Passionate but Incomplete | What Apollos Didn't Know | Alex Sands

Welcome to the Kingdom Life podcast.

As believers, we often have passion, dedication, and a desire to grow in God's Word.

Yes, sometimes our understanding of scripture can be incomplete.

We see this in the life of Apollos in Acts 18, 24 through 28.

Apollos was a difficult speaker.

Well educated in the perfect period.

And today we're in chapter 18, verses 24 through 28.

We have seen the expansion of the gospel.

We've seen the word of God move forward through the apostles and through the church.

And it's been an amazing thing to see.

Last time we saw the end, the conclusion of the Apostle Paul's second missionary journey.

Apostle Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, the one sent by Jesus Himself to the Gentiles.

And he wrapped up his second missionary journey as we saw, and he went to Jerusalem because he fulfilled a vow there, a vow that he had taken.

He stopped there and then he went to Antioch, where he had launched out the church that had sent him was the church at Antioch.

He was the apostle Paul, but he was accountable.

All church leaders need to be accountable.

He saw the value in the body and connected with the body.

But you know, the spread of the gospel wasn't limited to one person.

We read a lot about Paul and what he's done, and a lot of that's because Luke, the author of Acts, he traveled along with Paul.

But the gospel wasn't dependent upon one person, it wasn't dependent on even just the disciples.

The gospel moved forward through the church.

The gospel moved forward by the church, and people who did not have a relationship with the apostles didn't know Peter, didn't know John, didn't know the others.

They heard about Jesus.

And we find today a person like that was used mightily by God, yet still needed instruction.

And through his story, as we look at verses 24 through 28, but between a historian and also Aquila and Priscilla, we will see what it takes to make disciples.

To be a disciple and to make disciples.

Make disciples, followers, those who hear me, know what my uh truth is and walk it out, who are followers, my followers, teach them to obey everything I have instructed you.

We see a wonderful example of what it takes to be a disciple and to make a disciple.

And three words I want you to think as we go through uh the message today: gifted, grounded, and guided.

Can you say that with me?

Gifted, grounded, and guided.

Gifted, grounded, and guided.

We're gonna see those three as we go through the text this morning.

Again, picking up at Acts chapter 18, and Acts chapter 18, and we're beginning at verse, Acts chapter 18, beginning at verse 24.

Acts 18 · chapter mention Acts 18 · chapter mention Acts 18 · chapter mention

We left off at verse 23.

We're picking up at verse 24.

Paul has started his third missionary journey.

He's going back to visiting the churches that he established during his first missionary journey, but meanwhile, you ever have a show that says, meanwhile, meanwhile, now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.

He was an eloquent man, competent in the scriptures.

So it says this Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, what city did he go to?

He went to Ephesus.

He went to Ephesus.

At the end of last week, we talked about how Paul, before he made it to Jerusalem and fulfilled the vow, Paul made a pit stop in Ephesus.

Ephesus, which was the second largest city in the Roman Empire.

Ephesus, over 200,000 people.

Ephesus that had replaced Athens as being the seat of scholasticism and culture.

Ephesus, the capital of Asia, where Paul had wanted to start his second missionary journey, but the Lord had blocked him.

He wanted to go into Asia, but the Lord said no.

There in Ephesus, Paul went into the synagogue and he began to expound upon Jesus being the Messiah.

And he had an unusual response.

People wanted him to stay.

He said he couldn't.

I got to get to Jerusalem.

So he didn't stay in Ephesus long.

He leaves.

Again, Jerusalem, then Antioch, then starts his third journey.

We'll pick up on that in chapter 19.

But meanwhile, a man named Apollos, a Jewish man named Apollos, goes to Ephesus.

Paul is gone.

Apollos shows up, and Luke uses two adjectives to describe him in verse 24.

He was, what's the first adjective?

He was, number one, eloquent.

He was eloquent.

What that means is that he was a learned person who was able to express thoughts and ideas eloquently, learned, and able to express thoughts and ideas eloquently, converse them, converse and teach.

It's evidence of the fact that Apollos had the benefit of education, the benefit of training.

He's gifted.

Everybody say gifted.

He's gifted.

He's grown up in an environment and has had access to training, to education.

Where he grew up helps us understand that.

Where did he grow up?

He's a native of what?

Who?

Where?

