The Word Made Plain

Guest (Male): Welcome to The Word Made Plain with senior pastor Tony Clark of Calvary Chapel Newport News in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Tony is teaching a study in the book of Acts. Please open your Bibles to Acts chapter 18, verses 24 through 28.

Tony Clark: God bless you. Let's dive into the word of God together. Turn with me in your Bibles to Acts chapter 18. We're going to be looking at verses 24 to 28. As we continue to go verse by verse and chapter by chapter through the word of God, we find ourselves in Acts chapter 18.

Father, thank you so much for this tremendous opportunity we have to talk about your word. And so God, we pray, anoint our ears that we might hear your voice speak to us. Lord, speak into our hearts a timely word that we need to hear today. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Looking at verses 24 to 28, the title of this message is "Where is Apollos Today?" Where is Apollos today? Now, in order to answer this important question, we must first know who he is. And what is it about this man that Luke, the author, will set aside time and verses to talk about this particular man?

We're going to see several characteristics about him, but there's one in particular that we're going to see that will make us, and especially me, make me say, where is Apollos today? This is an important question. He has several characteristics, some great characteristics about him that we're going to see, but there's one in particular that captured my heart and captured my mind.

By way of background, the last time we were together, we saw how Paul left the city of Ephesus and told the people in verse 21 that he must keep the coming feast in Jerusalem. He landed in Caesarea and went to the city of Antioch and greeted the church he came from in verse 22. After he spent some time with them, he went over to the areas of Galatia and Phrygia in order to strengthen all of the disciples, the end of verse 23 says. Now we pick it up in verse 24. Look what it says there.

"Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus." Now as Luke the author shifts the scene back to the city of Ephesus, he pauses to introduce us to a man named Apollos. It is believed that his whole name was Apollonius and Apollos is a contraction of his proper name. Then Luke tells us where he was from. He was born at Alexandria, which was the second most important city in the Roman Empire.

It was located in Egypt near the mouth of the Nile River. We're going to see some characteristics about the city of Alexandria to understand the environment by which Apollos grew up in. Alexandria was a center for education and philosophy. The city was founded and named after Alexander the Great. It boasted of a university with a library of over 700,000 volumes.

The city of Alexandria had a population of 600,000 people, which consisted of Egyptians and Romans and Greeks and Jews. At least 25% of the population was Jewish, and this community was very affluent. And so this is the environment that Apollos was raised in. Luke also tells us that Apollos was an eloquent man. The Greek word for eloquent is *logios*, and it only appears here in the entire New Testament. It means a man of words or man of ideas, which I believe Apollos was both.

This means that he was highly cultured and trained in philosophy and rhetoric. And one of the main characteristics that Luke tells us about Apollos is that he was, and here it is, mighty in the Scriptures. It is this characteristic that caused me to ask, where is Apollos today? The Greek word for mighty is *dunatos*, and it means divine power or capabilities.

As you can see, it is closely related to the Greek word *dunamis*. It is where we get our English word dynamite or dynamic from. So his learning and eloquence coupled with his incredible grasp he had of the Old Testament Scriptures made Apollos an incredible debater, a dynamic speaker. Did you know that no one else in the Bible is given this title of being mighty in the Scriptures?

We see something close. Ezra, in the book of Ezra chapter 7 and verse 6, is said to be an expert scribe in the law of Moses. And I say oh how the church today needs men and women like Apollos. A man dedicated to being mighty in the Scriptures. Oh, I say this because I look at Christians today and how little they know about the Bible and the things of God.

I just got back from speaking in South Carolina at a men's conference. I went there Friday, spoke Friday night, spoke on a panel Saturday morning, then we headed back to come back home. One of my friends spoke after me and he had an intern with him, a young man with him. He said this kid came up in their academy, the church's academy. His church is up in New Jersey, a mega church up there, and they have an academy. He said this kid was the worst kid in the academy. Terrible kid, horrible little crumb-crusher. He was terrible.

