In the book of Acts, we see a time of transition for the Jews from the Old Covenant ways to the New Covenant. In this study we focus on Paul, Apollos and the 12 Ephesian Men as they transition from Judaism to Christianity.

Teaching Notes:

Transitioning From Judaism To Christianity

Acts 18:18-19:7

The Book of Acts is a very interesting and unique period of history because it shows us the church in transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. In our text this morning we see several people in transition. They are transitioning from Judaism to Christianity, from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant. Those people are Paul, Apollos, and 12 Ephesian Men.

Although a person was saved in an instant, the moment he believed in Christ, it could take many years to understand the freedom and grace that the gospel had brought him into. This was especially true for those that had come from Judaism to embracing Jesus Christ as Messiah. Judaism was not just a creed, it was an entire way of life. The Old Testament Jewish Law spelled out what you were to wear, what you were to eat, how you were to relate to your family members, what holidays you would observe, how you would observe them, everything! If you were to go back into ancient history, and enter a Jewish town you would immediately notice a marked difference. The architecture of the buildings was different, the dress of the people was different, their language was different, their customs and manners were different, their holidays were different – everything was different! Parents were commanded to teach their children from infancy all about Jehovah and His Laws. They would do this when they were walking, lying down, rising up, everywhere. So, a child learned from his parent’s knee all about God’s Law, and as he grew up he would memorize large portions of the Old Testament.

In the Book of Acts we are reading about people from this kind of background. It’s no wonder that, though they embraced Jesus Christ, the trappings of Judaism fell off gradually. We see this clearly in Acts 15 when the church struggled to decide whether Gentiles who had believed in Jesus needed to be circumcised. To us, this is a no brainer, but for them at the beginning, this was a huge issue.

So, this morning, let’s take a look at how Paul, Apollos, and the 12 Ephesian Men transitioned from Judaism to Christianity.

1.  Paul:  18:18-23

Paul’s Nazarite Vow: 18:19. As we come to this passage, Paul has been ministering in Corinth, and  and he has seen signs of impending persecution. Paul has been run out of every town he has been to on this trip, and he figures it will be no different in Corinth. He’s becoming afraid – after all he’s been stoned, beaten, imprisoned and hounded from city to city, and Corinth is looking like all the rest. So, the Lord appears to Paul in a vision and tells him, “Don’t worry. Stay right here in Corinth. I’ve got your back, no one’s going to be able to hurt you. I’ve got a whole bunch of people who I have chosen to be saved that need your preaching. Just stick it out.” So Paul settles in Corinth for a year and a half, longer than he had stayed in any other city.

Eventually, Paul decided it was time to move on, so he took Priscilla and Aquila with him, and they set sail for Syria, the region where Antioch was located. Paul is headed back to his home church to give a report on all that God had done on the 2^nd missionary journey.

The text says that in Cenchrea, which was the eastern seaport right next to Corinth, Paul had his hair cut for he was keeping a vow. Now, what is all this about? We find our answer in Numbers 6. Paul was taking a Nazarite vow. If a Jew wanted to completely dedicate himself to God for a period of time, he would take a Nazarite vow which included abstaining from wine and any strong drink, not touching any dead body, and not cutting his hair. Once the period of his vow was over, he would cut his hair, and burn it at the tabernacle or temple, along with offering certain animal sacrifices. The Bible doesn’t prescribe how long this vow was to be for, but the Mishna, a compilation of rules and regulations from Jewish rabbis specified it could be for 30, 60, or 100 days. There was also such a thing as being a Nazarite for life. There are 3 men in the Bible who were Nazarites for life:  Samuel (1Sam.1:11), Samson (Judges 13:5-7) and John the Baptist (Luke 1:15).

Now, why would a person take a Nazarite vow? It was usually to thank God for some special deliverance or blessing. Had Paul experienced a special deliverance or blessing from God lately? You bet he did! God delivered him from the Jews when they wanted to run him out of town, and let him stay in Corinth for a year and a half. I think Paul was so thrilled and thankful for God’s mercies in Corinth, that he took this vow as an expression of his gratitude. For once Paul was not run out of town. For once he was able to stick around and teach the Word and make disciples and see the church grow and flourish right there in Sin City.

Now I’m sure you’re thinking “But Paul was a Christian. Why is he taking a Jewish vow?” Remember that even Paul is still in transition. He’s still a Jew. He’s lived his entire life as a Jew; in fact he lived as a Pharisee the strictest sect of Judaism. He still thinks in Jewish patterns. He’s thinking, “I want to thank God for being so good to me. How can I do it? I know, I’ll take the Nazarite vow as a way of showing my extreme thankfulness to God.”

