YOU MUST HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE RECENT HAPPENINGS IN JUDAEA; ABOUT JESUS OF NAZARETH AND HOW HE BEGAN IN GALILEE, AFTER JOHN THE BAPTIST HAD BEEN PREACHING BAPTISM. GOD HAD ANOINTED HIM WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WITH POWER, AND BECAUSE GOD WAS WITH HIM, JESUS WENT ABOUT DOING GOOD AND CURING ALL WHO HAD FALLEN INTO THE POWER OF THE DEVIL.
NOW I, ( SIMON PETER / PETER ) AND THOSE WITH ME, CAN WITNESS TO EVERYTHING JESUS DID THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRYSIDE OF JUDAEA AND IN JERUSALEM ITSELF; AND ALSO TO THE FACT THAT THEY KILLED HIM BY HANGING HIM ON A TREE, YET THREE DAYS AFTERWARDS GOD RAISED HIM TO LIFE AND ALLOWED HIM TO BE SEEN, NOT BY THE WHOLE PEOPLE BUT ONLY BY CERTAIN WITNESSES GOD HAD CHOSEN BEFOREHAND.
NOW WE ARE THOSE WITNESSES - WE HAVE EATEN AND DRUNK WITH HIM AFTER HIS RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD - AND JESUS CHRIST HAS ORDERED US TO PROCLAIM THIS TO HIS PEOPLE AND TO TELL THEM THAT GOD HAS APPOINTED HIM TO JUDGE EVERYONE, ALIVE AND DEAD.
IT IS TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST THAT ALL THE PROPHETS BEAR THIS WITNESS: THAT ALL WHO BELIEVE IN JESUS WILL HAVE THEIR SINS FORGIVEN THROUGH HIS NAME." - ACTS 10:36-43 -
WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE/WORD OF GOD/HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY. - Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, and the fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!
HOW? AND IN WHAT WAY, WHEN IT COME TO UNDERSTANDING MATTERS: WHAT I WAS ALWAYS BEING TOLD IS: THERE ARE WAYS AND PREFERENCES TO COMPREHEND ALL MATTERS, WHETHER IT IS OF SPIRITUALITY AND OF UNSPIRITUALITY.
FIRSTLY, IN A LITERALLY MANNER: THAT IS, USED FOR EMPHASIS OR TO EXPRESS STRONG FEELING WHILE NOT BEING LITERALLY TRUE.
SECONDLY, IN A HUMANLY MANNER: THAT IS, FROM A HUMAN POINT OF VIEW, IN A HUMANLY MANNER, BY HUMAN MEANS; WITHIN ABILITY; WITH HUMAN FEELING OR KINDNESS.
THIRDLY, IN A SPIRITUALLY MANNER: THAT IS, IN A WAY THAT RELATES TO OR AFFECTS THE HUMAN SPIRIT OR, SOUL AS OPPOSED TO MATERIAL OR PHYSICAL THINGS.
FINALLY, IN AN UNSPIRITUAL MANNER: THAT IS, NOT SPIRITUAL. BUT SECULAR AND WORLDLY.
The Jew take Paul to court
But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, [ An inscription from Delphi puts Gallio's proconsulate in 52. Paul's arraignment before Gallio must have been towards the end (v. 18) of his eighteen month stay (v. 11) in Corinth: probably the spring of 52.] the Jews made a concerted attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. 'We accuse this man' they said 'of persuading people to worship God in a way that breaks the Law.' [ Ambiguous term capable of meaning the Roman law, cf. 16:21; 17:7; or the Jewish Law which was itself guaranteed by Roman law. Gallio chooses to see the charge as a question of the interpretation of Jewish Law (v. 15) in which he claims no competence.]
Before Paul could open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, 'Listen, you Jews. If this were a misdemeanour or a crime, I would not hesitate to attend to you; but if it is only quibbles words and names, and about your own Law, then you must deal with it yourselves - I have no intention of making legal decisions about things like that.' Then he sent them out of the court, and at once they all turned on Sosthenes, [ Possibly the Sosthenes of 1 Cor. 1:1.] the synagogue president, and beat him in front of the court house. Gallio refused to take any notice at all. - Acts 18:12-17 -
Return to Antioch and departure for the third journey
After staying on for some time, Paul took leave of the brothers and sailed for Syria, [ Back to Antioch, his headquarters.] accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut off, because of a vow he had made. [ The Greek is obscure, but apparently it was Paul, not Aquila, who took the vow. To take a vow was to be nazir, cf. Num. 6:1+, for the period it covered, usually thirty days, and among other obligations it meant leaving the hair uncut during that time. It is not known whether the vow was taken by Paul at Cenchreae or whether it expired there. Cf. Acts 21:23-27 where Paul and four other Jews perform the rites for the fulfilment of a vow.]
When they reached Ephesus, he left them, but first he went alone to the synagogue to debate with the Jews. They asked him to stay longer but he declined, though when he left he said, 'I will come back another time, God willing', Then he sailed from Ephesus.
He landed at Caesarea and went up to greet the church. [ Perhaps the church in Jerusalem.] Then he came down to Antioch where he spent a short time before continuing his journey through the Galatian country and then through Phrygia, encouraging all the followers. - Acts 18:18-23 -
Apollos
An Alexandrian Jew named Apollos [ Fir further information, cf. 1 Cor: when he went to Corinth his enormous popularity soon developed into partisanship, cf. 1 Cor. 1:12; 3:4-11, 22; see also Titus 3:13. These remarks about Apollos have something in common with the description of John the Baptist's admirers at Ephesus in the following passage: combining these two descriptions of an imperfectly informed Christianity, we may possibly get some idea of Christianity in the church of Alexandria at this time.] now arrived in Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, with a sound knowledge of the sacred scriptures, and yet, though he had been given instruction in the Way of the Lord and preached with great spiritual earnestness and was accurate in all the details he taught about Jesus, he had only experienced the baptism of John.
When Priscilla and Aquila heard him speak boldly in the synagogue, they took an interest in him and gave him further instruction about the Way. [ Add. 'of God'.]
When Apollos thought of crossing over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote asking the disciples to welcome him. [ On the use of letters of reference in the early Christian communities, cf. Rom. 16:1; 2 Cor. 3:1f; Col. 4:10; 3 John 9-10, 12.] When he arrived there he was able by God's grace to help the believers considerably by the energetic way he refuted the Jews in public and demonstrated from the sacred scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. - Acts 18:24-28 -
The disciples of John at Ephesus
While Apollos was in Corinth, [ An editorial link joining two items of information which are inserted in the account of the journey. The Western Text has 'When Paul, pursuing his own plan, go back to Asia. Consequently, he made his way...'] Paul made his way overland as far as Ephesus [ Ephesus at this time was regarded, with Alexandria, as one of the finest cities in the empire; it was a religious, political and commercial centre of mixed population.] where he found a number of disciples. When he asked, 'Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?' they answered, 'No, we were never even told there was such a thing as a Holy Spirit'. [ They were unaware, not that the Spirit existed (evident from the O.T. to the most casual reader) but that the messianic promises had been fulfilled and the Spirit given in abundance, cf. 2:17-18, 33.]
'Then how were you baptised?' he asked. 'With John's baptism' they replied. 'John's baptism' said Paul 'was a baptism of repentance; but he insisted that the people should believe in the one who was to come after him - in other words Jesus.' When they heard this, they were baptised in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the moment Paul had laid hands on them the Holy Spirit came down on them, and they began to speak with tongues and to prophesy. There were about twelve of these men. - Acts 19:1-7 -
Foundation of the church of Ephesus [ Resumption of the narrative interrupted by the remarks about Apollos and the followers of John the Baptist: 19:8 follows on 18:23 and 19:1.]
He began by going to the synagogue, where he spoke out boldly and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God. He did this for three months, till the attitude of some of the congregation hardened into unbelief. As soon as they began attacking the Way in front of the others, he broke with them and took his disciples apart to hold daily discussions in the lecture room of Tyrannus. [ Western Text adds 'from the fifth to the tenth hours' (11a.m. to 4p.m.)]
This went on for two years, [ 20:31 says three years. During this stay, Paul wrote the first Letter to the Corinthians, the Letter to the Galatians and, probably, the Letter to the Philippians.] with the result that people from all over Asia, [ Not the whole of proconsular Asia (the W. half of Asia Minor) but the region centred on Ephesus and including the seven towns of Rev. 1:11, Epaphras of Colossae had been appointed by Paul to evangelise his own city, and his mission had spread to Laodicea and Hierapolis, Col. 1:7; 4:12-13. Paul was also assisted by Timothy and Erastus, Acts never mentions, and others, cf. 2 Cor. 12:18. Luke credits Paul with the achievements of his subordinates.] both Jews and Greeks, were able to hear the word of the Lord. - Acts 19:8-10 -
The Jewish exorcists
So remarkable were the miracles worked by God at Paul's hands that handkerchiefs or aprons which had touched him were taken to the sick, and they were cured of their illness, and the evil spirits came out of them.
But some itinerant Jewish exorcists [ On Jewish exorcisms, cf. Matt. 12:27. Jesus himself, and his apostles after him, cf. Acts 5:16; 16:18, frequently exorcised, cf. Matt. 8:29+.] tried pronouncing the name of the Lord Jesus over people who were possessed by evil spirits; they used to say, 'I command you by the Jesus whose spokesman is Paul'. Among those who did this were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest. The evil spirit replied, 'Jesus I recognise, and I know who Paul is, but who are you?' and the man with the evil spirit hurled himself at them and overpowered first one and then another, [ Or 'both' (two of the number).] and handled them so violently that they fled from that house naked and badly mauled. Everybody in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, heard about this episode; they were all greatly impressed, and the name of the Lord Jesus came to be held in great honour.
Some believers, too, came forward to admit in detail how they had used spell [ Occult practices for which Ephesus was well known.] and a number of them who had practised magic collected their books and made a bonfire of them in public. The value of these was calculated to be fifty thousand silver pieces.
In this impressive way the word of the Lord spread more and more widely and successfully. [ Alex. Text 'Thus, through the power of the Lord, the word spread even more widely and impressively'.] - Acts 19:11-20 -
V. A PRISONER FOR CHRIST
Paul's plans
Page 55
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
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Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
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