STUDIES IN ACTS

LESSON 103

FESTUS TELLS KING AGRIPPA ABOUT PAUL

Acts 25:13-22 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

¹³ A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to visit Festus. ¹⁴ They stayed there many days, and Festus told the king about Paul’s case. Festus said, “There is a man that Felix left in prison. ¹⁵ When I went to Jerusalem, the leading priests and the older Jewish leaders there made charges against him. They wanted me to order his death. ¹⁶ But I told them, ‘When a man is accused of doing something wrong, Romans don’t hand him over for others to judge. First, he must face the people accusing him. And then he must be allowed to defend himself against their charges.’ ¹⁷ “So when these Jews came here for the trial, I did not waste time. The next day I sat on the judgment seat and ordered Paul to be brought in. ¹⁸ The Jews stood up and accused him. But they did not accuse him of the kind of crimes I thought they would. ¹⁹ Their charges were all about their own religion and about a man named Jesus. Jesus died, but Paul said that he is still alive. ²⁰ I did not have any idea about how to judge these matters. So I asked Paul, ‘Do you want to go to Jerusalem and be judged there?’ ²¹ But Paul asked to be kept in Caesarea. He wants a decision from the emperor. So I ordered that he be held until I could send him to Caesar in Rome.” ²² Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man too.” Festus said, “Tomorrow you can hear him.”

1.   KING AGRIPPA V. 13-14A

2.   FESTUS EXPLAINS ABOUT PAUL V. 14B-21

Ø  Festus explains why Paul is being held in prison v. 15-16

Ø  Tells about the Jews charges v. 17-19

Ø  Festus’s uncertainty how to judge Paul v. 20

Ø  Paul’s request to be heard by Caesar v. 21

3.   AGRIPPA ASKS TO HEAR PAUL V. 22A

4.   FESTUS AGREES FOR TOMORROW V. 22B

THE WORLD DOESN’T KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH CHRISTIANS!

STUDIES IN ACTS

LESSON 101

PAUL DEFENDS HIMSELF BEFORE FELIX PART 2

Acts 24:17-23 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

^17-18 “I was away from Jerusalem for many years. I went back there to take money to help my people. I also had some gifts to offer at the Temple. I was doing this when some Jews saw me there. I had finished the cleansing ceremony.^[a] I had not made any trouble, and no one was gathering around me. ¹⁹ But some Jews from Asia were there. They should be here, standing before you. If I have really done anything wrong, they are the ones who should accuse me. They were there! ²⁰ Ask these men here if they found any wrong in me when I stood before the high council meeting in Jerusalem. ²¹ I did say one thing when I stood before them and shouted, ‘You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from death!’” ²² Felix already understood a lot about the Way. He stopped the trial and said, “When commander Lysias comes here, I will decide what to do with you.” ²³ Felix told the army officer to keep Paul guarded but to give him some freedom and to let his friends bring whatever he needed.

1.   PAUL’S STORY V. 17-21

Ø  V. 17-18 PAUL EXPLAINS WHY HE HAD COME TO JERUSALEM

Ø  V. 19 NAMES ACTUAL ACCUSERS

Ø  V. 20-21 THE CHALLENGE

2.   FELIX’S REACTION V. 22-23

Ø  V. 22 FELIX UNDERSTOOD ‘THE WAY’

Ø  V. 22B DELAYED JUDGEMENT

Ø  V. 23 PAUL’S STATE

OUR DEFENSE IS GUIDED BY THE LORD AND IS RIGHT.

LESSON 87

SUDDENLY, JESUS…

Matthew 28 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

28 The day after the Sabbath day was the first day of the week. That day at dawn Mary Magdalene and the other woman named Mary went to look at the tomb. ² Suddenly an angel of the Lord came from the sky, and there was a huge earthquake. The angel went to the tomb and rolled the stone away from the entrance. Then he sat on top of the stone. ³ The angel was shining as bright as lightning. His clothes were as white as snow. ⁴ The soldiers guarding the tomb were very afraid of the angel. They shook with fear and then became like dead men. ⁵ The angel said to the women, “Don’t be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, the one who was killed on the cross.⁶ But he is not here. He has risen from death, as he said he would. Come and see the place where his body was. ⁷ And go quickly and tell his followers, ‘Jesus has risen from death. He is going into Galilee and will be there before you. You will see him there.’” Then the angel said, “Now I have told you.” ⁸ So the women left the tomb quickly. They were afraid, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell his followers what happened. ⁹ Suddenly, Jesus was there in front of them. He said, “Hello!” The women went to him and, holding on to his feet, worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Go tell my followers to go to Galilee. They will see me there.” ¹¹ The women went to tell the followers.

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LESSON 86

PAUL FINAL WORDS TO THE EPHESIANS

Acts 20:32-38 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

³² “Now I am putting you in God’s care. I am depending on the message about his grace to make you strong. That message is able to give you the blessings that God gives to all his holy people. ³³ When I was with you, I never wanted anyone’s money or fine clothes. ³⁴ You know that I always worked to take care of my own needs and the needs of the people who were with me. ³⁵ I always showed you that you should work just as I did and help people who are weak. I taught you to remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘You will have a greater blessing when you give than when you receive.’”

³⁶ When Paul finished speaking, he knelt down, and they all prayed together. ^37-38 They cried and cried. They were especially sad because Paul had said they would never see him again. They hugged him and kissed him. Then they went with him to the ship to say goodbye.

1.   PUTTING THEM IN GOD’S CARE V. 32A

2.   DEPENDING ON GRACE TO KEEP THEM STRONG V. 32B

3.   PAUL’S WORK ETHIC V. 33-35

4.   JESUS’ DIRECTIONS V. 35

5.   FAREWELLS V. 36

WHEN WE DO OUR MINISTRY RIGHT, WE HAVE NO REGRETS.

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LESSON 85

PAUL EXHORTS THE EPHESIANS

Acts 20:25-31Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

²⁵ “And now listen to me. I know that none of you will ever see me again. All the time I was with you, I told you the Good News about God’s kingdom. ²⁶ So today I can tell you one thing that I am sure of: God will not blame me if some of you are not saved. ²⁷ I can say this because I know that I told you everything that God wants you to know. ²⁸ Be careful for yourselves and for all the people God has given you. The Holy Spirit gave you the work of caring for^[a] this flock.^[b] You must be shepherds to the church of God,^[c] the people he bought with his own blood.^[d] 29 I know that after I leave, some men will come into your group. They will be like wild wolves and will try to destroy the flock.³⁰ Also, men from your own group will begin to teach things that are wrong. They will lead some of the Lord’s followers away from the truth to follow them. ³¹ So be careful! And always remember what I did during the three years I was with you. I never stopped reminding each one of you how you should live, counseling you day and night and crying over you.

Footnotes:

1. Acts 20:28 gave … caring for Literally, “made you overseers of.”
2. Acts 20:28 flock A flock is many sheep. Here, it means a group of God’s people who follow their leaders (elders) like sheep following a shepherd.
3. Acts 20:28 of God Some Greek copies say, “of the Lord.”
4. Acts 20:28 his own blood Or “the blood of his own Son.

1.   PAUL’S DECLARATION CONCERNING HIS FUTURE V. 25A

2.   HIS SURENESS OF IMPARTING GOD’S TRUTH TO THEM V. 25B-27

3.   WARNING AND REMINDING THEM OF THEIR DUTY V. 28

4.   WARNING OF FALSE TEACHERS V. 29-30

5.   REMINDER OF HIS CONDUCT IN MINISTRY FOR THEM V. 31

PAUL SAID TO FOLLOW HIM AS HE FOLLOWED CHRIST. CAN WE SAY THAT?

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LESSON 84

PAUL TRAVELS & EXHORTS

Acts 20:13-24 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

¹³ We went on ahead of Paul and sailed for the city of Assos, planning to meet him there. This is what he told us to do because he wanted to go by land. ¹⁴ When he caught up with us at Assos, we took him on board, and we all sailed to Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day, we sailed away from there and came to a place near the island of Chios. Then the next day, we sailed to the island of Samos. A day later, we came to the city of Miletus. ¹⁶ Paul had already decided not to stop at Ephesus. He did not want to stay too long in Asia. He was hurrying because he wanted to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost if possible. ¹⁷ In Miletus Paul sent a message back to Ephesus, telling the elders of the church in Ephesus to come to him. ¹⁸ When they came, Paul said to them, “You know about my life from the first day I came to Asia. You know the way I lived all the time I was with you. ¹⁹ The Jews planned things against me, and this gave me much trouble. But you know that I always served the Lord, sometimes with tears. I never thought about myself first. ²⁰ I always did what was best for you. I told you the Good News about Jesus in public before the people and also taught in your homes. ²¹ I told everyone—Jewish and non-Jewish people—to change and turn to God. I told them all to believe in our Lord Jesus. ²² “But now I must obey the Spirit and go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what will happen to me there. ²³ I know only that in every city the Holy Spirit tells me that troubles and even jail wait for me. ²⁴ I don’t care about my own life. The most important thing is that I finish my work. I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace.

1.   TRAVEL FROM ASSOS TO MILETUS V. 13-15

2.   PAUL CALLS FOR EPHESIAN ELDERS TO MEET HIM IN MILETUS V. 16-17

3.   PAUL RE-CAPS HIS METHODS AND PURPOSE V. 18-21

4.   NOW INFORMS THEM OF HIS DIRECTION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT V. 22-23

5.   HIS ATTITUDE AND AIM V. 24

WE SHOULD BE AS FIRM IN OUR DESIRE TO FOLLOW CHRIST AS PAUL.

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LESSON 83

PAUL GOES TO MACEDONIA AND GREECE

Acts 20:1-12 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

20 When the trouble stopped, Paul invited the Lord’s followers to come visit him. After encouraging them, he told them goodbye and left for Macedonia. ² On his way through Macedonia he had many words of encouragement for the followers in various places. Then he went to Greece ³ and stayed there three months. Paul was ready to sail for Syria, but some Jews were planning something against him. So he decided to go back through Macedonia to Syria.⁴ These men were traveling with him: Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, from the city of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, from the city of Thessalonica; Gaius, from the city of Derbe; Timothy; and two men from Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. ⁵ These men went first, ahead of Paul. They waited for us in the city of Troas. ⁶ We sailed from the city of Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. We met these men in Troas five days later and stayed there seven days. ⁷ On Sunday^[a] we all met together to eat the Lord’s Supper.^[b] Paul talked to the group. Because he was planning to leave the next day, he continued talking until midnight. ⁸ We were all together in a room upstairs, and there were many lights in the room. ⁹ There was a young man named Eutychus sitting in the window. Paul continued talking, and Eutychus became very, very sleepy. Finally, he went to sleep and fell out of the window. He fell to the ground from the third floor. When the people went down and lifted him up, he was dead. ¹⁰ Paul went down to where Eutychus was, knelt down beside him, and put his arms around him. He said to the other believers, “Don’t worry. He is alive now.” ¹¹ Then Paul went upstairs again, broke off some pieces of bread and ate. He spoke to them a long time. It was early morning when he finished, and then he left. ¹² The Lord’s followers took Eutychus home alive, and they were all greatly comforted.

1.   PAUL ENCOURAGES THE EPHESIANS THEN GOES TO MACEDONIA V. 1

2.   STOPS IN GREECE (3 MONTHS); PLANS FOR SYRIA CHANGED V. 2-3

3.   MEN TRAVELING WITH PAUL V. 4

4.   THEY GO AHEAD TO TROAS & WAIT FOR PAUL V. 5

5.   SUNDAY’S MEETING & EUTYCHUS’ FALL, DEATH & RESSURECTION V. 6-10

6.   PAUL PREACHES UNTIL MORNING AND LEAVES

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LESSON 82

TROUBLE AT EPHASUS

Acts 19:21-41 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

²¹ After this, Paul made plans to go to Jerusalem. He planned to go through the regions of Macedonia and Achaia, and then go to Jerusalem. He thought, “After I visit Jerusalem, I must also visit Rome.” ²² Timothy and Erastus were two of his helpers. Paul sent them ahead to Macedonia. But he stayed in Asia for a while.

²³ But during that time there was some trouble in Ephesus about the Way. This is how it all happened: ²⁴ There was a man named Demetrius. He worked with silver. He made little silver models that looked like the temple of the goddess Artemis. The men who did this work made a lot of money. ²⁵ Demetrius had a meeting with these men and some others who did the same kind of work. He told them, “Men, you know that we make a lot of money from our business. ²⁶ But look at what this man Paul is doing. Listen to what he is saying. He has convinced many people in Ephesus and all over Asia to change their religion. He says the gods that people make by hand are not real. ²⁷ I’m afraid this is going to turn people against our business. But there is also another problem. People will begin to think that the temple of the great goddess Artemis is not important. Her greatness will be destroyed. And Artemis is the goddess that everyone in Asia and the whole world worships.” ²⁸ When the men heard this, they became very angry. They shouted, “Great is Artemis, the goddess of Ephesus!” ²⁹ The whole city was thrown into confusion. The people grabbed Gaius and Aristarchus, men from Macedonia who were traveling with Paul, and rushed all together into the stadium. ³⁰ Paul wanted to go in and talk to the people, but the Lord’s followers did not let him go. ³¹ Also, some leaders of the country who were friends of Paul sent him a message telling him not to go into the stadium. ³² Some people were shouting one thing and others were shouting something else. The meeting was very confused. Most of the people did not know why they had come there. ³³ Some Jews made a man named Alexander stand before the crowd, and they told him what to say. Alexander waved his hand, trying to explain things to the people. ³⁴ But when the people saw that Alexander was a Jew, they all began shouting the same thing. For two hours they continued shouting, “Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis of Ephesus! Great is Artemis …!” ³⁵ Then the city clerk persuaded the people to be quiet. He said, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows that Ephesus is the city that keeps the temple of the great goddess Artemis. Everyone knows that we also keep her holy rock.^[a] 36 No one can deny this, so you should be quiet. You must stop and think before you do anything else. ³⁷ “You brought these men^[b] here, but they have not said anything bad against our goddess. They have not stolen anything from her temple.³⁸ We have courts of law and there are judges. Do Demetrius and those men who work with him have a charge against anyone? They should go to the courts. Let them argue with each other there.

³⁹ “Is there something else you want to talk about? Then come to the regular town meeting of the people. It can be decided there. ⁴⁰ I say this because someone might see this trouble today and say we are rioting. We could not explain all this trouble, because there is no real reason for this meeting.” ⁴¹ After the city clerk said this, he told the people to go home.

1.   PAUL’S PLANS V. 21-22

2.   TROUBLE AT EPHASUS V. 23-41

·        Demetrius-silversmith

·        Accuses THE WAY and its followers of robbing him and fellow workers by leading people to worship Christ rather than Artemis (goddess) of that region, by causing people not buying their silver replicas of her temple

·        Men were angry and started an uproar; hauled some believers before the city clerk (town manager) for judgment

·        THE CITY CLERK: calmed the people and redirected them to a wiser course of action and sent them home.

WHEN TROUBLE COMES, DON’T FEAR.  GOD HAS MEN EVERYWHERE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.  HE WILL DELIVER YOU!

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