1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:27,280 Book Acts chapter #18 is where we will be in the Word of God. 8 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,160 Like I mentioned to you this morning, we'll kind of see over 9 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:32,680 the next few weeks. The month of December sometimes 10 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:34,560 can be a little bit different as far as preaching goes. 11 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,920 There's a lot of different things that are taking place and 12 00:00:36,920 --> 00:00:39,040 sometimes we're in our series and sometimes we're not. 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:40,840 And we'll see how that goes and that's OK. 14 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,160 But at the same time, I do know this, we preach in the Word of 15 00:00:43,160 --> 00:00:44,360 God every service that we're here. 16 00:00:44,360 --> 00:00:45,680 There's no. Question about that we're. 17 00:00:46,000 --> 00:00:47,280 Not going to be preaching from opinions. 18 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:48,920 We're not going to be preaching from a catechism. 19 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,040 We're not going to be preaching from the latest newspaper. 20 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:53,960 I mean, like, who's read a newspaper lately, all things 21 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,760 considered. But you can't afford a newspaper 22 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,560 like $4.00 a daily as it is for news you already knew yesterday. 23 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,160 But as it is, we're going to be preaching the word of God. 24 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:06,040 We're going to be doing that tonight from Acts chapter #18 25 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:11,080 You know, even since I was saved at the age of 16, my goal as 26 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,640 long as I can remember, and I can't say that I've always done 27 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:16,960 this to the best of my ability, but even as a young person and 28 00:01:16,960 --> 00:01:19,920 on my goal was I just wanted to be useful in God's service. 29 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:21,960 I just want to be able to serve the Lord. 30 00:01:21,960 --> 00:01:23,600 I want to be able to serve others. 31 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:28,240 And I always enjoyed that and I always was blessed to be able to 32 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:30,720 do that in certain ways. But I think the Lord that he 33 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:33,520 called me into the ministry and I know a specific calling that 34 00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:37,040 the Lord placed upon my life when I was 18 years old to be 35 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:40,000 able to call, to be able to preach and preach the word of 36 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,080 God. And I can do that today knowing 37 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:44,920 that it really is not me who is the one that's doing it. 38 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,680 Certainly I'll have to get up here and be able to put the 39 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:49,600 message together and all those types of things. 40 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:52,040 But I know without the spirits leading and let the spirits 41 00:01:52,040 --> 00:01:55,280 calling in my life, certainly it would not be something that I 42 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:58,120 would be able to do. But I will say this is that it's 43 00:01:58,120 --> 00:02:01,640 important for us to understand that God doesn't just use the 44 00:02:01,720 --> 00:02:04,800 full time people, that God doesn't just use those who are 45 00:02:04,800 --> 00:02:07,400 the pastors or the pastors wives or the missionaries or the 46 00:02:07,400 --> 00:02:11,960 evangelists or whoever they are. Know that God desires to use 47 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,160 every single one of us in his service. 48 00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,920 And I would say to you tonight that often times the people who 49 00:02:16,920 --> 00:02:19,960 have been the most impactful to me in my Christian life, we're 50 00:02:19,960 --> 00:02:22,560 always the pastors. It wasn't always those who were 51 00:02:22,560 --> 00:02:25,960 the full time Christian service. Honestly, there's so many times 52 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:28,440 the people who have made the greatest impact on me were just 53 00:02:28,640 --> 00:02:32,040 watch out Now, ordinary people in the church, the people that 54 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,000 were under the pastor, oh, they're menial. 55 00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,280 They're not as important. You know, remember every part of 56 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:39,800 the body is important. Every part of the body is of 57 00:02:39,800 --> 00:02:41,320 need. That you can't cut one part out 58 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:43,640 and say, well, that's part that we didn't need just as much as 59 00:02:43,640 --> 00:02:46,080 you can't cut part of your body out and say, well, I don't think 60 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:48,440 I needed that part, you realize? Oh yeah, I guess I did. 61 00:02:48,440 --> 00:02:49,840 There's a reason God put that there. 62 00:02:50,000 --> 00:02:52,960 There's a reason God put you in the place that you are at 63 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:54,720 Liberty Baptist Church. There's a reason that He's 64 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:56,880 placed you to be within the ministry. 65 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,880 And some of God's choices, servants, I believe, have never 66 00:03:00,880 --> 00:03:04,040 been to Bible college, will never receive a check from a 67 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:09,000 church, don't have a doctor before their name earned or 68 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:11,400 otherwise. They will never have the 69 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,520 accolades of being in some sort of Christian publication. 70 00:03:14,520 --> 00:03:16,520 They'll never write books. They'll never have any of that. 71 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,720 But listen, they'll have treasures in heaven that a lot 72 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:22,320 of pastors won't have. They'll have accolades from the 73 00:03:22,320 --> 00:03:25,640 one that matters, the only one that matters, and that's the 74 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:27,280 Lord. And so tonight, I want us to 75 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:30,880 consider the fact of two people that are mentioned in the Bible, 76 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:33,680 and it's like they're interwoven through the New Testament. 77 00:03:33,680 --> 00:03:36,240 You hear them a little bit here, you hear them a little bit 78 00:03:36,240 --> 00:03:38,760 there. You don't know much about them, 79 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:41,200 but yet it seems like they're all over the New Testament. 80 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,520 And then there's two people called Aquila and Priscilla, a 81 00:03:44,520 --> 00:03:48,720 man and a woman that we're able to have an impact not just on 82 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:52,280 the Apostle Paul, but upon the early church as well. 83 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,880 And the title, my message tonight is this, Everyone needs 84 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,160 an Aquila and a Priscilla. Everybody needs to have an 85 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:00,800 Aquila and Priscilla in their life. 86 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:04,760 And you should want to be an Aquila or a Priscilla in your 87 00:04:04,760 --> 00:04:06,920 life as well. And we'll see why here in just a 88 00:04:06,920 --> 00:04:07,920 moment. Would you please stand for the 89 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:10,200 reading God's Word? Where in Acts chapter 18 we'll 90 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:16,120 begin in verse #1. And it says after these things 91 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:19,760 Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth, and found a 92 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:23,360 certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontius, lately come from 93 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,800 Italy with his wife Priscilla. Because that Claudius had 94 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:30,120 commanded all Jews to depart from Rome, and came unto them, 95 00:04:30,520 --> 00:04:33,840 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and 96 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:36,560 wrought. For by their occupation they 97 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,320 were tent makers. And he reasoned in the synagogue 98 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:42,800 every Sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 99 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,440 And guess what? That's it. 100 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,560 You say that's the text. I mean, how much more do we 101 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:50,800 learn about Aquila and Priscilla? 102 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:52,840 Well, right here, not really much. 103 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,160 Pretty humble servants of the Lord, aren't they? 104 00:04:55,520 --> 00:04:56,960 We don't really know a whole lot about them. 105 00:04:56,960 --> 00:04:59,040 But I will tell you, they were very impactful. 106 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:03,840 Even as tradespeople, even as simple tent makers, they made a 107 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:06,960 great impact upon the church. And it reminds us that each and 108 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,280 every one of us, if we're willing to have a great impact 109 00:05:10,280 --> 00:05:12,560 on God's church as well. Would you be seated as we pray 110 00:05:12,560 --> 00:05:14,600 together? Heavenly Father, I thank you for 111 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:15,920 this night. And I pray that you helped me as 112 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:18,640 I preach this message to be able to preach it straight and true 113 00:05:18,640 --> 00:05:20,880 as you have desired me to. And I do. 114 00:05:21,200 --> 00:05:23,440 Just ask that you would work in each of our hearts tonight, that 115 00:05:23,440 --> 00:05:26,200 we would be the helpers of the ministry that you have called us 116 00:05:26,200 --> 00:05:28,800 to be. And we ask you for this humbly 117 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:32,160 in Jesus name, Amen. Here to Acts chapter 18, it says 118 00:05:32,160 --> 00:05:34,000 that Paul came to the place named Corinth. 119 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:36,160 Now, how much background do I have to give you about Corinth? 120 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:38,760 We've only been preaching on Corinth on Wednesday night for a 121 00:05:38,760 --> 00:05:40,520 while. This place of sin and 122 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:44,800 debauchery, this place that was like New York City and Las Vegas 123 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:49,520 and Monte Carlo and all of these different very worldly places 124 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:51,720 all together, just melded together. 