The First Letter of Peter- 16

Subtitle: Our Witness before the World- Part 8

1 Peter 3:18-22.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, March 8, 2026.

Peter once again points us to Jesus and the example of how his suffering was used to accomplish our salvation.  You could say 1Peter 2:21-25 uses the example of Jesus to show us how to go through suffering.  In our passage today, Peter points to Jesus again.  He uses the suffering of Jesus to show us why suffering happens.

Following this, Peter will then challenge believers in Jesus to follow his example by having the same mindset towards suffering.  If we will join him in his suffering, then we will also join him in his coming glory.

Let’s look at our passage.

What Jesus accomplished through suffering (v. 18-22)

Jesus faced many threats of suffering in his years of ministry leading up to the cross.  Yet he embraced the suffering because of what it would accomplish.  This section walks through what was made possible through the suffering of Jesus.

We are first told that he was suffering for our sins (the just for the unjust).  This is clearly talking about his suffering on the cross, but it can be extended to the suffering of his whole mortal, human experience.  In fact, Peter emphasizes that Jesus suffered just once for our sins.

Unlike the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, the Lamb of God only needed to die once in order to atone for the sins of humanity.

Of course, lambs have nothing to say about being sacrifices.  Jesus did have something to say about it.  He could have refused, but instead, Jesus went through the suffering of the cross, of death, in order to cover our sins.

Though God uses suffering in our life, it is not His plan that we should only experience suffering.  Suffering has its season, but God always intends it to be followed by glory.  Think of it this way.  Is Jesus suffering today?  Of course, not!  We can make a case for an internal pain to watch so many refuse his offer of salvation, but that is another matter.

If we run away from suffering and expect God to remove it from our life, we are not paying close attention to the way Jesus made salvation possible for us.

It wasn’t fair for the “Just One” to be sacrificed for us unjust ones.  It wasn’t fair, but it was love.  In fairness, God would not help us.  In fairness, God would not become a man.  In fairness, He would not suffer in our place.  None of this is fair, but it is love! 

When we are tempted to complain about suffering for the sake of doing what is righteous, it is usually the unfairness of it that fuels our protest.  Yet Jesus was perfect, sinless.  I on the other hand cannot say that about myself.  What excuse do I have to reject the call of Jesus to pick up my cross and follow him?

How am I using my forgiven life?  Am I trying to get comfort and ease, or am I trying to bring sinners to repentance?  Am I suffering the painful things involved in sharing the Good News with others? 

Jesus embraced the suffering of the cross in order to bring us to God (v. 18).  Mankind had been separated from God in the Garden of Eden.  Originally, God had put humanity upon the earth to have dominion over it, in a way that imaged Him.  This imaging was based upon relationship.  This is why God would come down in the cool of the day and talk with them.  The Fall of chapter three fractured that relationship.  It put sin between us and God and affected our ability to image him.

Jesus becomes a means for healing that breech.  His suffering makes it possible first to be brought to God as spiritual children through a new, spiritual birth.  However, we are also going to be brought into the presence of God when we die.  Our souls will be allowed to enter into the presence of God as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:8. “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

This is the picture at the end of the book of Revelation.  It pictures God the Father dwelling with Jesus and the saints, never to be separated again.    This relationship could not be possible without the suffering of Christ.

Jesus was put to death to his mortal flesh, but then, made alive to his spiritual, resurrected life.  The emphasis here (v. 18) is on the heart of what Christ is doing.  He is not just dying for our sins.  He is making a new mode of living possible for humanity, at least those who put their faith in him.  Jesus made the way and showed the way to right relationship with God.  However, he also paved the way to a resurrected life in a spiritual body (see 1 Corinthians 15:35f.

It was suffering that moved Jesus from a mortal life to an immortal life.  Of course, this was not done instantaneously.  He suffered many things.  Even his suffering on the cross did not happen until the timing of the Father.  It also happened in the way that the Father intended.

We are called to follow this pattern.  Embrace whatever suffering we may have to face in this life for following Christ in order to be brought into a glorious, spiritual body at the time of God’s choosing.

We are next told (v. 19) that it was in this new state that Christ could go and preach to the disobedient spirits that were held in prison.  Some versions interpret “spirit” at the end of verse 18 as the Holy Spirit.  Thus, they open verse 19 with “by Whom.”  They emphasize that Jesus went to do this act of verse 19 by the Holy Spirit.  I don’t believe this is what Peter is saying.  As a mortal, Jesus could not go into the grave (Sheol/Hades).  However, he could go as a spirit being.  In fact, all human spirits would go into the grave at death and await the judgment.  So verse 19 should open with the phrase “by which.”

Who are these spirits in prison?  Verse 20 makes it clear that these were disobedient in the time leading up to The Flood of Genesis during Noah’s time.  Peter flies right on by the statement in verse 19 because the people of his day would know exactly what he is referencing.  Let me clear up a couple of things first.

