Apollos
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Apollos from Alexandria
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. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
Apollos
2nd most important city population 600,000. Lots of Jews there. Biggest library in the known world.
I could give you a bunch of facts about it but honestly, what we really need to understand here is that there was this guy Apollos who was a Christian Jew who grew up in a very very intellectual place where all they did was study and read and debate and learn. It was like Athens on steroids. Apollos is a product of that kind of place.
So impressive are his gifts that when Luke talks about him he distinguishes some different characteristics about him.
Apollos is eloquent
eloquence. (Learned), had a high education. Being in Alexandria that is what he would have done. It would have been his job, to be completely focused on his Education which made him Very persuasive in what he said and how he said it. He was an expert.
But he was also a gifted communicator.
This is important because it’s possible to have someone be an expert and put you to sleep telling you about it?
He knew what he was talking about. But he was also persuasive in his speech which means that people would listen and get stuff out of it.
Have you ever heard great speakers who are great to listen to because they are so engaging?
I remember a professor that I had when I was in college. He was my professor for history of the middle east. He was 168 years old. I think he was around for all of the history of the middle east. He really knew it backwards and forwards but he was so dry, so dry that dust would fall off of him if the wind blew. Not a great communicator. Brilliant, but not engaging at all.
That was not Apollos. He was the guy who would be speaking tonight and people would go to him to hear what he had to say. What was he expert of?
24 says he was competent in the Scriptures. This would mean OT Scriptures since the NT was only beginning to be written. So he would have been talking like a Jewish person who believed in Jesus to be the Messiah.
He had a great grasp of the OT Scriptures.
Since he studied in Alexandrea it meant that he would look at the OT scriptures not only as history but as allegory too. That means that it is history but there is a meaning behind the history to tell an inner meaning. Like the Messiah coming and who it would be.
Not everyone looked at scripture that way, especially in that age. This made Apollos’ preaching so effective at pointing to Jesus as the Christ. Paul did the same thing. So did Jesus.
25 Instructed in the way of the Lord
It is possible that Apollos could have been or connected to One of John the Baptists disciples. That term The way of the Lord could connect him with John. But he knew of the way of the Lord.
Fervent in Spirit and Accurately the things about Jesus
(boil over) He spoke with great conviction. He had energy and conviction as he spoke. He believed what he was saying.
Lots of people have conviction. Lots of people are persuasive in their speech. We see it all the time. We see it when people are interviewed on the news. Especially in the political world. There are people who really believe what they are saying and so many are convinced because of their fervency of speech.
But no matter how charismatic someone is, no matter how convincing they are in their speech, no matter how bold they are. They can be wrong.
They can be wrong.
And for Apollos and the sermons he was putting out, apparently they were dynamic and they were persuasive, He is everything you would want in a preacher but something was missing.
The baptism of John was basically the repentance of your sin and recognizing Jesus.
Bold preaching
There was a problem.
He isn’t completely accurate. He isn’t a false teacher, since his error seems to be based on ignorance other than deceit.
But his teaching wasn’t complete.
His teaching wasn’t complete. We don’t really know exactly what he was saying or wasn’t saying that either wasn’t complete, or wasn’t accurate and these two tentmakers pull him aside and the verse says that they explained the way of God more accurately.
There was something that he was saying that either wasn’t complete, or wasn’t accurate and these two tentmakers pull him aside and the verse says that they explained the way of God more accurately. And he listened. That is the crazy part. The person up front is the expert right?
And he listened. That is the crazy part. The person up front is the expert right?
Some people think that he did believe in repentance and recognized Jesus as Messiah but he knew nothing of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Meaning that Jesus was dead and even raised but not knowing the power of the Holy Spirit as completely available to the Christ follower. Like memorializing a dead savior, or if he was resurrected was far away in heaven instead of living in us as followers of Christ.
And this is a problem I think many people have today. Jesus was real, Jesus did rise from the dead but he is so far away that he has nothing to do with me. But that isn’t the nature of our relationship with Christ. He lives today and indwells those who put their faith in Him. Indwells. That is what the baptism of the holy spirit is all about. The power of the Holy Spirit being present in your life so that you can carry out the works of God.
Pricilla and Aquilla call him out
26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
He is everything you would want in a preacher
This is what is great about them. They recognize a problem. And they aren’t intimidated or afraid to confront it.
This is what is great about them. They recognize a problem. And they aren’t intimidated or afraid to confront it. In order to do that...
These, again, tentmakers go to the authority and tell him where he was off. Most think that took him aside means that they invited them to their home to talk to him.
Think of this. In order for them to carry this out they need to know their doctrine, they need to be listening and need to tell the truth.
know their doctrine. As people sitting in the seats listening to what is going on up here, you are being taught but you also need to know the scriptures. You need to be reading, studying the scriptures. You need to be part of this. You can’t learn everything from me. You again, have the Holy Spirit in you to help you discern the Word of God. So they knew their doctrine and when something didn’t sound right they knew it.
They need to be listening. They have to be attentive to what is being said by the speaker. After all, he is supposed to be the mouth piece of God in delivering the scriptures. Unless they are listening they can’t really hear errors or truths. Our relationship with God does carry an amount of work to it. If there is an inconsistency in something then hopefully you recognize it because you are listening.
They need to tell the truth. This is pretty cool. They pull the speaker, the star aside and talk to him about his error. That had to be hard. That had to be difficult, but they did it and they did it well.
They don’t stand up and start yelling during the service, the Pharisees do that. They gently, pull him aside and ask to speak to him.
How does Apollos receive it? This is a big moment. Is he going to say, “are you the ones that are up here speaking and getting all this applause? Are you the ones butting heads with the Jews in the synagogue so that they have nothing to say?
Apollos was the man and he could have said, sorry, I’m the man. I am the expert. You can’t tell me that I am wrong. Does he do that?
No, he doesn’t. As a matter of fact, he listens and is eager to hear what they want to say.
One of the most important characteristics that any Christian can have is to be teachable. To be teachable. There is always someone that will know something that you or I don’t know and we would do well to listen and learn.
Teachable
Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
This hadn’t been written as of yet but Apollos shows the characteristic of teachability.
Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame,
but whoever heeds correction is honored.
No matter how long you have been a follower of Jesus, no matter how much you know, or however faithful they have been, there always is more to learn. There is always more to learn.
The sure sign of spiritual maturity is the undefensive willingness to grow. Meaning that you are open to learning, you aren’t defensive.
Apollos was teachable. He was a great preacher. He had the crowds in the palms of his hands. He knew what he was doing and he did it well.
They took him aside: they didn’t want to make a scene. They didn’t need for people in that church to see the scene. They discretely wanted to let Apollos know the truth.
There was something that he was saying that either wasn’t complete, or wasn’t accurate and these two tentmakers pull him aside and the verse says that they explained the way of God more accurately. And he listened. That is the crazy part. The person up front is the expert right?
They took him aside: Many think that they took him to their home which means that they didn’t want to make a scene. They didn’t need for people in that church to see the scene. They discretely wanted to let Apollos know the truth.
He was available and right there, available to them. Apollos needed that experience. The experience that Jesus has come into his life.
Apollos needed that experience. The experience that Jesus has come into his life.
There is a difference when we know something with our heads compared to knowing from our own experience. There is a before and an after experience that we can have.
We know that when we confess with our mouths and believe in our hearts that Jesus is the son of God, that he died and rose again and when by faith we put our trust in him that he does what he says. But I think that there is an experience that may very well go along with that.
We learn in Paul’s later letters that Apollos becomes a great leader in the church. Apollos was no longer religious he was living in the power of the Holy Spirit.
We learn in Paul’s later letters that Apollos becomes a great leader in the church. Apollos was no longer religious he was living in the power of the Holy Spirit.
There are some practical lessons that we can get from this story about Apollos.
Education, knowledge and zeal, even though they are valuable gifts are not enough. We must know Jesus Christ personally. There are always people that know a lot. There are always people that know the stories of the bible, can teach the stories of the bible but still don’t personally know Jesus. They don’t know that they can be a new person because Jesus can come into their lives. That indwelling spirit of Jesus isn’t in them. People can go to church their whole lives, listen, read and never surrender their life to Jesus. This is tragic. It’s not enough to just know stuff, it is about receiving him by faith into your life.