He was a native of Alexandria.

Alexandria was a city in Egypt.

Alexandria was a city in Egypt.

It was a massive city.

It was a massive city, large, had a large Jewish population.

And everything I had told you earlier about Ephesus, it was really about Alexandria.

I got my cities confused.

It was the seat of academia, scholasticism.

It had replaced Athens as that.

Large, large Jewish population.

Hellenist Jews, Jews who spoke Greek and were immersed in Greek culture.

Not from Jerusalem or Judea, but had grown up in Greek culture.

Many could not speak Hebrew.

There were Hebrew, uh Jewish scholars in Alexandria that translated the Hebrew scriptures into the Greek and as called the Septuagint.

They translated it there.

There were Jews who were rigorous in their training, in their understanding.

That's the environment that Apollos grew up in.

So it's no surprise that he's sharp.

It's no surprise that he's intelligent, but he's also gifted because people didn't pour into young adults unless they showed promise.

They didn't pour into training unless there was promise.

He was gifted.

Gifted in understanding Greek culture, gifted in classical Greek argument, how to, in rhetoric, how to develop arguments.

How to build a case.

How to speak in public.

He was an eloquent man, and not only eloquent, what's the second?

Competent.

He was competent in the scriptures.

Now competent really doesn't do it justice.

It means competent means able, strong, powerful.

It's related to dunamis, like power or dynamite.

So he's mighty, powerful in the scriptures.

He's like an Ezra in the Old Testament.

Again, having had access to all of this training and the scholars, and so he's had access to this growing up, but he has a passion to learn it as well.

He's gifted and thirsty.

That's where he's gotten rooted in the Old Testament, rooted in scriptures.

So he's mighty in scriptures.

Sounds like somebody else we talked about a lot, the Apostle Paul.

Not saying that that uh Apollos was a rabbi, but I'm saying in terms of his grasp of scriptures, his command of the word.

His command of the word is dynamite, coupled with his ability to deliver it.

Oh boy.

I want to pause here and just extend something here, particularly to our graduates.

First Kingdom Truth, God shapes our past to serve his purpose.

Today we're gonna recognize our graduates after uh after we go uh through after we go through the uh message, our invitation, everything else.

We're going to recognize our graduates.

And all of the graduates that we have for recognition today are college graduates.

Not to say there aren't any high school graduates, but but these are the the ones that sign and fulfill the uh application and for the form and everything else.

They are graduates, they've had the access to higher education.

You're gifted, and you've had access to good training.

That is not just to make money and have a good career.

It's not your parents or or teachers and all of that.

God has put them all together to allow you to have these experiences, this training, but it's not about having a career.

That's nice.

A career, yes.

But he's gonna use all those things, all of those abilities, all that training for his purpose.

He's allowed you to get it all for his purpose.

That class that you could not understand why you needed to take it.

How does this fit into my degree?

I don't understand.

What if God has plans for that class that's outside of whether or not you're going to use it to uh make uh in your career or not?

Don't ever think your mind doesn't matter.

Our hearts matter, our passion matters, but our minds matter, and God is calling sharp individuals, and he's training them and he's building them up, he is raising up apolysis.

All of the training and background, everything else, it's a trust from God, it's not ours.

God has known us before the foundation of the world.

And Paul talked about how he was set apart before he was born.

He said, But when when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach among him among the Gentiles and didn't immediately consult with anyone.

So da da da.

He set me apart before I was born, called him to preach and revealed his son.

He had prepared him before he showed up.

Jeremiah was the same way.

All of the training, everything else.

First step, give your life to Christ.

Second step, give him everything you got, all your training, all your education, all your resources.

That's Apollos.

Verse 25, things get interesting.

He had been instructed in the way of the Lord.

He had been instructed in the way of the Lord.

Instructed.

Comes from where the Greek the Greek word it comes from where we had catechism from is having received formal, systematic oral instruction.

Somebody got a hold of Apollos.

Somebody got a hold of Apollos and taught him the way of the Lord, taught him about Jesus.

Somebody got a hold of Apollos and shared with him that Jesus is the fulfillment of all the messianic promises.

He is the Messiah.

Somebody taught him and broke it down in a systematic way because Apollos was a systematic thinker.

Somebody brought it to him, and the Holy Ghost activated inside of Apollos, and he understood the truth.

