Aquila and Priscilla. Now, if
someone like Aquila and Priscilla said,
I salute you much in the Lord, I wonder if your response and
my response would be that's kind of a strange way to salute somebody. I salute you much in the Lord. But that lets us know how important
it is in every aspect to be in the Lord. Even when I'm greeting
somebody, I want that greeting to be in the Lord. I want to be found in Him. I
want to be in Him. I don't want to be anywhere else. I want to be in the Lord. I love that, don't you? They
salute you much in the Lord. Now, salute is the word for greeting,
and it carries with it the idea of affection and respect. When Paul speaks of this married
couple, Aquila and Priscilla, he says to the church at Corinth,
they salute you much. They're very zealous about this.
They feel very strong about this. and they do so in the Lord. Aquila and Priscilla had a special
love and a special bond with the Church of Corinth because
they were there at its inception, wherein Paul first preached there. And this couple, Aquila and Priscilla,
were very dear to Paul. They're a very prominent couple
in the early church. Turn back to Romans 16 for just
a moment. Look what Paul says about them. When he's closing out this letter,
he says in verse three of Romans chapter 16, and remember, every
word is inspired by God the Holy Spirit and has its purpose and
its use. He says, greet Priscilla and Aquila. Now, he called them
at first Aquila and Priscilla, and then he calls them Priscilla
and Aquila. Sometimes he names her first,
sometimes he names Aquila, the man, first. They're mentioned
six times and three times, one way and three times the other.
And somebody has suggested that's very rare in the Bible for the
woman to be mentioned before the man. And somebody suggested
that Priscilla was smarter than Aquila. And I don't think you
can back that up with the scriptures, but I was thinking about this
church, pretty much that way, isn't it? Most of you men realize
that, the women are smarter. But at any rate, in Romans chapter
16, he speaks of greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ
Jesus. I love the way in Christ Jesus
is used, don't you? They're my helpers who have,
for my life, laid down their own necks. They were willing
to die for the Apostle Paul, and they actually put themselves
in harm's way for him. He said, they laid down their
lives for me, unto whom not only I give thanks, but also the churches
of the Gentiles. When Paul wrote Timothy, he said,
salute Aquila and Priscilla. Now, turn to Acts chapter 18. This is where we're introduced
to this very special couple. Acts chapter 18, verse one. After
these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth and
found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from
Italy with his wife Priscilla because that Claudius had commanded
all Jews to depart from Rome. And he came to them in Corinth. Now, evidently Paul was looking
for these people when he arrived at Corinth. He knew of them.
Maybe he had been introduced to them before. They were already
believers. And he came looking for them
when he arrived in Corinth. He found a certain Jew that he
was looking for named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from
Italy with his wife Priscilla because the Claudians had commanded
all the Jews to depart from Rome. And he came into them. They had
lived in Rome. The emperor Claudius said, all Jews out of here. They
got out and they went to Corinth. Paul knew about this and he came
looking for them. But let me look down in verse
nine. This was all God's eternal purpose. Look in verse nine. Then spake
the Lord to Paul in the night by vision, be not afraid, but
speak, hold not thy peace for I am with thee And no man shall
set on thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city. I love that language. What an
encouragement to Paul to preach there. The Lord told him, I have
much people in this city. There's a bunch of my elect in
this city. I'm going to call them out through
your preaching. You know, people think that election kills missions.
No, it doesn't. It's the impetus behind why we
preach in the first place. If we didn't believe God had
elect people, we wouldn't bother to preach. Nobody would be saved.
But here he gives this encouragement. I've got much people in this
city. Wouldn't you be excited to go into a city when the Lord
gave you that kind of assurance that what's gonna take place?
And look in verse 11, and he continued there a year and six
months teaching the word of God among them. And you know who
he lived with for a year and a half? Aquila and Priscilla. I love thinking about this. They
maybe got up at the same time, drank coffee together, whatever
they did back then. Visited with each other at night.
They got to know each other very well. Paul loved these people
dearly and they loved Paul. Like we've already read, they
were willing to stick out their own neck for him. And let's look
in verse three. And because he was of the same
craft, he abode with them. He lived with them and they rot.
For by their occupation, they were tent makers." Now, he knew
that this was what they did for a living. He knew he could get
with them. He didn't have any support at
this time. He had to support himself. He would be a tent maker
with them and they would work during the day. And on the Sabbath
days, he would go to the temple to preach. Verse four. And he reasoned in the synagogue
every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. Now he went
to the Jewish temple, although this was a Gentile place, the
church of Corinth, it was in Greece, and he reasoned and persuaded
both the Jews and the Greeks. And you know, there's persuading
going on in preaching. I want you to believe, and I
want to persuade you to believe. I hope I always have that attitude
in preaching. We don't just spit out something
and say, take it or leave it. No, we want people to believe.
And Paul wanted these people to believe and he reasoned with
them and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and
Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit. I love that language. He was
pressed in the spirit. He was burdened to get out this
message. He loved the God he was preaching.
He loved these people he was preaching to, and he wanted them
to hear the gospel. And the scripture says he was
pressed in the spirit. And he testified to the Jews
that Jesus was Christ. And that's always the issue.
Who is Jesus Christ? He testified that Jesus is the
Christ, God's prophet, the very word of God, God's priest. If he brings you into God's presence,
you must be saved. God's king, he's the true king.
He testified, he bore witness. He wasn't given secondhand information,
he knew him. He testified. that Jesus was
Christ. And when they opposed themselves
and blasphemed, I think that language is interesting. They
opposed Paul, but what does the Holy Spirit say they're doing?
They're opposing themselves. You're only hurting yourself.
If I oppose the Lord Jesus Christ, I'm the one in trouble. They
opposed themselves and blasphemed. They rejected Paul's message
and he shook his raiment. Can't you just see him doing
this? They rejected his message. And remember when the Lord said
to shake the dust off your feet? Well, he was doing this at this
time. He was offended that these people did not believe the gospel. Now, if somebody doesn't believe,
that's horrible. And he was offended that these
people did not believe the gospel, so he shook his raiment and said
unto them, your blood be upon your own heads. I'm clean. From
henceforth, I'll go unto the Gentiles. So he left the temple,
and he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house named
Justice, one that worshiped God, whose house joined hard to the
synagogue. And here is what took place in
Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord
with all his house. And many of the Corinthians hearing,
believed, and were baptized. Now, the Lord doesn't always
save people like this, but sometimes he does. Christmas was ahead
of the synagogue. And he believed, and all of his
house believed. And I love this order. Many of
the Corinthians hearing, believed and were baptized. You can't
believe what you haven't heard any more than you can come back
from a place you've never been. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the word of God. You can't believe what you've
never heard. But here's the order, when they
heard, they believed. All my salvation is in this message.
They believed that Jesus was the Christ, the son of the living
God. They heard Paul's testimony and
they believed. And what happened next? They
were baptized. When someone hears, when someone
believes, here's what they do. They confess Christ in believers
baptism. Baptism is so important. No,
it doesn't save. Going under the water and coming
up doesn't save you, but what a beautiful picture of salvation
baptism is. In the Lord, here's my hope,
that when he kept God's holy law perfectly, I was in him. His obedience is my obedience.
When he died on Calvary's tree, I was in him. In the beloved,
I went to the tree. Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ. I went to the tree with him. All my sins, he bore them. And when he was raised from the
dead, I was raised in him. That's what baptism signifies.
