What is the Missing Piece?

Acts 18.24-28

Acts 18.24-28

“What is Missing?”

Please join me in taking your copy of God’s word as we turn to our passage for this Lord’s Day morning & like the Bereans for our week ahead in continued thought and contemplation, which we find in Acts 18.24-28. 

We come back to our study of Acts after taking a few weeks off for Easter … 

We also come back to the map this morning! 

A visual to help us understand the geography of these stories and narratives …

Go through map… many familiar places and names … 

Prayer: Blessed Lord, you have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning—grant us that we may in such a way hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them; that by patience and comfort of your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Acts 18.24-28

Introduction 

Our passage this morning can maybe seem odd at first, even second and third reading …

How is that someone who seems to be as qualified as Apollos need private correction from folks in the church?

What is the missing piece for Apollos that is so important?

For those of us who like to put together puzzles, know what a missing piece can do to a puzzle … leaves it incomplete, unfinished, not what it’s supposed to be. 

Apollos has a missing piece … and an important one at that … and that piece is fundamental knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

For as much as Apollos knew of Jesus, he didn’t know essential, fundamental things about Jesus - and, not knowing these things about Jesus, hindered not only Apollos’ ministry, but his own growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

Who is Apollos?

Luke gives us what is an impressive biography of Apollos … 

“24 Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.”

What do we learn about Apollos?

First, he is Jewish in ethnicity and faith … 

Not only was he Jewish by birth, but he was also faithful to the Scriptures that he had been raised on. 

He was born and raised in Alexandria, which was a renowned center of Jewish learning and the place where the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was produced. 

This geographical context underscores the spread of the gospel across significant centers of the Roman Empire, connecting Jewish intellectual heritage with the diverse cultures of the time.

It also tells us that Apollos was from a city that highly valued education and intelligence … 

Identifying Apollos as being from Alexandria is Luke’s way of saying that is one smart guy … 

It’s like saying someone is from Harvard, Princeton, Yale … hearing that, there at least used to be a presumption of intelligence … that this person was educated and intelligent. 

That is what Luke is saying about Apollos - he’s from Alexandria, he is an educated and intelligent man. 

He’s also described as eloquent man (λόγιος), indicating he was skilled in speech and knowledge. 

Luke goes on to further characterize Apollos as learned and competent, or mighty, in the Scriptures.

Take it all together, and this is an intelligent, capable man … 

He was well-learned, well-spoken … was good at public speaking and debate, could hold his own in any conversation… 

Apollos was an intelligent, capable man … 

Add on that he is also feverent in spirit, indicating he had a strong zeal for what he believed.

So, not only was Apollos intelligent and capable, but he believed in what he said. 

When you heard Apollos preach and teach, you heard a man who believed in what he preached and taught. 

His mind and heart was fully engaged … no separation of the two. 

And, he did all of this boldly …

He was no wallflower … wasn’t easily intimidated… didn’t back down from the truth.

He was bold with his intelligence … his capability … his speaking. 

You take all of this bio together and put in on paper, Apollos checked off pretty much every box you would want in a preacher … 

Intelligent? Check. 

Capable? Check.

Good speaking? Check.

Engaging speaker and teacher? Check.

Believes in what he preaches and teaches? Check. 

Winsomely bold in his presentation? Check. 

He is what any Christ-loving, God-fearing, Spirit- led church would want in their pulpit. 

Let’s say that I had Apollos fill in the pulpit here the next time I’m on vacation … after hearing him preach that morning, many of you would say, “hey, it may be time to get rid of that McManus fella and get Apollos in here - that dude is good!”

Everything seems to be there … 

Yet, it quickly becomes obvious, at least to a few folks, that there is a key missing piece … a piece that keeps him from being an effective Gospel preacher, and a Christian who grows in faith. 

The Missing Piece

Luke explains the missing piece to us in “25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.”

That phrasing can be difficult to work through … because Apollos seems to be all good until he isn’t. 

“He knew only the baptism of John” …

This refers to John the Baptist, who was baptizing folks in the Jordan River as a way of preparing the way for Jesus to come. 

The NT teaches us that there is a difference between the baptisms of John and the baptisms that come after the ascension of Jesus. 