The NKJV says that Jesus “preached” to the spirits in prison.  This makes it sound like they are being offered salvation.  However, the word is better translated as proclaimed or made a proclamation.  Jesus made some proclamation to these disobedient spirits held in prison.  A proclamation can be anything.  We will come back to this because I don’t want to lose sight of all that Jesus accomplished.  Let’s just say Jesus was able to proclaim something to some criminal spirits in the underworld because of his suffering.

Because this connects to the time of Noah, Peter makes another point about how our present salvation connects to the salvation that happened for Noah and his family.  The waters that destroyed others are the same waters that lift up Noah and his family to a new world.  This is all done by God’s wisdom.  Peter describes the waters of The Flood as being a picture of the waters of baptism that new followers of Jesus go through.  We will come back to this later as well.

Finally, in verse 22, Jesus in his resurrected, spiritual existence could now enter into the heavens, sit at the right hand of the Father, and have all angels, authorities and powers subordinated to him.  This doesn’t mean that none of them are still in rebellion, but that his presence at the right hand signifies his power and authority over everything, whether in the heavens or on the earth.

The angels are clearly spiritual beings.  The words “authorities” and “powers” are terms that speak to varying levels of position in a hierarchy.  This would clearly apply to other spiritual beings that were of varying levels of authority and power.  Yet these words can also be used of human authorities and powers. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus said, ““All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”  The only authority that would not be subordinated to Jesus is the Father Himself.  Think of it.  A human sits at the right hand of God the Father exercising authority and power in the Father’s place (imaging Him perfectly).

None of this could have been accomplished without a mindset that accepted suffering for what it was: the path to the salvation of God!  We cannot lose sight of this in our lives today.  Salvation is not possible without embracing a certain amount of suffering (emotionally and physically).  We can willingly choose to suffering things in order to reach our friends and loved ones for Christ.  Instead of complaining about the unfairness of it all, we are challenged to join Christ in this great purpose of saving “whosoever will.”  Of course, the suffering is not forever.  It will come to an end, and we will enter into the glory of those who suffered with Christ!

Two issues that need explanation

Let’s circle back and deal with these two issues that need further explanation.  First, let’s look at the flood and how it points to water baptism today (the end of verse 20 and all of verse 21).

Verse 21 opens with a statement that water baptism is a “figure” (KJV), “antitype” (NKJV), “symbolizes” (NIV) of The Flood.  These are all good interpretations.  A symbol always corresponds to something (singular or plural).  We have to ask ourselves how the waters of the Flood are picturing water baptism.

The Flood waters were a judgment upon all mankind. They brought destruction.  However, God’s grace used this same thing to save Noah and his family who represented the believing remnant at that point.  This is a key point.  The same thing used to destroy some is used to save some.  The waters were bad for the wicked and good for Noah and company.

We can question God’s grace when we are going through suffering.  We can only see how it is destroying our life.  However, if we trust God, our suffering can be used to save us and others, just like Jesus. 

In this sense, Jesus is the Greater Noah.  The seven family members symbolize the complete remnant of believers who are the family of Christ spiritually.  New believers are also new members of the family of Christ.  All new members are baptized in water.

Water baptism is a picture of several things.  Spiritually, it is a picture of dying to our old way of life and being raised up to live a mortal life like Jesus did, in obedience to the Father, the Word, and through the power of the Spirit.  Yet it is also a prophecy that my body will one day die.  The water is a symbol of being buried (put under the ground).  Jesus has the power and has promised to raise us up into spiritual, glorified bodies.  Water baptism declares that death will not be a destruction to us because we are going to be raised up in glory like Jesus was.

Death will take all humanity.  It will be destruction to many, but it will also be the path to the New Heavens and the New Earth that God is going to create.  It is the path into a new relationship between God the Father and all of remnant humanity.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 even points to the Red Sea crossing as a type, symbol, of water baptism.  The people of Israel were baptized by God when they went through the waters.  This was a path of life to Israel, but a path of death to those bent on wickedness, namely Pharaoh and his army.  On top of this, Paul also points to the cloud (water vapor) that followed them through the desert.  It too was a picture of water baptism.  The cloud becomes a protection to them in order to bring them to the Promised Land.

It may seem odd that Peter speaks of water baptism in this way, “which now saves us.”  Some have even taught that it is only the act of water baptism that regenerates a person.  However, Peter is not saying that the act of water baptism can save anybody by itself.  Look at the very next words: “not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God.”  It is not the physical act that makes us belong to Christ.  It is the internal faith that we have placed upon Jesus.  We have responded to God’s raising up of Jesus to be our Savior.  We believed.  Because we have believed, we are then water baptized as a declaration to the world and to those rebellious spirits that we are leaving them behind and following Jesus!  Death will be our promotion, but it will be their undoing.

Let’s deal with the proclamation that Jesus made to the spirits in prison.  What is this.

We know that this is not an offer of salvation because they are in prison for their disobedience in the period leading up to The Flood.  Peter does not say that they are in the grave (Sheol/Hades), but rather, that they are in prison.  This seems to be the same thing that he mentions in his second letter (2 Peter 2:4).  “For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to [the Greek is literally “Tartarus”] and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment…”  Jude also mentions something similar in Jude 1:6. “And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day…” 

The picture given of the underworld is that all human spirits go into the Grave (Sheol/Hades) which is a holding place for the human spirits until the judgment.  The Greeks pictured Tartarus as a prison that was as far below Hades as Hades was beneath the earth.  Tartarus is a prison for angels or spiritual being who rebelled in the days before The Flood.  This is was connected to the strange passage in Genesis 6.  The sons of God was a class of spiritual beings who took human wives and created giant offspring, an offspring that was part angel and part human.  They were imprisoned by God for this.

