GREAT FAMILY

BIBLE PASSAGE: ACTS 18:1-3, 18-19, 24-26

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: https://www.bible.org/

NOVEMBER 15, 2020

 

MEMORY VERSE

Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

ROMANS 16:3-4

 

INTRODUCTION:

Sadly, when thinking about family, many don’t have great memories. In the Scripture, there are only four chapters without sin (Genesis 1–2 and Revelation 21–22), and therefore even the Scripture has many tragic stories about families. It shows the devastating effects of sin on the family and last Sunday our pastor preached about the role of church when families are destroyed by sins or the system of this world.

Every one of us wants to have a good or great family, right? No one would say he wanted a bad or broken family. We have a great example of this here in our text in the form of this couple, Aquila and Priscilla.  I believe that God intended for the Christian life to be a family affair.  The Bible teaches that it’s ideal for entire families to love and serve God together.

·         Philippian Jailer in Acts 16:31- And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." [next few verses say that indeed happened!]

·         Family of John the Baptist Luke 1:15 - For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord…and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

·         Luke 1:41 - And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

·         Luke 1:67 - And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied…

 

Paul’s protégé Timothy came from a Godly mother, who was raised by a godly mother herself.  Some parents here were not raised in a godly heritage, and we don’t want our children to experience what we did. Therefore, now that we were already Christians, we want to pass it along to our children.  It’s our job to train up children in “the way they SHOULD go” which is mentioned in Proverbs 22:6.

 

Though we can’t have a perfect family, what if we were asked what would it take to be called a “great family”? What would be the possible answers? And in our text, we see a married couple, worshipping and serving God together but we would see that their life was not a bed of roses. Like all of us, they were experienced trials and sufferings in the family. Hope and pray that this lesson would help us see what great family is or what are the ingredients of a great family.

 

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  IT MUST BE A SAVED FAMILY (ACTS 18:1-3)

After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;  And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.  

In the family there are a lot of struggles and problems you need to face. Based on our text, one of the struggles in the family is being pressured from different forces – government, people, or anyone. And what would you feel if you needed to be migrated with your family?

The couple, Aquila and Priscilla, was living in Rome, Italy.  The name Priscilla is a Roman name, and secular history tells us she was from a prominent family of nobility living in Rome.  Aquila is a Jewish name.  So we can see that a young Roman girl has married a young Jewish boy, and that was not acceptable in those days…a huge wave of anti-Semitism had swept that land in those days, and the Romans hated the Jews.  The Emperor Claudius had just issued an edict expelling all Jews from Rome.

vv. 1-2     Aquila and Priscilla were a family under pressure.  It’s always hard to have to pick up and move, especially when it’s moving away from the place where you have grown up.  But this couple wasn’t choosing to move, they were being forced to leave!

 

Article from bible.org about Aquila and Prescilla:

In the year 52 A.D. the Roman emperor Claudius issued an edict expelling all Jews from the city of Rome. It seems, from what the Roman historian Suetonius says, that they were persecuting their Christian neighbors and causing considerable disturbance in the city. Claudius cared little about the reason for the trouble, and even less about who the guilty parties were. He knew they were Jews, and that was enough; so, all Jews were uprooted from their homes and banished from Rome, the innocent along with the guilty.

 

And this family is an illustration for the 21^st Century family of today…also under incredible pressure from without, and from within.  Stress and tension are a huge part of the home today with the pressures of work, time, and finances we choose to live under. And children enter the picture, and the stress goes up, and more and more the older they get.

 

Imagine a family without the Lord, we don’t know how anyone can raise a family today without the Lord and without the help of a good church family.

 

Here’s an eye-opener for all of us today:  if you have a child or grandchild that is 14 today and beginning as a freshman in high school, here’s some things to expect by the time they graduate—

·            2/3^rd’s of their class will have used drugs

·            1 in 5 will be an alcoholic

·            2 in 5 will have consumed 5 or more drinks at 1 sitting

·            20% will use tobacco daily

·            46% of babies born out of wedlock will be to kids their age

·            1/3^rd of all abortions will be performed on girls their age

·            2^nd leading cause of death of kids their age at graduation will be suicide

 

We need a revival in the home…we need a revival of families that starts w/ moms and dads getting serious about serving God—families with a healthy fear of Satan having his way and thus a hearty fervency for drawing close to God and to one another.

