The Progressive Agenda
Notes
Transcript
INTRO NOTES:
Todays text is ten verses that take place over three years. Very condensed.
But this is helpful - this shows us a 35,000 foot view of how the Kingdom of God progresses.
And this continues to hammer home the truth - we are in the long game.
in other words - real fruitfulness takes time.
in the OT when Israel planted fruit trees the Lord instructed them to not harvest the fruit at all for the first three years, then in the fourth year it was given to the Lord, then in the fifth year they could harvest.
why? - Because the first three years of that fruit tree’s life was pruning and training.
they would cut the tree back so that it would be MORE fruitful.
this is an old agricultural trick. When you see the blossoms come in early on a young plant, you pick them off so that all that energy doesn’t go to making fruit, it goes to making more plant.
deeper roots, stronger branches, more leaves… all so that when the season of fruitfulness finally comes the harvest is GREAT
this same principle rings for us
when we first begin the Christian walk for many of us from our childhood, but for some of us … older...
when we first begin the Christian walk … we don’t know anything. We barely know the Gospel if at all, much less how to articulate it, we don’t know what God has commanded us to do in all of life…
and that means… we’ve got a lot to learn. and a lot of wisdom to aquire. and a lot of experiences to be given by the Lord to hammer those lessons home.
Here in this text - it takes nearly three years. For Paul, when he went away to be instructed, he was gone for years as well before he really began his ministry
Real fruitfulness takes long term faithfulness.
and faithfulness in what’d we consider to be small things.
and this is exactly what we’re seeing here with Paul in Acts 19.
today we’ll take a look at the slow-goings of Paul, and understand the process through which the kingdom of God advances.
This is what it means to be “progressive”
Acts 19:1-7 “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.”
Acts 19:8-10 “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”
The Progress of the Kingdom - what does kingdom growth look like? How should we expect to advance the kingdom of God?
#1 - The Groove is Greased
acts 19:1 “And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples.”
The Lord had started the work before Paul even showed up on site.
now, these guys didn’t have it all figured out - they’d yet to receive the Holy Spirit, they were still operating out of John’s baptism, etc. etc.
but they were underway. their hearts had been softened. the groove had been greased.
they had enough understanding and transformation to be considered disciples.
Not to mention - Paul just “happened” upon them.
Obviously the Lord has worked this together.
This is the same for us. He prepares the way before us. The Lord gives us opportunities.
and so - you look for those opportunities...
where has the ground been prepared before you. where is the opportunity laid before you?
Sometimes these opportunities are just moments -
Tourism luncheon illustration:
Sometimes these opportunities are for long term endeavors -
The church plant.
The family -> married? - have kids - got kids? - parent ‘em.
#2 - Holy Spirit Power
Acts 19:2-7 “And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. There were about twelve men in all.”
Something happened - remember this is over a long course of time - that caused Paul to realize somethign was “off” about these new believers.
Paul diagnoses the problem quickly and precisely - they have no power.
Remember - what is the primary gift of the Holy Spirit?
Conviction - obedience - “I will put my Spirit within you and CAUSE YOU TO WALK IN MY STATUTES” Ezek 36 .
John 16:8 “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:”
So somethign happened where Paul realized these disciples didn’t have the power yet - somethign was off.
And Paul knew that without that power, nothing else was going to get done.
Jesus makes it plain in Matt 12:28 “But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
no spirit - no kingdom advance.
No reforms, no government programs, no church events, no evangelism strategy, no non profits, no parachurch ministry....
NONE OF IT will amount to ANYTHING without the Spirit.
but with the spirit?
Awakening, convicting, emboldening - ADVANCING
in fact, in Acts 17 the enemies of Christ say his disciples have “turned the world upside down”
also referred to as “ordinary unschooled men” in Acts 4 .
how can these ordinary unschooled men turn the world upside down?
by the same power that they are given words to speak before kings. Luke 12:12.
But how do I know I’m working with the Holy Spirit???
well. are you convicted of your sin? do you repent? are you growing?
do you see the slow and steady advance of the kingdom of Christ in areas within your influence?
you’ll probably want to loop in an older wiser Christian to help with that question.
And if not - how do you fix it???
You can’t. John 3:8 “The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.””
The Holy Spirit is God. You can’t control him. But you can ask… like a child. with faith - with open hands.
Father - would you send your Spirit to work in and through me?
and then enjoy his gifts - repenting, and walking in light and life
And where the Spirit goes, his Word grows.
#3 - Faithful Instruction
Acts 19:8 “And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”
he faithfully taught for three months. And people listened.
some manuscripts conclude that he was teaching for about five hours a day.
THE WAY - was a teaching of a way of life. A new way of life that was comprehensive in all things.
meaning - teaching it takes time.
in the US Christians struggle to attend church weekly.
and we wonder why Christians seem to be blown to and fro so easily.
45 minutes once a week, is not enough.
To learn a completely new way of life, from the ground up - it takes time. Commitment to study and instruction. And humility.
humility is required at first, to think you need instruction
and the Bible requires this of us.
The disposition of Christians is that we need instruction - this is why we have a book, this is why we read this book, study it.
This is why God sent us pastors and elders with the gifts of teaching, because we must be humble enough to know that we don’t know everything and receive instruction.
not blindly - for sure - but receive and search. Bereans.
and while Paul was teaching, he had a goal - he was persuading people - v8
his desire was that they would come along in maturity, believe the scriptures and all the promises rightly.
to persuade means to change people’s minds.
and you can’t change someone’s mind without first revealing that you do not agree.
this requires division
and it is scary for some, to change their mind. Maybe their whole life is built on a wrong foundation… to change everything would cost them quite a bit.
Acts 19:9 “But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.”
Paul knew, there comes a point where you’re just casting pearls before swine.
it’s time to move on.
#4 - Elders / Pastors / Missionaries Sent Out
this is implied in the text - not stated outright.
Acts 19:10 “This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.”
Paul couldn’t have done all that just himself.
Missionaries sent out, pastors and elders appointed, Churches Planted
and notice what the end goal was - that “all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord”
not that they were all successfully persuaded, but at least it was attempted.
this is the classic pattern of Gospel teaching we see in the scriptures.
Paul plants, Appolos waters, but God grows.
#5 - Mission complete - now repeat.
after a little political scuffle Paul moves on to Macedonia and Greece. Acts 20.
wash, rinse, repeat.
The church in Ephesus established, the Way of life taught, they’ll get some more lessons in the future (the book of Ephesians)
now it’s time to do it again.
This work, the mission, it’s not fast.
and we must realize that.
that our years of slow goings, years of plucking off the flowers, years of pruning, years of faithfulness to the little things
will end in fruitfulness. it just takes time.
paul plants, appolos waters - God gives the growth.
maybe your whole life is spent jjust plucking off the flowers, the small things of obedience - just teaching the kids, just reading the Bible.
but see - those aren’t small things. That’s how the kingdom is built. That’s how the fruitfulness is prepped.
we joyfully do the “small things” because we know what’s coming. We know the harvest is plentiful.
we know the trajectory of history.
it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
Jesus makes it clear that his kingdom is being built. it is expanding. we can see that throughout the world, and we have an opportunity to be faithful in that here and now.
it will take faithfullness, it will at times bring division, it will require hard work and discipline
but at the end of it all, God will give the growth.
it will be finished.