Seven Lessons for Evangelism--Acts 18:1-23 (February 11, 2024)

Paul’s Vow, Holy War, and the End of the Journey

We can turn in your Bibles to Acts chapter 18. We continue going through the book of Acts. We'll be in verses 1 -23 this morning in the book of Acts 1 -23 of chapter 18. As a reminder, where we are in the story, we're picking up in the middle of Paul's, or kind of towards the end of Paul's second missionary journey.

He's coming to Corinth here in chapter 18. And normally what I would do is just start in verse 1 and kind of work our way down. I want to do that just a little bit differently today. I want to start with a curious verse towards the end of the chapter.

Because I think that will set us up for the rest of the sermon. And so I actually want to skip down to verse 18. Read it and kind of start with something of a curious verse or detail that's included. So let me read chapter 18 verse 18.

So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria. And Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Sincreia, for he had taken a vow. So this is God's word to us.

It's a little bit of a curious verse there, or at least the detail. That he had his hair cut off for he had been under a vow. What is this haircut and what is this vow? This is the first we've heard of it.

He's been on this journey for the last couple of chapters. We've seen him go into the synagogues and preach. We've seen him go into the marketplace and preach. We've seen him go up to the Areopagus and preach.

We've seen him do all these things, sail from here to there and everywhere. But we haven't heard anything about this vow until now. Nothing's been said, though Luke kind of casually mentions it in verse 18.

Now I don't want to spend too much time on this because it could really get us out in the weeds. But I will say that I think it's likely that Paul has taken a Nazarite vow. Or at least a vow very similar to the Nazarite vow.

Now you might remember this from elsewhere in your Bible reading. You have Samuel and Samson and John the Baptist. They had all taken a similar vow. And there were stipulations that went along with that.

So they were to abstain from alcohol during that time. They were to abstain from marital relations during that time. They were to abstain from cutting their hair during that time. The period of a vow then was a time of whole person devotion to God.

And in the vow there was an element of becoming a temporary priest. Which is why David's men could eat the holy bread from the altar in 1 Samuel 21. What we also just heard referenced in Mark chapter 2 that Bill read.

And there's also the element of holy war tied up with and associated with the vow. For example soldiers were under the vow when they went out to war. Which is why David's men again could eat, they could have eaten the holy bread.

Because they were under the vow. They were temporary priests involved in the holy war. And so Nazarites they were head crushers. Participating in the crushing of the head of the serpent. If you remember that imagery going back to Genesis chapter 3 verse 15.

Now we've mentioned several times as we've gone through the book of Acts. That the book is in some ways a recapitulation of the book of Joshua. Where the Israelites went in and conquered the promised land.

Except for now that the land is the whole world. And we use the sword of the spirit, the word of God to cut hearts. That leads to repentance and faith. Rather than swords of iron which cut the flesh. And so in this way we can see that Paul's missionary journey.

His second missionary journey has been a holy war so to speak. And Paul has been under a vow. As he set out to battle the principalities and powers of the preaching of the gospel. Through the preaching of the word.

Therefore as this second journey comes to a close. His vow is ending. Or has ended and therefore he cuts his hair. And then he insists in verse 21. That he must go up to Jerusalem. Now why must he go up to Jerusalem?

Well because at the end of a vow. One would go up to Jerusalem and offer the cut hair as a sacrifice to God. Now whether Paul actually went into the temple and offered the sacrifice or not. The Bible does not tell us.

I can think of some really good reasons why he would not do that. I can also make an argument for why he would. Since they were, or why it's possible that he would. Since they were living in the in between times.

Between the resurrection of Jesus and the destruction of the temple in AD 70. When the old covenant era officially came to an end. If you're interested in that argument. I invite you back on Wednesday night.

Midweek family fellowship. 630 down the fellowship hall. We'll do a little sermon follow up. And we'll talk about that some. But for now I just want us to see. That Paul's journey was holy war. By preaching the gospel.

He went about preaching and teaching the scriptures. In order to take the world for Jesus Christ.

Baptized Devotion and the Tip of the Spear

Now that sets us up.

But we're not under an azurite vow are we? Those ended with the end of the old covenant era. So we're not under vows like that. But we are baptized. We are devoted to God. Offering our bodies as living sacrifices.

Holy and pleasing to him. We are priests of God. And the God of peace is crushing Satan under our feet. And our commission is to take the world for King Jesus. Those statements can go back to Romans 12.

First Peter 1. Romans 16 and Matthew 28. And we see those things. So what we see in all of that. There is some overlap with those who are under the vow. So that's what we want to talk about this morning.

