[0:00]All right, good evening. We're going to be studying um the life of Priscilla. And I would like for you to turn to your Bibles in to uh Acts chapter 18. Fascinating lady that we're going to look at tonight. The scriptures that we do have on her, there isn't a lot, but yet within those scriptures, we glean an awful lot from her life. And we learn, are able to learn a lot. I think I've learned some things from her as well. She's probably not one that is um, so well known, and yet we find that in her day she was well known. And so it's uh, it's it's been a a wonderful thing. Some of the women that we've chosen to or God has directed us uh to study this year, it really God's choice, it's just so perfect. I think of her being so flexible. Again, when we look at the book of Acts, it ignites within us, um the work of the Holy Spirit. And women that need to be yielded to the work of the Holy Spirit if we're going to accomplish great and mighty things in the name of the Lord. So in Acts chapter 18, a few things I want to say about Priscilla. First of all, she is a prominent woman in the New Testament church. In the early church, she's one of the most prominent one. Actually, there's two that stand out as prominent women of the New Testament church. Priscilla is one of them, and the other happens to be Phoebe. Both Priscilla and Phoebe worked alongside of the Apostle Paul. And when you work alongside a man such as that, one who really established all of the churches in the New Testament, basically, no matter where he went, it seemed that he began a church, wrote most of the New Testament, that speaks a lot, speaks volumes. What's interesting about Priscilla and Phoebe, working side by side with the Apostle um, Paul, being considered helpers, co-laborers, workers in the kingdom of God, that means that they just, you know, you you just couldn't wear these two out. One of them was married, which is Priscilla, and Phoebe was a single woman. And so it kind of gives us an idea here that these are the women that God calls. He is looking for the Priscilla's and he's looking for the Phoebes of our day to arise and take up that place and, um, be co-laborers in the work of Christ. So let's look at her story in um, chapter 18 of Acts. We're going to just uh look at what pertains to her. One thing that I want to mention about Priscilla, in the places that her name appears, four out of the six times, her name appears before her husband's name. Now that's significant. And uh as we read through the scriptures, some of them will be up here on the screen for you, so it's easy for you to see what Paul has to say about, uh, Priscilla and uh what we can glean from that. So we start off with verse one in Acts 18 and it says, After these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth, and found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, Italy uh uh lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because that Claudius, he was the governor of Rome at the time, had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and wrought, or other words, Aquila hired Paul, because he had a tent making business. For by their occupation, they were tent makers. And then go down to verse 18, we pick up this their story, uh there. And it says, and Paul, after this, tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren and sailed thence into Syria, and with him, Priscilla and Aquila. Now, you notice Priscilla's name is mentioned before her husband. And then uh Paul takes an oath and we pick it up in verse 19, goes on to say, and he came to Ephesus and left them there. So now they're gone from Corinth and now they're there in Ephesus. And he left them there, but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not. But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem, but I will return again unto you, notice, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. Then we know that uh Aquila and Priscilla, or Priscilla and Aquila, remained in Ephesus and this took place. Verse 24, picking up the story, Paul's now on his way. He talks a little bit about what happens as he goes on to um, uh back to Jerusalem and now we pick up the story and in verse 24, pertaining to Priscilla and Aquila and it says, and a certain Jew name Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord. Now, remember the way was the official name for the Christians. That the name Christian was given to them by the world, and it was really a name that was kind of making fun of them. Sort of like Jesus freaks, but it caught on so well because it means Christ-like that we um kind of proudly take on the name of Christian, but the official name was those that were were of the way. And that is speaking of a lifestyle that Christianity became a lifestyle. It was a way that they lived that they would represent Jesus. And being fervent in the Spirit, he spake and talked diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. Now, Apollos was a disciple of John the Baptist, and he began to speak boldly in the in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, now, in the original, the King James writers just had a very difficult time putting in what the original says. Actually, the original reverses the order. It's Priscilla and Aquila, but the King James writers just couldn't bear the fact that the woman's name first. So they put Aquila's name first, but really in the original, her name is mentioned first here. And they listened to him, as they listened to Apollos teach, they took him unto them or into their home because they realized that something was missing in this man's teaching. And expounded unto him, the way of God more perfectly. Now, to me that speaks volumes because here you have Aquila and Priscilla, now Priscilla and Aquila, taking Apollos, a known teacher of the day into their home and letting him know that there was something missing in his teaching, in his preaching, in his life. And that which was missing was the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But this speaks volumes for Priscilla because her way of correcting this man, who was of course, a, you know, a prominent person, an important person, eloquent in the scriptures. We see where he's come from, very knowledgeable in the word, but yet lacked something. And her way of correcting was well received. And so again, we see a woman who is totally inspired and sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit as she began to expound. The word expound means to open up the scriptures, to illustrate, to explain them in such a way that they that it could be understood what it was that the Lord, um, was teaching. It's the gift of teaching, that's what that's talking about. And, um, it was one it's a one thing that that stands out here in her ability to, uh, expound the way more perfectly was that she was able to mingle the truth with love. She spoke the truth in love. Now, when we minister one to another, what happens sometimes is that we can have truth, but with just the truth, not mingled with love, we can actually destroy people with the word of God. We can cut them up, we can wound them, we can destroy them, we can come on so strong. And then if we have only the love and we accept everything and we're tolerant of everything, then there are no standards. There's no truth to guide what is right and what is wrong. So you really need the two of them mingled together, and that's what makes a powerful ministry. And when we uh counsel or minister or we speak the word of God, when it is has this combination, we know that the Spirit of God is at work in our lives, and he mixes together love and truth. Apollos actually owes his ministry to um, Priscilla and Aquila as well, in teaching him the knowledge of God's word and and explaining to him the power of the Holy Spirit that is the Spirit of God that brings everything alive and he becomes, of course, one of the main teachers of the New Testament. And so he was definitely a man of prominence. But let's pray. Let's ask God to put his anointing upon this before I get too far into this, it's too exciting. Father, we pause for a moment. Lord, we would never want to expound your word or dig into your word without you asking, without asking you to illuminate it. Lord, cause our minds to understand, to comprehend the valuable truths that we can learn from a life that you felt was worthy to place in your word. And so, Lord, give us attentiveness. Open our ears, help us to understand, teach us your truths tonight. And we just ask that you, Sweet Holy Spirit, would fall upon us and that you would teach us the way more perfectly. We desire to know truth, and we want also just to commit our lives into your hands, Father, and allow your Spirit to do his work in our in our lives personally, so that we have something of substance to give to those around us. And thank you, Father, for the greatest sacrifice ever in the whole world, and that is Jesus. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for the work that you're doing in our lives in Jesus name. Amen. Priscilla is also known as Prisca, and one name is a derivative of another. And so in some of the scriptures, you're going to see her referred to as Priscilla, in another, um she is called Prisca. It's a Roman name, and that's interesting because it actually means ancient. And that doesn't mean that she's an old lady, it means that she is of ancient blood. So we don't really know for sure if Priscilla was a Jew or if she was a Roman. If she was a Roman that was converted into Judaism or that she was a Jew with a Roman name. Sometimes that happened too, but we just we don't really know. Scripture doesn't tell us, but what we do know is that she married a devout Jew. Aquila was a devout Jew, he's also a wealthy Jew. We know also that she loved Jehovah with all of her heart, mind and soul. She had an unsatiable