Henry: Welcome to immerse, the daily bible reading experience.
Day 16
Next, Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Regia and Galatia because
the Holy Spirit had prevented them from preaching the word in the
province of Asia at that time.
Then coming to the borders of Misa, they headed north for the province of Bethia.
But again, the spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there.
So instead, they went on through Messiah to the seaport of Trez.
That night, Paul had a vision.
A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there pleading with him,
come over to Macedonia and help us.
So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once.
Having concluded that God was calling us to preach the good news there, we boarded
a boat at Troas and sailed straight across to the island of Samath race.
And the next day we landed at neis.
From there, we reached Philippi, a major city of that district of Macedonia
and a Roman colony, and we stayed there several days on the Sabbath.
We went a little way outside the city to a riverbank where we thought
people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with
some women who had gathered there.
One of them was Lydia from Thia.
Tyra, a merchant of expensive purple cloth who worshiped God as she listened to us.
The Lord opened her heart and she accepted what Paul was saying.
She and her household were baptized and she asked us to be her guests.
If you agree that I am a true believer in the Lord, she said, come and stay at my
home, and she urged us until we agreed.
One day as we were going down to the place of prayer, we met a
slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future.
She earned a lot of money for her masters by telling fortunes.
She followed Paul and the rest of us shouting.
These men are servants of the most high God, and they have
come to tell you how to be saved.
This went on day after day until Paul got so exasperated that he turned and
said to the demon within her, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come
out of her, and instantly it left her.
Her master's hopes of wealth were now shattered, so they grabbed Paul
and Silas and dragged them before the authorities at the marketplace.
The whole city is in an uproar because of these Jews.
They shouted to the city officials.
They are teaching customs that are illegal for us, Romans to practice.
A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered
them stripped and beaten with wooden rods.
They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison.
The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn't escape, so the jailer
put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and
the other prisoners were listening.
Suddenly there was a massive earthquake and the prison was
shaken to its foundations.
All the doors immediately flew open and the chains of every prisoner fell off.
The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open.
He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself.
Paul shouted to him, stop.
Don't kill yourself.
We are all here.
The jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down,
trembling before Paul and Silas.
Then he brought them out and asked Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
They replied, believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved along
with everyone in your household.
And they shared the word of the Lord with him and with all
who lived in his household.
Even at that hour of the night, the jailer cared for them and washed their wounds.
Then he and everyone in his household were immediately baptized.
He brought them into his house and set a meal before them, and he
and his entire household rejoiced because they all believed in God.
The next morning, the city officials sent the police to tell
the jailer, let those men go.
So the jailer told Paul, the city officials have said You
and Silas are free to leave.
Go in peace.
But Paul replied, they have publicly beaten us without a trial and put us
in prison, and we are Roman citizens.
So now they want us to leave secretly, certainly not let them
come themselves to release us.
When the police reported this, the city officials were alarmed to learn that
Paul and Silas were Roman citizens.
So they came to the jail and apologized to them.
Then they brought them out and begged them to leave the city.
When Paul and Silas left the prison, they returned to the home of Lydia.
There.
They met with the believers and encouraged them once more.
Then they left town.
Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphi and Apollonia and
came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue, as was Paul's custom.
He went to the synagogue service and for three Sabbaths in a row, he used the
scriptures to reason with the people.
He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must
suffer and rise from the dead.
He said, this Jesus, I'm telling you about is the Messiah.
Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas,
along with many God-fearing Greek men, and quite a few prominent women,
but some of the Jews were jealous.
So they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to
form a mob and start a riot.
They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them
out to the crowd, not finding them there.
They dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and
took them before the city council.
Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world.
They shouted, and now they are here disturbing our city too.
And Jason has welcomed them into his home.
They are all guilty of treason against Caesar for they profess
allegiance to another king named Jesus.
The people of the city, as well as the city council were thrown
into turmoil by these reports.
The, so the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond and
then they released them that very night.
The believer sent Paul and Silas to Berea.
When they arrived there, they went to the Jewish synagogue and the people
of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they
listened eagerly to Paul's message.
They searched the scriptures day after day to see if Paul and
Silas were teaching the truth.
As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.
But when some Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching
the word of God in Berea, they went there and stirred up trouble.
The believers acted at once sending Paul onto the coast while Silas and
Timothy remained behind those escorting.
Paul went with him all the way to Athens.
Then they returned to Berea with instructions for Silas and
Timothy to hurry and join him.
While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all
the idols he saw everywhere in the city.
He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing gentiles,
and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
He also had a debate with some of the epicurean and stoic philosophers.
When he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, they said,
what's this babbler trying to say with these strange ideas?
He's picked up.
Others said, he seems to be preaching about some foreign gods.
Then they took him to the high council of the city, come
tells about this new teaching.
They said, you are saying some rather strange things and we
want to know what it's all about.
It should be explained that all the Athenians, as well as the foreigners
in Athens seem to spend all their time discussing the latest ideas.
So Paul standing before the council addressed them as follows, men
of Athens, I noticed that you are very religious in every way.
