This Sunday we had the privilege of having Faith Baptist Bible College student Jared Segerstrom open the Word of God with us and preach from Acts 19:1-8. He urged us to follow Paul’s example in proclaiming Christ first and always in our dealings and conversations with those we meet. It is a pressing thought to consider how often we feel prompted by the Holy Spirit to share Christ but choose not to. We must respond immediately and obediently to the Word of God. The men that Paul instructed in this passage did that, Paul continually did as well; will we?
Meeting Apollos we find a man who is devoted, enthusiastic, infectious, and a great example to us. He boldly proclaims the truth in Ephesus as he has learned it from the teachings of John the Baptist. He freely accepts tutoring and training from Priscilla and Aquila. He shares the good news in its entirety and proves from the Old Testament that Jesus is the promised messiah. We must learn from Apollos and share the gospel where we are at today, not waiting for tomorrow. We need to learn from Priscilla and Aquila as they loving discipled Apollos. And we need follow Apollos’ greatest life lesson by serving the Lord in everything we do just as Apollos sought to do.
Paul’s travel itinerary is extensive as he wraps up his second missionary journey. One his journey he concludes a vow by getting a haircut. We are not told when he started the vow nor why, but I wonder if the earlier arrival of Silas and Timothy in Acts 18:5, when Paul began “devoting himself completely to the word” was the point where he started his vow. We ultimately do not (and can not) know when but we do know why any Jewish man or woman made a vow. We can look to the vow of the Nazarite as an example. A person taking on a vow is setting themselves apart for the Lord and devoting themselves to His will. It would be good for us
today to look to the vow of the Nazarite and consider setting ourselves apart for our Lord.
As we continue in our investigation and study of the book of Acts, the introduction to insurrection may give us a jolt.How will Paul deal with this new, somewhat disconcerting step in the ministry?What an encouragement to realize that this was no surprise to God.Even the great Paul needed to be silent; God Himself would control the situation and use heathen leadership to put the import to the ministry that He intended. We also, need to recognize and appreciate the working of God in our given field of ministry.
