I've entitled this message Aquila
and Priscilla. Now, to my knowledge, they're
the only married couple mentioned in the New Testament. Quite often,
Paul mentions people's names, but they are the only married
couple that I know of mentioned in the New Testament. And in
the early church, they were beloved companions of the Apostle Paul.
actually traveling companions with him. And I was thinking
about this, every married couple and everybody else, not just
that this includes everybody, but every married couple ought
to aspire to be just like this special couple, Aquila and Priscilla. They're mentioned six times in
the New Testament. Four times they're mentioned
as Aquila and Priscilla. Aquila was the husband, Priscilla
was the wife, and twice they were mentioned with Priscilla's
name coming first, and then Aquila. Brian DeFore told me he was at
a Bible study and they were wondering why that was the case, why one
was mentioned before another. And it's interesting, I read
something about this. One writer said that probably
the reason Priscilla was mentioned first a couple of times is because
she was really the more gifted of the two. Now, that's pure
speculation. I don't know whether that means
anything. I'm looking at Aaron and Jamie, Aaron and Jamie, Jamie
and Aaron. Well, with their case, we know
Jamie's the more gifted of the two, don't we? So we say Jamie
and Aaron. I mean, that's, but what's, you
know, I don't know. I don't know. They mentioned
him differently, but at any rate, I know that these two people
were not in competition. They were not in competition.
They were both striving to serve the Lord together, and they were
greatly blessed of God and used of God in a very unusual way. They were the ones who, and we're
going to get into this, they were the ones who first got hold
of the polis. You remember in Acts chapter
18 where Apollos was preaching the baptism of John and they
got him and taught him the way of God more perfectly. And he
became one of the chief teachers in the church. You remember how
Paul said, I have planted and Apollos has watered, but God
giveth the increase. He was one of the main teachers
in the early church. And this couple Aquila and Priscilla
taught him the way of God more perfectly. We're going to look
at that in just a few moments. But look what Paul calls them.
He says in verse 3, greet Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ
Jesus. And that exact same word is used
in verse 21 of this same chapter, Timothy is my work fellow, a
helper and a workfellow, fellow laborers in the gospel. And I
want to say this the right way. Every believer, without exception,
is called upon to be involved in the spread of the gospel. Now I always hesitate about that
in some respects because religion puts such an emphasis on proselytizing. and being soul winners in a bad
way. And I always kind of feel funny
about dealing with that because people think, well, I want to
be used of God to bring this person to Christ and that person
to Christ. Well, who doesn't want to be used of God? I realize
that, but how much of that's vanity? How much of that is me
just wanting to think, well, yeah, the Lord's using me. So
I hesitate in some respects to talk about this, but the Lord
did say, follow me and I will make you fishers of men. The obvious implication is if
I'm not a fisher of men, I'm not following him. Now when he
talks about this couple, he says they're my helpers in Christ
Jesus in this thing of the spread of the gospel. Now I want to
be somebody that would be described like that, don't you? I want
to get on board with Paul. I want to be his helper in Christ
Jesus in this thing of the spread of the gospel. Every believer
is to be involved in this. So don't become fatalistic about
this. Don't become indifferent. Don't
you want to be somebody that would be considered Paul's friend,
helping him in the spread of the gospel. Now this is a very
special couple. I love what he calls them, greet
Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers, my fellow laborers, and I love
this phrase, in Christ Jesus. There's not a more important
phrase in all the Word of God than that phrase, in Christ Jesus. Now I know this for dead certain,
I want to be found in Christ. That's how I want God to see
me. I don't want to be seen in any other way but in the Lord
Jesus Christ so that when God sees me, all he sees is his Son,
Jesus Christ. Don't you want that? My helper
is in Christ Jesus. Now what all is in Christ? I
love thinking about this. In Christ Jesus, the second person
of the Blessed Trinity, my Lord, my Savior, my elder brother,
my husband, my hero, my all in all, the Lord Jesus Christ. What's
in Him? Well, first of all, all the fullness of the Godhead in
a body is in Him. What all could you say about
that? All you're ever going to see of God is Jesus Christ the
Lord, and all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the body
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All spiritual blessings are in
Christ. He hath blessed us, Ephesians
1, 3, with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.
