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Acts 18, I'll read up to 1 to 
23, and then I'll, excuse me, our focus will be on verses 1 
to 11, but I do wanna set it in its larger context, so I'll 
begin reading in chapter 18 at verse one. It says, after these 
things, that was his time in Athens. So he's just left Mars 
Hill, the Areopagus, not just, probably not 10 minutes later, 
but after his ministry there in Athens. So beginning in verse 
one of chapter 18. After these things, Paul departed 
from Athens and went to Corinth, and he found a certain Jew named 
Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with 
his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to 
depart from Rome, and he came to them. So because he was of 
the same trade, he stayed with them and worked. For by occupation 
they were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue 
every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. When Silas and 
Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit 
and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. But when 
they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said 
to them, your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. From now 
on, I will go to the Gentiles. And he departed from there and 
entered the house of a certain man named Justice, one who worshiped 
God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. Then Crispus, 
the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. 
And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Now the Lord spoke to Paul in 
the night by a vision. Do not be afraid, but speak, 
and do not keep silent. For I am with you, and no one 
will attack you to hurt you. For I have many people in this 
city. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching 
the word of God among them. When Galiot was proconsul of 
Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought 
him to the judgment seat, saying, This fellow persuades men to 
worship God contrary to the law. And when Paul was about to open 
his mouth, Galiot said to the Jews, If it were a matter of 
wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason 
why I should bear with you. But if it is a question of words 
and names and your own law, look to it yourselves, for I do not 
want to be a judge of such matters.' And he drove them from the judgment 
seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, 
the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment 
seat. But Galileo took no notice of these things. 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 Centria, 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 a longer time 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 time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia 
and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. Amen. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for 
the written word of the living and the true God. We know it's 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction. and 
for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be thoroughly 
furnished unto every good work. We pray that you would bless 
us now and help us to receive with thankful hearts your word. 
Again, forgive us for all of our sin and those things that 
darken our understanding, and we pray that the Holy Spirit 
would guide and lead and direct us. And may we rejoice at this 
happy occasion of the baptism of a brother. And may we see 
your plan unfolding in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. 
And we ask these blessings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Amen. Well, what we have here is the 
conclusion of what's called the second missionary journey. The 
second missionary journey of the apostle Paul is recorded 
beginning in Acts chapter 15 at verse 36 and finishes here 
in chapter 18 at verse 22. It took place in AD 49 to 52. 
Now, there was much ground covered. One man says the second journey 
includes Derbe, Lystra, Phrygia, and Galatia, sites visited on 
the first journey. In addition, God leads Paul to 
Macedonia, starting from Troas. He goes to Philippi, Thessalonica, 
Berea, Athens, and finally Corinth, before returning to Antioch. And he spends a lot of time in 
Corinth, as we see there in verse 11. He continued there a year 
and six months, teaching the word of God among them. The only 
other place that he spends longer time is in the next missionary 
journey, the third one, when he spends longer in Ephesus. So we can identify the second 
journey with the Corinthian church. Not again, that wasn't the only 
place that he went, but that's where he spent the bulk of his 
time. So I thought it would be instructive. There's obviously 
a passage or there's a text that affirms our practice in terms 
of baptism. They heard the word, they believed 
the word, and they were baptized in light of that word. But I 
thought it would be instructive, not only in terms of baptism, 
but in terms of Paul's ministry. We're on a pretty happy occasion 
in the life of our church. We're trying to help plant churches 
and see men raised up. And we need to have not just 
men breathing bodies, but specific kinds of men. And I think Paul 
exemplifies that. Now, I don't think any of us 
on this side of heaven are ever gonna sort of match what Paul 
was, but this ought to be the type of man that we seek to cultivate, 
the type of man that we seek to recognize, and send out for 
ministry. So I want to do two things this 
morning. First, look at the arrival in Corinth in verses one to four. 
And then secondly, the ministry of Paul in Corinth in verses 
five to 11. Now notice in verse one, after 
these things, Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth. Now, 
there's a great history associated with the Corinthian church, with 
the city of Corinth, but the one thing that it's important 
to understand is that it was located in a strategic place 
on the Isthmus of Corinth and joined the mainland of Greece 
to the Peloponnesian Peninsula. The population at this time was 
about 200,000 people. So it was a very important trade route. 
John Stott makes this observation concerning the ministry of the 
Apostle Paul. He said, Paul must have seen its strategic importance. 
If trade could radiate from Corinth in all directions, so could the 
gospel. So Paul wasn't one of those church 
planters that only went to the cities. But he did go to the 
cities. He did go to the rural areas. 
He went to the places where there were rich people. He went to 
those places where there were poor people. He went wherever 
the Spirit of God directed him with the message of God, which 
is namely, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be 
saved. Now when you read the letters 
of 1st and 2nd Corinthians, you'll notice that the church in Corinth 
had some problems. They had a lot of issues. That 
comes out in sharp relief in the first letter of Paul to the 
Corinthians. Just a bit of background concerning 
them. If Athens, where Paul had previously 
been, if Athens represented the sins of the intellect, Corinth 
represented the sins of the flesh. Plato used the term Corinthian 
girl as a synonym for a prostitute. To play the Corinthian meant 
fornication from the 5th century BC onward. The city housed the 
temple of Aphrodite or Venus, and there were a thousand temple 
prostitutes who came to the city each night to practice their 
trade. Doesn't sound like it would be a conducive place to 
build a church. Well, of course, that was a conducive 
place to build the church. The apostle is directed by God 
to go there. As John Gill says, the gospel 
was to be preached to the worst of sinners, among whom God's 
chosen ones lay, the apostle was directed to come hither. 
So it's not a friendly place, it's not a place that is welcoming, 
it's not a place that says, oh yes, we'd like to have several 
Christian churches here. So, in light of that, what are 
we supposed to do? If the people aren't absolutely 
welcoming, does that mean we just pass on by? No, Jesus says, 
I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail 
against it. We seek to go where sinners are. 
In short, we go everywhere with the message of the gospel to 
make disciples and to plant churches. And that is precisely what Paul 
does on these missionary journeys. Now notice he contacts this couple 
in verse 2. He found a certain Jew named 
Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with 
his wife Priscilla. They are mentioned in other places 
in the New Testament. They're a Christian couple. They 
even risked their own necks for the Apostle Paul, according to 
Romans chapter 16. Notice they could not stay in 
Rome because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. 
It's a bit of a historical tidbit concerning that. Suetonius, a 
Roman historian, relates that Claudius expelled the Jews because 
they were continually making a disturbance. under the influence 
or at the instance of one Christus, which some regarded as the proper 
name of a person now unknown, but others as a mistake for Christus. So it wasn't because they were 
committed to Christ. Whatever the disturbance the 
Jews were making, they were expelled from Rome by Claudius at that 
particular time. That explains why they are here. 
And Paul, of course, meets with them. There is affinity. Notice 
that they engaged in the same trade. Verse 2. He came to them, 
verse three, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with 
them and worked. So they were leather workers. 
They were tent makers. They worked with their hands. 
They built, they sold product. They were capitalists, yay. And 
then notice the custom of the apostle according to verse four. It says, he reasoned in the synagogue 
every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks. That's a common 
theme in the book of Acts. In other words, brethren, we 
are told by Jesus in Matthew 28 to go therefore and to make 
disciples of all the nations. We're not to simply sit down 
and wait for them to come to us. There needs to be this active 
involvement on the part of the church to go, to send, to plant, 
to make, to build, to do the things commanded by the blessed 
Savior. And so Paul, when he goes into 
various cities in the Roman Empire, the first place that he goes 
is to the synagogue. He knows that the Jews will be 
there, and he knows that there will be Greeks or Gentiles there. 
There were those God-fearing Greeks or Gentiles that were 
interested in the God of Israel, so they would on Sabbath day 
come to the Jewish synagogue. And there Paul would preach Christ. 
He would speak concerning the Old Testament prophets. He would 
speak concerning the life and the death and the resurrection 
of the Lord Jesus. He would explain its significance. 
Why did Jesus live, die, and rise again? Was it simply for 
an example? Was it simply to show us a higher 
and more nobler way? No, it was to bring salvation 
to sinners. All those who look to Jesus Christ 
in faith benefit from His life. What does that mean? It means 
when they believe the gospel, they receive His righteousness. 
They benefit from His death. What does that mean? It means 
they are cleansed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
And they are benefited by the resurrection from the dead of 
our Savior. Paul summarizes in Romans 4.25, 
he says that Jesus was delivered up because of our offenses and 
he was raised for our justification. So again, Paul would go into 
these synagogues and he would preach the gospel to the Jews 
and to the Gentiles, to the Jews and to the Greeks. And again, 
there are several places in the book of Acts where he does that 
very thing. Turn with me back to Acts chapter 
13. When he begins his missionary 
journey, this is precisely how he operates. Acts 13 marks the 
first missionary journey. That was AD 47 to 48. Notice 
they are sent by the church. The Spirit comes to the church. 
The Spirit specifically comes to the church. What do we learn 
by that? It is the church that is central in God's plan in terms 
of raising up men, identifying men, sending men out to do the 
work of church planting and missions. Then notice in verse 5, when 
they arrived in Solomus, they preached the word of God in the 
synagogues of the Jews. Look at verse 14. But when they 
departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia and went 
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. Notice in chapter 
14 at verse one, now it happened in Iconium, that they went together 
to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, 
both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed. Notice in chapter 17, 
verses one and two, now when they had passed through Amphipolis 
and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of 
the Jews. Then Paul noticed the next words, as his custom was, 
went into them and for three Sabbaths, notice as well, Not 
only that he does it, but he describes the manner in which 
he did it. He doesn't come in there and 
scream at them and say, you horrible Jews, you just need to believe 
on Jesus as he is set forth in the gospel. Now look at what 
it says. Verse 3 again, or verse 2, As 
his custom was, went into them, and for three sabbaths reasoned 
with them from the scriptures. explaining and demonstrating 
that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead 
and saying, this Jesus whom I preached to you is the Christ. Brethren, 
the left wins battles by shouting people down. The Christian church 
is to out-think the unbeliever. And how do we out-think the unbeliever? We think God's thoughts after 
him. We have the scripture. Remember 
later in Acts chapter 25, Festus says to Paul, much learning is 
driving you mad. And Paul says, I am not mad, 
most noble Festus, but I speak the words of truth and reason. 
We need men that are fit, not only in terms of virtue or characteristic, 
but in terms of giftedness, being able to open the Word of God, 
to explain the significance of the Scriptures, to reason, to 
dispute, and ultimately, to confound the enemies of Jesus Christ. 
That's what Paul does when he goes to these various synagogues 
in the Roman Empire. We see our text in 18.4. And 
then notice in 1908, same emphasis, and he went into the synagogue 
and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning 
the things of the kingdom of God. Christian preaching ought 
to be reasoning, it ought to be persuading. The Word of God 
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for 
instruction in righteousness. These aren't little happy talks. 
