Bible

In the Bible room today, we continue reading the book of Acts with Session 10, the summaries of chapters 20 and 21.

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Acts

Session 10

Chapter 20. Warnings

The uproar is ended, Paul gathers the disciples for a final farewell:

• Then he leaves for Macedonia where he preaches to many;
• After covering that region, he goes into Greece;
• He is there for three months, has trouble with the Jews;
• They disrupt his intention to sail over to Syria,
• So, to get there, he will go back through Macedonia;
• He is accompanied by Sopater of Berea;
• Aristarchus, Secundus, Gaius, Timothy, Tychicus, and
• Trophimus go on ahead to wait for us at Troas;
• We sail from Philippi and meet them there in five days;
• We stay in Troas for seven days;
• Our last day there is the first day of the week,
• The disciples are having a meal together in an upper room;
• Paul is speaking and his message goes on until midnight;
• A young man named Eutychus is sitting in a window;
• He goes to sleep, then falls three stories to his death;
• Paul goes down to him, takes him in his arms,
• Then he reassures his friends that he will live again;
• Paul has a meal, talks until daybreak, then leaves on foot;
• They bring the young man in, alive, to his happy friends;
• We board the ship and sail on ahead to Assos to meet Paul,
• Where he would join us onboard the ship;
• We sail on to Mitylene, then to Samos, then to Trogyllium;
• And the day after that, we bypass Ephesus, arrive at Miletus;
• Paul is trying to get back to Jerusalem in time for Passover;
• He sends word to the elders at Ephesus to come to Miletus;
• So, they meet him there, and he begins speaking to them:
• He reminds them of how the Jews had troubled him at Ephesus;
• But how he had continued to proclaim the truth even in trials,
• Preaching repentance to Jews and Greeks toward God,
• And faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ;
• Now, Paul tells them he is going back to Jerusalem,
• Not knowing what his future there will hold for him,
• Except the Holy Spirit is telling him in every city
• That there will be chains and troubles awaiting him;
• But he says none of that has any effect on his ministry;
• He will stay true to the message given him by the Lord Jesus,
• The gospel of the grace of God;
• Paul tells them this is the last time they will see him,
• But his conscience is clear: he has given them the whole truth,
• He exhorts them to lead the church as by the Holy Spirit; 
• He cautions them: after he is gone, ‘savage wolves’ will enter,
• Attacking the church flock, and there will arise among them
• Perverse men who will try to lead the church to follow them;
• The elders must never forget the last three years,
• Of all the warnings Paul has given them, along with his tears;
• And now he is commending them to the grace of God,
• That they remain strong in the faith among all the believers;
• He reminds them that he has never asked them for money,
• Nor clothing, and that he has provided for all his co-workers,
• Being the example for them to follow in supporting their staff:
• As the Lord said “It is more blessed to give than to receive;”
• Paul then kneels and prays for each of them, all weeping freely,
• As they embrace him, and share their farewells,
• Knowing they will never see him again;
• Then, they all walk with him to the ship.

Chapter 21. Arrested

So, we set sail from there to Cos, then Rhodes, and on to Patara:

• There, we board a cargo ship going to Phoenicia;
• We sail past Cyprus, then land at Tyre in Syria,
• There, the ship would off-load her cargo;
• We stay with the disciples there for seven days;
• Through the Spirit, they tell Paul: do not go to Jerusalem;
• After seven days, we, including all the families,
• Walk down to the shore, kneel for a final prayer,
• Then we board the ship, they return to their homes;
• From Tyre, we sail to Ptolemais, meet with the brethren,
• And spend the day with them;
• The next day Paul, and his companions, go to Caesarea;
• We visit the home of Philip, the evangelist,
• And we stay many days with him;
• He has four virgin daughters who all prophesy;
• One day a prophet named Agabus comes down from Judea;
• Using Paul’s belt, he ties up his own hands and feet;
• Then he says this will happen to Paul if he goes to Jerusalem,
• And the Jews will hand him over to the Gentiles;
• Hearing this, we plead with Paul not to go into Jerusalem;
• Paul tells his friends their tears are breaking his heart,
• However, he says he is ready to be arrested, even to die
• For the name of the Lord Jesus;
• Seeing his resolve, his companions cease their pleading,
• Saying, the will of the Lord be done;
• With that, we all pack up and head for Jerusalem;
• Some of the disciples from Caesarea join with them;
• Also, one named Mnason who will provide lodging;
• At Jerusalem, the brethren are very happy to see them;
• The next day they all go with Paul to meet up with James
• And all the elders, and Paul shares with them details of what
• God has done in their ministry among the Gentiles;
• Then, the elders begin telling Paul what the Jews are saying:
• They are claiming that the Jews among the Gentiles are hearing
• Paul preaching that they are not bound by the law of Moses,
• That they should not circumcise their children,
• Nor should they obey the customs of the Jews;
• Now, they need a plan how to deal with the Jews over this;
• Here’s the plan: four men here have taken a vow;
• Paul is to go with them as they get their heads shaved,
• He will pay their expenses, go through purification with them;
• The Jews will see all this, and they will surely learn
• That all these rumors about Paul are not true;
• In truth, Paul has not abandoned the Jewish laws and customs;
• The elders have already written that the Gentiles are not Jews;
• But they must keep themselves from idols, from blood, from
• Things strangled, and from sexual immorality;
• The next day Paul takes the men into the temple,
• And announces that their purification days are complete;
• Some of the Jews from Asia come in and arrest Paul,
• Shouting to the crowd that Paul is defiling the temple;
• They accuse him of preaching false claims about the Jews;
• The crowd becomes a mob, they drag Paul outside;
• They were going to kill him, but quickly stop beating him
• When they see the soldiers coming toward them;
• The commander of the garrison had heard about the mob,
• And decides to take the soldiers and stop the beating;
• He has Paul arrested, tied with two chains, asks him who he is;
• When he asks what he has done, the crowd tries to answer;
• Hearing nothing but noise, the commander is confused;
• He takes Paul away from the crowd into the barracks;
• Suffering from the beating, Paul has to be carried up the stairs;
• The mob follows them, shouting for Paul to be killed;
• Paul asks to speak to the commander;
• The commander asks if he speaks Greek;
• Then he asks Paul if he is the Egyptian who started a rebellion
• Some time back by leading four thousand assassins;
• Paul says he is a Jew from Tarsus, wants to speak to the people;
• The commander grants his request, allows him to speak;
• Standing on the stairs, Paul waves his hand, asks for silence;
• When the crowd gets quiet, he begins speaking in Hebrew.

End of Session 10 of the book of Acts.

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