Rev. David Holwick T Women of the Bible First Baptist Church Ledgewood, New Jersey May 29, 2016 Acts 18:1-5,24-26 PRISCILLA & AQUILA: DYNAMIC DUO I. Heroes for Christ. A. The bar is set high. 1) Nathan Barlow was a Christian doctor who served in Ethiopia for 60 years. He once had a toothache that required him to leave the mission field so he could go to a dentist. He told the dentist to pull all his teeth out so he would never have another interruption to his mission work due to a toothache. 2) Rachel Saint was a sister to Nate Saint, one of the five American missionaries who were killed by tribesmen in Ecuador in 1956. She moved to Ecuador and lived with this tribe for 20 years, evangelizing them. She is now buried there. [1] 3) Francis Xavier, born in 1506, was a missionary to India, Malaysia and Japan. He died at the age of 46 on a journey to China. Xavier is credited with converting 700,000 people. On one occasion he baptized so many people he could barely move his arm. Bear in mind that he was Catholic and only had to sprinkle a few drops on them, not dunk them like Baptists do. [2] 4) All of these did great things for God. What about you? B. Most of us are not Super Christians. 1) Are we failures? a) Not necessarily. 2) Most big things are accomplished by many people doing small things. a) Priscilla and Aquila were like that. b) They have never been as famous as Jesus or Paul. 1> Many of you have never heard of them. 2> But thousands of people just like them built the Christian Church into a worldwide movement. 3> What will you leave as your legacy? II. They were a Christian couple. A. They are always mentioned as a couple, never as individuals. 1) Whatever they did, they did together. a) It is interesting that when their names are given, 5 times out of 7, Priscilla's is listed first. b) Some have concluded she was more dynamic or even more intelligent than her husband. 1> I can identify with that. 2> But it would be reading an awful lot into word order. 3> I think it just emphasizes they were a team. 2) Who is on your team? a) Marriage is a natural avenue for this. 1> I am conducting three weddings in July and so I am doing a lot of premarital counseling now. 2> All of them are excited that they have found someone to go through life with. 3> In a good marriage, you act like a team, holding each other up. 4> If you are married, how do you stack up? A> Have you got each other's back? b) You don't have to be married to be on a team. 1> Friendship can be just as important. 2> Not an acquaintance, but someone who will be there when a crisis hits, someone who challenges you to be better than you are. 3> Deep friendships are fading these days. A> If you want one, you have to work hard at it. B. Both of them were believers. 1) We do not know when they got saved. a) Some believe they did not get saved until they met Paul, because they are identified as Jews in 18:2. 1> But Luke loves to give conversion stories, and he doesn't do this for them, so I think they were already saved. b) They may have been present at Pentecost in Jerusalem, where the church first began. c) They may have been saved in Rome, the first location they are associated with. 1> It is interesting that Luke mentions that they left Rome when Emperor Claudius kicked all the Jews out. 2> The Roman historian Suetonius says the Jews were making a lot of disturbances at the instigation of someone named Chrestus. Most scholars think Suetonius was a little confused. Chrestus is probably Christ. Another Roman historian, Tacitus, called Christians Chrestiani. So what probably happened is that some Jews became saved, preached about Jesus, and the other Jews began fighting them. The Romans couldn't tell the difference and kicked them all out. Priscilla and Aquila were among them. Sermon #1814 2) Once they were saved, they worked tirelessly for Jesus. a) They moved a lot : from Rome to Greece to Turkey, back to Rome, and then back to Turkey. 1> At each place they got involved in ministry. 2> Where there wasn't a church, they started one. b) They had a special connection to Paul. 1> All of them shared a faith and also a profession, making tents. 2> Paul was not an easy person to work with. A> The Bible records Paul arguing with Peter and even Barnabas, a very nice guy. B> There are no records of fights with Priscilla and Aquila. 3> Paul even says they saved his life once, but doesn't give any details. 4> In his very last letter, 2 Timothy, when he sadly mentions how many believers have failed him, Paul greets these two as his friends. C. Faith makes a difference. 1) If you have a choice, always choose a Christian spouse. 2) If you are still dating, make your faith a priority from the beginning. a) Don't hope for their conversion later on. b) Pin it down from the start. 3) If you get saved after you are married, pray that God will use you to save your spouse. III. Their ministry was mostly ordinary. A. They opened their home to Christians. 1) This is mentioned in the books of Romans and 1 Corinthians. a) They had a house-church, the only kind that existed back then. b) A church in Rome shows the progression. 