Theme Number 46 The Kingdom of God

Amphitheatre in Ephesus

The word, kingdom,in the NT means mainly βασιλεία GRK basileia Thayer Definition:

1) royal power, kingship, dominion, rule 1a) not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the right or authority to rule over a kingdom 1b) of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah.

1c) of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah’s kingdom

It occurs 158 times in the NT and is a very significant theme in the preaching of the Apostles.

Act 19:8  And he entered into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, debating and persuading the things concerning of the kingdom of God.

Act 19:9  But when some became hardened and disbelieving, speaking evil against the Way before the multitude, he withdrew from them and separated the disciples, each day debating in the school of a certain Tyrannus.

Act 19:10  Now this took place for two years, so that all who were dwelling in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. EMTV

Paul spoke boldly for three months in the Synagogue

He usually went to the synagogues and presented the Gospel to the Jews first. After they had rejected the message of the Kingdom of God he went with the believers and each day debated and taught the Word of God in a nearly hall. Compare Acts 18:4

The Kingdom of God in Acts Now look at these texts:

Act 1:3  to whom He (Jesus) also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Notes: Jesus instructed his chosen Apostles for forty days after his resurrection speaking concerning the Kingdom of God. He was trying to explain to his disciples the true meaning of the Kingdom,that it was not an earthly kingdom at this time but a spiritual kingdom where God reigns in the hearts of men. He had told them the Parables in Matthew 13 to explain the Kingdom of God.

Act 1:4  And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to withdraw from Jerusalem, but to await for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me;

Act 1:5  for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

Act 1:6  Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Act 1:7  And He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has placed in His own authority.

Act 1:6  Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

Act 1:8  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Notes : They thought that he was going to establish His Kingdom and chase out the Romans.

They asked Him, saying, "Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

“The form of the verb apokathistanō is late (also apokathistaō) omega form for the old and common apokathistēmi, double compound, to restore to its former state. As a matter of fact the Messianic kingdom for which they are asking is a political kingdom that would throw off the hated Roman yoke. It is a futuristic present and they are uneasy that Jesus may yet fail to fulfil their hopes. Surely here is proof that the eleven apostles needed the promise of the Father before they began to spread the message of the Risen Christ. They still yearn for a political kingdom for Israel even after faith and hope have come back. They need the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit (John 14-16) and the power of the Holy Spirit (Act_1:4.).”RWP

Philip preached the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ

Act 8:12  But when they believed Philip as he preached the good news of the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

But when they believed Philip - So it is evident that Philip’s word came with greater power than that of Simon; and that his miracles stood the test in such a way as the feats of Simon could not.

Philip : preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God; concerning the kingdom of the Messiah, the Gospel dispensation, the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel; and concerning the kingdom of grace, which is spiritual and internal, and which lies not in external things, as meat and drink, but in righteousness, peace, and joy; and concerning the kingdom of glory, the meetness for it, which lies in regenerating grace, and the right unto it, which is the righteousness of Christ:

and the name of Jesus Christ; concerning the person of Christ, as the Son of God: and the offices of Christ, as prophet, priest, and King; and the virtue of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, for pardon, justification, and atonement: the Vulgate Latin, Syriac, and Ethiopic versions read this clause, "in the name of Jesus Christ": and connect it with the following words,

they were baptized, both men and women: that is, when, they heard Philip preach the Gospel, and believed in Christ, the sum and substance of it, and made a profession of faith, they were of each sex, both men and women, baptized by immersion, in the name of Jesus Christ. J.Gill

Applications.

Should there be more Preaching about the Sovereign Reign of God in our Assemblies.

When did you last hear a message on the kingdom of God?

Theme Number 45 Paul in Ephesus

Apollos had been in Ephesus with Acquila and Priscilla. They had invited him to their home and explained the Way of God more adequately or accurately Acts 18 :26

Then Apollos wanted to go to Achaia especially Corinth so the Brothers at Ephesus wrote for him a letter of recommendation to the disciples there. What a great help he was to the church in Corinth. he also refuted the Jews in public debate proving from the Jewish Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.

Application:

Let the Gospel be propagated, not by force, but by fair argument, meeting the reasonings of sinners with ready answers from the Scriptures. It is always our duty to testify with all solemnity to Christ’s deity, especially where men speak reproachfully of Him, thus making ourselves clean from the blood of their souls. Those who have Christ with them need not shrink from pleading the cause of heaven with boldness. S.B.

Acts 19 Paul arrives at Ephesus from Antioch in Syria. The Holy Spirit Poured out on 12 disciples there.

After he had walked right across Asia Minor visiting the churches, (we are not told how long this took), as the trip is covered in one verse Acts 19:1.

Paul’s Great Question to the Disciples in Ephesus.

Act 19:2  he said to them, Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? And they said to him, We did not so much as hear whether the Holy Spirit is.

Act 19:3  And he said to them, Then to what were you baptized? And they said, To John's baptism.

Act 19:4  And Paul said, John truly baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe into Him coming after him, that is, into Jesus Christ.

Act 19:5  And hearing, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? or Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?

Have you received the Holy Spirit? - Have ye received the extraordinary effusions and miraculous influences of the Holy Spirit? Paul would not doubt that, if they had “believed,” they had received the ordinary converting influences of the Holy Spirit - for it was one of his favorite doctrines that the Holy Spirit renews the heart. But, besides this, the miraculous influences of the Spirit were conferred on many societies of believers. The power of speaking with tongues, or of working miracles, was imparted as an evidence of the presence of God, and of their acceptance with him, Act_10:45-46; 1 Cor. 14. It was natural for Paul to ask whether this evidence of the divine favour has been granted to them.

Act 19:6  and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy.

Act 19:7  They numbered in all about twelve men.

Notes

a) After Baptising them in Water in the Name of the Lord Jesus, Paul laid his hands on them.

Paul Laying hands on the Ephesian Disciples

b) They spoke in tongues and prophesied

“Latter Rain” Falling in the East: Early-Twentieth-Century Pentecostalism in India and the Debate over Speaking in Tongues

Gary B. McGeea1

a1 professor of church history and Pentecostal studies at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary.

Looking back at the events that led up to the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, California, the foremost revival of the century in terms of global impact, eyewitness Frank Bartleman announced that the “revival was rocked in the cradle of little Wales … ‘brought up’ in India” and then became “full grown” in Los Angeles, California. To the Pentecostal “saints,” as they commonly called themselves in America, the appearance of “Pentecostal” phenomena (for example, visions, dreams, prophecy, glossolalia, and other charismatic gifts) in India confirmed that what the Old Testament prophet Joel had foretold about the “latter rain” outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the end times (Joel 2: 28–29) was being fulfilled simultaneously in other parts of the world. As one songwriter put it, “The latter rain has come, / Upon the parched ground … The whole wide world around.”

Gary B. McGee (1999). “Latter Rain” Falling in the East: Early-Twentieth-Century Pentecostalism in India and the Debate over Speaking in Tongues. Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture, 68, pp 648-665. doi:10.2307/3170042.

Application

My Question to you is “HAVE YOU RECEIVED THE HOLY SPIRIT SINCE YOU BELIEVED?

Ask someone who is Spirit filled to lay hands upon you for the Baptism. Acts 2:1-4

Theme Number 44 The Intelligent Preacher from Alexandria

After Paul had been encouraged by a vision of the Lord Himself in the night he stayed on in Corinth for 18 months teaching them the Word of God. Then he was attacked by the Jews and dragged before the courts.Acts 18:12  But the Proconsul, Gallio, threw the case out, saying that since it involves disputes about words and names and their own law they ought to settle it themselves. Acts 18:15

As they were ejected from the court , they seized Sosthenes the Synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court.

Acts 18:17 Beat him (etupton). Inchoative imperfect active, began to beat him, even if they could not beat Paul. Sosthenes succeeded Crispus (Act_18:8) when he went over to Paul. The beating did Sosthenes good for he too finally is a Christian (1Co_1:1), a co-worker with Paul whom he had sought to persecute. RWP

After some time Paul with Acquila and Priscilla sailed from Cenchrea for Syria. Acts 18:18

Cenchrea where Paul, Acquila and Priscilla went aboard ship

On arriving at Ephesus Paul left Acquila and his wife there promising to return if God willed it.

