Acts Of The Apostles # 25 Of 39

Paul had spent eighteen months at Corinth, reasoning with the Jews and planting the seed of Christ's being the Son of God, but had had very little success.

He left, and Apollos came behind him, and had tremendous success.

This passage reveals that Apollos was successful for two reasons:

1. PAUL PLANTED THE SEED, APOLLOS REAPED THE HARVEST.

Illus: A pastor had worked hard in the Lord's labor field under some trying times. The soil was hard, and had many weeds that had to be taken out before a good crop could be planted, and growth could take place. This pastor was faithful. He worked under some tremendous opposition, and at times had only a measly salary to live on. He later felt that God was through with him there, and they brought a new pastor in. The church began to grow and multiply. The congregation, within the first year was able to give the new pastor twice the salary the previous pastor had been making. Question: Was this new pastor a better pastor, is this the reason the church grew? It could have been that the new pastor was reaping all the benefits of the hard labor that the former pastor had put into the work.

Paul recognized that God had used him to prepare the soil, and that God then used Apollos to come after him to "water and reap."

Some of the greatest churches in this nation were started by men who were bi-vocational. They struggled to see a church built for the Lord.

• They met in some store front building.

• They sang out of old song books that were given to them.

• They struggled to buy property for a church to be built on.

• They struggled to construct a building to worship in.

Finally, after years of struggling, the work was established in the community.

But the work never seemed to grow that much. Later, the pastor leaves to start another work doing the same difficult things he had done before. A new pastor comes along, and all of a sudden, the church begins to grow by leaps and bounds.

It is because the new pastor is so much better? It could be, but more than likely it is because God has called some to PLANT and some to WATER.

Paul alludes to this in 1 Cor. 3:6, which says, "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."

Paul was being sure that neither he nor Apollos got the credit, "...but God gave the increase."

2. APOLLOS WAS ABLE TO REACH SOME, THAT PAUL WAS NOT ABLE TO REACH FOR THE LORD.

Another reason for Apollos' great success, was due to the fact that one person can not reach everyone.

The fact is, there are people that you can reach, that I cannot. There are people that I can reach for the Lord, that you cannot.

Let’s look at the apostle Paul as he faithfully plants the Word of God, and see also, how Apollos comes along behind him and reaps the harvest in Corinth, and later in Ephesus.

I. THE VOYAGE

Verses 1-2, "After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them."

We see some things in the following verses that Paul discovered, that we need to consider. What did he discover?

A. HE WAS LIKE THEM

Look at verse 3, "And because he was of the same craft..."

We read that Paul met this famous couple, Aquilla and Priscilla, when he arrived in Corinth, and that they had chosen to move to Corinth after being ordered out of Rome.

We have reason to believe that this couple was financially prospering, for history tells us that in the catacombs, there are inscriptions on the walls which indicate that Priscilla had come from an affluent family.

The thing that drew Paul to this lovely couple, was that they were of the same trade. Paul received offerings from the church, but many times the offerings were not enough to sustain him, so he was bi-vocational.

Illus: Some of the dearest men of God on this earth today, are men who love God enough to take a work that no one else will take, because the finances are so low. Men like this will take the work, and give it their best, and subsidize their income by taking another job.

Paul subsidized his income by making tents. This is also what Aquilla and Priscilla did, so they all had this in common.

B. HE LIVED WITH THEM

look at verse 3, "...he abode with them..."

Their relationship was such a good relationship, that Paul was even able to live with them.