Study of Acts, chapter 25, message 65, week 30, Wednesday

DAILY STUDY OF ACTS

MESSAGE SIXTY-FIVE

THE PROPAGATION IN ASIA MINOR AND EUROPE
THROUGH THE MINISTRY OF PAUL AND HIS COMPANIONS (31)

WEEK 30 – WEDNESDAY

Bible Reading: Acts 21:27-39; 21:40-22:21; 22:22-23:11

Read and pray: "The following night the Lord stood by him and said, 'Take courage! For as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome'" (Acts 23:11)

ENCOURAGED BY THE LORD

By the mercy of the Lord, Paul was rescued from the hands of the rebellious Jews and handed over to the Roman commander (21:27-39). After defending himself before the Jews (21:40-22:21), he was bound by the Romans (22:22-29) and defended himself before the Sanhedrin (22:30-23:10), he was encouraged by the Lord.

Regarding this, Acts 23:11 says: “The following night the Lord stood by him and said, ‘Take courage! For as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.’” This was a categorical confirmation for Paul, who was certainly afraid. If he had not been afraid, the Lord would not have told him to take courage. He had certainly been in a frightening situation. But sovereignly the Lord rescued him from that situation, and then came to assure Paul that he would testify of Him in Rome. In this way, Paul’s desire to see Rome would be fulfilled.

THE VISION PAUL HAD OF GOD’S NEW TESTAMENT ECONOMY

Let us reconsider the situation Paul found himself in. The church was weak, compromising, and with little light. In the church in Jerusalem, there was no authentic testimony. The religious people of Judaism were blind, devilish, and full of hatred, and the Roman politicians were corrupt. With this backdrop, we see Paul, a man burdened with the New Testament economy of God and saturated with it. Considering the situation involving the church, Judaism, and the Roman government, he knew that what was most needed was this economy.

What is God’s New Testament economy? It is the propagation of the processed Triune God in the person of the all-inclusive resurrected Christ. Only the propagation of this resurrected Christ is the answer to the lamentable situation on earth. We must allow God to carry out this economy of propagating the resurrected Christ. Paul must have considered this greatly during the two years he was imprisoned in Caesarea. Thus, when he was taken to Rome, he began to write the last eight of his Epistles: Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, Philemon, 1 Timothy, Titus, Hebrews, and 2 Timothy. These give us a clear vision of how to carry out the economy of God.

Soon after presenting the clear vision of God’s New Testament economy by completing his writings of the divine revelation, he was martyred. About a quarter of a century later, the book of Revelation was written. In the seven epistles of Revelation 2 and 3, we can see that the churches, which were primarily established by Paul for the fulfillment of God’s economy by propagating the resurrected Christ, had degraded. The degradation consisted of the loss of the all-inclusive Christ and the entrance of other things as substitutes for Christ. Except for the epistle to the church in Philadelphia, we see that in these seven churches, many things had stealthily entered to replace Christ.

Nearly nineteen centuries have passed since the book of Revelation was written. During these centuries, there has been a battle between Satan and God. Satan has tried to replace Christ in different ways. As a result, many of us, including myself, were born into organized Christianity with very little of Christ.

For example, how much of Christ is there in the celebration of Christmas? In today’s Christianity, there is a mixture of truth and falsehood. Very few believers know the truth in a deep and complete way. After being saved, I immediately began to love the Bible and study it. Gradually, the light concerning God’s New Testament economy came through the Word.

By God’s illumination, we can see that Paul had a burden for the full revelation of God’s New Testament economy. The fulfillment of God’s economy involved the incarnation, human living, death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ, in order to propagate Himself by infusing Himself into God’s chosen ones. In this way, God’s people can become His children and the members of Christ, to be one Body to express Him.

This expression is in the local churches in this age and will continue in the New Jerusalem in eternity. This is the vision Paul gained, and this is what we need to see today. Paul’s vision regarding God’s New Testament economy is fully revealed and developed in his last eight Epistles. Thus, with the help of the messages of the Life-Studies, we need to study them, especially Ephesians and Hebrews. In this way, we will be enriched in experiences of Christ, who propagates Himself in God’s New Testament economy.

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¹ Naturally, Jews, Romans, Greeks, barbarians, and any other people without God are blind, devilish, full of hatred, and corrupt. A human being without the divine life is a deposit of all that Satan has cultivated in human nature since the fall of man.

Enjoy more: Hymn 122