The Place

Athens lays its history out in stone above you. The Acropolis rises over the city, crowned by the Parthenon, the great temple to Athena that has stood for nearly twenty-five centuries. Just below that height sits a bare rocky outcrop, the Areopagus, or Mars Hill, where the city's council of philosophers and thinkers once met. At the foot of it all spreads the Plaka, the old neighborhood of narrow lanes that still hums with the conversation and commerce of a city that has always loved ideas. This was the intellectual capital of the ancient world, beautiful, cultured, and, in Paul's day, crowded with idols. It is the place where the apostle stood among the philosophers of Athens and proclaimed the God they did not know.

The Scripture

Acts 17:16-31 (NKJV)

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols. 17 Therefore he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with the Gentile worshipers, and in the marketplace daily with those who happened to be there.

18 Then certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. And some said, "What does this babbler want to say?" Others said, "He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods," because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? 20 For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean." 21 For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious; 23 for as I was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. 25 Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also His offspring.' 29 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man's devising. 30 Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, 31 because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead."

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on Acts 17.

Paul came to Athens like any tourist, ready to be impressed by a famous and historic city, once one of the most glorious cities in the world. But when he toured it, he was only depressed by the magnitude of the idolatry he saw all around. The phrase given over to idols really means under idols, or swamped by idols. Paul saw the beauty of Athens, the best that Greek sculptors and architects could offer, but all that beauty did not honor God, so it did not impress him at all.

It was a challenging audience. As Bruce notes, Athens "continued to represent the highest level of culture attained in classical antiquity," an intellectual center much like Oxford or Cambridge. There Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him. The Epicureans pursued pleasure and a peaceful life; they did not deny gods, but believed the gods had nothing to do with man. The Stoics were pantheists who believed everything was god and god was in everything. It was the sheer novelty of Paul's message that earned him the invitation to the Areopagus, for these Greeks loved a constant stream of something new.

When Paul stood up, he did not begin with an exposition of Scripture, as was his custom among those who knew the Old Testament. He began with general references to religion, and with their own altar TO THE UNKNOWN GOD, which covered any god that might have been neglected. Paul wanted to reveal that God's identity. Then he built his case in a deliberate order: God is the Creator, and we are His creatures. As Stott observes, this "is very different from either the Epicurean emphasis on a chance combination of atoms or the virtual pantheism of the Stoics." God made from one blood every nation; He is not far from us; we are His offspring, so we ought not to think the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone.

Paul even quoted their own poets (lines attributed to Epimenides and Aratus), not because they were prophets, but because those specific words reflected a Biblical truth and built a bridge to a pagan audience. He moved from who God is, to who we are, to our responsibility before Him, to our accountability in judgment. Paul did not preach a "soft" gospel; he confronted them with the reality of coming judgment, and pointed first to Jesus as the righteous Judge, with the resurrection as God's assurance of this.

Then they stopped him short. The Greeks loved the immortality of the soul but recoiled at the resurrection of the body. As Boice puts it, "If there was to be a life to come, the one thing they certainly did not want it cluttered up with was a body." Some mocked. Others wanted to hear again. The results seemed small, yet some believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris. Pastor David pushes back on the old idea that Paul "failed" here and changed his strategy afterward in Corinth. The sermon was eminently Biblical, beginning with God the Creator and ending with God the Judge, and as Longenecker notes, "the reason the gospel did not take root there probably lay more in the attitude of the Athenians themselves than in Paul's approach." It is dangerous to measure a message by the size of its response.

On the Ground

• Look up at the Acropolis and the Parthenon as Paul did, then look at the Areopagus rock just below. He stood in the shadow of the city's grandest idolatry and proclaimed the God who "does not dwell in temples made with hands."
• A bronze plaque near the Areopagus carries the Greek text of Paul's sermon. Read it where it was spoken, remembering this is "obviously a short extract," what is recorded takes barely two minutes to say.
• In the Plaka and the ancient marketplace (Agora), picture Paul reasoning "daily with those who happened to be there." His method was simple: preach wherever he could get an audience.
• Tradition holds that Dionysius the Areopagite became an early leader of the church in Athens. Hold that as the city's cherished tradition, not a claim Scripture makes; the New Testament tells us only that he believed.
• Notice the order of Paul's argument as you walk: Creator, creatures, responsibility, judgment, and the risen Jesus. He met thinkers on their own ground without surrendering the gospel.

Reflect & Pray

• Paul's spirit was "provoked within him" by a city swamped in idols. What around you have you grown used to that ought to stir you instead?
• Paul began with an altar to an unknown god and built a bridge to people far from Scripture. Who in your life needs the gospel spoken in language they can actually hear?
• The response at Athens looked small, yet some believed. Where are you tempted to measure faithfulness by the size of the result rather than by the truth of the message?

