let you please bless him tonight as he preaches your word in Jesus name we pray
amen all right we are continuing this evening with our study on the book of
Acts and we are in chapter 19 this evening it's pretty pretty great chapter
due to the fact that initially in the very beginning we see that the baptism
of John the baptism of repentance is defined that's very important because of
the fact that a lot of people try to use that to teach a false doctrine known as
baptismal regeneration this is a great chapter to use to debunk that because he
goes through that with those the 12 there in Ephesus we see later on he
begins to dispute with one Tyrannus and then we see the famous story of the
exorcists who were vagabond Jews these men the seven sons of Sceva who were
seeking to basically cast out devils and how they get their rear ends handed to
them basically and then later after that when we see Paul doing a great work he
gets a lot of attention and we see that the Word of God really begins to catch a
lot of momentum in Asia and specifically in Ephesus and to the point where you
have men who are craftsmen and silversmith these men who literally
their occupation is to make idols and to sell to those who worship Diana the god
of the goddess of the Ephesians and they feel like they're being threatened you
know which that's exactly what's happened right Paul is doing such a
great job preaching the gospel that he's turning a lot of people who are pagans
who are worshippers of these false gods he's turning them away from those false
gods to worship the true God right so they feel threatened about this their
occupation is in danger and by the way this shows us that you know these
craftsmen these silversmiths they're not worshipping Diana because it's their
conviction right it's like well this is what we believe and you know I believe
that this is what the Bible says and our scripture says what is it it's wealth
they're doing it because they're making they're making money they're making
merchandise off of the people and there's no different than what we see
today with false prophets who preach you know from a Bible they try to preach the
right doctrines come to find out they're false prophets you know they they're
just like these people who are doing it to make merchandise off of people they're
doing it to make money off of people they're not doing it because they
believe these things to be true you understand so there's a great commotion
that's that started here and what we see is that a great assembly gathers
together against Paul and against his companions and what we see later on is
that basically this commotion ends up dying down they don't want to get in
trouble with the law and therefore it just basically dies down there but what
we see there at the latter end of chapter 19 is the fact that the Word of
God is spreading it's becoming very influential moment Christianity is
gaining momentum in Asia and rightfully so amen I mean this is what happens when
you preach the Bible when you're preaching the Word of God you're
spreading the gospel you know it's gonna attract a lot of people it's gonna
attract a lot of people to the gospel to be saved it's gonna attract a lot of
believers to come and listen to the truth and people are gonna like what you
have to say so we're in chapter 19 now in chapter 19 we're already actually in
Paul's third missionary journey at the latter end of chapter 18 if you remember
the book of Acts records three missions trips that Paul takes the first one
being with Barnabas when he sails to Cyprus goes to Pamphylia he goes to
Pisidia and Antioch he goes to Lystra and Derby and Iconium they went a bunch
of people to the Lord there they established churches we see that they
lay hands on people and they begin to ordain pastors to establish these local
New Testament churches a great work is accomplished he goes back to Antioch and
then he returns to those churches to go confirm them to strengthen them to teach
them to disciple them etc and he begins to disciple a lot of them and train them
in the ways of the Lord and so the second time he takes that trip he goes
to confirm the churches but he's also expanding the ministry because he goes a
little further out does he not you know he goes to those churches that he
established previously but then he goes to Troas and from Troas he sails to he
sails to to Philippi, Macedonia they go to Thessaloniki they go to Berea he
goes down to Athens and then he goes to Corinth and he's preaching the Word of
God there and this is very significant because what do we see later on the book
of 1st and 2nd Corinthians we see the book of 1st and 2nd Thessalonians we see
the book of to written to the letter written to the Philippians and so
obviously we have a lot of believers in this area and it's Paul's fruit I mean
he's seeing a lot of people say great works are being accomplished he goes
down to Corinth and he meets Aquila and Priscilla who are already saved are
preaching the Word of God to become an asset to the ministry he takes them to
Ephesus which I believe ends up being the church that meets at their house and
he leaves them there he goes to Caesarea and ultimately ends up in Antioch once
again completing the second missions trip okay he stays there for a time but
you know Paul's one of those guys you just can't he's not gonna say all right
well the glory days have already passed we already did a bunch of works back in
the day we've already established churches let me just kick up my feet
relax and just kind of put it in cruise control it's not the way he operates
that's not the way we should operate amen you know if we're doing great works
today we want to do greater tomorrow if we saw soul saved on Saturday amen but
we want to see more souls saved in the years in the months to come amen we
never want to be the kind of Christians that just live in the glory days you
know the best days are ahead of us not behind us and that's how Paul's
operating so he goes on his third missions trip to go strengthen the
disciples look down at your Bibles at Acts chapter 18 and look at verse 22 says
when he landed at Caesarea he had gone up and saluted the church he went down
to Antioch and after he had spent some time there he departed so he spent some
time there you know he's hanging out with the brethren the Apostles and then
he's just like all right it's time to depart time to go do the work he
departed and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order
strengthening all the disciples so when it says that he goes there in order what
is he doing he's visiting the churches that he had previously established and
what is he doing he is strengthening the disciples now what is the principle that
we can learn there well the principle is this is that soul
winning is not always I mean it's the most important work but it's not the
only work that we do because Paul here is not only getting a bunch of people
saved he's making his rounds to disciple the people that he's once in the Lord
and folks let me just say this is that that is extremely important okay we want
to make sure we win a ton of people to the Lord get a bunch of people saved we
keep the main thing the main thing and the main thing is soul winning but you
know what we also have to disciple the converts you know why because of the
fact that each and every one of those converts they have a common enemy known
as Satan he walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour and we
want to make sure that we teach them we teach converts we disciple them we train
them in the ways of the Lord we establish them in the faith so that when
