By: Dale Weckbacher
Text: Acts
18:24-28
John 4:23-24
But the hour is
coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such
people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those
who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.
(ESV)
Those in any position of
leadership must confront the realization that they will not be around
forever. Part of confronting this
reality is the development of future leaders who will continue after the leader
is gone. For the Apostle Paul, this
future leader was Timothy for Paul wrote two letters to him providing encouragement
and instructions on how to lead the Church once he was gone (1
Timothy; 2 Timothy). Apollos who had
fervency of spirit and boldness is following Paul’s practice of speaking out
about Jesus in the synagogues but only knew the baptism of John a baptism of
repentance (Acts
18:25-26; Mark 1:4), needing additional knowledge regarding Jesus as
Messiah, something Pricilla and Aquila provided (Acts
18:26). Once Apollos receives the
full truth, combined with his fervent spirit, he can boldly refute his fellow
Jews by showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
The passage of Acts
18:24-28 is a pause between Paul going to Antioch for rest and rejuvenation
(Acts
18:18-23) and Paul going to Ephesus (Acts
19:1-10). On his way to Antioch, the
Apostle Paul had stopped in Ephesus and visited the synagogues to reason with
the Jews (Acts
18:19). However, when asked to stay
longer, Paul declined and left for Antioch (Acts
18:20), leaving Pricilla and Aquila behind (Acts
18:20). Perhaps in an attempt to fill
the vacancy left by the leaving of Paul, Apollos goes into the synagogues to
boldly speak of things concerning Jesus (Acts
18:26). However, Apollos only knew
the baptism of repentance from John and needed more knowledge of Jesus (Acts
18:25-26; Mark 1:4).
After hearing Apollos speaking in
the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila take Apollos aside and provide the
knowledge of Jesus he lacks (Acts
18:26). After receiving this
knowledge, Apollos wishes to cross to Achaia and receives encouragement with
the disciples in Ephesus with them even writing letters to the disciples in
Achaia, encouraging them to welcome Apollos (Acts
18:27). Upon arrival at Achaia,
Apollos helps the believers there, by powerfully refuting the Jews in public,
going beyond the baptism of repentance from John the Baptist to now showing
through Scripture that Jesus is the Christ (Acts
18:28).
Apollos is a Jewish man with a fervency
of Spirit and though He spoke accurately about the things of the Lord, he only
had knowledge limited to the baptism of John.
The baptism of John was a baptism of repentance (Mark
1:4) which is the first step to one coming to Christ for we have all sinned
(Romans
3:23) and must decide to turn from our sin or face death (Romans
6:23). What Apollos lacked was
accurate knowledge that Jesus was Christ who died, was buried, and arose from
the dead demonstrating victory over sin (Romans
10:9-10). After learning and
accepting the accurate knowledge of who Jesus was, he becomes bold and powerful
in his speaking out and able to refute the Jews in Achaia in public.
The Church has a mission of
sharing the truth of the Gospel and a calling to make disciples and baptize
them in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (Mark
16:15; Matthew 28:19-20). To
effectively accomplish this, the Church must achieve a balance of worship in
Spirit and Truth (John
4:23-24). Worship too heavy on spirit
can become worship designed to stir emotions, making people feel good but
lacking spiritual truth. Biblical truth
that is theologically and even academically accurate lacks the power to
transform lives when it lacks Spirit. An
example is teaching about sin from the pulpit, something some Churches do not
do because it does not stir emotions that make people feel good. However, teaching about sin without also
lifting up Jesus and how he went to the cross to forgive people of their sin, is
powerless for it lacks the convicting power of the Holy Spirit leading people to
believe in Jesus and receive eternal life (John
3:16). Apollos had fervency of
spirit and even a measure of truth about the baptism of John but once he
received additional truth about Jesus, became bold and powerful, able to refute
his fellow Jews in public. For revival
to occur in the world, the Church must achieve a balance of worship in Spirit
and Truth like Apollos received for this is a powerful combination.
The truth of the Gospel message Jesus
calls the Church to spread in Mark
16:15 is that due to Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden, all humanity has
sinned and lives under a death penalty (Romans
3:23, 6:23). However, God did not
leave humanity without hope and even in the Garden of Eden, promised a future
Messiah (Genesis
3:15) who we now know is Jesus who died in place of humanity for their sins
(Romans
5:8). All any person must do is make
a public profession of belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus
that provides salvation (Romans
10:9-10) and receive the gift of eternal life (John
3:16). If you have never made this
public profession of faith, I encourage you to do so by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans
3:23) and know that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans
6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my
sin and cleanse me as you promise in your Word (1
John 1:9). I believe you died, spent
three days in the grave, and resurrected from the dead and now declare you Lord
of my life.
For those that just prayed, I
encourage you to begin the study of the Bible so you can gain knowledge of the truth
by asking the Spirit of God to help you understand what you are reading. I also encourage you to find a Church
teaching the Bible so you can gain more accurate knowledge of the truth and
have a place to worship God in spirit and truth. I also encourage those that prayed to be baptized
as a public profession of your new faith in Jesus as your Savior. May God bless everyone reading this
post.
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