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tonight, chapter 18.

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We're gonna look for a few weeks at

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some character studies on couples and in marriages

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in the Bible.

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There's tremendous lessons just looking at the marriages.

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There's a great tendency when we pick up

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the Bible, we'll, you know, to look at

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somebody, you know, like Abraham and be familiar

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with him, to study Sarah, be familiar with

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her, but oftentimes not look at the marriage.

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There's an awful, we know a certain amount

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of maybe about Joseph, and we know things

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about Mary, but we don't think about their

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marriage oftentimes.

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And you can look at, but there's so

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many studies that you do in the Bible.

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You can look at Ruth and Boaz, but

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usually most studies that you'll hear or you

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read about, I one time noticed this when

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I was going through and just getting, I

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love doing character studies.

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One time I began to realize I couldn't

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find much about couples.

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They were always taken as individuals.

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And so I want to look at, in

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the coming weeks, at marriages.

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I think there's a tremendous amount to learn

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just by looking at them.

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And one of the most wonderful and the

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simplest of them, I suppose, that we're going

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to look at tonight and learn from is

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that of Aquila and Priscilla.

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The, it's a wonderful story to me of

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the power, what I've called it in just

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my own study at any rate, the power

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of a shared marriage.

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They're a wonderful couple.

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I think we'll see as we kind of

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look through the scriptures on them and find

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out a few things about them.

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Because they're a couple that obviously when you

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find out about them, you come to realize

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that they were not simply married in the

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technical sense of the word, which many, which

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every marriage is, but they were married experientially.

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In the sense that they were a couple,

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they just had this wonderful shared marriage.

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The couple, every time they're mentioned in the

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Bible, that there's six times that they're mentioned,

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three times it's mentioned as Aquila and Priscilla,

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three times it's Priscilla and Aquila.

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They just seem to be, I mean their

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names are reversed, but six times, every mention

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of them, they're together.

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Every time, whatever it is that they're doing

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it, they were doing it together.

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And their lives were just wonderfully together.

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And it stands out when you look at

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so many other people and studies in the

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Bible.

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But to see this couple, every time you

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see them, their names are there together.

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Many people, I think when they get married,

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they get married to run away from their

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problems.

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They've got all sorts of tensions and problems

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and struggles and they find, and you get

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two people very commonly that they don't like

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where they're from and it's not working out

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there in their world and it's not working

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out at his house or his home or

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his world.

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And these two meet each other and decide

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let's get married.

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And the thought so often is, is that

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they're both running away from difficult circumstances and

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all they're doing is reproducing another difficult circumstances.

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Oftentimes are people that live selfish lives and

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they're still quite selfish late in their teenage

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years or their early twenties or something.

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And life is uncomfortable, but they meet another

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like-minded selfish person oftentimes.

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Both of them are unhappy where they are,

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but they think let's get married and it'll

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solve all the problems.

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So they think.

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All they do of course, as any of

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us that are married know that that, that

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can really produce more than it solves.

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And many people just intensifies their problem, but

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it's something to work because when you get

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married, it isn't long until you realize that

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you're sharing everything.

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You're sharing each other's clock.

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Time is, belongs to both of you, money,

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debts, food, the temperature gauge, all the activities

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virtually of life, anything you're doing now involves

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somebody else.

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And life gets quite complicated.

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I was talking to a couple this morning,

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they were walking in and he had, of

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course, this big bag on one side and

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I said, where are you running away to?

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And then his wife turned around the corner

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with a little baby.

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And I said, I'll say no more.

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And they're coming in late, you know, a

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little and just getting here.

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And, uh, and I said, you remember the

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days before you were married when somebody just

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called you and said, let's go to the

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beach.

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And in five minutes you were packed and

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out the road and on the freeway.

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And you have to get married.

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You want to go someplace.

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You got to start a checklist about a

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week ahead, you know, on to make the

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thing work and to make it work with

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the family and because everything, every decision, the

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ramifications, they multiply, they intensify all the problems

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trying to make it work.

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And in the most real sense in marriage,

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everything you have, it's community property.

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It's something to where it belongs to both.

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And that's time, that's energy, that's effort, that's

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heart.

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And it's amazing on how it is.

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And I'm thinking, I remember just some dear

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friends of ours, a couple that had been

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married for a number of years, but one

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time they shared a little story that was

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so real on a marriage.

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They had gotten, they had on their bed

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these electric blankets.

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And, uh, one day she went and she

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changed the bed and, you know, put on

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clean sheets and everything.

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And that night she went and put the

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bed, that's their second lookout.

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They put the blankets back on, but she

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didn't realize that when she made the bed

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again, that somehow or another she'd turned the

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blanket around and it got, and she laid

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it back there, uh, with the blanket reverse

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side.

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Well, they went to bed that night.

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And when they're, uh, they fall asleep, he

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turns on his thermostat for his side of

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the bed at the temperature that he liked

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it.

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And she reaches over and turns on her,

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a little different bed, you know, two thermostats.

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And, uh, he's kind of realizing he's a

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little cold.

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And so he kind of turns his up

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a little long, you know, it wasn't quite

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as warm as he likes it.

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And of course she's over there to where

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hers is a little warm.

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So she turns hers down a little notch.

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And then he turns in his, it seems

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to getting colder.

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So he turns it up another notch and

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she keeps turning hers down.

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And he said one, they woke up one

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morning at two o'clock in the morning

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and he is absolutely frozen and she is

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burning up and they're wondering what in the

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world is going on.

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And all of a sudden they, she realized

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what had occurred and they both had each

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other's thermostats.

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Well, that's marriage.

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When you get married in a way that

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you don't even realize you've got each other's

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thermostats and you've got control of each other's

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lives in a phenomenal way.

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You can turn each other up and down

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the dial and you're sharing in the most

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dramatic way, uh, when you get married.

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And, uh, in order to do it well

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and do it effectively, it takes quite a

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spiritual life, uh, to make that happen.

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It's not a place for selfish people.

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It's not a place for people that want

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to run their own lives and have their

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own space and have their own friends.

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It's something that, uh, do that and just

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live your life that way.

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Most marriage separations start with that.

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We're in their thought and in their attitudes,

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they just simply kind of take their own

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controls and they try to, you know, keep

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their own life in its own form of

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regulation rather than in a real sharing and

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in a real, uh, giving up of their

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life and of their identity to one another.

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But this isn't so with Aquila and Priscilla.

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They're one of these types of couples.

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Every time in the Bible, you see them

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together.

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Uh, they work together and share together, minister

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together.

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They, they apparently, they did it all together.

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They're a couple that when you look at

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them, they were friends and, and mates and

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lovers and companions.

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And, and they were obviously quite willing through

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the years to be able to give away

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more than they took, uh, for a marriage

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like this to come along.

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Uh, you got to be this type of

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couple.

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When I see them so many times in

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scripture and so many times always in the

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positive and always ministering and always caring and

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always doing it together and you see how

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well they did things together.

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I, they're probably about the only couple in

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the Bible that I think for sure could

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probably wallpaper together.

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I'm not sure, but there's somebody that honestly,

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I almost look into, I'll bet they wallpapered.

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If there's one couple that probably even attempted

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that, it might be Aquila and Priscilla.

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But the, uh, they were a couple that

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to me like Jonathan, uh, and David, uh,

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is told in the story back in first

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Samuel chapter 18.

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Remember when they met that their hearts, the

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Bible says they were just, uh, united together

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in a wonderful way of where Jonathan went

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and he, he, with David, he came and

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he took his sword and he took his

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robe and he, uh, it was basically his

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whole, uh, identity.

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Uh, of course the, it was, they were

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a military nation, Israel was, and everything from

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the sword, everything to the, uh, to, you

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know, the outfit, it all identified him as

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the heir to the throne.

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It identified him as a military captain.

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But when David and Jonathan met, you may

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recall that Jonathan, he looked at him and

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there he gave over his, his whole identity

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and he said, here, it's yours.

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He gave him his throne, gave him his

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future.

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And when I look at Jonathan, I think

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of this phenomenal man who there heir to

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the throne and yet he was a man

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that he gave up his throne to give

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it to another as if to say here,

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this belongs to you.

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I was only a steward of it for

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a time.

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It was only given to me to take

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care of until the person I'm to give

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it over to and share it with, and

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it comes along.

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And that's what Jonathan did for, you know,

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for David and how these two loved and

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ministered and cared and watched over each other

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in such a wonderful way.

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They were able to give up their identities,

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able to give up their thrones, uh, you

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know, for each other.

269
00:09:26,200 --> 00:09:28,160
That's the secret as well, not only of

270
00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:30,200
a kingdom that's going to, uh, that's going

271
00:09:30,200 --> 00:09:32,180
to succeed, but it's also the secret of

272
00:09:32,180 --> 00:09:34,300
a marriage that's going to last into the

273
00:09:34,300 --> 00:09:36,700
decades of people that understand the very core

274
00:09:36,700 --> 00:09:37,200
of their being.

275
00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:38,660
They can look at the other person and

276
00:09:38,660 --> 00:09:41,940
realize that my life is theirs, my thermostat.

277
00:09:42,100 --> 00:09:44,920
In effect, it's theirs who I am, where

278
00:09:44,920 --> 00:09:45,920
I go and what I do.

279
00:09:46,020 --> 00:09:47,820
I want it to be theirs above all

280
00:09:47,820 --> 00:09:49,060
other things.

281
00:09:49,720 --> 00:09:52,880
I think women know this, understand this better

282
00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,620
than men, uh, oftentimes, but it's something that

283
00:09:55,620 --> 00:09:57,540
in order for a marriage to work, it's

284
00:09:57,540 --> 00:09:58,960
got to be equal in the sense of

285
00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,700
that both parties really honestly understand what it

286
00:10:01,700 --> 00:10:03,100
is to give and what it is to

287
00:10:03,100 --> 00:10:03,420
care.

288
00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:06,880
And I think few couples, particularly in this

289
00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,600
day and age, uh, realize how much we

290
00:10:09,600 --> 00:10:11,900
need from each other for a marriage to

291
00:10:11,900 --> 00:10:14,460
work, how much they were designed to give,

292
00:10:14,460 --> 00:10:16,720
uh, to each other and to receive from

293
00:10:16,720 --> 00:10:17,200
each other.

