1 Corinthians 16:12Plain English VersionAnd now I want to tell you about our friend Apollos. When those other Christians went to visit you, I really wanted Apollos to go with them and visit you too. I kept on telling him to go, but he reckoned that it was not the right time. He will visit you later, when he can. See the chapter |
At that time, there was a Jewish man living in a town called Alexandria. His name was Apollos. Somebody there taught him some things about Jesus. He could talk really good, and he knew God’s book properly, and he liked to teach people about Jesus. He taught them the things he knew, but he didn’t know the whole story about Jesus. He only knew the message John the Baptiser taught to people. Apollos went to Ephesus, and he went to the Jewish meeting house there, and he talked strongly to everyone, and he told them all the things that he knew about Jesus. Priscilla and Aquila heard him talk, and they said to him, “Come with us, and we will tell you more about Jesus.” So he went with them, and they told him the rest of the story about Jesus, and they told him how God saves people.
And Paul told them about the way God wants people to live. He said that God wants us to do what is right, and that he wants us to control ourselves. And Paul told them that God will judge everybody one day. Felix heard Paul talking about those things, and he got frightened. He said, “Stop, Paul, that’s enough for today. You can go back to the jail now. Maybe I will have time to listen to you another day, and then I will get you to come and talk to me again.”
Yes, he gives you his workers to help you. He gave you me, and he gave you Apollos, and he gave you Peter. We are all here to help you. God uses everything to help you. If you live, or if you die, God will make it good for you. He will use things that happen now to help you, and he will use things that will happen later, to help you.
Just think about Apollos and me, Paul. We are not important bosses. We are only workers for God. God gave each of us our jobs, and we helped you believe in Jesus Christ. I’ll use picture talk now. Think about a garden. One worker plants seeds, and another worker puts water on the young plants to help them grow properly. But it is God that makes the seeds grow up to be big plants. The worker that plants the seeds is not important, and the worker that gives water to the plants is not important. The important one is God. He makes the plants grow. Well, that picture story about a garden is a picture of you mob. God is making you grow like he makes those plants grow. And Apollos and me, we work in God’s team, just like those workers in that garden. I started telling you about Jesus, and Apollos taught you more about him. We both want you to have life, but we can’t give you new life. God is the one that gives you new life. We are just his workers, and you know, God will pay each of us for our work.