Acts 18:19-19
December 6, 2014


 Apparently Apollos became quite well known himself.  No wonder the Christians in Corinth were arguing about who they followed.   Paul, Peter and Apollos must have had different preaching styles.

I wonder what to make of the fact that handkerchiefs and aprons had a residual power of God on them to heal the sick.   What if this is where the idea that God inhabits some inanimate objects came from?   It would seem to be counter productive to have God's power displayed in an apron.  The next thing you know, it would be enshrined, and then people would pray to it, and then stories about where it came from would be told.    Again, it seems strange, but it did happen, so there must have been a reason.   At the end of the matter, it's Paul who is in the difficult place.   People are looking to him as a source of power to heal, and he has to be mature enough to point to Jesus, and not take the credit for himself.

In 19:17 a great number of people came together and publicly confessed their sins.  verse 20 says "in this way the Word of God spread widely and grew in power".   There is something powerful in the public confession.   I have witnessed it several times, and it always seems to be followed .by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit.



PR