures.

    25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John.

    26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

    27 When he had determined to pass over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he had come, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;

    28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

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Acts 17

Mentioned as a favorite passage, Paul speaking to the Stoics and Epicureans in Athens

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.

2 Paul, as was his custom, went in to them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.”

4 Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women.

5 But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.

6 When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

7 whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!”

8 The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things.

9 When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea. When they arrived, they went into the Jewish synagogue.

11 Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

12 Many of them therefore believed; also of the prominent Greek women, and not a few men.

13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Beroea also, they came there likewise, agitating the multitudes.

14 Then the brothers immediately sent out Paul to go as far as to the sea, and Silas and Timothy still stayed there.

15 But those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens. Receiving a commandment to Silas and Timothy that they should come to him very quickly, they departed.

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.

17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him.

18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be advocating foreign deities,” because he preached Jesus and the resurrection.

19 They took hold of him, and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is, which is spoken by you?

20 For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.”

21 Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

22 Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things.

23 For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you.

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands,

25 neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things.

26 He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings,

27 that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.

28 ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’

29 Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.

30 The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,

31 because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.”

33 Thus Paul went out from among them.

34 But certain men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

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Luke 3

John the Baptist preaching a baptism of repentance, quoted at length including the Isaiah citation and crowd questions

1 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene,

2 in the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias, in the wilderness.

3 He came into all the region around the Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for remission of sins.

4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord. Make his paths straight.

5 Every valley will be filled. Every mountain and hill will be brought low. The crooked will become straight, and the rough ways smooth.

6 All flesh will see God’s salvation.’”

7 He said therefore to the multitudes who went out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 Therefore produce fruits worthy of repentance, and don’t begin to say among yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father;’ for I tell you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones!

9 Even now the ax also lies at the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that doesn’t produce good fruit is cut down, and thrown into the fire.”

10 The multitudes asked him, “What then must we do?”

11 He answered them, “He who has two coats, let him give to him who has none. He who has food, let him do likewise.”

12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized, and they said to him, “Teacher, what must we do?”

13 He said to them, “Collect no more than that which is appointed to you.”

14 Soldiers also asked him, saying, “What about us? What must we do?” He said to them, “Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages.”

15 As the people were in expectation, and all men reasoned in their hearts concerning John, whether perhaps he was the Christ,

16 John answered them all, “I indeed baptize you with water, but he comes who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to loosen. He will baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire,

17 whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the wheat into his barn; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

18 Then with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people,

19 but Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things which Herod had done,

20 added this also to them all, that he shut up John in prison.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus also had been baptized, and was praying. The sky was opened,

22 and the Holy Spirit descended in a bodily form like a dove on him; and a voice came out of the sky, saying “You are my beloved Son. In you I am well pleased.”

23 Jesus himself, when he began to teach, was about thirty years old, being the son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the son of Heli,

24 the son of Matthat, the son of Levi, the son of Melchi, the son of Jannai, the son of Joseph,

25 the son of Mattathias, the son of Amos, the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Naggai,

26 the son of Maath, the son of Mattathias, the son of Semein, the son of Joseph, the son of Judah,

27 the son of Joanan, the son of Rhesa, the son of Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, the son of Neri,

28 the son of Melchi, the son of Addi, the son of Cosam, the son of Elmodam, the son of Er,

29 the son of Jose, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi,

30 the son of Simeon, the son of Judah, the son of Joseph, the son of Jonan, the son of Eliakim,

31 the son of Melea, the son of Menan, the son of Mattatha, the son of Nathan, the son of David,

32 the son of Jesse, the son of Obed, the son of Boaz, the son of Salmon, the son of Nahshon,

33 the son of Amminadab, the son of Aram, the son of Hezron, the son of Perez, the son of Judah,

34 the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham, the son of Terah, the son of Nahor,

35 the son of Serug, the son of Reu, the son of Peleg, the son of Eber, the son of Shelah,

36 the son of Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, the son of Shem, the son of Noah, the son of Lamech,

37 the son of Methuselah, the son of Enoch, the son of Jared, the son of Mahalaleel, the son of Cainan,

38 the son of Enos, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God.

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Isaiah 40:3-5

Quoted within Luke 3 about preparing the way of the Lord and every valley being filled

3 The voice of one who calls out, “Prepare the way of Yahweh in the wilderness! Make a level highway in the desert for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low. The uneven shall be made level, and the rough places a plain.

5 Yahweh’s glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.”

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Luke 11:24-26

Jesus on sin management, the evil spirit returning with seven more wicked spirits

24 The unclean spirit, when he has gone out of the man, passes through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none, he says, ‘I will turn back to my house from which I came out.’

25 When he returns, he finds it swept and put in order.

26 Then he goes, and takes seven other spirits more evil than himself, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first.”

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Matthew 12:43-45

The Scofield Bible King James version of the same unclean spirit passage

43 When an unclean spirit has gone out of a man, he passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn’t find it.

44 Then he says, ‘I will return into my house from which I came out,’ and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order.

45 Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation.”