125 00:05:51,720 --> 00:05:54,400 That was Corinth. And here in the midst of Corinth 126 00:05:54,600 --> 00:05:58,400 are these two Jews named Aquila and Priscilla. 127 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:02,520 Now, Aquila and Priscilla had previously lived in Rome, but as 128 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,360 Jews they had been expelled from Rome as all of the Jews had been 129 00:06:06,360 --> 00:06:11,080 expelled by the Emperor Claudia, as it says in verse #2 And so 130 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:15,400 sometime in the midst of this very early time of Paul being in 131 00:06:15,400 --> 00:06:18,560 Corinth, he meets Aquila and Priscilla and it says that they 132 00:06:18,560 --> 00:06:21,680 are of the same craft, meaning this, that they had the same 133 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:23,520 vocation, they had the same jobs. 134 00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:26,280 Now, New Testament jobs, it seems like typically that's 135 00:06:26,280 --> 00:06:27,880 about fishing and that's about it, isn't it? 136 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:29,440 What do you think about New Testament jobs? 137 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:31,880 It seems like we see a lot of fishermen, and that's really as 138 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,240 far as our mind goes. But the Bible tells us that they 139 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:36,360 were tent makers. Now, if you're a tent maker, 140 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,840 that would be a very important type of job in those days. 141 00:06:39,840 --> 00:06:42,240 We don't think about tents very much these days. 142 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,640 If we do, we think about them recreationally. 143 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:47,360 We think about going out and maybe having a camping trip. 144 00:06:47,360 --> 00:06:50,440 But sometimes in those days, having a tent could be the 145 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:51,840 difference between life and death. 146 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:54,400 If you didn't have a permanent home, if you didn't have a 147 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:57,240 permanent place to live, dwelling in a tent would not 148 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,880 have been unusual even in those days at all. 149 00:06:59,880 --> 00:07:03,240 And so it was a very important craft for someone to take a 150 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,680 pawn. And so Paul was a tent maker. 151 00:07:05,680 --> 00:07:08,720 And sometimes you hear people talk about past is having a tent 152 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:11,920 maker that kind of means like a second job or a second way to 153 00:07:11,920 --> 00:07:14,640 make income. My tent maker for a while, if 154 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,240 you will, was Uber. I know what a tent maker, right? 155 00:07:17,600 --> 00:07:19,640 But I would have rather made tents, all things considered, 156 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:22,040 than drive an Uber. But you do what you have to do, 157 00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,520 Amen. And so here is Paul and he did 158 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,000 not want to be chargeable to the people of Corinth. 159 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,480 And he actually spoke of that that in Second Corinthians. 160 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:31,920 Remember that brother Abel's was here a few weeks ago and talked 161 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:34,520 about that fact that he didn't want to be chargeable unto them. 162 00:07:34,520 --> 00:07:36,880 So what did he do? He says, listen, I'm not going 163 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:39,000 to draw a salary from you. I'm not going to be able to get 164 00:07:39,000 --> 00:07:41,480 money in the situation as it is currently. 165 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:44,000 But here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make tents. 166 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:46,800 I mean, Med Aquila and Priscilla and they had some things in 167 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:49,480 common. They were Jews, they were 168 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,000 believers most importantly, but also they had the same craft. 169 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:56,040 They all were tent makers as they came together, it says in 170 00:07:56,040 --> 00:08:00,200 verse #3 and because he was of the same craft, he abode with 171 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:03,440 them and wrought for by their occupation they were tent 172 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:05,080 makers. And verse #4 doesn't even talk 173 00:08:05,080 --> 00:08:07,920 about Aquila and Priscilla. But it does go on and say that 174 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:11,480 Paul's ministry continued there in Corinth because he reasoned 175 00:08:11,480 --> 00:08:15,560 the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the 176 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,000 Greeks. And so we see here that we are 177 00:08:18,000 --> 00:08:20,920 introduced to this couple that again will be mentioned a little 178 00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:23,280 bit here and a little bit there, that we don't know a lot about 179 00:08:23,280 --> 00:08:26,440 them, but we do know this. They were of humble means and of 180 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,320 humble beginnings. These were not people that were 181 00:08:29,960 --> 00:08:34,520 Pharisees, were not educated at the feet of Gamaliel like Paul 182 00:08:34,520 --> 00:08:38,559 was, but yet they were very much integral to the early church and 183 00:08:38,559 --> 00:08:42,679 very much integral to the gospel being spread not just in Asia 184 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:46,240 Minor, but beyond into Europe and the even further regions. 185 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,320 So as we look at Aquila and Priscilla, there's a few things 186 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:50,800 that I want us to understand here tonight. 187 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,800 And the first is this. When the man of God had a need, 188 00:08:54,000 --> 00:08:57,280 Aquila and Priscilla stepped in. Know this number one, when the 189 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:00,400 man of God had a need, Aquila and Priscilla were willing to 190 00:09:00,400 --> 00:09:02,960 step in. Here is Paul, he goes into 191 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,760 Corinth and we'll find out later on in the text verse #9 it says 192 00:09:06,760 --> 00:09:09,440 then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision. 193 00:09:09,680 --> 00:09:13,120 Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace, for I am 194 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,680 with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. 195 00:09:15,960 --> 00:09:19,160 For I have much people in this city now, just as a reminder, 196 00:09:19,160 --> 00:09:21,360 here's some background once again that I know we've covered 197 00:09:21,520 --> 00:09:23,600 as we looked at First Corinthians, But just a reminder 198 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,600 to you again, Paul, in the second missionary journey here, 199 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:28,320 had gone through some Hard Knocks. 200 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:31,720 Paul wasn't going down the primrose path as he's going to 201 00:09:31,720 --> 00:09:33,160 preach the gospel. What's happening? 202 00:09:33,320 --> 00:09:36,080 Everywhere he goes, they're chasing him out of the city at 203 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:40,280 best and beating him at worst. It's not a good situation that 204 00:09:40,280 --> 00:09:42,880 he's going through. By the time he gets to Corinth, 205 00:09:43,040 --> 00:09:46,040 he's just been to Athens and he's been basically laughed out 206 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:48,640 of Athens, although there are a few believers who've been left 207 00:09:48,640 --> 00:09:50,560 behind. And now he makes it to Corinth 208 00:09:50,760 --> 00:09:53,800 and it's obvious he's afraid. You say, how dare you say the 209 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:56,160 Apostle Paul is afraid? Why would the apostle Paul be 210 00:09:56,160 --> 00:09:58,280 afraid? Well, because God said don't be 211 00:09:58,280 --> 00:10:00,680 afraid. I mean, it doesn't take a rocket 212 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:03,840 scientist to figure out that he must have been afraid because 213 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:08,120 God deemed it necessary to go to Paul and said don't be afraid. 214 00:10:08,280 --> 00:10:10,440 And so now he's afraid. He's there. 215 00:10:10,440 --> 00:10:13,280 And listen, that doesn't diminish the kind of man he was. 216 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:17,000 That doesn't take away from the strong preacher, from the strong 217 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:19,520 missionary that he was, that he had this fear in his heart. 218 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:22,080 Listen, he went through things we can't even fathom, that we 219 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:24,000 can't even imagine, but he kept going. 220 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:27,280 He kept moving forward, but yet he had this bit of trepidation 221 00:10:27,280 --> 00:10:29,760 within him. And God told him, don't be 222 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:31,640 afraid. But I'd also say to you this, 223 00:10:31,800 --> 00:10:35,880 God gave him two friends to be able to help him, that in the 224 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,480 midst of that, as Paul is afraid, who does he meet? 225 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:41,240 Aquila and Priscilla, some people with some things in 226 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,240 common. They were Christians, they were 227 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,000 Jews, they were tent makers. And all of a sudden they were 228 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,760 fast friends. When Paul was in Corinth and he 229 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,720 was alone, remember his companions were not with him. 230 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,160 His traveling companions were still behind. 231 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,200 He was going ahead. They were supposed to meet him 232 00:10:56,200 --> 00:10:58,560 in court later. He may have felt alone. 233 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:00,040 He may have felt like no one was there. 234 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:02,520 No, he knew God was there, but you understand what I'm saying? 235 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:05,240 To be able to have someone that you can look at, someone that 236 00:11:05,240 --> 00:11:08,040 you can talk to, someone that can give you some physical 237 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:10,640 encouragement as far as shaking your hand or giving you a smile 238 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,480 or patting you on the back, something like that. 239 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:16,040 God says, listen, I am with you, but I don't think it's a stretch 240 00:11:16,040 --> 00:11:19,120 for me to say to you tonight this as well that God also said, 241 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:22,000 I'll give you an Aquila and I'll give you the Priscilla and they 242 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:24,680 will help you too. And they will aid you as the man 243 00:11:24,680 --> 00:11:26,640 of God there in court, to give you the help. 244 00:11:26,760 --> 00:11:29,120 That you need. Now, how much did they help him? 245 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:31,160 Well, go ahead and turn your Bible. 