In the Middle
The middle verse of the Bible's New Testament is Acts 27:17. It discusses the tactics used on a boat the Apostle Paul was on in order to protect the vessel from breaking up.
Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven (Acts 27:17).
References
The book of Acts references the Old Testament in twenty-eight places. It refers to verse(s) in the Psalms in Acts 1:20, 2:25 - 28, 34 - 35, 4:11, 25 - 26, 13:22, 33 and 35. It references Genesis in Acts 3:25, 7:3, 6 - 7 and 14 as well as Exodus in 7:26 - 28, 31 - 32, 33 - 34, 40 - 41 and 23:5.
[The Old Testament in the Gospels]
Other books such as Joel, Deuteronomy, Amos, Isaiah, 1Samuel and Habakkuk are also referenced.
Caesar
The Greek Kaisar (Strong's #G2541), translated as "Caesar" in the King James, is utilized the most in the book of Acts (11 times). The word, which means "severed," was first used by Julius Caesar. After his death those who ruled the Roman Empire used it as part of their title.
Martyrs
The book of Acts list two martyrs, Stephen and James. Stephen was stoned to death at the behest of the Sanhedrin (Acts 7). The Apostle James, brother of the Apostle John, was beheaded by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1 - 2).
Prayers
There are 15 prayers recorded in the book of Acts. They are found in Acts 1:14, 4:24 - 30, 6:6, 7:59 - 60, 8:15, 9:5, 9:40, 10:2, 12:5, 13:1 - 3, 16:25, 20:32, 21:5 and 28:8.
The most quoted or referenced Old Testament passage found in the New Testament is Psalm 110:1. It is referenced once in Acts (Acts 2:34 - 35).
[The Best Bible Verses on Prayer]
Sorcery
Sorcery, or the act of divination usually with the help of demonic spirits, in mentioned five times in Acts.
In Samaria, a man named Simon the Sorcerer (Simon Magus) observes Philip preaching the gospel and performing miracles. He feigns repentance, gets himself baptized, and then follows Philip where he sees him perform signs and wonders (Acts 8).
Apostle Paul's first missionary journey takes him to the island of Cyprus (Acts 13:4 - 52, 14:1 - 25). It is there that He meets with the island's Governor who is accompanied by Elymas (also called Bar-Jesus), a man who was a false prophet and sorcerer.
While visiting Philippi during his second missionary journey, the apostle Paul runs into a slave woman "possessed with a spirit of divination" (Acts 16:16). Her masters use her soothsaying skills to make money.
Traveling Jewish exorcists, using various charms, incantations and so on, pretend to heal people and cast out demons (Acts 19:13).
The seven sons of a Jewish priest named Sceva try, but fail miserably, at casting out demons (Acts 19:14 - 16).
Background of a Vision
Peter stayed at Simon the Tanner's house for many days until God had him leave to baptize a Roman Centurion named Cornelius (Acts 9:43 - 10:6). Simon's house was close to the sea (10:6). Peter had his famous vision of a sheet with unclean animals on it while praying on Simon's housetop (10:9).
The job of a tanner was to skin dead animals then clean up the hides by soaking and scraping them to remove all the hair. They then had to make the skin supple for use and sometimes had to dye it as well.
Tanners were located downwind from cities or near a sea due to the pungent smell from dead animals and the processing their skins required.
Peter went to pray on Simon's roof to distance himself from the smells. Ironically, the smell from tanning would have made it incredibly easy for Cornelius' men to find Peter's location!
The Most Prolific Writer
Paul wrote fourteen books that were included in the Bible, the most of any person. His writings comprise 52% of the entire New Testament! The next two biggest contributors to Holy writ are Moses and the Apostle John, who each wrote five books.
All fourteen of Paul's books contain a total of 100 chapters and 2,336 verses in the King James. His writings contain more chapters than the four gospels (100 to 89) but significantly less verses (2,336 versus 3,779).
[Timeline of Apostle Paul's Books]
Moses is the next most prolific writer of Biblical text in terms of books. His five books (Genesis to Deuteronomy), however, contain more total chapters (187 vs. 100) and verses (5,852 vs. 2,336) than Paul's writings.
Amazingly, seven out of the fourteen Biblical books Paul wrote were produced in less than three years (from early 61 A.D. to 63)! In this period, he composed the books of Hebrews, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 1Timothy and Titus.
Paul the Educated
The apostle Paul was a man familiar with four major first century cultures. He was a Roman citizen, he was a Jew who spoke Greek as well as Hebrew, and he was a Christian.
Paul was also an exceptionally well-educated person. In Acts 17:28 he quotes directly from two Greek poets.
For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring (Acts 17:28, KJV).
The phrase "For in him we live" likely came from a Cretan poet named Epimenides. The phrase "For we are also his offspring" came from a poet named Aratus who lived in the Roman province of Cilicia just like Paul.
The Top Places
The top seven places where Apostle Paul spent the most time during his ministry (in ascending order) are Corinth, Caesarea, Rome, Arabia, Ephesus, Tarsus and Syrian Antioch. These seven places account for roughly 63% of the time Paul spends preaching the gospel.
New Churches
The book of Acts delineates several churches started by Paul. The Christian churches he started were in Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:14 - 48), Iconium (Acts 14:1 - 6), Lystra (6 - 20) and Derbe (verses 21). He also helps start groups in Philippi, Thessalonica and Berea (Acts 16:12 - 34, 17:1 - 4, 11 - 12).
The apostle then spends 2+ years establishing a church in Corinth (Acts 18:7 - 10) then later his evangelism creates a group in Ephesus (Acts 19).
[How Many Churches Did Paul Start?]
[The Unknown Churches of Paul]
A god?
The Apostle Paul was considered a god twice in Acts. The first time was in the city of Lystra during his first missionary journey (Acts 14). The second was during his fourth evangelist journey on the island of Malta (Acts 28).
[Paul's First Missionary Journey Map]
Stoned
The Apostle Paul is one of only two New Testament people who were stoned. The first was Stephen, the first Christian martyr, whose death was witnessed by Paul (Saul) (Acts 7:57 - 60). Paul was stoned outside the city of Lystra during his first missionary journey (Acts 14:19).
Link to Greatness
The city of Berea was evangelized twice by the Apostle Paul (Acts 17:11 - 12, 20:1 - 2). It was located near Pella, the birthplace of Alexander the Great. Alexander is easily considered one of, if not the, greatest military minds in history. He was never defeated in battle.
[Alexander the Great's Empire Map]
The First Miracle
In 44 A.D. the Apostle Paul begins his first official missionary journey with gospel writer Mark and fellow evangelist Barnabas. Their first destination is the island of Cyprus.
On the island of Cyprus they run into a sorcerer (magician) named Bar-Jesus (Elymas the sorcerer). Paul's response to Bar-Jesus attempting to persuade the island's governor to not believe the truth was to cause him to be blind for a short season (Acts 13:6 - 11)!
The Last Recorded Miracles
The last miracles recorded in the Bible that Paul performed were on the island of Malta after he was shipwrecked in late 60 A.D.
And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed (Acts 28:8 - 9).
Links to Vesuvius
Drusilla was the great-granddaughter of Herod the Great and daughter of Herod Agrippa I. She converted to Judaism at a young age and married Roman governor Felix when she was around sixteen years old. Drusilla heard Paul preach the gospel while he was in custody as a Roman prisoner in Caesarea (Acts 24:24).
Josephus, in his book "Antiquities of the Jews" (Book 20, Chapter 7, Section 2), states that Drusilla's son Marcus Agrippa, and his wife, were killed when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.