Less than twenty years after Jesus gave his disciples the Great Commission, the Gospel was spreading like wildfire. The first Christians were Jewish and they naturally carried their faith into the synagogues where people gathered to discuss the Old Testament Scriptures. They used the Word to prove that Jesus was the Messiah and as people were persuaded, many more became believers.

Apollos was one of those believers. He was a Hellenistic Jew from Alexandria, Egypt, who traveled to Ephesus to preach Christ.

“He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue.” Acts 18:24-26

Priscilla and Aquila came to Ephesus with Paul and remained there after he went back to Antioch. They heard Apollos speak and invited him to their home where they were able to fill in some gaps in his knowledge.

Apollos went on to Corinth with the encouragement of the brothers and sisters in Ephesus. The Corinthian Christians were opposed by the Jews there and Apollos was a great help to them, “For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.” Acts 18:28

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey

After some time at home in Antioch, Paul set off on another journey. He followed the route he and Silas had taken a few years earlier and passed through Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidium Antioch on his way to Ephesus.

A year or two earlier he had talked with the Jews in the Ephesian synagogue and they wanted him to stay with them, but he was on his way home and couldn’t stay. He promised to come back if he could.

Now Paul was back and he discovered that there were some new disciples thanks to the ministry of Apollo, Priscilla and Aquila.

“[He] asked them, ‘Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?’

They answered, ‘No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.’

So Paul asked, ‘Then what baptism did you receive?’

‘John’s baptism,’ they replied.” Acts 18:2-3

The Ephesian believers had experienced the baptism of repentance, but they had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit. Paul baptized them again, this time in the name of Jesus, and when he put his hands on them they received the Spirit.

Paul’s Ministry in Ephesus

Paul had proclaimed years earlier that he was only going to preach the gospel to the Gentiles because the Jews were so resistant, but he was always drawn back to the synagogue. He argued persuasively for the kingdom of God at the synagogue in Ephesus and for three months they listened to him.

Then opposition rose in the synagogue, and some of the Jews maligned the gospel. So Paul left them and took the disciples with him to a new location. They set up daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus and over the next two years people from all over the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

“God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and evil spirits left them.” Acts 19:11-12

Some Jewish exorcists tried to copy what Paul did to drive out evil spirits, but they didn’t have the power of the Holy Spirit with them.

“One day the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?’ Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.” Acts 19:15-16

After that many more people revered the name of Jesus and stopped practicing the dark arts of sorcery and exorcism. They confessed their sins and burned the scrolls they had used for witchcraft.

“In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.” Acts 19:20

Paul Confronts the Corinthians

Paul had spent eighteen months in Corinth near the end of his second missionary journey. He was the founder of the church there, and it grew in the 2-3 years after he left. But now he heard that quarrels had developed among people who followed different leaders.

Apollos had blessed the Corinthian believers and he had a lot of followers, but many people were still loyal to Paul. The Apostle Peter may have visited Corinth, too, because some people aligned themselves with him.

Paul felt that despite the increase in the number of believers, the church had not matured very much since he planted it years earlier. They were acting like spiritual babies.

“Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere human beings?

For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings?” 1 Corinthians 3:1-4

Jealousy and quarrels were not from the Holy Spirit.

Nothing but Christ

God chose to use “mere human beings” like Paul and Apollos to preach the message of the cross, but it was the message that counted, not the messengers.

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong . . . so that no one may boast before him . . . Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Paul was not the trained orator that Apollos was, but it didn’t matter because it was the message that counted, not the delivery.

“When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to the you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified . . . My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.” 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

The Mind of Christ

What made ordinary human beings worthy of representing God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world? Paul certainly felt the weight of responsibility when he preached the gospel.

“I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.” 1 Corinthians 2:3-4

It wasn’t Paul, it was the Holy Spirit who supplied the message when it was time to preach.

“These are the things God has revealed to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.

This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.” 1 Corinthians 2:10-13

Whether the teacher was an eloquent Hellenistic Jew trained in Greek oratory like Apollos, or a down-to-earth Pharisee trained to debate the law like Paul, the Holy Spirit was the source of the message. Each of the preachers decided what to say as the Spirit directed them.

“For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?

But we have the mind of Christ.” 1 Corinthians 2:16

Paul finished this part of his letter to the Corinthians with a final admonition to stop their quarreling.

“So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future – all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.” 1 Corinthians 3:21-22

The bottom line was that teachers were helpful and preaching was good, but every believer had the Holy Spirit and because of him, every believer had the mind of Christ.