"I Would Heal Them"

Acts 28:1-28:31
We have been going through the Book of Acts, line by line, chapter by chapter, and at last, we are on the very last chapter. Honestly, I am very sad that it is coming to an end. I personally have learned and benefited so much from my time spent studying this book in depth, that it is currently my favorite book in the whole Bible. I have learned a lot about how to study a book in depth through this series, and hopefully each future book we go through line by line will become my new favorite as a result. Starting next week, though, we will take a break from book studies, and begin a series on what it means to really live as a Christian, as a follower of, as it says in Acts, “The Way.” The series is entitled “The Overcoming Christian,” and I will introduce the series next week.

But as I have said, I am sad to end this series on Acts. I think it has changed me. More than anything else, I think God has used it to enlarge my compassion. I have thought so much about what it must have been like to endure all the things the early believers had to endure, and I am more “raw” when I come face to face with the suffering that I see from time to time today.

Finding Peace in the Storm

Acts 27:1-27:44

We are now up to the last two chapters of the Book of Acts. Before we begin going through Acts chapter 27, let me bring you up to speed. Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and brought to Caesarea. After spending two long years in jail, he finally had the beginnings of a trial, and Paul chose to “appeal to Caesar” rather than continue on trying to get a fair trial among people who lived by political favors without much regards for real justice. What this meant is that his trial would be taken up in Rome.

Rome is a long, long way from Caesarea, about 1500 miles one way. That distance is as a straight line; an actual journey, unless by air, is significantly longer. The most direct route at the time of Paul was by ship.

Living in a Political World

Acts 25:1-26:32

When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison. – Acts 24:27

We have been going through the book of Acts, line by line, since the beginning of the year. Two weeks ago, we came to this verse at the end of the teaching. Paul had now been on several successful yet challenging missionary journeys. New churches were being planted and growing, entire towns were coming to faith in Christ, and the gospel was spreading as promised in Acts 1. After overcoming countless dangers, obstacles, and setbacks, the Holy Spirit made it clear to Paul that he was to go to Jerusalem, and that “bondage and affliction” awaited him. In city after city, as Paul got closer to Jerusalem, those around him begged him not to go and confirmed to him that, indeed, bondage and affliction awaited him. But Paul was determined to follow the leading of God wherever He led and whatever would become of him, and so at last he entered Jerusalem.

Reflections on Acts

Acts 1-24, Psalm 63

We have been going week by week, line by line, through the Book of Acts since the beginning of January. Last week we ended in chapter 24 with Paul waiting under arrest in Caesarea for two years. Paul’s ministry was seemingly put to an end, despite the Lord’s promise that he would be His witness in Rome. Poor Paul! This had to be so difficult – the people holding him were amazingly corrupt, callous, brutal, evil men. Paul was held without due process for political reasons, partly because he didn’t try to bribe his jailors. What about the promise? What was God doing? I hate to do this to you, but we are going to leave Paul in jail for another week.

As we come close to finishing the Book of Acts, it seemed appropriate to take one week out of the sequence and review the entire book up to where we are in Chapter 24. I believe it is helpful to study the Bible many different ways, and one of these ways has been called the “Bird’s Eye View.” Just as a fast-flying eagle can survey a very large territory very quickly, we are going to survey 24 chapters of Acts to see what we can learn from seeing all at once the “big picture.”

Take Courage!

Acts 22:30-24:27

The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. – Acts 22:30

Let’s start with a little background. Where are we? What is going on? Despite repeated warnings by prophets and by the Holy Spirit that bondage and affliction awaited him, Paul had felt led by the same Holy Spirit to go on to Jerusalem. Once here, in a short time some Jews from the province of Asia recognized him and shouted out, accusing him of teaching against the people, the Law, and the Temple, and that he had defiled the Temple by bringing Greeks into it.

Things became chaotic, and in the uproar they began to beat Paul with the intention of killing him. Roman guards came and broke things up, carrying Paul up on stairs. Paul received permission to speak, and attempted to share the gospel with them. As he related how he had become a follower of Christ, once he mentioned that he had been sent by the Lord to reach out to the Gentiles, the crowd erupted again.

The Arrest of Paul

Acts 21:1-22:29

This Sunday I began with a video clip from the end of The Return of the King, the final movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The scene shows the departure of Frodo, Bilbo, Gandalf, and the elves on a ship to head “to the west,” from which nobody ever returns. Frodo’s friends only learn that Frodo is going with the party at the last moment, and the parting is extremely emotional. I showed this clip so that we could really “get into” the scene here in Acts. Beginning with Acts 20:37:

They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. – Acts 20:37-38

Paul was saying farewell to elders at Ephesus. The scene was perhaps even more emotional than what you have seen and felt on this clip. Deep, even overwhelming emotion at a final departure is a universal part of human nature. As we are made in the image of God, I conclude that it is a part of the nature of God.

If Only I May Finish

Acts 20:13-20:38

But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mitylene. Sailing from there, we arrived the following day opposite Chios; and the next day we crossed over to Samos; and the day following we came to Miletus. For Paul had 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. – Acts 20:13-16

From Miletus 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. – Acts 20:17-23

Greatly Comforted

Acts 20:1-20:12

When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. – Acts 20:1-3

What and where was the uproar? We learned about this last week. The gospel had had such a great impact in Ephesus that a man named Demetrius, a maker of idols of Artemis, almost brought the entire city to riot. But God orchestrated events so that it led to nothing. Yet, because Paul had almost achieved “Superstar” status in Ephesus, and because he was once again the lightning rod for conflict and persecution, it was again time for him to leave and move on.

The Threat of the Gospel

Acts 19:1-19:41

I want to go back a few verses to the end of Acts 18 to put things in context today.

Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. – Acts 18:24-26

Since we will be spending some time in Ephesus, I want to give you some information about it. Ephesus is in western Turkey, on the coast of Aegean Sea. Sail west, across the sea, and you will be in Greece. Almost due west from Ephesus on the Greek coast is Corinth. Ephesus was a large city, perhaps half a million people.

Growing Together

Acts 18:1-18:28

Acts Chapter 18 begins with Paul leaving Athens and going to Corinth. Corinth was conquered by Rome about 200 BC. Around 150 BC, the Corinthians rebelled, and the Romans made an example out of Corinth and utterly destroyed them. The town lay mostly uninhabited and in ruins for one hundred years, until around 50 BC, it was rebuilt by Julius Caesar. About 25 years later (and about 75 years before Paul visits), it had grown sufficiently so as to become the capital of the province of Achaia. Compared to the ancient city of Athens, the rebuilt Corinth seemed all-new.

If you look at the map, you can see that Corinth actually had two seaports, one on the east and one on the west. Corinth sat on a narrow land bridge between these two bodies of water. Bringing goods from one port to the other through Corinth was a much shorter and cheaper prospect than going all the way around the south. Small ships and the cargo from large ships would actually be taken over land on large rolling carts from port to port. A special paved road was made for this purpose. Called the dialkos (which means “to carry across”) the road goes back before 600 BC.

To an Unknown God

Acts 17:1-17:34

Last week, we read that Paul and his party were in Philippi, where things were quite eventful, to say the least. We talked about how Paul cast out a demon from a slave girl who made money for her owners by being a kind of “oracle,” or truth-teller. Rather than thanking Paul, they were quite upset and had Paul and his party badly beaten and thrown into jail. Once in jail, a great earthquake (or was it angels?) released their bonds, and Paul made a friend for life with the jailor, who along with his family became followers of Jesus.

When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. – Acts 17:1-4

Believe and You Will Be Saved

Acts 16:16-16:40

We have been going through the book of Acts. Where are we? We are in the middle of Paul’s second missionary journey. In the beginning of Acts 16, they were in what is now Turkey, starting in Derbe, Lystra, and Iconium, and then in verse 8 it says they went into Troas. As you can see from the map, Troas is a seaport, and it was there that Paul had a vision of a man from Macedonia calling him to come. They went by sea to Neapolis (verse 11), and then by land to Philippi. This is where they are now. Last week we talked about how the Lord opened the heart of Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, to respond to the gospel. She persuaded them to stay at her house, and they did.

On a modern map, where are they? Philippi is in Greece. Albania is a bit to the north. About 90 years prior to the point Paul is here (about 50 AD), the Battle of Philippi took place. If you read Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar back in your school days, the Battle of Philippi is the battle in which the heirs of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian, defeated Caesar’s assassins, Cassius and Brutus. Ten year later (about 80 years before Paul is here), Octavian was declared emperor (Augustus Caesar) and he let many of his officers take over land around the city. There were a lot of wealthy people in Philippi, and it was known as a “little Rome.” For a little city, the monuments and buildings in the city were quite impressive. As the map shows, Philippi was part of Macedonia, the place Paul had been called in his vision to visit. Let’s now pick up our passage.

A Worshiper of God

Acts 16:6-16:15

Once again we are at the end of the month, and so we will have a shorter message today followed by communion and a sharing time.

I want to start back a bit, at the beginning of Acts 16 today. Recall that Paul and Barnabas had split up on this second missionary journey. Barnabas had taken Mark and gone back to the island of Cyprus, while Paul had taken Silas and gone back through Syria and Cilicia.

