No 1

(Apollos)

This is the first of several studies on the men of the Bible. Just as with the women’s studies, they are not in any specific order. The first man we will look at is Apollos, a very efficient worker for Jesus Christ in the early church. His name means “the eloquent one” and he had a excellent grasp of the Old Testament Scriptures. He was an Egyptian Jew born in Alexandria and he first appears in the book of Acts in chapter 18 verses 24 to 28. What really appeals to me about this bold speaker of the Gospel is that he was teachable. In Acts 18 : 26, we read “Aquilla and Priscilla took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly”. Now, here is what I call a humble servant wanting to be more efficient for the work of God. Apollos had a very successful ministry with the Corinthians; so much so that they had placed him almost on the same level as Jesus Christ. Here is the danger when we remove our eyes off of Jesus; we begin to idolize others and that is sinful. Paul had to reprimand the Corinthians about this in 1 Cor 1 : 12 and in 3 : 4 and set the record straight. Apollos had certainly not wanted this to happen which is why he may not have returned to Corinth right away (1 Cor 16 : 12). The Bible gives us many good people who, in the course of their normal lives, we can use as models for our Christian lives today. What fascinates me the most about the Bible is that when it was written, these people had no idea that we, 2000 years later, would use them as examples to follow. Isn’t God great?