The Truth Marches on
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Where we last left off:
When we last saw Paul at the end of chapter 17, he was in Athens alone, and he had just shared his sermon on Mars’ Hill discussing the Athenians view of the “unknown god” and Paul spoke to them about just WHO that “unknown god” was. In chapter 18, Paul is going to continue on with his second missionary journey and will leave Athens and head over to Corinth. Corinth is about 50 miles east of Athens along the coast, so it may have taken him about two days to get there.
When he gets to Corinth, he meets a couple named Priscilla and Aquila. they were natives of Pontus and apparently both were Jews that had converted to Christianity. It seems that they were told to leave Rome by the emperor Claudius because of agitations caused by the Jews in that area. If we take that into account, that places the time of these events somewhere around AD 49. So we are looking at about approximately 15 years after Jesus’ ascension. Paul meets Priscilla and Aquila because they were all tent makers by trade, and he stayed with them while he was serving in a bi-vocational aspect of ministry and verse 4 says, “And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.”
Silas and Timothy then show up to Corinth from Macedonia, and when they show up, Paul is occupied with more persuading the Jews that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah/Chosen on of God), and once again persecution comes about because of the teaching. Here we see a scene of anger where Paul gets angry with the stiff-necked people and says in the last part of verse 6, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles.” Many of us can empathize with Paul’s frustration in this department, and if you haven’t been frustrated by the indifference to the gospel, you either aren’t sharing the gospel, or you have become apathetic to lost people.
So Paul leaves the synagogue and takes up rooming with a man named Titius Justus who is a worshipper of God (more than likely a God-fearer) which just so happens to be right next door to a synagogue. So the take-away from that is be careful of who you wash your hands of because God my just put you right back in that position. It just so happens that Crispus, the leader of the synagogue is converted because of WHERE Paul is staying, and it just so happens that his entire household (friends, family, house servants, etc.) are converted, and Paul has a dream one night of Jesus and pay attention to what Jesus tells him
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”
Acts 18.9-
Jesus came to Paul and encouraged him in a dream to persevere for the sake of the gospel. The command is “do not be afraid,” and “do not be silent.” Jesus promised he would be with His followers to the “end of the age” (cf. ) so we have an encouragement to keep trudging right along in pursuit of sharing the gospel with the entire world, and look what it says in verse 11, “And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.” Paul managed to stay a year and a half in Corinth because he clung to the promise of Jesus to no be afraid and not to be silent.
Now, the Jews are going to throw everything but the kitchen sink (and I imagine if they could have gotten the kitchen sink AND the toilet out of the house they would have thrown that too). They go to Gallio the proconsul of Achaia and make a public attack against Paul and try to get Roman involvement, but the government basically says, “this is a religious issue, y’all handle it.” So Gallio kicks then out of the tribunal and out of options, they grab Sosthenes, the new leader of the synagogue and beat him up in front of the proconsul in an effort to get him to pay attention to them, but he doesn't feed their craving for blood.
After that scene is over, Paul stays a little while longer in Corinth, and then he sets sail for Syria and takes Priscilla and Aquila with him. One thing to note here is the last part of verse 18 where it says that Paul cut his hair at Cenchreae because he was under a vow. There are several answers to this, but the most likely reason is that he either began or ended a Nazarite vow. In spite of Paul turning to grace, he still held on to many of the Jewish traditions that he grew up with, and this is signifying something very serious and personal on Paul’s part.
Paul makes it to Ephesus and leaves Priscilla and Aquila there, and he returns to his method of ministry and goes to the synagogue and reasons with the Jews, and he was asked to stay longer there to minister, but notice his response in verse 21, “I will return if God wills,” and he left Ephesus. Paul recognized the need for a plan of ministry, but also factored in the the sovereignty of God in the matter that we can plan anything we want and perform ministry how we best see fit, but God can intervene at any moment he wishes to change our plans. It doesn’t mean that we are on the wrong track, it just means that God may have better things for us to do at that moment.