Father, like Paul in Athens, give us eyes that are stirred by what dishonors You and hearts ready to proclaim the God who is not far from anyone. You are the Maker of heaven and earth, and in You we live and move and have our being. Help us to speak Jesus and the resurrection plainly, to build bridges without bending the truth, and to trust You with the response. We leave the results in Your hands. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Acts 17

The Place

Our journey begins in Spain, and that is no small thing for travelers following the footsteps of Paul. Spain was the edge of Paul's map, the western frontier he longed to reach but, as far as the Book of Acts records, never did on the terms he planned. As you gather in Barcelona for our group dinner and board the Equinox, consider the irony built into our route: Paul hoped to sail from Rome to Spain. We will sail the reverse, from Spain toward Rome. We begin where the apostle hoped to end up, and we travel the road he most wanted to finish. Before the Bible comes alive in Malta, Athens, Ephesus, and Rome, let it speak here, at the setting out.

The Scripture

Romans 15:20–24, 28–29 (NKJV)

20 And so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build on another man's foundation, 21 but as it is written: "To whom He was not announced, they shall see; And those who have not heard shall understand."

22 For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. 23 But now no longer having a place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come to you, 24 whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey, and to be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while.

28 Therefore, when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit, I shall go by way of you to Spain. 29 But I know that when I come to you, I shall come in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ.

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on Romans 15.

Paul had made it his aim to preach the gospel not where Christ was named. He did not want to build on another man's foundation. He wanted to do pioneer work for the Lord, not because it was wrong to continue a work begun by someone else, but because there was so much to do on the frontiers. Paul saw this pioneering heart as obedience to Scripture itself, fulfilling the prophecy he quotes: those who have not heard shall understand.

That frontier heart is why he had not yet come to Rome. As Pastor David notes, "It was his great desire to do pioneer work that hindered him from coming to the Romans, though he did desire to see them." And it is why Spain is on his mind. Paul supposed he would visit the Roman Christians on a future trip to Spain, stopping in Rome on the way, enjoying their support and fellowship before pressing on to preach the gospel in the regions beyond. He likely wanted Rome to be his base of operations for the western empire, just as Antioch had been his base in the east.

But here is the line worth carrying onto the ship: "Paul had these plans; yet things did not work out according to his plans." He did go to Rome, but not as a missionary on his way to Spain. He went as a prisoner awaiting trial before Caesar, preaching the gospel on a different kind of frontier. God had unexpected frontiers for the gospel in Paul's life, giving him unexpected access to the emperor of Rome himself.

And Spain? Pastor David points to the early tradition: after his release from the Roman imprisonment at the end of Acts, "we have reason to believe that Paul did in fact make it to Spain and preached the gospel there." The desire was not wasted. It was simply fulfilled by a route Paul never would have drawn for himself, and on a longer timeline than he expected.

We set out from the very frontier Paul ached to reach. The God who got him to Spain by way of a shipwreck and a prison can be trusted with our plans, and with the places in our own lives that still feel unreached.

On the Ground

• Barcelona is in the region the Romans called Hispania (Paul's "Spain"). You are standing on the far western edge of the apostle's missionary horizon.
• Note the reversal as we sail: Paul's intended route was Rome → Spain; ours is Spain → Rome. We will end, as the Book of Acts does, in Rome.
• That Paul reached Spain at all is church tradition, drawn from early sources, not stated in the New Testament. David presents it as a well-grounded tradition; hold it as such.
• Use the group dinner tonight as Paul used the Roman believers' fellowship: strength gathered for the journey ahead.

Reflect & Pray

• Paul aimed at the places no one else had gone. What "frontier," near or far, is God putting on your heart that you keep postponing?
• Paul's plans did not unfold the way he drew them, yet God's purpose did. Where are you holding a plan tightly that God may intend to fulfill by another route?
• We begin the voyage in fellowship and a shared meal. Who has helped you "on your way," and whom are you helping on theirs?

Father, like Paul we set out with plans and a destination in mind. Teach us to hold them loosely and to trust You completely. You fulfilled the desire of Paul's heart by a road he never imagined; do the same with the unreached places in our lives. As we sail from Spain toward Rome, give us a frontier heart and the fellowship to sustain it. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Romans 15

The Place

Today you walk one of the best preserved cities of the ancient world. The marble main street still runs downhill toward the two story facade of the Library of Celsus, and the ruts of cart wheels are pressed into the paving stones. Above the city sits the Great Theatre, carved into the hillside, an enormous semicircle of stone seats that once held a crowd of roughly twenty five thousand people. This is no abstract backdrop. In this very theatre a mob gathered and chanted for two hours, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians," when the gospel began to cost the local idol trade its profits (Acts 19). Paul ministered here for some three years. To this city Jesus later sent a letter through John (Revelation 2). As you stand on these stones, you are standing inside a story that runs from the gospel's first power in Ephesus to Jesus' last word to that same church.

The Scripture

Revelation 2:1-7 (NKJV)

1 "To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, 'These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands:

2 "I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars;

3 "and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name's sake and have not become weary.

4 "Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

5 "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

6 "But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." '

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on Acts 19 and Revelation 2.

Ephesus was a stronghold of Satan. As Gaebelein wrote, "Here many evil things both superstitious and satanic were practiced. Books containing formula for sorcery and other ungodly and forbidden arts were plentiful in that city." The city's pride was the temple of Diana (also called Artemis), one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, supported by 127 pillars each 60 feet high. Into this place Paul came and reasoned daily in the school of Tyrannus for two years, "so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus." By himself there was no way Paul could reach this whole region, but he could equip Christians to do the work of the ministry.

The gospel's power confronted the city head on. After the incident with the sons of Sceva, fear fell on the people and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. Many who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. The value totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver, estimated today at anywhere between one million and five million dollars. They renounced the demonic by confessing and by burning these books, disregarding whatever value they had. As Pastor David notes, the secrecy was thought to be the power of the spells, and that power was renounced in the telling. "So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed."

When the work was going so well, the riot broke out. Demetrius the silversmith, whose trade in silver shrines of Diana was suffering, stirred up the craftsmen, and "the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theater with one accord." Most of them did not even know why they had come together. For about two hours they cried out, "Great is Diana of the Ephesians." That chant, Pastor David observes, must have sent a chill up the backs of the Christians, including Paul, who no doubt could hear it from outside the theatre. The opposition was, in its own way, a great compliment to the effectiveness of Paul's work. He was on a pro Jesus campaign more than an anti everything else campaign.

That is the church that began so well. Decades later Jesus addresses it again. He introduces Himself as the One "who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands," central to His church and immediately present in it. His commendation is real: "I know your works, your labor, your patience." They worked hard, they endured, and they guarded sound doctrine, testing false apostles and finding them liars. By all outward appearances this was a solid church.

"Nevertheless," Jesus says, and the word means "despite all that." All the good did not cancel out the one thing wrong: "you have left your first love." Pastor David draws out the careful wording. They had left, not lost, their first love. As Robertson called it, this was "a definite and sad departure." Something lost is misplaced by accident, but leaving is a deliberate act, and we know where to find what we left. The Ephesian church was a working church, and Pastor David warns that "sometimes a focus on working for Jesus will eclipse a love relationship with Him." They were a doctrinally pure church, and doctrinal purity without love can grow cold and bigoted. As Spurgeon put it, "Lose love, lose all."

The remedy is three plain steps. Remember from where you have fallen. Repent, which is not a command to feel sorry but to change direction. And do the first works, the very things you did when you first fell in love with Jesus, the time in His Word, the prayer, the joy of gathering, the eagerness to tell others. Apparently the Ephesians heeded this, for early in the second century Ignatius still praised their love and their doctrinal purity together.

On the Ground

• The Great Theatre is where the crowd of Acts 19:29 "rushed into the theater with one accord." It seated roughly twenty five thousand. One commentator Pastor David cites (Williams) notes the acoustics were excellent, even better in that day because of bronze and clay sounding vessels placed throughout, so a two hour chant would have been deafening.
• The temple of Diana is now little more than foundations and a single reconstructed column, away from the main ruins. It was lost to history until rediscovered in 1869, with its main altar unearthed in 1965.
• As you walk the marble main street toward the Library of Celsus, remember that somewhere in this district believers once burned magic books worth a fortune. The gospel here was costly and public, not private.
• That the Apostle John ministered here in his later years, and Mary may have lived nearby, is strong and cherished church tradition, not a claim Scripture makes. Hold it as such.

Reflect & Pray

• Jesus commended the Ephesians for hard work and sound doctrine, yet still said they had left their first love. Could that sentence be written over your own walk right now?
• Notice the difference between leaving and losing. If you have left your first love, you know where you left it. What was different about the way you used to follow Jesus?
• What "first works" did you once do gladly, in His Word, in prayer, in telling others, that you could simply begin again this week?

