Apostle Paul's 3rd Missionary Journey & the Fourth to Rome

The third journey (Acts 18:23-21:17) took about 6 years (A.D. 53-58).

The fourth journey to Rome (Acts 27-28) was due his appeal to Festus to see Caesar (AD 60/61).

(Acts 25:12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: "You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!")

Interestingly, if he had not appealed, he would have been set free. (Acts 26:32 Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.")

In our human interpretation, we heave a sigh of frustration as we follow the story that Apostle Paul could have been set free there and then. But God has a different purpose than ours. He (Paul) needs to go to Rome!

Third Missionary Journey

Fourth Journey to Rome

Another interesting point to note it that Paul always had travelling companions with him.

First journey: Barnabas, John, Mark

Second journey: Silas, Timothy, Priscilla and Aquila, Luke

Third Journey: Timothy, Luke, and other disciples

Fourth journey to Rome: Luke, Roman guards and others

It shows the necessity of us not walking alone in our journey of faith. In other words, we need each other for encouragement.

Do you have any idea the distance Apostle Paul travelled? Here's an approximation:

First journey 1,400 miles (2,250 km)

Second journey 2,800 miles (4,500 km)

Third journey 2,700 miles (4,340 km)

Fourth journey to Rome 2,250 (3,620 km)

Approximately with a total of 9,150 miles (14,700 km)

Our North-South Expressway (NSE) is about 1000 km in distance. So Apostle Paul would have traverse from Johor Baru to Bukit Kayu Hitam in Kedah, back and forth about fifteen times! By then, the Roman Empire had such good road system that it facilitated the evangelism of the Gospel throughout the Empire. As the saying goes "All roads lead to Rome" played an important part in the spreading of the Gospel. There was also a common language of Greek that can be used throughout the travels. God knew this and He timed it such!

By the way, this does not include his other journeys:

OTHER TRAVELS - YEAR OF TRAVEL UNKNOWN:

Macedonia to Illyricum: 1 Timothy 1:3

Troas and Miletus: 2 Timothy 4:13, 20

Crete: Titus 1:5

Mission to Spain: circa AD 63-66: Romans 15:28

Nicopolis: Titus 3:12

MARTYRDOM:

Back to Rome and martyrdom: 2 Timothy 1; death June 29, AD 67

As we come to the end of Acts, we see God's hands in the evangelism of the known world then. This is our rich Christian heritage, that from the lives of faithful men and women, we are where we are today: Our names are written in the Book of Life!

Hebrews 12:1-3

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ²Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

We are surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses, which includes those walking in the times of Acts. They are watching us. Let's run with the same perseverance!

Apostle Paul's 2nd Missionary Journey

The first journey (Acts 13:4 - 14:28) took about 3 years (A.D. 46-48).

The second journey (Acts 15:39-18:22) took about 4 years (A.D. 49-52)

The map of the second journey is posted at the end.

What was interesting is the intense dispute between Apostle Paul and Barnabas. Both spirit-filled man, with a deep love for God, disagreed over Mark. Acts 16:37-28 "Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work."

Disagreements can be a common fare among Christians as we are made so differently, and therefore the way we see and judge things and people is different. In the rainbow tapestry of human relationships, our lives become "interesting" as we learn to live and work with one another. No single person sees things perfectly, but in collective or community effort, we sought the Lord together as a Body, each part functioning for the whole.

Here was a person of Mark, maybe a rash irresponsible still marturing young man who deserted Paul and Barnabas in the midst of ministry. Barnabas (whose name means "Son of Encouragement" Acts 4:36) in his reconciliatory, encouraging and edifying nature, was prepared to give Mark a second chance. But Paul "think it not wise" to take him on. What did they disagreed upon that split up that vital partnership? Mark must be quite a character. In the later years of course Mark was exonerated as Paul himself requested for him in his final days (2 Timothy 4:11).

Was Paul a good judge of character? Maybe Barnabas was a better judge of potential. Maybe Paul was too quick to dismiss Mark but I am sure he had his reasons.  Would the church then would be very different if they had been more agreeable with each other? Interesting thought here!

Thank God for the Barnabas of our days. They see the potential that others can't see. There should be more 'Barnabas' in all of us!

Apostle Paul's First Missionary Journey (Acts 13-14)

One of the good thing about journalling is that we often take note of what is not so obvious, something we can miss if we tend to take only the 'popular verses'. In this first missionary of Paul and Barnabas, note Acts 13:2 .... "Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work".

Then in verse 9: "Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit,...", we saw a switching of names. It is customary to have a given name, in this case Saul (Hebrew, Jewish background), and a later name, Paul (Roman, Hellenistic background). From then on Saul is called Paul in Acts. The order in which they are mentioned now changes from "Barnabas and Saul" to "Paul and Barnabas." This may be due to the fact that they are now entering the Gentile phase of his ministry. Interestingly, upon their return to the Jerusalam church, the order reverts to "Barnabas and Paul" (Acts 15:12). See how deliberate and intentional every word is in the Bible.

