48. Discipling

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Random Question

If your teacher switched places with a student for a day, who would struggle more?

Lesson

Recap

Paul is accused by the Jews to be promoting an illegal religion in Rome. Gallio is reviewing this case.

Did he care very much about this accusation? (Nope. “Ahhh whatever, deal with it among yourselves, I don’t want to get into all this)

He set Paul free, and Paul finished off his second missionary journey. Now we find ourselves at the very beginning of Paul’s third missionary journey.

Acts 18:23 NKJV

23 After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

Show on map: “Paul Starts His Third Missionary Journey”

- Show the next map too… (Makes his way over to Ephesus for the second time)

Vs. 24

Acts 18:24 NKJV

24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.

We’re back in Ephesus now, and who are we introduced to? (Apollos)

Whiteboard

Q: We’re given lots of facts about this guy, what do we know about him in vs. 24?

- He’s a Jew

- Name is Apollos

- From Alexandria:

Q: Can you guess who this city is named after? (Alexander the Great)

600 000 population. Library had 700 000 volumes, including the Greek translation of the OT. It burnt down later on. Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Jews. A quarter of the population were Jewish.

- He was an eloquent man:

Q: What comes to mind when you think eloquent? (Ultra smart, very good teacher, captivating speaker)

Ill: George Whitefield

What was maybe the most well-known aspect of George Whitefield’s legacy was his booming voice. Many have said that no one was remotely near able to preach to as many people as Whitefield.

One of these men was none other than Benjamin Franklin himself. On a November night in 1739, George preached on the steps of the Philadelphia Court House.

Benjamin Franklin was amazed by the volume and range of Whitefield’s voice, so, out of curiosity, he walked back until he couldn’t hear Whitefield preaching anymore. He estimated that Whitefield could easily preach to 30 000 people. But that bold estimate has been highly debated even until today. So, The Gospel Coalition took this to the test. They based their study upon Benjamin Franklin’s statement; using Speech intelligibility, distance, geometry, and their best guess with the market setting on that day Whitefield preached.

Based on the average sound pressure level of George’s preaching voice, the computer model they used predicted that he averaged about 90 decibels at 1 meter from his mouth. Whitefield’s voice from 1 meter away is equivalent to the noise of a leaf blower!

What else do we know about Apollos?

Mighty in the Scriptures: Remember, this guy was a Jew. But he wasn’t your average Jew, this guy was WELL trained.

So, this guy shows up in Ephesus…

Vs. 25

Acts 18:25 NKJV

25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John.

Does anything strike you as odd in this verse? (He only knew John’s Baptism)

To make things even more confusing, what statement is made right before it says he only knew John’s Baptism? (He spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord)

If he only knew of the Baptism of John the Baptist, how could he teach accurately?

Let’s start with square one…

What did John the Baptist preach about in the wilderness?

Let’s look together…

Matthew 3

What’s he teaching in vs. 2? (Repentance, God’s kingdom is coming)

What’s his role in vs. 3? (Make the paths straight for the Messiah, prepare people for Jesus)

What’s he doing in vs. 6? (Baptizing people)

Why are they getting baptized? (Confessing their sin, it’s a baptism of repentance)

Jump down to vs. 11, what kind of Baptism is he talking about here? (Baptism of the Holy Spirit)

When did that happen? (Pentecost, the start of the church)

But did John know that? (No, he died before all this happened)

So, John’s ministry was to tell people that Jesus was coming, and that they need to repent from their sins…

So, did Apollos know about Jesus’ death and resurrection? (Not if he only knew about John’s ministry)

If that’s the case, can he be saved? (No. But some people think he did hear and got saved, he just didn’t know about the church and baptism in water)

Whatever it is, he’s got an incomplete picture of the truth.

Does that mean he’s dead wrong? (He’s right in what he knows)

Ill: Using an outdated map…

Apollos had the right map, the problem is that it was outdated, it was time for a new map. It was time he heard about Jesus, the Church, and the Holy Spirit.

Vs. 26

What is Apollos doing in vs. 26? (Boldly preaching in the synagogue)

There’s no doubt this guy is sincere…

Acts 18:26 NKJV

26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Aquila and Priscilla are listening to this guy, and they’re intruiged.

“He’s obviously a believer of some sort, he’s talking about John the Baptist. But something is strange… Why does he keep mentioning the Messiah? Doesn’t he know it was Jesus? This is strange…”

What do they do as they heard him speak? (Took him aside and explained the truth more accurately)

What do you think they taught him? (Jesus, the cross, resurrection, the church, the Holy Spirit)

They filled him in on what he was missing!!!

There’s a good lesson in this no doubt. Aquila and Priscilla see a need that must be met; Apollos is sharing an incomplete gospel. Rather than pushing it aside, the power couple takes initiative and meets that need.

Do they openly rebuke Apollos? (“HEY STOP PREACHING!!! YOU DON’T KNOW THE FULL PICTURE!!”)

What do they do instead? (They take him aside [most think in their own home] and taught him the ways of the Lord)

Think about that! Instead of embarrassing him, they set him up for success.

Now, just because they are gentle, do they let this moment pass without doing anything?

Why do we speak up when we hear something that’s not true? (Because we have a strong conviction about the truth)

We want God’s Word to be clearly taught so it can be clearly understood.

What if they just argued with Apollos? How would that’ve gone? (Apollos would get defensive and everything would be lost)

We need to be Aquila and Priscilla. When your friends don’t get something, or you hear someone at school talking about God, go chat with them.

Don’t start the convo by telling them their problem. “I heard you say this… I want you to know you are WRONG! Let me tell you the truth…

Engage with your friends, tell them the truth but do it gently!

We aren’t told how well Apollos took to the correction, but based on how awesome things go in vs. 27-28, we know that he accepted the news really well.

That’s a humble thing! Apollos was way more educated than Aquila and Priscilla, yet he remained teachable. He listened to their counsel with an open heart and followed their advice.

No matter how “mature” we think we are, we are never beyond the need of instruction from God’s Word.

Vs. 27

Acts 18:27 NKJV

27 And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;

Acts 18:28 NKJV

28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

We can assume Apollos received these news he missed gladly. Because now he wants to preach the truth in Achaia…

Where’s Achaia on our map? (Top left. Corinth is there! Apollos really wants to minister in Corinth)

So Priscilla and Aquila write a letter to the Corinthians pretty much vouching for Apollos. “He’s a great guy, he will help you out.”

What was the outcome at the end of vs. 27? (He greatly helped the Corinthian believers)

None of this would’ve happened if Aquila and Priscilla didn’t meet the need that was in front of them.

We need that same initiative!

Pastor Joel: Maturity is seeing a need and meeting it…

Some people are great at seeing needs but not mature enough to take it on themselves

- Garbage is full, what do you do? (Take it out!)

- Friend looks sad, what do you do? (Ask them if they’re okay)

When you see a need, become part of the solution just like Aquila and Priscilla.