Devotions

According to the Way So I Worship

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Paul’s trip to Jerusalem comes some twenty years after Jesus was crucified there. And the Roman Governor Felix was struggling to keep peace in the region although, by some reports, his abuses only made the situation worse. So when the crowd at the temple is stirred up and a plot to kill Paul is uncovered, the Roman Tribune sends Paul to the Governor in Caesarea under guard. Yet, there is no crime for him to charge Paul with. As Paul begins his defense, it is the gospel, the way, the resurrection, that Paul presents. But this truth in Acts 24:15 “having a hope in God which these men also themselves await: that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous” has long been disputed and is still today. Believe it or not, though, there is heaven and there is a lake of fire and our choice to accept or reject Jesus Christ during this life will determine our eternal residence. 

Having No Charge Deserving Death or Imprisonment

Acts 23:23-35
A plot by more than forty of the Jews to kill Paul has been exposed in Acts 23:21. Paul is under guard by Roman soldiers, so he is secure. Yet, the Tribune knows he is charged with keeping the peace in the region so he takes immediate action to remove Paul who is the spark for what could become an insurrection. Paul is surrounded by four hundred and seventy soldiers, more than enough to protect him in

Acts 23:23 And he summoned two of the centurions and said, “Make ready from the third hour of the night two hundred soldiers and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen, in order that they may proceed as far as Caesarea.

But this action is simply a peacekeeping action because of the plot to kill Paul even though there was no cause found in the Tribune’s investigation in

Acts 23:29 I found he was accused concerning controversial questions of their law, but having no charge deserving death or imprisonment.

We Have Found This Man to be a Public Menace

Acts 24:1-9
As the Jews, Paul’s accusers, in Acts 24:1 “all of whom brought charges against Paul to the governor” began to speak, they begin with flattery in

Acts 24:2-3 “We have experienced much peace through you, and reforms are taking place in this nation through your foresight”.

But their main goal was to shift the blame to Paul as the cause of what the Tribune had reported as a plot and uprising from the vigilante mob in Jerusalem. As Tertullus (see Acts 24:2) continues, he describes Paul as in

Acts 24:5–6 “… a public menace … causes riots … throughout the Roman Empire and a ringleader … attempted to desecrate the temple, and we arrested him”.

It wasn’t Paul that caused the riot in Jerusalem, it was the Jews from Asia that in Acts 21:27 “stirred up the whole crowd”. And it is this kind of twisting of facts that is often used to accuse people. And it is often a gathering of a crowd that raises their voices together bringing accusation. But the eloquence of a speaker or the number of people standing together or the volume of their chants doesn’t make their statements true. 

According to the Way, So I Worship

Acts 24:10-21
Paul gives the facts related to his trip to Jerusalem and this is the only way to combat false accusations. Paul wasn’t arguing or inciting a crowd and there is no proof of these accusations in

Acts 24:12–13 “And neither did they find me arguing with anyone or making a crowd develop … Nor can they prove the things to you concerning which they are now accusing me”.

Then Paul turns to the gospel, the real reason he is there. Paul confesses, he is a follower of ‘the way” in

Acts 24:14–15 But I do confess this to you, that according to the Way (which they call a sect), so I worship the God of our fathers, believing all things that are in accordance with the law and that are written in the prophets, 15 having a hope in God which these men also themselves await: that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.

This though is the real area of contention, and Paul restates that it is the resurrection that has caused the problem in

Acts 24:21 “this one declaration that I shouted while standing there before them: ‘I am being judged before you today concerning the resurrection of the dead!’ ”

But Felix Understood the Facts

Acts 24:22-27

I have Done No Wrong

Acts 25:1-12

Asking for a Sentence of Condemnation

Acts 25:13-22

He Had Done Nothing Deserving Death

Acts 25:23-27

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Acts 23:23-35
  • Acts 24:1-27
  • Acts 25:1-27
Devotions

In All Good Conscience Before God

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Paul is in Jerusalem and has been accused in Acts 21:28 “This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place!” and is held in chains until he is brought before the Sanhedrin. Paul relates his experience with Jesus who has sent Paul with a message of salvation that extends to all, including the Gentiles. Though Paul speaks to them in their native tongue, Aramaic, and explains his Jewish upbringing, it is Pauls claim that causes a reaction in Acts 23:1 “Men and brothers, I have lived my life in all good conscience before God to this day.” because they don’t recognize him as being under the law and then his statement in Acts 23:6-7 “Men and brothers! I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees! I am being judged concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead! that causes a great division.

Is It Permitted For Me To Say Something?

Acts 21:37-40 

Men – Brothers – Fathers, Listen

Acts 22:1-5
Paul has an opportunity to address the crowd. Since it is near the time of Passover, there are the local Jewish men; priests, Levites, and elders and there are also Jewish men from many other places including the Jews from Asia that had started the accusations against Paul. And, the main accusation were that Paul taught against the law of Moses and that he brought Greeks (Gentiles) into the temple in

Acts 21:28 “Israelite men, help! This is the man who is teaching everyone everywhere against the people and the law and this place! And furthermore he also brought Greeks into the temple, and has defiled this holy place!”

Neither of these were accurate, but they played to the fears of the Jews. Paul begins to quiet them, first by establishing some common ground as he addresses them as brothers and also speaks to them in Aramaic in

Acts 22:1–2 ““Men—brothers and fathers—listen to my defense to you now!” 2 And when they heard that he was addressing them in the Aramaic language, they became even more silent. And he said”

We might remember here, that there were many languages spoken on the day of Pentecost in

Acts 2:8-11 “… we hear them speaking in our own languages the great deeds of God!”

And during this time, “Many Jews from the Dispersion could not speak the Hebrew or Aramaic languages: even the greatest Jewish scholar of the first century, Philo of Alexandria, could not read the books of Moses (on which he wrote extensive commentaries) in Hebrew. For Paul to address the people in their own tongue was an effective way of commanding their attention”.1

However, they were in Jerusalem and Paul chose to speak, “Aramaic … (which) was the more common spoken language at the time. Paul’s use of it demonstrates to those present that he is a Jew and respects their culture”.2

What Should I Do Lord?

Acts 22:6-13 

The God of Our Fathers Has Appointed You

Acts 22:14-21
Paul has given an account of his encounter with the Lord and now relates the words of Ananias who charged Paul “as a witness for him to all people” in

Acts 22:14–15 “And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know his will, and to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth, 15 because you will be a witness for him to all people of what you have seen and heard.”

Paul then recounts his next experience in Jerusalem where the Lord appears to him in

Acts 22:18 “and saw him saying to me, ‘Hurry and depart quickly from Jerusalem, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’

and then Paul tells them how the Lord commanded him to go to the Gentiles in

Acts 22: 21 “And he said to me, ‘Go, because I will send you far away to the Gentiles!’ ”

Paul had been taking the gospel to the Gentiles when these “Jews from Asia” in Acts 21:27 encountered him. And, the crowd was listening until this point, but this idea that God was sending salvation to the Gentiles was more than they could hear in Acts 22:22.

But I Indeed Was Born A Citizen

Acts 22:22-30 

In All Good Conscience Before God

Acts 23:1-11
Paul has been held in prison, for his protection from the crowds, and the tribune releases Paul for an audience before the Sanhedrin in Acts 22:30. As Paul begins to address them, he again is trying to build common ground calling them brothers and expressing that “I have lived my life in all good conscience before God” in

Acts 23:1 “And looking intently at the Sanhedrin, Paul said, “Men and brothers, I have lived my life in all good conscience before God to this day.””

but Paul is stopped almost immediately as in

Acts 23:2 “the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near him to strike his mouth”.