These aren't little stories. This isn't just a little autobiographical 
sketch. This isn't just a fireside chat. But the Word of God must be proclaimed 
because it is the means by which God saves sinners. First Corinthians 
121, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom 
did not know God, it pleased God through what? The foolishness 
of the message preached to save those who believe. That doesn't 
mean you can't read your Bible and come to saving faith. That 
doesn't mean you can't hear the gospel from a friend and come 
to saving faith. But the means ordained by God 
primarily in terms of the delivery system is the proclamation of 
the truth. It is the preaching of the word. 
It is reasoning. It is explaining. It is persuading. And we see that in the life and 
the ministry of the Apostle Paul. Now let's move to the ministry 
in Corinth in verses 5 to 11. Notice in the first place his 
testimony in the synagogue. Verse 5, when Silas and Timothy 
had come from Macedonia, they had been with him in Athens, 
had departed from a time, and remet him now as he's in Corinth. The epistles explain where they 
went and at least to some degree what they did. So now they're 
back together. So Silas and Timothy are with 
Paul. They had come from Macedonia. And then notice in verse five, 
Paul was compelled by the spirit and testified to the Jews that 
Jesus is the Christ. Now there's a variant reading. 
Our translation of the New King James has Paul was compelled 
by the spirit. The ESV has Paul was occupied 
with the word. The NIV has Paul devoted himself 
exclusively to preaching. I think the point is pretty much 
the same in each of those instances. What did Paul do when he went 
to those synagogues? Again, he didn't share his heart. Brethren, the last thing you 
want is a minister's heart. Hearts are deceitful among all 
things and desperately wicked. Even remaining corruption is 
enough to pollute the heart of a minister such that that's not 
what you come to church for. You don't want my heart. You 
don't want Paul's heart. You don't want Peter's heart. 
You don't want any minister's heart. You want the truth of 
God's holy word. At some point in the history 
of the church, oh, back in the 20th century, we forgot that. 
It got into this sort of celebrity culture. It got into this sort 
of narcissism from the ball pit. It got into all kinds of stuff 
that is contrary to what we see in the practice of the apostolic 
church. So Paul is compelled by the Spirit 
and he testifies to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. Again, 
it is important that we understand the significance of the tabernacle 
in Old Covenant religion. It's important that we understand 
the temple in Old Covenant religion. It's important that we understand 
the timeline of the history of Israel. I think that is absolutely 
very crucial for us to get and garner. But the primary emphasis 
in terms of saving faith, the principal acts of saving faith 
is to rest upon and to receive the Lord Jesus Christ. So not 
to surprise us that when Paul is compelled in the spirit as 
he's standing in a synagogue of the Jews, that the spirit 
leads him to preach that Christ or that Jesus is the Christ. 
Now, brethren, that would take a degree of courage on the part 
of the apostle, because as you know, the Jews didn't receive 
him, not All the Jews, but many of the Jews rejected him. John 
in the prologue tells us he came to his own, his own did not receive 
him. So there were people in the empire, 
Jewish people, that had a real ax to grind with Christianity. 
They had a real ax to grind with Jesus being the Messiah. And 
so it would be probably understandable, at least in some context, for 
Paul not to press his luck when he's in the midst of a synagogue. 
Brethren, that is bad thinking. We need to press God's Word. 
We aren't supposed, first and foremost, to think about our 
safety, or our comfort, or our blessing, or our provision. The 
task of the ministry of the gospel is to minister the gospel. And 
when we relinquish that, we are no longer a church. We're no 
longer ministers. Whatever we may be, we're certainly 
not what God has called ministers of the gospel to be. So he preaches 
Christ to these people. Now notice, secondly, the opposition 
of the Jews. Verse 6, it says, Now this opposition 
to the Apostle Paul is not new. Turn back to chapter 13. Chapter 
13. to see several instances of their 
opposition to the Apostle Paul. Acts 13, specifically at verse 
45. That's pretty wicked, isn't it? 
Not only do they not want it, but they're gonna make sure nobody 
else gets it. Sounds like when Jesus condemned the scribes and 
the Pharisees in Matthew chapter 23. You not only prevent yourself 
from entering into the kingdom of God, but you're blocking up 
the entrance for others as well. And that's precisely what these 
unbelieving Jews do in Pisidian Antioch. Notice in 14 too. 14.2, 
we see 14.1, they so spoke that a great multitude, both of the 
Jews and of the Greeks, believed. Verse 2, but the unbelieving 
Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against 
the brethren. Notice in 4, but the multitude 
of the city was divided, part sided with the Jews and part 
with the apostles. Look at verses 19 and 20. Verses 
19 and 20, then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there. Now, 
you've got to understand the mission to them was so important 
that they would make that long journey. Listen, Jews from Antioch 
and Iconium came there. Pisidian Antioch was 80 miles 
from Iconium. Iconium was 18 miles from Lystra. Do you understand that, brethren? 
We as Christians don't show that kind of commitment and tenacity 
in bringing the truth. They didn't just hop on a bus. 