they are confronted with tribulation with false doctrine they're not like
children tossed to and fro carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight
of men and cunning craft in this whereby they lie in wait to deceive you know we
want to make sure we equip people with the right type of doctrine the right
type of of teaching and Christian living so they so they're formidable against
their opponents you understand and that's what he's doing he's there he's
strengthening the disciples he's teaching them the Word of God he's given
them sound doctrine he's helping them to grow you understand this is important
you know because you know you look at the parable of the seed and the sower
those who fell on pond stony places the Bible says that they endured for a while
but in a time of persecution what happened they fell away you know and we
don't want that to happen to new believers when people come to our church
you know it's great when people when they get saved one disciple them so that
when tribulation comes tribulation arises because of the word they don't
just fall away and go back to their old life or become afraid and stop serving
God we want them to remain in this thing for the long haul amen and in fact on
his second mission strip he went there I'm sorry on his first mission strip you
know remember when he got stoned when he was stoned to death and and they brought
him out and he died or they supposed him to be dead I think he actually died he
went back and he said hey we through much tribulation must enter into the
kingdom of God he's basically telling like you know you see how I look he's
like you know expect this okay and amen to that and so he goes there and he goes
through Galatians 4 yeah he's strengthening all the disciples and then
he returns to Ephesus okay and it's important that he went back to Ephesus
for a reason he had gone to Ephesus prior to him returning back home so
there's something there that was calling his attention there's a lot of believers
in that area but if you remember in chapter 18 that's where he runs into
Apollos okay Apollos of course in my opinion was a
saved individual and I think that he was an individual who was saved under the
Old Testament and he believed on the Lord he just didn't know that the Lord's
name was Jesus understand and so Aquil and Priscilla they take him aside they
show him the way of the Lord more perfectly he leaves Ephesus goes to
Corinth and Achaia and begins to preach that from the Scriptures that Jesus is
the Christ so he goes there and he's just like look it's Jesus you know
there's no name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved it's the
name of Jesus okay becomes an asset to the ministry there now while Paul is at
Ephesus remember what is he doing he's strengthening the disciples right he's
confirming them he's teaching them he's going there to basically help them to
mature in their faith but then he runs into a problem look at verse number one
of chapter 19 it says that it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth
Paul having passed through the upper coast came to Ephesus finding certain
disciples he said unto them have you received the Holy Ghost since he
believed and they said unto him we have not so much as heard whether there be any
Holy Ghost so what's going on here Paul's going there and he's telling them
hey have you received the Holy Ghost since he believed now at a glance you
would probably interpret that many people would interpret that as saying
you know are you indwelled by the Holy Spirit since you believe right but this
is not what he's saying at all he's not telling them hey are you indwelled with
the Holy Spirit since you believed on Jesus Christ it's not what he's asking
at all what he's doing is he's asking him have you been filled with the
Spirit since he believed okay and the proof of that is down in verse number
let's see here look down at verse number six and when Paul had laid his hands
upon them the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and
prophesied you see why is he confirming the disciples because he wants them to
be spirit filled so he's going there he's like hey guys have you guys been
filled with the Spirit since you believed and then they give this weird
answer they're like we've never even heard there's any Holy Ghost it's like
this it's like if a visitor ever comes to our church here and then you just you
assume that they're saved right maybe they they found us through the movement
or something like that and then you ask them a question they're just like yeah
I'm still working on my salvation or something you know oh man you know it's
like they're not even saved you're asking them about something completely
different or you say you know have you been baptized yeah I'm already saved I
you know I got what I got saved when I got baptized or something and they throw
some answer I was like that's not what I was asking but I'm glad you said that
right it's not necessarily I was looking for but I'm glad you said it because now
we got to confront that issue they're gonna make sure you get saved so he's
asking if they've been filled with the Spirit they're just like I don't even
we don't even know there was a spirit scary look at verse 3 and he said unto
them unto what then were you baptized and they said unto John's baptism so
Paul saying so why did you get baptized then you know this is like if you don't
even know there's a Holy Ghost why did you even get baptized unto what then
were you baptized they said unto John's baptism now what John is there are they
referring to John the Baptist right here's what's funny about that so John
is the one who baptized them these 12 individuals right they don't even know
the Holy Ghost exists but how can you not know that the Holy Ghost exists if
what is John saying when he was preaching in his ministry that they
shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire so they can't say they've
never heard of the Holy Ghost or they can't say that John never preached
about the Holy Ghost because he did that was part of his message that he was
giving so what do we see here we see false converts okay we see false
converts by John the Baptist now let me back up a little bit and I'm gonna
explain some things first and foremost I want to explain first and foremost
then obviously this is not referring to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit now
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is basically synonymous with salvation when
someone gets saved they are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God they're sealed
until the day of redemption there's a couple things that take place when you
get saved okay and you know when someone gets saved they don't know all these
things but as you read the Bible you begin to learn some of the events that
actually takes place at the moment of salvation for example when someone
believes on Jesus Christ the Bible tells us that they are regenerated their
their spirit is actually brought back to life you know in Ephesians chapter 2 the
Bible tells us and you have to be quick and who were dead and trespasses and sin
so an individual spirit is dead and trespasses and sin but when they get
saved the Holy Spirit the Bible tells us regenerates it renews it brings it back
to life this is what's known as the new man okay so you have a brand new nature
in you called the new man and the spirit that dwells within you not the Holy
Spirit the new man is actually sinless amen spirit is sinless it cannot sin for
it is born of God the Bible tells us but it's in conjunction with your corrupt
