# Are you teachable?

January 8, 2026

Acts chapter 19, if you would, please. Acts chapter 19. I’m going to turn these lights on. We’re going to just get a little updated. It has been since before Christmas since we have been covering the book of Acts, so we’re just going to rehearse a bit to get us all on board. I know it’s tough for many of you to get here on Wednesday night. I appreciate you being here. February, we mentioned it at Vision Bank, but February will change to 6:30. We just got a couple more at 6. Some people just can’t make it that early, and we want to do our best to accommodate everyone.

But this is Paul. This is the first minute. We’re looking for the second missionary journey. Good deal. Look like they’re working on it here. And we’ve been covering his second missionary journey for a while. Of course, started over here at Antioch. Remember that became the hub. Jerusalem was a hub at the beginning. Then really revival broke out at Antioch, Syria. Excuse me, Antioch, Syria. And that became the hub. That’s where people were called Christians first right there.

That second missionary journey, remember, that’s where Paul and Barnabas had sharp contention. Anybody remember what the contention was about? Yeah, John Mark. First missionary journey, John Mark quit on them. Paul said, “Man, we don’t want him with us,” but Barnabas, just the encourager, the comforter, said, “No, we want him.”

So Barnabas and John Mark went down to Cyprus, and Paul and Silas went on this second missionary journey. Of course, this is Paul’s hometown, and they come on up in here. That’s where Timothy joins them. Somewhere a little bit here, Luke joins them. They get the missionary team together. They’re up in here, not really sure where to go, and the Holy Spirit twice… So that’s not it.

Sometimes you’re going to wonder, just kind of in the dark a little bit. But God will show; He has to give leadership in this time. They get over here to Troas, and that’s where they had the Macedonian call. We sing about that. We’ve heard the Macedonian call today: “Send the light.” That’s what it’s talking about, right there. And a vision in the night, by the way. I love it when God, you’re just in darkness, and God brings light in—that’s a wonderful thing.

They had direction. As soon as that happened, they went over here to Macedonia, this region, and started the church at Philippi. Who was the first convert at the church at Philippi? Remember that? Went out there to the river. What was it? Lydia. Lydia, yeah. Maybe pronounced differently up north in Michigan, I don’t know. But Lydia, seller of purple, she got saved. She was a businesswoman. She had a house big enough; she invited the whole missionary team over, and that became their base. They started that church.

Then they traveled on to Thessalonica, and there was severe persecution. The Jews got jealous and envious. Paul keeps traveling over here to Berea. The Bereans, remember, they searched the scriptures daily. How many of you know of a Berean Baptist church? It’s a good name because they search the scriptures daily. They want to know what the word of God said. But still, these Jews followed over there and caused trouble. Paul leaves and gets down here to Athens. That’s where he preaches on Mars Hill.

From there, over to Corinth. That’s not where we’re going to pick it up tonight; that’s chapter 18 in Corinth. We’ll get there in just a second, just kind of breezing. Then he left there, intending to go all the way over here to Syria, but he makes some stops along the way over there in Ephesus. We’ll cover that here just a bit. So we’re in Acts 18. Y’all got it all memorized now? You could go through the whole thing and tell us all of it, right? Brother Bill could do it, I’m sure he could.

Acts chapter 18. We’re going to start verse number one. Would you please stand as we read God’s word together? Acts 18.

End verse number one of God’s word. The Bible there says: “After these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife, Priscilla.”

Because Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome, they came unto them. Isn’t it amazing sometimes you see in scripture how God moves the whole world, the national leaders, to fulfill His will? That’s how He got Aquila and Priscilla over there through that. God wanted them there.

Verse number three: “And because he was of the same craft, there were tentmakers. He abode with them and wrought, for by their occupation, they were tentmakers.”

And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. When Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, and Paul had left early because of persecution, when they caught up with him, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

Notice it: pressed in the spirit. “Man, I’ve got to get the gospel to them, to the Jews.” But watch what happens, verse number six: “And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed…” You know those that are rejecting the gospel are really opposing themselves. When they opposed themselves and blasphemed—and it wasn’t just that he witnessed to them one time; notice, to the point they opposed themselves and blasphemed—he shook his raiment and said unto them, “Your blood be upon your own heads. I am clean. From henceforth, I will go unto the Gentiles.”

