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good evening everyone welcome back to previous Baptist church for our evening service for our call to worship this evening we'll turn to Psalm 113. psalm 113. please open your Bibles and read with me praise the Lord Praise o Servants of the Lord praise the name of the Lord blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore from the rising of the sun to its going down the lord's name is to be praised the Lord is high above all nations his glory above the heavens who is like the Lord Our God who dwells on high who humbles himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the Earth he raises the poor Out of the Dust and lifts the needy out of the Ashi that he may that he may seat him with princes with the princes of his people he grants the barren woman a home like a joyful mother of children praise the Lord for our first hymn this evening we're going to sing from Psalm 119 selection m Psalm 119 m please turn with being your trendy Salter Hymnal and we'll Stand Together As we sing [Music] is teachers foreign [Music] come on memorize [Music] foreign [Music] our gracious Heavenly Father we thank you for this glorious day thank you for the blessings that we have experienced in being able to gather together as your people this morning in witnessing the three baptisms and in rejoicing with our brother and our sisters thank you for adding to your church thank you for the the good that you are doing all over the face of the Earth as Christ continues to build his church and thank you that he will reign Victorious until all of his enemies are made his footstool thank you for this evening thank you that we can gather once again and we can sing your Praises thank you that we can pray thank you that we can hear the word preached once again we pray that you administer to each one according to their need whether that be encouragement or chastisement or rebuke or um Commandments to obey Lord I pray that you would give us exactly what we need for your honor and For Your Glory we thank you that there are in this city many other churches where the gospel is being preached and we pray that your blessing would rest upon those brethren we pray that churches across this land would be blessed with preachers who preach the gospel and we pray oh God that you would do a good work and bring about Revival and Awakening once again in this nation of Canada we thank you for our sister churches the church plants in Surrey and Armstrong and in Dryden Ontario we pray that you would bless those congregations and continue to add to their numbers continue to cause them to grow in unity and in wisdom and in might in the in the Holy scriptures thank you for the missionary Enterprise thank you for the churches all over the world that are being fed by men that you have appointed we pray oh God for those who are undergoing persecution that you would be gracious to them to individuals that are suffering in prisons and Elsewhere for the cause of Christ I pray O Father that you would sustain your people and encourage them and cause them to see a great reward in their lifetime for the sufferings that you have allowed them to endure we think of the Apostles and how they were they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Christ and we pray you'd give that same attitude to those Believers today that are suffering for your sake Lord we pray for our congregation here that you would continue to upload uphold those that are ill that are dealing with chronic sickness the elderly in our midst and those who are not able to be here this evening we pray oh God that you would sustain them and encourage your people continue to do your good work in the hearts of our young people our children and our youth Lord we pray that you would Harvest a great many souls and that there would be future Generations here to sing your praises long after we are gone thank you for your mercies upon us this day we pray that you would continue with us as we continue in worship we ask this in Jesus name and for his glory amen for our next team we'll turn to 452 452 in your Hymnal Rock of Ages cleft for me please stand again as we sing [Music] alive [Music] foreign [Music] praise [Music] foreign for our Old Testament scripture reading this evening we're turning to Numbers Chapter 33. numbers 33. and we will read the entire chapter it's a little longer passage these are the journeys of the children of Israel who went out of the land of Egypt by their armies under the hand of Moses and Aaron now Moses wrote down the starting points of their Journeys at the command of the Lord and these are their Journeys according to their starting points they departed from Ramesses in the first month on the 15th day of the first month on the day after the Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians for the Egyptians were burying all their firstborn whom the Lord had killed among them also on their gods the Lord had executed judgments then the children of Israel moved from Ramses and camped at suck off they departed from suck off and capped at etham which is on the edge of the wilderness they moved from Ethan and turned back to Pai hahiroth which is east of Baal zifon and they camped near migdal they departed from before hahiroth and passed through the midst of the sea Into the Wilderness went three days journey in the wilderness of etham and camped at merah they moved from Mara and came to Elam at Elam were 12 Springs of water and seventy palm trees so they camped there they moved from Elam and Camp by the Red Sea they moved from the Red Sea and camped in the wilderness of sin they journeyed from the Wilderness of sin and capped at dafka they departed from dafka and camped at elus they moved from alosh and camped at referim where there was no water for the people to drink they departed from rapidim and camped in the wilderness of Sinai they moved from the Wilderness of Sinai and camped at kibroth hate about they departed from kibra and camped at hazaroth the departed from hazaroth and camped at rithma they departed from rithma encamped it Ramon Perez they departed from Ramon Perez and camped at libnov they moved from libna and camped at Rissa they journeyed from Rissa and camped at kehilahath they went from kihilatha and camped at Mount Schiffer they moved from Mount Schiffer and camped at herodot they moved from herida and camped at makhiloth they moved from makiloth and camped at Tejas they departed from tahath and camped at Terra they moved from Terra and camped at Mishka they went from mythka and camped at hashmona they departed from hashmona and camped at mozural the departed from mozeroth and camped at Binny jecken they moved from Benny jayakin and camped at they went from hor hagidat and camped at Bata they moved from jat baitha and camped at abrona the departed from abrona encamped it easy on gibber they moved from iziongeeber and camped in the wilderness of Zin which is kadash they moved from kadish and camped at Mount hor on the boundary of the land of Edom then Aaron the priest went up to mount hore the command of the Lord and died there in the 40th year after the children of Israel had come out of the land of Egypt on the first day of the fifth month Aaron was 120th year three years old when he died on Mount horror now the king of Arab the Canaanite who dwelt in the south in the land of Canaan heard of the coming of the children of Israel so they departed from Mount hor and camped at zalmuna he departed from zalmona and camped at punan they