He went on to Caesurea, and then to Jerusalem, gave his report to the church, then travelled back to his headquarters in Antioch in Syria Acts

Cenchrea on the Coast of the Gulf of Saronkos Koplos

Apollos a Jew of Alexandria

1. He was a Learned Man Acts 18:24 He was a native of Alexandria, a man of great learning and well versed in the Scriptures. Today it is the second City  of Egypt with 4 million population.

“This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John.vv24-25

Apollos is the only preacher in all the Bible to be called ‘mighty in the scriptures’.

At the very least, Apollos had an intimate knowledge of the OT with an ability to teach Scriptural truth in all of its depth and nuance.

At best, Apollos could recite the OT text verbatim, since to be ‘mighty’ in any religious text often meant to have memorised its contents.

It is interesting that of all places Apollos hailed from was the Ancient city of Alexandria, a city in Egypt near the mouth of the Nile. The city was founded by Alexander the Great in about 300BC and boasted a large Jewish population.

Alexandria not only had many Jews, it was also a city of many books. It was home to the ancient world’s largest library.

Let me tell you some more about this notable city and library:-

1. Carved into the library wall was this famous inscription: The place of the cure of the soul.

2. It was the first known library to gather a serious collection of books beyond its country’s borders, and was in fact charged by its royal family to collect all of the world’s knowledge.

3. Library staff  would collect foreign texts for library use and storage, and make copies to send back to their owners.

4. Alexandria soon became the leading producer of papyrus and books (scrolls) in the world.

5. The Library was also home to a host of visiting international scholars, funded by the Ptolemaic dynasty. The kings paid for their travel expenses, lodgings and financial support so they and their families could live in Alexandria while their studies took place.

6. As a research institution, the library filled its stacks with new works in mathematics, astronomy, physics, natural sciences and other subjects.

7. Alexandria was the city where the Greek translation of the OT (the Septuagint) by as many as seventy Jewish scholars took place a couple of hundred of years before Christ. Incidentally, this was the translation Jesus read from during his earthly ministry and portions of the Septuagint are quoted by the NT writers.

Alexandria Egypt today

Applications.

1. We need many more young Travelling Preachers who are “Mighty in the Scriptures”. and know how to expound them. Are you will to put in the effort to become like Apollos.

2. He came from a city of learning. He was learned and had applied himself to know understand and quote the Scriptures.

There nothing wrong with someone searching for the truth and really understanding the Word of God. See <http://teaminfocus.com.au/did-jesus-exist/comment-page-1>

Theme Number 43 Acts 18 Paul arrives in Corinth

Paul'sSecond Missionary Journey

Corinth on the Isthmus at the Gulf of Corinth

The Corinth Canal now.

Corinth

kor´inth (Κόρινθος, Kórinthos, “ornament”): A celebrated city of the Peloponnesus, capital of Corinthia, which lay North of Argolis, and with the 1sthmus joined the peninsula to the mainland. Corinth had three good harbors (Lechaeum, on the Corinthian, and Cenchrea and Schoenus on the Saronic Gulf), and Thus commanded the traffic of both the eastern and the western seas. The larger ships could not be hauled across the isthmus (Act_27:6, Act_27:37); smaller vessels were taken over by means of a ship tramway with wooden rails. The Phoenicians, who settled here very early, left many traces of their civilization in the industrial arts, such as dyeing and weaving, as well as in their religion and mythology. The Corinthian cult of Aphrodite, of Melikertes (Melkart) and of Athene Phoenike are of Phoenician origin. Poseidon, too, and other sea deities were held in high esteem in the commercial city. Various arts were cultivated and the Corinthians, even in the earliest times, were famous for their cleverness, inventiveness and artistic sense, and they prided themselves on surpassing the other Greeks in the embellishment of their city and in the adornment of their temples. There were many celebrated painters in Corinth, and the city became famous for the Corinthian order of architecture: an order, which, by the way, though held in high esteem by the Romans, was very little used by the Greeks themselves. It was here, too, that the dithyramb (hymn to Dionysus) was first arranged artistically to be sung by a chorus; and the 1sthmian games, held every two years, were celebrated just outside the city on the 1sthmus near the Saronic Gulf. But the commercial and materialistic spirit prevailed later. Not a single Corinthian distinguished himself in literature. Statesmen, however, there were in abundance: Periander, Phidon, Timoleon.