Paul recognized that they were not willing to listen so changed his approach. Paul deflects the crowd from the accusations against him personally and shifts the focus instead to “the resurrection of the dead” in

Acts 23:6-7 “Men and brothers! I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees! I am being judged concerning the hope and the resurrection of the dead! 7 And when he said this, a dispute developed between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was divided”.

We Have Bound Ourselves Under A Curse

Acts 23:12-22

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Acts 21:37-40
  • Acts 22:1-30
  • Acts 23:1-22

References

  • 1. Marshall, I. H. (1980). Acts: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 5, p. 373). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
  • 2. Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Ac 21:40). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Devotions

Shepherd the Church of God

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Paul is beginning a new direction, to take the gospel to the Gentiles in Rome. As he heads to Jerusalem, he summons the leaders of the Church in Ephesus and gives them a warning. As oversseers, they have a responsibility, first to guard themselves, and also to guard the flock of God. It is true, as Paul will later write to them, in Ephesians 6:12 “our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places”. We first though, must give ourselves to the Lord, and to the message as Paul said in 1 Timothy 4:14-16 “… Fix your attention on yourself and on your teaching. Continue in them, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you”. The word is where faith comes from and with this foundation, we can fulfill the will of God even though we may find ourselves praying as Jesus did in Mark 14:36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you! Take away this cup from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

Bound By The Spirit I Am Traveling

Acts 20:17-27 

Shepherd the Church of God

Acts 20:28-38
Paul offers a warning, not to the congregation of believers, but to the ones who “the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseer’s” in Acts 20:28.

This warning is two-fold:

  • “be on guard for yourselves” Colossians 1:23 “if indeed you remain in the faith, established and steadfast and not shifted away from the hope of the gospel … “ 1 Timothy 4:14-16 “… Fix your attention on yourself and on your teaching. Continue in them, for by doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
  • be on guard “for all the flock” Jeremiah 3:15 “Then I will give you shepherds after my own heart and they will feed you knowledge and insight”.

The danger comes from two sources:

  • there are those that will come from outside the church, from outside the body of believers in Acts 20:29 “fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock” 1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world … “
  • there are those that will come from inside the church, these are members of the body of believers in Acts 20:30 “from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth in order to draw away the disciples after them” see 2 Peter 2:1-22.

Though Paul tells them in Acts 20:31 “be on the alert” Paul’s faith is in God to perform His word so he goes on to say in

Acts 20:32 “I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified”.

This short statement here “to give you the inheritance”, they would come to know as it is fully developed later in Ephesians 1:1-11 and in Paul’s prayer for them in Ephesians 1:17-23. This is also the message given by Peter in 2 Peter 1:2-7.

 

We Tore Ourselves Away From Them

Acts 21:1-7
Paul was being led to go to Jerusalem, and then to Rome but this meant he would leave behind these strong relationships he built over years. We get a sense of the depth of these relationships when Paul says, in Acts 21:1 “we tore ourselves away from them” and at the stop in Tyre, in Acts 21:5 “all of them accompanied us, together with their wives and children”. But this is sometimes required to follow God’s plan for our lives. Jesus said this in

Luke 14:27 “Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow me cannot be my disciple”.

and isn’t this that we also should do what the Lord asks, to fulfill his will in our lives as Jesus did in

Mark 14:36 And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you! Take away this cup from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

 

The Will of the Lord Be Done

Acts 21:8-16
Paul has given warnings to others about what was ahead for them and now, Paul is warned. As Paul comes to Caesarea he in Acts 21:8 entered into the house of Philip the evangelist” and in Acts 21:9 “a certain prophet named Agabus” in

Acts 21:11 And he came to us and took Paul’s belt. Tying up his own feet and hands, he said, “This is what the Holy Spirit says: ‘In this way the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man whose belt this is, and will deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ”

People who heard this took it as a warning that Paul should not go to Jerusalem, but in

Acts 21:13 Then Paul replied, “What are you doing weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be tied up, but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus!”

Paul knew what the Lord was leading him to do, go to Jerusalem and then to Rome. He didn’t know the details of how that would happen, but he had experience in following the Holy Spirit, and sometimes he had landed in prison. Paul also knew, that the Lord was always with him and his purpose was to carry this message to the Gentile.

The Brothers Welcomed Us Gladly

Acts 21:17-22

Purify Yourself Along With Them

Acts 21:23-26

He Has Defiled This Holy Place

Acts 21:27-36

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Acts 20:17-38
  • Acts 21:1-36
Devotions

The gods Made By Hands Are Not gods

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Paul is teaching for two years in Ephesus Acts 19:10 “so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks”. Then something else happens, people separate themselves from magic. The gospel is first about the gift of life through Jesus Christ, but it is also about repentance and turning from our old ways. The Lord wants us to mature and to live the righteous and holy lives He desires of us and the believers in Ephesus are growing. Paul sets himself to go to Jerusalem and then on to Rome which is new territory for him, but first returns to Macedonia, in Acts 20:2 “And after he had gone through those regions and encouraged them at length, he came to Greece”. Then turns himself toward Jerusalem.

Jesus I know, But Who Are You

Acts 19:11-16

The Word of the Lord Was Growing

Acts 19:17-20 

The gods Made By Hands Are Not gods

Acts 19:21-29
Paul comes to Ephesus in Acts 19:1 “and found some disciples” and in Acts 19:5 “they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus”. Paul continued for two years in Acts 19:10. During this time, Paul was preaching the gospel of the kingdom and people were coming to Christ and in Acts 19:11 “God was performing extraordinary miracles”. God is confirming his word in Acts 19:12 “and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.”

Then, we find something new happening, people are separating themselves from magic in Acts 19:19 “many of those who practiced magic brought together their books and burned them”. This time was so powerful that in Acts 19:20 “In this way the word of the Lord was growing in power and was prevailing”.

Now, Paul sets a new direction, Rome, but by way of Jerusalem as it says in

Acts 19:21 “Now when these things were completed, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, it is necessary for me to see Rome also.””

Yet, Paul still, in Acts 19:22 “stayed some time in Asia”. During this time, Paul faced accusation from in Acts 19:24 “Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis” who in Acts 19:24-25 “the craftsmen. These he gathered together, and the workers” and said in Acts 19:26 “not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asian this man Paul has persuaded and turned away a large crowd by saying that the gods made by hands are not gods”.

This accusation was true, many had turned to the Lord. And, it was also true, that this had a significant affect on the income of silversmiths because many had given up their, in Acts 19:24 “replicas of the temple of Artemis” and, based on “Another popular form of magic … (people gave up) the use of amulets and symbols designed to protect the wearer from sorcery, evil spirits, and the evil eye (Luck, Arcana Mundi, 19; Elliott, “Fear of the Leer,” 47–51)”.1

It Will Be Settled In the Lawful Assembly

Acts 19:30-40 

He Had Gone Through Those Regions and Encouraged Them

Acts 20:1-6
Even though Paul had set himself to go to Jerusalem and then to Rome, he is still in Ephesus. After dealing with the accusations from the silversmiths in

Acts 20:1 “Now after the turmoil had ceased, Paul summoned the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed to travel to Macedonia.

It was Paul’s custom to revisit churches and encourage them so he continues through Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and then on to Corinth in

Acts 20:2 And after he had gone through those regions and encouraged them at length, he came to Greece.

Yet, his trip was delayed again, this time because of a plot by the Jews in

Acts 20:3 and stayed three months. Because a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he came to a decision to return through Macedonia.

He Extended His Message Until Midnight

Acts 20:7-12 

To Be In Jerusalem On the Day of Pentecost

Acts 20:13-16
Paul has wanted to get to Jerusalem, and his trip has been delayed, now though, in

Acts 20:6 “And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread and came to them at Troas within five days, where we stayed seven days.