What is that work of taking the world for Jesus Christ. I want to say that evangelism is the tip of that spear. Now evangelism is not the only thing in the Christian life. It's not everyone that came to Christ.

When you read through Acts. Not everyone who came to Christ through Paul's ministry. Then became an evangelist and a missionary like Paul. Sometimes they did. Timothy, he joined up with Paul. And Silas joined up with Paul and some others.

And they went about preaching and teaching. But many in the cities that they went to. They stayed right where they were. And they were faithful Christians right where they were. Carrying out their duties as Christians.

Working as unto the Lord for his glory. This is because the goal of the gospel is not merely the conversion of individual souls. Though it is never less than that. The gospel of the kingdom is about colonizing the entire planet earth.

And taking it over for Christ. Discipling the nations and teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded. But evangelism is the tip of that spear. And we desperately need Christians proclaiming Christ.

Now evangelism is hard. Many of us shy away from it. So what I want us to see today from Acts 17. Is seven lessons for evangelism. That we can all take to heart in some way or another. As we seek to obey what God says to us in 1 Peter.

To be ready to give a defense for the hope that is within us. As we seek to disciple the nations. We seek to see those we know and love. In our family.

In our friend networks. In our workplaces. In our neighborhoods.

We long to see them know Christ. Because we love them and we love God. And we want God to receive glory from them. There's seven lessons for evangelism from Acts 18. That can strengthen us for that work of proclaiming Jesus.

And so let me read the first five verses of chapter 18. To kind of set the context. And then we'll get into those lessons. And God's word says in Acts 18. After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

And he found a certain Jew named Aquila. Born in Pontus. Who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla. Because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. And he came to them.

So because he was of the same trade. He stayed with them and worked. For by occupation they were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath. And persuaded both Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia.

Paul was compelled by the Spirit. And testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

Amen.

What we see here is that Paul makes his way to Corinth. Coming from Athens. He finds a married couple. Also Jewish background. Believers in Jesus. Also tent makers. Same occupation. Same trade as Paul.

And so what they did. They joined up. They worked together.

Probably lived in.

Either lived together or near the same place.

And then Paul.

He goes out and he ministers in the synagogues. Persuading both Jews and Greeks. And then Silas and Timothy arrive. And it says that Paul was compelled by the Spirit. And testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

Now here in this verse we have an example. Of where difference in kind of text tradition of translations. And difference in English translations come out. And so some translations will say. That he was compelled by the capital S Spirit.

Meaning the Holy Spirit. Some will have lower case S Spirit. Meaning kind of Paul's spirit within him. Some text traditions have word instead of spirit. We can get into it today about how that works out.

But I would say however one reads that particular part of the verse. This much is clear. Something changes when Silas and Timothy arrive. And that something that changes. Causes Paul to kind of turn up the volume of his ministry.

We know from elsewhere in the New Testament. That when Silas and Timothy came.

They brought a gift.

A financial gift to Paul from the churches of Macedonia. And so it's likely that this financial gift. Freed Paul up to lay aside the tent making work for that time. And devote himself more fully to the missionary work of preaching.

And in this way he was compelled. He was compelled to preach and to teach. And what he went then and testified. Is our first lesson for evangelism. He went and preached that Jesus is the Christ. And that is the central message of our witness to the world.

Jesus is the Christ. It's the central message. Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. Jesus is the long awaited promised and anointed one. He's the one who will judge the world in righteousness. And set all things right.

He is this Messiah. He is this Christ. Yet he won this kingship by his death and his resurrection. Inviting us into that kingdom. And forgiving us by his blood. Forgiving our sins by his shed blood. And granting to us eternal life.

And the one who does all of this. The one in whom salvation is found. Is Jesus Christ. Our first lesson about evangelism. Is to keep the central message central. To keep the main thing the main thing.

Jesus is the Christ. And so we preach Christ. There's a lot of other things that we can teach. There's a lot of other things that we should teach. But they're not the center. We ought to teach morality.

We ought to teach how to order society.

Family.

Politics. Commerce.

Justice.

The Bible talks about a whole lot of things. In fact the Bible in principle talks about everything. But the central message. The one we must never neglect. Especially in evangelism. Is that Jesus is the Christ.

Everything else is derivative from that. Everything else is downstream from that great truth. It's the center of the bullseye. That emanates out and touches everything else. It's the first domino to fall.

And if it doesn't fall nothing else falls. It's the center.

Let me give you an example.