294
00:10:17,260 --> 00:10:19,500
How much a marriage is strengthened when it's

295
00:10:19,500 --> 00:10:20,360
a shared marriage.

296
00:10:20,400 --> 00:10:22,620
When God created Adam and Eve, he deliberately

297
00:10:22,620 --> 00:10:23,720
right there.

298
00:10:23,760 --> 00:10:25,440
It's, it's interesting in the Hebrew and it

299
00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:27,400
says in God, when he created Eve, it

300
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,660
was for a help and then meet, it

301
00:10:29,660 --> 00:10:31,860
says M E E T for Adam.

302
00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:34,740
But the interesting word in the Hebrew is

303
00:10:34,740 --> 00:10:37,400
it means it, it's, it's the same word,

304
00:10:37,520 --> 00:10:38,160
help and meet.

305
00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:39,760
They're both, it's reiterated twice.

306
00:10:39,900 --> 00:10:42,140
And it means that the word means the

307
00:10:42,140 --> 00:10:43,240
same, both help and meet.

308
00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:45,100
They're the exact same Hebrew word.

309
00:10:45,180 --> 00:10:47,540
And it's essentially, if you literally translate it,

310
00:10:47,540 --> 00:10:49,000
he said, so that I might make a

311
00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:50,120
help help for you.

312
00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:54,160
And, uh, uh, he doubly intensified, not just

313
00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:56,020
a helper for you, you're, Adam, you need

314
00:10:56,020 --> 00:10:57,440
a help help, you know?

315
00:10:57,540 --> 00:10:59,040
And I mean, that's what it says in

316
00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:00,720
the Bible that when God created them, that

317
00:11:00,720 --> 00:11:03,660
there's two people that they, that they understand

318
00:11:03,660 --> 00:11:03,940
this.

319
00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:05,800
They realize as they look at a marriage

320
00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,420
that there's something about them that above all

321
00:11:08,420 --> 00:11:11,440
else, that there is a person that when

322
00:11:11,440 --> 00:11:13,300
God created him and, and, and when Adam

323
00:11:13,300 --> 00:11:16,300
looked over at Eve and, uh, and she

324
00:11:16,300 --> 00:11:18,740
was beautiful to him and he said, behold,

325
00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:20,360
this is now bone of my bone and

326
00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:21,480
flesh of my flesh.

327
00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:24,540
He recognized there immediately though he didn't understand

328
00:11:24,540 --> 00:11:27,000
what had happened, the miraculous thing that she

329
00:11:27,000 --> 00:11:28,440
was literally bone of his bone.

330
00:11:28,540 --> 00:11:30,400
I'm sure he came to find it, but

331
00:11:30,400 --> 00:11:32,480
something there that this is my other self.

332
00:11:33,060 --> 00:11:34,900
This is the completion of myself.

333
00:11:35,340 --> 00:11:36,660
I'm no longer complete.

334
00:11:36,820 --> 00:11:38,080
I think Adam, when he looked at Eve

335
00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:39,800
there, the thing of wanting to reach out

336
00:11:39,800 --> 00:11:41,260
and, and when he took her in his

337
00:11:41,260 --> 00:11:43,540
arm and he embraced her, he wasn't being

338
00:11:43,540 --> 00:11:47,360
sensual or sexual and in, in anything other

339
00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:48,980
than a wonderful sense of the word.

340
00:11:49,060 --> 00:11:50,680
I think Adam, the thing that when a

341
00:11:50,680 --> 00:11:52,020
man would like to take his wife and

342
00:11:52,020 --> 00:11:53,920
embrace her and pull her right inside himself,

343
00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:55,600
he'd do that if he could, because that's

344
00:11:55,600 --> 00:11:56,440
where she came from.

345
00:11:56,840 --> 00:11:57,860
She was part of him.

346
00:11:57,960 --> 00:11:59,080
There was something missing.

347
00:11:59,600 --> 00:12:01,100
There was the completion of himself.

348
00:12:01,260 --> 00:12:03,240
He now looked and here's another body, another

349
00:12:03,240 --> 00:12:06,200
being, another flesh, another uncle, you know, bones

350
00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:07,980
and being in life there.

351
00:12:08,080 --> 00:12:09,360
And yet at the same time, God is

352
00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:10,800
looking there and the ultimate thing is, is

353
00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:12,360
now to take their lives and blend them

354
00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:13,020
back together.

355
00:12:13,500 --> 00:12:15,580
Now to have them, you know, come into

356
00:12:15,580 --> 00:12:17,840
where through life is that these two were,

357
00:12:17,920 --> 00:12:20,360
were once one, had become two, would now

358
00:12:20,360 --> 00:12:24,060
once again become one in such a total

359
00:12:24,060 --> 00:12:26,040
way that you couldn't even define one without

360
00:12:26,040 --> 00:12:28,480
the other, that they, that they require the

361
00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:30,820
presence of each other to identify and define

362
00:12:30,820 --> 00:12:32,020
their own identity again.

363
00:12:32,220 --> 00:12:34,900
That's what God created when he created marriage.

364
00:12:35,020 --> 00:12:36,680
He wanted something where the other one above

365
00:12:36,680 --> 00:12:38,000
all else, and that's not the, the rest

366
00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,040
of the world isn't that way.

367
00:12:39,100 --> 00:12:41,060
You may have friends and you can have

368
00:12:41,060 --> 00:12:43,700
children and you can have parents and you

369
00:12:43,700 --> 00:12:45,480
can have all sorts of other things.

370
00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,740
But when, and as there is a marriage

371
00:12:47,740 --> 00:12:49,840
that occurs, it's something to where now there's

372
00:12:49,840 --> 00:12:52,340
somebody that you look and say, this is

373
00:12:52,340 --> 00:12:53,980
my help, help.

374
00:12:54,340 --> 00:12:55,920
You know, I don't know how you can

375
00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,140
figure, play with that word all night, I

376
00:12:58,140 --> 00:12:59,980
suppose, and how you want to phrase it

377
00:12:59,980 --> 00:13:02,220
and say it and think it, but, but

378
00:13:02,220 --> 00:13:04,420
in the finest sense of the word that

379
00:13:04,420 --> 00:13:05,860
there is two things that they will look

380
00:13:05,860 --> 00:13:07,640
and say here, I have made somebody that

381
00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,480
is now you'll require them, not just help

382
00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:11,880
if you need it, help if you want

383
00:13:11,880 --> 00:13:13,380
it or help if it might be there,

384
00:13:13,540 --> 00:13:15,620
but no, it's something there, Adam.

385
00:13:16,200 --> 00:13:18,180
It'll be the most wonderful thing in my

386
00:13:18,180 --> 00:13:20,000
experience in all of life when you grow

387
00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:23,880
into it, when you understand it and what

388
00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:26,500
it is to, to love and to care

389
00:13:26,500 --> 00:13:28,600
and to commit of your heart, of your

390
00:13:28,600 --> 00:13:30,360
time, of your energy, of your effort to

391
00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:32,060
yourself to say here, help her.

392
00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:34,180
And to look at her and say, now

393
00:13:34,180 --> 00:13:35,060
you help him.

394
00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,280
And when that begins to happen, you've got

395
00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:40,600
a wonderful thing when you've got two people

396
00:13:40,600 --> 00:13:43,020
that are help mates to where they literally

397
00:13:43,020 --> 00:13:45,260
share back and forth their lives in such

398
00:13:45,260 --> 00:13:47,680
a wonderful way that I think to me,

399
00:13:47,860 --> 00:13:49,360
when you look at Aquila and Priscilla, and

400
00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:51,500
Priscilla and Aquila, their names are equal three

401
00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:53,840
times each where she's first three times, he's

402
00:13:53,840 --> 00:13:56,020
first the other three, but to where they're

403
00:13:56,020 --> 00:13:59,880
almost one person, one ministry, when you look

404
00:13:59,880 --> 00:14:02,000
at them in scripture, when you look at

405
00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,160
them serving, who is first or second made

406
00:14:04,160 --> 00:14:05,880
no difference, I don't think, to them or

407
00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,280
anyone else, who spoke or what was going

408
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:09,620
on, I think it was something that they

409
00:14:09,620 --> 00:14:12,120
realized here are two people that their lives

410
00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:13,860
have just been poured into each other.

411
00:14:14,080 --> 00:14:15,720
They share the same heart.

412
00:14:15,820 --> 00:14:17,240
They share the same direction.

413
00:14:17,380 --> 00:14:19,300
They share the same purposes together.

414
00:14:20,060 --> 00:14:23,060
And when a couple realizes that many times

415
00:14:23,060 --> 00:14:24,500
when you get married, we're threatened by each

416
00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:24,700
other.

417
00:14:25,040 --> 00:14:27,880
Many times are very insecure, you know, and,

418
00:14:27,880 --> 00:14:29,600
and to admit the need that we have

419
00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,720
for one another, to admit the need that,

420
00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:33,720
you know, that there is to share our

421
00:14:33,720 --> 00:14:35,640
lives with one another, to many, many people

422
00:14:35,640 --> 00:14:38,080
that were, were so insecure that we won't

423
00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:39,980
do it or we're afraid to do it.

424
00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:43,360
But, uh, it's got to happen, uh, for

425
00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:44,700
a marriage to be successful.

426
00:14:45,580 --> 00:14:47,760
I know when we started dating and here

427
00:14:47,760 --> 00:14:49,260
I was sensing at the time, God may

428
00:14:49,260 --> 00:14:50,280
be calling me into ministry.

429
00:14:50,380 --> 00:14:51,060
I was a new Christian.

430
00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:51,980
I didn't know the Bible.

431
00:14:52,420 --> 00:14:54,400
I was just beginning to study it, but

432
00:14:54,400 --> 00:14:57,180
come to find here, Jean was born and

433
00:14:57,180 --> 00:14:58,080
raised in the Bible.

