And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
– Acts 18:27–28
I love this picture of Apollos. This Jewish man who was, according to Acts 18:24, eloquent and competent in the Scriptures.
Acts 18:27–28 Narrates How Apollos Served the Early Church
He needed some correcting in some ways, which happens by God’s grace through Priscilla and Aquila. They explain to him the Word of God more accurately. And I love the picture of Apollos humbly receiving correction and teaching and training. Then he goes to the church in Achaia. And it says Apollos greatly helped those who, by God’s grace, had believed. How did he help them? He powerfully refuted the Jews in public showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
I love that picture of the church in Achaia being greatly helped by powerful refutation with the gospel. So God had clearly gifted Apollos with an eloquence and competence that was a huge help to the church in spreading the gospel to their Jewish friends. When I read that, I think about gifts God has given to the church to help all of us as we share the gospel with others. I think about Tim Keller, who’s now with Jesus. I have given out his book, The Reason for God, to so many people. It’s been so helpful for me.
Tim Keller has greatly helped me in being able to share the gospel with my friends. If you’re not familiar with that book, I would highly encourage you to get that book and other ones like it. I remember I’ve given out so many different copies of The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel. What a gift that Lee Strobel was in writing that book in a way that has greatly helped me and many, many others in sharing the gospel with my friends.
I think about different apologists, not that they’re apologizing, but that God has given gifts to defend the faith, to show powerfully the truth about who Jesus is, who God is. So don’t be afraid to lean on other brothers and sisters in Christ whom God has gifted in these ways to use resources from them that help you grow in Christ and help you share the gospel with others.
Acts 18:27–28 Challenges Us to be Faithful Stewards of Our Gospel Legacy
Oh God, we praise you for Apollos for your gifting of competence and eloquence in him that enabled the church at Achaia to be greatly helped by him and people, Jewish men and women, to be led to Jesus through his witness, through his gifting, by your grace. And, God, we praise you for similar gifts you have given throughout the history of your church. I think of studying early apologists in the early centuries of the church who at great risk were defending the faith and helping lead, build up, edify, and greatly help the church.
God, I thank you for your grace in saints throughout history, men and women who have been gifted in eloquence and intelligence and competence in your word to help us spread the gospel. Thank you for Tim Keller, Lee Strobel, and many others. Oh God, we pray for your blessing on those who are still with us, who are doing this kind of work, producing these kinds of resources, and helping the church in these ways.
We pray that you would raise up more and more of them. We pray that even among those who are listening right now, you would raise up more people who are equipped, men, women, students who are equipped, trained to defend the bedrock truths of the gospel in really hard places. And, God, we pray that you would help us all to be active in sharing the gospel in our lives in such a way that we would need resources from brothers and sisters like this to help us as we’re sharing the gospel.
Praying for the Haroi People
And, God, as we pray for unreached people today, for the Haroi people of Vietnam, 45,000 of them with a fledgling church among them, oh God, we pray for your strengthening of that church. We pray that you would send Apollos-like help to them. So hard to share the gospel in Vietnam. We pray for the building up of your church there through laborers who go there. We pray for the raising up of Apollos-like eloquence in the church among the Haroi in Vietnam. That they might be greatly helped through powerful refutation that shows that Jesus is the Christ. God, we pray all of us according to this beautiful picture of Apollos in Acts 18:27–28. In Jesus’ name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