flesh okay so when we get saved we have a new man which is our regenerated
spirit but then we also have the old man as well okay and that old man is
corrupt according to the deceitful lust the Bible says it constantly wants to
sin is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can be therefore the
Bible instructs us to walk in the spirit and you should not fulfill the lust of
the flesh so one of the first things that happens to us when we get saved is
that we get that brand new man he's alive amen the second thing that happens
is that God actually puts his Holy Spirit within us it takes up residence
within us the Bible says in Ephesians 1 13 and whom he also trusted after that
you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation and whom also after
that you believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise which is the
earnest of our inheritance unto the redemption of the purchase possession so
he's saying that the Holy Spirit comes to reside within us and he operates as
like a down payment okay you know we think to ourselves you know when we get
saved we're redeemed right we'll have to say we've seen that song
redeem redeem redeem by the blood of the Lamb and that's 100% true our spirit is
100% redeemed but the flesh is not and so what happens is God places his Holy
Spirit within us as a down payment to let us know that one day he will also
redeem our bodies that's what the Bible says in Romans chapter 8 that we're
waiting to wit the redemption of our bodies he's bought us completely with
his blood but the body has not yet been redeemed we're still waiting for that
day when we are raptured and the Bible calls it the second coming well we're
caught up together with them in the clouds the Bible says that this
corruption shall put on in corruption this mortal shall put on immortality
okay our vile body will be changed the Bible says you know this this
terrestrial body shall be shall be a celestial one okay it's what we would
refer to as glorification all right so the Holy Spirit that dwells within us is
like that down payment that God places to let us know hey you're sealed unto
the day of redemption that redempt that day referring to the rapture you know
there's gonna come a time when Jesus comes in the clouds every eye shall see
him and they you know the dead in Christ shall rise first and we which are alive
and remain shall be caught up with them together in the clouds and so shall we
ever be with the Lord that's when we are redeemed completely you understand
so no salvation is not a process because of the fact that once we get saved our
spirit is just redeemed period it's sealed we're just waiting for the
redemptions of our body though you understand that's very important and you
know this is something that we kind of you know we can't take these doctrines
for granted you know because you just never know sometimes we assume that
people just know what we're talking about we assume the Christian people who
are in Baptist churches or they're learning from a King James Bible that
they would know these things but sometimes they don't you know and then
you have infiltrators that come in and they try to teach some false doctrine
contrary to that because it's not being reinforced so when he says have you
received the Holy Ghost since he believed it's not referring to the
indwelling okay but here's the thing after salvation the Holy Spirit has a
ministry in our lives he operates in different manners in our personal lives
you know the Holy Spirit though he dwells within us he enables us as well
okay and in fact you know he does he the Bible calls him the spirit of truth what
that means is that when you read the Bible he reveals the Word of God to you
when you read the Bible he gives you understanding of what the Bible means he
enlightens your eyes to help you to understand what the Word of God is
saying that's the Holy Spirit's ministry there you know and by the way that's
why it's important that our hearts are not as fat as grease that's why it's
important that we're not filling our hearts with the things of this world
because what that does is it basically mutes the voice of God and we can't
learn the Bible sometimes you know you're in church and you can't pay
attention because you're thinking about what you're gonna eat for dinner you're
thinking about you know your favorite sports team or you think about X Y & Z
you know you need to have your mind in church you need to have your mind in the
Word of God and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you but he's also called the
comforter okay so one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is that he teaches us
all truth but he's also working to comfort us when we're going through
trials and tribulation in anguish you know when you're going through a
difficult time the Holy Spirit is there to bring all things to remembrance and
bring you the Psalms into remembrance bring you the remembrance that God loves
you that he'll never leave you nor forsake you then nothing could separate
you from the love separate you from the love of God that God will always be
there for you he comforts us in that manner and he makes intercessions for us
according to the will of God so you know you're going through a trial like
God please just tell me you know get a million dollars to pay this off and the
Holy Spirit is like that's not what he needs right now this is actually what he
needs so he actually translates what we're saying and actually prays
according to the will of God he makes intercessions for us but then not only
that he also supernaturally enables us as well okay and this is important folks
you know and by the way so what is Paul doing when he goes to the Ephesians he's
teaching them how to be filled with the Spirit why because it's the Spirit that
enables us to do the work of God it's the Spirit that enables us to be
husbands to be wives to be great employees to be great soldiers to be
great preachers to just live a life that is pleasing unto the Lord we need to be
spirit filled for that he's like well you know I'm just already saved I don't
need to be spirit filled and yeah you do the Bible says not by might nor by
power but by his spirit don't think that just because you wax eloquent or you're
a good talker or you're a good gabber that you can just get anybody saved you
need to be filled with the Spirit in order to do that you know it requires a
spirit filled preacher to get people saved folks hey it requires a spirit
filled person to be bold to go tell someone hey you're gonna go to hell you
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ you know there's people out there that when
they go sowing they're confronted with a false doctrine and they're just too
scared to like confront that here's a track you know what is required
requires a spirit filled person to say hey that's actually wrong let me show
you what the Bible actually says in meekness and fear obviously not
arrogantly not pompously but in love and compassion speaking the truth and love
be able to say that's actually wrong but let me show you the right way oh you
think you know the Bible actually I do can I show you let me show you what the
Bible says you know to be confident that requires someone who has spirit filled
if people fear teaching the Bible it's because they're not spirit filled
because God did not give us a spirit of fear but a power love and a sound mind
and perfect love casteth out fear the Bible says you know the Bible says the
righteous are bold as a lion the wicked flee when no man pursueth but the
righteous are as bold as a lion okay so this is the ministry that he has in our