246 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,280 By the way, you don't need to stay in any of the places we are 247 00:11:33,280 --> 00:11:34,920 here tonight because we're going to kind of stick and move a 248 00:11:34,920 --> 00:11:38,080 little bit in the New Testament. So go to Romans chapter #16. 249 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:41,720 Romans chapter #16. How much did they help the 250 00:11:41,720 --> 00:11:43,480 apostle Paul? Well, let's look at the end of 251 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:46,080 the book of Romans, Romans chapter 16. 252 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:55,760 Look at verse #1 and it says this I commend unto you Phoebe, 253 00:11:55,760 --> 00:11:59,240 our sister, which is a servant of the church which has at 254 00:11:59,240 --> 00:12:02,880 Centra that you receive her in the Lord has become a St. so 255 00:12:02,880 --> 00:12:06,120 that you assist her in whatsoever business she hath 256 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:09,680 need of you. So, for she hath been a sucker 257 00:12:09,680 --> 00:12:13,480 of many and of myself also. Now by the way, Paul is talking 258 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,000 here about a church member going from one church to another. 259 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,880 And basically sometimes you hear that there's a letter sent from 260 00:12:19,880 --> 00:12:22,480 one church to another when someone moves their membership. 261 00:12:22,480 --> 00:12:25,680 Phoebe is a great example of that because Paul is saying that 262 00:12:25,800 --> 00:12:29,040 she is moving from one area to the other, from an old church to 263 00:12:29,040 --> 00:12:31,880 a new church, and he is giving a letter of recommendation right 264 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,960 here in the word of God, a letter of recommendation to this 265 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:38,080 woman Phoebe for her to be part of the church. 266 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:40,800 But then look at what it says in verse #3 greet who? 267 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:45,240 Priscilla and Aquila, my helpers in Christ Jesus. 268 00:12:45,240 --> 00:12:49,160 Now listen just that alone that Paul would name check you in 269 00:12:49,160 --> 00:12:51,720 what would end up being a letter that is included in Scripture. 270 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:56,080 And he says this greet to Aquila and Priscilla, my helpers in 271 00:12:56,080 --> 00:12:58,520 Christ Jesus. But look at it, says, who have 272 00:12:58,520 --> 00:13:03,080 for my life laid down their own necks, unto whom not only I give 273 00:13:03,080 --> 00:13:06,480 thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. 274 00:13:06,600 --> 00:13:10,480 So what does he say? I basically owe my life to 275 00:13:10,480 --> 00:13:14,480 Priscilla and Aquila. I owe who I am, Paul says, and 276 00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:17,480 the ministry that I have to them because they lay down their 277 00:13:17,480 --> 00:13:20,360 necks on the line to me, he basically says this. 278 00:13:20,520 --> 00:13:23,520 I owe my life to them for what they have done. 279 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:27,840 Now this is a wonderful example for us this evening that God 280 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:31,520 reminds us that when it comes to the preacher that when it comes 281 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,120 to the man of God, and I hesitate to use that term, but I 282 00:13:34,120 --> 00:13:37,520 will use it tonight because it's biblical that we are to be a 283 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:43,360 helper to the man of God. Isn't that convenient for you to 284 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:45,840 be able to say that Happy birthday to you, huh? 285 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:49,400 To be able to tell us that we need to be a helper to the man 286 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:51,120 of God. Well, I hate to break it to you, 287 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,360 but I have to be able to be a helper to the men of God that I 288 00:13:54,360 --> 00:13:56,440 have come across in my life as well. 289 00:13:56,440 --> 00:13:59,480 I think of the preachers who come here to Liberty Baptist 290 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:01,080 Church to preach and what do we often do? 291 00:14:01,080 --> 00:14:03,240 What do we endeavor to do with every preacher that comes here? 292 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,720 We want to be able to be an encouragement and help to them. 293 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,800 We give a love offering to them. Why to not just to cover their 294 00:14:08,800 --> 00:14:12,240 expenses, but also to be a blessed to them as they minister 295 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:14,360 and labor in the ministry of the Lord. 296 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:16,480 Now you can go. You don't have to go there right 297 00:14:16,480 --> 00:14:19,120 now, but you could go and you can write this down, dude, later 298 00:14:19,360 --> 00:14:23,000 to 2nd Kings chapter #4 And you will find there was a Shunamite 299 00:14:23,000 --> 00:14:26,760 woman who Elisha got to meet on the way here and there. 300 00:14:26,760 --> 00:14:29,880 And she would, Elisha would go past this woman's home. 301 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,600 And she said to her husband, wouldn't it be great if we just 302 00:14:32,840 --> 00:14:36,480 built a little, you know, a little home for him or just a 303 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,400 little apartment where he could be able to stay when he's going 304 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,480 here and going there. Of course, you understand, back 305 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:43,880 in those days, there was no Motel 6 and no one was leaving 306 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,640 the light on for you back then. And the way that they took care 307 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:49,760 of one another was by the laws of hospitality that you would 308 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:51,720 literally just lodge with someone else and they were 309 00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,880 supposed to take care of you as if they were taking care of 310 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:56,440 their own soul or their own family. 311 00:14:56,440 --> 00:14:59,200 That was the way that it worked. And so the Shunamite woman said 312 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:01,600 we should have this little chamber where there could be a 313 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:04,400 bed and a table and a Candlestick. 314 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:06,560 I mean, you want to talk about a pretty humble place to live? 315 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:09,720 What do you got? A bed, table and a Candlestick. 316 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:11,280 That's all you got. That's there. 317 00:15:11,280 --> 00:15:15,000 But that's what was there. And Elijah was thankful for 318 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:16,240 this. And she said this. 319 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:20,280 We need to take care of this man of God, which they did. 320 00:15:21,000 --> 00:15:24,520 It was place where even today sometimes you'll hear churches 321 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,760 have a profits chamber. Maybe you've heard of that. 322 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,360 Sometimes we call missions apartments today or those types 323 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:32,080 of things, but profits chambers where Church says we've got a 324 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:33,240 little. Home or we've got a. 325 00:15:33,240 --> 00:15:37,800 Room or if a missionary comes through or if a a guest preacher 326 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,600 or whoever it is somebody who has a need they can stay in that 327 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,240 prophet's chamber because we want to be able to take care of 328 00:15:43,240 --> 00:15:44,960 them. Now listen, I don't want to 329 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,920 spend an abundance of time on this tonight for a lot of 330 00:15:47,920 --> 00:15:51,480 reasons because I will say Liberty Baptist Church over the 331 00:15:51,480 --> 00:15:54,840 years has taken wonderful care of this pastor and has taken 332 00:15:54,840 --> 00:15:58,400 wonderful care of our family. We feel blessed beyond measure 333 00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:00,480 of being part of Liberty Baptist Church. 334 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,560 I feel humbled every time I think about the fact that I get 335 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:06,240 to lead Liberty Baptist Church, that the Lord has called us here 336 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:08,240 and that you have taken such good care of us. 337 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:11,760 This is not a shakedown tonight. This is not a way for me to say, 338 00:16:11,760 --> 00:16:14,880 hey, by the way, do you know New Year's races are coming, you 339 00:16:14,880 --> 00:16:17,200 know, or anything like that? That's not what I'm talking 340 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:19,680 about tonight at all. Again, I just want to give you 341 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,000 the overall concept that here is Aquila and Priscilla and what do 342 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:24,960 they do? Over and over again, they were a 343 00:16:24,960 --> 00:16:27,800 blessing to the Apostle Paul. Over and over again, they were a 344 00:16:27,800 --> 00:16:30,960 blessing to the man of God. Now, again, I even hesitate to 345 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:32,920 call myself the man of God here tonight. 346 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,400 In fact, I, I do not call myself the man of God. 347 00:16:35,800 --> 00:16:39,400 I will say this before and I've said this again, listen, you can 348 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:42,440 call me a man of God, but it's not for me of myself to call 349 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,760 myself a man of God. And you say, why is that? 350 00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:46,320 Well, let me give you an illustration. 