Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

• The report of the spies 18:7-10
  The five Danites continued northward about 100 miles and finally came upon an area they felt would be ideal for their needs. They discovered the isolated town of Laish (Leshem, Josh. 19:47) that they believed they could captu...
• Writer
  Several factors indicate that the writer of this Gospel was the same person who wrote the Book of Acts. First, a man named Theophilus was the recipient of both books (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). Second, Acts refers to a previous wor...
• 1. The importance of toleration 9:51-56
  The first verse (9:51) sets the agenda for all that follows until Jesus' Triumphal Entry. It was now time for Jesus to begin moving toward Jerusalem and the Cross. As He did so, He immediately encountered opposition (cf. Acts...
• Writer
  Two lines of argument lead to the conclusion that Luke, the friend, fellow missionary, and physician of Paul wrote this book under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. First, there is the internal evidence, the passages writte...
• Structure
  Longenecker identified five phenomena about the structure of Acts that the reader needs to recognize to appreciate what Luke sought to communicate."1. It begins, like the [Third] Gospel, with an introductory section of distin...
• Outline
  I. The witness in Jerusalem 1:1-6:7A. The founding of the church 1:1-2:461. The resumptive preface to the book 1:1-52. The command to witness 1:6-83. The ascension of Jesus 1:9-114. Jesus' appointment of a twelfth apostle 1:1...
• 2. The command to witness 1:6-8
  The key to the apostles' successful fulfillment of Jesus' commission was their baptism with and consequent indwelling by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine enablement they would only have been able to follow Jesus' example,...
• Saul's calling from the Lord 9:10-19a
  9:10-12 Evidently Ananias was not a refugee from Jerusalem (22:12) but a resident of Damascus. He, too, received a vision of the Lord Jesus (v. 17) to whom he submitted willingly (cf. 1 Sam. 3:4, 10). Jesus gave Ananias speci...
• 2. The mission to Cyprus 13:4-12
  Luke recorded the events of Paul's first missionary journey to document the extension of the church into new territory and to illustrate the principles and methods by which the church grew. He also did so to show God's supern...
• The return trip to Syrian Antioch 14:21b-28
  14:21b-22 The missionaries confined their labors to the Galatian province on this trip. They did not move farther east into the kingdom of Antiochus or the province Cilicia that Paul may have evangelized previously during his...
• 1. The call to Macedonia 16:6-10
  Luke recorded Paul's vision of the Macedonian man to explain God's initiative in encouraging Paul and his companions to carry the gospel farther west into Europe.". . . this section [6:6-10] makes it overwhelmingly clear that...
• The response to Paul's preaching 17:32-34
  Most Greeks rejected the possibility of physical resurrection.721Many of them believed that the most desirable condition lay beyond the grave where the soul would finally be free of the body (e.g., Platonists). The response o...
• D. The extension of the church to Rome 19:21-28:31
  "The panel is introduced by the programmatic statement of 19:21-22 and concludes with the summary statement of 28:31. Three features immediately strike the reader in this sixth panel: (1) the disproportionate length of the pa...
• Paul's raising of Eutychus in Troas 20:7-12
  "From 20:5 through the end of Acts (28:31), Luke's narrative gives considerable attention to ports of call, stopovers, and time spent on Paul's travels and includes various anecdotes. It contains the kind of details found in ...
• Paul's address to the Ephesian elders 20:17-35
  "Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders is the nearest approximation to the Pauline letters in Acts. Its general content recalls how in his letters Paul encouraged, warned, and exhorted his converts. Moreover, its the...
• The trip from Miletus to Tyre 21:1-6
  The third "we"section of Acts (21:1-18) is of theological importance because it focuses on Paul's recapitulation of Jesus' passion. Note the similarities between Luke's accounts of Jesus' trip to Jerusalem and Paul's. Both st...
• Paul's advance to Caesarea 21:7-14
  21:7 Ptolemais (Acco of the Old Testament and modern Acre located on the north side of the bay of Haifa) lay 20 miles south of Tyre. It was the southernmost Phoenician port. There Paul also met with the local Christians as st...
• The last stage of Paul's trip to Jerusalem 21:15-16
  Jerusalem was about 65 miles southeast of Caesarea, a long two-day trip. Mnason evidently became a Christian early in the history of the church, perhaps on the day of Pentecost. He was a Hellenistic Jewish Christian; he was f...
• The voyage from Caesarea to Crete 27:1-8
  27:1 Luke appears to have remained with Paul from the time he left Philippi on his third missionary journey (20:5). He may have ministered to him during his entire two-year detention at Caesarea. We know he travelled with Pau...
• Paul's situation in Rome 28:16
  Paul was a Roman citizen who had appealed to Caesar and had gained the respect (to say the least) of his centurion escort. Therefore he was able to reside in a private rented residence with a Roman guard (v. 30).This is the e...
• Appendix 2
  Sequence of Paul's ActivitiesDateEventReferenceBirth in TarsusActs 22:3Early life and theological education in Jerusalem under GamalielActs 22:334Participation in Stephen's stoning outside JerusalemActs 7:57-8:134Leadership i...
• 1. Past labors 15:14-21
  Paul had been somewhat critical of the strong and the weak in the Roman church (14:1-15:13). He now balanced those comments by pointing out other strengths in the church beside the faith of his Roman brethren (1:8).15:14 Paul...
• Appendix
  Sequence of Paul's ActivitiesDateEventReferenceBirth in TarsusActs 22:3Early life and theological education in Jerusalem under GamalielActs 22:334Participation in Stephen's stoning outside JerusalemActs 7:57-8:134Leadership i...
• E. The benefits of generous giving 9:6-15
  Paul concluded his exhortation regarding the collection by reminding his readers of the benefits God inevitably bestows on those who give liberally. He did this so they would follow through with their purpose and believe that...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

• Drawing Nearer To The Storm
  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: 2. And finding a ship sailing over unto Ph...
• I. The Leisurely Way Of Navigation In That Sea.
  The log of the voyage, as given in Acts 21:1-3, shows the leisurely way of navigation in those days and in that sea. Obviously the coaster tied up or anchored in port at night. Running down the coast from Miletus, they stayed...
• II. A Few Disciples Would Make But Little Show.
  Tyre was a busy seaport then, and in its large population the few disciples would make but little show. They had to be sought out before they were found.' One can feel how eagerly the travellers would search, and how thankful...