Collaborators in Christ Jesus

FROM: OCTOBER 9 @ 15, 2018

TOPIC: "Collaborators in Christ Jesus" Acts 18:1-4 Aquila and Priscilla were a marriage who worked alongside the apostle Paul (Vs. 3). They came to Corinth when Emperor Claudius expelled all the Jews from Rome (Vs. 2).

I. Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla

A. This marriage arrived from Italy to the city of Corinth

1. In Corinth the Church had to be established; who better than them, so tender for the Lord!

2. No one with evil can love the Church, even if the church is in a house, a building, a cave, etc.

3. Paul establishes a friendship with this couple, Aquila and Priscilla, a friendship that was to continue for the rest of his life.

4. Emperor Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome.

5. For this reason, Aquila and Priscilla left Rome for Corinth.

6. Paul went to them (Vs. 2) and there they worked together.

7. (Acts 18:18-19) The apostle left Corinth and sailed to Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila.

8. He arrived at Ephesus and left them there.

9. In Ephesus this couple could be useful, beneficial.

10. THEY HAD THAT CAPACITY TO SERVE AND LOVE OTHERS!

11. They had the ability to do good to others! Good for other brothers in the service to the Church of Jesus Christ! How glorious to be useful in serving others!

12. No one who lacks dedication can do something out of love for others.

13. There are people who work to comply with the commitment of doing good to others, but to be passionate in what they do is hard to find.

14. (Acts 18:26) We can be like Priscilla and Aquila!

a. We can be a team like they were united to Paul.

b. Be collaborators in Christ.

c. Be skillful teachers.

d. Apollos, an eloquent man, was powerful in the Scriptures (Acts 18:24).

e. One had to have great courage to correct Apollos, a man of such stature.

f. One has to have the knowledge = you have to know the subject well if you are going to correct or teach another.

g. Aquila and Priscilla had a purpose to know the Scriptures well, it was to teach others!

h. They did it with love and wisdom (tact, discretion) (no cruelty, no superiority, no discomfort)

i. When one is going to speak one has to know well what the topic is, and what is being talked about.

j. There was absolute surrender, they were entirely given to the Scriptures!

15. (Romans 16:3-5) Priscilla and Aquila were not preachers of a pulpit, but look at the impact of their influence on the Church of Christ.

a. Paul calls them: "my collaborators in Christ".

b. They had been such courageous collaborators for him in the service.

c. (Vs. 4) "...they risked their lives for me..."

d. Today many like to be comfortable; there are many selfish people who do nothing good for others.

e. Not even your T.V. do you sacrifice to help others! Or do you?

16. (Romans 16:5) A greeting from Paul to the Church of his house.

a. The arrogant, the ambitious who seek greatness see the Church at the homes as trivial.

b. But Jesus said: "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20

c. Aquila and Priscilla had the church in their home, they thought about others, in the welfare of the Church! They placed their home chores in second place, they stopped worrying about things being broken, etc.

d. This love and service was now the most important thing in their minds.

e. Meanwhile, your mind is filled with vanity, selfishness, boasting. Could it be? Or is it the service?

17. (1 Corinthians 16:19, 20) The congregations of Asia (now it is Minor Asia) greet you

a. Ephesus was the capital of Asia Minor.

b. And apparently, Aquila and Priscilla lived there. Previously they had lived in Corinth, and for such reason they were known by the brothers there.

18. (2 Timothy 4:19) Paul urges Timothy to greet this beloved couple, Prisca * (Priscilla) and Aquila:

a. That they had been with him frequently in the work of the gospel!

b. He sends greetings to his beloved "collaborators"!

c. This couple (matrimony) always had the church in their home, wherever they went. Also, they had given their neck for Paul.

d. People who are sweet, kind, sacrificed, who are given, are those who leave marks, thus were Priscilla and Aquila!

e. Paul was old and soon to leave with the Lord. He had this couple present in his heart, beloved people that here on earth he would never have again. But one day he would be in Heaven with them, with those who fought to be collaborators of the Lord's own bride!

f. She, Priscilla, marked Paul's life, for her unconditional dedication! Amen. * Prisca is the diminutive of Priscilla