2nd Journey

Acts 15:36 to 18:22

Some time later after Jerusalem Council, Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all those towns and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John Mark, but Paul said ‘no way he had deserted us and didn’t continue with us in the work.” They have a huge disagreement – so they parted company. Barnabas took John Mark and goes back where he was before he blew it – Cyprus. Barnabas will encourage him up and he will be useful later.

Paul picks Silas; they leave, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went overland this time through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. He comes back to Derbe and then to Lystra, where there’s a disciple named Timothy. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wants to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of they bare going to go into synagogues.

They traveled to all those towns and delivered the decision of the apostles in Jerusalem. So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers. But Paul doesn’t set up shop as their local pastor. His work is not done, he tries to go to Asia and Bithynia by the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

So they go to the coast at Troas. During the night Paul has a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." - So Paul concludes that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. So they leave.

Luke starts to write in first person so he joins them. Maybe he was the Macedonian man or he’s from Troas. I don’t know.

Cross Aegean, Pass by some cities and end up in Philippi. It’s a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. They are there several days and on the Sabbath they went outside the city gate to the river where they expected to find a prayer meeting. Like most prayer meetings, its just women. So they sit down and began to speak to the women there. One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a businesswoman from the city of Thyatira. She is a worshiper of God so probably Jewish. The Lord opens her heart to respond to gospel. She her whole household believe and baptized. The word household in Greek is Oikos. It’s the basic social unit in Greek society. They stay at her home.

Later they are going back to the place of prayer; meet a slave girl who had an evil spirit which enables her to predict the future. She follows Paul and the rest of the band, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." She does this for days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her. her owners realized their money-making venture was gone; they seize Paul and Silas and drag them to face the authorities. The magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten and thrown into prison.

Its midnight Paul and Silas feet in stocks. Bloody. Suffered. Were insulted. But they were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there’s a huge earthquake all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. The jailer wakes up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he was about to kill himself because he thought everyone had escaped. Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!" All here! - even the prisoners who were listening. The Jailor runs in and falls trembling before Paul and Silas "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" They say "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household."

So like Lydia, he and all his family were baptized. One city, two movements – one in Jewish Oikos, one in a Gentile one. Paul and Silas are told to leave them city so they stop by Lydia's house, where they met with the believers and encourage them. Maybe something like what Paul would write later ‘he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus’. Then they left.

They had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, - Which has a cosmopolitan with a Jewish synagogue. Paul goes into the synagogue, and for three Saturdays he reasons with them from the Scriptures, explains and proves that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. Some of the Jews believe as well as a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women.

Paul would write them in less than a year and remind them that “We dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. Not from error or impure motives, nor were we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we spoke as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We were not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts…. We were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. We worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. We dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children: encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”

These believers in 3 weeks time became Imitators of Paul. By the time gets to Corinth, The Lord's message will ring out from them not only in Macedonia and even Achaia where Corinth but the testimony of how they turned from idols to living God will be known everywhere.

But the reason Paul left is the same story, second verse. Jews were jealous; form a mob and start a riot in the city. "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here, As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea.

Once there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. the Bereans were of more noble than the Thessalonians; for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. A guy named Sopater from Berea will later travel with Paul. But Jews from Thessalonica come over and agitate the crowds and stirring them up. So the believers send Paul to the coast, and Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. Later Timothy will go to Thessalonica and I believe both went to Phillipi and that church supported Paul.

So Paul by himself, goes to Athens - Capital of Attica, waiting for his buds, he walks around and looks carefully at your objects of worship and is greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols. He reasons in the synagogue, as well as in the marketplace day by day with those who happened to be there, preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. A group of philosophers began to dispute with him. "What is this babbler trying to say?" "He seems to be advocating foreign gods.” they took him and brought him to a philosopher meeting of the mars Hill - “May we know what this new teaching? You are bringing some strange ideas to our ears, and we want to know what they mean." So Paul does what most STINTers in post-modern culture. He joins the philosophy club to try to be an insider and at the end of his stint lets them know he is a Christian. Oh wait minute, now he says: “Men of Athens! I see you’re very religious. I found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. He talks about God being the creator and using words from one their poets to point out that, 'We are his offspring.' So since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the God is made of stone—In the past He overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. He goes judge the world by Christ whom he has appointed. And He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead." Some sneer, but others said, "Hey, We want to hear you again on this subject.” A few men and a woman named Damerius became followers. Paul leaves.

Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he meets Jewish believers, a couple from Rome – Aquila and Priscilla. Paul goes into business with them since he is out of support. On Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, tries to persuade both Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia with support, Paul devotes himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. When Jews reject message, he goes to the Gentiles. But Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire Oikos / household believe in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized. Later in his first letter to them he mentions Gaius and the household of Stephanas who he baptized. Just like Philippi, movement in Jewish Oikos (Crispus) and one in Greek (Stephanas). Jesus speaks to Paul in a vision and tells him not be afraid but keep speaking since he has many people in this city. So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaches them the word of God.

Paul’s says this about his time there: Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. Says “I planted the seed, Apollos (who will come over later) watered it, but God made it grow. neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but God, who makes things grow. Those who plant or water have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. We are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building. By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ Did more than just teach in that year and half, he Wrote First Letter to the Thessalonians, and letter to those foolish Galatians.

Paul stays on in Corinth for some time. Some of the other believers are Gaius, whose hospitality Paul and the whole church here enjoy, Erastus, who is the city's director of public works, and our brother Quartus send you their greetings.

Then he left the believers. Priscilla and Aquila go with him to Ephesus. Paul leads some folks to Christ (one is Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia) and says I will come back if its God’s will and he leave A & P with them and sails back to Antioch.