He departed thence and entered into the house of a certain man named Justus, one that worshiped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. It’s kind of a little bit of a chuckle, if you will. They rejected him, the Jews there, and he just went next door, right there, just next door.

Watch what happens. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house. And many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized.

Now, just for a minute, let’s just gather some truths from this. Pray with me that God would speak to our hearts tonight. Would you do that?

Father, Lord, we need You. I believe we’re all just a bit tired; it’s been a busy day. Help me, Lord, just to get focused on Your word. Lord, just in Your Spirit, I yield to You. Father, give us just a hunger for Your word tonight. We’re all tired. Lord, help us just to have an appetite for it. Do a work in our hearts and our midst, Father. We’ll thank You, Lord, for what You do. We ask this in the name of Jesus. We pray. Amen.

Thank you so much for standing. You may be seated.

It happens over and over in the book of Acts. You’ll notice Paul, when someone rejects—well, they really rejected this. I mean, they opposed themselves, and then they’re just all out, totally against it and rejecting him. But Paul doesn’t let that stop him from reaching those that will get saved.

In spreading the gospel, you’re just going to have people that reject. My honest truth is, down south, very rarely do you have anyone rude. It does happen. But if you try to go out in Chicago or getting the gospel out in Chicago, it’s going to be a different story. Try New Jersey—my goodness, now, that’s where my wife’s from. But for the most part, you’re still going to have rejection even down here wherever you’re at.

Here’s what the devil would love for you to get focused on: those one or two negative ones. Notice Paul didn’t let the negativity…

If we’re not careful, we’ll look up YouTube videos about people that reject the gospel and tear up tracts and are rude. Why? If we’re not careful, we’ll get focused on those that are just totally rejecting the gospel. Paul did such a good thing. You know what he did? The Bible says he shook off his raiment. Kind of like, “I’m not going to let that stick to me.” He shook it off.

Then he said, “Your blood be on your own head.” In other words, I did my part. And then he said, “From henceforth, I’m going to go to the Gentiles.” He said, “I’m not going to stop.” Whether it be passing out tracts at the gas station or Facebook or wherever, don’t let those that are negative stop you. We’ve had people in our church that have tried to give the gospel out, had a bad experience one time, and they’re done.

We’ve had people, I hope Ms. Dania, you don’t mind me mentioning it. A couple of weeks ago, she had gone into a store. I hope I get this at least fairly right; I can exaggerate a little bit when I preach, you know. She went to a store, and I think there were three men out there, and she said the Holy Spirit said, “Give those men some tracts.” And she said, like we’ve all said before, “Oh, I’m busy, got a lot to do.” So she went in the store, got the stuff she wanted to get, and she came out. The Holy Spirit said, “Uh-uh, uh-uh, you need to get those tracts to those guys.” She said the Holy Spirit wouldn’t let her go, so she went. Praise the Lord, she obeyed, and she got a bunch of… Well, they were rude, and they gave her a hard time, and they just tried to belittle her and all those things.

I don’t know, but if I know Dania, I imagine she’s going to keep passing out tracts. I’m just saying it’s so easy to get stuck on that one or two. Paul didn’t do that. He went to the next one.

Here’s the amazing, wonderful thing. Look at verse number eight. Look at verse number eight. He just went next door. And what happens when he went next door? Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house. I don’t know how many it was, but they all got saved, and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized.

Think about it: if Paul would have gotten stuck on that negative one who wanted to give him a hard time, I wonder how many people would not have been saved tonight. That whole household got saved, many Corinthians. But I’m saying it’s so easy sometimes just to let that one or two negative ones stop us from continuing to go.

All right. Now let’s read a little bit more. I’m going to turn these lights on here and read verse number nine, verse number nine a little bit here. Just get a couple of thoughts here, and we’re trying to go somewhere at the end of this thing.

