Okay, now, if you'll turn with
me to Acts chapter 18, and we'll begin reading here in verse 24,
down to the end of the chapter. And a certain Jew named Apollos,
born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures,
came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the
way of the Lord. And being fervent in the Spirit,
he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing
only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly
in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they
took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more
perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass
into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive
him, who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed
through grace. For he mightily convinced the
Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures, that Jesus
is the Christ. My subject tonight is the grace
and knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's what I want to talk to
you about is the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Apollos believed
the gospel of Christ when he came to Ephesus. He's called
here in verse 24 a certain Jew born at Alexandria. You remember
When we looked into Isaiah chapter 19, in the gospel we heard Isaiah
declare how that God would bring out His elect scattered among
the nations, whether it was Egypt or Assyria or Israel or wherever
they might be. And here we have one of those
certain, chosen, everlastingly loved children of God. His name's
Apollos. And he was Jewish of Jewish descent,
but that's not why he was a child of God. That's not why he was
a true Jew Apollos was a child of God by the choice of God.
He was Not according to any merit or any works by him, but according
to God's grace. He put him in Christ He's a Jew
which is one inwardly Circumcision is that of the heart in the Spirit,
not in the letter, in the Spirit, whose praise is not of men but
of God. So Apollos here is a testimony
of God's faithfulness concerning His promise to call out each
of His elect, whether they be in the nation Israel, or Egypt,
or Assyria, or Ethiopia, or the uttermost parts of the earth.
Now verse 25 tells us, this man was instructed in the way of
the Lord. Now, this language tells us that
Apollos was preaching with the same eye toward Christ Jesus
the Lord, from the same viewpoint toward Christ Jesus that John
the Baptist taught. That is, it was prior to the
death, burial, and resurrection of Christ Jesus. That's how Apollos
came preaching. John was sent, you remember,
to prepare the way of the Lord. And Apollos was instructed in
the way of the Lord. John the Baptist, he was a forerunner. Which, when a king was coming
to town, you sent the forerunner before you to give the herald
that the king's coming. For everybody to get in line
and to come out to meet the king. The king is on his way to town.
And that's who John the Baptist was. He was a forerunner sent
to announce the arrival of King Jesus. This is what the prophets
said about him. Isaiah said, he's the voice of
him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. And then when they
asked John, who are you? If John would have come in his
own name, just as you read, Brother Pete, if he would have come in
his own name, they'd have received him. But he said, I'm not the
light. I'm not the Christ. I came to bear witness of the
light. They said, then why do you baptize? And he said, John
bear witness of him and cried saying, this was he of whom I
spake. He that cometh after me is preferred before me because
he was before me. He told them Christ is the everlasting
mediator. He's from eternity past. John
preached the gospel. That's what he said. John preached
that Christ is the Lamb of God. All along, in all the Old Testament
sacrifices, there was a lamb involved. And John pointed to
Christ the Lord and said, here is the lamb. This is the one
that Abraham spoke of when he told Isaac, God will provide
himself a lamb. Here he is. He's the lamb. This is God with us. God providing
himself a lamb. John said that this is the one
that the Spirit of God descended and abode on, descended and remained
on, signifying to Israel that this is the Christ. He says in
John 1.31, I knew him not, but that he should be made manifest
to Israel. Therefore am I come baptizing
with water and John bear record saying I saw the Spirit descending
from heaven like a dove and it abode on him Signifying this
is the Christ the Lord spoke from heaven and said this is
my beloved Son and whom I'm well pleased John declared that this
Jesus is the Son of God He said I bear record that this is the
Son of God So John preached the gospel He preached the gospel
of repentance from dead works to faith in Christ Jesus the
Lord. That was the message of John.