Paul wants to spend time with those along the way but is pressing to get to Jerusalem in fifty days for Pentecost. Since Paul also needed to include in Acts 21:27 “the seven days” for purification when he arrived, travel time was short in

Acts 20:16 “For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus so that he would not be having to spend time in Asia. For he was hurrying if it could be possible for him to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost”.

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Acts 19:11-40
  • Acts 20:1-16

References

  • 1. Roberts, R. D. (2016). Magic. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, … W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
Devotions

God Has Overlooked the Times of Ignorance

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In every place, Paul shares the message of life through faith in Jesus Christ. In Athens, Paul speaks to them about the unknown God, the God that many only recognize as a shadowy concept that they can’t really understand. But God can be known and he is known through Jesus, the risen Christ. As Paul moves on to Corinth, in Acts 18:9–10 And the Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent, 10 because I am with you” and this is an admonition we can take for ourselves, to “speak, and not keep silent”. 

God Has Overlooked the Times of Ignorance

Acts 17:30-34
Paul is in Athens, an old culture that recognized many gods and prided themselves on their acceptance of new ideas. So Paul takes their own altar as his starting point in

Acts 17:23 For as I was passing through and observing carefully your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, ‘To an unknown God.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you—

and from this, he declares the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ:

“(1) God is not the made but the maker; and the one who made all things cannot be worshipped by anything made by human hands … (2) God has guided history … (3) God has made human beings in such a way that instinctively they long for God … (4) The days of feeling our way and of ignorance are past … now in Christ the full blaze of the knowledge of God has come … (5) The day of judgment is coming. Life is … a journey to the judgment seat of God, where Jesus Christ is Judge. (6) The proof … is the resurrection. It is no unknown God but a risen Christ with whom we have to deal”.1

Do Not Be Afraid, But Speak and Do Not Keep Silent

Acts 18:1-11 

This Man is Persuading People to Worship God

Acts 18:12-17
Paul comes to Corinth in Acts 18:1 and the Lord encouraged Paul to speak out and he did for a year and a half in

Acts 18:9–11 And the Lord said to Paul by a vision in the night, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not keep silent, 10 because I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you, because many people are mine in this city.” 11 So he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Then, a new governor was named, in Acts 18:12 “when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia” and the Jews thought this was an opportune time, to get favor from the new proconsul so in

Acts 18:11-12 “the Jews rose up with one purpose against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat”.

Corinth was the capital of the region and this position, “was reserved for the governors of settled provinces, which were placed under the Roman Senate, and is never given in the New Testament to Pilate, Felix, or Festus, who were but procurators, or subordinate administrators of unsettled, imperial, military provinces”.2

This position was also a political track for “Marcus Annaeus Novatus (who) was a brother of the famous Stoic philosopher Seneca; he was the son of a Spanish orator, and on coming to Rome he was adopted into the family of Lucius Junius Gallio and took the name of his adoptive father. Since Achaia was a second-rank province, it was governed by someone who had not yet attained the rank of consul (the senior Roman magistracy).36 Gallio accordingly came to Achaia after being praetor and before being consul”.3 but even though he was fresh in this position, Gallio was not swayed, and clearly understood the role of government was to deal with “crime or wicked villainy” in Acts 18:14 so he responds in

Acts 18:15 “if it is questions concerning a word and names and your own law, see to it yourselves!” and the case was dismissed.

 

Strengthening All the Disciples

Acts 18:18-23
Paul in Acts 18:18 “after remaining many days longer” begins to make his way back to Antioch in Acts 18:22 and greets the churches on the way. Then in

Acts 18:23 And after spending some time there, he departed, traveling through one place after another in the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Likely following the same route as in his second and third missionary journeys, Paul would pass through Tarsus, his home town, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and all of the churches he had planted in “the Galatian region and Phrygia”.

He Knew Only the Baptism of John

Acts 18:24-28

Did You Receive the Holy Spirit?

