Fellowship in the rest and Light of Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:7-8

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.

Paul left from Philippi and was brought to Troas, where he stayed for seven days [Acts 20:4-6]. Philippi is circled in yellow towards the top of the map and to the west. Troas is circled in yellow and is southeast of Philippi.

“Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together.” Acts 20:7-8

This was Paul’s seventh day in Troas as he planned to leave first thing in the morning. This was also the first day of the week, which would have been the Sabbath, known as the Lord’s Day of rest, or our Sundays. This was a day to memorialize the day of rest when God finished His creation, “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done,” Genesis 2:1-2

The Holy Spirit, through Paul, says that the day of rest is when we come to live for God through Jesus Christ. In His rest, there is no day any more special than any other day because we live every day in the presence of God through the Holy Spirit. “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.” Hebrews 4:10-11 Click for the full text from Hebrews 4:1-11 “One person esteems one day above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind.” Romans 14:5

There were many lamps in the upper room where the followers of Jesus Christ met. By this, we know it was dark, and also that Paul spoke until midnight. The many lamps reveal how many followers of Jesus Christ who were in the room. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are the lamp shining with the Holy Spirit and eager and receptive to hear the Good News of Jesus. In Jesus, we are the light shining in this dark world.

In the days of the Apostles, and influencers of the way of Jesus Christ, the only way to receive the word of Jesus was by hearing. Faith came by hearing. The New Testament scriptures weren’t a book until about a couple hundred years after 70AD. Jesus was crucified on the Cross to atone for sin and resurrected around 33AD. The Apostles, and the disciples of Jesus with them, were important in spreading the testimony of Jesus. That’s because those people were those whom Jesus walked among, from the baptism of John to the day Jesus was crucified, and they were a witness to His resurrection [Acts 1:21-22]. People were eager to hear all they could from Paul, even staying up long hours to hear him speak of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. After all, Paul had a born-again experience, and walked among the Apostles at Jerusalem, and said this, “For I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles.” 2 Corinthians 11:5

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are the light who have entered into His rest by living in the Spirit and not by the written laws of religious doctrines, nor by being a member of a religious organization, nor a specific church, nor by observing specific “Holy Days”, etc. Our fellowship is among Believers who desire to share the testimony of Jesus Christ, which is His Gospel written on our heart. We are the lamps that burn with the oil of the Holy Spirit, a light shining in a dark and perilous world. When our Lord Jesus returns, He is looking for those whose lamps are shining, and these He brings home with Him to the eternal New Jerusalem. Click here for the parable on keeping oil in our lamp [Matthew 25:1-13].

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11