Follow Him: A Come, Follow Me Podcast - Acts 16-21 Part 2 • Dr. Susan Easton Black • July 24 - July 30

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

Dr. Susan Easton Black continues to explore how Paul bears his testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ through the rise in persecution and the importance of baptisms by immersion and receiving the�� gift of the Holy Ghost.00:00 Part II–Dr. Susan Easton Black00:07 Paul has a vision of encouragement02:31 Paul’s Third Mission03:40 Paul spends three years in Ephesus05:28 The Great Day of Healing 07:30 Silversmiths of Ephesus lose customers11:26 Protests against Paul in the amphitheater15:46 Paul heads to Macedonia and onto Jerusalem16:38 A young boy falls to his death18:45 Susan and George Durrant’s novel Wesley: An Eye for an Eye20:05 Paul  bids farewell to friends in Ephesus24:17 Joy in service and missionary work25:36 Paul receives a blessing and warning in Caesarea27:04 Paul’s mission report in Jerusalem33:17 Paul-type missionaries in recent Church History36:49 Reflections on Paul’s call39:25 Word amidst opposition40:35 Paul’s statement of courage43:03 Valuing Paul’s sacrifice45:05  End of Part II–Dr. Susan Easton BlackPlease rate and review the podcast.Show Notes (English, French, Spanish, Portuguese): https://followhim.coFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/followhimpodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/followhimpodcastYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FollowHimOfficialChannelThanks to the followHIM team:Shannon Sorensen: Executive Producer, SponsorDavid & Verla Sorensen: SponsorsDr. Hank Smith: Co-hostJohn Bytheway: Co-hostDavid Perry: ProducerKyle Nelson: Marketing, SponsorLisa Spice: Client Relations, Editor, Show NotesJamie Neilson: Social Media, Graphic DesignWill Stoughton: Video EditorKrystal Roberts: Translation Team, English & French Transcripts, WebsiteAriel Cuadra: Spanish Transcripts"Let Zion in Her Beauty Rise" by Marshall McDonaldhttps://www.marshallmcdonaldmusic.com/products/let-zion-in-her-beauty-rise-piano

Welcome to part two with Dr. Susan Black, Acts chapter 16 through 21. And so then you get by verse 9, Paul has a vision in the night. So here we go again, but in the vision he's told, be not afraid, but speak. Hold not thy peace. In other words, don't give up, Paul. You know, you thought, hey, I'm done with you guys. And now it's like, hey, maybe you could look at family, you know, where you go, okay, kids, what could I have done more? I'm now shaking my Raymond at you.

I'm clean from henceforth, you know, I'm going to go to somebody else, but you go out. The Lord's not through with the Jewish people. The Lord's not through with the Jewish people, the Lord's not through with your family, your children, and it's be not afraid. Continue to speak, hold not thy peace. In other words, Paul, you know who you are, and I'm working with these guys too, as I work with you. And the Lord's not upset with him.

It's not like Paul. Why do you get so angry? Or why do you get so frustrated? He says, I get it. I get it. I get not like Paul. Why do you get so angry or why do you get so frustrated? He says, I get it. I get it. Yeah. I get it. Paul, you're frustrated. Don't be afraid. That's a great the Lord stepping in and kind of calming the situation saying, it's okay. And notice the next verse, verse 10 and chapter 18, for I am with thee. How would you like to hear that? You're out there as a missionary,

you're frustrated, you've tried your best, or even as a parent, and the Lord saying, hey, I'm with thee. And no man shall set on thee to her thee. And then he's told, hey, guess what, Paul? I got a lot of people in this city that want to hear from you. Don't be discouraged, you know, just get out there.