Acts 19:1-10

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Acts 17:30-34
  • Acts 18:1-28
  • Acts 19:1-10

References

  • 1. Barclay, W. (2003). The Acts of the Apostles (3rd ed. fully rev. and updated., pp. 154–155). Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press.
  • 2. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 190). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
  • 3. Marshall, I. H. (1980). Acts: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 5, p. 314). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
Devotions

They Accepted the Message With All Eagerness

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Paul heads into Macedonia after having a vision in Acts 16:9 a certain Macedonian man was standing there and imploring him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”. In Philippi some were saved, Lydia and her household, the jailer and his household. Then in Thessalonica in Acts 17:4 “And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, and also a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the prominent women”. And in Berea, in Acts 17:12 “Therefore many of them believed, and not a few of the prominent Greek women and men”. But in every place, there was also opposition, in Acts 16:19 “when … their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas” and in Acts 17:5 “the Jews were filled with jealousy and, taking along some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace and forming a mob, threw the city into an uproar”. The message of the kingdom sets people free and those losing control react to preserve their positions of wealth and power. 

Praying and Singing Hymns to God

Acts 16:25-34
Paul has a new partner, Silas, and in

Acts 16:25 Now about midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Accusations had landed them in jail until their case could be heard the next day. This isn’t prison like we might have today, they were not only behind locked doors, but they were also in the stocks. Later in Acts 16:33 it mentions their wounds, which was likely from the beating they had taken in Acts 16:22-23 then in

Acts 16:26 “there was a great earthquake … And immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds were unfastened”.

It is easy to imagine an earthquake happening. And with an earthquake, maybe the doors would open, but all of the bonds unfastened?

A jailer in these days was responsible for the prisoners and “knowing that his life was forfeited in that case (Ac 12:19; and compare Ac 27:42)”1, the jailer was in

Acts 16:27-28 “about to kill himself, because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul called out … we are all here”.

When the jailer found that they were there, he said in

Acts 16:29-30 “what can I do so that I can be saved”.

and they answered in

Acts 16:31 And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household!”

Here is where the real miracles occur in Acts 16:32-34, the jailer takes Paul and Silas to his house, wakes the household, washes their wounds, hears the gospel message, they are all baptised, and they have a meal together. But then, in the morning, the jailer is back at his post, Paul and Silas are back in their cell in

Acts 16:35 And when it was day, the chief magistrates sent the police officers, saying, “Release those men.”

Paul understood the legal system and the jailers life was forfeit if Paul walked away. Paul was confident enough in the Lord that he put himself back in jail to protect the jailer.

Come Out Now and Go In Peace

Acts 16:35-40 

And Some of Them Were Persuaded

Acts 17:1-9
Paul was teaching in the synagogue in Acts 17:2 “as was his custom” and in

Acts 17:4 And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, and also a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few of the prominent women.

When the Jews were not able to prevent people from being persuaded in the synagogue, they went to find people they could enlist against this message. This is a common tactic when someone doesn’t get what they want, they pull together a crowd of people and make noise as in

Acts 17:5 ”But the Jews were filled with jealousy … forming a mob threw the city into an uproar … to bring them out to the popular assembly”.

They Accepted the Message With All Eagerness

Acts 17:10-15
Paul was in Macedonia because of the vision in Acts 16:9 “a certain Macedonian man was standing there and imploring him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!”” and while in Acts 17:4 “some of them were persuaded”, in Philippi and Thessalonica there had been crowds in opposition.

Now, in Berea in Acts 17:11 “these were more open-minded” and in Acts 17:12 “many of them believed”. And while there was no local opposition, in Acts 17:13 “the Jews from Thessalonica … came there too, inciting and stirring up the crowds”.

May We Learn What Is This New Teaching

Acts 17:16-21

What You Worship Without Knowing It, This I Proclaim

Acts 17:22-29

Study Verses

Today’s Reading

  • Acts 16:25-40
  • Acts 17:1-29

References

  • 1. Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 199). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.