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Look at Acts 19 verse number 4, Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. The title for the sermon tonight is, They Should Believe on Christ Jesus. They Should Believe on Christ Jesus. That's the title for the sermon today. Now Acts 18, if you remember, if you go back far enough now to remember, we had ended Paul's second missionary journey, and he had begun his third missionary journey, begun that. And so we start to see exactly where he travels on his third missionary journey. Acts 18 also ended with the introduction of Apollos, a man who was a great preacher who convinced the Jews. He was mighty in the scriptures. And so we see what Apollos is up to as well in this chapter. But let's start there in verse number 1. It says, And it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, there it is, okay, Paul, having passed through the upper coast, came to Ephesus and finding certain disciples. The first thing I want to show you here is we notice that Apollos was at Corinth. Okay, Apollos traveled to Corinth. And that is a church that Paul had recently started. All right. Now I want you to come to the book of 1st Corinthians. So keep your finger there and come with me to 1st Corinthians chapter 1. 1st Corinthians chapter 1. So let's look at the epistle to the church in Corinth there that Apollos had gone to preach and to minister to teach to. And I just want to bring one great truth out of this first chapter in 1st Corinthians chapter 1. And I know I've spoken about this at length before, but I feel that this warning, it seems like people don't heed this warning that we see here in 1st Corinthians chapter 1. Look at verse number 10. So Paul is right into the Corinthian church here, right? We know that it's some time in the future yet to come from the time they're in Acts 19. But he says in verse number 10, 1st Corinthians chapter 1 verse number 10. Now I beseech you brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. So Paul wants this church to be in of one mind. He wants unity in the church. Then this is why he says it, verse number 11. For it have been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. He goes, look, I want you to be united, but I noticed that I've heard from the house of Chloe. I heard from Chloe's family that you're all fighting amongst each other. And this is why verse number 12, now this I say that every one of you, so there's like, all of them are doing this, right? Every one of you sayeth, I'm of Paul and I of Apollos and I of Cephas, which is Peter and I of Christ. He says, you all have, you're all like associated to one favorite preacher of yours. Paul's side of the church. Some are like, no, where are Paul? And so Paul is comes, oh, we don't like Apollos. We're like Paul. And then I was like, no, no, we like Apollos, where of Apollos? And then later on, Peter comes and preaches and helps that church. Like where of Cephas? And then there are others that maybe are the holy of the house, where of Christ? And like, so they're all divided because they've all got their favorite preacher. And you know, believe it or not, I still come across this today. You know what's going to guarantee divisions in a church? When you anchor yourself to one man, one preacher, I'm of this preacher. It happens even now. It happens even amongst my church members sometimes. And so what happens is you're so tied to one man. You're so tied to one church or one movement or something like this. And when the preachers do well, you do well spiritually. But when the preachers don't do so well, you don't do so well spiritually. You're encouraged by the faithfulness of a man and you're discouraged by the unfaithfulness of a man. So, you know, and they're just men. Paul, Apollos, Cephas, they're just men. And if we continue, look, and come to chapter three in the same book. First Corinthians chapter three, verse number one. First Corinthians chapter three, verse number one. It says here, and I brethren could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. He goes, look, I wish you were spiritual, but you're carnal. I wish you were mature, but you're babies. He says, verse number two, I have fed you with milk and not with meat. For here the two you were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able. For ye are yet carnal, for whereas there is among you envying and strife and divisions. Are ye not carnal and walk as men? For while one sayeth, I am of Paul and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal? Who then is Paul and who is Apollos? But ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man. I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plantseth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. He says, look, men are just nothing. Whether it's Paul, whether you've been influenced by the ministry of Paul or the ministry of Apollos, whether you've been won to Christ by one or the other. He goes, look, these are men, we're just ministers. It is God that gives the increase. We do it for the Lord God, if not for God. Look, you come to church. I hope you come to new life by the church for God. Because if you come for God, if you come for the love of Christ, we will have unity in this church. But if you're anchored to a man, like I said, we're meant to have brother Callum preach for us today. If you're like, ah, that's it, I'm not going to church because someone else preaching about pastor. We're not anchored to a man, right? I can't wait to hear brother pastor. He won that, who knows? There you go. I don't know. But I can't wait to hear other men preach. And I get excited when other men at Blessed Help Baptist Church preach. And I like hearing when other men at Crown Baptist Church preach. And as long as we're preaching God's word and emphasizing the Lord, we're prioritizing the Lord, then that's what's going to bring unity in our church. But if we make church, if we make our Christian life about a man or men or movements, you're going to find, you're going to find everywhere you go, you'll be divided in the churches you attend because you're anchored to men. The Bible says this is carnal. This is baby. This is the way babies live their lives. Their eyes are set on men rather than the Lord God. And so I just want to show you, look, so I mean, in Acts 19, things are good. We saw earlier that, you know, in the previous chapter that Paul started the church. Now Paul is going to encourage that church. But, you know, they're still babes. The church members are still babes. And, you know, their eyes are fixed on men rather than fixed on God. And brethren, I need you to do your own self-analysis because I still get surprised. I still get surprised when I find that brethren who have anchor, like, I don't know, until things fall apart. And then they fall apart because they've been anchored to a man rather than the