First Century Style Rip Van Winkles
Series: Acts
Chuck Sligh
August 20, 2017
Adapted from a longer sermon by Stephen Davey.
TEXT: Please turn in your Bibles to Acts 19:1-5
INTRODUCTION
Illus. – In 1820, a lawyer named Washington Irving published his first short story. It became so popular that for the next 185 years it would be read by millions and his name would be known by most Americans with at least a high school education.
The story was about a man who walked into the woods one day with his favorite dog and his favorite rifle; who met some peculiar men deep in the forest who offered him a strange tasting ale; who eventually lay down; and under the influence of that magical brew, fell into a deep sleep that would last for 20 years.
His name was RIP VAN WINKLE. When he awakened from his long sleep 20 years later, he hurried back into town—only to discover that EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED. He went back to the inn where he used to sit and talk with his friends under the tavern sign with a painting on it of His Majesty King George III on it—except now the sign had the portrait of a different George—George Washington. Van Winkle’s friend, the tavern keeper, was gone, and so were others he had known.
Let me read you Washington Irving’s own words:
In the place of his friends was a lean looking fellow, with his pockets full of handbills, haranguing vehemently about rights of citizens—elections— members of congress—liberty—Bunker’s Hill—and other words, which were a perfect Babylonish jargon to the bewildered Van Winkle. The appearance of Rip, with his long-grizzled beard, his rusty rifle, his uncouth dress, and an army of women and children at his heels, soon attracted the attention of the tavern politicians. They crowded around him, eyeing him from head to foot with great curiosity. [One man] bustled up to him, and, drawing him partly aside, inquired, “On which side did you vote?” Another short busy little fellow pulled him by the arm, and rising on tiptoe, inquired in his ear, “Are you a Federal or a Democrat?” Eventually they all demanded who he was and what was his name? “God knows,” exclaimed [Rip], at his wit’s end; “I’m not myself—I’m somebody else—I was myself last night, but I fell asleep on the mountain... and [now] everything’s changed.”
During one long 20-year nap, the world of Rip Van Winkle had changed; and he had an incredible amount of catching up to do.
In our Bible text today, we have twelve First Century Rip Van Winkles. But there are still some Van Winkles among us even today in the religious world. This morning I want to talk about these First Century Van Winkles and see what the Bible teaches us about them.
When Paul arrived in Ephesus in Acts 19, it had been a little more than 20 years since Jesus Christ had risen from the dead, just as long a Rip Van Winkle slept. It had been 20 years since the establishment of the Body of Christ at Pentecost—and the world had changed dramatically!
Yet there were sincere Jews who were still unaware. Like Rip Van Winkle, they hadn’t not heard of the vast changes in their world. One night they went to bed under the Mosaic law, bound to Judaism, governed by the prophets; the next morning, they awakened, but unaware that the NEW COVENANT had replaced the OLD COVENANT; that the CHURCH had replaced the SYNAGOGUE; and that CHRIST had replaced MOSES.
Here was a group of people who were about to awaken from a long spiritual sleep. They were still following John the Baptizer, the last Old Testament Prophet. From our text, we see that they needed three things:
I. FIRST, THEY NEEDED A NEW REVELATION.
Acts 19:1-2 – “And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, 2 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.”
I can just imagine that these men must have felt a lot like Rip must have felt. They were confronted with the news of this Holy Spirit, and they didn’t have a clue about who He was. John had prophesied the coming baptism with the Holy Spirit, but he gave no further teaching on Him. He said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” (Matthew 3:11)
These are the only words John ever uttered about the Holy Spirit. It’s possible that John himself didn’t know his prophecy meant. So these 12 Van Winkles might have had some inkling of this coming indwelling Spirit, but that’s all they knew. So, they needed the new revelation.
But the blessing of this passage is their willingness to embrace that truth from God that they never previously knew or went against their old paradigm. Verse 5 indicates that once they were convinced that this was the teaching of Scripture, they were quick to respond to and accept it. In other words, they were teachable, something we looked at last week when we saw how Apollos was likewise teachable.
APPLICATION: Now let me pause here for a minute and ask you: Are you that open to truth you previously have never known or understood? Most people are tied to traditions or thought patterns learned or accepted from the past—“The church I grew up in taught this doctrine.”; or “I grew up believing this or that.”; or “My pastor taught me this belief”; or “All my life I’ve thought such-and-such.”
But the Bible is all about God leaping into our lives and altering our frame of reference or our basic belief systems in permanent ways. The question is: Are you open and teachable and receptive when you are exposed to truth you’ve never known about before?
Illus. – In our church in Wiesbaden a man joined our church from a church that didn’t believe in a particular doctrine we taught. His parents and his grandparents had been in this denomination his whole life and that’s all he ever knew.
To change on that doctrine would involve a complete paradigm shift in his thinking, and from his point of view, perhaps something of a betrayal of his parents and his grandparents.
I asked him, “Jim, are you willing to change your mind if I can show you from the Word of God?”
He was hesitant, but I took him over to Acts 17:11 where we read that the people of Berea “…were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”
He thought for a minute, and then said, “If you can show me from God’s Word—not from some book—I’ll believe it.”
So, I met with him and covered all the pertinent verses, as well as the verses we believe the other side misinterpreted or misapplied. In time, Jim changed his mind because he refused to close his mind to something just because it didn’t fit into a previous way of thinking or the way he was reared.
Like a good Berean, I hope that you will check everything you hear with a discerning mind. Don’t automatically believe everything you hear—by me or any other person—but I hope you’re also be receptive if God shows you something, even if you never believed it or understood it or heard of it in your past.
II. SECOND, THESE 12 VAN WINKLES NEEDED A NEW RELATIONSHIP.
Acts 19:3-4 – “And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. 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.”
Note again the last two words we just read: “Christ Jesus.” Those last two words represented the true deficiency among these men. They did not know about Christ.
When Paul realized they didn’t know anything about the Holy Spirit, he didn’t proceed to tell them all about the Holy Spirit; he told them about Jesus! In John 16:13-14 Jesus said, “…when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14 he shall glorify me…”
So, Paul does just that—he tells them of Jesus; how He died on the cross to save them from sin; how He rose from the dead; and how, if they would believe on Christ, they would enter into a new relationship with God.
APPLICATION:
---Can I ask you a question: Do you have a relationship with Christ? (EXPAND AND IF THERE ARE LOST PEOPLE PRESENT)
---If you’re a Christ-follower and already have a relationship with Christ, how is that relationship right now?
All relationships require work and cultivation and attention.
Illus. – I, obviously, have a relationship with my wife, Susan.
To keep in fellowship with her—to keep that relationship strong—requires a lot of work and effort and commitment.So it is with our relationship with the Lord. (EXPAND AS LED)
III. LAST, I’d LIKE YOU TO SEE THAT THEY NEEDED A NEW RITE. – Acts 19:5 – “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”
The baptism of John was perfectly acceptable until these 12 Van Winkles learned more about the work of Jesus Christ and the baptism that identifies a believer with Christ.
---You see, the baptism of John looked FORWARD to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ; this new baptism looks BACK to the finished work of Christ.
---The baptism of John signified REPENTANCE; Christian baptism signifies REGENERATION (which means being born-again—being born into God’s family).
---John’s baptism pointed to A PROMISED IMMERSION of the Spirit; Christian baptism points to A PAST IMMERSION in the Spirit.
So, they needed to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus—even though they had already been baptized by John’s baptism. Sometimes people who have been baptized by a non-scriptural mode (like sprinkling or pouring) or before their actual salvation have difficulty seeing the need to be baptized again, or actually biblically. But these disciples didn’t hesitate to be baptized again, even though they had been baptized before by John, and even when that baptism was perfectly legitimate for the time of their baptism.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I want us to take these things that happened to these 12 Jewish First Century Van Winkles and look at how we can apply them to our lives today.
1) First, if you’re already a Christ-follower, have you followed the Lord in obedience in the matter of baptism?
The first command for a new believer is to be baptized. Have you obeyed your Savior and been baptized—AFTER trusting in Christ as your Savior, by IMMERSION.
Jesus commands us to go into all the world and 1) preach the Gospel and 2) baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus commands baptism of every new believer.
You may have thought it is unimportant, but any command of God is important. Resolve right now to obey your Savior who died for your sins, and be baptized!
2) Second, are you open to changing your mind if God’s Word conflicts with a long-held belief you have held?
It may be a different understanding on a Bible teachings that is different than what you always thought or were taught, or grew up in. Do not trust in tradition or your own thoughts. The only infallible guide to life and truth is the Word of God. And if you discover a truth in the Bible, believe it! And if you discover an action or behavior pattern that God says is wrong, be willing to change your behavior to conform to God’s Word.
What is the Lord speaking to your heart about to change today? Why don’t you turn from your old belief or behavior and trust and obey?
3. Finally, have you experienced a new relationship with God?
I know that becoming a Christian is sometimes a little confusing, so let me help “unconfuse” you. If you’ve always thought that being a Christ-follower was about becoming religious, let me be clear: that’s NOT what the Bible teaches.
Even some New Testament disciples got mixed up about this. Christianity was hardly off the ground when people got all mixed up about this. The message of the New Testament was originally all about having a relationship with Jesus Christ who had died for sin and risen from the dead. Jesus said that all you had to do to become one of God’s children, was to believe in Jesus Christ and what He did on the cross. That’s it—nothing more, nothing less.—No works, no good deeds, no religious stuff, no rules, no sacraments—just believe on Jesus Christ. It’s as simple as that.
But a group of Jews said, “Wait a minute, believing in Jesus is good, but after that, you have to get circumcised and follow the Law of Moses.”
So they had a council of leaders of the early church and they studied the scriptures and determined that they were making things difficult; that they had forgotten it was all about knowing Christ, not religion and rules.
They got back to the simplicity of the Gospel.
But it wasn’t long before they forgot about it again in the first century, and they started adding stuff and making it difficult—like baby baptism or the practice of penance for sins, ideas that are not found anywhere in the Bible. And from that grew vast religious systems that were all based on works and performance and good deeds and following certain rules and laws in order to earn God’s forgiveness.
So, you wouldn’t be the first to get this confused. I think this happens because we’re taught since childhood that nothing is free in life, but there is something that is free—God’s forgiveness, provided for by the Jesus’s death on the cross for your sins.
Maybe you’re here and you’ve thought, I’d like to be a Christian, but it’s too hard, or it’s too complicated. Well I’ve got good news for you: It’s not supposed to be! That’s not what the Bible teaches. What do you have to do to become a Christ-follower—to know that your sins are forgiven and you have a relationship with God?—Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s it? — Yep, that’s it.
Why don’t you pray to God today and say, “God, I am a sinner who has disobeyed your commands. But I believe you died for me to take my sin away and give me a relationship with you. Come into my life and forgive me of all my sin and be my Savior.” In fact, let’s bow our heads right now and do just that. (CLOSE WITH AN APPEAL TO TRUST IN CHRIST BY PRAYING THE PRAYER, AND THEN APPEALING TO SAVED TO FOLLOW THE LORD IN OBEDIENCE.
