"Paul's Adventures" -- ENGLISH (EN) Subtitles Subtitles for: "IcBible8of8_PaulsAdventuresEN.---" www.intercommedia.org -and-|www.creationism.org/videos/ "Ken Anderson Films" Presents|(Distributed by "InterComm Media") "Paul's Adventures" Back when Jesus'€™ followers first began gathering as a church, there lived a young Jew named, Saul of Tarsus. We know him today as Saint Paul. He was the first man to take the Good News of Jesus Christ ... to people who were not Jews (Gentiles). Saul was very religious. But at first he thought Jesus was a fake. He didn'€™t believe Jesus was the Messiah that God had promised ... or that He had risen from the dead. He hated Jesus and all who believed in Him. So when Stephen, a young leader in the Jerusalem church, was accused of doing wrong, Saul agreed that he should be killed, even though Stephen had done nothing wrong. Can you imagine that? Saul just stood by and held the coats of the men who murdered Stephen. Lord Jesus, don'€™t blame these people for their sins, Stephen cried out. That was the same thing Jesus had prayed when He was put to death. I'€™ve got to stop these false teachers, Saul decided. So he got permission from the Jewish religious leader in Jerusalem ... to arrest Jesus'€™ followers and to throw them into prison. Believers ran away from Jerusalem to escape Saul. Only Peter, John, and the other close friends of Jesus stayed behind. In this way, the church spread out from Jerusalem in all directions. As the believers taught about Jesus everywhere they went, more and more people believed on the Lord and were saved. In Judea, Samaria, even as far away as Damascus. Let me go to Damascus, Saul begged the High Priest. I hear there are lots of Jesus'€™ disciples hiding there. A disciple is a person who is being trained by a teacher. Saul set off for Damascus with his armed guards. He planned to bring those followers of Jesus back to Jerusalem ... to be tried for telling lies. But as the men neared Damascus, suddenly a bright light from Heaven shown down on them, and Saul fell off his horse. Ohh! Saul, said a loud voice like thunder. Why are you fighting against me? Who are you, Lord?, Saul asked, trembling. I am Jesus, the one you are mistreating, the voice said. Saul was very afraid. Jesus was alive after all! Lord, what do you want me to do? Get up and go into the city. There you will be told what you must do. The men with Saul heard the voice, but saw no one. And when Saul stood up ... he was blind! So his friends led him into Damascus, where he went without food or water while he prayed for 3 days. Ananias was a man who lived in Damascus and was a follower of Jesus. Saul had intended to put him in prison, too. One day Jesus Spoke to Ananias and said, Go to Straight Street, to the House of Judah, and ask for Saul of Tarsus. He'€™s praying, and I'€™ve shown him you will come to heal him. But Lord, Ananias answered, I'€™ve heard about that Saul. He'€™s the one who's done so much harm to your friends in Jerusalem, and he wants to do the same here! Go ahead, Ananias, Jesus replied. I have chosen Saul to spread the news that I am the Savior. Ananias couldn'€™t believe his ears. Saul was Jesus'€™ enemy. And Jewish people like Saul never had anything to do with Gentiles (non-Jews). Now Saul was going to preach to them in Jesus'€™ Name?! Ananias did as Jesus told him. He found Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus sent me so that you would be able to see again. And so that you would be filled with His Spirit. At that very moment, Saul could see again. Ananias explained everything that Jesus had told him. Then he baptized Saul. After Saul had eaten and recovered his strength, he said, I must go to the synagogue and warn them that we'€™ve been fighting against God! When Saul began to preach and tell everyone: Jesus is God'€™s son! They were amazed. What'€™s wrong with Saul? Isn'€™t this the fellow who destroyed the church in Jerusalem? Didn'€™t he come here to do the same thing? But Saul continued to talk about Jesus being the Messiah. Many believed, but some of those who heard Saul plotted to kill him. They watched the city gates day and night. He'€™s got to go in or out sometime. And when he does, we'€™ll get him! But Jesus'€™ disciples found out about the plot and warned Saul. You must escape and go to Jerusalem. They waited until night and lowered Saul out of a window ... to safety beyond the city wall. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem and tried to find the disciples there, they were all afraid of him! He'€™s playing a trick on us. He'€™s not really on our side! But Barnabas believed Saul. I'€™ll introduce you to the others, He said. When Barnabas told the disciples how Saul ... had seen the Lord on the Damascus Road, ... what Jesus had said, and how Saul boldly preached in Jesus'€™ name. They all welcomed Saul as a brother. Saul went to the Temple and preached about Jesus, just as the other Apostles did. But the Jewish leaders swore to kill him when they heard about it. The Apostles were very close friends of Jesus ... who had lived and worked with Jesus. So Barnabas, Peter, John, and the rest of the church at Jerusalem ... sent Saul back home to far away Tarsus. Wait there until I come for you, Barnabas told his friend. And so it was that the more the Jewish leaders tried to stop the church, the more believers spread out from Jerusalem. Soon many Gentiles believed in Jesus, too. From Phoenicia, to Cyprus, to Antioch. Then Barnabas remembered what the Lord had taught Saul to do. Saul was to be a preacher to the Gentiles. And so Barnabas packed his things and started off for Tarsus ... to find this exciting new Christian. Saul helped Barnabas in the big first church of Antioch. More and more people believed. They needed good teachers to explain ... how Jesus was the Promised Messiah, and what that meant. Saul was very good at explaining things. Did you know that Jesus'€™ disciples were first called "Christians" at Antioch? After a while, Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, told the Antioch church, I want you to send Barnabas and Saul as missionaries. So after everyone had gone without food and prayed, they sent Saul and Barnabas out to preach about Jesus. Saul and Barnabas traveled far and wide. Cyprus, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Hundreds of miles. But in each town they did the same thing. First they would preach in the Synagogue, and persuade as many as they could that Jesus was Israel'€™s Promised Messiah. Although many Jews believed, some would not, and after a while they would make Saul and Barnabas leave the Synagogue. And so they would go instead to the open market or town square, or to people'€™s homes and continue teaching. In each town there were believing Jews who welcomed the news ... that the Messiah had come at last. But also many Gentiles. Hundreds of thousands believed and were saved. God had always intended that salvation would be for everyone. After a while, the Apostles - who were all Jewish - just like Jesus Himself, had a good question. Do Gentile (non-Jewish) believers ... have to keep the laws of Moses in order to be Christians? And so there was a big meeting in Jerusalem. The Apostles were there. And Saul (Paul) and Barnabas came back from the mission field too. When the Jerusalem Church heard all the wonderful things ... that the Holy Spirit had done among the Gentile people, they were excited. My Gentile friends call me '€˜Paul'€™, Saul told the church. I preach to them the same thing we all believe. I tell them that they can be saved by faith in Jesus Christ alone! The Jerusalem Church agreed that this was right. They should live good, clean lives that honor Christ. But since they are not Jews, they are not bound by the laws of Moses. So that was what the Apostles began telling the Gentile believers. Now that everything was all settled, Paul could hardly wait to start on his next missionary journey. This time Silas was to be Paul'€™s helper. Paul and Silas had many adventures together as they preached about Jesus. Once they were arrested, beaten, and thrown in prison in the city of Philippi. Some men had lied about them and said, They are dangerous false teachers. The jailer believed the lies. Make sure they don'€™t escape or you'€™ll be in big trouble. So the jailer put them in the dungeon of the prison. Roman prisons were terrible places. It would be easy to become discouraged in one of them. But Paul and Silas depended on God. At midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God. Right there in a prison cell! The other prisoners were listening and learning about Jesus. Suddenly - an earthquake shook the prison to its foundations! All the doors flew open, and everyone'€™s chains fell off! When the jailer saw all the cell doors wide open, he was terrified. The prisoners have escaped!, he thought. When his commanding officer finds out, he would be in terrible trouble. So he drew his sword and was about to kill himself. Stop! Don'€™t harm yourself! We are all here! Paul called out from the darkness. The jailer couldn'€™t believe his ears, Bring me a light!, He shouted. He ran in and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. Sirs, he begged, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, they told him, and you shall be saved: You and your family. The jailer took Paul and Silas, washed their wounds ... from the beating and bandaged them. Then he took them home and introduced them to his family. Paul and Silas told everyone there about Jesus. The jailer and his family believed Jesus could save them from their sins. They were all baptized that same night! The jailer'€™s family made a meal for Paul and Silas. It was like a happy party. Paul made many other friends and had other exciting adventures as well, which you may read about in the Bible. But Paul had many enemies too. Paul returned to Jerusalem after many years ... to visit the church there and to worship in the Temple. But someone recognized him, and a mob attacked him. They wanted to murder him on the spot. Just as they had done to Stephen many years before. Just then the Roman commander, Claudius, happened by and rescued Paul from the mob. Thinking Paul must have done something wrong to cause such an uproar, Claudius arrested him! When the soldiers started to beat Paul, he protested. I am a Roman citizen; you can'€™t do this! And Paul was right. It was against the law to do such a thing. Commander Claudius was very concerned. What shall I do? Paul has committed no crime against Rome. But if I let him go free, the mob will kill him! And so he put Paul in prison once again. The following night a wonderful thing happened. The Lord Jesus Himself visited Paul in jail. Cheer up, Paul, he said. Just as you have told many people about me in Jerusalem, now I am sending you to do the same thing in Rome. Paul was very encouraged by this news ... because that was exactly what he had prayed for. There was already a church in Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire. And he had written a letter to the believers in Jesus there several years ago. Now he would go to them. The Lord Himself had promised. But the Jewish leaders had a plan to kill Paul. Paul'€™s sister lived in Jerusalem, and her boy happened to overhear some men talking. There were 40 of them who had decided ... they would not eat or drink until they had murdered Paul. The mother sent the boy running to the prison to tell Uncle Paul ... all that he had overhead. Paul introduced his nephew to Commander Claudius. And when the commander heard of the plot, he knew just what to do! Prepare 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen. We'€™re taking Paul to the governor at Caesarea tonight! At least Paul will get a fair hearing there. But the governor did not help Paul. He may have been afraid of what the Jewish leaders would say if he did. And so after a long time, Paul finally said to the governor, I am a Roman citizen. I demand to have the emperor decide my case! Very well, the governor agreed. You shall go to Rome and stand trial before Caesar! So Paul set sail for Rome, just as Jesus had promised. Paul and several other prisoners were guarded by Julius, a centurion. Centurions were very powerful. They were important soldiers in the Roman army. Even though Paul was just a prisoner, Julius treated him kindly. They set out for Rome on a big grain ship. One of Paul'€™s good friends, Dr. Luke, was permitted to travel with him. You may know about him yourself. He wrote the books in the Bible called: The Gospel of Luke, and the Book of Acts. They started their journey in the fall. But it was many hundreds of miles to Italy by sea, which was the shortest and quickest way to travel in those days. When winter came, it was also the most dangerous! So Paul warned his friend Julius, This voyage will end in disaster with great loss of cargo. The ship and our lives as well, if the captain insists on sailing in winter. We should wait out the stormy season in a safe harbor. But the Captain and the owner of the ship laughed ... when Julius told them about Paul'€™s warning. Huh! What does Paul know? He'€™s no sailor! And so they sailed on. At first, a soft southern breeze carried them past the Island of Crete. It was just like a vacation cruise. But not long after that, a terrible stormy wind overtook them. Unable to steer, the ship was driven helplessly by the violent wind. By the following day the typhoon was so bad that the crew ... began throwing cargo and equipment overboard to lighten the ship. Paul, Luke, Julius, and anyone who could, also helped. The storm lasted many days, and everyone was sure they would be drowned. But one night God sent an angel to Paul. Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar. God will spare the lives of all who sail with you. However, your ship will run aground on an island. Up on deck, Paul exclaimed, Take heart, men, God has just told me I will make it to Rome. And that none of us will die. I believe it will happen just like he said. Later that night, the sailors, measuring the depth of the water announced their ship was near land. Now they were afraid they might run into rocks in the darkness. So some of the crew threw out 4 large anchors ... from the ship'€™s stern and prayed for daylight. But some sailors didn'€™t believe Paul. They secretly planned to desert ship, leaving the rest to drown. They pretended to be busy putting out more anchors from the ship'€™s bow. But they let down the rowboat instead, intending to escape in it. Paul discovered their plot and told Julius, Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved. The Centurion quickly cut the boat loose, stopping the sailors from carrying out their plan. You should listen to Paul!, Julius told them. When morning came, Paul told everyone, You must all try to eat. It'€™s for your own good. Not even one hair from your head will be lost if you do what I say. When they saw how confident he was, all 276 of them took heart and ate breakfast too. In the morning light, they could finally see land. All they could see was a sandy beach and a bay. So they pulled in the anchors, put up the sail, and steered toward shore. Suddenly the ship ran aground with a heavy shudder ... and a moan of creaking wood. The bow was stuck and the stern began to break into pieces by the violent waves. The soldiers, fearing the prisoners would escape, planned to kill them all, ... but Julius stopped them because he wanted to save Paul. He ordered anyone who could swim to jump ship and get to land. The rest clung to boards and wreckage. So everyone escaped safely to shore. They had landed on the island of Malta. When the friendly natives saw what had happened, they built a bonfire to keep everyone warm. Paul helped by gathering sticks. But when he put his bundle on the fire, a viper, which is a kind of poisonous snake, came out and bit him. Look! The islanders said. This man must be a murderer! He has escaped the sea, but justice will not let him live! But Paul calmly shook the snake off and let it drop into the fire. Everyone kept watching Paul, expecting him to swell up or fall down dead any minute. But when no harm came to him, they changed their minds and decided he must be a god instead. Publius, the leading citizen of the island, had his estate not far away. Hearing of the shipwreck, he invited Paul, Luke, Julius, and the others to stay with him. He entertained them very courteouly for 3 days. Publius'€™ father was very ill with a high fever. Paul prayed for the old man in Jesus' Name, and he was healed. When this news spread, all the sick people on Malta came to Paul, and he healed them. In the spring, the Apostle Paul and his companions ... took another ship bound for Rome. It had stopped for winter there - in Malta. Publius and the other friends Paul had made there were sorry to see him leave. They gave him many going away presents. Paul and the others landed in Puteoli on the Italian coast and started for Rome. When the church in Rome and other towns around it, heard that the Apostle Paul himself was coming, ... they sent a large group to welcome him personally. Paul was very encouraged. And so Paul was finally able to testify in Rome for the Lord Jesus, just as the Lord had promised him. Julius put in a good word for Paul with the captain of the guard. So Paul was given permission to rent a house, to have visitors, and preach to anyone he wanted! It is because of the hope of Israel that God has sent me here, he told the Jewish leaders of the synagogue in Rome. Then he told them the story of Jesus, the Messiah. God has sent salvation to the Gentiles too, Paul said. So Paul preached about Jesus to the very end. I haven'€™t much longer to live, Paul wrote to his young friend, Timothy. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. Let'€™s all follow his example and share the wonderful story of Jesus with others. THE END --- "Paul's Adventures" Visit: www.intercommedia.org -and- www.creationism.org