Verse number nine: “Then spake the Lord unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.”

And he continued there a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. By the way, that’s a long time for Paul. Paul typically didn’t stay that long—a pretty good while for Paul. Here’s the thought: God always gives His leadership when you need it, just when you need it. Where should I go? He always gives you leadership.

I think sometimes we live in fear, thinking, “I’m going to know God’s will.” If you’re willing to do God’s will, you’re acknowledging Him in all your ways, and He shall direct. He’ll give you leadership just when you need it. He always does. He has the perfect track record. He’ll guide.

I thought about it one time: I was going to call someone to take a position in a church, praying about it. Back in the day, you know, now it seems like we always use cell phones, but back in the day, you were kind of in between using a cell phone or the landline. I was going to use the landline, if I remember this right, and I went to pick up the phone, and then my cell phone rang—either a text or call, I can’t remember—but it was about the very situation, and it revealed something to me I never knew. Boy, if I’d have made that phone call, it would have been a horrible mistake. God always gives His leadership just when you need it, and God gave Paul leadership. Don’t worry about it; He’ll bring His will, His mind to you when you need it.

So they stayed there a year and a half. Then Paul was going to move on. Can I get the map back up? I’m sorry, that was me. That was on me there; I kind of forgot. And here it comes back here. There we go.

They’re leaving Corinth. When he leaves, though, he brings with him Aquila and Priscilla. They’re a good husband-wife team, and he brings them with him. Now, he’s going to go over to Syria, but he stops at Ephesus. They’re in Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla stay in Ephesus. Eventually, he continues on over there.

They had some opposition, but they kept going. The Roman proconsul tried to stop him. It’s kind of like they had used direct persecution; that wouldn’t stop Paul, so now they’re trying to use the authority to stop Paul, and that didn’t work either. In fact, he kind of had a hearing before him. The Jews were there saying, “Hey, he wants us to worship God contrary to the law.” Paul was about to speak for himself before he could, but the proconsul said, “I don’t care about that stuff. Y’all deal with that, all your religious stuff. If it was an evil crime, I’d deal with it, but it’s not.” So he just said he was done with it and really gave Paul and his team freedom to preach.

Then they headed down to Syria. It was after that when they headed down to Syria and stopped at Ephesus. I want to get right there; that’s where Aquila and Priscilla end up staying.

I want you to look in verse number 24 of Acts 18. Acts 18, look in verse number 24: “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man—what is that? An eloquent man—and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.”

And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. Whom, when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace. For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.

Now, just a couple things about this I want to talk about here for a minute.

Let me just notice this about Apollos. He was a very gifted man. He was eloquent. Notice what it says: He was eloquent; he knew how to speak. Then it says he was mighty in the scriptures. He knew the Bible, the Old Testament. He knew it. Not only that, but he was instructed in the way of the Lord, verse number 25, and he was fervent in the spirit.

So he had so many things going for him; he was very talented at all those things. Probably he’s the Apollos over there in 1 Corinthians 3 when Paul says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase.” That’s probably the same Apollos, a very talented man.

But he was a little bit limited in what he knew. He knew only the baptism of John. Most think he was probably baptized by John. Remember John, the forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist? He knew the Messiah was about to come, and maybe that’s why he didn’t know that much about Jesus at this point. He knew the Old Testament scriptures, he was eloquent, very gifted, but he didn’t know the latest, if you will, about Jesus.

But this man, who was very gifted, very knowledgeable, and passionate about the Lord, when this couple, Aquila and Priscilla, pulled him aside, he listened to them. I would imagine his education was probably much higher than theirs, as they were just tentmakers, but he let this couple teach him.

It was on my heart and mind: Are we teachable? I like what someone said: “Every man is my teacher.” Let me ask you a couple questions. When people give you advice, do you always explain it away? Are you always justifying what you are doing? Are you always the exception? Do people think, “I’m not going to try to help them; boy, if you try to give this person advice, it’s going to be a fight”? What kind of attitude do you give when someone gives you advice?

