Leaving What is Behind
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Acts 18:18-23 marks the end of Paul’s 2nd missionary journey and the beginning of his 3rd and last.
before we delve into this passage I want say a few words about the book of Acts and a key issue which threatened the growth and stability of the early church
an issue by the way which has challenged the church in all ages
The book of Acts is a record of the birth of the church and its early stages of growth.
it was a particularly challenging time for Jewish believers
Judaism was not just a religion but a way of life.
it affected every aspect of daily living, right down to the minutest details!
breaking from Judaism was therefore very difficult
remember that for 2000 years, from Abraham to John the Baptist, God’s plan of salvation had been focused in and through the Jewish people
with the coming of the NC that all changed
Jewish believers struggled with giving up what was to them a way of life
as a result Judaism faded out of the church very slowly and often with great difficulty
this required great patience on the part of the Gentile believers
Gentile believers had to bear with their Jewish brothers whose consciences were bound by their old ways and practices.
examples:
Acts 2:47 - 3:1 - although the church had been established, Peter and John were still going to the Temple at the Jewish hours of prayer
Acts 11
1-3 - Jewish believers criticized Peter for going to Gentiles and eating with them!
8 - Peter was still keeping the Jewish dietary laws
warnings to the Galatians and exhortation to the Hebrews not to go back to Judaism
at times this created great strife and conflict within the newly formed church
the most serious was the issue of circumcision and salvation
Acts 15:1 - some Jewish believers telling Gentile believers they couldn’t be saved without being circumcised and keeping the Law
caused such unrest in the church at Antioch that a church council was called in Jerusalem to settle the matter
these threats to the unity of the church caused Paul to give special instruction in Rom 14:1-15:7 & 1 Cor 8
Principle:
The struggle to let go of the past and embrace the present is a problem that has often plagued the church.
although the issues differed depending on the time and circumstances.
for example, during the Reformation, it was breaking completely from Roman Catholicism
the Reformers had to deal with a whole host of issues like the priesthood, church traditions, earning salvation, infant baptism, etc
it is no different in our day!
as time marches on and the church tries to stay relevant but true to the Gospel change is inevitable
the older we get the less we are willing to adapt
the kind of music by which we worship, how we dress when we come to church, which ministries it would be a sin to change or cancel, etc
as we think about the problem in the 1st century church
The letter to the Hebrews was specifically written to Jewish believers to help them make this transition.
it proves that Jesus is better than anything the OC had to offer
Jesus is better that the angels
Jesus is better than Moses
Jesus is better than the priesthood as a High Priest of a better covenant
Jesus is a better sacrifice than all the OT sacrifices
Hebrew’s overarching message: no longer are Jewish believers to be ruled by external laws, rituals, feasts, holy days, priests, and sacrifices but by the Lord Jesus through the indwelling Holy Spirit
God’s OC people Israel have become God’s NC people, the church
all of the OT sacrifices have been set aside by the one final sacrifice of the Lamb of God
Hebrews therefore gives the theology and doctrine of the transition from Judaism to Christianity.
Acts gives the history of the transition from Judaism to Christianity.
so Acts is a book of transition
Acts gives the history of the transition from Judaism to Christianity
knowing this we must be very careful when building any doctrine on the book of Acts
Because the book of Acts is a history of the transition from Judaism to Christianity we must be careful of building theology and doctrine on it.
for example:
2 And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
notice that though they had put their faith in Jesus they had not received the HS
Charismatics use this verse as a proof text for their belief that after a believer is saved they need to be baptized with the HS
the problem is that this contradicts what God says elsewhere in His Word
9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
according to Rom 8:9 if you don’t have the Spirit of Christ you aren’t a Christian
so how do we handle this apparent discrepancy between Rom 8:9 and Acts 19:2?
we remember that Acts is a record of the church in transition
therefore when we find a doctrinal contradiction in Acts with another book or letter, the statement of Acts must not be taken as normative
as we have noted, Jewish believers struggled with the transition from Judaism to Christianity and in our text this morning we will see that even the Apostle Paul had to deal with this
Paul’s Vow
Paul’s Vow
18 After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.
“stayed many days longer”
armed with God’s promise that no one would attack him to do him harm, Paul left the Roman high court and continued preaching and teaching in Corinth for many days
Paul stayed a total of 18 months in Corinth teaching and equipping the church (18:11)
having established the church in the doctrines and theology they would need not only to stand against the world, but win it for Christ, Paul “took leave of the brothers”
a strong indicator that with the salvation of Crispus and his household and the many Corinthians who heard, believed and were baptized (v.8) a church was planted
NT practice: as soon as believers were saved they were baptized and were enrolled as members of the church family
“brothers” and “family” are important terms because the church is a household (1 Tim 3:15)
baptism in the NT was usually performed shortly after salvation and was the means of identifying who was a member of the church and who was not
objections to tying baptism to church membership are often the result of separating baptism from salvation
wherever Paul went he reasoned with and sought to persuade people to believe on Christ
then he strengthened those who had believed (when he was not chased away by his enemies - in which case he sent a member of his team to do the follow up teaching)
In Corinth Paul was able to remain for 18 months and used that precious time to ground the church in Corinth in the theology and doctrine of the New Testament.
made them strong against the enemies within and without
the overt pressure of the world to conform
the subtle and malicious doctrines of the false teachers to corrupt from within
they were able to live as salt and light (Mt 5:13-16)
the extent of Paul’s establishing the church is found in the next phrase “and set sail for Syria and with him Priscilla and Aquila”
when Paul and his team left Corinth his whole team went with him, including P&A
it is hard to imagine Paul leaving the Corinthian church without leadership
this tells us that in 18 months Paul was able to train qualified men to lead as elders
we also learn from this that P&A had proved themselves so useful in Corinth they became members of Paul’s team just as Luke had at Troas
the expanded team consisted of Silas, Timothy, Luke, Priscilla and Aquila
that P&A were willing to abandon their business to travel with Paul shows their loyalty and devotion to him
Q: how useful are you to this church? if you left, would anyone notice?
we are now told something very peculiar about Paul’s departure from Corinth
at the end of v.18 Luke tells us, “At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow”
this tells us why Paul was making his way to Syria and why, when the Jews asked him to stay longer, he refused
At some time near the end of his stay in Corinth Paul made a vow to the Lord which required him to go to the Temple within a short period of time.
in order to fully understand the significance of this we need to take a few moments to learn about OT Vows
Vows were a way for God’s people Old Testament people to express their gratitude or to demonstrate their devotion to him.
to express gratitude
in the Psalms, payment of vows is often associated with thanksgiving for deliverance from danger or affliction (Ps 22:24-25; 56:12-13)
to demonstrate absolute devotion to God by not doing certain things
Because Paul’s vow required him to cut his hair it is likely his was a Nazirite vow. (Num 6)
comes from Hebrew word “nazir” which means “to separate”
this vow required separating one’s self from certain things
no wine or strong drink, no contact with grapes, raisins
no contact with the dead
no cutting hair or shaving face
the period of the vow usually lasted 30, 60 or 100 days
there are 3 instances in the Bible of lifetime Nazirites: Samson, Samuel and John the Baptist
when the period of the vow was completed the head was shaved at the entrance to the Tabernacle/Temple and the hair burned on the altar along with other prescribed sacrifices
in Paul’s day provision was made for those who lived far away from Jerusalem to cut their hair and bring it to the Temple within 30 days
this would explain why Paul refused to stay longer in Ephesus even though the Jews wanted him to stay (18:20)
The Purpose of Paul’s Vow
The Purpose of Paul’s Vow
as we have already noted it was common for the Jews to make vows to God as expressions of gratitude or of being devoted to his service
Vows were often made when healed from sickness or delivered from calamity or danger.
we know from our previous messages that Paul experienced both!