Every blessing God has to give is mediated through the Lord
Jesus Christ. He doesn't give it to you because
you deserve it. He doesn't give it to you because you ask for
it. He gives it to you because you're in the Lord Jesus Christ. Every blessing God has, the blessings
of acceptance, of being elected, of being redeemed, of being justified,
of being sanctified, of being called, of being adopted, of
being predestinated, of being forgiven, whatever blessing you're
talking about, it's all in the Lord Jesus Christ. given for
His sake. I don't know of a scripture that's
more precious than be kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as
God for Christ's sake. That's the only reason. Even
as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. All of God's blessing
is in Christ Jesus. Peace. This is a different one
from a different scripture, but I was thinking about this. The
Lord said, these things have I spoken unto you, everything
I've said up to this point, these things have I spoken unto you,
that in me you might have peace. Now the only peace that's a valid
peace is that peace that's found from simply being in Him. If you get peace because you
think you're becoming more holy, or you've had a better day, or
you've controlled your temper or because you've had a day with
less sin supposedly, you know, I think the Lord's really..."
That's not, that's a false peace. The only peace there is, is that
peace that comes from simply being found in Him. And I'll tell you what, I do
experience peace when I really believe that everything God requires
of me is in Christ. What a blessed place to be. What's
in Him? You. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made into us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Every believer is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's so special, being a part
of the brethren in whom we have an inheritance.
All God's inheritance is in Christ Jesus. Bottom line, Colossians
311, Christ is all in all. Now this dear couple is called
my helpers in Christ Jesus. Now look at verse 3 or verse
4. Who have for my life laid down their own necks. At some point, they put their
own lives at risk for the Apostle Paul. And he's recognizing that. He said, for my sake, they laid
down their own lives. They laid down their own necks. Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. These people
believed the gospel that Paul preached was a gospel worth dying
for. And they were willing to lay down their lives for his
neck. And he said, I thank him, and
so also do all the churches. Now, if the Apostle Paul was
here today preaching to us, and somebody laid down their life
for him to keep him alive so he could keep preaching, you'd
like him, wouldn't you? You'd be all for what they did.
He said, I thank the Lord for them and so do also all the other
churches. Now we don't have recorded in
scripture what took place, but something did take place. They
put themselves at great risk for the Apostle Paul out of love
to him and the gospel he preached. Now let's go to Acts chapter
18 for a moment. This is where they're first mentioned. Verse 1, 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 Claudius the emperor had commanded all
Jews to depart from Rome, and he came unto them. It says, verse 3, and because
he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought,
for by their occupation they were tent makers. Now you think
about this. They got ordered out of Rome. Claudius said, all
Jews get out. What have you got ordered out
of Lexington? Get out. You had to leave your
home, you had to leave your property, you had to leave your friends
because of what you believe regarding the Lord Jesus Christ. All Jews
were ordered out and that seemed like a terrible thing didn't
it? I'm sure it was very difficult for them as they left Rome not
knowing where to go so I guess they thought well we'll go to
Corinth and they went to Corinth and that's how the Lord put them
in contact with the Apostle Paul. Now all of God's providence is
good. All of it. All of it is for our
good and for His glory. I think of when that persecution
arose in the early church after the Apostle Paul had had Stephen
Stone there in Acts chapter 8, and they had to scatter because
they were going to get killed, and they went everywhere preaching
the Word. Through this persecution, through
this difficult thing that took place, many people heard the
gospel who would not have heard it. And through them getting
ordered and exiled out of Rome, they came into contact with the
Apostle Paul. And what a blessing that must
have been. And because he was of the same
draft, verse 3, he abode with them and he wrought and he worked
for by occupation. They were tent makers. Now at
this time they were working for a living. Paul was working. Paul
was working. He was making tents. Now there's
nothing wrong with a preacher working if that's what he's got
to do. When we first started this church, I worked for six
years. Now, obviously, it's better if you don't, if you can be supported. But if you can't be supported,
he was doing what he had to do. A lot of people lived in tents
in those days, and he was a tent maker. And he wasn't looking
for support from these people that he was going to preach to.
He was just going to preach the gospel to them, and he made tents
for a living to pay the bills. And as a matter of fact, he lived
with Aquila and Priscilla some 18 months because he ended up
staying in Corinth for 18 months preaching the gospel to them. Can you imagine having the Apostle
Paul staying in your house for 18 months? What a blessing that
must have been. But they were tent makers together. Verse four, and he reasoned, Paul, he reasoned
in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the
Greeks. And this is what he did every
Sabbath. And I'm sure Aquila and Priscilla were with him,
but he persuaded. And a large part of preaching
is persuading. Now, preaching essentially is
a declaration of the truth. Don't try to persuade anybody
of anything. It's about telling the truth. Paul said, Christ
sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And my responsibility as a preacher
is to declare what God has said. Now, I want you to believe, too.
I want to persuade you to believe. I'm not indifferent about that.
I want you to believe the gospel. And I want to persuade men and
women concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, His salvation. And that's what he was doing
at this time. He was persuading these people. And he reasoned
in the synagogue every Sabbath day and persuaded the Jews and
the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus, verse 5, were come
from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the Spirit. and testified
to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. Now, I like that. He
was pressed in the Spirit. There was an urgency about his
preaching. This is the most important thing
there is. You know, every time I preach, I better have that
attitude. This is the most important message I've ever preached. I'm
going to preach the gospel. And there has to be an urgency
about this, being pressed in the Spirit, testifying that Jesus
is the Christ. He's God's prophet. He's God's
priest. He's God's king. He's the second
person of the Blessed Trinity. God's Christ. The Lord's Christ. That's who He is. And I want
you to bow the knee to Him. I want to bow the knee to Him.
I want to find Him as everything. I want to be completely dependent
upon Him being God's Word to me. And I want to be completely
dependent upon Him being the priest who represents me before
the Father. I want to be completely dependent
on His kingship ruling and reigning in me and causing me to do His
will. I need him as my prophet, my
priest, and my king. And that's what Paul was testifying
regarding. He was pressed in the Spirit.
There was an urgency about what he was saying. He's the Christ. Whoso believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. I don't ever want to
preach in any other way but pressed in the Spirit. This is the gospel. Now let's go on reading. Verse
6, And when they opposed themselves, Now I think this is interesting.
I like this language. They heard him preach and they
opposed. But who were they opposing? Themselves. Anytime I don't bow to what God
says and receive it completely, who am I hurting? I'm hurting
myself. They opposed themselves and blasphemed. And look at Paul's reaction he
shook his raiment and said unto them your blood be upon your
own heads I'm clean from henceforth I'll go into the Gentiles. Now
I don't have any doubt that he remembered what the Lord said
if somebody doesn't receive you shake the dust off your feet
and move on somewhere else. Now while I am not indifferent
about somebody believing the gospel if somebody rejects the
gospel I preach well your blood's on your own head. I think of
when that 5,000, that group that left the Lord during that meeting
in John chapter 6, when they left him. And he watched them
leave, and he didn't say, wait a minute, let me rephrase this.
Let me see if I can make you, no. He just watched them leave,
and he didn't ask them to come back. He watched them falling
off, and then he looked at the 12 and said, will you also go
away? You want to leave too? Now that
was Paul's response when seeing these people rejected what he
said. He shook his raiment like I'm shaking you off. Your blood's
on your own head. You've heard the gospel. What
a horrible thing to hear the gospel and not believe. He said your blood's on your
own head. And he went off and said he's going to the Gentiles,
verse 7. 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 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, notice the order. They heard. You can't believe
what you've never heard. It's impossible. Well, I hope
their heart's right, even though they haven't heard. Can't happen. Can't happen. You can't believe
what you haven't heard. What did they do next? They believed. They believed what they heard.
There was true saving faith. Many of them. Oh, I want to see
that, don't you? Many of the Corinthians hearing
believed. And what came next? They were
baptized. They confessed Christ in believers
baptism. The Lord said, Whoso believeth
and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Now, baptism
pictures the gospel. It's the believer's public confession
of Christ. How important is baptism? It's
real important. It's real important. And if you
have not been baptized, I say to you what Ann and I said to
Paul, why tarryst thou? What are you waiting on? Arise
and be baptized, washing away your sins in the name of the
Lord. Now the Lord called upon all who believed. Every example
you have in the Bible, if somebody believed, what did they do next?
