The Debbie Taylor Williams Podcast

Debbie Taylor Williams: Hi, this is Debbie Taylor Williams. Thank you for tuning into my podcast. I'm so glad you're here and pray the Lord will speak to you through this message.

Debbie Taylor Williams: As we look at Acts 18, we are seeing how Paul is completing his second missionary journey, and then he is also going to begin his third missionary journey as we see in Acts 19. We see Apollos introduced to us, and how he also goes to Ephesus and Corinth, and we just continue to see the spread of God's Word with every time we look at one of these maps.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And I know that you're not able to see every single individual city on this map, but I wanted you to just be able to get a reminder of the scope of Paul's travels. As you follow that red line from the bottom corner all the way up through Achaea, through Asia, and then when he goes over the Aegean Sea and to Macedonia, and then goes down, and then today we see that he travels 50 miles from Athens to Corinth, and then we'll continue that journey with him.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Let's begin and let's read as a reminder in Acts 18, beginning with verse one. And we won't read every one of these verses, but I want us to just get a reminder of our scriptures this morning.

Debbie Taylor Williams: After these things, he, Paul, left Athens and went to Corinth, and he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them and because he was a man of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade, they were tentmakers. And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade the Jews and the Greeks. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

Debbie Taylor Williams: But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads. I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles." Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titus Justice, a worshipper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord and all his household, and many of the Corinthians, when they heard, were believing and being baptized.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Verse nine. And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you and no man will attack you in order to harm you. For I have many people in this city." And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. But we always have that, but don't we, anytime Paul is somewhere.

Debbie Taylor Williams: We, before last, when we looked at Acts 16, I shared with you the sounds of Acts 16. Last week we looked at the sights. We looked at the temples and the idol worship that Paul encountered. This week as we go through and we examine the scriptures, we're going to be looking at the facts, of course.

Debbie Taylor Williams: But I also, as I prepared, the Lord brought to my mind that today we are going to focus on looking at the feelings, at the emotions that were experienced. We've done that some, but it's important for us to continue doing that because we see right off the bat in verses one and two, Paul was hated because he was a Christian, and had to leave Athens, had to leave Thessalonica, had to leave Berea. And Aquila and Priscilla were hated because they were Jews, and they had to leave Rome.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And so we see that there are a lot of emotions, there are a lot of feelings that are not described necessarily in the scripture, but we know that they were experienced when you are exiled from your country, when you are persecuted for your faith. What are those feelings? Because friends, you and I may be dealing with those feelings very shortly in our own nation. Our children, our grandchildren may be experiencing those areas in their walks of life where they are looked down on, where they are talked badly about, where they are laughed at for praying, where they are condemned for their religious beliefs.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And so we want to think about this as we go through the passage. Paul's emotions, his feelings. Why do this? Why, and I've talked to the Lord about this, why focus on the feelings? Feelings are discussed often in the scriptures. Emotions are discussed often. Jesus felt, and when I researched all the scriptures that talked about Jesus's feelings, it is from a Greek word that means to be moved as in one's bowels or in one's kidneys. It's thought to be the seat in this culture, the seat of love and pity.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Have you ever had something happen in your life and you just felt it deep inside of you? You felt it in your stomach, you felt it right there. I remember one time I was experiencing that foreboding grief, a foreboding feeling, and I don't want to overemphasize feelings, but feelings are addressed in the Bible. And Keith even asked me, he said, "Debbie, well, what does, what is that like?" And I said, "It's just this deep, right here." How many of you have felt that? How many of you have felt that? Sometimes our feelings are on target, they are true, and sometimes our feelings are not. And that is why it is so important that we examine our feelings in light of truth, in light of God's Word.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Now we see, for instance, that Matthew 9:6, I'm sorry, 36, Jesus it said, seeing the people, he felt compassion. We talked last week about being observant of others so then we could minister to them. And again, in Matthew 15:32 it said, Jesus said, "I feel compassion." You and I should be feeling compassion when we see people who do not know the Lord, and certainly this was so much of what Paul felt as he was ministering and people were rejecting what he said.

Debbie Taylor Williams: In Matthew 21:32, Jesus condemned them because he said, "You did not even feel remorse afterwards." So as to believe, and he referred to John the Baptist. We are at times to feel remorse over our sins. Acts 2:43, if you recall, it said, "Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe. And many wonders and signs were taking place through them."

Debbie Taylor Williams: Feelings, in verse one and two, as Paul goes to Corinth and he finds and stays with Aquila and Priscilla, who had been exiled from Rome, we might be able to put ourselves in his position and realize that when he walked into Corinth, he may have felt lonely. Priscilla and Aquila may have felt lonely. Have you ever moved to a different city and you felt lonely? Have you ever walked into a church for the first time and you felt lonely? Have you ever been divorced? Have you ever lost your spouse and felt lonely? Have you ever felt lonely?