Harbors are few on the Corinthian Gulf. Hence, no other city could wrest the commerce of these waters from Corinth. I.S.B.E.

Act 18:1  After this he left Athens and came to Corinth. 

Act 18:2  Here he found a Jew, a native of Pontus, of the name of Aquila. He and his wife Priscilla had recently come from Italy because of Claudius's edict expelling all the Jews from Rome. So Paul paid them a visit; 

Act 18:3  and because he was of the same trade--that of tent-maker--he lodged with them and worked with them. 

Act 18:4  But, Sabbath after Sabbath, he preached in the synagogue and tried to win over both Jews and Greeks. 

Theme Number 42 Paul and the Philosophers of Athens

Acts 17:16-34

Act 17:16  And in Athens, while Paul waited for them, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was full of idols.

Act 17:17  Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshippers, and in the marketplace daily with those coming by.

Now while Paul waited for Silas and Timothy to come from Berea - How long he was there is not intimated; but doubtless some time would elapse before they could arrive. In the meantime Paul had ample opportunity to observe the state of the city.Barnes

His spirit was stirred in him - His mind was greatly excited. The word used here (παρωξύνετο  parōxuneto) denotes “any excitement, agitation, or paroxysm of mind,” 1Co_13:5. It here means that the mind of Paul was greatly concerned, or agitated, doubtless with pity and distress at their folly and danger.

The city wholly given to idolatry - Greek: κατέιδωλον  kateidōlon. It is well translated in the margin, “or full of idols.” The word is not used elsewhere in the New Testament. That this was the condition of the city is abundantly testified by profane writers. Thus, Pausanias (in Attic. 1Co_1:24) says, “the Athenians greatly surpassed others in their zeal for religion.” Lucian (t. i. Prometh. p. 180) says of the city of Athens, “On every side there are altars, victims, temples, and festivals.” Barnes

Act 17:17  Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshippers, and in the marketplace daily with those coming by.

And in the market - In the forum. It was not only the place where provisions were sold, but was also a place of great public concourse. In this place the philosophers were not infrequently found engaged in public discussion.

Act 17:18  A few of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also encountered him. Some of them asked, "What has this beggarly babbler to say?" "His business," said others, "seems to be to cry up some foreign gods." This was because he had been telling the Good News of Jesus and the Resurrection.

Act 17:19  Then they took him and brought him up to the Areopagus, asking him, "May we be told what this new teaching of yours is?

Act 17:20  For the things you are saying sound strange to us. We should therefore like to be told exactly what they mean."

Act 17:21  (For all the Athenians and their foreign visitors used to devote their whole leisure to telling or hearing about something new.)

Act 17:22  So Paul, taking his stand in the centre of the Areopagus, spoke as follows: "Men of Athens, I perceive that you are in every respect remarkably religious.

Acts 17:18 Of the Epicureans - This sect of philosophers was so named from Epicurus, who lived about 300 years before the Christian era. They denied that the world was created by God, and that the gods exercised any care or providence over human affairs, and also the immortality of the soul. Against these positions of the sect Paul directed his main argument in proving that the world was created and governed by God. One of the distinguishing doctrines of Epicurus was that pleasure was the summum bonum, or chief good, and that virtue was to be practiced only as it contributed to pleasure.

And of the Stoics - This was a sect of philosophers, so named from the Greek στοά  stoa, a porch or portico, because Zeno, the founder of the sect, held his school and taught in a porch, in the city of Athens. Zeno was born in the island of Cyprus, but the greater part of his life was spent at Athens in teaching philosophy. After having taught publicly 48 years, he died at the age of 96, that is, 264 years before Christ. The doctrines of the sect were, that the universe was created by God; that all things were fixed by Fate; that even God was under the dominion of fatal necessity; that the Fates were to be submitted to; that the passions and affections were to be suppressed and restrained; that happiness consisted in the insensibility of the soul to pain; and that a man should gain an absolute mastery over all the passions and affections of his nature. They were stern in their views of virtue, and, like the Pharisees, prided themselves on their own righteousness. Barnes

Pauls Message at the Aeropagas

Act 17:23  For as I passed along and observed the things you worship, I found also an altar bearing the inscription, 'TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.' "The Being, therefore, whom you, without knowing Him, revere, Him I now proclaim to you.

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR8ZiEGbJoCcMC7S95xh_ya8vPSlhpfE6qLexKvB1W5VmJCAJf0

http://www.welcometohosanna.com/PAULS_MISSIONARY_JOURNEYS/AthensImages/AthensTaggedSatellite.jpg

http://www.eveandersson.com/photos/italy/rome-roman-forum-palatine-hill-area-museo-palatino-altare-al-dio-ignoto-inizi-dei-i-sec-ac-large.jpg

He proclaimed that the Creator God was Lord of heaven and earth.v.24

He is the One who gives life to all. v.25

Every race has One Fore-father [Adam].  God has determined our Lifespan and the Boundaries of our living.v. 26

We must seek Him with all our hearts. v.27

Act 17:28  and he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are. "We are his children," just as some of your poets have said.

Act 17:29  Since we are God's children, we must not think that he is like an idol made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn't like anything that humans have thought up and made.

Act 17:30  So then these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now He commands all men everywhere to repent,

Act 17:31  because He has appointed a day in which He is going to judge the world in righteousness by a Man whom He appointed, having given proof to all, by raising Him from the dead."

Act 17:32  But when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some were scoffing, but others said, "We will hear you again concerning this."

Act 17:33  And thus Paul went forth from their midst.

Act 17:34  However, some men were joined to him and believed, among whom were also Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others

Putting yourself in Paul's shoes, how would you have felt about the  discussion with the Aeropagus? Depressed, excited or something in between?

Paul does not use quotes from Scripture with the Athenians. Is this a strength or weakness?

How would you witness to someone with little or no knowledge of God?

Paul used Greek poetry and idols as points of contact with the Athrenians. How could you use movies, books, TV shows, music to effectively relate the Gospel to others?  <welcometohossanna.com>

Theme Number 41. Acts 17:1-34 Founding of church at Thessalonica and the Jewish opposition.

Thessalonica

Everywhere Paul went churches were opened among the Gentiles. He usually went to Jewish synagogues first but generally his message was opposed. After planting the church at Philippi now we find him in Thessalonica.

Act 17:1  Now traveling through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.

Act 17:2  And according to Paul's custom, he went in to them, and for three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

Act 17:3  interpreting and pointing out that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer, and to arise from the dead, and saying that "This is the Christ, Jesus, whom I proclaim to you."

http://www.bibleplaces.com/amphipolis.htm

Comment: Paul did not stop in Amphipolis and Appollonia but passed through on his way to Thessalonica.

and for three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,

[dialegomai] Thayer Definition:

1) to think different things with one’s self, mingle thought with thought

1a) to ponder, revolve in mind

2) to converse, discourse with one, argue, discuss

Reasoned (dielexato). First aorist middle indicative of dialegomai, old verb in the active to select, distinguish, then to revolve in the mind, to converse (interchange of ideas), then to teach in the Socratic (“dialectic”) method of question and answer (cf. dielegeto in Act_16:17), then simply to discourse, but always with the idea of intellectual stimulus. With these Jews and God-fearers Paul appealed to the Scriptures as text and basis (apo) of his ideas.RWP

that is, out of the Old Testament, concerning the Messiah, the characters of him, the work that he was to do, and how he was to suffer and die for the sins of men; and this he did three weeks running, going to their synagogue every sabbath day, when and where the Jews met for worship; and made use of books, which they allowed of, and of arguments they could not disprove.J.Gill

Conclusion: The doctrine of Christ does not fear a scrutiny, but will be borne out fully by the light of all Scripture. Those who reason from the Scriptures concerning “Christ crucified” may expect not only that God will incline some to make use of the means of grace by searching the Scriptures for themselves,

Act 17:4  And some of them were persuaded and were joined with Paul and Silas, both of the devout Greeks, a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women.

Act 17:5  And the Jews who did not believe became envious, and took some wicked men from the marketplace, and forming a mob, they threw the city into disorder, and came upon the house of Jason, and sought to bring them to the people.

Act 17:6  But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers to the rulers of the city, crying out, "The men who have upset the whole world, these have come here, too;

Act 17:7  whom Jason has received; and these all practice contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king--Jesus."

Act 17:8  And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things.

Act 17:9  And having taken the security bond from Jason and the rest, they released them.

Act 17:10  Then the brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away during the night to Berea.

Comment:These that have turned the world upside down - That have excited commotion and disturbance in other places. The charge has been often brought against the gospel that it has been the occasion of confusion and disorder.

Conclusion: The enmity of the restless agents of Satan will be aroused by the Good news of jesus Christ. Nevertheless, by seeking to extinguish the divine fire, enemies will but spread it the farther and faster.

Key Word: (Scriptural) Reasoning, Act_17:2, Act_17:11, Act_17:22.

Comment on Demon Possession

Destined to be a Witch Doctor. by Surprise Sithole [Mozambique] Iris Ministries
In  " A VOICE in the Night "

"From the time i was born, my parents hoped I would follow the family tradition and become a witch doctor. I suffered with asthma and other physical ailments., and when my parents sought healing for me, "the spirits' told them that I was sick because I had not given myself over to them. As soon as I had done this, they said, I would be healed.
My family had been involved with wirch doctoring for generations. My grandfather kept poisonous snakes to use in rituals and died when one of those snakes bit him. My childhood was full of strange spiritual experiences and spiritual oppression. This was the only life I knew.
My parents did a pretty good business. Every day, people came to the house, many of them weeping, looking for a way out of their desperate situation. Perhaps a child was sick, or the monkeys had stolen the crops. They usually brought a little maize meal or some chicken for my family. But they always had to bring some money too. My parents would have their 'clients' rub the money over their bodies as though washing themselves with soap in the shower. Then they would take the money, put it in a shell and start sniffing it. As they did so, they would make a funny noise --"heh, heh, heh," -- and then start speaking in a strange tone of voice.
The advice that came through was almost always the same, and it played upon the person's fears. Someone had put a curse upon them. Death was very near. The spirits were angry and had to be appeased. Upon hearing this frightening news, the customers were usually reeady to do anything my parents told them to do.

Did my parents ahve real power, or were they charlatans? The answer is both. Much of what they did was trickery, pure and simple. But I also know that they sincerely believed in the spirits, and I saw many starnge events for which I have no other explanation besides the supernatural.

More than once, I found myself floating above the floor as I tried to sleep at night. I struggled and kicked and tried to get back on the ground, but I seemed to be suspended in space. Did it really happen, or was it just a dream? All I can say is that it ceratinly seemed real to a young boy, and terribly frightening. Later on, when I told my parents about the experience, they  became excited, and began beating on drums they used to summon the spirits.

They definitely believed that the spirit world was real, but they were not above deceit. As an example of their trickery, they would ask their customers to stare into a bowl f water until they saw the face of his enemy. - the one who had placed a curse on him, his crops and his children. Stirred up by anger and fear, the person would look until they saw someone's face looking back at him - and naturally, the face he saw was the face he expected to see. The neighbour who had given him a starnge look. A person he did not like for some reason.
My parents would ask,"Do you want this person to live or die?" By this time the customer was so agitated that he would almost always say he wanted them to die.
he would then be given a stick with a needle attached to the end and be told that he should take revenge on his enemy by striking the image in the water. In most cases, he stook the stick and began wacking the image in the water - which slowly began to turn red. Asd the water darkened with "blood", the attack would increase in intensity. The customer would slash and cut in the water in a hateful frenzy, literally trying to hack his enemy in pieces.

But there was no 'blood' in that water. The stick that held the needle had been cut from the mbela tree, which my parents knew would turn the water red.

Still, there was power in the trickery. Sometimes the enemy would fall sick or even die. I now believe that this was due to the 'faith' of my parents customers. They wanted it to happen so badly that it did.

