The Biblical Path of Life

Tag: Aquila

  • Lesson 10: Paul’s Third Missionary Journey: Acts 18:23 – 21:26

    Key Verse

    20. And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house, 21. Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

    —Acts 20:20-21

    Key Verse Thought: Read today’s Key Verses. Paul is the one speaking in these verses. He was telling the people that he had led by example – for in every aspect of his life, he served Jesus, ministering to others (i.e.: he preached Jesus so others could be saved; he went from house to house telling all of Jesus, Jew and Gentile; he encouraged other believers to live a Christ-like life). In this lesson, we will learn more of Paul’s life.

    Emphasis: We are faithfully to tell others about Jesus, understanding God will give us friends to help us. But more than that, we are especially to live a life that is pleasing to Jesus so that other Christians can be encouraged to live correctly by our example.

    Lesson Summary: As we learned of Paul’s second missionary journey in our last lesson, we found that when Paul obeyed God’s direction for his life, God blessed his journey. Not only were many saved, but also Paul gained friends and fellow laborers to help spread the Gospel message. This week we begin with two of those friends.

    Paul visited some of the newly established churches, and he left Aquila and Priscilla in Ephesus. While they were there, they heard a man named Apollos teach the repentance of John the Baptist. Aquila and Priscilla realized that Apollos had never heard of Jesus, the Promised One John came to reveal, so they told him about Jesus. Apollos believed, and became another helper who preached Jesus to others.

    When Paul went to Troas where he met up with some fellow laborers that he had sent ahead, he preached a sermon that lasted well into the night. Around midnight, Eutychus fell asleep in a third floor window and fell to his death. Paul raised him from the dead, they ate, and he continued talking until morning.

    As we continue reading about Paul’s third missionary journey, we find that Luke, the writer of Acts (as well as the gospel of Luke) again joined with Paul and the other helpers. When they reached Miletus, Paul called for the elders of the church in Ephesus to come to him. Paul first warned them of grievous wolves that would come in to try to destroy the new church, and then encouraged these established Christians to help the weaker. Paul reminded them that he had taught them by example – for Paul had lived his life serving Jesus by teaching others about Jesus and ministering to them.

    Paul met Agabus at Philip’s house who foretold that Paul would be bound in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, Paul continued his journey to Jerusalem, where he gave a report of his missionary journey, and heard of the Jews saved.

    Y3Q2 – Lesson 10 Questions

    Y3Q2 – Lesson 10 Children’s Worksheets

    If you are teaching this to children, the following are a couple of craft ideas to help them remember this lesson:

    The Biblical Path of Life – Year Three, Quarter Two is now available through Amazon.

  • Faithful Stewards

    “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
    1 Corinthians 4:2

    There are many people in our lives with whom we become acquainted. However, one must be cautious that those we spend the most time with have a true knowledge of Jesus and a love for God’s Word. We are to understand that words alone do not make one a child of God. A very dangerous position in which to be is to be one who does not hold the truth of salvation. What is the condition of those who do not have a true knowledge of Jesus? “12. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13. Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever” (Jude 1:12-13). When one does not hold the truth of salvation, they might just look and sound like a Christian, yet they have never known the truth of the Gospel message. What a sad place to be! Remember the warning Jesus gave: “21. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity” (Matthew 7:21-23).

    Remember an event in the New Testament to help one understand this better.

    Paul had met a couple, Aquila and Priscilla, while on his second missionary journey in the city of Corinth. Paul taught in the synagogue every Sabbath, teaching the people that Jesus was the Christ (the Messiah that had come to take away the sin of anyone who would believe). Eventually, the chief ruler of the synagogue “believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed” (see Acts 18:8). Paul stayed there for a time, teaching the Word of God to the people. When he left Corinth, Priscilla and Aquila went with him until he reached Ephesus where they stayed while Paul continued on his journey.