So, while Paul was in Corinth, he took the Nazarite vow, and then by the time he got to Corinth he ended the vow and cut his hair. But now what? He’s got a fistful of hair that he needs to take to the temple in Jerusalem to burn – a 1,500 mile trip!

Under the New Covenant, there is no special vow we make to show our gratitude and dedication to God. Under the New Covenant, our entire life is to show our gratitude and devotion to God. Look at how Paul puts it in Romans 12:1 “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” Because of how merciful and gracious God has been to you, show your thanks and devotion by dedicating your bodies to Him every minute of every day. In other words, let your entire life, whether you are working, playing, serving, ministering, whatever, be a life lived in devotion before Him. I guess the closest thing we would have under the New Covenant to the Nazarite vow would be a person’s baptism. When someone is baptized, they are publicly identifying themselves with Jesus Christ, pledging to be his forever. So, my question for you is, “Are you showing by the devotion of your life that you are truly thankful for God’s rich deliverance and blessings to you?” Every morning is another day to demonstrate our thanks to our Great Redeemer!

Paul Leaves Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus: 18:19. “He left them there.” I almost feel sorry for Priscilla and Aquila. I’m sure they had no idea what was going to happen when they hooked up with Paul. Paul was a whirlwind! If you joined Paul, you never knew what was going to happen. Silas, Timothy and Luke joined Paul, and he just kept dropping them off all over the place. Later he would come back by and scoop them up and take them somewhere else and move them again.

You know I feel for my poor wife. In some respects I’m kind of like Paul. I think he was a driven man, and I’m wired that way as well. I’m sure Debbie had no idea what kind of life we would live when she married me. She had no idea we would move to the Bay Area to pastor a church, then move to Sonora to plant house churches, then move to Sacramento to plant another church. God bless her for sticking by a guy like me!

Paul’s Ministry in the Synagogue in Ephesus: 18:19-21. Paul was the kind of guy who hated wasting time, and would seize every opportunity, so rather than just drop Aquila and Priscilla off and keep going, he goes into the synagogue on the Sabbath and preaches Christ. Only here, there’s a real switch. Instead of them wanting him to leave, and him sticking around, they wanted him to stay and he leaves! Now, why is Paul in such a hurry to leave? There’s an interesting addition in the King James Version. It says, “But he bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will.” So, Paul is scurrying off because there is a feast in Jerusalem that he needs to make, and at the same time he needs to finish his vow by burning his hair at the temple.

There is a cool little principle we can glean from this passage. You and I don’t need to feel compelled to take every ministry opportunity that presents itself. Paul didn’t. Here the Jews in Jerusalem asked him to stay, but he declined. There may be times in our lives when we have many different people requesting that we minister to this group or that church or at that conference. Don’t feel like you have to accept every one of them in order to be faithful to the Lord. What we need to do is take every ministry request before the Lord and ask Him whether we should accept it or not. Then, if we believe it to be His will, we can minister with His peace and favor. Jesus said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” If you find ministry to be a heavy burden, something’s wrong. You’re not yoked up with Jesus. If you’re yoked with Jesus, that burden will be easy and light, cuz he’ll be carrying it with you. Ministry will be a joy to your soul!

Paul’s Visit to Jerusalem and Antioch:  18:22-23. When it says he “went up and greeted the church, and went down” it is talking about the church in Jerusalem. Jerusalem was situated on a high mountain, so you always up to Jerusalem, and went down from Jerusalem. So Paul got to Jerusalem, celebrated the feast, burned his hair in the Temple, greeted the church, and then went from there back to his home church in Antioch. He spent some time there, probably chronicling his 2^nd journey and ministering the Word of God among them for some time. Eventually, he decided it was time to start out on his 3^rd journey, so what does he do? He heads through the Galatian region, strengthening the disciples. Where did Paul go on his 1^st journey? Galatia. Where did he start on his 2^nd journey? Galatia. Where does he begin on his 3^rd journey? Galatia. Each time the purpose is to strengthen the disciples. If Paul were ministering among us, he would want to know how strong a disciple we are and would be asking what he could do to strengthen our walk with the Lord. He would remind us that it isn’t a strong beginning with the Lord that is the important thing, but that we are constantly going on in our walk with the Lord to a stronger relationship with Him. In Paul’s ministry he focused on 3 things:  Evangelism, Strengthening the Disciples (discipleship), and Planting Churches. We should be about the same things in our lives.