434
00:14:58,440 --> 00:15:02,400
And, uh, she had every night, uh, their

435
00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:04,040
family would sit down and her mother and

436
00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:05,660
father would open up the word and they

437
00:15:05,660 --> 00:15:08,140
would read together and they would share and

438
00:15:08,140 --> 00:15:08,760
they would pray.

439
00:15:09,520 --> 00:15:11,280
And they were so mature by the time

440
00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:12,760
Jean was born there in their mid forties

441
00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:14,920
when she was born, uh, that, uh, there

442
00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:16,960
was such a wonderful godly home about it,

443
00:15:16,980 --> 00:15:18,960
that she was just nurtured in this wonderful

444
00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:19,380
place.

445
00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:21,780
And then, uh, went to private Christian grammar

446
00:15:21,780 --> 00:15:23,040
school in high school and college.

447
00:15:23,100 --> 00:15:24,640
And then in the summer they had a

448
00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:26,000
cabin right over here at Mount Hermon.

449
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,340
She worked there all the summers and would

450
00:15:28,340 --> 00:15:30,160
just listen to all this Bible teaching.

451
00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:31,860
I was intimidated when I met her.

452
00:15:32,520 --> 00:15:33,600
We'd go out and start talking.

453
00:15:33,680 --> 00:15:34,800
She knew every Bible story.

454
00:15:34,860 --> 00:15:36,180
I didn't even know the story was in

455
00:15:36,180 --> 00:15:37,420
the Bible, let alone what it was about.

456
00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:38,540
You tell me somebody's name.

457
00:15:38,660 --> 00:15:39,060
I didn't.

458
00:15:39,560 --> 00:15:40,880
I'd never heard Joshua.

459
00:15:41,420 --> 00:15:43,260
I don't know if I'd heard of Elijah

460
00:15:43,260 --> 00:15:43,880
or Elisha.

461
00:15:44,200 --> 00:15:45,700
I don't think I've heard it at the

462
00:15:45,700 --> 00:15:46,600
time of Jeremiah.

463
00:15:46,900 --> 00:15:49,560
I was brand new, uh, right off the

464
00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:52,020
tulip truck, Christian kind of a thing.

465
00:15:52,180 --> 00:15:54,140
And, and here was somebody that had just

466
00:15:54,140 --> 00:15:56,980
been raised in all of this and so

467
00:15:56,980 --> 00:15:58,300
entrenched in it.

468
00:15:58,540 --> 00:16:00,020
And, uh, but it was, we would go

469
00:16:00,020 --> 00:16:02,000
out, I'd ask her, tell me these stories.

470
00:16:02,620 --> 00:16:04,940
And she would tell me all these stories.

471
00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:06,340
And I was so intrigued.

472
00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:08,340
She got me an Edgar Myers Bible storybook.

473
00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:09,440
Some of you probably get them for your

474
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:09,660
kids.

475
00:16:09,740 --> 00:16:10,500
She got one for me.

476
00:16:11,100 --> 00:16:12,000
You know, it's a read them.

477
00:16:12,100 --> 00:16:13,300
They had to be a little kid at

478
00:16:13,300 --> 00:16:13,520
night.

479
00:16:13,660 --> 00:16:15,300
You know, that's, but I so love the

480
00:16:15,300 --> 00:16:15,800
stories.

481
00:16:15,900 --> 00:16:17,100
I think that was the birth of why

482
00:16:17,100 --> 00:16:18,460
I love Bible character so much.

483
00:16:18,520 --> 00:16:20,980
I love the stories, uh, of it all.

484
00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:22,620
It would minister to me so much, but

485
00:16:22,620 --> 00:16:24,740
it were people begin in a marriage.

486
00:16:25,500 --> 00:16:26,900
It's interesting out of that.

487
00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:28,300
And as she would tell me these stories,

488
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:30,560
all it did was enlarge my desire to

489
00:16:30,560 --> 00:16:31,520
retell the story.

490
00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:33,880
It all did was when I'd hear these

491
00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:36,020
stories and it was such wonderful stories.

492
00:16:36,060 --> 00:16:37,340
I realized I want to tell this story

493
00:16:37,340 --> 00:16:37,880
to somebody.

494
00:16:38,380 --> 00:16:39,920
I want to share this with somebody.

495
00:16:40,220 --> 00:16:41,500
These are great stories.

496
00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:45,120
And, uh, so I began taking all the

497
00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:47,400
stuff I could get from her and then

498
00:16:47,400 --> 00:16:49,120
going out and sharing it with other people.

499
00:16:49,260 --> 00:16:50,500
Next thing you know, I'm being called in

500
00:16:50,500 --> 00:16:52,620
ministry, but so much of it came from

501
00:16:52,620 --> 00:16:54,920
her and her sharing it with me.

502
00:16:55,360 --> 00:16:57,700
And, uh, then as time went on and,

503
00:16:57,700 --> 00:16:59,980
and I kept studying and teaching and ministry

504
00:16:59,980 --> 00:17:01,880
and sometimes she'd be doing something, I could

505
00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:02,920
give her some of it back.

506
00:17:03,500 --> 00:17:04,280
She'd forgotten.

507
00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,700
She told me and, uh, whatever it was,

508
00:17:06,760 --> 00:17:09,140
but I'd tell her things back and we'd

509
00:17:09,140 --> 00:17:11,079
just share and share and share back and

510
00:17:11,079 --> 00:17:15,200
forth messages and thoughts, uh, and, uh, things

511
00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:15,800
so much.

512
00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:17,920
So I remember one time, I remember years

513
00:17:17,920 --> 00:17:19,920
ago, she was going to teach at something

514
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:21,380
and she was struggling over a message.

515
00:17:21,380 --> 00:17:22,660
And I turned to her and I said,

516
00:17:23,380 --> 00:17:25,780
well, which one of my messages would you

517
00:17:25,780 --> 00:17:26,480
like to borrow?

518
00:17:27,980 --> 00:17:29,940
You know what she, she turns to me

519
00:17:29,940 --> 00:17:31,140
and she says, neither.

520
00:17:32,620 --> 00:17:35,740
But the, uh, that's about how many were

521
00:17:35,740 --> 00:17:35,980
mine.

522
00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:36,840
The rest of them were hers.

523
00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:40,040
But the, uh, but the thing is, is

524
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:42,320
that when people in a marriage, when you

525
00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:44,600
look there and in the whole desire in

526
00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:47,200
marriage is how can I share it in

527
00:17:47,200 --> 00:17:49,240
the realizing that when you get married, there's

528
00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:51,080
somebody there that your whole being, God says,

529
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:52,520
help each other.

530
00:17:52,820 --> 00:17:54,840
And it's again, when time goes on, oftentimes

531
00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:57,040
it's awkward because we aren't usually good at

532
00:17:57,040 --> 00:17:58,280
it, not at all by nature.

533
00:17:58,980 --> 00:18:00,840
Uh, we have, it's a learned thing and

534
00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:03,300
it's a spiritual thing once we really come

535
00:18:03,300 --> 00:18:05,500
to where God helped me become a helpmate

536
00:18:05,500 --> 00:18:07,160
at where we know what it is to

537
00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:07,520
help.

538
00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:10,360
Well, Ann and I, Sapphira, to me getting

539
00:18:10,360 --> 00:18:11,780
back to them, I got way off on

540
00:18:11,780 --> 00:18:13,660
other stuff, but to me that they're the

541
00:18:13,660 --> 00:18:15,660
power, the wonderful shared life together.

542
00:18:15,900 --> 00:18:17,960
They all, they, they served, uh, let me

543
00:18:17,960 --> 00:18:18,960
get into the text here.

544
00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:20,600
They served others together.

545
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:24,380
Uh, Acts chapter 18, I didn't even read

546
00:18:24,380 --> 00:18:24,540
this.

547
00:18:24,580 --> 00:18:26,020
Did I just said turn to it, but

548
00:18:26,020 --> 00:18:27,500
it says in Acts 18 verse one, it

549
00:18:27,500 --> 00:18:29,620
says, after these things, Paul departed from Athens

550
00:18:29,620 --> 00:18:31,660
and went to Corinth and he found a

551
00:18:31,660 --> 00:18:34,700
certain Jew named Aquila born in Pontus who

552
00:18:34,700 --> 00:18:36,580
had recently come from Italy with his wife

553
00:18:36,580 --> 00:18:39,240
Priscilla because Claudius had commanded all the Jews

554
00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:41,220
to depart from Rome and he came to

555
00:18:41,220 --> 00:18:41,540
them.

556
00:18:41,780 --> 00:18:44,100
But an interesting thing here, Aquila and Priscilla,

557
00:18:44,280 --> 00:18:46,020
they met Paul at a time maybe of

558
00:18:46,020 --> 00:18:46,820
trial in their own life.

559
00:18:46,900 --> 00:18:49,800
They'd been shoved out of their world and

560
00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,500
their life and their comfort zone, moved over

561
00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:53,560
into another part of the world.

562
00:18:53,660 --> 00:18:55,540
But here as they were thrown together, it

563
00:18:55,540 --> 00:18:56,720
was a wonderful thing that happened.

564
00:18:57,200 --> 00:18:59,300
But at any rate, they came together.

565
00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,300
Verse three, it says, so because he was

566
00:19:01,300 --> 00:19:03,120
of the same trade, he stayed with them

567
00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:05,300
and he worked for by occupation, they were

568
00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:05,880
tent makers.

569
00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:08,260
And he reasoned in the synagogue every Saturday,

570
00:19:08,460 --> 00:19:11,120
uh, Sabbath, and he persuaded both Jews and

571
00:19:11,120 --> 00:19:11,460
Greeks.

572
00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:13,480
But here we see firstly, you know, when,

573
00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:16,500
uh, when Paul, uh, along his, in his

574
00:19:16,500 --> 00:19:20,140
missionary journeys, as he comes along, he met

575
00:19:20,140 --> 00:19:21,760
Aquila and Priscilla.

576
00:19:22,320 --> 00:19:24,520
And there for some 18 months, they took

577
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:26,060
the apostle Paul into their home.

578
00:19:26,300 --> 00:19:28,880
And as they brought him in, he imagined

579
00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,060
this 18 months that these two opened up

580
00:19:31,060 --> 00:19:33,480
their lives, shared their office, shared their business.