But as he grew up, God got a hold of his heart. And all of a sudden he told us, this kid read the Bible through five times in nine months. This kid was just the word of God was just flowing. He was mighty, this kid, mighty in the Scriptures. You talk to him, he's just quoting the word of God and the things of God. He just knows because he spent time in the word of God.

Most Christians know more about psychology and self-help authors than what the eternal Word says. And my prayer, my desire is to teach you the Bible in such a way from Genesis to Revelation that your family members and coworkers and Christian friends can say about you, man, you are mighty in the Scriptures. This is the background to this great man. Look at what else it says about him in verse 25.

It says, "This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he only knew the baptism of John." Now Luke tells us that Apollos had been instructed in the way of the Lord. The Greek word for instructed is *katecheo*, and it means to inform, to instruct, or to teach.

It is where we get our English word catechize or for those with a Roman Catholic background, you remember catechism. This means that Apollos had personal, formal training. In other words, there's nothing wrong with going to Bible college or seminary if that Bible college or seminary is committed to the essentials of the Christian faith. It's unfortunate that I have to put that little caveat on the end because the majority of the Bible colleges and seminaries have gone so liberal that they have strayed away from the things of God.

And yes, I know that first Corinthians 1 and verse 26 says that God didn't call many wise. Yes, it does say this, but it doesn't say that God didn't call any wise, just not many wise. Why? Because God doesn't want us to trust in our education or our great intellect. He wants the glory to go to Him. He wants us to trust in His power, which comes from the Holy Spirit and not in, watch this, the power of the intellect, which comes from man.

However, Apollos had both. And we offer several classes throughout the year to equip you to be like Apollos, to be mighty in the Scriptures. However, it takes time. It takes time that we take the buds out the ears, we turn off the electronic devices for a time, and get into the word of God.

Now I know that nowadays because of technology that with buds and headphones and Beats and all kind of stuff that you have going on, you can have the audio Bible, you can have the word of God going through those things. I know that. But it's nothing like time that you sit in silence and open up the word of God and let God speak to your heart. There's nothing like that.

This kid that I was telling you about in New Jersey, this kid took time. I bet he wasn't bumping some bumping music in his ear. No, he was reading the word of God and read it five times through in nine months. Incredible, that's unheard of in today's times, especially with someone in his 20s. He's a young man. And for him to dedicate himself to such a task. C.H. Spurgeon talks about this, that we should be so full of the Bible that when we bleed, we bleed bibline.

I want to be so full of the word of God like one person said that when a mosquito bites me, he goes away flying away singing "Nothing but the blood of Jesus." That's how I want to be mighty in the Scriptures like that. And this young man was like that. Notice how Luke tells us that Apollos was fervent in spirit.

The Greek word for fervent is *zeo*, and it means the boiling of liquids. It means to be kept at the boiling point. Meaning that Apollos didn't allow for his spirit to sag. He didn't allow his spirit to simmer down or to get low. He didn't allow his walk with God to stop boiling. He stayed hot for the Lord, unlike some of the believers in the church of Laodicea that the book of Revelation chapter 3 verse 16 mentioned that they had become lukewarm.

I have to pause and ask you, where is your walk with the Lord? Or should I say, what temperature is your walk with the Lord right now? Is it hot? Is it cold? Or is it lukewarm? Or does it even exist at all? Is it like Apollos? He kept it at the boiling point. Or have you allowed the blessings and prosperity of life cause you to simmer down and now you're lukewarm, neither hot nor cold?

If you would notice, lukewarm is the compromise between hot and cold. Have you been compromising in your walk lately in some particular areas? And now you look at your life with the Lord and you are not quite on fire as you once were. Not Apollos, he was fervent in spirit. He kept his walk at the boiling point. And because he was mighty in the Scriptures and had been instructed in the way of the Lord, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord.

However, he had one flaw. He had one flaw. Even though he taught accurately the things of the Lord, he knew only the baptism of John, which is a reference to John the Baptist. John the Baptist being the forerunner of Jesus Christ came on the scene preaching a baptism of repentance according to Mark 1:4. His message was simple: Repent and believe in the Gospel according to Mark 1 and verse 15.