thirst for the word of God, and she knew the word of God. She was saturated in the word of God, had a hunger for the word of God, a vivacious appetite to know God's word and grasp an understanding of God's word as the Spirit began to make known to her the truth. We don't know when they were saved. We don't know the time in which they received Christ. We don't know if they received him, became Christians while they were in Rome, or did Paul the Apostle, once they met him in Corinth, did he lead them to the Lord? We don't know exactly when they came to the Lord, but we do know that Paul was their mentor, and wow, what a mentor to have, to sit at his feet, to learn of him, um, and to just have the word explained in such a powerful way to be mentored by the Apostle Paul would have been really something. So she becomes a well known and highly valued woman of the New Testament church. She's an awesome example to us of a great teacher, a great leader, a great wife, a great friend, a great sister in the Lord. She's a wonderful mentor also, who had a grasp on the scriptures, but also on leadership. She and her husband are tent makers and teachers. They have a business making tents and leather works, both of them mixed together. Paul stays with them at Corinth, she has the awesome opportunity and seizes the opportunity to teach Apollos, and pour into his life. She becomes a um, a great leader in three of the most significant churches in the New Testament. The church of Corinth, the church of Ephesus, and the church at Rome. Not only that, but the church meets in two uh two of the churches meet actually in her home. The church at Corinth and the church of Ephesus meet in her home. Her home becomes now a sanctuary for all those who want to know about this new found faith, who wants to know about um Christianity, about the way, about being a Christian. She was known by all the churches, loved by all the churches, respected by all the churches. She was well known, she wasn't someone that uh that no one heard of, so she was well known in her day. Today, many of the monuments in Rome bear her name. I don't know if you knew this or not, but the oldest catacombs, there is a catacomb that's named after her. There is a church named after her. There's even a popular book that went around around the 10th century called The Acts of Priscilla. Wouldn't you have loved to just let's have that one for a book review for a retreat, huh? The Acts of Priscilla, how how I would have loved to want to know what what was her acts. What did she do? What did she accomplish in her life? And then um a famous historian named Tertullius, he says this of her. By holy Prisca, the gospel is preached. She was a woman who preached the word of God. Did you know that about her? That's awesome. She's mentioned six times in the word of God, each time she is with her husband, you can't separate the two of them. They are one, they are a team, they're a team in their marriage, they're a team in their ministry, they're a team in their business. What amazes me about this woman as well is that here she is. She has the responsibility of um being married to a man who has a business. She's a working woman because she's um involved in the business with her husband. Not only that, but she has the the church that meets in her home, so she has to have a good um handle on the affairs of the home there, and yet she still finds time to serve the Lord. Now you talk about um time management, there's a lot to learn from her as well.
[16:03]Um as I said, she's mentioned six times in the word of God. Four of those times she's mentioned first, that's very unusual. It doesn't mean that she was smarter or more intelligent or had a greater grasp of the scriptures, maybe than her husband, but speaks more of her importance and the high position she held in the church, and this is the reason that uh we find she's mentioned first. Each time that she's mentioned in um the word, she's in a different location. This woman knew what it was to have those bags packed and uh probably to live simply. She they go from Rome to Corinth and from Corinth to Ephesus. Now, Paul, as we read in our account in Acts, he leaves them in Ephesus. So Aquila and Priscilla, they stay in Ephesus, and he takes off for um Jerusalem. Paul then on his third missionary journey, he comes back through Ephesus, and he writes from Ephesus to the church at Corinth, and you'll have the scripture up there, and he says to them, the Churches of Asia salute you. Now, this would be Colossae and Laodicea, and all the churches there in Asia, Ephesus, all the ones that were um there, he's sending greetings to the church at Corinth. And he sends special greetings from Aquila and Priscilla. Salute you much in the Lord. I mean, they just, they just love the Lord. They're their lives were dedicated to the Lord. They wanted um to send greetings in the Lord. They just, you know, salute you much in the