Friday, September 22, 2017

BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

BIBLE STUDY LESSON
For the week beginning Sunday  September 24, 2017

PAUL MINISTERS ON THE ISLAND OF MALTA
(GOD provides opportunities to use our faith)
(Acts 28:1-10)

   G.K. Chesterton once wrote, “For whatever is or is not true, this one thing is certain, “We are not what we were meant to be”. Man is the highest form of GOD’s creation here on earth, and thereby, is the greatest benefactor of HIS brilliance and largess. Men and women were made by GOD to have dominion over the works of HIS hand, here on earth. But instead, we’ve become creatures who are frustrated by our own, self-imposed circumstances, who are defeated by our temptations, and, who are surrounded by our own weaknesses.
    And so, it is into this seemingly hopeless situation that GOD sent us HIS only begotten SON, so that whosoever believes in HIM, will not perish, but rather, will have everlasting life. JESUS made it possible for us to overcome, an otherwise, saddened and doomed state of existence, and, at one and the same time, helped us to understand, and become, what we ought to be.
    In Acts chapter 28, verses 1-10, Paul and the 276-man crew find themselves shipwrecked and stranded on the Island of Malta. It would be three months before they could board another ship to Rome. Malta was a small island in the Mediterranean Sea located between Sicily and Africa. While Paul was stranded there, he seized the opportunity to preach the Gospel to its inhabitants, and was actually able to expand the Kingdom of GOD to a group of people, the Maltese, who were called “barbarous”, because they were said, by the Greeks, to speak an unintelligible foreign language. In fact, not only did Paul teach the Gospel of CHRIST there, he was also actually able to plant a new church there before he left.
    The people on Malta were very kind to the crew, and it was very cold and wet when they arrived. As they were gathering wood for a fire, a poisonous snake attached itself to Paul’s hand. The people of the Island saw what was happening and thought for sure that Paul would be killed. However, Paul shook the snake into the fire and was unharmed. The people, however, waited for a long while to see if Paul would swell up and die, but when nothing happened, they started believing that he must be a god (Vs. 1-6).
    While on Malta, they met the chief Roman official, Publius, who invited them to his estate where he generously fed them for three days. Publius had a father who was suffering with an ailment called dysentery (dis-en-ter-e), which is a painful infection of the lower intestinal tract that also causes fever and severe diarrhea. While there, Paul laid hands on him and healed him. He also healed many other sick people on the Island who came to him seeking relief, and they were honored greatly by the people, and were given many things that they would need when they re-embarked upon their journey to Rome (Vs. 7-10).
    Throughout our lives GOD gives us many opportunities to be all that we can be, and all that HE intended us to be. We are to mature in faith to the point where can, first, master control over the sin in our lives, and then, help others to do the same. With the power of the HOLY SPIRIT in us, we become all that we can be under GOD. We can defeat the forces of satan quite handily because, HE WHO is in us (the HOLY SPIRIT) is greater than he who is in the world (satan). 


PAUL ARRIVES IN ROME
Acts 28:11-16

    Three months later they set sail for Rome on another ship that had docked on Malta for the winter. It was a ship from Alexandria in northern Africa, which featured the “twin gods” as its figurehead. In the first century, many ships had images of various idol gods, carved prominently at the front of the boat, kind of like a hood ornament on modern day automobiles, only, of course, sized in proportion to the ship. In those days two of the most popular idol gods were the twins, Castor and Pollux. This ship had carved images of those “Greeks gods of the constellation” called “Gemini” (Greek mythology & astrology) as its figurehead.
    Their first stop was at Syracuse, a Greek city on the southeast coast of the island of Sicily, where they stayed for three days. Then they sailed across the Strait of Messina to Rhegium (Ree-jee-uhm), on the coast of southern Italy. From there they sailed up the coast to Puteoli (Poo-TEE-uh-lih) on the western shore of southern Italy where they found some believers, who invited them to stay with them for seven days.
    Puteoli was the port of the great capital city of Rome, situated at the foot of the “Appian Way”. It was here at the original “Famous Forum”, some 43 miles from Rome, that, faithful believers came to meet their fearless, hardworking leader, Paul, to greet and encourage him.
    Still others met him ten miles farther inland at “The Three Taverns”, giving the man who thought that he was nearly without human support in Rome, a hero’s welcome. And when they arrived in the city of Rome, Paul was placed under “house arrest”, under guard by only one soldier (Vs. 11-16).


