2015.03.01 Acts 18:
18-28
Apollos Shares What he knows
We are studying the early days of the church in the book
of Acts... We study verse by verse so that we can see the big picture.... We
want to know our great God and Savior….. he has revealed Himself in this book….
As we follow Paul missionary journeys
we see wonderful adventures... We
see very hard times.... As Paul finds the will of God we can learn from him and
all that have gone before us.... Paul has been experiencing both open and
closed doors… Everywhere he goes he is being opposed by some of the Jewish
leaders who refuse to repent and believe the Gospel… We are following in Paul´s
footsteps as he proclaims the Good News of the Gospel….. Some Jews believed and many Gentiles also repented and believed….
The birth of the early church is a time of transition….. Genuine believing
Jews…… They are often called God fearers…. When they heard the Good News of the Gospel….. they
repented of their sins and believed in Jesus…. They believed all that the
Scriptures said about Him…. They rejoiced
at the Advent of the Kingdom…. They rejoiced in the Lord Jesus the Messiah….
The Book of Acts
gives us the history of the early years or the church…. Judaism
fades away and the New Covenant comes into fullness…... The transition into
a totally new way of looking at their Jewishness
was often a slow
transition….. The sincere Jewish
believers received Jesus with great joy…. But it took some time for them to
really understand the Grace of God at
work in their hearts and minds….. They were stuck in many years of tradition and legalism…. They were making
the transition from tradition and the law…..
to the fullness of their new life in Christ….. Pure Salvation by grace through
faith… Ephesians 2:8-10….
It is important historically for us to get a good view of
the struggles of the Jewish believers in
the early church…. It will also help us to better understand the conflicts
with the Jewish people who refused to repent and believe the Gospel….
We will also gain insight into occasional conflicts with
genuine Jewish believers struggles about
the law…. In these verses The Lord
gives us a healthy view of what God is
doing in the hearts and minds of these Jewish believers…. And so, here in Acts 18 verses 18 through
chapter 19 verse 7…. the Holy Spirit shows
us some people in transition….. Even Paul is giving some evidence of this
transition as he takes a Nazarite vow…..
This vow was so important to him that he cut his work
short in Ephesus…. He wanted to go to
Jerusalem to fulfill it…… This shows us something of Paul in terms of his
Jewishness….. He was still in transition…. He is following this traditional
ritual even though He is the great
proclaimer of Salvation by grace through faith…. As we read last week Paul
has set up his ministry in Ephesus, but first he leaves Aquila and Pricilla in
Ephesus and goes to complete his vow to the Lord… Just to remind us turn to
Acts 18….v21…
Acts
18:21 NKJV
slt 2000
21
but took leave of them, saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in
Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he
sailed from Ephesus.
21 sondern nahm Abschied von ihnen, indem er sprach: Ich
muß unter allen Umständen das bevorstehende Fest in Jerusalem feiern; ich werde
aber wieder zu euch zurückkehren, so Gott will! Und
er segelte von Ephesus ab;
Paul was humble and full of faith….. Finally he was able
to go to Ephesus…. And he was confident that the Lord would take care of the
future… He firmly believed that God was in control of his service…. He said,
"I'll come back to you if God wills….. Listen it is not just sovereignty
in the area of salvation where God is
active….. it is also in the area of service….. God rules your life in terms of placing you in
that place that He wants you to be…..
Why did Paul believe that? Because of a simple principal
expressed in two Old Testament passages…. Psalm
37:5…
Psalm
37:5 NKJV
slt 2000
5 Commit
your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him,
And
He shall bring it to pass.
5 Befiehl dem Herrn deinen Weg, und vertraue auf ihn, so
wird er es vollbringen.
If you commit your way to
the Lord and trust in him, then what happens will be what He made happen….. And
you have another text in Proverbs 3:
5,6….
Proverbs
3:5, 6 NKJV
slt 2000
5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In
all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
5 Vertraue auf den Herrn von ganzem Herzen und verlaß
dich nicht auf deinen Verstand;
6 erkenne Ihn auf allen deinen Wegen, so wird Er deine
Pfade ebnen.