And although he ultimately is going to be accused of wrong-druing, even taking again to a Roman official, he's going to continue, you know, sometimes when you get, oh, like that personal revelation where you're so confident, the Lord is with you and that there are many people in the city, it's like don't give up, keep going. That then in Corinth becomes the end of his second journey, his second mission. He's done a pretty great mission, don't you think? Isn't Luke interesting where he just covers

a year and a half in one verse. And he was there 18 months teaching the word of God. Isn't Luke interesting where he just covers a year and a half in one verse. And he was there 18 months teaching the word of God. You're like, what happened? Yeah. Then we move on to his third mission. So this is then the longest one. Perhaps three to four years. He's going to journey that 3500 miles. He's going to visit congregations he's been to before. That's kind of his

motive operation. He goes, wherever I've been, I'm coming back, I want to, you know, and so it's kind of like you wonder the missionaries, do they just come home and forget where do they keep in contact? Do they make an effort to remember those they've shared the gossip with? And I think Paul really sets the example that on each of his journeys, he's heading back to the same places to make sure hey everybody's still got this, you know what I know? Christ is resurrected. He's writing to them as well.

Yes, he's writing to him. And we think that on this third mission is when perhaps he writes Romans, he writes first and second Corinthians and perhaps other epistles. But on the third mission, if you were to say, where does he stay the longest? And some historians will say, stays the longest in Ephesus. Some say even three years. Now you'd'd go can I get a transfer? Nope.

Three years. Yeah, you're going to be there Paul for for three years. It's then an Ephesus as we move to chapter 19. He finds people not only prepared for the gospel, but remember how the Jewish people have spread all over? Well, some of those who were baptized with the baptism of John the Baptist, right, who had not known Christ. And he then finds a pocket of them.

Notice in Ephesus, we're not seeing him going into the synagogues. And you'd say, oh, for sure, this great city, there had to be synagogues. Well, he's got a new plan. I'm going to visit everybody else. Now, I've seen them. I find people, they've got John's baptism and I'm going to teach him about Christ and I'm going to rebaptize him. And I'm going to give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. and I'm going to give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. And then you start to see all kinds of miracles that come from Paul in this occasion, while he's in Ephesus. You get to cast out demons.

Perhaps he even organizes additional missionary activity. But I think one of the great was he's saying, hey, you have sick among you. I've got hanker chiffs or aprons. You take it, touch it, whatever it is. And the diseases will depart from them, verse 12. And even evil spirits are going out. You'd say such is the faith and power of Paul.

Yeah. Is it there a story from church history? Wilford Woodruff. Okay. July 22nd, 1839. It's always called the great day of healing. And Joseph is healed. Those in his household is housed by that point, almost like a hospital is he and Emma and family have moved into a tent in their front yard and Joseph walks along what we call water street today in Navu and then crosses over the Mississippi River to a small town in Montrose, Iowa. He's healing all the great Elijah Fordham and others and a man comes to him that has two twin children that are about five months old. And he claims that his children are lying sick.

They're not on to death. And they're about two miles away from Montrose. And the prophet Joseph thinks that go and then he says, no, he goes, I'm not going to go. He says, I'll send a man to go with you to heal your children. Joseph will take out this pocket, a red silk handkerchief, and give it to Wilford Woodruff. Wilford said, Joseph told me to wipe their faces with the handkerchief when I administered to them and they should be healed. I went with the man and did as a prophet

commanded me and the children were healed. Perhaps much like at the time of Paul in Ephesus, we have a more modern account of healing. Yeah. So Paul comes into Ephesus and it sounds like this Apollo's, this other missionary had come in preaching John's baptism but had not taught them about Christ and Paul's like, well, until what were you baptized? Yeah. Yeah. Like you got to have both parts here. And then with all this special miracles that says in verse 11 with the hanker shifts and being people being healed from disease, is Ephesus going to kind of blow up with converts? I think enough so that it's going to come to the attention of at least Demetrius and other silversmiths that become very, very concerned about their craft because in Ephesus they have one of the seven wonders of the world and it's the temple

to Artemis which is also called the temple to Diana right. Suddenly they're making these little artifacts that John was talking about, you know, artifacts out of hands where people could almost like take their little temples into their own houses and then worship until I got to come to them, right? Paul is bad for business. Sounds like. Yes, Paul is bad for business, his message. So in verse 19, Susan, it sounds like he teaches this group of people who then get rid of all of their books. Many of them which used curious arts brought their books together, burned them before all men and counted the price of them.

It was 50,000 pieces of silver. I mean, that's correct me if I'm wrong here, John. You know, the stuff more than I do, but that's hundreds of thousands of dollars of their old life that they're giving up for the gospel. And I didn't want to miss that verse. Who is it, John in the book of Mormon? I will give up all of my kingdom. King Lamona's father give away all my sins to know thee. It's a beautiful verse. So Demetrius starts on verse 24. For a certain man named Demetrius is Silver Smith, which had made Silver shrines for Diana. That's what John's talking about, but no small gain unto the craftsmen. So he calls together all these workers of like occupation. And he says, sir,

you all know that why we're well to do is because of our craft, but now we've got a great problem. And it's one of the seven wonders of the world, this temple to the great goddess Diana. And suddenly, it's starting to be despised. In other words, you're taking away our tourism. Everybody's converting. Everybody's converting. And what are we going to do with this wonder of the world? And it says, Magnificent should be destroyed. And it says, whom all Asian, the world worship?

When they heard these saying, all these people of light craftsmanship, in other words, silversmiths, cried out saying, great is Diana of the Ephesians. So they had a theater there. I've actually spoken in the theater. They claimed they could seat 24,000 people. They townsfolk are gathering in, and in one voice they repeat over and over again for two hours. Can you imagine? Great is Diana of the Ephesians saying it over. I can see saying, Hosanna, you know, being something you'd

want to repeat again, again, again, again. But great is two hours. Yeah. Of the Ephesians, you think you get, you get horse, you know, it seemed very wrote. I think you'd be saying, hey mom, when can I go home? Yeah, I think I know what's coming next Finally, it will stop when a town skirt comes piece of the people saying you men of Ephesus Hey, we know this Diana's great basically go home and it appears that Paul wanted to address the crowd. I mean, wouldn't that be the ultimate place? But he was disquated by church members, government authorities concerned for his safety. After this, Paul will travel through Greece and Macedonia, strengthening church members, and we'll begin to take take off John. I know one of your favorite verses is in that max 19 to honor read verse 32

For us. Yeah, I just feel like this sounds like our world. They all rush into this theater and some cried one thing and Some another the assembly was confused and the more part of them And some another, the assembly was confused, and the more part of them knew not where or where they were come together. What are we doing here? I don't know, there was a protest. I thought I'd come, what should we yell today?

Okay, and I just felt like that kind of is a good description of our world right now. Some cry one thing, some another, some just show up. While I heard there was a protest, I don't know why I'm here really. Yeah. And the biggest part of I'm here really. Yeah. And the biggest part of them have no idea. Yeah, no idea why I'm here.

What's going on? They just keep yelling it. Like you said, for two hours. And I think one of the things you mentioned was the fact that not only was it a local business, but people, I guess, made pilgrimages there. And you guys both know you've been to places every site it seems has a gift shop. Every site has a gift shop and we could probably buy something pretty similar to what they were selling.

Yeah. Probably not made a silver though. And what colored silver? Yeah, even today you could go by a statue of Diana or Artemis and they still have the gift shops and I think that phrase being bad for business, when I was there I thought, what, how is the gospel bad for business? I mean, my first thought was, word of wisdom, but then I thought, you know, anything that is a substitute for God,

is what we have to be aware of. So, idolatry isn't the same in our day, but having other substitutes for God, things that are of prime importance in our life, boy, that's the danger. Yeah. This seems to be very parallel to what the early church of Jesus Christ's laterary saints experiences. They move into an area, no one really cares. They're just kind of these these odd ducks, they're overdoing their own thing. But as soon as they get big enough to start impacting voting or impacting shops, then comes out the hatred. Correct. I mean, you see it time and time again. You'd say Carthage, Warsaw, you know,

little towns that were look like they could boom. But when the saints come in and like you say, it starts out first welcoming, but then they become a threat economically, politically, the saints need to move on. Yeah. The same thing is happening at Paul. He has great success until it starts to hurt someone's business, and then there's a huge uproar of persecution. I just think it's wonderful that Paul had friends that were trying to protect him, and you can just imagine, Paul, I got to get in. I've got to look at all those people. I could talk to him, no, you can't go in there. This could be really bad and protective from going into that theater. It's huge right now, but from what I've heard, there's another layer of seats on top

of what still remains. You can't see. Yeah, so like you said, that's more than the Marriott Center of people shouting the same thing for two hours. And I like this town clerk of verse 35 where he says, everybody calm down. Everybody knows of Ephesus worships Artemis, Diana, that's not going to change. So we're really getting ourselves into trouble here. Verse 40, we are in danger to be called into question for this uproar.

There's no cause that we've done this. So if Dave Meatress has a problem, he can go to the law and work it out. Right. If our local autonomy gets out of hand, the Romans will come in and do something. That's what I understand. And so he's like, everybody, calm down. He's like a voice of reason. Yeah. He's like a voice of reason. Yeah.

He's not a voice of faith. He's just a voice of reason to keep them safe. It reminds me of Alexander Donovan, not a member, but someone who says, let's work this out, calm down, everybody calm down. Gamile that we've talked about before. Yeah, yeah, Gameliel. Okay, Susan, are we ready for chapter 20? Chapter 20, you see Paul is on the move again.

Finally, after probably three years or so in Ephesus, he's heading back to Macedonia or Greece, where he's going to stay three months. From there he's ready to continue on to Syria. He'll be kind of back and forth to Macedonia because he thought some of the Jews were plotting against him. Finally he's talking about hitting back to Jerusalem, but along the way you see he stops, he visits, and he's seeing places where he'd been before, even stops in Caesarea, but along the way he gives talks. And the part that I thought was so funny and perhaps reminds me of some of my talks. A curse in verse nine. So there's seated in a window, a certain young man, right?

He falls into this deep sleep. And why has he fallen into sleep is because Paul was preaching so long that he, he sank down with sleep. And eventually he falls from the third loft and is taken up dead. I think that's so funny. If you ever had somebody fall asleep when you were just kind of at the apex of this important topic, you're trying to shove down their throat. They start snoring. Oh, yeah, that's the worst. That's the worst.

So Paul went down and then adding to his problems, he's already on the floor and then it says, and Paul fell on him. And you're like, wow, is he having a bad day or what? And you know, he's listened to a long talk, although, Paul, I mean, maybe it's a message to all of us. There is a time limit. Keep on that schedule.

So the kids falling down, he's taken to be dead. Paul goes down to see what's doing with me, goes down for the poetry, was speaking, then he falls on him, but then he embraces him and says, trouble not yourself, for his life is in him and he does survive. I'm grateful that he survives, but comedy of errors perhaps? Yeah, that is a funny story. I've always said, you can make a great talk, a not so great talk by going over your time.

Yes, yes, sir. A good time limit. Yeah. Well, who is it that said that a great talk has a good beginning, a good ending, and very a little in between. Yeah. So for all of us that have given one too many talks, okay. So the story of the guy that fell out the window because the talk was boring, right?

Or at least too long. As a historian, they always say that the reason that you became an historian was because you could only do one darn fact after another. And unfortunately, in speaking, I've shared those one fax after another, right? And I can't remember anybody falling out the window, but we used to have a department chair named Paul Peterson that used to say, every true historian has to write one fiction book so they'll know you had a personality and that you were more. And so, you know, after all these nonfiction books, I actually teamed up with George Durant and we just

published a fiction book. And it's my first and I'll probably never do it again, you know, saying, you know, it's so much dribble, but it's very funny. And it's called Wesley and I for an eye. That's my attempt to keep people from falling out of windows as I speak. That's great. They know you had a personality. Paul Peterson was in my master's program. We were the first cohort of the Masters of Religious Education and really delightful, kind of kind of past sooner than any of us wanted, but I love that guy. Me too.

Paul now is pretty emotional. He's going to kind of begin bidding farewell. Obviously, part of the various towns he's going to, he's saying goodbye, but the one account we get here in chapter 20 is he's bidding farewell to the friends he's had for so long and Ephesus where and it's emotional on his part and he talks about I and neither count on my life dear and to myself. He said I just want to finish my course with joy. I've got still got things to do. I want to be joyful about it.

He testifies of the grace of God. He tries to remind them. it's kind of like he's giving his farewell almost a little bit, but he reminds him, he's given a lot of faithful service and now he wants the leadership in Ephesus to feed the church. He even begins to quote words of the Savior that you can't even find in the four gospels. So the one I liked is it is more blessed to give them receive. It's coming here from Paul that he says the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. But in his departing, he becomes one of the first to talk about apostasy. And he says verse 29, for I know this that after my departing, after I've

said goodbye to God, all of you shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not spurring the flock. And this is one of the first passages in the New Testament that foretells, hey, an apostasy is coming. And when he had had spoken, he kneeled down, he prayed with everyone. He said, they all web saw her, they fell on Paul's neck, they kissed him, because they realized they weren't going to see him anymore. And at this point, you get his third mission is now done. It's a beautiful farewell to read that. And I don't know, I think all of us may be on missions saying goodbye to people that you probably won't see again. It's really, it's a beautiful part.

I think the end of Acts, chapter 20. You know, it's kind of like, you know, when somebody leaves your house, it takes seven goodbyes to have them really go. But in this case, you know, there are some goodbyes that are just heart rendering because you know you won't see them again. And he's made such an incredible difference in their lives that they no longer are worshipers

of idolatry, Diana, no longer rushing to the temple there of Artemis. And suddenly the man that's brought such amazing changes, blessings, miracles to them is now leaving. But in that leaving is the warning, hey, behind me, follow the wolves. And you church leaders, just don't don't go off thinking you're having just such a good time. You make sure that you watch over and you care for that flock. Look after the ninety and nine, but don't forget the one. It's interesting to me that they, you know, I don't know if you've ever done this when you're taking a child to the MTC or something, you have a family prayer with them. And I'm reading from verse 36 of Acts 20, when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down

and prayed with them all. And they all went to soar and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spank that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship. And that's how it ends. I mean, that's the walk with him down to the ship. And I love that they had a prayer to kind of say goodbye. Kind of a God be with you telling me to get in type of moment. Yeah He says in verse 24 neither count I my life dear unto myself so that I might finish my course with joy He's dedicated his whole life to this he says for three years in verse 31 I have not ceased to warn every one of you night and day with

tears. Yeah, he has really given it all there in Macedonia. Yeah, that road to Damascus was quite an event, wasn't it, that just turned him. I think what I like is that although his mission is over, he knows the course of his life is not. And his plan is he wants to still have joy. I mean there's incredible joy in sharing the gospel and seeing converts in her baptismal waters. But it's like the sacred ground he had gained on those three journeys on his mission. He wants to take it with him as he now returns to Jerusalem. And he wants to finish

his life with joy, not just where you say, endure to the end and blah, blah. You just kind of fall off. You're the back row, you know, of the church. He wants to finish it with that same sense of, I have this inward joy and word piece that I've done my best. He really believes that is more blessed to give than to receive ever since the road to Damascus. He's just given and given and given and suffered prisons and gosh what's coming in Acts 21. He's going to go to prison. Well okay for him. He's now taking off. It's going to be a seven-day journey. And he's being told, don't go back to Jerusalem. Who can tell you not to go back to the Holy City?

Tell me not to go to Oram or something. I'm good. But, wow. Don't go back to Jerusalem. Don't go back to Jerusalem. Along the way he stops in Cesarilla, which is pretty Roman looking. He enters the house of Philip, which is one of the seven. He abides with them, and while he's there, the prophet now comes, and after he's been there a few days, and the prophet does something pretty tangible. He takes Paul's girdle and he binds his own hands and feet and says, quote, thus say it the Holy Ghost verse 11, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that own us this girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. In other words, hey, Paul, I'm giving you like a little patriarchal

blessing. It's quite an object blessing. Yeah. Here's the heads up. I'm going to make it really visual. So you're not just talking. I'm showing you, this is what's going to happen to you if you keep heading up to Jerusalem. And I like Paul's answer, verse 13, what made you to weep and to break my heart? For I'm ready not to be bound only. In other words, you know, so they're going to bind me so what? If you've seen what else has happened to me. He goes, for I'm ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem. And why am I willing to do this for the name of the Lord Jesus?

So you'd say, see I've both feet in the water, is he totally converted. And I go, oh yeah he is. And even a prophet for telling what will come upon him does not stop him. And he heads up to Jerusalem. And when he gets in to Jerusalem,

he goes on to James and all the elders when they had saluted him. In other words, you know, welcome. And it's like he's going to tell you, well, let me tell you what I've been doing. You know, I've been away for a while. You probably wondered if you heard about me. Yeah, it gives a mission report. Mission report, verse 19, he declared particularly what things got it right among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, notice their response. They glorified the Lord and say it then to him, thou seeest brother. And I like to call them brothers. So, while the names of Paul saw how many thousands of Jews there are, which believe.