Don't you love the simplicity of this order? They heard, they
believed, and they were baptized. Now listen, everybody in this
room, you ought to believe. If you don't, shame on you. This is the truth. Everybody
ought to believe the truth. And this is the truth concerning
who he is. Then verse nine, spake the Lord
to Paul in the night by vision. Be not afraid. Evidently he was
somewhat nervous. Be not afraid, but speak. Hold
not thy peace, for I am with thee, and no man shall set on
thee to hurt thee, for I have much people in this city. You
see, there is a people called his people. When the Lord came,
in Matthew chapter one, verse 21, we read this of him, thou
shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from
their sins. And Paul says, or the Lord says
to Paul, don't be afraid. Hold not your peace. Speak clearly
because I have much people in this city. I'm sure Paul was
so excited about this. Verse 11, he continued there
a year and six months teaching the word of God among them. And
he was living with this married couple, Aquila and Priscilla,
Priscilla and Aquila. had become very good friends
with him. Maybe it was sometime during this period that they
laid down their necks for him and put themselves in harm's
way for him. Verse 12. And when Galileo was
the deputy of Achaia, that's where Corinth was, the Jews made
an insurrection with one accord against Paul and brought him
to the judgment seat, saying, this fellow persuadeth men to
worship God contrary to the law. They obviously didn't know the
law. Thought they did. And when Paul was now about to
open his mouth, Goliath said unto the Jews, if it were a matter
of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that
I should bear with you, but if it be a question of words and
names and of your law, look ye to it, for I'll be no judge in
such matters. And he drove them from the judgment
seat. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of
the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Galileo
cared for none of these things. He didn't care one way or the
other about any of this. That would describe most men, wouldn't
it? Just not an issue with him. And Paul, after this, tarried
there yet a good while, and then took leave of the brethren and
sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. having shorn his head in synchro,
for he had avowed." Now when he took this trip, his traveling
companions were these two dear believers, Priscilla and Aquila. And he came to Ephesus and left
them there, but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned
with the Jews When they desired him to tarry a longer time with
them, he consented not, but bade them farewell, saying, I must
by all means keep the feasts that cometh in Jerusalem. But
I return again to you, if God will. That ought to be in our
thinking every thought, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. And when he had landed at Caesarea
and gone up and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. And
after he'd spent some time there, he departed and went over all
the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the
disciples. But do you remember that he left
Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus? Now they come up again, and this
is really the part that I wanted to deal most with Aquila and
Priscilla, this special couple, blessed of God, traveling companions
with Paul. Verse 24, and a certain Jew,
named Apollos, born at Alexandria. I don't know if you've ever heard
of the Alexandrian library. I mean, this was the place of
education at that time. The scripture says he was an
eloquent man. He was a gifted speaker. He was
a highly educated man. And he's somebody the Lord would
use to preach the gospel. Church of Corinth was certainly
impressed with this man. Remember, some said, I'm of Paul,
others said, I'm of Apollos. And they made these fleshly distinctions
like that. That's when Paul said, who is
Paul? Who is Apollos? But messengers by whom you believed. Paul says nothing and Paul's
nothing. Christ is all. And they made
a big deal about this. man's gifts, but the scripture
says he was an eloquent man. He was an educated man. He was
a powerful speaker. And the scripture says he was
mighty in the scriptures. And he came to Ephesus. Now this is not important, but I think
he's who wrote Hebrews. The reason I think that is he's
mighty in the scriptures. Now, does that mean he did? I
don't know. I know the apostle Paul did. Because he said, I
always have my handwritten signature on all my epistles. There's no
writing as to who wrote Hebrews. And some of the church fathers,
or whoever they are, had said that they thought Apollos was
the writer. And whoever wrote Hebrews was
mighty in the scriptures. I mean, how mighty in the Old Testament
scriptures? the writer to the Hebrews is.
Well, it's verse 24. And a certain Jew named Apollos,
born in Alexandria, an eloquent man, mighty in the scriptures,
came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the
way of the Lord, and being fervent, zealous in spirit, he spake and
taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the
baptism of John. Now, what in the world does that
mean? He was speaking the things of the Lord. He was instructed
in the way of the Lord, but all he knew was the baptism of John.
Well, what was the baptism of John? Look in chapter 19. And
it came to pass that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul, having
passed through the upper Ghost came to Ephesus and finding certain
disciples, he said unto them, have you received the Holy Ghost
since you believed? Now what that's talking about
is not have you been born again, but have you received the gifts
of the Holy Ghost, which the early church had. They would
lay hands on them. They would be able to speak in
other languages. They'd be able to raise the dead. They'd be
able to heal the sick. All these miracles that came
through the laying on of the apostles' hands, the Holy Spirit
was given. And look at their reply. And
they said unto him, we have not so much as heard whether there
be any Holy Ghost. We've never heard of the Holy
Ghost. We have no idea what you're talking about. And he said unto
them, until what then were you baptized? And they said unto
John's baptism. Then said Paul, John verily baptized
with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people that they
should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ
Jesus. Now here's what John preached. There's one coming and you're
to believe on him. It's that simple. He had the
same faith that Abel had. Abel looked to the coming sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He had the same faith Abraham
had. Abraham was looking, remember
he rejoiced to see my day, Saul was glad. Every Old Testament
believer was looking to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ as their
only way of being saved. Abel made it real clear. He said
to his brother Cain, we can't approach God apart from the sacrifice
of that one who is to come, God's holy. The only way God in his
justice can accept a sinner is through the sacrifice of his
son, what his son accomplished. Abel would look nowhere else.
