Religious people need salvation too
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Handout
Start of 3rd Missionary Trip
Start of 3rd Missionary Trip
Mission report given, time spent, now time to move on. Paul now sets out on the 3rd missionary trip and we have another conversion story before us tonight.
23 And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
(Insert - Pauls 3rd missionary trip picture here)
Paul set out from Antioch of Syria and passed through the Galatian region and Phrygia.
Question: What was Paul doing while going through the region on the start of 3rd missionary trip (v.23)?
In order to be strengthening all the disciples
Paul previously was in Ephesus and left Aquila and Priscilla there (Act18:18-19) in fact they even started a church in their home (1Cor16:19)
They were a missionary couple uprooted from Rome who were also tent-makers and Paul stayed and worked along side them when he was in Corinth previously (Act18:2-3).
They set out from Corinth with Paul to Ephesus (Act18:18-19) and there he left them as he continued back to Antioch.
(Transition) Paul is coming to Ephesus again and this is where our conversion story happens.
24 Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.
25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John;
26 and he began to speak out 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 wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,
28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
What did you see, what did you notice, what sticks out to you?
Gleaning from the scripture:
Question: what things do we learn about Apollos from (vv.24-25)?
He was Alexandrian by birth (v.24)
He was eloquent, and mighty in scriptures (v.24)
He was instructed and was fervent (v.25)
He was teaching concerning Jesus, but only knew baptism of John(v.25)
Question: What did Priscilla and Aquila do with Apollos when they heard him speaking boldly in the synagogue (v.26)?
They took him aside and explained to him the way of God, more accurately.
Tonights message is entitled religious people need salvation too. and we are going to go back and key in on this section shortly.
Apollos sets out for Achaia (Corinth region) and was sent out with encouragement from Ephesus
Question: Who helped Apollos when arriving in Achaia region (Corinth) (v.27)? Can you draw a conclusion as to why (v.28)?
The disciples who believed through grace
Because the powerfully refuted the Jews and by demonstrating through scriptures who Jesus was.
(Transition) Now that we have that information, may I expound on just just three points tonight?
Apollos the religious person
Apollos teachers to bring conversion (Aquila and Priscilla)
Apollos the converted preacher
Apollos the religious person
Apollos the religious person
There is much we can learn about Apollos the man, and more we can learn from others sources to that can help us to get a clear picture of the man.
He was a Jew, Alexandrian by birth (v.24)
Capital of Egypt and was said to have up to 1 million Jews there. It became the most important center of Judaism outside of Jerusalem.
It was a Greek cultural city in which it was a place that scholars met (Jewish ones) to write what was to be known as the Septuagint.
a Greek version of the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), including the Apocrypha, made for Greek-speaking Jews in Egypt in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC and adopted by the early Christian Churches.
It was also the place of one of the finest libraries in the ancient world.
Just a fun fact that in the 5th century there was a manuscript found named the Codex Alexandria's which contains the majority of the Greek O.T. and the N.T. - This is one of the documents that helps to prove the accuracy of the Bible to be true.
He was a eloquent man, he was educated and instructed and eloquent in speech, a great orator, in a city that was cultured, an an academic center of the world. He was well versed in scripture in the O.T. that could point to Jesus as the Christ (v.28) HE would have been very useful in teaching the Jews about Jesus and to come to Jesus.
He was still lacking, for he only knew the baptism of John.
Question: Apollos only knew of the baptism of John (v.25); what was the purpose of the baptism of John? (consider Mk1:4)
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Baptism of repentance for remission of sins.
His abilities
He was mighty in the Scriptures (v.24)
24 Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.
As you can see there, the NLT says knew the scriptures well.
What was considered scripture at the time this was written? The O.T. was, the law of the Moses and the prophets
Scripture was in the process of being written then, so what Apollos knew as a Jew from Alexandria knew was the O.T. and about Jesus. And why I say Jesus is look at (v.25) and we can learn more about the abilities of Apollos
25 He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. However, he knew only about John’s baptism.
He was with an enthusiastic (or a fervent) spirit (v.25).
You are familiar with the word charismatic, right?
Charismatic: (adj) 1. exercising a compelling charm which inspires devotion in others. "a charismatic leader"
Similar: charming, fascinating, full of personality
strong in character, magnetic, mesmerizing
captivating, bewitching, beguiling, attractive
appealing, alluring, hypnotic, magical, glamorous
Do you think that Apollos was charismatic person?
