The complete story
The book of Acts in the New Testament part of the Bible is suitably named as it is a record of what the followers of Jesus did after he returned to heaven.
The later part of the book focuses on a man called Paul, who travelled around the Mediterranean area telling people about Jesus, doing miracles and starting churches.
On his journeys he gathered like-minded people who he worked with, one such couple were called Priscilla and Aquila and when they were in Ephesus (Western Turkey) this happened...
“A man named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was a Jew, born in Alexandria, Egypt, and a terrific speaker, eloquent and powerful in his preaching of the Scriptures. He was well-educated in the way of the Master and fiery in his enthusiasm. Apollos was accurate in everything he taught about Jesus up to a point, but he only went as far as the baptism of John. He preached with power in the meeting place. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and told him the rest of the story.”
Apollos was an intelligent, learned man who knew the Scriptures. He must have studied for some time building a wealth of knowledge.
But he didn’t know ‘the whole story’. He was unaware of what had happened to Jesus and the subsequent outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
Priscilla and Aquila listened to Apollos. Afterwards they spoke with him and filled him in on the bits he did not know. Around that time Apollos was also filled with the Holy Spirit.
Nothing is said that Priscilla and Aquila had studied like Apollos, they were Italian Jews who made tents for a living, and yet they were the ones who helped him.
So, what can we learn from this? Studying the Bible is a good thing. Living according to its teachings is a good thing. But that’s not the whole story. Apollos needed to know about the resurrection of Jesus, his life transforming power and to experience the outpouring of the Holy Spirit for himself.
I believe that’s just the same for us too, what about you?
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader