Apollos, Paul and the Sons of Sceva

APOLLOS, PAUL AND THE SEVEN SONS OF SCEVA Acts 18:24-28 and 19:11-20

This morning we want to consider from Acts chapters 18 and 19 several different individuals and what they were doing…

I. APOLLOS

Acts 18:24-28 and 19:1

Altogether, Apollos is mentioned in the New Testament scriptures some 11 times, most of those times being found in the book of 1 Corinthians. So let's turn to that book…

1 Corinthians 1:12 1 Corinthians 3:4-9, 22

One gets the impression from the book of Acts that Paul and Apollos kept missing each other: Paul being in Corinth when Apollos was in Ephesus, and then when Paul finally lands in Ephesus, Apollos has gone back to Corinth, and so forth. But in time they finally did meet up. For in 1 Corinthians 16:12 we read…

1 Corinthians 16:12

So they finally met up, spent some time together, and clearly Apollos gained Paul's respect as Paul writes of him as being a brother, and one that he had ministered with.

Here then is what we learn about Apollos: 1. He was an "eloquent man." Eloquent is not one of those words we use very often. To be eloquent is to be one speaks well: with vividness, force, grace and persuasiveness. If you ever saw the film "The King's Speech" it is the story of Prince Albert, who was to become King George VI of England and the challenge that he had, as one who naturally stammered, to be able to speak clearly and forcefully. Radio had come into use, and in a time leading up to war, Albert needed to reassure the English people, in a speech given over the radio, that they would be okay in the end. 2

My 93 old father has told me the story many times of his filling in as an interim pastor for a small Baptist church in central Florida. After several months of him working as the interim, finally a candidate was put forward for consideration to the church body. Part of this potential pastor's candidating included his preaching on a Sunday morning. My dad was there for this fellow's preaching that morning, and according to my dad it was, as he put it, "beyond bad…he murdered the King's English." But what shocked my father even more was when the church actually voted the fellow in as their new pastor. My dad became convinced that decision was sure to be the death of the church, for in his thinking, "Who in their right mind would sit under such a fellow?" My dad's prediction proved right and today that church no longer exists.

No preacher should take any pride in his eloquence. You may recall that the apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:1-2, "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." Here the NIV translates "lofty speech" as "eloquence." So while Apollos was noted as BEING ELOQUENT Paul says that he personally did not come hoping to impress anyone with his eloquence. He wanted to preach Christ. It was to be all about Christ and never about him.

(Story on p. 216 of Spurgeon, by Arnold Dallimore)

But as Charles Spurgeon wrote in his book An All Round Ministry, if one is convinced that it is God's will that one should become a preacher, then, as Spurgeon wrote, resolve to become a GREAT preacher, a GREAT orator and a GREAT expositor of God's word. So there is nothing wrong in being eloquent. Just don't make that your ultimate goal. In less than two years from now, a much younger man will be standing before you preaching God's word. That you should seek after one who is an eloquent speaker should not be the top priority, but it is not a wrong priority either. 3

2. Competent in the scriptures. For 2,000 years, a mystery has surrounded the writing of the book of Hebrews. That book has been consistently placed at the end of those 13 letters that are known to have been written by Paul. There is much in the book of Hebrews to make one think that maybe it also was written by Paul. But unlike ALL of Paul's other letters, it doesn't identify Paul as the author, and so its authorship remains uncertain. But one of the names that has consistently been forwarded as a possible alternative to Paul is the name Apollos. That is because of how this passage in Acts makes it clear regarding Apollos' ability in handling the scriptures. In my Bible I have circled the words here associated with Apollos' teaching: eloquent (he was an eloquent man) competent (competent in the scriptures) fervent (being fervent in spirit) accurately (he spoke and taught accurately) boldly (he began to speak boldly in the synagogue)

Beyond this we find him to be a helpful man (verse 27) who was able to powerfully refute the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Christ was Jesus (v.28) Apollos was no slouch in regards to handling the word of God. According to early church tradition he eventually became the bishop of the church in Corinth. With such a spiritual pedigree it makes sense that Apollos may have indeed been the one to have written the book of Hebrews – that book which does such an incredible job of showing the superiority of Christ over all others. Apollos is a model for all of us: to, like Apollos, not merely HEAR the Word of God, but also to STUDY it, MEMORIZE it and then APPLY it to our lives and to those around us.

3. Apollos was teachable. Acts 18 doesn't use that word to describe Apollos but it is clearly inferred by his having Aquila and Priscilla…yes…even a woman…take him aside to explain to him the word of God more accurately. In this age of bullheaded politics, the very idea that one who is already recognized and proven should be able to 4

be reproved or corrected…AND TAKE THAT CORRECTION…is amazing! More than a few politicians AND PREACHERS could learn a thing or two from Apollos.

4. Apollos was apparently uninterested in being involved in church life where there was a party spirit. By party spirit I'm talking about the spirit Paul wrote about back in chapters 1 and 3 of 1 Corinthians whereby people were saying, "I'm of Paul," or "I'm of Cephas," or "I'm of Apollos." The church in Corinth was being torn apart from within by a prideful partisan spirit. And so at the end of 1 Corinthians we read in 16:12…

1 Corinthians 16:12

Bible commentators have taken that sentence by Paul to suggest that Apollos wasn't interested in going back to Corinth if what he was going to face was a "fan base"…as if he was in some sort of popularity contest.

So that's Apollos. Someday we will meet him. I have no idea if our giftings in this life translate into the next life. But if they do maybe we will even have the privilege of hearing Apollos preach! Charles Spurgeon was called "The Prince of Preachers," but my guess is that on that day Spurgeon will happily crown Apollos "The King of Preachers."

