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Portrait of a
Preacher
Rev. Todd W. Allen
Villa Rica May 21, 2006
Acts 18:18-28
The subject of
Preaching is something most
Americans have an opinion about. Some people associate preaching
with judgmentalism. Has someone ever said to you “Don’t preach to
me?” And preachers are often subject to analysis and criticism. I’m
satisfied that there are times when roast preacher is on the menu at
Sunday dinner. This is because there was only one perfect preacher
and they crucified him, all the rest have shortcomings and failings
that are subject to criticism. This is true because all preachers
are sinners just like the people they preach to. But even though men
called to preach are sinners if they are true men of God they are
sinners saved by grace.
But preaching is not judgementalism
it is a blessed means of grace. Preaching is the means appointed by
God to communicate his saving grace. For this reason, if for no
other, it is a sacred and solemn business that deserves respect by
both the preacher and his auditors. The Lord himself set the tone
when he began his public ministry
preaching that the kingdom of God
was at hand and that men should repent and believe the gospel. His
final words to his disciples were that they should “Go
into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
And so serious and
solemn was the command that he added,
16“He who has believed and has been baptized shall be
saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.
(Mark 16:15-16)
We know that the
apostles not only obeyed his command to preach but that they
themselves believed preaching
was essential. Paul wrote to the Romans,
14How
then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will
they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear
without a preacher? 15How will they preach unless they
are sent? Just as it is written, “How
beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”
Rom. 10:14-15
But before I say more about preaching let me cover briefly Luke’s
account of Paul’s ministry in the passage we read from today. Paul
preached and taught at Corinth for at least eighteen months, but it
finally came time for him to move on. We are told that he left
Corinth, taking along with him Aquila and Pricilla, going first to
Syria and then to Ephesus. When he arrived at Ephesus, as had been
his custom, he entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. You
will remember that at Corinth he had turned away from the Jews when
they opposed his preaching and blasphemed, turning instead to the
Gentiles. But Paul did not on account of what had happened at
Corinth totally abandon his custom of visiting the synagogue
wherever he went. He was well received at Ephesus. However, Paul
chose not to remain long at Ephesus even though they urged him to
stay longer. He told them that he would return again “if
God wills.” I like that. Whenever we agree to some future
itinerary we should add as Paul did, if God wills.
After all, we are all subject to God’s Providence and we don’t know
how our plans can be altered by providential circumstances.
Paul left Ephesus and landed at
Caesarea; he greeted the church there, and then went down to
Antioch. You will recall that the church at Antioch was his mission
base. The church at Antioch had commissioned both he and Barnabas
and sent them out on both their first and second missionary
journeys. He remained in Antioch for a time, and then left for his
third missionary trip.
At this point the name of
a hitherto unknown preacher is injected into Luke’s historical
account of a man named Apollos.
I
believe it is instructive and useful to take a close look at what
the Word of God records about Apollos and his ministry. God no doubt
wanted Apollos to be remembered for his part in the spread of
Christianity.
Note first that Apollos was a Jew born in Alexandra, Egypt. We
don’t read in the book of Acts of any Gentile preachers, only Jewish
preachers. Although Timothy had a Gentile father he had a Jewish
mother. Paul circumcised him so that he would find full acceptance
among the Jews. I repeat, no Gentile preachers are mentioned in the
book of Acts.
Many folks today tend to
differentiate between Jews and Gentiles in their ecclesiology. There
is a school of thought that makes Jews in general separate and
distinct from Christians in a church that is predominately Gentile.
Some classify mankind into three groups, Jews, Christians and
unbelievers. But in the book of Acts there are only two groupings of
people: there are those who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and
Lord and those who do not believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and
Lord.
God sent Peter to preach to a
Gentile named Cornelius. Cornelius believed, as did family members
and friends and The Holy Spirit came upon them. When Peter saw that
they had received the Holy Spirit the same as Jews who had believed
he authorized that they be baptized. This historical event opened
the door for Gentiles to be included into God’s elect family. This
process continued apace as Paul and Barnabas preached to both Jews
and Gentiles. All who believed in Christ were baptized and accepted
into the Church, which before the coming of Christ had been an
exclusively Jewish church.
You will recall that fifty days
after the resurrection of Christ on the Day of Pentecost Peter
preached a sermon and 3000 Jews believed and were baptized. Thus you
would have to say that the first Christians were all Jewish
converts. The church’s founder was Jewish and the church roots are
exclusively Jewish, and in that respect it hasn’t changed one bit.
The church today consists of people from all tribes, tongues and
nations, from every people group on the face of the earth and it
includes Jews and every category of Gentiles.
The name Christian first began to be
used at Antioch. (Acts 15:4) The Antioch church had both Jews and
Gentiles; the church then and now traces its roots back to Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob.
Apostolic doctrine teaches that
Gentiles who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are grafted
in to Israel’s ancient olive tree,
26For
you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27For
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is
neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for
you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if you belong to
Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to
promise. (Gal. 3:26-29)
I remind you again that all of the
preachers in the book of Acts and in the early church were Jewish,
as was Apollos who was 100% Jewish.
The second thing to underscore
about Apollos is that he was a convert of John the Baptist. John the
Baptist pointed men to Jesus as the long awaited Messiah. He
preached that Jesus was mightier than he was, that he wasn’t fit to
stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals and that though he
baptized with water Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit and
with fire and that he would gather his wheat into the barn and burn
up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
The preaching of John the Baptist
brought Apollos to faith in Jesus Christ; he subsequently was
further instructed about the way of the Lord and he began teaching
and preaching accurately the things of Christ.
The Third thing I would
emphasize about Apollos is that he was mighty in the scriptures. He
knew the Bible well and it was his inerrant and infallible
authority. But remember, he didn’t have the New Testament that you
and I have. He had only the Old Testament to go by.
It is from the Old Testament that we
learn about the coming of Christ. It is from the 39 books of the Old
Testament that Apollos gained such excellent knowledge about Christ.
He had not yet been blessed with New Testament doctrine that
enlarges one’s knowledge of God’s beloved Son.
We are told in Acts 18, verse 26 that
Apollos was preaching Jesus Christ in the synagogue at Ephesus and
that Aquila and Pricilla were there and discerned that he lacked the
deeper understanding and insight that they had been taught by the
apostle Paul. So they took him aside privately and instructed him
more accurately, no doubt in Paul’s teaching, which they themselves
had received, and which you and I have available in the New
Testament.
Apollos showed himself to be teachable.
He was open to New Testament doctrine. I would have to say at this
point that he showed himself to be Presbyterian and Reformed. He was
open to deepening his knowledge about Christ by accepting apostolic
doctrine. He went beyond the elementary principles of Christ as the
promised Messiah of Israel to a gospel for all mankind. He obtained
a better grasp of the Old Testament by learning what the apostles
taught in the New Testament. After all beloved, Christ’s coming as a
Prophet like unto Moses ushered in a new covenant and a new economy
for Israel and for all who come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Apollos was mighty in the
scriptures before Aquila and Pricilla briefed him in apostolic
doctrine and their briefing increased his understanding. We are told
that he was fervent, bold and eloquent. What a combination! Very few
preachers have such excellent qualifications as Apollos did. He was
able to speak fluently, forcefully and expressively. He was what we
might call a gifted orator. He could present the gospel in
impressive language with fire and beauty. He was a man of God
thoroughly furnished for the work of preaching; eloquent and
fervent, full both of divine knowledge and of divine affections.
Every preacher
might wish to have the speaking ability of an Apollos. We would all
like to be eloquent but very few have the superior preaching
abilities attributed to this man. He was able to refute his Jewish
detractors publicly. Even the great Apostle Paul was not furnished
with the oratorical abilities of Apollos. Paul in his second letter
to the Corinthians mentions some who disparaged his pulpit manner
and preaching ability, “His
letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is
unimpressive and his speech contemptible.”
(2 Cor. 10:10) I doubt they would have felt that way
about Apollos and his preaching. We are told that Apollos so
powerfully refuted the Jews that they were unable to withstand his
biblically accurate arguments combined with his powerful eloquence
when he proclaimed Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. The
scriptures don’t say that any of the Jews he refuted were converted
but his preaching must have left a strong impression and perhaps
some of them finally did convert to Christ.
Paul planted but Apollos came
along and watered. Aquila and Pricilla and others recommended
Apollos beyond Ephesus and our text says that he greatly helped
those who through grace had believed.
We all need
strengthening in our faith. Faith is a gift of God and it needs
teachers and preachers to water what has been planted. The life of
faith is ongoing. It doesn’t stop at conversion. Those saved by
grace need nurturing through Biblically sound preaching and
teaching. The scripture says that Apollos’ preaching strengthened
the believers. The fact that he preached with boldness, fervency and
eloquence no doubt was a factor that helped the people listen and
take to heart his message. As I said, very few preachers would be
considered as gifted as Apollos. The portrait drawn in scripture is
one of homiletical excellence.
This eighteenth
chapter in Acts is the only reference in the Bible to Apollos. We
might wonder why that is so. A man so gifted and helpful might be
expected to rate a place of prominence in the Bible. Yet this is the
only place where he is mentioned. Maybe he didn’t live long. Maybe
he had personal problems that took him out of the ministry. We don’t
know. All such thoughts would be pure speculation. As far as we know
he had a long and successful ministry. But we are left with only
this single account of a very bold, effective and anointed man of
God.
As I thought about
this it came to me that one of the temptations preachers face is to
fall victim to pride. There can be pride of education, pride of
theological knowledge, pride in an ability to excel in public
speaking, pride of position and prominence. Satan can tempt
preachers to think they have some superiority of intellect and
homiletical skills, pride in seeing souls saved by their preaching.
These things can go to a preacher’s head and puff him up with pride.
He can be tempted to believe he deserves to be honored and praised.
This was one of the sins of the Pharisees who sought the best seats
and wanted to be admired and exalted. What a deadly trap and a snare
that is! Christ alone is worthy of praise, honor and exaltation;
only God deserves the glory for anything accomplished through his
preachers and teachers. He says that he will not share his glory
with another. He alone is the Savior and He alone can save; only he
can cause his Word to have success and not return void. He can and
does use all sorts of differently qualified people. He can use an
Apollos or he can use a rude fisherman like Peter who lacked
educational credentials. What matters is scriptural correctness and
a sincere heartfelt faith combined with a heavenly anointing. The
minute a preacher begins to think and believe that he is is
something when he is nothing he becomes a victim of unholy pride.
When he thinks that he has extraordinary knowledge or homiletical
skills that should set him apart and for which he deserves praise
and admiration, he has lost his humility and his anointing.
Preachers have to walk a fine line between trying to do their best
without ever thinking that they are the best. Peacocks cannot be
preachers.
The temptation to
pride is very real for all of us. God has his ways of keeping his
people humble because if they become proud they cannot please God in
anything they do, and that goes for those in the pew as well as
those in the pulpit.
Let me close by
reminding you that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word
of God. You can only be strong and grow into Christian maturity by
being faithful to what God teaches in his Word. To do that we need
to be faithful in attending upon the teaching and preaching of God’s
Word: that is the means God has appointed for you and me to be saved
and to grow and mature in the knowledge and faith of Jesus Christ.
And remember, without faith it is impossible to please God. So pray
for your preacher and make sure you obey Christ’s commanded to
repent and believe the gospel and then go forth to proclaim his
saving gospel to others.
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