Paul lands at Caesarea and stops by the church there, and like any good missionary, he reports back to his home church for a report and then practically goes right back out and according to most scholars, this begins his third (and what will be his final missionary journey.)
The introduction of Apollos (18.24-26)
The introduction of Apollos (18.24-26)
In our passage this morning, we are introduced to a new character Apollos.
Acts
Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. 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. 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.
What we know about Apollos:
We don’t know very much about Apollos aside from thee fact that he was a Jew and a native of Alexandria (v.24). Alexandria is important in the fact that at the time, it was the capital of Egypt and was home to the world’s largest library. Apollos being a Jew was one of many Jews that lived there during the ancient times left from the scattering of the ancient kingdoms. Alexandria was also where those Jews that remained there translated the scripture into Greek and what is known as the Septuagint. He was an educated person, and there are some things we learn from the description of him, that we can take and apply to our lives today:
Never stop learning
Never stop learning
we read of some very strong character qualities of Apollos and we find ultimately that even though he was educated and learned, he never once had a desire to stop learning. People have said over time, “the more I learned about God, the more I realized I don’t know about God.” Being a disciple of Jesus requires that we never stop learning no matter how old, or how educated we think we are. Apollos was just this kind of Christian.
Spend time learning scripture
Spend time learning scripture
Verse 24 says he “was competent in scripture.” He may have spent time working on translations of the Septuagint, and he may have spent time learning on his own. Whatever the case may be, he was competent in scripture. While many of us know scripture, the discussion comes down to how much do we truly know about scripture. Do we just learn what is taught to us from the church, or do we strive to keep that learning going when we go home? We always say we come to church to “get fed,” but what do you do between studies? Do you go home and open the Bible and study for yourself, or do you just put your bibles up and starve yourselves between church meetings? Studying scripture, like anything else in the Christian life, is a discipline. The question then becomes, how disciplined are you to stay in the scriptures after you leave the walls of this church?
Maintain your excitement for the Lord
Maintain your excitement for the Lord
Verse 25 says he was “fervent in spirit.” He had an excitement for the Lord that was clearly visible. We have all met new Christians in our lives at some point. Can you remember the excitement they had when they first came to know the saving grace of God? Many pastors will say, “I would rather have a new Christian sharing the gospel than an older Christian.” That is not an age related comment, but what it means is that a new Christian has a fire for the Lord that cannot be quenched. After we become settled in our Christian life, something changes and our fire dies down. It cold be any number of reasons, but there are many reasons why our fire dies down. I think complacency is the biggest one. We become so accustomed to being saved that we forgot what it was like to be lost without Christ in our lives, and we take the every day blessings for granted.
Speak and teach accurately regarding scripture
Speak and teach accurately regarding scripture
The last part of verse 25 says, “he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus.” He taught what he knew according to scripture. Knowing scripture is important for us. Even though we will never remember everything about scripture, we would always be wise not to add anything of our own opinions regarding the teachings of scripture. It is not a shame to tell someone you don’t know a particular thing. In fact, I encourage you to get with someone that will challenge your thinking in that aspect. If we get to the point we think we know all there is to know about scripture, we would do well to connect with someone that helps push our boundaries of knowledge. Apollos recognized his limited view of scripture because all he knew about was the baptism of John. That particular baptism was only a baptism of repentance and not a baptism of believe.
Sharing what we know requires boldness. There will be things that we believe that other may not believe, but we must always be willing to be bold with sharing what we know about Jesus, and in light of that we must always be willing to learn more and share our knowledge with others because in the end, we will only be able to teach people as much as we know regarding scripture, but we must never stop learning.
The investment of Priscilla and Aquila (18.26-28)
The investment of Priscilla and Aquila (18.26-28)
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. 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, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
Priscilla and Aquila recognized a shortcoming in Apollos’ teaching. They saw that he was preaching a baptism of repentance only according to John the Baptist’s teaching, so look what they did: “they took him aside and explained to the the was of God more accurately.” This requires experience on the part of the teacher. Priscilla and Aquila took the time to invest their time into Apollos to make sure he understood what he was supposed to be really teaching.