As a hobby interest. I'm interested in kind of dissident new right politics. I think it's important. There's a lot of truth there. That can help our society. A lot of wisdom there. But if it's disconnected from Christ.

And the central message. It goes off the rails. Or moral instruction. Moralism.

It's kind of the same way.

You can go on about family values all day long. But if you disconnect it from the central message. That Jesus is the Christ. You get cold legalism. And then kind of all the bad morals in secret behind closed doors.

And so what we cannot do. Is disconnect our evangelism. Disconnect our message from the center of it. Which is Christ. In all our evangelism we must keep that center. Because right politics won't save anyone.

Generic moral instruction won't save anyone. Your practical solution to injustice in the world won't save anyone. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation. And so let us never tire of telling people about Jesus.

And saying to them come to Christ.

And live.

I don't mean to suggest that any of these other things aren't important. Just that they're not the central or primary focus of evangelism. Even if they might be connecting points. To engage someone with the gospel.

They're not the central primary focus. Jesus Christ is the blazing center.

Now.

You may not feel like you know enough Bible. For evangelism. That might be one reason that you're a little bit intimidated. But I would suggest to you this. I would remind you of this.

You know Jesus.

You know what Jesus did for you. You know that Jesus is the Christ. Jesus is the King.

And that's enough.

For that's the central message. So tell them that. You don't have to have a seminary degree. You don't have to be an expert on everything. You know Christ. Preach Christ. Tell them Christ. That's first lesson.

Unbelief, Responsibility, and Moving On

Second lesson for us. Is that unbelievers are responsible for their unbelief. See this in verse 6. But when they opposed him and blasphemed. He shook his garments and said to them. Your blood be upon your own heads.

I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. Your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. Paul was responsible to proclaim the message of Jesus Christ. He had no control over whether his hearers believed that message or not.

And the same is true for you and me. We're responsible to speak the gospel. We're not responsible whether someone accepts it or believes it. They will stand before God themselves. And so this morning I'm telling you.

Come to Christ and live. If you're here and you're not trusting Christ. Hear me. Come to Christ and live. He died in your place. Let me say this. He lived in your place perfectly. He died in your place as the perfect sacrifice and substitute.

In doing so he paid the due penalty for your sins. His blood washes away your sins. In him you can have forgiveness and eternal life. Because he rose from the dead. So that you could also rise from the dead.

Therefore repent and believe the gospel. This I am proclaiming to you today. And if you are not trusting Christ right now. And when you walk out of these doors in just a little while. You're still not trusting Christ.

You need to know that your blood is on your own head.

I am clean.

And so in evangelism. Speak the truth and trust God. For unbelief is of man and salvation is of the Lord. Do your part and trust God. This means you can reject false guilt. If people you proclaim the gospel to do not accept it.

Do not believe.

They persist in their unbelief. It also means you don't have to try to con anybody into believing. Or resort to gimmicks or compromise. We see faithful people telling that Jesus is the Christ faithfully.

And then we leave the results to God. And unbelievers are responsible for their own unbelief.

Third lesson.

We see it also here at the end of verse 6. It's okay to move on. And qualify that with a caveat here in just a minute. But what we see is that Paul moves on. He says from now on I will go to the Gentiles.

They persisted in their unbelief. They opposed him. And he said I'm moving on. This reminds us of the gospels. Particularly where he talks about how he shook his garments off to them. It reminds us of the gospels.

And Jesus' instruction to the disciples to shake off the dust from their feet. If they were not welcomed into a town.

Luke 9.

Shaking off the dust of the feet was according to Luke 9 .5. A testimony against them. That is this shaking of the dust off the feet is a visible sign of coming judgment for them. For those who reject Christ.

And those who reject Christ's messengers. And so Paul shaking his garments functions in the same way. Paul is not going to waste his time on those who willfully reject the gospel. But he'll move on just like he did when he shook the dust off his feet in Acts chapter 13.

When he left Iconium. And this time he will move on to the Gentiles. Therefore it's okay to move on from those you shared the gospel with. And who persist in their unbelief. Because again it's their responsibility.

However, here's my caveat. I would also point out that you're not obligated to move on quickly. There is something about salvation history that is especially kind of of first importance here. You know the gospel is for the Jews and then the Gentiles.

And so Paul goes to the synagogue and then he goes to the Gentiles when they reject it. So there's something about salvation history that's going on with Paul's shaking his garments and moving on to the Gentiles.

Often individual people need many touches with the gospel before they believe. They need many touches. They need many proclamations of the gospel to them. Persistent, persevering proclamation of the gospel to them before they will believe.

