In the Hands of Tentmakers

He allows here the iron of his soul to be refashioned, melted down, twisted, and turned, so that when they finish with him over a series of discipleship encounters, he has a totally different perspective, a totally different message. In fact, if you looked ahead to chapter 19 verse 1, you discover that Apollos is picking up the ministry that Paul left off in Corinth. But the truth is, without Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos would have eventually shipwrecked on the rocks of unorthodoxy. Have you ever been intimidated to speak with someone because you thought they were more intelligent than you or more eloquent than you?

Maybe you've felt inferior to someone. In Acts 18, we have an account where a couple of blue-collar saints tutor an eloquent and well-educated first-century scholar. This current series in Acts is from our Vintage Wisdom Archives.

Stephen Davey first delivered this series back in 1998. We're airing it again now to examine the important events of the early church. Today's message is called In the Hands of Tentmakers. I had read something and I wanted to do a little further research and I was looking for a piece of iron and so I went to Lowe's and sort of started looking around and a fog and eventually a fellow came up to me, he worked there and he said, what are you looking for? I told him a sermon illustration.

He kind of looked at me and gave me that look like, why do I get all the weird ones? I explained to him what I was going to do and what I was looking for and so finally he took me to a place where I found this one pound rod of iron. Cost me 49 cents and it can be used to stake down timber if you're landscaping and any number of things, just a general use of a simple rod of iron. However, if you took this same one pound rod of iron and put it in the hands of someone different, they could turn this into a horseshoe that would sell for about $10 or you could place it into the hands of a manufacturer who could take this amount of iron and make from it strong needles. It would be worth $1,000 or you could put this into the hands I have read of Swiss watch manufacturers and they could with this amount of iron make finely crafted, exquisite, balanced watch springs and the value would be $500,000.

Raw material, its value dependent upon whose hands crafts it. As I was studying in our tour through Acts, it struck me that the life of Apollos is a story of raw material and we encounter in chapter 19 where we left off especially the last paragraph, a moment in his life when he is placed into the hands of seasoned saints and the value of this young man's life goes through the roof. I want to return with you to this study and take a look at what happens in his life. Would you look with me in Acts chapter 19 verse 24? Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man came to Ephesus and he was mighty in the scriptures.

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus. Now stop there. In terms of raw material, Apollos had a lot going for him. Now let's briefly catalog what he had.

Let me give you several things. The first point is this. Apollos had an enviable heritage. The text tells us that he was an Alexandrian by birth. Now whenever the writer of scripture adds a fact like that to somebody's biographical sketch, it isn't because he has a little ink left over and he needs to use it up. It's significant.

He's setting the stage for us to get to know him just a little bit better. Apollos, we're told then by Luke, was born in the proud city named after its founder, Alexander the Great. It was the second largest city in the Roman Empire. What made Alexandria especially significant was that it was the university center of the empire.

It had a library in its university that boasted some 700,000 volumes. The city of Alexandria was world renowned for its intellect, its learning, its graduate studies. Evidently Apollos personally benefited from this kind of environment because the second thing that strikes us from the text is that he had an eloquent tongue. That is, he was a man literally of words, logios.

It could refer to eloquence or it could refer to the word that is transliterated from logios, logic, that he was a man of reasoning. I think the paragraph that follows indicates that he was a man of both eloquence and reasoning power. The third thing that I noticed in verse 24 is that it says he was mighty in the scriptures.

That is, he had an educated mind. Verse 25, this man had been instructed in the way of the Lord and he was, the text tells us, mighty in scriptures. Now in most university towns like ours, the educated are not necessarily mighty in the scriptures. They are mighty against the scriptures. Well, how did Apollos receive training in the Old Testament scriptures?