lives and you know what I as a pastor need to constantly teach the
congregation be spirit filled walk in the spirit you should not fulfill the
lust of the flesh be filled with the spirit so you can be bold in the Lord to
teach the Word of God to your children teach the Word of God to the your
disciples of the people that you're you know mentoring so you can be spirit
filled when you go out there and preach the gospel so you can be successful in
the Christian life it requires for you to be spirit built not carnally minded
amen the ministry requires a supernatural element in order to succeed
so in order for you to succeed in the Christian life you need to be spirit
filled hey in order for a pastor to succeed in the ministry he has to be
spirit filled he can't rely on commentaries and encyclopedias and
Jewish fables he's like I don't know what the Bible says let me just go to a
commentary real quick well you know what you do have the Holy Spirit the best
commentator ever he wrote the Bible you have the author living within you have
him commentate anytime someone asked me hey so what kind of commentaries he used
I say I got about 66 books that I reference anytime you know I'm studying
the Bible who which ones are they was Genesis to Revelation and then I have
the Holy Spirit that teaches me yeah but you know we're trying to get the deep
things though yeah he teaches the deep things of God according to 1st
Corinthians chapter 2 does that mean you know the Bible no because here's the
thing I don't know everything the Bible says because maybe I'm not ready for
everything that the Bible has you know Jesus said I have many things to say
to you but you cannot bear them now okay so he has various operations in our
lives and this is why Paul's coming to say hey guys are you guys spirit filled
and then they're just like spirit what is that you know we don't even know
there's a Holy Ghost says in verse 3 he said unto them unto what then were you
baptized and they said unto John's baptism so these disciples in my opinion
were not saved at all okay they could be called disciples but they weren't saved
but they did get baptized by who by John now what does this teach us here this
teaches us that you know what there's gonna be times when we go out so many we
get a bunch of people saved and maybe a small percentage of those people that we
got saved and get saved it happens now I believe that when we go out there and
preach the gospel the vast majority of them do get saved the people that we
tell you know call upon the name of the Lord believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and they do it I just believe they got saved yeah but you didn't tell them to
repent of your sins yeah that's why I said I got him saved because you don't
get saved by repenting of your sins right oh you know calling upon the name
of the Lord they just have to believe hey what makes you think that you're
wiser than God so you're saying that Romans 10 13 has no validity that we
should just completely ignore and just remove it from the Bible it's nonsense
folks when we talk to people we tell them about Christ we want them to call
upon the name of the Lord for us to confirm okay this person believes anyone
if you got a problem with that take it up with God he's the one wrote it he's
the one that wrote it folks but look there's gonna be a small percentage of
people that don't believe right here's an example right here and look they're
baptized into John's baptism are we gonna say that John didn't hold the
gospel well or something I mean this is John the Baptist this guy waxed eloquent
this guy was filled with the spirit from the womb this guy was Jesus cousin I
mean he knew the Word of God he's the first Baptist amen we're not gonna say
all his he just didn't have a good gospel presentation no here's the thing
sometimes when people don't get saved when they call upon the name of the Lord
and they don't get saved it's for various reasons one can be you know
maybe the soul is not thorough enough and we never want to lean to that side
of a gospel presentation where it's just a one two three prayer after me type
thing right there's churches that do that where it's just like one two three
prayer after me they don't ask any questions they don't confirm if they
understand and they just kind of try to get them to pray the prayer not have any
understanding I don't believe those people get saved obviously we want to
make sure that we're thorough that we're explaining that there is
communication that there is response that they understand what we're talking
about okay so that could be a reason you know sometimes people just they the the
soul winners not thorough he's not explaining it well she's not explaining
it well other times is that people they kind of go along to get along this
happens too where people just you know they say yes to everything that you're
saying they call upon the name of the Lord but inside they don't really
believe okay because they just kind of want to get you off their back I'm sure
there's people that are like that out there okay either way here's the thing
is that the vast majority of the people that we win that we preach the gospel to
who call upon the name of the Lord I believe they get saved but there will be
times when people believe in vain which is what 1st Corinthians 15 tells us
right that they believed in vain that means they didn't believe in the first
place here's 12 examples right here and they had John the Baptist here's the
thing though okay when a saved person preaches the gospel to a person to an
unsaved individual you know let's just throw a percentage out there let's say
95% of the time they call upon the name of the Lord they get saved let's say 5%
of the time they don't let's just throw that out there okay but here's the thing
when an unsaved person preaches the gospel 100% of the time they never see
anybody say so there's times when a saved individual you know varies maybe
someone doesn't get saved when they preach the gospel to them okay I give
you that but 100% of the time when an unsaved person does it they never see
anybody say never we're talking about an individual who's not saved they think
that they're saved but they're not saved or maybe they're just you know a false
prophet some damnable heretic when they're preaching the gospel they can
get them to pray the prayer they can get to get them to to agree and say yes I
don't care what they make them do that person is not saved let me explain to
you why because everything brings forth after its own kind that's why everything
begets after its own kind that's a biblical principle across the board
folks oranges beget oranges apples beget apples bananas bananas humans
humans a human will never produce an animal amen
dogs dogs cats cats everything produces after its own kind and look to deny that
is to just call Jesus a liar let me explain to you why okay because what
we're saying is that when we get someone saved that person is a saved individual
because a saved individual gave them the gospel an unsaved individual cannot
do that because an unsaved individual cannot produce a regenerated individual
plenty examples in the Bible how about this where the Bible talks about in 1st
Corinthians chapter 2 that a Paul and Apollo's are ministers by whom he
believed what about John the Baptist in John chapter 1 that says this he was not
that light but was sent to bear witness of that light that all men through him
might believe right you know Paul said to the Corinthians he said though you
have 10,000 instructors in Christ yet you have not many fathers for in Christ