And God often uses the persistent prayers and the persistent witness of his people to bring them to faith. A pastor friend of mine, his father confessed faith this past Wednesday morning. Really early in the morning.

And I can guarantee you that there have been many years of prayers and many years of conversations about Jesus with him. And last Wednesday morning God saved him. And so I think a good rule of thumb for us then is this.

The closer the relationship, the slower you are to move on, so to speak.

If you ever move on.

In other words, don't give up on your unbelieving family and friends. Keep sharing Christ with them. Persist, endure, persevere in sharing Christ with them. But in plowing new ground in evangelism with people that we don't know, it's okay to move on when there's persistent unbelief and rejection or opposition to Christ and his messengers.

That's what we see in verse 6.

Fourth lesson.

Faith comes by hearing, so speak. Faith comes by hearing, so speak. We see this down in verses 8 and 9. And then we see what the Lord says to Paul in the next verse. Now, the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision.

Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent. Speaking is inherent and part of evangelism. We see that after moving on from the synagogue to justice, a God-fearing Gentile, that was verse 7. We see the ruler of the synagogue, Crispus, believes with all his household.

And after that, the Corinthians, hearing, believed. And we're reminded of Romans 10, 17 that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Therefore, we must do as verse 9 says, and we must speak the gospel to others.

Now, there is a well-meaning adage that has gone around for many years.

You've probably heard it.

I would submit to you that it's actually kind of subversive. But it says this.

Preach the gospel always.

When necessary, use words. Now, the problem with that is that it's always necessary to use words. Now, people, no doubt, they say this to encourage good works towards others. And we can appreciate that.

But we need to be clear that those good works are not the gospel. No one is saved by a smile. No one is saved by a polite conversation. No one is saved by acts of service. No one is saved by any other kind of acts of the kind.

People are saved when they hear the word of God that Jesus is the Christ. So we must speak it. We must say it. Now, saying that, of course, this does not rule out books or tracts or websites or other resources like that or resources for the hearing impaired who may not be able to physically hear.

I would rather say that all of those things are extensions of this category of speaking, of God using His people and their efforts as a means to bring others to faith in Jesus Christ. And so, whatever those means are, use them.

But we need to get the gospel to them. Because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Number five, lesson five. We see this also in verse eight. Baptize them. The goal of evangelism is that they would believe and be baptized as part of it.

So baptism is part of the Great Commission, Matthew 28. We also see in Acts chapter 2 with Peter and his sermon that the command there is repent and be baptized. Therefore, evangelism should lead to baptism.

Now, there's a lot we could say here about baptism. I won't keep you to after lunch in order to do it. So I'll just give you a few brief notes. But I want you to notice the order first. There in verse eight, it says that Christ was believed on the Lord with all his household.

In the next sentence, and many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized. And so the order here I believe is important. Because everywhere you look in the New Testament, belief and baptism go together.

And they go in that order, belief and then baptism. Now, this isn't exhaustive or conclusive about the question of believer's baptism versus infant baptism. But I mention it just to point out that as Baptists, I believe we are on good biblical footing.

And this is one part of that, about insisting on believer's baptism. And throughout the New Testament, the pattern we see here is belief and then baptism. And I would also ask you to notice the tense that this is in.

They were baptized. That's passive voice. This is something that happened to them. Baptism is not something that a believer does. It is something that is done to a believer. Something that a believer submits themselves to.

Therefore, a believer should not resist baptism. Scripture knows nothing of unbaptized Christians. And he should submit also to the one who has authority to baptize. And so Baptist Faith and Message puts it like this.

That baptism is a church ordinance. Meaning the church has authority to baptize. And so I think that's all bound up in that kind of passive voice there.

We're baptized.

And then lastly, I would simply comment on what baptism is. It is a picture of the gospel. It's enfleshing spiritual realities so that they are visible to us. It's a profession of belief in the gospel.

It is a pledge of loyalty and allegiance to Christ as King. And it is commissioning into the service of King Jesus. Into the priesthood of all believers. Of those who are devoted to the service of Christ.

Therefore, baptism properly understood and practiced is the goal of evangelism. We want people to hear. We want them to believe. And we want them to pledge their lives to Jesus in baptism. We see that here in Acts 18.

Courage in Evangelism and God’s People in the City

Lesson number six. Do not be afraid. Fear in evangelism is natural.

It is normal.

