Welcome back to
Books of the Book.
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When we went to our break,
Mark, we were talking about this
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exhortation given by the Apostle
Paul to the elders in Ephesus.
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And he had just spoken in verse
20 about how he had proclaimed
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publicly and from house to house
the gospel and held nothing back
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We pick up in verse 22 and it
says, And see now I go bound in
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the Spirit to Jerusalem. So
something, whether it was the
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Spirit of God or just his own
fervent desire, he felt bound,
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he needed to go to Jerusalem,
not knowing the things that will
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happen to me there except that
the Holy Spirit testifies in
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every city saying that chains
and tribulations await me.
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So we see this interesting
statement that the Holy Spirit
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is testifying wherever he
goes either through some special
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revelation to himself or to one
of the believers. And we'll see
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that in the future too as
he continues to travel that the
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believers are telling him
it looks like something bad is
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going to happen when he goes
to Jerusalem. So he knows that
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there's going to be, as he says
here, chains and tribulations
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when he gets there. But he's
still going. He's fervent to go.
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In verse 24 it says, But none
of these things move me nor do I
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count my life dear to myself so
that I may finish my race with
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joy and the ministry which I
received from the Lord Jesus to
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testify to the gospel of
the grace of God. You can almost
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tell that he's saying, You know,
I've gone through so much, I'm
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not going to be a coward now.
I'm going to keep going because
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I want to finish
my race with joy.
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That's right and he says it's
the ministry I received from
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Jesus. He takes that seriously.
He wants to finish that race.
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And picking up in verse 25, he
says, And indeed now I know that
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you all among whom I have gone
preaching the kingdom of God
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will see my face no more. Of
course, this is a parting and
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he believes because of what the
Spirit has told him that he's
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going to perish in Jerusalem.
He doesn't know. And verse 26
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says, Therefore I testify
to you... These are his parting
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words to them. I testify to you
this day that I am innocent of
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the blood of all men, for I have
not shunned to declare to you
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the whole council of God.
Jim, this just really grabs my
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attention as a minister of the
gospel. He says, I testify that
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I'm innocent for or because I
have not shunned. In other words
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if I had played a political
angle and not wanted to ruffle
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feathers and held back on some
things and not told the saints
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there certain things, not
preached certain things because
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it would create opposition
or people would get mad at me or
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even in his case worse, he says
I wouldn't be innocent. I'd be
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guilty of the blood of others.
So he really takes his charge
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seriously and so should
any minister of the gospel, so
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should every Christian. If we're
going to be free from the blood
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of men and women, if we're going
to be free from the blood of
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others and the guilt of their
sins, if we know the truth, we
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are debtors, as Paul says in the
book of Romans, to share that
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truth with others. You
know maybe we may feel like we
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know a lot and we may feel like
we know a little, but what we
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know we are bound to share.
So he goes on to say, Take heed
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to yourselves and to the flock,
verse 28, among which the Holy
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Spirit has made you overseers.
Now he gives that charge to them
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and reminds them, you are
disciples of Christ and that you
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have a responsibility now. And
we could speak to that for each
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one of us having that
responsibility in the faith.
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We don't just need to minister
but we ourselves have roles to
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play. Of course, he's speaking
to the elders of the church in
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Ephesus and he says in verse 29,
For I know this, that after my
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departure savage wolves, not
might but will, come in among
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you not sparing the flock. These
are people from the outside that
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are going to come in and try
to cause trouble in the church.
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But then verse 29 says,
verse 30 rather, Also from among
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yourselves men will rise up. Not
men might rise up, men will rise
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up, speaking perverse things
to draw away the disciples after
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themselves. Therefore, he
says watch and remember that for
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three years I did not cease to
warn everyone night and day with
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tears. You now need to warn them
with tears. He says, you need to
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watch. Keep a lookout not only
for those who are going to come
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from the outside and bring
trouble but even those from the
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inside that are going to come up
with strange teachings and try
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to lead people away from
the simplicity of the gospel.