Jesus I begotten you through the gospel that term begotten means like I gave
birth to you basically spiritually speaking and in fact he said that to the
Galatians as well he says in whom I travail in birth till Christ be formed
in you travailing in birds I'm giving birth to a new man I'm trying to give
birth to a safe person okay but if that's not enough how about this because
here's the thing this is the argument that these people like to say oh you
know if they're a false prophet but they're given the gospel they can get
someone saved it's possible that they can get someone saved okay then show me
a convert from the Pharisees in the Bible show me a saved convert in the
Gospels that came from the Pharisees right we don't we never see safe
converts from Pharisees you know what we see proselytes you know what Jesus
said in Matthew 23 that they're twofold more a what child of hell to themselves
why because everything brings forth after its own time and Jesus told the
Pharisees in John chapter 8 ye are of your father the devil he says ye are a
generation of vipers therefore any proselyte that they make they make them
twofold more a child of hell than themselves that's what Jesus said so to
say one of the unsaved people these false prophets they can get people saved
is to deny what Jesus says because Jesus says these false prophets can't do that
they make them twofold more a child of hell than themselves
Bible says plain and simple folks you know what people who want to teach this
there's a stupid doctrine because that's exactly what it is they may want to sing
the praises of sowing but what they're doing is they're undermining sowing in
there they're causing it to die down they're trying to put a blanket over it
and they're gonna cause their followers to basically not go sowing as much okay
not only is the human element necessary to get someone saved a saved human
elephant element is necessary to get them saved okay that's necessary but you
have manly Perry who wants to teach aside from his other damnable Harrison
he has oh you know you know save me Judas is scary to have more commerce than
all the disciples well by commerce do you mean proselytes because then I can
agree with you okay and here's the thing you know I see Paul's converts all over
the book of Acts God names them I do you read you read about Judas's never when
have you ever seen a convert from Judas in the Bible never it doesn't exist
because he doesn't make them you know but here's the thing at least at least
manly Perry said this he said I can't prove from the Bible he's up but I
believe it oh shut my mouth well I'm glad you said that he says he could he
literally said this he had a Rick James moment where he's like he's like you
know I could show you tons of examples of people who got people saved and then
he's just like Judas like Judas is scary I think he had more commerce than all
the Apostles like can't prove from the Bible but I believe it I got tons of
examples I can't prove from the Bible like tons of tons of examples from where
hey cocaine's a hell of a drug okay it's a hell of a drug you know but that's
what he wants to teach you know why cuz he's a damn little heretic that's why
who hates the Lord he hates the Lord okay there's tons of other false
doctrines that he's teaching and and don't miss this Sunday I'm preaching on
Balaam son of Beaux-Arts this Sunday okay so don't miss on that sermon there
because it's very applicable hey the Bible is very relevant folks it's very
relevant you said I don't know who Balaam is good come to church and you're
gonna learn who Balaam is you're gonna learn the Old Testament Balaam the New
Testament Balaam and the 2020 Balaam son of Beaux-Arts people often believe in
vain folks and look this is why Jesus you know Jesus gives the example when he
talked about a saved and an unsaved person he compares them to trees right
the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life and he that win its souls is wise
the Bible says and in Matthew chapter 7 it says that a corrupt tree cannot bring
forth good fruit he literally says that a corrupt tree cannot can you get figs
of this earth grapes of thorns and figs of thistles he's saying you can't do
that it's not gonna bring forth after its kind he's the one who made that law
he made that law folks and don't think you can alter it or change it I know
it's those sound bites sound cute and they sound like you know reasonable but
it's not biblical okay so look here we find a group of people who thought they
were saved but they were not and again that's gonna happen sometimes okay I'm
sure there's people that I've led to the Lord over the last 14 years that I
thought got saved and they didn't get saved you know I think I remember a
couple maybe it was like a year ago we're out sowning here or John was out
sowning here and then he you know I we picked him up as like how to go did you
guys get anybody say he's like actually I think we lost souls and he says yeah
we talked to some people who talked to some people from our church and but they
they you know they say that they gave him the gospel whatever but they wouldn't
even say you know and that's not we don't know what the situation was there
but we can point to this and say that's gonna happen sometimes okay it's gonna
happen sometimes not a big deal we just need to fulfill our responsibility to go
out there faithful and preach the gospel and believe that people get saved amen
it looks sometimes people do get mixed up a little bit especially with their
their brand-new Christians they can get mixed up into false doctrine but that's
why it's important that we teach them the right doctrine that's what's
important that we just we don't that pastor me here doesn't do a series on
just like grace for 50 weeks or something we need to talk about this
stuff that's why it's important that there's a sermon on Balaam the son of
bozor she's like oh man people like that actually exist folks the Bible tells us
to preach the whole counsel of God okay now they said unto John's baptism so
what is John's baptism go to Mark chapter 1 if you would mark chapter 1
hold your place there in Acts chapter 19 by the way I'm not gonna be able to
cover all of Acts chapter 19 tonight obviously you know maybe some of you
wanted to hear about the vagabond Jews the exorcists you know the seven sons
of skeva but I actually covered that a couple weeks ago on my sermon on
exorcisms in the light of the Bible so make sure you reference that if you want
to you want a teaching on that I'm gonna mainly focus on this particular story
right here I'm gonna read to you from Matthew chapter 3 verse 1 it says in
those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea and
saying repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand now notice that it
says repent ye of sin yeah right it just says repent for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand for this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah saying the
voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare you the way to the Lord make his
path straight and the same John had his raiment of camels hair and leather
leathern girdle about his loins and his meat was locust with wild honey and then
went out to him Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region around about Jordan
and were baptized of him in Jordan confessing their sins he says in verse
11 I indeed baptized you with water unto repentance but he that cometh after me
is mightier than I'm whose shoes and I'm not worthy to bear he shall baptize you