Lord God. Or people don't like you or they don't like Pastor Kevin because of some man, some other pastor. Look, I serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't serve any man. You know, the Lord Christ is the head of this church and Lord Christ is the foundation. And all we do is a bit of watering, a bit of planting, a bit of plowing, a bit of sowing, but God is the one that gives the increase. So anyway, I just wanted to reinforce that. Please, you know, and Apollos was a great preacher. The Bible tells us, a great man. I can see why people were motivated on his preaching. But if their eyes are set on Apollos, then there's going to be divisions and stripes and contentions within church. So let's go back to Acts 19, Acts 19, verse number two. So Paul, so we saw Apollos was at Corinth. Now Paul came to the upper coasts. They're in Ephesus. Bible says in verse number one, they're in finding certain disciples. Now we need to ask ourselves these questions, these certain disciples. This is the question that pops up at the beginning of this chapter. Are these men saved or are they unsaved? And so when someone reads the word disciples, quite often people think of the word saved. And yet we know that you could be a disciple of Jesus, but not be saved. The perfect example of that is Judas Iscariot, of course. Clearly a disciple and much more than a disciple and apostle of Jesus Christ. And yet the man was unsaved. In fact, the man was a reprobate. Okay. So just because they're disciples doesn't guarantee that they're actually believers. But anyway, let's continue verse number two. He said unto them, have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. So he finds the disciples. So Paul says, look, since you believed, obviously believed on Christ, you know, have you received the Holy Ghost? And like, we know nothing about the Holy Ghost. Like, what are you talking about? We've never heard of such doctrine, the Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, unto what then were ye baptized? And they said unto John's baptism. So these disciples were baptized by John the Baptist. Okay. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him, which should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. All right. So it's an interesting one, right? They were baptized already by John the Baptist, but they've heard nothing of the Holy Ghost. We have no idea what you're talking about. And so once they hear that, you know, Paul preached the baptism of repentance, they used to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then they get re-baptized, okay? And they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So you fall into one or two camps, essentially, when it comes to these disciples. You might say, well, I believe they're saved, or you might take the view, I don't believe they're saved. And I'll tell you why you would have formed. And look, I don't think it really matters where you stand so much. But the thing is here, it depends on what you emphasize that's going to cause you to determine whether they're saved or not. Number one, if you emphasize verse number two, when Paul says unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed? So if you emphasize that since you believe, then the idea is that they have believed. They have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so you would form your opinion there and say, well, these men must be saved. But what's interesting about it is that they're not actually saying that they have believed. Paul is asking them, you know, since you believed, Paul is at least assuming that they have believed on Jesus Christ, okay? So it depends if you emphasize verse number two, or if you're like other churches that emphasize the word disciple as a believer, but we know that disciples and believers don't necessarily go hand in hand, all right? Or you choose to emphasize verse number four. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they should believe on him, that should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus. So if you emphasize that, that they should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, then you would say, well, once Paul has picked up that they actually haven't believed on Lord Jesus Christ, and it's encouraged them now to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if you emphasize that, then you would say, well, they were clearly unsaved. So you would say these are men that came across John the Baptist, they liked John the Baptist, and they say, hey, let's get baptized under his ministry. John the Baptist baptized hundreds of thousands of people, okay? And these will just be, you know, they popped into the scene. Well, let's get baptized with these other hundreds of people, right? But they didn't actually ever believe on Jesus Christ. So that would be another view, which is actually my view. And I would say to you why I believe they were unsaved. Unsaved disciples or disciples of John the Baptist, even though that follow John the Baptist were called disciples. Because it says that after Paul said that they should believe on him, that should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus, it says here, and when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. So it seems like it's this teaching that they have to believe in Lord Jesus Christ, that caused them to make a change in their beliefs, okay? And then they've heard this, they were baptized in the name of Lord Jesus. Now, this is really interesting, okay? So if you keep your finger, then come with me to Matthew chapter 3. Matthew chapter 3, please. Matthew chapter 3. So these guys were again, were baptized by John the Baptist, all right? And Paul says, yeah, yeah, this was the baptism of repentance. All right, so in other words, repentance means to change. You're meant to change something when you come to John the Baptist and be baptized. All right, well, look at Matthew 3 in verse 11. Matthew 3, 11, these are the words of John the Baptist. He says this, I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, we know that's about Jesus, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. All right, so this is important. When John the Baptist preaches about Jesus Christ coming after him, he says specifically that Jesus Christ will baptize you with the Holy Ghost. So that's the preaching of John the Baptist. That there's one coming after me, the Lamb which taketh away the sin of the world. You know, here's the one we're put to put our faith on, right? And when he comes, he's going to baptize you with the Holy Ghost. Well, when Paul asked them about the Holy Ghost, they're like, we have no idea about this Holy Ghost, we've never heard of such a thing. Which tells me they weren't listening to the preaching of John the Baptist. They turned up, they went through the motions, they got baptized, but they don't even know what