Be willing to invest in others in order to make stronger disciples of them.
Be willing to invest in others in order to make stronger disciples of them.
You may think you don’t know enough about scripture in order to teach someone, but you have enough knowledge in your head to be a decent teacher. Passing on what you know is important. We cannot be afraid to share what we know with others. We must pass on what we know. In order for us to do that though, our hearts must be right.
Have a heart for the success of the church body.
Have a heart for the success of the church body.
Apollos had a zeal for teaching and sharing what he knew, and after he was properly taught, he became even more zealous for what he believed. He cared deeply for the success of the other believers. Verse 27 says, “he greatly helped those who through grace had believed.” Apollos wasn’t a deacon, nor was he a preacher. He was just simply a person in the church body that was sharing his teaching with others. Yet, he cared greatly about those who believed.
What kind of a heart do you have in you? Are you facing complacency issues and thing the church is a place to be served (both spiritually and physically), or do you realize the urgency of the gospel and are willing to spend what little bit of time an energy you have within you to share that and take care of others’ needs. The early church had something that I believe is lacking in many churches today: compassion. Compassion for each other and compassion for the lost of the world. In order for the church to turn around we have to have a balance in who we truly care about. The early believers didn’t see the church as a place to come and get fed, but a place to gather and meet the needs of others and take care of needs that needed to be met.
Receiving the Holy Spirit at Ephesus (19.1-7)
Receiving the Holy Spirit at Ephesus (19.1-7)
Paul meets up with Apollos at Corinth and they move on to Ephesus where they meet a bunch of half-taught Christians. There is a danger here that we need to be aware of. Paul gets to the root of the issue and finds out that they had only received the baptism of repentance (or John’s baptism.) Paul fully explains the gospel to them and they receive a believer’s baptism and receive the Holy Spirit.
Knowing scripture and believing in Jesus Christ are two different things.
Knowing scripture and believing in Jesus Christ are two different things.
We can know scripture all day long. We can quote without blinking an eye, but if we do not truly believe it and it has not taken root in our lives personally it doesn’t amount to anything. We can only be saved if we truly believe the truth of the gospel.
Paul preaches at Ephesus (19.8-10)
Paul preaches at Ephesus (19.8-10)
Paul then went about his normal ministry routine by going to a synagogue and preaching to the people there. Notice here though that in verse 8 it says he “spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.” This lasted for a little while and the ministry eventually ran out in that area so look what they did next in verse 9:
And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,
Acts 18.9
But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.
Some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, so they change venues. They went to a place called the hall of Tyrannus. They did this for two years in this area, and look what happens in verse 10:
This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.
Reaching an area requires a bold vision.
Reaching an area requires a bold vision.
Through their preaching ministry, they reached the known area of Asia in two years. This requires a bold vision. It requires seeing past our present situation and looking to what God can do if we allow Him to use us in spite of seemingly impossible circumstances. We must come together and formulate a plan on how God wants to use us in order to reach a community that is hostile to the gospel, but in the same breath we must not be so rigid in our perceived plans that we become deaf to the call of God in our lives. In order to do that we must personally find our what God has in store for our lives, and then find out how we fit into the body of the church, then as we come together as a church, we must decide on how God has placed us in our community and how we fit into His grand plan.
Conclusion:
We can rest in the knowledge of this very vital fact: Ultimately it is the Holy Spirit that empowers all believers to boldly proclaim the message of the gospel and take it to the rest of the world. It is only through faith alone in Jesus Christ that we can receive that power and have that confidence knowing that He goes with us every step of the way regardless of our circumstances or situations, and we are called to live according to that power.
Once we grasp that reality, we are able to seek God’s will to do anything God has called us to do and rest in the promises that Goes with us. The question remains is do you believe that God can use use in spite of whatever reasons you may have to argue that calling with him. Are we so set in our ways that we have become unteachable and are refusing to learn that we can move forward in the power of God?