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A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold is as pictures of silver.(Prov.25:11) It is so important to speak the right words to people at the right time to produce the right results. When you think of apples of gold in pictures of silver, then you are thinking of wealth and excellence. When we speak wisdom into the lives of others we are making them wealthy. Therefore we must seek God for He is the source of all wisdom and He will give us just the right words needed at the right time.
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#And when we had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemais and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day. Acts 21:7
Ptolemais was a maritime city of Phoenicia, which got its name, apparently from Ptolemy Lathyrus who captured it and rebuilt it more beautifully in Judges 1:31 So when the disciples finished their course from Tyre they came to Ptolemais where they saluted the brethren and abode with them one day. Thank God for the true brethren of the Lord Jesus Christ who believed in saluting and honoring the brethren which the scripture commands us to do. Today being a minister, many people will gossip about him rather than salute him. The scripture says let those who rule well be worthy of double honor. So let us salute and give thanks to those who serve the Lord Jesus Christ as Paul is doing in Ptolemais. We thank God also for the Supreme Court for doing a good thing in reaffirming the Second Amendment rights of Gun owners and Congress for passing justly gun reform legislation. If one life is saved it will be worth it all.
#And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed. Acts 21:5
The Greek word for accomplished is exartizo which means to complete, to equip fully. It comes from ek and a derivative of artios: to finish out, accomplish thoroughly finish. That is what the disciples helped Paul and his company to do in those days, and once the work of strengthening the churches was finished, they departed and went our way. And they all brought us on our way with wives and children. The question is did Paul have a wife and children? The bible does not tell us specifically if he did or didn't, but we glean from this text that he could have. Then once they were out of the city, we kneeled down on the shore and prayed. This is a great place to have a prayer meeting on the beach shore as it is what the Lord Jesus did on Galilee just before His ascension into heaven. The family that prays together often stays together so I highly encourage you to take your family to the beach shore and have a prayer meeting. This will be a warm time for spiritual renewal and fellowship.
#And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem. Acts 21:4
The Greek word for disciples is Manthano, which means a learner, i.e. Pupil and that is what we all are learners at the feet of Jesus. So the disciples tarried there seven days: who had said to Paul by the power of the Holy Spirit not to go to Jerusalem. Paul is being warned many times by the Spirit through the disciples. We should pay attention when God gives other people warning that their life may be in danger. I myself received such a warning by a disciple of the Lord after being told not to let them put you under. I know that God warns us in many ways such as through dreams, and a trance. We must pay attention to these warnings when they come to us. For the God of all comfort is the one who comforts us in all of our troubles, so that we too can give consolation to others. I thank God for the Holy Spirit who is our paraclete who comes beside us in times of danger to give comfort to us. I think about Daniel in the lions' dens who was comforted when God sent the angel to shut the lions' mouths. Truly we are in a lion's den in this world for the Lord Jesus told us that in this world we will have tribulation, but to be of good cheer because I have overcome the world. Therefore we too are more than conquerors through the Lord Jesus Christ.
#Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left on the left hand and sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden. Acts 21:3
The Greek word for Cyprus is Kypros, which was an island at the east end of the Mediterranean Sea. It was a very fertile and delightful island of the Mediterranean, lying between Cilicia and Syria. It was close to Paul's home- town. So we left it on the left hand and sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre. The Greek name for Tyre was Tyros, a city of Phoenicia, a place in Palestine. From Aramaic, a rock. Tyre was a Phoenicia city on the Mediterranean, very ancient, large splendid, flourishing in commerce, and a powerful trip by land and sea. In the time of Christ and the apostles, it was subject to the Romans but continued to possess considerable wealth and prosperity down to A.D. 1291. It was mentioned in Acts 21:3,7 in company with Sidon. Jesus said that they would have repented had the gospel been preached to them. The Greek word for to unlade is apophortizomai, which means to discharge a cargo. So their burden in the Greek was gomos. so after leaving Tyre they had a vast cargo to discharge with lots of merchandise.
#And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth. Acts 21:2
The Greek word for Phenicia is Phoinike, which was a region North of Galilee. It was a palm country, a region of Palestine. Phenicia in the apostolic age was a tract of the province of Syria, situated on the coast of the Mediterranean between the river Eleutherus and the promontory of Carmel, some thirty miles long. This is where Paul is being led by the Holy Spirit so they went aboard the ship and set sail. What a blessing this was for Paul and his companions are spreading the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and turning the world upside down for Jesus. This is what we need to do these days with so many suffering from mental illness and needing saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose grace is sufficient to see us through this illness. For His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses. Let us continue to pray that Congress will pass gun legislation to protect people with serious mental illness from hurting themselves or others. Thoughts and prayers are good, but we have to put them into action by passing legislation that will lead to real change so that we can turn the tide on gun violence and stop children from being killed in classrooms. Schools should be a place of safety and not where teachers must arm themselves against gun violence from mentally ill individuals who need help. States need to have more mental health clinics for those suffering to get the help they need before they explode mentally.
#And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos and the day following unto Rhodes and from thence unto Patara: Acts 21:1
The Greek word for the phrase it came to pass is ginomai, which means to come into being, to happen. A prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb. i.e. to become. This phrase is used in the Bible many times and it explains what has just happened to Paul with his farewell speech he has just given to the disciples in Troas. So he and the other disciples were gotten from them and had launched with a straight course unto Coos, The Greek word for Coos is Kos. An island in the Aegean Sea, of uncertain origin. Cos, was an island in the Mediterranean. It was over against the cities of Cridus and Halicarnassus, celebrated for their fertility and especially for their abundance of wine and grain. This is a great premonition for Paul for he is headed for Jerusalem where he will suffer many things from the Jews. Yet Paul will birth many churches along the way and the Lord Jesus will warn him in a trance to leave Jerusalem because they will not accept him there. And the day following goes unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara. Rhodes was an island in the Mediterranean likely from rhodon, a rose. While Patara was a place in Asia Minor. a maritime city of Lycia, celebrated for an oracle of Apollo.
#And they all wept sore and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship. Acts 20:37,38
The Greek word for wept is Klauthmos which means lamentation or wailing. That is what all the brethren did after Paul told them they would see his face no more. So they fell on his neck and kissed him with great sorrow, then they accompanied him unto the ship. What a blessing it is to have a great man of God among you and when he is taken away sorrow fills the heart. It is similar to when Jesus told the disciples that He would not leave them as orphans, but would send the comforter, the Holy Spirit. Thank God for the Holy Spirit who comes alongside us and comforts us in all of our troubles. Weeping may be for the night but joy comes in the morning. Thank God for that great resurrection morning when all the saints of God will be gathering home with the Lord. For we shall not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet, the Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout with the voice of an Arcangel, and the dead in Christ will be raised first, then those of us who are alive shall be changed, then caught up into the clouds to forever be with the Lord. We must comfort one another with these words for death to the Christian is not the end, but a comma to be completed when Jesus comes in the first resurrection. May the Lord bless us to wait until that great meeting in the air.
#And when he had thus spoken, he kneeled down, and prayed with them all. Acts 20:36
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! After Paul had spoken, he kneeled down. The Greek word for kneeled is gony, which means to bow down in honor of. This is what Paul is doing by bowing down in honor of all the people he is serving. This is what being a father entails meaning we bow down in honor of our families loving them and supporting them spiritually, as well as financially. This is the epidemy of fatherhood. So I challenge all the fathers out there to bow down before almighty God and pray for their families. The Greek word for prayer is proseuchomai, which means to pray to God, i.e. supplicate, worship, and make a prayer. This is what Paul is doing by bowing down and worshipping God for all the family of God. We need to bow down in prayer for all those who have been victimized by gun violence. I believe in the Second Amendment, but it is the right to bear arms responsibly. We need to have Red Flag laws to protect us from those who are not mentally responsible to use guns safely. We need guns to protect our families, but we need prayer to know how to lead our families on the path of righteousness. When we do this we will be responsible gun owners and can bare the right to have arms.
#I have showed you all things, how that so laboring ye ought to support the weak and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35
The Greek word for Labor is Kopiao, which means to grow weary, toll, to work hard. That is what Paul is doing by working hard teaching the church to support the weak by so doing, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive. The Greek word for blessed is Makarios, which means happy, for the Lord loves a cheerful giver and by so doing you will be happy, fortunate, and well off. David said I have been young and old, not once have I seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread. This is how the Lord blesses those who are righteous and give cheerfully to others not expecting anything in return. Jesus said give and it shall be given unto you running over. This is the blessing of why it is more blessed to give than to receive. I pray in these days of high inflation that you will give to the poor, the elderly, and the disabled who are living on a fixed income and need this special blessing. For the Lord will bless you as He said when you sow bountifully you will reap bountifully. However, if you sow sparingly you will reap sparingly too. So give cheerfully and the Lord will bless you. Cast thy bread upon the waters and after many days it will come back to you.
#Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me. Acts 20:34
The Greek word for minister is hypereteo which means to serve as a rower, to minister to. So Paul is saying as we are all in a ship and each one has to row the boat, and that is what his hands have done in the ministry for him. The Greek word for necessities is chreia, which means employment, i.e. and business need, demand, or requirement. That is what Paul was doing by taking care of the business needs of the church. It is a blessing to be a vocational minister, as my father did it while he pastored two churches for twenty-seven years while raising six children. The poor churches in the country could not afford to pay the minister what he needed, so this is why it was needful for Paul to work as a tentmaker. I too worked as a service technician when I was called into the ministry almost thirty years ago. So thank God the laborer is worthy of his hire and do not muzzle the ox that grinds the corn. Thank God that He gives us the power to earn an income. So let him that stole, steal no more, but work with his hands that he may minister unto the needs of the church.
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