 

Aquila and Priscilla were a family under pressure, but they were also a family under providence.  God was working out their problems behind the scenes…for their good and for His glory!  God is in the process of bringing something quite wonderful into their lives.

You see, as they were being kicked out of Rome, and were traveling east toward Corinth, the Apostle Paul was leaving Athens and traveling west to the same place, and when they met face to face, it was the beginning of something wonderful that would last the rest of their lives.  Remember what Paul’s trade was?  A tentmaker. Verse 3- I imagine they were working together…and what do people do when they are sitting down working?  They talk!  And what would Paul have talked about?  It wasn’t the St. Louis Cardinals…he would have talked about Jesus Christ.  He would have shared the wonderful story of the gospel…of Jesus’ birth, His life and ministry, His death and resurrection, and this couple would have been mesmerized at hearing the sweetest story they had ever heard…sounds for sore ears they were, and I believe they were gloriously saved because of it! That’s how our God is…if we get right with him and follow His will, He will cross our paths with others who need Him…at just the right time…in the just the right way.

 

One night a preacher stopped to help man on motorcycle broken down/rejected/drove off/started to rain/went back again/helped him put it in his truck and get it to a shop, put him up for the night, witnessed to him, fed him, led him to the Lord!/his family got saved.

Aquila and Priscilla had a similar experience…not and accident, not coincidence, but providence!  They became a great family against all odds.

 

And to be a great family it must be a saved family…

 

2.  IT MUST BE A SERVING FAMILY (ROMANS 16:3-4)

Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus:  Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.

 

Everything else we read about this couple from then on is about them serving God together.  Years later Paul writes back to the church at Rome…

Romans 16:3-4 “Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: [4] Who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.” What a great couple who laid down their own necks just to save the man of God, Paul. With this attitude and action they made, it shows how deep they were in serving God

 

Article from bible.org about Aquila and Prescilla: For one thing, they made their living together. “For by trade they were tent-makers” (Acts 18:3). Every Jewish boy in New Testament times was taught some kind of trade. Since tents were such a prominent part of Hebrew life, Aquila’s parents chose to have their son learn this practical means of earning his livelihood. Their tents were made of rough goat’s hair fabric which took great skill to cut and sew properly. Aquila had acquired that skill and later taught it to his wife, and she happily assisted him in his business.

Not every husband and wife can work together like this. It takes a mature relationship to work closely under the kind of pressure a job sometimes generates. But that is evidently the kind of relationship Aquila and Priscilla had. They were not only mates and lovers, but they must also have been good friends and companions. They had to be willing to give to each other more than they tried to take. They had to be able to accept suggestions as readily as they offered them. They enjoyed being together and working together. They were inseparable, and they were equals.

So, when they arrived in Corinth, they scoured the marketplace together for a small open-air shop to rent and proceeded to set up their tent-making business. The timing was obviously of God, for no sooner had they gotten settled down in their shop than another Jewish tentmaker arrived in town fresh from an evangelistic crusade in Athens, the Apostle Paul. Whenever he entered a new city, he would stroll through the marketplace looking for opportunities to talk about Jesus, looking for indications of God’s direction for future ministry, and, of course, looking for work to sustain him as he ministered. It was inevitable that he would amble into the tent-making shop of Aquila and Priscilla. Scripture tells the story like this: “After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers” (Acts 18:1-3).

Back to Acts 18…v. 18 - Do you know what’s happening to this couple?  The same thing that ought to happen to each and every one of us after we get saved…regardless of our occupation, our main business ought to be God’s business!  Worshipping and serving Him, teaching and helping others, winning souls and seeing people get saved!

 

Some of us here own or run businesses…but their main business is God’s business.  We have several in some area of service or customer service…but their main business is serving God!

 

I’m so thankful that Aquila and Priscilla understood that tho’ they were tentmakers by trade, their main business was serving God!

A great family is a saved family...a serving family…

 

3.  IT MUST BE A SANCTIFIED FAMILY (ROMANS 16:5)

 Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my well-beloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ.

 

That means “set apart”…separated from the world. Romans 16:5 - Likewise greet the church that is in their house. One time when upon observing to our neighbors, I thought one of the families in our neighborhood is a Christian because they act and speak like Christians but when I saw that they bought bottles of beer, I’ve said to myself, “they aren’t”. So, you see, if you are not set apart from the world, your light would be greatly affected. We need parents who are inclined in God’s words and have the discernment who can distinguish “right from almost right” situations and decisions in life. That’s why we need a church to help us build a strong and great family.