The Book of Enoch was a popular book in the days of Peter.  It was never considered to be Scripture, and there is no need to try and elevate it to that status.

In the Book of Enoch, these imprisoned spirits want to be pardoned.  They talk Enoch into asking God for a pardon.  God’s response is that they are going to stay in prison until the time of the judgment, aka, “No!”  Enoch then goes down to these spirits and proclaims to them God’s judgment.

Peter seems to be connecting Jesus to a similar, even greater, proclamation.  Jesus is the Greater Enoch proclaiming to the spirits in prison that their rebellion has not only failed, but that he has now secured the salvation and redemption of mankind.  In short, he proclaims that they have lost.

This is a common theme in Scripture.  Jesus is the Greater Adam, the Greater Enoch, the Greater Noah, the Greater David…ad infinitum.  Their lives were a fuzzy picture of the power and work that Messiah Jesus would do to save us.

Jesus not only proclaims defeat to the spirits in prison, but he also proclaims victory to the righteous human spirits stuck in the good side of the Grave.  He could now lead them into the presence of God the Father because he has paid the price for their redemption.  The rebellion against God’s plan with humanity had failed.  The perfect man had redeemed the inheritance for humanity.  The judgment of these spirits is sure and the salvation of those they sought to supplant is sure.

All of this was obtained because Jesus embraced the suffering that came from staying true to God the Father.  His is the glory of a victor and the glory of One who brings many sons with him into glory!  May God help us to line up in his wake, choosing to work for him through the suffering that may come our way.  We can overcome the threats of the wicked and the fears of our own flesh.  “Blessed are those who overcome because they will stand with the Great Overcomer, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the end!

Our Witness 8 audio

The Letter to the Colossian Church- 07

Subtitle: The Dangers around Them-2

Colossians 2:9-15.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, August 24, 2025.

We continue looking at the danger that the Colossian Christians faced of teachers who would try to take them captive through wise sounding ideas.  Of course today, such teachers are readily available on the internet.  It is the same danger, but we face far more of it.

Paul had challenged them in verses 6 and 7 to walk in Christ.  When we are positively focused on Jesus, it is our best defense against false teachers.

In verse 8, Paul identified the roots of the attacks from these teachers on the Gospel of Christ.  These teachers were using philosophy and empty deceit that was often mixed with religion and personal visions.

Let’s pick it up at verse 9.

The benefits of being in Christ

When a person understands what they actually have in Christ, they are not susceptible to these philosophies and vain deceptions that false teachers use.  They are looking for people who are hungry for something more.  This is why Paul has emphasized over and over that we have everything we need in Christ.

Verse 9 ties back to chapter 1 verse 19.  There, in the hymn to the Son of God’s love, Paul made the statement that “it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fulness to dwell in him.  In chapter 2 verse 9, this statement is made again, but some more exact language is added.

The first word added is the word “deity.”  Although “the fulness” was strongly connected with the concept of God and deity, Paul adds the word deity so that there is no  question.  The fullness of deity dwells in Jesus.  The believer needs to understand that there is nothing about what makes the Father to be God that isn’t fully present in Jesus.  We can use ideas like omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence as a starting place.  There does not exist a “greater fullness” of deity than exists in Jesus.

Paul also adds the adverb “bodily.”  Part of the attacks against Christians had to do with the inability to accept that full deity could exist in human form.  It was common for these teachers to diminish the man Jesus and treat the “spirit of Christ” as something separate.  Yet, they still sought to attach themselves to Christianity because it would make it easier for them to draw Christians after them.

Jesus has full deity, and yet, he is fully man, body and all.  This bodily emphasis shuts down the penchant for Greek thinkers to view the body as evil or incompatible with full deity.  This is the one you are following.  He is fully God.

Secondly, You are complete in him who is the head over all rule and authority (v. 10).  The word for complete here is the idea of being fully supplied.  Jesus has full deity, and in him, you are fully supplied for whatever you may face.  Essentially, there is nothing you need that hasn’t already been supplied for you.

Notice that Paul emphasizes that Christ is “the head” over all rule and authority.  This would be over human authorities for sure, but Paul is more focused on spiritual rulers and authorities.  These false teachers loved to project spiritual hierarchies that one could discover and benefit from them.  However, Paul shuts that down.  There is no higher authority than Jesus.  No other spiritual entity can give benefits to you that are greater than those Christ gives, and without his approval.  These fallen spiritual beings that were being worshipped by the Gentile world have no power and authority over Jesus.  It is the other way around.

So, why is it that Christians sometimes feel like there must be something more than what we have?  This can be for various reasons. 

One reason is that you may not be completely trusting Christ.  If we are only half-hearted in our “walk” with Christ, sometimes trying his way, sometimes listening to the world, then the Holy Spirit will stir up in you a holy discomfort so that you will press into Christ more.  You need to take Christ seriously.

Another reason could be that you are paying too much attention to the messaging of the world around you.  The world is great at telling you that you need to act now, or you will not get what you want.  It stirs up an unholy dissatisfaction with life and the supply of Christ because he is not supplying the whims of your flesh.

Also, you may simply be a weak human who is learning how to trust in the power of Christ, rather than the feelings of your flesh.  We walk by faith not by sight, nor by feelings.  Those moments of “feeling”  like there should be more is a test to double down and trust the Lord.  Lean into the supply of the Christ: the Word of God, the Holy Spirit’s help, and mature believers in Christ who can help you.

In verse 11, Paul shows them some of the things they have in Christ that are connected to what the false teachers were often promoting.  One of those teachings had to do with Gentiles being circumcised.  Paul tells them that they were circumcised without hands, in Christ.  This is a clear reference to a spiritual circumcision of the heart, which is done by the Holy Spirit.  We’ve seen this before in the Old Testament.  Even as Moses is declaring God’s love of physically circumcising Hebrew boys on the 8^th day, we find passages that emphasize a circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16).  The Lord spoke to Israel through Jeremiah about this as well (Jeremiah 4:3-4).  Here is Deuteronomy 30:6.  “Moreover, the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.”

The physical circumcision of a child was representative of a greater circumcision of the heart.  It would remove the barrier of the desires of our flesh from between  us and the LORD.  It would allow for a relationship of love.

Christians, even Gentiles, have had their hearts circumcised by the Holy Spirit, the greater circumcision.  They do not need to go back and do the physical.

Yet, there is a second layer to this teaching.  Though Christians have been spiritually circumcised in heart, everything that Jesus did in the body as the perfect man is applied to them.  Our faith in Christ allows his perfect work to apply to us.  Thus, Jesus was physically circumcised on the 8^th day.  That act doesn’t save us, but it does apply to us.  His circumcision is our circumcision by faith.

We see this same mechanism in verse 12 concerning water baptism.  Water baptism symbolizes the death and resurrection of Jesus.  Jesus died to this world and its false life, and was raised up to live the true life that God the Father had for him.  When we are water baptized, we are identifying with Jesus.  Just as he died to this world (literally), we die to this world (spiritually),  Of course, we will physically die and be physically resurrected one day too.  However, we do not have to wait until then to have the benefits of his death and resurrection apply to us. 

We are identifying with what Jesus did and what will one day be done for us, but we are also participating in his death and resurrection spiritually.  We continue to physically live, but we do so with the same attitude and heart that Jesus had.  We do not live for this world or our flesh and its desires.  Instead, we live for the will and plan of God the Father through the Son of His love.  Jesus is the victor over the worst that the devil can throw at us.  This victory also belongs to those who are in Christ today.  The same power that raised Christ from the dead works in us to break free from the hold that wicked spiritual beings have had on us through our sin.

We have been raised up already by the Spirit through our faith in Christ and the working of God.  We are alive to God and His purposes while remaining dead to the world and its purposes.  This is not a mere mental trick.  This sinful world and the sinful spirit-rulers crucified the Lord of Glory.  Do you think Jesus is interested in anything they have to offer now?  He wasn’t interested when he was in mortal flesh, and he is even less interested now that he is in immortal flesh.

The sin of this world, my own included, will only lead to death and judgment before God.  This brings us to verse 13.

All of these benefits of Christ come to us while we are yet sinners.  Paul reminds them that they were dead in their transgressions and in the uncircumcision of their flesh.  It was precisely in such a condition that Christ made us alive together with Him.  You are alive spiritually, which allows you to hear and to be led by God.  All of this is possible because Jesus has forgiven us all of our sins and transgressions.  Of course, Christ didn’t just willy nilly zap you.  It was your faith in him that becomes the channel of God’s grace to you through the forgiveness of Jesus.
This leads to a Holy-Spirit-influenced digression by Paul.

How can Jesus simply forgive us our sins?  The short answer is that he has died in our place as a substitute.  He paid our penalty for us.  Yet, it is deeper than that.

Paul pictures Jesus at the cross with a sign above his head that was supposed to list the charge against him.  However, Pilate put on the sign, “King of the Jews.”

Of course, the charges against Jesus were bogus, and he was not worthy of being put to death.  Yet, if you and I were put on a cross, there would be all kinds of true charges that could be placed on our cross.  This is what Paul is talking about when he mentions the hand writing document of decrees that are against us.  Some versions couch this in debt terminology.  That is okay, if we think of it as a moral debt.  Yet, in light of the experience of Jesus on the cross, it is probably better to see this as a document of the charges for which we have been found guilty.

As Christ is nailed to the cross, so too the accusations against him and us are nailed there too.  In Christ, our accusations and charges are nailed along with his.  The fact that Jesus would purposefully do this is a powerful act of love.  Our charges are stuck there on his cross forever, unable for any spiritual being to take them down and try to pin them against us again.  Jesus has cleared the way for us to approach the Father and come into His presence.  If God does this for us, then what spiritual being could stand against Him and us?

Satan is the origin of the concept of lawfare.  It has been his only weapon against humanity.  He has always used the law as a weapon against God and his human imagers.  Why didn’t God stop him from tricking Adam and Eve?  A deeper question would be this.  Why didn’t Adam and Eve (and you and I for that matter) remain faithful to the God who had only done us good?

In verse 15, most translations say that Jesus “disarmed the rulers and authorities.”  Of course, he was not disarming Herod and Caesar.  It is talking about Satan and his cohorts.  Yet, the word for disarmed is about more than simply taking a weapon from Satan.  These continual charges and accusations of Satan against humans have been taken by Jesus and publicly nailed to a cross.  The accusers are not only disarmed, but also disbarred.  They have nothing with which to approach heaven and accuse us, and they have lost access to make such accusations.  The power of this lawfare has been ended in Christ.

Satan has always played the cool lawyer.  He can always point to the action of others and present his own in their best light.  However, his actions with Jesus publicly demonstrate his true heart.  If given the chance, he would kill God.  His accusations have nothing to do with true righteousness.  He does not really desire social justice.  This is only a convenient placard that he uses to retain the color of law.  At the cross, Jesus made a public spectacle of just how wicked the devil is, and just how loving and gracious the Father is.  He triumphs not only over the devil’s plan, but over the devil’s argument.  He is our champion, and the devil is powerless to do anything about it.

This means that we have a choice.  Whose on the LORD’s side?  He can cover every single sin of ever single person that has ever lived on earth.  Yet, God is giving us a choice to walk away from the powers of this world, and to turn towards Jesus, who is the Messiah of God.  The character of both has been put on display once and for all.  The devil is a self-righteous, lawfare operating, spiritual being whose future is to be walled off from God’s good creation by the Lake of Fire for eternity.  Yet, Jesus is the one who took  your punishment upon himself so that you could be set free from your sins and live in God’s good creation forever.  If you haven’t yet, make the choice today to turn from your sins and turn towards the One who saves sinner!

Dangers 2 audio

The Acts of the Apostles 72

Subtitle: Did You Receive the Holy Spirit?

Acts 19:1-10.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 14, 2024.

There is much controversy in the Church over the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, also called being filled with the Spirit. 

I do believe that Pentecostals need to refrain from labeling ourselves as having the Spirit, and non-Pentecostals as not having the Spirit.  As we will see in our story today, even being filled with the Holy Spirit is a work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who believe His testimony.

Think of it this way.  In the days of John the Baptist, the Holy Spirit was leading people to believe his message, repent of their sins, and prepare for Messiah.  However, that same Holy Spirit would lead them to embrace Jesus once John identified the Messiah for them.  Yet, those who embraced Jesus as Messiah before the cross, would need to listen to the Holy Spirit’s testimony to embrace the message of the cross and a crucified Lord.  They would then believe Christ and wait in the upper room until the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them. 

All of this shows that the Holy Spirit was in their lives and working with them long before they were ever baptized in the Holy Spirit.  This is the same dynamic with the men in our story today.

Let’s look at our passage.

Paul comes back to Ephesus (1-10)

It may be as much as a year since Paul had left Ephesus, promising that he would come to them again, God willing.  He had spent only a number of days with them that first time.  However, now he will spend over two years with them.

Let’s back up a bit and recognize that Paul had followed the original land route of the 2^nd missionary journey, and even ended up at the same place where he could go into Asia, or go northwest towards Troas and Greece.  The first time, we are told that the Holy Spirit forbade him from going into the province of Asia.  This led to him going to Greece.  Yet, this time, the Holy Spirit does not forbid him to do so.  Paul drops down into Asia and ends up on the coast in Ephesus.

Now, Ephesus was no small town.  It is estimated to have had a population of 150,000 to 250,000.  It was a bustling city with people coming and going, whether by land routes or by the harbor.

Luke also gives us a side note.  Paul ends up in Ephesus while Apollos was in Corinth.  This gives us some background to the first letter to the Corinthians, in which, Paul speaks about the ministry of Apollos there.  The letter of 1^st Corinthians essentially lets us know that Paul was in Ephesus when he wrote it (see 1 Cor. 16:8).

As Paul comes into the city, we are told that he finds “some disciples.”  The word “some” here emphasizes this particular group of around twelve disciples.  They may or may not have been Ephesians, or have been in the city for very long.  Yet, Paul just happened to run into them, probably while he was speaking to people in the marketplace.

In verse two, Paul also speaks of them believing.  From this, it is questioned whether or not they are truly Christians.  The word disciple as a qualifier is always used of Christians when it is alone.  The same is true of believing.  Yet, some look at verse 4 and give some kick-back to this.  Why would Paul explain to them that John expected his disciples to believe on Jesus if they already did so?

I don’t think we really need to solve the mystery of whether they were only disciples of John, or that they had accepted Jesus as Messiah.  Similar to Apollos from the last chapter, they believed John and perhaps knew Jesus as Messiah, but they were lacking the further work of Christ in his Apostles through the Holy Spirit.

We at least know that they are being led by the Holy Spirit, and now, He has intersected their path with a man who can give them further knowledge in Christ.  They are disciples who are simply deficient in knowledge.  Of course, we can all identify with that.  They are in step with the Holy Spirit, and that led them to one of the Apostles so that they could be helped.  This is the wonderful work of our heavenly Father through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

We are not told what leads to Paul’s question, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”  Does he suspect that they are not filled with the Holy Spirit?  Or, is this a question that he used to quickly discover exactly what they know?  We will not know until we ask him in the Kingdom of God.

I mentioned last week that there are some important distinctions between those who were simply disciples of John, and those who had become disciples of Jesus.  Both understood that repentance was in order.  Yet, once Jesus was revealed as Messiah, the disciples of John were intended to follow Him.  By doing so, they would discover the further truths of the cross, resurrection, Spirit Baptism, and the bringing in of the Gentiles.

This brings us to the odd response of these disciples.  The New King James Version translates it this way.  “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.”  It sounds like they are saying that they weren’t even aware of the existence of the Holy Spirit, which is highly unlikely. 

The original Greek is typical of conversations.  We often say things while leaving out words because they are understood in the context.  The Greek literally says, “We haven’t even heard that the Holy Spirit is…”  Yes, His existence could be in view, but the context is speaking of the receiving of the Holy Spirit, not His existence.  They are most likely saying that they hadn’t even heard that the Holy Spirit is to be received.  Thus, they were unaware of the Day of Pentecost and the establishment of the Church.

Paul then begins to explain what they are lacking in verse four.  John intended them to believe on Jesus as Messiah and be baptized in his name.  This leads to them being water baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.  Their faith is no longer generally in a coming Messiah, but is specifically placed upon Jesus as the fulfillment of that promise.

Paul will, no doubt, connect them to other Christians within the city.  It is clear that they hadn’t ran into Aquila or Priscilla.  Otherwise, they would have instructed them in these things.  These disciples would now be more useful to the Lord.

It appears that Paul lays his hands on them and prays for them after they were water baptized.  When he did this, the Holy Spirit came upon them.  This is a synonymous term with being “baptized with the Spirit,” or being “filled with the Spirit.”  Here, we see that baptism in the Holy Spirit can happen at the same time as a person becoming a Christian.  Sometimes it occurs days or months later, but this isn’t necessary.  These disciples believe in Jesus, are water baptized, and then baptized in the Spirit within the same event.  I would say that Spirit baptism is subsequent to their salvation, but not delayed at all.

Luke doesn’t always do this, but he lists some signs that were evidence that they had received the Holy Spirit.  Of course, a person can know for themselves by the witness of the Holy Spirit within them.  Yet, the Bible does speak of external signs that let others know that Spirit Baptism has happened.  Peter witnessed Cornelius and the other Gentiles filled with the Spirit because something visible happened.

In this case, we are told that they spoke in tongues, and they prophesied.  Most likely they were not saying what would happen in the future.  Many people think of prophesy as always about future events.  In Acts 2:11, those speaking in tongues were understood by the crowd that was from all around that part of the world.  “We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”  This apparently doesn’t happen here, but the prophesying (in the common language of that area) most likely is speaking about the works of God. 

Christians should understand that God is doing a prophetic work through us, even when we aren’t a prophet within our church.  When you share the Gospel with the lost, you are speaking on behalf of God an authoritative message from Him.

Now, there are some in the Church today who say that these signs and spiritual gifts are no longer in operation.  They will say that they were only for the first century in order to lay a foundation for the Church.  They then say that these things disappeared and that the Holy Spirit no longer does them.  Of course, there is no Scripture that says this, though some may try to make one particular passage do so.  Until Jesus comes back, we will be in this age where the gifts of the Spirit are necessary for God’s people.  It reminds me of Paul’s argument in the book of Galatians.  Having begun in the Spirit (with Spiritual gifts) will we now be perfected in the flesh (without them)?

I think that these are generally rejected out of fear.  Fear that they seem strange, and also fear that they may lead to false prophecy and kooks.  However, the answer to false prophecy is not to shut down all prophecy so that we can be safe.  Think about it.  You would be squelching the Holy Spirit so that you can be safe.  That is not the way of Jesus, nor his apostles.  The apostles taught people to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that they could know the spirit of those who came into their midst.  They found out and called out any false prophets who ventured into their midst.  The flock was safe because they had shepherds who were filled with the Holy Spirit and had spiritual gifts.  They didn’t build a protective box around their lives and expect God to only work inside of it.  They followed the Holy Spirit outside of the boxes of their traditions, and ideas of men.  They didn’t perish in the wilderness of those who refuse to believe, but entered the promised land by faith and inherited.  May God help us to grow up in Jesus, learn of him, and grow in the Spirit.

Paul then preaches in the synagogue over the course of three months.  During this time, some grew hard to the Gospel while others embraced it by faith.  We must always recognize this reality.  When God is moving and filling people with the Holy Spirit, there are others who are being hardened by the truth.  This is the sad truth of the Gospel.  It is wonderful news to some, but to resist it is more damaging spiritually than if you had never heard it in the first place.  Behold the severity and the goodness of God.

