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You can turn with me in your 
Bibles to the book of Acts. We shall, God willing, return 
to our study in Ephesians next week, but tonight, Acts 19. And 
the title of the message is The Ministry of Paul in Ephesus. 
We'll take up the first 10 verses. sort of another baptism sermon. 
I want to consider the baptism of John the Baptist and argue 
that it is, in fact, Christian baptism, and that what you're 
finding in this section is not re-baptism, but Paul simply stating 
what had happened to those who had received John's message. 
So I want to read chapter 19, verses 1 to 10. And it happened 
while Apollos was at Corinth that Paul, having passed through 
the upper regions, came to Ephesus. And finding some disciples, he 
said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? 
So they said to him, We have not so much as heard whether 
there is a Holy Spirit. And he said to them, Into what 
then were you baptized? So they said, Into John's baptism. Then Paul said, John indeed baptized 
with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they 
should believe on him who would come after him, that is, on Jesus 
Christ. When they heard this, they were 
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid 
hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke 
with tongues and prophesied. Now the men were about twelve 
in all. And he went into the synagogue 
and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning 
the things of the kingdom of God. But when some were hardened 
and did not believe, but spoke evil of the way before the multitude, 
he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily 
in the school of Tyrannus. And this continued for two years, 
so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, 
both Jews and Greeks. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Father, we thank you again for this blessed day. 
We thank you for the mercy, the grace, the kindness that you've 
shown us in the Savior King. And we pray that tonight the 
Spirit of God would guide us as we consider this portion of 
Holy Scripture. We pray that you would forgive 
us for all of our sins and unrighteousness. We pray that you would have saving 
dealings with any here that are outside of Christ. We pray that 
tonight, today would be the day of salvation. She would call 
sinners forth out of darkness into marvelous light to confess 
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. We know the same God who served 
and saved in the first century is saving even today. And we 
rejoice in that. We know the power of the gospel. 
We know the glory of our blessed Savior. And we pray now that 
you would be honored as we gather together And we ask through Jesus 
Christ our Lord, amen. Well, as we come to this particular 
passage of scripture, Paul is on the third missionary journey. 
The third missionary journey took place from AD 53 to AD 57. We see it begins in chapter 18 
at verse 23. In fact, you can look there at 
verse 22, 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. That was about 1500 
miles. Well, then he comes to the city 
of Ephesus and he spends a couple of years there. He had been there 
prior, if you look back at chapter 18, in verses 18 and following. He is there, but he leaves Ephesus 
to go back to Jerusalem for a feast. So as I said, we can see or sort 
of localize the emphasis in Ephesus in that third missionary journey. 
In the first missionary journey, we ought to think the churches 
of southern Galatia. The second missionary journey, 
we ought to think of Corinth. Not that these were the only 
places visited on these missionary journeys, but they were the places 
where Paul spent the most amount of time. And so this chapter, 
I didn't read the entirety of the chapter, but it's quite intriguing. 
Not only does Paul deal with these disciples of John the Baptist, 
but then Paul does what God's apostles were supposed to do. 
He preached the gospel, we'll see that in a few moments, But 
there was such an effect upon the city of Ephesus that the 
occultists were basically shot down. The tradesmen who trafficked 
in idolatry were shot down. There was a riot that ultimately 
broke out in the city. In other words, we see the gospel 
of Jesus Christ turning the world upside down as it is preached, 
as it is received, and as it is responded against by those 
who reject it. So the gospel is, in fact, the 
power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes, to the 
Jew first and also to the Greek. But those who do not believe, 
those who reject it and resist it, oftentimes express their 
antipathy and enmity against the people of God. So chapter 
19 in the book of Acts is full of all sorts of exciting things. But I want to focus first on 
the meeting with the disciples in verses 1 to 7, and then secondly, 
the ministry in Ephesus in verses 8 to 10. Now, with reference 
to the meeting with the disciples, there's three things here. First, 
the interview with the disciples, verses 1 to 3, the review of 
the ministry of John in verses 4 and 5, and then the reception 
of the Holy Spirit in verses 6 and 7. So again, as I read 
through this passage, it probably looks a lot like these men were 
re-baptized. They had been baptized by John, 
they hear the words of the Apostle Paul, and then they're baptized 
by the Apostle Paul. But as we move through, I want 
to show you that's not what's happening. It's a question of 
punctuation. If you took that end quotation 
mark at the end of verse four and extended it to the end of 
verse five, I think that's the emphasis in the passage. The 
emphasis is upon what Paul said, and then what Paul did. What 
Paul said entails verses 4 and 5, and what Paul does is in verses 
6 and 7. But let's look first at the interview 
with the disciples. I've already mentioned that he 
had been previously in Ephesus, he left there, he eventually 
went back to Antioch, and from there was sent out on this third 
missionary journey. He comes to these men, and according 
to verse 2, he said to them, did you receive the Holy Spirit 
when you believed? Did you receive the Holy Spirit 
when you believed? Now, the nature of the question 
is not, do you know anything at all about the Holy Spirit? 