When you commit your ways to Him…. He will direct your
path…. When a person's life is yielded to God… then they wind up where God wants him……
You know, Christians, it wouldn't hurt us to say
like Paul…. If the Lord wills….. I'm
going to do this…. Paul left Ephesus and sailed to Jerusalem and then Antioch….
Let´s pick up our text at Acts 18…verse 23…..
Acts
18: 23 NKJV slt 2000
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.
23 Und nachdem er einige Zeit dort zugebracht hatte, zog
er weiter und durchreiste nacheinander das Gebiet von Galatien und Phrygien und
stärkte alle Jünger.
Paul wants to go back to Ephesus…. but He spends time in
Jerusalem and Antioch…… Then his Pastors heart causes him to visit all of the
churches…. He goes to strengthen and encourage them….. That´s the beginning of
the third missionary journey….
In the meantime…. There is ministry to do in Ephesus…..
Aquilla and Pricilla are there but this is a very big and very important
city…..
As great as Paul was
in his ministry….. He was not the only person who could minister in Ephesus…..
The Lord had a plan…. This is something for all of us to remember…. No one
is irreplaceable….. Not even Paul….
It´s the Lord´s church…. It´s the Lord´s plan…..
Paul was busy about the Lord´s work…. So the Lord sent Apollos to Ephesus….. And I
am very glad that he did…. We are going to learn some important lessons about
ministry from the events that happen next….. Let´s read a few more verses….
v24-26…
Acts
18: 24- 26 NKJV
24
Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty
in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 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. 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.
Acts 18: 24- 26 slt 2000
24 Aber ein Jude mit Namen Apollos, aus Alexandria
gebürtig, kam nach Ephesus, ein beredter Mann, der mächtig war in den
Schriften.
25 Dieser war unterwiesen im Weg des Herrn und feurig im
Geist; er redete und lehrte genau über das, was den Herrn betrifft, kannte aber
nur die Taufe des Johannes.
26 Und er fing an, öffentlich in der Synagoge
aufzutreten. Als nun Aquila und Priscilla ihn hörten, nahmen sie ihn zu sich
und legten ihm den Weg Gottes noch genauer aus.
And now we meet an extraordinary man…. a certain Jew
named Apollos…. born in Alexandria…. which is in Egypt….. I would like to look at the last verses
first….
v25,26….
Although
he only knew the Baptism of John….. Apollos
spoke boldly in the Synagogue about
Jesus the Messiah…..
Apollos was thrilled to share what he knew about the
Messiah….. He was excited and highly motivated… This reminds me of the time
that Jesus met the woman at the well in John 4….
John
4: 29,39 NKJV slt 2000
29
“Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the
Christ?”
39
And many of the Samaritans of that city believed in Him because of the word of
the woman who testified, “He told me all that I ever did.”
29 Kommt, seht einen Menschen, der mir alles gesagt hat,
was ich getan habe! Ob dieser nicht der Christus ist?
39 Aus jener Stadt aber glaubten viele Samariter an ihn
um des Wortes der Frau willen, die bezeugte: Er hat mir alles gesagt, was ich
getan habe.
v29… What a simple testimony….. She had been transformed
by her encounter with Jesus…. She simply shared what she knew about Jesus…. and
v39… God used her
greatly….
Dear friends….. We
need to share what we know about Jesus…. You already have the fact that
Jesus has saved you and transformed your life….. That´s a great start….. That
means that you already know more than many so called ministers of the Gospel
here in Germany…. Sometimes we seem to think that we are not adequately
prepared to share about Jesus…. We think that we need to go to Bible school or
receive missionary training and then we will go out and proclaim the Good
news…. It´s not really true…. Do you know a Bible verse or 2?
Then you already know more about the Lord than most of your
neighbors and co-workers…. Knowing more about the Gospel is good…. But
remember…. waiting until we know more is not necessary…. Look at what the Lord
did through this girl’s simple testimony….