Debbie Taylor Williams: And so we can imagine that. And we see this truth that in times of lonely, painful, national, religious hatred, look for God's purposes. That's what Paul did. He had a purpose in being there. Look for God's people. That's what Paul did. And look for God's plan also. We see this Romans 8:28 that we are also familiar with.

Debbie Taylor Williams: The second thing we see in verses three and four is that Paul works. He continues to work. He does his job as a tentmaker. He worships. He goes to the Sabbath every week, and he witnesses by trying to reason and persuade the Jews and the Greeks. I want us to look here to get a little bit more of what may have been in Paul's inner being, in his guts. This word reasoning means in the Greek that he was drawing arguments from the scripture.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Paul is poring over the scripture and he is presenting it to the Jews. He is doing everything in his being to try to convince them that Jesus is the Christ. Where it says that he was trying to persuade them, that means in the Greek that he was trying to induce them to believe. Have you ever sat down with somebody and you tried with everything in your being to try to get somebody to understand the importance of repentance, to you tried to get somebody to understand the importance of being forgiven of their sins. You were very mindful of heaven and hell and you wanted that person so badly in heaven. This is Paul. This is Paul.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And so we see this important truth. When you have a heavy heart for someone, for someone's lack of salvation, for where they are going to spend eternity, continue as he did, to work, continue to worship, meet with other believers and continue to witness. We see also in verses 5 through 11 the significance, and I know you discussed it in your discussion group, in verse nine, where the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer."

Debbie Taylor Williams: This is absolutely so touching. This meant that Paul had been afraid. Paul had been afraid. In the Greek, this word afraid means struck with fear. It means seized with alarm of those who fear harm and injury. Paul feared personal physical harm. And when you read in second Corinthians 2:3, where Paul writes and he says, "I came to you in fear and trembling."

Debbie Taylor Williams: This is heart-wrenching. This is heart-wrenching because he is fearing for the lashes, for the rods against his back again, for the stoning. I have never had that kind of fear talking to somebody. My fear was, "Oh, will they not like me? Oh, will they think I'm stupid? Oh, will they think I'm being a little pushy?" But Jesus saw Paul trembling before he walked into that synagogue again every week. And he saw how afraid Paul was.

Debbie Taylor Williams: If you are going through a time of fear, if you're afraid of something, be assured that your sweet Lord Jesus sees you. And he promises in Matthew 28:20, and John 14:16-17, that he will never ever leave you, that he will be with you, and that he through the Holy Spirit is even in you. There is a warning here in these scriptures, and it is one that makes me fear for those who are not saved.

Debbie Taylor Williams: In Mark 3:29, the scripture says, "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin." Luke 12:10, Jesus said, "He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him." And Paul is looking eye to eye with these devout religious Jews who are railing against him, but not him, against the Holy Spirit in him who is speaking.

Debbie Taylor Williams: I think Paul is not only trembling for the fear of physical harm that may come to him, but I believe he can also be trembling for the fear of his fellow man. His fellow Jews who are refusing, they are, they are spitting on the Holy Spirit. They are turning their backs. They are railing against him. This word resist means rail against. To blaspheme means to rail at, to speak reproachfully, to revile. They are Holy Spirit of God in these individuals, and the Holy Spirit is speaking through Paul through the scriptures proving that Jesus is the Christ, and they are saying, "No, no, no, no, no!"

Debbie Taylor Williams: And that is why Paul eventually says to them that he has done everything he can. And their blood, their eternal life is not on him because he has been faithful to speak the truth to them. This calls me to a greater awareness of my responsibility that I have as a believer to speak the truth in love.

Debbie Taylor Williams: James 4:5 is a very important scripture. James writes and he says, "Do you think the scripture speaks to no purpose?" He is saying, "Do you think the scripture speaks to no purpose? There's no purpose in the scripture?" Because that's how the Jews were treating him. That's how unbelievers treat the scriptures. There's no purpose. No purpose! And so James writes, "Do you think the scripture speaks to no purpose? He, God, jealously desires the spirit, his spirit, in which he has made to dwell in us." In other words, friends, what this is saying is that God made and created us to be able to have his holiness, his Holy Spirit in us.

Debbie Taylor Williams: So to renounce it, to refuse it, that is blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That is to rail against the Holy Spirit, and that is to condemn oneself to eternal hell. Do you think the scripture speaks to no purpose? Do you think Jesus came and gave his life for no purpose? No, there was purpose.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Hebrews 12:25 in the Good News Translation says, "Be careful then, and do not refuse to hear him who speaks." Those who refuse to hear the one who gave the divine message on earth did not escape. How much less will we escape if we turn away from the one who speaks from heaven.