And that is all Apollos knew at this time. He was an Old Testament
believer. They were believers in the Old
Testament, weren't they? Well, he was. He was an Old Testament
believer. All he knew was the baptism of
John. Someone's coming. I love this
simple statement. The Old Testament says someone's
coming. The gospels say he's here. The epistles say he's coming
again. And this is what this man was
preaching. He was living up to the light he had and he was preaching,
knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to boldly, speak
boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had
heard. I love to think of them. They're
sitting there, they've gone to the temple, they're listening, and
all of a sudden this man gets up and they say, this man's got
some light. They were impressed with his
boldness, with his with what he was saying, but they understood,
they could see that he didn't understand the gospel completely.
So what did they do? And he began to speak boldly
in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they
took him unto them, they befriended him. Isn't that glorious to think
of this couple doing this? They see this man and they see
something in him that they know he's not a phony. They can sense
that he has some kind of light, and they befriend him. And what
do they do? They took unto him them and expounded
unto him the way of God more perfectly. They said, Apollos, You're living up to the light
you have, but you're not living up to the light of what has truly
taken place. Christ has come. That one you
say is coming, he's already come. And he has accomplished everything
he said he came to do, and he's gone back to the Father. That one you say is coming, he
really has already come. And I love the way it says, They
expanded unto him the way of God more perfectly. I can kind of imagine about what
they must have said. That one who's coming, he said
this regarding himself, I am the way. He's the way to God. There are no other ways. He's
the straight way. He's the way that's so narrow
that if you have anything other than Him, you can't get through
the gate. If you have any works that you're looking to and resting
in and trusting in, you can't get through the gate. All you
can have is Him. If you have anything other than
Him, you can't get in. You can't walk along the road
if you have anything other than Him. You look to Christ only. He is the way that excludes all
other ways. I think that he told them about
Christ being the way of salvation, and that he's the only way of
salvation, to the point that Simeon said, Lord, now let us
all thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Oh, all of my salvation's in
him. He is my salvation. Everything
God requires of me, he looks to his Son for, and all of our
salvation is simply being found in him. I don't want to be seen
anywhere else. And he then spoke of the Lord
as being the way of righteousness. Romans 10.4, Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness. He's called the way of righteousness.
And he explained to him, the only way a sinner can be accepted
is if the righteousness of Jesus Christ is their personal righteousness
before God. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. He is the way of righteousness. There is no other way. You can't understand justification.
truth of the scripture, how God can be just and justify somebody
as sinful as me or you if you don't understand that he is the
way of righteousness. He's the way God can be just
and justify the ungodly. He's the way of peace. Perhaps, I don't know if Romans
have been written at this time. As a matter of fact, it wasn't.
Romans had been written. But if it had been written, he
would have quoted, he was delivered for our offenses, raised again
for our justification. Therefore, having been justified
by faith, we have peace with God. The only peace I have is
that everything God requires of me, he looks to Jesus Christ
for. And I can rest in that. He's called the way of truth.
He's the truth of The character of God. You don't know God apart
from him. He's the truth of the character
of man. You can see how sinful man is by looking at him beside
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the truth with regard to
salvation. I love it when the Lord said
to Philip, Philip, have I been so long with you and yet hast
thou not known me? He said, Lord, show us the Father
and we'll be satisfied. He's saying we need to see something
more than you is what he's saying. Have I been so long time with
you, and yet hast thou not known me? He that has seen me hath
seen the Father." He's the truth concerning who God is. He's the right way, all other
ways are wrong ways. I love this in Hebrews chapter
10, verse 9. He's called the new and living
way. New means freshly slaughtered.
