PAUL STANDS BEFORE THE POMP AND PROMINENCE OF ROME Porcius Festus was the new Roman governor over Judea. He replaced Felix who had been recalled to Rome by Nero. As a result, Festus inherited the case against the apostle Paul, which Felix had delayed, hoping for a bribe. Historians agree, that overall, Festus was a
DO YOU WEAR THE NAME OF THE NAZARENE? Some of the Jewish leaders who had accused Jesus before Pontius Pilate, now traveled to Caesarea to bring accusation against the apostle Paul before the Roman governor, Marcus Antonius Felix. This time, they hired a Roman orator and attorney named Tertullus to represent their case. He began
DESCENDANTS OF ADAM Ezra, the writer of 1 and 2 Chronicles, began with a lengthy genealogy that began with the first man, Adam. The genealogy continues through chapter nine. Its purpose seems to be to retain a record of all the family lines of Israel, especially that of King David. This need being made more
AMERICA, BLESS GOD! On this date, when we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, we are appropriately thankful for God’s blessing on America. Yet, we are troubled by the constant news of economic woes, wars, pandemics and rioting. There is so much anger in our world. The first century Christians quoted this same Scripture when they
ARE YOU TELLING EVERYONE ABOUT JESUS? Paul gave his testimony and explained the calling that the Lord Jesus had given him to the rioting crowd in Jerusalem. Just moments before, many in the crowd had tried to kill Paul. However, the Roman guard was alerted and intervened, putting Paul in chains and taking him away.
PAUL GIVES A DETAILED ACCOUNT This was a wonderful day in the history of the early church. Paul returned from his third and longest missionary journey to give “a detailed account” to James and the elders in Jerusalem. After hearing the report of how the Gentiles all over Asia Minor and Greece had received the
TWO GREAT EVANGELISTS SPEND SOME TIME TOGETHER After Paul’s third missionary journey, he and his companions sailed homeward, arriving at Caesarea Martima. This is where Herod the Great had built an amazing harbor and named the city after his patron, Caesar Augustus. Paul’s traveling companions included Luke the physician, who kept a faithful diary, noting
THE HISTORICAL PRECISION OF LUKE Paul’s missionary companion, Luke, rejoined Paul at Philippi. Luke was a physician, missionary and the author of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. His presence, while not specifically named, is seen by a reappearance of the word, “we,” a second person plural unused since Acts 16. Like
RIOTING AND REASON RARELY GO TOGETHER A riot broke out in Ephesus over the importance of the Temple of Artemis to the city’s identity and fame. The riot began as an angry response by the silversmiths of Ephesus, who made a living making figurines of the Greek goddess Artemis (Roman: “Diana”) to sell. Their business
PROCLAIMING CHRIST FROM THE SCRIPTURES Apollos, a Jewish believer in Jesus from Alexandria, Egypt, was an eloquent preacher of the gospel. But the power of his preaching wasn’t in his eloquence, but in his accurate use of the Scriptures to explain how they reveal Jesus as the Messiah. We don’t know very much about Apollos.