581
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,080
They were tent makers, had something going there

582
00:19:36,080 --> 00:19:36,560
within it.

583
00:19:36,580 --> 00:19:38,760
And here is this wonderful couple came, they

584
00:19:38,760 --> 00:19:40,360
opened up everything, their business.

585
00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:41,860
I mean, come on, work with us.

586
00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:42,960
We're of the same trade.

587
00:19:43,180 --> 00:19:44,500
We can, we'll put you to work here

588
00:19:44,500 --> 00:19:44,920
with us.

589
00:19:45,540 --> 00:19:48,860
And, uh, uh, and in they moved together

590
00:19:48,860 --> 00:19:51,060
and in they imagined the thing that they

591
00:19:51,060 --> 00:19:52,820
maybe thought when they first met Paul, that

592
00:19:52,820 --> 00:19:55,700
they were just helping out some traveling preacher

593
00:19:55,700 --> 00:19:56,220
or something.

594
00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:58,660
But imagine what a blessing it probably was

595
00:19:58,660 --> 00:20:01,020
for them to have the apostle Paul in

596
00:20:01,020 --> 00:20:01,480
their home.

597
00:20:02,220 --> 00:20:03,640
They maybe thought they were doing it for

598
00:20:03,640 --> 00:20:05,700
somebody else, but usually it turns out this

599
00:20:05,700 --> 00:20:05,900
way.

600
00:20:05,940 --> 00:20:08,220
Whenever anybody knows what it is to share

601
00:20:08,220 --> 00:20:10,200
their, not only their lives with each other,

602
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:12,600
but their ministry with others, oftentimes God will

603
00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:14,540
see they get repaid in the most wonderful

604
00:20:14,540 --> 00:20:15,060
of ways.

605
00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:17,800
It was something there that this relationship for

606
00:20:17,800 --> 00:20:19,680
18 months as it began here, it went

607
00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:20,100
on.

608
00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,020
And because later over in the, in chapter

609
00:20:23,020 --> 00:20:25,180
18 and in verse 18, it tells us

610
00:20:25,180 --> 00:20:28,380
there that, uh, so Paul still remained a

611
00:20:28,380 --> 00:20:30,660
good while and he took leave of the

612
00:20:30,660 --> 00:20:33,500
brethren and he sailed to Syria, uh, and

613
00:20:33,500 --> 00:20:35,400
Priscilla and Aquila were with him.

614
00:20:35,980 --> 00:20:37,800
But here it's something to where now what

615
00:20:37,800 --> 00:20:39,500
had happened is, is that when Paul felt

616
00:20:39,500 --> 00:20:41,500
like God was moving him on this, the,

617
00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,140
this couple, they picked up stakes too and

618
00:20:44,140 --> 00:20:47,240
they went off with him and, uh, joined

619
00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:48,780
him as he went on now on to

620
00:20:48,780 --> 00:20:49,260
Ephesus.

621
00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:52,040
And, uh, then Paul later on, he left

622
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:55,080
them behind in Ephesus and, uh, there they

623
00:20:55,080 --> 00:20:56,940
set up a church in their own home.

624
00:20:57,000 --> 00:21:00,640
It tells us in first Corinthians, uh, chapter

625
00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:03,220
16 in verse 19, Paul, when he's writing

626
00:21:03,220 --> 00:21:06,100
there to him, uh, uh, he writes and

627
00:21:06,100 --> 00:21:07,760
he says, the churches of Asia greet you.

628
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:09,880
Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the

629
00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:11,240
Lord with the church that is in their

630
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:11,640
house.

631
00:21:11,880 --> 00:21:13,580
Here we meet him first, just a couple

632
00:21:13,580 --> 00:21:15,360
that came along and ministered to Paul.

633
00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:17,400
And then they ended up moving with Paul

634
00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:18,140
as he went on.

635
00:21:18,180 --> 00:21:19,260
And then the next thing you know, you

636
00:21:19,260 --> 00:21:20,880
find this couple, the church is in their

637
00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:21,300
house.

638
00:21:21,460 --> 00:21:23,380
They're out ministering to other people.

639
00:21:24,100 --> 00:21:26,320
And, uh, something that is so wonderful as

640
00:21:26,320 --> 00:21:28,080
to me that when a marriage comes together

641
00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:29,860
and it is together, they've learned what it

642
00:21:29,860 --> 00:21:31,440
is to serve each other and to share

643
00:21:31,440 --> 00:21:32,660
their lives with each other.

644
00:21:32,740 --> 00:21:35,020
First of all, that is something that in

645
00:21:35,020 --> 00:21:37,240
and of itself, it gives tremendous potential to

646
00:21:37,240 --> 00:21:38,940
now going on into further ministry.

647
00:21:39,560 --> 00:21:42,240
If somebody can have a happy marriage, somebody

648
00:21:42,240 --> 00:21:44,260
knows the secret of a helping marriage of

649
00:21:44,260 --> 00:21:46,580
a shared marriage, they've got far more potential

650
00:21:46,580 --> 00:21:48,440
in ministry than most of them even dream

651
00:21:48,440 --> 00:21:48,660
of.

652
00:21:49,420 --> 00:21:51,440
Most marriages to me, I find myself and

653
00:21:51,440 --> 00:21:52,440
I'm looking for leaders.

654
00:21:52,920 --> 00:21:54,540
When I'm looking for people to, you know,

655
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:56,060
to come and be a part of leadership

656
00:21:56,060 --> 00:21:57,900
in any way, I always look at their

657
00:21:57,900 --> 00:21:58,160
home.

658
00:21:58,660 --> 00:22:00,120
I always look at what goes on.

659
00:22:00,200 --> 00:22:01,480
Are there's two people that know what it

660
00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:02,420
is to give to each other.

661
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:03,740
And oftentimes I ask them if they'll get

662
00:22:03,740 --> 00:22:05,100
involved in leadership and say, Oh no, I'm

663
00:22:05,100 --> 00:22:05,500
not a leader.

664
00:22:06,360 --> 00:22:08,480
And I, I've, no one's ever seen that

665
00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:09,860
in me and no one's ever asked me

666
00:22:09,860 --> 00:22:11,040
and I've been around the church or I've

667
00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:12,440
been here or there or whatever, but I,

668
00:22:12,660 --> 00:22:15,480
I'm, I'm just a pucet or something and

669
00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:16,220
I'll help with this.

670
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:17,400
I'll help with that, but I'm not a

671
00:22:17,400 --> 00:22:17,620
leader.

672
00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:19,580
And I'll turn around and say, you are,

673
00:22:19,980 --> 00:22:21,260
when I look at your home and I

674
00:22:21,260 --> 00:22:22,360
look at the love that you have for

675
00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:23,840
your wife and the love that she has

676
00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:25,620
for you, I see the way that you

677
00:22:25,620 --> 00:22:26,440
two help each other.

678
00:22:26,620 --> 00:22:28,380
Obviously God has taught you and he's working

679
00:22:28,380 --> 00:22:30,120
wonderful things where you know what it is

680
00:22:30,120 --> 00:22:31,700
to treat each other as more importantly than

681
00:22:31,700 --> 00:22:32,140
yourself.

682
00:22:32,420 --> 00:22:33,520
That's a spiritual work.

683
00:22:33,580 --> 00:22:35,740
That's a blessed work when that's happened.

684
00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:37,460
And when people understand that and they can

685
00:22:37,460 --> 00:22:39,340
do it in such close proximity as a

686
00:22:39,340 --> 00:22:41,980
home, they're ready far more than oftentimes they

687
00:22:41,980 --> 00:22:43,080
realize for ministry.

688
00:22:43,620 --> 00:22:45,740
They're, they're, they're prepared to serve in the

689
00:22:45,740 --> 00:22:47,120
most wonderful of ways.

690
00:22:47,660 --> 00:22:49,400
And when you have a couple that just

691
00:22:49,400 --> 00:22:51,320
understands what it is to care for each

692
00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,500
other, and here's Aquila and Priscilla, they brought

693
00:22:53,500 --> 00:22:55,020
in Paul into their life and next thing

694
00:22:55,020 --> 00:22:56,760
you know, they're sharing their, not only lives

695
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:58,580
with each other, sharing their business with Paul.

696
00:22:58,700 --> 00:22:59,700
And then the next thing you know, Paul

697
00:22:59,700 --> 00:23:01,480
goes off and they're, they go off with

698
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:01,660
him.

699
00:23:01,980 --> 00:23:03,060
Well, let's go help you.

700
00:23:03,100 --> 00:23:04,080
Let's see what we can do.

701
00:23:04,180 --> 00:23:05,860
And the next thing you know, they've got

702
00:23:05,860 --> 00:23:08,440
a, a ministry going on.

703
00:23:08,700 --> 00:23:10,960
And, uh, which to me is another great

704
00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:13,420
lesson because one of the things to me

705
00:23:13,420 --> 00:23:15,120
that I think is a great tragedy today

706
00:23:15,120 --> 00:23:16,340
is a lot of people think of a

707
00:23:16,340 --> 00:23:17,600
marriage as an end in itself.

708
00:23:17,740 --> 00:23:18,180
It isn't.

709
00:23:19,180 --> 00:23:21,820
Marriage never was created to be an end

710
00:23:21,820 --> 00:23:23,460
in itself, but there's just this two people

711
00:23:23,460 --> 00:23:24,480
that just live happily.

712
00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:26,440
It's there for a purpose.

713
00:23:26,620 --> 00:23:27,520
It's there for a reason.

714
00:23:28,160 --> 00:23:30,140
It's there as a tool of which ministry

715
00:23:30,140 --> 00:23:31,400
can be pouring out of it.

716
00:23:31,460 --> 00:23:32,500
And I see a lot of books, and

717
00:23:32,500 --> 00:23:33,640
I think the reason a lot of people

718
00:23:33,640 --> 00:23:35,940
are tired, I think a reason a lot

719
00:23:35,940 --> 00:23:37,860
of marriages, they've gone so far and now

720
00:23:37,860 --> 00:23:40,120
they sit around and, you know, and, uh,

721
00:23:40,220 --> 00:23:42,640
and stare at each other and they're bored.

722
00:23:42,980 --> 00:23:44,600
It's because of the fact that they built

723
00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:46,020
their marriage and they got happy for a

724
00:23:46,020 --> 00:23:47,900
while, but you can't maintain it unless it's

725
00:23:47,900 --> 00:23:49,760
a vehicle through which other things are happening.

726
00:23:49,900 --> 00:23:51,900
When God created Adam and Eve, it wasn't

727
00:23:51,900 --> 00:23:53,560
something that was just there for themselves.

728
00:23:53,880 --> 00:23:56,380
They were helpmates for another reason and another

729
00:23:56,380 --> 00:23:59,020
purpose to go on and be fruitful, multiply,

730
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:02,520
to reproduce, to minister to others way beyond

731
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:03,180
themselves.

732
00:24:03,800 --> 00:24:05,620
And, uh, they were helpmates for a far

733
00:24:05,620 --> 00:24:06,380
greater purpose.

734
00:24:06,500 --> 00:24:08,880
And here, uh, Aquila and Priscilla, they were

735
00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:09,680
that type of couple.

736
00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:11,880
They were there for a great purpose.

737
00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:14,080
And they were there to look and, okay,

738
00:24:14,180 --> 00:24:15,660
we're here, we've fallen in love and we've

739
00:24:15,660 --> 00:24:17,160
cared, we've learned a lot of tools, but

740
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,300
now let's implement these tools into ministry, into

741
00:24:20,300 --> 00:24:23,580
service, into something to where instead of just

742
00:24:23,580 --> 00:24:25,560
sitting around and starting to stare at each

743
00:24:25,560 --> 00:24:28,080
other or just, uh, try to be happy

744
00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:31,800
and comfortable and entertaining, uh, to ourselves, let's

745
00:24:31,800 --> 00:24:33,180
do something with our lives.

746
00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:35,400
And that's one of the things that is

747
00:24:35,400 --> 00:24:37,220
missing in a lot of people because they

748
00:24:37,220 --> 00:24:39,300
haven't picked up a passion to say, you

749
00:24:39,300 --> 00:24:40,740
know, once their lives and their marriage are

750
00:24:40,740 --> 00:24:42,260
together, how can we use this?

751
00:24:43,000 --> 00:24:44,560
And they begin to look, you know, whether

752
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:46,680
here at Paul, you know, how can we

753
00:24:46,680 --> 00:24:47,160
serve?

754
00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:48,380
What can we do?

755
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:49,920
And, you know, let's take our house.

756
00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:51,480
Can we make a church in this thing?

757
00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:52,700
Is there any way that it can be

758
00:24:52,700 --> 00:24:53,640
a ministry, a service?

759
00:24:54,020 --> 00:24:55,360
And wonderfully it was.

760
00:24:56,200 --> 00:25:00,180
And if you don't do that, uh, you'll

761
00:25:00,180 --> 00:25:01,340
end up looking at each other.

762
00:25:01,460 --> 00:25:02,960
And then after you look at each other

763
00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:04,800
for a little while, I'll tell you, I

764
00:25:04,800 --> 00:25:06,700
mean, I look in our marriage and I

765
00:25:06,700 --> 00:25:08,920
think we've got, uh, a wonderful marriage.

766
00:25:08,920 --> 00:25:12,360
I probably think it's more wonderful than my

767
00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:14,680
wife does, but I think it's a great,

768
00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,100
but the, uh, she may have a few

769
00:25:17,100 --> 00:25:21,100
suggestions, but, uh, at any rate, uh, I

770
00:25:21,100 --> 00:25:23,000
mean, we have, I would honestly say a

771
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:24,000
very wonderful marriage.

772
00:25:24,300 --> 00:25:26,120
And yet at the same time, one of

773
00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:27,660
the things is, is God has always shown

774
00:25:27,660 --> 00:25:29,120
us that that marriage is to be used.

775
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:31,000
It's to be going someplace, not just staring

776
00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:31,700
at each other.

777
00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:33,980
I don't know if you've ever otherwise, because

778
00:25:33,980 --> 00:25:36,880
when you just start staring and looking, next

779
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:37,820
thing you know, you're nitpicking.

780
00:25:38,540 --> 00:25:39,840
Next thing you know, you find out what

781
00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:41,680
you don't like about each other.

782
00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:44,040
And, uh, uh, we become, to me, I

783
00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,240
think as human beings, kind of like orangutans.

784
00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:47,080
I don't know if you've ever been to

785
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:48,900
the zoo and stared at orangutans, but they're

786
00:25:48,900 --> 00:25:50,060
amazing things.

787
00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,100
They're just sitting in these cages and unlike

788
00:25:52,100 --> 00:25:53,500
anything else, if you're ever at a zoo,

789
00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:54,080
watch them.

790
00:25:54,300 --> 00:25:56,000
Because what they'll do is they just nitpick

791
00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:56,860
at each other all day.

792
00:25:56,900 --> 00:25:58,320
They'll be, they go through each other's watch,

793
00:25:58,340 --> 00:25:59,620
they go through each other's hair, they sit

794
00:25:59,620 --> 00:26:01,680
there, you know, and start looking around and

795
00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:03,240
they find something in there and they pull,

796
00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:04,600
get this bug and pull it out and

797
00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:04,900
eat it.

798
00:26:05,340 --> 00:26:06,200
It's gross.

799
00:26:06,340 --> 00:26:07,600
It's quite gross, but they do.

800
00:26:07,980 --> 00:26:10,060
They're just staring at each other, picking at

801
00:26:10,060 --> 00:26:12,080
each other, fiddling with each other all day

802
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:13,980
because they have nothing else to do in

803
00:26:13,980 --> 00:26:14,260
life.

804
00:26:14,740 --> 00:26:16,080
Well, I think that's the way a lot

805
00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:16,920
of marriages are.

806
00:26:17,540 --> 00:26:19,060
A lot of things, if you don't, is

807
00:26:19,060 --> 00:26:19,440
that funny?

808
00:26:19,980 --> 00:26:21,580
You got that picture in your mind, don't

809
00:26:21,580 --> 00:26:21,700
you?

810
00:26:21,800 --> 00:26:23,000
How could they eat that stuff?

811
00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:25,220
Well, we'll do that.

812
00:26:25,560 --> 00:26:27,180
If there isn't something to where we got

813
00:26:27,180 --> 00:26:29,520
some other project in life that's higher than

814
00:26:29,520 --> 00:26:32,080
our marriage, and that our marriage is just

815
00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,060
a vessel, it's just a tool through which

816
00:26:34,060 --> 00:26:35,580
other things can come out of it.

817
00:26:36,180 --> 00:26:38,760
And Aquila and Priscilla, they were that way.

818
00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:41,200
They not only had a shared lives together

819
00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:43,720
and a shared service and ministry together, they

820
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:47,900
knew what it was to sanctify others together.

821
00:26:48,260 --> 00:26:51,380
Look over in chapter 18 of Acts and

822
00:26:51,380 --> 00:26:52,320
in verse 24.

823
00:26:53,140 --> 00:26:55,040
It tells us now, a certain Jew named

824
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:58,440
Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man and

825
00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,120
mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.

826
00:27:01,040 --> 00:27:02,740
This man had been instructed in the way

827
00:27:02,740 --> 00:27:04,220
of the Lord and being fervent in spirit,

828
00:27:04,340 --> 00:27:06,100
he spoke and taught accurately the things of

829
00:27:06,100 --> 00:27:07,740
the Lord, though he knew only the baptism

830
00:27:07,740 --> 00:27:08,320
of John.

831
00:27:08,820 --> 00:27:10,720
So he began to speak boldly in the

832
00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:11,040
synagogue.

833
00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:13,460
And when Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they

834
00:27:13,460 --> 00:27:15,520
took him aside and they explained to him

835
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,320
the way of God more accurately.

836
00:27:19,380 --> 00:27:21,260
And when he desired to cross to Achaia,

837
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,020
the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive

838
00:27:25,020 --> 00:27:25,200
him.

839
00:27:25,220 --> 00:27:27,160
And when he arrived, he greatly helped those

840
00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:28,700
who had believed through grace.

841
00:27:29,340 --> 00:27:31,180
The amazing thing about this, if you're not

842
00:27:31,180 --> 00:27:34,400
familiar, well, in Acts chapter 1, you may

843
00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:36,620
recall, or in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, when

844
00:27:36,620 --> 00:27:40,080
Paul wrote, he looked there and to the

845
00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,640
church there at Corinth and he said, you

846
00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,720
know, you're split and you're divided and some

847
00:27:45,720 --> 00:27:47,340
of you say I'm Paul and some say

848
00:27:47,340 --> 00:27:49,220
I'm Apollos and some say I'm of Cephas.

849
00:27:49,940 --> 00:27:53,240
But this guy Apollos, he ended up ultimately

850
00:27:53,240 --> 00:27:56,840
being categorized, of course, as an apostle himself,

851
00:27:57,260 --> 00:27:59,220
right up there where the church looked and

852
00:27:59,220 --> 00:28:01,120
says, man, this guy is as great a

853
00:28:01,120 --> 00:28:03,040
guy as anything we ever got from Paul

854
00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:04,160
or from Peter.

855
00:28:04,540 --> 00:28:05,940
And yet he was a guy that he

856
00:28:05,940 --> 00:28:08,000
was met one day in a synagogue by

857
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:09,380
this couple, Aquila and Priscilla.

858
00:28:09,500 --> 00:28:10,720
They came in and they just looked at

859
00:28:10,720 --> 00:28:11,720
this guy, didn't know much.

860
00:28:11,780 --> 00:28:13,380
He just knew the baptism of John.

861
00:28:14,220 --> 00:28:16,000
And there was just what he'd heard from

862
00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,100
John the Baptist on repent, the kingdom of

863
00:28:19,100 --> 00:28:20,020
heaven is at hand.

864
00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:21,780
Prepare ye the way of the Lord.

865
00:28:21,840 --> 00:28:24,180
As he's coming in there, sensing God's doing

866
00:28:24,180 --> 00:28:27,100
something, sensing that there's a whole new breaking

867
00:28:27,100 --> 00:28:28,300
forth of life.