So what do learn about Paul here? We learn that even an apostle was in transition; even he was a work in progress. Even Paul did not have perfect understanding of all things. Folks, you too are a work in progress. You will be in transition your entire life. For the rest of your life God will be at work in you, perfecting you, and conforming you into the image of Jesus Christ. The important thing is where is your heart? You may not have perfect understanding in all areas of your Christian life, but where is your heart? What motivates you to do the things you are doing for Him? We might miss it on a few things, but if our heart is right, God is pleased. Make sure your motivation is to please and glorify God, and God will continue to lead you into all truth.

2.  Apollos:  18:24-28.

His Home Town:  Alexandria. Alexandria was the largest city in Egypt at that time with a huge Jewish population. Alexandria was founded by and named after Alexander the Great. It boasted a university with a library of 700,000 volumes! The population was about 600,000 people. So Apollos was from a large urban center, known for its learning and academics.  Let’s take a look at this very exceptional man.

His Eloquence: 18:24. The Greek word is found only here in the New Testament. It combines the ideas of eloqouence in speaking, and learning in education. So here is a guy who knows his stuff, and is a very gifted communicator of truth. There were probably very few people in that day who could equal Apollos as a speaker. He was a powerful and forceful speaker.

His Might in the Scriptures: 18:24. Wow, what a commendation. If there is anything I would like to be it is mighty in the Scriptures. The word for mighty is “dunamis” from which we get “dynamic” and “dynamite.” Apollos knew the Old Testament Scriptures. Undoubtedly, he could quote a great many different passages. Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures, because he had spent untold hours pouring over the Scriptures, meditating on the Scriptures, memorizing the Scriptures, and speaking to others about the Scriptures. Friends, if you want to be mighty in the Scriptures, there are no shortcuts. You need to give yourself to the Scriptures, day after day, week after week, year after year, for the rest of your life. You need to be like the Psalmist in Psalm 1 who meditates on God’s Law day and night. But if you are mighty in the Scriptures, what a powerful ministry you can have in other’s lives.

His Instruction in the way of the Lord: 18:25. This phrase “the way of the Lord” occurs many times in the Old Testament, and is simply a way of speaking about walking in a way that pleases God. Apollos knew Jehovah God, knew the Old Testament Scriptures, and understood that way of life that honors and pleases him.

His Fervency of spirit:  18:25. The word “fervent” means something brought to a boiling pitch. It is not speaking about the Holy Spirit, for at this point Apollos did not have the Spirit indwelling him. However, his own spirit was fervent, boiling over with passion to proclaim the truth about God to others.  Apollos had God’s truth in a flaming heart.

His Boldness:  18:26. Wow, what a combination. Eloquence, learning, knowledge, fervency, and boldness!

His Accurate Teaching:  What he knew about Jesus he taught accurately to others. He didn’t understand everything about Jesus, but what he did know he taught it straight to others. Oh, how important it is that those who teach the Word are accurate! There’s nothing worse than sloppy teaching of the Word of God. Have you ever visited a church, or turned on the radio or TV and heard a preacher expounding a text, and he just massacres it? He may be interesting, and funny, but when it comes to the proper interpretation of the text, he just kills it! Apollos was not like that. He was very concerned to “cut it straight” when he spoke the Word of God. In this he is a great example for all of us who teach the Word. Paul later would write to Timothy and say, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth” (2Tim.2:15). If God has called you to teach the Word, be diligent! Teach it accurately! Take the necessary to time to dig into the Word and make sure that you understand who is writing, who he is writing to, and what the context is of the passage.

His Humility: 18:25-26. Why do I say Apollos showed humility? Because he was teachable. Notice in vs.25 that he was acquainted only with the baptism of John. Evidently, Apollos had been instructed by one of John’s disciples who had emigrated to Alexandria before Jesus died and rose again. So Apollos understood that Jesus was the Messiah, but he didn’t understand about His death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. He was an Old Testament believer. He knew Jehovah God, believed in Him, believed Jesus was His Messiah, and was seeking to live a life pleasing to Him, but that’s as far as his knowledge went. So, along came Aquila and Priscilla into the synagogue on the Sabbath, and they hear Apollos preaching that Jesus is the Messiah. Of course they are ecstatic to hear this in the synagogue, but quickly they find out that Apollos hasn’t heard the whole story. So what do they do? They took him aside. That phrase can mean that they took him home with them. Perhaps they asked him to come over and have dinner with them. And while he was in their home, they told him the whole gospel. Christ died for our sins. Christ rose from the dead. Christ ascended to heaven. Christ poured out the Holy Spirit. For a learned, eloquent man like Apollos to be willing to sit at the feet of a tentmaker and his wife and receive instruction shows his humility. By the way, one of the ways you can know whether you are humble or not is whether you are teachable. Are you willing to learn from others, or do you think you know it all? The truth is that all of us can learn something from anyone! The youngest believer here can teach us something. A humble man is a teachable man. He can be corrected. Are you willing to be corrected, or do you chafe when someone corrects you? That shows you whether you are humble or not!

His Powerful Ministry: 18:27-28.  I believe Aquila and Priscilla were the means God used to convert this man. They brought him from the Old Covenant into the New Covenant. I believe that he learned the gospel from them, embraced it by faith, was indwelt with the Spirit, and now became an even mightier instrument in the hands of God. If he wasn’t converted, the brethren would never have encouraged him to go minister to the church in Corinth. So what was the result of his ministry there? He greatly helped those who had believed through grace. He strengthened the believers’ faith. Did you catch how they had believed? It was through grace. Faith does not originate from you. It is a gift of God’s grace to you. The only way anyone will ever believe the gospel is through grace. We also find that he powerfully refuted the Jews in public by demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. So he strengthened the believers, and he refuted the unbelieving Jews. What a powerhouse of a preacher!

Well, there is one other group of people we need to see that are in transition as well.

3.  The 12 Ephesian Men:

When does Paul meet these men?  Paul has been away from Ephesus for about a year. During that time Apollos has come, Aquila and Priscilla have taught him the way of God more accurately (do you see God’s providence here?), and Apollos has headed off to Corinth to strengthen the church. While Apollos is in Corinth, Paul arrives on his 3^rd missionary journey in Ephesus.

How are these men described?  As disciples (19:1).  We might think that means they were disciples of Jesus, but we would be mistaken, because they were really disciples of John (19:3).

What does Paul ask them? “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”  Evidently Paul could tell that something was not quite right. They said they believed Jesus was the Messiah, but their lives didn’t seem to bear witness that they were indwelt by the Spirit.

How Do They Answer?  “We have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”  There answer can’t mean that they had never heard of the Holy Spirit at all, for He is spoken of often in the Old Testament, and John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize with the Spirit. Their answer must mean that they had no knowledge that John’s prophecy of Jesus baptizing with the Spirit had been fulfilled. They were clueless about Pentecost.

Into what then were you baptized? Notice that Paul links faith and the Spirit, and he links baptism and the Spirit. In other words, Paul assumes that those who believe possess the indwelling Spirit, and those who are baptized possess the indwelling Spirit. That is normative. However, here he finds something weird going on. Here he finds people who believe who do not have the indwelling Spirit, so naturally he inquires about their baptism. When they told him they were baptized into John’s baptism, Paul says, “Ohhh, now I get it!” So, Paul at this point would teach them about the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. In effect, he would preach the gospel to them. And so, just like Apollos, they believe the gospel and are converted at this point. That’s why they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They were publicly identifying with Jesus in His death and resurrection.

What Else Took Place At This Time?  Paul was laying his hands on them and the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. So, they believed, were baptized and received the gift of the Spirit, exactly as Peter said would happen in Acts 2:38. But why the tongues and prophecy? Remember that tongues took place on Pentecost to the Jews, and probably to the Samaritans in Acts 8, and with the Gentiles in Acts 10. Whenever a different group is incorporated into the infant church, God grants the gift of tongues as a sign that this group has received the very same thing that the Jews received on Pentecost, in order to preserve the unity of the body, and present divisions tearing apart the church at the very beginning. Well, here we have Old Testament believers, disciples of John being incorporated into the church, and so the Spirit wisely grants the gift of tongues to show that they were now indwelt with the Spirit and should be fully accepted, just as the Jews, Samaritans, and Gentiles were.

So, does that mean that the gift of tongues was only relegated to that particular age and has no relevance to our own day? No, I don’t think so. A careful study of 1 Cor.13:8-12 bears out that tongues and prophecy will only cease when Jesus, the Perfect One, comes again. But what it does point out is that God is very concerned about Unity in His church. He doesn’t want divisions in His body. God hates racism and prejudice. It’s sinful to exclude people from church because they don’t have the same color of skin as you, or are from a different nationality than you. God wanted all peoples, Jews, Samaritans, Gentiles, to dwell together in unity and peace in His church. Today, I believe God wants Blacks, Whites, Asians, Indians, Hispanics, to all come together under Jesus Christ and worship Him in unity!  When we fight and divide over things like nationality, it is a grievous thing in the eyes of God!

Conclusion:
So, what is the Holy Spirit speaking to us from this passage?

1.  Present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God 24/7 every day of your life!
2.  Study the Word of God and pray for fervency of spirit and boldness to speak it to others!
3.  Be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace!

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