they're repenting of. They don't realize that, oh, you see, the teaching of the Holy Ghost, being baptized with the Holy Ghost is connected directly with the one that comes after John, which is Jesus. So they've not actually believed on Jesus, they've not actually received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Which is why, you know, they have no idea about the teaching and why I believe when Paul says that they should believe on him, they should come after him, that is on Christ Jesus, he's making it very clear. Well, the baptism of John that you got under was about believing on Jesus. And because you haven't received the gift of the Holy Ghost, or the baptism of the Holy Ghost, then you've not yet been, you've not been baptized, you've not actually believed on Jesus Christ. You've not actually received the teaching. And so when they heard this, now they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. So you would have to say, well, at this point now, that all right, we're to believe on Jesus Christ, the one that would come after John. And then once they believe on Christ, of course, the next, the first step of obedience is to get baptized. So that's why they got baptized a second time. All right. The first baptism was they just got wet. They thought they were doing the right thing. Look, sometimes I come across people like this, Pastor, do I need to get baptized? I got baptized years ago, but I wasn't a believer yet. Well, if you weren't a believer, then the time is you believe on Christ, and then get baptized. All right. So your first baptism is null and void. You just got wet, you went for a little swim. All right. But once you believe on Christ, then the next step of obedience is to get baptized. All right. Let's continue verse number six. If you have any further questions for me, let me know. By the way, by the way, one thing I do want to raise, I don't know if you're still there in Matthew three, but when it says in verse 11, he shall baptize you of the Holy Ghost. What have we seen so far in the book of Acts? What is that reference to? Is that a reference to the indwelling of the Holy Ghost the moment you get saved? Or is that when you receive a gift, a power, the ability, the boldness to preach, right? Or the ability to speak with tongues like we saw in Acts chapter two. That's actually what the baptism of the Holy Ghost is, is when you're empowered by the Holy Ghost to do a work for the Lord. And so after I believe they've put their trust in Christ, and now that they've been baptized in the name or by the authority of Jesus Christ, the next thing that happens in verse number six, and when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spake with tongues and prophesied. Okay, so they too are able now to speak spontaneously in other languages and can preach the gospel in these other languages, reaching the gentiles of other languages. They too have this ability and verse number seven, and all the men were about 12. Okay, I'm not sure why it says about 12, 12 is not a hard number to count, but I'm assuming it's 12, I don't know. Maybe there was 13, maybe there was 11, I'm not sure. Anyway, verse number eight. And he went into the synagogue and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus. I'll just read verse number 10, and this continued by the space of two years, so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. So we can see already this third missionary journey has just begun, but we're already two years in, right? He's disputing about Jesus Christ at the school of one Tyrannus. Now, I don't know who this Tyrannus, I mean, kind of interesting name, you know, it's like a tyranny, it's kind of like the same root word, isn't it? But the school of one Tyrannus. Now, we don't know what kind of school this was, but I think the fact that they're disputing on biblical matters, like daily, you know, they're talking, they're arguing about, you know, whether Jesus is the Christ and, you know, reinforcing the truth of the gospel, that they are in this school for these two years. And this may very well be the first Bible college, right? The first school we can come in and bring your points of view of the scriptures. Well, the problem with that is, if that is the first Bible college, it's in a negative connotation, because Paul is bringing the truth and the people at the Bible college or the school of Tyrannus are fighting against the truth. I've never gone to Bible college, by the way, but I've done Bible college courses through my local churches. And I was like, so I'll be honest, I was like, look, I don't think you need to waste your time or your money on such things. Everything I learned that was profitable in those Bible classes, I pretty much taught behind the pulpit. Or you can just learn it on your own, you know, through the Bible. But I remember when I was doing the courses and look, I don't want to attack my previous pastors because I love them very much, you know, but I was disappointed that essentially it's just like a lecture. You know, you hear a certain point of view, certain doctrines, certain Bible methods of interpretation, and you just have to learn it. You just have to receive it. You just have to memorize it. And then you just have to answer the questions and pass the tests. I thought it'd be like this, or you could actually dispute, like in a loving way, like we can actually ask, you know, hard questions and bring different points of view. And that it would be a place of opinions and just not out of being argumentative, but just a place where you could just really, you know, uh, break down certain things and try to get a deeper understanding and, and, you know, challenge certain views and make sure that we're always trying to do our best to come to the truth. But I did not find that was the method of the Bible college. Like all the courses, at least that came through the college, it was just sit down, listen to the, to the, to the teaching, and then pass a test with the right answers. So I kind of like this idea where there was a bit of disputing. They go about this for two years. And during these two years, it says here that they, which do it in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. So it's good. It's kind of the controversy of the day. People listening, oh, that there's, did you hear at the school of Tyrannus, there's disputes. They're talking about Jesus, whether he was true to the Messiah or whether he was not. And some people are like, oh, that's, you know, I'm curious. And that would open up doors for people to come to Christ. Not only is Paul preaching, but in verse 11, it says here, and God wrote special miracles by the hands of Paul. So that from his body were brought unto the sick, handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them. All right. I don't have a handkerchief on me right now. I've got a tissue right