Paul’s Testimony before Felix

“ ‘But this I confess to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the Law and written in the Prophets, having a hope in God which these men themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.  So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man…Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council, other than this one thing, that I cried out while standing among them: It is with respect to the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you this day.’” –Acts 24: 14-16; 20 (ESV.  Read Acts 24: 1-27).  

Paul is on trial before Felix, the Roman governor, in the Mediterranean seacoast city of Caesarea.  Get the picture of this courtroom scene:  Felix, of course, sat as ruler and judge to hear the charges. The high priest of the Jews, Ananias, had come from Jerusalem, with “some elders” (we don’t know the number) and a spokesman, Tertullus, whom scholars tell us may have been a Gentile by birth and a professional lawyer.  They were pitted against Paul, who was giving his own defense without benefit of a lawyer to represent him. Tertullus began by complimenting Felix. His comments have a ring of falseness, for the record bears out that under Felix there was little peace.  He sought bribes for his own good and was one of the Roman rulers who finally was recalled because of his inability to keep the peace and deal fairly with the people.  Tertullus stated the case against Paul:  (1) stirring up riots, (2) being a Christian (sect) ringleader, and (3) profaning the temple.  Paul accepted gladly the second charge, but the first and third he firmly denied.  Paul respectfully acknowledged Governor Felix, but his statement to him did not have the ring of insincerity and falsehood as did that of Tertullus.  Paul approached his defense logically:  How could he stir up riots, having been in Jerusalem only twelve days?  He was not “found” doing any of the usual things to stir up a riot—like disputing, or gathering a crowd.  But he definitely confessed to the second charge, being a strong adherent to the Way (which they call a sect) and also of holding to the scriptures of the Law and Prophets, and in particular, believing in the resurrection from the dead.  He mentioned the offering he had collected and presented to the suffering Jews in Jerusalem.  He also testified that when he went into the Temple he had gone through required purification rites.  And then “Asian Jews” had incited mob action against Paul, and they were not even present before Felix to name their charges against him.  Paul concluded that the major focus of the charges was that he had cried out in the crowd in Jerusalem that he was on trial because he believed in the resurrection from the dead. 

Felix, good at delaying decisions, put off making a judgment.  He himself had “some knowledge of the Way,” and said he would take the matter up again when Claudius Lysias came.  In the meantime, Paul was imprisoned but given privileges.  He remained in prison at Caesarea for two years at the end of which time Felix was replaced by the next governor, Porcius Festus, in 60 A. D.  Felix—and his Jewish wife, Drusilla—sent for Paul and heard him speak on the Way.  This section seems to indicate that Felix “almost” became a believer:  “Go away for the present.  When I get an opportunity I will summon you” (Acts 24: 25).  Paul was faithful in his testimony before rulers and anyone he met.  This response of Governor Felix to Paul’s testimony, and also his appearance and testimony before King Agrippa (recorded in Acts 26) were the scriptural references for song writer Philip Bliss writing the hymn “Almost Persuaded” in 1871.  Bliss heard a Rev. Mr. Brundage say:  “He who is almost persuaded is almost saved, and to be almost saved is to be entirely lost.”   “Almost persuaded now to believe, Almost persuaded, Christ to receive; Seems now some soul to say, ‘Go, Spirit, go thy way, Some more convenient day On thee I’ll call.”   “”Behold, now is the day of salvation!”(2 Cor. 6:2).

Paul Sent to Governor Felix at Caesarea

“Then he (Claudius Lysias) called two of the centurions and said, ‘Get ready two hundred soldiers, with seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to go as far as Caesarea at the third hour of the night.  Also provide mounts for Paul to ride and bring him safely to Felix the governor.’  And he wrote a letter.” –Acts 23:23-25a (ESV.  Read Acts 23:23-35). 

Pax Romana was in Paul’s favor, and the tribune at Jerusalem, Claudius Lysias, took all precautions to prevent Paul from being overtaken and killed by the forty Jewish men who had made a vow to not eat until they killed Paul. Throughout Acts, Luke writes favorably of the Roman military.  They are pictured as men whose duty it was to keep the peace, and to obey and respect the Roman law.  In this instance, Paul was benefited by his help from the Roman garrison.  Quickly 470 soldiers, or almost half the 1,000 of whom Claudius had at his post at Jerusalem, were outfitted to escort Paul the sixty five miles from Jerusalem to Caesarea on the Mediterranean Sea where Governor Felix lived.  He was procurator of Judea with a rule from AD 52 to 60. They left Jerusalem under cover of darkness, at 9:00 p. m., and traveled to Antipatris, about thirty-seven miles of travel.  Having finished the most dangerous portion of the journey, the large number of soldiers returned to Jerusalem, but the cavalry remained with Paul.   

The next day they finished the journey of about twenty-eight miles from Antipas to Caesarea.  Claudius’ letter explained to Felix the Jews’ charges against Paul and their plot to kill him.  It also told why he was being sent to Governor Felix and said that Paul’s accusers would soon be at Caesarea to give their charges against Paul. The missionary had been furnished an escort fit for a king and one that protected him well.  Then at Caesarea, he was not put into the common barracks or jail but was allowed to stay at Herod’s praetorium, or a palace that had been built by Herod the Great where the official government of the region was housed.  Did believers in Caesarea hear of Paul’s presence there and visit and talk with him?  We are not told, but we do recall it was there that the prophet Agabus had approached Paul earlier begging him not to go to Jerusalem, that trouble awaited him there (Acts 21:10-14). 

Paul was in confinement, probably resting, studying and praying while he awaited his accusers’ arrival.  Paul was providentially cared for.  Psalm 34:7 promises God’s protection on His own:  “The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them.”  Again, I repeat the theme sentence of this section:  God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, in all ways, and always.  Paul could rest for five days while he prepared his mind to meet his Jewish accusers before Felix. 

A Jewish Plot to Kill Paul Foiled

“When it was day, the Jews made a plot and bound themselves by an oath neither toe at nor drink till they had killed Paul.  There were more than forty who made this conspiracy…They went to the chief priests and elders and said, ‘We have strictly bound ourselves by an oath to taste no food till we have killed Paul.  Now therefore you, along with the council, give notice to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you were going to determine his case more exactly.  And we are ready to kill him before he comes near.’  Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.”  -Acts 23:12-13, 15, 16 (ESV.  Read Acts 23:12-22). 

Intrigue and conspiracy were moving against Paul.  A group of forty Jews took a pledge to kill him; and moreover, not to eat until this heinous act had been accomplished.  They went to the chief priests and elders telling them of their plot and enlisting their help in carrying out their proposed killing of Paul.  They wanted an order from them to get the tribune to bring Paul back before them for further questioning so that they could ambush and kill him.  I wonder if they could not see that someone would find out about this conspiracy and try to put a stop to it?  After all, leaks in the “best laid plans of mice and men” in that day and this “oft’ go agley” as Robert Burns wrote in one of his poems.  Were they forgetting that the Jews did not have the right to bring the death sentence upon anyone?  Of course, if they killed Paul, they would have to resort to stoning him outside the city gate, as they had the first deacon, Stephen, some years before. 

But wait!  Someone finds out about the plot to kill Paul.  On the scene comes Paul’s nephew, the son of Paul’s sister.  We do not know from the Bible the name of this nephew of Paul.  Since Paul had been a strict Pharisee before his conversion, it is possible that his sister and her family had remained connected to that sect of the Jews and would thus hear whispered threats. Since the Pharisees, in the hearing the day before, had exonerated Paul, naturally these family members would have been upset at the prospect of Paul being killed. We are not told the forty conspirtora are of the Sadducees sect, but they possibly were. And so the nephew took it upon himself to go to the barracks prison and tell his Uncle Paul.  Paul, in turn, asked one of the centurions to take his nephew to the tribune, Claudius Lysias.  How did this commandant know the boy was telling the truth?  His earnestness, no doubt, and the very fact that he was brave enough to come and reveal “inside secrets” and diabolical plots.  

But the forty Jews were going hungry longer than they anticipated.  The Roman in charge could not afford to lose his prisoner.  He immediately set in motion a plan whereby he would get Paul out of Jerusalem.  But I am getting ahead of the story.  Just now we must focus on the laying-in-wait for Paul, to capture him and possibly stone him to death.  But Jesus’ promise to Paul after his conversion was still holding true. He had not promised freedom from troubles for Paul.  At times on his missionary journeys he escaped death and he fled to keep from being killed during his first visit to Jerusalem.  Now a dark conspiracy was laid against his life.  God moves people to rescue others.  Paul’s nephew was brave enough to face the Roman authorities on behalf of his uncle.  The Roman tribune himself hastened plans to get Paul out of Jerusalem to save him from a mad Jewish mob.  We will continue this exciting God-directed drama tomorrow.  Again, I give you the words God gave me to describe these actions:  God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, in all ways, and always.”  To God be the glory for all how bravely stand up for the right and defend the innocent.

Paul Before the Sanhedrin

“But on the next day, desiring to know the real reason why he was being accused by the Jews, he unbound him and commanded the chief priests and all the council to meet, and he brought Paul down and set him before them.  And looking intently at the council, Paul said, Brothers, I have lived my life before God in all good conscience up to this day.  And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth…The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.’” –Ac 22:30-23:2; 23:11 (ESV.  Read Acts 22:30 – Acts 23:11). 

Claudius Lysias could not have Paul flogged to find out (he thought) the truth about why Paul was arrested because Paul had claimed protection under his Roman citizenship. The Roman tribune called a meeting of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the council made up of both Pharisees and Sadducees.  These two groups, although they both believed and practiced Jewish law, were opposed in beliefs.  The Pharisees believed in resurrection from the dead and the Sadducees did not.  As Paul began to give testimony before the group, stating that he had lived before them in good conscience, Ananias, the high priest, commanded those nearest Paul to strike him on the lips.  Paul, knowing the law himself, and that the high priest should be astute in administering the law, even as it related to prisoners, Paul called Ananias a “whitewashed wall.”  This term denoted hypocrisy.  Jesus himself had used it in Matthew 23:27 in speaking of the scribes and Pharisees being ‘like whitewashed tombs which are outwardly beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” Paul would also have known Leviticus 19:15 which states:  “You shall do no injustice in court.  You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor.”  Then someone asked Paul if he would “revile God’s high priest?”  Paul pleads innocence in not knowing that Ananias was the high priest and apologizes. He knew the law on how to treat officers of the law, quoting, “You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people” (Exodus 22:28).   After all, Paul had been away from Jerusalem for several years, and when there he did not associate with the Council as he had prior to becoming a Christian.  Some commentators relate Paul’s not knowing that it was the high priest who ordered him to be stuck might have been because of his poor eyesight or how far away from Ananias Paul stood during this public hearing.  But Ananias’ action, nonetheless, shows his disregard for the prisoner and his inability to control his own anger, even in public.

Next came Paul’s testimony before the Sanhedrin.  He claimed his connection to the Pharisees and his firm belief in the resurrection rom the dead.  And then he said, because of that very belief, he now was on trial before them.  With such a contentious subject as the resurrection spoken in public, the two sects began their own harangue, arguing about the resurrection and whether a spirit or angel might have spoken to Paul (another belief held by the Pharisees and not the Sadducees).  The Pharisees declared him innocent. With such clamor, the tribune feared Paul might be harmed andordered the soldiers to take Paul by force to the barracks.  It was at night that Paul had a visitation from the Lord Himself assuring the missionary that now since he had testified in Jerusalem, he would go to Rome to testify.  Again, I use the theme sentence from the past two days:  God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, in all ways, and always.  God has a plan, and if we are willing to follow, as Paul was, God will work out the details.  God be praised! 

Paul Testifies to the Jews, Claims Roman Citizenship before the Tribune

“Paul replied, I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no obscure city.  I beg you, permit me to speak to the people.  And when he had given him permission, Paul, standing on the steps, motioned with his hand to the people.  And when there was a great hush, he addressed them in the Hebrew language, saying, ‘Brothers and fathers, hear the defense that I now make before you.’…Paul said, ‘But I am a citizen by birth.’ So those who were about to examine him withdrew from him immediately, and the tribune also was afraid, for he realized that Paul was a Roman citizen and that he had bound him.” Acts 21:39-22:1; 22:28b-29 (ESV.  Read Acts 21:37 – 22:29).

When Paul was taken from the irate mob and arrested by the tribune and Roman soldiers, Paul asked for permission to speak to the tribune.  (We learn this tribune’s name by looking ahead to Acts 23: 26 when he writes a letter to Governor Felix concerning Paul). At first, when Claudius realized Paul could speak Greek, he asked if he was the Egyptian Jew who had led 4,000 men in a revolt against the Romans.  Paul told him he was a native of Tarsus, and wished to speak to the people who were accusing him.  Just as he had gotten the tribune’s attention by speaking Greek, he soon quieted the riotous mob by speaking Aramaic.  Paul, an educated man, was fluent in languages. To these Jews he gave his Jewish background, even to his persecution of the Christians prior to his marvelous conversion on the road to Damascus.  For a summary of how Paul had come to his current position, read carefully Acts 22:3-21.  It is a beautiful testimony of God’s work in Paul’s life.  His defense before the Jews was his Christian experience.  One’s personal Christian experience is definitely unarguable.  No one can refute what has happened between and individual and God.  Paul, who had stood on Mars Hill in Athens, Greece and spoken eloquently on the theme of “the unknown God” to whom that culture had statues throughout the city,  now stood before his Jewish accusers and gave his personal story of how God changed his life and made him a light to the Gentiles.  Note particularly verse 14.  It is a summary of Paul’s life but also of each Christian life.  It contains three important statements:  (1)  to know the will of God; (2) to see the Just One; and (3) to hear the voice of God.  His oration was heard until he stated that God told him to, “Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”  (Acts. 22:21).  This statement from Paul aroused the Jews again, and they yelled, “Away with such a fellow from the earth” For he should not be allowed to live.” (Acts 22:22).

The crowd became so unruly that the tribune ordered the soldiers to take Paul back into the barracks.  There he was to be scourged, beaten with a leather whip into which were tied pieces of sharp bone and lead.  It was an effort to get the truth, a confession, out of the accused.  Many did not survive the terrible scourging.  As he was on the rack ready to be beaten, Paul declared his Roman citizenship.  Roman law forbade scourging any citizen who had not been charged.  The tribune,  Claudius Lysias, knew he could lose his position and maybe even his own life from this injustice.  He himself had purchased his citizenship, and Paul was a Roman citizen by birth.  Paul knew his work for the Lord was not finished.  He claimed his citizenship and received a reprieve from the severe punishment of scourging.  Paul was using his Roman citizenship for the cause of Christ.  God was using the mighty Roman government to allow his servant Paul to eventually get to Rome.  With the same words as I concluded yesterday’s devotional, I will repeat again:  God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, in all ways, and always. To God be the glory!  

Mob Confusion and Paul’s Arrest

“Then all the city was stirred up, and the people ran together.  They seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple, and at once the gates were shut. And as they were seeking to kill him, word came to the tribune of the cohort that all Jerusalem was in confusion. He at once took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. And when they saw the tribune and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.  Then the tribune came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains.  He inquired who he was and what he had done.” –Acts 21:30-33 (ESV.  Read Acts 21:27-36).

This scripture shows how easily a riot can start and mass confusion occur.  Paul was undergoing the ritual seven days of purification.  The men for whom he had paid for their sacrifices as a part of their Nazarite vow were purified at the beginning of their vow, but anyone like Paul who had been so long associated with Gentiles, in order to be ceremonially clean, had to go through seven days of purification rites.  And then his attackers brought the charge that he had taken Greeks (Gentiles) into the temple area that was off-limits for them.  This was another of the rumors circulating, simply because they had seen Paul in the company of a man from Ephesus called Trophimus and assumed that he had gone into the sanctuary area of the temple with Paul.  Paul would not have taken a Gentile to that area because he knew the penalty was death.  The angry Jews dragged Paul outside, and the temple gates were shut, probably to prevent any further desecration to the sanctuary.  They were seeking to kill Paul. The Roman tribune’s response to the riot was immediate.  At the Tower of Antonio, the Herodian fortress at the northwest corner of the temple wall, soldiers kept close watch on proceedings around the temple area. They would immediately have reported the riot and how his accusers were beating Paul. Hearing the report, the commander (tribune) immediately took a contingent of the centurions and went to the scene.

It is amazing how quickly the mob desisted from beating Paul.  It was the Roman tribune’s task to keep the peace.  The mob would have known that their own lives were in great jeopardy for disturbing the peace.  Paul was arrested. Since the crowd was not in harmony in shouting their accusations, the tribune could not learn the true charges.  He had the soldiers take Paul to the barracks to protect him from the angry crowd and to learn from Paul himself what he had been accused of doing.  As they left the riot scene, the crowd was yelling “Away with him!” (v. 36). Is this not reminiscent of the crowd’s yelling “Crucify him!  Crucify him!” following Jesus’ arrest and mock trial? (see Luke 23:18 and John 19:15).

It was the time of Pentecost, an important Jewish festival fifty days after Passover, when offerings of firstfruits were presented.  Able-bodied Jewish men were expected to be at the temple to bring special firstfruits offerings. Jerusalem was very crowded, and with the general enthusiasm generated, a mob situation could easily erupt.  It seems that the tenor of the crowd, although many of them were Christians, was not on the fact that the Holy Spirit had appeared to believers first (more than twenty years earlier) on the day of Pentecost.  Their main emphasis was on punishing Paul for what they conceived was his gross sin of associating too readily with Gentiles.  They were majoring on minors and missing the mark.  Paul could have met his death that day, but because of the quick action of the Roman tribune and guards, his life was spared.  The gospel song declares, “God’s not finished with me yet!”  That was evident in the sparing of Paul’s life.  God had more work for him to do, even though prison was awaiting him.  He was in the safe custody of the mighty Roman garrison and the mobs could not touch him. God’s ways are higher than man’s ways, in all ways and always.       

Paul Meets with James and Shows Publicly His Reverence for Jewish Laws

“When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.  On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present.  After greeting them, he related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.  And when they heard it, they glorified God...Do therefore what we tell you.  We have four men who are under a vow; take these men and purify yourself along with them and pay their expenses, so that they may shave their heads.  Thus all will know that there is nothing in what they have been told about you, but that you yourself also live in observance of the law.” –Acts 21:17-20a; 23-24 (ESV.  Read Acts 21:17-26).

It was both a glad and a bittersweet reunion when Paul ended his missionary journey at Jerusalem.  He had an audience before James, the brother of Jesus, who served as the “senior” pastor of the Jerusalem church.  They heard Paul as he related “one by one” (that is, gave a detailed report) in the outreach ministry to the Gentiles in the places he had been. But rumors were rife about Paul and his work.  Even though the Jerusalem church had written a letter to Gentile Christians to state they did not have to go through the Jewish rituals of the law to be a Christian, a group among them (the Judaizers) still thought the law according to Moses should be obeyed in its entirety, including all the interpretations of the law that made it burdensome.  Rumor had it that Paul had encouraged Jews to forsake their ancestral practices of the law.  This he had never done.  The leaders came up with a way, they thought, of placating Paul’s opponents.  They had four men who had taken a Nazarite vow. The vow entailed abstinence from strong drink, grapes or raisins for thirty days, no contact with a dead body, and several other abstentions.  They would cut their hair at the end of thirty days, go through ritual purification and offer sacrifices in the temple among which were a one-year old lamb for a sin offering, a ram for a peace offering, a basket of unleavened bread with oil, meat offerings and drink offerings.  It would have been costly to provide these for four men who probably did not have the resources to buy them for themselves.  Paul was asked to provide the money for sacrifices so the men could fulfill their vow.  And in so doing, he was to likewise purify himself.  He consented to do so, Paul, who had long preached that the law does not save anyone.  Was he compromising his beliefs to placate the elders and those who condemned Paul for being the apostle to the Gentiles?  Paul probably found the act distasteful and against his better judgment.  But to seek the peace and for the sake of the church, he agreed to the plan.  In so doing, he “gave notice when the days of purification would be fulfilled and the offering presented for each one of them” (v. 26).  Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth:  “To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews.  To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.”  (I Cor. 9:20).  He subordinated his own wishes in order to keep peace among the brethren.  “There is a time when compromise is not a sign of weakness but of strength” states Dr. William Barclay (Daily Study Bible: Acts, p. 170).

In one of my husband’s pastorates the church was voting whether to build a much needed educational complex.  One deacon, because he was very opposed to borrowing the sum of money needed for the undertaking, talked against the plan and sought to win others to his viewpoint.  But when the church in conference voted to accept the proposal, borrow the necessary funds, and begin the project, he, publicly, in church conference stood and pledged his support, stating that he would work for what the church voted to do.  A beautiful edifice was soon in place, and with increased attendance and more giving, the indebtedness was paid in an incredibly short time.  God was in the enterprise, and blessed it, using it to multiply those reached for teaching and evangelism.  With Paul, as we will see, his compliance to the elders’ wishes did not meet with as much success.  False rumors die hard, and they persisted about Paul.  He would soon be the center of mob violence and arrest.  He knew troubles would come, even as he set his face steadfastly toward Jerusalem.  But God’s plan prevailed, despite the sufferings Paul had to endure.  In Paul’s actions, God received the glory.

Paul Sets His Face Steadfastly Toward Jerusalem

“While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.  And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles’.  When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.  Then Paul answered, ‘What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.’ And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done.’”-Acts 21:10-14 (ESV.  Read Acts 21:1-17).

In Acts 21:1-17 we have recorded Luke’s summary of Paul’s last lap of his third missionary journey.  Leaving Miletus and the Ephesian elders who had traveled there to bid him farewell and hear his last instructions, Paul (with Luke, and possibly others, for the first person pronoun “we” is used) boarded a coastal sailing vessel.  The places mentioned were a day’s journey by ship where they stopped for the night:  from Miletus to Cos, from Cos to Rhodes (island ports).  And then at the port of Patara (in Lycia) they found a larger sailing vessel and took passage for the 400-mile open sea journey to Phoenecia.  They landed at Tyre on the coast of Syria where they had a seven-day layover, for the ship unloaded its cargo there.  In Tyre they gathered disciples and had a time of fellowship. Everywhere Paul stopped on the third mission journey, he found Christians to greet and encourage. The believers warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem, but he could not be dissuaded.  The Tyrian Christians, with wives and children, accompanied the mission team to the beach to bid them fond farewells when they set sail.  The next stop was Ptolemais for a day, again with a brief reunion with believers there.  The next day they arrived at Caesarea, in the province of Palestine.  The journey to Jerusalem would be by land from this port.  Paul and his team entered the house of Philip, one of the seven original deacons who himself had become an evangelist.  It is interesting to note Luke’s comment on Philip’s family:  “He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied” (v. 9). Agabus, a prophet from Judea, came, and under the Holy Spirit’s prompting, he took Paul’s belt, binding his own hands and feet as an object lesson. This indicated that if Paul went on to Jerusalem he would be arrested (bound) and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.  But Paul could not be dissuaded.  Like Jesus prior to His arrest and crucifixion, Paul set his face toward Jerusalem.  Those trying to dissuade Paul resigned themselves and said, “Let the will of the Lord be done” (v. 14).  Arriving in Jerusalem, a three-day journey by foot from Caesarea, they lodged in the house of Mnason of Cyprus, “an early disciple.”  Once in Jerusalem “the brothers received us gladly.”  Luke does not give details about Paul’s delivery of the love gift of money made by the Gentile churches to the believers at Jerusalem.  Was this part of their “receiving gladly,” or was the gift not mentioned because the legalists would be suspicious of any gift borne by Paul and coming from Gentiles?

With great determination, Paul went to Jerusalem, knowing in his own heart and being warned by others that danger awaited him there.  Why did he feel compelled to go?  The division between the legalistic believers and the Gentile believers had continued to grow, even after the Jerusalem Conference some twenty years previously.  Paul was part of the answer—and part of the problem.  He could not address the problem if he stayed away from Jerusalem.  He had a God-given assignment to go, regardless of what might happen to him.  And go he must, and did!

On Paul’s Third Missionary Journey: A Farewell Journey, Sermon and Teaching

“After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.  When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.  There he spent three months…we came to them at Troas, where we stayed for seven days. On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight…And being overcome by sleep, he (Eutychus) fell down from the  third story and was taken up dead.  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.’…Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him…’In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.  And there was much weeping on the part of all; they embraced Paul and kissed him, being sorrowful most of all because of the word he had spoken, that they would not see his face again.  And they accompanied him to the ship.” –Acts 20:1-3a; 6b-7; 9-10; 17, 35-38 (ESV.  Read Acts 20).

