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Read (and listen!) through the amazing story of Luke and Acts!
Immerse: Luke and Acts is part of Immerse: The Reading Bible, which takes you on a new and unique journey through the books of Luke and Acts in the New Testament. This fresh arrangement of the books highlights the depth of the New Testament’s fourfold witness to Jesus the Messiah. The Son of God, who fulfills all the longings and promises of the collected Scriptures. The goal of Bible reading is to understand the sacred writings in depth so we can learn to live with them. Using the text of the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale Publishing, now you can experience Luke and Acts the same way the original readers did and be fully immersed in the most amazing story of all time!
Oliver: Welcome to Immerse Luke
and Acts, Day twenty nine, Week six
..
When Barnabas and Saul had finished
their mission to Jerusalem, they
returned taking John Mark with them.
Among the prophets and teachers of
the church at Antioch of Syria were
Barnabas Simeon called the Black
Man, Lucius from Cyrene Manion, the
Childhood Companion of King Herod Anus.
And Saul, one day as these men were
worshiping the Lord and fasting,
the Holy Spirit said, Appoint
Barnabas and Saul for this special
work to which I have called them.
So after more fasting and prayer,
the men laid their hands on
them and sent them on their way.
So Barnabas and Saul were
sent out by the Holy Spirit.
They went down to the seaport of Seleucia
and then sailed for the island of Cyprus.
There, in the town of Salamis,
they went to the Jewish synagogues
and preached the Word of God.
John Mark went with
them as their assistant.
Afterward, they traveled from town
to town across the entire island
until finally they reached Paphos.
where they met a Jewish sorcerer,
a false prophet named Bar Jesus.
He had attached himself to
the governor, Sergius Paulus,
who was an intelligent man.
The governor invited Barnabas
and Saul to visit him, for he
wanted to hear the word of God.
But Elymas, the sorcerer, as his name
means in Greek, interfered and urged
the governor to pay no attention
to what Barnabas and Saul said.
He was trying to keep the
governor from believing.
Saul Also known as Paul, was
filled with the Holy Spirit, and
he looked the sorcerer in the eye.
Then he said, You son of the devil, full
of every sort of deceit and fraud, and
enemy of all that is good, will you never
stop perverting the true ways of the Lord?
Watch now, for the Lord has laid
his hand of punishment upon you.
And you will be struck blind.
You will not see the
sunlight for some time.
Instantly, mist and darkness came
over the man's eyes, and he began
groping around begging for someone
to take his hand and lead him.
When the governor saw what had happened,
he became a believer, for he was
astonished at the teaching about the Lord.
Paul and his companions then left
Paphos by ship for Pamphylia,
landing at the port town of Perga.
There John Mark left them
and returned to Jerusalem.
But Paul and Barnabas traveled
inland to Antioch of Pisidia.
On the Sabbath, they went to
the synagogue for the services.
After the usual readings from the
books of Moses and the Prophets,
those in charge of the service sent
them this message, Brothers, if
you have any word of encouragement
for the people, come and give it.
So Paul stood, lifted his hand to
quiet them, and started speaking.
Men of Israel, he said, and you
God fearing Gentiles, Listen to me.
The God of this nation of Israel chose
our ancestors and made them multiply and
grow strong during their stay in Egypt.
Then, with a powerful arm, He
led them out of their slavery.
He put up with them through forty
years of wandering in the wilderness.
Then He destroyed seven nations
in Canaan and gave their land
to Israel as an inheritance.
All this took about 450 years.
After that, God gave them judges to rule
until the time of Samuel the prophet.
Then the people begged for a
king, and God gave them Saul, son
of Kish, a man of the tribe of
Benjamin, who reigned for 40 years.
But God removed Saul and replaced
him with David, a man about whom
God said, I have found David son
of Jesse, a man after my own heart.
He will do everything I want
him to do, and it is one of King
David's descendants, Jesus, who is
God's promised Savior of Israel.
Before he came, John the Baptist
preached that all the people of
Israel needed to repent of their
sins and turn to God and be baptized.
As John was finishing his ministry, he
asked, Do you think I am the Messiah?
No, I am not.
But He is coming soon, and I'm
not even worthy to be His slave
and untie the sandals on His feet.
Brothers You sons of Abraham, and also
you God fearing Gentiles, this message
of salvation has been sent to us.
The people in Jerusalem and their
leaders did not recognize Jesus as
the one the prophets had spoken about.
Instead, they condemned Him.
And in doing this, they
fulfilled the prophet's words
that are read every Sabbath.
They found no legal reason to
execute him, but they asked
Pilate to have him killed anyway.
When they had done all that the prophecies
said about him, they took him down from
the cross and placed him in a tomb.
But God raised him from the dead.
And over a period of many days,
He appeared to those who had gone
with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem.
They are now His witnesses
to the people of Israel.
And now, we are here to
bring you this good news.
The promise was made to our ancestors.
And God has now fulfilled it for us,
their descendants, by raising Jesus.
This is what the second
psalm says about Jesus.
You are my son.
Today I have become your father.
For God had promised to raise him from the
dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave.
He said, I will give you the sacred
blessings I promised to David.
Another psalm explains it more fully.
You will not allow your Holy
One to rot in the grave.
This is not a reference to David.
For after David had done the will of
God in his own generation, he died
and was buried with his ancestors.
Transcripts provided by
Transcription Outsourcing, LLC.
Everyone who believes in Him is
made right in God's sight, something
the law of Moses could never do.
Be careful, don't let the
prophet's words apply to you.
For they said, Look, you
mockers, be amazed and die.
For I am doing something in your own
day, something you wouldn't believe
even if someone told you about it.
As Paul and Barnabas left the synagogue
that day, the people begged them to speak
about these things again the next week.
Many Jews and devout converts to
Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas,
and the two men urged them to
continue to rely on the grace of God.
The following week, almost the
entire city turned out to hear
them preach the word of the Lord.
But when some of the Jews saw the crowds
They were jealous, so they slandered
Paul and argued against whatever he said.
Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly
and declared, It was necessary that we
first preach the word of God to you Jews.
But since you have rejected it and
judged yourselves unworthy of eternal
life, we will offer it to the Gentiles.
For the Lord gave us this command when
He said, I have made you a light to
the Gentiles, to bring salvation to
the farthest corners of the earth.
When the Gentiles heard this,
they were very glad and thanked
the Lord for His message.
And all who were chosen for
eternal life became believers.
So the Lord's message spread
throughout that region.
Then the Jews stirred up the influential
religious women and the leaders of the
city, and they incited a mob against Paul
and Barnabas and ran them out of town.
So they shook the dust from their
feet as a sign of rejection and
went to the town of Iconium.
And the believers were filled
with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
The same thing happened in Iconium.
Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish
synagogue and preached with such
power that a great number of both
Jews and Greeks became believers.
Some of the Jews, however, spurned God's
message and poisoned the minds of the
Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas.
But the Apostles stayed there
a long time, preaching boldly
about the grace of the Lord.
And the Lord proved their message
was true by giving them power to
do miraculous signs and wonders.
But the people of the town were divided
in their opinion about them, some sided
with the Jews, and some with the Apostles.
Then a mob of Gentiles and
Jews, along with their leaders,
decided to attack and stone them.
When the apostles learned of it,
they fled to the region of Lycaonia,
to the towns of Lystra and Derbe,
and the surrounding area, and
there they preached the good news.
This concludes today's
Immerse Reading Experience.
Thank you for joining us.