    While Priscilla and Aquila were there, a man came. “And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus” (Acts 18:24). See what else God’s Word says of Apollos. “This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John” (Acts 18:25). One has to stop for a minute to remember what it means by the “baptism of John.” John (also known as John the Baptist) was preaching repentance, calling for people to be baptized, preparing them to receive Jesus when He came. John the Baptist’s job was to “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (see Luke 1:17b). This meant that he was to introduce Jesus to the people as the Messiah (the Christ) for whom they had been waiting. “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Somehow, Apollos missed that part of the message. He only knew of the baptism to repentance, but missed that Jesus was the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. He had knowledge of much of the Scripture, but he was missing the key part – Jesus. Repentance of sin was important, but it was meaningless unless one understood that Jesus was the One who took the sin from the individual, giving salvation.

    What was Apollos doing with the information of the baptism to repentance that was taught by John the Baptist? “And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly” (Acts 18:26). When Aquila and Priscilla heard that what Apollos was teaching was missing the most important part (Jesus), they went to him and “expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.” What does that mean? They explained to Apollos that Jesus was the Christ. “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31). They had to tell Apollos about Jesus. “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). That was the key part of the message that Apollos had not yet heard. However, when Apollos heard, he believed in Jesus. How do we know that he received the message and believed in Jesus? “For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly, shewing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ” (Acts 18:28). Because Aquila and Priscilla were faithful stewards of God’s Word, not only did Apollos believe, but he proceeded to tell others that Jesus was the Christ, too.

    Have you told others that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing they can have life through His name?

    How to be Saved

  • Examine Yourself

    “8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
    Ephesians 2:8-9

    There was a man who was instructed in the ways of the Lord. He knew the Bible. He was a great speaker when he taught things from the Bible. He instructed many people of the correct ways to live according to the principles laid out in God’s Word. This man spoke boldly in the synagogues. He taught the people about the Lord. These were all great things. However, he only taught what he knew and understood. His name was Apollos. When he arrived in Ephesus, teaching good things from the Bible, a couple recognized something. They understood from his teachings that he knew a great deal about God and His Word, but this man did not know Jesus. Apollos had heard of the repentance preached by John the Baptist, but he had not learned that Jesus was the only way for one to receive actual forgiveness of sin. The couple who heard him preach was Aquila and Priscilla. They had previously worked with Paul and had learned much about Jesus and the Salvation that only Jesus could give. They understood the following verses: “8. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9. Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). It did not matter what one knew or what one did (works), it only mattered that one received the gift of God through faith in Jesus.

    Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos aside and taught him the way of God “more perfectly” (see Acts 18:26). They explained Jesus’ death for man’s sin, His burial, and His resurrection. Apollos then had a choice to make. Would he hear “the rest of the story” that salvation is only through faith? Would he believe in Jesus? The next verse helps us understand that Apollos believed through grace (grace means “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life.”) The next thing we read is that Apollos immediately began to show others (through God’s Word that he already knew) that Jesus was the Christ (the one promised in the Old Testament Scriptures), who came to set men free from the bondage of sin.

    The world today is saturated with examples found in the Bible of good principles of living. There are many “teachers” sharing ways to live better lives. One cannot depend upon good living to receive eternal salvation. Today we have God’s Word to read for ourselves. Many have friends who can share the message of salvation that is only found by grace through faith in Jesus.

    The most important thing one must do: Examine yourself to see if you know Jesus. Have you ever come to the place where you recognized that you need a Saviour? Or, are you one who has gone to church, lived a pretty good life, and don’t really recognize you have never actually received Jesus into your heart and life by faith? “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Reprobates means “unapproved, rejected, by implication, worthless; castaway.” Unless one has believed in Jesus, by faith, receiving Him into one’s heart and life, they are considered a reprobate. That verse (2 Corinthians 13:5) encourages one to “prove” your own self. Prove means “to test; examine; prove.” Only you know your heart – if you have truly believed upon Jesus by faith.

    Have you examined your heart to know if you are in the faith (have Jesus in your heart)?

    How to be Saved