351 00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:49,440 It was several years ago that we had an intern here for a very 352 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:51,520 short period of time who believed that he was going to 353 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:53,920 start a church in Plymouth. And so he thought that during 354 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:57,040 that time that he would come here and learn what it was to, 355 00:16:57,040 --> 00:17:00,480 you know, plan a church, someone who would well, planted a church 356 00:17:00,480 --> 00:17:03,560 in the area. And he had this habit over a 357 00:17:03,560 --> 00:17:05,920 short period of time. And this is someone at the time 358 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,960 was maybe 2223 years old. And I don't know about you, when 359 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,599 I was 22 or 23 years old, my wife said that I was very 360 00:17:11,599 --> 00:17:14,359 mature. But being mature for a 22 or 23 361 00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,480 year old still means you're still, well, pretty immature in 362 00:17:17,480 --> 00:17:20,160 a lot of ways. Because I look back at some of 363 00:17:20,160 --> 00:17:23,200 the things I said and did and thought about in 22 and 23 years 364 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:24,920 old. Like, I'd like to get those 365 00:17:24,920 --> 00:17:26,760 years back if I could. All things considered, we 366 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:27,920 probably all could feel that way. 367 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,840 But this young man at that time of life would go around and he 368 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:34,960 made sure that people understood that he was the man of God and 369 00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:37,400 that I was the man of God too, of course, as a pastor, but that 370 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,080 he also was a man of God. I had to call him into, well, I 371 00:17:40,080 --> 00:17:42,000 didn't have an office back in those days here, so I had to 372 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:43,520 call him into the nursery. That's where I did a lot of my 373 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,480 business the first few years. That explains a lot, doesn't it? 374 00:17:47,600 --> 00:17:50,440 I call him in the nursery and I said, I got to talk to you about 375 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,840 this man of God thing. I, I, I said, I said, have you 376 00:17:53,840 --> 00:17:56,480 ever done a word study on the man of God? 377 00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:58,320 And he, he said, well, no, not really. 378 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:00,000 He said, but the preacher's the man of God. 379 00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:03,840 I said, let me ask you this. Where in the Bible did anyone 380 00:18:04,160 --> 00:18:06,640 reference themselves as the man of God? 381 00:18:07,320 --> 00:18:08,480 He said, well, I, I don't really know. 382 00:18:08,480 --> 00:18:10,440 I said, let me, let me cut to the chase, Bubba. 383 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:13,720 All right. Nowhere in the Word of God does 384 00:18:13,720 --> 00:18:15,880 the man of God have to call himself the man of God. 385 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:20,400 Other people call him the man of God because they recognize him 386 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:24,120 as the man of God. Listen, I don't want to be able 387 00:18:24,120 --> 00:18:26,800 to present myself tonight as saying to you, well, I am the 388 00:18:26,800 --> 00:18:29,920 man of God and I present this. By the way, that title comes 389 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,520 with a whole lot more responsibility than it does 390 00:18:32,520 --> 00:18:34,320 privileges. I don't can't imagine the guy 391 00:18:34,320 --> 00:18:36,520 wanting to say, hey, make me the man of God. 392 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:38,320 Well, listen, do you understand what that entails? 393 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:40,880 That goes along with it. But I will say this, one of the 394 00:18:40,880 --> 00:18:44,200 greatest joys that I had as a pastor, perhaps one of the 395 00:18:44,200 --> 00:18:48,200 greatest, most unexpected joys is that as I am the pastor and 396 00:18:48,200 --> 00:18:51,960 as I am the preacher and as I am, if you want to say the man 397 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:55,520 of God here at Liberty Baptist Church, that I have met so many 398 00:18:55,560 --> 00:18:59,160 Aquilas and Priscillas, people that have come alongside myself, 399 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:01,840 that have come alongside my wife, that have come alongside 400 00:19:01,840 --> 00:19:05,920 my family and have treated us in ways that I can't even, I can't 401 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,680 even describe to you tonight. That when we were at our lowest 402 00:19:08,680 --> 00:19:11,640 times, when Diane was at her lowest health times, when we 403 00:19:11,640 --> 00:19:14,080 were going through family turmoil, when we were dealing 404 00:19:14,080 --> 00:19:16,960 with issues with our son's diagnosis, and even still deal 405 00:19:17,040 --> 00:19:19,000 with some of those issues today. I mean, he's just throwing his 406 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:21,520 shoes right before service, 2 minutes before, I'll tell you, 407 00:19:21,520 --> 00:19:23,880 somebody throws shoes in a service at some churches and you 408 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:25,240 know, that'll clear the place out. 409 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,080 But here, that's like, well, we call that Sunday night. 410 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,320 You know, that's OK. Listen that there are Aquilas 411 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,080 and Priscilla's here that would come alongside of our family. 412 00:19:33,200 --> 00:19:36,160 And to be able to say, preacher, we want you to succeed. 413 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:38,720 We want you to do well. Not because we're as much 414 00:19:38,720 --> 00:19:41,080 concerned about you and your family, although certainly we're 415 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:42,240 concerned about you and your family. 416 00:19:42,240 --> 00:19:45,920 But we know it is good and right and biblical that we help the 417 00:19:45,920 --> 00:19:49,640 one who is here. And I am so unworthy and 418 00:19:49,640 --> 00:19:52,840 undeserving of that. As a family, we feel so unworthy 419 00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,120 and undeserving of that. But I will say this, one of the 420 00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:57,640 things that makes Liberty Baptist Church so special, one 421 00:19:57,640 --> 00:20:00,160 of the things that makes Liberty just church as wonderful as it 422 00:20:00,160 --> 00:20:03,800 is in so many ways, is the heart of the people who say this. 423 00:20:03,920 --> 00:20:05,960 We want to be able to take care of the church. 424 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:07,880 And one of the ways we want to take care of the church is by 425 00:20:07,880 --> 00:20:10,360 taking care of the pastor. That's biblical. 426 00:20:10,800 --> 00:20:13,520 That's a quill and Priscilla. And by the way, that counts for 427 00:20:13,520 --> 00:20:15,400 me. That counts for whatever man 428 00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:17,760 stands behind this pulpit. And that's if it's a guest 429 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:20,960 preacher or the one who comes behind me or whoever it is. 430 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,240 Listen, every single one of them need to be taken care of. 431 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:26,400 Why? Because, well, we take care of 432 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:28,800 the ones that we think are funny and, you know, handsome and all 433 00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:31,520 those things. No. 434 00:20:32,680 --> 00:20:35,640 That's all about. Usually the only Amen I get from 435 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:37,240 the back is Ralph. So thank you for that, Diane. 436 00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:41,200 So thank you for that. But no, it's because it is good 437 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,240 and it's right and biblical, and I'm thankful for it. 438 00:20:44,240 --> 00:20:46,240 And by the way, it's not just about money. 439 00:20:47,520 --> 00:20:49,680 In case you're getting well, the way you help the man of God is 440 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:50,400 by giving. Him money. 441 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:55,760 Listen, I can have my pockets filled to the ground and I could 442 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,120 tell you this. There are times that I would 443 00:20:58,120 --> 00:21:00,840 say, you know what, I don't need a Christmas bonus or a Christmas 444 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,120 offering, whatever it is. Just the fact that you're 445 00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:06,760 willing to be loving to us and caring for us means a whole lot 446 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:09,400 more because there are churches or they'll give the pastor a big 447 00:21:09,400 --> 00:21:12,600 Christmas bonus and then they'll give them ulcers for their other 448 00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:15,720 eleven months of the year. I know what I'd rather have. 449 00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,440 And so I'm thankful for what you do, for the phone calls, for the 450 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:24,080 text, for the times you don't call or text because you know, 451 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:27,440 it's family time or you know it's Friday, which by the way, 452 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:28,640 if you're new, that's my day off. 453 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:30,280 But you can still. If you go in the hospital on 454 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,080 Friday, you can tell me you're in the hospital on Friday, 455 00:21:32,080 --> 00:21:35,920 Marsha Still a little bitter about that, but that's all 456 00:21:35,920 --> 00:21:39,240 right. But listen, that means so very 457 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,960 much. I can tell you story after 458 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:43,120 story. And to be honest with you, I 459 00:21:43,120 --> 00:21:45,320 don't want to pick one person out of the room or two people 460 00:21:45,320 --> 00:21:47,920 out of the room and seem like I'm lifting them up over other 461 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:49,360 people. But I I could probably tell a 462 00:21:49,360 --> 00:21:52,600 story almost about every single one of you and what you have 463 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,320 done. Aquila and Priscilla spirit, 464 00:21:55,440 --> 00:21:57,400 what God will do with that in the church. 465 00:21:57,840 --> 00:22:01,120 I thank the Lord for it. So what do we see the when the 466 00:22:01,120 --> 00:22:03,920 man of God had a need, Aquila and Priscilla stepped in. 467 00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:06,880 But I also see this number 2 when the church had a need. 468 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:11,760 Aquila and Priscilla stepped in. When the church had a need at 469 00:22:11,760 --> 00:22:14,760 large, Aquila and Priscilla stepped in. 470 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:17,880 Go back to verse #4 where we just were, Romans 16 verse #4 471 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,000 who have for my life laid down their own necks, unto whom not 472 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:27,520 only I give thanks, but who, but also all the churches of the 473 00:22:27,520 --> 00:22:31,800 Gentiles. Somehow, their impact had gone 474 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:36,400 far beyond just their location. And that they had been a 475 00:22:36,400 --> 00:22:40,440 blessing to many of the churches of the Gentiles are really, I'm 476 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:42,320 taking it out of context to say many of the Church of the 477 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,840 Gentiles because it says here all the churches of the 478 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,800 Gentiles. Well, that could be because they 479 00:22:47,800 --> 00:22:50,000 blessed Paul, Paul blessed others. 