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That's right. And these were not
just believers, they were elders
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They were overseers and he
was giving them a charge of
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responsibility. In verse 32 he
says, So now brethren I commend
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you to God and to the word of
his grace which is able to build
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you up and give you an
inheritance among all those who
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are sanctified. I have coveted
no one's silver or gold or
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apparel. Yes you yourselves know
that these hands have provided
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for my necessities and for those
who were with me. I have shown
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you in every way by laboring
like this that you must support
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the weak and remember the words
of the Lord Jesus that he said
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It is more blessed to give
than to receive. What a powerful
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statement. The Apostle Paul
is here saying that you know...
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In another place in
I Corinthians he says
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that as ministers he had a right
as a minister to partake of the
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physical necessities that he
needed because he was providing
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spiritual necessities to the
people and yet he didn't take
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those because he didn't want to
run the risk of someone accusing
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him of being in this for
material gain. So even the
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things he had a right to the
Apostle Paul didn't necessarily
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take. Not only did he provide
for himself, he even provided
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for those who were with him
to set an example of unselfish
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service. Powerful example,
the Apostle Paul. In verse 36 it
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says, And when he had said these
things he knelt down and prayed
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and it says they all wept and
fell on his neck and kissed him
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sorrowing most for the words
which he spoke that they would
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see his face no more. What
an incredible departure but the
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Apostle Paul was loved
wherever he went by the church.
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That's right, that's right. Well
we're jumping ahead to chapter
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21. I want to apologize to our
viewers. Because of the size of
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the book of Acts and the length
of the narrative we can't be
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exhaustive and there's so
many things that we want to talk
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about. We're going to try to
hit the key points here. We just
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encourage you to continue your
study of the book of Acts and
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drawing out these wonderful
lessons here. In chapter 21 we
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continue on the journey to
Jerusalem. I want to key in on
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verse 4. It says, And finding
disciples we stayed there seven
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days and they told Paul through
the Spirit not to go up to
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Jerusalem. No that may seem like
a prohibition except for we saw
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in other places we just read
where he was bound in the Spirit
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to go to Jerusalem. But the
Spirit had warned him about what
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would happen. What we see here
is not a prohibition to Paul as
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much, but more of a warning
that he's going to befall some
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difficulties there and the
disciples don't want to see that
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happening. Chains and
tribulations. Yeah, chains and
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tribulations. Now we jump on
to verse 8 and he says, The next
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day we who were Paul's
companions departed and came to
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Caesarea and entered the house
of Philip the evangelist who was
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one of the seven. They stayed
with him. And it's interesting,
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Jim, that he was one of the
seven, he was one of the deacons
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he was a lay person, but he was
also an evangelist and I think
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we need to remember. Maybe
you're a deacon and often times
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we think in the church of
deacons as those who collect the
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offering and clean up things,
but we all have a responsibility
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to share the gospel of Christ
and I think we need to hold to
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that. Now he goes on to say,
Philip had four virgin daughters
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who prophesied and also there
was a man named Agabus who was
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a prophet. We saw him in Acts
chapter 11. He came down from
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Jerusalem. Verse 11 says,
When he had come to us, he took
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Paul's belt, bound his own hands
and feet and said, Thus says the
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Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews
at Jerusalem bind the man who
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owns this belt and deliver him
into the hands of the Gentiles.
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Again, not a prohibition but
here the Spirit is telling him
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that he's going to have to
suffer at Jerusalem. And so then
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they pleaded with him not to go
and Paul says in verse 13, What
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do you mean by weeping and
breaking my heart. For I am
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ready not only to be bound but
to die at Jerusalem for the name
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of the Lord Jesus. Makes me
think of Jesus when Peter came
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to Jesus and he said Oh Lord you
won't suffer these things and
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Jesus said, Get behind me Satan,
you savor the things of man not
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the things of God. Paul's saying
Look it's hard enough for me
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already. Don't make it harder.
