The Ministry of the Apostle Paul by James Thomas Lee, Jr. 01/19/14 08/06/21 02/11/22 Copyrighted 2014 by James Thomas Lee, Jr. ISBN 978-1494975128, 1494975122 (paper) Imprint: Independently published Table of Contents Chapter Page Number INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................7 PART 1 – PAUL'S FIRST BIBLE-RECORDED MISSIONARY TRIP ................9 CHAPTER 1 –DATING AND BEGINNING THE JOURNEY ..........................................11 a. Dating the First Bible-Recorded Journey (Middle 5th Decade) ..................13 b. The First Recorded Missionary Journey Began ..........................................15 CHAPTER 2 – ANTIOCH IN PISIDIA, ICONIUM, AND LYSTRA .................................19 a. Turning to the Gentiles in Pisidia ................................................................19 b. Paul Had Been Left for Dead in Lystra .......................................................23 c. God Had Even Loved Their Enemies ..........................................................25 CHAPTER 3 – RETURNING TO ANTIOCH IN SYRIA ................................................29 PART 2 – PAUL'S SECOND BIBLE-RECORDED MISSIONARY JOURNEY ................................................................................................................................31 CHAPTER 4 –DATING AND BEGINNING THE JOURNEY ..........................................33 a. Dating the Second Bible-Recorded Journey (Early 6th Decade) ................33 b. A Disagreement over John Mark ................................................................34 c. The Second Recorded Missionary Journey Began ......................................36 d. Committing to and Trusting in the Lord .....................................................39 CHAPTER 5 – THE ETERNAL CONSEQUENCE OF DENYING THE LORD ..................43 a. Ephesians 4:30 Proves Eternal Security ......................................................43 b. Matthew 10:19-20 and Luke 12:11-12 Promise Divine Help .....................44 c. I Corinthians 10:13 Promises a Way Out ....................................................44 d. II Timothy 4:6-7 Makes Saints Ready for Whatever ..................................45 e. Matthew 10:32-33 Does Not Apply ............................................................46 f. Peter's Failure Proves Eternal Security, Too ...............................................47 CHAPTER 6 – THE HOLY SPIRIT HAD LED PAUL AND SILAS TO EUROPE .............49 a. The Church in Galatia .................................................................................49 b. Bypassing Proconsular Asia ........................................................................50 c. Into Macedonia ............................................................................................52 CHAPTER 7 – GOOD AND BAD TIDINGS IN PHILIPPI .............................................55 a. A Question concerning Lydia's Salvation ...................................................55 b. A Young Damsel Had Gotten Paul and Silas into Trouble .........................57 CHAPTER 8 – BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST AND BE SAVED ...................65 a. Seek, Heart, Believe, and Fellowship ..........................................................66 b. The Greek Word "Pisteuo" ..........................................................................67 c. But Salvation Also Involves Repentance ....................................................69 d. When True Salvation Acually Occurs .........................................................70 Table of Contents Chapter Page Number CHAPTER 9 –THESSALONICA AND CORINTH ........................................................75 a. Paul and Silas Had Next Gone to Thessalonica ..........................................75 b. Mixed Reactions in Thessalonica ................................................................77 c. Trouble Had Led Them from Thessalonica to Berea ..................................80 d. Paul Had Been Chased from Berea to Athens ............................................81 e. Paul Had Met Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth .............................................83 f. Good New about the Church in Thessalonica .............................................85 CHAPTER 10 – PAUL'S FIRST THREE EPISTLES .....................................................87 a. Epistle 1 to the Church in (First) Thessalonica (52AD) ..............................87 b. Epistle 2 to the Church in Galatia (52AD or 53AD) ...................................93 c. Epistle 3 to the Church in (Second) Thessalonica (53AD) .........................97 CHAPTER 11 – TURNING TO THE GENTILES AGAIN IN CORINTH ........................103 a. Paul Had Not Been a Stranger to Trouble .................................................104 b. But Paul Had Stood His Ground in Corinth ..............................................105 c. Along with Trouble Paul Had Enjoyed Much Success .............................106 d. Paul Had Stood Before Proconsul Gallio ..................................................108 CHAPTER 12 – PAUL HAD GONE TO EPHESUS AND BACK TO ANTIOCH .............111 a. Paul Had Had a Deep Passion for his People ............................................112 b. The Seven Churches in the Book of Revelation .......................................113 c. Apollos as the Possible Author of the Book of Hebrews ..........................114 PART 3 – PAUL'S THIRD BIBLE-RECORDED MISSIONARY JOURNEY .117 CHAPTER 13 – PAUL'S THIRD RECORDED MISSIONARY .....................................119 a. Dating the Third Bible-Recorded Journey ((Middle 6th Decade)) ...........119 b. The Third Recorded