The Christ Was Jesus

[0:00] Now folks, we're thinking about Acts chapter 18, Paul's time in the forum. And a question that I was thinking about in relation to this was, what would you do, or how would you feel, if you were told that the way that you worship was unbiblical?

[0:26] How would you feel, what would you do? There's a concern among churches across denominations to justify the way that we worship by saying that it's biblical.

[0:39] We're a Bible-based church, a Bible-believing church. Have you heard those terms? That's a way to say the way we do things is biblical. There's so many denominations in such a variety of churches.

[0:53] Even people starting out a life of faith often wonder what church is the right church to go to. But which one is right? Which one is the true church?

[1:04] Which one is biblical? Or what if, with all that's been going on with the pandemic and such, what if we were told that the way that we are worshipping is unlawful?

[1:17] What would you do if someone accused you of that? Yeah, the way your church worships is unlawful. Illegally. Whether or not it is right for a church to worship, even if it was unlawful to do it that way, it perhaps wouldn't seem worth breaking the law if you found out that the way that you worship was unbiblical as well.

[1:40] No point in breaking the law just to worship in an unbiblical way. So what is biblical worship? How would you respond to the accusation that your worship was unbiblical or unlawful?

[1:58] Some of you might know of this story, this experience I had. And I'm sorry if I'm repeating myself. But one time Jennifer and I were traveling. We were going to Egypt.

[2:09] And I remember at the airport seeing these devout Jews. They had the hats. They had the curls going down and the big beards and black suits. And I remember looking over and thinking, I had this real sense that they were probably way more devoted than I was.

[2:28] These people are devoted. I mean, I don't tend to let it affect the way my hair is and stuff like that. But these people were devoted. And I thought, these people are probably way more devoted than I am.

[2:42] What makes me in the right, then, and the wrong? What is it? And the thing that struck me is, these are not people who worship a made-up God, an idol.

[2:55] They worship the true God. They just do it the wrong way. How can I say that? Is it arrogant to say that? You see, what gave me assurance in that moment was remembering in the Gospels that it is all about the Son of God, Jesus.

[3:17] If you reject the Son, you reject the Father. You can't worship the God by going around. You can't worship the true God by going around his Son when he has given his Son to be the one through whom you worship him.

[3:34] So in that moment, I thought, this is the difference. John, who was a Jew, said, this is the testimony. God has given us eternal life.

[3:46] That life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life. Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. That's the difference. It's not about how good I am.

[3:59] It's about Jesus being the one that God put forward through which all praise and glory and worship and everything goes through Jesus. He was the one put forward as a perpetuation for our sins, and not just ours, but the sins of the whole world.

[4:15] You see, this accusation of worship that is not biblical was the very accusation that many of the Jews in Corinth made about Paul. The Jews decided to make a united attack on Paul, saying in verse 13, this man is persuading people to worship God contrary to the law.

[4:37] Now, the law that the Jews are referring to here is probably not simply the law of Moses. Probably the law of Rome, because they're going to a Roman proconsul.

[4:48] This is a major feature throughout the book of Acts. The gospel spreads through the Roman Empire, and the question is whether Christianity is lawful or even legitimate to begin with.

[5:03] You see, for these Jews in the synagogue who are bringing an accusation, the Jewish religion, Judaism itself predates the Roman Empire.

[5:19] The Jewish religion is an ancient religion, and when the Romans began to occupy them, provisions were made for them to practice their religion freely. So, in the list in the Empire of Rome, in the list of all the religions, Judaism was recognized and legitimate.

[5:38] It was a recognized and legitimate religion, and in Roman law, Jews were allowed to practice their religion according to their own law. That provision was made because it was a recognized religion.

[5:52] So, this accusation that we get in the middle of our passage against Paul and against Christianity is really a big thing in Acts. What the Jews were often saying was that Christianity is both illegitimate and lawless.

[6:07] The Jews were saying that the gospel had nothing to do with Judaism, which was accepted in Rome. And not only that, they were saying that the gospel led to lawlessness in the Empire.