For as I was walking along, I saw your many shrines and one of your altars had
this inscription on it to an unknown God.
This God whom you worship without knowing is the one I'm telling you about.
He is the God who made the world and everything in it.
Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn't live in manmade
temples and human hands can't serve his needs for he has no needs.
He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.
From one man.
He created all the nations throughout the whole earth.
He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he
determined their boundaries.
His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel
their way toward him and find him.
Though he is not far from any one of us, for in Him, we live and move and exist.
As some of your own poets have said, we are his offspring.
And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an idol designed by
craftsman from gold or silver or stone.
God overlooked people's ignorance about these things in earlier times, but
now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turned to him
for he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has
appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.
When they heard Paul speak about the resurrection of the dead, some laughed
in contempt, but others said, we want to hear more about this later.
That ended Paul's discussion with them, but some joined him and became believers.
Among them were DiUS a member of the council, a woman named
Damas and others with them.
Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
There.
He became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus,
who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife Priscilla.
They had left Italy when Claudia Caesar deported all Jews from Rome.
Paul lived and worked with them for, they were tent makers, just as he was.
Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue trying to convince
the Jews and Greeks alike.
And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent
all his time preaching the word.
He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah, but when they
opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said,
your blood is upon your own heads.
I am innocent.
From now on, I will go preach to the Gentiles.
Then he left and went to the home of Titus Justice, a Gentile who worshiped
God and lived next door to the synagogue.
Crispus, the leader of the synagogue and everyone in his
household believed in the Lord.
Many others in Corinth also heard Paul became believers and were baptized.
One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision and told him, don't be afraid.
Speak out.
Don't be silent for I am with you and no one will attack and harm you for
many people in this city belong to me.
So Paul stayed there for the next year and a half teaching the word of God.
But when Galio became governor of Acaia, some Jews rose up together
against Paul and brought him before the governor for judgment.
They accused Paul of persuading people to worship God in ways
that are contrary to our law.
But Justice Paul started to make his defense.
Galio turned to Paul's accusers and said, listen, you Jews, if this were
a case involving some wrongdoing or a serious crime, I would have
a reason to accept your case.
But since it is merely a question of words and names in your Jewish
law, take care of it yourselves.
I refuse to judge such matters and he threw them out of the courtroom.
The crowd then grabbed Sese, the leader of the synagogue and beat
him right there in the courtroom, but Galio paid no attention.
Paul stayed in Corinth for some time after that, then said goodbye to the brothers
and sisters, and went to nearby Sania.
There.
He shaved his head, according to Jewish custom marking the end of a vow.
Then he set sail for Syria, taking Priscilla and Aquila with him.
They stopped first at the Port of Ephesus, where Paul left the others behind.
While he was there, he went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews.
They asked him to stay longer, but he declined as he left.
However, he said, I will come back later.
God willing.
Then he set sail from Ephesus.
The next stop was at the Port of Cesarea.
From there, he went up and visited the church at Jerusalem,
and then went back to Antioch.
After spending some time at Antioch, Paul went back through
Galatia and Regia visiting and strengthening all the believers meme.
Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the
scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt.
He had been taught the way of the Lord and he taught others about Jesus with an
enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy.
However, he knew only about John's baptism.
When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue,
they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.
Apollos had been thinking about going to Aya and the brothers and sisters
in Ephesus encouraged him to go.
They wrote to the believers in Aya asking them to welcome him.
When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those
who, by God's grace had believed.
He refuted the Jews with powerful arguments in public
debate using the scriptures.
He explained to them that Jesus was the Messiah while Apollos was in Corinth.
Paul traveled through the interior regions until he reached Ephesus on the
coast where he found several believers.
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?
He asked them?
No.
They replied, we haven't even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.
Then what baptism did you experience?
He asked and they replied, the baptism of John Paul said, John's baptism called
for repentance from sin, but John himself told the people to believe in the one
who would come later, meaning Jesus.
As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Then when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them and they
spoke in other tongues and prophesied.
There were about 12 men in all the, then Paul went to the synagogue and preached
boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.
But some became stubborn rejecting his message and
publicly speaking against the way.
So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him.
Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tarana.
This went on for the next two years so that people throughout
the province of Asia, both Jews and Greeks, heard the word of the Lord.
God gave Paul the power to perform unusual miracles when handkerchiefs
or aprons that had merely touched his skin were placed on sick people.
They were healed of their diseases and evil spirits were expelled.
A group of Jews was traveling from town to town casting out evil spirits.
They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation,
saying, I command you in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches to come out.
Seven sons as Siva, a leading priest were doing this.
But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, I know Jesus
and I know Paul, but who are you?
Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked
them with such violence that they fled from the house naked and battered.
The story of what happened.
Spread quickly.
All through Ephesus to Jews and Greeks alike, a solemn fear descended on
the city and the name of the Lord.
Jesus was greatly honored.
Many who became believers confessed their sinful practices.
A number of them who had been practicing sorcery brought their incantation books
and burned them at a public bonfire.
The value of the books was several million dollars.
So the message about the Lord spread widely and had a powerful effect.
This concludes today's immer reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.