Title: What the Bible Can't
Contents
I wanted to lead the morning prayer and share with you what I realized newly.
What I learned from today's Word is that Apollos and his disciples could not perform the full power that the Lord wanted with only the Bible they knew at the time.
However, when they experienced Jesus' becoming the Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit, they realized that their ministry had expanded and they were able to exercise power.
The number of years I went to church was increasing, but there was shame and regret in the Lord for my insufficient appearance.
‘The joy of a new start’ is good, but I also wanted to enjoy ‘the joy of starting again’.
Apollos was good at speaking and fluent in the Bible, but when he was unable to fly and exercise his full powers, God sent Priscilla and Aquila to explain the Bible more accurately and baptize the disciples with the Holy Spirit through Paul.
It felt like it was needed by everyone, not just me trying to fly while standing on the starting line again.
Acts 18:24-19:7
Today's first part from verses 24 to 28 is the story of Apollos, Priscilla, and Aquila, and the second half, verses 1 to 7, is the record of the Apostle Paul's baptism with the Holy Spirit.
During the third missionary journey, Paul came to Ephesus and stayed there for two years, preaching in synagogues and vows.
For Paul, Ephesus was an important missionary base.
At that time, Ephesus was the largest city among the Roman territories in Asia, and it was a great port city blessed with the terminus of Asian trade routes.
Already in the 1st century BC, it had a population of 300,000 and was a splendid cultural center with a huge theater accommodating 25,000 people, baths, libraries, markets, and well-paved roads lined with stone structures on either side of the street.
It was also a city of idols and superstitions where many gods were erected and believed and sacrificed because of the Temple of Artemis.
Now, Apollos came to this city today, and the Bible describes him as a man of good eloquence and fluent in the Bible.
To put it bluntly, it seems that he had a star quality as a lecturer.
But something 2% is missing. Because he was well versed in the Old Testament, he taught the Old Testament story about Jesus well and zealously.
Until now, you could become a star by teaching only about Jesus. He taught in a Jewish synagogue, and the Jews must have been believers in the Old Testament.
But then Priscilla and Aquila listened to him and took him to explain God's way more accurately.
This is the part where I think that he was not only zealous for God's work, but also a great person. And Apollos, who was enlightened, went on a missionary trip to Achaia, a small region of Greece on the southern shore of the Gulf of Corinth, and now he is not speaking of Jesus, but testifying that Jesus is the Christ.
So he overcame the words of the Jews who only knew about Christ in the Old Testament.
You, God, is not something that can be known by speaking.
God is the one who can testify by experiencing, seeing, and hearing with his whole body. Let's pray that this morning will be a precious time for all of us to meet this living God and stand as witnesses.
According to the records of 1 Corinthians 1:11-12/ 3:4-6, Apollos became a character in the Bible compared to Paul and Cephas, to the extent that his followers made Apollos.
The ministry of Apollos was greatly used to build up the church to the extent that Paul referred to him and said that I sowed seeds and that he gave water.
In chapter 19, Paul meets the disciples of Apollos in Ephesus and baptizes them with the Holy Spirit.
Those disciples had never heard of the presence of the Holy Spirit. So Paul testified of Jesus to them and baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus.
We want to receive the Holy Spirit and always want to live a life filled with the Holy Spirit.
So today's words are more precious.
We can know that the Holy Spirit is coming because we repent, hear, and believe.
As Apollos more accurately explained the way of God to Priscilla and Aquila, they stood tall as true witnesses, and after receiving the Holy Spirit from Paul, the disciples were able to practice the gifts of the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues and prophesying.
According to Titus 3:13, Apollos goes on another missionary journey.
When the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we receive the power that God gives us and we begin to do new work.
I pray that we can become powerful Christians who have the new and exciting field of evangelism and missionary vision that God has given us.
I also pray that we will be able to carry out Operation Andre, who testifies and overcomes the words of the world with power in the field of our lives.