PAUL’S FAITHFUL WITNESS Paul was held prisoner by the Roman procurator of Judea, Marcus Antonius Felix for two years. Felix understood the religious culture of Judea better than most Romans, having married the daughter of Herod Agrippa I, Drusilla. Both of them divorced their first spouses in order to be together. Paul’s captivity during
REMEMBERING OUR DUAL CITIZENSHIP Paul’s Roman citizenship was often a help to him as he traveled throughout the empire spreading the gospel. Being a Roman citizen gave him certain rights. One of those rights was the right to a trial before any punishment might be administered. It was this right that Paul brought to the
ARE YOU TELLING EVERYONE ABOUT JESUS? Paul gave his Damascus Road testimony and explained the calling that the Lord Jesus had given him to the rioting crowd in Jerusalem. As he spoke in their native tongue of Aramaic, the crowd grew quiet, listening to Paul. When most people would’ve been in a hurry to escape
WHY SING A NEW SONG TO THE LORD? The Scripture often instructs that a “new song” be sung to the Lord? In fact, this is in the Bible a total of nine times: six in the Psalms, once in Isaiah, and twice in Revelation. So, why does the Lord desire a new song from his
WHAT WORK HAS JESUS ASSIGNED TO YOU? The apostle Paul reminded his friends from Ephesus of the calling he had on his life from Jesus. Even though he knew that suffering and jail awaited him, he was determined to fulfill his life purpose of telling others the Good News about God’s wonderful grace. Protecting his
PRAYING FOR REVIVAL IN OUR CITY The preaching of Paul and the apostles and the story of how demons acknowledged the name of Jesus and even of Paul, caused a “solemn fear” of God to come over the city of Ephesus and the “name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honored.” A spiritual awakening took
ONLY THE LORD CAN . . . Only the Lord can truly set free those who are enslaved by sin and their own addictions to their over-desires for more, even though more never satisfies. “The Lord frees the prisoners.” Only the Lord can truly open the eyes of the spiritually blind, who wonder aimlessly
THREE RESPONSES TO THE GOSPEL The apostle Paul was called before the Areopagus, which was the high council of Athens, where they invited him to explain what he was teaching. For the Athenians were known for their interest in new philosophies, many of them spending much of their time discussing new ideas. They listened closely
NO ONE IS INNOCENT BEFORE GOD David understood that he could not stand before the Lord as one accused. For he was a sinner, as are we all. So, he called on the Lord’s “unfailing love” (v.8) instead of His judgment. God’s “unfailing love” or “chesed” as it is in the Hebrew, is His covenantal
FOUR LEPERS SHARE THE GOOD NEWS When the armies of King Ben-Hadad of Aram besieged Samaria, the people of Israel were dying of starvation. Yet, the Lord revealed to His prophet Elisha that there would be plenty of food in the marketplace of Samaria within a day. That night the Lord caused the soldiers of