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1 Corinthians 1:1

Paul and Sosthenes named as co-authors, connecting Sosthenes to Acts 18

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,

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Luke 2

Mentioned briefly as tied to the incarnation of Christ from the previous week

1 Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.

2 This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.

3 All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.

4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;

5 to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant.

6 While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth.

7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.

9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.

10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.

11 For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

12 This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”

13 Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men.”

15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”

16 They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.

17 When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.

18 All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.

19 But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.

20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them.

21 When eight days were fulfilled for the circumcision of the child, his name was called Jesus, which was given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

22 When the days of their purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord

23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”),

24 and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”

25 Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him.

26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.

27 He came in the Spirit into the temple. When the parents brought in the child, Jesus, that they might do concerning him according to the custom of the law,

28 then he received him into his arms, and blessed God, and said,

29 “Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace;

30 for my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared before the face of all peoples;

32 a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 Joseph and his mother were marveling at the things which were spoken concerning him,

34 and Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against.

35 Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

36 There was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher (she was of a great age, having lived with a husband seven years from her virginity,

37 and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.

38 Coming up at that very hour, she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of him to all those who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem.

39 When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

40 The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.

41 His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.

42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast,

43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn’t know it,

44 but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances.

45 When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him.

46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions.

47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

48 When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you.”

49 He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

50 They didn’t understand the saying which he spoke to them.

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

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Luke 11:27-28

Woman crying out to bless Jesus' mother, Jesus responding that more blessed are those who hear and keep the word of God

27 It came to pass, as he said these things, a certain woman out of the multitude lifted up her voice, and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts which nursed you!”

28 But he said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.”

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Romans 1

Listed as one source of a catalog of sins the preacher considered citing

1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,

2 which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,

3 concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh,

4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,

5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake;

6 among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ;

7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.

9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,

10 requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.

11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established;

12 that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.

13 Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.

14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.

15 So, as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome.

16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.

17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,

19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.

20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.

21 Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.

24 Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;

25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.

27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.

28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;

29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,

30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;

32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.

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Recap

The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.

Pastor Mark preached from Acts 18, with his focus landing on the final four verses and the story of Apollos. He came to the passage looking for a clear message and found one late in the week, not from the text alone but from a late-night conviction about sin. The sermon asked what it means to preach repentance without the cross, and what it means to live with Christ's power rather than trying to manage sin on your own.

What was said

Acts 18 reads like a travelogue, and Pastor Mark walked through it quickly, pointing out landmarks along the way. Paul leaves Athens, settles in Corinth, meets Priscilla and Aquila, preaches in the synagogue until the opposition forces him out, receives a vision from the Lord telling him not to be silent, stays eighteen months, and eventually makes his way through Ephesus toward Jerusalem. The geography matters, Pastor Mark noted, because God had once blocked Paul from entering Asia and now opened that same door.

The chapter ends with someone who had nothing to do with Paul: Apollos, a Jew from Alexandria, an eloquent and knowledgeable speaker who was already teaching about Jesus with accuracy and enthusiasm. The problem was not what he was saying but what he did not yet know. He had only heard of John's baptism, which meant he was preaching repentance and the turning from sin with no knowledge of the cross of Christ or the power of the Holy Spirit.

Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos in the synagogue, took him aside privately, and explained the way of God more accurately. They did not shame him or argue with him. What he had been teaching was true as far as it went, and that is exactly why his incomplete understanding needed to be filled in rather than torn down.

John's baptism, Pastor Mark said, was always meant to prepare the way. It called people to repent, agree with God about their sin, and turn toward Him. That is real and necessary. But without the cross of Christ, repentance becomes what Pastor Mark called futile sin management, and Jesus Himself addressed that directly. The picture Jesus gives in Luke 11 of an evil spirit returning with seven worse companions is exactly what happens when a person cleans house through willpower alone and leaves nothing in its place.

The church's seminary heritage includes five standing stones, and Pastor Mark admitted he preaches four of them regularly but rarely spends much time on victorious Christian living, the putting off of sin and the putting on of Christ. The message was not that sin lists need to be preached harder. It was that there is a difference between being told what not to do and having a Savior who paid for sin, lives in you through the Holy Spirit, and makes genuine victory possible one day at a time.

Pastor Mark closed by reading a prayer by Michel Quoist, a French cleric, written from the point of view of someone who has sinned again, is ashamed, and barely dares to look up. The prayer was followed by the father's response in the same piece, which told the child to stop relying on themselves, ask pardon, and get up quickly, because staying down in the mud is worse than the fall itself. That movement, from honest confession to the grace that says get up, was the place the whole sermon had been pointing toward.

Doing a Bible study?

Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.

