Title: Aquila and Priscilla
1- Discipling Side by Side
- Acts 181-28 191-7
2Background Acts 181-2
- 52 A.D. - Roman Emperor Claudius
- Edict expelling all Jews from the city of Rome
- Suetonius - Persecuting their Christian neighbors
and causing considerable disturbance in the city - All Jews were uprooted from their homes and
banished from Rome, the innocent along with the
guilty - Aquila
- A Jew who had migrated to Rome from the province
of Pontus on the Black Sea - Left for the city of Corinth with his faithful
wife, Priscilla
3They Made Their Living Together Acts 181-8
- For by trade they were tent-makers v. 3
- Not every husband and wife can work together like
this - It takes a mature relationship to work closely
under the kind of pressure a job sometimes
generates - They were not only mates they must have been
good friends and companions - Be willing to give to each other more than they
tried to take - Be able to accept suggestions as readily as they
offered them - Enjoy being together and working together
- They were inseparable
4They Made Their Living Together Acts 181-8
- Gods Timing - vv. 1-3
- The Apostle Paul entered Corinth looking for work
to sustain him as he ministered - Every disciple making relationship begins with a
hello - That day a deep and lasting and productive
relationship was born
5The Complete Marriage vv. 4-8
- v. 8 Many others in Corinth also became
believers and were baptized - Aquila and Priscilla lived together, worked
together, and suffered exile together, came to
know and love Jesus Christ together - It made their marriage complete
- True oneness can only be found in Christ
6They Grew in the Word Together Acts 189-11
18-26
- Their Discipler taught them together - vv. 9-11
- From the day Aquila and Priscilla met the Savior,
they grew in the Word together - They must have gone with Paul to the synagogue
each Sabbath day as he reasoned with the Jews and
Greeks - Eighteen months of Bible study under the greatest
Bible teacher in the early church - Sharing the Word together strengthened their love
for each other and their spirit of togetherness
7They Learned Gods Word Thoroughly Acts 1818-26
- Paul left Corinth for Ephesus and they
accompanied him - Paul left them in Ephesus when he left for his
home church in Antioch - Apollos was not improperly instructed, but he
was inadequately instructed - But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they
took him aside and explained to him the way of
God more accurately - Acts 1826
8They Learned Gods Word Thoroughly Acts 1818-26
- It is very difficult to decide which one to
admire the most - Aquila and Priscilla modeled servanthood and
disciple-making skills - Apollos modeled a receptive spirit and a
delightful submission - Later, Apollos desired to cross into Achaia
- Acts 1827-28
- Acts 173
9They Served the Lord Together 1 Corinthians 1619
- Their home was a church
- Paul left Antioch 3rd missionary journey - Acts
2631 - Returned to Ephesus
- Remained teaching the Word of God for
approximately three years - 1 Corinthians 1619
- The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and
Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the
church that is in their house
10Their Home Was a Church
- When Paul left Ephesus for Greece
- God directed Aquila Priscilla back to Rome
- Romans 163-5
- Greet Priscilla and Aquila. They have been
co-workers in my ministry for Christ Jesus. In
fact, they risked their lives for me. I am not
the only one who is thankful to them so are all
the Gentile churches. Please give my greetings to
the church that meets in their home.
11Their Home Was a Church
- We have church buildings but there is no
substitute for the home as a center for
evangelism - Evangelistic dinners
- Coffee cup evangelism
- Establishing close friendships with neighbors and
sharing Christ with them over the kitchen table - Home Bible studies
- Opening homes to youth groups
12They Were Remembered 2 Timothy 419
- 16 years since Paul first met them at Corinth
- Paul was in a Roman prison for the second time
- Death at the hands of the emperor Nero was
imminent - Writing the last paragraph of his long and
fruitful life - Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of
Onesiphorus - Just a brief and simple greeting, but they were
on Pauls heart in his last hours
13They Were Great Disciple-Makers Together
- Disciple-Making is Inevitable
- Man is a social creature
- He desires relationships
- He wants fellowship
- He influences each person around him
- Everybody with any influence at all makes
disciples - Parents make disciples of their children
- Children make disciples of their parents
- Friends make disciples of their friends
- If you ever learn anything from anyone else, that
person has discipled you
14Disciple-Making is Inevitable
- A disciple is one who learns
- Apollos
- This man was instructed in the way of the Lord
and being fervent in the spirit, he spoke and
taught accurately the things of the Lord, knowing
only the baptism of John. - You can no more tell what you dont know than
you can come back from where you aint been! - Apollos had not been there and done that
- But he powerfully told what he did know - and he
made disciples!
15Disciple-Making is Inevitable
- When you disciple another person, you give a part
of yourself to that person - 2 Timothy 310-11
- Luke 640 - When the process is completed, the
disciple will be like his teacher - The outcome is inevitable, the product is
predictable - Is my life worth copying?
- Those you disciple are molded by
- Your Bible study
- Your prayer life
- Your worship
16The Problem Of Disciple-MakingActs 191-7
- All you can give is what you have experienced and
practiced - All Apollos had was the piece of John the Baptist
that had been planted in him - and it wasnt
enough! - He was an incomplete disciple - and he reproduced
incomplete disciples - Ten generations from you
- How extensive would Gods work be?
- How strategic would Gods work be?
- How relational would Gods work be?
- How obedient would those people be?
17Gods Provision in Disciple-Making
- God has made provision to fill in the blank
spots - The John the Baptist movement wasnt intentional,
and it wasnt heretical - It was just an incomplete understanding, but it
still went on generation after generation - God sovereignly appoints His Aquilas and
Priscillas - At strategic times and places in our lives to
help us build the disciples God has given to us - How many people has God used to disciple you?
18The Product of Disciple-Making Is Predictable
- Certain causes produce certain effects
- John the Baptist directly or indirectly discipled
Apollos - Apollos discipled the Ephesian disciples
- Paul had discipled Aquila and Priscilla
- Aquila and Priscilla discipled Apollos
- God mightily used Apollos in Corinth to make and
build disciples there - Apollos emerged complete in Christ Jesus
- And both Ephesus and Corinth were impacted
mightily for Christ - The Gospel went unto the uttermost parts of the
earth til the end of time!
19One of Gods Greatest Privileges
- Getting to serve the Lord together with your
spouse - A personal blessing
- A church blessing
- A family blessing
- God wants couples
- To minister as a team
- To mature as a team
- To disciple as a team