Category: Acts for a 21st c. Church

Acts of the Apostles 1-28

Acts of the Apostles:
+ The first century Church SHARED Christ while suffering severe persecution.
+ Luke records a historic account of the Church which gives 21c Christians a context to SHARE the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Read more about the Early Church & add your COMMENT on Scripture.

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+ SHARE the Gospel history witnessed in the CURRENT chronological SERIES from ACTS of the APOSTLES.

  • Paul a Prophet Sent out by Jesus

    Paul a Prophet Sent out by Jesus

    Great Prophets and Signs from God

    • HOW DO WE KNOW A TRUE PROPHET OF GOD?
    • WHAT is the SIGN of a true Prophet?

    A great prophet among us

    Before we look at an extraordinary sign in Troas suggesting that Paul is also a Prophet of Almighty God, let’s look at other true Prophets of the past.

    ~A.D. 56 – Previously in an upper room at midnight in the port of Troas..

    The gospel points to JESUS and not to the Apostle Paul or some other Old Testament prophet.


    • WHO does a prophet speak for and what does he say?
    • Is it the message and work of ALMIGHTY GOD or that of rebellion against the LORD?

    The Lord Jesus Christ

    ~ A.D. 28 - the year being less important than the short time of two decades before this present miracle by Paul
    
    Luke 7:

    .. for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others said, “He is Elijah.” And others said, “He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.”

    Gospel of Mark 6:14b-15 ESV

    Elijah

    About 860 Before Christ - the sign from GOD being more important than the year.

    Then the word of the Lord came to him, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

    1 Kings 17: ESV

    14 For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.’” 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days.

    1 Kings 17:14-15 ESV

    After this the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill. And his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him..

    19 And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed.

    .. Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord,

    “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.”

    .. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. 23 And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother. And Elijah said, “See, your son lives.”

    24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”


    More on Elijah 
    AND other prophets
    
    What did they see?
    
    Who is the true prophet of the LORD God? The one who speaks and reveals truth in fear of God to speak for Him.

    The Apostle Simon Peter

    About A.D. 40
    Resurrection of a body which has fallen from life into the valley of death is nothing new to the Apostles. To Peter another resurrection would be completely possible IF it is the will of the Lord.

    And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.

    41 Then he gave her his hand and lifted her up; and when he had called the saints and widows, he presented her alive. 42 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed on the Lord.


    The Apostle Paul

    Paul sails to other Aegean destinations via Troas on his second and third missionary journeys
    Troas – important 1st C. A.D. Roman port
    Returning now to the mid- A.D. 50's about a dozen years after the resurrection of Tabitha or Dorcas in Joppa by Peter, a couple of dozen years after many witnessed the signs of multiple resurrections by the Lord Jesus AND more than nine centuries since the sign of the Prophet Ezekiel for a widow in Zarephath.
    
    

    after the 3-story fall of Eutychus from an upper room window to his death

    But Paul went down and bent over him, and taking him in his arms, said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.”

    11 And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed.

    Acts of the Apostles 20:12 ESV

    WHAT THEN?

    Paul’s preaching, worship and discussion with the believers in Troas had gone until midnight. (WHAT A LONG EVENING SERVICE!)

    But then AFTER the SIGN of the Lord through PAUL raising the dead youth, the faithful returned to WORSHIP (and no doubt thankfulness) until the break of the very day. The Apostle would then continue to sail into the rest of the world with the Gospel of JESUS Christ.

    JOY of the Gospel of Jesus Christ continues not only in Troas and back into Macedonia and Greece, but in other ports along the Apostle Paul’s third missionary journey.


    12 And they took the youth away alive, and were not a little comforted.

    13 But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there, for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land.


    Prophets and Signs

    A false prophet shows NO SIGNS other than deception and ambition against Almighty God.

    Saul of Tarsus had been a great aggressor of Zion without regard for the mercy of God and ears to hear the warning of Israel’s Prophets predicting a servant Messiah who would not ‘break a bruised reed’.

    YET the LORD had bruised Paul’s zeal near Damascus and confronted his heart with the Gospel of His Own RESURRECTION!

    THE LORD had provided proof of His Word through Moses and through Elijah who have now appeared to Jesus’ Apostles Peter, James and John. The Word provides a sign to Saul by once more appearing to the apostle then prophesying the most difficult journey ahead as JESUS would send Paul out to the Gentiles as His chosen instrument.

    Previously, at the conversion of Saul

    “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

    For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”

    Acts of the Apostles 9:15b-16 ESV – The Lord sends Ananias to open Saul’s eyes.

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    To Be Continued.. Lord willing, when we will meet Paul in Assos and sail back to Ephesus…

  • Talking for hours with the prophet Paul

    Talking for hours with the prophet Paul

    .. when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them..

    Acts 20:7b ESV

    Talk of Jesus into the late night hours

    Acts 20:

    Acts pf the Apostles 20:7 KJV
    google earth map of third missionary journey of Paul - TalkofJESUS.com

    A.D. 52-57

    The following 2-part post from just six verses in Acts 20 and Paul's third missionary journey focuses on two topics:
    
    1. An extra long sermon (not so unusual for ANY pastor so it would seem) AND 
    2. an extraordinary sign suggesting that Paul is also a Prophet of Almighty God.

    a Sunday service before their Monday departure

    Luke records in Acts 20 that the Apostle Paul is already on his way home.

    And 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. – Acts of the Apostles 20:6

    a weekly Sunday worship

    Let's not miss the context and content of this day which was likely sometime in the year of our Lord 56. 

