Q. Where did Paul, Silas and Timothy go after Philippi?
A. Acts 17:1 = Through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia to Thessalonica.

Q. Why did they stop in Thessalonica?
A. Acts 17:1 = There was a Jewish synagogue there. It was Paul’s custom to teach in the synagogues of the towns he ministered in.

Q. Were many saved in Thessalonica’s synagogue? A. Acts 17:4 =Some were saved, including a large number of godly Greek men and many important women of the city.

Q. What did the Jewish leaders in the Thessalonica synagogue think of that?
A. Acts 17:5 = They were jealous and sinned against God.

Q. How?
A. Acts 17:5 = They gathered some worthless fellows from the streets to form a mob and start a riot against Paul and company.

Q. How did they begin the riot?
A. Acts 17:5 = They attacked a believer’s home in search of Paul and company.

Q. Who was this unfortunate believer whose home they attacked?
A. Acts 17:5 = Jason.

Q. Did they find Paul and company in Jason’s home? A. Acts 17:5 = No.

Q. What did the rioters do next?
A. Acts 17:6 = They took Jason along with some other believers and dragged them before the city council, accusing them of disloyalty to Caesar, and therefore, they were accused of treason. They said they were loyal to King Jesus only.

Q. How did the citizens and the officials respond to the report?
A. Acts 17:8 = They were thrown into turmoil, but they responded much differently than the officials did in Philippi.

Q. How so?
A. Acts 17:9 = They released them after they posted bail.

Q. Where did Paul and company go next?
A. Acts 17:10 = The believers in Thessalonica sent Paul and company to Berea.

Q. Was there a synagogue in Berea?
A. Acts 17:10 = Yes.

Q. How did the Bereans respond to the Good News? A. Acts 17:11 = They were more open-minded in Berea than in Thessalonica.

Q. How so?
A. Acts 17:11 =
1) The Bereans listened eagerly to Paul’s message
2) They searched the Scriptures day after day to check up on Paul and company’s teachings.
👉God expects us to hold teachers accountable for their declarations about God. We are to search the Scriptures, not blindly trust everything we hear.

Q. What happened to the Bereans as a result of listening and search the Scriptures?
A. Acts 17:12 = Many Jews believed, as did some of the prominent Greek women and also many men believed.

Q. Did Paul and company find trouble in Berea?
A. Acts 17:13 = Yes. Jews from Thessalonica heard Paul was in Berea and traveled there to stir up trouble for him.

👉 Why didn’t God slam those Jews into the grund and ask them why they were persecuting Him?
He did so for Paul! It is simply because their hearts were evil. Paul persecuted Christians, thinking he was righteous in God’s eyes. God simply corrected him on that road to Damascus!

Q. What happened next?
A. Acts 17:14 = The Berean believers acted at once, sending Paul to the coast.

Q. What about Silas and Timothy?
A. Acts 17:14 = They stayed behind in Berea.

Q. Did Paul go alone to the coast?
A. Acts 17:15 = No. Believers escorted him to Athens, then returned to Berea with a message for Silas and Timothy to hurry and join Paul in Athens.

Q. What was Athens like at that time?
A. Acts 17:16 = Filled with idols, which troubled Paul.

Q. Was there a synagogue in Athens?
A. Acts 17:17 = Yes. Paul debated with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles there.

Q. Where else did Paul speak in Athens?
A. Acts 17:17 = In the public square to all who happened to be there, like the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers who met in the square daily.

Q. How did Paul minister to them?
A. Acts 17:18 = In debate.

Q. What did the people conclude about Jesus?
A. Acts 17:18 =
1) They thought Paul had strange ideas
2) They decided they needed more philosophers to debate with Paul, so they took him to the Council of Philosophers.

Q. How did this council respond to Paul?
A. Acts 17:19 = They waited to judge him until they heard all about this new religion he preached. There was alwys some new idea to discuss in Athens!