So if you were to say, well, what's the number of converts that Paul brought into the church, although we can only name a few like Lydia, but he says, how many thousands of Jews there are, which believe, and they are all zealous of the law. In other words, they didn't just enter baptism of waters and then scoot out the door. And never to be heard of again. They're still in and they're zealous. Paul then takes off after the report and he's heading to the temple. He's going to participate in purification rights because you realize for a Hebrew, a Jew, tribe of Benjamin, you go out and you travel in Gentile lands, you got

to purify yourself. And for a Jewish person, I mean, that literally means you, you've got to go under the water. The Jews didn't baptize Jews except for the purification. You got to go under water. It was very important that you'd be immersed because you couldn't have your hands sticking up because you would still have what might have polluted you in those Gentile lands. So he's in there participating in the sacred ordinance and some of the Jews that have been in Asia and Nona, they see him in the temple, they stir up the people, they lay hands on him and they're crying out, hey everybody come help me. You know, I help me get him and I'm talking about, what are you talking about?

He's five feet tall. You know, how many men do you need to help? Help me get this man. A member is, his word seemed to be much bigger than a stature. They say verse 28, this is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people and like, what are you talking about in the law in this place? And further brought Greeks also into the temple. In other words, perhaps it's converts and half polluted this holy place.

Well, they take Paul out the drum out of the temple and they shut the doors of the of the temple. And you're like, wait a minute, doors of the temple are open. It's not time to close them. Soldiers and the interiors come, they bind them with chains, the chief captain demands to know, hey, what's going on here? And then by verse 37, Paul says, hey, can I speak to thee? And then the guy goes, well, can't sound speak Greek? And you go, well, hey, this guy seems to be, I mean, if you're looking for the intellect, the guy that was prepared to be a missionary and so many friends, he's like, oh, sure. Then verse 39, Paul said, I am a man which is the Jew of Tarsus. I'm a citizen of no mean city. I be siege. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. I be seated. give his defense, but you're now left on a cliffhanger because you're going to find his defense

in chapter 22, which will say to the listening audience, don't be left on the cliffhanger. Don't hesitate to read in advance for the next episode. Yeah, keep reading. Wow. Paul going journey after journey, city after city, speech after speech. He feels tireless. I'm tired. Just reading it. He just does not stop. The kid was fill out of the loft. He's getting long winded the older he gets, right? Yeah. Can you imagine this report when Paul goes in with James, all the elders that were

President, verse 19, when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. So he's going to tell them everything that happened in Athens. He's going to tell them everything that happened in Corinth and in Ephesus and their reaction. When they heard it, they glorified the Lord. I wish we could, you know, maybe someday we get to see all this stuff. I want to hear that mission report about how Paul reported to them. How excited they must have been to hear what the Lord was doing in these, what God has wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. I just think that those were fun verses to me to imagine. That's awesome.

I like what, what, even how that is such a cliffhanger, who decided to divide the chapter in there? Yeah. Yeah. That is funny. And even the Come Follow Me Lesson, too. The Come Follow Me Lesson ends at 21.

So it's so fun to see what Paul's able to do because of his background and education and I'm just wondering I'm looking at verse 37 can't still speak Greek how many languages do we think that Paul may have spoken? Oh well we know Greek for sure and Hebrew? But possibly Aramaic and Latin. Because he's, he's gonna go to Rome, yeah. Right, multi-talented. Susan, you've done such a great job of walking us through these chapters and acts. I know you're a church history expert as well.

Does anybody stand out to you as a Paul type missionary? Maybe there's nobody who has the type of impact Paul has as a missionary, but does anybody come's nobody who has the type of impact Paul has as a missionary. But does anybody come to mind? Well, probably several. I mean, there was such excitement about they have a new message, the restoration, the gospel is restored. But the one who keeps the best journal account is Wilford Woodruff.

