Well, good morning to everyone. Good to see you all here this morning. My friend Dr. Myers is here from Ashland. Welcome to Dr. Meyer and Annette, his wife. I appreciate having them here. You've all heard a lot about my farm, and Dr. Meyer's been a great help to me, and he's a good brother in Christ as well. So, it’s a pleasure to have them visiting this morning.

We're going to be looking at the book of Acts. We've been working for just about a year now, verse by verse, through the book of Acts, and we're up to chapter 19. We've been seeing a consistent message—really what we've been singing about this morning. Learning is, I've learned to trust Jesus, and I love what that song says: I trust him; I've proved him over and over, but I need grace to trust him more. I think that's really what the Christian life is about—learning to trust him day by day. 

So, we're going to talk about that this morning in Acts 19:1-10, coming off of some clear transition passages with Paul and Apollos and now these followers of John the Baptist. 

Quite often, someone will contact me or Pastor Crens and tell us they're looking for a good church in their area. They may have family that's living somewhere else, maybe moving, or had to leave their church for some reason or another, and they're searching for a good Bible-teaching church. They call and ask about a certain town or city, and I'm afraid the norm now, my friends, is that there may not be a good church in their area. 

I've searched on the internet, I've looked at doctrinal statements, I've called and even met with pastors when I've been visiting family, and there are very many good solid churches and men who love the Lord, that are preaching the gospel, but they're getting more and more difficult to find where the Word of God is the focus, the teaching, and the means of growth and evangelism. 

I'm sure many of you have experienced this very thing with your loved ones, perhaps children who've moved away or people you've led to Christ who can't find a good solid church to attend. I was talking to a young lady the other day, someone that I've known all of her life, who's been a Christian since a young age and has been involved in various ministries throughout her young adult life, and she's without a church right now. 

She's been involved in a couple of churches but has had to leave for various doctrinal reasons, and we were talking about a specific area of doctrine. I was asking her some questions, and we were talking about what makes a good church, what's important, what should be the focus of the pastor and teacher, etc. She was lamenting the fact that it's so difficult to find a good church, and she said something that struck me: I wish it were more simple. 

I thought about that for a second and I said to her, it is. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:3, "I fear lest somehow as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." Notice that Paul says that your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. Christians are struggling all around in the church today because their minds are not being renewed to the truth of God's Word—to sound doctrine and teaching about Christ. 

I grow so weary of all the man-made doctrines, systems, methods, ideas, and philosophies. I find rest, I rejoice in, and I have peace in the simplicity that is in Christ. And this is what we see in our text again today. This is what we see throughout the book of Acts.

I hear people often say that we need to get back to the early church. We need to get back to the first-century church. Well, after our recent studies with Paul and his Nazarite vow, with Apollos and his Old Covenant understanding and transition, and even in our text today with these believers who were following John the Baptist, the baptism of repentance, who had not received the Spirit—with all that we've seen about the forming of the early church and the transitioning from Judaism to Jesus and the sorting out of all these things, I'm not sure I want to go back to the early church, to the first-century church. 

I like having the completed Word of God, the full knowledge of the New Covenant. What I would really like to get back to, what I would really love to see in the church today that was clearly true of this early church in Acts, is a focus on the simplicity that is in Christ in doctrine and in practice. 

We're going to see this with Paul again in Ephesus as he returns to continue his evangelistic work and to strengthen the brethren, and it says he does this through reasoning and persuading from the Word of God concerning Jesus the Christ. 

Let's look at our text in Acts 19:1-10: 

"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.' That's a little bit misleading; what it really says is we haven't heard that the Holy Spirit was given. 

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 Christ Jesus.' 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 he 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 dwelled in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." 

I've given you three points on your outline. First, we're going to see again the example of Paul in the early church. The second, an understanding of the old and the new. And third, continuing in the Word of God. 

We're going to get back to the first seven verses, don't worry. I'm not too concerned about this controversy; we've been over this a couple of times already through our study of the book of Acts. We're going to get to that interesting event in the life of Paul, but first I want to look at the last verses and the important lesson here from Paul concerning what we are to be doing in the church in the ministry of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

As we see, the example of Paul in the early church is consistent throughout the book of Acts. Look at verse 8 again. It says he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. Then he had some resistance, and he withdrew the disciples, which was always the case from the Jews. 

In verse 10, it says this continued for two years, him teaching them, reasoning with them from the scriptures in the school of Tyrannus, and then it says all who dwelled in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. 

We see the normal pattern here for Paul. He comes back to Ephesus, he goes into the synagogue, and he speaks boldly, it says, for three months. Now this was an extended period of time for Paul. He usually didn't make it that long before they became hostile and ran him off, but here he was preaching Jesus as the Christ. 

He was using the Old Testament scriptures—their own scriptures—to show that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promises, all the prophecies, that He is the Christ. He showed them how he had to suffer and die and be buried, and that He rose again from the dead, accomplishing our salvation. 

It says he was reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. And I don't think this is a specific reference here to the Millennial Kingdom, but it speaks of the things of God—the rule and the realm of God's plan and purpose to bring all things to consummation in Christ. He was teaching them the things of God—sound doctrine from the Word of God. 

And this he did for three months. The word translated "reasoning" means to say thoroughly. Paul was exhaustive; he was persistent in explaining the truths about Jesus from the Word, saying thoroughly, teaching, preaching the truth, laying the foundations, coming to conclusions, proving, reasoning that Jesus is the Christ. 

The word "persuading" means to convince by argument. It includes discussion. Paul was building his case, using logic, showing from the truths of the Bible, the gospel message, the clarity, the simplicity that is in Christ. In short, Paul was preaching the gospel. He was preaching Jesus Christ crucified. He was discussing the condition and need of man as shown in the Scriptures, fleshing out all the historic salvation plan of God. 

I'm sure using Israel as the example and all that the prophets had said and promised, and showing that Jesus is the fulfillment of all these things. We've seen it throughout his ministry; we’ve seen it chronicled in the book of Acts. It was a simple, clear message about Jesus—interacting, questioning, responding, reasoning to point them to the truth. 

You see, my friends, this is what we are to be about. This is the way of evangelism. This is God's way. This is the only way—preaching Jesus Christ crucified, His death in our place for our sins, and salvation only by His grace through faith alone and what He accomplished on the cross. So simple, so true, so wonderful. 

We see no other example in the book of Acts in the early church. No other method, no other message, no complicated system or lengthy process. It says they went everywhere preaching the gospel, preaching Jesus. 

I think about Philip when he went down and met with the Ethiopian. He traveled all the way down there, caught up with him, ran up to his chariot, and he sat down and explained to him in the Scriptures where he was reading in Isaiah. What's interesting about that is it says he was caught away, and then he was traveling back up, and as he was traveling through every city he came to, what was he doing? Preaching Jesus. Preaching Jesus. 

It reminds me of when I was in India. I've told you that before. These guys just go out every day and preach the gospel to every creature, to anyone they meet. The gospel is the dynamite, the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes—for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 

My brothers and sisters, it is simple. It's the natural course of our lives. We don't need a method. We don't need a five-step plan. We need to have a heart for people, to pray for opportunities, to look for those opportunities, and when we're given those opportunities, to tell people about Jesus. 

It is profound and wonderful and amazing. It's beyond comprehension what Jesus did at the cross, but it is simple and straightforward, and the message, my friends, is the method. 

Well, Paul continued for three months, but finally, they had enough of him and his simplicity. The Jews preferred their complicated religious system, and in verse 9 it says, 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 dwelled in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Well, Paul went into the synagogue for three months, preaching Christ—the gospel truth, the grace and goodness of God—which is meant to lead men to repentance. And I'm sure some believed, as always, but there were others who were hardened, who did not believe. It said they spoke evil of the way. 

Jesus is the way. Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life. They cursed the way, the only way, the way of God. So, it says that Paul departed. He left. He cut ties. He withdrew the disciples, the ones who believed. He got them out of there, and what did he do? He took the believers, the ones who heard the gospel truth and chose to believe Jesus, and he found a place to meet—the school of Tyrannus—and they met together every day. 

Paul reasoned with them, teaching them the Scriptures and all about Jesus. The simplicity of Christ in the gospel preached is the way to salvation. Romans 10:17 says a man must hear a message about Jesus in order to have faith. 

The Bible tells us over and over that a man hears, Ephesians 1:13, he hears the word of truth. He believes, and then he's saved—the simple gospel message of Jesus Christ, the truth about His death, burial, and resurrection and our place for our sins is the way to life. Jesus is the way to life, but my friends, please hear this. The simplicity of Christ is that Jesus is also the way of life. 