PAUL PREACHES IN ROME UNDER GUARD
Acts 28:17-31

    Three days after arriving in Rome, Paul called the local Jewish leaders together and informed them, firsthand, of his situation. He told them that he had been arrested in Jerusalem, and tried, both there, and, in Caesarea, but hadn’t been formerly charged with any crime. They agreed that they had heard nothing against Paul, and had no letters from Judea, nor, reports from anyone else, accusing him of anything against anyone. However, they were still curious to know about the, much-denounced, “Christian sect” that they had heard so many negative things about (Vs. 17-22).
    And so a time was set for Paul to speak to the Jews in Rome, while under arrest in his rented house. He took that glorious opportunity to preach and teach the doctrine of CHRIST JESUS from Scripture. He taught them from the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, and, from the books of the prophets. These teachings continued throughout the day, and into the night, and some believed, while others did not. However, after debating back and forward among themselves, Paul left them with a quote from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10), and after that, they all walked away, greatly disagreeing with each other (Vs. 23-29).
    For the next two years, Paul continued to preach and teach from his rented house in Rome, and he proclaimed boldly, the Kingdom of GOD, and the doctrine of our LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST. It is also during this period that he wrote his, now famous, “jail house letters”, which includes letters to the Philippians, the Ephesians, the Colossians, and, to Philemon.  
    Jewish history tells us that Paul was acquitted of the false charges against him, and he continued to minister for a while, away from Rome. However, he returned to Rome after a couple of years and was re-arrested. This time he was executed by the Romans, reportedly beheaded during the wave of persecutions against Christians, that was spearheaded by the “miming emperor, Nero, in close proximity to Peter’s death, in and around A.D. 68.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander




                                 
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website

  



Friday, September 1, 2017

BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

BIBLE STUDY LESSON
For the week beginning Sunday September 3, 2017

PAUL SAILS FOR ROME
Acts 27:1-12

   Here in Acts 27, Paul’s long sought after appeal to argue his case before Caesar in Italy, is finally looking like it’s going to happen.  Paul, Luke, Aristarhcus, who was a Macedonian from Thessalonica, along with some other prisoners, all set sail on a cargo ship to Rome, under the guard of the Roman centurion, Julius.
    Luke’s accurate description of this Mediterranean scene, impresses even today’s scholars, as he gives us a vivid account of the ports, sea vessels, and weather conditions in that area of the world in late October, and early November. There can be no doubt that this biblical account has to be based on the experiences of someone who had actually traveled these waters, during this particular season, at some point in their life. Luke tells us that they set sail from Caesarea on a ship that had come from Adramyttium (Add-rah-MITT- ee-um), an important sea port in northeastern Asia Minor. It was scheduled to make several stops along the coast of the province of Asia.
    The following day they docked at Sidon, an ancient Phoenician seaport on the Mediterranean coast of northern Palestine. There we get a glimpse of the kindness that Julius shows to Paul as he permits him to go ashore and visit with friends, who were able to provide for some of the needs of this, now famous, apostle (v. 3).
    After leaving Sidon the crew encountered some strong headwinds that made it very difficult to keep the ship on course. As a result, they were compelled to sail farther north between the island Cyprus and the mainland. They sailed along the coasts of Cilicia and Pamphylia, coming to shore at Myra, in the province of Lycia, a mountainous country in southwest Asia Minor. It was there where they changed ships, and boarded an Egyptian vessel from Alexandria, that would take them on to Italy (Vs. 4-6).
    After several days of very rough waters they finally came near Cnidus (NYE-dus), a city of the province of Caria, which is situated on the extreme southwestern tip of Asia Minor. But, unfortunately the winds were too strong against them for them to land. As a result, they had to sail down the wind-sheltered side of Crete, past the cape of Salmone, where they struggled along the coast, finally arriving at Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea. 
    This detour caused the crew to lose a great deal of time, and it was now becoming more and more dangerous with early winter approaching. Paul, who had traveled these waters before, went and spoke to the officers of the ship, because he believed that if they continued on their journey, they would no doubt meet with disaster.
    However, the officers made the decision to go on, in spite of Paul’s admonishments. They reasoned that Fair Havens was a port that was badly exposed to the winter elements, and that the port of Phoenix, which was located farther up the coast, would be a much safer place to spend the winter (Vs. 9-12).  