here. Okay. So what was happening is let's say Paul is preaching, you know, and then he's like, oh man, it's a hot day. He gets out his handkerchief and, you know, you know, wipes the sweat off his head and he leaves his handkerchief somewhere. You know, people are like, oh man, that Paul, he left his handkerchief. They'll take his handkerchief and they'll find the sick relative, right? So look, touch the handkerchief, right? And you'll be healed and people touch a handkerchief and they'll be healed. These miracles were taking place. Now, is it because the sweat of Paul's brow is just so amazing? Is that what was happening? Is it all Paul? No, no. He just told us in verse 11, and God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul. It's God that's allowing this to happen, okay? To open the doors and for people to be, you know, surprised by the miracles and the work of God's hands, they would believe on Christ. Now you might ask the question, pastor, do these miracles take place today? Are people healed, you know, in this miraculous way today? Well, you can read this in your own time, but 1 Corinthians 13 deals with these miracles being a temporary, you know, temporary gift and that these things would eventually vanish away, okay? And so not only have we seen these gifts vanish away in that real sense, okay? I know the Pentecostals and the Benny Hinns, they do their shows and all that. It's all fake, by the way, if you don't know that already. But, you know, it's been done away. But, you know, the main reason it's all been done away is because the office of the apostles is also done away. We don't have apostles, New Testament apostles today, okay? As a reminder, in Acts chapter 1, it showed us that the apostles had to be someone that had seen the resurrected Christ with their own physical eyes, okay? They had seen Christ after he rose from the dead. And so we don't have apostles today. And so also these miracles have been done away with. And you can read that in your own time in 1 Corinthians 13. But come with me quickly to James chapter 5. Please come with me to James chapter 5. Because even though these gifts are done away with, God is still in the business of healing the sick. I want you to understand that, okay? God, if God wants to heal you, he can heal you, all right? And God rots special miracles by the hands of God, of Paul. God never changes. He's the same, all right? Christ, Jesus, the same yesterday, today, and forever. And so if the Lord God wants to heal you, he can heal you. And the process by which we have today is found in James chapter 5 to do with pastors or elders. And in James 5, just as a reminder, and I've covered this recently, but James 5 14, is any sick among you, Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. All right, so, you know, where's that tissue? I don't know where it is anymore. Who knows? If you find the tissue that I wiped my brow with, don't think if I grab that tonight, I'm going to be healed. That's not going to happen. But what we do have is a process, which the Bible did take, to go to your pastor, ask to be anointed if you're sick. Of course, we're not talking about a little bug, you know, a little stomach bug. We're talking about things that have been on, you know, on people's bodies. And, you know, just like Paul, I've done this. And I'm not saying this to boast on you. I still can't believe it, but people have been healed. Not everybody, okay, as in a full proper healing. But just last week, you know, I had a sister in the Lord say, pastor, after you anointed me with oil, went to see my doctor. I won't go into too much detail, but she thought she would suffer with this for the rest of her life. That this would, it would never go away. She went to the doctor, goes, all clear, pastor. All gone, all clear. And she was rejoicing. And I had twice anointed her with oil and prayed over her. Okay, so look, sometimes it works. Sometimes it takes time and sometimes immediate. But the Lord God promises that he will save the sick. I've covered this before. He will deliver you. He will help you through the process. And I don't believe anymore that it's a guaranteed healing. But what more can I do? You know, it's a deliverance. God will help you through that process. God will help. Look, our bodies will break down. If this was, you know, if this could be applied 100% with certainty all the time, where you're just going to be healed all the time, then no one will ever die. Like once you get to an old age and your body's breaking down, pastor anointed me with oil, and you're gonna live another 100 years, you reckon? No. You know, because of the sin-cursed world that we live in, and these sin-cursed bodies, our bodies will eventually break down. But we wanted to break down because we need to go and see the Lord face to face anyway. Okay, so, you know, but that's the process by which pastors are to do these works. And if God performs a miracle, performs a miracle, it's up to him. It's up to our Lord God. But let's continue there in verse number, let's see, verse number, what am I up to? Yes, yeah, verse number 13. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, the word vagabond, like vagabonds are like gypsies. Where they don't have one place to live, they just journey, they just go about everywhere traveling. Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, so these are people that are trying to, or they claim to cast out devils, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits. The name of the Lord Jesus saying, we adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacher. So these vagabond Jews, they see that Paul is performing these miracles, even casting out devils. And they're like, oh man, we need some of that power. It's like, what's Paul doing? Oh, he's mentioning the name of Jesus. All right, we'll do the same. So they find these, you know, people with evil spirits and they start using the name of Jesus to cast out devils. Look at verse number 14, and there were seven sons of one Siva, a Jew and chief of the priests which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them and overcame them and prevailed against them so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. So these vagabond Jews, they think, oh, if we just say the name of Jesus, you know, if we just claim the name of Jesus, name it and claim it Pentecostal style, that we're going to cast out these devils. The devil's like, I don't even know who you are. I know Jesus, I know Paul. By the way, this tells us that if you're a saved child of God, the devils know who you are. If you do great works for God, the devils know who you are, okay? But these people, and what we say again, just like we saw earlier in verse number one, there were certain disciples, just cause you're a disciple, just cause you're a, you know, I've been knocking doors, I'm trying to follow Jesus, but