He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. – Acts 16:1-5

Being a Spiritual Father

Acts 15:1-16:5

Some men came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the brothers: "Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question. The church sent them on their way, and as they traveled through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told how the Gentiles had been converted. This news made all the brothers very glad. When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and elders, to whom they reported everything God had done through them. – Acts 15:1-4

Last week, we talked about how Paul and Barnabas returned from their missionary journey. Paul was much worse for wear, beaten to within an inch of his life, and left for dead, in Lystra. But God had done remarkable things through them and the gospel was spread through what is now Cypress and Turkey. We left them back in Antioch, reunited with the church body that had sent them off on their journey.

Leave the Results to God

Acts 13:49-14:28

The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. – Acts 13:49-52

We pick up the story from last week with Paul and Barnabas in Pisidian Antioch. Recall that Paul and Barnabas were sent out from the church at “regular” Antioch, and they sailed to Cyprus, seen people become believers at Paphos on Cyprus, where God also used Paul to cause a false prophet to become blind, and then sailed to what is now Turkey, where they traveled inland up to Pisidian Antioch. Here Paul gives an impassioned explanation of the gospel in the synagogue, but after encountering hostility and opposition, he took it to the streets, where many, many Gentiles became believers.

Salvation to the Ends of the Earth

Acts 13:1-13:48

In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them." So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off. – Acts 13:1-3

Here we get a glimpse at the leadership team at Antioch. Note that there was plurality of leadership, not a single “head pastor” or anything like that. They were a really diverse group! Barnabas, from Cyprus (Acts 4:36), Simeon (a Jewish name) called Niger (a Roman name), Lucius from Cyrene, Manaen (raised in the court of a powerful ruler), and Saul (raised in Tarsus, then schooled by one of the “best” Jewish teachers in Jerusalem). All were quite different, and God used them all together, with their different experiences and gifts, to build up the local church.

Praising God

Acts 12:19b-12:25

This week we finish discussing Chapter 12 of Acts and then take communion together. Following this, we have a time of sharing together. If you are relatively new to our church, I should explain this. We truly believe what the Bible says – that God empowers all believers. He gives all believers spiritual gifts. And He uses all of us to teach one another, encourage one another, and pray for one another. Once a month, we take communion together and then have an “open mike” time. During these times, feel free to share whatever God has been teaching you in the past month. Or it may be something that strikes you even while others are sharing. If you have a “good word,” please share it. We believe that God supernaturally empowers these times. Don’t feel intimidated. Don’t feel that you think something is not appropriate if it is coming from “you” instead of somehow from “God.” This is how God works. If it brings Him glory, it is truly from Him.

I want to go back briefly to the beginning of Acts 12.

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. – Acts 12:1-3

No Small Commotion

Acts 12:1-12:19a

Today you are going to have to bear with me. My introduction to our passage, Acts 12:1-19, will be as long as or even longer than my discussion of the passage itself! But I know of no better way to have you appreciate the shock of this remarkable turn of events in the history of the early church. Two of the main characters in Acts 12 are James and Peter. I want to give you a bit of history of these men, along with John, James’ brother, so that you can be prepared, or perhaps, a better way to say it is so that you can be unprepared for what happens in this chapter. Let’s dig right in.

After John [the Baptist] was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. "The time has come," He said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow Me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. Without delay He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him. – Mark 1:14-20

The Hand of the Lord

Acts 11:1-11:30

Today is Mother’s day. I believe the traditional thing to do is to give a message to mothers. For two reasons, I have decided mostly not to do this. First, we have been going line by line through the book of Acts, and we are currently up to Acts 11. As you will see, mothers don’t figure in real prominently in Acts 11. (They don’t figure in at all.) Second, I thought it might be more appropriate to address today’s message more to those people who mothers have to put up with, their husbands and children.

We are in Acts 11. Recall that last week’s passage looked at the remarkable way in which the Gospel, the good news about the saving work of Jesus Christ, came to the non-Jewish world. One thing that strikes me about Acts 11 is that it is filled with examples of God, godly behavior. Although this is really not the primary purpose of this passage – it is part of the narrative of the history of the early church, first and foremost, it also serves as a source of godly examples to follow. Thinking about this brings to mind Hebrews 12:1-2.

What God Has Cleansed

Acts 10:1-10:48

Today we continue our history of the early church as told by Dr. Luke in the book of Acts. We come to Chapter 10. This is a pivotal moment. God is about to smash some long-held beliefs and traditions to smithereens!

At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion in what was known as the Italian Regiment. He and all his family were devout and God-fearing; he gave generously to those in need and prayed to God regularly. One day at about three in the afternoon he had a vision. He distinctly saw an angel of God, who came to him and said, "Cornelius!" – Acts 10:1-3

A centurion was a leader of a hundred (or so) Roman troops. He was part of the Roman government, which was generally hated by the Jews, because they worshipped false gods (and many of them) and because they had repeatedly tried to make the Jews worship their Caesar. Notice that even this town is named after Caesar: Caesarea.