Messiah Visitation Part 6

Transcript from show #295.

(Please note that the transcripts are written pretty well as they were delivered on air).

Radio Show...

This program continues on various series of different topics on theology such as end times, prophecies, daily living, etc. as the subject matter comes up.

The e-book on end times and Revelation, answering the questions “where are we in the events of the end times?” and “Are we now in the tribulation?” is available on this web site, which you can find throughout the pages.

Opening Narrative

We continue to look at historical events that were going on in the time leading up to, during the Messiah's Visitation to this earth, and just afterwards.

We looked at the timing between 300 B.C. and 300 A.D, the 400 years between the Old and the New Testaments, some of the philosophies that existed in the time of Christ's visit.

Then we carried on after Jesus' death and resurrection, and went into the first few chapters of the book of Acts and looked at some of the major events, including Paul's first missionary journey...

We read about the death of Herod Aggrippa I, in chapter 12 of the book of Acts, the story of this sorcerer named Barjesus or Elymas his Greek name upon whom Paul put a curse of blindness, and which on seeing that, the politician became a believer.

And we finished that part with verse 13 of chapter 13 which says:

“Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.”

And we will pick up from here in this program right after this opening music, prayer and worship time...

(Opening Music interlude on the live radio show)

Let us pray...
The Lord's Prayer...
Praise God Doxology...
Worship Music...

Narrative #1

Alright, so let's continue from chapter 13 on to chapter 14.

And I should also add here as an interesting facts of history that up to chapter 12 of the Book of acts, we read about the beginning of the church, in Acts 1 and 2,

then the church in Jerusalem in Acts 3, 4 and 5, and then the extension of the church in Palestine, in chapter 6 to 12 up, to the death of Herod Agrippa 1 as I mentioned earlier.

Now, with chapter 13 we begin what is known as the extension of the church in Asia Minor and Europe, including Rome in chapter 21.

So, we are now in 45 A.D.

So after verse 13 of chapter 13 where we left off last week, we read about Paul and Barnabas at Antioch of Pisidia, where Paul preached salvation through Jesus Christ to the Jews, in their synagogue... and I really encourage you to read this chapter from verse 14 to 52, because it is truly amazing...

there again we see many Jews come to the Lord but many opposed their message about Christ. And we read in verse 44 of chapter 13 still, that the next sabbath day, the whole city came together to hear the word of God.

But when the Jews saw that, they were really upset and spoke against the things that Paul had spoken with great controversies and blaspheming... wow...

Then Paul and Barnabas got even bolder and here's what they said in verse 46:

"Then Paul and Barnabas grew bold and said, “It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; but since you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles.

47.For so the Lord has commanded us:

‘I have set you as a light to the Gentiles,
That you should be for salvation to the ends of the earth.’ ”
(from Isaiah 49:6)

48.Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

49.And the word of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region.

50 But the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city, raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.

51 But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.

52 And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Then we get into chapter 14, where we read about Paul and Barnabas at a place called Iconium.

Let's read v. 1 to 7, (and I'm reading here from the New King James Bible):

“Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed.

So we read here again that both Jews and Greeks believed unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

But some of the Jews there did not...

v.2.But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.

3.Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

Again, we see that the Lord was with them everywhere they went to preach, performing signs and wonders.

4.But the multitude of the city was divided: part sided with the Jews, and part with the apostles.

5.And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,

6.they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the surrounding region.

7.And they were preaching the gospel there.

And here as we will see in a moment, Paul spoke to another crippled man who couldn't walk, like the one we saw in last week's program, a couple of chapters earlier in the book of Acts, when Peter healed the man and ended up in jail for it...

(Music interlude on the live radio show)

(Station ID)

Narrative #2

Let's now read, from verse 8 of chapter 14:

8.And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked:

9.The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,

10.Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

11.And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.

12.And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.

So again here we can see the pagan gods and philosophies that existed at that time of history, as we saw in earlier parts of this series,

13.Then the priest of Jupiter,” (so they even had a priest of Jupiter—now they thought they were seeing the pagan god Jupiter in person),
“Then the priest of Jupiter which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.

14.Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,

15.And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities (empty philosophies), unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

Now he's preaching the true God to them...

v.16.Who in times past suffered (or allowed) all nations to walk in their own ways.