  1. The pastor said that he believes if you push prayer and faith, the authority of scripture, world evangelization, and evangelical unity, then victorious Christian living naturally follows. Do you agree with that, and has that been true in your own experience?
  2. Apollos knew the scriptures well, taught accurately about Jesus, and preached with an enthusiastic spirit, yet his understanding was incomplete because he only knew John's baptism. How do you think someone can be that close to the truth and still be missing something so central?

and 3 more questions in the guide

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Read the full transcript 7,174 words
0:01 Thank you. Amen. Well, Christmas having passed, I am Back to Acts. We've been in Acts for a pretty good while now and we're in Acts 18. Acts 18 is one of those chapters that when I looked at it, I thought, in Acts 17 is so awesome.
0:26 I mentioned that was one of my favorite places in scripture. Of course, I said that seven times last year. It is one of my favorite places and it's such a big huge thing when Paul speaking to those guys at Athens and he's speaking to the stoics and Epicureans and I think, oh, it's just great. It's so good and then Acts 18 is like a travelogue. It just goes, No.
0:47 He goes here. He goes there and it's not as apparent what the message needs to be when it's just talking about he was here and he was there. So, I did a little more digging probably than I usually do. Maybe not. I did a lot of digging though and I was looking for significant sinners and then I thought where the place that this message today needs to be.
1:08 I got to about Thursday night I think maybe Thursday night or Friday night and I figured out, okay, this is the place. I'd study the whole chapter over and over and over and over. All types of commentaries, gone through all the grammar, I love the grammar, gone through all of the historical significance, all that sort of stuff. But after I went the other night somewhere, I just was convicted about sin. And I'm like, oh, gracious.
1:38 I've been preaching from John. It's all the gospel of belief. It's about grace and belief and love. My goodness, Jesus is so lovely in that book. You can't read it and not see how good he is and then all through Acts, we've been seeing how God graciously protects the unity of church.
1:55 Oh, that's all good stuff. The seminary that I went to had four, five, standing stones. Four of them, I preach all the time. There are five standing stones for Columbia University. One of them is prayer and faith.
2:09 Absolutely. Prayer and faith. Amen. Good stuff. The next one is authority of scripture.
2:15 I'm absolutely. Authority of scripture and antics. Great. Authority of scripture to for our lives. Absolutely has authority.
2:21 No doubt about that. World evangelization. How often do you hear the missions theme repeated in the Bible and in this pulpit? It happens all the time because it's in the Bible all the time. So those three, absolutely 100%.
2:34 I'm gonna forget one. I knew I would do this. When it gets down to the very end of evangelical unity, that's the last one. Evangelical unity, those four, you hear it all the time when I when I'm preaching, I'm telling the Ephesians jokes about evangelical unity, unity among believers. I think that all is very very apparent but there's one of them that I hardly ever spend a lot of time on and it's victorious Christian living.
3:01 That's the last one. Victorious Christian living. Basically, it is exuing or putting off sin and putting on Christ and I don't ever want to be accused of being soft on sin because I'm not. I but I believe that if you push all of those other things, this other naturally follows but it was apparent on Thursday evening when I lay down and when I woke up time and again that night that this was the message for the day. So, Acts 18, I'm gonna go go through it because I promised y'all to begin or promise myself.
3:32 I'm gonna go through it verse by verse the whole time. I'm gonna go through the first part of this chapter in a hurry. So, don't be worried about it. Let it wash over you. There will be no test at the end.
3:43 Don't don't worry about it. So, I'm gonna let go and I will point out. I'll interject some points along the way. We've got plenty of time to get through this. Acts 18.
3:52 I'm gonna go through the whole chapter 18 today, but I'm gonna concentrate on the last four verses. But Paul, last time we heard from him, a few weeks back, we were talking about him being in Athens and speaking to the Scopes and that experience. And Acts 18 starts off, then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome.
4:25 This is Luke being Luke. He is an accurate historian. There's no doubt about when this happened. He tells us exactly and he's right. Suetonius tells us about it in extra biblical sources and actually lots of different sources confirmed this.
4:43 They left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. And actually the Jews that were deported from Rome, it was because Suetonius tells us of an ups uprising among those who followed crestice. Christians. Christian Jews. Paul lived and worked with them or they were tent makers.
5:01 Actually, word there is leather workers just as he was. Probably tent makers. It's a good translation, but he was a leather worker For Paul to be a Pharisee before and to have a trade, they normally had a trade if they're Pharisees and they were teachers, they normally had another trade anyway and they did not receive just for being a rabbi, they wouldn't receive a whole paycheck for that normally. So Paul was a leather worker. It was pretty cushy gig if he's getting people to bring their lambs into the temple and slaughter them and then he's buying hides off of them.
5:34 Right? That's a little cynical, but it's true. Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike. And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, you know, Paul went ahead of them. After Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all this time preaching the word.
5:53 So he was a tentmaker, but when they arrived, they must have arrived with a gift, and he mentions that in a couple of other books of the Bible. When they arrived, they arrived with a gift and it gave him time to just preach the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust off of his clothes and said, your blood is upon your heads, I'm innocent. From now on, I will go preach to the Gentile.
