Apollos Receives Instruction at Ephesus
Acts 18:23-28 NLT
“After spending some time in Antioch, Paul went back through Galatia and Phrygia, visiting and strengthening all the believers. Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.”- Acts 18:23-24
Apollos had been taught in the ways of Jesus and was zealous to impart all he had learned to others who had yet to hear. The one informational shortfall Apollos had was that he was only aware of John’s baptism. John the Baptist entire message spoke of repentance from sin and believe in Christ. Apollos was unfamiliar with Jesus’ life, crucifixion, and resurrection. He also knew nothing of the coming of the Holy Spirit. Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos preaching in the synagogue in Ephesus and noticed some deficiencies. They approached him when he was finished and explained his lack of knowledge regarding the Lord. Apollos was eager to learn whatever was available to learn, so he listened to the couple intently. Once he had the missing information fed to him, he went to Achaia; the Ephesus church strongly encouraged him to go. They even wrote a letter of introduction on behalf of Apollos to the believers in Achaia.
When Apollos arrived in Achaia, he was welcomed with open arms. His presence there proved to be a wonderful blessing and benefit to those who believed. His ability to debate and convince Jews there that Jesus wasn’t simply a man, but the very Messiah the OT had prophesied about was amazing. Being a gifted orator, God used Apollos to bring many to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now having heard the entire story of Jesus, he was an even more formidable ambassador for the Kingdom. We will look a little deeper into Apollos, the person, in my next posting.
The lesson we can learn from this story of Apollos, is that though he was humble and never sought fame, fortune, or any type of notoriety at all, the believers in Corinth, where he later went, began to idolize the man rather than focus on the message, as they should have. There is no evidence that Apollos encouraged this type of attention, and Paul, when made aware of it, didn’t hold Apollos responsible at all. Paul did, however, make a point of speaking with the Corinthian church about this divisive issue. We must always remember that we are nothing but a single grain of sand on the beaches of life. We are significant only because of God. He needs help from no one but did choose to use us for his glory as his witnesses, His ambassadors, so to speak. Remember that and choose your words and actions wisely each day. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.
In His name & for His glory,
RL Keller
Bread of Life Ministries
Resources: The Life Application Study Bible; Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament, Copyright 2004.
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