And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. 27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace: 28 For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ” (Acts 18:24-28).
Please allow me time to develop my message before you make any premature judgment of what the title might or might not be implying. For generations our omnipotent God has cried out time and time again through His Word,
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
For us to know and follow God, we are required to constantly examine ourselves. It can be said that we must look into God’s mirror to truly see ourselves. What is reflected from this mirror is who we are. So, are we intellectuals? Are we spiritual? Or, are we both?
With no desire to cause undue anxiety, I will state with a concerned spirit that we must be very cautious in developing an attitude of secular intellectualism versus spiritualism. I think it is necessary for us to comprehend the meaning of these terms, so we understand clearly the intent of this message.
Secular intellectualism can be defined as having temporal worldly knowledge while at the same time allowing the mind to grasp ideas and relations in a dispassionate manner, and to excise rational judgment. Again, individuals can have such knowledge and still be subject to Holy Ghost-inspiration and leadership.
Spiritualism, on the other hand, is not always marked by certain physical manifestations of the Holy Ghost. It is identified easily in 1 Thessalonians 5:23
“And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
In other words, every spiritual faculty we have must be surrendered to God for us to be identified as spiritual. Then spirituality is doing its work. When a person has the proper inspiration, he can find himself a productive person in any given field of labor.
This was the case with Jesus,
“And Jesus returned in the power of the spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through all the region round about” (Luke 4:14). From where did Christ return? The wilderness. He had just spent forty days being tempted of the devil. We are told that “…in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered” (Luke 4:2).
Then the devil tried all manner of evil to persuade the Son of God to release His spiritualism for intellectualism. He used His deity against Him; he used His authority against Him; and he used His fleshly weakness against Him. Church, he even used the very Word of God to try to motivate Christ to lay down His power. Of course, Jesus responded to each perverted attempt by using the Word with power. I want you to pay particular attention to Verse 13. It clearly shows us what the devil does after he is put in his place: “…the devil…ended all the temptation…[and] departed from him for a season.” May I remind you of the words of James so that you know that the devil will do the same to you if you are spiritual.
“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).
The devil must flee when we submit to God (as Jesus did) and resist him (again, just like Jesus). The word resist in the Greek is anthistēmi. It means to oppose, withstand, to set oneself against. I am not against intellectualism, but intellectualism alone will not get the job done when it comes to defeated our spiritual enemy.
That quality which enables us to get the work (teaching, preaching, evangelizing, discipling) done is what I call spiritualism. Intellectualism and spiritualism must not oppose each other but rather complement each other in order to benefit the Body of Christ. The Church finds itself in a fast-moving society and this is no doubt the most intellectual generation with which we have ever been confronted. We must always remember that we cannot win the lost on our own:
“…Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit…” (Zechariah 4:6).
That’s what affects hearts and changes lives. That’s the ability that was within Apollos. He was eloquent, but he was also mighty in the Word. The Scripture says he was fervent and bold in the Spirit. Fervent means hot, glowing, zealous, earnest. Could the same be said of you and your outward reflection of Christ to the world, per that heavenly mirror discussed earlier?
I desire to reiterate, there is nothing wrong with secular intellectualism as long as we allow it to assist us and not dominate us. Allow Him to work through you whether you are preparing for a Sunday School class or witnessing to a coworker. Be spiritual—resist the devil; obey the Lord. Be intellectual—study the Word; be mighty in the Scriptures. Be both—so that you can powerfully convince someone by showing them who Jesus Christ is. Amen!
