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November 4, 2007AM
Romans 12:6-11
Acts 18:24-28
Our Teaching
We have all heard about the challenges that teachers face in being understood.
Like the child who went home after Sunday school claiming to know God’s name.
The child was obviously asked to explain.
During Sunday school they had learned the Lord’s Prayer.
The child with great enthusiasm began to recite that prayer.
“Our Father, who art in Heaven, Howard be thy name.”
A professor who had taught many years was counseling a young teacher.
“You will discover that in nearly every class one student will be eager to argue.
“Your first impulse will be to silence that student.
“I advise you to think carefully before doing so.
“He is probably the only one in class who is listening.”
There is no doubt that being a teacher is challenging.
It is no small task.
One weary teacher was filling in forms at the end of the school year.
She was asked to list three reasons for entering the teaching profession.
Without hesitation she wrote: 1. June, 2. July, 3. Christmas holidays.
It might have been the same teacher who was approached by a student.
The student was holding a test that had been graded and returned.
Obviously upset the child said, “I don’t think I deserved this 0.”
Much to the student’s surprise the teacher agreed.
“I don’t think you deserved 0 either.
“But 0 is the lowest grade I’m allowed to give.”
So who wants to be a teacher?
It is much the same as who wants to be a prophet?
It isn’t anything like the question who wants to be a millionaire?
Teaching requires giftedness.
But again Paul says if you have the gift of teaching then teach.
There are many arenas where teachers are required.
There are the school systems.
Grade schools, Jr. High schools, Sr. High schools, universities, colleges.
But the greatest place to be a teacher, without exception is the Church.
Where else is there the freedom to mould and shape a person’s life?
Not just their life in this world but for eternity.
Teaching in the church is a place of miraculous giving.
You sure don’t get paid to do it.
But it is not just giving to God alone.
It is giving to a generation of people who will shape this world.
If you want to be a shaper of the future, help shape a life.
The Bible is full of teachers but I want us to focus on one this morning.
This teacher’s name is Apollos and we encounter him in Acts 18:24-28.
Apollos was a gifted teacher – an exceptional teacher.
When he walked into town everyone noticed.
He created quite a stir.
A number of qualities set him apart as a great teacher.
I He was an ELOQUENT teacher (vs. 24).
He could verbalize his thoughts flawlessly.
When he spoke people understood.
He did not just pass on facts.
People’s hearts were stirred when he taught.
There was something that made him ELOQUENT.
He continued to be a student himself.
He was hungry for more learning.
He was ready to be taught more and not just teach more.
Notice what happened in verse 26.
He knew all about John’s baptism but he had not heard about Jesus’ baptism.
John’s baptism was with water.
Jesus’ baptism was with the fire of the Holy Spirit.
Priscilla and Aquila taught him the way of God more accurately.
He was hungry for everything that Jesus was able to do in his life.
He knew that if he rejected anything of Jesus his students would suffer.
He was hungry and thirsty to know Jesus in His fullness.
And that included knowing the baptism of the Holy Spirit.
He would remember the words of the Psalmist.
Teach me your way, O LORD, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. (Psalm 86:11)
He would remember the words that God spoke to Moses.
“And who do you think made the human mouth? And who makes some mute, some deaf, some sighted, some blind? Isn't it I, God? So, get going. I'll be right there with you—with your mouth! I'll be right there to teach you what to say.” (Ex. 4:11)
His teachable spirit made him eloquent.
But Apollos was more than ELOQUENT.
II Apollos was also an ENERGETIC teacher.
We are told in verse 25 that he was “fervent in spirit”.
If a liquid was fervent it was so hot it bubbled over.
If a solid was fervent it was so hot it glowed.
Apollos was on fire for God.
Only a real fire throws off heat.
Only a genuine flame can affect its surroundings.
We have a wood stove in our family room that can heat our house.
What if on a cool fall morning I decided the house needed heat.
So I took a picture of a roaring fire and placed it in the window.
Our cat who likes the heat of a fire would look at me with disdain.
He would think you really are as dumb as I thought.
Only a real fire can turn coldness into warmth.
Apollos was a blaze as he unfolded the Scriptures.
There was no mistaking who Jesus was in Apollos’s life.
He welcomed the opportunities to tell about his Jesus.
Jesus was his Messiah, his Master, his Lord, his King, his ever present Saviour.
In Jesus his life had taken on a whole new meaning.
He was fervent.
He was energized for Jesus.
He would not allow people to be complacent about Jesus.
He would not be ignored.
His message penetrated.
And those who heard the words knew they were in the presence of Jesus.
The Lord of the universe was revealed by the spirit of Apollos.
His ELOQUENCE and his ENERGY challenged everyone in his path.
His teaching had one more quality.
III Apollos was EFFECTIVE with the scriptures.
Verse 24 says he was “well-versed in the Scriptures”.
The King James Version says he was “mighty in scripture”.
He was literally a dynamic handler of the Word of God.
He was a dynamite teacher.
He had a depth of understanding.
He could expound the life in Christ with keenness and accuracy.
He not only had the facts right.
He also had the application right.
He knew Jesus was Lord.
And could tell others what Jesus’ Lordship meant for their lives.
He brought his listeners to a place of surrender and confession.
They knew Jesus more intimately after his teaching than before.
They recognized their self-made thrones and yielded them to Jesus.
Apollos was a gifted teacher.
He was ELOQUENT he was ENERGETIC he was EFFECTIVE.
I was evaluating myself as I considered the teacher that Apollos was.
Most times I am not very eloquent in my teaching.
You know I am not the most dynamic speaker you have heard.
And often times I question my effectiveness.
So can God really use me?
Perhaps you wonder that same thing.
Apollos is mentioned again in Scripture, in 1 Corinthians.
“Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us—servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment. I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow.” (1 Corinthians. 3:5-7)
Let’s close with the good news of 1 Corinthians 1:26-30
“Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when God called you. Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by the world; things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-30 NLT)
To be ELOQUENT, ENERGETIC, EFFECTIVE are all wonderful qualities.
Can we be a teacher without them?
According to God’s word we can.
God does not gift us on the basis of our ability.
He gifts us on the basis of our unity with Him in Christ.
What matters is that God’s grace makes us pure and holy and free from sin.
And then we will be ELOQUENT, ENERGETIC, AND EFFECTIVE, not by the world’s standards but by God’s.
Closing Song May the Words of My Mouth