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Start Where You Are · Enjoying the Journey

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  In our busy world, family time is frequently
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  neglected. It is vital that we give attention to our
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  families while we can, and it is especially
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  important to give attention to what God says in his
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  word about our homes. For the next few moments, let's join
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  Scott Pauley as we open the scriptures and and find God's message
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  for your family.
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  I think far too often we imagine that the work of God is
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  being done by someone else in some other place in
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  some far-off circumstance when in fact the work of God
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  is to be done right where we are. It's done by ordinary people
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  who just yield themselves to an extraordinary God.
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  That's the example we find in my favorite Bible couple.
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  I introduced them to you last time we were together, Aquila and Priscilla. I'd like
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  us to get a little better acquainted today if possible, and let me show you
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  some things that I believe God did in them and through them
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  that he wants to do in and through us. The most obvious thing that
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  I would point out about this favorite couple of ours is that they served the
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  Lord together. There's the operative word— together. Did you
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  know that every time, every time Aquila's name is mentioned,
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  Priscilla's name is also mentioned? Did you know every time that Priscilla's name
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  is mentioned, Aquila's name is always mentioned? They are never mentioned
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  apart. It's like every time they thought of one, they immediately
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  thought of the other. And I tell you, that's the way it's supposed to be—
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  2 becoming one. Oh, the beautiful oneness
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  that Christ can bring in a marriage— not just
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  a physical oneness or a geographical oneness, but a spiritual oneness.
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  And that's evidenced by the fact that this husband and wife team that we meet
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  in Acts chapter 18 are always together. Remember Acts
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  18, verse 2: He found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus,
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  lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla.
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  I love that expression, with his wife. She's with him,
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  he's with her. Did you know— remember I said to you last time that
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  they're mentioned in 4 different New Testament books. Did you know that sometimes
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  when they're mentioned, Priscilla's name is listed first?
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  That's been very interesting to me. Wonder why that is. There have been a lot
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  of people who have surmised about this. Maybe she was
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  the more outgoing one. Maybe she and
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  her personality was a little more upfront than her
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  husband. That's possible. God makes people different. But one thing I know,
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  no matter which one is mentioned first by name, they were
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  a team. They were always together, and they had one purpose. There was a beautiful
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  unity. The psalmist said, behold how good and how pleasant it
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  is for brethren to dwell together in unity. There's nothing like unity in a family.
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  Might I say, the flip side of that is also true. There's nothing worse than
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  division in a family. Do not let the devil
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  divide, friend. Satan's math is
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  always division. He's always seeking to divide and to subtract.
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  Divine math— God is always adding and multiplying.
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  By the way, the divine math in marriage is 1 1
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  1. See, he figures differently than we do.
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  One husband, one wife connected to one Christ
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  makes one. They served the Lord together.
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  A second thing that I would point out to you is that they served God
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  right where they were. It wasn't that they had to,
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  to go to some different place. Just wherever God had them
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  in his providence, they started right where they were. The Bible says in verse
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  3 that because he— that's Paul— was of the same craft, he abode with
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  them and wrought. For by their occupation, they were tentmakers.
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  They were used of God right in their location, right where they were in
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  Corinth, to make a difference. We pointed that out last time— in an ungodly
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  place, a godly couple. But they were also used of God in their occupation.
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  I think sometimes we get the idea that only someone in full-time
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  ministry can make a difference. No, these people made tents for a
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  living, and Paul worked alongside them, but they're going to make a tremendous
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  impact for the kingdom's sake. So serve the Lord together,
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  and then serve God right where you are. A third thing
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  that I would point out to you about them is that they supported God's servant.
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  There's a preacher here by the name of Paul who needed some support. Let me
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  tell you, he needed some encouragement. They didn't just live with him and work with
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  him, they were with him. In verse number 12, the Bible says
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  that Paul was brought to the judgment seat. He got called
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  on the carpet, so to speak, for preaching the gospel. And in verse 18,
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  the Bible says, and Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then
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  took his leave of the brethren and sailed thence into Syria. And with
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  him Priscilla and Aquila.