Then in this first missionary journey, see the map enclosed, we see the land route of Attalia - Pisidian Antioch - Iconium - Lystra - Derbe. In your reading, you would notice there were many conversions and persecutions as well. In Acts 14:20 in Lystra we note: "But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe."

Did you know that young Timothy may have been present in the crowd? We know from Acts 16:1 that he's from Lystra. We read in 2 Tim 3:10-11:

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

Now you know!

Jesus hung on a tree, or cross?

Hi Pastor,

 As I was reading the books of Acts, I noticed that Peter & disciples told the people that Jesus was hung on a tree. Why is this so? Isn’t Jesus hung on a cross? Any thoughts on this?

Perplexed...

Rico

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Dear Rico,

This is a good question. Well done! You have observed well! I wonder if anyone else had this anomaly in mind.

 There are five passages that talked about this. I have reproduced it below:

 Acts 5:30 (NIV) The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.

 Acts 10:39 “We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree,

 Acts 13:29 When they had carried out all that was written about him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.

 Galatians 3:13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”

 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.

To understand the phrase “hung on a tree”, we need to look at the Old Testament, as the New Testament was being written then.

Deuteronomy 21:22-23

²² If a man guilty of a capital offense is put to death and his body is hung on a tree, ²³ you must not leave his body on the tree overnight. Be sure to bury him that same day, because anyone who is hung on a tree is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance.

There are two approaches to answer this. A simplistic logical way would be to say the cross is made of wood, which is from trees. Jesus was crucified and hung on the cross. Therefore in that sense, he is hung on a tree. That I think may not bring out the wealth of spiritual implication from the Old Testament.

In the Old Testament laws, when a man is hung on a tree, it represents a special mark of the curse of God, or what the Apostle Paul in Galatians puts it as, the “curse of the law.” We are all cursed in our sins and the just punishment is death and to be hung on a tree. But Jesus came to redeem us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, and in that sense to be hung on the cross, or tree, on our behalf. He took our sins on His body, and hence the curse, literally implicating Himself with Deuteronomy 21:22-23.

The Jews understood this phrase “hung on a tree” well and appreciate the spiritual implication of the cross.

Acts 5: The young men - what happened to them?

We are now on the book of Acts! It is definitely fast-paced as we see the story of the early church unfold before our eyes! It is exciting to see the birth of the church and how God began to put systems and processes, both human and organizational, in place. 

What was sobering was also the story of Ananias and Sapphira in chapter 5. I can't help but ask the question "Why so severe, Lord?"

As I journal my thoughts, it became apparent that it was necessary at the infancy of the Church as these men and women of the early would be instrumental in turning the world upside down (or right side up, depending on how you look at it!). God neeeded to have purity in the church in its infancy. Any compromise would have been devastating for the early church. Great fear seized the church (Acts 5:5) and then young men (Acts 5:6) came forward to help bury Ananias. Three hours later, they had to also bury Sapphira. Then in verses 13 & 14, "No one else No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. ^ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number."

Fear by itself may sound terrible and unproductive. But often the Bible talks about the need for holy fear of God, something generative and good that spurs us on to the road of obedience in the Almighty God. For e.g. Ecclesiastes 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.

When there is a lack of fear of God, we tend to slack in our Christian journey. In fact we wander away from the Way. Often Christians live their lives carelessly and in sin because of the lack of fear of God. In fact, this fear in Acts 5 kept many away from becoming Christian because they now realized holiness is a very serious matter and not to be taken lightly. This became a natural filter for weeding out those who are not serious about living out their faith. It reminds me of a story of a Russian church, while they were worshipping in the cover of secrecy for fear of imprisoment, a soldier with his gun barged through the door demanding that those who wish to renounce their Christian faith to leave right away. After a few have left, he closed the door and instead of doing what all were fearful of, the soldier put his gun down, said to the congregation, "Now we know who are the true believers. Let's now truly worship God together." The fear of God is greater than the fear of men.

Ironically, the Bible tells us many more were added to the Church in spite of this. My mind wandered to the group of young men that had to bury the dead couple. What were they thinking? There must be moments of silence, contemplation and reflections as they go about the unpleasant job of the burial. What became of these young men? Did they begin to take their Christian life very seriously and later on in life to leave a powerful legacy of their faith? Did they die for their faith as well? I look forward to see them in heaven some day and ask them many questions. One of these questions would certainly, "What were you feeling and thinking the day you had to bury Ananias and Sapphira?"

Food for thought: Do we take sin seriously? Is there a holy fear of God that inspires us to live life in a way that pleases God?