Study Desk

Then he went to Tarsus to search for Saul,

and when he found him he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught large numbers. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch.

So Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was being made earnestly to God for him by the church.

On the night before Herod was to bring him out for execution, Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison.

Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod's grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected."

He had been very angry with the Tyrians and Sidonians. Together they presented themselves before him. They won over Blastus, who was in charge of the king's bedroom, and through him they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king's country.

As they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, "Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work I have called them to."

Now, look! The Lord's hand is against you. You are going to be blind, and will not see the sun for a time." Suddenly a mist and darkness fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.

After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak."

And for about 40 years He put up with them in the wilderness;

Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.

For the residents of Jerusalem and their rulers, since they did not recognize Him or the voices of the prophets that are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled their words by condemning Him.

Though they found no grounds for the death penalty, they asked Pilate to have Him killed.

and He appeared for many days to those who came with Him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now His witnesses to the people.

God has fulfilled this for us, their children, by raising up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm: You are My Son; today I have become Your Father.

For David, after serving his own generation in God's plan, fell asleep, was buried with his fathers, and decayed.

For this is what the Lord has commanded us: I have made you a light for the Gentiles to bring salvation to the ends of the earth. "

So they stayed there for some time and spoke boldly in reliance on the Lord, who testified to the message of His grace by granting that signs and wonders be performed through them.

After the disciples surrounded him, he got up and went into the town. The next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe.

From there they sailed back to Antioch where they had been entrusted to the grace of God for the work they had now completed.