APOLLOS, JEWS AND GENTILES

City Gates Baptist Church 07/08/2016

I want to begin by reminding you of somethings that I said last week, and then enlarging on them.

In Athens, Paul engaged with philosophers and debaters.

ATHENS AND THE PHILOSOPHERS

ACTS 17:34

34But some of them joined [Paul] and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Paul had argued very forcibly at Athens in the synagogue, the marketplace and the Areopagus with people who would have recognized his way of arguing and debating as the same way in which Socratesargued and debated long before him.

  • Socrates had died nearly four hundred years before Christ – but his rich philosophical tradition was still very strong in Paul’s day.
  • The fact that Paul was able to argue and debate in the style of Socrates would have meant that his way of arguing and debating wasaccepted as excellent, as valid and that this man and his arguments were worthyof careful consideration.

Paul’s methodology was entirely appropriate for such a place and Paul would not have got a hearing before these people in Athens in any other way.

  • In other words, Paul’s approach to philosophical academics was to be himself academic in his philosophical argument and debate – and that was something that Paul was both very good at doing and very experienced at doing.

Now, the way that these philosophical arguments worked was that the best debaters gathered personal followers who aligned themselves with their chosen personality and their philosophies.

  • The more eloquent, wise and influential a philosopher was deemed to be, the more personal followers he gained.

Acts 17:34 tells us that some people followed Paul after having heard him and became his followers because they approved of his way of arguing and debating and accepted his arguments as worthwhile and valid.

Of course, in order to become a follower of one of those philosophers, you had to be able to debate for yourself and so prove that you understood and agreed with the arguments of the one that you were following.

  • There was prestige and pride in arguing well and gaining lots of followers – especially those followers who were very upper class and highly influential.

That was the way that the system worked.

ACTS 17:34

34But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

That is why Luke mentioned Dionysius from the Areopagus, who must have been a highly influential member of the Areopagus.

Luke also mentions the woman Damaris who must have been significant in her own right for him to mention her in that way.

  • Damaris must have followed Paul on an earlier occasion, because women were not invited into the Areopagus.

PAUL AND APOLLOS IN CORINTH

Last week, we also saw that, when Paul went to Corinth, he did things there in a completely different way than he had done in Athens.

1 CORINTHIANS 2:1-5

When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God.

Paul did not argue and debate philosophically in Corinth as he had done in Athens, and so he did not try to win followers for himself in Corinth – because he did not want to simply gain personal followers.

He wanted people to follow Christ and for their faith to rest upon what Christ himself had done for them – not on the quality of Paul’s arguments.

However, it did not go entirely to planwhen Apollos went to Corinth.

ACTS 18:24-28

Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. 27And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival [at Corinth] [Apollos] greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, 28for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiah is Jesus.

It is true that Apollos greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, and we should not overlook that.

Nevertheless, because Apollos was a Jew and because he powerfully refuted the Jews in public in Corinth by showing from the Scriptures that the Messiah was Jesus, the inevitable happenedin Corinth as a result of his persuasive arguments against the Jews.

  • As would be expected in the tradition of religious and philosophical debaters who were wise and influential, Apollos gained personal followers in Corinth in exactly the same way that Paul had done in Athens.

Paul knew from his own experience in Athens that, when people began to follow one celebrity, a cult was beginning to form.

  • Indeed, not just one cult – but several – had already been formed in Corinth.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:10-13

Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in agreement and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same purpose. 11For it has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there are quarrels among you, my brothers and sisters. 12What I mean is that each of you says, "I belong to Paul," or "I belong to Apollos," or "I belong to Cephas," or "I belong to Christ." 13Has Christ been divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

Paul recognised the dangers of using the philosophical argument style of ministry in Gentile churches and, although he himself did not stop using such a ministry style, he was very selective about where and when he used it.

ACTS 19:8-10

8[Paul] entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9When some stubbornly refused to believe and spoke evil of the Way before the congregation, he left them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.10This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

In the synagogue Paul had spokenout boldly for three months as he argued persuasively about the kingdom of God.

When that produced no lasting fruit, he took the disciples to the lecture hall of Tyrannus and held daily discussions there.

Tyrannus was either the lecturer who taught there or the owner of the hall, who would have rented it out to Paul.

The result of this two-year stint by Paul was that all the residents of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.

That brings me to a most important realization and understanding as we consider the context and cultures in which Paul was living.

CONTEXT AND CULTURE

PAUL’S MINISTRY STYLE DIFFERED ACCORDING TO WHERE HE WAS AND ACCORDING TO WHO HE WAS WITH.

  • When Paul was among the Jews in the synagogue, he argued and debated from the Scriptures that the Jews themselves knew very well, and so he proved himself to be a very skilled and persuasive teacher who knew both the Scriptures and the one that the Scriptures pointed to.
  • When Paul was among Gentile intellectuals, he argued and debated in the style of Socrates and so proved himself to be a very skilled and persuasive philosopher who gained for himself a few influential followers.
  • When Paul was among the majority ofGentiles, he showed the power of God at work in the many acts of kindness that God did in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul’s adaptability would stand him in great stead later on when he was charged and put on trial, but in the meantime there was a sudden and explosive development.

ACTS 19:11-20

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12so that when the handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, their diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them. 13Then some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims."14Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.15But the evil spirit said to them in reply, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"16Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered them all, and so overpowered them that they fled out of the house naked and wounded. 17When this became known to all residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, everyone was awestruck; and the name of the Lord Jesus was praised.18Also many of those who became believers confessed and disclosed their practices. 19A number of those who practised magic collected their books and burned them publicly; when the value of these books was calculated, it was found to come to fifty thousand silver coins.20So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

CITY GATES BAPTIST CHURCH

So what can we here at City Gates learn from all of this?

Do we want the word of the Lord to grow mightily and prevail here?

  1. Don’t be a “one method” person.
  1. Learn, adapt, and be flexible according to what the Holy Spirit is doing in someone’s life.
  1. Making Christ known is far more important than gaining personal followers.
  1. Knowing Christ in intimacy for yourselves is the way to led by the Holy Spirit as you see what he is doing and join in with him in the harvest.