480 00:22:50,080 --> 00:22:55,360 That could be, Or it could be because they were willing to be 481 00:22:55,840 --> 00:22:58,880 a helper in the ministry for the local church. 482 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,000 And I think both of those are true. 483 00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:04,800 Go if with me, if you will, to 1st Corinthians chapter 16, just 484 00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:06,960 a few pages away. First Corinthians chapter #16 485 00:23:17,450 --> 00:23:20,330 it says this, First Corinthians 1619. 486 00:23:20,330 --> 00:23:23,930 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla, there they 487 00:23:23,930 --> 00:23:25,170 are again. They're everywhere. 488 00:23:25,730 --> 00:23:29,290 Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord with the church 489 00:23:29,650 --> 00:23:32,610 that is in their house. So what's taking place now? 490 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:35,280 Well, Quil and Priscilla used to live in Corinth. 491 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,400 They no longer live in Corinth. They live in points unknown. 492 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:41,080 But now there's an epistle that's being written to Corinth 493 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,560 and Paul is giving a shout out from Aquil and Priscilla to the 494 00:23:44,560 --> 00:23:47,080 church that is in Corinth, first Corinthians chapter 16. 495 00:23:47,200 --> 00:23:49,720 And he basically says this, Hey, remember Aquil and Priscilla, 496 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,920 remember my tent maker friends, remember how we were all 497 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:53,800 together? They are now with me. 498 00:23:53,920 --> 00:23:57,040 They now have, we're no longer in Corinth, but they have a 499 00:23:57,040 --> 00:24:00,280 church in their own house where they are and they want to say 500 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:01,800 greetings to you. They're in Corinth. 501 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:03,800 They remember you and they love you. 502 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,040 What are we seeing? Aquila and Priscilla didn't just 503 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:07,880 help the pastor listen, they were willing to help a whole 504 00:24:07,880 --> 00:24:10,520 church. They had a church in their home. 505 00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:13,200 They were a blessing to the churches of the Gentiles. 506 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:17,960 This Aquila and Priscilla had great love, not just for Paul, 507 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:20,920 but love for the church. Listen, if you want to love 508 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:24,880 Jesus Christ, love the church. You say, well, pastor, that 509 00:24:24,880 --> 00:24:27,200 sounds like weird theology. Oh no, it's the most biblical 510 00:24:27,200 --> 00:24:30,160 theology you can have. You want to love Jesus Christ, 511 00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:31,360 love the church. Why? 512 00:24:31,360 --> 00:24:35,040 Well, Ephesians 525 tells us that he gave himself for the 513 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:36,480 church. Jesus Christ did. 514 00:24:37,520 --> 00:24:40,680 Again, we're not talking about this edifice that's here. 515 00:24:40,680 --> 00:24:44,160 We're not talking about 800 Washington St. this location 516 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,000 that we are in, although we thank the Lord for this location 517 00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,960 that we're in, but it's so much more that He gave himself for 518 00:24:49,960 --> 00:24:52,200 the institution of which is the church. 519 00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:56,440 And He's given himself for each local church as well to be able 520 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:58,280 to. Each of them are precious in His 521 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:02,760 sight, that Liberty Baptist Church is precious to him, that 522 00:25:02,760 --> 00:25:06,960 Jesus Christ died on the cross for mankind, but when He died, 523 00:25:06,960 --> 00:25:09,240 He also made provision for the church. 524 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,840 Acts chapter 20 verse 28 tells us this, that he. 525 00:25:12,840 --> 00:25:16,080 Purchased the church with his own precious blood. 526 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,520 With his blood. Listen, when we do not honor the 527 00:25:20,520 --> 00:25:24,000 Church, listen, we're not honoring the sacrifice of which 528 00:25:24,000 --> 00:25:26,440 he is made. Well, I'm saved, but I'm kind of 529 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:27,760 on my own. I remember. 530 00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:29,040 Brother Dave, this morning you say which one? 531 00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:30,480 I don't remember which Dave, but it's alright. 532 00:25:31,360 --> 00:25:36,960 We Dave B said the idea of being a lone wolf as a believer. 533 00:25:37,400 --> 00:25:40,840 But listen, that's a fallacy. You know who wants you to be 534 00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:42,200 alone? Satan. 535 00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:44,960 You know why? Because he takes the one that's 536 00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:47,600 the weakest and he tries to separate it from the group. 537 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,920 And what does the wolf do? I'm talking about Satan now. 538 00:25:51,360 --> 00:25:54,560 He tries to steal and to kill and destroy, and that's what he 539 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:56,440 does. So God, in his love and 540 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:00,200 benevolence has put us together to be able to love each other, 541 00:26:00,200 --> 00:26:02,000 encourage each other, harass each other. 542 00:26:02,000 --> 00:26:05,320 I mean to love each other, encourage each other, to bless 543 00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:07,360 one another. This is what God has called us 544 00:26:07,360 --> 00:26:09,600 to do. And here's Aquila and here's 545 00:26:09,600 --> 00:26:11,080 Priscilla. And they say this. 546 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:13,200 We love Paul, we love the preacher. 547 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:14,480 We're thankful for what he's done. 548 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,320 But really we love him because God has provided him for the 549 00:26:18,320 --> 00:26:20,760 church. And we love the church and we 550 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:25,000 love this institution, and we're thankful for what God has done. 551 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:28,840 If Christ loved the church enough to die for it, and the 552 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:30,760 least we ought to do is to be able to live for it. 553 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:33,960 If Christ loved the Church enough to die for the least we 554 00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:35,800 ought to do. Is to live for it. 555 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:38,560 And people will say something like this, God, I'll do anything 556 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,320 for you, but they can't even show up to church at 11:00. 557 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:44,240 Like, well, that's a good place to start. 558 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:47,800 If you'll do anything for him, at least come and honor his 559 00:26:47,800 --> 00:26:49,000 church. Again, not because we're 560 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,040 perfect, quite the opposite, but we need you to be part of the 561 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:53,920 body. We need you to be able to be 562 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:56,600 here so that we can glean from one another, help one another. 563 00:26:56,680 --> 00:26:59,840 We are better when you are here and you're right with the Lord. 564 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:02,520 Let me make sure that last phrase is right because we are 565 00:27:02,520 --> 00:27:04,320 better when you're here and right with the Lord. 566 00:27:04,440 --> 00:27:06,240 Because if you're not right with the Lord, you need to be here. 567 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,640 Get right with the Lord, and then we're better with you here 568 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:12,080 when you're right with the Lord. So you just want, you want the 569 00:27:12,080 --> 00:27:14,800 imperfect people pushed away. Listen, we just went through 570 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:16,800 First Corinthians chapter 5. Don't make me go through that 571 00:27:16,800 --> 00:27:18,120 chapter again. I don't want to go through that 572 00:27:18,120 --> 00:27:18,960 chapter again. All right. 573 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,120 We cannot allow rebellious unholiness to remain in the 574 00:27:23,120 --> 00:27:26,720 church. But I will say this, this is a 575 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:31,200 hospital for sinners, is not a museum for Saints. 576 00:27:31,640 --> 00:27:33,520 All right, You need to be able to come here when you're 577 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:34,800 discouraged. You need to be able to come here 578 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:37,760 when you're down and someone in this room can help pick you up. 579 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:39,760 It doesn't even have to be the preaching of God's Word. 580 00:27:39,760 --> 00:27:42,360 You say, are you crazy, pastor? Not the preaching, God's word. 581 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:45,200 What I'm saying is this, I am not so boastful in myself to 582 00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:47,920 think I am the only one that can help you when you come here to 583 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,120 church. There's someone who else who can 584 00:27:50,120 --> 00:27:52,600 give you biblical counsel, who can give you biblical advice, 585 00:27:52,680 --> 00:27:55,000 who can pray with you before church or after church. 586 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:57,800 Goodness knows we hang around here long enough after church 587 00:27:57,880 --> 00:28:00,040 that someone can give you some biblical counsel. 588 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:05,560 And that's the spirit of Aquila and Priscilla here in this 589 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:10,640 building is that one another can help one another here within the 590 00:28:10,640 --> 00:28:13,760 body of Christ. And So what do we see, Aquila 591 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:17,360 and Priscilla, that they bless churches all around the all over 592 00:28:17,360 --> 00:28:20,720 the gentiles, but then also that they had a church within their 593 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:22,640 own home. They were willing, their most 594 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,600 intimate setting to say if this is where church needs to be, 595 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:27,760 there's nowhere else, then this is what we'll need to do. 596 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:30,720 I'm thankful we don't have to do house church today. 597 00:28:30,720 --> 00:28:33,880 We tried it in our apartment for the first few months after we 598 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:35,840 had Sunday mornings in the school, but they wouldn't let us 599 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:36,640 have Sunday night. And. 600 00:28:36,640 --> 00:28:38,240 Wednesday night in the school. So what did we do? 601 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:40,080 We started having Sunday night in our apartment. 602 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:41,880 It was certainly not we signed up for. 603 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:44,200 It was certainly not what the tenants above us signed up for 604 00:28:45,560 --> 00:28:48,000 because they didn't find parking on a Sunday night in our little 605 00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:49,360 parking lot for a very long time. 606 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:52,240 But I would say this, there were some of the sweetest times I 607 00:28:52,240 --> 00:28:54,920 remember here at Liberty Baptist Church with names that you might 608 00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:58,440 not even know anymore. If I name them because God 609 00:28:58,440 --> 00:29:01,440 brought some of them to glory. God moved some of them on to 610 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,640 different places. Some left for good reasons, some 611 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,920 didn't leave for good reasons. But God used every single one of 612 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,920 them to be able to help Liberty Baptist Church to be what it is. 613 00:29:12,600 --> 00:29:14,400 I'm thankful over the years we've been able to honor some of 614 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:16,400 those people. Even at our 10th anniversary, we 615 00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:19,320 were able to honor some of those that were here names that you, 616 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:21,720 many of you would not know. Some of you would know Dan and 617 00:29:21,720 --> 00:29:23,800 Dora Woodward. They've been here before, but 618 00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:25,800 they were integral to the beginning of the church. 619 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:32,000 Dan worked for Coca-Cola. Dora worked for a car 620 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,800 dealership. But I'll tell you this, even 621 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:38,760 without having Bible college degrees, I would take the two of 622 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:42,280 them over almost anyone else because of the work that they 623 00:29:42,280 --> 00:29:45,320 did and the love that they had for the ministry and for people. 624 00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:48,080 That first man that I've mentioned to you this morning, 625 00:29:48,080 --> 00:29:49,840 Peter, they got saved and said, I finally understand what 626 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,240 Christmas is about. I didn't win him to Christ, Dan 627 00:29:52,240 --> 00:29:54,680 Woodward did. I didn't go through the 628 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,920 discipleship with him. Dan Woodward went to his 629 00:29:56,920 --> 00:29:58,920 apartment two or three times a week and went through 630 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:01,680 discipleship with him. I baptized him. 631 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,080 But Dan did the work. Humanly speaking, you know what 632 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:06,240 he was? He was an Aquila. 633 00:30:07,280 --> 00:30:11,560 He is an Aquila to this day now when he lives back in Syracuse, 634 00:30:11,560 --> 00:30:13,640 NY. My name is Dorothy, who we 635 00:30:13,640 --> 00:30:17,200 honored, who is still with us, and Miss Penny, Yes, Akavich, 636 00:30:17,200 --> 00:30:19,400 who's no longer with us. You know, the one that made me 637 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,320 that pie that mentioned that Southern pie from a woman that 638 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:26,160 was born and raised in Brockton. This doesn't quite work that way 639 00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:27,760 normally. But listen, these are people 640 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:30,840 that have blessed this church. Will you be an Aquila, Priscilla 641 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:33,720 for this church? We've been Aquila and Priscilla 642 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:35,560 for the people who are here. And that really brings us to the 643 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,360 third and the last point, and that's this. 644 00:30:37,600 --> 00:30:42,120 When a believer had a need, Aquila and Priscilla stepped in. 645 00:30:42,760 --> 00:30:45,560 When the man of God had a need. When the church had a need. 646 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:49,200 When a believer had a need. Aquila and Priscilla stepped in 647 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,120 go to Acts chapter 18 going back to Acts chapter 18 but we'll 648 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:54,400 look a little later in the chapter. 649 00:30:54,400 --> 00:31:08,520 Acts, Chapter 18, verse #24. It says a certain Jew named 650 00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:10,440 Apollos. Now be clear, this is not 651 00:31:10,440 --> 00:31:12,200 talking about Paul, this is Apollos. 652 00:31:12,480 --> 00:31:14,400 And some of you might remember Apollos because the beginning of 653 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:16,960 First Corinthians, remember they said some were of Paul, some 654 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:19,160 were of Apollos, some were of Cephas. 655 00:31:19,160 --> 00:31:21,920 This is Apollos. A certain Jew named Apollos, 656 00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:25,280 born in Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty the Scriptures 657 00:31:25,280 --> 00:31:27,920 came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the 658 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:30,840 way of the Lord, and being fervent in the Spirit, he spake 659 00:31:30,840 --> 00:31:33,840 and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the 660 00:31:33,840 --> 00:31:35,360 baptism of John. Now stop right here. 661 00:31:36,320 --> 00:31:38,920 This is unfathomable to us today because we have the whole. 662 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:41,480 Record of the scriptures. But think about this, there was 663 00:31:41,480 --> 00:31:44,640 a man named Apollos, and he had heard of John. 664 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:47,440 And what was John's message? Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 665 00:31:47,600 --> 00:31:50,520 make straight the paths. The Messiah is to come. 666 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:52,960 But John the Baptist message was also this. 667 00:31:52,960 --> 00:31:55,520 Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh the way, the sin of the 668 00:31:55,520 --> 00:31:57,280 world, that he identified Jesus Christ. 669 00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:00,520 Now imagine a man like Apollos. Here's what Apollos's problem 670 00:32:00,520 --> 00:32:02,320 was. He heard the message that the 671 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:05,800 Messiah would come from John. But he never heard from John 672 00:32:05,800 --> 00:32:10,520 that the Messiah actually came. So he's going around giving this 673 00:32:10,520 --> 00:32:14,440 message from John the Baptist. Listen, it's a biblical message, 674 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:16,160 but there's only one problem. Well. 675 00:32:16,680 --> 00:32:18,240 He doesn't have the whole message. 676 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:20,880 He doesn't have the rest of the story. 677 00:32:21,320 --> 00:32:24,040 And so now he's going around telling people, wait for the 678 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:28,040 Messiah, wait for the Messiah. Here's a quill. 679 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:30,760 And Priscilla, what do they do? Let's go look at it. 680 00:32:30,920 --> 00:32:35,880 It says in verse, number, verse #26 and who? 681 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:39,080 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila 682 00:32:39,080 --> 00:32:42,520 and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded 683 00:32:42,520 --> 00:32:46,360 unto him the way of God more perfectly, more completely. 684 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:49,040 They said this. You don't understand the rest of 685 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:51,360 the story. John was pointing to someone. 686 00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:54,320 His name was Jesus Christ, and Aquila and Priscilla come 687 00:32:54,320 --> 00:32:56,400 alongside him. And when there's a believer who 688 00:32:56,400 --> 00:32:57,680 had a need, you said he was a believer. 689 00:32:57,680 --> 00:32:58,920 He didn't know about Jesus Christ. 690 00:32:59,120 --> 00:33:01,520 He believed with everything that he could understand. 691 00:33:01,520 --> 00:33:04,040 And this is how I know he was a believer because as soon as they 692 00:33:04,040 --> 00:33:06,240 give him the rest of the information, he says that works 693 00:33:06,240 --> 00:33:08,320 for me. There was no argument. 694 00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:10,240 There was no anything. All of a sudden he realized, 695 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:13,760 well, listen, if I miss that information that now, well, 696 00:33:13,760 --> 00:33:16,480 guess what, I'm going to preach and teach Jesus Christ and 697 00:33:16,480 --> 00:33:18,600 that's what he did. And when he was disposed to 698 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,840 passed into IKEA, the brethren wrote, exhorted the disciples to 699 00:33:21,840 --> 00:33:25,440 receive him who when he had come help them much which he had 700 00:33:25,440 --> 00:33:28,960 believed through grace, for he mightily convinced the Jews and 701 00:33:28,960 --> 00:33:32,560 that publicly showing by the Scriptures what that Jesus was 702 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,480 Christ. So Acrilla and Priscilla took 703 00:33:35,480 --> 00:33:38,320 this guy, Apollo said, man, you speak great Apollos. 704 00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:40,840 You're doing a wonderful job. Man, people love you. 705 00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:43,600 There's only one problem. You don't know the rest of what 706 00:33:43,600 --> 00:33:45,880 happened. You don't realize that the 707 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,080 Messiah has already come. He died on the cross. 708 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,360 His name was Jesus. And they must have known enough 709 00:33:50,360 --> 00:33:52,960 about the Scriptures to take him through the Old Testament 710 00:33:52,960 --> 00:33:56,320 Scriptures and to be able to show him who Jesus Christ was. 711 00:33:56,480 --> 00:33:57,880 And something clicked in his mind. 712 00:33:57,880 --> 00:33:59,760 Why? Because he was a believer and it 713 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:02,160 clicked into his mind. Now again, this is not what we 714 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:03,120 would see today. Why? 715 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:05,440 Because we have the whole story. But they were in this 716 00:34:05,440 --> 00:34:08,880 transitional time where the story was being written right in 717 00:34:08,880 --> 00:34:10,840 front of them. And so he says, well, if this is 718 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,400 what it is, this is what it is. And so he starts going around 719 00:34:13,400 --> 00:34:15,480 and what did he do? He started preaching and 720 00:34:15,480 --> 00:34:19,280 teaching of Jesus Christ. How much was a impact made upon 721 00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:21,800 his life? So much so Aquila and Priscilla 722 00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:24,719 made an impact on his life that by the time you get to 1st 723 00:34:24,719 --> 00:34:27,639 Corinthians, what do you see? That they put Apollos in the 724 00:34:27,639 --> 00:34:37,040 same breath as Paul and Peter. Paul, Peter and this dude named 725 00:34:37,040 --> 00:34:40,520 Apollos who showed up out of. Nowhere. 