He preached the Lord whom you've sought, the Messiah, whom you've
expected is coming and he will quickly appear. Prepare to meet
the King. Repent from your former ways,
your sins and your self-righteousnesses and receive Christ by faith. Now, in Acts 18 here in verse
25, it says, Apollos spake diligently, spake and taught diligently,
that means accurately the things of the Lord. He knew the gospel,
the doctrine of John, he knew the gospel of Christ. He believed
Jesus Christ indeed is the Christ. But he knew only the baptism
of John, meaning He heard John speak of this one who would come
after him and this one who wouldn't baptize with water but would
baptize with the Holy Ghost and with the Word with fire. But
he only knew the baptism of John, he only knew the ministry of
John. He didn't know Christ had actually
risen from the dead and poured out the Holy Ghost upon His people
and baptized the church in the Holy Ghost. Nor did he know what
that declared, what that meant. And so, verse 26 says, He began
to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla
had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him
the way of God more perfectly. They taught him these things
he didn't know. Where Christ is, what Christ
had done, where He is now, and what He's doing now. That's what
they taught Apollos, because he needed to know these things.
We need a little review here. Do you remember on the day of
Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out? When Peter stood
up and declared what was going on, the folks said, these men
are drunk. And Peter stood up and he said,
he lifted up his voice and he said, you men of Judea and all
you that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and hearken
to my words. These are not drunken. as you
suppose, seeing as it's but the third hour of the day. But this
is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel, when he said, It
shall come to pass that in the last days, saith God, I'll pour
out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams. And he said, I'll do many signs,
I'll do some wonders. And God the Father was bearing
witness of something. He was bearing witness by sending
forth the Holy Spirit that Christ Jesus the Lord is both Lord and
Christ. Meaning, He's overcome the world. meaning he's bought the church
with his own blood. He's fulfilled the law and the
prophets. He's purged the sin of every
individual elect child of God. He has perfected them forever
by his one offering. John preached the kingdom was
at hand. This was a signification that
when the Holy Spirit was poured out that the king Christ Jesus
has risen to the throne and he is seated on his throne and the
kingdom is Established the king is reigning the kingdom is established
all power in heaven and earth is given to the Son and The Father
has given all power to the Son. And so Jesus of Nazareth, this
man, Christ Jesus, is both Lord and Christ. He is the King Savior. He is the King Priest. He is
the Sovereign Savior, the Sovereign Messiah. And Peter ended there
that day and he said, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly
that God hath made that same Jesus whom you have crucified,
both Lord and Christ. Now, what did that mean? What
did Christ do immediately, immediately after Peter declared that? Do
you know what happened immediately after he declared that? It says,
When they heard this, they were pricked in their heart. The Lord Jesus Christ, as Lord
and Christ, filleth all in all. Who sent forth the Spirit? The
Father sent Him forth, but Christ sent Him forth, signifying He's
Lord and He's Christ. He's the one as the head of the
church who fills all of His elect people He fills them all. Look at Ephesians chapter 1 with
me real quick. Hold your place here in Ephesians
because we're about to be back here in just a second. Ephesians
chapter 1. Paul said here to the Ephesians
in verse 17, he prayed that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. The eyes of your understanding
being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of His
calling and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance
in the saints what is the exceeding greatness of His power to us
who believe. Now what is it? According to
the working of His mighty power which He wrought in Christ when
He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own right hand
in heavenly places far above all principality and power and
might and dominion, and everything that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all
things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things
to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth
all in all." Paul tells us that this is what
I want you to get here. Now, stay there in Ephesians
and mark your place in Acts 18 and stay there in Ephesians just
a minute. We'll be right back there in just a second. But here's
what I want you to get before we go any further. Christ Jesus,
the man, the God-man, the Son of God, the Son of Man. Christ
Jesus is alive. He's living. He's seated in glory,
reigning from heaven's throne. He possesses all power to send
forth His grace and effectually, irresistibly reign in the hearts
of His people through the Holy Spirit, instructing them through
the gospel that declares His power and His wisdom. He brings
us into the obedience of faith. That's what Apollos didn't know
about. He didn't know how this had come
about and what had happened and where Christ, that Christ is
seated in glory and what He's doing now. He didn't understand. He didn't know that. Now get
this. Peter says, Don't be moved away
from your steadfastness. Our steadfastness is Christ. And he says this, but grow in
grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
to whom be glory both now and forever. Amen. Now get this,
grace and knowledge is of Jesus Christ. When he says grow in grace, grow
in the grace of Jesus Christ and in the knowledge of Jesus
Christ. Grace and knowledge are both
of Jesus Christ, given through the Spirit, through the Gospel,
into the heart of his people. Now, This is what scripture says,
we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto
the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, the grace of God, and
the wisdom of God, the knowledge of God. Grace and power is through
Christ, through the preaching of the gospel. We can't have
one without the other. Jesus grows us in grace, in power,
as He increases our knowledge of Him. And when He increases
our knowledge of Him, He grows us in grace. The two are together,
grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is what
Apollos was taught, and this is what Apollos was experiencing. What I love here What I love
here about this scripture in Acts 18 is Luke doesn't tell
us what Aquila and Priscilla taught Apollos. But he tells us what Aquila and
Priscilla taught Apollos by showing us, by recording what happened
with Apollos and Aquila and Priscilla and the brethren at Ephesus and
at Corinth. In other words, He gives us the
effects of it. And in giving us the effects
of what was effectually worked, we know good and well what Aquila
and Priscilla told Apollos. Now, I want you to see how that
he was grown in grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ and how that
he became useful after this. Now, in Ephesians, with me if
you'll look there. Hold your place in Acts 18 and
stay in Ephesians and we're going to go back and forth here for
a minute. Now let me make an observation to you, something
I've been seeing as we go through Acts. When you see what happened
in the book of Acts with Paul, like at Philippi, at Thessalonica,
at Corinth, at Ephesus, if you go over and read the letters
that Paul wrote to those churches, Paul is writing in those letters
a great deal concerning what he saw the Lord Jesus Christ
do in the hearts of his people when he was there preaching to
those folks. Now Paul wasn't there at Ephesus when this took
place. But the Spirit of Christ moves
Paul to write what he wrote. And what Paul writes in Ephesians,
if we compare it to what happened with Apollos and Aquila and Priscilla,
we're going to see that what Aquila and Priscilla told Apollos
is Christ is reigning and he's growing his people in grace and
knowledge of him through the Spirit, through the Gospel. That's
what Apollos didn't know. Now, turn with me to Ephesians
chapter 4. We've seen this before, but I
want to go through this and compare these two. I was blessed by this,
and I pray you will be too. Now, in Ephesians 4, 7. Paul
says, unto every one of us, talking to believers, those born of the
Spirit of God, unto every one of us is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ. Now, the gift of grace
which Apollos had when he came to Ephesus was given to him by
Christ, but his knowledge of Christ was at this time given
in a limited measure. He only knew the ministry of
John. He didn't know what Christ had
done. He brought, but Christ brought
Apollos to Ephesus and Aquila and Priscilla to Ephesus because
he would give Apollos more grace. He's going to give him a greater
measure of grace and knowledge of him. Now, and he's doing this
for a reason. Look at verse 11. When Christ,
what it says in verse Let me read the parentheses he that
ascended What is it with that? He also descended first into
the lower parts of the earth He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill
all things You see that Now watch this, and he gave some apostles
and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. Apollos will be Christ's
gift. He will be one of these gifts
to the church at Corinth. But in the process of equipping
Apollos, So that Apollos would be a gift which Christ would
give to the church at Corinth, Apollos first has to be grown. and he has to be grown by the
effectual grace of Christ so that he has the knowledge of
Christ, he's experienced this grace himself, that Christ is
the one who effectually grows us in grace and works obedience
in his people or else Apollos is going to go to Corinth and
try to effect this growth in grace and this knowledge of Christ
by the strength of his own hand instead of just going there and
preaching Christ. He's got to experience this grace
and knowledge of Christ working effectually in him before he
can go to Corinth and just be content to preach Christ and
be crucified. The man that hadn't experienced this grace and knowledge
of Christ by the effectual working of the power of Christ acts as
if Christ is not alive, as if he's not seated at the right
hand of God, as if he's not ruling and reigning, as if it's up to
men to make men obedient. You know, as the doctrine that
we preach, we would never, and most who claim to agree with
the doctrine we preach, would never use the tactics that Armenians
use to try to force a profession of faith out of folks. But the same folks will then
turn around and use tactics, as bad if not worse, to try to
affect obedience in people. The reason we wouldn't use those
tactics to affect a profession of faith is because we believe
Christ is risen and through the gospel he sends forth the Holy
Spirit into the heart and makes a man anew and alive and effectually
and irresistibly draws him to bow to Christ. You know what
we believe concerning obedience and the walk of faith and godliness?