If you drop down to verse 6, you will see what the emphasis 
in the passage is. At verse 6, when Paul had laid 
hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they spoke 
with tongues and prophesied. The context helps us to understand 
the nature of the question. Did you receive the supernatural 
gifts associated with the Holy Spirit when you believed and 
were baptized? That's what's going on in the 
passage. It cannot be the case that these disciples of John 
the Baptist had never heard of the Holy Spirit. Of course they 
had heard. Most likely they were Jews. They 
would have understood who the Holy Spirit was according to 
the Old Testament. But as well, in John's preaching, 
in one instance, in chapter 3 of Matthew's Gospel, verse 11, I 
indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who is 
coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy 
to carry. He will baptize you with the 
Holy Spirit and fire. So it's not a question as to 
whether they know of the third person of the triune God, it's 
a question as to whether or not they received the Holy Spirit 
in a manner that was like Pentecost in Acts chapter 2, in a manner 
that was like Judea Samaria in Acts chapter 8. in a manner that 
was like Cornelius and his household in Acts chapter 10. You see these 
pivotal times in the movement of redemptive history in the 
book of Acts to showcase the power of the Spirit coming upon 
the church to enable them for that worldwide mission of taking 
the gospel to all the nations. So back to the text. Notice how 
the disciples respond. Now notice, even before that, 
it says, "...and finding some disciples in verse 2, he said 
to them..." Now typically, when we meet that word, disciples, 
in the book of Acts, it's Christian disciples. It's the followers 
of Jesus Christ. It's believers in Him. And again, 
I think that is the consistent way to approach this and to address 
this. The ignorance concerning the 
Spirit was not total. It was not absolutely, positively, 
no idea whatsoever. In fact, John Stott, commenting 
on this passage, and he disagrees with me, by the way, he does 
believe that they were baptized by the Apostle Paul, but he makes 
this observation. He says, this cannot mean that 
they had never heard of the Spirit at all, for He is referred to 
many times in the Old Testament, and John the Baptist spoke of 
the Messiah as baptizing people with the Spirit. It must rather 
mean that although they had heard John's prophecy, they had not 
heard whether it had been fulfilled. They were ignorant of Pentecost. 
So verse 2, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? 
Verse 2b, so they said to him, we have not so much as heard 
whether there is a Holy Spirit. Again, not total, not absolute, 
but rather relative to the day of Pentecost and this great and 
glorious outpouring of the Spirit that was consistent with Joel 
2. The prophecy of Joel foretold that in the latter days, the 
Spirit would come in great power upon the church. And you see 
that happen in the day of Pentecost. Turn back to chapter 18. This 
man, Apollos, did not know about the Day of Pentecost either. 
Remember, they didn't have Bible apps on their phones. They didn't 
have email or computer programs. They didn't have logos. They 
didn't have the variety of ways that you and I know the scriptures. 
If they hadn't heard of something, they didn't know that it had 
occurred. And so Apollos was the same sort of man. Notice 
in chapter 18, specifically at verse 24, Now a certain Jew named 
Apollos, born at 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 
as showing from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. So 
along the way in the book of Acts, you meet these various 
characters or persons that don't know about the previous chapters 
in the book of Acts. They don't have the book of Acts. 
They didn't have that historical reference. They didn't have that 
ability to know everything. And so these disciples of John, 
when they're asked, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? 
And they respond, we have not so much as heard whether there 
is a Holy Spirit. Paul then asks them, according 
to verse three, he said to them, into what then were you baptized? The question indicates a link 
between the Holy Spirit and baptism. The idea being is that when you 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you receive the Holy Spirit, 
and then you get baptized, you obey God, and you identify with 
Him publicly in the waters of baptism. We saw that this morning. 
This is the natural progression. This is according to the Great 
Commission. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and 
of the Holy Spirit, and then teach them to observe all things 
that I have commanded, and then the promise of Christ, lo, I 
am with you always, even to the end of the age." So you go and 
you make disciples. Once those disciples are made, 
they believe the gospel, then you baptize them, and then what 
happens? They join the church, and then you teach them to observe 
all things that the Lord had commanded. So this is the natural 
progression. There is a unique link between 
baptism and the Spirit. We believe the gospel, we're 
sealed by the Spirit, we get baptized. And so this indicates 
that reality. The question of Paul indicates 
that he's not investigating their profession of faith. He's not 
investigating whether or not they're true disciples. Again, 
he wants to know if they have received that power that was 
associated with the Spirit in this first century church. Acts 
2, Acts 8, Acts 10, and here now with these disciples of John 
the Baptist. This power of the Spirit coming 
upon them and then speaking in tongues and prophesying. This 
is not normative for everyone in the history of the church. 