THE STORM AT SEA
Acts 27:13-26

   And so they ignored the voice of the man of GOD among them, and they sailed away into peril. When a light wind began to blow from the south, the heads of the ship thought for sure that they could make it to Phoenix. However, the weather then changed abruptly, and a wind, of typhoon strength, caught the ship and blew it out to sea. All they could do was surrender helplessly to the power of the wind (Vs. 13-15).
    Having nothing else constructive that they could do, they pulled in the lifeboat to keep it from being damaged, and then girded up the battered ship with ropes to strengthen its hull. They were afraid of being driven across the sand bars of Syrtis on the African coast, and so they lowered the anchor as they were being helplessly pushed by the wind. The gale force winds continued on for several more days, blotting out the sun, and the stars, until all of their hopes (except Paul’s) were dashed (Vs. 16-20).
    Then the man of GOD, Paul, stepped forward one more time, to say “I told you so”. Then he encouraged the frightened crew by telling them that they would lose the ship, but none of them would lose their lives. Paul goes on to tell them that an angel of “the GOD he served” had come to him the previous night, and assured him that they would all live, and he himself would stand trial in Rome, before Caesar. However, Paul disclosed to them that they would be shipwrecked on an island (Vs. 21-26), and they were (Vs. 39-44).

THE SHIPWRECK
Acts 27:27-44

   By this time Paul had garnered so much credibility that he was, quite literally, in charge of the ship. The lesson that can be learned here is that, authority is not something that rests on position alone, but rather, it is something that comes with integrity, and demonstrated competence. Once again Paul had been proven right by GOD before men, and now, he represented the hope of the entire 276-man crew.  
    At around midnight of the fourteenth day of the storm, the ship was being driven across the Sea of Adria. The men could sense that land was near, and so they began to take soundings to get an idea of how deep the water was where they were. They found it to be only 120 feet deep at that time, and then a little later another sounding showed that the water was only 90 feet deep.
    These measurements gave the men some concerns that, at the speed they were closing in, they might soon crash against the rocks along the shore. At this point they threw out all four anchors from the (stern) rear of the boat, and then prayed for daylight. However, their fear overcame them, and they all (except Paul and his crew), decided that they needed to abandon the boat as fast as they could.
    When the sailors began to lower the lifeboat, Paul interceded and said to the commanding officer and his soldiers, “You will all die unless you stay on board this ship”, and so the sailors cut the ropes that was attached to the lifeboat and let it fall from the ship.
    At the crack of dawn Paul began to encourage the frightened crew to eat some food, something they hadn’t done throughout the course of the storm (two weeks). Then Paul took some bread and lifted it up giving thanks to GOD, broke off a piece, ate it, and shared the rest with the men on board. After they ate, they further lightened the load of the ship by throwing the entire cargo of wheat overboard.
    When daylight came they didn’t recognize the coastline but they saw a beach and wondered if they could navigate, what was left of the ship, between the rocks in order to get there. And so they cut off the anchors, lowered the rudders, raised the foresails, and headed for shore.
    Just as they were beginning to relax a little, the ship hit a shoal and ran aground. The stern was repeatedly pounded by the force of the waves and the ship finally began to break apart. The soldiers wanted to kill Paul and the other prisoners to keep them from escaping, but the commander wanted to keep Paul alive and didn’t allow his men to carry out their plan. He ordered everyone off the ship who could swim, and told the others to float in on some of the planks and debris from the broken ship, and just as Paul had foretold, none of the 276-man crew died from the disastrous shipwreck.
    Even before this dramatic voyage, Paul had become accustomed to facing life-threatening situations that would more than buckle the average person. However, the apostle always believed what GOD told him, and that gave him strength to continue on with his work, and his calling. And so I find it appropriate to end this lesson by leaving you with these four anchors of faith;

·         Anchor yourself in GOD’s presence (believe)
·         Anchor yourself in GOD’s promise (believe)
·         Anchor yourself in GOD’s plan (trust)
·         Anchor yourself in GOD’s power (trust and believe)

    Whenever we are in danger of being overwhelmed by the storms of life, GOD, will keep in perfect peace, the mind that stays on HIM, because we trust HIM. GOD will always bring the person who believes in HIM, through the storms of life, but not always necessarily on a sound, well-put-together ship. JESUS comes to us from across the storms of life, with HIS hands stretched out to save, speaking in a calm, clear voice, that bids us to “have no fear” (have faith). And sometimes when HE delivers us, HE may just have to bring us in on shipwrecked, broken pieces, because we were too prideful to consult with HIM, during fair weather.

A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander





                                 
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website