 

Did you know it was the 3^rd C. AD before the church ever had such a thing as its own building?  The church is a body of believers, and for more than 200 years the church met in homes of people like this couple.

This reminds me of the simplicity of what is “the church.”  They didn’t have any of the things that we today think we HAVE to have to have church.  They didn’t have a building or padded chair, no PA system or projector and screen, no AC, no advertising, literature, website, like we have today etc.  They did so much with so little…and we seem to do so little w/ so much!  You can feel the spirit move if you’re knee deep in carpet or sitting in sawdust!

 

This couple had a great home, and it led to a great church…so how about the church that is YOUR home?!  Our highest calling is our own children, our own marriage, our own home.

 

I hope everyone here can have a saved family, a serving family, a sanctified family…set apart for the Master’s use!

 

CONLUSION:

A)  THE BOY WITH THE “DRUG” PROBLEM

An elderly lady was amazed at how nice the young man was next door. Everyday he would help her gather things from her car or help her in her yard. One day the old lady finally asked the young man, “Son, how did you become such a fine young man?"

The young man replied, “Well, when I was a boy, I had a drug problem.”

The old lady was shocked, “I can’t believe that.”

The young man replied, “It’s true, my parents drug me to church on Sunday morning, drug me to church on Sunday night, and drug me to church on Wednesday night.”

Source: Unknown

 

WHEN WE GOT THE WRONG ROAD

BIBLE PASSAGE: 2 SAMUEL 17:1-29

• Picture taken from Google
• Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page
• Lesson ideas taken from: http://markmcmillion.com/the-council-of-ahitolphel
• https://counselingoneanother.com/2014/03/05/the-tragedy-of-ahithophel

NOVEMBER 01, 2020

MEMORY VERSE

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”  PROVERBS 4:23

INTRODUCTION:

Are you confidently enough to say, “I am in the right road”? What is the feeling of being lost and don’t know where to go? This is self-explanatory; we all know the feeling. Being lost in life journey has a big difference. It’s life and death situation; it’s our destination and our future which is vital or important.

Do you believe that all of us can choose the wrong road? If non-believers can and so, can we, right?

 

Every one of us wants to have good Christian family, right? We want all our family members would go to the same road as ours but what if this is not the way what we want it goes. The reality is we don’t really know what is right from wrong unless we go directly to the expert of choices, and the best counsellor which is our Almighty God, our Saviour and Creator of all things. He is the expert of life because He created it. May this lesson will remind us that possible things might happen to our families.  

 

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  WE ALL HAVE THE POSSIBILITY TO CHOOSE THE WRONG ROAD (2 SAM. 11:3, 23:34).

 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?

Eliphelet the son of Ahasbai, the son of the Maachathite, Eliam the son of Ahithophel the Gilonite,

 

We’ll talk about two characters in this part. First is David. We all know the ups and downs in David’s life. Along the way of his life, he made a big mistake and chose the wrong way. These were the starting points of life full of pains. Of course, God forgave him, but the consequences of his sins had just started. 2 Samuel 12: 10-11 says, ^“

 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.

These things really happened in David’s life. TO tell some, three of his sons – Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah – each caused serious problems (2 Samuel 13:14-17).

 

There was another person whose name also began with an “A,” who revolted against him as a betrayer. This man, Ahithophel, had been a close advisor to David and could even have been called “the smartest man in the world.” “Now in those days the counsel that Ahithophel gave was as if one consulted the word of God; so was all the counsel of Ahithophel esteemed, both by David and by Absalom” (2Sam 16:23). He evidently came out of his own retirement and joined the revolt of Absalom as his trusted advisor (2 Sam 16:23).

 

What is often overlooked, however, is that Ahithophel evidently became part of David’s family by marriage. Who is Ahithophel? Two passages explain that Ahithophel was the grandfather of Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:3 with 23:34). One need not speculate too much to see that when David “took” Bathsheba (2 Sam 11:4), Ahithophel must have left David’s service. Later, the crafty Absalom must have assumed (correctly) that Ahithophel would jump at the opportunity to get revenge against David so he asked him to come out of retirement – an offer that the old man simply could not refuse.

 

We can see in these situations that a believer like David, can choose the wrong road or decisions in life.  And Ahithophel, an unbeliever, had chosen the wrong path in his life. Everyone is prone to disobedience or wrong path in life, and this is how this lesson implies to every one of us; we need to be careful.