The charismatics are wrong to associate the reception of the 
Spirit in every case with speaking in tongues. That is simply not 
accurate. Tongues and prophesying in the 
first century were revelatory in nature. God spoke through 
tongue speakers and through prophets to communicate his word. Now 
that we have his written word codified in the New Testament 
along with the Old Testament, there's no longer a need for 
the revelatory gifts of tongue speaking and prophesying. But 
at this juncture in redemptive history, there was a need. And 
so you've got the Jews in Acts 2, you've got the Samaritans 
in Acts 8, you've got the Gentiles in Acts 10, and now you've got 
these disciples of John the Baptist in Acts 19. They received the 
power of the Spirit so that they may speak in tongues and prophesy. 
Again, not something duplicated throughout the history of the 
church subsequent to that, but rather for this particular time, 
when the Spirit comes in accordance with Joel's prophecy. So that's 
the scene, that's the issue, that's what's going on. Now notice 
what the disciples say. The end of verse 3, he says, 
or Paul says, he said to them, into what then were you baptized? 
So they said, into John's baptism. Again, Matthew 3.11 was simply 
one instance, but other places where the Baptist is referred 
to, he speaks of the Holy Spirit concerning the gospel. He speaks concerning Christ. 
He speaks concerning the Spirit. These persons would not have 
been ignorant concerning the third person of the triune God. 
So that's the interview with the disciples. Let's look at 
the review of the ministry of John. Now, this is verses four 
and five. Now, I'm going to suggest that 
you read the structure of the passage this way. Verses 4 and 
5 are what Paul said, and verse 6 is what Paul did with these 
specific disciples. In other words, the reference 
to baptism in verse 10 is not on Paul re-baptizing, But Paul 
highlighting that John's contemporaries, persons like these 12 men, who 
had heard him speak concerning the coming Christ and the necessity 
of faith in him, were baptized by him. So verses 4 and 5 hinge 
upon what Paul said. Verse 6 hinges upon what Paul 
did. So again, these persons had not 
been re-baptized by Paul, but rather, verse 5 continues what 
Paul said. He explains John's baptism in 
verse 4, and then he says those who heard of John's baptism, 
his contemporaries, were baptized by John. Now, this isn't shocking, 
or it shouldn't be, because punctuation is not inspired. Punctuation 
in the English versions is a translation call. It is an interpretative 
call. There's times in the New Testament 
where you're not really sure if some letters should be in 
red. That's an interpretative or translational call by the 
interpreter. There's times where you see sort 
of biases or perhaps mistakes or perhaps an assumption brought 
to the text of scripture by the translators. I'm not suggesting 
they're horrible monsters that are burning in the pit of hell 
because they're demonic. I'm simply saying that translation 
is not always an easy task, and especially when you punctuate. 
The original autographs or the original writings didn't have 
punctuation marks. There weren't periods, there 
weren't commas, there weren't semicolons, there weren't colons, 
there weren't quotation marks, and there certainly wasn't red-letter 
additions. So when, I almost said Americans, 
but I meant people that speak English come to translate into 
English, they do so, and at times there's some difficult passages, 
and they make calls. Well, here I think they made 
the wrong call. I think that the punctuation, the end quotation 
marks, should not be at the end of verse 4, but at the end of 
verse 5. So if we do that, it clears up 
what Paul is saying and doing. In other words, John's baptism 
was Christian baptism, and therefore there is no re-baptism taking 
place in this particular passage. Now, how do we know that John's 
baptism was Christian baptism? We know based on what Paul says 
right here as he rehearses John's baptism in verses 4 and 5. Notice in the first place, John 
baptized with a baptism of repentance. You've probably heard that before 
in gospel calls. You hear a presentation of the 
life and death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, 
what's the way we access that? How do we appropriate the benefits 
of Christ's redemptive work? You believe and you repent. You 
see it in Acts chapter two on the day of Pentecost when Peter 
is preaching to Jerusalem sinners. He says, repent and let every 
one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus for the remission 
of sins. So this idea of repentance is 
absolutely positively consistent with Christian baptism. Remember 
John the Baptist in Luke 3, 3, he went into all the region around 
the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission 
of sins. When particular categories came 
to him, sinful or categories of sinners in Luke 3, he says 
to them, therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. Now, he 
does live consistently with that. It's not an empty ritual. It's 
not an empty rite. He just doesn't willy-nilly sort 
of apply baptism. If he lays down the emphasis 
to have fruits consistent with repentance, then we ought to 
assume those are the ones he baptizes. The person who doesn't 
repent, the person who doesn't believe, The person we have no 
knowledge of as having a saving union with Christ does not get 
baptized. That's not to be mean, it's not 
to be vicious, it's not to not be inclusive, but rather it is 
to uphold the Lord's command. Believe and be baptized. Repent 
and believe and be baptized. This is what the emphasis is 
in the New Testament. So John baptized with a baptism 
of repentance. Secondly, John explained faith 
in Jesus Christ. John explained faith in Jesus 
Christ. Look again at verse 4. Then Paul 
said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying 
to the people that they should believe on him who would come 
after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. Who's the object of faith 
relative to John's baptism? It's Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ 
is the object of faith and persons exercise that faith and are baptized 
subsequent to that, ergo, it's Christian baptism. So the doctrine 
of justification by faith alone is held up by John the Baptist. Certainly repentance. Repentance 
is the other side of the same coin relative to our response 
in conversion. That they should believe on Him 
who would come after Him, that is on Christ Jesus. Remember 
the language of John the Baptist in John 1. You've heard me repeat 
it many times as we work our way through John's gospel. When 
the Baptist sees Jesus, what does he say? He says, behold 
the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That shouldn't 
surprise us that John then says, look to Him in faith. Look to 
Jesus. Believe on Him. He was never 
directing persons to look at him. He was always emphasizing 
that there was one preferred above him. He must increase, 
but I must decrease. John understood justification 
by faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ, just like Moses, just 
like Isaiah, just like the Lord Jesus, and just like the Apostle 
Paul, who in Acts 16 says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and 
you shall be saved. So John baptized with a baptism 
of repentance, John explained faith in Jesus Christ, and then 
notice, John baptized those who heard and believed. That's verse 
five. So verse four again, John indeed 
baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they 
should believe on him who would come after him, that is on Christ 
Jesus. When they heard this, who? The 
persons that heard John the Baptist preach it. The persons like these 
12 men that Paul meets when he comes to the city of Ephesus. 
When the persons out of Transjordan, Bethabara, the region beyond 
the Jordan, when John the Baptist was baptizing, persons believed 
him. They understood by the grace 
of God, the Old Testament, they understood the Levitical system, 
that it was not the end, but rather it was typological, it 
pointed forward to the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of 
the world. So when they by grace repent and believe the gospel, 
what happens? John baptizes them, John immerses 
them, John dips them, or John plunges them. So when they heard 
this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So the 
movement of the quotation marks from the end of verse 4 to the 
end of verse 5, I think, facilitates this particular interpretation. 
The structure of the passage is then evened out. What Paul 
said, verses 4 and 5, and then what Paul does in verse 6. And that's sort of the keynote. Did you receive the supernatural 
gifts associated with the coming of the Holy Spirit when you believed 
and were baptized by John? No, we haven't. So Paul corrects 
that, or rectifies that. Paul deals with that, and Paul 
then lays hands on them so that they may receive the Holy Spirit. 
So the emphasis in verse 5 is that when John's contemporaries 
heard him and believed on Jesus, they were baptized in the name 
of the Lord Jesus. It is stipulated there, verse 
5, when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of 
the Lord Jesus. How is this not Christian baptism? How is this anything different 
than what we did this morning? Other than I didn't have, you 
know, locusts and wild honey this morning. I don't sort of 
look like Elijah the prophet. I'm not out in Bethabara. We're 
not in the Transjordan. So obvious dissimilarity, but 
the emphasis, or similarity, is faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 
It is believed and be baptized. It is come to the Savior in faith, 
and you will have everlasting life. Now again, we receive the 
same spirit, but we don't receive the same revelatory gifts because 
we've got New Testaments. We've got the closed canon. That's 
another argument. It's connected to this, but it's 
an argument that I'm happy to make if you want further information. To summarize, I will quote John 
Gill. Often I do that. He says, they 
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Not the disciples 
that Paul found at Ephesus, but the hearers of John. For these 
are the words of the apostle Paul giving an account of John's 
baptism and of the success of his ministry showing that his 
baptism was administered in the name of the Lord Jesus. And not 
the words of Luke the evangelist recording what followed upon 
his account of John's baptism. For then he would have made mention 
of the apostle's name, as he does in the next verse. Notice 
the what Paul said and what Paul did motif, verses four and five, 
and then verse six. He goes on to say, and have said, 
when they heard this account, they were baptized by Paul in 
the name of the Lord Jesus. That's not what he says. The 
historian reports two things. First, what Paul said, which 
lies in Acts 19.4 and 5, and what he did, Acts 19.6, where 
he repeats his name as was necessary. As that, he laid his hands upon 
them, which was all that was needful to their receiving the 
extraordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, having been already baptized 
in the name of the Lord Jesus. That's the issue. That's the 
emphasis. That's what's happening. He's 
not re-baptizing these disciples of John as if this was somehow 
deficient. He is simply asking them whether 
or not they had received the gift to prophesy and speak in 
tongues. That brings us then to the reception 
of the Spirit in verse 6. And when Paul had laid hands 
on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with 
tongues and prophesied. Turn back to Acts chapter 8. 
You see the same emphasis. I mentioned that these passages 
indicate what's happening in terms of the Spirit coming powerfully 
upon the church in the first century. Acts 2, Acts 8, Acts 
10, Acts 19. What happens in Acts 2? We know 
when the Spirit comes, they speak in tongues. In Acts 8, same thing, 
but look specifically at what happens in Acts 14. Now, when 
the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received 
the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them, who, when they 
had come down, prayed for them that they might receive the Holy 
Spirit. For as yet, he had fallen upon none of them. Again, not 
the seal and guarantee function of the Spirit that even Old Testament 
believers had. Remember David's Psalm of Repentance 
in Psalm 51, take not thine Holy Spirit from me. This is not the 
salvific soteriological reception of the Spirit that Paul speaks 
of in Ephesians 1, 13 and 14. It's the extraordinary gifts 
associated with the Spirit's coming in the book of Acts, Acts 
2, Acts 8, Acts 10, and here in Acts 19. They had only been 
baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Now notice in verse 17, 
then they laid hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. And this evokes from Simon, the 
magician. He wants to buy this gift. He 
wants to buy this particular ability because it would go a 
long way in terms of his career path. So back to chapter 19 in 
the book of Acts, the Spirit came upon them, the disciples 
spoke in tongues, the number of them. Some see a parallel 
with the 12 here, with the 12 apostles. I'm not convinced that 
there's anything significant to that. You might be, and that's 
perfectly acceptable. But the point is, is that they 
now spoke in tongues. They now prophesied. they now 
received what had been promised in Joel 2 so that they could 
advance the kingdom of Christ through proclamation. And with 
reference to these significant events, one man in a very helpful 
book on the book of Acts, Thompson, says Luke's focus in these texts 
Acts 2, 8, 10, 11, and 19 is on the fulfillment of prophecy, 
salvation history, and the beginning of the last days, rather than 
paradigms or patterns for individual experiences. Again, the charismatic 
is wrong to come to the book of Acts and say, well, they all 
spoke in tongues after receiving the Holy Spirit. Therefore, if 
you've never spoken in tongues, you've never been a recipient 
of the Holy Spirit. That's terrible logic, very bad 
logic, and a very bad way to read the book of Acts. There 
are things with reference to the book of Acts that are descriptive 
and not prescriptive. They describe what happened, 
but does not necessarily prescribe what must continue to happen. 
The first century church, as I mentioned before, had tongue 
speakers. had prophets who were receiving 
revelation from God and communicating that to the people of God. Once 
that revelation had been received, once the epistles had been written, 
once the New Testament canon was closed, guess what? We no 
longer have a need for tongue speakers. We no longer have a 
need for prophets in the New Testament church. Now, if we 
wanna loosely speak of preaching as prophesying, I don't necessarily 
have a problem with that, but if we're gonna define New Testament 
prophecy that way, we're missing the boat. They were engaged in 
revelation. They were speaking the truth 
as it came from God. So there are things described 
in the book of Acts that are not necessarily prescribed for 
us in this present age. What we find in the first century, 
in these chapters specifically, we see an emphasis on corporate 
experience. God the Spirit comes in power 
to furnish the church with the ability to extend the kingdom 
of Jesus Christ on earth. So that's the meeting with the 
disciples. Let's look quickly at the ministry 
in Ephesus in verses 8 to 10. Notice he first ministers in 
the synagogue. This was Paul's custom. Remember, 
Paul on his missionary journeys would go to the synagogue. There 
he would find Jews, people interested in religion. What better audience 
to preach Christ to than a bunch of Jews waiting for the Christ? But as well, there were God-fearers 
in the New Testament. You see a reference to God-fearers. 
Typically, that's Gentiles who were interested in Yahweh. They 
were interested in Israel's God. You have that Ethiopian eunuch. 
You have Cornelius. You have others in the Book of 
Acts that were outsiders in terms of the Jewish community, but 
they had an interest in the God of Israel. So Paul, in a strategic 
move, would go to those places, and he would preach to both Jews 
and God-fearers, and he does that. So notice in Acts 19 at 
verse 8, and he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for 
three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the 
kingdom of God. It's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? He doesn't just go in there and say, everybody give your 
heart to Jesus, and off he goes. He preaches the truth, brethren. 
If we want revival, if we want awakening, it's not going to 
come through religious experience. It's not going to come through 
therapeutic self-help. It's going to come through the 
proclamation of God's holy word. In other words, Paul's last command 
to the church in a corporate manner was preach the word. Be 
ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all longsuffering and teaching. Why do you think that is? Because 
he understood that the gospel is advanced by the preaching 
of the gospel. It is the truth that separates 
the Christian from the non-Christian. It is the truth that separates 
the heaven-bound from the hell-bound. It is the truth of God's Holy 
Word. It is the reception of that truth and belief in that 
truth. So when Paul goes to synagogues 
or when Paul goes to the temple in Jerusalem, what does he do? 
He speaks boldly. He doesn't do it apologetically. 
Well, I'm sorry. I just want to tell you a few 
things. I don't want to offend anybody's delicate sensitivities. 
Preachers today need to study the Book of Acts, not in terms 
only of the content, but in terms of the manner in which these 
men went about their task. As I've already said, that verse, 
1823, encompasses about 1,500 miles. The Apostle Paul moved all throughout 
the Roman Empire to advance the cause through the proclamation 
of the truth. And here we get a snapshot of 
what he does. He went into the synagogue and 
spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning 
the things of the kingdom of God, the entrance to it through 
the blood and righteousness of Christ, blessed communion with 
God in it, and then the expectation of the kingdom of glory in the 
future. So the apostle highlights that. Luke encompasses it by that statement, 
he preached concerning the kingdom of God. Now notice the rejection 
by the Jews in verse 9. But when some were hardened and 
did not believe, even at the preaching of the apostle Paul, 
So I think there's this mindset, well, I'm not going to keep on 
doing it because nobody ever believes. Nobody ever comes to 
faith. Our task is to be faithful. Our 
task is to be obedient. Our task is not with the results. Our task is with the proclamation. It's up to God who He saves. 
It's up to God who receives. It's up to God, based on His 
sovereign election from eternity past, who will come to the Savior. The apostle highlights this in 
2 Corinthians. To some, we're an aroma of life 
unto life, but unto others, death unto death. What does that mean 
for the apostle Paul? Does he say, well, I'm only gonna 
go to those places where the sensible sinners hang out, where 
there's a predilection on the part of some that they may possibly 
come to Jesus. No, you preach the gospel indiscriminately 
to all creatures under heaven. And those who believe and are 
baptized will be saved, Mark 16. And so Paul does that, and 
there's obviously rejection. You see that parallel throughout 
the book of Acts with the gospel narratives. The way in the gospels 
that unbelieving Jews treated Jesus is the way in the book 
of Acts that unbelieving Jews treat the apostles. Our brother 
intimated that in the prayer. He said they counted themselves 
worthy, or they rejoiced because they had been worthy for suffering 
for the name of Christ. Well, who did they suffer as 
a result of? Unbelieving Jews. That was the first persecutor 
of the church. The Roman Empire would come later. 
The viciousness of the The godly or godless civil government would 
turn their sights against the people of God, but initially 
Christians were just seen as a subset of Judaism. The first 
real enemy of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is the unbelieving 
Jews. I'm not suggesting we go out 
and be anti-Semites and we hate the Jews or anything like that, 
but it's a factual matter. That's what's happening here. 
That's what's recorded for us. in the pages of the gospel records 
and as well here in the book of Acts. So they were hardened 
and unbelieving. Paul intimates or alludes to 
this 1 Corinthians 15 32. If in the manner of men I have 
fought with beasts at Ephesus, Now, that could be literal in 
the Roman Empire. They were being fed to lions, 
but most take it figuratively. Again, it would come later that 
they would be sort of lion fodder with reference to the amusement 
of the crowd. But in 1 Corinthians 15.32, I 
think he's intimating what happened to him in Ephesus. caused a riot. There was lots of opposition. There was lots of enmity. There 
was lots of antipathy against him. She says, if in the manner 
of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantage is 
it to me? If the dead do not rise, let us eat and drink, for 
tomorrow we die. So back to verse nine, but when 
some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the 
way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew 
the disciples. Now notice this reference, reasoning 
daily in the school of Tyrannus. Well, what was the school of 
Tyrannus? Was it founded by Christian missionaries? Was it a place 
secured by, you know, Christians who had been saved under, you 
know, the preaching of Peter, and they founded this school, 
and they made it such that preachers or missionaries could come there? 
No, it was a pagan lecture hall. It was a pagan philosopher. He 
either owned it or used it, and Paul rented it. In other words, 
he paid money so that he could stand and reason from the Scriptures 
and persuade men concerning the kingdom of God. Again, that strategy 
and that methodology and that manner shows us his commitment 
to the truth as it is in Jesus. He knows that faith comes by 
hearing and hearing by the word of God. He knows that of his 
own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth. He knows 
that apart from the ministry of the gospel, apart from the 
presence and the power of the Holy Spirit, men perish and end 
up in hell. And so he rents this school of 
Tyrannus. Calvin, rather, makes this observation. 