They were baptized. Somebody said, now the thief
on the cross wasn't. I know, I know, but I guarantee if he
wasn't hanging on a cross, he would have. I mean, he didn't
have, he was stuck there. He couldn't, he couldn't come
down. But everyone that believed, I guess, but the thief, what
did they do? They were baptized. Many of the Corinthians, hearing,
they believed the gospel. They believed what is taught
in baptism. How that when Christ lived, I
lived. When he died, I died. When he
was raised from the dead, I was raised from the dead. Oh, what
a glorious picture of the gospel. Hearing, believed, and were baptized.
Verse 9. Then spake the Lord to Paul in
the night by a vision. Be not afraid, but speak, and
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. There are a lot
of elect sinners in this city. I have much people in this city.
So you keep preaching and I'm going to bring these people to
a knowledge of myself. So much for election killing
missions. Matter of fact, there's nobody that's ever really believed
in missions. the right way, they didn't believe in election. This
was Paul's encouragement to continue to preach. Christ said, I've
got much people in this city. And so what did he do? Verse
11, he continued there a year and six months, teaching the
word of God among them. He was there with Aquila and
Priscilla, teaching the word of God. Now, look over into verse, Acts chapter 18 verse 18. And Paul,
after this, tarried there yet a good while, and then took his
leave of the brethren, and sailed thence unto Syria, and with him
Priscilla and Aquila. Now maybe they didn't have any
kids. Maybe their kids were grown up. I don't know. I don't know.
If you have kids, you can't do things like that. But they could.
And they were traveling with the apostle Paul. having shorn
his head in syncret, for he had avowed, he came to Ephesus, and
left them there." Now this is before the church at Ephesus
was started. He just left them there, I suppose, for the spread
of the gospel. There they were, left there. But he himself entered into the
synagogue and reasoned with the Jews, and when they desired him
to tarry longer time with them, he consented not, but bade them
farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh
to Jerusalem, but I will return again unto you, if God will."
Boy, that ought to be in our thinking all the time, shouldn't
it? I'll do this if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus And
when he had landed at Caesarea and gone up, he 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 to strengthen all the disciples. Now we're going to
come back to Priscilla and Aquila, verse 24. And a certain Jew named
Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in
the scriptures came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the
way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught
diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism
of John. And he began to speak boldly
in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, They
took him unto them. They befriended him. They saw
something that encouraged them, and they expounded unto him the
way of God more perfectly. Now Paulus, he's a special man
in the New Testament. He was perhaps the second behind
the Apostle Paul as far as the preachers establishing the churches
and so on. And the scripture points out
here that he was mighty in the scriptures. That's a good place
to be mighty, isn't it? As a matter of fact, it's my
belief, not that it makes any difference, this is pure speculation,
but I believe that Paul has wrote the book of Hebrews. Because
I know Paul didn't write it, because Paul said he always signs
it, and the writer to the Hebrews gives no signature, and the writing
just doesn't sound like Paul until you get into the 13th chapter.
So I believe this is speculation, doesn't make any difference.
Greg Elk once told me, you ought not ever speculate in the pulpit.
I agree, I agree, but I'm doing it anyway. The Apostle Paul,
I mean Apollos, he was mighty in the scriptures, but he only
understood the baptism of John. Now what in the world does that
mean? John was an Old Testament prophet. And John believed in
the coming Christ. That's the message of the Old
Testament. Somebody's coming. He had the same faith as Abel.
Abel, when he came into God's presence, he knew the only way
he could be accepted is through the coming sacrifice, the coming
one. He looked to Christ only. By
faith, Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than
Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous. God testifying
of his gifts and he being dead yet speaketh. Oh, Abel believed
the gospel. Now Christ hadn't come yet, but
he knew the only hope he had was in that One who was coming. Every Old Testament believer
believed on Christ. They believed on Him who was
to come. And that's all But Paulus knew
at this time. The scripture says he was an
eloquent man. That means two things. It means educated. And from Alexandria, you've heard
of the Alexandrian library. That was the center of education
back then. So I guess he was. And it also
means a great speaker or a fluent speaker. I guess he was both
of those things. And he came preaching the baptism
of John. Now I can imagine Aquila and
Priscilla sitting there listening to him and getting excited about
it. This man really believes the gospel, he just needs to
be more perfectly instructed. He was looking, he was telling
those people the only help you have is in the coming one, the
Lamb of God, whom God is going to send. He knew only the baptism
of John. He knew only the Old Testament
gospel. As far as he knew, Christ hadn't
come yet. And when Priscilla and Quilla
listened to this, they could tell the man believed the gospel.