726 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:44,840 Well, who helped him? Aquila and Priscilla, but there 727 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,320 was someone who said there's some things you don't know. 728 00:34:48,320 --> 00:34:51,080 Listen, I know that none of us need to or want to act in a 729 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:53,800 haughty way and go around telling people. 730 00:34:53,800 --> 00:34:55,880 Let me tell you a few things about Jesus Christ. 731 00:34:56,239 --> 00:34:59,080 Listen, if that's your spirit, watch out because God will bring 732 00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:03,440 it down a few pegs. But God also does command us to 733 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:05,440 be able to have the elder to teach the younger. 734 00:35:06,520 --> 00:35:11,240 And we should be, we should be modeling Christ like behavior in 735 00:35:11,240 --> 00:35:14,840 the House of God and we should be mentoring others with Christ 736 00:35:14,840 --> 00:35:16,920 like behavior from the Scriptures as well. 737 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:18,760 Why? Because we think so highly of 738 00:35:18,760 --> 00:35:20,440 ourselves. No, again, I'll say to you 739 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:22,800 before, as I've said many times before, what did Paul say? 740 00:35:22,800 --> 00:35:28,280 Follow me as I follow Christ, follow me as I follow Christ. 741 00:35:28,920 --> 00:35:31,800 And that when believers have needs, what do we need to do 742 00:35:31,960 --> 00:35:33,480 that? We need to be the one to step in 743 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:35,720 and help that we're not just helping the church at large. 744 00:35:35,720 --> 00:35:39,160 That's great, but the believers who make up that church that we 745 00:35:39,160 --> 00:35:42,040 want to be a help to them. Listen, you hear someone that's 746 00:35:42,040 --> 00:35:44,680 maybe out of work or maybe struggling with work or getting 747 00:35:44,680 --> 00:35:47,080 enough work, you've gone through a situation like that before. 748 00:35:47,240 --> 00:35:50,280 Why don't you go up to them and say, hey, listen, I've dealt 749 00:35:50,280 --> 00:35:51,800 with this before. Let me tell you how the Lord 750 00:35:51,800 --> 00:35:55,080 brought me through. Maybe I can pray with you what a 751 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:57,200 good thing to do. You know, someone who's 752 00:35:57,200 --> 00:36:00,120 struggling with anxiety or difficulties, and maybe they've 753 00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,760 expressed that at men's prayer. Maybe they expressed that at a 754 00:36:02,760 --> 00:36:04,680 lady's Bible study. Maybe they expressed that 755 00:36:04,680 --> 00:36:07,120 sometimes there'll be nothing wrong, ladies, for you to go up 756 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:09,240 to that Lady and to be able to say, you know, I've dealt with a 757 00:36:09,240 --> 00:36:12,320 lot of those things myself and the Lord's helped me. 758 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:14,680 I'm still struggling. I still have good days and bad 759 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:17,200 days, but the Lord's helped me. And so I like to pray with you. 760 00:36:17,200 --> 00:36:18,440 I like to talk to you. Here's some things that the 761 00:36:18,440 --> 00:36:22,360 Lord's helped me with. Now listen, if you can't do 762 00:36:22,360 --> 00:36:26,040 that, here's what I would say to you lovingly, but I want to say 763 00:36:26,040 --> 00:36:28,720 it as directly as I can. Then you are the one who is 764 00:36:28,720 --> 00:36:30,920 weaker. And you need to be able to 765 00:36:30,920 --> 00:36:33,880 receive from someone else and have the humility for having 766 00:36:33,880 --> 00:36:36,000 someone else come to you and say those things. 767 00:36:36,480 --> 00:36:39,400 But I also say this, if you were the one who is stronger, listen, 768 00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:43,440 you are never above a Christian brother or sister coming to you 769 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:46,840 and giving you loving help from the Word of God. 770 00:36:48,040 --> 00:36:53,600 Listen, if God could talk to the mouth of a donkey, he can use 771 00:36:53,600 --> 00:36:55,880 someone that doesn't know as much about the word of God as 772 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,800 you to still help you. And you better be tender about 773 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:01,040 it. Listen, there've been people who 774 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:01,600 come to me. Oh. 775 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:04,560 I'm a pastor. What are you going to tell me 776 00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:06,360 about the Bible? Well, a lot of people told me a 777 00:37:06,360 --> 00:37:08,440 lot of things about the Bible, and some of them have been true. 778 00:37:10,920 --> 00:37:12,840 You know, sometimes people have come to me with bad doctor and 779 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:14,200 I've had to show them it's bad doctor. 780 00:37:14,200 --> 00:37:15,960 Whether they agree or not, that's between them and the 781 00:37:15,960 --> 00:37:17,520 Lord. But there's sometimes people 782 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:20,880 have come to me, just talk to me about different situations and 783 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:23,200 they talk to me about things I've struggled with or, or 784 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,120 something. I'll tell you this, I'm thankful 785 00:37:25,120 --> 00:37:28,520 that there have been people who have just to me and I can't say, 786 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:30,400 well, I'm the pastor. I'm beyond being taught. 787 00:37:31,040 --> 00:37:34,560 Well, who am I? I'm just a Sinner saved by grace 788 00:37:34,560 --> 00:37:37,080 like the rest of you. And So what do we need to do? 789 00:37:37,080 --> 00:37:39,280 We all need to have the humility to be able to say, well, I need 790 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:41,360 to receive that. Here's an Aquila Priscilla. 791 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:44,080 When they saw a believer who had a need, what did they do? 792 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,360 They stepped in. Galatians 513. 793 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:49,200 I quote this a lot for brethren. You've been called into liberty. 794 00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:50,640 I like that. Hey, man, you've been called 795 00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,480 into liberty. You've been called into liberty. 796 00:37:53,480 --> 00:37:56,960 But listen, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, 797 00:37:56,960 --> 00:37:59,480 meaning this one free. I can do whatever I want. 798 00:37:59,480 --> 00:38:01,320 Well, you're free, but you shouldn't be doing whatever you 799 00:38:01,320 --> 00:38:03,280 want. Well, I'm free, you know, I 800 00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,520 could talk to all I want. I can, I can act to all I want. 801 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,680 I can consume. Listen, if you think that's what 802 00:38:07,680 --> 00:38:10,120 freedom's about in Christ, then you don't truly understand 803 00:38:10,120 --> 00:38:13,720 Christ, because the freedom we have in Christ compels us to 804 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:17,760 live for him that the the shackles come off. 805 00:38:18,400 --> 00:38:22,600 But yet we follow in love as bond servants of Christ, not out 806 00:38:22,600 --> 00:38:27,480 of necessity, but out of desire. We want to follow him, but 807 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:29,800 usually we. Stop quoting that verse there. 808 00:38:30,280 --> 00:38:32,080 Use not liberty for an occasion to flesh. 809 00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:34,760 But here's the end. But by love serve one another. 810 00:38:35,680 --> 00:38:39,360 By love serve one another. With all the problems Galatia 811 00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,840 had with their false doctrine and the churches of Galatia had 812 00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:44,360 a lot of problems with false doctrine. 813 00:38:44,840 --> 00:38:47,840 He said this, listen, you need to serve one another and love 814 00:38:48,320 --> 00:38:50,520 because he knew that in the midst of false doctrine they 815 00:38:50,520 --> 00:38:52,480 were going to lose that sense of service. 816 00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:54,480 They're going to lose that love for one another. 817 00:38:54,800 --> 00:38:57,280 Now, listen, if you're in church and there are other people in 818 00:38:57,280 --> 00:38:59,120 church, you ought to love the people who are in church. 819 00:39:02,360 --> 00:39:04,640 All right, Well, that was hoping for a little more help than 820 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:07,680 that, but you ought to love the people in church. 821 00:39:08,280 --> 00:39:10,760 You say, well, we don't. We don't always see eye to eye. 822 00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,360 Well, I imagine not, But we ought all love one another and 823 00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:17,040 help one another. This is what God expects of us 824 00:39:17,520 --> 00:39:22,440 and listen, the world if if they can have this fake schmoozing 825 00:39:23,360 --> 00:39:24,680 that the world does with each other. 826 00:39:25,440 --> 00:39:26,480 I've never done that at the pulpit. 827 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:33,960 I will never do that again. There's nothing real about it is 828 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,040 false. This ought to be a haven from 829 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:39,080 that. This ought to be a place where 830 00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:42,400 Aquillas and Priscillas can help one another and bear one another 831 00:39:42,400 --> 00:39:44,520 burdens. And what so fulfill ye the law 832 00:39:44,520 --> 00:39:46,120 of Christ. That's what it says. 833 00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:49,680 Bear ye one another burdens, and so fulfill you the law of 834 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:51,520 Christ. Well, how am I supposed to bear 835 00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:53,720 everyone else's burdens? Pastor, Well, here's how you do 836 00:39:53,720 --> 00:39:55,480 it. You bear as many people's 837 00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:59,120 burdens in the church as you possibly can, and then you give 838 00:39:59,120 --> 00:40:03,560 them to Christ, who says my yoke is easy, my burden is life. 839 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,040 Listen, I'll bear as many burdens for you all as I can, 840 00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:07,600 but don't think I'm going to hold on to them. 841 00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:10,520 I got to give them to him. That's right, man. 842 00:40:10,600 --> 00:40:12,800 Because listen, sometimes people come to me with some dark stuff, 843 00:40:12,800 --> 00:40:14,640 some deep stuff, some difficult stuff. 844 00:40:14,840 --> 00:40:17,320 And listen, if I lived in that list, I would never leave my 845 00:40:17,320 --> 00:40:18,960 house. I would never leave my room. 846 00:40:20,560 --> 00:40:22,360 But what do I got to do? I got to give it to him. 847 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:24,560 And so we bear you one other bird. 848 00:40:24,560 --> 00:40:26,880 By the way, I'm able to give you some of you, some of my burdens 849 00:40:26,880 --> 00:40:27,840 as well. And what happens? 