Paul did separate the disciples, lest the goats should, with their 
stink, infect the flock of sheep. Secondly, that the pure worshipers 
of God might make profession freely. So he departs from the 
synagogue who had mistreated, who had spoken ill against him, 
and against the church, and against the gospel, ultimately. So he 
then goes to the school of Tyrannus. Luke, rather, summarizes this 
time in verse 10. And this continued for two years, 
so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, 
both Jews and Greeks. two years in this rented school 
of Tyrannus and the effects of his ministry in that school of 
Tyrannus. Again, Calvin says, Luke does 
not mean that the men of Asia came tither to hear Paul, but 
that the smell of his preaching went throughout all Asia and 
that the seed was sown far and wide so that his labor was fruitful, 
not only to one city, but also to places which were far off. 
So this was a strategic deployment by the Apostle Paul. He's chased 
out basically from the synagogue. He doesn't say, well, I'm gonna 
go retire and I'm gonna go golf. No, he rents the school and he 
preaches in this school and he does so for a period of two years. 
Persons come, they get converted, they go and they bring that gospel 
back to where they went. We'll see a man or a name of 
a man in just a moment when we close. And we are gonna close 
now. First, in terms of application, 
the meeting with the disciples. Charismatics are wrong. If you 
have been brought up in that system, or you have been affected 
by that system, and you doubt your salvation, it's interesting. 
It's almost like several churches, or communions of churches, or 
denominations are calculated to make sure you never think 
you're saved. I just don't get that logic. I just don't get 
it. The freeness of the gospel is 
pretty clear. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and you shall be saved. Not a lot of wiggle room there. 
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. Well, 
we know the Hyper-Calvinists say, well, you can't ever have 
assurance, because if you have assurance, then that's bad. We've 
got the Charismatics that say, well, you can't have assurance 
if you haven't spoken in tongues. Again, brethren, find that in 
the pages of the New Testament as the test or verification that 
one has received the Holy Spirit. And do not point to Acts 2, Acts 
8, Acts 10, or Acts 19. Your hands are going to be tied. 
So the charismatics are wrong who see the necessity of the 
supernatural gifts of the Spirit as normative for all believers. But as well, re-baptizers are 
wrong who do not see John's baptism as Christian baptism. What Paul does not do here is 
that he does not baptize. He lays hands on those who had 
been baptized by John so that they might receive the supernatural 
gifts associated with the Holy Spirit. And as well, for everybody 
who's come out of the sort of Paedo-Baptist church background, 
I am sure you have personally heard me say that baptizing somebody 
who was baptized as an infant is not rebaptism. That's the 
typical response out there, that, oh, that's re-baptism. Well, 
that assumes that paedo-baptism is a valid baptism. I don't want 
to get too nasty, I don't want to get too far afield, but it's 
not a valid baptism. I read from our confession this 
morning, and I think a great summary statement concerning 
the significance of baptism. Baptism is an ordinance of the 
New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ to be unto the party baptized, 
a sign of His fellowship with Him, in His death and resurrection, 
of His being engrafted into Him, of remission of sins and of giving 
up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of 
life. If that's what baptism is, how can we predicate that 
of every single infant that is born in a particular church? 
The argument is not God can't save infants. That's not the 
argument. The argument is that baptism 
is herein defined. And so we give the covenant sign 
to those who make that confession, who profess saving faith in our 
Lord Jesus. We have a certain expectation 
that this is the way it's going to be in this New Covenant environment. Way back in the prophet Jeremiah, 
Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34, he tells us there's going to be dissimilarity 
between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant. Certainly in 
the Old Covenant you could know Yahweh savingly. Certainly in 
the Old Covenant, you could have your sins forgiven. Certainly 
in the Old Covenant, you could have the law of God written on 
your heart. But those weren't essential features of the Old 
Covenant. The New Covenant, those are essential 
features. So the Baptist argument is simple. 
Based on covenant theology there, it's those who are in the New 
Covenant community that receive the sign of being in the New 
Covenant community. So this text does not authorize 
re-baptism at the level of John the Baptist's baptism, but as 
well with reference to paedo-baptism. It's not re-baptism. We ask the 
question, what is baptism? And then we ask the question, 
is that what occurred in that baby's life then? The answer 
is a resounding no. And again, the argument isn't 
that Jesus or God can't save infants. I believe that. I affirm 
that. I rejoice in that. But it's a 
matter of who do we give covenant sign to? We give covenant sign 
to covenant participants. How do we know they're covenant 
participants? Because they profess saving faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. They manifest repentance unto life. They have those marks. They have those characteristics. 
