Acts one

[JLG]

Acts one

- Macedonia
- Greece
- Philippi
- Troas
- Paul must leave the next day so he prolonges his speech until midnight.
- A young man sinks into a deep sleep while paul keeps talking and he falls down from the third storyand is picked up dead. Paul goes down and throws himself on him and embraces him. And the boy is alive.
- Assos
- Mitylene
- Chios
- Samos
- Miletus

 

[Pilgrimshope]

How is this acts one ?

 

[JLG]

Wow ! I would summarize by a word : ACTION! Paul was in a hurry ! He didn’t have time to lose ! Going everywhere ! Speaking till midnight ! A small resurrection in the same time ! Really impressive ! He was moved by God’s fire! And so different from the other apostles! But for a different work!

 

[JLG]

Acts 2

- All together at the same place
- A noise from heaven filling the whole house
- Tongues as if of fire visible to them and distributed
- One tongue on each one of them
- All are filled with holy spirit and they start to speak in different languages
- Jews from every nation were staying in Jerusalem because there was the Festival of Pentecost and they could hear them speaking in his own language about the magnificent things of God. And Peter with the Eleven explained to the people that they were not drunk. And they spoke about Jesus and all he did and about his resurrection. And they told the Jews to repent and get baptized so they could receive the free gift of the holy spirit. And 3,000 people were added that day. And all had everything in common and they were selling their possessions and properties and distributing the proceeds to all.

So they received holy spirit and they could speak in languages for other people to be taught about Jesus and God’s Kingdom. And they didn’t need translators and they could understand what was said! It was no comedy!

 

[JLG]

Acts 3

- Peter and John cure a lame man at the entrance of the temple and they tell the people about Jesus resurrected and the necessity to believe in him to be saved.

 

[JLG]

Acts 4

Of course, the priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees are annoyed because the apostles teach the people about the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. So they seize them and take them into custody. But 5,000 people had listened to them and they become Christians. When Peter and John speak in front of the rulers of people and elders, they say they cure the crippled man in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, the one they executed but he was raised up from the dead by God. And Jesus is the only way to salvation. And the rulers could not deny that the crippled man was cured. So they threaten Peter and John not to teach on the basis of the name of Jesus. But Peter and John refuse not to do it. So they ask God to strengthen them to keep speaking his word with boldness. And they are filled with holy spirit. And all the Christians keep having everything in common. So people sell what they have and share everything. And Joseph, a Levite sells a piece of land and brings the money at the feet of the apostles.

 

[JLG]

Acts 5

- Ananias and his wife Sapphira sell some property.
- But they secretly held back some of the price.
- So they lie and as a consequence they both die.
- The sick are brought to the apostles and they cure them.
- But the high priest and the Sadducees are jealous and they put them into prison.
- During the night, God’s angel frees them and tells them to go to the temple and teach.
- They are brought in front of the Sanhedrin.
- Gamaliel, a Pharisee tells the Sanhedrin to be careful about the apostles because if they do God’s work they may be fighting against God himself.
- So they flog the apostles and order them to stop speaking on the basis of Jesus’ name and let them go.
- And the apostles keep going to the temple and from house to house teaching.

 

[JLG]

Acts 6

A problem appears between the disciples, between the Greek-speaking Jews and the Hebrew-speaking Jews because the widows of the Hebrew-speaking Jews are privileged in the daily distribution. So the apostles propose to select seven reputable men to be responsible for the distribution. And more and more disciples are added. And Stephen performs many miracles and some men become jealous of him so they persuade people against Stephen accusing him of blasphemy. And they take him to the Sanhedrin. And his face is like an angel’s face.

 

[JLG]

Acts 7

Stephen tells about the history of Abraham and the promise God made him to give the land to his descendants. But before that they would be foreigners and slaves for 400 years. Then he speaks about the covenant of circumcision God made with Abraham and about Isaac and Jacob and Joseph and the famine in Egypt and Jacob and his family went to Egypt and Moses who freed the Israelites from Egypt and about the golden calf and the 40 years in the wilderness and about David and Solomon who built God’s temple and about the sins of the Israelites. So the Jews become angry and they kill him by stoning him.

And the end of the chapter says that Stephen fell asleep in death or he was put to repose.

https://biblehub.com/greek/2837.htm

koimaó from NG2749: sleep, fall asleep, die
Original Word: κοιμάομαι
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: koimaó from NG2749
Phonetic Spelling: (koy-mah'-o)
Definition: sleep, fall asleep, die
Usage: I fall asleep, am asleep, sometimes of the sleep of death.