they don't believe on Jesus. They believe that good works is what saves them, right? Just cause you're a follower or a disciple doesn't mean you're saved. And just because you claim the name of Jesus, it doesn't mean you're saved. The Roman Catholics claim the name of Jesus. Are they saved? Nope. The Mormons, the Jehovah Witnesses, they claim the name of Jesus. Are they saved? No. There are many churches within Christendom, the umbrella of Christendom, that name the name of Jesus, but you ask them, have you believed on Christ Jesus? Is that how you're saved? No, no, no, my works, my obedience, my commandment keeping, my baptism, those are the things that saved me. Well, the devils don't know who you are, cause you're not a saved child of God. And so that's the problem. This man who has this evil spirit with, I guess, supernatural strength, defeats them, rips off their clothes of these vagabond Jews. And they, you know, these guys have, they have no power. Okay. What they have is another Jesus is what they have. It's not the real Jesus. And I don't know if this concerns you. I don't know if you're like, man, Pastor Kevin, you know, if someone with an evil spirit, you know, is out there and I'm sure there are people out there. In fact, I'm sure that many people with mental illnesses are actually possessed by devils. I don't know how many. I don't know exactly because, you know, there are, there is also physical, you know, injuries that can cause, you know, mental illness. But I'm sure there are many that have mental illnesses that walk the earth today that, you know, are possessed by devils. You know, and so the concern might be, well, they jump out and attack me and rip off my clothes. And well, first of all, you are saved, so they know who you are. Okay. But also the Bible says in, where's the reference? I didn't write down the reference, but you guys know the passage where it says, greater is he that is within you than he that is in the world. So if you're saved, you have the indwelling of the Holy Ghost. You have God within you. God is within this body, this temple. It's not the best temple, you know, but it's a temple. Praise God. God saved this temple. This body belongs to him. So if someone has an evil spirit, do you think they'll be able to attack this temple of God and overpower? No. Okay. God is much greater. God is much more powerful. The fact that these evil spirits are destroying these vagabond Jews is simply, they're not saved. And they're trying to play a game that they can't win. Okay. They don't have the power of the Holy Ghost within them. They don't have the Jesus, the real Jesus. You know, there are many other Jesus. There are other Jesus the Bible speaks about. But the only one that can truly have power over evil spirits are those that are saved in Christ Jesus. All right. Verse number 17. Let's continue. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus and fear fell on them all. And the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. All right. So again, just because you claim the name of Jesus doesn't mean you're saved. You know, I come across people like that sometimes. Not so much from my church because we're pretty cluey at least in this area. But some say, oh, but they're saved. How do you know? They spoke about Jesus. I mean, so many people do. So many people speak about Jesus. Even the Muslims, you know, speak of Jesus. They think of him as a great prophet. But are they saved? Of course not. But, you know, you could tell the difference between the vagabond Jews pretending to have power and then you could tell the difference with Paul. You know, and you could see that God was using Paul. People were getting saved. People were trusting Christ Jesus. People were even being healed. Praise God for that work. Verse number 18. And many that believed came and confessed and showed their deeds. Say, what are their deeds? Well, let's continue. Many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together and burned them before all men and they counted the price of them and found it 50,000 pieces of silver. So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. So many that believed on Christ were actually involved in the occult, occultish practices. Trying to be exorcists or whatever, power, right? The arts, the magic arts and all that, right? Witches and wizards and, you know, that was their religion or whatever it was, right? So many of these people that are in the occult got saved and then they bring, they show the deeds. Like, look, this is what we used to do before we got saved. We were, you know, hocus pocus and doing all these spells and, you know, and then they bring all their books together. They're all their magic, I don't know, I don't know. I'm trying to sound like I know what I'm talking about but I don't even know what they do. They've got all their magic books of spells, whatever it is, right? Their magic wands, whatever it is. You know, there are crystals and the amulets of power and there are, you know, the dragon tooth they found somewhere for their special spells. I don't know, they get all that stuff, all their crafts, all their books and they start burning all of it up. They're like, man, this is rubbish compared to the salvation that I've seen, that I've received in Jesus Christ. And the Bible tells us that all of that material that they burnt up was valued at 50,000 pieces of silver. And I started to look into this, how much is that? 50,000 pieces of silver. Well, first of all, I looked into this and the concept is that these pieces of silver are probably coins because they're under Roman jurisdiction. At this point, you know, they had Roman coins, all right? And I mean, even Jesus Christ speaks about getting a coin and had the face of Caesar on it, you know, for example. And so one of the coins, probably what people assume this piece of silver is, is that one of the coins was a, I think a denarius, which was made from silver. And that denarius, that silver piece was a day's wage for like a Roman soldier. Just as an example, a day's wage for a Roman soldier. So I got thinking, okay, well, let's roughly try to figure out the value of all this material. And so I'm like, okay, what do we have today? We don't really have Roman soldiers walking the streets, but we have police officers. Maybe we can use that as a rough, you know, idea. And so police officers earn about $380 a day. The average police officer, some lower, some higher, about $380 a day. So let's say that's their day's wage. And then you multiply that by 50,000. You get to, anyone gonna guess? $19 million. Now look, in Australia, we have a high, we have high salaries. So maybe that's not the best comparison. But even if that's on the high end, all of this material that's been burnt up, all these books, I mean, there's so much of it. I mean, we're definitely talking millions of dollars. Even if