Lord. I just love that little word, he just has not just salute you in the Lord, salute you much in the Lord. They send Christian love to you, along with the church, notice that is in their house. And then from um Ephesus, they move to Rome where Paul writes, um, to the church at Rome. Paul now is writing to the to that church and he says in there, greet Priscilla and Aquila. Notice her name is mentioned first before her husband, my helpers in Christ Jesus. Now here we have the a lot of information about her here in this particular scripture that Paul writes. Now, they're helpers, these are co-laborers, these are the ones that work side by side with me. They they couldn't tire of the work that uh um as they worked with Paul, who have for my life laid down their own necks. In other words, he's saying they saved my life. The laying down of their necks means that they they it it's a term that means that they laid their necks on the chopping block in order for the executioner to come down with that big old blade and behead them. That's that's what he's talking about here when it says, for my life they laid down their own necks, they literally saved my life. unto whom not only I give thanks, notice, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. How they were loved and respected and appreciated for the work that they had accomplished. Likewise, greet the church that is in their house, that is the church at Rome. And then they moved back to Ephesus. We're talking a lot of moves that this lady makes. No doubt there were some strong ties to this church. Just the Koia, the relationships that they had built. They'd had they'd gone through many things together there. Remember that was where the riot took place, the Silversmiths got mad because their businesses were being wiped out. A lot of things happened in Ephesus where they wiped out the worship of Diana, that uh, you know, God that they worshiped. And so the relationships that they built here in the church of Ephesus, uh doesn't surprise me that they would end up back here. Now, this time they're serving with young Timothy and he's the pastor. And Paul writes to Timothy in Second Timothy, and he says this. Now it's brief, but you got to understand that Paul is only a few months when he writes this letter of being martyred. So he doesn't have a lot of time to say a lot of things, but he does mention this. He says, salute Prisca and Aquila. Again, Paul places Prisca before her husband Aquila.
[21:28]Giving to her honor and that special heartfelt greeting to two people that were close friends and those that were co-laborers with him in the work of the Lord. To me, these moves speak of flexibility in her life. It speaks of being willing to go anywhere, at any time, any cost, wherever the Lord would would want you to go, to do anything in the name of the Lord as you're led of the Lord. I see a quality that stands out in her life. And that quality is um, could be described in the word loyalty. We see a beautiful loyalty. Just it just catches my eye in her, it's just it just beams all over her. The word loyalty has a lot of different meanings. And when you look at this woman, you can see um why we would pick this word to describe her character or a main characteristic in her life and what made her so valuable to not only Paul, but all the churches of the Gentiles. How um what she had to offer was so beautiful. We loyalty speaks of faithfulness, her faithfulness to the Lord, she loved the Lord. She was faithful to his call, she was faithful to the end. Tradition tells us that she and her husband were martyred. It is likely that they were martyred in the Colosseum, that she there stood as a as a lion mauled her to death. We don't know for sure, but that's what tradition says. Nevertheless, no matter how she died, she was faithful to the end. A beautiful characteristic, it means devotion. She was devoted to the call, devoted to her Lord, devoted to the word of God, devoted to set others free through the word of God, devoted to the work that was being accomplished. She was trustworthy, speaks of trustworthiness. You could count on her. It has the the idea of being dependable. You're never going to think that this this woman is just not going to let you down. She's going to she she says that she's going to be somewhere, she's going to be somewhere. If she's committed herself to something, she's going to follow through with that commitment. Dependability, what a beautiful characteristic. And I think today that this trustworthiness, this dependability is really something that the Spirit of God puts within us. It really needs the work of the Spirit in our lives to make us these type of women. It speaks of steadfastness. Here's one that was steadfast, unmovable. Remember, there was horrific persecution going on at this time. And there she stands as a beam of light. No matter what, even willing to risk her own life to save Paul's life.