with the Holy Ghost and with fire look at Mark chapter 1 verse number 1 it says
here the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God as it is
written in the prophets behold I send my messenger before thy face which shall
prepare thy way before thee the voice of one crying in the wilderness prepare you
the word the way of the Lord make his path straight John did baptized in the
wilderness look what it says and preached the baptism of repentance for
the remission of sins so we see two actions being taken here he says he
baptized in the wilderness and he preached the baptism of repentance for
the remission of sins these are two separate things the first baptism that
we see there is the fact that he physically baptizes people okay but then
we see that he also preaches back that this doesn't mean he's like spitting out
water he's like preaching water and waters coming out people are just getting
baptized of him this is the message that he has the baptism of repentance for the
remission of sins now here's the thing Pentecostals and those who belong to the
Church of Christ projectors as I like to call them they want to use this to say
well that's why you got to get baptized in order to be saved you have to have
the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins now what is remission
of sins means it means forgiveness of sins right remission of sins means to
be forgiven of sins now the question is this according to the Bible when are we
forgiven of our sins is it when we get baptized physically no actually happens
when we believe on the Lord all right and in fact we see in Acts chapter 10
that to him give all the prophets witness that through his name whosoever
believeth in him shall receive remission of sins is that a contradiction no the
Bible is telling us that when someone believes on Jesus Christ they will
receive that forgiveness of sins okay
turn with me if you would to Luke chapter 24 Luke chapter 24 I'm gonna
read to you from Romans chapter 3 verse 25 says whom God had sent forth to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God so when
the Bible talks about that he it says that he's preaching the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins it's referring to the fact that he's
preaching not water baptism he's preaching that baptism saves you now let
me explain what that means because baptism today has a connotation of what
only water baptism but what does the term baptism mean means to be immersed
and you know what happens when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ we are
immersed in Christ we're placed within the body of Christ see in these days
that really you know that the baptismal regeneration thing didn't really exist
so people can say you know baptize you know John the Baptist could preach the
baptism of repentance and people understood what that meant today because
false doctrine has permeated our society and baptismal regeneration is so
prevalent prevalent you know you can't really use that terminology because it's
gonna confuse people you understand but when it says that he preached the
baptism of repentance is referring to the fact that he preached believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and they will be immersed they will be placed into the
body of Christ okay look at Luke 24 verse 47 says it says in that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all
nations beginning at Jerusalem now here's another thing when people hear
the word repentance automatically they have a connotation that it's of sins
turning from their sins and look there's times in the Bible when that is true but
there's other times when it's not like for example repentance from dead works
and faith toward God what is that talking about changing your mind of what
you're trusting them for salvation to place it on Jesus Christ so when the
Bible says repentance when the Bible talks about repentance from dead works
it means you're not trusting in your dead works to get you saved you're
trusting in Jesus Christ you're placing your faith in God you're placing your
faith in Jesus Christ okay go with me if you would to turn to Roman chapter 6
go to Romans chapter 6 Colossians 2 12 says buried with them in baptism wherein
also you're risen with him through the faith of the operation of God who hath
raised him from the dead folks the Bible tells us in Ephesians chapter 4 there's
only one baptism and what is that referring to it's not referring to the
water baptism it's saying there's one baptism because there's one faith there's
one manner of salvation there's one Lord one Lord one faith one baptism means
there's only one way of salvation I am the way the truth and the life no man
cometh unto the Father but by me that's what Jesus said so when we get saved
yet we're baptized into the body of Christ okay look at Romans chapter 6
verse 1 says what shall we say then shall we continue in sin the grace may
abound God forbid how shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein
knowing not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death let me ask you a question when you were physically baptized were
you baptized into his death no folks you're baptized in water you're
baptized in a horse trough if you got baptized here with the mold at the bottom
I'm just kidding sort of you know you're baptized some some of you were baptized
in fire too because you know Mark left the heaters on there for too long and
you know people people you know I baptized certain people and they come
out like a skeleton or something just like because it's so hot or sometimes
you know during the winter we forget to put the heaters in there and you know
some people do get baptized unto death you know this is just like like hey at
least he was saved you know I'm just kidding folks you cannot insert water
baptism in Romans 6 3 that's not what it's talking about knowing that there's
so many businesses were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death
if you're placed in Jesus Christ when you believed on him you're placed into
his death so it's saying therefore we are buried with them by baptism into
death they're like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father even so we also should walk in newness of life now I'm not belittling
water baptism because we're Baptist amen that's what we do we baptize
converts that's what we do and we know what when we baptize people we baptize
them in the name of the Father the Son the Holy Ghost we buried him in the
likeness of his death we raised him in the likeness of his resurrection in the
likeness it's not the very like this it's there it's not the very image it's
just the likeness of it it's symbolic okay now this I would say yeah you have
to be baptized in order to be safe you have to be immersed in Christ you have
to be placed in Jesus in order to be safe but water baptism no you don't need
that to be safe okay now go back to Acts if you would actually after 4 or chapter
19 look at verse number 4 he defines it here says in verse number 4 then said
Paul John barely baptized with the baptism of repentance saying unto the
people that they should believe on him which should come after him that is on
Christ Jesus I sure I share this with like these Church of Christ rejectors
and they just they just want to ignore this completely it's like what about
John's baptism it's defined in Acts chapter 19 that they should believe on
him which should come after him that is on Christ Jesus now it could be that the
vast majority of the people that he's speaking to Paul in this in this region
they were probably baptized by John because remember there there was a time