6:20 Paul was kind of feisty and fiery. Do y'all get that? When you read Paul, do you hear sometimes it just seems to be like, okay, enough. I've set it up a piece of count to three. I'm out of here.
6:29 Shakes the dust off of this close. I'm innocent of your blood. That's calling back to Ezekiel. He's saying, you have heard the message. You...
6:38 You've been up under a good sound teaching on this. Now it's on you. Then he left, and he went to the home of Titius Justice, a Gentile, you can tell from the name, who worshiped God and lived next door to the synagogue. I love how Paul was so strategic. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue and everyone in his household believed in the Lord.
7:01 Many others in Torah also heard Paul, became believers, and were baptized. One night, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, don't be afraid. Words of Christ in red here. Don't be afraid. Speak out.
7:14 Don't be silent. For I'm with you and no one will attack and harm you for many people in this city belong to me. Now, where is he? He's in Corinth. We know the book of Corinthians.
7:24 First and second Corinthians, we know that. Many in this city belong to me. A lot of them had already accepted. They became believers and were baptized there. So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half.
7:36 This is the longest time we've seen Paul stay anywhere so far, eighteen months, teaching the word of God. But when Gaudia became governor of Achaia, which is where Corinth is, it's like the the territory where Corinth is, some Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment. They accused Paul of persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to our law, and that's in quotes. That's exactly what they brought. That was the charge.
8:06 But just as Paul started to make his defense, Gallia, who's the governor, turned to Paul's accusers and said, listen, you Jews. If this were a case involving some wrongdoing, a misdemeanor, or a serious crime, tell me. I would have a reason to accept your case. But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourself. I refuse to be judged in such matters.
8:28 And he threw them out of the courtroom. This is this is one of the purposes that Luke is writing to Theophilus. Now, I've told you all along through the book of Luke and through the book of Acts. That is an evangelical book. He is sharing with them the good news of Christ.
8:45 He's sharing the good news of Christ through Luke and through Acts. That's what he's doing. Trying to give an orderly account but he also mentions multiple times throughout Luke and multiple times throughout Acts that Christianity is innocent before the state. He is basically preaching a doctrine of the separation of church and state. And the crowd literally right there is everyone then grabs Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, now that Crispus is no longer leader of the synagogue because he's a Christian.
9:14 Sosthenes, they grabbed him and beat him right there in the courtroom, but Galileo paid no attention. This is the other place we see Sosthenes in the first letter to the Corinthians verse one one. This letter is from Paul chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus and from our brother Sosthenes. Isn't that cool? Sosthenes and Crispus, both leaders, Paul went there and he explained and explained and explained to the Jews and if they had ears to hear, they listened, and they accepted the truth that Christ is the Messiah Jesus.
9:52 So Paul stayed in court for some time after that, then said goodbye to the brothers and went to the nearby centurion. There he shaved his head according to the Jewish custom marking the end of the vow with my face this morning. I've had several people that have called me out on it. If I had ended the Nazarite vow or something, no. It's just happens to coincide here.
10:15 Then he set sail for Syria, Priscilla and Aquila with him. They stopped first at the Port Of Ephesus where Paul left the others behind. While he was there, he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews. I thought he just said he was going go to the Gentiles. Well, he did but that was in Corinth.
10:34 He was saying, alright, enough of y'all. Those of you who are going to be converted, that's great. The rest of you, it's on your head. Time going to the Gentiles. He stayed eighteen months after that But when he went to a new city, as was his custom, he went to the synagogue for reason with the Jews.
10:48 They asked him to stay longer, but he declined. As he left, however, he said, I will come back later. God will do it. Then he set sail from Ephesus. The next stop was at the Port Of Caesarea.
11:00 From there, he went up and visited the church at Jerusalem, probably for a fest... Festival holiday of some sort, and then went back to Antioch. After spending some time in Antioch, Paul went back through Galatia and Phreesia visiting and strengthening all the believers. Now that marks right there, it's not apparent. It's very apparent where the second missionary journey starts cause that's where Paul and Barnabas split.
11:27 And it's very apparent where the third missionary journey ends. That's very apparent. But it's hard to see. In some maps, you'll see them in different places, but right there where that red line is, that's the end of the second journey beginning of the third journey. That might not matter to many of you, but if you're a geography person, maybe it does.
11:45 So this is what the second missionary journey looks like. Paul has gotten loose from... It starts at Antioch, he goes overland route when Barnabas and John Mark went to Cyprus. He goes overland. He was stopped from going into Asia.
12:00 He was stopped from going into Bithynia and he went through Mysia, saw the Macedonian vision right there and he goes across to Philippi. We see the Philippian jailer, the demon possessed girl, and Lydia all become saved there. Then from Philippi to Thessalonica, Berea, and on down to Athens where he has a a great speech to the Epiphanian Stoics. This week he comes over to Corinth and then to Ephesus. Now isn't it cool that God allowed him to get back to the place where he blocked him from going before?
12:30 We talk about stepping through open doors. God had closed the door to Asia before, but now he's opened the door to Asia. And so he gets to go to Ephesus. He did not stay there long. He was on his way to Jerusalem and in a hurry, it says.