 

[JLG]

Acts 8

Saul approves Stephen’s murder and a great persecution arises against the Christians in Jerusalem who are scattered in Judea and Samaria except the apostles. And Saul organizes the persecution putting men and women to prison. And Philip goes to the city of Samaria to preach the Christ to them. And he cures many people. In the city there is a man called Simon who practices magical arts and many think he gets his power from God. And he becomes a believer and gets baptized and follows Philip. The apostles send Peter and john to Samaria so the new Christians can get holy spirit by laying their hands on them. And Simon wants to get the same power so he offers money. Peter tells him to repent and be forgiven. So Simon asks Peter for making supplication for him. Then God’s angel sends Philip to the road that runs down from jerusalem to Gaza where he meets an Ethiopian eunuch who has authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He came to Jerusalem to worship. He reads aloud the prophet Isaiah but he doesn’t understand what he reads. So Philip explains to him about Jesus. And Philip baptizes him.

 

[JLG]

Acts 9

So Saul keeps fighting the Way that is the Christians. As he goes to Damascus, he sees a light and a voice asks him why he persecutes him and tells him he is Jesus. So Jesus tells him to go to the city and he will be told what to do. Then Saul realizes he is blind. And Jesus tells a disciple called Ananias in a vision to look for a man named Saul from tarsus and lay his hands on him so he can see again. But Ananias doesn’t understand because he knows that Saul persecutes the Christians. But Jesus says that Saul has been chosen to represent him in different parts of the world. So Ananias does according to what Jesus told him to do. And Saul can see again and he is baptized. And then he goes to the synagogues and preach about Jesus. And people are astonished because they know he used to persecute the Christians and now he is one of them. So the Jews want to kill him because he works against them. So some disciples help Saul to leave Damascus by night. When he arrives in Jerusalem he tries to join the disciples but they are afraid of him and they don’t believe he has become a disciple. So Barnabas leads him to the apostles and he explains to them what happened to him as he was going to Damascus. So he preaches about Jesus in jerusalem and the Jews want to get rid of him so the disciples send him to Caesarea. The situation improves for the Christians in Judea and Galilee and Samaria and they keep multiplying. At the same time, Peter travels to Lydda and he finds a paralyzed man who had been so for 8 years. And he cures him. So many become Christians. In Joppa a woman and a Christian called Dorcas dies. As Joppa is close to Lydda, the disciples ask Peter to come and resurrect her because she abounded in good deeds. Ande Peter resurrects her and many people become believers.

 

[JLG]

Acts 10

Cornelius is a Roman army officer who fears God and he has a vision. God tells him to send soldiers to get Simon peter in Joppa. At the same time, Peter gets a vision and he sees all sorts of animals and he is told to eat them butb Peter says he can’t because they are unclean. Then cornelius’ men arrive and want to speak to him. And the spirit in the vision tells peter about the three men who are asking for him and he tells him to follow them because he has sent them. So they go back to Caesarea. So the time has come for the apostles and the disciples to preach to the non Jews. So Peter starts speaking about how God snet Jesus among the Jews and all the things he did. And the holy spirit starts spreading upon all the people present in the room. And they start speaking in foreign languages and magnifying God. And he baptizes all the people who are present.

 

[JLG]

So the time has come for the apostles and the disciples to look for faithful servants among the non Jews. A great time for them indeed! In fact, like everywhere in the Bible, like in the creation, God follows a precise timing or programme which is always difficult for human beings to understand. This is the same story for the end of this human society and it will be a great surprise when it happens like all the big events in the Bible even when people are told because they have eyes and ears but they can’t see and they can’t hear; Well, in fact they don’t want! It’s always the same with humankind, people have a brain but they don’t want to use it!

 

[JLG]

Acts 11

When Peter comes back to Jerusalem, the supporters of circumcision criticize him. So he explains to them all the details and they stop objecting. Then some Christians keep speaking to the Jews and others start talking to the Greek-speaking people and many more people become Christians. And Barnabas is sent by the congregation in Jerusalem as far as Antioch and more people become Christians. He goes for Paul in Tarsus and he brings him to Antioch. Then for a whole year they assemble in the congregation and there the disciples are called Christians for the first time.

- Here we see how difficult it is to accept changes!

- And time is necessary to adapt!

- Everybody is different and needs time according to that difference!

- Human differences are also difficult to accept or to understand!

- A lot to think about!