it's in the low millions, 3 million, 4 million, 5 million, okay. There's so much material being burnt up. And, you know, I think about, I think about false religions. I think about how, say the Roman Catholic Church, you know, in order for people to get closer to their God, they have to buy the statues and they buy the books and the prayer books and the rosary beads and all the little, the holy water, maybe even, right? And, you know, if you want to get your loved ones out of purgatory, well, they believe, you know, there is no purgatory, but, you know, you got to give the priest lots of money so they can pray for your loved one and deliver them from purgatory and get them to heaven as soon as possible. And a lot of religions cost a lot of money. A lot of money, you know, but Jesus, it's free. It's like the Jesus, our Jesus of the Bible who died for us and rose again. He did all the work. His blood paid the price. And to enter into that faith is free. The free gift of salvation. And to walk into church tonight, it didn't cost you anything, did it? Your fuel, a bit of your time, but I'm not charging you 50 bucks. You wouldn't be here anyway, who would be here? Nobody, man. I'd have to get some fools to come in here and, you know, charge them 50 bucks, you know, to hear a sermon or something like that. And what's it going to cost you? A Bible. I mean, you can get a Bible app on your phone. You can read the Bible for free if you really wanted to. But if you wanted a physical copy, what's it going to cost you? 10 bucks for something not too fancy, just to get the words? That's an important part of the Bible, right? 10 bucks? You know, if we had to burn all our religious material, what's it going to cost us? I don't know, a few hundred bucks, right? You know, I'm just thinking about, you know, Christianity, biblical Christianity compared to false religions. Boy, it's free. It's affordable, right? It's all been done by the Lord Christ. And, you know, the Bible tells us that we should not charge for the truth. You know, freely we've received and freely we should give as well. And that's our Lord Christ. He doesn't charge anyone. But all these occult practices or false religions, it's always costing people an arm and a leg. And, well, let's continue there. Verse number 21. After these things were ended, Paul purposed to the Lord, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome. So Paul gets his plans together, right? Back to Macedonia, Achaia, where I've been before. Then I'll go back to Jerusalem, and then I'll eventually go to Rome. So he starts putting his plan together, right? What his further trip is going to look like. So he starts preparing. Verse number 22. So he sent into Macedonia, so he sends a few people to prepare for him. He sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timotheus, we know Timotheus, we've been introduced to him already, and Erastus. But he himself stayed in Asia for a season. All right, so we're introduced to a new name there, Erastus, okay? He's brought up in one other passage. Come with me to Romans 16, please. Come with me to Romans 16. We actually get to learn a little bit about this man, Erastus. So Paul is planning his trips, he's still in Corinth, right? And he sends Timotheus, he sends Erastus. Now, when we look at Romans 16, we'll find that Erastus is actually from Corinth. All right, so he's a, you know, he's a, like a, sorry, I'm getting confused. Paul is in Ephesus, okay? Paul is in Ephesus, sorry guys. But come with me to Romans 16, please. Romans 16 and verse number 23. Romans 16 and verse number 23. But Erastus is from Corinth. The reason we know this is because the book of Romans was written while Paul was in Corinth. Okay? He wrote the book of, he wrote the epistle to the Romans while he was in Corinth. And while, you know, and how he is when he writes these epistles, many times he's sending greetings, not just from himself, but other believers that are with him. All right? So for example, in Romans 16, 23, Paul says about people that agree in the Roman church, he says, Gaius, mine host, and of the whole church, salut of you, Erastus, there it is, Erastus, the chamberlain of the city, salut of you, and Quartus, a brother. All right, so we learned that Erastus is a chamberlain of the city, of the city of Corinth there, okay? And a chamberlain is basically someone that is responsible for the city's, like, infrastructure and development. All right? So for example, if they're like, man, we need to build some new roads in Corinth, all right? Some new, a new government building. They're like, well, we need to get approval from Erastus, all right? The reason I bring that up is because it's always interesting to me to see the professions or the skills or the abilities that certain helpers or certain ministers of the New Testament have. And I always come across, man, they're just so mixed. Like, there's so many different people with different skills and different abilities. And I often like to think about how each one of these men with their skills and abilities are able to help in the ministry, you know, helpful with their different abilities, different skills that God has given them. But I just want to show you that Erastus is someone that is brought up again in the book of Romans. So come back with me to Acts 19. Acts 19 and verse number 23, please. All right, I'll try to speed up here. Verse number 23, and the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen. So this man, Demetrius, no small gain means he makes big money, you know, making shrines to this false goddess Diana, whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation and said, Sirs, you know that by this craft, we have our wealth. Moreover, you see in here that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul have persuaded and turned away much people saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands. So like, you know, we're losing business. Everyone's listening to Paul and Paul is saying there are no, like there are no idols, there are no gods that are idols. Verse number 27, so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught, but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshipeth. And when they heard these things, they were full of wrath and cried out saying, great is Diana of the Ephesians. So they start becoming emboldened in their ability to proclaim and preach about Diana after Paul was preaching of Christ. Have you ever come across a situation like this, where you're trying to get someone saved? I've come across this, mainly with Roman Catholics. You're trying to preach Christ Jesus, Christ alone. And you know, this person never cared. They're like, I am Catholic, but they don't care. But then you preach and all of a sudden they're like, I was born a Catholic, I'm going to die a Catholic. Or nothing's going to turn my heart from Diana. Or for