Opening: What is it like to return to your former school, a previous church, or
the house you grew up in? What is it about familiar faces and places to touches
our souls so?
Scripture: Read Acts 18:23-19:10.
Insights:
- Paul’s Third Missionary Journey begins with Paul returning through Asia Minor (current Turkey) visiting churches he established in his First Missionary Journey. Look in your Bible to see a map of this Third Missionary Journey or go to http://www.keyway.ca/htm2002/paulthir.htm. · You may remember that it was in Antioch that the believers were first called “Christians” (see Acts 11:26). However, we find that in other places, the movement was called “The Way” (see Acts 18:25 plus 9:2; 19:9,23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).
- We are introduced in this passage to Apollos. We are told that he knew only the baptism of John, which suggests that he had not heard about the baptism that Jesus commanded after his resurrection (see Matthew 28:19), and which began to be administered to all believers in Christ on and after the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2; 8:12; etc.). Therefore Apollos’ knowledge of the Christian gospel must have been deficient in some ways, though he taught accurately the things concerning Jesus as far as he knew them. He certainly knew about Jesus’ life and teachings, but he may not have known about Jesus’ death and resurrection, or about the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Apollos would become a powerful evangelist for the Lord (see 1 Corinthians 3:4; 16:12).
- Ephesus was a Roman capital for Asia (Turkey). It was colonized principally from Athens. In the time of the Romans, it bore the title of “the first and greatest metropolis of Asia.” It was distinguished for the Temple of Diana, and for its theatre, which was the largest in the world and capable of containing 50,000 spectators (Great American Ball Park has 42,319 seats).[1] Paul spent three years as the pastor of this church, and would later write a letter to the Ephesians while he was in a Roman prison.
- It is notable that the four occasions in Acts when the Holy Spirit was given in a spectacular manner had to do with the entrance of different groups into the Church: the original Jewish believers (Acts 2), the Samaritans (Acts 8), the Gentiles (Acts 10), and now the half-taught men in Ephesus (Acts 19:6). God indicated His approval of each group by special manifestation of His Spirit.
Life
Questions:
- Apollos and some in Ephesus only knew the “baptism of John.” They did not have the full Gospel. Has there been something in your faith journey that you were unaware of until later? The Holy Spirit? Grace? Spiritual Gifts? Is there some tenet of the Christian faith you still are not too certain you understand? Maybe you should attend the November 4 “FirstSunday” class, when the topic will be “Christianity 101.”
Prayer
Focus: That we would “reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure
of the fullness of Christ.”[2]