Father, I have stood today where the gospel once burned so brightly that whole storerooms of magic were thrown on the fire and a city rioted over Your Son. Search my heart the way You searched the church here. Where I have busied myself with work and right belief but let my love grow cold, show me from where I have fallen. Help me to remember, to repent, and to do the first works, so that my love for You is not a faded memory but a deeper thing than it was at the start. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Acts 19
• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Revelation 2

The Place

You step ashore today at Valletta, the walled city the Knights of St. John founded in 1565. But the story that brings Enduring Word to this island is older and stormier. Somewhere along these shores, around AD 60, a grain ship carrying 276 passengers ran aground after fourteen days lost in a Mediterranean gale. One of the prisoners aboard was the Apostle Paul. What happened next, a shipwreck, a snakebite, and an island full of healings, is one of the clearest pictures in Scripture of how God keeps His promises when everything around us is breaking apart. The very name of the island fits the moment: in the older Phoenician tongue, Malta likely means refuge.

The Scripture

Acts 28:1–10 (NKJV)

1 Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. 2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live." 5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

7 In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. 8 And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. 9 So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. 10 They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on Acts 28.

These were experienced sailors, and they would certainly have known the island of Malta. They simply did not recognize this side of it. Almost all the traffic to Malta came to the main port on the other side of the island. And yet the place where God ran them aground turned out to be a place of unusual kindness. Luke wrote as someone who was there, who felt both the cold and wet of the storm and the warmth of the welcome. Malta could mean refuge, a fitting name.

Watch what Paul does first. When the fire is being built, Paul gathers a bundle of sticks. The great apostle gathers wood, even though there were probably scores of people among the 276 passengers and crew far more suited for the job. Paul's servant heart was always evident.

Then the viper. Paul was faithful to God and living as a true servant, but this did not keep him from the trial. His humble service brought out a viper, and the viper did not just nibble on Paul; it fastened on his hand. Paul did not let it bother him. He did not scream, "Why God? I can't take any more of this!" or "Can't You see I'm serving You?" He did not turn to the people by the fire and blame them for not gathering the wood themselves. His reaction was calm and unconcerned: he shook off the creature into the fire.

Why did he suffer no harm? God did not preserve Paul from the storm just to let him perish by a snake. Paul had been told, you must also bear witness at Rome (Acts 23:11), and Paul was not yet at Rome. As Pastor David puts it, "It wasn't so much that nothing would stop Paul as it was that nothing would stop God's promise from being fulfilled." There is more here than one man's survival. Divine justice, which the natives feared had finally caught up with this prisoner, had no claim against Paul at all. It had been satisfied by Jesus' work on the cross. God's justice could never harm Paul, nor anyone whose sins have been paid for by the work of Jesus.

Then the season of relief. Publius, "the leading citizen of the island," receives them for three days, a strong contrast to the misery of the previous two weeks at sea. When his father lies sick with fever and dysentery, Paul goes in, prays, lays hands on him, and he is healed. God did the work, but Paul made himself ready and available for it. Soon the rest of the island's sick came and were healed as well. Luke, a physician (Colossians 4:14), may well have served alongside Paul as a medical missionary on Malta. The island that received shipwrecked strangers was itself given the gospel.

On the Ground

• The traditional site of the shipwreck is St. Paul's Bay, on the north of the island, away from Valletta's main harbor, which fits Luke's note that the sailors did not recognize this side.
• Maltese Christian tradition holds that Publius became the first bishop of Malta. Treat it as the island's cherished tradition, not a claim Scripture makes.
• Malta marks itself as one of the oldest Christian communities in Europe. As you walk Valletta's churches, remember the faith here traces back to a storm, not a strategy.
• Notice how the chapter turns on small acts: gathering sticks, shaking off a snake, praying for one sick man. God's promises moved forward through ordinary faithfulness.

Reflect & Pray

• Paul served before he was honored, gathering wood as a prisoner. Where is God asking you to serve in the small, unglamorous task in front of you?
• The natives swung from calling Paul a murderer to calling him a god. How much weight do you give to what others think of you, "either for good or bad"?
• What storm in your own life might God be steering toward a place of refuge you don't yet recognize?

Father, You did not save Paul from the sea to lose him to a snake, and You will not abandon the work You have begun in me. When the storm is long and the shore is strange, remind me that nothing can stop Your promise. Make me a servant who gathers the sticks, available for whatever You are doing. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Acts 28

The Place

Today is a day of beauty and rest. Mykonos is not the site of a particular Bible event, no apostle is recorded preaching here, so our reflection is not on something that happened on this island but on a question the island quietly raises. You will walk whitewashed lanes that tumble down to a blue Aegean, past the row of old windmills standing watch over the town, and along beaches and waterfront cafes that have made Mykonos famous for leisure and lively nights. It is a place built around pleasure, and a beautiful one. So let it become the very place where we ask the deeper question David asked: where is joy that lasts actually found? Enjoy the beauty fully, and let it point past itself.

The Scripture

Psalm 16:8–11 (NKJV)

8 I have set the LORD always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope.

10 For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.

11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on Psalm 16.

David begins with a decision, not a feeling. I have set the LORD always before me speaks of a choice David made to put God first in his life. He determined that God would always be his focus, his perspective. And the result was steadiness: Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. This was the plain result of David's decision to put God first. There was a standing and a security in David's life that would not have otherwise existed.

Notice the order. The gladness in verse 9 flows out of the commitment in verse 8. Therefore my heart is glad. As Pastor David points out, those who do not live out a true commitment to God find it easy to think only of what such a commitment costs them, and there is a real cost: it may cost certain pleasures, popularity, family relationships, life goals, financial priorities. The cost is honest and worth counting. Yet David also tells us the benefits: my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices. There was a happiness and a glory David knew by this life commitment that he would not have known otherwise. David could maturely understand both the costs and the benefits, and still sing a song of praise about his decision.

Then David's hope reaches beyond this life. My flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol. David had the settled hope, a confidence and not a simple wish, that God would not leave his soul in the grave, but that his life would continue on in the presence of God. And here, Pastor David notes, David spoke beyond himself. Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. In a greater and more literal sense, only Jesus Christ fulfills this in His resurrection. Peter said exactly this on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:25-31), and Paul preached it again (Acts 13:35-37), showing these words went beyond David, who was dead, buried, and whose body had long ago returned to dust. Because Jesus remained the Holy One even in death, the resurrection was inevitable. It was not possible that He should be held by death (Acts 2:24).

This is what reframes a day of pleasure. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy. The path of life is something enjoyed by the believer both now and in eternity, Pastor David writes. And the fullness of joy is a joy David could experience now, in the gladness he has just described, and also ultimately receive in the more immediate presence of God. At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. David had full confidence that his life with God, both now and forever, would be marked by the highest and best pleasures. This is life lived above shallow entertainments and excitements. As Pastor David notes, true pleasures forevermore are found at the right hand of God, not in separation from Him. Mykonos offers real and lovely pleasures for a day. David points us to a Source that does not run dry.

On the Ground

• Mykonos is justly famous for beauty and pleasure, and there is no shame in enjoying it. The psalm does not scold the good gifts; it locates their Source. Receive the beauty as a pointer back to the One who made it.
• The contrast worth carrying: the island's pleasures are real but fleeting, lasting a day or a season. Psalm 16 promises pleasures forevermore, joy that does not depend on the weather, the view, or the crowd.
• The old windmills once turned only when the wind blew. Notice the picture: a joy tied to circumstance comes and goes like wind. David's gladness was anchored to a fixed point, the LORD set always before him.
• David's joy started with a decision (I have set the LORD always before me), not with a perfect setting. You can make that same decision on a beach today as easily as in a hard season tomorrow.
• That Psalm 16:10 looks past David to the resurrection of Jesus is not later invention. The New Testament itself applies it that way, in Peter's Pentecost sermon (Acts 2) and Paul's sermon at Antioch (Acts 13). The fullness of joy David sang about is grounded in an empty tomb.

Reflect & Pray

• Where have you been looking for joy lately, and how long does that joy actually last before you need more of it?
• David's gladness flowed from a prior decision to set the LORD before him. What would it look like to make that decision again today, on a day of leisure rather than crisis?
• David held both the cost and the benefit of following God honestly. What has following Christ cost you, and what gladness has it given you that you would not otherwise know?

Father, thank You for beauty and rest, for a day to enjoy what Your hand has made. Keep us from mistaking the gift for the Giver. Like David, we set You before us, and we find our hearts glad because of it. Teach us that the pleasures of a single beautiful day are a small echo of the fullness of joy that is in Your presence, and of the pleasures forevermore at Your right hand, secured for us in the resurrection of Your Son. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Psalm 16

The Place

Today you walk the sacred grounds of Olympia, where the ancient Greeks held the Olympic Games for roughly a thousand years, beginning around 776 BC. Among the pine and olive trees you will see the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, which once housed a colossal gold-and-ivory statue counted among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, the workshop of the sculptor Pheidias, and the training grounds where athletes prepared. Pass through the stone-arched entrance and you stand in the original stadium, the long earthen track where runners once strained for a single prize. This is the world Paul reaches for again and again in his letters: the runner, the boxer, the discipline of the games, the wreath laid on the victor's head. Standing where athletes ran for a crown of leaves that soon withered, we hear Paul tell us to run for a crown that never will.

The Scripture

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 (NKJV)

24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NKJV)

7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on 1 Corinthians 9 and 2 Timothy 4.

Sporting events were big in Paul's day as well as in our own. The athletic picture was especially meaningful to the Corinthians, because their city was the center for the Isthmian Games, second in prestige to the ancient Olympics held here at Olympia. Paul often uses figures from arena competition, at least twelve different references in his letters, including runners, boxers, gladiators, chariot racers, and trophies. Today we stand at the source of that imagery.

