EXTRACTS

The first time they are spoken of is in chapter 18 of the Acts. It says that a certain Jew named Aquila, of Pontus by race, had recently come from Italy. It speaks of his origin and religion, and says that he had just come from Italy, all that before mentioning Priscilla, which shows that God had from the outset given Aquila his own distinction. One might say that Aquila was a traveller. Persons who travel simply for the purpose of visiting sites do not help the assembly; but those who have the assembly in view are very useful. It says in the prophet Daniel—“Many shall run to and fro”. And there is not a period in the history of the world when there has been more running to and fro than now; but, blessed be God! there are some among His own who travel under His hand, and He encourages them. I speak of that, because Aquila originated from Pontus, very much east of Corinth, and on the other hand it says that he had quite recently come from Italy, very much to the west of Corinth. He was a man qualified under the hand of God

to have a universal outlook. Priscilla, his wife, was with him. It does not say to what race she belonged, because the woman is identified with the man, as it says in 1 Corinthians 11, “the woman is of the man”. There is something else that is said of them; that is that they were tent-makers by trade. They were both engaged in pursuing a single object. Apparently the wife did not leave her husband to earn their living alone; she worked with him. We have therefore here, in the man and his wife, a remarkable combination suitable to the assembly; and the Spirit of God tells us that Paul found them there, at Corinth; he abode with them and wrought with them. They are thus together in very simple circumstances, for when we are put together as Christians, it is not with a view to our advancing our social position. They worked in a humble way in the town of Corinth.

J. Taylor (Vol. 38, pp.66, 67)

In all this we may see how much was to be done, requiring energy; and so today the energy of life is needed. To some of us, time is one of the scarcest things, and it is a question whether we are redeeming it so as to fulfil the responsibilities resting upon us. Collectively, much is left undone, many failing to accept responsibility. There is a great need for eldership and there are hardly any workers in that line. Work requiring gift is readily, indeed eagerly, accepted, whereas care for the saints in the sense of eldership, on which the stability and growth of the assembly largely depend, is much neglected. We are to care “with genuine feeling” as to how the saints get on. Thus the energy of life seen in Noah is most suggestive and appealing.

J. Taylor (Vol. 55, p.128)

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