But they will not ask for Jesus help unless they believe in him, and they will not believe in him unless they heard of him, and they will not hear of him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent, but as Sacred Scripture say: The footsteps of those who bring good news is a welcome sound.
Not everyone, of course, listens to the Good News. As prophet Isaiah says: Lord, how many believed what we proclaimed? So faith comes from what is preached, and what is preached comes from the word of Christ Jesus. [ 'Word of God' ] - Romans 10:11-17 -
"Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He is like a man who when he built his house dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.
But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man who built his house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 -
"I tell you solemnly, there is no one who has left house, wife, brothers, parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God who will not be given repayment many times over in this present time, in the world to come, Eternal Life." - Luke 18:28-30 -
"EACH ONE OF US, HOWEVER, HAS BEEN GIVEN HIS OWN SHARE OF GRACE, GIVEN AS THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ALLOTTED IT. IT WAS SAID THAT HE WOULD:
WHEN HE ASCENDED TO THE HEIGHT,
HE CAPTURED PRISONERS,
HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.
WHEN IT SAYS, 'HE ASCENDED,' WHAT CAN IT MEAN IF NOT THAT HE DESCENDED RIGHT DOWN TO THE LOWER REGIONS OF THE EARTH? THE ONE WHO ROSE HIGHER THAN ALL THE HEAVENS TO FILL ALL THINGS IS NONE OTHER THAN THE ONE WHO DESCENDED.
AND TO SOME, HIS GIFT WAS THAT THEY SHOULD BE APOSTLES; TO SOME, PROPHETS; TO SOME, EVANGELISTS; TO SOME, PASTORS AND TEACHERS; SO THAT THE SAINTS TOGETHER MAKE A UNITY IN THE WORK OF SERVICE, BUILDING UP THE BODY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
IN THIS WAY WE ARE ALL TO COME TO UNITY IN OUR FAITH AND IN OUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE SON OF GOD, UNTIL WE BECOME THE PERFECT MAN, FULLY MATURE WITH THE FULLNESS OF CHRIST HIMSELF.
THEN WE SHALL NOT BE CHILDREN ANY LONGER, OR TOSSED ONE WAY AND ANOTHER AND CARRIED ALONG BY EVERY WIND OF DOCTRINE, AT THE MERCY OF ALL THE TRICKS MEN PLAY AND THEY CLEVERNESS IN PRACTISING DECEIT.
IF WE LIVE BY THE TRUTH AND IN LOVE, WE SHALL GROW IN ALL WAYS INTO CHRIST JESUS, WHO IS THE HEAD BY WHOM THE WHOLE BODY IS FITTED AND JOINED TOGETHER, EVERY JOINT ADDING ITS OWN STRENGTH, FOR EACH SEPARATE PART TO WORK ACCORDING TO IT FUNCTION. SO THE BODY GROWS UNTIL IT HAS BUILT ITSELF UP, IN LOVE." - EPHESIANS 4:7-16 -
"NOW YOU TOGETHER ARE CHRIST'S BODY; BUT EACH OF YOU IS A DIFFERENT PART OF IT. IN THE CHURCH, GOD HAS GIVEN THE FIRST PLACE TO APOSTLES, THE SECOND TO PROPHETS, THE THIRD TO TEACHERS; AFTER THEM, MIRACLES, AND AFTER THEM THE GIFT OF HEALING; HELPERS, GOOD LEADERS, THOSE WITH MANY LANGUAGES." - 1 CORINTHIANS 12:27-28 -
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!
The Lord Jesus Christ, promised to us that our mission on this earth is really and utmost important for our own salvation.
Farewell to the elders of Ephesus
From Miletus he sent for the elders of the church of Ephesus. When they arrived he addressed these words to them: [ The third great discourse of Paul in Acts. the first, chapter 13, exemplified his preaching to the Jews: the second, chapter 17, his preaching to the pagans: the third, 20:18-35, is as it were the last Testament of the departing pastor. many of the details of this third discourse are found in his letters; its tone is that of the Pastoral Letters. After referring to his mission in Asia, vv. 18-21, he speaks of this as a final parting and seems to hint at his death, vv. 22-27. Paul's last advice to the elders of Ephesus (and through them to all the pastors in every church) is vigilance, vv. 28-32, selflessness, charity, vv. 33-35. In all of this Paul appeals to his own example: the discourse therefore draws a faithful portrait of the apostle himself.]