63 years, he keeps a journal. And at the end of each year year he did a summary page in which he would write down how many he had baptized whether sea captains, whether kinsfolk, and at the end of 63 years he's close to his death and he asked that all his journals be brought to him and he just tallies the summary page, much like you do an Excel spreadsheet. And he figures out how many talks he's given, you know, 7,555. And he just kind of goes, how many is baptized.

And finally at the end, he announced, I made it. And he mathematically announces, I made it. And then said that when he died, as people would come to the tabernacle, he didn't want anyone to wear black, because basically it was a celebration of a life that he had devoted to the Lord. Just a shout out to Wilford Woodruff.

When I went to get a marriage recommend to Mary Kim, I had to see her stake president. He was Kim's next door neighbor. His name is Wilford Bruce Woodruff. That was so fun to go see President Woodruff and to see his full name there on the recommend and to feel like I was being interviewed by him. What a delightful person. And I asked him, do you have access to all those journals? He sure did because he was a direct descendant. And remember when we used to do Presidents of the Church for Relief Society and priesthood meeting, he grew out his beard like Wilford Woodruff later in life and did presentations on that and came to our stake It was just really fun. I wanted to shout out to President Woodruff for that great memory

That's fantastic So Susan as I look back over these chapters. I see Paul in Macedonia they convert Lydia they get thrown in prison and end up converting the J-ler. Then they go to Thessalonia where they teach and then Paul gets kicked out and he has to go to Athens. And in Athens, he gives this beautiful speech at Mars Hill, we are God's offspring. Then he's rejected by the Jews in Corinth and he says, I'm done. I'm not teaching Jews anymore. I'm going to the Gentiles, Lord says, you know, calm down, hold not thy peace. Then he spends 18 months in Ephesus and converts and heals all sorts of people. Then he's back in Macedonia. I mean, this is just a, the guy's all over the place.

And he heals the kid who fell asleep during his talk. And he finally finishes in Jerusalem where he is bound up. My hope for our listeners is that there's just a wild factor here of the guy was non-stop. He was non-stop. What do you think some major takeaways could be from these chapters? For me, you know on that road to Damascus, he had a square-wind spiritual experience. And he just never forgot it. I mean his theme was Christ wherever he went. And you'd say, you know, if you wherever he went. And you'd say, you know, if you slow down on that thing, you might not be beaten. You might not be put in prison. You might not have to escape at night. Through this, I think Paul knew who he was. He knew who his God was. He wasn't about to take a backseat. I really like that about my, I think he was bold when some of us could be quiet, stutter,

you know, maybe he didn't hesitate. And that is such a message. I mean, the most amazing thing, I mean, do you realize we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? I mean, that's phenomenal. And we're learning about the early Christians who never seemed to be, look at me, he was always pointing away to the Savior. And his message was the same. I see him as fearless. I think if I had been Luke,

and I could have chosen any missionary to write about, I mean, maybe Luke's up there saying, you know, I should have given Barnabas the second chance. You know, with John Mark, I just know John Mark was going to stay with him, and they were going gonna have this amazing mission But Luke couldn't stop writing about Paul But I think it's so interesting. He never writes about Paul's letters. He's known that he just wanted to do the biography

Paul as he did his travels. I don't know as somebody that's been a serial missionary now as I've gotten older, fall is just an example. You don't stop. You keep going. You still have a message and you may not always have the forum in which to share it with crowds and things like Paul wanted to speak to those perhaps 24,000. They're in Ephesus, but it wasn't the time. But you do have neighbors. I mean, you can be that number one Christian, you know, to the people around you and when the time is right to tell them about temples and covenants and prophets on the earth. I mean, it's a message that any other message we share just pales. Yeah, I think there's also something to be said for as you look at these chapters, there is going to be opposition. Almost everywhere he goes, he has success, and then

serious opposition. And we shouldn't be surprised by that. When you're going to do something good, you probably know you're on the right path when you're getting some opposition along the way. You know, it only comes in the ways that causes the greater pain, right? To be braced for it, to be able to accept it. And still remember who you are in the message you have to share. We spent some of the early parts of the book of Acts just going, wow, what a transformation. Peter went through in the other apostles after the apostles at the end of the