Q. Did Paul accommodate them?
A. Acts 17:22 = Yes. He addressed them as very religious people, as their idols everywhere proved.
👉The first step in talking religion to unbelievers is to acknowledge their hears’ leaning upward toward Heaven, however they may display it in their lives. All people seek God knowingly or not. Missionaries are very aware of this truth!

Q. How did Paul use idols to share the Good News in Athens?
A. Acts 17:23 = One altar, one idol, was to an Unknown God. Guess what?

Q. What?
A. Acts 17:23 = They had unknowingly been worshiping God!
👉 Every person needs to be found out. Will you take the time to discover an unbeliever’s heart? We get through to him by evaluation.

Q. What did Paul do next?
A. Acts 17:23-31 = He told them of God’s story and intervention with all of mankind throughout history.

Q. Did God ever live in a man-made temple?
A. Acts 17:24 = No.

Q. Why?
A. Acts 17:24 = God is Lord of Heaven and Earth.

Q. Have human hands ever been able to serve God’s needs?
A. Acts 17:25 = No.

Q. Why?
A. Acts 17:25 = God has no needs!

Q. What are two basic truths about God?
A. Acts 17:25 =
1) He gives life and breath to everything
2) God satisfied every need there ever was.

Q. Do we all come from Adam?
A. Acts 17:26 = Yes. Every nation as well!

Q. How is the rise and fall of a civilization determined?
A. Acts 17:26 = Through God’s decision made before He even created Earth.

Q. How are boundaries of nations set?
A. Acts 17:26 = By God’s decision for them made before He created the Earth.

Q. Why set up man to become nations that rise and fall?
A. Acts 17:27 = That they should all seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him at last.

Q. Is God far from anyone?
A. Acts 17:27 = No. We couldn’t survive without His constant presence.

Q. Why?
A. Acts 17:28 = In God, we live, move and exist.
👉The Holy Spirit guides all people.

Q. Did Paul quote their favorite poets?
A. Acts 17:28 = Yes. Where the poet agrees with Scripture, he quoted him. In this case the quote was “We are his offspring.”

Q. Why approach these Athenians with the majesty of God?
A. Acts 17:29 = To show them how ridiculous it was to think of God being an idol.
👉Observe the sinful circumstances surrounding an unbeliever. Tell God’s story, emphasizing God’s true circumstances by contrast. The truth is unmeasurable in its enormity, when put next to a lie one has accepted.

Q. What is true about ignorance of God’s truth?
A. Acts 17:30 = God overlooks ignorance about Him. But when they know the truth, He commands everyone everywhere to turn away from idols and turn to Him.

Q. What awaits us in Heaven?
A. Acts 17:31 = Judgment by Jesus.

Q. How did God prove Jesus was His appointed one to judge?
A. Acts 17:31 = By raising Jesus from the dead.

Q. And Paul spoke of all this to the Council of Philosophers in Athens?
A. Acts 17:32 = Yes. Some even wanted to know more. Others laughed.

Q. Did any become believers?
A. Acts 17:34 = Yes. After the address Paul gave them.

Q. Who believed?
A. Acts 17:34 =
1) Dionysus, who was a member of the Council
2) A woman named Damaris
3) Others not mentioned by name.

Q. Where did Paul go next? A. Acts 18:1 = To Corinth of the Books of Corinthians. Another Greek city.

Q. What was happening in Rome at the time?
A. Acts 18:2 = Claudius Caesar expelled all Jews from Rome.

Q. What happened in Corinth as a result?
A. Acts 18:2 = Paul met fellow tent makers, Aquila and his wife, Priscilla. They ended up living together in Corinth.

Q. So Paul made a living?
A. Acts 18:3 = Yes.

Q. What did Paul do for ministry in Corinth?
A. Acts 18:4-5 = Each Sabbath, he went to the synagogue there, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks about Jesus being Messiah.

Q. Did Timothy and Silas finally show up in Corinth? A. Acts 18:5 = Yes.

Q. What did they do to help Paul? A. Acts 18:5 = They did his tent making so he could preach full time.

Q. What happened in Corinth?
A. Acts 18:6 = The Jews in the synagogue opposed and insulted Paul, so he shook the dust from his robe and stopped trying to convert Jews.