John the Baptist had focused on repentance from sin and on water baptism as an outward sign of your inward commitment. His baptism was to prepare the people's hearts for Jesus Christ and his kingdom. Apollos was probably urging the people in a more eloquent fashion to do the same. And even though Apollos had an incomplete message, notice that it wasn't insincere or inaccurate. It was just incomplete.

Notice how it didn't stop him from sharing what he did know. My point is this: Don't allow your limited knowledge of Jesus Christ and the Bible to keep you from sharing what you know. This has been a hindrance for a lot of people and why they don't talk about the Lord because they feel, well, I don't know a lot and what if they ask me a question I can't answer? Well then you just go back and get the answer. What's wrong with that?

So don't allow your limited knowledge or understanding of Jesus Christ and the Bible keep you from sharing what you do know. You remember the blind man in John chapter 9 and verse 25. He says, "One thing I know, that though I was blind, but now I see." And if this is all you can tell people, then tell them this one thing.

I was once blinded by my sin and Jesus offered me forgiveness through the cross and now I can see. I am forgiven. If this is the one thing you can tell people, you tell them this because here's the thing. The Bible says that they overcame in Revelation 12, right around verse 10. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. No one can deny your testimony. No one can say that didn't happen to you. Yeah, it did.

No one can deny your testimony. If that's the one thing you know, you share that one thing. I was blinded by my sin. Hey, man's greatest need is to be forgiven. And if they can hear that there's a God out there who can forgive them of their sin, can take the weight that they're carrying around of their sin and it's been placed upon him on the cross, people will run to it.

People are not, and let me tell you something, people are not against Christianity. You know that? They're against our demonstration of it. That's what they're against because we are a hot mess. That's what we are. We were talking about this on the way home from South Carolina. We were talking about this that we're all broken.

We are broke down. We are toe up from the flo up. And then I thought about it a little bit longer. We went about another couple of miles and I said, everybody in America needs to just needs to just go to the nearest Celebrate Recovery in their area and just go in there and try to get fixed. We're all broken. We broken. We come in here with our smiles like we got it all together.

We broke down. It's what we are spiritually. We got so many hang-ups and hassles and hardships and mess in our lives and if we can just show the world that there is a God who wants to forgive them and that's all you know, is I was blinded by my sin, now I can see. How can you see? Through Jesus Christ and the cross. He's forgiven me of all of my sin.

And if we can just share that with people. People are burdened down with their sin. The mess that they've done to their kids, the mess they didn't do. The mess and the hatred and anger kids have towards parents. We're all just broken up folks and the only salvation is through the cross of Jesus Christ. This is what we need to be telling folks.

But we try to come off like we got it all together. That we're all right and good and righteous and holy. And then you go cuss out your spouse soon as you get in the car here. Soon as you're here in church, you get in the car and you look over at them and say, I didn't forget what took place last night. You so and so blankety blank. I'm like what? Where did you just come from?

We're broke folks and only Jesus can fix us. We're like Humpty Dumpty. We fell down. Like the commercial, I fell down and I can't get up. You can't. Only Jesus can pick you up. He can lift you up. We're broke folks. We're in such need of salvation. We're in such need of the cross and the forgiveness of our sin. We don't have it together. We don't.

I know you want to look like you do. You're broke down too. I'm going to let you know. I'm your friend. I'm letting you know you're broke down no matter how many hallelujahs, amens, too blessed to be stressed you can say. You're broke. You're broke down. And I'm your friend to tell you, you need Jesus just like the rest of us.

And so this is what Apollos knew. All he knew was the baptism of John. That was all that he knew. But let's see what happens. Look at verse 26. "So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately."

Now we know from verse 24 that Apollos left Alexandria where he was born and came to the city of Ephesus. Why? We're untold. And we see that his gift of speaking made room for him because this verse says he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. Proverbs 18 and verse 16 says that your gift will make room for you.