It’s not enough to just know stuff, it is about receiving him by faith into your life.
2. All different kinds of people are needed in Christ’s work. Apollos was educated, refined, learned and Aquila and Pricilla were much lower on the social status, yet they were teaching Apollos. God created all of us to play a part in the body. We see that the differences of all of these people could actually create divisions in the church. We read in Corinthians that some people said “I follow, Paul and others sad, “I follow Apollos”.
All were needed in the church. Each one was necessary. Just like our little family here. All are needed. The Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts not to sit on but to use. If you have that gift from God then you should be using it or the church suffers. Are you using your gifts that you have been given?
Boice: If you do not know what your gift is or how to use it, you need to pray about it. Say, “Lord Jesus Christ, show me what I can do. Show me why I am here, why you have brought me to faith, why you have made me the way I am. Teach me to use what I am where I am in order to advance Christ’s gospel.”
God gave you a gift to use, if you aren’t using it why not? Are you just a spectator here? Are you just a consumer here? God gave you those gifts for a reason why aren’t you using them?
We need people who have administrative gifts. We need people who have marketing gifts. People who are artistic who can help out with the website, the app.
Is there another way to find workers? Pray. Paul prayed
Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
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Paul had to have been praying for those churches that he helped start. He couldn’t be with all of them, he couldn’t take care of them all, so he had to pray for workers to come and take some of that responsibility. And then people show up like Aquila and Pricilla, and then Apollos shows up, and he doesn’t exactly have it all right yet but he was teachable and then they moved on.
And the workers and the workings need to happen so that we can bring others the good news of Jesus. Not to make our lives more comfortable here, but to speak the gospel in the world that so desperately needs it, whether they realize it or not. That Jesus Christ came to earth as a man because of our sinfulness, and He died for that sinfulness and paid the penalty that we deserve, so that when we receive Him by faith we are saved and part of the family of God.
Apollos was smart, talented and genuine. He was teachable so that when this couple told him what he was missing he took it and ran with it. The gospel he would present is now complete. When he got that information he wanted to spread the word, so he travelled. He went to find people to hear the gospel message.
IS there something that we are missing regarding Jesus? IS His power something that is in your life or is he a distant savior that we really don’t have any contact with?
I wonder if we can identify with any of these characters, or all of them?
Are you an apollos this morning? Someone who knows a lot. Maybe you grew up in church and maybe you know all those stories in the bible but all that knowledge is just up here. Do you know that there may be something that you are missing today? Do you understand not only that this Savior came to the world to die for your sins, to pay that penalty which allows the separation that exists between God and man to be removed but that Jesus through the Holy Spirit wants to live in your life today? To give you power over temptation, to give you power over sin, to give you power to proclaim God’s love to this world?
If you are like Apollos then you could be resting on your talents and not living in freedom that comes from the spirit of God. That you are working in your own strength and not the strength of God. Even though God gives us gifts we can’t rest on those, in our own strength. Are you teachable today? Are you open to the truth that you might have been missing out on?
Or are you like Pricilla and Aquila today? Are you in a place where you know the truth but need to tell it to someone? Are you an influence to someone that needs to know the truth even if the truth hurts or even if there are no guarantees as to how they will receive this truth? It is frightening isn’t it? We need people in our lives like this that will tell us the truth. We need people in our lives who will lovingly pull us aside and show us where we are wrong.
Maybe we’ve got a little bit of both of these characters that exist in us. If you aren’t very teachable then say to God this morning, “God, give me a teachable spirit. Help me to be humble and willing to learn.
If you know you need to address an error in someone else you pray, God, give me the strength to help them see your way in their life and help me to be as loving as you are in it.
We need to be teachable and we need to be willing to teach. But none of that matters if we first don’t have a relationship, through faith with the Savior that lives today, in our lives.
Let’s ask God to show us what those changes are that we need to make.