[6:20] And the accusation is actually probably more clever than we realize. Because you remember at the start of our passage, it talks about Aquila and Priscilla being in Corinth because the Jews were expelled out of Rome.

[6:32] You see, the Jews were expelled out of Rome on account of disturbances around the name of a man named Christus.

[6:45] Name of a man named Christus. And a guy called Suetonius wrote about the expulsion of the Jews. And when he connected with the name Christus, it's generally understood to be referring to Christ.

[6:58] Some disturbances broke out surrounding the name Christ. Jews had begun to be given liberty to exercise their religion, but then uproars began to arise at the name of this Christus or Christ.

[7:12] And some suggest that Jews came from Pentecost. You know, back in Acts chapter 2, Pentecost, all Jews from all over the world were in Jerusalem.

[7:24] And so some believe that Jews returned to Rome after Pentecost, proclaiming Christ. And as a result, as in most cities, there was a bit of fighting between the Jews.

[7:36] And as such, Claudius expelled them out of Rome. So the accusation of these Jews in Corinth was clever, in that they were appealing to the pro-consul Gallio in the hopes that he would look at Paul and the Christians in Corinth to be causing the same destruction over Christ as those who were expelled from Rome.

[7:57] This is probably the context behind Gallio's comment when he says, this is a matter of questions about words and names and of your own law.

[8:09] So it has nothing to do with it. You see, this is the contention of the Jews in Corinth. That Christianity is not a legitimate religion. That it's not part of Judaism.

[8:22] And that it's lawless and destructive in the empire. So think about this for a moment. If you're reading Luke's, Luke's akin here later on, if you are a Jew or a Gentile and you've, you know, become part of Christianity, if you converted to a religion but later on you found out that it didn't have the rich history that you thought it did, what would you do?

[8:50] And what would you do if you met people who have been worshipping God for much longer than you have and they tell you that the church that you're worshipping in is doing it in an unbiblical way?

[9:03] I mean, you would think, surely they would know. They've known coming a lot longer. It would be unsettling. This was in effect what the Jews were saying about the Jesus movement.

[9:16] They were saying that the Jesus movement is a false religion. It had nothing to do with Judaism. And it's lawless. They were saying that this Jesus group is unbiblical and lawless.

[9:29] Now, you might be able to fool the non-Jews. You might be able to go out there, Paul, and pull the wool over the eyes of the Gentiles. But real Jews can tell the difference because they know the real thing.

[9:42] They have the history. They have the traditions. They have the scriptures. They have the teachers and the rabbis and so on and so forth. That's what the Jews were accusing me.

[9:55] But let's notice the first person we're introduced to is a Jew himself, Aquila. Aquila's a Jew. He was there in Rome when Claudius expelled the Jews.

[10:08] He was Jewish enough to be expelled himself. And now he's a member of the local synagogue. Paul is not only welcomed by him and his wife Priscilla, but they allow this fellow Paul to work in their business and to stay in their home.

[10:28] Now you've heard the saying, once bitten, twice shy. While Judaism encouraged hospitality to strangers, a line would be drawn to heretics and troublemakers.

[10:41] And so you would think after Aquila and Priscilla having relocated from Rome, having been forced out of Rome, that they would be a little hesitant to associate with Paul if they had any doubts about his loyalty to Judaism.

[10:58] You see, this thought that a real Jew would be what you tell the difference, it's a false thought. Aquila was a real Jew. He welcomed Paul into his business. He risked his business, his home, his reputation.

[11:12] And then, is it worth the risk? Is it worth the risk to Aquila's membership in the synagogue? Is it worth the risk of their reputation in Corinth?

[11:25] Is it worth the risk of all of it to accept Paul if his message is both contrary to Judaism and also encouraging lawlessness? Well, here we have a Jew and one who's already been forced to move house because of being a Jew.

[11:40] And he's not only welcoming this messianic messenger into this work in his home, not only that, but Aquila would have stood by Paul's side every week in the synagogue when Paul spoke about the Christ being Jesus.