And they get him and they teach him more perfectly. Not only
is he coming, Apollos, he's come. He's already been here. And he
did what he came to do. Do you know what he did when
he came here? He put away the sins of all of God's elect. He completely accomplished salvation. And you know where he is right
now? He's gone away to the right hand of the Father, ruling and
reigning. This one you're speaking of,
who is to come? He came, and he did what he came
to do. And he went back to his Father,
and he's coming again. Oh, they were so excited about
what they could say to this man Apollos. So what happened as
a result of what they did. Verse 25, this man was instructed
in the way of the Lord. The Lord had instructed him,
being fervent in the spirit. He spake and taught diligently
the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And
he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and
Priscilla had heard, they took him. And that word means they
befriended him. they made him their project. We hope that the Lord blesses
us in this relationship with this man to where he's going
to become a mighty preacher of the gospel. Now they didn't know
that he would become a mighty preacher of the gospel but that's
what they desired and they befriended him. Isn't this a neat couple?
I mean to see how they conducted themselves and what they were
thinking and They took him, Scripture says, and expounded unto him
the way of God more perfectly. And I love to think about that,
all the things they said to him. I guess it's kind of like when
the Lord was on the road to Emmaus with the disciples. He expounded
the Old Testament Scriptures to them, and all of a sudden
they understood. Well, that's what Aquila and Priscilla did
to Apollos. And he heard, and he believed,
he rejoiced in what they were saying. Verse 27, And when he was disposed
to pass into Caia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples
to receive him. We want you to receive him. Not
hold him off at arm's length, but receive him. Who, when he
was come, helped them much which had believed. Don't you love
those last two words? Through grace. I love in Luke's
writing these little additions he gives. He says, they believed
through grace. That's a better way to say it,
isn't it? Not just they believed, but they believed through grace.
You see, for 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 it when he is talking
about Paul's first public sermon in Acts chapter 13, and he ends
up with this, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Now that's the scriptural way.
You would never hear your average preacher talking that way, but
that's just, well, they're not preaching the gospels, why? A
gospel preacher will. But I just love these Luke's one of my favorite characters
in Scripture. I like when he talks about these certain lewd
fellows of the baser sort. I thought that's a good way to
describe them. But at any rate, Apollos helped
them much which they believed through grace, for he mightily
convinced the Jews, and that publicly showing by the Scriptures,
that Jesus was Christ. Now, the only way anybody's going
to be mightily convinced of anything is if they see it from the Scriptures. I can tell you something, and
if you don't see it in the Bible, it's meaningless to you. But
if you see it in the Scriptures, you're mightily convinced. And the only way I'm ever mightily
convinced is what saith the scripture. And this man Apollos was mighty
in the scripture. And Aquila and Priscilla were
used by God to bring him to this place. Now, I want every one
of us to be Aquilas and Priscilla's. Having this attitude, this desire
to even to reach out to people the way they reached out to Apollos. Apollos was wrong. He was not
completely informed, but they reached out to him to do this. And isn't that special to see
this couple, Aquila and Priscilla? Now, turn to 1 Corinthians 16
when Paul's greeting the church at Corinth. Here's the kind of
people they are. Verse 19, the churches of Asia
salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you
much in the Lord. Now that's the kind of people
they were. They salute you much in the Lord with the church that's
in their house. Now God, the Holy Spirit, for
wise and glorious purposes, gives us some information about these
two people, Aquila and Priscilla. And I'm thankful. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for what is in your son. And Lord, we pray that we might
be found in him. And Lord, we ask that you would
give us grace to follow thy son and be fishers of men. preaching
your gospel, spreading your gospel. Oh Lord, we desire to see men
and women saved by your grace. We desire to see boys and girls
saved by your grace. Lord, enable us to be faithful
witnesses of thy son. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.
We got Dwayne.