Acts 18:18-28

start. Good evening or good afternoon. Good afternoon. Welcome to Coffee and Devotions. Thanks so much for joining me this afternoon. This is where every day you and I, we get together. We get into the Lord's Word and we go from the book of Acts all the way to the book of Philemon. That's what we'll accomplish in 2022.
I'm not sorry, I'm sorry for not getting on here earlier. I'll be honest with you, I had to get some reading done on certain theological topics I wanted to wrestle with in this passage and then I don't know what happened later in the day, but I had to take some migraine medicine and stuff like that. So I wasn't quite there.
So we're going to try to do this now. And let's let's have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into the Lord's word. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for your word. And Father, we pray that as we read your word now, that you would care for us. We pray that you would bless us and that we would be faithful to you. We thank you that each morning your mercies are new. Thank you for this opportunity now to spend time in your word together.
In Jesus' name, amen. All right, so we're at Acts chapter 18, beginning at verse 18, and we'll go through the end of the chapter. I'm gonna try one more time on here to get us to alive, but I think the computer has decided to not work. Okay, here we go. Acts chapter 18, beginning at verse 18. So Paul still remained a good while.
Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Caesarea, for he had taken a vow. And he came to Ephesus and left them there. But he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews when they asked him to stay longer with them. He did not consent. but took leave of them, saying, I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you, God willing. And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch.
After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him. And when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace, for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
Well, we need to ask ourselves, A, what is this about? B, what's the best verse to summarize these two sections? And C, what are we called to do in response to these? So, what is this about? Well, Paul, he's got to get back to Jerusalem. He's going from, so Paul remained there a good while, this is at Corinth, and he's made a vow, he's made some type of promise, and he's got to get all the way back to Jerusalem.
He wants to get there for the feast. and there's only a really short sailing time. Remember, this is the day before there's any type of internal combustion engines or anything like that, so there's no way for him to just put his way over there. He's dependent on the winds, and so he needs to get over there, so he crosses the Aegean Sea, and he lands at Ephesus. This is a very important colony. It's an extremely important city in Asia Minor, what's now today Turkey on the western coast of that country, and he stops there and he does what he normally would do. He goes and he goes to the synagogue and he's reasoning with the Jews there and they receive him. And they want to hear more, but no, no, I got to get back. He's got to make his way back to Jerusalem.
Now there's speculation on what type of vow this is that he's taken and why he's shaved his head in response to this vow. It's possible that it's a Nazarite vow. We also don't actually know what feast it was. Maybe it was the Feast of Booths or the Feast of Pentecost. Some people have argued that he's trying to get back for the Passover. The problem with that is that the Passover is actually a fast, not a feast. And so there's a lot of questions surrounding this passage. No matter what, it's clear that Paul is still very much a Jewish man.
He's a Christian, but at this time, the temple is still there and he's going to go and he's going to offer up this feast he's going to go. And this is not a feast so that he can somehow earn God's favor or earn God's righteousness, but he's going to go to give thanks. I'm of the camp that I think what he's doing is he's giving thanks for the good safety that the Lord's given him for this year and a half in Corinth. This blessing that God has given him. Well, they want him to stay, but he won't stay. But he leaves behind Thelm. Thelm there is most likely Priscilla and Aquila who went with him because now they're no longer in Corinth. But the next section, verses 24 through 28, is this man Apollos. He comes out of the blue. We don't know much about him other than he's from Alexandria.
And so he's a Jew born at Alexandria and he's an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures, and he came to Ephesus. And so this man, it's possible maybe he was even schooled by the great Philo or some other Jewish philosopher like that, but somehow he knows about Jesus Christ. And he reasons with them from the scriptures. He knows that this Jesus is the Christ.
But he's got something a little bit off, and we're going to come to that on Monday. This is some of the reading I've been doing, is we're going to come to this on Monday. The thing that he doesn't know is the baptism of Jesus. He only knows of the baptism of John. What's the difference? Again, come back on Monday and Lord willing you and I will come and find that out.
But he's taught by Priscilla and Aquila more accurately the way of God. And so Apollos is used there in Ephesus in verse 27. He greatly helped those who had believed through this grace. And so this is Apollos' ministry there in Ephesus. I did forget one part where Paul does make it all the way to Jerusalem. He gives the news up to the people in Jerusalem. This is a quick trip. Luke's moving fast on this trip. He goes to Jerusalem and from Jerusalem he goes to Antioch. From Antioch he stays there a little while and then he goes back to the region of Galatia and Phrygia to strengthen the churches there.
So we have these two different stories going on, Paul doing his stuff and Apollos coming onto the scene. In 1 Corinthians, this actually ends up being a very important part of the scriptures. Apollos getting letters from the church in Ephesus to go and care for the church in Corinth. This is where later Paul will write that some of them are disputing, I am of Paul, and others will say, I am of Apollos, and the point is, no. No, you're of Christ. Well, what would you underline as the best verses here? Well, I have underlined in my Bible verses 27 and 28, and also I would underline, I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return to you, God willing. Indeed, we're gonna find out in a couple of chapters, Paul does, and he stays with them for three years in Ephesus.
Well, what are we called to do in our lives in response to this? How does this change your daily life? How does this change my daily life? Well, God uses all sorts of preachers and teachers in his church. Praise God. In Ephesians, this is one of the things that Paul says is a gift to the church in Ephesians chapter four, that he gives his church this gift of preachers, even teachers, the apostles and the prophets who have laid the foundations of the church. And now there are others who come along and show us more clearly the good things that the Lord has taught.
And so we can be thankful for this. I'm so thankful for men in my life. I'm so thankful for men like Byron Snap, and for Micah Ramsey, for Steve Rota, and for Bob Herman. I'm so thankful for these local pastors who taught me more clearly the ways of God. Who is it in your life that you can thank the Lord for that he has brought into your life? Who are the Priscilla and the Aquila who are those those mothers and fathers in the faith who have come beside you and?
Have said you're on the right path, but there's a little bit more to go, and I just want you to notice as well that What were the people in Corinth called? disciples. Each one of us are to be learners. Each one of us are to be followers of Jesus Christ. It's not like a special set group of people who are disciples, but this is everyone in the church is meant to be those who are learning and following Jesus Christ.
Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the blessing of getting to follow you. Lord, we thank you for the love that you have poured out into our hearts, and we pray, God, that we would grow in knowledge and in love. Thank you for the grace you have poured out on us, for the saving faith you have given us in Jesus' name. Amen. May the Lord bless you today. May you enjoy the rich mercy of Jesus Christ. May you always rest in his love, and I'll see you tomorrow. Bye.
Thanks for listening to this week's message from God's Word for You, a ministry of Sharon R.P. Church in rural southeast Iowa. We pray that the message would be used by God to transform your faith in your life this week. If you'd like to get more information about us, feel free to go to the website, SharonRPC.org. We'd love to invite you to worship with us. Our worship time is 10 a.m. every Sunday at 25204 160th Avenue, Morning Sun, Iowa, 52640. May God richly bless you this week.