[11:55] And then another couple of respectable Jews turn up. Silas and Timothy. Here are more Jews, ones who you can't easily pull the wool over their eyes, more Jews standing side by side with Paul, supporting his ministry to speak about the Christ being Jesus.

[12:13] You see, even although Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles, he himself was a Pharisee. He knows the scriptures inside out. He isn't trying to start something new.

[12:24] He's trying to show how Judaism finds its fulfillment in Jesus. The Christ of the Old Testament is Jesus of Nazareth. You see, it's not merely his opinion.

[12:37] Neither is it in any way convenient to his life to preach this message. But nevertheless, he always starts in the synagogue with the Jews. And he always starts with their scriptures.

[12:50] Even though he goes to the Gentiles, what he is proclaiming is thoroughly Jewish and thoroughly biblical. He isn't trying to present Christianity as a new thing.

[13:01] He's trying to show how this Jesus movement is itself true Judaism. You see, what has been written is before them. It's in black and white.

[13:13] And the life of Jesus has now been set in history. All they need to do is connect the dots. The facts aren't going anywhere. They remain the same facts both then and today.

[13:25] Both what is in the New Testament, what is in the law and the prophets, and what happened to the person of Jesus is in black and white. The dots are not going anywhere. And Paul is just showing how they match up.

[13:39] It's not his opinion. It's not my opinion. It's not your opinion. It's not man's opinion. It is what it is. It's right there in black and white in the pages of scripture and in the pages of history.

[13:51] All you need to do is connect the dots. And so when Silas and Timothy arrive, Paul is not only trying to persuade Jews and Greeks reasoning in the synagogue, he's all the more occupying of the world, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

[14:12] The Jews do not accept it. They oppose and revile Paul and he shakes the dust off and says, well, your blood be on your own heads. And if you know your Bible, you'll know that that comes from Ezekiel chapter 33.

[14:28] It's the same as how Ezekiel felt when God told him to be Israel's watchman. And Ezekiel 33, God tells Ezekiel that he's making him a watchman over Israel and they should warn the people when they see the sword coming.

[14:45] If he doesn't warn the people, then their blood will be on his head. But if he does warn them and they don't listen, their blood will be on their own heads. That's exactly what Paul is saying here.

[14:55] He warned them and if they do not listen and turn to Christ to save them, then their blood will be on their own heads. And now he turns to the Gentiles.

[15:07] Now, if Paul's message was actually so far removed from Judaism, you wouldn't expect to set a church up next door to the synagogue, would you? Because that is exactly where the message could be easily falsified, easily proven wrong.

[15:24] But his message is not false. Again, if Paul was teaching people to worship in unbiblical ways, you wouldn't do that next door to the building where you would expect worship in biblical ways to be taking place.

[15:41] You would expect biblical worship to be happening in the synagogue. And next door, in the house of a man named Titius Justice, is true biblical worship.

[15:54] Here we have this chap, a Gentile who lived next door to the synagogue. He was a worshipper of God. He was a member of the synagogue and so likely loses his membership by siding with Paul and allows him to use his house to speak the message.

[16:13] It's not like he can welcome Paul and the church into his house and avoid that being known by the synagogue that he much belonged to. Thus risking persecution.

[16:25] He's right next door. He knows the risk. Maybe stones flying through his windows. Who knows? But he does that.

[16:36] He allows Paul into his house to speak this message about the Christ being Jesus. Now, you might say, well, I guess we can forgive a Gentile member of the synagogue for being easily led astray from true worship.

[16:51] Well, just let him go, you know, let him go to the unbiblical outliers next door. Except the next person, the next person to side with Paul and accept this message about Jesus is none other than the synagogue ruler, Crispus.

[17:09] This is a man who was in a position to ensure that biblical worship happened in the synagogue. If anyone is going to recognize the difference between true and false worship, it should be Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue.

[17:24] Yet he and his whole household believe in Jesus and as a result lose their place in the synagogue and move next door into Paul's church. Although the Jews haven't made their accusation yet, you begin to see how weak their argument really is.

[17:43] And upon this many preventions hearing Paul believed and were baptized, there's now a synagogue and a church in the same street. No one's leaving the church to go to the synagogue next door.

[17:57] But even the ruler of the synagogue is leaving the synagogue to be baptized at the church next door. There are restrictions and segregation in the synagogue.

[18:10] The church next door has Jews and Gentiles even dining together. But for whatever reason, for whatever reason, the Lord came to Paul in a vision to strengthen him because he was afraid.

[18:22] We don't know what was going on with Paul but the fact that the Lord has to tell Paul not to be afraid is enough for us to know that something was troubling. The fact that the Lord told him to keep speaking and not be silent, the fact that the Lord told him that he wouldn't be harmed or attacked tells us that Paul was feeding the Ebud.

[18:43] Now this is understandable if you remember Acts since it happened in many places. Most recently he was chased out of Thessalonica and Berea persecuted and despite his many scars and his sturdy resolve, you're in good company with Paul if you're feeling hesitant about sharing the gospel.

[19:06] Have you ever felt apprehensive about speaking about Jesus? Aye, ma'am. Have you ever been hesitant to share the word because of what trouble it might bring when you're in good company with Paul?

[19:19] Even the Apostle Paul is told do not be afraid. With all these scars unresolved even the Apostle Paul is told no, no, no don't be silent keep speaking.

[19:35] He's human. We're all prone to fears and doubts. It's actually quite unusual at this point for the Lord to make such a promise that there would be no attack no harm.

[19:48] Here's the thing that the real motivation for Paul the real motivation for any of us the real motivation in this passage that Paul continues is the last thing that Jesus says when he says for I have many in this city who are my people keep going you will find my people.

[20:09] That's the real motivation to keep speaking the word isn't it? To share the gospel to speak about Jesus the real motivator is not just the confidence in the power of the word but confidence in the Lord of the harvest.

[20:24] Jesus is the Lord of the harvest praying for workers he's the Lord of the harvest keep doing what you're doing because he has many people and so Paul remains there for a year and a half teaching the word of God among them.

[20:41] People come people go churches come and churches go but what if you knew that the Lord had many people who are his in this town?

[20:54] Would you stay? That would give you the motivation to stay and to speak. That would give you the confidence when you're tempted to think that you've done all that you can do in an area wherever that is I've done all that I can do here.

[21:12] Perhaps Paul thought that. These people are just not listening I've done all that I can do. Just fruitless ministry. Fruitless. It's the story of missionaries you know the persecution apparent fruitlessness of it in the beginning.

[21:31] Keep going. Tempted. Tempted one to be afraid tempted not to speak and tempted to think we've done all that we can do. Jesus says no no.

[21:43] If you keep speaking you will begin to uncover my people. Yeah you might you might get rejection you might get persecution. Bells Hill perhaps has a population of around 20,000 people.

[22:00] And this little humble church represents around about 0.2% of the town. As much as I've not personally had a conversation with the Lord I've not been told by the Lord personally that he has many people in this town yet to be known I'm fairly confident that all the churches in Bells Hill haven't uncovered all the Lord's people in this town.

[22:29] We're only at 0.2% folks. I'm confident in the gospel and confident in the Lord of the harvest that there are more people here in this town who belong to him than we don't know who they are.

[22:45] They don't even know themselves who they are but when they hear the gospel suddenly the light comes on. The message we have is not a new and novel thing.

[22:57] It doesn't lack history. It doesn't lack scripture. It doesn't lack reason. It doesn't lack persecution and it is a fanciful idea of men. The message we have is one long anticipated by ancient oracles and prophecies given by God.

[23:15] The message of a crucified Messiah shouldn't even have been strange to the Jews because their own scriptures predicted this long before it happened.

[23:27] We have the same message. The very same message of a crucified Savior as the message that Paul proclaimed in Corinth nearly 2,000 years ago. Isn't this what Paul writes when he writes to the church in Corinth?

[23:44] I would know nothing among you but Christ and crucified. This is the message of the gospel and we have the same message as Paul had.

[23:56] The message that brought life to people in Paul's day is the same message that is bringing life to people today. It's the same message that is uncovering who the Lord's people are in any given town and any part of the world.