This fellow was very eloquent, very educated, but yet he let these tentmakers, this couple, come and pull him aside. And praise the Lord, he did let them teach him, because later on he was greatly used. When he learned more about it, he was very gifted at showing that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. It’s just so very, very important that we are teachable.

Look, if you will, over in Proverbs. Look over in Proverbs chapter 1. I wonder how much we miss or how we can’t grow to another level because we’re not teachable. So much is in Proverbs about it. We’ll just get a couple of them.

Look at Proverbs 1, verse number 5: “A wise man will hear and will increase in learning, and a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsel.”

Look over in chapter number nine. This is very interesting, and it’s so often in the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 9, look at verse number seven: “He that reproveth a scorner getteth himself shame: for if you rebuke a scorner, he will hate thee.”

If you try to correct a scorner, they’re going to come after you. Sometimes you still have to rebuke the scorner, not because the scorner is going to learn—the scorner is not going to learn—but you rebuke the scorner so the simple will beware. Sometimes you’ve got to deal with that. You deal with that one; it’s not going to correct them, but you do that because the simple are watching. He said, “If you reprove a scorner, it’s not going to do any good.”

“He that reproveth a scorner getteth himself a shame. He that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee: Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will yet be wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.”

Look over in chapter 17. Chapter 17, look at verse number 10: “A reproof,” this is interesting, “a reproof entereth more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool.” A wise man, you just give him a certain, “Hey, that’s not the way to do it; do this,” and he’ll gain from it. But you can take a fool, give him a hundred lashes, and he’s not going to get any of it. This guy, you just gave a gentle rebuke to, he’ll get more out of it than a hundred stripes of a fool.

I’m just saying, just for a bit tonight: Are we teachable? Sometimes we’re stuck; we can’t get to the next level, we can’t grow because nobody can tell us anything. It is so very, very important that we are teachable. This guy (Apollos) had so much going for him; he could have been proud and cocky, but he let Aquila and Priscilla, this married couple, give him instruction. How teachable are we?

Sometimes God has to hit us over the head because He can’t just talk in our ear. It’s so very vital that we are teachable. God can teach us.

They say back in the day, Henry Ford’s day, that Henry Ford was riding down the road—I know it’s a real shocker, but there was a Ford that was broken down on the side of the road. Brother Kevin says, “Man, I come back and he’s already on this thing.” It’s what they say; it’s a true story. They say Henry Ford, seeing this—a Ford, a product he made—he pulls over to help. There’s a young guy, and the young guy is kind of like the mechanic; he knows everything about it. Henry Ford, the one who responded, the one who made the thing, got out of his car, went up there to help the young man repair the car. The young man was so cocky, kind of like, “You old man, you don’t know what in the world you’re doing. You don’t know anything about these cars.” “What in the world? Who are you to tell me how to do this, you old man? Get out of here!”

They say Henry Ford said, “All right,” hopped back in his car, and let the guy sit on the side of the road broken down, even though he’s the one that made the car. Friend, I’m just saying, do we get attitudes when someone’s trying to give us advice?

This guy here was so good; he let these tentmakers tell him what to do, and he learned from it. Boy, he went to the next place. They said, “Hey, listen to that guy over there.” And he went over there, and Apollos, who was probably a teacher type of guy, was convincing a whole lot of people that Jesus is the Christ because he listened to the instructions that were given to him.

You heard about the guy who smoked, and he was actually a deacon in the church. I won’t mention his name, Brother Marlin—I wouldn’t do that in life, you know. I’m teasing. But anyway, the preacher said, “Man, you know, everybody’s talking about this deacon smoking and all that.” So the preacher preached a real good message on smoking. He got it in there a couple of points, everyone had a little bit in there. On the way out, the fellow walked by, shook the preacher’s hand, and said, “Boy, Preacher, that was a good one. So-and-so really needed that one.”