2.   WHATEVER LOSES, PAINS AND FAILURES WE HAVE, GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL (2 SAM. 15:29-31).

             ²⁹ Zadok therefore and Abiathar carried the ark of God again to Jerusalem: and they tarried             there.³⁰ And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept as he went up, and had his             head covered, and he went barefoot: and all the people that was with him covered every man his         head, and they went up, weeping as they went up.³¹ And one told David, saying, Ahithophel is             among the conspirators with Absalom. And David said, O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of             Ahithophel into foolishness.

Let’s read these verses. Can you imagine the painful circumstances David experienced in these verses? Sometimes God allows us to be in painful circumstances so that we can see how weak we are and powerful He is.

 

Imagine your trusted counselor betrayed you, what would you feel? Let’s see David’s feeling from these verses: I can’t know for sure, but I’ve always felt this passage in the Psalms is where David talked about his relationship with Ahitophel. “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” (Psalm 55:12-14) Later in the same Psalm David says, “”The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.” (Psalm 55:21)

There were a lot of emotional pains David experienced. From the first verses, we can see how two people reacted in their present situations. In David’s side, they brought the ARK of the Covenant and prayed and wept. One thing like that is the somewhat strange story of the time in King David’s life when his son, Absalom, led a rebellion against his father which was very nearly successful. This rebellion was allowed or brought on by God Himself as a chastening judgment on David for his sins. In Absalom’s side, though he smelled the victory, he didn’t recognize God’s hands. Any kind of rebellion is against God’s will.

Let’s see Ahithophel’s case, whatever reasons he had for being a conspirator, even the reasons are the pains of his family had felt, still he chose the wrong way. If someone had caused you pain and your reactions are not based on God’s words, then they are not God’s will. Be aware of bitterness in your hearts.

3.  NO KNOWLEDGE ON THIS EARTH IS INCOMPARABLE WITH GOD’S KNOWLEDGE (2 SAM. 16:23; 15:31).

           And the counsel of Ahithophel, which he counselled in those days, was as if a man had enquired             at the oracle of God: so was all the counsel of Ahithophel both with David and with Absalom.

 

We find that David had a councilor or adviser named Ahithophel who was perhaps David’s top consultant to his reign and kingdom. And the Bible says of Ahithophel, “The counsel of Ahithophel, which he counseled in those days, was as if a man had inquired at the oracle of God.” (II Samuel 16:23) That’s a very unusual Bible verse but basically it means that the counsel of Ahithophel was virtually flawless and perfect, almost supernatural so.

 

And yet…, something was wrong. This man’s incredible gift somehow didn’t prevent him from taking the side of King David’s mortal enemy, his own conniving, ambitious son Absalom. Nevertheless, of all that was going on, it seems David feared the council of Ahithophel as he worked together with Absalom more than anything else. When David heard that Ahithophel was advising Absalom, David prayed, “O Lord, I pray thee, turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness.” (II Samuel 15:31).

 

As they fled east from Jerusalem, David sent back one of his most loyal subjects and advisers, Hushai, to feign obedience to the usurper, Absalom. Absalom gathered his councilors and sages, including Ahitolphel and Hushai, and Absalom asked Ahitolphel what he counseled.

 

Basically, Ahitolphel said they should go after David and his bands immediately. And probably if they’d done that, it would have been successful. Absalom then turned to Hushai, knowing that he’d been in the inner circle of David’s friends and asked what he thought they should do.

 

What a moment that must have been. What an incredible movie this would make. Did Hushai blurt out that Ahitolphel’s council was totally wrong, as he tried to save King David? No; no one would have believed that. So Hushai said, “The council of Ahithophel is not good at this time,” (II Samuel 17:7) and went on to try to explain how the best would be for them to wait till they had gathered a really big army and to take on David’s smaller forces in open field combat. Of course, this was because Hushai knew that David and his men were very weak and on the run at the moment and if Absalom followed Ahithophel’s council, they would actually defeat and kill King David and his men.

 

Another incredible moment. Absalom’s response? “The council of Hushai is better than the council of Ahithophel.”  (II Samuel 17:14) Actually it wasn’t. But the Lord had answered David’s prayer to defeat the council of Ahitophel. This delay gave time for David and his men to regroup and strengthen themselves.

 

Above all, no matter how smart you are, you’re nothing compare to God’s knowledge. This pride in Ahithophel’s heart led him to destruction.

