Category: A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 28
What does Acts Chapter 28 mean? In Acts 28, Paul finally reaches Rome. Due to political pandering, Paul had been under house arrest in Caesarea Maritima for two years (Acts 24:22–27). When Governor Festus seemed just as unlikely to give him justice as Felix; Paul appealed his case to Caesar (Acts…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 27
What does Acts Chapter 27 mean? Paul is finally on his way to Rome. He has wanted to go for some time (Romans 1:11), but a short visit to Jerusalem to check in with the apostles turned into a two-year house arrest in Caesarea Maritima. He was falsely accused by…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 26
What does Acts Chapter 26 mean? The Sanhedrin continues to cause problems for Paul. They want to kill him because he preaches that Jesus rose from the grave (Acts 24:21). Two years before, they tried to have him assassinated (Acts 23:12–15). When their plans were foiled by Paul’s nephew, they…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 25
What does Acts Chapter 25 mean? Paul is in custody in Caesarea Maritima, the Roman capital of the region. Careless but zealous Jews from modern-day Turkey, irritated Jewish leaders from Jerusalem, and a corrupt Roman governor have conspired such that Paul has been under house arrest for two years with…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 24
What does Acts Chapter 24 mean? Acts 24 recounts Paul’s trial before Governor Felix in Caesarea Maritima. Paul returned to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey to accusations he taught Jewish Christians they did not have to circumcise their sons (Acts 21:20–21). This is false: he only teaches this to Gentiles…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 23
What does Acts Chapter 23 mean? In Acts 23, Paul is between two difficult situations, where the solution to the first leads him into something even more dangerous. In English, this is referred to using the expression “out of the frying pan and into the fire.” While Paul had been working…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 22
What does Acts Chapter 22 mean? Acts 22 is the first full chapter of Paul’s incarceration by the Roman government. He had traveled to Jerusalem to report the progress of his church-planting ministry to the church leaders and apostles. They rejoiced to hear of the new strong church in Ephesus and…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 21
What does Acts Chapter 21 mean? Between Paul’s three missionary journeys, God granted him rest in his home church at Syrian Antioch (Acts 14:26–28; 18:22–23). He may have also taken a trip to Jerusalem (Acts 15:1–4; 18:22), but for the most part, he was able to stay with the church that had…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 20
What does Acts Chapter 20 mean? Acts 20 records the last part of Paul’s third missionary voyage. He started by traveling over land to Galatia in central modern-day Turkey where he revisited the churches he and Barnabas had planted during his first journey (Acts 13:3—14:26). During his second, the Holy Spirit…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 19
What does Acts Chapter 19 mean? Acts 19 is the story of Paul’s three-year stay in Ephesus during his third missionary journey. Paul had visited Ephesus for a very short time at the end of his second missionary journey. He entered the synagogue, as usual, and explained how Jesus fulfilled the…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 18
What does Acts Chapter 18 mean? Paul is in the middle of his second missionary voyage. He and Silas left Syrian Antioch and traveled by foot north and west through central modern-day Turkey. In Lystra, they met Timothy; Paul saw Timothy had the potential to be a leader in the…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 17
What does Acts Chapter 17 mean? Acts 17 continues Paul’s second missionary journey. He and Silas have traveled through Galatia in modern-day Asia Minor, visiting the churches Paul and Barnabas established in their first journey. In Lystra, they found a young man named Timothy and brought him along. After receiving guidance…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 16
What does Acts Chapter 16 mean? Acts 16 describes the second segment of Paul and Silas’ missionary journey. After their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas went to Jerusalem and received official instructions from the church leadership there that Gentiles did not have to convert to traditional Judaism; they did not…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 15
What does Acts Chapter 15 mean? God had always planned to offer salvation to the whole world (Genesis 12:3). He had always planned to first set aside a particular line of Abraham’s descendants to demonstrate to the world the importance of worshiping the holy God and to provide the Messiah—God…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 14
What does Acts Chapter 14 mean? Acts 14 records the last half of Paul’s first missionary journey. He and Barnabas left their home base in Syrian Antioch with Barnabas’ cousin John Mark and sailed to the island of Cyprus, where Barnabas was from. After rescuing the proconsul from a Jewish false…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 12
What does Acts Chapter 12 mean? Acts 12 is the last chapter of the book of Acts that places the apostles, specifically Peter, in the center of the narrative. The church is well-established in Jerusalem and deepening its base in Judea and Samaria. Already, Gentiles are coming to Christ on the…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 11
What does Acts Chapter 11 mean? Acts 11 continues the story of how the good news about Jesus came to the Gentiles and how the work of the apostle Paul begins. It’s a difficult transition. Hundreds of years before, the Jewish exiles in Babylon had managed to return with their religion…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 10
What does Acts Chapter 10 mean? Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told the disciples they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). They spent several years establishing the church in Jerusalem (Acts 2—7), but increased persecution from the…
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A Verse by Verse Study in the Book of Acts, (ESV) with Irv Risch, Chapter 9
What does Acts Chapter 9 mean? Acts 9 records perhaps the most significant event in the history of the church since the coming of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. Jesus has ascended (Acts 1:6–11). The Jesus-followers have received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1–12). The apostles’ teaching that Jesus is the Jewish…
Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded 