Lesson 04/18/05

APOLLOS!

We all have favorites. Given a choice of 31 Flavors, we probably choose the same one every time. For example, I prefer Rocky Road over all others. We have a favorite movie that we can watch again and again. We have a favorite restaurant that we enjoy going to for a good meal. We have a favorite vacation spot. And, we probably have a favorite chair that we claim as our own.
Then too, as Evangelical Christians we probably have a favorite preacher that we enjoy listening to on the radio. Maybe we prefer Charles Swindoll, Charles Stanley, or Steve Brown. We know what time of the day they come on and we schedule our lives so that we can tune into what they have to say about the Bible. We even encourage others to listen to them, believing that anyone who listens will be blessed.
Having favorites is not the problem. Problems arise, when we can’t understand why anyone would choose something besides Rocky Road. I mean, there must be something fundamentally wrong with a person who would pass up Rocky Road for another flavor of ice cream. I for one, just couldn’t associate with such a person. For if they have no discernment when it comes to ice cream, they probably have moral or spiritual discernment either.
Now would I fracture or put at risk a perfectly good relationship over ice cream? Of course not! That would be a pretty silly thing to do. But in Corinth, in Paul’s day, the believers were choosing up sides based on the speakers of their day. For in I Corinthians 1:10 -12 we read:
Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won’t be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. 11 For some members of Chloe’s household have told me about your arguments, dear brothers and sisters. 12 Some of you are saying, “I am a follower of Paul.” Others are saying, “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Peter,” or “I follow only Christ.”
In light of division within the church, Paul appealed for harmony, not the elimination of diversity. Some were devoting themselves to Apollos, others Peter, and still others Paul. They were disrupting the fellowship because they preferred one over the other and couldn’t understand why others didn’t side with them.
A few chapters later, Paul clarified for them how he saw his role within the ministry as opposed to the role of Apollos. In I Corinthians 3:5 - 9 we read:
Who is Apollos, and who is Paul, that we should be the cause of such quarrels? Why, we’re only servants. Through us God caused you to believe. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. 6 My job was to plant the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God, not we, who made it grow. 7 The ones who do the planting or watering aren’t important, but God is important because he is the one who makes the seed grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters work as a team with the same purpose. Yet they will be rewarded individually, according to their own hard work. 9 We work together as partners who belong to God. You are God’s field, God’s building—not ours.
It is to be noted that Paul and Apollos were not competing with each other. They were both on the same team; they were partners in the ministry. The one planted the good seed and the other watered it. In performing their distinct roles they were just the means for growth, not the cause of it. The results belonged to God, he and he alone deserved the devotion and praise of the believers.
You don’t have to be a New Testament scholar to see that Apollos (as well as Paul) had a significant role in the life of the Corinthian church. He was one of the ones who strengthened the believers, he built them up. It is equally clear that some preferred to be under his umbrella rather than Paul’s or Peter’s. In other words, given a choice as to whom they would prefer to tune into, to whose tapes they would listen to, to whose CD’s they’d buy, they chose Apollos.
And while Apollos may have first established himself as an outstanding speaker in Corinth he, like most preachers in his day, traveled from one locale to another. We know this to be the case for in I Corinthians 16:10 - 12 we read:
When Timothy comes, treat him with respect. He is doing the Lord’s work, just as I am. 11 Don’t let anyone despise him. Send him on his way with your blessings when he returns to me. I am looking forward to seeing him soon, along with the other brothers.
Now about our brother Apollos—I urged him to join the other brothers when they visit you, but he was not willing to come right now. He will be seeing you later, when the time is right.
At the time, Apollos was in Ephesus, and for whatever reasons, felt that it wasn’t the right time to go back to Corinth. Then in Titus 3:12 - 14 we read:
I am planning to send either Artemas or Tychicus to you. As soon as one of them arrives, do your best to meet me at Nicopolis as quickly as you can, for I have decided to stay there for the winter. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos with their trip. See that they are given everything they need. 14 For our people should not have unproductive lives. They must learn to do good by helping others who have urgent needs.