He's the way to life, and Jesus is the way of life, and that's true for each of us as believers every day. It's what the pastor was talking about this morning—just come in and sup with me, fellowship with me, abide in me, trust me. 

Paul was teaching them about Jesus—His sufficiency for us, for life, for godliness, for fruit producing, for the glory of God; about His promises that give us sure hope; about His grace that is sufficient for everyday life; about His plan and purpose to conform us to His likeness and to produce fruit through us by His life in us as we believe Him every day. 

How do I know all this? How do I know this is what Paul was teaching them in the school of Tyrannus? Because this is what Paul and all the writers of the New Testament taught all the churches—in writing to them, preaching to them, and teaching them, and forming the doctrine of the Apostles, which is the foundation for the church. And my friends, this is the very thing that Jesus taught as well. 

Abide in me, remain in me. If you abide in me, you will bear much fruit, for without me you can do nothing. Paul said God's grace is sufficient for all things. He said, "The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me." 

Paul taught us about what happened when we were saved—a new creation, raised to newness of life, dead to sin, dead to the law, alive to God in Christ. And he told us that the way to live out these truths, to be fruitful, is to reckon these things to be so—to trust, to believe God, and to renew our minds through the Word of God to His truth. 

This is what we are to be doing continually. I got a text from a young person just a couple of days ago asking this question: Can a person ever be cured of panic attacks and anxiety? Can they deal with these things by God's grace? Or is medication the only answer? Quite a question, isn't it? 

I sent back these words, 2 Peter 1:2. My friends, we have real and true struggles—trials and tribulations, heartache, pain, suffering in this life, in this world. What is the answer? Is it medication? Is it the philosophies and systems of men? Is it the complicated systematic theologies of educated seminary professors? Or is it the simplicity that is in Christ? 

Paul shows again the answer in our text, the consistent answer of the early church in their understanding of evangelism and the Christian life—reasoning, persuading from the Word of God, the things of Christ, the truth of salvation by grace through faith alone in Him, the way to life—living by faith in Him and dependence on Him alone, standing on the promises of God, Jesus—the way of life. 

This is the message of the book of Acts. This is the message of the Bible. This is the message we need to know and understand and believe. This is the simplicity that is in Christ, my friends. 

Now, one of the main truths, doctrines that we need to understand from the Word of God is the distinction between the old and the new. And this is something that we've been touching on for several weeks because the life and transition of the people in the book of Acts from Old Covenant Judaism to New Covenant in Christ is a major lesson for us. 

It's a difference between an external system of law and works to an internal recreation. The book of Hebrews teaches us so much about this truth. There's a better covenant built on better promises. The argument of the New Testament in Paul's writings and Peter's writings and James' writings is all about the truth of who we now are in Christ because of what God has done in us. 

Paul says our outward living should be an equal weight. We should live a life worthy of our calling because of who we are in Christ by His life in us. We saw this Old Covenant, New Covenant transition in Paul in Corinth and Sincreia and on to Jerusalem with his Nazarite vow. We saw it with Apollos. And in our text today, we see it with some disciples of John the Baptist who are not yet understanding the New Covenant in Christ. 

Again, verse 1 in chapter 19, "And it happened when 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 Christ Jesus.' 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." 

Well, this is an interesting account, again, in the life and ministry of Paul in a time of transition. Here were twelve men who had followed John, who had taken his baptism of repentance, who had expressed their desire and willingness to receive the Messiah, to look for His coming, to believe on Him. But they did not know it was Jesus, or at least they did not know the truth of the gospel and Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection, and salvation by faith in Him. 

So Paul, when he met them, asked them, "Have you received the Holy Spirit?" Because, you see, this is what had happened for every person who had been saved since the day of Pentecost, in all the different scenarios we've looked at. Paul knew they were not new covenant believers in Jesus when they said we didn't even know that the Holy Spirit had been given. 

And so he preached Jesus to them. He explained to them the gospel and the death, burial, and resurrection—how the Messiah had to suffer. This was always Paul's message—Jesus Christ and Him crucified, buried, and risen again. And it says when they heard this, they believed. They believed on Jesus. And then they were baptized as a profession, an outward symbol of that faith that they now had in Christ. 

And when Paul laid hands on them, they received the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues and prophesied. Now we've seen this Pentecost-type event three times before in the book of Acts. What's going on here? What's this about? 

