Posts

They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem.

  Good morning. Paul and crew looked up the disciples and stayed there seven days. They kept telling Paul through the Spirit not to set foot in Jerusalem. This is the only place I can find that it seems like God was telling Paul not to go to Jerusalem; the other places seem to be peoples’ personal feelings. But then later Jesus speaks to Paul and seems to say he was supposed to go to Jerusalem. My Bible says that the total now is 36 days since Passover. They continued on in the boat and came to Caesarea. They entered the house of Philip the evangelist. He is the one who spoke to the Ethiopian Eunuch and then vanished. The last we saw of him, he was in Caesarea; so apparently he stayed there all these years. He was one of the seven original deacons, and is now known as an evangelist. He had four daughters who were prophetesses. As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. He is the same one who had foretold the coming of a famine. He took Paul...

I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them

  Good morning. Then Paul says, I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. That is not something that any church would expect to hear. You tend to think that nothing like that could happen at your church; that everything will go along great with or without a particular person. It would be especially grievous for it to occur because of people that are already members of the congregation. Sadly too many times it does happen. People try to take over when a strong leader is no longer there. Therefore be on the alert. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, it is more blessed to give than to receive. He knelt down and prayed with them. They began to weep and embrace...

I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God

  Good morning. Paul continues: but I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. (we keep hearing from the pulpit testimonies of people in other countries who feel the same way – that their lives are not dear to themselves when it comes to spreading the gospel). I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. We all go about our lives assuming that we will see the people we know once again. We never think that this time will be the last time. Of course if we conducted our lives like this time would be the last time, we would not treat our friends and relatives badly like we do sometimes. I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. It would be easy to leave out something, if we thought that that would bring a disagreement with those to whom we were speaking. ...

Paul decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

  Good morning. Remember that Paul’s destination was Jerusalem. To get there within any reasonable amount of time, he would have to go by boat. Just like buses and trains today make stops that you don’t want to make, boats also made stops that the travelers might not want to make. Paul decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hurrying to be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost. Pentecost is 50 days after Passover, and my Bible says that he had already spent 16 days of that 50. Instead of going to Ephesus himself, he called for the elders of the church there to come to him. He reminds them of how he preached the gospel there despite the plots of the Jews. I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, bound in spirit, I am on my way to Je...

After a plot was formed against him by the Jews, he decided to return through Macedonia.

  Good morning. After the commotion in Ephesus, Paul left to go to Macedonia (remember the offering he was going to collect there). He finally came to Greece. He spent three months there (my Bible says that he stayed in Corinth, and that he probably wrote the book of Romans at that time), and after a plot was formed against him by the Jews, he decided to return through Macedonia. Possibly when he went through Macedonia, they decided to send an offering; and when he came back through, they gave him the offering to take to Jerusalem. He was accompanied by several men, including Timothy. Those men had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. Notice that Acts returns to the use of “we“, and that they are in the city of Troas, where Paul first met Luke. They had just finished the days of unleavened bread, which includes Passover. On the first day of the week, when the church was gathered together, Paul began talking to them intending to leave the next day; and he prolonged his me...

Paul sent Timothy and one other into Macedonia, while he stayed in Asia for a while. There arose a great disturbance concerning the Wa

  Good morning. Paul sent Timothy and one other into Macedonia, while he stayed in Asia for a while. There arose a great disturbance concerning the Way (remember that Jesus said I am the Way, the truth, and the life – no one comes to the Father but through Me). A silversmith who made shrines of Artemis got people upset because Paul was destroying their business saying that gods made with hands are no gods at all. That was the real reason he was upset; but he also added that the temple of the great goddess Artemis would be regarded as worthless. My Bible says that the Temple of Artemis was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world; so people came from far and wide to view it – they purchased silver shrines and images, and that was a lucrative business for the craftsmen. They used the part about Artemis to get the city in an uproar. Paul wanted to go talk to them, but the disciples would not let him. After quieting the crowd, the town clerk said, men of Ephesus, what man is there...

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out

  Good morning. God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. And he didn’t even ask them to send in a donation 🙃 . But of course people were wanting to capitalize on his success. Some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. The evil spirit said, I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you? The man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them and chased them out of the house. This became known to all; and fear fell upon them and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Many of those who believed kept coming, confessing, and disclosing their practices. They even burned their magic books. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. Paul purposed in the spir...