ACTS 18:18

At this part of the book of Acts we are in the second missionary journey of the Apostle Paul, and we see where Paul went once he left the city of Corinth. The Bible says in Acts 18:18-23, “And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening the disciples.”

What we see in these verses is that Paul actually finished his second missionary journey. Once he got back to Antioch his journey had ended. Paul stayed in Antioch for a while, and then started his third journey. It is important to notice that the first thing that is mentioned about Paul on this third missionary journey is that he was “strengthening the disciples.” In other words he was teaching them sound doctrine so that they could continue to walk by faith and stay in fellowship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We know the things that Paul taught these Christians because we have the epistles that he wrote.

Of course, Paul was not the only teacher that God raised up to teach the believers. Acts 18:24-28 says, “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and 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 was Christ.”

A tremendous number of good things are said about Apollos when he is first introduced. The first thing that it says about him was that he was eloquent, and then a little later it also says of him that he “spake and taught diligently,” and that he spoke “boldly in the synagogue.” In other words one of the things most noticeable about Apollos was his speaking ability. And then the next thing about him was what he spoke about. He used his speaking ability to speak about the Word of God. Everyone has an ability of some kind, but not everyone uses their ability to help spread the Word of God. It says of Apollos that he was “mighty in the scriptures.” It also says that Apollos “taught diligently the things of the Lord.”

In spite of these good qualities, there was one matter in which Apollos needed improvement. It says here that he knew “only the baptism of John.” Of course, there is a certain symbolism here. No one knows everything about God that they need to know. If you think you know everything, and that you have nothing new to learn, you are in trouble as a vain and unwise person. God is infinite and we will be learning new and wonderful things about Him and His Son throughout eternity. Apollos knew about the baptism of John. That was a good thing to know about. The main emphasis of the baptism of John was the fact that it was the baptism of repentance. John preached about the necessity to repent, and then John baptized with water those who had repented as a symbolism of the forgiveness and cleansing from sin that they had received because of repenting. The emphasis was on repentance. God is a merciful God, but you only enter into His mercy when you repent. If you do not repent, you are faced with the judgment of the just Judge. Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” To repent means to change your mind. You must change your mind about the direction you are going, change your mind, come to Jesus, and start a new direction of following Him.

Apollos knew about the baptism of John, but Apollos needed to know more. Apollos needed to know about Jesus. He needed to know about the life of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, and the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for the sins of the world. Notice where Apollos got this additional knowledge from. He got it from Aquila and Priscilla. We know that Aquila and Priscilla had learned from Paul. Aquila and Priscilla were not preachers, but they obviously had a key part to play in the spiritual development of Apollos. Some people teach from the pulpit. Others never teach from the pulpit, but they teach in personal relationships and in personal contacts. Both things are important. Which one you do depends upon the gifts and calling that you have, and the wisdom and willingness that you have to use those gifts. It may not appear that you have accomplished a lot, the way that man looks at things. But if you taught someone something, who then taught others, you have had a part in their work also.

Because of Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos was now able to give out the “way of God more perfectly.” Two specific results are mentioned because of this improvement in the spiritual understanding of Apollos. Verse 27 says Apollos “helped them much which had believed through grace.” Notice the use of the word “grace.” Obviously now Apollos understood that people believed through grace. You do not work to get salvation: you believe; and even the belief is by grace. By the grace of God you believe. If it were not for the grace of God freely given to you through Christ, you would not even have faith in your heart. “By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God.”

In Acts chapter 18 we see that one thing that Aquila and Priscilla obviously passed on to Apollos was an understanding of the preeminence of Jesus Christ. Up until Apollos met Aquila and Priscilla, Apollos only knew the baptism of John. But John was the forerunner of Christ, and John said about Jesus, “I must decrease, but He must increase.” Once Apollos learned what he needed to learn about Jesus, then when Apollos preached he preached about Jesus. Jesus became the central theme of his sermons from that point on. Verse 28 says that when Apollos spoke publicly, he was “showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.” The question that should be asked about every sermon that is preached is this: Is this a sermon similar to the ones that Apollos preached before his understanding was increased? In other words, does this sermon talk about anything and everything, except Jesus? Without Jesus we are under the law. Without Jesus we do not have grace or hope or salvation. Without Jesus we will die in our sins. Without Jesus we are of all men most miserable. Of course, if we preach, we must preach about Jesus.

Here in the book of Acts it is because of Jesus that Paul and these others that we are reading about went as far as they could in the Mediterranean world, and North Africa, and the Middle East, and part of the Eastern world. Great words were said by Jesus. “No man ever spake as this man.” Great deeds were done by Jesus: He gave sight to the blind, and the power to walk to the lame. Jesus raised the dead, and gave back to their loved ones those for whom all hope had been lost. Jesus saved others. He may have saved you. He did save me, but Himself He did not save. He went to the cruel Roman cross and suffered a horrible death for your sins and for mine. Those who believe on Jesus also do great deeds. They do great deeds because of the love of God that is shed abroad in their hearts. Because they believe on Jesus, they become better people and better citizens. They care for the sick. They give to the needy. They spread the gospel of hope and love and peace to a dying world. Because of Jesus the world was changed and will never be the same. Because of Jesus the world will be transformed when He returns to fulfill all the promises of God about what the world can be.

The Bible says in Acts 19:1-6, “And it came to pass, that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were you baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues and prophesied, And all the men were about twelve.”

These people were in the exact same situation that Apollos was in before he met Aquila and Priscilla. They had heard about the baptism of John, but they had not heard about Jesus. An interesting point to note here is that after Paul told them about Jesus in verse 4, they were baptized again in verse 5. New Testament Christian baptism involves baptizing with water an individual after that individual comes to believe in Jesus Christ. Any baptism done before such saving faith in Christ does not follow the pattern given clearly in the rest of the New Testament.

It is also interesting to note the first question that Paul asked these people. He asked them, “Have you received the Holy Ghost since you believed?” Of course, we know what happened to the disciples at Pentecost: they received the Holy Spirit in a way that humans had never received the Spirit before. Other incidents that we have seen in the book of Acts show us that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is meant for all believers. And when we look at the teachings about the Holy Spirit in the rest of the New Testament we realize that all believers in Jesus also automatically have the Spirit within them. That is why being saved is a spiritual birth. The Holy Spirit comes into those who are born of the Spirit. If you do not have the Spirit, you are none of His. These people not only did not have the Spirit, they also had never even heard of the Holy Spirit. If you do not know the things that the Bible teaches about the Holy Spirit, then you do not know some very important things that you need to know about serving Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit fills us. The Holy Spirit guides us. The Holy Spirit teaches us. The Holy Spirit comforts us. We have the gifts of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit to be able to serve God in this world. The Spirit reveals to us Jesus. The Spirit does not speak of Himself: He speaks of Jesus. If you do not know anything about the Spirit, then you may not be a Christian. The Spirit is the one who brings you to Christ.

When you receive Christ, you receive the Spirit also. Look what these believers did after they received the Spirit. Verse 6 says, “The Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” One of the things that the Holy Spirit does for us is that He helps us to speak the things that we ought to speak. One of the main reasons that believers are on the earth is to be witnesses for Christ. In order to do that we must do what we ought to do, and we must say what we ought to say. Some people do not know what to say, but the Spirit will always help us. Jesus said in Mark 13:11, “But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.” If the Lord wants us to speak, He will give us the words to say by the power of the Spirit. This is one thing that the world does not have. Of course, the symbolism behind tongues is the fact that even if we do not know the language of the hearers, the Spirit is able to give us the gift of tongues such that we could speak anyway, and others would hear us in their own language.

We must never under-state the importance of the preaching of the Word. That is why the Spirit gives to some the ability to preach or to prophecy. The Word of God is the truth about God. Preaching is the means by which the Word of God and the gospel of Christ is proclaimed to the world. If you are not called to preach, then you are called to help those who do. If the Spirit has not given you the gift to preach or teach, then He has given you some other gift: maybe the gift to help, or the gift to give, or the gift to serve, or the gift to sing, or maybe just the gift to stand and wait for the coming of the Lord. Every believer has a gift. It is your responsibility to find out what your gift is and then to use it for God’s glory. If you do not have a gift, then you do not have the Spirit; and if you do not have the Spirit, then you are not saved, and you need to listen to the gospel of Christ and turn to Him.

___________________________________________________