Back to our text for today…. Apollos Shared what he knew….. And the Lord used Him….. The Lord used
him because he was FAT…. Faithful Available and Teachable..…. Awesome….
But he also provided Aquila and Pricilla to teach and
disciple him…. By the way…. That is the reason that we are all here as a
church…. We are here to be equipped and prepared to do the work of the
ministry…. Ephesians 4…
So… The Lord put Apollos into a place where he could
learn more about Jesus…. He did not let Apollos continue with just part of the
message….
Think about this… Apollos thought that he was going to a
new city the preach the Gospel…. But the Lord sent him there so that he could
be taught and discipled by Pricilla and Aquilla…..
Let´s get back to Apollos….
Acts
18: 24- 26
NKJV
24
Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty
in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.
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.
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.
Acts 18: 24- 26 slt 2000
24 Aber ein Jude mit Namen Apollos, aus Alexandria
gebürtig, kam nach Ephesus, ein beredter Mann, der mächtig war in den
Schriften.
25 Dieser war unterwiesen im Weg des Herrn und feurig im
Geist; er redete und lehrte genau über das, was den Herrn betrifft, kannte aber
nur die Taufe des Johannes.
26 Und er fing an, öffentlich in der Synagoge
aufzutreten. Als nun Aquila und Priscilla ihn hörten, nahmen sie ihn zu sich
und legten ihm den Weg Gottes noch genauer aus.
v24….
he was an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures…… He
came to Ephesus….. Alexandria had a huge Jewish population….. At
the time of Paul the Jewish population was estimated to be as many as one
million…. There were at least four different areas or quarters in the city
where Jewish people lived….. In Apollos we see someone that God is pleased to
bless and use in ministry… This story is not really about Apollos….. He is not
the hero of the story…… God is the hero of the story…… Do you know what made
Apollos special?…. No… what? I´m glad you asked…. No it was not his eloquence….
It was not the fact that he was mighty in the scriptures… No… You see Apollos was FAT…. That´s what I said…. He was fat…..
FAT
Faithful
Available
Teachable
These are the marks of the person that God delights to use…. They should give us all
hope that the Lord can and will use us….. If only we are FAT…. faithful and
available and teachable…. The Lord will use us in our imperfections…. Just like
he used Apollos even when he only knew the Baptism of John… Turn with me to 2
Corinthians 4: 7….
2
Corinthians 4: 7
NKJV slt 2000
7
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power
may be of God and not of us.
7 Wir haben aber diesen Schatz in irdenen Gefäßen, damit
die überragende Kraft von Gott sei und nicht von uns.
God
delights to use us because we are a bunch of cracked pots…… The excellency… The power to save and
transform lives does not come from our eloquence…. But from His Saving power….….
I would like to point out 5 characteristics that we see
in these verses about Apollos….. They are the same characteristics that we all
should have… as we serve the Lord….
Someone
God uses to Proclaim the Good News
1
Thoroughly grounded in the scriptures
2 Totally
committed to proclaiming the Good News
3
Teachability…. He was easily instructed by other believers…
4
Totally available to be used in Ministry
5 Approved
of God in his ministry…. He greatly helped the believers…..
6
Tenacious in Standing up for the Truth of the Gospel
Let´s look at these characteristics… starting with verse
24… number 1…
1
Thoroughly grounded in the scriptures…
You will need to scroll up
to get back to acts 18..v.24…
v24…
eloquent and mighty in the scriptures…. The Greek in this verse shows
us that his verbal skills were matched by a command of the Word of God…. What a
statement…… He was mighty or powerful in the scriptures…. The Greek word is δυνατός
dynatos…. from which we get the word dynamite….. This man was an exploding
kind of a person when it came to the Scripture…. He was dramatic and dynamic….
The greek word translated Scripture is γραφή
graphē… Writings…. The written Word of God… Apollos was an Old Testament
scholar who could present it with absolute power….. He was a powerful man in
terms of teaching….
Apollos was mighty in the scriptures because he was diligent
to study the Word of God…. He certainly memorized scripture and hid it in his
heart like the great King David did…. Paul exhorts Timothy to faithful study
and application of the Word of God in his letters….. look at 2 tim 2…. V15…
2
Timothy 2:15 NKJV slt 2000
15
Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
15 Strebe eifrig danach, dich Gott als bewährt zu
erweisen, als einen Arbeiter, der sich nicht zu schämen braucht, der das Wort
der Wahrheit recht teilt.
Number 2 in our list of characteristics in found in…
v25a…
2
Totally committed to proclaiming the Good News
Acts
18:25 NLT Neues Leben
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.
25 Er war im christlichen Glauben unterwiesen worden und
erzählte den Menschen mit großer Begeisterung von Jesus. Allerdings kannte er
nur die Taufe des Johannes.
v25a… and he
taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit..…. Here the Greek
speaks of a pot of boiling water….. He was Totally there…. Bubbling out the
Good News of the Gospel…. He also taught
with great accuracy…. But notice the second part of the verse…
25b… However,
he knew only about John’s baptism.…. He knew the Word….but his
knowledge was limited…. He did not know everything…… He had a lot to learn……
But what he knew he handled very accurately…. That should speak to us this
morning….. Apollos with power and enthusiasm proclaimed what he knew about the
Gospel… and the Lord blessed and used him….. He did not have to wait until he
had perfect knowledge… let´s look at v 26…. You know we can run into genuine
believers on a regular basis…. There are a lot of believers today as compared
to when Apollos was in Ephesus….
But can you imagine what Aquilla and Pricilla thought
when they heard this man that they did not know….. Boldly and accurately
proclaiming the Gospel in the Synagogue?
I think that they were floored…. Wow… Did you here
that?... We got to get to know this guy…..
Here we see the 3rd
characteristic of a person that the Lord delights to use….. He was teachable…
v26b… they took
him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
3
Teachability…. He was teachable…. That´s Apollos…. FAT…. Faithful available and
teachable….
Let´s
read the last 2 verses from Acts18…. They show us the last three
characteristics… 27,28…
Acts
18; 27,28 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;
28
for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that
Jesus is the Christ.
27 Als er aber nach Achaja hinübergehen wollte,
ermunterten ihn die Brüder und schrieben an die Jünger, daß sie ihn aufnehmen
sollten. Und als er dort ankam, war er eine große Hilfe für die, welche durch
die Gnade gläubig geworden waren.
28 Denn er widerlegte die Juden öffentlich mit großer
Kraft, indem er durch die Schriften bewies, daß Jesus der Christus ist.
v27a… And when he
desired to cross to Achaia….
The Lord was using Apollos
there in Ephesus…. But The Lord put
Achaia on his heart…. He wanted to go to Corinth…. It was the main City in Achaia…
4
Totally available to be used in Ministry…. He was sent out with
the blessing and encouragement of the
Church in Ephesus…. Apollos had it on his heart to go to Corinth….. But he
did not just go…. He studied and waited until he was sent out from Ephesus….. Let´s
look at the next characteristic from our list…
number 5…
5
Approved of God in his ministry…. He greatly helped the believers…..
27b…
he
greatly helped those who had believed
through grace…. Apollos was even more powerful in the Word of God now…. He served
diligently in the church at Corinth….
Paul describes Apollos tremendous contribution in Corinth as watering the believers in the church there…. Apollos used his gifts to disciple and
strengthen the young believers…. Paul writes about this Gospel teamwork in 1 Cor 3… There were many issues in Corinth….. maybe we´ll talk more about that later….
As we look at the whole New Testament….What we see is that the Lord sends several pastors
and teachers from church to church in these early days….. We see Paul and Timothy and Apollos all
serving in Corinth from time to
time…. In 1 Corinthians 16 we learn that as time went on….. The Lord used these
men to train other faithful men to lead the church in Corinth…. Even then….
Paul sent Timothy again and also planned to send Apollos to minister there as
well… let´s look at the last characteristic from our list today…. Number 6…
6
Tenacious in Standing up for the Truth of the Gospel
v28…
for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that
Jesus is the Christ.