12:43 But he was able to break ground, form a beachhead as it were there at Ephesus and he would come back and he'd stay in Ephesus longer than anywhere else. We'll get to that next week. But that's for you geography folks. That's over 1,500 miles that this guy did either on foot or on the ship. That's a long way.
13:04 Alright. This is complete this is complete change of pace here. Calvin Coolidge. American president Calvin Coolidge was known for his brevity and he was known for saying a few He's a lot of little aphorisms and witty sex. He's kinda like the Yogi Berra of American presidents.
13:23 I have noticed that nothing I never said ever did me any harm. He didn't say much. Just didn't say much at all. He didn't have a whole lot of public hearings because he believed I have never been hurt by what I have not said. When he opened his mouth, he felt like he's gonna be splitting his mouth and so he just didn't say much.
13:41 Well, he went to church on Sunday morning and when he came back from church, his wife who had been ill was not able to go. Actually, she had a back problem. So she was not able to go to church that morning and she said, well, what was the message about? And he said, see him. And she said, well, you can go a little further than that.
14:04 What was the message about? Because what what the preacher said about sin? He said, he's a ginner. That's it. That's the short message for today.
14:15 Okay? Sin. I'm against it. I know that's a big surprise for a preacher, but the reason that I'm against it or the reason it comes up today is from Acts eighteen twenty four to 28, and I'm gonna borrow from Luke again. I I mentioned this same passage last week.
14:37 Luke twenty seven and twenty eight, I mentioned it last week, but I'm gonna bring it up again. So this is the passage for today. All the rest of that was just introduction. Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria and Edith. Now this is after Paul had already departed.
15:01 This... We get so in the groove of of the first part of Acts is about this, the second part is about that, and Paul is what most of this part of acts is about, but Paul is nowhere around at this point. He's not anywhere around. He has been through Ephesus, and there are believers there. Meanwhile, the Jew metaphors.
15:18 So he is a Jew. He's an eloquent speaker, and he knew the scripture as well. And it says he's from Alexandria and Egypt. Alexandria was the place, and it was one of the top three cities, biggest three cities in the world at that time. And Alexandria was known as a place of learning.
15:34 It was a university town. So the Old Testament in particular was studied there, and among the Jews, the Torah would have been paramount. It was it was something that they would have known very, very, very well and that's what that's what he did because he developed his people. He had been taught the way of the Lord most likely there. The word is for Jehovah.
15:58 Yahweh had been taught the way of Yahweh and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. So there has been nothing said about him this bad so far. You see Apollos' name and everything that follows is a glowing relief. He must have been some kind of speaker because he had people hanging on every word. However, he knew only of John's baptism.
16:24 That last part is the reason that sin comes up today. He only knew about John's baptism. Only the baptism of John. If we look back to Luke three, we'll see, about John the Baptist. I...
16:42 I'm gonna just quickly. I did not put it in the slides. Now the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, all of Luke's normal stuff. While Amos and Caiaphas were the high priest, the word of God came to John, the son of Zacharias in the wilderness and he went into all the region around the Jordan preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah, the prophet, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord.
17:17 Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. Every valley shall be filled and every mountain and hill brought low. The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough way smooth and all flesh shall see the salvation of God. That's Isaiah quoting...
17:36 I mean, that's Luke quoting Isaiah. Then he said to the multitude that came out to be baptized by him, oh, brood of vipers, Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, we have Abraham as our father. For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones and even now the axe is laid to the root of these trees.
18:00 Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So the people asked him saying, what shall we do then? And he answered and said to them, he who has two tunics, let him give to one who had none. And he who exclude, let him do likewise. Then tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, teacher, what shall we do?
18:21 And he said, collect no more than what is appointed for you. Likewise, soldier asked him, and what shall we do? So he said to him, do not intimidate anyone or accuse falsely and be content with your wages. There was precedence in the Old Testament for absolutely everything John preached. Absolutely everything that John the Baptist preached, he got from Torah.
18:42 He got from the old books of the law and Old Testament. And what he was preaching was repentance. We had wandered far away from God. Now, I'm coming home. Prone to wander, lord, I feel it.
18:56 Yeah. Bring me back. Liked up better. Bind my wandering heart to you. This is what John the Baptist's whole message was.
19:04 In Luke three, he said, it characterizes John's baptism as one from repentance from sin and a turning toward God and agree with him about our own sins. He has given us all a conscience and within our conscience and through the work of his Holy Spirit, he can and does convict people of sin and convince among God's rightness and their selfishness. It also has to do with intentional good works towards others. And so Apollos is definitely against sin. He's against it.
19:41 He's against it as Calvin Phillips would say. Billy Sunday was revival preacher in The United States and he was very very fiery. When you hear the fire and brimstone, that's they're talking about Billy Sunday. Jonathan Edwards and a few other guys but Billy Sunday had a lot of things. He was very animated, a lot more so than I am but he would raise his hand and shout and thump the bubble on the table and pound the pulpit and that sort of thing and he would say, he would talk about sin and he would point to people about their sin specifically and there were reporters and different people that are talking to Billy Sonians.