Q. What would Paul do from now on?
A. Acts 18:6 = Preach to the Gentiles.

Q. Who got saved in Corinth?
A. Acts 18:7 =
1) Titus Justus, a Gentile, who lived next door to the synagogue
2) Crispus, the leader of the synagogue along with all his household
3) Many others not mentioned by name.

Q. Were they all baptized too?
A. Acts 18:8 = Yes.

Q. What did God think about Paul bringing the Good News to the Gentiles in Corinth?
A. Acts 18:9-10 = God came to Paul in a vision and confirmed it was a good thing, especially in Corinth!

Q. Why?
A. Acts 18:10 = Many people in Corinth belonged to God, and God told him so He would be safe there.

Q. How long did Paul stay in Corinth?
A. Acts 18:11 = A year and a half.

Q. How did he minster to the Corinthians?
A. Acts 18:11 = He taught them the Word of God.

Q. What happened after that time?
A. Acts 18:12 = Politics changed, a new governor came to Achain, where Corinth and Athens were situated, and the unbelieving Jews took advantage of the change.

Q. How?
A. Acts 18:12 = They rose in concerted action against Paul and brought him before Governor Gallio for judgment.

👉Politics are the same today: The Conservatives versus the Liberals; whenever an office changes, each side wants his man to win in order to effect change.
Good versus evil games can tire one out if played in the flesh. Trust God and pray for good leaders!

Q. What did these unbelieving Jews charge Paul with this time?
A. Acts 18:13 = Persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the Law.
👉They accused Jesus before Pilate of teaching people to worship God in ways contrary to their own Law of Moses and the Prophets.

Q. Did Paul defend himself again?
A. Acts 18:14 = He didn’t have to, but he was ready to!

Q. What happened instead? A. Acts 18:14 = The judge rebuked the unbelieving Jews for bringing a case before him that obviously was a matter of question in Jewish Law. He saw right through them and refused to judge Paul right out.

👉Don’t break the law your government has set before you as a citizen. Preach the Good News within the boundaries of civil law. This means we don’t blow up abortion clinics or gather a lynch mob to exact justice on our own. Paul did everything within the laws of the land, as did Jesus.

Q. What happened next?
A. Acts 18:16 = Governor Gallio drove the unbelieving Jews out of the courtroom.

Q. Did they leave peaceably? A. Acts 18:17 = No. The mob grabbed Sothsenes, who was the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right in the courtroom.

Q. What did Gallio do?
A. Acts 18:17 = Nothing. He paid no attention to the fracas.

Q. Was Paul able to stay in Corinth after that?
A. Acts 18:18 = Yes, and for a long time. But he finally said good bye to the brethren and sailed away.

Q. To where?
A. Acts 18:18 = The coast of Syria (in Asia) and to Ephesus.

Q. Who went with him?
A. Acts 18:18 = Aquila and Priscilla.

Q. What happened in Ephesus?
A. Acts 18:19 = Paul left everyone behind and went to the synagogue there to debate with the Jews.

👉This man has such a passion for people! He always filled the synagogues with the Good News, no matter the danger or the negative consequences. But at each synagogue, someone was saved, which eggs him on!

Q. How did the Jews receive Paul in Ephesus?
A. Acts 18:20-21 = They asked him to stay longer, but Paul needed to go. He promised to return if God was willing.

Q. Where did Paul go next? A. Acts 18:21-22 = He sailed to the port of Caeserea, about 600 miles southwest of Ephesus, which is about 200 miles north of Jerusalem.

Q. Where did he go from the ship?
A. Acts 18:22 = Up to Jerusalem to visit the church there.

👉”Up” to Jerusalem means up in altitude, though Jerusalem is south of Caeserea.

Q. Where did Paul go after he visited the church in Jerusalem?
A. Acts 18:22 = Back to Antioch, 350 miles north of Jerusalem on the same coast.

