The Christians believed that the resurrection already had begun in Christ. This time it became clear that it was not resurrection in general but specifically the resurrection of Christ that separated him from the Jews and constituted the focal point of his witness

Though being struck, Paul, declares that it is God who will strike Ananias. Luke’s readers who knew their history would know that, in fact, Jewish zealots struck down Ananias at the outbreak of the revolt against Rome (AD 66).

When Paul claimed that God sent him out of Jerusalem to proclaim a divine message to Gentiles, he stepped beyond the boundaries of their tolerance. So the departure from Jerusalem did not just save Paul’s life, nor did he leave only because people rejected his testimony there. God had a greater duty far away.

Upon seeing Paul in the temple, these enemies of the gospel wasted no time in seizing their opportunity. They immediately began to stir up all the vast multitude of devout pilgrims who were in the city for the festival.

You can’t stand for something, unless you’ve got something to stand for. You can’t be courageous unless you’ve got a conviction you’re fighting for. So, it all begins with something that you believe in.

He believed that he would not be coming back, that he would never again see the churches of Asia, Macedonia, and Achaia that had become so dear to him (cf. 20:25

Nowhere in the epistles is there any promise to Christians that they can deliver the unsaved from demons. Nor is there any command for believers to exorcise demons out of each other.

When I hear a popular charismatic leader on television (who is revered by millions) telling an emotionally and spiritually troubled woman that her problems would have been solved if only she had prayed more frequently in tongues, I am listening to spiritual humbug without a scrap of biblical warrant or a shred of pastoral responsibility.

God had to make sure that the gospel was preached by Paul in order for those to be saved. There is no salvation without the sharing of the gospel.

If the law commands what God forbids or forbids what God commands then you must break the law. But the problem with that simple guideline is that much of the civil disobedience in history has involved doing things that are not clearly commanded by God.