I love thee, Ken Teach me thy
ways Until thy grace is gone Until thy grace is gone Until
thy grace is gone Now, let's open our Bibles to
Acts 18. This is an interesting portion
of scripture. as well as profitable. I hope it will be profitable, edifying,
instructing. It's up to the Holy Spirit. It's
also somewhat controversial, and this is all the more reason
we need to study the scriptures to show ourselves approved, rightly
dividing the word of truth, comparing scripture with scripture, spiritual
things with spiritual things. This certainly requires some
spiritual discernment, some careful, some diligent searching here.
This is the reason we study scriptures verse by verse. I believe in
it now more strongly than ever. And if every preacher would do
so, there would be a lot less error going around today. And if the people would search
the scriptures, there would be a lot less people following after
these fellows. And you can receive this for
work, however it sounds to you, but again, I say you're very
blessed to be under the sound of this type of preaching. Not just me, but every man that
stands up here does this kind of preaching. And you've had
the background in this way, this verse-by-verse diligence, searching
and studying through God's word. That's how he speaks, and that's
what he blesses. And some of these things will
still remain a mystery up to tonight. Gray areas, perhaps. John Davis came in early, as
usual, and we had a good time, as usual, discussing the text.
And I learned some things that some things were We learned some
things together just sitting there in that short period of
time. Nobody has a completely, has completely a handle on this
thing, and I'd be the first to admit that. Some things that
I thought I knew, I've learned otherwise. All right, let's read,
begin with verse 18. After spending eighteen months
in Corinth, it says that he tarried there even yet a good while after
that. He spent a year and six months
teaching the word of God among them. You remember that story
last Wednesday night. I think you were blessed right
along with me in considering that Lord and Paul preaching
the gospel there in Corinth and wanting to leave, yet the Lord
telling him to stay there and calling out a few here and there
and them asking him, please stay, please stay. And he did, eighteen
months, a year and a half, and after that he stayed a little
while. It sounded like he didn't want to leave, didn't it, John?
And finally, after a long time, he took his leave of the brethren,
it says. and sailed, he took his leave
of the brethren, and sailed unto Syria. And with him, look who
went with him, Priscilla and Aquila. They just couldn't get
enough of this preaching. They said they were the ones,
John, that were responsible for him staying in Corinth in the
first place. I want you to see this. I wish
I had read this. After, in closing, Wednesday
night, after the message, it fit perfectly. I didn't think
to. I read it privately to some of
you people who read it with me. It fit so perfectly. If you remember
the story of Priscilla and Aquila, a man named Aquila, a tentmaker,
and his wife, Priscilla, and how they took Paul in, not knowing
him, him being a stranger, and he dwelt with them, and the Lord
saved them, or they heard the gospel. Through these two people,
the Lord established a church there in Corinth. Paul wanted
to leave, but they said, Don't leave, please don't leave. He stayed there a while, and
others said the same thing. Justice and others said, Don't
leave. So they begged him to stay the
first time, and then here he is about to leave again. They
said, Don't leave. He said, I've got to. But I've
got to go. That's what I'm sent to do, is
travel around. It's like men like Bill Clark
and others. We'd like to have them stay around
18 months, wouldn't we? But that's their calling, is
to go out. And so Priscilla and Quilla said, well, we'll just
go with you. Can we go? And Paul said, well,
I don't see why not. Turn over to Romans 16. These were two faithful, devoted,
and zealous believers, this man named Aquila and his wife Priscilla. Apparently they just went all
over the place hearing the gospel. Paul here in Romans 16 writes
a letter to the Romans, and you know who was there? What have they done there? Well,
they've heard there's a Bible conference going on. You'll find them there. Look
at Romans 16, verses 3 and 4. He says, Greek, Priscilla, and
Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus, who have from my life
laid down their necks. Do you remember when Paul came
to Corinth back there in chapter 18? The Jews rejected his message
in the synagogue, and he said, I'm leaving. I'm going to Gentile.
But Priscilla and Quilla, no, stay with us. And he preached
in their home, and they were in danger. Paul was in danger. He'd been drug out of a place
before, just like this, and stoned and killed. Remember that? Over
in, where was it? But he'd been drug out of one
place. and stoned and killed and persecuted everywhere he
went. So his life was in danger, and so were these people who
harbored him, who kept him in their house, Aquila and Priscilla. And that's what Paul says, they
have laid down their necks for my life, unto whom not only I
give thanks, but all the churches of the Gentiles, they owe a great
debt to this man and his wife. You see that? That was the start
of Paul going throughout, preaching the gospel of the Gentiles, Church
of Cork. Who had to despise a day of small
things? A man and his wife. A man and his wife. And you know,
I can think of some people like this. Apparently this man and
his wife were childless and having children because there's no mention
of them, and they were able to travel all over. Or they were
older and retired. No, they weren't retired, they
were making tents. Maybe they were older, but at any rate,
there's no mention of children or any encumbrances like that,
and they just traveled all over hearing the gospel and helping
out and doing what they could. And I can think of some people
like that today. You know them. You know some. Brother John brought
up Jim and Ronnie Nichols. We had that building back there
because of Jim and Juanita Echols. You know that? We thought, well,
let's build us a building someday. We need a building. We need a
nursery, and I need a study, and so forth. Jim and Juanita
Echols felt compelled to send us a thousand dollar check one
time. They said, do what you want to do with it. Build a building?
Fine. But we just felt compelled. They do that all the time. They've
sent check after check out there for various things. Among other
things, they travel all over. Time would fail me to tell what
those two have done for the cause of the gospel. I wish I could
tell you what all those two faithful people have done, and others.
I'm sure you know some that I probably don't know. What can I do? What can we do? Just read about Priscilla and
Aquila, and then you'll find out. All right, back to the text
there in Acts 18. It says in verse 18, Paul, after
this tarry had yet a good while, and he took his leave of the
brethren, he left, finally left Corinth, and sailed on to Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila went
with him. It doesn't say Paul, but it says, and with him Priscilla
and Aquila having shorn his head in Sencria, for he had a bow."
Now, I'm not going to deal with that right now. I've got enough
trouble with the rest of this text. Whether that was Paul or
whether it was Aquila, I don't know. But we're going to go on. I'll deal with this thing of
shaved heads and bows later on. It comes up again in the next
chapter, I think. of Ephesus, came to the city
of Ephesus. Oh, boy! Oh, boy! You remember before he determined
he was going to go this way and go up through Bithynia, but the
Lord needed a sade to go through there, but the Lord said, No.
Somebody appeared to him and said, Come over to Macedonia.
He didn't go there. That's where Lydia and the Well, now he comes
through Ephesus. And I'm telling you, the Lord
did great things here at Ephesus, didn't he? He sure wrote a good
book to the Ephesians. As soon as he came to Ephesus
and left them there, Priscilla and Aquila stayed there a while,
he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. Well,
what do you reason about? That's right. Turn back to chapter
17. You know it. You know exactly
what he preached. What did he preach? Look at Acts
17, verse 1. It says there was a synagogue
of the Jews at Thessalonica. And Paul, verse 2, as his manner
was, he was habitual about going to a place of worship When he
had undergone three Sabbath days, he reasoned with the people out
of the scriptures. He preached from the scriptures,
Old Testament, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered,
risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus whom I preach
unto you is the Christ. Same man, different town now,
the place was Ephesus, the faces have changed, the message remains
the same. Christ crucified. from the scripture. Same man, different place, same
message. And he reasoned the person and the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Let me remind you again, here
he comes into this town and relative unknown. He doesn't have a traveling
crusade with him, no evangelical team, no famous movie stars or
politicians or sports figures to help him out and get a hearing. Miracle Healing Crusade promotional,
no charismatic gospel singing, no quartet. I asked Joe the other
day, I said, How in the world did Paul get a hearing without
a gospel singer, without having a gospel quartet? How is anybody
going to come here? No entertainment show, one gospel preacher and a Bible.