 

[JLG]

Acts 12

Herod the king begins mistreating some members of the congregation. He puts James the brother of John to death by the sword. As it pleases the Jews, he also arrests Peter. So the congregation is intensely praying to God for him. Herod is going to bring him out but God sends one of his angel to free him. Peter thinks he is seeing a vision. Then he goes to the house of Mary the mother of John who is called Mark. And the people in the house can’t believe it. So peter tells them what has just happened. Later Herod speaks in front of an audience and they say “a god’s voice, and not a man’s!” Instantly God’s angel strikes him because he did not give the glory to God, and he is eaten up with worms and dies.

- Well, apparently he is finally punished for his bad deeds!

- He has an appropriate end according to his deeds!

Barnabas and Saul, after fully carrying out the relief work in Jerusalem, they return and take along with them John also called Mark.

- They are quite a good team working together for God!

 

[JLG]

Acts 13

Barnabas and Saul are selected by the holy spirit. Then they go to Cyprus and they proclaim God’s word in the synagogues of the Jews. They go through the whole island. There they meet a Jewish man named Bar-Jesus, a sorcerer and a false prophet. He is with the proconsul Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man and he wants to hear God’s word so he calls Barnabas and Saul. But Bar-Jesus also called Elymas opposes them. Then, Saul, filled with holy spirit, looks at him intensely and he speaks against him and because he opposes God, he will be blind which happens instantly. And the proconsul becomes a believer being astounded at God’s teaching. Then Paul and his companions go on from Perga and come to Antioch in Pisidia. They go to the synagogue on the Sabbath day. Then Paul speaks to the people and he speaks about Israel’s history from Egypt to the wilderness and to the land of Canaan (for about 450 years). Then he tells about judges until Samuel the prophet and the King Saul for 40 years and the king David and finally the Jesus the savior. Before Jesus comes, John the Baptist invites people to get baptize in symbol of repentance. And Paul says that he and his companions has telling about this word of salvation. Jesus has to die before being resurrected. Then Paul and his companion,s are invited to come back the next Sabbath and speak again about their message. But the Jews meaning the religious leaders are jealous and they begin blasphemously contradicting Paul. Thus he tells them that because they reject God’s word, the time has come for them to turn to the nations. So the people of the nations begin to rejoice and many become believers. Then the Jews oppose Paul and Barnabas inciting the prominent women who are God-fearing and the principal men of the city against them. So they go to Iconium.

- There we get an important event: Paul and Barnabas are going to turn to the nations to teach them God’s word!

- As usual, the Jews or religious leaders oppose them because they are jealous!

- PERSONAL INTERESTS NOT PEOPLE INTERESTS!

 

[JLG]

Acts 14

In Iconium They both teach in the synagogue and many Jews and Greeks become believers. As usual, the Jews oppose them. But they keep speaking with boldness. Finally there is a division in the city: some are for the Jews but others for the apostles. So some people of the nations and the Jews with their rulers want to stone them they flee to other cities and keep declaring the good news. In Lystra Paul cures a man who is lame from birth because of his faith. And the crowds take them for gods. And they call Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes as he takes the lead in speaking. And the priests of Zeus want to offer sacrifices. But then the apostles Barnabas and Paul rip their garments and leap out into the crowd and cry out telling they are just humans. But Jews arrive from Antioch and Iconium and persuade the crowds to stone Paul and drag him outside the city thinking he is dead. But he gets up and enters the city. Then They move to other cities to make disciples and at the same time to encourage the disciples. They appoint elders in each congregation.

- Paul and Barnabas know what they have to do and they keep doing it!

- Paul is stoned but survives and goes as usual!

- He knows it is not going to be the last time!

- But he is ready to serve God at any cost!

- What a STRENGTH!

 

[JLG]

Acts 15

Some men come down from Judea teaching the disciples to get circumcised to be saved. Then a discussion occurs between these men and Paul and Barnabas. So some of these men and Paul and Barnabas go up to the apostles and elders in Jerusalem. They are well received in Jerusalem. But some Pharisees who have become believers say it is necessary to be circumcised and obey the Law of Moses. So the apostles and the elders gather together to talk about this matter. Finally, Peter speaks about the people of the nations who became believers and receive the holy spirit. Then Barnabas and Paul relate the facts about their action. Then, in turn, James speaks about the matter. And the conclusion avbout the disciples from the nations is that they must abstain from:

- THINGS POLLUTED BY IDOLS,

- SEXUAL IMMORALITY,

- WHAT IS STRANGLED,

- BLOOD.

And the apostles and the elders, together with the whole congregation, decide to send chosen men to Antioch along with Paul and Barnabas with a letter explaining the decision which was made. After that and some days, Paul says to Barnabas to return and visit the brothers in all the cities they have been. But Barnabas wants to take along John also called Mark. But Paul disagrees because he had left them and had not share the work. So they have an argument so they decide to separate Barnabas takes Mark to go to Cyprus and Paul takes Silas to go to Syria and Cilicia.

