Because we have a “Flock Meeting” following the service and Easter drama practice as well, I am simply going to share with you a short word tonight. However, it is one that is important for us as a body because it has to do with our mission statement.
Just to remind us, our mission statement (driven mainly by Colossians 1:28-29) says that we exist “to present every man complete in Christ, being empowered by His Spirit and sustained by His grace, in order that God might be glorified above all things.” And if we are truly going to fulfill this, then we must be about certain things. There must be things that we see as a necessity in our lives.
In Acts 18:23-28, we get to see some of these things because you have a picture of exactly what I hope God will do among us. For you have an individual named Apollos, who was “an eloquent man” (v. 24), “mighty in the Scriptures” (v. 24), “had been instructed in the way of the Lord” (v. 25), was “fervent in spirit” (v. 25), and “was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus” (v.25); yet he was in need of other believers to aid him in becoming equipped for the work of ministry.
Therefore, Aquila and Priscilla come along, take him aside, and explain to him the way of God more accurately. And as he is matured in his knowledge and equipped for ministry, he goes to Achaia and aids other in knowing and growing in Christ.
As we have agreed upon in the past, this is a perfect model for what we want to be about. We want to be a channel for individuals that God would give us in order that we may focus on them becoming complete in Christ, growing in their knowledge of and delight in him, and then going to distribute that grace to others. And that is what happens in this instance with Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos.
So, let’s take some cues from them as to what we need to be doing in this process. I’ll list four of them tonight.
I say that for all of us because the mistake many of us will make in hearing our mission and vision is that it is for others. For instance, some of us might be thinking, “Yeah, individuals come along, I work to make them complete and equipped for ministry, and then they go to others.” And that is fine. However, don’t ignore the fact that all of us need to be equipped by one another. I need to be equipped more and more for ministry. And I look to my fellow church members to aid me in that just as much as anyone else.
We all need to grow in our knowledge of and delight in God. So remember that and remain teachable.
Apollos is a good example for us. Remember all those things that were said about him in verses 24-25? One was that he was “mighty in the Scriptures.” But did that keep him from being instructed by Aquila and Priscilla? No. He wanted to know more if there was more to know, and there always is.
In fact, you can tell someone who has grasped much knowledge of God because he or she will readily tell you how much he or she doesn’t know. Only the individual who has very little knowledge of our Lord will think he knows much about God.
God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble. So we all need to be humble, teachable, and eager to learn in order that God may make us more complete in his Son for the sake of ministry.
Maybe it’s because we have so many things with television, and internet, and whatever else, but personal Bible study seems to be falling to the wayside in our culture. But this cannot happen with any of us if we are to be about our mission.
We can look both to Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos to see this. Apollos was mighty in the Scripture before he ever came into contact with Aquila and Priscilla. He knew the Word well. However, they were able to show him even more (v. 26). We will not be able to do this in the body of Christ unless we are involved in personal Bible study as well as with what we are learning in time of corporate gathering.
And another thing Apollos opens our eyes to within this is the ability to make Biblical theological connections. He was able to show Christ from the Old Testament. That is what was meant in verse 28 as Luke writes, “He powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.”
We need to be able to show the Bible connected as a whole. The whole thing speaks to us about who God is. Jesus Christ is in all of the Scripture—Old and New Testaments. We need to do this labor of seeing these connections if we are to teach the “whole counsel of God” even as Apollos was doing in verse 28.
I especially plead with those who are going into ministry involving preaching to do this labor in your sermon preparation. I plead with myself tonight to do it more. See the connections between Exodus 32-34, John 1:1-18, and Revelation 21:3 and 22:4. Point out the connections between Daniel 7, Jesus on the mount of transfiguration, and Jesus coming in his glory foretold in the book of Revelation. Show the power of Philippians 2:5-11 in light of Isaiah 42:8 and 45:22-25. And that is only the tip of the iceberg.
However, this takes time. It takes study, meditation, looking at your cross references, having a general knowledge of Scripture, and prayer. We need to be about this. Thus, I encourage you to set aside at least (and I stress ‘at least’) one hour a week to do this kind of study.
You might respond, “Well, I don’t preach and I’m not a Sunday school teacher.”
My response to that is many. I’ll give two. First, find out what your Sunday school teacher is teaching through, and then study the text along with him or her. That way, when Sunday morning rolls around, you will be ready to speak of and contribute to the rest of the body. For God might uncover something to your eyes that your Sunday school teacher has not seen.
Second, we are all responsible to teach our children. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, “And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” You are to teach the Word of God to your children constantly. Therefore, all who have children (or grandchildren, or great-grandchildren) are under obligation, I believe, to this kind of Bible study whether you teach Sunday school or not.
Don’t think this work of presenting those God gives us complete in Christ is going to happen solely in our time in this building where we gather for corporate worship. We need to share time fellowshipping with one another, praying with one another, and sharing God’s word with one another in our homes. I think this is what Aquila and Priscilla did with Apollos. The text says that they “took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately” (v. 26). And though it doesn’t necessarily say that this occurred in their home. I believe it did, based upon similar actions recorded elsewhere. First of all, remember when Paul came to Corinth? He stayed in the home of Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:3). And then we read in Romans 16:3-5 that they housed a church in their home.
I think this is what Aquila and Priscilla did with Apollos. The text says that they “took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately” (v. 26). And though it doesn’t necessarily say that this occurred in their home. I believe it did, based upon similar actions recorded elsewhere. First of all, remember when Paul came to Corinth? He stayed in the home of Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:3). And then we read in Romans 16:3-5 that they housed a church in their home.
I think this is what Aquila and Priscilla did with Apollos. The text says that they “took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately” (v. 26). And though it doesn’t necessarily say that this occurred in their home. I believe it did, based upon similar actions recorded elsewhere. First of all, remember when Paul came to Corinth? He stayed in the home of Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:3). And then we read in Romans 16:3-5 that they housed a church in their home.
Acts 18:25 says that Apollos was “fervent in spirit” as he taught the things of God. We need to have a passionate zeal about Christ if we are to drive others to see and delight in him more than all else.
I believe that people heard and saw Apollos and said, “Man, this guy is obsessed with God!” I pray that many would say the same thing of us.
My mother-in-law made an interesting point the other day as she made an address in chapel. She was talking about her brother being so excited about the thought of being a garbage man when he was six. Then she pointed out that when Janie (Lili’s younger sister) was about that same age that she wanted to be a hairdresser. Finally, she pointed out that they were so excited about these things that many of us would not be interested in is because you are passionate about that which is the most important thing in your life at that point.
For her little brother, it was getting the chance to ride on the back of a truck. For Janie it was getting to style people’s hair the same way she did with her dolls. For us, I pray that there is never a day that people can say, “It seems that his passion is falling to the wayside; I guess there are more important things in his life now.” God forbid that for any of us.
Be teachable, learn the Scriptures through diligent study, show hospitality to all around you, and pray for passion about the things of God. As we do these, I believe that we will be well on our way to fulfilling the mission that God has given us.
Grace be with you. Amen.