THE TENT MAKER

April 26, 1998 am
MF Blume


Acts 18:1-8 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. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews [that] Jesus [was] Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook [his] raiment, and said unto them, Your blood [be] upon your own heads; I [am] clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain [man's] house, named Justus, [one] that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.



PAUL'S TRADE WAS THAT OF A TENTMAKER

TENT DWELLERS

Abraham dwelt in tents by faith.

The tent dweller, in the Bible, was a person who temporarily was set up where they were. God called Abraham out of his homeland and told him He would take him to a city. And the builder and maker of that City would be his God.

75 years old, and he is ready to go into uncharted territories with God!

The songwriter said:

This world is not my home,
I'm just 'a passing through.
My treasures are laid up,
Somewhere beyond the blue.
The angel's beckon me,
From Heaven's open door,
And I can't feel at home
In this world anywhere.

So dwelling in tents was an indication that you really believed what God said, like Abraham, and lived like it.

Paul preached the Gospel to people.

He encouraged people that God's will is for every single person to abandon the pleasures of sin in this world, dedicating their lives to Jesus and being separated to God. Jesus referred to His followers:

He spoke to the followers:

The WORLD in the Bible refers to the lifestyle and system of accepting sin and rejecting God.
You cannot even be a FRIEND of the world.

James said that laughing and joining in with the world and joining in with the Church is similar to committing adultery.

When Paul preached this kind of Gospel, telling people to come out of the world, he was in effect, making tents and offering them to the hearers and saying, "Come, walk away from your home in this world and refuse to be at home here any longer. Come. Wait with us as we look for a City whose builder and maker is God."

The Bible says that Jesus was crucified outside of the City, in indication that we are outside the world's systems.

We have an altar that is only there for those who are not involved in any religion or thinking that does not accept Jesus Christ as Lord, and this world as a strange land.

Let us MAKE SURE this world remains STRANGE TO US.

LOT'S WIFE:

Lot's wife did not take one step back, but simply GLANCED BACK.

The Hebrews suffered persecution because they were christians, but their hearts were not down here.

In those days, persecution was heavy.

They, as it were, lived in tents.

But rather the attitude,

Hear my voice today! REMEMBER LOT'S WIFE!!

ABRAM LEFT HIS TENT:

Abram pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai, and then went DOWN to Egypt. (Gen 12:8-10).

Gene 13:3-4 And he went on his journeys from the south even to Bethel, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Bethel and Hai; Unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD.

He made another trip at the altar that he made at first, where he dedicated himself to God, and later broke that dedication by lying and not living right.

As I preach this morning, like Paul, I offer you a TENT.