Missionary Journey Began ......................................121 CHAPTER 14 – A VERY SUCCESSFUL MINISTRY IN EPHESUS .............................123 a. Some Disciples in Ephesus and the Baptism of John ................................123 b. A Question about their Salvation ..............................................................126 c. When True Salvation Acually Occurs .......................................................127 d. Paul Had Again Disputed in the Synagogue .............................................129 e. Paul Had Ministered in the School of Tyrannus .......................................133 f. Paul Had Had a Conflict with Sceva's Sons ..............................................134 g. Paul Had Sent Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia ...................................137 CHAPTER 15 – EPISTLE 4 TO THE CHURCH IN (FIRST) CORINTH (56AD) ...........141 a. Paul Had Addressed Illicit Sexual Relationships ......................................142 b. Paul Had Addressed Immorality in the Church ........................................144 c. Paul Had Addressed a Church Division ....................................................145 d. Paul Had Address Other Spiritual Truths ..................................................146 Table of Contents Chapter Page Number CHAPTER 16 – PAUL HAD HAD TROUBLE WITH DEMETRIUS IN EPHESUS ..........151 CHAPTER 17 - PAUL HAD GONE TO MACEDONIA ..............................................153 a. Conditions Had Also Been Bad in Macedonia ..........................................154 b. Epistle 5 to the Church in (Second) Corinth (57AD) ................................157 1) Be Very Careful in Relationships ..........................................................159 2) Paul Had Had a Thorn in the Flesh ........................................................161 c. Paul Had Gone to Greece and Back to Macedonia ...................................163 d. Epistle 6 to the Christians in Rome (58AD) .............................................164 1) The Romans Road of Salvation .............................................................166 2) They Had Not Gloried God as God .......................................................167 3) They Had Had a Problem with Inappropriate Sex .................................168 4) No One But Jesus Has FIRST Sought God ...........................................170 5) Paul Had Been Willing to be Accursed for his People ..........................171 6) Romans 10:9-10 as an Evidence of Salvation ........................................171 7) Romans 10:9-10 Is an Evidence of Salvation ONLY ............................173 CHAPTER 18 – PAUL HAD STARTED BACK TO JERUSALEM ................................177 PART 4 – PAUL'S FIRST IMPRISONMENT IN ROME ..................................183 CHAPTER 19 – PAUL AS A PRISONER OF ROME ..................................................185 a. Paul's First Major Imprisonment Had Been in Caesarea (58AD) .............186 1) The Jewish Mob Had Turned Against Paul ...........................................187 2) The Chief Captain Had Wanted to Scourge Paul ...................................189 3) Paul Had Appeared before the Sanhedrin ..............................................190 4) Two Occurrences Following the Council ..............................................192 b. Paul Had Appeared before Felix the Governor of Caesarea (58AD) ........194 1) Felix Had Wanted to Hear the Testimony of Lysias ..............................197 2) Paul Had Regularly Met with Felix and his Wife ..................................198 3) Had Paul Been Wrong to Always go to the Synagogue? .......................199 CHAPTER 20 – STILL IN PRISON TWO YEARS LATER .........................................203 a. Paul Had Appeared before Festus in Caesarea (60AD) ............................203 1) Festus Had Become Procurator ..............................................................204 2) Festus Had Tried to Get Paul off his Books ..........................................206 b. Paul Had Appeared before King Agrippa in Caeserea (60AD) ................208 1) Paul Had Probably Been a Stranger to the King ....................................209 2) Paul Had Presented His Case to the King ..............................................210 3) Procurator Had Declared Paul to be Insane ...........................................213 4) Paul Had Ended by Challenging King Agrippa .....................................215 CHAPTER 21 –PAUL HAD BEEN TRANSPORTED TO ROME (60AD-61AD) .........217 Table of Contents Chapter Page Number CHAPTER 22 – PAUL HAD WRITTEN HIS FOUR PRISON EPISTLES ......................221 a. Epistle 7 to the Church in Philippi (62AD-63AD) ....................................221 1) Paul Had Probably Written from Rome .................................................222 2) Paul Had Written His Letter to Thank the Church.................................225 3) Paul Had Written to Address Numerous Other Issues ...........................226 b. Epistle 8 to the Church in Colosse (62AD-63AD) ....................................229 c. Epistle 9 to Philemon (62AD-63AD) ........................................................235 1) Onesimus Had Been a Runaway Servant ...............................................236 2) Paul Had Hoped to soon Visit Philemon ...............................................237 d. Epistle 10 to the Church in Ephesus (62AD-63AD) .................................238 1) Dating and Delivering this Letter to the Church ....................................239 2) Paul Had Probably Dictated This Letter ................................................240 3) Similarities between the letters