1> The current church of San Clemente is very fancy and was built in the Middle Ages. 2> In the basement is the remains of a large basilica built by the Emperor Constantine in the 4th cent. 3> Underneath that, on the same level as the Colosseum, was a Roman house, the first church on the site. c) When I became saved, I went to home Bible studies before I ever went to a church. 1> We teenagers would sit on the floor in a living room and hear the older Christians explain the Bible. 2> The Bostedos carry on that tradition for our church. 2) Does your home speak of Jesus? a) When people enter your home, is there anything that would tell them you are Christians? 1> Perhaps you have Christian art on your walls, either pictures of Jesus or framed quotes from the Bible. 2> Maybe they would see a few Bibles lying around. b) I heard this week of a young non-religious engineer who shared with a Christian that when he was young, one of his friends lived in a home where they always said grace before meals. He was impressed by this. c) What would impress him about you? B. They took people to the next spiritual level. 1) There is no record that they converted thousands. a) But we do know they influenced one guy. b) His name was Apollos and he was a gifted speaker. 1> He was also a follower of John the Baptist. 2> He knew something about Jesus, but was a quart low. c) Priscilla and Aquila invited him (to their home) and led him to a deeper understanding of Jesus. 2) Apollos went on to be a superstar in the Corinthian church. a) He even had groupies. 1 Cor 1:12 b) Priscilla and Aquila did not have groupies. 1> But they were effective in their own quiet way. 3) You will probably not be a Xavier or Mother Teresa or Billy Graham, but you can be a Priscilla or Aquila. a) Do what you can to lead others to a deeper faith. b) Quietly represent Jesus to your circle of friends. IV. Do you have a goal that is bigger than you are? A. Being average doesn't mean you have to be boring. 1) Even ordinary people can have an impact, an eternal one. a) You have to decide what you are living for. b) Do you want recognition, or material wealth, or do you want to serve God faithfully in your life? 2) This couple loved each other, but they loved Jesus more. a) Many marriages fail because the people focus only on themselves. b) You will be closer if you team up to serve God. B. Quiet Christians change the world. Quint Pitts had a neighbor named Bud Villers. Bud Villars was a good man. He helped Quint's dad put a roof on their house, and assisted when they poured concrete sidewalks and porches. When Bud Villars got older he would hire Quint to cut his grass. He usually invited him in for a Coke and a piece of pie. Mr. Villars was always generous. He tipped well. He was kind. He didn't get upset if Quint's baseball, wiffle ball or football went into his yard. Quint doesn't remember Mr. Villars talking a lot about religion. But Quint noticed that EVERY Sunday morning he saw Mr. Villars walking up the street with his Bible in hand. Rain or shine the man walked to church with a Bible in his hand every week. Every year he invited Quint and his younger brother to VBS at the Nutter Fort Baptist Church. Most years they didn't go, but some years they did. Then when Quint was 15, Mr. Villars invited them to church. Quint didn't go, but his younger brother did. And the next weekend he invited them again. The same thing happened the next Sunday and the Sunday after that. His brother started going to church two or three times a week and Quint even caught him reading the Bible a couple of times. Months later Mr. Villars was still inviting Quint and he was still not interested. Then a singing group attended Quint's school. They were college students and the girls were really pretty. They performed several songs and they announced they were going to be at a church that evening. When Quint got home from school, Mr. Villars invited him to church that evening. The singers from the school were going to be there, so he went. That night Quint became a Christian and his life has never been the same since. Bud Villers was never a leader in his church, but he was a faithful usher. And occasionally he invited people to church. Priscilla and Aquila would say "Amen" to that. Sermon #65228 ========================================================================= SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON: 1. Adapted from “No Super-Christians,” by Chaplain Mike (Mike Spencer), July 10, 2012; <link>. 2. Adapted from “The Man Who Baptized 700,000 People,” by Brandon Vogt, December 3, 2015; <link>. Sermon # 1814 “Paul In Corinth: Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos,” by Rev. Dr. Robert Rayburn, February 1, 1998; <link>. Sermon #65228 “Uncommonly Average,” Rev. Quint Pitts, April 2009, Horizons Church of Lost Creek, West Virginia; <link>. Pitts' sermon provided the central idea of the dynamism of Average. These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html ========================================================================= |
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