Gospels seemed suddenly just powerful and transformed. He degraded, yeah. Yeah, at the beginning end, that's Paul's story too. And what was the big difference? The resurrected Christ appeared to them, changed everything for him, and that's all they wanted to talk about as you just beautifully said. That's all they wanted to testify of is that he lives again and we saw him and we're going to point you to Christ regardless of the opposition that comes at us. That's beautiful. Both of you. One of my major

takeaways is Acts 21 13. For I am ready not to be bound only But also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus That's an impressive verse Sometimes we read through scripture and it's it's black and white for us right But when you put flesh on that type of statement the courage and he does he goes to Jerusalem and he is going to end up dying in the name of the Lord. It's so fun to see what Paul did and then we have this whole other way of looking at it, what Paul wrote to these different people. So in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, he kind of gives this quick biography of himself.

I'll start in verse 24, 2 Corinthians 11, of the Jews five times received I 40 stripes, save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Thrice, I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeys often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of my known countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perilsots of waters, in parrots of robbers, in parrots of my known countrymen, in parrots by the heathen, in parrots in the city, in parrots in the wilderness, in parrots in the sea, in parrots among faults brethren, in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger, and thirst, in fastings often, in colden nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which comeeth upon me daily,

the care of all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak, who is offended, and I burn not. If I must need glory, I will glory of the things which concern my in firmities. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not.

Wow. So yeah, he's been through everything, but that last testimony, it's all it. All that power he draws from that road to Damascus. Susan, I should call you Dr. Susan Eastern Black. Thank you so much for being with us today. We have loved having you back. Yeah, we have just we've loved having you and John. The book of Acts to me has become more alive in the last few weeks than ever before. I have really just loving these stories. I was familiar with them before, but now I feel like I'm really getting to know them. Yeah, and that's why I love this one. He goes to report because you can just imagine the audience. Well, you did what? Oh, you said that in F. Oh, wow. That's great.

Then what happened? Well, I wanted to go in and they wouldn't let me. Oh, how many? Oh, two hours. You can just imagine them listening and glorifying God the way they did hearing his mission report. And that's why I want to see that one day and see not only what Paul says, but how they reacted when they're hearing this stuff

for the first time. So yeah, book of acts is coming live. Yeah. The work rolls on, we want to thank again, Dr. Susan Eastern Black for being with us. Want to thank our executive producer, Shannon Sornson. We want to thank our sponsors, David and Verla Sornson. And we always remember our founder Steve Sorenson. We have one more lesson in the Book of Acts coming up next week on Follow Him. Today's transcripts, show notes, and additional references are available on our website,

followhim.co. That's followhim.co. You can watch the podcast on YouTube with additional videos on our Facebook and Instagram accounts. All of this is absolutely free, and we'd love for you to share it with your family and friends. We'd like to reach more of those who are searching for help with their Come Follow Me study. If you could subscribe to, rate, review, and comment on the podcast, that will make us

easier to find. We've just completed a new project we think you'll love. If you would like short and powerful quotes and insights from all of our Old Testament episodes, join our mailing list on our website, follow him.co, and we will email you a PDF of the first three chapters of our new book, Finding Jesus Christ in Neal Testament. If you enjoyed our guests on the podcast last year as much as we did, we think you'll love this new collection. Of course, none of this could happen without our incredible production crew. David Perry, Lisa Spice, Jamie Nielsen, Will Stoten, Crystal Roberts,

Ariel Kuadra, and Annabelle Swanson. We also love hearing from you, our friends and listeners. Hey guys, my name is Kelly. I wanted to take a moment to record a video to thank you for all that you've produced on the follow-in podcast. I've been listening since the doctrine of covenants year. to take a moment to record a video to thank you for all that you've produced on the follow-in podcast. I've been listening since the Doctrine and Covenants year, so 2021, and I did the Old Testament and so far this year on the New Testament. I've recorded my own dictation of what I hear from each of you, your linked stories, what your experts bring, scriptures, and I have a document on my computer

that is almost 200 pages long at this point of my own notes, the dictations from all of this. And it's become this great source of inspiration for me. When I teach my lessons to my kids, each week in the Come Follow, me lessons, and I am very grateful for what this podcast has brought to my kids each week in the Come Follow Me lessons and I am very grateful for what this podcast has brought to my life. you