Acts 18:2-4 And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla… St. Paul, like every minister, had a right to support; but there were good reasons why he should here waive it. 1. He wished to show an example of quiet industry. Some had been unduly excited, and thrown out of their ordinary pursuits by the revelations and influences of Christianity; it would sober them, and help them back to a regular life if they saw their apostle, who had been favoured with the most extraordinary revelations, earning his bread. 2. He was pleased to be able to feel that his preaching was gratuitous. 3. Having a trade gave scope for the graces of self-denial and almsgiving. 4. He followed the example of His Master, who followed the trade of a carpenter. 5. Ballast was given to his mind by work, very necessary to steady it when it was rocked by strong emotions. 6. His work being a handicraft, left his mind comparatively free for prayer and meditation. One can imagine that God would often visit him in his work, in accordance with the usual plan on which Divine visions and calls are vouchsafed, as shown in the cases of Gideon, Elisha, David, Matthew, Peter. And possibly as Paul was stitching his tents there may have come across his mind thoughts of the fleeting nature of the present and the durable character of the future habitation of the spirit. "For we know that if the earthly house of the tent were dissolved," etc. I. FOR MOST THERE IS AN OCCUPATION MADE READY TO THEIR HANDS. How then shall they draw into spiritual account their daily task? 1. Firmly settle it in the mind that it is the task assigned to us by Providence, which God will inspect, and approve or disapprove according to our industry or indolence. 2. Never allow ourselves to think of it as a hindrance to piety. Think of it as contributing to health and cheerfulness of mind, as a steadying influence, preventing mental extravagances. 3. Remember how often God has come across men in their daily task. 4. Aim rather at doing well what is done, rather than getting through much. Hurry is very prejudicial to our moral well-being. Resolutely refuse to attend to more than one thing at a time. God's will is to be done in earth as it is in heaven: can we imagine restless impulsiveness among the angels? "Rivers," says , "which slide peaceably through the valleys, bear great boats and rich merchandise; and rain which falls gently on the fields makes them fruitful in grass and corn; but torrents and rivers, which run rapidly, ruin the bordering country, and are unprofitable for traffic; and tempestuous rains furrow the fields. Never was work well done with too much violence and earnestness." II. BUT IN ALL PURSUITS THERE ARE INTERMISSIONS. Those who nourish a high spiritual ambition will turn these to spiritual account. However devoutly we may work, when we follow our trade it is for ourselves; but in our leisure moments we may do something gratuitously for the cause of Christ. This is what Paul did. Many say, "But my work puts such a strain upon me that I am fit for nothing at the end of the day." To this the reply is that a more responsible and anxious occupation than Paul's never fell to any man's lot; and yet he found time to earn enough to support himself and to relieve the wants of others. Probably if we did our work in a brighter and less anxious spirit it would wear us less. And then in our leisure moments some Church work — be it teaching, or visiting, or extra labour for charities — there would be the thought of its gratuitousness to uphold us, and a feeling of security, from the circumstance of self-denial, would be wrought in the soul. III. THERE ARE THOSE WHO ARE NOT CALLED UPON TO WORK FOR A LIVELIHOOD. Reading, it may be said, is the suitable occupation for such — being a means of mental cultivation and self-improvement. But reading without any outcome hardly constitutes an occupation such as the Christian mind craves, in a world whose ignorance, misery, and sin requires, not self-improvement, but such definite work as shall bear on the physical, intellectual, and moral good of our fellow creatures. Let every unoccupied Christian choose one of the many fields of Church work, determining which it shall be by the pointings of God's finger in Providence, and by the direction in which his instinct, powers, and capacities lead him. IV. THE ADVANTAGE WHICH MANUAL WORK HAS OVER MENTAL. It is with the spirit that God, who is a Spirit, is to be served. That the outward pursuits, then, should make as little demand upon it as possible is an advantage of which a devout soul may avail itself. Paul's thoughts, doubtless, were with his Master, while he was making his tents. Intellectual pursuits may be nobler than handicraft; but there is a spirit in man, and if a handicraft gives greater scope for the action of the spirit — if the husbandman as he digs his field, the lacewoman as she plies her bobbins, the shepherd as he tends his flocks, are free to feed their spirits the while with the thought of God's power, wisdom, and goodness, they are more than compensated for their intellectual loss by their spiritual gain. (Dean Goulburn.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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