Acts 20 is a very important chapter as it tells of Paul’s farewells to the churches he visited and of his diligence in collecting a love offering for the suffering and persecuted Christians in Jerusalem.  The names given in 20:4-5 are official representatives of the various churches who were charged with helping Paul with the collection for the saints.  Their presence would give safety from robbers but also stand as testimony to the integrity of Paul and the others in handling the funds. Even in this Paul set a precedent for subsequent churches, for it is always wise and prudent to have the funds of the church handled in a judicious manner.  Notice also the use of the pronouns “us” and “we” beginning in verse 5.  Luke would have joined the team.  The use of first person plural pronouns in Acts shows that he had joined the group.  We have in Acts 20:7 the mention that the church gathered “on the first day of the week.”  This is the first reference in Acts to worship on Sunday.  Scholars believe that the reason the service was held at night was because people still followed the Jewish calendar, and the first day of the week would be a secular work day, since the Sabbath was the day of rest.  The sermon was long and continued to midnight; this was to be Paul’s last time with them and he had much to tell them.  At this service s young lad, Eutychus, could not keep awake.  He fell from a third story window while Paul preached, and the impact of his fall killed him.  Paul stopped his sermon long enough to go down and bring him back to life, an action that comforted the congregants greatly.  Paul and company left Troas, he on foot and the others by ship to Assos where Paul boarded and they sailed to Mitylene, to Chios, to Samos and to Miletus.  His reason for not going to Ephesus was that he was rushing to get to Jerusalem before the day of Pentecost. 

At Miletus, Paul sent to invite the elders of the Ephesus church to come and talk with him.  Paul’s message to these gathered bishops, pastors, overseers, shepherds of the church at Ephesus can be read in Acts 20:18-35.  He felt a compulsion to give them instruction for he truly felt that he would not see them again.  It was a sad gathering but one of enrichment and warning.  The points of Paul’s sermon included (1) a review of the past (vv.18-21), a testimony of the present (vv. 22-27) and a warning about the future (vv. 28-38).  In these points he told of motive, manner and method of ministry.  He told of being accountable, of being faithful as a runner to finish the race, and faithful as a witness and herald of the gospel. He warned the elders that they should be careful of their manner of life and faithfulness, avoiding careless actions, shallowness of example, laziness and selfishness.  Then in verse 35 he gives words of Jesus that are not recorded in any of the four gospels but were accepted by word-of-mouth as the Lord’s teaching:  “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  When Paul had earnestly taught the elders from Ephesus, he knelt down and prayed with them.  It was an emotional goodbye, with recognition on Paul’s part that he would not be back and on the elders’ part that they would not see their teacher again.  From personal experience of moving with my husband from one church field to a new one, I can attest to how deeply emotional and heart-rending goodbyes are.  A part of one’s heart and life are left behind with each necessary move by the Holy Spirit. One day a great reunion will come in heaven. Selah!

Strange Happenings in the City of Ephesus: Magic and a Riot

“And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them…About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen.  These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, ‘Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth.  And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods.  And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.’…For about two hours they all cried out with one voice, ‘Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.’”  -Acts 19:11-12, 23-27, 34b (ESV.  Read Acts 19:11-41).

We have already noted what a strategic city Ephesus was:  capital city of the Roman province of Asia, with about 300,000 inhabitants, location of the famed Temple of Artemis (known also by the name Diana) that had stood at least 400 years before Paul arrived.  A common belief was that the sacred image of Artemis (Diana) that stood in the midst of the temple “fell from the sky” (Acts 19:35).   

Today’s passage begins with the statement that “God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul” (v. 11).  Scholars have noted that in Bible history there were three special periods of miracles:  during the time of Moses, of Elijah and Elisha, and the time of Jesus and his apostles.  Miracles had three distinct purposes:  to show God’s compassion: to meet human needs; and to present the Lord’s credentials as all-powerful. In Ephesus, Paul was able to perform special miracles.  It was a strong center for the occult and for paganism, as we have noted.  It seems strange to us that even handkerchiefs touched by Paul were used to heal the sick and to bring evil spirits out of people who touched them.  There exorcism as a regular trade was widely practiced.  An important aspect of this miracle is often overlooked:  It was not Paul’s garments or even his hands that were performing the miracles.  Luke clearly writes, “And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul” (v. 11).  Also, when a people are beset by superstitious beliefs, their mindset is to be relieved of some malady by a means with which they are familiar.  Because Ephesus was a center for the occult, God’s power was coming though as greater than pagan practices.  When the seven sons of Sceva, the Jewish priest there, tried the same method, their efforts failed, for they did not know Jesus and could therefore not have His power to do exorcism.  In fact, the evil spirit they tried to exorcise attacked them and they had to flee.  God used even this incident to awaken the city, and magic-mongers brought their books of magic and incantations and burned them.  And many turned to the Lord.  I am reminded of stories of our missionary friend John Mark who worked diligently for many years in Liberia, West Africa.  He would write to us of going into remote villages with the gospel, and of those, who, upon turning to the Lord, gave up their witchcraft and would voluntarily have a public burning of the appurtenances of their magic, turning aside from the “black magic” to the power and cleansing of the Lord.  It is remarkable that such a change occurred in the lives of the believers that they were willing to abandon their means of livelihood and lay their all on the altar for the Lord.  Dr. William Barclay comments, “There are times in life when treatment must be surgical, when only the clean and final break will suffice” (Daily Study Bible. Acts.  Philadelphia: Westminster, 1955, p. 157).

