Acts 22:17-21 The Lord Speaks, Leave Jerusalem & Go To The Gentiles

“It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,  and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’  And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.  And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

When the Jews rejected the True Son of God, it became clear that those sent in His name will also be rejected.  Even though Paul labored with great zeal, the crowd wanted his life.  But Jesus considered Paul a chosen instrument to preach the gospel to the Jews and their kings.  In time, Peter will follow Peter's labor with the brethren, but for now, Paul's emphasis is to establish churches outside Jerusalem.

Daily Prayer:  Lord, it is certain that Your ways are not our ways.  Your thoughts are not our thoughts.  As far as the heavens are above the earth, so far are You above us.  Therefore let us be regenerated with new lives so that we can be your representatives where we live and around the world.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Acts 22: 1-16 Paul Shares His Testimony In His Defense To The Jews

“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.”“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.  I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,  as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’  And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.  And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’  But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.“A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.  For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.  Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’

Once Paul appeared with gentiles at the ceremony of purification, the Judaizers desired to have Paul's life.
Paul pleaded to the soldiers to allow him to speak to the crowds.  There he declared that he is not against them, for he is an educated Jew, an expert in the Law.  He goes on to tell them of his revelation before Jesus of Nazareth.  He explains the power of the Risen Christ and the mission Christ gives him.  But the Judaizers heart was hard and did not accept either the Jews or the gospel and Paul escaped narrowly with his life.

Daily Prayer:  Lord, we are a people with hardened hearts, hearts hardened by sin and self-contentedness
Bring us back to You, Lord Jesus.  Send Your Helper, the Spirit of Truth to convince and convict us of our sins and lead us in repentance.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Acts 21:15-30 Keep The Law, But Don't Impose It On The Gentiles

After these days we got ready and started on our way up to Jerusalem.  Some of the disciples from Caesarea also came. After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly.  And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.  After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.  And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law;  and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs.  What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come.  Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law.  But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.”  Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.When the seven days were almost over, the Jews from Asia, upon seeing him in the temple, began to stir up all the crowd and laid hands on him,  crying out, “Men of Israel, come to our aid! This is the man who preaches to all men everywhere against our people and the Law and this place; and besides he has even brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place.”  For they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with him, and they supposed that Paul had brought him into the temple.  Then all the city was provoked, and the people rushed together, and taking hold of Paul they dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.

The people of Israel had a covenant with God to obey the Law of Moses.  Paul was called by Jesus Christ to be His ambassador to the gentiles and share His gospel and preach it to them and their kings. God's covenant of the Law was with Israel, but for God's Kingdom to grow, the Age of Grace needed to be preached in the world.  The Israelite s didn't understand that the Law was not a method of salvation, but it was Christ's atonement for sin and His resurrection from the dead, thus overcoming death is the way, the truth and the light of God.  Nobody can come to the Father except through Christ.  But the problem is the many did not receive Jesus as their Savior and somehow wanted the gentile converts to first practice Judaism before they could be saved.  Paul's response is that all who come to Christ and saved by their belief in Him and not by works of the Law.  The Jews somehow wanted a monopoly on God's grace, but Paul was there to remind them that a new day had come, which is the New Covenant where salvation is through faith and not works of the Law.

Daily Prayer:  Lord, people want to hold on to trying to please You through what they do, instead of worshiping You for what You have done.  Keep our hands and voice busy proclaiming the true gospel of Jesus Christ which is God's manifestation of His method of reconciliation with a fallen humanity. In Jesus name I  pray Amen.

Acts 21: 7-14 Paul Is Warned Against Going To Jerusalem

When we had finished the voyage from Tyre, we arrived at Ptolemais, and after greeting the brethren, we stayed with them for a day.  On the next day we left and came to Caesarea, and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.  Now this man had four virgin daughters who were prophetesses.  As we were staying there for some days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands, and said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”  When we had heard this, we as well as the local residents began begging him not to go up to Jerusalem. Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but even to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”  And since he would not be persuaded, we fell silent, remarking, “The will of the Lord be done!”

Paul in this lesson is being confronted between the choice of the temporal and the eternal.  Paul witness the Risen Christ and the glory and the majesty of his Savior.  Apart from that, all things of the world are rubbish.  Paul was also engaged in a mission set before him which is to preach the gospel to the gentiles and their kings.  Paul was not then persuaded by considering his own life to be valuable when compared to the things that are to come by serving Christ, and if necessary, laying his life down for Christ's sake.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, strengthen my faith so that I can easily choose between Your Kingdom and the kingdom of the world.  Strengthen me to be a co-labor for the gospel so that I may be found trustworthy when You return.
In Your holy name I  pray Amen.

From Milieus he sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church. And when they had come to him, he said to them,“You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time,  serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; how 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, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there,  except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.  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.“And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.  Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.  For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.  Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.  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.  Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.  And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.  I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or clothes.  You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the men who were with me. In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”When he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. ³⁷ And they began to weep aloud and embraced Paul, and repeatedly kissed him,  grieving especially over the word which he had spoken, that they would not see his face again. And they were accompanying him to the ship.