Run in such a way that you may obtain it. Paul tells us to train and compete as athletes who really want to win. Without effort, nothing can be won in a sporting event. And everyone who competes for the prize, Paul says, is temperate in all things. This term refers to the manner in which Roman athletes had to train for ten months before being allowed in the games. An athlete must refuse things that may be fine in themselves, but will hinder the pursuit of his goal. The athletes who ran this stadium did it to obtain a perishable crown, a wreath of olive or ivy leaves that soon withered and died. We run for an imperishable crown, a heavenly reward that will never pass away.

Notice how seriously Paul takes the training. When he says I discipline my body, Pastor David notes that discipline is a weak translation. The ancient Greek word means "to strike under the eye; to give a black eye." Paul did not want his body to lord it over his entire being. To bring it into subjection literally means to lead about as a slave. Paul made sure his body was the servant and his inner man the master. This was not the self-torture of later ascetics, who whipped and beat themselves in a misguided attempt to fulfill this verse, refusing to recognize that Jesus paid all the penalty of their sin. Paul ran with purpose, not with uncertainty, and he saw himself as both the herald who announced the rules of the games and a participant who had to follow them. His fear of becoming disqualified here points not to losing salvation, but to losing reward.

Years later, near the end of his life, Paul returns to the track one last time. I have finished the race. Throughout his ministry Paul used the picture of the race and the Christian as an athlete running it. Now he knew his race was just about finished. There was a crown waiting for him, and he was certain of it. Pastor David observes that the word Paul uses is the stephanos, the victor's crown, the trophy recognizing that one competed according to the rules and won. Paul envisioned an awards ceremony where the Lord, the righteous Judge, would hand him that crown. He was about to be condemned and executed by an earthly court, but he was also going to be rewarded by a heavenly Lord. And this promise is not for Paul alone. It is for all who have loved His appearing.

On the Ground

• You can walk into the original Olympic stadium and stand on the track itself. This is the ground beneath Paul's words: athletes ran here for a wreath of leaves that withered, while Paul points us to a crown that never fades.
• Look for the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, which once held the great statue counted among the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. The games were religious festivals honoring the Greek gods, a reminder of the very world Paul evangelized.
• The athletes who competed here trained for months under strict rules, the temperate in all things discipline Paul describes. As you walk, consider what you would refuse, even good things, to win what matters most.
• The winner here received a simple olive wreath. Paul's point lands harder when you see how little was actually given for so much effort, and how much more is laid up for those who finish God's race.

Reflect & Pray

• Athletes here gave up good things for ten months to win a wreath that withered. What good thing might God be asking you to set aside so you can run your own race well?
• Paul ran not with uncertainty. Are you running with purpose toward an imperishable crown, or beating the air?
• Paul could say at the end, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. What would it take for you to be able to say the same?

Father, You have set a race before me, and You call me to run it with purpose and discipline. Help me to refuse what hinders me and to keep my eyes on the imperishable crown rather than the passing prizes of this world. Make me a faithful runner who, like Paul, can one day say that I have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. I run for You, the righteous Judge who waits with the victor's crown. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, 1 Corinthians 9
• Full commentary: Enduring Word, 2 Timothy 4

The Place

We disembark today at Rome, and with it our voyage ends where the Book of Acts ends. We began in Barcelona, on the far western frontier Paul ached to reach, and we sailed the reverse of the route he once planned, from Spain toward Rome. Now we stand in the capital of the empire, a city that already had existed for almost eight hundred years when Paul arrived, with a population near two million, its temples to Jupiter and Mars, its palaces of Caesar. Paul came here not as a free missionary on his way to Spain but as a prisoner awaiting trial before the emperor. And here, in chains, he preached the gospel of Jesus Christ "with all confidence, no one forbidding him." This is the bookend. The journey that carried David Guzik's Enduring Word ministry through Malta, Athens, and Ephesus closes in the same place Luke's account does, with the gospel arriving at the heart of the world.

The Scripture

Acts 28:16-31 (NKJV)

16 Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

17 And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them: "Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, 18 who, when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death. 19 But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. 20 For this reason therefore I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain."

21 Then they said to him, "We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what you think; for concerning this sect, we know that it is spoken against everywhere."

23 So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. 24 And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.

25 So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word: "The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers, 26 saying, 'Go to this people and say: "Hearing you will hear, and shall not understand; And seeing you will see, and not perceive; 27 For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, And their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, So that I should heal them." ' 28 Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!"

29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves.

30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Romans 1:14-17 (NKJV)

14 I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. 15 So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "The just shall live by faith."

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on Acts 28 and Romans 1.