20:22 You can't do that. You can't point people out for their sin in church. Don't be scared. I'm not gonna do that. Specifically.
20:31 Anyway, it's more general than that but Billy Sunday. So, said, Bill, you just can't do that. He said, you're stroking the cats further wrong way. Nobody's gonna come to hear a message like that. You're stroking the cats further on plate.
20:42 He said, well, the cat is headed towards hell. And if he would turn around, he'd be headed the right direction. I would be petting and stroking his fur just as easy as can be. So he only knew about John's baptism. When Priscilla and Aquila, who Paul had met at Carm, when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, now they were the Jews, probably Christians that were expelled from Rome.
21:13 They heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue. They took him aside. Actually, they invited him to dinner. It's a good translation of that too. They pulled him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.
21:26 There was great accuracy to what he was teaching. There was great accuracy to what he was teaching about Jesus, but it says, about Jesus. There are a lot of denominations. There are a lot of Christians today that would push and have for the last century pushed the social gospel. The social gospel is doing good work.
21:51 That's what John was saying. Give the tunic that you have extra to somebody else. There are a lot of folks who would say we need to be doing that and you know that we built schools in Mexico for the deaf. We felt like that was a need and we wanted to meet that need. I think it's a both end.
22:04 Don't get me wrong about this. About Jesus. He said, I've come to set the captive free. I've come to give sight to the blind, caring to the deaf. I've come to seeking to save those which were lost.
22:20 About Jesus answers the question like in his steps, Sheldon's book that's on every pastor's wall. It's on every pastor's shelf in his steps. It talks... Basically, it's the the new way of putting this is what would Jesus do. It's considering who Jesus is and what he would do in any situation and trying to answer in the gentle Jesus, me and my giving and good, loving God.
22:47 How do we do that? Being generous and careful towards people about Jesus and that's good. That is accurate. That is all true about Jesus. But when Priscilla and Philip heard him preaching boldly, this message maybe like Billy Sunday, who knows?
23:04 They took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately. They didn't say don't do that. They didn't say, don't preach what you've been preaching because what he had been preaching was accurate. Why would they need him to take him aside? Because his understanding was incomplete.
23:20 It says he only knew the baptism of John. If he only knew the baptism of John, he had no idea that Christ Jesus was actually the Messiah that he knew all about from the Old Testament. He knew all about that, but his understanding was incomplete about Jesus. He preached powerfully about the need for repentance and people were convicted and people were convicted when John the Baptist was preaching too, right? Out in the wilderness, when he come back to the Jordan, he was baptizing people like crazy for repentance because they knew within themselves, they knew that they had wronged God.
23:54 I don't think any of us in here. Well, scripture says, never mind. It's a fool who has said that there is no god, and you're a liar if you say that you have no sin. He preached powerfully about the need for repentance. What he preached was the Old Testament law, Torah, but it lacked the redemptive price that was paid by Jesus, and it lacked the Holy Spirit's power.
24:22 Now John the Baptist had a Holy Spirit power from the time he was in his mother's womb, but all of those people that were hearing his message knew that he was calling them into a repentant mode to turn around so that God could do his work. So in short, John baptism was about preparing the way of the Lord. The Isaiah quote said, make it straight the way. High places made low, cricket places made straight. It's about preparing a way.
24:54 My question this morning is what is the baptism of John without the cross of Christ? Think about that for just a minute. What is John's baptism which prepares the way for Christ without the cross of Christ? It's just futile sin management. And this, I couldn't put all this down.
25:19 This is what woke me up the other morning. So I'm going to go through this and it's just a rift. It is not a great three point and a prayer at the end. Tied to the incarnation of Christ that we saw last week in Luke two and tied to Jesus' statement, which I'm gonna read in just a minute. Jesus is read on sin management.
25:42 And tied to this where Priscilla and Aquila wanted to instruct him, and they did so without shaming him and without arguing with him. They just showed him more accurately the way things were. I appreciate when people come to me and show me more accurately the way things are. Pet sins are not cute or innocuous. They're horrible.
26:13 In the economy of God, there are no accidents. So anything that has happened up to this point in your life that some thing that that tweaks you right here that gets you in the heart that you know you need to turn from is not by accident. God can use what you've already done against his will. What he does, he does for a reason. God sent his son to die.
26:36 He would not have done that if there were human way to conquer sin. No. Jesus' prayer in the garden. Lord, if there be any other way, let's do that. But if not, I surrender my will to yours, Lord, and I will do this.
26:50 And God did not give him the other way. There was no other way. He walked in complete victory. He was completely without sin. And I think that that part of his teaching about Jesus is how good he was and how great he was.
27:07 It's hard to find anybody who who will say that Jesus was a bad guy. Jesus was a good guy. He's a great guy. Good man. He proved that it could be done in human flesh.