You know what my way of life has been ever since the first day I set foot among you in Asia, how I have served the Lord in all humility, with all the sorrows and trails that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I have not hesitated to do anything that would be helpful to you; i have preached to you, and instructed you both in public and in your homes, urging both Jews and Greeks to turn to God and to believe in our Lord Jesus. [ Summary of Pauline preaching to be compared with 17:30-31; 1 Thess. 1:9-10; 1 Cor. 8:4-6. Faith and conversion must go together, cf. Mark 1:15.] - Acts 20;17-21 -
And now you see me a prisoner already in spirit; [ On his way to captivity Paul speaks of himself as a prisoner; in his heart he is one already. Others translate 'a prisoner of the Spirit' that is, impelled by the Holy Spirit.] I am on my way to Jerusalem, but have no idea what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, in town after town, has made it clear enough that imprisonment and persecution await me. But life to me is not a thing to waste words on, [ Cf. 15:26; 21:13; 1 Thess. 2:8; Phil. 1:21-23. Others translate 'But I do not count my life of any value, as if it were precious to me'.] provided that when I finish my race I have carried out the mission the Lord Jesus gave me - and that was to bear witness to the Good News of God's grace.
I now feel sure that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will ever see my face again. [ Cf. v. 38. From Jerusalem Paul intended to visit Spain. Rom. 15:24-28. His long imprisonment affected his plans and he did in fact revisit Ephesus despite the presentiment expressed here, cf. Acts 28:31+.] And so here and now I swear that my conscience is clear as far as all of you are concerned, for I have without faltering put before you the whole of God's purpose. - Acts 20:22-27 -
Be on your guard for yourselves and for all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you the overseers, to feed the Church of God [ Var. 'the Church of the Lord'. 1 Pet. 2:9-10 speaks of the people which God made his own (following Isaiah 43:21; cf. Acts 18:10+); this people was the 'Congregation (=Church) of God; 5:11, one of Paul's favourite expressions, cf. 1 Cor. 1:2; 10:32; 11:22, etc.] which he bought with his own blood. [ A difficult phrase sometimes rendered 'acquired by him at the price of the blood of his own Son', cf. Rom. 8:32; John 3:16. But we may see underlying the expression a certain flexibility of thought since the work of the Father(='God') and of the Son is so inseparably one (cf. for example, Rom. 8:31-39). For the doctrine, cf. Eph. 5:25-27; Heb. 9:12-14; 13:12.]
I know quite well that when I have gone fierce wolves will invade you and will have no mercy on the flock. Even from your own ranks there will be men coming forward with a travesty of the truth on their lips to induce the disciples to follow them. So be on your guard, remembering how night and day for three years I never failed to keep you right, shedding tears over each one of you. And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace that has power [ 'to God', var. 'to the Lord'. 'that has power'. or 'who has power', referring to God, cf. Rom. 16:25.] to build you up and give you your inheritance among all the sanctified.
'I have never asked anyone for money or clothes; you know for yourselves that the work I did earned enough to meet my needs and those of my companions. I did this to show you that this is how we must exert ourselves to support the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, who himself said, "There is more happiness in giving than in receiving". [ The gospels have not recorded this saying.]
When he had finished speaking he knelt down with them all and prayed. By now they were all in tears; they put their arms round Paul's neck and kissed him; what saddened them most was his saying they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship. - Acts 20:28-38 -
The journey to Jerusalem
When we had at last torn ourselves away from them and put to sea, we set a straight course and arrived at Cos; the next day we reached Rhodes, and from there went on to Patara. [ Add. 'and Myra'.] Here we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, so we went on board and sailed in her. After sighting Cyprus and leaving it to the port, we sailed to Syria and put in at Tyre, since the ship was to unload her cargo there. We sought out the disciples and stayed there a week. Speaking in the Spirit [ The command does not come from the Spirit, but the Spirit has revealed to them Paul's fate which their love for him seeks to avert.] they kept telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem, but when our time was up we set off. Together with the women and children they all escorted us on our way till we were out of the town. When we reached the beach, we knelt down and prayed; then, after saying goodbye to each other, we went abroad and they returned home.
The end of our voyage from Tyre came when we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed one day with them. The next day we left and came to Caesarea. Here we called on Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. He had four virgin daughters who were prophets. When we had been there several days a prophet called Agabus arrived from Judaea to see us. He took Paul's girdle and tied up his own feet and hand, [ Prophecy in mime like that used by the prophets in the past, cf. Jer. 18:1+.] and said, 'This is what the Holy Spirit says, "The man this girdle belongs to will be bound like this by the Jews in Jerusalem, and handed over to the pagan"'. [ The forecast (cf. 28:17) only approximately corresponds to the narrative of Paul's arrest (cf. 21:31-33) but it resembles the prophecy of Christ's Passion in Luke 18:31-34; cf. Col. 1:24; Phil. 3:10, etc.]
When we heard this, we and everybody there implored Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.To this he replied, 'What are you trying to do - weaken my resolution by your tears? For my part, i am ready not only to be tied up but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.' And so, as he would not be persuaded, we gave up the attempt, saying, 'The Lord's will be done'. - Acts 21:1-14 -
Paul's arrival in Jerusalem
After this we packed and went on up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and took us to the house of a Cypriot with whom we were to lodge; [ The Western Text indicates, perhaps correctly, that this was half way to Jerusalem.] he was called Mnason and had been one of the earliest disciples.
On our arrival in Jerusalem the brothers gave us a very warm welcome. The next day Paul went with us [ The last 'we' until 27:1 (the departure for Rome). Luke followed Paul as far as Jerusalem and was to accompany him again from Caesarea to Rome.] to visit James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them he gave a detailed account of all that God had done among the pagans through his ministry. They gave glory to God when they heard this.
'But you see, brother,' they said 'how thousands of Jews have now become believers, all of them staunch upholders of the Law [ For its observance by others as well as by themselves, cf. 11:2; 15:15; Gal. 2:12; 5:1f.] and they have heard that you instruct all Jews living among the pagans to break away from Moses, [ Paul's doctrine of faith as the one source of justification, cf. Rom. 1:16+; 3:22+, did indeed lead to this, since it meant that the Mosaic Law no longer gave the Jew superiority over the gentile. But Paul's purpose in expounding this principle was to leave converts from paganism free of Jewish observance, cf. Gal. 2:11f, not to dissuade devout Jews from it.] authorising them not to circumcise their children [ Cf. Rom. 2:25-29; 4:9-12; 1 Cor. 7:17-20.] or to follow the customary practices. What is to be done? Inevitably there will be a meeting of the whole body, since they are bound to hear that you have come. [ Var. 'What is to be done? They will in any case hear that you have come.']
So do as we suggest. We have four men here who are a vow; take these men along and be purified with them and pay all the expenses connected with the shaving of their heads. [ The determination of the Nazirite vow had to be celebrated with expensive sacrifices. Num. 6:14-15.] This will let everyone know there is no truth in the reports they have heard about you and that you still regularly observe the Law. The pagans who have become believers, as we wrote when we told them our decisions, must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication.' [ Western Text 'Of the pagans who have become believers they have nothing to say to you. For our part, we have sent our decisions, namely that they have no observance to practise but that of abstaining from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, and from fornication.']
So the next day Paul took the men along and was purified with them, and he visited the Temple to give notice of the time when the period of purification would be over and the offering would have to be presented on behalf of each of them. [ Text obscure: it seems to presuppose before the nazirite sacrifice a period of seven days devoted to certain rites of purification; there is no other evidence for this practice.] - Acts 21:15-26 -
Paul's arrest
Page 57
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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