When Paul finally came to Rome, the promise of Jesus was fulfilled. Paul had determined to go to Rome as early as his third missionary journey. At Jerusalem, Jesus had promised Paul he would make it to Rome (Acts 23:11), and He repeated the promise during the two weeks of storm at sea. As Boice puts it, "Now, at the very end of the book, the apostle comes to Rome. Thus Jesus' prophecy that his disciples would be his witnesses 'to the ends of the earth' is fulfilled."

He came as a prisoner, yet not in a normal prison. Paul was permitted to dwell by himself in a rented house, constantly under the supervision of a Roman guard, often chained. The rotation of the guards gave him a constant supply of people to talk to. Though he was the prisoner, he had a genuinely captive audience. In Philippians, written from this very custody, Paul tells how his message reached the palace guards of Rome.

Paul kept his consistent practice, going to the Jews first. Within three days he called the leaders of the Jewish community together, explaining and solemnly testifying of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening. And the result was what it had always been: some were persuaded, and some disbelieved. The disbelief of some of the Jews, or anyone else's rejection of Jesus, will not hinder the gospel. The gospel will go forth and find those who will believe.

So Luke closes with two years and a single, ringing phrase. Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ "with all confidence, no one forbidding him." These two years were not wasted. We have this Roman custody to thank for the letters to the Ephesians, the Philippians, and the Colossians. As Paul came to Rome, the sea, the soldiers, and the snake all threatened his life, yet God delivered him from them all. Through Paul, God shows that God's man, fulfilling God's will, cannot be stopped. That last phrase, no one forbidding him, "has the idea of completely unhindered. Paul's chains and custody mattered nothing. The word of God was unhindered."

That is why Romans 1:16 belongs here. Years before Paul ever saw the city, he had written to its Christians, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ." In a sophisticated city like Rome, some might be embarrassed by a gospel centered on a crucified Jewish Savior and embraced by the lowest classes of people, but Paul is not ashamed. He knew the gospel had inherent power, as Morris notes: "Paul does not say that the gospel brings power, but that it is power, and God's power at that." Rome boasted of power above all else, and yet the Romans, like all men, were powerless to make themselves righteous before God. Into that capital came the one thing it could not manufacture, the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.

There is no end to the story, because the history of the church continues it on and on through the centuries. The Book of Acts really is a never-ending story. We close our voyage at the place where Luke set down his pen, and the gospel has not stopped moving since.

On the Ground

• Our voyage ends in Rome exactly as the Book of Acts does. The reversal we noted in Barcelona is now complete: Paul planned Rome to Spain, and we traveled Spain to Rome.
• Acts 28 ends open. Luke does not record the trial before Caesar or Paul's later years. By most estimates Paul was acquitted, freed for several years, then arrested again and executed in Rome under Nero around A.D. 66 or 67, as the historical traditions of the early church state. Hold that as well-grounded tradition, not as something Luke records.
• The gospel was in Rome before Paul arrived. Believers came out to meet him on the road, and Christians had likely been here since visitors from Rome heard Peter preach at Pentecost (Acts 2:10).
• Notice the last word of the narrative is unhindered. As you walk a city built to display power, remember the one power the empire could not stop was a prisoner's gospel.
• The story does not close so much as open. Acts ends mid-stride, and the church's history is the unwritten next chapter. So is yours.

Reflect & Pray

• Paul finished a journey he did not choose, arriving in chains rather than in freedom, yet he counted it the fulfillment of God's promise. What in your own life looks like a detour that God may be calling a destination?
• "I am not ashamed of the gospel." Where are you tempted to be quiet about Christ because of the room you are standing in, the company you keep, or the city's idea of what is sophisticated?
• The Book of Acts ends with the gospel still advancing and the story unfinished. As this voyage ends, what is the next chapter God is asking you to write back home?

Father, we have come to the end of our journey, as Paul came to the end of his, and we thank You that You bring Your people all the way home. You got Paul to Rome through storm, soldiers, and a snake, and You have kept us through our own voyage. Make us unashamed of the gospel, which is the power of God to salvation. Send us back to our homes and our cities the way You sent Paul into Rome, ready to preach, ready to serve, ready to suffer if we must. The story is not finished; let our lives be its next chapter. Go with each of us, and let the word of God go forward unhindered. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Acts 28
• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Romans 1

The Place

Today there is no harbor where Paul once preached and no street that carried an apostle's footsteps. Santorini is not the site of a particular Bible event, and we will not pretend otherwise. What this island offers instead is a sermon you can see. You climb from the water up sheer volcanic cliffs to whitewashed villages with blue domes, perched on the rim of a vast caldera that the sea now fills. The dark layered rock under your feet was laid down by one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the ancient world, and the famous Santorini sunset draws crowds to the cliff edge every evening to watch the sun go down over the Aegean. So today's invitation is simple and old: to behold the Creator in the creation. We give the day to a psalm that David wrote while doing exactly that, looking up and seeing the glory of God declared overhead.