27:23 He had emptied himself of his divine attributes in a sense and proved that walking in perfect life in human flesh could be done, but it goes deeper than that. A lot of different denominations that preach a sinless perfectionism like once you become a Christian, you can achieve a life of complete sinlessness. I think that's heresy. But Jesus did prove that it could be done and that you always have the option. You always have the option.
27:58 There is a there's a a twisting of a verse in Corinthians that we use a lot and we say it a lot. Well, God's never gonna put anything on me that I can't handle. That's not true. Not that way. It's not true.
28:12 God's never gonna put anything on me that I can't handle. Nope. You might actually be murdered for your faith and that's not handling things very well, you know? For his glory, it is handling things very well. Depends on how you look at it But you might actually be murdered for your faith.
28:29 So you can't say, God never put anything on me. What it says was, God will never tempt me beyond that which I'm able to walk away from. Does that make sense? It is that I'll never be tempted in a way that I have to give in to sin. He will not put me in that position.
28:49 Now it may be sin or die, but death is the greater option at that point according to Torah and according to God. The strongest language that Paul ever uses in the New Testament, he uses a few words that might be dirty in different places. Just dirty. Not not curses, but just kinda dirty. Y'all don't wonder what that is, aren't you?
29:22 Sorry. Screw you though. Dumb. He uses that a couple of different times. But the strongest word he ever uses in the New Testament is is which means may it never be.
29:35 God forbid. And when he uses that, he's talking about the people who have decided that it's okay to sin because it just makes God's grace more gracious. If our sin is worse, then God's grace is greater and so why don't we just go for it? Megan Ortho. May it never be.
30:01 God forbid. But sin management, if you're just trying... Well, let's see what Jesus says. This is Jesus' ribbon on sin management. Luke eleven twenty four to 26.
30:13 When an evil spirit leaves a person, this is when... And it's in Matthew also. When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, I will return to the person I came from. So it returns and finds that its former home is all slept in an order.
30:30 Then the spirit finds that seven other spirits that are more evil than excel, and they all enter the person that lived there. And so that person is worse off than before. That's what happens when you try to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and do it all on your own. The reason Alcoholics Anonymous works is that higher power. It really is the higher power that works.
30:54 It really is Jesus Christ that works. This is the Scofield Bible. I've got... I'll keep King James Scofield Bible on my desk, and this is just picture of what it said. It's the Matthew version of the same thing as KJB.
31:09 But when the unclean spirit has gone out of the man, he walketh through dry places, and he rests and findeth none. Then he say, I will return into my house from which I came. And when he has come, he findeth that empty, swept, and garnished. You can put a lot of trappings on trying to rid yourself and say, not gonna do that anymore. I'm never gonna do that again.
31:29 I'm not gonna do that anymore. I have done... I'm not doing that anymore. I'm just gonna walk away from it. And you can say that to yourself over and over what you've done is swept, emptied, garnished, but then go eat and take it with himself, seven other spirits more wicked than himself may enter in and dwell there.
31:45 In the last day, the man is worse than the first. Even so, it shall also be like this in this wicked generation. And this is the place from last week. You remember I said that you can be more blessed than married. This is the place where Jesus was speaking and the woman crowd out and said, God bless your mother.
32:01 The one for which you came in the breast that nursed you and Jesus said, but even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice. The putting it into practice I mentioned last week was keeping it. Keeping it. I think that Apollos would have taught this message so far just about like I have as far as keeping it. He would say, oh these things are wrong.
32:25 Don't do these things. Here's the list right here and I started to put in the list from Romans one and a couple of other lists from different places in the New Testament. These things are sin. Don't don't try to get away from this actually being sin. No matter what our society says, in Greek, it is sin.
32:43 It's wrong. Don't try to get away from it. Drunkenness is wrong. Don't try to get away from it. I heard that sermon every other Sunday the whole time I was growing up.
32:55 Keeping it. But there's only so much you can do as a human being to keep away from that. You do have an enemy. When Jesus mentions that about the evil spirits, there's a... There's an enemy, and he is at work.
33:08 He's got his minions that are at work, and they're tempted us all the time, but God gives us away. Surrender your will to God's will. He has plans to prosper us. Well, how would we work against those plans? Why would we choose to sin?
33:24 Because what we're doing is choosing to suffer. I realized that I have the capacity as a Christian at every turn for failure by choosing to do that which is against the Holy Spirit living in my life. And I also realize that I have the capacity for great victory, victorious Christian living at every turn by recognizing that the Holy Spirit is there, listening, yielding, and obeying. The heart is deceitfully wicked in all of its ways. That's why we have to trust in the cross of Christ, what he has done.
34:01 It's not just the perfect life that he lived, although that secured him the right to be able to die a sacrificial death. Listen to this. After Apollos was instructed, this is the twenty seventh, twenty eighth here. Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia. Now if he had gone to Achaia before, he just would have been another preacher telling not what not to do.
34:24 Apollos was not even a believer. He he didn't even know about the cross of Christ. He not ever trusted in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. Apollos was not a believer. Was a great teacher, eloquent words, wonderful speaker, knew the whole Old Testament, which was the Bible at that time.