Zenas the lawyer is mentioned nowhere else in the New Testament, nothing other than that he was a lawyer, is known about him. But considering that the letter to Titus was probably written ten years after the first letter to the Corinthians, around 64 A.D., we can conclude that Apollos had been on the speaking circuit for at least a decade by this time. Furthermore, the instructions suggest that the two were in Crete and that Titus was in a position to see that they had everything they needed for their trip.
To see why believers were attracted to Apollos and why he was no flash-in-the-pan, we need to go back and pick up his story from the beginning. We need to go back to Acts 18:24 - 28 where we first learn about this man. We read:
Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had just arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. 25 He had been taught the way of the Lord and talked to others with great enthusiasm and accuracy about Jesus. However, he knew only about John’s baptism. 26 When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately.
Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him in this. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God’s grace, had believed. 28 He refuted all the Jews with powerful arguments in public debate. Using the Scriptures, he explained to them, “The Messiah you are looking for is Jesus.”
Alexandria, situated on the Nile delta in Egypt, was the second largest city in the Roman Empire. There was also a large Jewish colony within the city. It was known for its lighthouse on the narrow island of Pharos, for its museum, and for its library which ultimately contained 700,000 volumes. It was also the place where the Hebrew Scriptures were translated into the Greek Septuagint.
If you were bent toward being a student of the Word, as was Apollos, this was a great place to grow up; physically and intellectually. But evidently Apollos wanted to be where the action was, so he boarded a ship and set sail for Asia Minor; eventually making his way to Ephesus. Once there, he found the local synagogue and immediately began addressing the theological issues of his day.
During that time a couple by the name of Priscilla and Aquila heard him and realized that his knowledge about Jesus was accurate but deficient. What he knew, he knew well but it was clear that he didn’t know the rest of the story. To their credit, they did not correct him publicly.
Instead, they pulled him aside and told him what happened after the death and resurrection of Jesus. They told him about how the promised Holy Spirit had fallen on the believers on the day of Pentecost. They told him that John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance, which was good, but in being baptized in Christ, in identifying with his death, burial, and resurrection believers were given the promised Holy Spirit.
To Apollos’ credit, he listened to them and accepted the correction. He then went on to become a very effective and fruitful speaker. He was influential in that he made a major impact on the Kingdom of God, and he did so for a number of reasons.
He was highly influential because he was eloquent. He had the ability to string words together in such a way that others enjoyed listening to him. He was an easy man to listen to, a real pleasure for he said things the way we wished we could say them.
He was highly influential because he was knowledgeable. He not only knew the Old Testament backwards and forwards, he understood it. He was able to give the sense of it to others; to show how it pointed toward Jesus as the Messiah.
He was highly influential because he was teachable. He didn’t come across as someone you couldn’t approach and discuss a point or two. He was willing to listen to what others had to say and to take their input into consideration. And since he listened to others, they were inclined to listen to him.
He was highly influential because he was energetic. Matthew Henry, in his commentary said, of Apollos, that he was “a lively, affectionate preacher.” He spoke as if he really believed in what he was saying, and in turn others believed what he was saying. Being energetic doesn’t guarantee that someone is necessarily right, but it does mean they always sound as if they are right! Plus, it compels others to listen.
He was highly influential because he was precise. When he strung words together he did so carefully knowing that what he had to say was so important that it needed to be said not only with clarity but it also needed to be said accurately.
He was highly influential because he was courageous. He spoke boldly, with no hesitation in regards to who might be in the audience. He was not ashamed of the gospel for he knew it was the power of salvation for everyone who believes.
How about us? Are we influential? If not, why not? We may not have the same natural intellect of Apollos, we may not be inclined to be an Old Testament scholar, but we do have the same Spirit within us. And the Spirit that empowered Apollos to be an influential preacher can empower us to be effective in whatever he has called us to do.

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