 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth and he found a certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontus who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome and he came to them. So because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked for by occupation they were tent makers and so in this particular chapter chapter 18 of the book of Acts two churches are going to be birthed and these are churches that we are familiar with because we see them in the New Testament we see that letters were written to them the Church of Corinth and the Church of Ephesus. Now we don't know how long Paul remained in the city of Athens because chapter 17 records how he had been there in the city of Athens. It could have been more than a month it could have been as many as two months. We know that while in Athens he had sent a message to Timothy and also to Silas we saw that in chapter 17 verse 15 where Paul had told them to come to him with all speed and they had departed. We know that Timothy was in Berea and that that would have been a 500 mile round trip journey from Athens that means it would have taken time for Timothy and Silas to come to Athens. Eventually as we looked in chapter 17 Paul had left Athens he went to the city the city of Corinth. Now Corinth is only 40 miles southwest of the city of Athens they would usually they would take either walk or they would ride on us a donkey or a horse it will usually take them two days to travel 40 miles because you would travel 20 miles a day and he came to the city of Corinth. Now when you look in ancient history the city of Corinth was a beautiful city it was a harbor city it was an extremely prosperous city and was well-known. The commerce in Corinth was incredible they had luxury items that were sold in the marketplaces they sold things like Arabian balsam or Egyptian papyrus they had ivory from Libya carpets from Babylon wool from like a onaya and all of that was sold in Corinth. But the city was also known for lust and for degradation. During that day if I wanted to insult somebody I would say Eurycorinthian and that was a great insult because they were known for their depravity. It was known for degradation. They had a temple there dedicated to Aphrodite and the temple of Aphrodite had a thousand religious prostitutes who nightly would seduce sailors and tourists. It was an opulent city but it was one of the most disgusting places in the entire world. Now Paul is there in the city of Corinth and he needs to find work in order to support himself and that work is is going to be provided when he meets up with a Jewish couple the Jewish couple Aquila and Priscilla. According to verse 2 they had been kicked out of Rome along with other Jews and they had gone to Corinth. It may have been that there were riots taking place or insurrection in Rome but for whatever reason the Jews were no longer welcome there and so according to verse 3 because they were of the same trade he stayed with them and he worked because he by occupation was a tent maker. Let me say something very briefly about this. Jewish boys would learn their father's trade even if these boys were going to become rabbis. Paul was able to work with his hands and Paul would provide for his own needs and he did so by making tents so God gave him a trade and an opportunity for him to be able to take care of himself and he wasn't above working with his own hands to supply for his own necessities. In the book of Acts in chapter 20 we'll see this in verses 33 through 35 Paul said like this he said I haven't coveted anyone silver or gold or clothing you yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions and everything I did I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak remembering the word of the Lord Jesus himself who said it is more blessed to give than to receive so he said I haven't coveted anything money I haven't coveted clothing I haven't coveted any of those things I worked with my own hands and so that's what he's doing he's a tent maker now in verse 4 he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath persuaded both Jews in Greeks when Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia Paul was compelled by the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ and so this is what an evangelist does he takes the gospel and he presents it to other people notice in verse 4 he reasoned in the synagogue every every Sabbath and persuaded both Jew and Gentile that's what evangelists do he took the message it's interesting to note that he's taking this message not simply to the lost we saw that in Acts 17 where he spoke to the Greek philosophers but he would also take this message to the religiously lost and there are a lot of religious lost people a lot of people who who go to church a lot of people who go to their their temple or go to mosque they they go for religious services but they're still lost and so he would take the message throughout the world including to the religious people and that's what he would do he went into the synagogue and he reasoned every Sabbath and he was persuading them well in Corinth he went into the synagogue once again he shares the gospel and that's his pattern he's preaching the unsearchable riches of Jesus Christ and incidentally I'll say this too as a lay of foundation that's what preachers are supposed to do proclaim Jesus Christ I keep saying the same thing to this church some of you may be getting tired of hearing this but it's true and I'll say it again we're living in a time when people no longer endure healthy teaching they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears and they voluntarily turn aside from the truth and they turn unto fables they want to hear stories and not scripture and that's a fact there's no doubt about that now remember when when Paul was in Athens remember how Paul had reasoned with these intellectuals the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers and how he had even quoted their own pagan philosophers speaking to them concerning the things that they as a society and culture had embraced but remember also that in his in his giving them an opportunity to embrace by faith Jesus is Lord and Savior there was very there was very little response it says in verse 34 of chapter 17 some men joined him and believed among them Dionysius the Eropagite a woman named Damaris and others with him but there wasn't much of a response and so now he's in Corinth and it appears that he has determined something he's going to make sure to preach the message of the gospel now when he wrote the letter to the first letter to the Corinthians it's found in chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians verses 1 through 5 this is what he told the Corinthians he said when I came to you brothers I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God for I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified I came to you in weakness and fear and with much trembling my message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words but with demonstration of the Spirit's power so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom but on God's power I came to you Corinthians and I brought to you not stories, myths and not persuasive words I brought to you Jesus Christ and Him crucified because it's in believing Christ and His death for us that a person is saved and so there he is proclaiming the message and the power of the gospel in verse 5 it says when Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia notice Paul was compelled by the Spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ compelled means to be compressed internally it speaks of an inner pressure that motivated him his heart was on fire and he was compelled he was compelled to speak have you ever been in that place where you know that God is saying open your big mouth and say something have you ever been there it's it's and then you say it's class I mean class I mean calling me is happening college it would happen and say I didn't always go to Christian college went to secular school and I would be there and or I sometimes I've gone to Bible studies you know and the teacher is teaching error and my mom my mom saw this happen more than once with me I actually felt compelled to speak I would I would I would sit there and I would begin to almost sweat and I'd be thin and I'd talk my top to myself and I'd say shut up don't say anything you're not supposed you're not the teacher keep your mouth shut Jeremiah 20 verse 9 I said I will not make mention of him nor speak any more in his name but his word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones I was weary of holding it back I could not that was the apostle Paul that was Paul these people were lost they're in need of Christ he's an evangelist he didn't go in there and and give him something cool to think about he didn't try and be the the cool evangelist you know he went in there with the gospel of Jesus Christ because it's the truth that set you free in 2nd Samuel 23 to the spirit of the Lord spoke through me his word was on my tongue and that was the apostle Paul and there he is compelled by the spirit he testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ verse 6 but when they opposed him and blasphemed he shook his garments and said to them your blood be upon your own heads I am clean from now on I will go to the Gentiles it says they opposed him in verse 6 that word means to systematically oppose it is a picture of putting themselves in a warlike order against them they systematically and with hostility opposed him it says they blasphemed the word blasphemed means to speak reproachfully it speaks to revile they were willfully rejecting the gospel what they were saying is this message that this man is bringing is worthless and it's unnecessary that's called blasphemy and as they were saying that and and you can almost hear it I mean we're in such an antiseptic environment he wasn't speaking to a lot of people who agreed with him he was speaking to people who disagreed and you can see what's happening today all you need to do is watch the news and watch what happens and I'll put it in political turns but it doesn't have to be this way but I'll use the word conservative be a conservative and go to Berkeley and get a haul as an invited speaker and see how many people sit there respectfully and listen to what you have to say it's not going to happen because from place to place whenever somebody comes in who's saying something that others disagree with instead of politely listening to them and then differing on points and speaking of asking questions and arguing in a polite way they just riot they just scream they shout you down that's the picture you need to have of what is taking place here it wasn't a polite conversation like I'm basically having with you right now it was people yelling and saying we don't need this nonsense this is crazy what do you mean Jesus that's what was going on so that was Paul that's one of the reasons why I admire this man so much he had a strength from the Spirit of God and he was willing to go into lion's den if necessary to speak the truth and that's what he was doing and so as this is happening he says your blood be on your own your own heads in other words you are responsible for what happens to yourself as well as to your nation you have resisted you have rejected the message and you have done so to your own hurt so he's saying I am clean I am innocent of what the result of this rejection will be I don't have blood guilt in Ezekiel 3 18 and 19 it reads when I say to the wicked you shall surely die and you give him no warning nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way to save his life that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity but his blood I will require at your hand if you warn the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness nor turn from his wicked way he shall die in his iniquity you have delivered your soul your responsibility Ezekiel is your watchman intended to cry out in my name that's your responsibility if they turn that's good if they don't at least you did what you're supposed to do and that's what he's doing he's saying you are guilty of your own blood so I'm going to take this message to the Gentiles to these Corinthians they will listen here's a simple thing sometimes you must simply move on and leave people in the hands of the Lord you don't cast your pearls before swine there are times when you simply shake the dust off of your sandals like Jesus taught us in Matthew 10 and you go to people who are receptive you don't stay spinning your wheels with people who reject you just move on and that's what Paul was doing I'm going to preach the good news to the Corinthians Gentiles you see we resist the spirit of God by not yielding to his conviction and when you resist his conviction you are opposing yourself in other words you're cutting yourself off from the possibility of salvation the writer of Hebrew said it like this in chapter 3 verses 7 and the first portion of verse 8 the Holy Ghost says today if you will hear his voice do not harden your heart so you have that responsibility you hear the message and you have the responsibility to receive or you also can turn away but it's up to you and it's left on your own shoulders for the decisions that you make I'm going to the Gentiles he says verse 7 and he departed from there and entered the house of a certain man named justice one who worshiped God whose house was next door to the synagogue so this is a Gentile in Christmas Christmas is interesting he had a real dark sunburn that's why they call them Christmas I'm just kidding that's the original Greek no I'm teasing you Christmas I don't know the ruler of the synagogue believed on the Lord with all his household and many of the Corinthians hearing believed and were baptized and so we have a man named justice and he's a worshiper of God that speaks of him being a Gentile and he lives next door to the synagogue but y'all also have Christmas who's the synagogue ruler and he was converted and notice again he is one who believed on the Lord and so that's taking place verse 9 the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision do not be afraid but speak and do not keep silent for I am with you and no one will attack you to hurt you for I have many people in this city and he continued there a year and six months teaching the Word of God among them do not be afraid do not keep silent the Jews began at that time to physically opposed Paul they were doing whatever was necessary to silence him and here's something that has encouraged me even this great apostle this man who made it his aim to preach the message of Christ in places that no one had ever heard even this great man who went on missionary journey after missionary journey after missionary journey three missionary journeys are recorded in the book of Acts alone a man who went as far as he could to preach the gospel a man who spoke concerning the various things he suffered for the gospel's sake hunger being shipwrecked beaten he was stoned so many painful things ridiculed and I've always admired him I thought this man was the most amazing man outside of Jesus Christ and yet he had already said to the Corinthians I was with you in fear and the Lord speaks to him and says don't be afraid I'm with you so this man even this great apostle was afraid and the Lord needed to comfort him so don't feel bad because I think some of you can I the way I way I teach you know I say blah blah blah and then you can say but I'm nervous I get nervous you know we all do I've been asked before pastor do you get nervous when you teach and the answer is sometimes I do sometimes I do yeah do I often know here no this is my family I'm speaking to my family I don't get nervous with my own church but have I yes have I been afraid have I had my heart trembling before absolutely absolutely well what do you do when you're afraid you'll close your eyes you say a quick prayer and you say be with me Lord here we go and you open your mouth have I been ridiculed all the time all the time you think it happens now it does yes yes have I been ridiculed in classes where I've shared about Jesus with non-believers yeah have people try to make me look stupid I do a pretty good job on my own I don't need help from others but I'll be honest with yes of course of course of course I've been made to feel stupid of course I have walked out saying that was not what I wanted to say of course so what do you do do you stop speaking no you just say God help me to learn I'm gonna continue because somebody has to and you called me to and he called us to because you will be so blessed to know that there are people that when you share with they are people that God had already had a divine appointment with them and all he needed was you at that moment to say something and they're ready to come to faith in Christ you be blessed and surprised by that so yes Paul would be a bit afraid he was afraid and the Lord spoke to him and he said I'm giving you comfort in Hebrews 13 verse 5 it reads keep your lives free from the love of money be content with what you have because God has said never will I leave you never will I forsake you so we say with confidence the Lord is my helper I will not be afraid what can man do to me so he says do not be afraid but speak do not keep silent for I am with you that reminds me of Jeremiah 1 6 through 8 where it reads then said I Lord God behold I cannot speak I'm a youth but the Lord said to me do not say I'm a youth for you shall go to all to whom I send you and whatever I command you you shall speak do not be afraid of their faces for I am with you to deliver you saith the Lord so Paul could speak with conviction because he knew the Lord was there with him he had fear initially but God gave him confidence Jesus strengthened him and the Scripture here tells us he remained there 18 months because Jesus intended to save many people now as this is taking place verse 12 when Galeo was proconsul of Ikea the Jews with when Accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat it's also called the famous seat saying this fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law and when Paul was about to open his mouth Galeo said to the Jews if it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes of Jews there'd be reason why I should bear with you but if it is a question of words and names and your own law look to it yourselves for I do not want to be a judge of such matters and he drove them from the judgment seat then all the Greeks took Sassanese the ruler of the synagogue and beat them before the judgment seat Galeo took no notice of these things interesting huh yes pastor it is yeah I thought so too it seems that they're appealing to Roman law at this point in incidentally this isn't a new a new charge in verse 13 this fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law this isn't a new charge it's something similar that had already been alleged we saw in chapter 16 verses 20 and 21 them being Jews exceedingly these men being Jews exceedingly trouble our city they teach customs which are not lawful for us being Romans to receive or observe it's already been said before again remember Rome had banished the Jews from the city and now we have these Jews here causing problems see Judaism as a religion was tolerated so Paul was bringing something that was new to them it was a new religion and was not recognized by Rome is what they're saying but Galeo didn't want any part of the religious quarrel so he drives them out what's a blessing here is God it said I'll be with you and Paul didn't even have to defend himself himself now Sassanese is interesting because notice what happened to him it says in verse 17 the Greeks took Sassanese the ruler of the synagogue and beat him before the judgment seat and Galeo took no notice of these things Sassanese he got flogged it would seem that these these Gentiles these Greeks were tired of the problems that they were having to deal with and they just took it out on this guy Sassanese but what's interesting enough they'll say this quickly here Sassanese may very well have been converted and the reason I say that is because in 1st Corinthians chapter 1 when Paul is introducing the letter in chapter 1 verse 1 it reads Paul called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God and our brother Sassanese so his initial rejection and punishment may have led to his conversion well verse 18 Paul still remained a good wow he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria and Priscilla and Aquila were with him he had his hair cut off in Sancrea for he had taken a vow and he came to Ephesus and left them there but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews when they asked him to stay a longer time with them he did not consent but took leave of them saying I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem but I will return again to you God willing and he sailed from Ephesus and when he had landed at Caesarea and gone up and greeted the church he went down to Antioch after he had spent some time there he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order strengthening all the disciples so he leaves Corinth after a year and a half it says here and I'll just touch this very briefly well in Sancrea he shaved his head making a vow of the Nazareth when you look in the Old Testament there is a group of people it's a it's not so much a group of people there's what is called the vow of the Nazareth and what would take place is you would be separated from certain things for a certain amount of time in order that you might demonstrate yourself to be completely devoted to the things of God in number 6 verses 1 through 4 it says the Lord spoke to Moses saying speak to the children of Israel and say to them when either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazareth to separate themselves to the Lord he shall separate himself from wine and strong drink shall drink no vinegar of wine or vinegar of strong drink neither shall he drink any liquor of grapes nor eat moist grapes are dried all the days of a separation shall he nothing that is made of the vine tree from the kernels even to the husk in verse 18 it says the Nazareth shall shave the head of the separation at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation and shall take the hair of the head of a separation put it in the fire which is under the sacrifice of the peace offerings and so that was part of what they would do when they took the vow of consecration is it was concluded they would burn that hair that had been shaved as a symbol of that consecration and so that's basically what he's doing there he had taken a vow and and the rest is what we just saw now this is where we introduce Ephesus notice verse 19 he came to Ephesus Ephesus is the main city in what was then called Roman Asia it was located on a river and it was the home of a temple the temple of Artemis Paul left his traveling companions in Ephesus he went to a synagogue in order to once again reason he just couldn't resist continuing as the tensor reaches people they asked them to stay as it says but he could not he was going to Jerusalem he was going to fulfill his vow so it says in verse 22 that he landed at Caesarea and he went up and greeted the church now Paul had preached to Cornelius in Caesarea and a church had been birthed there we saw that in the book of Acts in chapter 10 and so he goes back to this region through this place called Caesarea and basically he's going to minister he went to Antioch and that completed what was called a second missionary journey he spent some time there went over all the region and after resting he departed on what is called his third missionary journey as this is happening verse 24 a certain Jew named Apollos born at Alexandria an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures came to Ephesus 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 knew only the baptism of John so he began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Aquila and Priscilla heard him they took him aside explained to him the way of God more accurately and when he desired to cross the Caea the brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to receive him and when he arrived he greatly helped those who had believed through grace for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly showing from scripture that Jesus is the Christ now I want to speak to you about this man Apollos Apollos arrives at Ephesus and he begins to build on the foundation that the apostle Paul had laid so here we have the possibility of dissension and comparison remember I said this earlier Romans 15 20 Paul said I have strived to preach the gospel not where Christ was named lest I should build upon another man's foundation Apollos is coming and he's adding his insight and ministry to that which has already begun through the ministry of Paul and when you look at Apollos he's an impressive individual and he had what would be called a powerful resume what we have an opportunity of seeing in this passage here is the training of a man of God now who is this man who is this young man with such advantages and so much potential well we get to see who he is one Luke tells us he's Jewish he was born and he was raised in a place called Alexandria Egypt now during this time there were approximately one million Jews living in Alexandria the Jews who lived there spoke Greek and they had the Jewish scriptures translated into Greek it had a large population therefore it had an enormous synagogue this is a man who could communicate to both Jew and Gentile with equal effectiveness and that is a tremendous advantage in ministry when you have a capacity to speak to two different cultures I have to tell you that's a tremendous advantage I have friends who are have have more than one cultural experience and they know how they know how to navigate communication and conversation and I have to tell you it is a tremendous advantage to a person who can do that when I was in India many years ago now I was I speak through interpreters there's so many different dialects in in India it's a huge nation with many many many people billion plus people and so in the different regions there'll be different dialects and so I was in southern India and I was teaching at a pastor's school speaking to pastors and I had to speak through an interpreter and as I was speaking through the interpreter at the end of my teaching the man who had invited me to come in to share approached me and he said I need to have you do more things here because you have a gift you have the capacity to speak through an interpreter and and unless you've done that you'll know that it can be difficult if you don't have a capacity or haven't learned to do that because every language has a different cadence every language has a different amount of words that may be expressed in the same words you use you may say four words but in their language it may be 12 and and it's not as easy as it appears but you see I had an advantage because when I was a little boy growing up my grandmother who came to the United States my dad's mama who came to the United States from from Mexico at the turn of the 20th century never learned to speak English my grandmother didn't speak English my grandmother died at the age of 92 and never became an American citizen my grandmother died a green card Mexican and so when I would go see my grandmother I my parents would not teach us Spanish my parents did not speak Spanish to us they were fluent that was their first language but they would not speak it to us they wanted us to speak English only and they kept a lot of secrets that way at least they thought they did we learned enough but when I would go to see my grandmother she didn't speak any English and we went every week as a little boy to see grandma she only lived a mile and a half away and we go see grandma every Saturday she'd make us tortillas and breakfast it was just great great memories but as we would go my mom would sit next to me and I would converse with my grandmother and I learned to speak to an interpreter when I was 2, 3, 4, 5 years old because I would speak to my grandma and my grandma would speak back to me my mom would translate I'd pick up some words and that's how it was all of my life so I learned cadence I learned how to listen I learned how to hear a language in here they speak this so I and that's how and so there's an advantage to that there's an advantage for me as an American when I go to Mexico minister because my last name is a disadvantage in some ways when you go through passport control and they see my last name they speak Spanish to me and I say un burrito por favor about it or chata and that's about it I'm playing I speak a little more Spanish than that but not much but when I go though I wasn't born in Mexico I know enough of the culture to know the taboos I know the things to do I know the things I ought not to do that's an advantage and there is a great advantage in having the ability to communicate in this fashion here and this is a man Apollo's who could Apollo's had the ability to minister to Jew as well as to Gentile to speak Greek as well as to speak in Hebrew that's a tremendous tremendous advantage and he had that it's a great advantage in ministry notice also that he's described as being eloquent in speech that means that he was a man of what is called it used to be a man of letters is what it used to be referred to he was skilled in literature he was skilled in the arts in history he was a man skilled in speech he was a man who was rational he was a man who was wise this is a man who's impressive he's respectable this is a cultured man the kind of man that people would notice Alexandria was the second most important city in the Roman Empire it was an educational center it trained students in matters of literature and philosophy that means that he had the background to engage intellectuals in religion that's an advantage a third thing he was culturally and socially sophisticated again as a large city with a variety of cultures Alexandria was cosmopolitan it is a home of the lighthouse of Alexandria one of the seven wonders of the ancient world that lends itself to ministry because when you've experienced a lot of things you're not easily impressed you just aren't you just aren't I never realized the advantage that the Lord has given to me by one by a dad who didn't get impressed my father didn't get impressed with with people and he taught me that I don't either you know if somebody's doing some great thing I think that's that's good but I don't run around saying oh god I wish I could do that I just think that's good I'm glad he does but I don't I don't get my dad used to say it like this David I put my pants on one leg at a time and so does he that was my dad so I'm the same way so if somebody brags to me I smile that's nice I'm not impressed you know and I've been places you know and I'm not I don't I've had a chance over the last many years to see a lot of things that people haven't seen just because they haven't had the opportunity or advantage to do that I've seen the Taj Mahal now you see those pictures of the Taj Mahal oh I've got to go it's dirty it's dirty and they have this fountain in the front it's muddy I've seen I've seen the Eiffel Tower I've seen the Tower of London I've seen the castles in in Spain I've been around the world more than once I've seen a lot and because I've seen a lot and a lot of places I spent three months in in Europe backpacking you know I went through 11 countries when I was 25 years 24 years old I went through a lot of countries I saw a lot of things in a lot of countries Belgium France Germany Austria Switzerland I've been on Lake Geneva I've seen a lot and you know what happens you don't get impressed you just say yeah that's nice when you first go there you go oh wow that's so beautiful then you see something that's even more beautiful and finally you say that's nice and that's kind of what happened but you know I don't want to knock it I mean it's wonderful I keep going back to Israel that's the one place I love going I love going there why because Jesus meets me in a special way in Israel that's why I like to go there because I get something new every time I go but I'm saying that to say this when he experienced so much has so much culture so much education is so eloquent if he just doesn't get impressed which is a good thing because it keeps you humble because what really impresses you is going to be the Lord in the things of God and again that lends itself to ministry he was not easily impressed a fourth thing he's mighty in scripture he was raised in Egypt but he received an in-depth instruction in the Old Testament he was an expert in the reading and interpretation of the Old Testament writings that had made him open to the gospel and then in verse 25 he had been instructed in the way of the Lord he had a rudimentary understanding of the mission of John the Baptist he knew the baptism of repentance he knew that Messiah was to come but he didn't know the significance of the death of Christ his resurrection or the sending of the Spirit a sixth thing he's fervent in spirit and he spoke and taught accurately he was passionate in his presentation and he spoke and taught accurately that which he knew he was diligent and he was sincere as he studied the Word of God the problem is Apollos had come to Ephesus and built on Paul's foundation Paul had already been in Ephesus he had laid the foundation he didn't remain there he left Priscilla and Aquila behind and here comes Apollos and he promptly begins to share the little that he knows I want to develop this with you and then we'll roll to a conclusion in verse 26 he began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Priscilla when Apollon Priscilla heard him they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately here we see one of the most important earmarks of the person who loves the Lord this is one of the most important earmarks of a man of God he was confronted and had this humility to receive further instruction and that is precisely where many young and promising ministers fall most often they think because they're effective that they are very anointed and they fall prey to the temptation of pride and the danger of outward success not only they but their audience believes them to be very anointed again that gives way to pride and error becomes accepted as truth he was educated eloquent cultured religious fervent accurate and bold on the weight of charisma and zeal is ministry would have been a hit amongst men and people have a tendency of making choices based on outer appearance or likability remember the Apostle Paul suffered with this kind of burden it says in 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 10 his letters are weighty and powerful but his bodily presence is weak his speech is contemptible when he was compared to Apollo's Apollo's came out on top Paul was weighty Paul was impressive Apollo's didn't even know the full gospel and yet later on we're going to see a problem developed and so we have this older couple Aquila and Priscilla he's a tent maker what does he know taken aside a brilliant charismatic intellectual cultured promising eloquent young man and there's this older couple in the church looking at them and they're looking at each other and Aquila is looking at Priscilla and he's saying I had to take this boy aside he's got promise but he doesn't know everything yet now here's the thing the earmark of a person who's going to be used by God is whether or not they can be corrected if they cannot be corrected they are dangerous they're dangerous I've been in ministry a long time now I have been the young man and I'm not anymore and I can tell you that in my own ministry experience one of the things that I've said to those who have I've taught to be pastors was one of the words you don't want to use with somebody is they've got great potential because I've seen many with great potential fail because they didn't live up to it because they had success too quickly and people began to think oh he's likable because personality drives churches today it's enthusiastic he's got a lot of personality is excitable that drives people today but they're not listening to what's being said and because they don't listen to what's being said or they can't track with what's being said what ends up being is they be they become deceived and then some person like me approach and say you know some which I do on occasion I'll say you know I wanted to tell you that you know I really appreciate you know you're zeal but you probably need to know this the ones who will listen they have great promise the ones who won't they're very dangerous I just had a conversation one young pastor just last week I meet with 20 to 28 pastors every month I disciple and mentor them 20 to 28 pastors every month and one was sitting next to me and I was talking to him and I was telling him you look out for this you look out for that you look out for this why are you doing that and he looks at me with big ol eyes because I treat him like my son and I speak to him like he is because I'm concerned that he doesn't get caught up in the wrong kinds of things and he listens and when he listens that's wisdom because he's listening to somebody who has been teaching for 43 years I may know something I may have some experience that I can give to you and if you have wisdom you'll listen and he does I have others that I've spoken to and I've said listen I'm concerned and they say yeah yeah that's good because I'm successful I got people showing up everything's going good if I changed I'd lose them all but what are you feeding them what are you teaching them are you showing them Jesus Christ are you showing them yourself listen your testimony may be wonderful but it doesn't last that long you've got to be building on the things that you began or you're going to start going over the same thing over and over and over again and you're never going to bring up the new or fresh manna God wants him to have fresh meat not old so teach him the truth and grow in the things of the Lord this is what's happening where Aquila and Priscilla are there listening and they're saying this man is very zealous he's got he's got all this eloquence he's the kind of person that keeps you spellbound you love it but he's looking at his wife and he's saying we need to take this young man aside and he does notice what happens they took him aside verse 26 and explained to him the way of God more accurately so what happens that's where the wisdom comes in that's why apollos could eventually be used greatly by the Lord you see again aquila was a tent maker not a theologian and so I see him as a kindly older man taken aside a younger zealous man and he shared with him and he ministered to him and he taught him the way of the Lord more accurately he mentored him as what he did and mentoring is the key to spiritual growth it produces a relationship of accountability in the years in the years that I've ministered on many occasions I've offered times to young pastors and normally I'll say I'll meet with you if you'd like I'll get coffee with you I'm turned down they simply believe they already have it pretty much under control and that's sad in Proverbs 19 verse 20 listen to counsel receive instruction that you may be wise in your latter days well eventually this is what happens verse 27 when he desired to cross the care the brother and wrote exhorting the disciples to receive him when he arrived he greatly helped those who had believed the grace he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly showing them from the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ he received instruction demonstrated humility and the result was a good report he was used greatly became a tremendous preacher of the gospel of grace and his impact was so great that he eventually was compared to the mighty apostle Paul and sadly it was the Corinthians who began to compare Paul with the polos and some even began taking sides concerning him asking the question which one is the best teacher but Paul handle handle it like this in 1st Corinthians 3 4 through 6 when one says I'm a Paul and another I'm of Apollos are you not carnal who then is Paul and who is Apollos but ministers through whom you believed as the Lord gave to each one I planted Apollos watered God gave the increase one last thought I think you give honor where honors do I appreciated my pastor and I loved him as deeply as the son in the faith could love a pastor I gave honor to him but I also knew that my pastor wasn't Jesus there's only one God there's only one Savior and that's Jesus and we need to keep that in mind too amen yes and so when they began to argue amongst themselves who is the greatest Paul said wait a minute I do one thing Apollos does the other but it's God it gets all the glory and if we keep our eyes on Jesus we'll keep our pastors in the right place also