850 00:40:27,840 --> 00:40:29,280 You can bear those and you can give them to Christ. 851 00:40:29,400 --> 00:40:32,560 What happens in the end? We all give it to Christ as 852 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:36,080 Aquilas and Priscillas first. Second Timothy, chapter 4. 853 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:37,320 And I'll tell you this and I'll be done. 854 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:42,720 Second Timothy chapter 4. Last chapter that Paul has ever 855 00:40:42,720 --> 00:40:45,880 written in the word of God. Last chapter inspired by the 856 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:51,640 Holy Spirit. I'll tell you this story once I 857 00:40:51,640 --> 00:41:01,180 get there. Many of you know my youth 858 00:41:01,180 --> 00:41:03,300 director who led me to Christ. His name was Steve Baker. 859 00:41:03,300 --> 00:41:05,940 He started church in Weymouth years ago, then went down to 860 00:41:05,940 --> 00:41:10,400 Tampa, FL, led me to Christ in Tampa he was part of with Bruce 861 00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:11,920 Turner. Part of the reason that I had 862 00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:14,480 such a burden to be able to come to the New England area even as 863 00:41:14,840 --> 00:41:20,600 a teenager and in Bible college. Brother Baker died just a few 864 00:41:20,600 --> 00:41:23,880 months ago, succumbing to ALS very, very quickly. 865 00:41:23,880 --> 00:41:28,600 In less than a year, he contracted ALS, lost his ability 866 00:41:28,600 --> 00:41:32,720 to speak, then lost his ability to move, and then passed away 867 00:41:32,720 --> 00:41:36,640 just about in September. But I remember one of the last 868 00:41:36,640 --> 00:41:39,240 conversations I had with him and I was talking to him about a 869 00:41:39,240 --> 00:41:42,880 specific situation and he was in a place where he was very 870 00:41:42,880 --> 00:41:45,240 difficult for him to talk and he was talking. 871 00:41:45,240 --> 00:41:47,320 Listen, I'm not mocking when I do this. 872 00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:48,680 I'm not bad just to explain to you. 873 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:54,800 When he talked, it was very slow and there was a lot of, it was 874 00:41:54,800 --> 00:41:56,640 hard to tell what he's saying. Now I'm talking to him on the 875 00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:58,160 phone. I'm almost pressing the phone 876 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,600 into my ear because I want to basically want to savor every 877 00:42:01,600 --> 00:42:03,920 word that he said to me because I knew I didn't have many more 878 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:05,720 of them. I was talking about this 879 00:42:05,720 --> 00:42:07,240 situation. I don't remember exactly what it 880 00:42:07,240 --> 00:42:09,280 was, but he said something like this to me and I'll never 881 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:10,720 forget. I actually got off the phone 882 00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:14,040 with him and wrote it down in the front of my Bible because 883 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:18,760 it's so simple, but I never really had put it this way 884 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:22,040 before. He said every church is made-up 885 00:42:22,040 --> 00:42:24,720 of three kinds of people. He said. 886 00:42:24,720 --> 00:42:31,760 There's fillers and there's pillars and there's killers, he 887 00:42:31,760 --> 00:42:33,000 says. And everyone can be slaughtered 888 00:42:33,000 --> 00:42:35,400 into one of those three groups. And you know what? 889 00:42:35,400 --> 00:42:37,760 I've tried to find a way for months that he's wrong about 890 00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:41,720 that, and he's not. Every church is made-up of 891 00:42:41,720 --> 00:42:45,440 fillers and of pillars and of killers. 892 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:48,880 I've seen church killers. They've come in. 893 00:42:48,880 --> 00:42:52,600 They want to change us. They want to make us different 894 00:42:52,680 --> 00:42:56,160 or make us better or conformed into their image. 895 00:42:57,200 --> 00:43:01,880 We reject that now. We we love those people, but at 896 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:05,520 the same time we lovingly have to disagree with them to the 897 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:07,720 point that if they have to leave, then they have to leave. 898 00:43:08,920 --> 00:43:10,560 We're not, no, we're not mean and nasty about it. 899 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:12,000 We don't run people out on a rail. 900 00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:12,920 I don't. I don't. 901 00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:13,640 Preach these things. Wow. 902 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:15,720 We had a backdoor revival here at the church. 903 00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:17,520 I grieve over those things. No, I'm serious. 904 00:43:17,520 --> 00:43:18,760 They're pastors who say stuff like that. 905 00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:21,520 That's garbage. A backdoor revival. 906 00:43:21,520 --> 00:43:23,520 Listen, God will do whatever He does. 907 00:43:24,160 --> 00:43:26,880 And God does sometimes purify his church by bringing people 908 00:43:26,880 --> 00:43:29,920 out, but I'll rejoice over that. I'd rather it be that they get 909 00:43:29,920 --> 00:43:33,080 right and stay. But that's not what always 910 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:35,320 happens. There's killers that want to do 911 00:43:35,320 --> 00:43:36,880 wrong. There's fillers. 912 00:43:37,640 --> 00:43:41,000 They come and they go and they come and they go. 913 00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:45,080 Never really get involved. They never really do a whole 914 00:43:45,080 --> 00:43:46,120 lot. Oh, they're here. 915 00:43:46,120 --> 00:43:47,920 They. Might even give a little bit of 916 00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:49,960 money. They might even give a lot of 917 00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:54,240 money, but they're not really part of the church. 918 00:43:55,320 --> 00:43:58,240 Sometimes they'll be here for months and months, and you might 919 00:43:58,240 --> 00:44:01,960 not know their name, or they might be gone for a few months 920 00:44:01,960 --> 00:44:03,200 and you don't even realize they're gone. 921 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:09,480 And they just fill the pews or the chairs and that's it. 922 00:44:10,320 --> 00:44:12,880 There's pillars. Who are the pillars? 923 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:16,120 Well, we understand that the church is founded on the 924 00:44:16,120 --> 00:44:19,520 foundation of Jesus Christ. He is the chief cornerstone. 925 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,000 But Paul uses the term of some of the apostles. 926 00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:27,760 He said those men who seemeth to be pillars or seemeth to be 927 00:44:27,760 --> 00:44:30,320 somewhat. The idea is even though we 928 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:33,520 understand that Jesus Christ is the foundation, he is this whole 929 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:36,320 structure. But there are those who got his 930 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:38,320 place to be able to be pillars within the church. 931 00:44:39,360 --> 00:44:42,760 And I don't know about you, and of course I'm a pastor, so maybe 932 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:46,200 I'm in a different place, but I would want to be in a church 933 00:44:46,200 --> 00:44:50,000 where I was a pillar. Not because I wanted my name to 934 00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:54,000 be known or to be in front of people, but I want to know I was 935 00:44:54,000 --> 00:44:57,160 supporting the ministry as best as I can. 936 00:44:58,240 --> 00:45:01,720 And that's what pillars do. Which of those three would you 937 00:45:01,720 --> 00:45:05,280 beat tonight? Would someone identify you as a 938 00:45:05,280 --> 00:45:09,040 pillar, a filler? We don't have any killers here 939 00:45:09,040 --> 00:45:13,720 tonight, but which one would you be able to identify with? 940 00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:19,280 Second Timothy, chapter 4, very last words of Paul, last few 941 00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:27,560 verses. May I remind you, the death is 942 00:45:27,560 --> 00:45:29,760 looming over every word that he writes here. 943 00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:35,960 I believe he knows the emperor Nero will be bringing him to 944 00:45:35,960 --> 00:45:38,520 martyrdom here in just a few moments. 945 00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:41,960 But in the midst of all these very important things he has to 946 00:45:41,960 --> 00:45:43,920 say, and by the way, the beginning of the chapter, he 947 00:45:43,920 --> 00:45:47,040 name checks a bunch of people who have failed them, a bunch of 948 00:45:47,040 --> 00:45:50,080 people who have really messed him over. 949 00:45:50,400 --> 00:45:52,440 But even in that he says this, I leave it with the Lord. 950 00:45:52,440 --> 00:45:54,760 I leave with no bitterness. I leave it with the Lord. 951 00:45:54,880 --> 00:45:57,320 But look at what he says in verse #19 right near the end. 952 00:45:57,680 --> 00:46:02,000 Salute who? Priscilla and Aquila, there they 953 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:04,960 are one last time. And you know what he said? 954 00:46:04,960 --> 00:46:06,960 Well, shouldn't they get a little bit more recognition than 955 00:46:06,960 --> 00:46:08,840 that? I think that's the perfect 956 00:46:08,840 --> 00:46:13,880 amount of recognition for people who were quietly interwoven 957 00:46:14,200 --> 00:46:16,960 throughout the New Testament. He never saw much of them. 958 00:46:17,720 --> 00:46:21,040 You didn't know much of them. They weren't educated by the 959 00:46:21,040 --> 00:46:25,160 greatest, the mightiest. They never were ones that were 960 00:46:25,160 --> 00:46:28,720 out there in front. But the church was impacted by 961 00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:30,160 them. And you may not have been to 962 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:33,280 Bible college. You may not be one that is going 963 00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:35,920 to be able to have the recognition that other people 964 00:46:35,920 --> 00:46:37,760 have. But I'll tell you this, you 965 00:46:37,760 --> 00:46:40,840 could be an Aquila, you could be a Priscilla, and you might not 966 00:46:40,840 --> 00:46:42,920 have recognition in this life like you wished you would. 967 00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:46,400 But there will be a time when all that's brought into focus 968 00:46:47,080 --> 00:46:50,240 and the true amount of recognition will be given, and 969 00:46:50,240 --> 00:46:51,640 that's at the judgment seat of Christ. 970 00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:55,560 Be an Aquila, be a Priscilla, be a pillar. 971 00:46:56,680 --> 00:46:59,360 Thank you for listening to the sermon from the pulpit of 972 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:02,280 Liberty Baptist Church. If this message was a blessing 973 00:47:02,280 --> 00:47:05,760 to you, or if there's any way we can serve you, please let us 974 00:47:05,760 --> 00:47:10,360 know by contacting us at info@mylibertybaptist.org. 975 00:47:10,640 --> 00:47:15,160 Or you can visit us this Sunday at 800 Washington St. in Easton, 976 00:47:15,160 --> 00:47:18,000 MA. May the Lord bless you as you 977 00:47:18,000 --> 00:47:19,200 grow in His Word.