Aquila and Priscilla

1

• Aquila and Priscilla

• Discipling Side by Side
• Acts 181-28 191-7

2
Background 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

3
They 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

4
They 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

5
The 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

6
They 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

7
They 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

8
They 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

9
They 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

10
Their 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.

11
Their 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

12
They 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

13
They 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

14
Disciple-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!

15
Disciple-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

16
The 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?

17
Gods 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?

18
The 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!

19
One 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