Acts 18:18-28

Apollos

Paul left Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus. This wasn’t by chance. Those who are led by the Lord really don’t do anything by chance. What they do may seem very random and may defy human logic, but being led of the Spirit they often discover that the seeming chance encounter or “illogical” action often is proved to produce a very positive result. Paul didn’t know Apollos and he certainly didn’t know that Apollos was coming to Ephesus. He simply knew that it was time for him to move on but for Priscilla and Aquila to stay.

We don’t know why Apollos left Alexandria and came to Ephesus but God had a plan. The plan was for Apollos to meet this faithful and knowledgeable couple. There are several things to be observed here.

Apollos was obviously a talented and gifted speaker. Nowhere are we led to believe that either Priscilla or Aquila had such talents. What Priscilla and Aquila had was more wisdom and knowledge than Apollos. Here is that “body of Christ” thing going on again. Will it ever stop? No.

What is remarkable is that though Apollos was a gifted speaker he was willing to be instructed. When people have performance gifts they are not always open to input. They often start to believe their own press clippings and become... uh, shall we say... hard to reach? They often deceive themselves into thinking that they are “teachable” but that is far too often not the case. Apollos was clearly a cut above in this regard.

Priscilla and Aquila were the other half of the equation. Often when people hear someone who has great talents they are either intimidated or jealous. This worthy couple were neither. They invited him into their home. They helped him. It would have so easy to fall into the trap of whispering to their friends, “Sure, he’s a great speaker, but have you noticed that his doctrine is messed up?” Furthermore, when Apollos wanted to go to Achaia (where Priscilla and Aquila had just come from) they encouraged him and used their connections to open doors for him. (Paul later remarks about Apollos’ obviously effective ministry in Corinth.)

We don’t know much more about Apollos or Priscilla and Aquila, but we do know that they showed us how it should be done. They are examples to follow.