Have You Experienced Grace That Gives? (AM Sermon Notes)
GIST: Grace is the free gift of God that changes our standing before Him and our interactions with others.
SCRIPTURE: Acts 18:24-28
We’re actually going to skip ahead just a little bit this morning because the next section we’re coming to is a transition piece that I feel will be better served in our discussion this evening. There, we see the end of the second missionary journey and the beginning of the third. Here, however, we have an aside. Paul has left his friends Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus, another influential and extremely sinful city we’ll talk about at more length soon (if, Lord willing, we make it through the next chapter in the near future ☺️). While here, they meet a powerful public speaker named Apollos who is zealous but missing a few key details. Let’s read these last five verses in the chapter.
“24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.”
This morning, I want to focus specifically on how verse 27 ties the whole thing together. Apollos ends up greatly helping those who through grace believed. He was also saved by grace and greatly helped by others who had been saved by grace… It’s a cycle, and I think there are several key points for us to take away from this. Here’s our gist: Grace is the free gift of God that changes our standing before Him and our interactions with others.
I. CONTEXT: GRACE CHANGES OUR STANDING BEFORE GOD
This is going to be atypical for me this morning, but before we walk through the passage, I want to lay a little foundation. Before we can appreciate what grace should do to our interaction with one another, we really need to make sure we understand what this gift has done us as individuals. See→
Grace Is The Free Gift That Changes Everything. I want to read Ephesians 2:1-10. Here, we see our condition explained. We’re sinners. We need rescued. Jesus does exactly that. However, He doesn’t do that when we’re good enough or have jumped through the right spiritual hoops. He does it because He’s holy and loving. When we’re saved, it is the amazing gift of God. Period. Look at how Paul later explains this to the church at Ephesus (which happens to be where we are in this passage, as well! ☺️).
“1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3 emphases added) This is our context. We are spiritually dead and ruled over by our sinful desires, just like Satan (the prince of the power of the air)! We are doing exactly what we want to do. We’re running headlong after our selfish desires away from the loving arms of the one who made us and willfully into His wrath—Hell. Apart from Christ, that is where every single one of us stands. If you’ve not come to that realization and given Him control of your life, seeking forgiveness and embracing His love, that’s where you’re standing right now.
“4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:4-10 emphases added) Though we’re sinners, we’ve been given the gift of grace. We might have been dead in our trespasses, but Jesus came to give us life. And notice this, this is not simply to rescue us from death, but to give us a life to actively live. He has a purpose and a plan to use this grace to explode into what we do here on earth. We’re not just saved and left to be. We’re saved and transformed and guided and used! Grace is the unmerited gift that changes everything about our lives!
That being said, I want to make a few observations about how grace then changes our interaction with others as we see outlined in this morning’s passage.
II. OBSERVATIONS: GRACE CHANGES OUR INTERACTIONS WITH OTHERS
First observation→
Grace Pushes Us To Wholeheartedly Use The Gifts God Has Given. Apollos was an eloquent speaking Jew from Alexandria. This was one of the most important cities of learning in the ancient world, and Apollos seemed to have been a product of this environment. Located in Egypt, it boasted the largest library in the world...until it was burned down, and we lost thousands of ancient texts. Though Apollos was Jewish, his name is distinctly Greek. In fact, it means “given over to Apollo” the popular Greek god who was supposed to be the son of Zeus and the god of… many things, including the sun, archery, music, medicine, and prophecy. Contrary to his name, however, Apollos was clearly given over to Jesus!
Now, the passage tells us this. “He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.” The question people ask, and the one I’ve looked into at length this past week is, “What was missing from Apollo’s message?” Some take this last statement to mean he wasn’t actually saved yet… but was close. However, these verses say that not only did he know the Old Testament really well, but he also knew about “the way of the Lord” and Jesus. He knew Jesus was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. He knew Jesus was the Messiah. He was just missing...something. In the next few weeks, we’ll encounter some people Apollos witness to before he’d had his gaps filled in here by Priscilla and Aquila. If we use them as a guide, it seems he didn’t know about what happened at Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell on believers and equipped them to be used. It is possible that he might not have even known about Jesus’ death and resurrection either. Speculations aside, he knew that people needed Jesus; he just didn’t know everything about what that meant. However, he still shared what he knew. He still used the gifts God had given him to point others to Jesus.
So often as believers, we limit ourselves. If we don’t feel like we “know enough”, we don’t share at all. But here’s the deal: God gives gifts, and we’re meant to use them to point others to Jesus. You all have gifts. And we could spend all day trying to talk through how to figure those out. However, the best way to figure them out is by actually doing stuff for Jesus. We’ve all, regardless of personal gifting, have been called to go out and share, so to see how God will equip us to do that… we should be doing that ☺️. Apollos didn’t know everything, but he faithfully shared what he knew. If you’ve been changed by grace, you’ll want to do the same.
Second observation→
Grace Motivates Us To Give And Receive Grace Humbly. That might be a little wordy, but I have a reason for trying to express it that way. Look back at what happened when Apollos met Priscilla and Aquila. “26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27a And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him…” When they see Apollos and realize he’s so close, they don’t publicly ridicule him or renounce him as incompetent. They show grace. They take him aside and talk to him together as a couple about all that Jesus accomplished for us on the cross and through His resurrection. There are three things I want to point out here. First, Priscilla and Aquila were willing servants. Apollos had charisma, but he still needed to understand grace more fully. Rather than just “let him be”, which would have been easiest, they went to him because they cared about his faith and how God would be using him. Second, they were both involved in this. This might seem like a minor point, but it’s worth noting that the couple did this as a couple. Being faithful to God’s Word and helping others see the truth about Jesus isn’t a “man” thing. In fact, here, Priscilla’s name is listed first. Man, woman, boy, or girl—we’re all called to love and know God’s Word and help others understand it wherever we can. Third, Apollos also demonstrated humility here. He was a bold and wonderful teacher. We have no indication that Priscilla and Aquila possessed comparable gifts. He could have let arrogance get in the way, but he doesn’t. He’s not concerned with his skill or reputation; he just wants to serve Jesus. Man, we could learn alot from these truths. Be a willing servant who isn’t concerned with personal pride.
After helping Apollos more fully understand the truth, Priscilla and Aquila encourage him to keep using his gifts. They even send a letter ahead to other believers to accept him. Grace should motivate us to give and receive grace as we also encourage others to use their gifts.
Last observation→
Grace Creates A Longing To Serve Those Saved By Grace! Look again at how this chapter ends. “27b… When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” Notice this. Apollos sees the truth and immediately wants to share that with others. He doesn’t save any one, but through him people hear the truth of Jesus and are saved! This should be our lives. If we’ve experienced life-changing grace, we’ll want to be used to help others experience the same!
Let’s hit two quick→
TAKEAWAYS
1. Have you experienced grace? Grace is God’s unmerited love that He pours out for all who will believe and come to Him. Have you been saved? Have you been rescued from the sin that enslaves you? Come to Him today!
2. Are others experiencing grace through you? If you’ve encountered life-changing grace then this should be your reality→
- Grace Pushes Us To Wholeheartedly Use The Gifts God Has Given.
- Grace Motivates Us To Give And Receive Grace Humbly.
- Grace Creates A Longing To Serve Those Saved By Grace!
No comments:
Post a Comment