2. PAUL

In the New Testament we read of the 12 disciples of Christ. These were 12 select men, singled out from many others who were also disciples. Like King David who had his "Thirty mighty men" but then from among the 30 were 3 particularly top men. So too, out of Christ's many disciples (both men and women) he had his 12, and from among the 12 he had his 3 (Peter, James and John). In time, "THE TWELVE" also came to be called "the apostles." Most Greek lexicons will define an apostle as one who was sent. But that doesn't get down to WHY the word apostle was used. The word apostle is a compound word:  (meaning not) and s (meaning clothing). Literally an apostle was one who went "without clothes" – not at all meaning that they went naked, but rather that they traveled light: no suitcases for these men. 5

Luke 9:1-6

In the tradition of the early church we have taught that the apostles were a select group. But in Luke chapter 10 we find Jesus sending out 72 of his followers with much the same kind of direction regarding traveling or packing light. This has led many to conclude that there were far more than merely 12 apostles. But to confuse this just a bit more, in Acts chapter 1 we find the 11 disciples who were left, following Judas' committing suicide, looking for one man to replace Judas so that they would again be 12 in number.

So were there 12 apostles…or were there 72 apostles? Or…and here is an entirely different question…are there, as some have suggested, apostles even today?

Well, I'm not going to get into that last question at this time. Suffice it to say that the generation of church leaders who had been taught DIRECTLY by the 12 apostles, believed that the age of the apostles came to an end with the death of the last of that first generation.

But clearly Paul considered himself an apostle, even though he had not been numbered with THE TWELVE. And if he was to be an apostle then he needed to meet the requirement that he himself stated WAS A REQUIREMENT of any and every apostle. That requirement is given to us in 2 Corinthians 12:12.

So signs and wonders were the marks of a true apostle.

And what do we find being associated with Paul here in Acts 19? The answer is clear: Signs and wonders…and signs and wonders of a most amazing sort…

Acts 19:1, 11-12

Wow! Imagine if Paul were alive today. I recall watching a program many years ago in which Oral Roberts' son, Richard Roberts, was preaching. He was preaching about healing, and then he said something like, "And if you have leukemia, I want you to come up to your television set and put your hand on the screen…right 6

now…put your hand on the screen, and I'm going to pray for you." Touching the hem of Jesus' garment Touching a handkerchief Putting your hand on a television screen. I don't know, is there any difference?

This is clearly something that I know little about, but which I have become more than a bit skeptical. There are just too many charlatans out there, suggesting they can do something for you when, in the end, it seems that all they want is your money. It is like that old Steve Martin movie, "Leap of Faith." Yes, just too many charlatans…

But with this Acts 19 passage we can't help but see how Paul fit within the realm of the apostles. With Peter, people could be but merely sitting in his shadow as he walked by and they were healed. The healing that came via Paul was maybe not quite THAT dramatic, but still, it was quite impressive: a piece of cloth that he had touched and now that piece of cloth became a conveyor of healing. Does it make sense? No. But that's what it was.

3. THE SONS OF SCEVA

And now we come to one of the most interesting stories in the entire New Testament: the story of the seven sons of Sceva. Let's read it…

Acts 19:13-17

Demon possession is not something we often encounter – at least not here in this part of the United States. I see the reason for this being that due to the presence and prevalence of the Christian faith and the Christian church, the kingdom of darkness doesn't have the free reign that it has had historically or that it still has in other parts of the world. The church, in a sense, holds back the reign of Satan and his minions. At least that is how I see it. But back when the gospel was first touching the world, demon possession and demon oppression was quite prevalent. And, as is inferred in verse 13 with its reference to "Jewish exorcists," the casting out of demons was something that Judaism was already involved with. 7

But along came the news about Jesus and what could be done in his name and so these seven sons of a high priest named Sceva, decided to try and invoke that name in their own casting out of demons. But boy did it backfire on them! This is what happens when people who are not true followers of Christ try and make use of Christ's name or Christ's people. It backfires on them. They may think they can invoke the name of Jesus – using that name not as their Lord and Savior, but as a means to an end. Politicians are known for doing this sort of thing: kissing up to various religious groups, bowing down before their religious leaders, wearing the garb associated with some religion, or using the name of that religion's leader, or quoting from that religion's holy book. But it is all a ruse. They are merely using that religion as a means to their own end. Author and professor Mark Noll, in his book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind ponders whether or not a case could be made that the Republican Party has done exactly that with Evangelical voters. Conversely, how often have we heard of various Democrat politicians speaking from the pulpits in black churches? In either case, are these politicians REALLY of one heart and soul with the church of Jesus Christ, or are they just trying to win votes? The sons of Sceva thought they could invoke the name of Jesus to help them to their own ends, to aid them in being able to cast out demons. But they were wrong. For the powers of darkness, while very ungodly are not all that stupid. And so those powers saw right through these seven sons of Sceva. "Jesus I know…and Paul I know…but who are you?" And with that just ONE man with ONE demon pounced on all seven of the sons of Sceva, beat them up badly and left them fleeing the house naked!

Can you imagine living in that town when that happened? Can you imagine how the news of this story must have spread?

The name of Jesus may be taken lightly by our society. Film makers and actors– including the great ones like Steven Spielberg – have often made use of the name of Jesus not as their Lord and Savior but as part of THEIR story, as a means to THEIR END. And while they may think they have done so with some success, the end of all that is yet to be seen.

Long ago, Bill Gaither wrote the song, "There's Something about that Name." He was right: there IS something about the name of Jesus. And that 8 something is that there is POWER in the name of Jesus: a power to be used by those who know Him, and a power that will be used AGAINST those who use that name only as a means to their own end.

The seven sons of Sceva learned that lesson THE HARD WAY.