More Than Knowledge

Introduction

Some of you know that a week and a half ago, I was in Richmond, VA....going to a John Mark McMillan concert

Shameless plug

And I went to it with Savannah and Adam, some of you remember Adam from our high school retreat last year

Which, by the way, save the date now…put it in your calendars, burn it into your brain…January 25-27th!!!!

And his wife Lacey was with us

And beforehand we went to this place called Shyndigz, which is a restaurant that only serves dessert…which is just phenomenal

Anyways…we were chatting about you all…just kidding, but we were talking about the camp that they had taken their youth to last summer, and got talking about the speaker at the camp…and how totally amazing he was

Some of you may remember Grace from the retreat last year…well Grace, famously…always doodled during any message, Adam’s messages, the times I spoke, when Pastor Jim, the senior pastor spoke

And she claimed that it helped her focus....that’s what she always claimed

Well day one at this camp, there she was doodling.....but when day two came....the leaders noticed that she was no longer doodling…but her eyes were completely and totally fixed on this speaker

Later on, one of the leaders asked her…why she wasn’t doodling during the session that morning

And her response was, “I didn’t want to miss a single word”

Why?

Because this speaker was an amazing speaker…it wasn’t because he was funny necessarily, it wasn’t because he had cool stories, but according to Adam and Lacey, he was soooooo good at laying out the Scriptures in a way that the students truly understood that he had captivated Grace

You know…a lot like what I do each week here, am I right? haha!

Alright PD....what’s the point?

Well, this morning we’re gonna talk about a man who was just like that, a man named Apollos

Show of hands if you know anything about Apollos

Okay, none of you

Show of hands if you have heard of Apollos before?

Okay, one of you

Well, perfect…let’s get rolling

Paul is back in Galatia, having travelled to Ephesus with P & A....and he had left P & A in Ephesus....

So P & A are in Ephesus, at the synagogue one day, when up steps this man named Apollos to start speaking.......

Now, who was this Apollos guy and where did he come from?

He was from Alexandria, and at this time Alexandria had a great Jewish population, totalling close to or over 1 million Jews…which is huge…so he was a Jew

Which means he had grown up under the Jewish heritage…he’d been taught the law, he’d sat under teaching, he’d learned from rabbis…he was very learned....okay?

Look at verse 24, “He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures”

So P & A are listening to this man speak, and he is such a good speaker....the verse says he was eloquent, which means he was an excellent speaker

If you ranked speakers…he would be top of the pile

Again....remind you of anyone? haha!

This guy knew how to captivate an audience…he was like the speaker at that camp....no one wanted to miss anything he had to say

And not only that, the verse tells us he was competent in the Scriptures....meaning, he knew the OT (NT wasn’t around) scriptures back to front and front to back.....

Which, there is a lesson in there for us....how well do you know this book?

In fact, the word competent in greek is the word “dynatos”, d-y-n-a-t-o-s

Anyone want to guess what english word we get from this?

DYNAMITE

This guy Apollos was the bomb-diggity. He was all that and a bag of potato chips....he was on fire, okay?

Everybody....loved hearing from him

And he was well known…which is why he would have been allowed to speak in the synagogue in the first place

It wasn’t like anyone could just stand up and teach.....but Apollos…he had the credibility and he had the credentials okay

That’s who apollos is

Why did he know all of the Scriptures, why was he so eloquent?

Well, verse 25 tells us he had been instructed in the way of the Lord

Anyone in here ever heard of catechisms?

What are they?

Catechisms are Biblical truths that are taught line by line

So, for instance....

Someone, a teacher, a parent, a rabbi....would say, “What is our only hope in life and death?”

And the student would respond with the answer: “That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ.”

And so on and so on

We actually do catechisms with our kids.....and before you go telling on me…I’m not a catholic or a lutheran

What I want you to see is that Apollos most likely sat under a rabbi and was catechized, if you will

He was taught the Scriptures, he was taught the way of the Lord

It does not mean that Apollos was a Christian

I don’t believe Apollos was a Christian at this point, and the second half of verse 25 confirms that for me

“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.”

But Pastor Derek, he taught about the things concerning Jesus....why isn’t he a Christian then?

Isn’t he sharing the gospel?

My answer…no!

He knew the OT, and so therefore he understood that the OT was pointing towards a Messiah

In fact, he even believed that the Messiah had come, and that he would soon arrive....because he “knew the baptism of John”

What’s that mean Pastor Derek? Great question

It means that he believed even to the point of being baptized by John

WHICH DID NOT MEAN HE WAS A BELIEVER

John’s baptism was more of a preparation for the Messiah.

When John was baptising people they were repenting of their sins in preparation of the coming Messiah

They wanted to be ready!!!!!

You with me? Good.

So P & A are listening to this phenomenal speaker bring the columns down, alright…and he’s explaining the Scriptures, he’s explaining how the OT points to a Messiah, he’s possibly even teaching that the Messiah had come.....and then he stops

Why would he stop? Because the story stops for him unless he already believes!

And P & A are listening and they hear him stop

And notice what they do....they don’t stand up and call him a heretic....they don’t refute him completely!!!

No, what do they do?

They invite him to dinner, they explain to him that in fact, Jesus had already come, had died, had been buried and rose again, and defeated sin and death, and now offered grace to those would believe in Him!!!!!!

And Apollos believe in Jesus as the author and finisher of his faith…he gives his life to Christ!

We know that because of verses 27-28

He going to Achaia, and “greatly helped those who through grace had believed”

So now, this phenomenally great speaker, wasn’t just a great speaker, he was a vessel being used by God to further the Gospel message!!!!

It’s really quite an amazing story imho

Closing

Alright…Pastor Derek.....so what, you gave us a great history lesson today, thanks

Listen to me very carefully:

It is totally and completely possible that many of you know this Bible pretty well

You’ve grown up in church…you have memorized verses…you know about Jesus....blah blah blah, right?

But it is also totally and completely possible that you’ve totally and completely missed Jesus

A lot of us rely on our knowledge to get us by, so that we pass as Christians…and maybe this whole time you’ve been fooling yourself into thinking so

As far as Apollos knew, he was righteous....but he was lost…until Jesus

What about you?

Aunt Beverley - brought a friend to a revival one time in the 60’s or 70’s.....turns out she wasn’t even a believer

Maybe you’ve been living your whole life thinking your a believer because you go to church, or because you know the Bible, or because you can answer questions

You can even fool me, your family, your church, your friends

Have you truly put your faith in Jesus?