Does this mean that a person can be saved and not have the Holy Spirit and have a second work of the Spirit or later receive the Spirit? Well, Paul tells us in Romans 8:9 that if a man does not have the Spirit, then he is not his. Every believer at the moment of faith receives the Holy Spirit in fullness. That's clear in the doctrinal books, the epistles. 

What's going on here? Well, you remember that we noted that this is all part of the transition from the Old Covenant to the New, and it highlights God's plan to bring salvation to all men—Jew and Gentile. I think the best way to understand this is to look back at Acts 1:8. If you'd turn back to chapter 1 with me, and remember in the beginning in Acts 1:8 the statement that Jesus made to His apostles. 

He told them to wait for the promise of the Father, the Holy Spirit. In Acts 1:8 He said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth." This was Jesus' commission to the disciples, His command, and it was an explanation of what their ministry would be in this time of transition from the Old to the New, from Judaism to Jesus. 

And we see this bear out throughout the book of Acts, and specifically in the way that we see it in our text this morning. The Holy Spirit comes upon the apostles in Acts 2 in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. And Peter preaches, and the Jews come to faith in Christ and are born again. And to mark this, God gives a manifestation of the Spirit in tongues and prophesying. 

Next, we see in Acts 8 that the gospel was preached in Judea, then to Samaritans, and when they believed, the exact same thing happened, and they spoke in tongues when the Holy Spirit was given to them. Later we see that the Gentiles experienced this same thing as well. They hear and believe, and the Holy Spirit comes upon them, and the apostles were able to witness these events. 

You see, this is important because it showed that all men—Jew, Samaritan, Gentile—received the same salvation in the same way, and were all equal in Christ in the church. Otherwise, there was a danger of a division— a Jewish church, a Gentile church—first and second-class division among the believers. And even in all this clarity that God went to such great lengths to show and provide, there was still resistance from the Jews that had to be dealt with. 

Remember Acts 11:1, it says, "Now the apostles and brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God." Kind of reminds us of Jonah. "And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those of the circumcision contended with them, saying, 'You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them.' But Peter explained it to them in order from the beginning, it says." 

The Jews weren't happy about the Gentiles coming to faith, and really not happy about Peter going into their house, but then he told them all that happened, hearing the gospel, and listen to verse 17, what Peter said. You can almost hear a little unsurity and resistance in his statement. He says, "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" Almost as if he wanted to. 

But you see, they received the same gift in the same way, and this showed them that they were equal in the body, they were equal in the church—that the barrier between Jew and Gentile had been broken down. 

There was such a great potential for division in the early church, and God needed to show them that the salvation of all men—Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles, Old Testament believers, or followers of John—all men, whenever they hear the gospel and believe Jesus, receive the same salvation and the same Holy Spirit, and are placed into the body in the church. 

That's what we see here again in our text this morning. We never see this again throughout the New Testament. Whenever someone believes, they receive the Holy Spirit immediately. 

Well, we've seen the example of Paul in the early church, we've seen an understanding of the Old and the New, and last we see the continuing of the Word of God. Look 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. 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—those are your purpose words; always watch for your purpose words—"so that all who dwelled in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks." 

This is an amazing statement, my friends. And how do you suppose that they all heard the word? This is important for us to see. I don't think they were all in the school of Tyrannus. But the believers were. The disciples were there daily listening to Paul as he did what? He reasoned from the Scriptures. He taught the Word of God and the truths of Jesus the Christ. 

This is what he did, day after day—renewing the minds of the disciples to doctrine, truth teaching about Jesus, His death, burial, and resurrection, life in Him through faith, living in Him by faith, the simplicity of Christ. And what was the result? Those disciples grew; they flourished, being continually nourished by the Word of God and simple daily abiding dependence on Jesus. 

And as a result, they were built up—like Ephesians 4 tells us—they grew into unity in the body, and they went out into that city, that region, and they preached Jesus Christ. This is how all in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus. 

This is God's plan, my friends. This is His means, His way to accomplish His will in the church. How will all in Winchester and Ironwood and Hurley and Ashland, how will they all hear the word of the Lord? 

They probably won't see it on CNN. They probably won't see it at the movie theater. We are here to tell them the truth about Jesus—to tell them of the good news of the gospel and salvation through Him. You know, on occasion, someone comes to me with a problem, a question. Sometimes with their church, with some teaching they're exposed to—some doctrine of man. 

This is usually a system, a theology. Most often a book written by a learned theologian espousing some new thing. I don't mean to be cynical at all; it's just some reality that we have, and it happens too often. And it's necessary for me to research, to study, to come to an understanding of the teaching if I don't know about it already, and to show biblically why it's right or why it's wrong, why it's truth or error, helpful or misleading. 

And this is good; there’s growth for me, there’s growth for the person struggling. But I have to tell you, my friends, I’d just much rather not. I was listening to Vance Havner this morning when I was milking the cows, and he said, "I get so sick of theological debates, complicated systems. A bulldog can whip a skunk anytime, but it’s not worth the mess." 

I’d just much rather not have to delve into all that. These books, these systems, these theologies can be so complicated, confusing, deceptive, and it's like a weight bearing down on you when you're in the midst of sorting it out. I remember years and years ago, a very good pastor friend of mine was reading a lot of books. He was contemplating a shift in his paradigm, in his systematic theology. 

He was considering the claims of covenant theology, which taught a completely contradictory system to the dispensational system he'd known and believed and taught all of his Christian life. Some of the key elements surrounded eschatology, especially concerning Israel and the church. You see, covenant theologians teach that the church has replaced Israel, that we are Israel, and we will experience all the blessings promised to Israel of the Old Testament. 

Of course, none of the curses. And covenant theologians are usually amillennial, a rapture, preterist. This means that they don't believe in a literal thousand-year kingdom, that the thousand years is spiritual, that it's now, that Satan was bound at the cross. They don't believe in the rapture of the church. They don't believe that the book of Revelation is about a future happening, but it was fulfilled in 70 AD. 

So my friend was reading all the arguments of these learned men in their books, listening to them in sermons. And he just about bought the whole thing. But he was hung up on Revelation 20 and the abundantly clear language concerning the thousand-year reign of Jesus on this earth. He couldn't get past how clear it was. 

And we exchanged hundreds of emails. But then eventually, he read enough books; he shifted. He became an all-male covenant theologian and made a giant paradigm shift in his thinking and his ministry. I bring this up because I remember working through this with him, mostly trying to implore him to stay with a literal hermeneutic and take God's Word for what it says. 

What I remember is that it was so complicated. It was so burdensome, so confusing. I remember teaching a Bible study in Gurney when we first went up there. And these people have been Christians for decades, and they sit down and study their Bible every morning, and they love the Lord, and they preach the gospel, and they want people to be saved. 

And in the course of a study we were going through, I brought up Calvinism, and they all just looked at me. "What's that?" So I explained it to them, and they said, "Who would ever believe that? Where does that come from?" See, they'd just been studying their Bible. 

I think you have to go on to seminary and even read a lot of books and study a lot of systematic theology to think of it. My friends, I mourned this situation with my buddy, but it was a lesson for me. It had an impact on me because it made me so very thankful for the simplicity that is in Christ. 

I don't have all the answers. I can't explain everything. And I love studying the depths of the Word of God and delving into the truths as much as anyone. But I'll tell you this—the book of Acts and the account of the lives and ministry of the apostles and disciples of the early church are a lesson for us. They are a clear example of how God intends that we should live the Christian life, evangelize the world, and edify the believers to prepare them to go out and preach Christ. 

And what we see is a continual focus, a commitment to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, of reasoning and persuading concerning Jesus the Christ—who He is, what He's done, how He intends that we should live for Him. 

And what we see is a life of simple faith and dependence on Jesus—one day at a time, of growing through the truth of God's Word by teaching, preaching, studying, reckoning, believing, trusting what God says. 

And my friends, it's that simple. It's not easy. It's not easy. It's a struggle. But it's simple. And by God's grace and power, it produces fruit through our lives as we look to Him, as we depend on Him, as we trust in Him. 

I believe this is a profound and important message in the book of Acts in the early church, and we do well in our time, in our church, to heed this message, this truth concerning this simplicity in Jesus. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for Your Word—that You've preserved this for us for the historical account of the founding of the church, for all the truths and promises of Your Word. We thank You for the depth of Your Word that we can never exhaust it. It's like going to the ocean with a tin cup. But we also thank You for the simplicity of the gospel message of life in Jesus through faith and a promise of eternal life with Him. 

Thank You for Your grace, Your sufficiency. Thank You that You're our Father. We can trust You and believe You, in Jesus' name, amen.