[24:13] It's this message. And this message that we have is overseen by the same risen Savior that reassured Paul to keep on speaking back then.

[24:24] We have the same Lord of the harvest overseeing this operation. So after a year and a half the Jews made this united attack on Paul to bring him before and fight when Galileo was proconsul.

[24:39] Their accusation was that Paul was teaching people to worship God contrary to the law. Basically saying well this church that Paul started is unlawful in the empire. This is going to cause disturbances.

[24:52] The same kind of disturbances as were in Rome when Claudius kept them out. they were basically saying that while Judaism is recognised and lawful, Christianity is not.

[25:07] Whereas Paul was not teaching something new. He wasn't teaching a new religion contrary to Judaism. He was not condoning worship contrary to the Jews. He was in fact doing a better job at grounding the worship of the church in the Jewish scriptures than the Jews wear themselves.

[25:29] Him and his little church next door to the synagogue was appealing to the scriptures for what they were doing compared with the people at the synagogue who were just appealing to Roman law.

[25:45] This is like you know Galileo saw right through this race. He saw right through it. He refused to judge them in this manner.

[25:58] And here we meet yet another synagogue ruler. Before Christmas and his entire household had left the synagogue, the synagogue ruler went to the church next door. And now after this attack, Paul was about to open his mouth and he couldn't even open his mouth before Galileo dismissed it.

[26:18] Silence, Jews. This is a question about words and names and your own law. refused to judge this matter. And here we have another ruler of the synagogue.

[26:30] Another ruler of the synagogue saw the knees, standing by Paul's side. He's beaten by these Jews. And this synagogue cannot hold on to the rulers.

[26:42] What does that say? They can't hold on to their rulers and they don't appeal to their scripture. what does it say about the synagogue? You see, this is like a church that turns away from the word.

[26:57] No biblical pastor will stay with them. And their worship itself will become unbiblical. So, when we take a step back from all this that's going on in Corinth and we think about Luke writing to Theophilus, when we think about Luke's intention to give Theophilus certainty about the things he was taught, we can imagine the pressure of unbelieving Jews.

[27:22] We can imagine perhaps the rumours and accusations about Paul still hanging in the air. We can imagine perhaps the doubts about whether the Christ really was Jesus. When so many Jews, so many Jews don't accept him and the synagogue keeps kicking people out, the synagogue keeps persecuting them, and we can imagine the pressure of the unbelieving Jews to the new Christian.

[27:47] to think your thing is false, but Christ isn't Jesus. Luke is writing to give Theophilus certainty. You can imagine this.

[28:00] You can see how knowing these things that happen in Corinth will give assurance and certainty in the gospel that Paul preached and in Jesus as the Christ.

[28:11] You see, it's not just insignificant people leaving the synagogue. It's not insignificant nobodies that are joining the church. It's not insignificant people who are making sacrifices and suffering for the name of Jesus.

[28:26] Paul himself was a well-trained Pharisee. it's not insignificant people who are suffering for the name of Jesus.

[28:38] And it certainly isn't without reasoning and persuasion from the scriptures. So after a very, very fruitful ministry in Corinth, Paul decides to move on to Ephesus and he takes with them a quill and Priscilla.

[28:52] This couple, a couple were forced out of Rome, settled in Corinth, building this church with Paul. They not only gave Paul a place in their business and their home, they not only risked much in standing with him, they not only left the synagogue for the gospel, but now they are voluntarily moving to a different country for the sake of the gospel.

[29:16] See, the church in Corinth wasn't the result of Paul alone, but the partnership with Aquila and Priscilla right from the beginning. So Paul recognises the value of godly couples who are willing to make sacrifices and can open their homes and make disciples.

[29:33] In Romans chapter 16, Paul writes that Priscilla and Aquila risked their necks for his life. And he says that all the churches of the Gentiles give thanks for them.

[29:47] We often think of the Corinthian church as a bit of a mess, don't we? And it certainly had many people who were bad examples, but the Lord had many people in that city, and some of them became some of the greatest examples to us.