But the love of money is deeply ingrained, as is illustrated by the silversmith Demetrius of Ephesus and the riot his public square speech incited.  These silversmiths were makers of small shrines to Artemis (Diana) which were widely sold—as tourist mementos, for residents to use in their homes as a shrine to Artemis, and as an offering to be presented in worship of the goddess.  To make enough to fill the demand became a lucrative business for the silversmiths. People came from many regions to worship at the temple of Artemis. But as Christianity spread, the silversmiths’  business was affected by fewer buying their wares.  They gathered and soon had a riot in the city, with crowds shouting,  “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”  Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonian Christians who were Paul’s companions, were dragged into the great theater, where scholarly estimates have the angry crowd numbering at least 25,000 people.  Paul wanted to go (what an opportunity for preaching!) but was prevented from going by others of the Christian band and some of the “Asiarchs,” local rulers.  Then the “town clerk,” or local Roman government representative, came on the scene and got the mob quieted.  Of course, his job stood in the balance if he could not restore order.  The Roman government did not tolerate riots and unrest, civil disorder.  Even though he played his part in self-interest, the official was able to dismiss the angry crowd.  Today,  two thousand years later, the only vestiges of the goddess Artemis (Diana) are the uncovered archaeological ruins.  The silversmiths’ guilds are gone.  But the gospel of Jesus Christ and churches where his people gather are still there, operating today.  Paul’s labor of love for three years in the city of Ephesus planted seeds of the gospel, the harvest of which has been bearing fruit for many generations.  To God be the glory!

Paul Begins His Third Missionary Journey: Strengthening, Straightening-out, Starting Churches

“After spending some time there, he (Paul) departed and went from one place to the next through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples…And when he (Apollos) wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.” Acts 18:23; 27-28. (ESV).

One verse in Acts 18:23 tells us of the beginning of Paul’s third missionary journey.  But the entire account of that important outreach is recorded in Acts 18:23 through Acts 21:16.  Various of Paul’s letters also add light on this journey as well as Luke’s summary account in Acts.  This journey began about 52 A. D. and lasted for five years, until 57 A. D.  It was primarily in the area of Ephesus and vicinity, a Roman province in Asia Minor.  Ephesus was a major commercial center.  The temple to Artemis, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was located at Ephesus. An eunuch priest was in charge of the Artemis shrine, and many virgin women participated in the rituals. The grandly constructed theater, reputedly with seating for 20,000, was enlarged under the orders of Emperor Claudius while Paul was in the city.  The theater was not the temple to Artemis, for it stood in another location, but theater events were begun by attendees chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians.”  In addition to the temple to Artemis, emperor worship was rife, with worship centers honoring Emperor Julius Caesar, the goddess Roma and other Roman leaders considered divine.  Ruins of the large Byzantine Church of Mary have been uncovered in archaeological explorations, as well as the large agora (marketplace), elaborate private dwellings and gardens, and evidence of silversmiths’ work.  Paul indeed went into a large, busy, pagan, challenging city to take the gospel.

Paul had promised persons in Ephesus (see Acts 18:21) that he would return to them if God willed.  He traveled overland from Antioch in Syria, going northwestward through Tarsus and Derbe in Cilicia, Lystra and Iconium in Cappadocia, on through Galatia and to Antioch in Pisidia.  We are told that in these places he “strengthened the disciples.”  In these three words of summary lie much to be imagined:  Paul greeting believers he and his team had led to Christ previously; inquiring of their health, both physical and spiritual; hearing stories of their church outreach and missions; teaching them further the great truths of the gospel.  We all like reunions; Paul was enjoying a reunion with those he had led into the kingdom of God through his earlier contacts with them.  And from these places he went on to Ephesus to fulfill his promise to return to them.  There he heard about Apollos, a native of Alexandria in Egypt, who had gone to Ephesus preaching and teaching.  He had much enthusiasm and success, eloquence and scholarship. But he knew only the “baptism of John” (John the Baptist, who preached repentance).  He had not heard fully of Jesus and His sacrificial death, burial and resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit.  Paul’s friends, Aquila and Priscilla, whom Paul had left in Ephesus earlier, set Apollos straight in his doctrine and teachings.  Not embarrassing him publicly, they took him aside and instructed him more fully in the Way.  When he wished to go to Achaia (in particular, to Corinth) to witness, a letter of recommendation was prepared to introduce Apollos.   He was a powerful witness there, showing in public declamation that Jesus was the Christ.  Apollos evidently returned to Corinth and was with Paul when the latter wrote I Corinthians (see I Cor. 16:12).  Paul’s third missionary journey would strengthen believers, teach pure doctrine and start some new churches.  He taught us how missions should be done, with the modern missions movement following the pattern recorded in the Acts of the Apostles.  Selah.   

Paul’s Second Missionary Journey Ends at Antioch

“After this Paul stayed many days longer and then took leave of the brothers and set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila.  At Cenchreae he had cut his hair, for he was under a vow.  And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.  When they asked him to stay for a longer period, he declined.  But on taking leave of them he said, ‘I will return to you if God wills,’ and he set sail from Ephesus.  When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.” –Acts 18:18-22 (ESV).

Paul ended his second missionary journey at Antioch in Syria, his sponsoring church, the one that had laid hands on him and Silas and sent them out.  What Luke recorded of it is from Acts 15:36 through 18:22.  When I think of any of Paul’s missionary journeys, I am reminded of a good teacher friend of mine, Rachel Higdon, now enjoying her reward in heaven.  Being a teacher of history and French, as well as an excellent student of and teacher of the Bible, she always wanted a map to point out the places mentioned in the Bible.  With Acts, she had a “map-happy” time with her teaching, because she had such knowledge from ancient history she shared as she taught the Word.  “We are talking about real people here,”  she would emphasize, “and real places!”  She would invite us always to imagine the dangers Paul faced on land and on sea as he traveled, and remind us of the compelling force of the Holy Spirit that propelled him on from place to place to complete his divinely-appointed mission.  In today’s passage, Paul stayed “many days longer” at Corinth—longer, perhaps, than the 1 and ½ years previously stated.  When he decided to set sail for Antioch of Syria, his friends and co-tentmakers, Aquila and Priscilla accomaanied with him.  Their first stop was at Cenchreae, about 6 ½ miles eastward from Corinth, the city of Corinth’s main port to the Aegean Sea. At that town, Paul got a haircut, but it had to do with his Nazarite vow (see Numbers 6:1-21 for laws concerning this rite). We are not told what the vow involved but it could have been one of gratitude or in fulfillment of his dedication to God.  They sailed to Ephesus in Asia Minor and there Priscilla and Aquila stayed to strengthen the ministry there.  The Christians at Ephesus begged Paul to stay, but he declined, saying he would return if God willed.  This invitation was the basis of Paul’s third missionary journey, as we will see later.  One sentence summarized the last very long lap of finishing up his second missionary journey.  From Ephesus the ship took the coastal route south eastward, weaving though islands, including Rhodes, the largest one, to the west of the ship’s route.  Then a long Mediterranean Sea journey southeastward to Caesarea in Palestine.  By orverland road to “the church”—which everyone understood to be at Jerusalem—and then northward overland through Damascus and Syria up to Antioch.  Paul had been gone for well over two years and had traveled thousands of miles, preached many sermons, taught many lessons, had personal advisement sessions, worked to make his own way, written his first epistles, been imprisoned, beaten, accused, reviled, had to sneak away at nighttime to avoid more persecution.  And here he was, safely back at his home church!  Can you imagine the joy of greetings and the crowds that gathered each time he gave his “missionary report”?  They might have asked, “Paul, will you stay here awhile?”  And this anointed, itinerant preacher would no doubt have answered:  “I can’t quit yet (can’t retire yet)!  God has more work for me to do!”  And soon he would launch upon his third missionary journey.  The gospel came to us on its way to someone else, just as it had to Paul on the road to Damascus.  Faithfulness marked Paul’s Christian call.  Where does the Lord want you to faithfully witness, diligently labor in His “harvest field”?  “For the fields are white already to harvest”…(John 4:35).  There’s an urgency now about getting the harvest of souls in:  “For the night cometh when no man can work” (John 9:4).

Paul’s Witness in Corinth

“After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.  And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.  And he went to see them, and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.  And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks…And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.’  And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.”  -Acts 18:1-4; 9-11. (ESV.  Read Acts 18:1-16).

Still on his second missionary journey, Paul stayed in the city of Corinth in Greece for a year and a half.  He had a good ministry there, established a strong church, and wrote his letters to the Thessalonian church while there.  He also “made his own way” financially by plying his trade of tentmaker, working in the shop of two Christian Jews, Aquila and Priscilla. Corinth was located about 46 miles west of Athens.  A Roman colony, it was the most influential city in the province of Achaia both economically and politically.  The major town was two miles inland from the seaport.  The city was set at the foot of Acrocorinth, a mountain that rose to over 1800 feet in elevation.  The famed Greek city of Corinth, famous for its wealth in bronze and other metals, was destroyed in 146 B. C. in a war with Rome.  It was reestablished as a Roman colony in 44 B. C.  Much archaeological work has been done in Corinth.  There is evidence of this 100-year gap in the city’s history.  In Paul’s time there, he would have seen temples to Apollo, Aphrodyte, Asklepois (god of healing) and others, including emperor worship and a shrine to Emperor Augustus’s sister Octavia.  Paul provided a faithful witness in the midst of this pagan stronghold.

When he stayed any length of time in a place, Paul made his way by making tents.  He became fast friends of Aquila and his wife Priscilla, likewise tentmakers. In his “old” life in the Jewish religion, Paul was a Rabbi.  A rabbi could take no money for teaching and must make his own way.  Likewise, when he became a Christian, Paul held to the belief that he should work at his trade to make a living. Jews had adages to encourage work:  “Love work; he who does not teach his son a trade teaches him robbery.” When Silas and Timothy arrived in Corinth, Paul was already working, both at his trade and as an example to the Jews.  But it was not long until the Jews began to revile him and forbade his teaching in the synagogue. In symbolic action of dismissing the Jews, Paul shook out his garments.  It was similar to shaking the dust from one’s shoes when hospitality and acceptance had been denied.  Paul got a place to teach next door to the synagogue in the house of Titus Justus. Crispus, ruler of the synagogue, and his household were converted, as were many of the Corinthians.  Soon, God appeared to Paul in a vision at night and reaffirmed his mission to the Gentiles, promising him safety and souls for his labors: “I have many in the city who are my people,” a promise and prediction of those who would come to the Lord there through Paul’s evangelistic efforts. The Jews sought to stop Paul, bringing charges against him to Gallio the proconsul of the province. However, Gallio ruled that it was a matter for the Jews themselves to settle in their synagogue, for it was a judgment not of a civil nature but of the Jewish law.  Dr. William Barclay comments:  “In this passage we see the indisputable value of a Christian life.  Gallio knew that there was no fault which could be found with Paul and his friends.  The only unanswerable argument for Christianity is a Christian.”  (Barclay.  The Daily Study Bible: Acts.  Philadelphia: Westminster, 1955, p. 149).  The results of Paul’s labors in Corinth can only be measured in eternity. He was faithful to the vision God gave him and worked both by example and through the Word to build a strong church there.  Amen! 

Paul in Athens, Greece: The Situation and His Sermon

“Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.  So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.  Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him.  And some said, ‘What does this babbler wish to say?’  Others said, ‘He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities’—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection…So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said, ‘Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.  For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’  What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.’”-Acts 17: 16-18, 22-23 (ESV.  Read Acts 18-34)

Paul waited for Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens, Greece.  Perhaps it should have been a rest stop, a time of refreshment and vacation for Paul, but he spent his time, as usual, interacting with the people he met and witnessing to the power of Almighty God to save.  Consider a brief look at the situation, both culturally, philosophically and religiously in Athens at the time of Paul’s visit.  The largest university in the world at that time was located in Athens; it was a center of learning for its day.  Named for the Greek wisdom goddess Athene, the city held beliefs in a pantheon of gods and had statuary honoring them, including one (noted by Paul in his visit) “to the unknown God.”  An interesting story exists about how “the unknown god” statuary became a part of Athens’ “gods made by hands” or idols.  About 600 B. C. a terrible plague hit the city of Athens and nothing could assuage it.  A Greek poet named Epimenides from the island of Crete hit upon a plan.  He persuaded the leaders to release a flock of black and white sheep from the Areopagus (Mars Hill), the place where important civic and religious decisions were made.  As the sheep lay down, wherever they had traveled, the sheep would be sacrificed there to the nearest statue of a god and thus appease the wrath of whatever of the gods had brought the plague.  If the sheep lay down where there was not a nearby statue, then they would erect one and name it “to the unknown god.”  Thus, dotted throughout Athens were these statues with that designation. These, which Paul had observed, gave him a good point of reference for his famous sermon delivered on Mars Hill (Areopagus).  When Rome conquered the known world, Athens was left as a city-state, somewhat free to carry on their culture as  it had developed for about 3,000 years of human occupation.  Many philosophies were tossed about in the discussion groups so prevalent throughout Athens, at the university and in the agora (marketplace) and Areopagus (great collonaded porches and civic edifice, named for the Greek god Ares), and wherever people met to exchange ideas.  Two main groups stood out, however, and these are mentioned in Acts 17:18:  the Epicureans and the Stoics.  It would take a long essay to give the beliefs of each of these, but basically the Epicureans, after the Greek philosopher Epicureas (b. 341 B. C.), centered on the search for pleasure and fulfillment, to acquire a trouble-free mind, and to avoid pains of the body. He believed in gods, but thought them remote from and disinterested in people, and that death ended all of life—no eternal existence.  His ideas became distorted with time, but he himself practiced tranquility and contemplation.  Stoics, on the other hand, believed that everything was God and god was in everything.  Whatever happens is fated and we must not care or try to change it, for it is the will of God.  A spark of the spirit of God dwells in everyone and at death it returns to God.