They didn't take a little flight. They didn't take a train. They 
most likely walked. They walked all those miles so 
they could shut the mouth of the apostle so that he could 
not preach that Jesus is the Christ. The animosity and the 
enmity and the rage of the unbeliever ought to fire up the hearts of 
God's people with boldness and courage to not shrink back. While they're out there celebrating 
their abortions, while they're out there clamoring for more 
rights to kill babies. We need to pray for sure, and 
we need to reason and persuade from the scripture why this is 
an act of butchery, and it will be met with the judgment and 
justice of God most high. You see, these people were committed 
to exterminating the Apostle Paul. Then Jews from Antioch 
and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they 
stoned Paul, dragged him out of the city, supposing him to 
be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around him, he rose 
up and went into the city, and the next day he departed with 
Barnabas to Derbe. It's an absolute amazing thing 
that these God-haters went all those miles in order to try and 
kill Paul. It's also an amazing thing that 
he was stoned to the point where they actually thought he was 
dead, and the next day he travels 60 miles to continue to preach. 60 miles. Brethren, I get a cold 
and you think the world was about to end. I'm laying on the couch 
and asking my beloved for seven up and saltines. I mean, life 
is over. I can't even imagine what it 
is to be stoned, dragged out of a city, left for dead, get 
up the next day and walk 60 miles to preach. And it shouldn't surprise 
us the text that was Paul's in 1422. Through many tribulations, 
we must enter the kingdom of God. That's what he preached 
and no one had to say, what does he mean by that? What's he talking 
about? They saw the brand marks of Jesus 
in his body. They saw the scars and the wounds 
of the stones that he had just received. You see, even though 
they tried to kill him, he didn't stop. He kept going. He kept 
persevering. He did what God had called him 
to do and he wasn't gonna shrink back. Notice as well in chapter 
17, verses five to nine. Chapter 17, verses five to nine. But the Jews, verse five, who 
were not persuaded, becoming envious, took some of the evil 
men from the marketplace. Those were the guys that stood 
around and had signs, evil men in the marketplace, hire us for 
day labor. It's kind of how I read it. And 
gathering a mob, set all the city in an uproar and attacked 
the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the people. 
But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren 
to the rulers of the city, crying out. These who have turned the 
world upside down have come here too. Jason has harbored them. 
And these are all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying 
there is another king, Jesus. And they troubled the crowd and 
the rulers of the city when they heard these things. So when they 
had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. 
You see the point. You see the repetition. You see 
the hardship. You'd think after a missionary 
journey that was punctuated by rejection, by, you know, opposition, 
by pain, suffering, by almost coming to death, Paul might have 
said, you know, I'm ready to retire. You know, that one missionary 
journey was very fruitful. We planted, we made some disciples, 
we planted the churches of Southern Galatia. That's not Paul. Paul's 
not going to shrink back. Paul's not going to stop. Paul's 
not going to be sidelined. Paul's not going to be kowtowed. 
Paul is going to do what God Most High called him to do. Come 
whatever may. That's the caliber of gospel 
ministry that this age desperately needs. It is men who do not shrink 
back from declaring the whole counsel of God Most High, because 
that is precisely what this wicked generation needs. What are we 
doing if we stop? What are we doing if we relinquish? 
What are we doing if we're sidelined? We're stopping the very benefit 
and blessing that the people who are in opposition desperately 
need. I realize they don't know that. 
I realize they don't understand that. I realize they disagree 
with that. But who cares? We go based on 
what God says in terms of our lives and ethics. Back to 18.5, 
notice. Not only did they oppose Paul, 
but they blasphemed. This is interesting. Luke does 
this in chapter 13 as well. Luke is the author of the book 
of Acts. Notice, the word can be used with reference to man, 
but it is likely their rejection of Christ that is described by 
Luke as blasphemy. Same thing in Pisidian Antioch 
in Acts 13. So to oppose or reject Jesus, 
to say no to the Lord Christ, to respond with that kind of 
enmity, not only to his apostle, but to him himself, that is to 
blaspheme. Luke is telling us there is a 
change happening. The apostles preaching Christ 
are hallowing and praising the name of God Most High. The Jews 
who are opposing Christ are disregarding and blaspheming the name of Jesus 
Christ, God Most High. Notice thirdly, the response 
by Paul, verse six. It says, when they opposed him 
in blaspheme, he shook his garments and said to them, your blood 
be upon your own heads. I am clean from now on, I will 
go to the Gentiles. He does a similar thing in 1351. 
He shakes the dust from his sandals off of his feet. And he does a similar thing here 
in the light of the words of our Lord Jesus Christ. In other 
words, the ministry of the apostle isn't forever. If it is the case 
that they are going to ultimately cut your throat, if there is 
wisdom to flee from that city, go ahead. Jesus speaks to that 
in the mission to the apostles with reference to Israel in Matthew 
chapter 10. But we see that Paul nevertheless 
stuck it out after the vision that he had of Christ for that 
year and a half. But nevertheless, look back at 
the text. It says, he says, he shook his garments and said to 
them, your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean from now 
on, I will go to the Gentiles. Notice this, this is an intriguing 
thing. Paul was a predestinarian, wasn't 
he? Paul believed in sovereign grace. 
We've been studying Ephesians. For those visiting, we're studying 
Ephesians in our evening worship. And in Ephesians 1, it tells 
us just as he, God the Father, chose us in him before the foundation 
of the world. Not because we were holy and 
without blame, but that we would become holy and without blame. 