John’s baptisms pointed to the reality of Jesus … they were a preparation for Jesus and His ministry. 

His baptism was preparatory, revealing Israel must turn from the same uncleanness marking her Gentile persecutors.

The baptism that Jesus commands is a sign and seal of the covenant fulfilled in Jesus. 

This sacrament is a sign and seal of our ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of our giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in newness of life.

All Apollos knew was the baptism of John, which pointed to the reality of Jesus and the baptism He would command … and Apollos had not received baptism commanded by Jesus and done in the name of the Trinity. 

Which means there is a foundational problem for Apollos. 

This was a fundamental essential he didn’t know and participate in … which means that everything else he taught and preached had the strong probability of being off … 

It’s like when the foundation of a house is not well built … everything built on it will be off, and it won’t be a well built house. 

That is Apollo’s condition … 

He has everything … except that most important thing, and that is true knowledge and experience of Jesus. 

Like when the foundation of a house is off, everything built on it will be off. 

That was Apollos’ condition … 

He knew a lot about Jesus, but was missing the fundamental essentials, such as the baptism commanded by Jesus for His disciples … 

The missing piece for Apollos was the true Biblical Jesus in knowledge and experience…

So, when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they immediately noticed something was off.

In love of Christ, Biblical truth, and love of Apollos, A & P pull him aside to gently & lovingly correct his theology. 

Notice they didn’t up and leave, causing a stink on their way out the door … nor did they say, “hey, we don’t think this is right but we don’t want to cause a stir or a problem - don’t want to rock the boat- so we will silently disagree with him but won’t do anything else.”

In love and care, they pull him aside to teach him. 

They teach him the fundamental essentials, beginning with the baptism commanded, so he could not only be accurate concerning the things of Jesus, but he will be accurate in his relationship to Jesus, as well as be a better preacher

This gives us an example of the important difference between knowing about Jesus and knowing Jesus. 

It’s one thing to be in the church, even all of your life, and know all the Bible stories and trivia about Jesus …

It’s another thing to have a relationship of faith with Jesus that is built upon His word and guided by the HS. 

Those are two different things … and an important distinction. 

Knowing about Jesus isn’t the same as knowing Jesus. 

And, it may be that you are here this morning, and only know about Jesus … and may know a lot about Jesus … but you don’t know Him in faith. 

You haven’t received and rested upon Him alone for salvation as He is offered in the Gospel. 

You aren’t growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

You aren’t growing in holiness, not dying more and more to your sin. 

It is just a head knowledge that hasn’t made it’s way to the heart. 

You may be more like Apollos than A & P … you only know about Jesus and don’t know Him in faith. 

The best thing you can do if that is your situation is to go to someone you trust - a family member, an elder, myself - and talk this through. 

Ask to learn more about the forgiveness of sin through the blood of Christ and renewal of life through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. 

Go to a Christian and ask them, “how can I be a Christian? Help me get the right foundation to build my faith on."

Grow from being an Apollos to a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ. 

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We see that Apollos humbly received this loving correction … made the corrections … came to fully know Jesus in faith … 

And the Lord used him to be a blessing to others, such as those in Achia, where he helped Christians to grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and to refute bad teaching … 

The Lord took someone who was missing a key essential piece, led people to him to help him understand and correct … and then used him to help other Christians and to bring people to faith in Christ. 

Isn’t it amazing what God can, and will, do with broken people … when they trust on Him, love Him, and follow Him, God will do great things. 

Conclusion

Now, hopefully, this narrative isn’t as mysterious to us. 

It’s a story that underscores the critical importance of a complete and accurate understanding of the gospel, demonstrating that even individuals with significant natural gifts and initial theological knowledge can have limitations and need correction. 

It also teaches the necessity for humility and teachability within the Christian community. 

Most of all, this passage reveals the transformative power of God's grace in shaping our attitudes and actions. 

The grace of the cross and the power of the Holy Spirit rewires our desires, enabling us to approach learning and correction with humility, love, and a focus on truth and edification. 

Abiding in Jesus as our salvation and Christian life provides the spiritual nourishment and strength necessary for this ongoing growth and fruitfulness.

We all need Jesus … for faith, for life, for endurance to live the Christian life. 

We all need Jesus to be that piece that may be missing in our lives - theologically,