[25:06]Putting her life in front of his. Not knowing exactly what time that they're referring to, but somewhere along the line, Paul says they literally saved my life. She was steadfast, unmovable. None of these things could move her, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing her labor was not in vain. Do you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain, that it will accomplish that which God has said it out to accomplish? It's God's work. You're just an instrument. You're just a co-laborer in the work of the ministry. You are co-laboring beside the Lord Jesus as we come alongside and find our place and we do what he has called us to do. Priscilla was then a, to me, I think you could sum up her life in this aspect of loyalty. She was loyal to her husband, she was a loyal friend, she was loyal to the church, she was loyal to the truth and best of all, she was loyal to her Lord. In that scripture of Second Timothy, when Paul wrote to dear, um, young Timothy and encourage him in the work of the ministry, here young Timothy has two of the greatest people that he could have working side by side with him. Two that Paul himself had raised up in the work of the Lord. It has been 10 years since we last saw them when he writes in in Second Timothy, salute Prisca and Aquila. And that tells us there they are. 10 years have passed, we don't know what has happened to him in between, but there they are 10 years later, still serving the Lord. Faithful to the end, best of all, she was loyal to the Lord. She was in this for life, had made that commitment and there she went all the way through her life, never wavered. Never thought thought um, you know, anything less than being involved in the work of the Lord and doing that what she was called to do. How how that is just it just spurs us on. We want to be Priscillas. That was the early church, but today we live in the church of the last days, and we need Priscillas, and we need Phoebes to arise and to be these women of the word, to be women that are led of the Spirit, and to have this wonderful, um, characteristic about her. to be well received by others when correction is needed, when instruction is needed, when help is needed, when counsel is needed, where there's such an awesome respect for you as a woman of God, that when you speak, you speak the word of God, that you have this ability by God's Spirit to mingle truth and love together. And those counsels, those words are easily entreated. Hard sometimes, but yet the person knows deep down inside that was a word from the Lord for me from you. And that's the kind of women we want to be today. That's what the church needs.
[29:08]We see Priscilla was loyal to her husband. They we we know in the story here of Acts that they moved from Rome. The reason that they moved from Rome was because of some business opportunities.
[29:28]It tells us that Aquila was from Pontus. Pontus was kind of like a small town and Rome was the big city. There was better business opportunities. And so being a uh a entrepreneur, being a uh having a business that was prospering, he moved because the business opportunities were greater in Rome. We know that on the day of Pentecost, when there's a list of those that were present that day in Jerusalem, that there were people from this city, Pontus. And so after Pentecost, those 3,000 came to the Lord. They went back into their cities, it's possible that they went back to the city of Pontus and this is where Aquila and Priscilla uh found out about the Lord. They could have come to the Lord then. We don't know when they gave their lives to the Lord, it's it's possible.
[30:35]Nevertheless, they were in Rome, they had a business, they had a beautiful house, they're wealthy and doing well. And all of a sudden they are exiled through Claudius. He throws them out of Rome. He doesn't want anything to do with the Jews because what was happening at the time, there was riots. Horrible riots beginning. Remember wherever Paul went, he there were riots in cities, no matter where he went. Because the Jews, the legalistic Jews or the religious Jews, could not understand this new freedom in Christianity and, um, the Jews giving their lives to Jesus. It was just hard for them. They wanted everybody to be by the law and here, now Christ was making everyone free and they were being led of the Spirit. And so there were there was riots caused by this. Not of the Christians, it was the legalistic Jews, the religious system was rising up against this move of Christianity. Well, as far as the Roman government was concerned, they didn't know the difference between a Christian and a Jew or a Jewish Christian and a non-Jewish Christian. They just labeled them all together. So we got rid of them all. And that's how Aquila and Priscilla end up in Corinth. They knew what it was like to be rejected, to be hated, to be misunderstood. They faced relentless persecution. They were in the midst of horrific persecution, and yet, they remained faithful. Their circumstances do not change their commitment to the Lord because they knew the Lord was with them. He was real to them, and the work of the Spirit was leading them and instructing them. To me, it