These disciples didn’t have to know everything because they believed in the God who supplies everything.  In due time, the Father who knew their needs even before they did was bringing the solution to them.

Our world and our Republic have become very hard to the Gospel.  However, even now, God is still working by His Holy Spirit to draw people to repentance and faith in Jesus.  They may be hard, but hard people can go through hard things and be broken before God.  He is still showing people the way of the cross.  He is still filling people with the Holy Spirit and enabling them to say no to sin.  He is still equipping people with spiritual gifts, including tongues and prophecy.  He is still leading us to demonstrate the righteousness of Jesus to a world that is full of self-righteousness.

In the end, we will not do anything for Christ without the help of the Holy Spirit.  May God help us to be led by the Holy Spirit in this day when people do what is right in their own eyes at best, and follow the deceiving spirits of this age at worst.

Receive the Holy Spirit audio

The Acts of the Apostles 71

Subtitle: Fervor & Understanding

Acts 18:23-28.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 7, 2024.

Our passage is split between the start of Paul’s third missionary journey and an introduction to Apollos.  Apollos was to become a fellow minister.  However, his story also coincides with a story we will look at next week.  It has to do with people who have believed the message of John the Baptist, but have not heard the full teaching of the Apostles.

Let’s get into our passage.

Paul begins his third missionary journey

Verse 23 tells us that Paul stayed at Antioch for “some time” before he went back out on the road.  Some versions say that he “went over” the region of Galatia and Phrygia.  To be clear, Paul went throughout these regions.

You will notice a nice thin line of his travel on maps of the journey, but that should be seen as an average direction of travel.  We are not told how long he spent in each region and all of the towns he visited. 

It is clear that Paul wants to connect with the churches that they had started during the prior missionary journeys.  It is also possible that new ones had started through further evangelistic activity from those churches. 

Paul feels a responsibility for them.  He can make sure that their teaching is correct and hasn’t been corrupted.  He can minister to them with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit that were prevalent in his ministry.  He could also give wisdom, or a word of knowledge, for any issues they were facing.

Whether you start a church or not, may God put in us a heart to actively lead people to faith in Jesus.  May he touch our heart with the same sense of responsibility to care for them like a spiritual father or mother.  Christ has sent us to be a light.  We  may plant the seed of the Word of God, water seeds that others have planted, or even bring in a harvest of those who believe.  All of this is the work of God that we need to keep focused upon.

In verse 24, Luke introduces Apollos.  This is the same Apollos that Paul mentions in his letter, 1 Corinthians.  This passage will give us the background to Apollos, but it is also important for another reason.  This is the first of two stories that Luke shares regarding people who were following the teaching of John the Baptist, but had not received the full Gospel of Jesus (the second follows this in Acts 19:1-7).  They seem to be focused on a repentant life and faith in Messiah.

It is good to live a repentant life.  However, God intends us to then move into faith in Jesus and the work that he would do for our sins and the giving of the Holy Spirit.  John himself told his disciples, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30.  We will come back to this point.

It is interesting that Apollos is going to travel to Corinth and be used of God to encourage the saints there.  The letter of 1 Corinthians shows us that saved people still have mentalities and pathways of thinking that affect their actions.  A division would develop in the church because some people were overly proud of Apollos versus Paul, and vice versa.  This carnal mentality regarding the people God uses to bring the Gospel into our lives will be challenged by the Apostle Paul.  But, let us look at who this Apollos was.

Apollos is a Jew who had been born in Alexandria.  He most likely was impacted by John the Baptist’s ministry on a trip to Jerusalem, whether for a feast or otherwise.  This would have been around 20 years earlier.

Luke also tells us that Apollos was an eloquent man.  He had a knack for keeping a crowd interested in his speaking.  This is one of the reasons some in Corinth seemed to like him better than Paul.

We are also told that Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures.  Do you know how you become mighty in the Scriptures?  You spend a lot of time studying them and being taught how they point towards Messiah.  Christians should not be content to remain weak in the Scriptures.  We need to study them to show ourselves approved of God.

Luke also says that he was “instructed in the way of the Lord.”  Because of what is going to be said in a moment, the intention of this phrase must be pointed toward God’s will in general, as revealed by John the Baptist.  They knew that the Messiah was now here.  John had even identified Jesus as the One.  So it seems likely that Apollos knew that Jesus was the Messiah, and yet had been killed.  He may have also been familiar with some of the teachings of Christ, such as the Sermon on the Mount, etc.

Finally, Luke tells us that Apollos was fervent in spirit.  The word has the sense of boiling with heat.  Figuratively it refers to a person who is full of passion.  There is a certain passion that comes from a living relationship with God’s Word and the leading of His Spirit.