Everybody around town said that fellow was still smoking. So the next couple of weeks later, the preacher prepared a whole message, the whole message just on smoking. “If God wanted you to smoke, He’d put a chimney on top of your head, or He’d turn your nose upside down so the smoke came out.” You’ve heard it: “It won’t send you to hell, but you’ll go to heaven a whole lot faster smoking.” Oh, he got it all in there in that one message, the whole message on smoking.

The preacher went back to shaking hands. The guy walked by and said, “Man, Preacher, that was one of the best ones I ever heard. So-and-so really needed that. Glad you preached to you.”

The preacher said, “My goodness, what are we going to do? He’s a deacon, and he’s smoking, and everybody around town keeps talking about it.” So the preacher, on Wednesday night—attendance is a little low sometimes; we’re never like that, are we?—said, “All right, this Wednesday, everybody else stay home.” He was the only fellow there. They planned it out, and the preacher just unloaded on smoking the whole message long. The other preachers thought, “I wonder what he’s going to say when he gets to the back door today.”

The preacher got done with the whole message about not smoking. He stood at the back door, and the fellow came by and shook his hand. He said, “Preacher, that was one of the best ones. That’s a great message. Man, all those people needed it, and they weren’t here tonight.” If I’m not careful, whatever the subject is, that’s where we are: “So-and-so needs it.” Hey, are we teachable?

All we teach you, but man, just—hate every man? I like that: every man can teach you something. Everybody. Don’t be so high in mind that you can’t take advice or that somebody can’t tell you anything. At the best, at least listen to it and say, “Well, thank you for it,” and go down the street, even if you don’t follow it. But listen to it.

This fellow (Apollos) was good enough and wise enough; he listened to the advice they gave him, and boy, God used him. God used him. It’s so very, very important. Look at the last part of that—we’ve already kind of discussed it—but look at the last part of that. What does it say there? Verse number 28: “For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.”

I heard an older preacher saying this. He said a younger preacher called him and wanted his advice on everything. He offered to take the older preacher to lunch. The older preacher said, “All right, let’s go to lunch.”

He said he went to lunch, tried to be ready and praying about what advice to give this younger preacher. The older preacher said that young man just talked the whole time. He just talked; he didn’t ask questions. A little bit into it, the older preacher realized the young man didn’t want his advice. The older preacher figured, “At least I got a free meal out of it.”

That older preacher had a whole lot of advice he could have given that younger preacher; he could have helped him so much. Hey, hey, this Apollos—he was gifted, he was educated, he had so much going for him—but he was willing to get advice from tentmakers. All of us can learn from that. After that, God used him greatly.

It’s just so easy when somebody is giving us advice: “Oh, I got all the answers.” “Oh yeah, I’ve done that.” You ever try to give somebody advice, and halfway through, they know what you’re going to say? “Oh, I’ve done that.” He was teachable. Let’s be teachable.

Let’s bow our heads and close our eyes, if you would, please. Just a little random thought tonight, but let’s spend a little time with the Lord tonight. Lord, I want to be teachable. I don’t want my non-teachable spirit to hinder me from growing to the next level. Would you spend a little time just on that subject with the Lord, or maybe as God leads you elsewhere?

Let’s stand, if you would, please. We’re going to have a word of prayer. Father, thank You for Your goodness. Lord, help us. Help me, Lord, to be teachable, and for You to use Your Spirit and others in our life to give us the advice we need. Bless us in these few minutes, Lord. Speak to us, draw our eyes to You, and we’ll thank You, Lord, for what You do. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

You need to come to the altar. It’s open. You come.

We had two guys at the shop where I worked; they weren’t brothers, but they hung around, so we called them the “Brothers.” If you tried to tell them anything, they already knew it and had done it. We’d always say they’d done it all and done it better than all, so we called them the “All Brothers.” Hey, there’s the “All.” You try to tell the “All Brother” something—no, you can’t tell them anything. Let’s not be “All Brothers.” I’ve been guilty before. We can learn. Apollos was very educated, but God still was able to teach him, and God used him greatly.

Original File: 2026-01-08 - Pastor Paul Chisgar ＂Are you teachable＂ - Wednesday PM 1⧸7⧸2026