_And it came to pass that after we were gotten from them._ PAUL GOING TO JERUSALEM I. The soul’s itinerary. The daily journeying of this company of God’s folk was a matter for record. 1. The details give a good test of the authenticity of the narrative. One soon trips in many and complicated detai... [ Continue Reading ]
_And finding disciples,…who said to Paul, through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem._ CONFLICTING INSPIRATIONS How timid is man, how fearless is God, about Scripture contradictions! The disciples at Tyre “say to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.” Yet h... [ Continue Reading ]
_And we kneeled down on the shore and prayed._ THE SEAMAN’S FAREWELL The scripture is an excellent pattern for all who go down to do business in the great waters. It is true Paul’s business was not to get an estate, but to witness to the truth of Jesus, with the hazard of his life. Many discourage... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the next day we … came to Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the Evangelist._ PAUL AT CAESAREA I. Paul visits Philip. Learn-- 1. That fidelity in our present calling is the highway to promotion to a more important one. Philip had acquitted himself well in the lowest ecclesiast... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break my heart?_ PAUL’S RESOLUTION I. The bravery with which he persisted in it. 1. He reproves his friends for dissuading him. 2. Not withstanding their entreaties he repeats his resolution. (1) How far it extends. (2) What it is that carries h... [ Continue Reading ]
_And after those days we took up our carriages and went to Jerusalem._ CARRIAGES TO JERUSALEM (Children’s Sermon):--This would read like a scene at a railway station only for the fact that carriages are not taken up, but take up. But in the Bible, the word “carriage” means the act of carrying, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_Mnason of Cyprus, am old disciple._ MNASON, THE AGED CYPRIOTE teaches us-- I. How that with increasing years should come an increasing delight in learning of Christ. Mnason was a disciple still, although there is a tradition that he was one of the seventy, and there was much for him yet to learn... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when we were come to Jerusalem the brethren received us gladly._ PAUL AT JERUSALEM Note here-- I. The early conquests of the gospel. During the quarter of a century which had elapsed since Paul’s first introduction to the Church at Jerusalem, what wonders Christianity had wrought! The histor... [ Continue Reading ]
_Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow upon them._ PAUL AND THE NAZARITE VOW Hardly had Paul’s glowing words of passionate love to Christ--his plea for a flee pulpit, as it were, a common Christianity--ceased when James cuts in severely and dryly enough with what... [ Continue Reading ]
_And when the seven days were almost ended the Jews which were of Asia … stirred up all the people._ PAUL IN THE TEMPLE 1. Unholy zeal is more easily occasioned than good works (Acts 21:27). 2. Religious accusations are frequently the result of excitement, and thus liable to be unjust. Giving a n... [ Continue Reading ]
_Paul said, I am a man which am … a citizen of no mean city._ CITIZENSHIP 1. Paul might well be proud of his birthplace, for historically, geographically, intellectually, and commercially it was “no mean city.” All that could be said about Tarsus can be said of many a modern town, and if as much c... [ Continue Reading ]
_Paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with the hand._ BECKONING WITH THE HAND Paul’s object was to gain silence. The man who has to address a noisy crowd does not begin by howling out “Silence!” that would be an affront, but he lifts up his hand to its extreme height, and begins to beckon with it... [ Continue Reading ]