He was instructed in the way of the Lord (v.25)
Which means he knew of Jesus, believed in Jesus as the Messiah and taught others about Jesus being the Messiah. Now having said that he was still missing something
He only knew of John’s baptism. (v.25)
He was bold, spoke boldly (v.26)
Could it be that he was not aware of the great commission that involved baptism into the possession of Jesus Christ? He would not be alone there, there were others like that in Ephesus too (Act19:1-5) when we get there soon.
He was willing to go to Achaia, He was helping those who believed (v.27)
He powerfully refuted with powerful arguments the Jews in public (v.28)
28 He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments in public debate. Using the Scriptures, he explained to them that Jesus was the Messiah.
(Transition) You may think I am overlooking an important fact, but no, I’m not, in the crowd listening to this charismatic orator was a couple who would be God’s instruments to Apollos. Now may we turn to them.
Apollo’s teachers
Apollo’s teachers
Peter says to always be ready (1Pt3:15); Paul says be a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word (2Tim2:15). Apollo’s teachers are a great example of both.
26 He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story.
Had to put that version up in front of us, reminds me of a bible study we do that is entitled “the rest of the story.” Why do we need the rest of the story? Because religious people need saving too.
Their background
His teachers were a husband and wife (Jews) thrown out of Rome, and they were tentmakers (Act18:1-2)
1 After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,
(Expand) husband and wife partners in ministry (v.26) and in their case work too (v.3).
Paul stayed with them when he came to Corinth for they were tent-makers like Paul.
They were travelling companions of Paul to Ephesus (Act18:18-19)
(Expand) - are we willing to be uprooted, replanted and then used for the ministry?
They were hosts of house church (1Cor16:19)
19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
(Expand) heartily, do we do all things heartily unto the Lord? What do you think that looks or sounds like?
They risked their lives for Paul (Rom16:3-5)
Their methods:
They were in the synagogue; a great place for evangelism (v.26)
They were listening, in other words they heard him (v.26 ;ref: Act17:11)
Much like the Bereans they were attentive, and were ready to hear what Apollo’s had to say. Like the Bereans with Paul.
11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.
They took him aside and explained to him (V.26; ref: Act17:1-4)
They did it privately, not to embarrass but to be conductive and constructive. they like Paul wanted to reason and persuade
1 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2 And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” 4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women.
Question: How did Paul reason with them according to (Act17:1-4)? - with the scripture, explaining and giving evidence.
They explained the way of God more accurately (v.26; ref: Eph4:5; Mt28:19; Rom6:3)
Remember Apollos was an eloquent orator and was preaching Jesus and the baptism of John, but that is not the one baptism as noted in (Eph4:5) the one into the possession of Jesus Christ (Mt28:19; Rom6:3).
Apollos had knowledge, accurate knowledge but lacking knowledge too and they built on what he know to know what he needed so to teach more accurately.
So, here we have a great missionary team who brought salvation to a religious person, Let’s summarize then will look at the results.
In summary thus far (application stuff):
They went to where religious people congregated
They listened, heard what was being said
They took him aside and explained more accurately
Apollos the converted preacher
Apollos the converted preacher
When a conversion happens you want to share the good news with others. Apollos now had the proper information and could not wait to get going to share more accurately the way of God.
27 And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.
Do you remember what Paul’s mission was when he set out this time?
23 After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
Not only was he a church planter, he was a church encourager and teacher to help them grow. Apollos now sets out to do the same thing, to encourage, and to teach.
He was encouraged and endorsed by the brethren in Ephesus and he went to Corinth (v.27)
He helped those who believe through grace (v.27)
He strongly refuted the Jews, using the scripture to prove Jesus is the Christ.
Paul had already been to Corinth before and Paul wrote to Corinth regarding some problems and mentioned Apollos (not that Apollos was the problem)
5 What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth.
More to learn about Apollos the converted preacher.
He was a coworker whom through the Lord worked (1Cor3:5-9)
He was a servant to the church (1Cor3:21-23)
He was an example of humility and not boasting (1Cor4:6)
Paul wanted Apollos to come back to Corinth, but was unwilling at the time (1Cor16:12)
A few more little facts or thoughts before closing out this message tonight.
He could have along with Zenas carried the letter to Titus (Tit3:13)
13 Diligently help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way so that nothing is lacking for them.
Luther and a few others believe that Apollos may have been the author of Hebrews, but we have no proof of that. If God wanted us to know, He would have told us through the inspired writers.
(Conclusion) There was much we have looked at about religious people need saving too and the methods that were used by Aquila and Priscilla and the results.
So,
Come willing to listen, to hear where someone is at so you can build on it from there and teach the way of God.
Do not embarrass but privately teach so they can know more accurately.
Remember religious people are already seeking God!
(Prayer) (Exit)