Aquilla & Priscilla: How to make your marriage work for the Lord

Introduction

This morning we talked about M/D/RM to help answer some of the questions we saw last week in our Mark 10 study.

Tonight, I want to continue to talk about marriage while we look at our character study for this month

The character or rather characters we wan to look at are Aquilla and Priscilla.

Aquilla and Priscilla are great examples of how to make our marriage work

And, I believe we all want our marriages to work well.

Books, seminars, webinars, couples retreats, etc. all are designed to help us learn how to make our marriage work the best

And when we think about the the marriage, we realize that when it is working well, all benefit from it.

Our spouse, our children and even ourselves benefit from the blessings that come from a good working marriage.

However, tonight, I don’t want to focus on the blessing of marriage and the benefits it brings.

Rather, I want us to think about how to make our marriage work “for the Lord”

Seeking first the kingdom of God is of great priority in the life of a Christian, and so even in our marriage, we need to be able to seek the kingdom first.

Christianity is, in some aspects, and individual religion.

And what I mean by that is that when we stand before God, we will give an account of the things we have done- II Cor. 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”

However, we will be better Christians if we work together

Its no wonder that part of the qualifications for a man to be and elder or deacon is that he is to a “family man”- I Tim. 3:1-13; Titus 1:6.

The fact is, men, that our wives play an important role and are of great importance when it comes to the work of the Lord’s church.

Aquilla and Priscilla set a good example for us in this area

They were ordinary people who made their marriage work for the Lord!

They worked together

Aquilla and Priscilla are mentioned six times in the New Testament

Acts 18:2 “And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,”

Acts 18:18 “After this, Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.”

Acts 18:26 “He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

Romans 16:3 “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,”

I Cor 16:19 “The churches of Asia send you greetings. Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house, send you hearty greetings in the Lord.”

II Tim. 4:19 “Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.”

One thing I find amazing about this is the fact that they are always mentioned together

If a marriage is going to work for the Lord, both spouses have to work together to make it happen.

Luke 11:17 says, “But he, knowing their thoughts, said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.”

Therefore we must be willing to work together

Aquilla and Priscilla were more than just “one flesh”

they were of the same mind when it came to making their marriage work for the cause of Christ.

They had the same goals, priorities, and commitment to do what they could to support, defend and spread the Gospel

We’ve got to do the same thing.

We’ve got to have the same goals and priorities with our spouse if our marriage is going to work for the Lord.

Practiced Hospitality

The first time we see Aquilla and Priscilla is in Acts 18:1-3 they are opening up their home to the apostle Paul

The text says they had some things in common

they were both jews living in a “foreign city”

they shared the same trade- tent makers

These similarities would certainly draw them in a common bond, but it took more than mere similarities for them to open up their home to Paul for over a year and a half- vs. 11

Their hospitality allowed Paul to support himself so that he would not be accused of preaching for money

This appears to necessary in Corinth- I Cor. 9:12; II Cor. 11:5-9.

And theres no doubt that Aquilla and Priscilla benefitted from this arrangement, as they got to have many opportunities to learn from the Apostle Paul

Not only did they open their home up to Paul but I Cor. 16:19 and Rom. 16:3-5 tells us that the church met in their home when they lived in Ephesus and in Rome.

We as christians are supposed to practice hospitality

Rom 12:13 “Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

Hebrews 13:2 “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

I Peter 4:9 “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”

The greek work for hospitality means, “love of strangers”

We must be willing as christians to practice hospitality

Hospitality helps...

create an intimate environment t in which christians can draw closer to each other- Acts 2:46; 4:32.

Provide opportunities to share the gospel- Acts 20:20.

teach our children to put others first- Philippians 2:3-4.

let us learn to practice hospitality as well

Supported preachers and teaching

I Corinthians 1:21 tells us that God has chosen to save souls through the preaching of the Gospel

Any couple who wants to make their marriage work for the cause of Christ, has to consider the value they place upon gospel preaching and those who give their lives to preach the gospel

The NT tells of at least two preachers Aquilla and Priscilla helped

Paul- who we have already noticed

Apollos

Aquilla and Priscilla met Apollos in Ephesus- Acts 18:24-28.

The could see that Apollos had great potential but he needed some additional teaching

But notice, they did not blast his error in front of everyone

rather, they took him aside privately and taught him more accurately the way of God

Because, of their help, Apollos was able to do great things for the cause of Christ

Spreading the gospel was of great importance to Aquilla and Priscilla

Where were they when they heard Apollos preaching?

They were in a jewish synagogue- Acts 18:26.

Why were they there?

The same reason Paul was- to find those interested in listening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Not one word is ever said about Aquilla preaching publicly, but he and his wife Priscilla taught many privately.

You don’t have to be a great public speaker to be interested in sharing the gospel

Get busy where you are, in the circles you are in and share the gospel with those who will listen.

One way to make our marriage work for the Lord is by making evangelism a priority in our family

We need to look for opportunities to share the gospel and be an influence for others.

Conclusion

Not much is said about Aquilla and Priscilla in the bible, but everything we see has them contributing to the cause of Christ

Let us learn from their example as married couples

If we are not married- don’t think we cannot learn from them.

We can still be effective workers for the Lord and we can do so by doing these same things (work together with your brothers and sisters, practice hospitality, and support the preaching of the Gospel!)