Debbie Taylor Williams: In verses 12 through 17, we see our fourth point. And that is the Jews angrily take Paul before Gallio's judgment seat and falsely accused him of breaking the law. Now, the Jews took him, and we can imagine here now this is Paul once again being dragged before the authorities with the Jews who have turned on him full force. And here he is with, "Oh no, oh no, here it comes again." Have you ever felt dread? Have you ever had something bad happen and then and then all these signs start that the same thing is going to start happening again? Have you ever felt dread? Absolutely, I would imagine so.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And he's got to be thinking, "Oh no, this is getting ready to happen to me again!" Because he had been one who had on the on the basis of saying that Stephen was breaking the law and blaspheming, had stood there while Stephen was stoned. He in Acts 13:50 had been persecuted and driven away from Pisidian Antioch. He in chapter 14:5 had been the one who they had attempted to stone. 14:19 in Lystra, he had been stoned. It was this exact same scenario.

Debbie Taylor Williams: He teaches in the synagogue, and then they get him, and they drag him, and they pull him, and they take him to the authorities or not, as in the case of Lystra, and they just start stoning him. This when this says Paul, about to open his mouth. I bet he was about to open his mouth and to explain that the kingdom and the king he was talking about was not an earthly king at this time. It was no threat to Rome. It was a spiritual kingdom, an eternal kingdom that he was preaching about. But as in before, he probably wasn't going to get the chance to say that. In Philippi he had been beaten with rods. So, of course, this dread would have come upon him.

Debbie Taylor Williams: As in Thessalonica, Jason was dragged to the magistrates when they couldn't find Paul. As they had to send Paul away by night. This is happening over and over and over and over and over again. And so we see when the feeling of dread comes upon you, which it very well may, remember it is the Lord whom you serve, his voice you obey. Joshua 24:15 and Hebrews 12:25.

Debbie Taylor Williams: We see though that in this instance, what Jesus had promised Paul came to pass. He told Paul not to be afraid, that he would not be harmed in this city. And so Gallio dismissed the case. But we see here the intense religious anger and fervency when the Jews who had taken Paul to be accused before the Roman proconsul. Instead, when Paul was released, they were so filled with anger, they just beat up Sosthenes.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Total irrational, ill-placed, fervent anger. Do we live in a society where there is often what we would call irrational, fervent anger? Yes, we do. Yes, we do. And we can see how it can be ill-placed. But in 18 through 22, we see how Paul leaves Corinth, then he set sail for Syria, completing his second missionary journey. And it says that he had his hair cut, which is can be looked at in your commentary. It will speak more about it at the port city before he left. It was like, I believe that Paul knew that the Lord was taking him back to Antioch and Jerusalem to tell and report on his second missionary journey. And it was this feeling of, "I finished. I have finished this. I have done this."

Debbie Taylor Williams: And so we see how important it is. Our fifth point, that as you walk by cross spirit, which we know Paul did, rest in his peace, knowing you completed the work he had for you in that season. Ecclesiastes 3:1 talks about how there is a time, there is a season. And friends, you can probably look back at your life and say during that season, and then all of a sudden you find yourself in a new season of life. And then you find yourself in a different season of life. And it's important that we walk with Jesus in each season, resting and at peace because we know that we are walking with the Lord. And so we can say goodbyes, we can let doors be closed. We can look with anticipation at the new season because nothing stays the same.

Debbie Taylor Williams: As we continue, we see again on this map how Paul goes all the way back. He goes to, and he reports the church in Jerusalem, and then he goes back up to Antioch. And in verses 24 through 26, we have this wonderful passage where Priscilla and Aquila privately explained to Apollos the way of God more accurately. We see Apollos and the incredible mandate he was given. He accurately teach it taught the word of God concerning the things. He was an eloquent man. He was mighty in scriptures. He was only familiar, of course, with the baptism of John at that time.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and explained him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:20. Let's look at this because it's important that we understand this very important sixth point. When you are concerned about someone's spiritual condition or teachings, engage in a private, respectful conversation with them. That's all we need to do. It's very simple.