868
00:28:28,420 --> 00:28:29,460
He didn't know what it was.

869
00:28:29,540 --> 00:28:31,380
He hadn't the slightest idea at the time,

870
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:33,120
but the spirit of God had stirred something

871
00:28:33,120 --> 00:28:33,680
up within him.

872
00:28:34,080 --> 00:28:36,000
But the wonderful thing is Aquila and Priscilla,

873
00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:39,280
this wonderful couple, they see this young man

874
00:28:39,280 --> 00:28:41,040
and they take him into their home.

875
00:28:41,440 --> 00:28:43,160
They brought him in, you know, like they'd

876
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:43,840
taken in Paul.

877
00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:45,840
Now they bring him in and they sat

878
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:48,400
down and they instructed him in a more

879
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,020
excellent way or they taught him the way

880
00:28:50,020 --> 00:28:50,860
more accurately.

881
00:28:51,420 --> 00:28:53,040
So he sat down with this guy and

882
00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:54,980
if you could just imagine him sitting there

883
00:28:54,980 --> 00:28:57,700
in the evenings around there telling him the

884
00:28:57,700 --> 00:29:00,280
full truth, telling him the wonder of it

885
00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:00,500
all.

886
00:29:00,580 --> 00:29:02,740
Let me tell you, you're talking about, you

887
00:29:02,740 --> 00:29:04,440
know, preparing the way of the Lord.

888
00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:05,880
The way of the Lord has come.

889
00:29:06,300 --> 00:29:07,280
And having a policy.

890
00:29:07,460 --> 00:29:07,660
What?

891
00:29:07,860 --> 00:29:09,160
Yes, he's come.

892
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:09,440
Who?

893
00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:10,560
His name's Jesus.

894
00:29:11,020 --> 00:29:13,360
Going through the scriptures, saying here, you know,

895
00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:15,300
here he was born of a virgin, see

896
00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:15,660
this?

897
00:29:15,900 --> 00:29:17,840
And he came forth and wrapped in swaddling

898
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,360
clothes of a virgin, as told in these

899
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:22,080
scriptures here and as they taught him and

900
00:29:22,080 --> 00:29:23,000
taught him and taught him.

901
00:29:23,320 --> 00:29:24,880
Thereof now he was born of a virgin,

902
00:29:25,040 --> 00:29:27,300
a spotless life, the perfect offering of his

903
00:29:27,300 --> 00:29:29,940
life upon the cross for all the sins

904
00:29:29,940 --> 00:29:31,980
of the world and his victory over sin,

905
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,140
death, hell and the devil, rising out of

906
00:29:34,140 --> 00:29:37,460
the tomb himself, ascending to heaven and then

907
00:29:37,460 --> 00:29:39,960
the outpouring of his spirit and listening to

908
00:29:39,960 --> 00:29:43,040
Apollos at night, watching him as he would

909
00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,420
just sit there taking it all in as

910
00:29:45,420 --> 00:29:46,620
this couple just took him.

911
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,500
They themselves, they probably never thought of themselves

912
00:29:49,500 --> 00:29:54,980
as pastors or as trainers or as disciplers

913
00:29:54,980 --> 00:29:58,000
or whatever else, but to think, here this

914
00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,800
couple, that just because of their shared lives

915
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:02,760
with one another, their shared marriage, their love

916
00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,540
for God, that God used their home and

917
00:30:04,540 --> 00:30:06,620
their life to bring people in, such as

918
00:30:06,620 --> 00:30:09,120
the Apostle Paul, somebody quite mature, and then

919
00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:11,540
to bring in somebody completely immature and to

920
00:30:11,540 --> 00:30:15,120
have him be trained so that when he

921
00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:16,920
went on to minister they could write letters

922
00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:19,420
and say, accept him, this guy is ready

923
00:30:19,420 --> 00:30:21,400
to go, but he was taught, his life

924
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:23,060
was set apart, it was sanctified.

925
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:25,340
And how they could lead him into the

926
00:30:25,340 --> 00:30:27,660
power of God, how they could lead him

927
00:30:27,660 --> 00:30:29,560
into a knowledge of God and a depth

928
00:30:29,560 --> 00:30:32,100
in Christ and how to see this young

929
00:30:32,100 --> 00:30:34,280
man, Apollos, as he'd go out and share.

930
00:30:35,260 --> 00:30:37,440
Let me tell you, marriage, as wonderful as

931
00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:38,860
it can be with each other, but when

932
00:30:38,860 --> 00:30:41,260
ministry happens, when people know what it is

933
00:30:41,260 --> 00:30:43,600
to invest their lives, so often, again, our

934
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,600
flesh and our selfishness says, oh, I want

935
00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:46,980
to do this with my time, I want

936
00:30:46,980 --> 00:30:48,420
to do this with my energy, I want

937
00:30:48,420 --> 00:30:50,580
to do this, I want to go vacation,

938
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,400
I want to go spend my time here,

939
00:30:52,500 --> 00:30:53,680
here's how I'd like to do with my

940
00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:54,120
weekends.

941
00:30:54,500 --> 00:30:55,880
But let me tell you, when a couple

942
00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:57,260
that knows what it is to share their

943
00:30:57,260 --> 00:30:58,640
life in Christ and know what it is

944
00:30:58,640 --> 00:31:00,960
to love one another, and they've got something

945
00:31:00,960 --> 00:31:02,680
to where they can just begin to wrap,

946
00:31:03,000 --> 00:31:04,940
you know, young people and young couples into

947
00:31:04,940 --> 00:31:06,880
their arms and take them into their home

948
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:08,700
and say, let me tell you the way.

949
00:31:09,500 --> 00:31:11,120
They, you know, let me tell you, there's

950
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:13,220
no country in the world you'll ever fly

951
00:31:13,220 --> 00:31:15,300
to, I don't care first or second class,

952
00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:17,820
I don't care five-star hotel, you'll never

953
00:31:17,820 --> 00:31:21,620
come back with an experience as phenomenal and

954
00:31:21,620 --> 00:31:24,360
as wonderful to the soul and as enriching

955
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,380
and as thrilling to somebody as when they

956
00:31:26,380 --> 00:31:28,720
realize, I've actually poured something of my life

957
00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:29,520
into somebody else.

958
00:31:30,300 --> 00:31:33,280
I'm actually seeing the kingdom of heaven increasing.

959
00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:35,840
I'm seeing somebody equip their life to think

960
00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:39,980
to go on, and I'm going to become

961
00:31:39,980 --> 00:31:42,760
a grandma and a grandpa through Apollos, as

962
00:31:42,760 --> 00:31:44,420
he goes out and leads people to Christ.

963
00:31:45,360 --> 00:31:47,600
This week I got a picture that my

964
00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:48,680
daughter-in-law mailed me.

965
00:31:48,900 --> 00:31:50,060
It was to me, it was addressed to

966
00:31:50,060 --> 00:31:50,160
me.

967
00:31:50,180 --> 00:31:52,060
My wife immediately confiscated it, I'll tell her

968
00:31:52,060 --> 00:31:52,540
to give it back.

969
00:31:52,940 --> 00:31:55,760
But the thing is that my grandson, she

970
00:31:55,760 --> 00:31:58,140
sent him up and she immediately came over,

971
00:31:58,220 --> 00:31:59,520
grabs the whole thing, I told her you

972
00:31:59,520 --> 00:32:01,220
can borrow it if you can't take it

973
00:32:01,220 --> 00:32:02,900
off the office, she immediately took it out

974
00:32:02,900 --> 00:32:03,960
and went and had duplicates made.

975
00:32:04,060 --> 00:32:05,860
But at any rate, the thing is, as

976
00:32:05,860 --> 00:32:08,480
I look there, there's something about a grandchild.

977
00:32:09,740 --> 00:32:11,600
Now you've all got nice kids and they're

978
00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:13,240
cute and all that, but they don't touch

979
00:32:13,240 --> 00:32:13,960
my grandchild.

980
00:32:14,180 --> 00:32:16,540
You know it's funny, when I drive by

981
00:32:16,540 --> 00:32:18,100
these cars and I'll see somebody with one

982
00:32:18,100 --> 00:32:22,480
of these little bumper or license plate frames

983
00:32:22,480 --> 00:32:24,560
that says, my grandchild is cuter than yours,

984
00:32:24,580 --> 00:32:25,860
I want to pull him over and say,

985
00:32:25,980 --> 00:32:29,280
you're crazy, you've never seen mine, there's something

986
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:31,340
wonderful about it.

987
00:32:31,380 --> 00:32:33,020
Well it's true in the spiritual world.

988
00:32:33,760 --> 00:32:35,880
When there is something to where you're pouring

989
00:32:35,880 --> 00:32:39,800
your life into somebody, and seeing them grow,

990
00:32:40,300 --> 00:32:44,280
and seeing them go on to reproduce, you're

991
00:32:44,280 --> 00:32:45,820
a grandmother, you're a grandpa.

992
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:50,020
And it may take some time, it may

993
00:32:50,020 --> 00:32:52,060
take some effort, but the reward of it

994
00:32:52,060 --> 00:32:54,500
is absolutely wonderful, it's fantastic.

995
00:32:55,060 --> 00:32:58,440
Taking people in, loving and caring, and the

996
00:32:58,440 --> 00:32:59,080
fruit of it.

997
00:33:00,260 --> 00:33:02,720
And Aquila and Priscilla, obviously they were this

998
00:33:02,720 --> 00:33:03,620
type of a couple.

999
00:33:04,420 --> 00:33:05,940
There was somebody there as you see them

1000
00:33:05,940 --> 00:33:09,260
again and again in Scripture, the only thing

1001
00:33:09,260 --> 00:33:10,580
you know about them is they love the

1002
00:33:10,580 --> 00:33:12,000
Lord, and they love the church, and they

1003
00:33:12,000 --> 00:33:16,880
love people, all the way ultimately until their

1004
00:33:16,880 --> 00:33:17,540
very death.