departed from punan and camped at obath the departure from oboth and camped at EG aberim at the border of Moab they departed from Egypt and camped at Debon Gad they moved from dibon Gad and camped at almondium they moved from almondium and camped in the mountains of aberim before Nebo they departed from the mountains of aberim and camped in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho they capped by the Jordan from Beth jeshimoth as far as the Abel Acacia Grove in the plains of Moab now the Lord spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho saying speak to the children of Israel and say to them when you have crossed the Jordan into the land of Canaan then you shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you destroy all their engraved Stones destroy all their molded images and demolish all their high places you shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land and dwell in it for I have given you the land to possess and you shall divide the land by lot as an inheritance among your families to the larger you shall give a larger inheritance and to the smaller you shall give a smaller inheritance there everyone's inheritance shall be whatever Falls to him by lot you shall inherit according to the tribes of your fathers but if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you then it shall be that Those whom you let remain shall be irritants in your eyes and thorns in your sides and they shall harass you in the land where you dwell moreover it shall be that I will do to you as I thought to do to them amen well as God through Moses reviews the wanderings of the children of Israel at the end of this chapter we see he gives them a very Stern warning of course we know that they would go astray because they did not drive out all the inhabitants of land they were supposed to they did not get rid of all of the high places or destroy all of the Gods and exactly as the Lord said here um they would end up those inhabitants would end up being a thorn in their side and caused them much problems and then eventually the Lord turned against his people and in judgment and they were expelled from the land now we could ask ourselves well didn't the Lord know this at the time that this was being written at the time that he was giving them this of course the Lord knew what they were going to do but they were forewarned and they had a responsibility to obey and they didn't and of course when judgment came they were ripe for judgment um it is a a solemn a solemn thought when we read the scriptures and we read what we are supposed to do we ought to obey we ought to do what God says because we have been forewarned let us pray gracious Father in heaven thank you for recording for us the wanderings of the children of Israel their ups and their downs their times of obedience and their times of declension and thank you Lord for causing this to be a light to our path we thank you that we have the spirit of Christ to dwell in us because we know that in our own strength we could not obey your Commandments we could not be perfect and yet we have the spirit of Christ who dwells in us to enable us to follow the right path and to convict us when we go astray and we know that when we do go astray we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous thank you for what he has accomplished on our behalf we pray these things in Jesus name amen for our final hymn we'll turn to four uh 243 How firm a foundation 243 and please stand with me again as we sing [Music] foreign [Music] what's wrong message to Jesus Christ [Music] this song is this [Music] the rivers of songs [Music] oh they shall hurt you I only are God [Music] in thousand praise [Music] right forever [Music] I'll ever go never forsake well 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 will 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's 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 has 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 12 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 in the 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 ad53 to A.D 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 thank 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 that 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 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 let 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 one to seven 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 one to three 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 4 and extended it to the end of verse 5. 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 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 two he said to them did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believe 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 helped 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 this is 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 receive the holy spirit in a manner that was like Pentecost in Acts chapter 2. in a manner that was like Judea Samaria or Sam area 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 back even before that it says in finding some disciples in verse 2 he said to them now typically when we look we get 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 stock commenting on this passage and he disagrees with 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 2 be 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 of paulus 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 or uh computer programs they didn't have logos they didn't have the 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 Ikea 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 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 3 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 at 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 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 uh Power of the spirit coming upon them and 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 and 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 receive 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 an 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 in 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 John's 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 a 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 of 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 editions so when uh uh 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 in 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 2 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 are 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 right 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 is 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 the 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 the Apostle or by John the Baptist certainly repentance repentance is the same uh the same uh 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 are 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 the baptism of repentance John explained faith in Jesus Christ and then notice John baptized those who heard and believed that's verse 5. so verse 4 again John indeed baptized with the baptism of repentance saying to the people they 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 at the persons like these 12 men that that Paul meets when he comes to the city of Ephesus when the person's out of a trans Jordan 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 typical magical 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 the 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 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 trans Jordan so obvious dissimilarity but the emphasis or similarity is Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ It is believed and be baptized it has come to the savior in faith and you will have everlasting life now again we receive the Same Spirit but we don't receive 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 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 mentioned or made mention of the Apostles name as he does in the next verse notice the what Paul said and what Paul did Motif Verses 4 and 5 and then the then verse 6. 