I have a mission to accomplish
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and I can't be deterred from
that mission. This is what I'm
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called to do. Yeah,
and they finally accepted
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the Apostle Paul's desire.
In verse 14 it says, So when he
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would not be persuaded, we
ceased saying, the will of the
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Lord be done. Now as we continue
through beginning in verse 15,
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there's a section of chapter
21 that talks about what happens
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when Paul comes to Jerusalem.
Paul, when he arrives, he's
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received by the brethren and
there he meets with James and
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of course James was the one
who stood and spoke up at the
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Jerusalem council of Acts 15.
James has heard some reports and
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he feels that the Apostle Paul
needs to do something to offset
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these reports that have come
in. Basically the heart of the
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report you can see in verse
20 here. It says, And when they
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heard it they glorified the Lord
and they said to him, You see
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brother how many myriads of
Jews there are who have believed
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and they are all zealous of the
law but they have been informed
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about you that you teach all the
Jews who are among the Gentiles
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to forsake Moses saying that
they ought not to circumcise
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their children nor to
walk according to the customs.
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So James is saying, People
are saying, Paul, that you're
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telling the Jews not to
circumcise their children, not
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to follow the customs and so
he says what we need to do, what
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I'd like to counsel you to do,
and then he shares with him in
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verse 23, Do what we tell you.
We have four men who have taken
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a vow. Take them and be purified
with them and pay their expenses
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So he's having him go through
this purification process in the
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temple at Jerusalem, hoping that
all these Jews will see Paul in
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the temple going through a
rite that can be found in the
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writings of Moses and therefore
see that he really is supportive
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of the writings of Moses. The
problem here is that the Apostle
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Paul never really did tell
the Jews that they shouldn't
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circumcise their children.
He confirmed and affirmed the
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Jerusalem decision that the
Gentiles should not be required
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to circumcise, but he never told
the Jews who believed that they
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shouldn't circumcise
their children. This was a false
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report. In fact, back in Acts
16 verse 3 we see where Timothy
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is circumcised by the Apostle
Paul. So this is clearly a false
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report, and yet you almost get
the sense that the leaders in
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Jerusalem felt that perhaps
that Paul was partly to blame
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for some of the prejudice that
existed and that he needed to
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sort of clear up matters. Rather
than defending the Apostle Paul,
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and simply telling these people
no that's a false report and
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enumerating why, he instead
counsels Paul to try to fix the
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matter by appeasing those false
reports and I just can't help
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but think that sometimes we
do the same thing. We try to
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accommodate something and try
to prove something that really
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there was never any support for
or factual evidence for in the
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first place. You know sometimes
as a minister I've had false
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reports spoken about me and I
know that I'll talk to a member
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and they'll share with me,
Oh so and so said this about you
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Pastor. I didn't
believe it but...
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I didn't believe it, that's
right but you wonder why they
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didn't speak up when that
happened and explain. And James
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seems to have not or the
leaders in Jerusalem, instead of
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defending Paul and settling it
that was, they want Paul to do
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something so that they do not
have to put their reputation on
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the line and be associated with
these problems. Instead they
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wanted Paul to do this and
because of that I think their
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counsel becomes marred. So
the problem here is that we have
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these leaders in Jerusalem
giving Paul an option here
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to try to fix matters but when
we get to verse 26 and the rest
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of the chapter we find that
it doesn't turn out the way that
00:12:45.22\00:12:49.14
they had hoped. Unfortunately
however, we don't have time to
00:12:49.18\00:12:52.89
go into that particular matter.
Next time, we're going to study
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in depth how the response of
the Jews when Paul came into the
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temple proved that this
counsel was really not the best.
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So until next time, God bless
you and we'll look forward to
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seeing you on Books of the Book.
00:13:09.10\00:13:10.95