He goes on to say, and love having predestined us to adoption as 
sons by Jesus Christ to the praise of the glory of his grace. The 
apostle Paul understood this doctrine all too well. Romans 
9, 16, he says, it does not depend upon him who wills or upon him 
who runs, but on God who shows mercy. So for Paul, the predestinarian, 
we might suspect that he would just not invoke the fact that 
they were responsible. But he does invoke the fact that 
they're responsible. They are culpable for their rejection 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. All men everywhere must repent. All men everywhere must believe. This is the command of God Most 
High, 1 John 2.23. If you reject and you resist, 
it is on you. In fact, look at the heavy emphasis 
on predestination, even in the passage. Look at verse 10. Jesus encourages Paul, for I 
am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you, for I have many 
people in this city. How does Jesus know that? Because 
he's God Most High. How does Jesus know that? Because 
he understands the contours of apostolic ministry. He says, 
Paul, don't depart, don't leave. There are many in this city who 
are going to come to me. So when we come back to verse 
six, he says, your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. Reminiscent is the prophet Ezekiel. One of those watchman passages. 
Remember God tells the son of man to be a watchman, to make 
sure that you warn Israel concerning impending judgment. And especially 
in chapter 33, verses one to five, at verse four, God says 
to Ezekiel, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and 
does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, 
his blood shall be on his own head. So what did God tell Ezekiel? If you don't warn them, I will 
require it from you. But if you warn them and they 
resist and they reject, then I will require it from them. 
And so Paul reminisces with that, and he brings that to bear upon 
his heroes. He says, I am clean. He says 
this later in Acts chapter 20. I am clean of the blood of all 
men. I have not shrunk back from declaring 
to you the whole counsel of God. Then notice what we have in terms 
of his departure. Verse 7 tells us he departed 
from there, entered the house of a certain man named Justice, 
one who worshipped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 
He's probably still lodging with Aquila and Priscilla, but he's 
now preaching and teaching at this house of Justice. Justice 
is right next to the synagogue. So because they've been forced 
out of the synagogue, basically run out of the synagogue, Paul 
makes that statement concerning the judgment upon them, and now 
he turns to this house of justice, not justice like we think, it's 
justice the name of this particular person, and there he would continue 
to preach and teach that Jesus is the Christ. Now notice, fourthly, 
the effects of his ministry. the effects of his ministry. 
There's a compendium statement in verse 8. Then Crispus, the 
ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. 
And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. Now the reference by Paul in 
1 Corinthians 1 is to this Crispus. I thank God that I baptized none 
of you except Crispus and Gaius. Now, this is one of the several 
household baptisms in the Book of Acts, and I want to tell you 
flat out, neither the pedo or the credo has absolute proof 
for their position in the household baptisms. I would certainly say 
to discountenance the pedo, that not every household has infants. I have a household, we don't 
have infants. Those infants all grew up. They 
toddled, they became prepubescent, they went through puberty, as 
Al Martin would say, they grew up, they got married, and now 
they have their own households. So if Paul came to my household 
and he preached the gospel to me, to my household, and we believed 
that gospel and we were baptized, that would be a household baptism. So Paedo-Baptists can't find 
solace definitely with reference to household baptism. In fact, 
I do think the emphasis in the passage leans towards credo or 
believer's baptism because notice the conspicuous pattern. Notice 
that we find Luke saying what he says all along this book of 
Acts. It says in verse 8, then Crispus, 
the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. 
So all of his household believed with him. And then notice, and 
many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized. They heard the word of truth, 
they believed the word of truth, and they were baptized in light 
of the word of truth. Now, why do you think that happened? 
Well, there was a prophetic reason and an imperative. The prophecy 
of Jeremiah, where the prophet, under inspiration of the Spirit, 
tells us what the New Covenant would look like. In the New Covenant, 
all shall know the Lord, from the least of them to the greatest 
of them. God says that he would write his law upon their hearts. 
God says that they would have the forgiveness of sins. God 
says that they would know Him. And the knowledge there isn't 
simply cognitive, it is experiential, it is the knowledge of God as 
Lord and Savior. We have that obvious or rather 
prophetic definition of what the New Covenant is going to 
look like. And then we come to the imperative of the command 
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Go, therefore, and make disciples 
of all the nations. Well, what happens after we make 
disciples? You baptize them in the name of the triune God. And 
then you teach them the two legs of the commission. Get them saved, 
justification by faith. Get them taught, sanctification 
by the Spirit and Word. So when we come to the book of 
Acts, that's the pattern, that's what happens, that's what transpires. 
Not only here in 18.8, but turn back to chapter 2. Chapter 2, 
verse 38, they're cut to the heart as a result of Peter's 
preaching on the day of Pentecost. And it says in verse 38, then 
Peter said to them, repent, let every one of you be baptized 
in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you 
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises 
to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many 
as the Lord our God will call. And with many other words, he 
testified and exhorted them saying, be saved from this perverse generation. Now notice, then those who gladly 
received his word were baptized. And that day, about 3000 souls 
were added to them. Notice as well, chapter 8, same 
sort of an emphasis. Belief and then baptism. It reflects 
the Great Commission. It reflects the definition of 
the New Covenant community from the prophet Jeremiah. Notice 
in chapter 8, verse 12. But when they believed Philip 
as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name 
of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. See, they 
believed and were baptized. And Simon himself also believed. 
And when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and was 
amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done. Simon 
didn't turn out to be saved. But that does not gut the testimony 
of verse 13. He had at least made an outward 
profession of faith. He had testified of faith in 
Christ, and as a result, Peter baptized him. Now notice as well, 
chapter 8, verses 36 and 37, the Ethiopian unit. Now as they went down the road, 
they came to some water, and the eunuch said, See, here is 
water. What hinders me from being baptized? Then Philip said, If 
you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered and 
said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. 918. 918. Immediately there fell from his 
eyes, this is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, something 
like scales. He received his sight at once 
and he rose and was baptized. 1048, 1048, this is the household 
of Cornelius having come out of darkness into marvelous light. 
He commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then 
they asked him to stay a few days. As well, 16, 14, and 15, 
16, 14, and 15. Now a certain woman named Lydia 
heard us. She was a seller of purple from 
the city of Thyatira who worshipped God. The Lord opened her heart 
to heed the things spoken by Paul. And when she and her household 
were baptized, she begged us saying, if you have judged me 
to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay. So she 
persuaded us. Notice in 32 and 33, well, verse 
31. So they said, believe on the 
Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household. 
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were 
in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and 
washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his 
were baptized. You see the pattern, the conspicuous 
pattern reflecting the command of our blessed Savior in light 
of the prophetic testimony. that all in the New Covenant 
community are those who know the Lord. So what does that mean 
with reference to our infants? We preach the gospel to them. 
We bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. We 
catechize them. We bring them to the corporate 
means of grace. We set before them Christ and 
Him crucified, and we urge upon them to believe on Him, and you 
shall be saved. When they say, I've been saved, 
then we baptize them, because the pattern is belief and then 
baptism. John Gill summarizes this point 
well. This is a plain instance of believers' 
baptism. First they heard the Word of 
God, then they believed this Word coming with power to them, 
and upon their believing they are baptized. And then finally, 
in terms of our exposition, notice the vision of Christ. The vision 
of Christ in verses 9 to 11. First, the Lord Jesus in His 
kindness encourages Paul. Now, it probably is no fun thing, 
brethren, to get chased out of a synagogue. It's probably no 
fun thing to be opposed by the Jews. To have them completely 
understand what it is you're saying in terms of Jesus being 
their Messiah, whom they are rejecting, and them getting up 
in arms about it. I mean, when you read these passages, 
I don't think we feel the full contours of it. But again, chapter 
14, they stoned him. Why? Because he dared to claim 
that Jesus the Nazarene was the Messiah for Israel. What a horrific 
crime. They were trying to cancel him 
in this first century. They wanted to silence him. So 
Christ comes to him and notice, commands him to speak. He says, 
don't let this get you down. Don't let this stop you. Don't 
let this dissuade you from the mission at hand. Verse 9, now 
the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision and he said, 
do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent. Now the mindset 
of the apostle Paul, we asked the question, what do you think 
he's thinking? Well, we know at least at one point what he 
was thinking, because in 1 Corinthians 1, he tells us his mindset when 
he came to the city of Corinth, or when he was ministering in 
the city of Corinth. He says, I was with you in weakness, 
in fear, and in much trembling. He says that. Not one of these 
super macho preachers for Jesus, the gospel leatherneck, the guy 
that brings the matches to everything. That's not Paul. Paul's man enough 
to be able to say, I'm trembling, I've got much weakness, I've 
got some issues, I've got some challenges. See, brethren, true 
manhood isn't machismo. It's doing what God calls you 
to do. That's manhood. And by the way, 
that's womanhood as well. Doing what God calls you the 
way that He tells you to do it. So the apostle has this, so Christ 
comes to him. And Christ says, do not be afraid. A refrain throughout scripture. 
I mean, go back to Deuteronomy, the plains of Moab, before they 
enter into the promised land. What does God tell the children 
of Israel? Do not be afraid. What does he tell General Joshua 
when Joshua was about to engage in the conquest of Canaan? Do 
not be afraid. What does he tell the nation 
of Israel? all throughout their history. Do not be afraid. Why is that? Because our default 
mode is to be afraid. And so God counteracts that by 
telling us in several places to not be afraid. So Jesus says, 
I don't want you to be afraid, but I want you rather to speak, 
Paul. That's what you've been chosen 
for. Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent. Matthew 
Poole makes this observation. He says, the fierceness of the 
enemies of God and His truth should kindle a greater fervor 
in His servants for His glory. Is that what we've witnessed 
in the last couple of years? I would suggest no. The fierceness 
of the enemies of God and His truth should kindle a greater 
fervor in His servants for His glory. Should Satan have better 
servants than God? Should they dare for their master 
beyond what the servants of God are willing to do or to suffer 
for Him? In other words, should the wicked 
outperform the righteous? And by perform, I don't mean 
so that we can be saved. We're saved by grace so that 
we can serve the Master. And we are not to relinquish, 
we're not to be paralyzed by fear or dissuaded by all of the 
legions of hell itself. So the Lord Christ comes to him, 
do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent. And then 
he incentivizes him. He encourages him. He gives him 
the rationale for this. He could just say, don't be afraid, 
get back in there and speak. God could do that. The Lord Christ 
can do that. That's perfectly acceptable. 
Why do we do this? Because God's commanded it. But 
more often than not, when God gives us commands, He gives us 
all these incentives. He gives us all these promises. 
