Variety in Christian service.
We learn—
I. THAT GOD ENDOWS HIS SERVANTS WITH VARIOUS GIFTS We have been following the course and rejoicing in the good work of Paul; now we come to another Christian workman of different make,—Apollos. God furnished him with opportunities and faculties that fitted him for service other than that which the great apostle of the Gentiles rendered. Apollos:
1. Had an acquaintance with Greek thought, gained at Alexandria, superior to that which Paul would obtain at Tarsus.
2. Had the great advantage of readiness and force of language; he was "an eloquent man" (Acts 18:24). He shared with his more illustrious co-worker
It is certain that Paul could do what Apollos would never have accomplished; it is equally certain that Apollos could effect some things which were not within the compass of the apostle. Like faithful Christian men, they rejoiced in one another. Instead of underestimating, and disparaging one another because they differed in gifts and methods, they valued one another's special work and heartily co-operated in the mission field. Few things are more unworthy and discreditable than petty jealousies and disputations between Christian workmen of different types of excellence; few things are more admirable than the hearty appreciation by one man of the work rendered by another which is beyond his own powers of accomplishment.
II. THAT HUMBLER DISCIPLES CAN RENDER VALUABLE SERVICE TO THOSE WHO ARE DISTINGUISHED. (Acts 18:26, Acts 18:27.)
1. The service of enlightenment. This was rendered to Apollos by Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:26). They had learnt "the way of God" from Paul, and they could and did teach it to Apollos, so that he understood it more perfectly. The little child in a Christian home could teach the profoundest philosopher who was ignorant of revealed truth things which, in spiritual worth, would weigh down all the speculations of his life. Two simple Christian disciples at Ephesus could and did inform the mind of the cultured and eloquent Apollos so that, instructed by them, he would become a great power for truth and Christ in the whole neighborhood. It is within the power of the simplest and humblest to breathe those words of truth and grace which may make a man a fountain of blessing to his kind. 2. The service of introduction (Acts 18:27). Unknown brethren wrote a letter, and this, reaching the right hands, introduced a valuable exponent of Christian truth to a large and important sphere. If the act of introduction be regarded as it surely should be, not merely as cans of obliging a friend, but as something in which the Master himself and his Church may be importantly served, then, by the conscientious writing of "a letter of commendation," one who is of humble rank may do excellent work for his kind—he touches a spring whence healing and refreshing waters flow.
III. THAT ONE CHRISTIAN TEACHER MAY FOLLOW ANOTHER WITH THE GREATEST ADVANTAGE. (Acts 18:28.) "Apollos mightily convinced the Jews;" perhaps more successfully than Paul would have done. When one Christian workman goes and another comes, the latter supplements the former in two ways.
1. He deepens the impression which the former has made. By bearing the same testimony he constrains the people to feel more convinced of the truth and value of that which they have heard.
2. He brings additional light. He puts the same truth in other forms and phases; he presents it as it has shaped itself to his own mind and has been colored by his own experience. Thus he meets the need of some whose necessity had not been met, and wins some that would have remained unwon.
IV. THAT THE COMING OF A STRONG SERVANT OF CHRIST SHOULD BE BUT A REINFORCEMENT TO THOSE ALREADY IN ACTIVE SERVICE. The Church at Corinth was not in a state of inactivity and uuaggressiveness when Apollos arrived. What he did there was, not to originate a mission, but to help those already in the field (Acts 18:27, Acts 18:28). He helped them by ably sustaining their endeavors to advance the cause of Christ. The Churches of the Savior should always and everywhere be in a state of evangelistic activity; then they will be prepared to welcome as a timely reinforcement the coming of a specially powerful advocate who will master and secure those whom he encounters.—C.
HOMILIES BY E. JOHNSON