Paul might have recommitted himself to the work which he was tempted to abandon in Corinth
compare to God’s encouragement to keep on speaking and not be silent (Acts 18:9)
having been tempted to stop preaching God came to him and gave him 3 promises: I am with you, no one will harm you, I have many people
perhaps Paul’s response was “you have helped me so I take this vow as a sign of my commitment to serve you, and you alone”
Paul may have wanted to express his gratitude to God for his protection while he ministered in Corinth
though he came to Corinth discouraged and afraid he ended his time there with a thriving church
amazed at God’s faithfulness he took upon himself the Nazirite vow as an expression of his gratitude
regardless of the reason for the vow, this raises a difficult question!
why is this renowned Apostle, preacher and church planter going back to OT rituals and ceremonies?
why was the writer of 1/3 of our NT doing this?
at first glance this seems very odd!
Although vows were a means of expressing gratitude or devotion to God in the Old Testament there is nothing of this in the New Testament.
we don’t need to win favour from God because has given us his Son
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
we are to give thanks always
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
all out devotion to the Lord in the NT is to characterize all of life
31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
although Paul was well aware that the OC with its rituals had passed away he had been raised in them and had been fanatical in his devotion to them (Gal 1:13-14; Php 3:5-6)
he was so committed to the Jewish laws, ceremonies and rituals that he beat up, imprisoned and even killed Jewish Christians who departed from them
Even the great Apostle Paul had to work through letting go of his commitment to Judaism just like every other saved Jew.
19 And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
given that there is no archeological evidence for a synagogue in Ephesus it is likely it was somewhere outside the city
Paul therefore left P&A in the city and went there to preach as was his habit on his missionary journeys
20 When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.
these Jews were obviously not hostile like the Jews in Corinth and Thessalonica
they were more like the Jews of Berea who were eager to learn
when asked to teach longer he refused
shows how serious he was about getting to Jerusalem in order to fulfill his vow
21 But on taking leave of them he said, “I will return to you if God wills,” and he set sail from Ephesus.
“if God wills”
the acknowledgment that God is in control of all things and specifically Paul’s own plans and desires
15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
22 When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
“when he landed, he went up … and then went down”
this is common figurative language in the Bible for going to Jerusalem and the Temple
In the Jewish mind, one went up to Jerusalem, it being located on a mountain and it being the centre of Israel.
one went down from there to anywhere else
“went down to Antioch”
this completed Paul’s 2nd missionary journey
23 After spending some time there, he departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
“he departed … strengthening”
this marks the start of Paul’s 3rd and final missionary journey
Paul’s burning desire to reach the lost and strengthen church so that it would be a beacon of light did not permit him to spend much time at his home church
Paul’s focus in all of his missionary labours was not just getting people saved but making them strong in their faith.
Paul was not content to leave people with a rudimentary understanding of God, faith and practice
note the stages of spiritual growth in 1 Jn 2:13-15
note the consequences of spiritual immaturity in Eph 4:11-16
Our Homework.
Our Homework.
Be patient and long suffering with those who struggle with change.
Paul’s challenge in Rom 14 - do not despise, do not judge
avoid the temptation to gossip and speak evil of others instead go to them
responsibility is place on the more mature to bear with the weak
Be thankful.
132 x the word thank, thanks, thankful is mentioned
thank offerings were required by God
thanks were given for
God’s steadfast love (Ps 107:8,15,21,31)
his righteousness (Ps 7:17)
his nearness (Ps 75:1)
his goodness (Ps 106:1; 107:1; 118:1,29; 136:1)
his answers to prayer (Ps 118:21)
many verses in the NT record thanks given to God for food
Paul’s thankfulness for God’s grace in the lives of believers (Rom 1:8; 1 Cor 1:4; Col 1:3-4; 1 Th 2:13)
faith known and spreading, faith and love, receiving the Word of God
a characteristic of unbelievers is their refusing to give thanks to God (Rom 1:21)
4 verses which command thankfulness at all times
20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
how we are to express thanks
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
thankfulness characterizes heaven
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
Be wholly committed to serving the Lord.
are you all in or sitting on the sidelines?
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
38 This is the great and first commandment.
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Questions:
What am I struggling to let go of?
Have I been nursing a bad attitude toward any other believer? Who are they? What am I going to do about it?
Is my life characterized by thankfulness or a critical spirit?
4. How am I serving Christ by serving his church?