If you are fearful about sharing Christ with someone, I would just say, welcome to the club. We all are. We're talking about ultimate matters. Things of immense and ultimate importance when we're talking about the gospel and the state of someone else's soul.

And particularly in a culture that takes everything so flippantly and nothing is serious hardly in just kind of casual conversation. To kind of transition to the state of someone's soul. An eternal destiny.

That's a major shift. And I understand the fear that comes along with that. It's natural. It's normal. Apparently, Paul even needed to be encouraged against fear. His fears were probably different. His fears were being opposed and stoned as we saw in previous chapters.

But yet, he needed to be encouraged against fear. Because the Lord says to him, do not be afraid. And the reason he needed to hear that is because he was likely afraid. Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent.

I want you to notice the ground of this encouragement though. Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent. And the ground there in verse ten. For I am with you. The reason Paul could persevere and persist in the midst of fear is because God was with him.

Now we don't necessarily have the assurances of the rest of verse ten where he says no one will attack you or hurt you. I mean even Paul didn't have that in other places, right? This is kind of for Corinth, Paul in Corinth.

But the Lord is with us. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is with us always until the very end of the age. And so God is with you.

Have the Spirit of God indwelling in you, Christian. And because of that, you don't have to be afraid. You can keep on going in spite of fear and overcome your fears because God is with you. Now, as a practical matter, what we're often fearful is about that kind of time of getting into a gospel conversation.

I would say that you need about ten seconds of boldness in order to get into that conversation. You need about ten seconds of boldness. After that, you're in the conversation. You've already opened it up.

And you know the truth.

You know about Jesus.

You know the gospel. You need ten seconds of boldness to get into the conversation. And remember, the Lord of hosts, the Lord of armies, is with you. The God who split the Red Sea is with you. The God who conquered the land of Canaan is with you.

The God who stopped the lion's mouth in the lion's den is with you. The God who defeated Goliath is with you. And the God who raised Jesus from the dead is with you. Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent.

God Has Many People in This City

And lastly, lesson number seven, God has many people in this city. Verses 10 and 11, they're at the end of verse 10. For I have many people in this city, and he, Paul, continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

God had many people in Corinth. If we were to kind of put this in Ephesians 1 language, we could say it like this. God had people in Corinth, whom he had chosen in Jesus before the foundation of the world, that they should be holy and blameless before him in love, predestined to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace.

This is the truth of what God is telling Paul. Now, what did Paul do? He said, oh, cool, you got people in this city. I'll just go into the next city then. No. In fact, Paul did the opposite. He stayed there for a year and a half, teaching the word, because God's work of election is never an excuse for neglecting evangelism.

Rather, it is an invitation into it. Paul stayed for a year and a half in Corinth, as long as he stayed anywhere except for Ephesus, and he stayed there a year and a half, teaching the word of God among them, because God uses means to call his people to himself.

And the means he uses is the words of men. He uses proclamation by his people to enlarge his people. He uses the teaching of the word. The word that Hebrews 4 says is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit.

He uses his people wielding that sword to cut men to the heart so that they cry out, what must we do to be saved? And then we tell them,.

Repent.

Turn from your sins. Forsake your sins. And turn to Christ and believe Him. Trust Him. Trust that Christ is who He says He is. He did what the Bible says He did. Lived in your place, died in your place, was raised on the third day, that His blood might be poured out for you as a sacrifice to wash away your sins.

Turn from your sins and turn and trust this Christ.

And be baptized,.

Pledging your life to Jesus, offering yourself as a living sacrifice to Him, fully devoted to Him and His glory. This is the holy war. Wielding the word of God to take the world for King Jesus. God has many people.

And I believe He has many people in Traverse Rest, in northern Greenville County and in the upstate. It's our job to go find them. We find them by proclaiming the central message, Jesus is the Christ.

And so one final question.

Who will you tell this week? Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, I pray that you would give each of us an opportunity in the next seven days to tell someone the good news of Jesus. I pray that in that you would give us courage.

I pray that you would give us the ten seconds of boldness that it takes to get into that conversation. And I pray that we would tell them that Jesus is the Christ. And I pray that you would call your people to yourself and that you would be glorified.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus.

Amen. Amen.

You may have noticed as we're going through this chapter that we couldn't get to every verse, particularly verses 12 through 17. And so we'll follow up on those verses on Wednesday night.

And so again,.

I would invite you to come to Midweek Family Fellowship 630 on Wednesday night down in the fellowship hall. We'll address those verses since we didn't have time to get to them this morning. But now as we sing unto the Lord, I invite you to respond as the Lord leads you.