The Acts of the Apostles 71

Subtitle: Fervor & Understanding

Acts 18:23-28.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 7, 2024.

Our passage is split between the start of Paul’s third missionary journey and an introduction to Apollos.  Apollos was to become a fellow minister.  However, his story also coincides with a story we will look at next week.  It has to do with people who have believed the message of John the Baptist, but have not heard the full teaching of the Apostles.

Let’s get into our passage.

Paul begins his third missionary journey

Verse 23 tells us that Paul stayed at Antioch for “some time” before he went back out on the road.  Some versions say that he “went over” the region of Galatia and Phrygia.  To be clear, Paul went throughout these regions.

You will notice a nice thin line of his travel on maps of the journey, but that should be seen as an average direction of travel.  We are not told how long he spent in each region and all of the towns he visited. 

It is clear that Paul wants to connect with the churches that they had started during the prior missionary journeys.  It is also possible that new ones had started through further evangelistic activity from those churches. 

Paul feels a responsibility for them.  He can make sure that their teaching is correct and hasn’t been corrupted.  He can minister to them with the Gifts of the Holy Spirit that were prevalent in his ministry.  He could also give wisdom, or a word of knowledge, for any issues they were facing.

Whether you start a church or not, may God put in us a heart to actively lead people to faith in Jesus.  May he touch our heart with the same sense of responsibility to care for them like a spiritual father or mother.  Christ has sent us to be a light.  We  may plant the seed of the Word of God, water seeds that others have planted, or even bring in a harvest of those who believe.  All of this is the work of God that we need to keep focused upon.

In verse 24, Luke introduces Apollos.  This is the same Apollos that Paul mentions in his letter, 1 Corinthians.  This passage will give us the background to Apollos, but it is also important for another reason.  This is the first of two stories that Luke shares regarding people who were following the teaching of John the Baptist, but had not received the full Gospel of Jesus (the second follows this in Acts 19:1-7).  They seem to be focused on a repentant life and faith in Messiah.

It is good to live a repentant life.  However, God intends us to then move into faith in Jesus and the work that he would do for our sins and the giving of the Holy Spirit.  John himself told his disciples, “He [Jesus] must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30.  We will come back to this point.

It is interesting that Apollos is going to travel to Corinth and be used of God to encourage the saints there.  The letter of 1 Corinthians shows us that saved people still have mentalities and pathways of thinking that affect their actions.  A division would develop in the church because some people were overly proud of Apollos versus Paul, and vice versa.  This carnal mentality regarding the people God uses to bring the Gospel into our lives will be challenged by the Apostle Paul.  But, let us look at who this Apollos was.

Apollos is a Jew who had been born in Alexandria.  He most likely was impacted by John the Baptist’s ministry on a trip to Jerusalem, whether for a feast or otherwise.  This would have been around 20 years earlier.

Luke also tells us that Apollos was an eloquent man.  He had a knack for keeping a crowd interested in his speaking.  This is one of the reasons some in Corinth seemed to like him better than Paul.

We are also told that Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures.  Do you know how you become mighty in the Scriptures?  You spend a lot of time studying them and being taught how they point towards Messiah.  Christians should not be content to remain weak in the Scriptures.  We need to study them to show ourselves approved of God.

Luke also says that he was “instructed in the way of the Lord.”  Because of what is going to be said in a moment, the intention of this phrase must be pointed toward God’s will in general, as revealed by John the Baptist.  They knew that the Messiah was now here.  John had even identified Jesus as the One.  So it seems likely that Apollos knew that Jesus was the Messiah, and yet had been killed.  He may have also been familiar with some of the teachings of Christ, such as the Sermon on the Mount, etc.

Finally, Luke tells us that Apollos was fervent in spirit.  The word has the sense of boiling with heat.  Figuratively it refers to a person who is full of passion.  There is a certain passion that comes from a living relationship with God’s Word and the leading of His Spirit.

This Apollos arrives in Ephesus.  We are not aware of his full mission.  Was it only ministry, or was it part business?  Regardless, God was working to bring this man’s passion and desire to a greater understanding that had been made available in Jesus and his Apostles.  Apollos is basically doing the same thing as Paul.  He came to Ephesus and went to the synagogue to speak to the brethren about Repentance and faith in Jesus Messiah.  This is where his ministry intersects with the ministry of the Apostle Paul.

Fervor is good, but it needs to be on a foundation of knowledge.  When Aquila and Priscilla hear the teaching of Apollos, they recognize that he has some gaps in his knowledge. 

They take him aside later in order to explain the Gospel of Jesus more accurately.  It is good to note that they did not publicly rebuke him, or humiliate him in the synagogue.  They didn’t do it in such a way as to make themselves look better.  It is good to explain the way of Christ more accurately to people, but be careful that you do not smash the work of the Holy Spirit in them. 

So what was it that Apollos was missing?  We are only told this.  “He knew only the baptism of John.”  It appears that John’s preaching was mainly about repentance.  It may also have included the identity of Jesus as Messiah, but we aren’t told that positively. 

You see, Apollos is being faithful to the light that he has received from God.  The Holy Spirit is working in his life to eventually bring him to the place where his knowledge gaps can be filled in, and this is the day.  If we are hungry for God, then we will listen to “John the Baptist” when he comes preaching.  We will even more listen to the Lord Jesus when he comes speaking.  Most likely Apollos was unaware of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the command to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

He was also missing the understanding of water baptism as a means of identifying with Jesus.  This identification is more than just his role as Messiah, but also the means by which he deals with our sins.  Water Baptism speaks of dying to the flesh life and being raised up by the Spirit to live for Christ.  This is the immediate symbol.  However, it also points to a day when we will die and be buried in the ground.  It testifies of our faith that the Lord Jesus will resurrect us on the day of Resurrection.

Paul and Apollos will not be at odds with one another.  Paul will recognize how God brought Apollos to Corinth to help the church.  It was worldly Christians who tried to exalt Apollos as an apostle that was greater than Paul.  Is this true? 

If we compare the two we see that God’s calling on Paul was indeed greater.  Apollos was a man that was full of passion, but was also deficient in a full understanding of the Gospel of Christ.  Paul on the other hand had been taught the Gospel by Jesus himself, and he had been preaching and establishing churches among the Gentiles for nearly 20 years at this point.  Paul was not deficient in understanding in any means.

Do any of us lack understanding?  If you feel like you lack understanding, then take heart.  God is working in your life to intersect you with teaching and His Word.  You most likely won’t have a vision of Jesus teaching you every night.  However, he is being faithful to give you instruction every day by his Holy Spirit.  If you need something, then God is working to bring you to it.  Trust Him and keep faithful with what you do have.

As a caution, we don’t foolishly go to YouTube and swallow every teaching that we find there because we believe “God is leading us.”  God may also be testing you to see if you will remain faithful to his sure proven words in the Bible.  Be a Berean and search the Scriptures to make sure those things you are taught by others are really true.  To know the Word is to know Jesus, and to know Jesus is to be a person who is in the Word.  They are not separated.  The written word is a picture of Jesus who is the Eternal Word that was with the Father in the beginning of all things.

I mentioned it earlier, but Apollos most likely didn’t know about Spirit Baptism either.  He would have been aware of the Promise of the Father spoken of by the prophet Joel, but he clearly hadn’t been a part of the Jerusalem community as the Spirit was poured out and helped the Apostles to lay down the foundation of faith in Jesus.

At some point, Apollos desires to go over to Achaia.  Corinth was the capital of that province, and in Acts 19:1, we are told that Apollos would be in that city.  He is given a letter vouching for his legitimacy as a Gospel teacher.  It was common for charlatans to come along teaching people for gain, whether wealth or fame.  His ministry is now different because he was better instructed, and because he was teachable.  He will now be more useful for Jesus.

When Apollos arrives in Corinth, we are told that he “greatly helped those who had believed through grace.”  The help here is emphasized as his ability to use the Old Testament Scriptures to show Jews that Jesus is the Messiah that they had been waiting for.  He would “refute” the Jews publicly who were not believing in Jesus.

Fervor and understanding need to be hand in hand.  Don’t settle for fervor without accurate and thorough knowledge.  To guarantee that this doesn’t happen, Become a person who receives teaching and studies the word of God for yourself.  Don’t rely on the knowledge that others have of Jesus.  Come to know Jesus for yourself.

Yet, we must not settle for understanding without fervor.  We might point to the Pharisees, but in truth, their understanding was lacking.  They read the Scriptures and memorized them, but the system of tradition drowned out the voice of the Spirit of God.  To guarantee that this doesn’t happen, become a person of prayer.  Prayer is where knowledge is hammered into a passion from the Holy Spirit.  A real relationship with Jesus through prayer and studying the word will give the Holy Spirit the podium in your inner life.  He will come in and help you in every way.

In God, good things require small actions over a long time.  Faithfulness to the things of God is not loved by your flesh.  Your flesh seeks to short-cut that process.  Whether financially, professionally, in your marriage, or raising kids, no good work in these areas can be done in a mere 5 minutes.  May God help us to see His faithfulness, and may we be inspired to a life of faithfulness ourselves so that we can make a difference in our families, communities, this Republic, and the world.

Fervor & Understanding audio