when John didn't even recognize who Jesus was it wasn't till he came and he
said behold the Lamb of God is you take away the sins of the world and then God
is the one who told them when you see the Spirit of God descending upon him
like a dove that's him and at that point recognize okay this is the Christ which
is interesting because they're cousins you know you kind of wonder like how did
you not know that was him but there was a time when he did not know so people
are getting saved they're getting baptized into John's baptism and then
finally he says look behold the Lamb of God as you take away the sins of the
world his disciples leave him and they go with Jesus because now they know this
is the very Christ okay now it says there verse 4 verse 5 when they heard
this look what it says they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus
people these one is Pentecostals love this verse the Jesus only movement okay
and the reason they like is because they want to they want to baptize in the name
of Jesus right and you think yourself what's the problem with that you know
baptize in the name of Jesus he's our Savior well first and foremost there's a
bunch of damnable heresy that's attached to that very thought and you know they
want to make it seem as though they revere and respect and reverence the
name of Jesus but in actuality they're actually taken away from his deity
because the very people who want to practice this Jesus only baptism they
think that Jesus is the Father completely taken away from his eternal
sonship okay you know you got like these not just one is Pentecostals you know
even independent fundamental Baptists are practicing this now so-called
obviously Tyler Baker and these others who want to baptize in the name of Jesus
and they'll use verses like this acts 238 they'll use passages from acts to
try to prove well you're supposed to baptize in the name of Jesus okay so
let's just just forget everything that Jesus said in Matthew 28 when he gave
the instruction to his disciples to baptize in the name of the Father and of
the Son of the Holy Spirit well let's just forget all that right and just go
with what these guys are saying well first of all they're not saying that he
they got baptized in the name of Jesus like I baptized you in the name of Jesus
when it says there that they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus
they're saying that they got baptized with the authority in the authority of
Jesus you know like for example I don't know if you remember cartoons back in
the day like stop in the name of the law in other words what the law is
authority you should stop right cease one like manner what they're doing here
is he's basically baptizing them in the name of Jesus with the authority of
Jesus okay look a great example that is actually found in Acts chapter 19 where
you have these exorcists you're like we adjure thee by Jesus whom Paul preaches
they're trying to do it with the authority of Jesus didn't work because
they don't have the authority to do that just like today you have people who
baptize people who don't have the authority to do that that's an authority
given by ordination by a man of God by a pastor or whatever it may be but let me
give you an example of this go to 1st Corinthians chapter 1 1st Corinthians
chapter number 1 by the way Acts 19 is great is great proof to show us that
salvation precedes baptism because Paul's like they already baptized because
the only reason you should be baptized is if you're saved why did you get
baptized so this shows us that when someone gets saved and they say well
I've already been baptized it's like no you just got wet that's all that's all
that happened it has no significance whatsoever you need to get baptized
again okay because of the fact that baptism comes after salvation look at
1st Corinthians 1 verse 12 it says now this I say that every one of you sayeth
I am of Paul I have Apollo's and I have Cephas and I have Christ is Christ
divided was Paul crucified for you are we baptized in the name of Paul so he's
saying are you baptized with in my authority no everyone who gets baptized
here this church was baptized in the authority of Jesus right with the
authority of Christ because Paul is not Jesus who's Paul who's Apollo's but my
minister is by whom he believed they don't have it's not like well Paul we
have the authority of this divine person named the Apostle Paul you know
he's like a pope and he has this divine authority no Jesus is the only one who
has that authority he's the head of the church the Bible says right so he says I
thank God that I baptized none of you but Christmas in chaos lest any should
say that I had baptized in my no name with my own authority he's saying I came
in the authority of Jesus and this matches up with the whole entire book of
first first and second Corinthians because what is the main thing that's
being questioned by the Corinthians to Paul his authority constantly question
his authority and he's like do I need to come with you with the rod he's there
aren't you guys the one I want you guys to the Lord you know have not I done the
signs of an apostle do not I have authority over you guys you know I'm
gonna want you to Christ I'm gonna start at his church why are you bucking my
authority he's like I'm coming in the name of Jesus okay and by the way this
is not only known within local churches even the spiritual realm understands
this because what are the demons say in Acts chapter 19 well Paul I know and
Jesus I know who are you so you got these guys are like we had trained by
Jesus and Paul preaches and they're just like why I've heard of Paul I definitely
know who Jesus is I have you're you're a no-namer you're some lame dude some
Jew exorcist some vagabond what authority do you have no authority so it
shows you that those are just words because the the spiritual realm had no
respect for that whatsoever they just kind of like mock them just like make
fun of them and they got their rear ends handed to them they took their hinder
parts and handed it to them okay they referred to actually just like one
demon who did that to seven guys okay whereas Paul comes in they're just like
he's just casting out demons left and right not because he's anything special
but because he comes in the name of Jesus now today we don't have the
ability to exercise demons and you know slap people on the forehead and then
just get the alcohol demon out of them or whatever you know it's just like I
got this cigarette demon in me or whatever you just addicted is what you
are okay but we do have the authority hey we have church authority I have
Church authority to redeem hey I have Church authority to cast out heretics
and people who need to be excavated from the church you know what Jesus said that
if it's bound here on earth it shall be bound in heaven Jesus gave me that
authority so people when they disagree like oh you should have you you can't
throw me out who what gives you the right you have so much nerve to do X Y
and Z it's just like well Jesus actually gave me that authority
Steve police who try to get mad at me uh what gives you the right you don't have
the right texting me you know saying all manner of evil against me bucking God's
authority who gave me the authority to do that and guess what it's bound and
you know what I told him I told him who are you who are you who are you to tell
people in our church because he look the people who left our church these flat
earthers I don't know there were flat earthers when they were here found out
later he knew there were flat earthers and you he told him he felt he had the
authority to tell them well don't tell anybody at the church because you might
get kicked out if that happens well who gives you the right and the authority to
do that you're like that exorcist you that vagabond no authority whatsoever so
he wants the buck God's system in God's authority folks even if there's a church
out there that I don't agree with doctrinally on you know secondary issues
I'm gonna respect that authority because that's a God-given authority even if
it's like a watered-down pastor who just doesn't preach deep doctrine but the guy
is saved and he's ordained and he's qualified you know what the guy has
authority I'm not gonna go over there and try to tell that guy what to do
because whatever he binds in that church God is already bound in heaven that is
the authority that God gives to a local New Testament Church into a pastor we
come in the name of Jesus amen people like police come in their own name just
throw that out there for free and yes I mentioned him by name so what we see
here is authority being shown and Paul's basically explaining to them like look
you need to get saved and look by the way John came in the name of Jesus as
well but the problem with these 12 people these 12 guys is that they just
didn't understand they just weren't paying attention or something it's like
he preached about the Holy Ghost how can you guys not even know about that that's
weird you know but hey they got saved amen they got saved and then they were
baptized and then I'm sure they became fruitful members of that church there so
we're gonna have to stop right there because I'm out of time later on we see
Paul's reputation you know there there's a small stir that there's no small stir
excuse me about that way you know his fame goes abroad the way of the Lord
begins to permeate all of Asia and at that point you have these silversmiths
and you know these people who are making shrines to Diana they feel like they're
threatened because people are turning away from these false gods and they're
serving the true God and amen to that by the way I like what he says look look
down look down at a verse number 27 it says so then not only this our craft is
in danger to be said at naught but also that the temple of the great goddess
Diana should be despised so what he's saying he's like man these guys are
causing people to hate our false god that's awesome
Paul's mad he's awesome so he's not only teaching them to love the Lord he's also
teaching them to hate evil as well right he's like you should hate Diana this
false god of the Ephesians it's a devil we ought not to have fellowship with
Devils you know it's a false god we ought to love the Lord and we should
despise idols and amen to that you know what I teach my kids to hate idols I
teach them to hate idols Buddhist idols Catholic idols I teach myself we ought
to hate that because it's an abomination unto the Lord and God is God is mad at
that little children keep yourselves from idols the Bible says that's why we
have idol bashing Sunday give the kids a hammer just bash that thing to pieces
because that's how God feels well that's not politically correct we shouldn't do
that that's not very nice yeah well you can we can see how much you love the
Lord you know God's way is we destroy those idols burn those idols mock those
idols because they're dumb the Bible says you know they're wicked I don't know if
I share this story here but I'll finish with this and if I share this story I'm
gonna share it again we're done with Acts chapter 19 right so the other day
it was I don't know about a month and a half ago or something like that I don't
remember what it was we were you know we often as we as our manner is we have
to go to our hearts afterwards you know as a church or whatever and and my son
he just like despises that Buddhist temple over there he hates it he he
hates it and you know something he's like that is so wicked and I'm like yeah
it's wicked yeah but this night he was particularly very upset and he's just
like he's like God why are you allowing this this temple to be and he's just
going off I'm like amen son you know it's a wicked place and there's idols
there and God's not pleased with that he's very upset at that you know it's an
abomination and he's just like he's like we need to pray against that place dad
I'm like amen and he's like let's pray and he's like you know he's in his car
seat and I'm like driving he's like let's pray dad let's pray and then he
closed he starts praying he's like God please destroy that place and he's like
destroy that place cuz it's such a wicked place of idolatry and I know you
hate it and then my wife and I were like you know we're having but then it really
touched our hearts because he was just like it was super sincere and he goes he
says God I'm small I can't destroy that place he's like but God I know you're
big and you can do it you know and I'm like oh man the next day when I came to
work in the morning I drove by just to check you just never know hey that kid
has the faith of a child you know and I'm like man is that thing burned down
or something or what and he's just like destroy it Lord because it's it's a
mockery of you and he's just saying all these words he's like in Jesus name Amen
and then he was kind of like placated you know who's just like all right you
know at least I did everything I could kind of thing hey but I'm thankful that
my son feels that way about idols and he should feel it you know what if some
adults can feel like that I think God will be pleased with that if we could
just get some adults to have that fervency and hatred towards idols maybe
God will bless our country a little more right you know instead of focusing on
who's the president of the United States why don't we focus on praying down these
wicked idols these temples of Satan that God hates you know so he's a little
zealous he's not saved yet okay you know we were driving by there there's this
Armenian Orthodox temple or whatever by our house and every time we drive by he's
like that's a wicked place those people he would go he would say that those
people are wicked and my wife would be like well not everyone in there is
wicked son you know those people that still need to be saved it's the leaders
who are wicked the leaders are teaching the false gospel so now my daughter we
drive by and she goes that church is wicked those people are wicked and Bruce
goes not everyone in there's Kyla it's the leaders people there need to be
saved okay and she goes okay you know so he's the he's discipling his sister
amen funny let's pray father we thank you so much for your word and Lord thank
you for the fact that once we believed we were baptized into Jesus we were
immersed into Jesus and Lord we're thankful for salvation the fact that we
have eternal life help us to have that same fervency of Paul what a work ethic
that he had and what a great work that he's accomplished I don't really see any
of the Apostles during this time doing as much as he's doing he's starting
churches all over Asia and into Greece and even in Acts chapter 19 saying he's
gonna go into Rome I mean the guy has vision I pray that you'd help us to be
the same way Lord and may you use us Lord may your hand be upon us help us to
be spirit filled that you would use us to not only see a lot of people saved
but disciple the multitudes as well to show them the right ways of the Lord and
Lord and thank you so much that we can come in your name we can come in the
authority of Jesus to accomplish the work that you've called us to do we love
you so much and we thank you pray these things in Jesus name Amen