The phrase here tells us that he has been instructed in the way of the Lord. Well, part of the answer lies in the fact I believe of what historians inform us of and that is that in Alexandria, there was a large population of Jewish people. In fact, there were so many, scholars estimate about one million in this city. It was so large in this region, I should say, of Alexandria, that they had to build a large synagogue, so large, I read, that there had to be a Hazan or a synagogue leader perched on a platform halfway back who would wave with the flag to signal those behind him when it was time to join in the amens.

Can you imagine the enormity of that synagogue? It was in Alexandria that the Jewish leaders translated the Hebrew text of the Old Testament into the Greek, which they all spoke. And that Greek translation is still with us today. We call it the Septuagint. We also know that the Alexandrian family of Greek manuscripts are a wonderful set of manuscripts.

In fact, they form the basis for a translation that you may even hold in your lap, the new international version and also the new American standard for the more diligent among us. We also know that Philo, the Jewish scholar, lived in Alexandria during the time of Apollos' childhood. In fact, there are some that I read who believe that because of his eloquence, because of Apollos' learning, because of his instruction in the Scriptures that he himself had been a student of wise Philo.

So in this university town that is given to us in a brief phrase, we have the context, the background that Apollos had, he had been infected, as it were, with an insatiable desire for the Word and the worship of the God of this Word. He was mighty in the Scriptures. If there was anything, ladies and gentlemen, that we need in the Church today, it is men and women who could be considered mighty in the Scripture. In fact, the commission of the Church, which is now called the Great Omission, is the furthering of each disciple's life by means of the teaching that Jesus Christ told them to accomplish, of all that he had commanded them so that they could observe the teaching. Matthew chapter 28, verse 20. The Apostle Paul instructed Timothy, the young pastor, to give to faithful men that which he had learned so that they could teach faithful men also. 2 Timothy 2, chapter 2, verse 2. It is the ministry of the Church. It is the passion of the Church to develop in the lives of all of us a knowledge of the Scripture that flows into the lives of the believers so that we could be called mighty in Scripture. I was talking to my father who was visiting here this past week, and he said, he reminded me of that saying. He said, you know, Stephen, it's interesting that it seems that the Church is the only business that stays in business even after it's gone out of business.

This is our business. Finally, the text informs us that Apollos had an enthusiastic spirit. The next description of Apollos occurs in verse 25. He was fervent. He was literally boiling over in spirit. He was not only learning, but he was enthusiastic about that truth and attempting to live it out in Alexandria and wherever he traveled.

It says here that he was boiling over in spirit, and he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what Apollos had. This is the raw material in this young man's life that could be used by God in an incredible way. There's only one thing.

There's one big problem. I want you to notice what Apollos missed. The last phrase of verse 25 being acquainted only with what? The baptism of John. And he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God. More accurately, the phrase the baptism of John, I believe, is a kind of categorical expression that represented all of the teaching of the Old Testament and this Old Testament prophet that we know as John the Baptist or John the Baptizer. In other words, Apollos had been taught correctly about Jesus Christ and accurately only he knew only of Jesus from the Old Testament of the prophet John. Apollos would have known from this Old Testament prophet and the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah. He would have known that Jesus was the lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world as he was introduced by this prophet. Apollos would have known that Jesus Christ, being the Messiah, had come to fulfill the prophecy of Genesis 3 to crush the head of the serpent. He would have known, prophesied by David in Psalm 22, that he would be crucified and as well in another Psalm that he would not undergo decay, that is, he would be resurrected.

He knew a lot of things about this Jesus that he was teaching accurately. The only thing was he didn't know some significant things. He didn't know about the significance of Pentecost. He didn't know about the significance of the creation and birth of the New Testament church. He didn't know about the transition from Old Covenant to New Covenant. He didn't know about the invitation of the gospel being spread abroad now, not only to the Jews, but to the nations of the Gentile peoples as well. He didn't know about the primacy of grace in the gospel. Warren Wiersbe wrote, it wasn't that Apollos was inaccurate or insincere.

His message was simply incomplete. Apollos was an Old Testament believer, not yet a New Testament Christian. And you have to understand you're in a transitional book that is moving from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant and people are caught in the middle and you see and you hear and you study some interesting things happening.

If you don't understand that Acts is transitional, you're in deep trouble. But he was a believer, a God-fearer who was yet to be told of the wonderful work of grace that God was performing in this new thing called the church. Now, the key phrase here in this passage, the hinge phrase, which changes forever the future and the life of this young man so filled with raw material for God is the last part of verse 26. Look there again, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

That brief phrase spells the difference in the life of Apollos. What a wonderful illustration in the ministry of discipleship. They took him aside. They didn't embarrass him in public. They didn't stand up and interrupt him. They waited until after the synagogue and his lecture was completed. But could you see them during his sermon, you know, kind of nudging each other?

Oh, my goodness, you know, he's missed it. They probably had some brief conversation. And then after the last benediction, evidently, they went up to him and they took him to themselves.

That probably means they invited him home for dinner. At this moment, the raw iron of Apollos's life was placed into the hands of two tent makers. Frankly, at this moment, ladies and gentlemen, Apollos's ministry to the church is worth about 49 cents. In fact, less because he doesn't know about the plan of God developing at light speed.

Yet when they finished the discipleship process, we're not told how long they took. You will find Apollos fashioned into rare, exquisite form of servanthood for God. But now it's up to Apollos. How will he respond?

Will he listen? Now don't read ahead. Just hang with me here a second. Think about it for a moment.

What was the likelihood? If you could imagine who God would use to disciple this brilliant, educated, eloquent young man, you would have never chosen two tent makers. They were so different. They were Jews. He was a Gentile. They were married.

He was single. They were uneducated. He was an educated intellectual. They were poor. They worked with their hands. They eked out their existence.

And he was wealthy enough to travel Europe. If discipleship works, don't you put people together who are a lot alike? If the church is to work, don't you fill a room with people who are a lot alike? No, you just fill it with people who have a common love for Jesus Christ, and that is the commonality that you need alone. That's what you find here. So the question is, will he listen to them?

Well, evidently he did. Apollos in listening to them will demonstrate for us four ways that spiritual growth can occur. I want to give those to you. He is an example to us. Spiritual growth occurs when you're not so knowledgeable that you can't learn more. Spiritual growth occurs when you're not so proud that you can't admit you're wrong. Can you imagine sitting at that little table when it dawned on Apollos that everything he had preached was simply an introduction to what God was doing? Can you imagine the humility of that moment when he had to say, I've been in the dark.

I can't believe I didn't know that. Spiritual growth occurs when you're not so important that you can't listen to others. Spiritual growth happens in your life and mine when you are not so cultured that you cannot change. Benjamin Disraeli said, talk to a man about himself and he will listen to you for a few hours.

And I would add to that, and I think you'd agree, talk to a man about changing himself and he will listen to you for a few seconds. Not Apollos. He allows here the iron of his soul to be refashioned, melted down, twisted and turned so that when they finish with him over a series of discipleship encounters, he has a totally different perspective, a totally different message. In fact, if you looked ahead to chapter 19 verse 1, you discover that Apollos is picking up the ministry that Paul left off in Corinth. The passionate zeal of Apollos has now added to it the necessary knowledge of God's work of grace. And so he becomes an effective minister in the life of the New Testament Church. As we wrap up this paragraph, I want to make two further observations and spend some time here. Number one, oftentimes the most powerful development in an individual's life is accomplished by ordinary people.

You would think that if Apollos was to learn anything that God would have designed for the Apostle Paul to personally disciple him or maybe Timothy or Silas, not an uneducated couple who made tents for a living. And yet in the plan of God, as it so often is, ordinary people are used to make an unusual impact. Can you remember some of those who've impacted your life? I can remember a fifth grade teacher who took an interest in me. I remember a piano teacher who lived for Christ even though her husband didn't care about Christ. I remember a college professor who never tired of me knocking on his door to ask him just one more question about what the ministry was like. Ordinary people, unusual impact.

Second observation, oftentimes the most powerful contribution to the cause of Christ is accomplished behind the scenes where nobody can see, no one applauds, and their name is never mentioned. Here's a woman who calls herself Grandmother Howell. God impressed, she says to her, to write to prisoners. After arguing with the Lord about her lack of education and her age, she wrote her first letter. Dear inmate, I am a grandmother who loves and cares for you, even though I don't know you, but I am willing to be a friend to you in correspondence. If you'd like to hear from me, write me.

I will answer every letter you write. A Christian friend, Grandmother Howell. The article that I had pulled said when the letter was sent to the Atlanta penitentiary, the prison chaplain sent Myrtle Howell the names of eight prison inmates. That was the beginning of an unbelievable ministry of encouragement. And over the next months, this elderly woman carried on an extensive written ministry with hundreds of men and women.

And all of it was done from her little room in a high rise home for the aged in Columbus, an ordinary person, unusual impact. Where would the church be without two people who cared enough to confront a disciple? Now I know the spotlight of the church is we'll see it in just a moment. We'll focus on this brilliant young man, so much so that he will rival Paul. You've probably read the phrase, but not grasp the significance outside of this study that that Paul will have to sort of exhort the Corinthian Church because they've divided into three factions.

There are so many people, and yet they're following three men. Paul said, Some of you say you are of Paul. Some of you say you're of Cephas or Peter, and some of you say you are of who? Apollos.

That's pretty heady company. But the truth is, without Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos would have eventually shipwrecked on the rocks of unorthodoxy. And yet, in a humble cottage away from the spotlight behind the scenes, God did a great work in the life of this man who was big enough to listen, who was wise enough to know he needed to learn more. I want to ask you three questions.

If you'd like to be like Apollos, question number one. Are you teachable or stubborn? You go back to the last time somebody challenged your thinking. What was your response?

Boxing gloves? Who do they think they are? I thought they were my friend. Second question. Are you cliquish or open hearted?

If Apollos had only hung around those who had an education, he would have missed the best education. Third question. Are you willing to change when confronted or do you just simply quit? I'll just get a new friend. I'll get a new church.

The only way that you can take this inexpensive rod of iron and turn it into something exquisite, finely crafted, would be to melt it down and start over. But isn't that what's happening in our lives? If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation.

Old things are passing away. Behold, all things are becoming new. That change, the biblical word for it is transformation. Paul tells the Christian to be transformed in their mind by means of the scriptures. Romans Chapter 12, verse two. We're also told by Paul in second Corinthians that we with an unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord are transformed into the same image. The only way that's going to happen is for us to be twisted and turns and melted down and reshaped.

Maybe you've been feeling the heat lately. God's in the process of transforming you from independent to dependent, from self-sufficient to terribly needy upon his grace and wisdom. Well, Apollos was transformed from ineffective to effective, from in the dark to in the light. In fact, notice verse 27. But when he wanted to go across to Achaea, the brethren encouraged him and rode to the disciples to welcome him. By the way, this is the first interchurch letter of commendation. It's the basis for our custom today of transferring membership between churches of like faith and practice by means of a letter.

It comes from this. When he arrived, he helped greatly those who had believed through grace, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ or the Messiah. So what did he owe this effective ministry, ladies and gentlemen? Bigger yet to whom did the church owe a debt of gratitude for this dynamic servant of Jesus Christ. Two tentmakers, a Sabbath afternoon, a simple lunch, a series of caring, ongoing conversations.

And the Church of Jesus Christ took one more step in the right direction. Thanks for joining us today here on Wisdom for the Heart. Stephen Davey is our Bible teacher, and we're currently working through this series from Acts out of our vintage Wisdom archives. Our website is wisdomonline.org.

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