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Acts 12:
King Herod started
persecuting the Christians (he was the same one that tried to kill Jesus at
birth and now want to kill his followers over 30 years later and after Jesus'
death). He killed
James, the brother of John with the sword, so he decided to get Peter too
because it made the Jews very happy. It seems the Jews disliked
Christianity because it included Gentiles. King Herod soon arrested Peter
with high numbers of guards and planned to judge him publicly (to amuse and
entertain the
Jews) after Passover. The night before the trial, an angel of God came
into the prison to wake Peter up while he was sleeping between two soldiers.
Peter thought that he was in a vision. The angel told him to get up, dress
up, and follow him. The chains fell off his wrists and the angel lead him
passed all the guards to the iron gate of the city. Peter then went to
meet the other Christians, who did not believe at first that it was his voice
that was heard behind the door. He soon told them how God had freed him
and also told them to spread the word to others. The next morning, King Herod
executed the guards for Peter's escape. King Herod had an appointment with
the people of Tyre and Sidon over a quarrel he had with them. On that day,
he gave a speech in his royal regalia and the people praised him as a god.
Then, an angel of God struck him down, worms began to eat him, and he died
because he did not give praises to God. King Herod wanted to take the
place of God. The word of God continued to
spread and more people followed Jesus. Barnabas, Saul, and Mark continues
God's work.
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The Political & Spiritual Purpose of the
Holy Land
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Acts 13:
The church at Antioch had
prophets and teachers. Does your church have any? As they were
worshipping God and fasting, the Holy Spirit requested Barnabas and Saul to be
set apart for God's mission. They went to Cyprus to proclaim God's word in
the Jewish synagogue, then they means Bar-Jesus, a Jewish sorcerer and false
prophet. The sorcerer's master was Proconsul, who requested the presence of
the disciples to hear about God, but the sorcerer tried to prevent it.
Saul, also called Paul, was filled with the Holy Spirit and called the sorcerer
the child of the devil that always prevent what is right and godly. Paul
commanded him to be blind in God's name and the sorcerer became blind and his
master believed in God immediately. Paul return to Antioch and gave a great speech on a
Sabbath in the Jewish synagogue. He told them how God had chosen the Jews as his
people and led them out of Egypt to give them Canaan (land of 7 nations) within
450 years. He talked about how God gave them prophets until they wanted
kings, John the Baptist taking about repentance and baptism, and the death and
resurrection of Jesus. Paul makes it clear that it is only through
Jesus that are sin and forgiven, not the law of Moses or good works.
What God promised through the prophets to our fathers have been fulfilled
through the children in their generation as witnesses of Jesus. Many Jews
began to speak abusively against Paul and Barnabas because many devout converts
to Judaism began to follow Jesus. Paul and Barnabas replied the Jews by
saying that since the Jews have rejected God's word (Jesus) and eternal life,
which was preached to them first, God has now commissioned them to the Gentiles
and all the earth. So Judaism was a religion to separate the Jews as
God's special people through which Jesus will come, but Christianity was every
people coming to God through their belief in Jesus.
Act 14:
Paul and Barnabas went
to the Jewish Synagogue in Iconium and many devout Jews converted to
Christianity, but the unbelievers stirred both the Jews and Gentiles present
against them. They performed many miraculous signs and wonders, but the
people there planned harm for them, so they left for Lystra. There, Paul
saw a crippled man from birth that had faith from listening to them, so Paul
healed him. The people then called them gods in human forms and wanted to
offer sacrifice to them. Barnabas as the leaders was called Zeus, while
Paul as the spoke man was called Hermes. Barnabas and Paul we disgusted
and told them that they must turn away from worthless things to the word of the
living God. The people still made their scarifies and the Jews came from
other towns to turn the people against them. So they stoned them out of
the city. More Gentiles were won to God. They established churches,
chose elders, prayed, and fasted.
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