Lechem Panim #203 “The Conversion of Apollos” (Acts 18:25-28) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello and welcome to Lechem Panim. So glad you could join us today as we study the Word of God together; specifically in the book of Acts. Last week we found in our study of the book of Acts chapter 18 that Paul has now begun his third missionary journey. And he had come to the city of Ephesus. Now with him were Priscilla and Aquila (a Jewish couple who were companions of his in ministry). Now Paul had to leave in order to make it to Jerusalem for Pentecost, where he wanted to complete his vow. And he leaves Priscilla and Aquila to carry on the work of building up the Church there. And he promises to return. But meanwhile, while Priscilla and Aquila are there, a Jewish man from Alexandria, Egypt by the name of Apollos comes to Ephesus. And it says…

Acts 18:24b (ESV)— He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.

γραφή— And while it may be obvious to some, I want to make sure it is clear that we are talking about the Old Testament scriptures, not the New. The word “scriptures” that is used here is the Greek word γραφή. And whenever that word occurs in the New Testament, it always is referring to the Old Testament. Apollos is an Old Testament scholar who is skilled at teaching Old Testament scripture. But all of that eloquence and knowledge and giftedness (which we expounded upon last week) was based on his natural ability, not on his having the Gifts of the Holy Spirit; because he was not yet a Christian. Now of course every gift comes from God, but Apollos did not yet have the fruit or gifts of the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come to faith in Jesus Christ. Now some say he was a Christian because of the very next phrase, which says of Apollos…

Acts 18:25a (ESV)— 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord.

“instructed in the way of the Lord”— That has led some to conclude that (because Jesus is Lord) that Apollos had already been instructed in the Christian faith; and his knowledge simply was not yet as full as it needed to be. However, many who take that interpretation fail to take into account the fact that that phrase the way of the Lord is not a new phrase coined by Christians. No, it is a phrase used throughout the Old Testament beginning all the way back in the book of Genesis, the very first book of the Bible. It is a very broad, general term for Old Testament instruction in the things of God; the standards that God has set for people to follow. There is no reason to infer from that phrase that Apollos was a Christian. It is way too general a phrase.

κατηχέω— Plus look at the word that precedes the phrase the way of the Lord; the word “instructed”.  This may help us to understand what kind of knowledge Apollos had. The Greek word is κατηχέω. And κατηχέω means to teach orally by repetition. By the way, what word does κατηχέω sound like? Catechism. And what is a catechism? It’s a method of teaching in which you learn orally by repetition; you read a line (the question) and then you read the answer. And then you go on to the next. It is something you repeat over and over again until you have it ingrained in your brain. And so this is how Apollos learned the way of the Lord. Now having said all this, we do see that phrase the way of the Lord funnel in and become more focused in…

Isaiah 40:3 (ESV)— 3 A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

A Fruit of John’s Ministry— Now who is that a prophecy of? John the Baptist, who came to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. That is where the knowledge of Apollos had stopped. He did know at least something about Jesus, which we will see in a minute. And that may be because of the ministry of John the Baptist; it is possible that (because Alexandria was such a center of learning) that some of John the Baptist’s disciples came there during Jesus’ earthly ministry and proclaimed that He was the Messiah. It is even believed by some that Apollos may have been a disciple of John the Baptist. We don’t know. But he apparently had learned at least a little bit about Jesus and His teachings because it says in…

Acts 18:25b (ESV)— And being fervent in spirit,[a] he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

An Incomplete Knowledge— And so while Apollos may have known some of the basic facts about Jesus he may not have yet known about Jesus' atoning work on the cross, His resurrection, or the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. But whatever the case, his knowledge was incomplete. Now everything he said was true, but he did not yet have the rest of the picture.

A New Map— I remember once Tanya and I were on our way to visit my parents in Kentucky. And we had been following GPS; not on our phones but on an actual GPS unit that (in the good old days) you bought as a separate unit. Ours was a TomTom; and I remember you even had to pay to get the maps it contained updated. Oh how things have changed. But that night I remember we got to about twenty minutes from where my folks were living but the GPS suddenly showed that were were going off-road, even though we were definitely still on the road. And the directions suddenly went all wonky and we lost our way. Now what had happened is that some major road revisions were made (actually a new road), but (because we hadn’t updated the map on our TomTom) the TomTom was still operating with the old map, which of course did not match up with the current roads. We needed a new map. Well, the same was true of Apollos. He was preaching the Old Testament the best he knew how, but he likely did not yet have the new information he needed concerning the atoning work of Christ. And so he couldn’t get people to where they needed to go. Well, here’s where the providence of God comes in. Because one day he goes in to the synagogue to preach. And it says in…

Acts 18:26 (ESV)— 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.