That's all God uses. That's all he uses. It's all
he ever has used. It's all he ever will use. One
gospel preacher and his Bible. But preaching has been replaced
today, hasn't it? It's been replaced today. I wish
I had a thought to bring it up here. I had a couple of so-called
church bulletins from here locally, some big, big places. And you've
read them, you've seen their programs, you know, you wonder. And after all the singing and
all the greetings and all this and that and the other, you wonder.
And tucked down in there somewhere is a little message by this fellow
on whatever. And you know good and well it
couldn't be more than a fifteen, twenty minute sermon ad. You
don't have time, unless it's a four hour long sermon. Now
that's where preaching has been. I got a little taste of it. It's been this way a while, and
it didn't start in our generation years ago. When I was over in
Liverpool, England, preaching in a very large old cathedral,
I don't know what kind it was. I forget. At any rate, they had
one of these a Let's get this old sod out of
the way. When I walked in that building,
I thought, I hope I don't have to crawl up there and preach.
Oh, I was scared to death, Henry, I was going to have to preach
from up there. People were far enough back as
it was. I was going to have to crawl up in that pigeon hole
and preach. Well, they didn't. They had scrapped
that, and they was unsafe. But I preached down front. of the place of preaching today. I like Spurgeon, because I have
often told other preachers that if I ever designed a church house,
it would be like the grand old opera, the old Ryman Auditorium.
It would be round, and I would have the pulpit right smack dab
in the middle, right in the center, with people just right here all
around. That's what this thing is centered
around, the preaching of the gospel, the preaching Well, at any rate, how did that
get there? Where did that come from? One
man and his Bible. That's where it came from. That's
what the Lord Jesus always has. You'll find it all the way through
the scriptures. Anything more than that is unnecessary. Unnecessary. It's frills, right? All right, read on. Verse 20
and 21. So he came to the synagogue and
reasoned with the Jews. This poor little preacher, seemingly
poor little preacher boy, he was a mighty man. They desired
him to tarry longer with them, and he consented not, but bade
them farewell. He said, No, I have to leave.
I've got to go. I must by all means keep this feast that cometh
in Jerusalem, the Passover feast coming up in Jerusalem. I'll
return again unto you, if God will." Now, I don't know why
the Lord didn't let him stay there or why Paul felt compelled
to go to Jerusalem. I think we'll find out later
on. But Jerusalem eventually was where Paul was apprehended
and then finally taken to Rome, and they cut his head off. But
he sent his foes to Jerusalem. Maybe. Does that sound familiar?
Maybe that's the reason. Paul said, I've got to go to
Jerusalem. He preached there, John Roy, he preached some fine
messages there, and he set his face steadfastly toward Jerusalem.
I've got to get there. I don't know why. We'll find
out later. But read on. He sailed from Ephesus, and when
he had landed at Caesarea and gone up and saluted the Church,
he went down to Antioch. Remember, that's where he started.
That's where this journey started, the first and second journey.
After he'd spent some time there, at Antioch, he departed and went
over all the country again. He completely backtracked every
place he'd been before. We read this and we think, well,
it just happened in a matter of days. He walked, he rode on
an ox cart, he got in a ship, and it took months to get someplace. This was difficult, It was tough travel back then. This man loved the people he
was preaching to, didn't he? It says he went back over all
the country of Galatian Phrygian order, in other words, the way
he went the first time. If you look back at your map,
you'll see that. It says he went back strengthening
all the disciples. How did he do that? How did he
strengthen the disciples? The first thing he did was organize
a political group to lobby in Rome against abortion. It was wholesale back then. It
started in Rome, and they had Rome v. Wade in Rome, and he
wanted to fight this thing. He saw it was causing real damage
in the Church. And so he organized this political
action committee against abortion. And then he started a group in
favor of school prayer. Started to add and lobby and
get petitions and names. We went on with collecting names
for school prayer. And then he created a 700 Club. He had him a telethon. You laugh. That's what's going on. That's
what they think confirming the souls is. He created a 700 club
and a 144,000 club, and then after that he didn't have enough
money coming in, so he created a 723,432 club. It's laughable,
isn't it, that this sort of foolishness goes on today? to raise money for the orphans
in Laodicea. They returned again to Lystra,
Iconium, and Antioch, confirming, establishing, confirming the
souls of the disciples and exhorting them to what? To continue in
the faith, and that we must, through much tribulation, enter
the kingdom of God. And when they had ordained them
elders, that is, preachers, teachers in every church, and prayed with
fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed."