1005
00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,840
In Romans chapter 16, in verse 4, Paul

1006
00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:23,540
writes about Aquila and Priscilla, he says, I

1007
00:33:23,540 --> 00:33:25,820
greet Priscilla and Aquila, this time her name

1008
00:33:25,820 --> 00:33:28,160
is first, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus,

1009
00:33:28,260 --> 00:33:30,340
who risk their own necks for my life,

1010
00:33:31,340 --> 00:33:34,460
for whom not only I give thanks, but

1011
00:33:34,460 --> 00:33:36,760
also all the churches of the Gentiles.

1012
00:33:36,820 --> 00:33:37,880
Look at this couple.

1013
00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:40,920
Here is Paul writes them, as he says,

1014
00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:43,940
by the way, say hi to Priscilla and

1015
00:33:43,940 --> 00:33:44,220
Aquila.

1016
00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:46,940
And he says, my fellow servants, you know,

1017
00:33:46,980 --> 00:33:48,880
workers in Christ, and he looks at them

1018
00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:50,380
and he says, they risk their very necks

1019
00:33:50,380 --> 00:33:50,780
for me.

1020
00:33:51,100 --> 00:33:53,320
They put their own neck on the line

1021
00:33:53,320 --> 00:33:55,200
for me, as he looks at it, for

1022
00:33:55,200 --> 00:33:55,920
my life.

1023
00:33:56,000 --> 00:33:57,700
He looks there as if to say any

1024
00:33:57,700 --> 00:33:59,580
fruit that went on in my life after

1025
00:33:59,580 --> 00:34:02,040
a certain point, he says, heaven and earth

1026
00:34:02,040 --> 00:34:04,840
can credit Aquila and Priscilla for it, for

1027
00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:06,140
their love, their ministry.

1028
00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:08,739
What they did for me was a great

1029
00:34:08,739 --> 00:34:09,139
blessing.

1030
00:34:09,260 --> 00:34:10,580
And he says, not only do I give

1031
00:34:10,580 --> 00:34:13,560
them thanks, but also all the churches of

1032
00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:14,239
the Gentiles.

1033
00:34:14,639 --> 00:34:17,300
Here was something that the churches all over,

1034
00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,000
the whole Gentile church knew Aquila and Priscilla,

1035
00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:23,960
though we never know of them ever standing

1036
00:34:23,960 --> 00:34:24,440
in a pulpit.

1037
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:27,020
We never know of them at all in

1038
00:34:27,020 --> 00:34:28,880
a lot of the conventional things of what

1039
00:34:28,880 --> 00:34:30,199
a lot of people would call leaders.

1040
00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:32,900
But they're somebody that they're marriage.

1041
00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:35,239
They knew what it was to love the

1042
00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:35,460
Lord.

1043
00:34:35,580 --> 00:34:36,620
They knew what it was to love each

1044
00:34:36,620 --> 00:34:36,860
other.

1045
00:34:36,940 --> 00:34:38,000
And they knew what it was to take

1046
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:39,620
full advantage of it in such a way

1047
00:34:39,620 --> 00:34:41,420
as they could bring people right into their

1048
00:34:41,420 --> 00:34:43,860
home, into their lives, and minister to them

1049
00:34:43,860 --> 00:34:45,560
in the most wonderful of ways.

1050
00:34:46,159 --> 00:34:47,960
And you look there and you realize this

1051
00:34:47,960 --> 00:34:50,239
couple, they did.

1052
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:52,300
History tells us they more than risked their

1053
00:34:52,300 --> 00:34:52,580
necks.

1054
00:34:52,580 --> 00:34:56,380
The Catholic church actually celebrates July 8th, is

1055
00:34:56,380 --> 00:34:58,260
the day that this couple was martyred together

1056
00:34:58,260 --> 00:34:59,500
for their witness for Christ.

1057
00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:02,640
History about Aquila and Priscilla, they were given

1058
00:35:02,640 --> 00:35:04,200
sainthood for their lives.

1059
00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:07,500
But how accurate it is, who knows?

1060
00:35:07,600 --> 00:35:09,120
We do know that though they moved from

1061
00:35:09,120 --> 00:35:11,200
Rome to Corinth to Ephesus, and then they

1062
00:35:11,200 --> 00:35:12,760
ultimately moved back to Rome.

1063
00:35:13,340 --> 00:35:14,840
And you go through the scriptures and follow

1064
00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:15,060
them.

1065
00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:17,880
But it's something their lives were absolutely mobile.

1066
00:35:18,820 --> 00:35:20,220
Their lives were, they'd say, God, where do

1067
00:35:20,220 --> 00:35:20,800
you want us to go?

1068
00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:22,680
They'd look there and what do you want

1069
00:35:22,680 --> 00:35:23,160
us to do?

1070
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:24,020
Just send us.

1071
00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:25,300
You want us in this town?

1072
00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:26,100
You want us over there?

1073
00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:26,880
We're needed over here.

1074
00:35:26,940 --> 00:35:28,420
Whatever it is that we can help.

1075
00:35:29,040 --> 00:35:30,940
Whatever it is that we can serve the

1076
00:35:30,940 --> 00:35:31,320
church.

1077
00:35:31,680 --> 00:35:34,520
You see them sharing and serving and sanctifying.

1078
00:35:35,300 --> 00:35:38,400
Until ultimately, as tradition has them about them

1079
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:40,500
in Fox's Book of Martyrs, one day this

1080
00:35:40,500 --> 00:35:42,760
couple was led out of Rome together outside

1081
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:43,400
the city.

1082
00:35:44,660 --> 00:35:46,600
And there together they were beheaded.

1083
00:35:47,560 --> 00:35:49,520
There this couple there for their witness for

1084
00:35:49,520 --> 00:35:50,620
Christ is together.

1085
00:35:51,000 --> 00:35:52,560
The amazing, wonderful thing about them.

1086
00:35:52,600 --> 00:35:53,960
And to me, I think wonderful is the

1087
00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:54,900
right word as well.

1088
00:35:55,300 --> 00:35:57,640
But there is the blade dropped on their

1089
00:35:57,640 --> 00:35:58,740
heads together.

1090
00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,200
And there they were united together in marriage.

1091
00:36:01,320 --> 00:36:02,960
They were united together in service.

1092
00:36:03,120 --> 00:36:05,760
They were united together in sanctifying, you know,

1093
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:07,860
the body of Christ and ministering in it.

1094
00:36:07,860 --> 00:36:09,880
And they were united together in appearing before

1095
00:36:09,880 --> 00:36:10,860
the Lord Himself.

1096
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:14,880
And they're a wonderful story to me.

1097
00:36:15,600 --> 00:36:18,760
And many times people don't realize the power

1098
00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:19,420
of their home.

1099
00:36:19,960 --> 00:36:22,000
They don't realize the power of their marriage.

1100
00:36:25,280 --> 00:36:26,660
There's a couple here.

1101
00:36:26,720 --> 00:36:30,120
I won't embarrass them because, well, Lee and

1102
00:36:30,120 --> 00:36:31,360
Paul aren't the type that like to be

1103
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:31,840
talked about.

1104
00:36:32,220 --> 00:36:33,940
But the thing is, is that they, this

1105
00:36:33,940 --> 00:36:35,860
summer, they had a, he was telling me

1106
00:36:35,860 --> 00:36:37,740
the other day on how, well, I went

1107
00:36:37,740 --> 00:36:38,960
over, we had dinner with them one night

1108
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:43,320
and they had a couple of girls, swimmers,

1109
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,200
Olympic swimmers that stayed with them for a

1110
00:36:46,200 --> 00:36:47,260
few months in their home.

1111
00:36:47,880 --> 00:36:49,400
And we had dinner with them one night.

1112
00:36:49,460 --> 00:36:51,380
It was a wonderful evening together.

1113
00:36:51,740 --> 00:36:54,820
But just being there, and it was so

1114
00:36:54,820 --> 00:36:56,700
wonderful because, I mean, just the prayer and

1115
00:36:56,700 --> 00:36:59,260
the talking and sharing openly, just talking about

1116
00:36:59,260 --> 00:37:00,280
Jesus and who He was and what He

1117
00:37:00,280 --> 00:37:00,660
was doing.

1118
00:37:01,080 --> 00:37:03,240
And these two girls, of course, coming from

1119
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:05,700
Russia, knew nothing of the gospel, knew nothing

1120
00:37:05,700 --> 00:37:07,520
at all about any of it.

1121
00:37:07,620 --> 00:37:09,780
Coming to church here and so sweet and

1122
00:37:09,780 --> 00:37:12,540
graceful they were and so warm and friendly.

1123
00:37:14,360 --> 00:37:16,940
But as they left, one of the things

1124
00:37:16,940 --> 00:37:18,840
that they said to Lee, or that I

1125
00:37:18,840 --> 00:37:19,940
don't know who they said it to, I

1126
00:37:19,940 --> 00:37:22,620
just heard it second or third hand, but

1127
00:37:22,620 --> 00:37:24,240
that they commented on how that when they

1128
00:37:24,240 --> 00:37:25,660
went home they wanted to get married.

1129
00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:27,800
They had never wanted to get married before.

1130
00:37:27,900 --> 00:37:29,020
They grew up in a world where the

1131
00:37:29,020 --> 00:37:31,720
home, the marriage, the idea, the concept of

1132
00:37:31,720 --> 00:37:32,760
it was just so miserable.

1133
00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:35,500
And how the thought that they had decided

1134
00:37:35,500 --> 00:37:37,800
just being in a place to where just

1135
00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:40,720
the power of a marriage and the power

1136
00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:42,180
of how it can touch people's lives.

1137
00:37:42,660 --> 00:37:44,900
And to me, when somebody realizes it, you

1138
00:37:44,900 --> 00:37:46,540
can talk and talk and talk, but when

1139
00:37:46,540 --> 00:37:47,300
you can live.

1140
00:37:47,880 --> 00:37:49,420
In Aquila and Priscilla they lived.

1141
00:37:50,120 --> 00:37:52,380
The Bible says one shall chase a thousand

1142
00:37:52,380 --> 00:37:53,480
and two a great nation.

1143
00:37:54,460 --> 00:37:57,180
Or in another scripture that one shall chase

1144
00:37:57,180 --> 00:37:58,900
a thousand and two ten thousands.