Q. Did Paul stay put for awhile in Antioch?
A. Acts 18:23 = Yes.

Q. Where to next?
A. Acts 18:23 = Back to Galatia and Phrygia.

Q. What did Paul do in Phrygia?
A. Acts 18:23 = He visited all the believers, encouraging them and helping them to grow in the Lord.

👉At some point, every believer should be doing this for new believers and old. Are you an encourager?
Do you help believers to grow in the Lord?
My opportunities to do this come daily. Watch out for the devil, who will try to distract you with the cares of this life so that you don’t miss out on the blessing God wants to give others through you.

Practice blessing. Write down what you would like someone to have from God, according to His Word. Here are some examples of blessings:
1) To one feeling oppressed, you might say, “May God fill you with new strength, that this oppression would be overwhelmed with His awesome presence.”
2) To one persecuted, you might say, “May God fill you with boldness and endurance and give you His words that your persecutors might know Him personally too. May your faith increase with each blow; may your life testimony cause the angels of Heaven to give God glory. May you recover quickly.”
3) To one confused, bless him with clarity from Heaven.
4) To one in mourning, bless him with God’s comforting arms.
5) To one the subject of vicious rumors, bless with God’s peach and trust as he gives it all to God’s care.
6) To one heavily burdened, help him to take his burdens to the cross visually and leave them there. Bless him with renewed strength, Jesus’ light burden, and spend time with him in the presence of God in prayer.
You get the pattern here? Blessings are powerful remedies. Use every opportunity that comes, negative or positive, to bless people.

Q. Who else other than the apostles was an enthusiastic teacher of the Scriptures in Ephesus?
A. Acts 18:24 = Apollos.

Q. Who was Apollos?
A. Acts 18:24-25 = A Jewish teacher who was eloquent in speech. He came from Alexandria in Egypt, teaching about Jesus with great accuracy and enthusiasm. But he taught only from the teachings about Jesus he learned from John the Baptist.

Q. Did Apollos teach in the synagogue?
A. Acts 18:26 = Yes.

Q. Who heard Apollos speak there?
A. Acts 18:26 = Priscilla and Aquila.

Q. Did they stop him to correct some inaccurate teachings he did not know he was passing on?
A. Acts 18:26 = Yes, but they waited, then took him aside privately to correct him.
👉 There is no need to correct a teacher while he teaches. This only makes his students doubt him in the future. The teacher may not want to listen to you anyway, so trust God to set things right. God will intervene if you pray, just like He did with Paul on the road to Damascus!

Q. What was on Apollos’ heart in Ephesus?
A. Acts 19:27 = Visiting Achaia was on his heart.
👉 Achaia had within its boundaries Corinth, Athens and Canchrea.

Q. Did he share that desire with anyone in Ephesus?
A. Acts 18:27 = Yes.
👉 Share your desires with the brethren. God may confirm your desires in some of them and give you the confidence needed to pursue your desires.

Q. How did Apollos go to Achaia?
A. Acts 19:27 = The believers wrote to the Achaian church asking them to welcome Apollos.

Q. Was going to Achaia a good choice after all?
A. Acts 18:27 = Yes. Apollos benefited the Gentile believers there tremendously.

Q. How?
A. Acts 18:28 = He continued in Paul’s work, refuting all the unbelieving Jews with powerful arguments in public debates. He used the Scriptures to show them Jesus was Messiah.

👉 Apollos took the debates out of the synagogues and into the public square so that all could hear.
👉The Jews spoke publicly against Jesus. So Apollos proved Jesus publicly. When you want to stop confusing teachings, do it publicly. Just make sure the confused teacher is present. If he is stubborn about his false teaching, correcting him in public will emphasize the importance of correction to all, including the teacher. In doing so, you may get shot down as the messenger (kill the messenger),
but all will at last hear the truth. Remember, Paul already made this attempt at correcting them in Achaia. Now it was time to do it publicly.

✍️🥒Mrs. Kalaiselvi Balakrishnan in Jesus Christ 🥒✍️