17.Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.

In other words this true God allowed nations to err in their beliefs, but even so, he still blessed them with rain and fruitful seasons of food and good cheers...

v.18.And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.

In other words even with their words they could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.

v.19.And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.

So they stoned Paul so much that they thought he was dead. How would you like to be preaching in those days?

v.20.Howbeit (however), as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.

21.And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,

22.Confirming (strengthening) the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

So Paul and Barnabas went back to those cities right after they completed this their work in this other region, they went back to those places where Paul had been stoned, looked up the new believers who had come to faith, and encouraged them to continue in their new faith in God.

23.And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they believed.

Here we read that churches were put in place (remember, churches were operating in their own houses at that time), there would have been many people from various rural areas leading into the urban clusters, and the apostles would have chosen those who had leadership abilities to oversee each group of new believers.

From here Paul and Barnabas returned to Antioch by way of other cities that had been visited by Peter and the other apostles earlier on, which you can read in the rest of chapter 14.

(Music Interlude)

Narrative #3

Alright so now, we are a few more years into the story of the book of Acts of this time. With the next chapter, Acts chapter 15, we read about the council at Jerusalem where the apostles and leaders of the church come up with the necessary things to keep the faith, and set these up in writing.

Then in chapter 16 we read about the 2nd missionary journey of Paul, where he and his companions will go to Macedonia, Lydia, and Philippi, where we read about the conversion of the Philippian jailer.

And where we hear the answer to the question “what must I do to be saved?” To which the apostles replied: “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” And you can read that in chapter 16, verses 30 to 32.

Then the apostles went to Thessalonica, then to Athens where we read the famous story of Paul on Mars's Hill – and we saw that in an earlier program in this series so I won't re-read it again, but you can do that particularly, from verse 22 of chapter 17.

Then in chapter 18, we read about Paul at Corinth and Ephesus, preaching and reasoning in the synagogues. And from verse 23 of chapter 18, Paul begins his 3rd missionary journey. where we read about Apollos who was a Jew from Alexandria and who is described as being “mighty in scriptures”, and who could convince many Jews by showing the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

These are all very interesting passages of scriptures to read.

In chapter 20 Paul goes to Macedonia and Greece and that takes us to 60 A.D.

So, so far, we have overviewed some 20 years of history since the death of Herod Agrippa 1 in 41 A.D. The next king of Judea installed by the Roman Empire was Herod Agrippa II who will be the last of the Herodian dynasty. He ruled from 48 A.D. To 100 A.D.

This tells us that Agrippa II was there ruling right through to the time of John getting the vision of the book of Revelation. That means through what we read in the books of Romans, and Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Timothy, etc., etc.

And I will come back to that interpersed ....

That's very interesting.

And just to add to this fascinating history, here's a list of the Roman emperors, from a search on the Britannica.com web site, many of the names we can recall from the biblical and secular stories during that time,

-Augustus (27 BCE–14 CE)
-Tiberius (14–37 CE) (Luke 3:1)
-Caligula (37–41 CE)
-Claudius (41–54 CE) (Acts 11:28; 18:2-- he commanded the Jews to depart from Rome),

-Nero (54–68 CE)
-Galba (68–69 CE)
-Otho (January–April 69 CE)
-Aulus Vitellius (July–December 69 CE)

-Vespasian (69–79 CE)
-Titus (79–81 CE) (We read of a Titus in Titus 1:4 but that is a disciple with the same name)
-Domitian (81–96 CE)
-Nerva (96–98 CE)

There were many others in subsequent centuries right up until the end of the Roman Empire in its entirety to 476.A.D.

We read in the Wikipedia web site:
“The fall of the Western Roman Empire, also called the fall of the Roman Empire or the fall of Rome, was the loss of central political control in the Western Roman Empire, a process in which the Empire failed to enforce its rule, and its vast territory was divided into several successor polities.”

So depending on those divided polities some even quote years 1,200-1,300 A.D. as the final end of what was left of the Roman Empire. So this is not essential for our Biblical study here and now, but just an interesting tidbit.