This Apollos arrives in Ephesus.  We are not aware of his full mission.  Was it only ministry, or was it part business?  Regardless, God was working to bring this man’s passion and desire to a greater understanding that had been made available in Jesus and his Apostles.  Apollos is basically doing the same thing as Paul.  He came to Ephesus and went to the synagogue to speak to the brethren about Repentance and faith in Jesus Messiah.  This is where his ministry intersects with the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

Fervor is good, but it needs to be on a foundation of knowledge.  When Aquila and Priscilla hear the teaching of Apollos, they recognize that he has some gaps in his knowledge. 

They take him aside later in order to explain the Gospel of Jesus more accurately.  It is good to note that they did not publicly rebuke him, or humiliate him in the synagogue.  They didn’t do it in such a way as to make themselves look better.  It is good to explain the way of Christ more accurately to people, but be careful that you do not smash the work of the Holy Spirit in them. 

So what was it that Apollos was missing?  We are only told this.  “He knew only the baptism of John.”  It appears that John’s preaching was mainly about repentance.  It may also have included the identity of Jesus as Messiah, but we aren’t told that positively. 

You see, Apollos is being faithful to the light that he has received from God.  The Holy Spirit is working in his life to eventually bring him to the place where his knowledge gaps can be filled in, and this is the day.  If we are hungry for God, then we will listen to “John the Baptist” when he comes preaching.  We will even more listen to the Lord Jesus when he comes speaking.  Most likely Apollos was unaware of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

He was also missing the understanding of water baptism as a means of identifying with Jesus.  This identification is more than just his role as Messiah, but also the means by which he deals with our sins.  Water Baptism speaks of dying to the flesh life and being raised up by the Spirit to live for Christ.  This is the immediate symbol.  However, it also points to a day when we will die and be buried in the ground.  It testifies of our faith that the Lord Jesus will resurrect us on the day of Resurrection.

Paul and Apollos will not be at odds with one another.  Paul will recognize how God brought Apollos to Corinth to help the church.  It was worldly Christians who tried to exalt Apollos as an apostle that was greater than Paul.  Is this true? 

If we compare the two we see that God’s calling on Paul was indeed greater.  Apollos was a man that was full of passion, but was also deficient in a full understanding of the Gospel of Christ.  Paul on the other hand had been taught the Gospel by Jesus himself, and he had been preaching and establishing churches among the Gentiles for nearly 20 years at this point.  Paul was not deficient in understanding in any means.

Do any of us lack understanding?  If you feel like you lack understanding, then take heart.  God is working in your life to intersect you with teaching and His Word.  You most likely won’t have a vision of Jesus teaching you every night.  However, he is being faithful to give you instruction every day by his Holy Spirit.  If you need something, then God is working to bring you to it.  Trust Him and keep faithful with what you do have.

As a caution, we don’t foolishly go to YouTube and swallow every teaching that we find there because we believe “God is leading us.”  God may also be testing you to see if you will remain faithful to his sure proven words in the Bible.  Be a Berean and search the Scriptures to make sure those things you are taught by others are really true.  To know the Word is to know Jesus, and to know Jesus is to be a person who is in the Word.  They are not separated.  The written word is a picture of Jesus who is the Eternal Word that was with the Father in the beginning of all things.

I mentioned it earlier, but Apollos most likely didn’t know about Spirit Baptism either.  He would have been aware of the Promise of the Father spoken of by the prophet Joel, but he clearly hadn’t been a part of the Jerusalem community as the Spirit was poured out and helped the Apostles to lay down the foundation of faith in Jesus.

At some point, Apollos desires to go over to Achaia.  Corinth was the capital of that province, and in Acts 19:1, we are told that Apollos would be in that city.  He is given a letter vouching for his legitimacy as a Gospel teacher.  It was common for charlatans to come along teaching people for gain, whether wealth or fame.  His ministry is now different because he was better instructed, and because he was teachable.  He will now be more useful for Jesus.

When Apollos arrives in Corinth, we are told that he “greatly helped those who had believed through grace.”  The help here is emphasized as his ability to use the Old Testament Scriptures to show Jews that Jesus is the Messiah that they had been waiting for.  He would “refute” the Jews publicly who were not believing in Jesus.

Fervor and understanding need to be hand in hand.  Don’t settle for fervor without accurate and thorough knowledge.  To guarantee that this doesn’t happen, Become a person who receives teaching and studies the word of God for yourself.  Don’t rely on the knowledge that others have of Jesus.  Come to know Jesus for yourself.

Yet, we must not settle for understanding without fervor.  We might point to the Pharisees, but in truth, their understanding was lacking.  They read the Scriptures and memorized them, but the system of tradition drowned out the voice of the Spirit of God.  To guarantee that this doesn’t happen, become a person of prayer.  Prayer is where knowledge is hammered into a passion from the Holy Spirit.  A real relationship with Jesus through prayer and studying the word will give the Holy Spirit the podium in your inner life.  He will come in and help you in every way.

In God, good things require small actions over a long time.  Faithfulness to the things of God is not loved by your flesh.  Your flesh seeks to short-cut that process.  Whether financially, professionally, in your marriage, or raising kids, no good work in these areas can be done in a mere 5 minutes.  May God help us to see His faithfulness, and may we be inspired to a life of faithfulness ourselves so that we can make a difference in our families, communities, this Republic, and the world.

Fervor & Understanding audio