1145
00:37:59,020 --> 00:38:00,600
It's like there's a multiplication factor.

1146
00:38:00,660 --> 00:38:01,740
You can take a man or you can

1147
00:38:01,740 --> 00:38:03,300
take a woman and send them off alone

1148
00:38:03,300 --> 00:38:04,420
and have them do something, they can do

1149
00:38:04,420 --> 00:38:04,760
something.

1150
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:07,200
But when their lives are together and blended

1151
00:38:07,200 --> 00:38:08,960
and they're in love with the Lord and

1152
00:38:08,960 --> 00:38:10,140
they're in love with each other and they

1153
00:38:10,140 --> 00:38:12,760
love serving and they love bringing people in,

1154
00:38:13,060 --> 00:38:15,880
there's something that there's a multiplication factor, there's

1155
00:38:15,880 --> 00:38:18,180
a power and a dimension to it that

1156
00:38:18,180 --> 00:38:20,500
we can't fathom it on how it touches

1157
00:38:20,500 --> 00:38:21,780
and blesses other people.

1158
00:38:22,340 --> 00:38:23,960
But oh, when we just learn, God.

1159
00:38:24,980 --> 00:38:26,560
Maybe you know, for those of us that

1160
00:38:26,560 --> 00:38:27,760
are married, to be able to say, God

1161
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:29,000
make us an Aquila and Priscilla.

1162
00:38:29,160 --> 00:38:31,040
If we are selfish or we don't, you

1163
00:38:31,040 --> 00:38:33,440
know, we're messing with each other's thermostats all

1164
00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:35,260
the time or we're, you know, playing with

1165
00:38:35,260 --> 00:38:35,960
each other's heads.

1166
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:37,320
We don't know what it is to care.

1167
00:38:37,780 --> 00:38:38,580
God humble us.

1168
00:38:38,940 --> 00:38:41,100
Help us, you know, know that when we

1169
00:38:41,100 --> 00:38:42,540
know what it is to esteem each other

1170
00:38:42,540 --> 00:38:43,860
is more important than ourselves.

1171
00:38:44,260 --> 00:38:45,720
When we know what it is to want

1172
00:38:45,720 --> 00:38:48,140
to genuinely care for each other.

1173
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:49,900
Give away our throne.

1174
00:38:50,720 --> 00:38:52,520
Then is, you know, when we end up

1175
00:38:52,520 --> 00:38:54,400
having one in the most wonderful way.

1176
00:38:54,820 --> 00:38:56,000
And then when you do it there in

1177
00:38:56,000 --> 00:38:59,100
your home, you now have a tool that

1178
00:38:59,100 --> 00:39:01,100
now God can use in the most wonderful

1179
00:39:01,100 --> 00:39:01,620
ways.

1180
00:39:01,780 --> 00:39:06,200
Few Christians, few Christians to me ever know

1181
00:39:06,200 --> 00:39:06,380
it.

1182
00:39:07,160 --> 00:39:08,740
Ever know what it is.

1183
00:39:08,820 --> 00:39:12,100
I remember the year that we spent in

1184
00:39:12,100 --> 00:39:15,620
England when we were young married couple and

1185
00:39:15,620 --> 00:39:17,300
we used to sit at night around the

1186
00:39:17,300 --> 00:39:20,180
table with Alan and Marjorie Redpath and different

1187
00:39:20,180 --> 00:39:22,300
times other people, you know, over there.

1188
00:39:22,540 --> 00:39:25,100
But they didn't realize them at all, but

1189
00:39:25,100 --> 00:39:26,900
on how at that age you're just watching

1190
00:39:26,900 --> 00:39:27,680
them so much.

1191
00:39:27,920 --> 00:39:29,360
Not that you've seen their staring at them,

1192
00:39:29,380 --> 00:39:29,880
but you are.

1193
00:39:30,260 --> 00:39:31,240
You're watching attitudes.

1194
00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:33,520
You're watching how they think and how and

1195
00:39:33,520 --> 00:39:35,000
watching them on how they care.

1196
00:39:35,620 --> 00:39:37,600
And of course, in England, you know, everything

1197
00:39:37,600 --> 00:39:40,840
is darling, you know, and but that's kind

1198
00:39:40,840 --> 00:39:43,500
of wonderful, you know, on how that and

1199
00:39:43,500 --> 00:39:46,020
talking in the way that they would care

1200
00:39:46,020 --> 00:39:49,400
and say and be interested and serve one

1201
00:39:49,400 --> 00:39:49,740
another.

1202
00:39:49,740 --> 00:39:51,760
And out of that, I mean, then when

1203
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:53,560
you watch people as they speak or they

1204
00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:56,180
minister, but when you realize they truly love

1205
00:39:56,180 --> 00:39:58,460
each other, it's a wonderful thing.

1206
00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:01,880
And if you're married, may God take your

1207
00:40:01,880 --> 00:40:03,100
marriage and do something wonderful.

1208
00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:05,520
If you haven't discovered the potential of it,

1209
00:40:05,960 --> 00:40:07,620
what you can do of taking people into

1210
00:40:07,620 --> 00:40:10,220
your life and ministering to them.

1211
00:40:10,640 --> 00:40:13,100
We're in such a selfish generation where we

1212
00:40:13,100 --> 00:40:14,400
think our lives are our own.

1213
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:15,700
We think our marriages are our own.

1214
00:40:15,740 --> 00:40:16,740
We think our homes are our own.

1215
00:40:16,780 --> 00:40:18,140
But we look there and realize, God, how

1216
00:40:18,140 --> 00:40:20,140
can you take this, whatever it is we

1217
00:40:20,140 --> 00:40:23,060
have, and use it, open it up and

1218
00:40:23,060 --> 00:40:25,460
have it touch people's lives where we pour

1219
00:40:25,460 --> 00:40:26,820
something in them or may take a little

1220
00:40:26,820 --> 00:40:29,000
time, may take a little energy, may cost

1221
00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:30,820
us a little something over here with an

1222
00:40:30,820 --> 00:40:32,520
evening there or something with this or that.

1223
00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:33,600
Take them in.

1224
00:40:33,780 --> 00:40:36,000
But God, when we can do this, there's

1225
00:40:36,000 --> 00:40:38,800
some way you can use it and have

1226
00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:39,240
at it.

1227
00:40:40,240 --> 00:40:44,200
And if you're not married, there's still phenomenal

1228
00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:46,080
potential with all of us with our lives.

1229
00:40:46,200 --> 00:40:47,160
When we look there and say, how can

1230
00:40:47,160 --> 00:40:48,000
I take and minister?

1231
00:40:48,500 --> 00:40:50,040
You don't have to be married, obviously, to

1232
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:50,380
minister.

1233
00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:52,380
That's for sure.

1234
00:40:52,900 --> 00:40:55,280
But the wonderful thing is when we realize

1235
00:40:55,280 --> 00:40:58,520
the power of our lives and service and

1236
00:40:58,520 --> 00:40:59,580
how God can use them.

1237
00:41:01,280 --> 00:41:02,100
Well, let's pray.

1238
00:41:03,020 --> 00:41:05,060
Father, we just thank you, Lord, for your

1239
00:41:05,060 --> 00:41:05,420
Word.

1240
00:41:06,300 --> 00:41:08,260
We thank you, dear Lord, for your wonderful

1241
00:41:08,260 --> 00:41:09,160
goodness to us.

1242
00:41:09,920 --> 00:41:12,200
And Lord, I pray that in the evenings

1243
00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:15,840
as we would just look at marriages, Lord,

1244
00:41:15,920 --> 00:41:17,800
that there wouldn't be one of us that

1245
00:41:17,800 --> 00:41:19,260
would be content with our marriage.

1246
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:21,880
That every married couple here, there would be

1247
00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:23,280
something to say, God, speak to me.

1248
00:41:24,100 --> 00:41:24,680
Teach me.

1249
00:41:25,320 --> 00:41:27,000
If there's any way that I've thought or

1250
00:41:27,000 --> 00:41:30,060
conceived, even of my own marriage, as wonderful

1251
00:41:30,060 --> 00:41:32,580
as it may be or as many needs

1252
00:41:32,580 --> 00:41:34,920
as it may have, but to say, God,

1253
00:41:34,960 --> 00:41:35,380
help me.

1254
00:41:35,900 --> 00:41:38,320
If there's some way that I can become

1255
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:39,920
a better helpmate, help me.

1256
00:41:40,640 --> 00:41:41,380
Humble me.

1257
00:41:42,140 --> 00:41:42,820
Teach me.

1258
00:41:43,200 --> 00:41:45,940
Lord, that we can grow and in such

1259
00:41:45,940 --> 00:41:47,820
a way that our lives can bear fruit,

1260
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:52,880
children, grandchildren, in the most eternal sense of

1261
00:41:52,880 --> 00:41:53,300
the word.

1262
00:41:53,920 --> 00:41:57,500
So God, take us, use us, teach us,

1263
00:41:57,680 --> 00:41:58,200
help us.

1264
00:41:59,020 --> 00:42:00,340
Thank you for your Word.

1265
00:42:01,020 --> 00:42:03,020
May the thoughts, Lord, of it tonight just

1266
00:42:03,020 --> 00:42:05,480
go into each one of us and encourage

1267
00:42:05,480 --> 00:42:05,940
us.

1268
00:42:06,460 --> 00:42:08,540
Lord, not that we would find ourselves struggling

1269
00:42:08,540 --> 00:42:10,740
with what maybe we don't have or are

1270
00:42:10,740 --> 00:42:12,620
upset that we want, but maybe the other

1271
00:42:12,620 --> 00:42:14,480
doesn't seem to, but God, we can just

1272
00:42:14,480 --> 00:42:16,740
know what it is to pray and say,

1273
00:42:16,800 --> 00:42:19,460
Lord, set us where you want us, teach

1274
00:42:19,460 --> 00:42:20,280
us and help us.

1275
00:42:20,900 --> 00:42:21,820
Strengthen us all.

1276
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,560
For Father, we ask it in Jesus' name.

1277
00:42:25,700 --> 00:42:26,020
Amen.