Amidst all this philosopy, learning, art and history, Paul came with the message of the living God.  He went to the synagogue as was his custom, and talked and reasoned with the Jews.  Then amidst the statuary and grandeur of public Athens, he began to talk with philosophers and idea-mongers, and was even called by some of them “a babbler.”  He was invited by these Athenians and taken to the Areopagus where he spoke publicly.  Read carefully Paul’s sermon in Acts 17:23-31.  It is a masterpiece discourse of application of Paul’s philosophy and belief about God given in the manner characteristic of what his Athens audience would hear.  I read Dr. Warren W. Wiersbe’s commentary of this sermon by Paul, and I borrow from his mnemonic outline, using his alliteration for each point (Wiersbe,  New Testament. Acts. Colorado Springs:  David C. Cook, 2007, p. 378).  I have read and studied Paul’s sermon, keeping in mind Dr. Wiersbe’s outline, and find the spiritual exercise rich and enlightening.  I invite you to study it, too.

            I.  The greatness of God:  He is Creator (v. 24)

           II.  The goodness of God:  He is Provider (v. 25)

          III.  The government of God:  He is Ruler (vv. 26-29)

          IV.  The grace of God:  He is Savior (vv. 30-34)    

We have no biblical statement that a Christian church was formed in Athens.  Two named converts came as a result of Paul’s sermon at the Areopagus:  Demetrius, an Areopagite (perhaps a member of the council) and a woman, Damaris  (women were not usually at the area of the Areopagus, so she may have not had a good reputation prior to her conversion)—and “some men’ and “others with them” (that is, others with Demetrius and Damaris). 

What does Paul’s trip and witness in Athens teach us?  It is not always the large numbers of converts that matter.  Every soul is precious in the sight of God.  Relating Paul’s witness there to the parable of the seeds and the sower, wise, philosophical, proud Athenians were like the seeds of the gospel falling on poor soil already infested by many weeds.  Paul referred to the situation in his phrase, “the times of ignorance” (v. 30).  We, like Paul, need to be bold in our witness in places where false doctrines and philosophies abound, the “Athens areas” of our day.  But we cannot forget, as a benefit to us of Paul’s example there, we have his well-developed and strong sermon.  Many have read and benefited from it through two centuries, including us!  God’s word will not return void.  That is His promise, and this is a strong example of that promise fulfilled.  Amen.

Bereans Receive the Word Gladly but Opposition Arises

“The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived they went into the Jewish synagogue.  Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.  Many of them therefore believed, with not a few Greek women of high standing as well as men. But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.” –Acts 17:10-13 (ESV.  Read Acts 17:10-15).

When trouble arose in Thessalonica over Paul’s teaching and preaching, and Jason, his host, and other believers were brought before the authorities by angry Jews, the brothers “smuggled” Paul and Silas out of Thessalonica “by night.”  They traveled 50 miles (some say 60) by road southwest to the town of Berea.  It had a large enough Jewish population to have a synagogue.  Paul went there and began preaching.  Dr. William Barclay points out three important points about Paul’s time in Berea.  (1) His preaching was scriptural and led his hearers “to examine the scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”  Could the Messiah Paul preached about have been crucified?  Crucifixion indicated the victim was accursed.  The Messiah should have set up an earthly kingdom.  But the Jews in Berea are termed “more noble,” meaning not their rank in society or their “well-born” position, but their willingness to be open-minded and fair and to search out for themselves in their own Old Testament scriptures whether what Paul preached was true.  The result was that many believed among the Jewish community as well as the God-fearers, Greek men and women who heard the Word and accepted Christ as Savior.  The Bereans were exemplary in receiving the message gladly.  Many churches since that day have chosen the word “Bereans” to identify groups of people who diligently search the Scriptures.  (2) The second point about the Berean mission is that persecution came from the Jews.  Soon news reached the agitating group of Jews in Thessalonica and they went to Berea to seek to silence Paul.  The tragedy is that this persecution arose from a group who had the mistaken idea that they were doing the will of God by opposing Paul and the new believers.  Again, since Paul was the target of their wrath, the brethren sent him off immediately “on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there.”  Berea would have further help from experienced teachers, even though Paul had to flee.  (3)  Paul’s courage stands out.  Previously imprisoned, beaten, and now threatened in Berea, Paul did not quit.  He was commissioned to bear the message in Gentile territory; he must move on.  And that he did.  Some of the believers accompanied Paul all the way to Athens and after they knew Silas and Timothy were going there to join Paul, these caring people from Berea left Paul.  They had no doubt helped to save Paul’s life and had attended him in troublous times.  Is it any wonder we think highly of Berean Christians, even over two thousand years after Paul’s mission trip there? 

Luke in his summary account of activities in Berea does not make clear Paul’s escape ‘by sea.’  We would think that he went to the coast and boarded a ship for Athens.  But by some of the Berean Christians remaining with him until he reached Athens, they could have traveled on the coastal road, some 222 miles from Berea to Athens, Greece.  Scholars who have looked more closely into this section of Paul’s second missionary journey favor the seacoast road route from Berea to Athens. Their mode of travel does not matter as much as the fact that Paul was protected and accompanied on a long journey.  God provided human and spiritual means of preserving His spokesman to take the Word to other waiting and truth-seeking people. This Berean interlude teaches us the importance of studying the scriptures diligently and of helping those in trouble.  To God be the glory!