These words are similar to the words of Samuel and Joshua where when their time of service had come to and end, they were able to testify to having clean hands before the people.  They were like the Good Shepherd and did not scatter when trouble comes.  Paul planted a church there and it will flourish for years to come. He claims nothing for himself, but in all things proclaims Christ the King and redemption found in Him.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, as with Yourself and with Paul, let us not covet anything of this world, but in all things give thanks to You for the redemption found in You.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Acts 20:6-12 Church Establishes Sunday As Sabbath Day

We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days.On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.  There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together.  And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead.  But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.”  When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left.  They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted.

As you know, the Jews honor God on Saturday, their Sabbath.  Now in the church age, Paul and his disciples worship God and the Savior Christ Jesus on the first day of the week.  There they pray together and break bread and hear the Word of God.  In today't event, Paul's speaking to the people was prolonged and a young may fell asleep and fell from a third story loft and was presumed dead.  Paul assures the people that he is not dead and laid his body on the body of the young man, and his life was restored.  Worship on the first is important because it is a sign of giving our first attention to God before resuming our life in the world.

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, let us not grow weary and sleep, because You raised from the dead to give us eternal life.  Let this life be active in service to You and let us acknowledge You first in all of our lives activities.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.

Acts 19:11-22 Miracles at Ephesus, Paul Sets His Sight On Rome

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.  But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”  Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.  And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?”  And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.  This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.  And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”  And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

While the work of Christ was evident in Paul's life, he set his face for Rome.
It is important that in these days, any king proclaimed apart from Caesar was not welcome in Jesus' day and not in Paul's either.  He would come against the full force of Rome but Paul understood his commission given to him by Jesus, "Make my name known before the gentiles and their kings."  While the price was high, if he could withstand it he will know that he fought the good fight for his Lord Jesus Christ and would be rewarded by Him.

Daily Prayer:  Jesus said to testify about him to others and He would testify about you to His Father in heaven.  But if you do not testify about Him to others, He will not testify about you to His Father.  So open your mouth boldly  for Jesus and receive His promises in your life.  Amen and Amen.

Acts 18:23-28 The Third Missionary Journey

And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.  Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John; and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.  And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,  for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Here, Paul had recently left Ephesus hoping to return and made his way to Galatia where Apollos emerges.  He was an evangelist like Paul who preached
boldly for the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Paul and his converts spend time with him, strengthening him, and making him more knowledgeable concerning his teaching, especially concerning baptism.  Apollos only knew of the baptism of John which was a baptism for repentance.  From Paul, he would learn of the baptism of the Spirit which leads to eternal life.  He also perfected his knowledge about forgiveness by grace apart from works which Paul will later expound in his letter to the Romans.

Daily Prayer:  Lord, let our lips be quick to tell others about Your saving grace, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life which is the good news of the gospel.  Let not the adversary draw us back, but by Your Spirit, make our words be fluid and bold.  In Jesus name I pray Amen.

Acts 18:1-11 Paul at Corinth

After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a 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.  And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.  But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”  Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized.  And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;  for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”  And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

What is the main message here?  It is those words spoken by Father-God who tells us not to fear, but be bold in proclaiming Christ's gospel, because God has concern for the many people here in the same way that God empowered Jonah is the days past to preach the word in Nineveh when the people heard the word of God and repented and caused revival.  In the same way, God has concern for the many who need to hear from Him today.  Therefore do not hesitate, but open your mouth in God's service, because faith comes from hearing.

Daily Prayer:  Lord, loosen our tongues and still the fear that hampers our testimony.  Let us testify Your name before others as we have been called to do.  In Jesus name and for His sake I pray Amen and Amen.

Acts 22-34 Paul Opens His Mouth With The Gospel In Athens

“Brethren and fathers, hear my defense which I now offer to you.” And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Hebrew dialect, they became even more quiet; and he said,“I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated under Gamaliel, strictly according to the law of our fathers, being zealous for God just as you all are today.  I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prisons,  as also the high priest and all the Council of the elders can testify. From them I also received letters to the brethren, and started off for Damascus in order to bring even those who were there to Jerusalem as prisoners to be punished.“ But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me,  and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.’ And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me.  And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus. “A certain Ananias, a man who was devout by the standard of the Law, and well spoken of by all the Jews who lived there, came to me, and standing near said to me, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very time I looked up at him. And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth.  For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.  Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins,calling on His name.’ “It happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance,  and I saw Him saying to me, ‘Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’  And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You.  And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’”

Daily Prayer:  Lord Jesus, as You know, many have come to know you and received forgiveness of sins because of their belief.  But many more still live in their sins because they do not place their trust in You with their very soul.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, allow me, my family, and my church lead others to knowledge and belief in You so that by Your grace they may inherit eternal life.  In Your holy name I pray Amen.