 

Can you see what is the lesson is pointing our here? Whatever good plans our families have, the knowledge they had attained, and the experienced they had learned to, all of these are nothing if God is not there.

 

4.  DON’T TAKE MATTERS ON YOUR HAND; TAKE GOD’S (2 SAM. 17:23; 16: 5-12)

        ¹⁰ And the king said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of Zeruiah? so let him curse, because             the Lord hath said unto him, Curse David. Who shall then say, Wherefore hast thou done                         so? ¹¹ And David said to Abishai, and to all his servants, Behold, my son, which came forth of my         bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now may this Benjamite do it? let him alone, and let him         curse; for the Lord hath bidden him. ¹² It may be that the Lord will look on mine affliction, and         that the Lord will requite me good for his cursing this day.

         To me, one of the most amazing parts of this story is what it says happened next. II Samuel 17:23         says, “And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose,         and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and         died, and was buried in the sepulcher of his father.”

        If you can see in this verse before Ahitophel died, he put his house in order. In other commentaries         he possibly put things like his “wills” and other things- worldly matters. What I see in here? At the         end of his life, he still had wrong decisions. He chose worldly matters before anything else. The             last thing, the worst – suicide. Suicide can never be the right choice.

        On the other side, let’s read 2 Samuel 16: 5-21. We can see in here about David’s attitude toward             maltreatment. Let me ask you a question, what would you do if someone said something against         you? Cuss you or did anything bad? The natural response for some of us is- we’ll react                             tremendously. We go to social media and post, right? For the worse, we take matters on our own             hands – we revenge.

        May the attitude and reactions of David help us and remind us on how to deal things. He humbled       himself and took matters on God’s hands. Another thing that caught my attention is still God was on     David’s side no matter what he did before. God gave him second chance and many chances possible.     Why? Because he repented and humbled himself before God. So, you see, if our families are stubborn     and full of pride, they would be led to destruction. What are the simple things we do that possibly             lead to pride? We blame the church for our decisions or the outcome of your life or our children, we     don’t see the importance of church in our lives; we seldom go to church, we don’ lead the family             members to be spiritually minded people and we let our family members do it because we think         they would not go that far or they would not reach that point. How would we know? The Bible is     always telling the truth, “Except the Lord builds the house, they labour in vain that build it: …”             Psalm 127:1.

CONLUSION:

And as it turned out, Ahithophel was right again: the rebels’ cause was already lost. Absalom and his troops were defeated in open battle with David’s fewer but more seasoned warriors.

There’s just so much to all this that my normal length of these posts doesn’t suffice to cover it all. Ahithophel’s virtual godlike gifts didn’t prevent him from making a fatal mistake of disloyalty to God’s anointed king. Was it ambition? Familiarity? Spiritual pride? Evidently something was seriously wrong with the condition of his heart, despite his incredible gifts and evident intelligence.

It’s all a massive story with layers of meaning and lessons for us all. One of the clearest for me is what Solomon, David’s son and eventual heir, wrote years later, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”  (Proverbs 4:23)

It’s all about your heart, not your gifts, not your intelligence, not your looks or anything other than your personal relationship with the Lord and how you conduct your life before Him. Ahitophel must have been one of the wisest men that ever lived. But his wisdom didn’t prevent his heart from making the biggest mistake of his life, which ultimately cost him his life. May God help us all to keep our heart right with Him.

 

Let me tell you this story from https://ministry127.com/

On a hot summer day in south Florida a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house.

In a hurry to dive into the cool water, he ran out the back door, leaving behind shoes, socks, and shirt as he went. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator was swimming toward the shore.

His mother, in the house, was looking out the window and saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, she ran toward the water, yelling to her son as loudly as she could. Hearing her voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U-turn to swim to his mother.

It was too late. Just as he reached her, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the mother grabbed her little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug-of-war between the two.

The alligator was much stronger than the mother, but the mother was much too passionate to let go.

A farmer happened to drive by, heard her screams, raced from his truck, took aim and shot the alligator. Remarkably, after weeks and weeks in the hospital, the little boy survived.

His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his mother’s fingernails dug into his flesh in her effort to hang on to the son she loved.

The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy after the trauma, asked if he would show him his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs; and then, with obvious pride, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my mom wouldn’t let go.”

Instead of getting mad at those who try to help you do right and pull against the world, the flesh, and the devil, you should be thankful that they love you enough to not let go.