Gentle Instruction— Now I love how Priscilla and Aquila see someone who does not yet fully understand and are courageous enough and loving enough to try to help to point him in the right direction. And they do very lovingly; because note that they do not rebuke him publicly, which would have just confused the Jews he was preaching to. No, they quietly pull him aside (maybe even taking them home with them for a Sabbath dinner) and tell him what he still needed to know about Jesus and also about the coming of the Holy Spirit. And I also love how teachable he was. He didn’t brush them off, but seems to have eagerly received the knowledge that they had to offer. And that may have been the secret to some of his incredible knowledge, by the way. He was humble enough to be taught. He didn’t have an I-already-know-it-all attitude.

Not Familiar With The Sensation— Some time ago my wife and I watched the show Downton Abbey. And in it there is a highly-opinionated mother. And once another character in the show asked her, “How does it feel to be wrong?” And she (always quick on her feet) responded (puffing up like a peacock), “Wouldn’t know, my dear. I’m not familiar with the sensation.” Now let me tell you, a person who has that kind of attitude, who can never admit they’re wrong or that their knowledge is deficient in any way, can learn very little. If you want to know it all, then you have to truly believe and posture yourself as if you don’t. Because only those who remain teachable and humble actually  become true know-it-alls.

Apollos’ Conversion— Well, this was Apollos’ spirit. He humbly received their instruction. And it was at this time that he became a convert to Christianity, received the Holy Spirit, and then went out to proclaim the message of the Gospel. And he may have even gone back to the synagogue the following Sabbath to share with the Jews the rest of the story. But he didn’t stop there. Like any person who has received the Good News of Jesus Christ and placed his/her faith in Him, Apollos was eager to help spread the Good News about Jesus; and he is therefore eager to cross into Achaia. And the Ephesian church already highly recommended him, because it says in…

Acts 18:27a-28 (ESV)— 27 And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. {And in the following verses we see that immediate fruit is born out of his ministry. It says…} 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.

A Powerful Witness— And so we see that Apollos quickly became a monumental force for the kingdom of God. We see in the very next chapter that Apollos ministers for a time in Corinth. And hardly any time has gone by at all before Paul writes back in 1 Corinthians to the Corinthians (who are quarreling and becoming faction-oriented) and says (1 Cor. 1:10-12, 3:4-6, 22, 4:6)…

1 Corinthians 1:12b (ESV)— …one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” {Then in}…

1 Corinthians 3:5 (ESV)— 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

Quickly Esteemed— And so what happened is that (perhaps because of Apollos’ great gifts) [Some of the Corinthians became more enamored with Apollos than with His message.] And so they became faction-oriented. Now these factions were not Apollos’ fault any more than they were Paul’s or Peter’s. But I mention it here because of how remarkable it is that at this very early stage of Apollos’ ministry, he already had become so highly esteemed, to where he (though not an apostle) is placed right after Paul and even before Cephas. It is amazing to see how mightily God was at work through him.

Three Elements— And there were three elements to this that are directly relevant to us. First, he had pursued and gained a solid understanding of the Word of God. Secondly, he was skilled in his presentation; he took time to hone in his skills in presenting the Word of God in a way that would be effective. But there was also something else; and we see it in verse 25, which says that he was fervent in spirit. In Greek it literally means boiling in spirit. The only other time that word is used is in…

Romans 12:11 (ESV)— 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

Hearts on Fire— Some of my favorite movies of all time (watched them many times over) are the Rocky movies. And in those movies one of the things Rocky demonstrates (though sometimes it has to be re-kindled) is a heart on fire; the burning heart. And that is what this word means; and it is what is lacking in the chests of many Christians today. What the world needs most are men and women of God whose hearts are on fire for Him; who have a determination and drive (purified and directed by the Holy Spirit) to serve the Lord with all of who they are; with their hearts, souls, mind, and strength. Men and women who are mighty men and women of the word who know how to bring its truth to hungry souls. If we have hearts like that, the world will have no other recourse but to acknowledge that we know and walk with He who truly is the Savior of the world.