them, it's the Virgin Mary, same thing. It's like, you didn't care about it in the first place. I've seen people get more zealous for their false religion after trying to get them saved. It's like, you didn't care. I thought you would actually be interested in the gospel because you hate the Pope. You know, your priests are all pedophiles. You complain about religion all the time. But now that I try to get you saved, I'm Catholic. You dig your heels in. I don't understand the heart. But one thing we see here is because I don't think they really love Diana. I just think they love money. It's like, we're losing business. We're losing our wealth. Maybe it's pride. Maybe for some it's like, well, it's hard for me to admit that Christ is the truth. All these years I've been worshiping or going to my Roman Catholic church and some people it's just too hard to go, man, I've got to give up on this pride. I've got to admit that I've been wrong all these years and that's too hard for me to do. Again, it's not so much that they love their Diana, their false God. It's just that for them, you know, whatever it is, the loss of wealth or their reputation, it's too hard for them to turn to Christ. And so they dig their heels in. No, we've been right all along. Diana has always been right. She's the goddess, right? It's sad when they dig their heels in. But I've had that happen. It mainly happens with like, not so much door to door because it's hard to see people dig their heels in too much there. You don't spend a lot of time with them, but like family and friends. That's when I often see this happen. Anyway, let's continue. Verse number 29. And the whole city was filled with confusion. And having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companion in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater. So we have other helpers of Paul, Gaius and Aristarchus, or Aristarchus, I'm not sure how to pronounce it. They find other men that are preaching and are helping Paul and they grab them and they bring them into the theater. So this is like a public setting. Okay, verse number 30. And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. So Paul hears about Gaius and Aristarchus kind of being taken. They're like, man, Paul's like, I've got to go help him. I've got to go. And the other side was like, no Paul, stay away, stay away, don't. Like, we don't need someone else being caught up, you know, in this public issue. Verse number 32, verse number 31, sorry. And certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends, sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theater. Again, they're like Paul, stay away, stay away from here. Okay, verse number 32. Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused. And the moral part knew not wherefore they would come together. So people are making certain accusations. You know, these Christians are preaching this or they're against China. And someone's like, I don't even know why we're here. Like, they're just like, there's this like public gathering. Like, what are we here for? Like, I've never heard them, you know, be these horrible people or et cetera, et cetera. So it's all kind of confusion. And then verse number 33. And they drew Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with a hand and would have made his defense unto the people. Now, I don't know if this Alexander is another believer. I tend to think that he's not. He might be. I don't know if you remember Alexander the coppersmith that was contrary to Paul. I don't know. Okay. Like, it seems like in this mass of confusion, they're like, oh, there's another Jew. Right. Get Alexander. Let's bring him into the mix as well. Right. And he's like, okay, I've got to defend myself. So if he's not a believer, he'll be like, look, I'm not even with these guys. I don't know why you brought me into this mess. That's what I think is happening. Okay. Anyway, it says here, verse number 34. But when they knew that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours, cried out, great is Diana of the Ephesians. So it's not saying he's like a believer. He's just a Jew. But they're associating Paul and his company as like, you're the ones causing us problems. You're the Jews. Right. So Alexander is, I think, you know, a little bit unfairly being criticized here. Anyway, verse number 35. And when the town clerk had appeased the people. So we finally have an official that turns up trying to organize what's going on. Right. A town clerk turns up. He appeases the people. He's like, all right, guys, calm down, calm down. We'll set in order what's happening here. Right. He said, ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana and of the image which fell down from Jupiter? Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet or to do nothing rashly. So this town clerk goes, look, guys, calm down. We all know that Diana is the true God. We all know what is this image that fell from Jupiter. I don't know what that is. If you're not telling me, I have no idea what that is. We all know these things are true. And this is the God. Like, we're not at jeopardy of losing our religion here. So look, just calm down, guys. All right. Don't do anything rashly. Don't do anything suddenly. Like, I know you're all angry. We just can't start killing these people, right? Like, this is out of order a little bit, right? So calm down. Verse number 37. For ye have brought hither these men, which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. So they're like, look, these men, they're not thieves. They haven't robbed churches. All right. And they haven't even blasphemed against Diana, your goddess. Quite interesting. So when Paul and his men are out there preaching Christ, they're not actually blaspheming Diana. I want you to think about that a little bit, you know. Their priority is to preach Christ crucified. And when people believe on Christ, like we saw earlier, they're like, man, you know, these magic books, these works that we've done in the crafts, it's all garbage. Let's just burn it up. But we don't have evidence of Paul just openly rebuking this false goddess or, you know, causing issues that cause an uproar. They're like, look, there is no evidence of this. They've never done, they've never blasphemed Diana. You know, they're not thieves. They're not, they're not criminals. They've done no criminal activity. I think it's quite interesting. I mean, I've won two, only two Muslims to the Lord in my life. Maybe three, if my memory serves me correct. And I didn't have to attack their prophet Muhammad to do so. Because if I just turn around and say, you know what? I'm trying to get them saved, right? Your prophet is a pedophile. What's going to happen? They're going to dig the hills in. And they're going to, I'm preaching them Christ and Christ crucified. And of course, as I'm preaching Christ, I'm showing