You don't have to try to spiritually, as far as in the church and spiritually, you don't have to try to pump up yourself, boast in who you are, where you have been, and all that sort of stuff that you got to do in the world. You got to send your resume and boast up and pump yourself up and try to make yourself look good. No, the Bible says your gift will make room for you.

Here's this man, eloquent man, educated, and next thing you know, he left Alexandria, came to Ephesus, we don't know why, and all of a sudden now he's speaking boldly in the synagogue. I remember when I was assistant pastor in a church back in the 80s. And then I left there and started going to Calvary Chapel. And we sat in the back because in those days, if you had kids in the children's ministry.

First of all, that thing about kids being in the children's ministry, that was the most glorious thing I ever heard in my life in church. That kids have their own church and adults can be taught and not be worried about Johnny got to pee, got to potty, I got to get up, my sister, she poked me and I pulled her hair. I thought it was the most glorious thing. I just said I'm experiencing a little taste of heaven. I couldn't believe what I was experiencing.

So we sat in the back because those with kids sat in the back. And that was before the little numbering system and all the technological ways we tell people little Johnny needs you. Back at that day, you sat in the back and when little Johnny needed you, they came and tapped you on the shoulder. You get the famous tap. And instead of sitting up front or in here in the middle or whatever and you got to go through and you got to excuse me, excuse me, and everybody's looking at you going out like this. No, you sat in the back and then you got the tap you went on back there and got them.

So we did that for two years. Sat in the back, did nothing. But the Bible says your gift will make room for yourself, just like it's doing here with Apollos. And next thing you know, they said, hey Pastor Tony, I can't teach that new believers' class today. Can you cover that for me? Yeah, I got it. Hey Pastor Tony, I can't be at that small group at that house. Can you teach that small group for me? Yeah, I got it.

Pretty soon my gift made room for myself. Then next thing you know, they asked me to come and be available to pray with people after service. Okay, all right, got you, got you. Then next thing you know, my pastor asked me to come on full time. Your gift will make room for yourself. In the kingdom of God, the way to be exalted is to be humbled.

It's not through the world is just the opposite. The way to be exalted you got to pump yourself, you got to promote yourself, you got to get out there. No, it's not like that in the kingdom. It's through humility. And it's through letting God exalt you because when God exalts you, no one can put you down. Only him.

And so here we see his gift made room for him and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Now Aquila and Priscilla stayed behind in Ephesus as Paul went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover according to verse 21.

So when they heard this eloquent preacher talk about the things of God, what did they do? Did they stand up and blast him publicly? "Hey, you eloquent preacher, that's not quite how it goes!" No, they took him aside. Possibly to their house because the church of Ephesus started out in the house of Aquila and Priscilla.

And they instructed him in the atoning death of Christ, his burial for three days, and his glorious resurrection. Something that Apollos didn't know about. This says a lot about Apollos that he was, watch this, he was teachable. He was teachable. Yes, he was knowledgeable and very eloquent, but he was humble and teachable.

Tremendous qualities and characteristics to have is to be humble and teachable. He didn't allow his knowledge to puff him up with pride like first Corinthians 8:1 says knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. I always smile when our kids they go off to college for the first time. The first semester when they come home for Thanksgiving break. And they've been at the university for some time. They come back talking different. And all of a sudden their head which used to look straight now's a little like this now. And they got a semester of psychology under their belt.

Guest (Male): If The Word Made Plain has been a source of inspiration and encouragement to you, why not consider becoming a Word Made Plain giving partner to keep this listener-supported program on the air? As a giving partner, you join forces with Calvary Chapel Newport News's kingdom vision of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You can make your tax-deductible gift online at calvarynn.org or send your gift of any amount to 15553 Warwick Boulevard, Newport News, Virginia 23608 and receive a gift from Calvary Chapel Newport News as our thank you. In addition to your financial support, we ask that you pray for The Word Made Plain broadcast, that it touches hearts and generates change in the lives of people around the world. We pray you've been blessed by God's word today and hope you'll tune in next time to hear The Word Made Plain.