Acts 18:24

THE CHARACTER OF APOLLOS

‘A certain Jew named Apollos.’

Acts 18:24

That Apollos should have left such a mark on the history of the Church, and especially the Church at Corinth, is a striking proof of the eminence of the man. He was a great man, and here in our first introduction to him all the elements of his greatness are apparent. Consider the qualifications he possessed.

I. He was fervent.—We read that he was ‘fervent in the spirit.’ His earnestness was undoubted. There was nothing in him of Laodicean lukewarmness. Lack of zeal is one of the great failings of the Church to-day. There are too many people not really in earnest about anything; they have no deep convictions; their motto is anything for a quiet life; they have no wish to be disturbed; they are at ease in Zion, and have no desire to face the inconveniences which often accompany a life of devotion.

II. He was intelligent.—It is possible to have a zeal for God which is not according to knowledge; to be on fire, but the fire to be wildfire. It is well to be in earnest, but we need wisdom to direct our earnestness. A zeal that outruns discretion is often likely to defeat its own ends. But this was not the case with Apollos; he was instructed in the way of the Lord; he was a student of Scripture.

III. He was eloquent.—The Greek word so translated may also bear the meaning of ‘learned,’ but we may abide by the Authorised Version. Apollos, unlike St. Paul, who was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, was educated at Alexandria, famous in those days for its Greek scholarship. The Hellenists, as distinct from the Aramæans, spoke Greek and read the Septuagint version of the Scriptures; they were not so rigid in literalism as the Jews of the Babylonish dispersion, who are called in the New Testament Hebrews.

IV. He was valiant.—We read, ‘he spake boldly in the synagogue.’ He had the courage of his convictions; he was not ashamed of Jesus, for we read, ‘he taught diligently the things of Jesus,’ as the Revised Version gives it. It is not easy to espouse an unpopular cause in public, and before a Jewish audience it needed no ordinary courage to testify of Christ, but Apollos did it, and with such success that his labours speedily attracted attention.

Rev. E. W. Moore.

Illustration

‘Few characters in the Acts of the Apostles stand out with greater interest than that of Apollos, partly from the circumstances of his life, partly from the exquisite beauty of his character. Apollos was an Alexandrian, and brought up at the fount of philosophical, critical, and theological learning. His powerful mind grasped not only the ancient and weightiest matters of the law, but it met and welcomed the newer current of thought, though the way by which those newer currents of thought came to him cannot now be ascertained. He may have passed through Jerusalem at the time when John the Baptist or Christ Himself was teaching, or if he did not meet John, he may have met one of his disciples. Apollos had a mind keenly alive to truth and a soul thirsting for the kingdom of righteousness, and the sympathetic power of his character, together with the eloquence of his words, were eagerly welcomed in Ephesus.’