Week 50
Acts 21:17-23:35
Paul and his team finally return to Jerusalem and meet with the Christian elders and apostles in the city. They rejoice over all the things that Paul reported from his journeys, but warn him that there are many Jews in the city who are on the look out to kill him. Paul goes to the temple and performs the rites of purification and sacrifice, but when he leaves the temple, the Jews attack him, and would have killed him except that the Roman commander intervened and arrested him. Paul is given an opportunity to tell his story to the crowd, but they kind of lose their mind when he tells them that God had sent him to preach to the Gentiles. A gang of 40 Jews devise a plan to kill Paul, but their scheme is discovered, and the Roman Commander sends him under guard to Felix, the Roman Governor at Caesarea, who agrees to hear Paul’s case after his accusers from Jerusalem come to provide their testimony against him.
Acts 24-26
Paul’s accusers come before Felix in Caesarea, however nothing comes of it, and he is kept there under house arrest for another 2 years. Felix talks with him a lot, but he is primarily hoping to get a bribe from Paul, but that never happens. After 2 years a Felix is replaced by Festus as Roman Governor, and the Jews attempt to gain his help in condemning Paul, but that doesn’t work out for them. Eventually Paul appeals for a hearing before Caesar, which is his right as a Roman citizen, so Festus makes plans for him to be sent to Rome. Meanwhile, King Agrippa and his wife make a visit to Festus, and he gives the king an opportunity to hear Paul’s case. Agrippa was the grandson of King Herod the Great, and he was knowledgable about the Jews and the scriptures, since he was an Idumean (a descendant of Esau), and his grandfather (Herod) had funded the expansion of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Paul attempts to win Agrippa over to Christ, but it doesn’t seem to be successful, and so Paul ends up with the final decision to be sent to Rome, so that he can appeal to Caesar.
Acts 27-28
Paul is handed over to a Centurion (a commander of 100) to be taken to Rome. They sail from the coast of Israel north, following the Asiatic coastline, however winter is approaching, and the weather is bad. Against Paul’s advice they continue, and end up spending 2 weeks in a violent storm at sea, and the ship is eventually destroyed near the island of Malta. God saves all of the men on the ship, which numbered close to 300, and they spent the next 3 month on Malta, waiting for winter to end. During that time Paul preached the gospel, and many people were healed.
When Spring came, they finished their journey to Rome, and Paul was kept under house arrest for the next two years, chained to a Roman soldier in his own rented quarters. Paul attempted to preach to the Jews in Rome, and although some were saved, the majority did not believe, so he then focused his preaching on the gentiles.
Tradition has it that after 2 years Paul was released, possibly going to Spain and Britain preaching the gospel, but was eventually sent back to Rome in chains, where he was martyred by being taken outside the city and beheaded.
Ephesians 1-3
There were a handful of churches that were especially dear to the apostle Paul, and Ephesus was certainly one of them. Paul had been a huge influence in the beginning of this church, and he eventually even sent Timothy to be the pastor there. This epistle was written while Paul was a prisoner in Rome, and it is thought to have been sent to them some 4-5 years after he had last visited them.
This epistle is divided into two main sections - doctrine and application. Chapters 1-3 focus primarily on what Jesus has accomplished, and 4-6 on Christian application.
There is a significant focus in these chapters on all that was accomplished by Jesus Christ, and how we played no role in His work of redemption, which was planned and initiated by God alone as a consequence of His infinite grace. Key verses include…
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
- Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV
Through the finished work of Jesus Christ every person has been given access to God, but only those who believe in that work of Christ, and accept Him unto salvation will be accepted by God.
Ephesians 4-6
These chapters focus on spiritual application, and are really broken into two sections, where Ephesians 4:1-6:9 speak of various applications that lead us to spiritual maturity in Christ, and then the rest of chapter 6 highlights the spiritual warfare that we are engaged in, and the weapons we’ve been given for that conflict with the enemy of our souls.
Jesus gave gifts to His church in the form of leaders, who minister in bringing each of us to spiritual maturity, and help in the process of our sanctification, which is forming us into the same image as Christ, through the power of His Spirit in us. We are encouraged to live in this life with all humility and gentleness, encouraging each other in love, and ministering the grace of God towards all who need it. We are instructed to make every effort to imitate Christ, and to walk in this life with His love, which was completely “others” focused - first on God, and then towards other people.
Our battle in this life is not against unbelieving people, but rather against the devil, who is working all manner of deception and hatred to take people with him in fighting against God. The warfare is spiritual, and the tools we’ve been given are also spiritual - the truth of the gospel, the righteousness of Christ, the gospel of peace, the shield of faith in Him, the salvation of Jesus that guards our minds and hearts, and the sword of the spirit, which is God’s Word. These weapons are largely defensive, which protect us from the enemy who seeks to make us ineffective as servants of Christ, and against his plans to try and destroy us. Do not stop in praying, even when it seems that God is not listening!
Colossians
Paul’s letter to the church in Colossae was likely written at the same time as he wrote to the Ephesians and Philippians from jail in Rome, and also his letter to Philemon, who lived in this same city. However, like the church in Rome, he was writing to the Colossians as a church that he did not found, as it was likely founded by Epaphroditus. This city was closely associated with the city of Laodicea in Asia Minor, and Paul also wrote a letter to the Laodiceans, which has been lost, and not included in the canon of scripture.
Paul writes that he is thankful to God for the faith of the Colossians, and reinforces for them the basis of salvation for all believers, who have been called an justified by God through faith in Christ Jesus, so long as each person remains in that place of faith. He then writes the remainder of this epistle in describing the character and conduct of those who have been saved. We are instructed to reject false philosophies, and avoid false behaviors that are practiced by carnal christians. All who have been raised to eternal life in Jesus should be focused on things above, rather than on things here below, since even though life is short, eternity is forever. Reject and avoid immoral behavior, as well as impure conversation and lies, but rather adopt (“put on”) the new self that we’ve been given in Christ. Whatever we do should be done with a heart to please our Lord Jesus Christ, and we should become students of His Word, with a heart towards doing what it says, knowing that He will judge our deeds as Christians at the Judgement Seat of Christ.
Philippians
The story of the beginnings of the church in Philippi can be found in Acts chapter 16, where Paul and Silas and Timothy were trying to minister in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), but after Paul received a vision, they headed over to Macedonia (Greece). The first city they stopped in was Philippi, and then followed by Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and then Corinth. Paul wrote this letter to them from prison in Rome, but it was written more as a message of love and gratitude to them, as opposed to a letter of correction, as they had sent Ephaphroditus to him for encouragement, with an offering to help meet his expenses in Rome.
Paul expresses his great love for them, and gives them an update on his situation in Rome. He provides them with some instruction in Christian behavior, encouraging them to do nothing from selfish ambition, and to recognize that disagreements between believers only serves the plans of the devil, since divisions in the church make the preaching of the gospel ineffective to unbelievers. He also encourages some in the church to try harder in getting along with each other in Christ, and warns the church elders to be on the constant lookout for men who would like to introduce legalism and spiritual bondage within the church. He thanks them for their financial gift to him, but also tells them that he had learned to make do with whatever the Lord chose to give him, and to be content in all situations, whether they are pleasant or difficult. This gives us a great example to follow, as they same is true for us, where godliness with contentment is very beneficial to us, just like he told Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:6.