speaks of the walk of victory. And I think that something that has pierced my heart lately is really the choice that we have each and every day when we face situations that are hard or uncomfortable or unpleasant. And the key to victory is what kind of an attitude am I going to have when I face things that are hard or unpleasant? And when I have a good attitude about the day that is ahead of me, things just go differently. That's really the key to walking in victory that I am determined that this is the day that the Lord has made and I will be glad and rejoice in it no matter what it is that comes my way. Or what difficulties I face or the things that are so unbearable or unpleasant. I am going to choose to have a good attitude. I'm going to praise God. I'm going to keep my eyes on him. I'm going to look above that situation. I'm going to keep my eyes on Jesus today because no matter what, I believe that whatever happens, whatever comes into my life today, I am responsible to have a Christian attitude about it. I am responsible to reflect Jesus in the situation, in what I say and how I act and what I do. And my sighs and my groans and my woes, it is all to give glory to God. And so the key to walking in victory is keep a good attitude. The enemy is going to work double time on you. He's going to he's going to hit your emotions, he's going to hit your attitude. He's going to tell you that you're bummed out when you don't even have any reason to bum be bummed out. And all of a sudden now you decide you're sad. Well, why are you sad? I don't know, I'm just sad today. I'm just going to have a bad day. But you choose to have the bad day. Have a good attitude. And say, Lord, strengthen my my commitment to you. Let me see you today in a new way. Just uh again, just that um walking in victory. She's a godly wife, she supports her husband's dreams, and she's flexible. We don't see that she complains about these many moves. I mean, every time she turns around, she's back in her bags. I wonder what these suitcases look like, you know? These are worn and torn suitcases, they move so many times. To me, that speaks of a woman who is happy and useful anywhere. Doesn't matter where she's at, doesn't matter where she lives. She is happy and useful anyway because God is leading. God is doing work, she has the Lord, so it doesn't really matter where I go or what I do as long as I am understanding that that's part of God's will. She is happy and useful anywhere. I guess the question is, are you? Or do things have to be perfect in order for you to be happy, in order for you to serve the Lord, in order for you to give of yourself in the work of the Lord? Do things have to be perfect, do things have to be just so before you're going to venture out and take that step of faith and be used of God? Or could we be used of God in the midst of our circumstances, whether they're good or bad, knowing that the circumstance is something that God has allowed, in order to perfect me and to make me better at ministering, better at being a co-laborer with the Lord. I think when we think of married women and our responsibility in that marriage, we see we know that um Priscilla felt that marriage was a team effort. When we think of marriage, you think of doing your part to build the marriage. And I speak to wives tonight. This is difficult because we live in a society that it's all about me. It's my happiness, it's my comfort, it's me being pleased, it's my pleasures that are at stake here. And when my husband does not make me happy, or make me complete, or make me this, or make me that, or fulfilling something within my life, then our society says, well, maybe you weren't meant for each other anyway. And with divorce rate the way that it is, makes it easy just to just fold up the towel and say, I quit. But a godly wife will take that marriage vow seriously. And in that marriage today, she'll look at that as an opportunity to build. And our responsibility as wives, what is a godly wife? It's a wife that builds her marriage. It's not a 50/50 effort here. He does 50% and you do 50%. No, it's 100%, 100% effort here. And then you might say to me, well, Gail, my husband is giving me less than 20%. It doesn't matter what your husband is giving, what are you giving? Are you giving your 100%? 100% building that marriage, holding up your end of the responsibility, your end of taking care of the family, taking care of the household um affairs.
[39:00]The complimenting of his efforts. You know, there there are those days that that man comes home from work and he's just bummed. And he's just had a bad day. He's in a lousy mood, sits on that couch, doesn't appreciate the dinner you made, doesn't appreciate the house that you've cleaned, doesn't have anything good to say. Doesn't even, you know, he's just bummed. He's just in a bad mood, he's had a bad day. Or he's going to wake up in the morning and it doesn't feel good. Or he wakes up in a bad mood. What are you going to do about that? Does he then dictate to you the kind of mood you're going to have that evening or that day? Or do you take on your responsibility as a godly wife and you begin to build him up? He's entitled to have a bad day.