    Call it what you like: worship, a service, gathering or mass. These Christians of Troas welcomed Paul and his missionary companions into their weekly time together as a community in Christ.

    Holy Communion

    About this same time [A.D. 55 or 56] in his first letter back to the church in Corinth Paul will also instruct worshipers to obediently partake in the remembrance of the Lord Jesus.

    communion cup of wine

    The Sermon of a Church Father
    Note that Paul is NOT the local day-to-day Pastor and Shepherd of this church. The Apostle speaks to a large group gathered in Troas for worship. 
    
    A crowded Christian gathering in an upper room anticipates Paul's Spirit-led exhortation [encouragement, both positive and cautionary].
    
    AND Paul's 'talk' was not simply a one-man sermon to the flock without response but included extended additional dialogue.

    διαλέγομαι – in the Greek – discuss (in argument or exhortation):—dispute, preach (unto), reason (with), speak.

    Source: Vine’s Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words – Strong’s G1256 – dialegomai

    Paul kept talking until midnight. He prolonged his speech or message.

    Luke uses the root word describing this dialogue (dialegomai) of Paul’s message lasting until midnight for these believers.

    • of speech
      • a word, uttered by a living voice, embodies a conception or idea
      • what someone has said
      • discourse
      • doctrine, teaching
    Luke opens ACTS using this same word referring to his Gospel as his 'first account' [prōtos logos].

    (for dialogue between the men of the church)


    Luke does not mention the time of their regular Sunday worship.

    It could have been nine or eleven in the morning. Perhaps it was an evening service planned for after the saints typically ate their evening meal at home with their families.

    SEE Paul's mention of this in 1 Corinthians 11:17-22 THE LORD'S SUPPER

    Acts of the Apostles 20:8 LSB
    flickering candle on stand

    Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the windowsill, sinking into a deep sleep.

    Eutychus after he falls to his death from an upper room window in Troas while Paul and the men dialogue until midnight - Acts of the Apostles 20:7-9

    This young man, a boy likely brought by his father to the upper room of their evening service precariously perched himself in an open window where air circulated into the crowded place of worship.

    BUT he just couldn’t last through all the long talk of JESUS by the Apostle Paul and others.

    (Perhaps by midnight what little breeze had revived the boy had subsided into stillness.)

    He FELL to his death!

    Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

    ACTS of the Apostles 20:9 KJV

    This sudden incident brought the church meeting and Paul’s talk to an abrupt end.

    The boy’s father and worshipers listening to Paul’s talk must have been stunned as the young man suddenly fell to his death.

    So these men rushed downstairs and then outside to witness the apparent tragedy of the young man Eutychus for themselves.


    What Luke records NEXT in his account is both significant and perhaps largely ignored in 21st century C.E. preaching about the early history of the Church.
    
    THEREFORE, we will leave the outcome of this evening for NEXT time and by way of comparison also look at Scripture concerning other Prophets (as I have suggested of the Apostle Paul).
    

    ACTS of the Apostles – To Be Continued… in A.D. 1st c. Troas, God-willing


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  • Strategic Retreat of Paul to Troas

    Strategic Retreat of Paul to Troas

    The Apostle’s circuitous route home

    Today we join Paul’s in Troas, a strategic Roman port the Apostle visited on his second missionary journey.

    Acts 20

    google earth map of third missionary journey of Paul - TalkofJESUS.com

    Paul, led by the Holy Spirit, leads disciples and directs leaders of each church on mission.


    PREVIOUSLY, Luke records in Acts 20 how and why Paul left Ephesus.

    .. he came to Greece. And there he spent three months..

    .. and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria,
    he decided to return through Macedonia.

    map of Syria, ruled froj Tarsus

    Strategic retreat AND extending Paul’s Third Mission

    SYRIA under ROMAN rule is HOME to Paul. In Antioch and other Syrian cities Paul is well-known by all.

    Tarsus, Antioch and Damascus lie along roads frequented by Jews traveling into Asia and Europe via an extensive network of Roman roads.

    Although the Apostle to the gentiles had been persecuted in many cities the source of his pursuit is Jerusalem. Now is no time to return to Jerusalem.

    sailing from Macedonia through the Aegean Sea to Achia, home of ancient Athens and a larger city of Corinth

    And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and ..

    sanctification `1 Thessalonians

    .. by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and ..

    Derbe where Paul and Barnabas fled after they were first worshipped as Zeus & Hermes in Lystra then suffered afflictions by the crowds

    .. Gaius of Derbe..

    Coasts of Asia Minor along the Aegean Sea

    .. and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.

    An important Aegean port of Troas

    But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas.

    Acts of the Apostles 20:5

    Τρῳάς

    Troas = “a Trojan”

    Source: BlueLetterBible.org
    Paul sails to other Aegean destinations via Troas on his second and third missionary journeys
    Troas – important 1st C. A.D. Roman port

    And 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.

    Acts of the Apostles 20:6 – the ‘we’ most likely: Paul, Luke the physician who journals their mission and other disciples
    Note the timing AFTER the days of the Passover Feast. 

    And possibly in Philippi these disciples of the risen JESUS may have remembered HIS breaking of the Bread and taking the Cup commemorating HIS death for our sins.

    After some pause in A.D. 2023 for celebration of our Lord's birth, God-willing we will return to the witness of yet another miracle in ~A.D. 55 in Troas.

    The Third Missionary Journey of Paul – ACTS from a stop in Troas – To Be Continued…

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