He gives us all these blessings. He gives us the rationale. You 
know, when your kids are little and they ask why, do you always 
give them the rationale? Or at some point do you say, 
because I told you so. That's the rationale. But in 
this instance, notice the rationale in verse 10. For I am with you 
and no one will attack you to hurt you. Now that didn't apply 
to Sosthenes. Look down at verse 17. Then all 
the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat 
him before the judgment seat. But Galileo took no notice of 
these things. With reference to the apostle, 
he would be spared. He would be kept from harm. There 
would be no harm coming to him. And then Christ gives us this 
final statement. He says, for I have many people 
in this city. In other words, you need to keep 
preaching. You need to keep teaching. You need to keep facing down 
the opposition. You need to stand fast. You need 
to be firm. You need to persevere. Why? Because 
there are sinners in this world that need to be saved, and it's 
going to be through the instrumentality of your preaching. That is the 
encouragement given by our blessed Savior to the Apostle Paul, and 
what does he do? He takes it to heart, he acts 
upon it, and he spends a year and six months in the city of 
Corinth. He goes back to Antioch for a 
time, and then he launches the third missionary journey. And 
there, again, the primary emphasis is in the city of Ephesus. What 
happens in Ephesus? There's an actual riot in Ephesus 
associated with the Apostle Paul's ministry. It is absolutely insane 
what happens, but God preserves his servant through all of it. 
And then I just want to bring a few thoughts and then we'll 
get in the water, Lucas. First of all, notice the preaching 
of the gospel is the primary activity of these missionaries. 
We use the word missionary in a general sense today. Anybody 
who goes to a foreign field and does something for Jesus, we 
call them a missionary. Now that is a general sense. But in terms of the specific 
nature of a missionary, it is a man qualified by God, Allah, 
1 Timothy 3, Titus 1. His charge, his task, is to make 
disciples and to plant churches. That's what a missionary is, 
narrowly defined. If you use missionary with reference 
to a nurse that is serving in a war-torn place in Myanmar, 
again, I'm not going to have a beef with you, but understand 
there's a general, but then there's the narrowly defined. And the 
missionaries that we find in the Book of Acts, the three missionary 
journeys of the Apostle Paul, are about preaching. They're 
about telling sinners the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, secondly, the primary 
activity of the opposition. It's to oppose! The enemies of 
Christ do not take this lightly. Again, brethren, take the abortion 
debate right now. What drives a human being with 
that kind of madness and rage to want to fight for the right 
to kill a baby in its mother's womb? You can only deduce or 
conclude that there's something satanic behind this. There's 
something spiritual in nature. The apostle tells us in Ephesians 
6, we don't wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities 
and powers, against darkness itself. Now they manifest through 
Planned Parenthood. They manifest through these lunatics 
shouting their abortion, but nevertheless, the God-hater is 
committed The Christian church isn't always committed. The Christian 
church doesn't always take seriously their charge. The Christian church 
doesn't always pray that the Lord would raise up laborers. 
The Christian church doesn't take seriously the emphasis on 
preaching and teaching the Word of God Almighty. The church needs 
to heed the Word of God and do what it does in light of and 
in spite of the opposition of the God-haters. That should just 
be intuitive, that we don't change based on what they're doing. 
Notice, thirdly, the promise of Christ. We're not going to 
get visions. That time has ended. The theological sort of argument 
for the cessation of those gifts is obvious in Scripture. The 
particular exegetical point I would make is in Daniel 9, the 70 weeks 
of our blessed Savior. One of the things is to seal 
up vision and prophecy. That doesn't mean because we 
don't need it anymore. It's because we don't need it 
anymore because of the Bible. We've got the scriptures. We're 
not gonna get visions, but we glean off the visions that we 
have in the scripture. He is with his church when we 
are engaged in the work. Notice again, verse, I didn't 
bring this out. I'm running out of time. I'm mindful of that. 
Notice in verse 10, I walked right past that. For I am with 
you. I am with you. Paul, don't be afraid, speak, 
don't keep silent. Why? Yes, because I have much 
people in this city, but even more primarily, I am with you. Matthew 28, 18 to 20. Lo, I am 
with you even to the end of the age. The charge to Joshua, do 
not be afraid. Why? Because I'm with you. The 
charge to the children of Israel, go into the land and conquer. 
Why? Because I am with you. The emphasis on fear not is typically 
coupled with because I'm with you. Paul the Apostle summarizes 
in chapter 8 of Romans, he says, if God is for us, what can man 
do? If all the world should oppose 
us, if Satan himself is against us, but God is present with his 
church, shall not fail. We have the promise in Matthew 
16, I will build my church in the gates of Hades, shall not 
prevail against it. He protects his servants in order 
to advance his kingdom, and he has his people in this world. 
He has a great multitude that no man can number. We learn that 
from the book of Revelation. When John sees in visionary form 
the church triumphant before the throne, it's a great multitude, 
no man can number it. So what does that tell us? We 
have work to do in the church today in terms of extending the 
kingdom of Jesus Christ. It is his mission, it is his 
task. We are his Eve, his helper with 
reference to proclamation and with reference to worship. And 
then finally, we ought to emphasize the practice of the church as 
church. Notice, preaching the gospel, 
making disciples, and then baptizing them. Preaching the gospel, making 
disciples, and then baptizing them. Gonna get a little personal 
here. with reference to Lucas. I have a point, and I'm not suggesting 
that Lucas is a child, but the conversion of children in the 
life of the church. I mentioned, and I didn't remember 
this, I remembered Lucas and Jonathan when they were quite 
little. We met at the Seventh Day Adventist building, and I 
remember them running up one day saying, Pastor Butler, there's 
a big spider in the bathroom. I'm thinking, what do you want 
me to do about it? guys, but I've known him since 
he was just a little fellow, but the group predated me just 
a couple years, so he was in utero while he was here. But 
the conversion of children in the life of the church, people 
often think we practice adult baptism. We practice believer's 
baptism. We practice believer's baptism. 
There's no age specified at what point somebody can get baptized. 
Now, admittedly, the younger a child is, the more difficult. 