34:40 New Testament not been completed yet. He had been thinking about going to Achaia. Now that he's a Christian, now that he knows the truth about Jesus, praise God, see what he does. And the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go. They wrote to the believers in Achaia asking them to welcome him and when he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who by God's grace had believed.
35:04 Paul had preached in Corinth and had people believe, right? But he'd also shaken the dust off and he was gone. God closed that door for Paul, but he opened it for Apollos. And Apollos probably had a better understanding of the Old Testament. He had a better way of presentation, and he wasn't Paul.
35:26 He reviewed the Jews with powerful arguments and public debate. And using the scriptures, he explained to them what? That Jesus was the Messiah. He was the promised one, the only one, the only one that's able to make good on the payment for sin. Today, you might see me up here and just feel like, well, he still have told us how we do it.
35:49 The just will live by faith. It's by faith in the one who has saved you. He has done it. He has redeemed you. He is the one who will allow you to walk day by day not taking that drink, day by day not looking at those images, day by day not doing whatever it is, snap backhanded comments, whatever it is, lying, stealing, whatever your deal is.
36:12 We've all been given a proclivity towards sin. But through Jesus, we have all been given the opportunity to escape that sin. I wanna read a poem slash prayer by Michael Cloist. He's a French cleric, and it's a translation from French, but it to me is really, really, really good because we all have this in our lives. And because I'm a preacher, that mean I'm immune from it because you're, you know, Christians that sit in the pew forever, that mean you're immune forever either.
36:48 This is a very, very honest prayer and then the father's response to that prayer. And Bam wants to come on up, y'all can come on up. We're gonna sing how great the father's love for us. So this is a prayer. You might just wanna close your eyes on it.
37:07 I have followed, Lord, once more. I can't go off. I'll never succeed. I'm ashamed. I don't dare look at you, And yet I struggle, Lord, for I knew you were right near me, bending over me, watching.
37:24 The temptation blew like a hurricane. And instead of looking at you, I turned my head away. I stepped aside while you stood, silent, sorrowful, like the spurned fiance who sees his loved one carried away by the enemy. When wind died down and suddenly it had arisen, and when the lightning ceased after proudly streaking the darkness, all of a sudden, I found myself alone and ashamed, disgusted with my sin in my hands, just sin that I selected the way a customer makes his purchase, the sin that I have paid for and cannot return for the storekeeper is no longer there. This tasteless sin, this odorless sin, this sin that sickens me that I have wanted but want no more, that I have imagined and soft, flaked with, fondled for a long time that I finally embraced while turning coldly away from you, my arms outstretched, my eyes and heart irresistibly drawn.
38:27 This sin that I've grasped and consumed with gluttony, it's mine now. It possesses me as a spider. As a spider web holds captive the map. It is mine. It sticks to me.
38:39 It flows in my veins. It fills my heart. It has slipped in everywhere as darkness slips into the forest at dusk and fills all the patches of light. I can't get rid of it. I run from it the way one tries to lose a stray dog, but it catches up with me and it bounds joyfully against my legs.
38:58 Everyone must notice it. I'm so ashamed that I feel like crawling to avoid being seen. I'm ashamed of being seen by my friends. I'm ashamed of being seen by you, Lord, for you love me, and I forgot you. I forgot you because I was thinking of myself.
39:15 And one can't think of several persons at once. One must choose, and I chose. And your voice and your look and your love hurt me. They weigh me down more than my sin. Lord, don't look at me like that.
39:29 I'm naked. I'm dirty. I'm down. I'm shattered, and I and I have no strength left, and I dare make no more promises. I can only lie bowed before you.
39:38 And then the father's response. Come child, look up. Isn't it mainly just your vanity that's wounded? Do you think there's a limit to my love? Do you think that for a moment I stopped loving you?
39:52 But you still rely on yourself. You must rely on me. Ask my pardon and get up quickly. It isn't falling in the mud that's the worst, but staying down on the ground. Amen.
40:07 Kevin Cooltower. Right? Would you stand with us and sing? And if God's speaking to you today and there's a specific thing, I I started to try to think of a way that we can get a specific thing today. For the write it on index card, mail it in, drop it in a place, mail it to the cross.
40:28 I don't know. But if there's something specific and you wanna take a step, tell somebody about it. Tell somebody about it. Okay? Now, if you heard this today and got...
40:38 Mostly, this message was for Christian, but if you heard this message today and you said there is a difference, there is a difference in the depth of what that saying. It's not just that I don't wanna do this anymore. It's that that person has a savior that pays attention, listens, obeys. If you have never given your life to Christ, he did live that perfect life, and we could preach about it and show that over and over. But he died a sacrificial death.
41:04 He's the only one that's been ever able to do that. He did so for whosoever will believe. Accept that and in repentance, turn towards him, agree with him about your own sin, about his own righteousness, and ask him and he will be there for you forever. Amen. I don't know if that was as heavy on y'all as it was on me this week.
44:55 But I pray that the peace of Christ will dwell richly in our hearts and that we will know that he has made that substitutionary payment for our sin. I pray that we'll rest in that and they will go and just like a beggar who has found a place that has bread, we will tell others. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

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Written up from the message given at First B Jackson. If something here reads oddly, the recording is the record.

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