So these Emperors we just listed above are the ones from our timeline of discussion of the times of Christ and the Apostles. The other names we speradically rread about in the Bible, like the herodians and so on, for example, were kings or other rulers set up by the Emperors of Rome to rule for them over Judea and other specific regions of Palestine at that time.

So, back to our place in Biblical history, we are now reading in the book of Acts in the time during Agrippa II's ruling of Judea.

This Aggrippa II, reigned over territories outside of Judea also, as a Roman client. It is said that he fled Jerusalem in 66 A.D., fearing the Jewish uprising. It is reported that he supported the Roman side in the First Jewish–Roman War.

So right now we are reading from chapter 20 which is about 60 A.D. Which means that we are only 6 years before this event to take place and only 10 years before the destruction of the Jewish Temple in 70 A.D. -- which is the last Temple of the Jews for the next 2,000 years right up until now – imagine that, Amazing!!

But remember, to God 1 day is as a thousand years... and 1,000 yrs as 1 day.

(Music Interlude)

Narrative 4

So getting back to our present study today, we are now at chapter 20 of the book of Acts, in our reading of the Bible events, right up to the last chapter 28. In these last chapters, we are looking at a two-year time span, from about 60 to 62 A.D., and which is by the way, about just under 40 years since the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we read in chapter 20 about Paul and his companions going to Macedonia and Greece. It is here that we read about the young man who fell from the third floor as Paul preached until late at night. You can read the story later on in your Bible.

Then the company, travelled to Miletus by way of many other places, and then to Ephesus. There Paul addressed the Ephesian elders, and I'll read a few scriptures here that says a lot about what's going on...

Verse 17 to 26:

17.“From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church.

18.And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you,

19.serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me by the plotting of the Jews;

20.how I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house,

21.testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

22.And see, now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,

23.except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me.

24.But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my [d]race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

25.And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more.

26.Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.”

And there's a lot in this chapter to read which I encourage you to do right after the program today while the stories are fresh on our minds.

It is fascinating to see how the Jews responded to Paul's preaching with such opposing zeal – and understandingly so mind you, because they had been following the law of Moses for some 1,500 years. But Paul was only doing what the Lord had commanded back in Matthew 28, some 30 years before where we read of the great commission given to the disciples, verses 18 to 20:

"And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

But, poor Paul, he's getting the worst of all of them, yet he is himself a Jew like them who are constantly waiting to catch him and kill for his preaching wherever he goes.

Verse 27. Paul continues addressing the elders at Ephesus:
"For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

28.Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church [g]of God which He purchased with His own blood.

29.For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

30.Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking [h]perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

31.Therefore watch, and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.

32.So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

33.I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel.

34.Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me.

In other words he worked for his needs and the needs of those who were working with him.

35.I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

36.And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all.

37.Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul’s neck and kissed him,.

I have a hard time keeping the tears from my eyes...

38.Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spoke, that they would see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.

Wow that's pretty emotional if you get the gist of it...

And I have to leave it here because I've run out of time, but we'll pickup from here in the next radio program.

Closing Narrative…

And I've run out of time... we'll pickup from here in the next radio program...

Before I dismiss the service today, I want to read to you the Blessing that was read to the people of God in Numbers 6:24-26 which is the benediction from God to you today:

“The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace."

I hope and pray that you will come back next Sunday at SpiritFM.ca, 7 am and 7 pm pacific time. And if you want to hear the service again at any time, you can go to my website at TimingRevelation.com, and click on the Radio Shows navigational tab along the left side. The replays are available there for five weeks, then they are transcribed into articles as new radio shows are put up.

I encourage you to go to your Bible and read further on the scriptures that were given throughout the program today. And if you like these programs and you've been blessed, call or write the station and let them know... if you said the prayer and have accepted the Lord or you've been healed or touched in some way by the Holy Spirit, write to me on the contact form of this web site...

...and this web site is also where you will find the Free Offer of the “Christian Growth and Maturity Chart” that I talked to you about in the last weeks... you will see the graphic on any page called “Get your free CGM Chart”, click on it and it will take you to a page that will tell you about it and how you can subscribe to my newsletter to get your free copy of the Chart sent to you.

Until next week, Maranatha, the Lord is coming, very soon. Goodbye and Blessing.

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/DMH

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Blessings,