Sometimes children are men-pleasers or, you know, they'll do what 
mommy and daddy want and that sort of thing. So you have to 
exercise some wisdom and that sort of thing. But I want to 
suggest that the power of God who saves children in Christian 
families is the same power of God that saved the Apostle Paul 
when he was raging with enmity against the church. There is 
in our culture, in the Christian culture, this celebration of 
the guy that was a heroin addict, and he used to visit prostitutes, 
and God saved him. And we tend to marvel at God's 
grace in such an instance. And then somebody comes along 
and says, you know, I can't really ever remember a time I wasn't 
believing in Jesus. And that doesn't seem to impact 
us as much. Brethren, we've got big problems 
if it doesn't impact us as much. The heart is deceitful above 
all things and desperately wicked. The wicked are estranged from 
the womb, speaking lies as soon as they are born. The effectual 
calling of God upon a child is as much glorious as is the effectual 
calling of God upon the Apostle Paul. Paul recognizes this in 
1 Timothy chapter 6. He makes this statement concerning 
Timothy. He says, fight the good fight, 
lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have 
confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 
He says, lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called. 
That is the effectual call. Romans chapter 8, verse 30. How does that effectual call 
come to Timothy? Through the faithfulness of a 
Eunice, the faithfulness of a Lois, who catechized their little son 
and grandson, the faithfulness of a brother and sister that 
reared their children in the training and admonition of the 
Lord God Most High. This is the time to celebrate 
amazing grace. How sweet the sound that saved 
a wretch like him. even if it wasn't the heroin 
guy or the prostitute guy. Yeah, we praise God for their 
salvation too, but we praise God that he works in and through 
family and church, that in the nursery, when you ladies are 
instructing your children. in the family altar when you 
fathers are leading your children to the cross of our blessed Savior. 
God's working. God's in the midst of that. God 
affectionately calls. God draws them to himself. It 
is most blessed and wondrous. It is glorious and awesome. So 
we don't discount somebody, well, I don't know, I never really 
did go out and use heroin, I never really did go out and, you know, 
visit prostitutes. We should celebrate that testimony 
just as much as the other. There is no celebrity culture 
in the church today that is an affront to God Most High. Clark says, we know the fact 
that God called Timothy out of his state of original unrighteousness 
into his present state of grace. Such effectual calling is obvious 
in spectacular conversions, such as Paul's, but is just as real 
and necessary for those who learn the gospel from their mothers 
and their grandmothers. What a blessing. Parents, take 
this seriously. Rear your children, train your 
children in the training and admonition of the Lord. Don't 
think Satan and his legions aren't after them. They're sexualizing 
five-year-olds today. Six-year-olds teaching them about 
pronouns and gender identity. Brethren, at five and four and 
six, no one should ever think about such things. That shouldn't 
even enter the mind. The teachers are fighting for 
this privilege is very indicative of the godless age in which we 
live. They are fighting for your children. Be assured of that. You need 
to fight harder for them. You need to teach them. You need 
to train them. You need to schlep them to church. 
You need to teach them to sit and pay attention. You need to 
teach them that life isn't all about them. You're gonna go and 
do something that's actually about God for an hour and a half. 
And you're gonna sit there and you're gonna listen. You could 
do it nicer brethren, to be sure. But the emphasis is on the effectual 
call of God through the means, and the means of faithful parenting 
is blessed by the Lord. We have seen it, we can testify, 
and we bless God as a result of His goodness. So take heart. 
Parents, you've got little ones. I know it's a challenge. I know 
it's a difficulty. I know it's a long-haul affair. 
but God most high is faithful. He's there in the trenches right 
alongside of you. And the same effectual call is 
necessary for those little wretches. And then for Lucas specifically. 
With reference to our confession of faith, there's three emphases 
in terms of baptism. Fellowship with Christ, you have 
that by grace through faith in Him. Union with Christ, you have 
that by grace through faith in Him. The remission of sins, you 
have that by grace through faith in Him. And that last bit in 
our confessional statement says, end of giving up unto God through 
Jesus Christ to live and walk in newness of life. That is obviously 
spirit-empowered, but you need to be faithful, and you need 
to do what God calls you to do, and you need to help us, and 
we need to help you. That's my encouragement, brethren. 
When we add members to this church, it is for the purpose of mutual 
edification and encouragement and the fellowship of the saints. 
And God be praised that he's adding to our numbers, not so 
that we can be puffed up, but so we can marvel at his amazing 
grace and his loving kindness. So may the Lord bless this day. May it be a time for remembrance, 
not only for Lucas, but for his family as they ponder the goodness 
of God Almighty. And salvation doesn't come through 
that water. If in your head you think that that's somehow magic, 
it's not. After we use it, we're gonna open the tap. I showed 
somebody yesterday, kind of got to get your arm under there and 
open this tap. That water is just gonna flow 
right out into the park. Well, it used to flow out in 
the parking lot. It now goes into a pit or a ditch for it. 
It's not magic. This is an outward sign of what 
God has done by grace in his heart. The way of salvation is 
through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on him and you 
shall be saved. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you for your glory. 
We thank you for your power, for the goodness of God Most 
High as demonstrated in the gospel of our salvation. We thank you 
for the salvation of a man like the Apostle Paul, a man like 
Timothy as well. We thank you for Lucas and for 
other young people here. For all of us, God, we know it's 
not because of our works but because of your grace that we 
will enter into your glorious kingdom. Bless and strengthen 
each one now, and again, draw those who are dead in their trespasses 
and sins by that effectual call. And we pray these things through 
Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.