- It is definitely an interesting part!

- Some Pharisees became Christians!

- But they still want to follow the Law of Moses and the circumcision and they want the disciples from the nations to do so!

- A group goes to Jerusalem so a decision can be taken!

- It is decided what the Christians must abstain!

- So it is also important for us!

- Barnabas and Paul have an argument!

- They disagree about whom to take with them!

- Maybe we may think it is not important!

- But it is because it is related to their work for God!

- And if you need to work together it is better to agree!

 

[JLG]

Acts 16

Paul wants Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman but of a Greek father, to accompany him so he takes him and circumcises him because of the Jews where he goes for they all know his father is a Greek. In all the cities they go, they tell the disciples about the decrees decided by the apostles and the elders in Jerusalem. They can’t go to some places because they are forbidden by the holy spirit and by the spirit of Jesus. Then Paul gets a vision at night where a Macedonian tells him to go into Macedonia to help them. In Philippi they speak to a group of women. One of them, Lydia who is a worshipper of God listens to them and God opens her heart. Then she and her household get baptized and she invites them to stay with them. Then they meet a servant girl with a spirit, a demon of divination, and she keeps following them saying: “These men are slaves of the Most High God and are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” After many days, Paul gets tired and orders the spirit to leave the girl. But her masters have made a lot of profit by fortune-telling. So they seize Paul and Silas and drag them into the marketplace to the rulers and speak against them. So the crowd rises up together against them and the civil magistrates , after tearing the garments off them, give the command to beat them with rods and throw them into prison. But at night, when Paul and Silas are praying and praising God with song, and the prisoners are listening to them, suddenly a great earthquake occurs and all the doors are instantly open, and everyone’s bonds come loose. When the jailer wakes up and sees that the prison doors are open, he wants to kill himself but Paul tells not to do it because they are all present. And the jailer asks Paul and Silas what he must do to be saved and Paul tells him to believe in the Lord. So they teach him with all those in his house. And the jailer washes their wounds and he and his household are baptized. In the morning, Paul and Silas are released. But Paul refuses and says that the civil magistrates must come themselves and escort them out. They are Romans and didn’t do anything wrong so they don’t want to be thrown out secretly. When they hear that Paul and Silas are Romans, the civil magistrates grow fearful so they come and escort them out and request them to depart from the city. But they go to the house of Lydia. And they encourage the brothers and depart.

- Paul and Silas travel and teach people and baptize them!

- Paul orders a spirit to leave a girl and they get into trouble, they are beaten and put into prison!

- But God provokes an earthquake to destroy the prison!

- As a consequence, the jailer and his household become Christians!

- And Paul will keep doing God’s work!

- And he knows he will get into trouble on many occasions!

- But nothing can prevent him from serving God because it is his purpose in life!

- Nothing else counts!

- Another good example to think about!

 

[JLG]

Acts 17
Paul arrives in Thessalonica and he goes to the synagogue of the Jews. For three sabbaths he reasons with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving by references that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead. As a result, some of them become believers and associate themselves with Paul and Silas, and so do a great multitude of the Greeks who worship God, along with quite a few of the principal women. As usual, the Jews are getting jealous and they make a mess. They assault the house of Jason and are seeking to have Paul and Silas brought out to the mob. They can’t find them so they drag Jason and some of the brothers to the city rulers who finally free them. Then the brothers send Paul and Silas to Beroea who go to the synagogue. There the Jews are more noble-minded and they accept the word with the greatest eagerness of mind, carefully examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are so. Therefore, many of them become believers, and so do quite a few of the reputable Greek women as well as some of the men. But the Jews from Thessalonica go to Beroea to agitate the crowds against Paul and Silas and those who have accepted their message. Then Paul is sent to Athens and then Silas and Timothy. Paul becomes irritated on seeing that the city is full of idols. He begins to reason in the synagogue with the Jews and the other people who worship God and every day in the marketplace with those who happen to be on hand. Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers discuss with them and they bring them to the Areopagus. And Paul speaks about God, a living God, not one made of gold or sliver or stone or sculptured by men. Time has come for God to judge the inhabited earth by a man whom he has appointed and resurrected from the dead. Some become believers.

- In Beroea, the Jews carefully examine the Scriptures daily to see whether these things are right!

- That’s interesting because they listen but not only, they carefully examine the Scriptures!

- Moreover, they do it daily!

- That’s what we can call 100% active!

- It is not possible to let others think for us!

- It is not possible to let others decide for us!

- The equipment is here: the Bible!

- We just have to dig again and again!