them that their faith is incorrect. Their faith is placed in the wrong place. And they need to put their faith in the right place in Jesus Christ. They must believe in Jesus Christ. And the moment they do that, by default, they are repenting from their false beliefs. And they're putting their belief on Christ Jesus. You know, I've won Catholics to the Lord. I didn't, I'm sure you have, you know, they're not impossible to get saved. They're easier than Muslims, let me put it that way. Or Greek Orthodox. I've never had to blaspheme their Virgin Mary. You know, at most, I've probably shown them that Mary had other children. So she did not remain a virgin. But I'm preaching Christ and Christ crucified. Christ crucified is the gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation. Now, I'm not saying there's not a time to blaspheme against these false gods. But what I'm trying to say is when you're trying to reach the individual, if you just go out and your emphasis is just to attack their false religion, they're more likely going to dig their heels in and harden their hearts against the gospel. But if you preach them the love of Christ, and what the Lord done for them in that salvation's free gift, and they understand it's only Christ Jesus, and wow, he did it all. The moment they put their trust in Christ, by default, they are rejecting the other ways that they held to, you know, as their salvation. But I think it's just quite interesting. Okay, because I think some would assume Paul is just there blaspheming against the false gods, okay, the false religions. Let's continue the verse number 38. Wherefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen, which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies, let them impede one another. Because look, if this Demetrius has evidence that they've done criminal activity, then go through the right channels, right, take it to the deputies. Verse number 39, but if you inquire anything concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. So, you know, this town clerk is putting things together, he's smart, right? He's making sure that this doesn't get out of hand, you know, he's making sure that the laws of the land are being followed. And verse number 40, for we are in danger to be caught in question for this day's uproar. There be no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly. All right, to me, it's an interesting story. Say, what can we get out of this? I guess number one, there's probably no need to blaspheme false gods when you're trying to win that person to the Lord, you can show them Christ Jesus, you can emphasize Christ Jesus, and the freeness of salvation. And that normally is more than enough for them to realize that their false beliefs were wrong to begin with. Secondly, maybe another thing you can learn out of this, is that when Paul wanted to get involved in this public dispute, the disciples were like, stay away Paul. So learn from this, please don't throw your brethren under the bus. If you've got a problem, someone's hating you for preaching the gospel, you don't need to, I don't know, you just don't need to be like, well, don't blame me, Pastor Kevin sent me or something like this, right? You know, I get phone calls, it used to be every week. Thank God now it's like every maybe once a fortnight. Someone complained about soul winning efforts. People don't like it. Even if you knock the door and no one told me you left the leaflet on the door, people get offended that you left the leaflet at the door. And you know what I don't do? I don't throw you under the bus. Oh, that must have been brother Michael. Hit his phone number, give him a call. You know, anytime people have complained about soul winners, I've always had your backs. I've never, never, you know, caved in and said, oh, man, you guys are right. We should have never knocked your door, right? You know, I've had people even claim that you've done criminal activities. They trespassed on my property. Look, I don't appreciate you coming and knocking my door. You know, my daughter thought someone was trying to break into the house. Had someone once call me. Look, I had your church members turn up after dark with torches, shining the torches through the windows. Does anyone admit that was you? I'm assuming that's all fake, right? It's all garbage. And when I get that kind of stuff, I say to them, look, my church members, maybe they did knock your door. And if they've done any criminal activity, I don't know why you're calling me. If someone's done criminal activity, you take it to the deputies. You take it to the police. Have you filed a police report? Oh, no, then it means nothing. I don't believe it. I believe they knock your door. Yeah, maybe you got a little bit spooked because someone knocked your door, but we're just being neighborly. And if you're not interested, just say you're not interested and we'll move on. Oh, you've lit it on my property. You've left this piece of paper on my door. You've lit it. I'm like, mate, just chuck it in the bin. Just throw it in the bin, you know? And I use the opportunity to try to get them saved. It doesn't happen very often because they call angry. But I have had, you know, people call me because I had a leaflet on the door asking about our church and I've been able to give them the gospel and see them saved. But anyway, my point is I don't throw you under the bus. You don't need to throw me under the bus either, by the way. All right. Anyway, like you say, Paul, Paul's heart is like, man, I've got to get in there. I've got to go help these guys. I'm like, Paul, stay away, man. We don't need more problems. We don't need more problems. We don't need more problems. We don't need more of our believers being caught up in this mess. And so maybe that's another lesson you can get out of this chapter there in Acts 19. But the title for the sermon was they should believe on Christ Jesus. They should believe on Christ Jesus. So I don't believe the disciples at the beginning had believed on Christ Jesus. They got them baptised, but baptism doesn't save you. They got under the preaching of John the Baptist, but getting under someone's preaching doesn't save you. We saw men claim the name of Jesus, but they were not saved. Claiming the name of Jesus does not save you because there are many false Jesuses in the world. The only thing that saves your soul is if you're able to put your full trust on Christ alone. His death, his burial, his resurrection. Oh, but I'm a good person. No, you're not a good person. The Bible says there is none righteous. No, not one. Compared to God, we are wicked and we are sinners. All of us, even the best of us, whoever you are, you're still a sinner on the side of God. And the only thing that saves you is putting your full faith, your full trust on what Christ has done for you. All right, brethren, let's pray.