You know, you can't just understand through intellect that Jesus is the Savior, the Messiah.

It takes the Holy Spirit as well.

You're not going to think your way into salvation.

It requires the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has to open up your heart to understand the truths, and it and the Holy Spirit did that.

He had been instructed in the Lord.

And it's in the perfect tense, meaning what he had learned in the past had continuing effects in the present.

And it says in verse 25, and being fervent in spirit.

He was fervent in spirit.

That word fervent, it means to boil over.

To boil over.

He was on fire.

Bubble up to boil.

It's where we get zeal from.

Because understand, in the Greek, there's a definite article in front of the word spirit.

So it's fervent in the spirit.

That's why most scholars say he's fervent in the Holy Spirit, even if he wasn't aware that's what was working in him.

You know, it says in Philippians 2.13, it is the Lord who gives us the will and the ability to do his will.

He gives us not only the desire to do it, but the capacity to do it and the passion to do it.

It all starts with God.

So the Lord is working in him, however, anyone wants to say.

See, this is the debate.

The debate that many people have is what was Apollos' spiritual condition at this point?

Well, the Holy Spirit didn't tell us, didn't give us specific detail.

What the Holy Spirit has told us, he was fervent in the Lord, but, and he spoke accurately.

Oh, he spoke accurately.

He taught accurately.

The things of the Lord, the things concerning Jesus, but he only knew the baptism of John.

He has knowledge.

Jesus is the Messiah.

He's on fire with all of that.

But whoever communicated the gospel to him sounds like they left off at Pentecost.

Didn't tell him what happened after the resurrection.

Now maybe that person didn't know.

Or maybe they just didn't have time.

But it's apparent that he doesn't know about what happened at Pentecost and the thousands who were baptized by the authority of Jesus' name.

Jesus commissioned a baptism in the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, acknowledging the Son as being on the same level as the Father and the Holy Spirit, and acknowledging his role in the name of Jesus, everything he taught and who he was.

He didn't receive that.

What he knew about was John's baptism, which was a baptism that prepared the people to receive the Messiah.

Turn.

That your hearts would be ready to receive, your hearts would be ready.

And that's he understood that's his role.

And before John was executed, he acknowledged Jesus as being the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Maybe the person who shared the good news, maybe the person had been one of John's disciples, heard that but didn't know everything.

The point is what we see here is that there is a spectrum of belief.

People are not all on the same level.

And the gospel went out, and it just didn't go out just with the apostles.

The apostles shared it with some who shared it with others who shared it with others.

And that's God's plan.

But also coming a byproduct of that plan is sometimes things get dropped, miscommunicated.

But the thing about it is, Apollos taught Jesus accurately.

It just wasn't complete.

You can have enough information to be saved, but not know every theological principle, everything, everything.

No one's theology is flawless.

We're all in process.

But Apollos was fervent in what he knew.

But all he knew about was about the baptism of John.

Repentance.

Turning to God and Jesus being the Messiah.

But did he know about the church?

Did he know anything after that?

What the Lord was doing in the 20 years since his resurrection?

Kind of like this.

You know, a while back I watched a 10 uh episode uh series, but I thought it ended at eight.

At the eighth one.

And so at the end of the eighth one, I was like, well, I it it was okay, but man, it just, I missed the whole part that there was gonna be a nine and a ten because I was just so used to things ending at eight.

So I said, well, that's that's all right, it's fine, but still some things they must be getting to it at the end, and the next season.

I didn't know nine and ten.

Now, was anything wrong with what I knew about episodes one through eight?

No.

I just didn't have the full picture.

That's where Apollos is.

Theology can grow over time.

Here's the Kingdom Life principle.

Understand this.

Talent, giftedness, and zeal are not substitutes for having an accurate and growing theological foundation.

A lot of uh theology today, a lot of the theology that people have, and that is their understanding of who God is, is being developed on TikTok.

It's not not it's not through uh Sunday school, Bible studies, and things is TikTok.

And then grabbing a little bit here and a little bit there.

Well, what what's what's happening?

People can be saved that way.

People can hear the gospel and respond.

But grabbing a little bit here and a little bit there, it kind of creates an environment where, listen, this part is off.

This part over here is off.

But there are people, young people, who are passionate about Jesus but don't have all the pieces.

Now, as a church, we need to be ready for that and be willing to meet people where they are and help them correct their understanding.

But I'll get to that in just a second.

But look, Apollos was gifted, but gifted doesn't mean you know everything.

Now, understand, all of us need to grow in our theological understanding.

All of us need to grow in our knowledge of God.

The minute you think you've got it all, you're in trouble.

Zeal that's not matched with precision and understanding can cause damage.

Because somebody could take what was missed and then fill in gaps and stumble.

But if you learn as much as you can, then you can be a tool God can use in multiple places.

But we believers can never be settled with having a level of knowledge like this.

If God opens doors and opportunities for you to know more and you don't take advantage of it, something's wrong.

You know, we're all called to be uh uh uh zealous.

Do you know that?

In Romans chapter 12, oops, verse 11 says, Do not be slothful in zeal, but be fervent in spirit.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

Serve the Lord.

We're all to have zeal.

So where that where does that fervency come from?

The Holy Spirit.

And you know, the more you know and the more you understand what Jesus has done for you, the more on fire you'll be.

Stir it up on the inside of that fire.

You know, maybe it's grown dim.

Maybe just come you know, comfortable with what he's done.

Stir it up, and the fire will blaze.

Lord's been too good for me to keep this to myself.

But together, get worship, put together a Spotify list or Apple Music list or whatever, you know, list and just with worship, reminding what you of what he's done, and let that fire you know grow and praise and worship and prayer and learning.

Don't let your zeal outpace your foundation.

Because so many folks have gone out with a little bit of knowledge, and then they run out and they cause damage.

And they cause damage because they're gifted.

Someone can be gifted oratorically, but not matched with information, that's dangerous.

So we have Apollos, he's gifted.

And on fire for Jesus.

He's been trained, he's educated, all of that.

He's gifted.

But he needs some more information.

Enter Aquila and Priscilla.

Verse 26, he began to speak boldly in the synagogue.

Ooh, we.

See, not only is Apollos gifted, not only is he fervent in the Lord, he's bold too.

He ain't scared.

He is firm in what he knows.

He goes boldly in the synagogue.

He goes boldly in the synagogue and he's teaching.

You know, the invitation in the synagogue services, they would offer an invitation.

They'd done it to Paul for others.

They invited him to speak, and he, man, he went to Jesus.

He went there.

He was not ashamed of Jesus.

He starts telling them about Jesus.

He picks up where Paul left off.

Because Paul introduced them.

Well, now he now here comes Apollos.

He's watering seed that Paul had thrown out there.

Paul didn't know anything about Apollos.

He didn't know Apollos was coming, but see, understand it's not about one person.

Kingdom work, as we'll see, is a team effort.

And you don't know all the people who are on your team.

But here shows up Apollos, and he's bold in the synagogue.

He's boldly declaring it.

Listen, that boldness boldly means to speak with fearless, unreserved, and confident public proclamation, undeterred by potential hostility.

He's not holding anything back.

His massive intellect, his training in rhetoric, all matched up with this fervency in the Spirit, through the Holy Spirit.

Well, you put all of that in his mastery of the Old Testament, he was devastating.

He was devastating.

And there in the synagogue was this couple.

Aquila and Priscilla.

You may remember them.

They were in Corinth.

They worked in leather like the Apostle Paul.

And they had done work together in Corinth.

Well, they went along with Paul to Ephesus, and when Paul left Ephesus, they stayed.

They stayed, set up, you know, camp and are living, doing life.

They were in the synagogue.

You think that was an accident?

Do you think it was an accident they bumped into Paul in Corinth?

No.

They're Jews that had been run out of Rome.

It wasn't their plan even to be in Corinth.

They had been run out of Rome because the Jews were evicted, if you will.

They were thrown out of Rome and they were, they got caught up in it.

But God had a plan.

Never think that God has scattered you purposely, purposelessly.

There's a purpose.

And then they go with Paul to Ephesus and they stay, and they're in that crowd.

They hear Apollos.

They like what they're hearing, but they know what he's saying isn't complete.

They know what he's saying isn't complete.

They spot the gaps.

They understand his timeline falls short.

There's he's not finishing.

He's not into episodes nine and ten.

What happens next?

It's so awesome.

When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside.

And then what?

Explained to him the way of God more accurately.

You see, he was teaching Jesus accurately.

But he his his understanding, his theology needed to be tweaked.

He needed more understanding so he could have more accuracy.

Think about what uh uh uh Priscilla and Aquila did not do.

They did not sitting there in the synagogue say, hola! You you you you ain't doing it all, you ain't giving it all.

What what they didn't show up, Apollos to try to make themselves look good.

You know, sometimes people correct, but it's not to build up, it's to make themselves look good.

They didn't embarrass him, they didn't call him out because there wasn't anything he said that was an error, there was no heresy, it was just incomplete.

And not everyone who has an incomplete word is a false prophet.

A false prophet is not just about what someone says, it's their heart behind it.

Jesus said you will know them by their fruits, how they behave, how they act is not just.

Sometimes people just don't know everything yet, but if you give them that information, maybe God has placed you in their path.

Priscilla and Aquila are right there, placed by God.

They hear what he's saying and they don't embarrass him, they don't call him out, they take him aside.

They take aside means to take or receive someone closely into one's circle, often into one's home.

Come on to our house.

Let's break bread.

Come on, come on here, just let's let's let's talk for a little bit.

They pull them to the safety and warmth of their private home so they can talk to them heart to heart.

And oh, look at it, they explain it more accurately, but as I shared this accurately, more accurately, it's diligent, accurately, and exactly.

It's the exact Greek word that was used to describe what he had been doing.

He taught Jesus accurately, and now they're teaching accurately, they're building off of what he already knows.

They fill in the missing pieces, they let them know that look, what you got is good.

But you need to know that there's a new era that broke in.

You need to know, hey, Gentiles are now part of the body.

You need to know all of this.

There's more.

And they brought it to him.

Here's what I want us to gather here real quick.

God uses ordinary people to build extraordinary faith in other disciples, and it's not about position, education level, or anything like that.

Aquila and Priscilla were grounded in who they were in Christ, they were not intimidated by Apollos' superior education, training, or eloquence.

Aquila and Priscilla, they were just tradespeople.

They worked with their hands.

They were leather workers.

And in that culture, working with your hands was frowned upon.

You were just, that was for me, that was menial.

That's the people who are cultured don't do that.

They didn't view themselves that way.

They had sat around Paul, they got great understanding, and they see someone who needs more truth.

And they didn't look at themselves as being deficient, they saw their brother who just needed some additional information that they had.

Part of being available to be a discipler.

You see, Apollos was gifted, but he needed to be discipled further.

He needed the baton to be passed for whoever instructed him.

They got as far as they could, but now the baton needs to be passed.

Somebody had to disciple him more, instruct him more.

But a person who is a discipler has to be grounded in who they are.

Or maybe they'll start to feel like they're superior to their student, or that they're beneath their student.

When the reality is at the cross, we're all the same.

You better be secure in yourself.

Sometimes people, when they want to be a discipler, it's in order to build themselves up.

And then lo, behold, their student really grows, really grows in knowledge and understand beyond them, and they can't take it.

Aquila and Priscilla wasn't about them.

It's about Apollos, it's about the truth.

Apollos, Aquila and Priscilla, they were grounded.

But also, let's talk about Apollos.

He was grounded too.

You know, Apollos could have showed out.

I'm gonna chill.

All right, what you got, what you cooking?

And could have enjoyed it, and then they try to correct him.

Oh, ho, ho, ho, time out.

I am Apollos.

I know we just met, but I am Apollos.

Do you know the schools?

I've been, do you know my grasp of the Septuagint?

Do you know who I am?

Do you know who I am and do you know who you are?

I'm from Alexandria.

He could have done that.

But he didn't do that.

You see, the Holy Spirit had given him humility.

And he was grounded.

And so he he just wanted to learn more.

You say you got some more truth?

You mean there was something else?

There was an episode 9 and episode 10.

Yeah, there was more.

The story didn't end there.

Tell me more.

And you want to know something else that's interesting about this text?

Did you notice that Aquila and Priscilla were husband and wife?

But Priscilla's name is mentioned before Aquila's.

In fact, in four of the six times Priscilla and Aquila are mentioned, four out of the six times in the New Testament that the couple is mentioned, her name is first.

That is not an accident.

Not just by Luke, but by Paul.

In a patriarchal society like that, that was intentional.

What it shows us is the primary instruction, teaching, came from Priscilla.

She was gifted, gifted by God, and had been gifted to have access to the word, and she soaked in what Paul had taught her.

She grasped it.

And she had done the primary instruction.

You know, there's some guys who can't handle that.

Twist that all up.

But you know who didn't have a problem with that?

Apollos.

Tell me more.

Break it down.

It's the teaching that he needed.

And that teaching, that teaching, that instruction, that communication of Jesus is the Messiah, that didn't depend on gender.

That didn't depend on gender, it was just truth.

Oh, there's all kinds of a firestorm coming up this week.

I know it.

I won't even talk about it.

Except to say what I read here is that it wasn't Aquila alone.

They taught him.

And Priscilla was named first.

She's involved in the teaching.

They instructed the word to him more accurately.

He received it.

He was grounded, and they were grounded.

God uses ordinary folks, not just educated folks.

God uses ordinary folks like the fishermen.

When they saw the boldness of Peter and John, they perceived that they were uneducated, common men.

They were astonished.

They recognized that they had been with Jesus.

Theological mastery, that's not reserved for those who go to seminary.

It's available.

You have a heart to learn more, you can soak it all in.

So listen.

Don't have a prideful heart and say to yourself, I can't learn something from somebody who was saved in fewer years than I was.

Sometimes people are just gifted and they are on the accelerated track.

Could be younger than you, could be younger in the faith than you.

Are you willing to learn?

To recognize the Holy Spirit and to receive.

Apollos was getting back to Aquila and Priscilla, getting back to the fact that they uh they um took them to their home, broke things down.

A takeaway for us in our culture is don't cancel someone in public without first trying to coach them in private.

There you go.

I say that because we live in this culture where someone makes one mistake, says one thing amiss in a podcast.

Or or maybe in a uh a post, one little thing, and it's not non-essential, a non-essential.

But people will catch that and and calling themselves believers will blow them up publicly.

Call them out embedded instead of a DM oh.

They want to make it big and and it doesn't even affect anyone's salvation, but it didn't matter.

I just need to, I'm gonna blow this up.

First, pull aside privately.

Do what you can to cultivate a relationship.

Build up, edify, don't tear down.

You don't, the one thing you don't want to destroy is fervency.

There's a lot of things you can teach somebody, but that fire for Jesus, when you see it in somebody, you don't want to snuff it out.

And you don't want to be intimidated by it.

You want to help them grow in knowledge and help that fire burn even more and higher.

Don't cancel someone publicly until you had a chance to reach out to them privately and correct privately.

Is that all right?

In this hypercritical culture.

Grounded.

Disciplers being grounded, disciples being grounded.

We see that Apollos is gifted.

He's grounded, Aquila and Priscilla are grounded.

Now let's see where it takes them.

As Apollos is now from here, guided by the Holy Spirit.

Verse 27.

When he wished to cross Achaia, the brothers did what?

Encouraged him.

Something stirred in Apollos' heart that he wants to go to Achaia.

That's the region where Corinth was in Sancria.

He wants to leave Asia, go across the sea, and there.

Something stirs in his heart.

He got that from the Lord.

And he wants to go.

He wants to go there and communicate the good news.

That's why he talks to the brothers about it.

He lets it know before them what he wants to do.

And you know what?

They don't try to rope him in.

They don't try to hold him back to themselves.

They don't try to do it.

No, no, no.

You don't need to be doing that.

No, yeah, they didn't do that.

They encouraged him and then wrote to the disciples to welcome him.

So they wrote to the disciples in Corinth, hey, this brother is legit.

He's the real deal.

And that culture is very important.

There's people traveling, evangelists, and so forth, very important for someone to have letters of recommendation.

He came with letters of recommendation from these brothers in the Lord.

And so he goes.

Guided by the Holy Spirit.

Gifted, grounded, so God could build them up.

Now he's guided by the Holy Spirit to a new area, a new territory.

And when he arrived, what happened?

He greatly what?

Greatly what?

Helped.

Greatly helped those who through grace had believed.

It means they had come to faith, particularly you're talking about Jewish believers who have come out of an environment that said, hey, if you're going to be a believer, you've got to do works.

Now they were maybe kind of on the fence a little bit, but when Apollos showed up, he greatly helped them because verse 28 says, he powerfully, powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.

All that training, all of that training, all that mastery of the Old Testament, all of that mastery in Greek rhetoric, everything, and it all came together.

Ooh, boy, Apollos was on fire.

Now remember in Corinth, the Jews had the Jewish leaders, they had risen up and they had brought a case against Paul because he had gotten on their nerves and saving all kinds of folks for over a year and a half.

And then the judge threw it all out.

Well, some of those Jews who had an issue with the gospel, they were still there.

They thought they had their hands full of Paul.

Here comes a man with his training in Alexandria, mastery of the Septuagint, but on fire, added to it the gospel, able to articulate and amaze the crowd.

Amaze and speak.

Go down Main Street right where they were.

Because understand, someone from Corinth, someone in Corinth, and somebody coming from Alexandria, instant cred.

And then the way he articulated it, everything else, it was clear.

It's what they needed.

Now they started to have parties, they started to worship different leaders, and that's a problem in 1 Corinthians.

But the idea here is the ones who needed to be built up were built up when Apollos showed up.

And he's showing through the scriptures, not just something he heard.

Oh, he could prove it.

He went to the text.

All of this because he was guided by the Spirit to go there.

And the effects were, like I said, devastating.

The fact he refuted them, uh refuted them, uh, means to just repudiate.

And understand this, folks, kingdom growth is a team effort.

It's not about one individual.

We see this in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

1 Corinthians 3 · chapter mention

Paul says, I planted a police watered, but God gave the growth.

Can't give the credit to any person later on in verses 8 and 9.

It says, He who plants and he who waters are one.

We're on the same team.

We have the same purpose, are one.

And each will receive his wages according to his labor.

For we are God's fellow workers.

We are partners with God.

You are God's field, God's building.

It's collaboration.

Those Jews.

He refuted them.

And just to get the intensity of it, that means to completely overwhelm an opponent in argument or dispute.

Completely overwhelm.

Can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen.

And it's he's powerfully doing it, vigorously, vehemently, with intense, visible energy.

And it's public.

Not just what you believe.

Be a well-rounded instrument or tool for the Lord and watch Him direct you to people and places you've never been, doing things you've never imagined you'd do.

Don't rest in your gifts, some natural, some spiritual.

Don't rest in them.

Be grounded, understanding and knowing you need to grow, and let the Holy Spirit guide you.

He'll take you places you wouldn't have imagined.

Telling the good news to people you wouldn't have imagined you'd be able to do it to, share it with.

But just being ready and prepared.

Last passage.

2 Timothy 2.15.

Paul says to me, Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

It can be wrongly handled.

But study, be diligent, disciplined to present yourself before God as one tested, approved.

Oh, I have one more.

Know what you believe so that you can give an answer to anyone who asks you a reason for the hope that's in you.

That's 1 Peter 3.15.

In your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense.

Reason of the hope that is in you.

Amen, church.

What were the three G's?

Gifted, grounded, and guided.

I'm talking to somebody who thinks that they're not gifted.

I want to tell you, you are gifted.

You are gifted for the work the Lord has you to do.

Don't compare yourself to somebody else.

You're gifted because you've been given access to so much.

If you're a believer, you have at least one spiritual gift.

Are you humble enough to understand you need to grow more?

There's more to learn.

Are you humble enough to learn from others that you didn't think you'd learn from?

Are you able to reciprocate?

Are you willing to listen to the Holy Spirit?

Use you, direct you.

God is doing so much right now.

Church, the Bible sales of Bibles are off the charts.

Gen Z and Gen Alpha Bibles are flying year over year, like 20-something percent for the last two, three years.

There is a hunger for understanding, but unfortunately, there's little depth.

If you have depth, there's somebody out there.

He is gonna bring our way.

Be ready.

Be ready so you can share and then watch others go further than you as God leads.

Be grounded.

You're gifted, be grounded and be guided.

Lord, thank you for this time together and your word.

Thank you for what you've shared with us.

Lord, we pray that this will stay in our hearts and God, we will take advantage of the opportunities you have given us.

You have given us so much.

You have fashioned us for such a time as this.

Help us not to be critics of culture.

Help us, Lord, to engage the culture, to be sought and to be light, and to be willing to be fine-tuned all for the purpose of your glory.

In the name of Jesus we pray.

Amen.