And I want to say this with as much reverence and fear as the Lord will enable me to
have, but he's always freshly slaughtered. Always do. That doesn't mean he's slaughtered
all over the time, but the power of his blood is such that if
you've committed the same sin 10 million times, the blood of
Christ is the freshly slaughtered blood, always poignant, always
new, always powerful to the Father. This is the blood he was speaking
of when he said, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. It's always that way. He's the
new and the living way, not some dead way, the living way to the
Father. He's the more excellent way.
By faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain. He's the way into the holiest, into the very presence of God. And I can see in my mind this
special couple, blessed of God, befriending Aquila and Priscilla,
having some discernment and seeing something about him that they
knew, by the grace of God, I'm going to expound the way of God
to him more perfectly. And that's what they did. And
I'm sure that they did it with respect, not in some kind of
arrogant way, but as Peter said, always be ready to give every
man that asks you a reason for the hope that's in you with meekness
and with fear. I'm sure that they didn't come
up and tell him, man, you're so wrong. They used wisdom and
meekness in dealing with him. Verse 27, And when he was disposed to pass
into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive
him. He was leaving Ephesus and going
back to Corinth. And I'm sure that it was Aquila
and Priscilla who wrote this letter. They had something to
do with it. They said, receive him. And when he was disposed
to pass into Achaia, where Corinth was, the brethren wrote, exhorting
the disciples to receive him, who, when he was come, helped
them much which had believed through grace. Now, one of the
things I love about Luke when he's writing, he doesn't simply
say they helped them much who believed. He said he helped them
much who believed through grace. The only way me and you are going
to believe is through grace. By grace are you saved. Through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. I love Luke's editorial comments
on what took place. He helped them much who believed
through grace. It kind of reminds me, after Paul preached in Acts
chapter 13, he says, as many as were ordained to eternal life
believed. What did he do in helping them
much that had believed through grace? For, verse 28, he mightily
convinced the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures
that Jesus was the Christ. What did he do? What was his
message? Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth. That one born in Bethlehem. That
one who lived a perfect life and went about doing good. That
one who was unjustly tried, nailed to a cross, buried for three
days, and was raised from the dead. He is the Christ. He is God's Christ. He's God's
prophet. He's the Word of God. All you're
gonna ever hear from God is Him. He is God's Word. He is the prophetic message. The testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy. He is the Word of God. And oh, what a priest He is.
He's a priest after the order of Melchizedek. He wasn't a Levitical
priest. He was a priest after the order
of Melchizedek who had no pedigree, had no beginning, no end, neither
beginning of days or end of life, but made like unto the Son of
God continually. He's a He's that priest who's
king of righteousness, and after that, king of peace. I don't
know what all he said about that, but if Apollos wrote the book
of Hebrews, he's the one who dealt with Melchizedek. Paul
never did deal with Melchizedek, but whoever wrote Hebrews did.
That what a priest he is, and what a king he is. He's the king of kings, the kings
of kings. Heart is in the hand of the Lord
as the rivers of water. He turneth it withersoever he
will. He's Caesar's king. He's every
earthly king. He's their king. And they are
palms in his hand doing his will. He preached that Jesus is God. the Christ. And he used the scriptures. That's all he used. He convinced
him mightily from the scriptures. And that's, that is our appeal. God's holy word, the scriptures. Now I hope this challenges and
creates a desire in every married couple, every single person here
to be just like Aquila and Priscilla. What an encouragement they were
to Paul, how the Lord used them in the life of Apollos. And look
at the way they loved the church at Corinth. They knew them. I
mean, as we've been going through this book, this place was a mess. It had more problems than Kellogg's
had cornflakes. But yet look how they dealt with
this church. They salute you much in the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you that thy son
is your Christ, that you sent to save sinners. And Lord, we
pray that we might be like Apollos in mightily convincing from the
scriptures that Jesus is your Christ, the son of the living
God, the only savior of sinners. And Lord, we ask that we might
have this attitude that Aquila and Priscilla had, and give us
the wisdom when we see someone of that nature to expound the
way of God more perfectly. Now, bless this word for the
Lord's sake. In his name we pray.