to Colosse and Ephesus .......................241 4) A Problem Unique to the Pronconsular Asia Area ................................244 PART 5 – PAUL'S FINAL JOURNEY AND FINAL IMPRISONMENT .........247 CHAPTER 23 – PAUL'S RELEASE, FINAL JOURNEY, AND FINAL EPISTLES ...........249 a. Paul Had Probably Gone to Philippi, Nicopolis and Colosse ...................250 b. Epistle 11 to (First) Timothy (64AD) .......................................................251 1) Dating the Writing of Paul's First Letter to Timothy .............................252 2) The First Seven Important Matters ........................................................254 3) Three Questions about Bishops and Deacons ........................................260 4) The Last Two Important Matters ...........................................................263 c. Epistle 12 to Titus (64AD) ........................................................................265 CHAPTER 24 – PAUL'S SECOND IMPRISONMENT IN ROME ..................................269 a. Paul's Second Major Imprisonment Had Been in Rome (64AD-67AD)...269 b. Epistle 13 to (Second) Timothy (64AD-67AD) ........................................272 CHAPTER 25 – THE END OF A TRULY GREAT GODLY MAN ...............................279 APPENDIX A ......................................................................................................281 APPENDIX A – AN EXPLANATION OF TRUE BIBLICAL SALVATION ..283 A. CHOOSING TO BE SAVED IS AN INDIVIDUAL CHOICE .......................................284 B. SALVATION IS COMING BY FAITH TO THE "CREATOR OF EVERYTHING" .........286 C. LOOKING PAST THE DECEPTIONS AND THE DISTRACTIONS OF LIFE .................289 D. THE ONLY CONCLUSION THAT MAKES SENSE ...............................................290 ENDNOTES .........................................................................................................291 INDEX ................................................................................................................303 ABOUT THE AUTHOR .........................................................................................321 Introduction When this book was begun in late November 2013, the intent had been to write a commentary on chapter five of the Apostle Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. However, about fifty pages into that endeavor, it had become very clear that the book was not going in that direction. For one thing, his letter to that church had not even been mentioned in those pages. For another, the focus up to that point had mostly been on Paul's missionary journeys. The reason for those problems was that the original intent had been to put his letter to the church into the context of his journeys. But there had been so much to say about the journeys that his letter to the church had taken a much deserved back seat. Therefore, the title was changed to its current title, and the remaining efforts were applied in that direction. This book is very much a history of Paul's ministry. Great effort has been expended to try to date when and where Paul had gone. Then, at each stopping point along the way, the more significant events of what had happened to him are shared. Most people would probably not think of him as having taken five separate missionary journeys. But that is because the first one and the last one were not as carefully documented in the Bible as the middle three. In the pages that follow, the reader will be able to clearly see those five journeys plus his two separate imprisonments in Rome. Most people also have probably never tried to put his writing of his thirteen letters to the churches and to certain individuals into the context of what had been going on in his life at the time. But this book has - 7 - {Please visit: www.tlee1128.com} The Ministry of the Apostle Paul done that and has also dedicated space to trying to report exactly what he had been communicating in those letters. For example, the person that reads this book will learn what Paul had meant when he had written in Romans 1:20-32 that God had turned certain individuals over to a reprobate mind. He or she will learn what he had meant in I Timothy 2:11-15 when he had written about women being silent in the church. He or she will learn what Paul had meant in I Timothy 3:1-7 concerning men and women being involved in the ministry. He or she will learn in what city Paul had been in most danger of being thrown to the wild beasts and in what city he had actually been stoned and left for dead. The reader will learn some of the reasons for believing that Paul had not actually written the epistle to the Hebrews. Then in the final chapter, the reader will find a short tribute that has been given to Luke for his skill, accuracy, and dedication in writing about Paul's journeys. He or she will also find a tribute that has been given to Paul and to the other saints that had and have so selflessly dedicated themselves to bringing the truth of the gospel to succeeding generations regardless of the cost to themselves. The fact that this book shares so much of that kind of information in addition to the missionary journeys themselves makes it very much a tool for learning. Writing this book has been an incredibly interesting and uplifting learning experience for me. Therefore, I believe that it will be the same for anyone that reads it. Perhaps some day I will even get around to writing a commentary on the fifth chapter of Paul's letter to the church at Ephesus. James Thomas Lee, Jr. 19 January 2014 Part 1 – Paul's First Bible-Recorded Missionary Trip - 9 - {Please visit: www.tlee1128.com} The Ministry of the Apostle Paul - 10 - {Please visit: www.tlee1128.com}