Every day at sunset just before the jungle became pitch dark, my mother would go out and pick some of the grass that grew alonside the trails her  customers walked each day. Then she and my father would burn it on the fire, in the centre of our hut, asking the spirits to give more problems to the people who had walked along these trails. For them more problems meant more business. The last thing they wanted ewas for people in the village to be happy and trouble free. Sometimes they would name people and ask the spirits to bring them to our door. The next day, the ones they had named would show up, crying and moaning about the burdens that had fallen on them.
AS for me, I was oppressed and unhappy and  I cried often.
One night he heard a Voice in the night telling him to " leave now". Praise God he obeyed. He rose quietly in the middle of the night and never returned again. His whole family and house was destroyed by a Competitor for the title of village Witch Doctor.

After twelve days in the jungle they were taken in by Mr Lukas at Vila Nova da Frontiera, Tete Province, Mozambique.  Lukas explained that he'd seen these boys in a dream and that he was waiting for them.

Gafar, Surprise's friend with whom he had travelled through the jungle as Mr Lukas about his dream. They thought that this knowledge had come from a spirit and do not undertand about God. Over the next several weeks Surprise and Gafar learnt about God from Mr Lukas and eventually understood that Jesus the Miracle Worker ahd been killed on a cross.
Mr Lukas said, "You can follow Jesus and go to heaven or follow Satan, the evol One and he will take you to hell.
It was there under the old thorn tree at Vila Nova that Surprise, holding the old man's hands, on his knees accepted Jesus as His Lord and Saviour as did his friend Gafar.

From Voice in the Night [The true Story of the Man and the Miracles that are changing Africa]   by Pastor Surprise Sithole.

Theme Number 40 Release from Prison

The Persecution and Suffering of Christians even up until this present day is characterised by prison terms. Mostly they are unjust and illegal. We have Peter and John in prison in Acts 4:1-21 and the Apostles in prison in  5:17 and the angel letting them out telling them “to stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this life.”

It is true that the Bible warns that through much tribulation we shall enter the Kingdom.

Now we have Paul and Silas in prison at Philippi Acts  16:18-40

Act 16:18  And this she did for many days. But Paul, being greatly annoyed and turning around, said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her." And he came out in that very hour.

Act 16:19  And when her masters saw that the hope of their profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the marketplace to the rulers.

Act 16:20  And bringing them to the magistrates they said, "These men, being Jews, are agitating our city;

Act 16:21  and they are proclaiming customs which are not lawful for us to receive or to do, since we are Romans."

Notes : After the slave girl had been delivered from the spirit of divination and fortune-telling v.18

Acts 16:19 And when her masters saw that the hope of their profit was gone, they took Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the marketplace to the rulers, And brought them to the magistrates

The hope of their gains was gone - It was this that troubled and enraged them. Instead of regarding the act as proof of divine power, they were intent only on their profits. Their indignation furnishes a remarkable illustration of the fixedness with which people will regard wealth; of the fact that the love of it will blind them to all the truths of religion, and all the proofs of the power and presence of God; and of the fact that any interposition of divine power that destroys their hopes of gain, fills them with wrath, and hatred, and complaining. Many a man has been opposed to God and his gospel because, if religion should be extensively prevalent, his hopes of gain would be gone. Many a slave-dealer, and many a trafficker in ardent spirits, and many a man engaged in other unlawful modes of gain, has been unwilling to abandon his employments simply because his hopes of gain would be destroyed. Barnes

And brought them to the magistrates - To the military rulers στρατηγοῖς  stratēgois or praetors. Philippi was a Roman colony, and it is probable that the officers of the army exercised the double function of civil and military rulers.

Do exceedingly trouble our city - In what way they did it they specify in the next verse. The charge which they wished to substantiate was that of being disturbers of the public peace. All at once they became conscientious. They forgot the subject of their gains, and were greatly distressed about the violation of the laws. There is nothing that will make people more hypocritically conscientious than to denounce, and detect, and destroy their unlawful and dishonest practices. Barnes

Acts 16:22 Paul and Silas stripped and beaten unjustly.

And the multitude ... - It is evident that this was done in a popular tumult, and without even the form of law. Of this Paul afterward justly complained, as it was a violation of the privileges of a Roman citizen, and contrary to the laws. See the notes on Act_16:37. It was one instance in which people affect great zeal for the honor of the Law, and yet are among the first to disregard it.

And the magistrates - Act_16:20. They who should have been their protectors until they had had a fair trial according to law.

Tore off their clothes - This was always done when one was to be scourged or whipped. The criminal was usually stripped entirely naked. Livy says (ii. 5), “The lictors, being sent to inflict punishment, beat them with rods, being naked.” Cicero, against Verres, says, “He commanded the man to be seized, and to be stripped naked in the midst of the forum, and to be bound, and rods to be brought.”

And commanded to beat them - ῥαβδίζειν  rabdizein. To beat them with rods. This was done by lictors, whose office it was, and was a common mode of punishment among the Romans. Probably Paul alludes to this as one of the instances which occurred in his life of his being publicly scourged, when he says 2Co_11:25, “Thrice was I beaten with rods.”

Thrown into Prison with their backs bleeding and their feet in the stocks

Act 16:23  And when they laid many strokes on them, they cast them into prison, commanding the prison keeper to keep them securely;

Act 16:24  who, having received such a command, cast them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

Notes: And when they had laid many stripes on them - The Jews were by law prohibited from inflicting more than 40 stripes, and usually inflicted but 39, 2Co_11:24. But there was no such law among the Romans. They were unrestricted in regard to the number of lashes, and probably inflicted many more. Perhaps Paul refers to this when he says 2Co_11:23, “In stripes above measure.” that is, beyond the usual measure among the Jews, or beyond moderation.

And made their feet fast in the stocks - Greek: and made their feet secure to wood. The word “stocks,” with us, denotes a machine made of two pieces of timber between which the feet of criminals are placed, and in which they are thus made secure. The account here does not imply necessarily that they were secured precisely in this way, but that they were fastened or secured by the feet, probably by cords, to a piece or beam of wood, so that they could not escape. It is probable that the legs of the prisoners were bound to large pieces of wood which not only encumbered them, but which were so placed as to extend their feet to a considerable distance. In this condition it might be necessary for them to lie on their backs; and if this, as is probable, was on the cold ground, after their severe scourging, their sufferings must have been very great. Yet in the midst of this they sang praises to God.

The  praised God at midnight and God delivered them by an earthquake which demolished the prison.

Though these holy men felt much, and had reason to fear more, yet they are undismayed, and even happy in their sufferings: they were so fully satisfied that they were right, and had done their duty, that there was no room for regret or self-reproach. At the same times they had such consolations from God as could render any circumstances not only tolerable, but delightful. They prayed, first, for grace to support them, and for pardon and salvation for their persecutors; and then, secondly, sang praises to God, .

Results: The Jailor and his family get saved.

Act 16:26  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and all the bonds were loosed.

Act 16:27  And becoming awake, the prison keeper, seeing the doors of the prison open, drawing a sword, he was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners to have escaped.

Act 16:28  But Paul called out with a loud voice, saying, "Do not harm yourself, for we are all here."

Act 16:29  And asking for a light he rushed in, and he came trembling, and fell before Paul and Silas,

Act 16:30  and he brought them forth outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

Act 16:31  And they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, you and your household."

Act 16:32  And they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all those in his house.

Act 16:33  And taking them along in that same hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he and all his family were baptized.

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“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

James 5:16, NIV

Pastors in Prison in Iran

IRAN - PASTOR JAILED FOR EIGHT YEARS FOR PLANTING HOUSE CHURCHES

An Iranian pastor, Saeed Abedeni, has been sentenced to eight years in jail for planting house churches allegedly “intended to undermine national security”. Saeed, who is now a US citizen, was arrested in September 2012 while visiting his homeland, where he was trying to establish an orphanage. The charges against him relate to his work in starting a house-church movement following his conversion from Islam to Christianity in 2000.

Saeed has been held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, where he has been subjected to beatings, torture and threats. The authorities have repeatedly broken promises to release him. Pray that the Lord will lift up Saeed’s head (Psalm 3:3) as he suffers in His name. Askthat the Lord will also be with Saeed’s wife and two children at this difficult time.

Saeed’s lawyer will now appeal the decision; pray that the pastor will be released. Give thanks that his detention has sparked a major campaign in the US, including a petition that has been signed by more than 235,000 people. Following criticism for their failure to intervene, the US State Department and the White House have also called for his release.Pray that this pressure will lead to justice for the many more of our brothers and sisters who are languishing in prison for taking part in Christian activities in Iran.