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 do 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 and they spoke with tongues and prophesied turned 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 eight say 14. now when the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God they sent Peter and John to that who when they had calmed 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 at 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 spirits 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 tongue 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 and a very helpful book on the book of Acts Thompson says Luke's focus in these texts Acts 2 8 10 and 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 see again the charismatic is wrong to come to the book of Acts and say well 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 why 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 profits in the New Testament Church now if we want to Loosely speak of preaching as prophesying I don't necessarily have a problem with that but if we're going to 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 first ministers in the synagogue this was Paul's Costa 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 fears typically that's Gentiles who are interested in Yahweh they were interested in Israel's God you have that Ethiopian eunuch you have cornelias you have others in the book of Acts that were Outsiders in terms of the Jewish Community but they had an Intrigue or 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 long-suffering 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 Hellbound 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 and Jerusalem what does he do he speaks boldly he doesn't do it apologetically well I I'm sorry I 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 tasks I've already said that verse 18 23 encompasses about 1500 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 state 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 see 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 second Corinthians to some where 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 I'm only going to go to those places where the sensible Sinners hang out where there's a predilection on the partisan 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 Rejoice 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 the 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 began anti-semites and we 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 the gospel records and as well here in the book of Acts so they were hardened and unbelieving Paul Intimates or alludes to this first 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 First Corinthians 15 32 I think he's intimating what happened to him in Ephesus he caused a riot there was lots of opposition there was lots of enmity there was lots of antipathy against him so he says if in the manner of man 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 9 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 and they founded the school and they made it such that that that preachers or missionaries could come there no it was a pagan lecture hall it was a pagan philosopher 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 man concerning the kingdom of God again that strategy and that methodology in 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 Paul Calvin rather makes this observation Paul did separate the disciples lest the goats should with their stink in fact 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 Paul's or Luke rather summarizes this time in verse 10. and discontinued 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 hither 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 going to go retire and I'm going to 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 going to close now first the 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 you know 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 I just don't get it you know 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 well well believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and and you shall be saved well we know the hyper Calvin and say we can't ever have Assurance because if you have Assurance then that's bad we've got the charismatics that say we 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 Pato Baptist Church background I am sure you have personally heard me say that baptizing somebody who was baptized as an infant is not re-baptism that's the typical response out there that oh that's re-baptism well that assumes that Pato 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 a 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 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 31-34 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 both 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 bapt baptism but as well with reference to Plato baptism it's not re-baptism if 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 I believe that I affirm that I I rejoice in that but it's a matter of who do we give Covenant sign Jill we give Covenant sign to Covenant part 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 uh Matthew Poole so not only John Gill who was a Baptist but Matthew Poole who was a patobaptist agrees that this is not a case of re-baptism of John the Baptist disciples Matthew Poole says the baptism of John and Christ which he commanded are one in the same John's baptism did respect Christ and oblige 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 re uh renting this 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 they 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 receive 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 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 lead little statuettes of Diana so Paul hit him in the pocket book 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 chapter four I'm sorry Colossians chapter 1 and then again in Colossians chapter 4 and Philemon chapter one it is likely and this is what most commentators suppose that he uh epaphras was converted during this time and he went back to the lycas valley to plant or assist in planting the churches in Columbus hereapolis and laodicea heropolis 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 two and three 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 sad 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 brother and sisters take that take that step in terms of obedience and 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 to follow the law of God in a in a more wholehearted way we're here because in your grace you granted us the 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 then 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