The Greek
word here is εὐτόνως eutonōs…. It could
be translated…. Vigorously… Vehemently… It´s a word to tell us that it was
with great power that Apollos proved that Jesus was indeed the Christ…. The
long promised Messiah… It's
translated in one Old Testament passages as loudly….. He was not to be silenced….. He was
exact in the use of the scriptures…. He took the Old Testament and just proved
that Jesus was the Messiah….. He was as bold as a lion and totally fearless… He
encouraged the believers…. They were made strong when they saw Apollos stop
every argument against Jesus…
Paul and Apollos were fearless proclaimers of the Good
News of the Gospel…. Even when Apollos
knew very little about the big picture…. He boldly shared what he Knew about
Jesus and the Lord blessed his ministry…. He also sent him to the A and P Bible School in Ephesus for
additional training…. Aquila and Pricilla…. And how exciting it is to see what
God is doing in their lives and how grateful we are that the Spirit of God is
the one who use FAT people…. Even people like you and me…
As we continue to study the early church in the Book of
Acts…. We will see how very important Corinth and Ephesus are to us as 21st
century believers…..
Most of what we know about the reason for the church
comes from The Book of Acts and the letters of Paul….
It is in fellowship and mutual encouragement and teaching
that we are equipped to do the work of the ministry….
Close
In closing I want to read from Ephesians…. Turn with me to
Ephesians… ch4…v11…
Ephesians
4:11- 16 NLT
11
Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets,
the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to
equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and
knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the
full and complete standard of Christ.
14
Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown
about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to
trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will
speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is
the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together
perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts
grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.
Ephesians 4:11-16 Neues Leben
11 Er hat die einen als Apostel, die anderen als
Propheten, wieder andere als Prediger und schließlich einige als Hirten und
Lehrer eingesetzt.
12 Ihre Aufgabe ist es, die Gläubigen für ihren Dienst
vorzubereiten und die Gemeinde - den Leib Christi - zu stärken.
13 Auf diese Weise sollen wir alle im Glauben eins werden
und den Sohn Gottes immer besser kennen lernen, sodass unser Glaube zur vollen
Reife gelangt und wir ganz von Christus erfüllt sind.
14 Dann werden wir nicht länger wie Kinder sein und uns
ständig von jeder fremden Meinung beeinflussen oder verunsichern lassen, nur
weil geschickte Betrüger uns eine Lüge als Wahrheit hinstellen.
15 Stattdessen lasst uns in Liebe an der Wahrheit
festhalten und in jeder Hinsicht Christus ähnlicher werden, der das Haupt
seines Leibes - der Gemeinde - ist.
16 Durch ihn wird der ganze Leib zu einer Einheit. Und
jeder Teil erfüllt seine besondere Aufgabe und trägt zum Wachstum der anderen
bei, sodass der ganze Leib gesund ist und wächst und von Liebe erfüllt ist.
V11… says that The Lord himself gave pastor teachers to
the church so that you can be equipped to do the work of the ministry…. We are
also here to strengthen you for life in Him… look at verse 12…
Ephesians
4:12 NLT
Neues Leben
12 Their
responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church,
the body of Christ.
12 Ihre Aufgabe ist es, die Gläubigen für ihren Dienst
vorzubereiten und die Gemeinde - den Leib Christi - zu stärken.
Look at the list of things that will happen as we grow in
Christ…
13… unity… maturity… completely like Jesus…
14… no longer immature like children…. Stability will
mark our Christian walk…. We will not be tricked by every new teaching… we will
not be deceived by lies that sound like the truth… instead…
15… we will speak the truth in love… growing in every way
like Christ… And He will fit us together perfectly in His church…. So that…
16… The whole body is healthy and full of love…
We are blessed to be able to love and serve each other….
It is our privilege to edify and strengthen each other for the work of the
ministry…. We need to be here for each other…. Ready to help each other….. whatever
comes next in our lives… Let´s pray