That he works the same power through the same gospel. How did the Lord Jesus Christ
work this in Apollos? Now, Ephesians 4.15. But speaking the truth in love
may grow up into him in all things which is the head, even Christ.
First of all, Christ who is the head, who's risen, who's filling
all in all. effectually worked in Aquila
and Priscilla this grace and knowledge so that they spoke
the truth in love to Apollos. It says, verse 26, in our text
back in Acts 18, He began to speak boldly in the synagogue,
who when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took Him unto
them. Now you picture this, they're
sitting there in the synagogue, and here comes Apollos. And he
stands up and he starts preaching. But he's preaching the gospel
as John the Baptist preached the gospel, as if Christ hasn't
been to the cross, and been to the tomb, and risen from the
grave, and seated at God's right hand. And Aquila and Priscilla
hear this man preaching this, and they hear that he's saying
everything exactly as John the Baptist said, that he believes
in Christ, he trusts Christ, he's turned from his works of
righteousness and trusts Christ alone. But they realize, but
he needs to hear where Christ is now. What are we going to
do? Are we going to just shame him? Are we going to rebuke him? What are we going to do to him?
We're going to take him to ourself, away from this crowd of folks,
from everybody else, without making any scene whatsoever,
invite him over to our house, and we'll teach him. They spoke
the truth in love to him. That's what they did. Why did
they do that? They expounded unto him the way of God more
perfectly. The way of God. Christ the way.
That's what they taught him. They spoke the truth in love.
Christ the truth. They they did so in love because
they were constrained by the love of Christ and they wanted
a policies Faith to stand in the power and grace of Christ
and not in their wisdom Not in something there. So they simply
spoke the truth to him in love And now watch this Ephesians
4 verse 16, and from whom, from Christ, the whole body is fitly
joined together. Now, Christ the head. Here's
an example of this. The whole body is fitly joined
together by Christ. Here's a little example of this.
Christ, the head, fitly joined Aquila and Priscilla and Apollos
together. He brought them together. You
know what a word of grace is back in Acts? Now, we're going
to be switching back and forth, but I'm going to read out of
Ephesians 4, and I want you to go back to Acts and see it with
me. Here's how he joined them together. Watch this. Acts 18-19
says, Paul came to Ephesus, and he left Aquila and Priscilla
there. Verse 24 says, A certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria,
an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.
Christ, to whom all power in heaven and earth is given, joined
them together there at Ephesus. It says, Ephesians 4, verse 16,
And the whole body is fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth. Now watch this, Christ compacted
them together. You know what that word compacted
means? It means to make of one mind. Christ the head did this
using these two joints, Aquila and Priscilla. supplied to Apollos
the truth that Christ is seated at God's right hand, working
grace and knowledge of Him in His people. They were the ones
that supplied this to Apollos. Now look at verse 16 again. from
whom the whole body fitly joined together, compacted, made to
be of one mind by that which every joint supplies, according
to the effectual working in the measure or members of every part. All was done by the grace of
Christ according to the effectual working of Christ in the measure
and the member of each individual elect child that is involved
here in Priscilla and Aquila and Apollos. Unto every one of
us is given grace according to the measure of who? The gift
of Christ. That's what he's doing here using
Aquila and Priscilla to Apollos. Now, proof that this is what
he did. Back in our text, in Acts 18.24,
Apollos was an eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures. That
means he's well-educated, he's cultured, he's well-spoken, he
knew the Old Testament Scriptures mightily. Verse 25 says, this
man was instructed in the way of the Lord. He was catechized,
he was indoctrinated in the way of the Lord. He knew his doctrine. He knew what John the Baptist
taught concerning Christ. He was fervent in the Spirit.
He spake and taught accurately the things of the Lord. Verse
26 says, and he spoke with boldness when he spoke in the synagogue.
Aquila and Priscilla were tent makers. They never spoke a day in their
life in a synagogue. They're tent makers. Priscilla
is a woman and she appears to do most of the teaching. What's
going to make Aquila and Priscilla speak to a man of such a stature?
And what's going to make a man of such a stature receive what
Aquila and Priscilla teach him? Christ the Head, from Heaven's
glory, worked grace effectually in the heart of everyone involved,
and everyone involved desired to hear the truth of Christ expounded
more perfectly, more fully. That's what made them want to
hear. That's what made them obedient. And listen. Now, back there in
Ephesians 4.16. He says, "...from whom the whole
body, fitly joined together, brought into union into one mind,
that by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual
working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the
body." By doing this, Christ increases the body, the Church. Did He increase the body? by
what He did here with Aquila and Priscilla and Apollos. He
did so by increasing the church at Ephesus and the church at
Corinth. Everyone involved was increased
by this. Everyone who was a believer was
increased by what Christ was doing here. Now look at verse,
Acts 18, 27. When He was disposed to pass
into a cave, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive
Him, who when He was come, helped them much which had believed
through grace. That's what they did. Everybody
involved was increased and they sent him then to Corinth saying,
this man will make you a good preacher. He'll help you out. Receive him. Now, when Christ
works this in us, you know what we say? I'm going to have you
turn back to Ephesians 4 one more time. When Christ works
this in us, you know what we say? We say, to Him be the glory,
both now and forever. This is what Paul said when he
said, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by
Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. But listen to
what the Spirit moved Paul to write about this. Look back there
in Ephesians 4.16. It says, from Christ the whole
body is fitly joined together, is compacted by that which every
joint supplies, according to the effectual working and the
measure of every part, it makes the whole body increase, now
look at this, unto the edifying of itself in love. How is it that the Spirit would
say that this work, which is all of Christ's grace, all of
His power, is described as the body edifying itself in love? It was all done by Christ. How
can it be said that this is the body edifying itself in love?
Because verse 15 says, Christ is the head of the whole body. the body and the head are one.
All the members are one with Him and with each other. And
the power and the wisdom of our head makes every member edifying
to every other member so that the whole body edifies itself
in love. Isn't that something? Isn't that
something? Quilla and Priscilla actually
taught Apollos Apollos actually received what they taught. The
church actually recommended him to Corinth. And Apollos actually
went to Corinth and preached. The body was edifying itself
in love because the grace and power of Christ worked effectually
in the whole body. When your hand does something,
your whole body did it. You did it, didn't you? You don't
just say, well, my hand did it. No, you did it. When you see
something, you don't say, well, my eye saw it. No, you say, I
saw it. Because your whole body saw it.
That's how one we are with Christ. He says, what I've done and what
I've caused you to do, you've done it. I've done it. And we've
done it by Him, in Him. We're one with Him. Now, I got
a question for you. If a man experiences this power
and this wisdom, this grace and this knowledge, and finds out
Christ really is alive. Christ really is seated at God's
right hand. Christ really is sovereign. He
really is the King-Priest, the King-Savior, the King-Messiah,
working and doing His good pleasure in the hearts of His people,
among all the inhabitants of the earth, doing just as He is
pleased to do. When somebody finds this out,
and they've experienced it like Apollos experienced it, He'd
been grown by the effectual working of Christ in him. He had increased
in this knowledge of Christ Jesus. He had expressed this grace and
truth which had been presented in truth and in love by a couple
of tent makers to him. Now what then did Apollos do
when he got to Koran? What method did Apollos use when
he got to Koran? Did he go in there and say, well
now, let's just all try to come to a consensus and agree here. Let's see if we can't reach some
sort of great compromise so that we can all get along. Did he
use any power or force of his own hand? Look at our text, Acts
18 verse 28. Well, let me read verse 27. When
He was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren rode, exhorting
the disciples to receive Him, who when He was come, He helped
them much. I like to put the emphasis on
them because I think this word grace here is saying He had been
helped much through grace. And when He got to Corinth, He
helped them much who believed through grace. How did He help
them? For he mightily convinced the
Jews, and that publicly, showing by the Scriptures that Jesus
is Christ. He spoke the truth in love, because
he knew that's how sinners are brought to the obedience of faith.
No gimmicks, no power and strength of men's hands. No yoking and
trying to constrain people using wisdom of words and eloquence
or any of those things. Just preach the truth of Christ
in love and watch Christ work grace and knowledge in the hearts
of his people. That's the grace and knowledge
of Christ. Now Paulus and Aquila, it's not said that's what they
taught him. But I believe they said, this Christ is sitting
on the throne, and through that message, that's what happened
to Apollos.