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  Here's a man who's going through a difficult season. He's being persecuted,
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  he's being chased, he's being watched,
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  and yet Priscilla and Aquila are willing to still be with
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  him. And do you see this, this oneness
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  not only with one another but their oneness in the
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  things of God? They, they looked at things spiritually.
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  These people were not in it for what they could get out of it.
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  And they gave themselves to the Lord and to the servants of Christ,
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  to the work of God. One of the other references to Aquila and Priscilla
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  in the New Testament is in Romans 16, and Paul refers
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  to them there as his helpers in Christ Jesus.
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  They supported, they helped in the work of the Lord. And then
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  a 4th thing that I would point out to you about them is that they
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  faithfully were hearing the word of God.
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  The Bible says they lived with Paul in verse 3, and in the very next
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  verse It says, and he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded
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  the Jews and the Greeks. So the very next picture is of him preaching and
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  teaching the word of God. In verse number 7,
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  where is he? He's teaching and preaching the word of God in the
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  synagogue. And again, in verse number 26, there's another preacher by the name
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  of Apollos preaching and teaching in the synagogue. Guess who's there to hear him?
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  Aquila and Priscilla heard him in the synagogue. You see,
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  I believe this family realized the importance of the scriptures.
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  And if you want to have the kind of home that God wants you to
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  have, that's not just about taking all the wrong things out of it. That's about
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  putting the right things into it. Faithfully put your family
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  under the preaching and teaching of God's Word. Read the Bible
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  together as a family, but be in the place where
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  God's preacher is preaching and teaching the truth. I'm telling
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  you, your kids will be the blessed beneficiary of that, and so will you.
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  And then if I could point out one more thing from Acts 18, we learn
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  from our favorite couple. They not only served the Lord together and started
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  right where they were and supported the preacher and faithfully heard the word of God,
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  but then they taught others what they had been taught.
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  In fact, when you come to the end of the chapter, they're not just being
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  taught, they're teaching. Remember, they're in the synagogue and there's a
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  preacher there by the name of Apollos who was quite an orator,
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  a great speaker. And the Bible says in verse 26, and he began
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  to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla
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  had heard, they took him unto them and expounded
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  unto him the way of God more perfectly. And before you think that
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  this is a couple trying to straighten the preacher out, that's not what the implication
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  is here. Instead, Apollos was a man who the
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  Bible says had been instructed in the ways of the Lord, but he only knew
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  up to the baptism of John. There was so much about Christ and
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  spiritual truth that they had learned from the Apostle Paul that
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  Apollos had never heard. So they graciously,
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  humbly, privately took him unto
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  them and said, let us share with you what we have learned. Oh, I love
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  that picture. There they are relaying what they have received.
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  And could I simply point out that when you come to the end of Acts
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  chapter 18, this chapter we've been studying, Apollos preaches with great power,
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  mightily convinces the Jews, lots of people get saved,
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  I submit to you Aquila and Priscilla had a part in that.
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  We think it's the preacher, but very often it's the prayers behind the preachers.
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  It's those who are encouraging God's servants. It's those who've invested in God's
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  servants. You may never be the one to stand on a platform and give a
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  sermon. You may never be known in some big public venue.
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  Oh, you can take what you are learning and you can teach it to someone
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  else. Can I just challenge you today? Start where you are.
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  Serve the Lord together right where you are. Support God's
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  servant. Keep yourself under the Word of God, and then take what you're hearing and
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  pass it on to somebody else. Look, you can't reach everybody,
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  but you can reach someone. You can't go everywhere, but you can serve
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  somewhere. You can't do everything, but you can do something.
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  By God's grace, determine today to start where you are.
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  For more resources for your marriage and family, visit us at
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  etj.bible and click on the Take the Next
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  Step link, where you'll find many Bible resources that will strengthen
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  your marriage and equip you to raise your children in the ways of
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  the Lord. We highly recommend Scott's book,
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  New Testament Marriage. In it, you'll discover timeless
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  biblical principles from the husband and wife team Aquila and
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  Priscilla, and these principles are very applicable to
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  your marriage today. From all of us at Enjoying the Journey,
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  thanks for listening today. And until next time, we pray that
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  you will enjoy the journey.