They preached the gospel, they exhorted them to continue in
the faith, to stand fast in Christ Jesus, to keep preaching this
gospel, to keep believing this gospel, to keep learning and
hearing and attending to this gospel. They ordained preachers
and teachers and elders in every church that they might teach
them and preach them the gospel, and they commended these people
to the Lord. on whom they keep looking to
Christ, keep learning, growing in grace and the knowledge of
Christ. That's how they confirmed the Son. That's how they established
him. Do you see that? You see that,
don't you? So that's what he did. He went
back through and just preached the same message that gave him
life. The same message that gives life
is the same message that causes us to grow. To grow. The knowledge
of a person. Back to the text, verse 24, and
here we're going to spend the rest of our time. Verse 24, it
says, A certain Jew named Apollos. John got his pencil out. He's
going on to learn certain, aren't you? It is again, a certain Jew. A certain Jew. Another one of these certain
people. We've been looking at it all through this book of Acts,
how God brought to hear the gospel certain individuals, and a certain
woman named Lydia, and a certain man named Cornelius, and a certain
crippled man, and a certain Jew named Apollos here. A certain Jew. is that he is certainly God,
chooses and elects certain people before the foundation of the
world for a certain purpose, which he certainly will carry
out, and gave them to his only or certain son, who came to this
earth on a certain mission, a definite mission. to fulfill the law to
satisfy God's justice on behalf of these certain people, individuals,
no one else, these certain people. And he most certainly saved them
by doing that. And in time, the Holy Spirit
comes to convict of sin, to bring to Christ by faith, by the preaching
of a certain message, which is the sure and successful and certain
salvation which is in Jesus Christ alone. And all of these people
for whom God does this for, these certain individuals, they most
certainly will be saved. Of that you can be certain. Our
certain God, who is certainly God, saves certain individuals.
Here is a story here. Another certain man, a Jew named
Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, an eloquent
and mighty in the scriptures, he came to Ephesus." Now, here
this gifted preacher, this gifted speaker was, a powerful and convincing
orator, an able man, a man who could quote scripture and use
scripture wisely in various reasonings and disputations and dissertations
on various subjects with knowledge and insight and wisdom and A
very capable man. It says he was eloquent, a good
speaker, and mighty in the scriptures. In other words, he knew something
about the Bible. Now, look, here's the key verse.
Look at it with me. If you missed this, you've missed
it. Verse 25. This man was instructed
in the way of the Lord. This man was instructed and the
way of the Lord. What is the way of the Lord?
Christ is the way, right? Christ is the Lord. Christ is
the way and the way of the Lord. Christ is that. So, Apollos evidently
knew something about the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew something
about the Lord Jesus Christ. because it says that right there.
This man was instructed in the way of the Lord. We read that
in Psalm 25, didn't we? Whoever fears him, him will he
teach in the way of the Lord. You see why I read Psalm 25?
The meek will he guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his
way. And it says plainly from God's
Word, God recorded it, this man was instructed in the way of
the Lord. Did he know Christ? Yes. No doubt in my mind. I didn't
believe that before I started studying this. I was wavering
on it. I tried to bring something out
of this that wasn't there, that this man was a mere professor
and didn't know Christ. That's not the case here. I think
you'll see why here in a moment. He says he was fervent in spirit.
instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent or sincere,
zealous in a heartfelt belief in God and Christ, fervent in
the spirit and in the heart, he spake and taught diligently
the things of the Lord." There it is again, the things of the
Lord. What are the things of the Lord?
Those are the things that concern the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord.
Here's what may throw you. It says, But he knew only, knowing
only, the baptism of John. See that? What is the baptism
of John? Knowing only the baptism of John. Look at the next chapter, Acts
19. Look at verse 4. Paul runs into
some fellows here that it says that he only knew the baptism
of John. Look at verse 4. Look at what it said. Paul is
speaking here. Then said Paul, and this whole
verse is a quotation of what Paul is saying to these men.
Then said Paul, John truly baptized with the baptism of repentance.
In other words, John said, God's holy, God's righteous. God is
sovereign. God is angry with the wicked.
Repent of your sins before this holy and righteous and sovereign
God before who is angry with the wicked every day. Repent
of your sins. Bring forth fruit and meat for
repentance. Remember when John said that?
Repent. And that's the first thing in
preaching the gospel. Repentance toward God. God is
the one we've offended. God is the one we've sinned against.
It is God to whom we repent. He doesn't stop there. That's
not all John said, was it? Saying unto the people that they
should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus. Did John preach Christ, Terry? He most certainly did. Behold
the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. And one time, two men were following
him, and he said, You go follow Christ. Don't follow me anymore,
because the one who is coming after me and who is here, I'm
not worthy to tie his shoelaces. You go worship him. And worship
men. Worship God's Son, the Lamb of
God. That's the baptism of John. Isn't that what Paul said? the
baptism of John, the baptism of repentance toward God and
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, John was a false prophet. If John didn't preach Christ,
he was a false prophet, right? John was filled with the Spirit,
wasn't he, from his mother's womb? Any man filled with the
Spirit is preaching Christ, isn't he, John? All right? Read on. It says, now read back down.
Now let me say this before we go back to the text. There were many Jews. Now Paul
is dealing with some Jews here, okay? This man Apollos was a
Jew. Can you stand that? Jew. Many Jews. that they were sinners before
a holy God, that they needed a blood atonement before this
holy God, without the shedding of blood there is no remission
of sin, that the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the coming
Messiah, was their only hope of salvation. But who is the
Christ? They're not going to hear it
until some preacher comes to them. They believe in Christ,
but they don't know who he is. Who is he? I believe. Right? I don't think that's the
case with Apollos, but that is the case with many Jews, or was
the case. It's not now. It's not the case
now. I'll show you that in a minute. But that was the case with many
Jews. Apollos evidently had already
heard of the Lord Jesus Christ and believed and was baptized.
It doesn't say he was baptized. It doesn't say anything about
Apollos being baptized. Paul would have insisted on that,
wouldn't he? He didn't believe that he was baptized, shall we
say? Wouldn't Aquila and Priscilla have insisted on that? They didn't,
did they? He wasn't baptized, evidently.
He had been baptized and believed Christ and been baptized. Here's the key to this whole
thing, I believe. I believe Apollos had heard of
Christ, had heard the gospel and believed and had baptized,
but he hadn't been under the sound of clear gospel preaching. He hadn't been under the instruction
of a God-sent preacher such as Paul or Peter or James or John
or these men. He was ignorant of many things
in relation to the gospel. And he knew in part. He preached
what he knew. But he didn't know much, but
he knew enough to preach the gospel. But he needed further
instructing, didn't he? I'll read on. This is what happened
to him. Verse 26, And he began to preach one day boldly in the
synagogue, whom when Aquila and Phiscilla had heard him, they
came down to the synagogue that day to hear the preaching, and
they heard this eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures, named
Apollos. They heard him And they heard him and said, That's a
good message. That's the truth. He's a little
rough around the edges. He's a little raw. And they took him over to the
side and commented, A good message, Mr. Apollos. We thoroughly enjoyed
that. We were properly edified by that.
We're staying over at the Comfort Inn. We just wondered if you'd
like to come over and stay with us a while. We'd like to talk
to you a little bit. Here they are again. They're at it again,
entertaining strangers, aren't they? Oh, no wonder the Lord
blessed these people. They were very careful to entertain strangers,
wherever they went. Unless they had a home here,
who knows? But anyway, they took him privately unto them, and
it says in verse 26, expounded unto him The way of God, and
here's another key phrase, more perfectly. So this tells me this
man knew the way, Christ's way, the way of salvation, the way
to get to this God, but he needed more instruction. He needed to
learn more. And isn't this everyone of us? Is it just a picture of all of
us? When we first come to hear the gospel, we don't know much.
What do you know? I remember telling you about
when the Lord first started dealing with me, and me and this fellow
standing toe-to-toe just about to get in a fistfight over, you
know, he was an Arminian and I was a Calvinist, and he didn't
know nothing. And I knew, I didn't know anything,
but I knew he knew less than I did. And you've been there,
some of you have been there, and trying to convince somebody
of something you don't know much about yourself, beating people
over the head with it, just so raw and so ignorant. You need
so much wise counsel. That was every one of us at the
start. And we still preach in part,
prophesy in part, know in part, don't we? If any man thinks he
knows anything, got anything, got a handle, a perfect knowledge
of anything, he doesn't know anything. He's going to start
all over again. Right? I've known men like this Apollos,
too, who were gifted. I've known men that the Lord
saved them, and they were gifted. Oh, man, it was like they were
sons of thunder, born of Jesus. I've known them. and to hit the
pulpit with both feet running. And you think, wow, this is the
next John the Baptist or Charles Spurgeon or whoever it may be.
I've seen them. Gifted men, mighty in the scriptures,
men who have been reading the scriptures all their life. Tom
Hardy was a man like that. That boy, he studied the scriptures
for years. He knows it. He can quote them
left and right. He was mighty in the scripture. It's evidence. and gifted to preach them, and
I've known a lot of other men. But these are men that need to
sit down a while under some wise, experienced counsel and learn. They've got a little more to
learn before they get out and start teaching other people.
Isn't that the story here? That's what's going on here.
And I know some men, I've got a man in my mind right now who
Several of us preachers have just met recently. He's a grace
preacher. We've heard him preach on tape,
and man, he preaches grace. Not very graciously, but he preaches
it. He rips hide, buddy, and pours
the salt in. It's the truth, but it's got
a hard edge on it. And every one of us fellows have
come to the conclusion that he needs to hear somebody preach
with a little better handle on some
things. And I know men who have been around for years who can
stand a little more of that, sit down and listen a little
longer. That's what happened to me. I learned more every time
I sit down and listen to a man like Bill Clark or my pastor.
I've got to start all over again. This is what happened to Apollos,
and he became a better preacher for it. Read on, verse 26. He began to preach, and Aquila
took him and expanded over him the way of God more perfectly.
They said, He's gifted, but he's young in the gospel, and he's
a little rough around the edges, and he needs some help, and they
expanded under him the way of the gospel more perfectly. You can rest assured that Aquila
did most of the talking. Sorry about that, ladies. You
can count on it. If you'll notice in reading the
scriptures, when we first are introduced to this couple, it
says Aquila, the man, a certain Jew named Aquila, and his wife
Priscilla. Later on down in verse 18, it
says, And with Paul was Priscilla and Aquila. He mentioned the
wife first. Maybe she was a little more dominant
personality. Maybe she was. I've known women
like that. But now, whose name do you hear
first? Here. Who took him aside? Aquila and Priscilla took him.
Because the scripture says a woman is not to usurp authority over
the man. They've been taught that by the
Apostle Paul himself, and you'd better believe that Priscilla
let Aquila do the talking where she could. She said a word in season here
and there. Yes, that's right. They were in it together, and
the Lord blessed them both. Verse 27. When he was disposed,
Apollos was disposed to pass into a cave. Now he had sat with
these people and discussed the gospel for I don't know how long,
days on end, maybe weeks, who knows how long. Boy, he was on
fire. He learned some new things. He
saw some fresh pictures that he hadn't seen before. Priscilla
and Aquila gave him some tapes by Paul and Peter and James and
John. He said, Man, oh man, I've got
to preach that. And he was itching to get out
with this message. He was called to preach, Joe.
This man was called to the mission field. That's what he was. He was disposed, he was burdened,
he set out to preach this gospel all over, and the person who
will tell you, and the brethren wrote, that is, Aquila, Priscilla,
and some of these others, they wrote letters to exhorting the
disciples wherever he was going to go, to receive him. They said,
there's a preacher, a young preacher, young, I don't know how old he
was, a preacher coming down named Apollos. He's a gifted man. He's a gifted preacher, mighty
in the scriptures, and he's worth hearing, and you receive him.
You receive him. Bear with his roughness. He hasn't
been preaching long, but he'll bless you. He's got the message.
He knows the gospel. Hear him. Hear him. They did, because the people
received him when he was come, and it says, "...he helped them
much by his preaching, that is, them which had believed," here
it is again, "...who had believed through grace." They believed
through grace. Did you catch that? They believed
through grace. That's what Paul wrote to the
Ephesians later on, wasn't it? He wrote that, Ephesians 2.8.
By grace, you say, through faith. That's not what he said. It's
a gift. It's a gift of God. What was Apollos' message? Why
were the people helped? Verse 28. He mightily convinced
the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that
Jesus was, or is, the Christ. Apollos preached Christ crucified.
He preached the gospel. That's why it was eloquence.
The Lord wouldn't have mentioned his eloquence if it didn't pertain
to Spurgeon's eloquence. There's nothing wrong with eloquence
in preaching. I wish I had more of it. I do. But I don't have
much education, so don't ever expect to be much more than what
I am. And I'm sorry that you had to
put up with that. That's what Moses said, didn't
he? He said, I've never been eloquent before, and I don't
expect to from here on out. Remember that? Well, Apollos
was an eloquent man. Don't despise that. Well, here
are some eloquent men. I've heard some eloquent men.
There's nothing wrong with that, as long as they're eloquently
preaching the gospel. There's the key, right? As long
as you don't go away being impressed with their eloquence, and you
go away being impressed with their gospel. There's the difference. And that's what these people
were helped by. They didn't go away talking about Apollos. They
went away talking about Apollos' Lord, Apollos' gospel, didn't
they? And that's what God uses, and
that's the reason the people were blessed by the message of
Christ. Here's the moral of the story,
and I'll quit. Three things. The reason I believe the Lord
recorded this. The moral of the story is that
truth-seekers shall find. True seekers shall find. This
man, Apollos, was a fervent man in the Spirit, he says, from
the heart. Scripture says, Ask, you shall receive. Seek, you
shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. Knock, and you will have truths, your understanding,
opened unto you. True seekers shall find. They
shall find. And who hath despised a day of
small things? Look at what the Lord blessed
through this man and his woman, these small means. Look at what
the Lord blessed through this man and his woman, mightily.
A word in season, an act of kindness here and there, taking a stranger
in the home, talking, just talking to someone. Look at what the Lord did to these two
people. So don't despise. Don't think
you don't have a place. Thirdly, even the most eloquent
need instruction. Even the most eloquent. I don't
care how wise you get, how knowledgeable you get, how much you've come
to know and learn, you still need no more. You still need
to learn more. You still need more teaching
and instruction. Lastly, we need to grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord like Apollos. We all need to grow in the grace
and the knowledge of the Lord, and how is that done? It says
that he makes his sheep lie down in green
pasture. He makes them lie down in green
pastures, settle in a place awhile and learn the scriptures. That's
what Apollos did. He settled down in a place with
these people, and he learned more perfectly the scriptures.
He laid down in green pastures with these two people, humble
beginning, and he leads us beside the still waters. That's the
word of God also, and that's how he restores your soul. And
he does that through a faithful under-shepherd, preacher of the
gospel of sheep, of a faithful under-shepherd. I thought about this, too. There
may be some babies out there, some ignorant, unlearned disciples
who don't know much. They don't know much, but they
may be taught that Christ is salvation, that Christ is their
salvation. We need to have compassion upon
them, considering our own self. We need to have compassion on
them. Let me ask this one question in closing. This man was a Jew, and the next
we're going to read about some fellows, some disciples in a
whole different story. Are the Jews today who are still
looking for a Christ, who still seem to be believing in some
coming Christ, are they saints? The Jews before Christ came who
were looking to the coming Christ, who trusted him, believed in
him, and knew that only he alone was their salvation, they were
saved. Right? They were saved. Since Christ
has come, all those Jews who have rejected Jesus of Nazareth
are themselves rejected. They're not saved. Oh, no. Scripture
says, Let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath
made this same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and
Christ." So Jews must know and believe that Jesus is the Christ,
or else they are not saved. So this man, Apollos, though
a Jew, he had to know that Jesus was the Christ and believe in
him. I'm not preaching either that some people can be ignorant
of the gospel, not at all, can be ignorant of sovereign grace
and be saved. You know I'm not preaching that.
It's what some men call no-knowledge salvation. We don't preach that.
We don't believe that. Whom to know is to have eternal
life. You've got to know something about his character. I'm talking
about Jews in the days of Paul and the days of Apollos. And
I say with all, as he said to the Jews and people at Galatia,
if any man preach any other gospel than that which we have preached,
that which you have heard, he's going to go to hell. Let him
go to hell, and everybody that believes in any other gospel
will go to hell with him, too. So we must know that Jesus is
the Christ and something about his person and work, and know
him personally. This man Apollos did. I'm confident
of that now. But to some people, that's about
the extent of what they know. Is that salvation? Is that enough
to know that God's God and that I'm a sinner before this holy
God and Christ is my only hope of salvation? Is that salvation?
Sure it is. That's about all we knew when
the Lord first taught us. All you need to know, you need
to go on any further. Sure you do. You need to grow
in grace and the knowledge of Christ and remain a faith in
Him. I believe that's the story. And all thy people shall be taught
of the Lord. All thy children, Isaiah says,
and great shall be the peace thereof. After old Paul has heard
a little more gospel, he got fired up. And the Lord blessed
him and everybody that heard him. All right, stand with me
and I'll dismiss it. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for your Word. We apologize, we ask your forgiveness
for our lack of understanding and our misuse of it, and how
we don't perhaps at times rightly handle your Word. But we're glad
you overrule that you yourself are the teacher, that your Holy
Spirit is the teacher of your people, not left up to the not
left in the hands of mere men. You yourself are that teacher
of your people. Lead and guide into all truth.
Teach us thy way. Teach us more perfectly, Lord,
like Apollos. No matter what we think we know,
Lord, we know nothing yet. As we ought to know, every man
here and woman must surely admit that we are just babes and we
need to know more of Christ. and grow in grace and the knowledge
of him. So help us, Lord. And this is
how we learn, through the careful studying and hearing of your
word. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the word of God. We ask that you would keep us
diligently attending to your word and being under the sound
of it, that we might grow thereby. Give us a desire for this sincere
milk of your word, that we indeed might grow. thereby continue
to bless faithful preachers of this gospel. Lord, I ask that
you would raise up more men, men like this Apollos, raise
them up to go out with the gospel, maybe even from our midst. Maybe
there is a young Apollos or Timothy in here this very day. I pray that you might lay it
upon his heart to go out with this gospel some day and preach
it to your glory. for the good of your church,
the calling out of your sheep. In Christ's name, we have met
together this day and ask you to bless everything that has
been said and done for your glory, for our eternal good. Amen.