That is part and parcel of who they are now as new men and women 
in Christ Jesus. So the interpretation that I 
suggest hinges on theology, ecclesiology, and at the level of Bible translation, 
punctuation. I think Matthew Poole, so not 
only John Gill, who was a Baptist, but Matthew Poole, who was a 
Paedo-Baptist, agrees that this is not a case of re-baptism of 
John the Baptist's disciples. Matthew Poole says, the baptism 
of John in Christ, which he commanded, are one and the same. John's 
baptism did respect Christ and obliged the baptized to believe 
in him as also to repent. And more, it was a seal unto 
them of the remission of sins, as is expressly observed, so 
that the baptism of John and the baptism of the apostles afterward 
had the same sign and the same thing signified in them both, 
as also they had both the same end, and therefore they were 
both the same. So when you read this passage, 
try to divorce your mind of the automatic assumption that Paul 
re-baptizes these who had already been baptized. They had received 
Christian baptism. And then, secondly and finally, 
by way of an application, the ministry in the synagogue shows 
tactical wisdom. Getting chased out of the synagogue 
and renting this lecture hall of Tyrannus shows tactical wisdom. It shows the strategy of the 
Apostle Paul. It shows his commitment to the 
proclamation of the truth. I don't think it was because 
Paul just liked to preach, though I suspect Paul did like to preach 
because it's a blessed privilege to proclaim the glories of Jesus 
Christ our Lord. But he didn't rent this hall 
so he could hear himself blather on day in and day out. He rented 
this hall so that the people in Asia Minor could hear the 
truth of the gospel, both Jews and Greeks, and come to a saving 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He put his money where his mouth 
was, he ponied up, and he did what was necessary to extend 
the kingdom of God through the proclamation of the truth. And 
in terms of the effects of his ministry, it says, this continued 
for two years so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word 
of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. The immediate effects 
are recorded here in chapter 19. There's the rejection of 
the occult. Ephesus was a place where they 
liked black magic. They liked occultism. In fact, 
you'll see them burning their books when they received the 
gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord. As well, you see the ruin of 
godless commerce. I especially like that. I mean, 
I like to see the occultists put out of business, but the 
ruin of godless commerce. These guys made idols of Diana 
and sold them. And so when Paul comes and preaches 
that Jesus Christ is King of Kings, that Jesus Christ is Lord, 
that Jesus Christ is God, what happens to the idol business? 
Well, If persons aren't coming to Diana, they're certainly not 
going to leave little statuettes of Diana. So Paul hit them in 
the pocketbook. Paul hit them in the bottom line. 
Paul hit them where it hurt, and that upset them tremendously. And then, of course, the entirety 
of the city breaks out in a riot. So that's the immediate effect 
of faithful gospel preaching. It's a beautiful immediate effect 
of faithful gospel preaching, to reject the occult, to ruin 
godless commerce, and to see riots in the city, provided you 
have safe passage out of the city. And then the long-term 
effect. There's a fellow by the name 
of Epaphras that's mentioned in Colossians 1, and then again 
in Colossians 4, and Philemon 1. It is likely, and this is what 
most commentators suppose, that he, Hephaestus, was converted 
during this time and he went back to the Lycus Valley to plant 
or assist in planting the churches in Colossae, Hierapolis, and 
Laodicea. Hierapolis is mentioned in Colossians 
4, along with Laodicea, as is Laodicea in Revelation chapter 
3. And then the churches of Asia 
Minor, the seven churches in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, 
are probably the fruit of Paul's ministry here in this lecture 
hall of Tyrannus. So we end on that blessed note 
of the power of the Christian gospel to transform people at 
the individual level, and then those people living their lives 
in a manner that is consistent and faithful with God's high 
calling. Whether you're a husband, whether you're a wife, whether 
you're a father, whether you're a mother, whether you're a doctor, 
whether you're a lawyer, the gospel should affect that. The 
gospel should indeed produce and provoke in you a godliness 
in your life. we see the blessed ramifications 
of the reception of the truth, we see the power of that gospel 
in terms of the salvation of sinners, and we see the advancement 
of the cause of Jesus Christ our Lord in this first century 
setting. If you're not a believer, look 
at the passage Look at what is emphasized. It is faith in Christ 
Jesus. It is faith in our Lord Jesus. It is belief in Him. And the 
other side of that coin of faith is repentance. And that simply 
means to have a change of mind about sin, and then to bear fruit 
manifest, or fruit, rather, worthy of that repentance. Well, let 
us close in a word of prayer. Our God and Father, we thank 
you for your word. We thank you for the ordinance 
of baptism. Again, we rejoice in this Lord's 
Day to witness our brothers and sisters take that step in terms 
of obedience and expressing their identification with the triune 
God. As well, we thank you for the ministry of the Word. We 
know we're here not because we're good, we're not wise, we're not 
better than others, we didn't make a decision to follow the 
law of God in a more wholehearted way. We're here because in your 
grace you granted us the gift of faith that we may lay hold 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You granted us the gift of repentance 
that we may turn from sin, And we rejoice in your loving kindness. 
We rejoice in the power of the gospel. And we pray that you 
would go with us now. Bless this word as it goes throughout 
all the earth. And we pray through Jesus Christ, 
our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation.