ACTS (Part II – Paul’s Journeys)
Paul’s First Journey
Salamis and places on the Island of Cyprus, Acts 13:4-12
1 Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers:Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
4 The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. 5 When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues.John was with them as their helper.
6 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus,7 who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,looked straight at Elymas and said, 10 “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?11 Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord.
They sailed to Perga Pamphylia; John returned to Jerusalem while Paul and Barnabas continued to Pisidian Antioch.
The synagogue leaders ask if they have a word of exhortation. Paul preaches Jesus from Moses/Exodus through David. The people want to hear more.
Pisidian Antioch Acts 13:14 – 52
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying and heaped abuse on him.
46 Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: “We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47 For this is what the Lord has commanded us: “‘I have made you[f] a light for the Gentiles, that you[g] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’[h]”
48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed. 49 The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50 But the Jewish leaders incited (violent or unlawful behavior) the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51 So they shook the dust off their feet as a warning to them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Iconium, Lycaonia, Lystra, Derbe, Pisidia, Pamphylia and regions around, Acts 14:1-26
Act 14:1-26 In Iconium they entered the synagogue of the Jews together, and spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks. (2) But the Jews who disbelieved stirred up the minds of the Gentiles and embittered them against the brethren. (3) Therefore they spent a long time there speaking boldly with reliance upon the Lord, who was testifying to the word of His grace, granting that signs and wonders be done by their hands. (4) But the people of the city were divided; and some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. (5) And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to mistreat and to stone them, (6) they became aware of it and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region; (7) and there they continued to preach the gospel. (8) At Lystra a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. (9) This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and had seen that he had faith to be made well, (10) said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he leaped up and began to walk.
The crowds began to try to worship Paul and Barnabus and offer sacrifices to them. Their response is much different than Herod (12:23) who didn’t give glory to God when the people worshipped him, an angel of the Lord stuck him down, he was consumed with worms and died.
(18) Even saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. (19) But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. (20) But while the disciples stood around him, he got up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. (21) After they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, (22) strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.” (23) When they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (24) They passed through Pisidia and came into Pamphylia. (25) When they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia. (26) From there they sailed to Antioch, from which they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had accomplished.
Paul’s Second Journey
(Paul and Silas returned to some of those churches, Acts 15:36-16:5).
Act 15:36-16:5 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” (37) Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. (38) But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. (39) And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. (40) But Paul chose Silas and left, being committed by the brethren to the grace of the Lord. (41) And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (16:1) Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. And a disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek, (2) and he was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra and Iconium. (3) Paul wanted this man to go with him; and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. (4) Now while they were passing through the cities, they were delivering the decrees which had been decided upon by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem, for them to observe. (5) So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.
Philippi, Acts 16:8-40
Act 16:8-40 and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas. (9) A vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing and appealing to him, and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” (10) When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (11) So putting out to sea from Troas, we ran a straight course to Samothrace, and on the day following to Neapolis; (12) and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia, a Roman colony; and we were staying in this city for some days. (13) And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled. (14) A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul. (15) And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us. (16) It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave-girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling. (17) Following after Paul and us, she kept crying out, saying, “These men are bond-servants of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation.” (18) She continued doing this for many days. But Paul was greatly annoyed, and turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out at that very moment.
Her masters got upset because she made them a lot of money. They tore their robes off, beat them with rods (many blows), threw them in the inner prison with their feet in stocks
(25) But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; (26) and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. (27) When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. (28) But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” (29) And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, (30) and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (31) They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (32) And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. (33) And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. (34) And he brought them into his house and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, having believed in God with his whole household. (40) They went out of the prison and entered the house of Lydia, and when they saw the brethren, they encouraged them and departed.
Thessalonica, Acts 17:1-10
Act 17:1-10 Now when they had traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. (2) And according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, (3) explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ.” (4) And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with a large number of the God-fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. (5) But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the market place, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar; and attacking the house of Jason, they were seeking to bring them out to the people. (6) When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have upset the world have come here also; (7) and Jason has welcomed them, and they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.” (8) They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things. (9) And when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them. (10) The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.
Berea, Acts 17:10-15
Act 17:10-15 The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. (11) Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. (12) Therefore many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. (13) But when the Jews of Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea also, they came there as well, agitating and stirring up the crowds. (14) Then immediately the brethren sent Paul out to go as far as the sea; and Silas and Timothy remained there. (15) Now those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible, they left.
Corinth, Acts 18:1-18
Act 18:1-10, 18 After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. (2) And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, (3) and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. (4) And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. (5) But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. (6) But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” (7) Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue. (8) Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household, and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being baptized. (9) And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; (10) for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” (11) And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them… (18) Paul, having remained many days longer, took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow.
Third Journey
Ephesus, Acts 18:19-22, 19:1-41
Act 18:19-22 They came to Ephesus, and he left them there. Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. (20) When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent, (21) but taking leave of them and saying, “I will return to you again if God wills,” he set sail from Ephesus. (22) When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.
Act 19:1-41 It happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus, and found some disciples. (2) He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said to him, “No, we have not even heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” (3) And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” And they said, “Into John’s baptism.” (4) Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in Him who was coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” (5) When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. (6) And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking with tongues and prophesying. (7) There were in all about twelve men. (8) And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. (9) But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient, speaking evil of the Way before the people, he withdrew from them and took away the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. (10) This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. (11) God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, (12) so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out. (13) But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” (14) Seven sons of one Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. (15) And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” (16) And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. (17) This became known to all, both Jews and Greeks, who lived in Ephesus; and fear fell upon them all and the name of the Lord Jesus was being magnified. (18) Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices. (19) And many of those who practiced magic brought their books together and began burning them in the sight of everyone; and they counted up the price of them and found it fifty thousand pieces of silver. (20) So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing. (21) Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” (22) And having sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
Troas, Acts 20:4-13
Act 20:4-13 And he was accompanied by Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus, and by Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. (5) But these had gone on ahead and were waiting for us at Troas. (6) We sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas within five days; and there we stayed seven days. (7) On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight. (8) There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together. (9) And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead. (10) But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him.” (11) When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left. (12) They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted. (13) But we, going ahead to the ship, set sail for Assos, intending from there to take Paul on board; for so he had arranged it, intending himself to go by land.
Malta, Acts 28:1-10
Act 28:1-10 When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. (2) The natives showed us extraordinary kindness; for because of the rain that had set in and because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all. (3) But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. (4) When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” (5) However he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. (6) But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god. (7) Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days. (8) And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery; and Paul went in to see him and after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him. (9) After this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured. (10) They also honored us with many marks of respect; and when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all we needed.