[30:00] people who were in Ephesus. A young Egyptian Jew called Apollos turns up preaching to the Jews. He was a very good speaker.

[30:11] He was a brownie speaker, very eloquent, and he was very competent in the scriptures. He'd been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

[30:25] Listen, he taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, but only knew the baptism of John. Well, as one commentator puts it, he taught in the gospel of Christ as far as John's ministry would carry him and go further.

[30:40] And if you want to see the result of this kind of teaching, you can have a look at the next chapter of Acts. But suffice it to say that he did not know the full story or mystery of the gospel. You see, in a sense, in a sense, Apollos was given his Emmaus road, Bible study, not by Jesus himself, but by Priscilla and Aquila.

[31:04] Another great example to us, and a point that Luke wants to make, is that this couple who had first-hand training from Paul were then able to bring young Apollos to the heights of Paul's ability to handle the scriptures and reason from them that the Christ was Jesus.

[31:25] Paul drew Priscilla and Aquila to Apollos to bring him to a point of being able to firmly handle the scriptures to show that Christ was Jesus.

[31:36] They'd taken him aside. They explained the way of God more accurately, so that when he went to Corinth, he would do the very thing that Paul did in the beginning. Remember, in the beginning, it says that Paul was testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

[31:53] Well, now it says of Apollos that he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

[32:08] This is the big point. So is going on in Acts chapter 18. By being able to show from the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus, you will greatly help those who through grace believe, especially when they're reviled or made to doubt by unbelieving Jews.

[32:27] When anyone claims that this thing that you belong to has no place in Judaism, has no founding or history, doesn't relate to Abraham, you can be sure and confident that it does, because it can be shown by the scriptures that Christ was Jesus.

[32:45] And so this takes me back to the story about these Jews in the airport. There's a difference between me and these Jews in the airport who are likely far more devoted than me. It greatly helped me as a believer to know that from the scriptures, the very scriptures that these Jews have, it can be shown that Christ was in fact Jesus.

[33:09] That's the difference. That's what makes my worship or anyone's worship exceptional compared with the Jews. You see, biblical worship biblical worship is less about singing and dancing and bowing and chanting and so on.

[33:27] Biblical worship is about believing that the Christ is Jesus. The only way that God will accept you is through Jesus. The only way that God will accept your worship is through Jesus.

[33:42] You can be worshiping the true God, but by trying to bypass Jesus, he will not accept it. The accusation of the Jews at Corinth rendered them to be the guilty ones because without believing in Jesus, they were the ones teaching people to worship God contrary to the law.

[34:04] They were the ones abandoning Judaism. They were the ones causing lawless disturbances. And so through Paul and under the guidance of Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos was able to greatly help the church.

[34:18] How was he able to help the church? How was Apollos able to strengthen and help the believers? Because he refuted powerfully the Jews in public using their own scriptures to show that the Christ is in fact Jesus.

[34:36] Thus by doing so vindicating the church as the true worshipers. Apollos by his ministry showed in public that the church is the true worshipers.

[34:49] He showed by the very scriptures that were in the synagogue, the church are the ones who are the true worshipers. Brothers and sisters, we do not necessarily come to church to worship.

[35:03] We come together as a church because we are already worshipers by virtue of our belief that the Christ is Jesus. That's what makes a person a true worshiper.

[35:16] That's what makes our very faith true faith because faith in Jesus is biblical worship.

[35:28] Faith in Jesus is where the law and prophets are going. All the worship of the Old Testament fulfilled in Christ, realized through Christ.

[35:42] All your worship, true worship, is in recognizing that Jesus is the Son of God. That's what John says at the end of his gospel, isn't it? So that you would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, that by believing you would have a life.

[36:02] And we only affirm that when we serve one another in his name, when we praise his name, and when we pray in his name. You can have confidence in this message.

[36:13] You can have confidence in the Lord of the harvest. You can have confidence in your worship because your worship is all about believing in Jesus. It's not about what you do with your hands and feet and your mouth.

[36:26] It's about what you believe in here. It's about how you relate to God through Jesus. It's the only way that is true biblical worship, belief, that Jesus has decreed you.