The Scripture

Psalm 19:1-6 (NKJV)

1 The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. 2 Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. 3 There is no speech nor language Where their voice is not heard. 4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their words to the end of the world. In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun, 5 Which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, And rejoices like a strong man to run its race. 6 Its rising is from one end of heaven, And its circuit to the other end; And there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Walking the Text

Drawn from David Guzik's Enduring Word commentary on Psalm 19.

When David wrote the heavens declare the glory of God, he was not looking at the spiritual heaven where God is enthroned. He was looking at the blue sky and the night sky, the same sky that will arch over you on the cliff edge tonight, and he clearly saw the glory of God declared. He saw it in the daytime, with the glory of the sun and clouds and the beauty of sunrises and sunsets. He saw it in the night, with the brightness of the moon, the awe of the starry sky, and the cloudy spread of the distant galaxies. Together, with their size, their awe, and their grandeur, they shouted to David and to all who would see, "The God who created all this is glorious, and this is evidence of His glory."

David read four things in that glory. God is glorious in His size, having created something so big. He is glorious in His engineering, having created something that works together so well. He is glorious in His artistry, having created something so beautiful. And He is glorious in His goodness and kindness, having created something for all humanity to see. Standing on a volcanic rim above the Aegean, you can take in all four at once.

The creation never stops speaking. Day unto day utters speech, and night unto night reveals knowledge. As Boice notes, the Hebrew for "utters speech" is stronger than it sounds in English; the image is literally of a gushing spring that copiously pours forth sweet, refreshing waters of revelation. Kidner observes that knowledge is well matched with night, because without the night skies man would have known, until recently, nothing but an empty universe. Tholuck, cited by Spurgeon, put it best: "Though all preachers on earth should grow silent, and every human mouth cease from publishing the glory of God, the heavens above will never cease to declare and proclaim his majesty and glory. They are for ever preaching." That is the kind of preaching you encounter on Santorini, a witness that needs no pulpit and no translator.

And it needs no shared language. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. The glory of God in the visible heavens is for everyone to see, communicated to all mankind whatever their tongue, gone out through all the earth. The Apostle Paul expanded this in Romans 1, explaining that God's invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20). Because this testimony has gone out through all creation, all people are without excuse.

David ends this section with the sun. God has set a tabernacle, a tent, for the sun in the heavens; the sun comes out of its tent each day and returns to it at night. It crosses the sky like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoices like a strong man to run its race, with strength and joy, like a man in his prime or an athlete. Watch that this evening. The sun you see sinking into the Aegean is no god of its own, only, as Kidner says, a glorious part of God's handiwork, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

On the Ground

• The caldera you stand on was formed by a massive volcanic eruption in the ancient world. The same forces that shaped this landscape declare the glory of the God who set them in motion.
• Read the island as a wordless sermon. Long after every human preacher has fallen silent, the cliffs and sky here keep "for ever preaching" the glory of their Maker.
• Watch the famous sunset tonight with Psalm 19 in mind. The sun running its race "like a strong man" is not the show itself; it is a glorious part of God's handiwork, pointing past itself to its Maker.
• Notice that this witness needs no translation. Travelers from every language on the cliff edge are receiving the same sermon David received three thousand years ago.

Reflect & Pray

• David looked up and read four things in the sky: God's size, engineering, artistry, and goodness. Standing here today, which one of these do you most need to see again?
• Creation is, as Paul says, a witness that leaves us "without excuse." When was the last time the beauty of the world actually turned your heart toward the One who made it?
• The heavens preach without ceasing, even when human voices fall silent. Where in your life have you stopped listening to a witness God has never stopped giving?

Father, You have not left Yourself without a witness. The heavens declare Your glory, and today You have placed us in a beautiful and astonishing corner of Your world to hear them. Open our eyes to read Your size, Your wisdom, Your artistry, and Your goodness in everything we see. Let the sky that has been preaching since David's day finally land on our hearts, and lift our gaze from the gift to the Giver. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Go Deeper

• Full commentary: Enduring Word, Psalm 19

Teaching & Worship

On each of our days at sea, the Enduring Word group gathers for Bible teaching from Pastor David Guzik and a time of worship led by Scott Cunningham. It is a warm, encouraging time of worship and fellowship together.

When & Where

Our gatherings are held on September 13, 15, and 21, from 1:00 to 2:30 PM, at Celebrity Central aboard Celebrity Equinox.

These gatherings are not required. Come as you are able, and know that you are always welcome.