Debbie Taylor Williams: If I say something and you disagree with it, or are concerned about something I say, then text me or catch me after class and just say, "Could we have coffee?" Or better, you could buy my lunch. And and then share what you're concerned about. But this is the scriptural way that we are taught. Jesus taught this very same thing in Matthew 18. If you think somebody is sinning, you go to them privately. And so we need to remember this very important point.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Our seventh point that we see in verses 24 through 8 is that Apollos boldly speaks in Ephesus. He receives Priscilla and Aquila's instruction, and then goes to Corinth and scripturally, powerfully demonstrates Jesus is the Christ. We see our seventh point. When you are fervent in spirit for the Lord, be, and your fill-in-the-blank is, humbly teachable. Why? Why should you and I be humbly teachable? So we grow and are increasingly helpful and powerful for Christ. 1st Peter 2:2 and 3:18. They talk about how we are to hunger for the pure milk of the word. How we are to grow in respect to salvation.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And so this is important. You and I need to grow in respect to salvation. Our eighth point is found in verse 23, and then as we go to Acts 19:1-7, and we see that Paul goes to Ephesus, and after telling John's disciples about Jesus, they believe and are baptized by the Holy Spirit. People prior, Old Testament, and those prior to knowing about Jesus' death, his burial, his resurrection, and ascension, they looked forward in faith to the promised Messiah. Those who looked forward in faith to Jesus and the Messiah, the promised Messiah, they were saved by faith.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Apollos had not yet heard that Jesus had come, died, been resurrected, ascended. And so Paul had the privilege, the privilege, would you say that word privilege with me? Privilege of being the one to explain to these disciples, John's disciples. It is a privilege to tell people their sins can be forgiven through Jesus' death on the cross. And that they can be resurrected to new life, and that they can even begin receiving that new life now through the gift of the Holy Spirit. And that when they die, they have to have absolutely no fear because they aren't ever going to die. Their body may go in the ground, it will go in the ground unless we're raptured beforehand, but although the body goes in the ground, their spirit, our spirit will never die. My spirit will never die.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And I get a new body. You too, if you're a believer. It's a privilege to give people this wonderful, beautiful message. And so we see that when somebody hears the words that you give them, or that they hear from a sermon, be joyful over one person who repents as we're told in Luke 15:7 and 10.

Debbie Taylor Williams: And finally, our ninth point is in 19:6, and we see John's disciples baptized with the Holy Spirit speak in tongues and they prophesied. And you were asked to look up the variety of gifts, and in this passage we see two variety of gifts of the Holy Spirit. But every single Christian receives the Holy Spirit, and with the Holy Spirit they receive a gift to be used in the body of Christ for the glory of Christ. And so friends, be grateful. Be glad that you have a spiritual gift. Be excited that you have a gift from heaven, the Holy Spirit. And then excitedly use that gift for the body of Christ. It is so exciting.

Debbie Taylor Williams: We see this principle that God created you and me with a capacity to experience emotions and feelings. Pay attention to them. If you're feeling down, if you're dreading something, if you're feeling sad, if you're feeling afraid, don't just go wallow in that emotion. Check it out. We are to examine our feelings. We are to take our thoughts captive to the throne of God.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Jeremiah 20:11 says, "O Lord of hosts, who tries the feelings and the heart." God created you with a capacity to experience emotions and feelings. Pay attention to them. Pay attention to them. So today, are you lonely? Are you heavy-hearted? Are you afraid of something or someone? Are you dreading what may be coming? Are you at rest and at peace in God's will? Are you concerned over someone? Are you fervent in spirit? Are you humble or prideful? Are you joyful? Are you grateful for the gift of the Holy Spirit? And excited.

Debbie Taylor Williams: What today do you want to take away from us looking at Paul and his faithfulness to the Lord? Even though he had all these different emotions that were rightly going on in him, the important point is, he listened to Christ. And instead of high-tailing it out of Corinth, when the Jews were blaspheming against the Holy Spirit in him, instead of him not speaking because of fear and dread, because the same pattern was happening that was going to be horrible for him. He took his thoughts and he listened and received Christ's thoughts. And the question for you and me today is, "Will we?"

Debbie Taylor Williams: Would you join me in prayer, please? Jesus, thank you that you spoke into Paul not to be afraid. Father, thank you that Paul was sensitive and obedient to your Holy Spirit and gives us this example. Thank you that Priscilla and Aquila were obedient to your spirit and took a fellow Christian aside to explain to him the way of yours more accurately. Thank you for Apollos who instead of proudly turning from them, he humbly received their teaching and then was even more greatly used for your glory. Thank you for John's disciples who received Paul's words, and for Paul not condemning them for their lack of knowledge, but being excited to share the good news. And Lord, I pray that as we learn from them that we would examine our feelings that you have given us, be it the capacity to feel an emotions. Help us examine them and take our thoughts and our feelings captive to your obedience in Jesus name.

Debbie Taylor Williams: Thank you for listening to this podcast. To learn more about how to grow in Christ or to be saved, visit www.debbietaylorwilliams.com. Connect with me on Instagram @debbietaylorwilliams. God bless you.