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00:35 Hello, friends,
00:36 welcome to Sabbath School Study Hour, 00:38 and we're continuing with our lesson 00:40 from the Book of Acts and which is in many ways 00:44 really the fourth gospel written by Luke. 00:47 It's a continuation of the Gospel of Luke. 00:49 And today, we're dealing with lesson number 11, 00:53 Arrest in Jerusalem, 00:55 better known as a riot in the temple, 00:58 and we have a memory verse, 00:59 and the memory verse is from Acts 23:11. 01:03 And it says, "The following night, 01:05 the Lord stood near Paul and said to him, 'Take courage, 01:09 as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, 01:12 so you must also testify in Rome.'" 01:15 So in just a moment, 01:16 we'll get into the chapters dealing with that lesson, 01:18 but I forgot to mention, 01:20 we have a special free offer, 01:22 and if you'd like a copy of this, 01:23 it's 12 Steps To Revival, 01:26 and just call the number on your screen, 01:27 which is 866-788-3966, 01:32 that's basically 866-Study-More, 01:34 and ask for offer number 780. 01:37 We'll send that to you free. 01:38 You can also go to the AmazingFacts.org website 01:42 and you can download that. 01:44 And if you want, if you're tech savvy, 01:47 you can simply text "SH001" 01:51 and text that to 40544, 01:54 and they'll be sending you that for free. 01:56 Now for those that are here, 01:58 if you have your Bibles 01:59 and you'd like to turn in your Bibles, 02:01 we're going to be covering Acts 21, 02:04 Acts 22, and Acts 23. 02:08 Now something that's happening here 02:09 that is a big change in the Book of Acts, 02:14 up until now, 02:16 you know, we've been getting history from Paul, 02:19 Barnabas, and it talks about Philip, 02:21 and it talks about Peter, 02:23 and you're hearing about the different apostles, 02:25 we call it the Acts of the Apostles, 02:27 but from this point on, 02:28 you're pretty much just going to be hearing about Paul 02:31 and the missionary journeys of Paul. 02:33 Actually, a little while even before that, 02:35 it's delving mostly into 02:38 the adventures of the Apostle Paul. 02:41 And so if you turn in your Bibles to Acts 21, 02:45 and I'm going to start reading, 02:46 and this is going to sort of be 02:48 something of an expository Sabbath school study time, 02:53 and we'll do a study together. 02:56 "Now as it came to pass, when we had departed from them, 02:59 and we set sail running a straight course, 03:02 we came to Kos the following day, 03:05 and then to Rhodes, and from there to Patara. 03:08 And finding a ship sailing over Phoenicia, 03:11 we went aboard and set sail." 03:13 Now when he talks about sailing over to Phoenicia, 03:17 that is the area of Tyre and Sidon, 03:20 which is north of Israel. 03:24 "And when we want to board, we set sail. 03:26 When we had sighted Cyprus, we passed on the left, 03:29 and sailed to Syria, and landed at Tyre, 03:32 for there, the ship was to unload her cargo. 03:35 And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days." 03:39 Now Tyre is... 03:41 It's a city north, 03:43 sometimes they were friendly to Israel, 03:46 sometimes they were at war. 03:47 Times when they were friendly, during the time of David, 03:50 who was it that sent craftsmen down to help David 03:54 build a house for himself? 03:56 It's the King of Tyre. 03:58 And during the time of Solomon, the King of Tyre said, 04:02 "Blessed be the Lord God of your father David 04:05 that has a wise son on the throne." 04:07 And they had a strong alliance. 04:09 But then you read in Ezekiel 28 04:11 and it pronounces a curse on the king of Tyre 04:14 and compares him to the devil. 04:16 Tyre was a very wealthy city, 04:18 but they had an intermittent history with Israel. 04:21 Where did Elijah go 04:24 when he fled during the time of famine? 04:27 Stayed with a widow up north in the area of Tyre. 04:31 Who was the one gentile 04:35 out of Israel that Jesus did a healing for? 04:38 It was also a woman that had a daughter 04:41 that was possessed by a devil up in the area of Sidon, 04:44 Tyre and Sidon, they call it. 04:45 So anyway, they land there. 04:47 Now one of the places when the church took off, 04:50 it began to grow, 04:52 and they started planting churches everywhere, 04:56 and naturally one of the places where church 04:58 would be planted was in the area of Tyre. 05:01 And so when Paul gets off the boat, 05:03 it's no problem at all for him to locate some of the believers 05:06 that are in the area there and to make contact with them. 05:09 And so then they stay with them. 05:12 And so you can go down here, it says, "Finding disciples, " 05:15 in verse 4, "we stayed with him seven days. 05:18 They told Paul through the spirit, 05:20 not to go to Jerusalem." 05:23 And I want to just pause here 05:24 and I want you to notice something, 05:25 I quickly covered this in our study last week, 05:30 but I want you to notice how many warnings Paul gets. 05:34 It's sort of an ominous situation 05:36 when he keeps going down to towards Jerusalem 05:39 and everyone is telling him through the spirit, 05:40 "Don't do it." 05:42 You go to Acts 20:22, 05:44 just so you remember this, 05:47 "And see now, 05:49 I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem." 05:51 What does he mean by bound in the spirit? 05:54 It means, I feel constrained that I need to go. 05:57 "Not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 05:59 except that the Holy Spirit testifies in every city 06:03 saying that chains and tribulation await me." 06:06 Now if you knew for sure, 06:07 chains and tribulation were awaiting you on this road 06:10 and you could have peace and ease on this road, 06:13 what road would you take? 06:14 Would you go towards the chains and tribulation? 06:17 "But none of these things move me, 06:20 nor do I count my life dear to myself 06:23 so that I might finish my race with joy and the ministry 06:27 which I received from the Lord Jesus 06:29 to testify to the gospel of the grace of God." 06:32 Paul seemed so determined to go to Jerusalem 06:34 and yet he's the disciple to the gentiles. 06:38 But he just felt constrained that he needed to go there. 06:41 Now look Acts 21:4, we just talked about this, 06:44 "And finding disciples, we stayed there seven days, 06:47 they told Paul through the spirit, 06:49 not to go to Jerusalem." 06:51 Now go with me to Acts 21:10, 06:54 "And as we stayed many days, 06:56 a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 07:00 And when he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, 07:03 he bound his own hands and feet, 07:06 and he prophesized and he said..." 07:07 You know, sometimes the prophets 07:08 who did things in an illustrative, 07:10 demonstrative way where they would act out their prophecies. 07:13 Some of you remember 07:16 the times of King Jehoshaphat, 07:18 the prophets of Baal, they got these horns, 07:20 and they put it on their head, and they said, 07:21 "Thus were these horns, you will push the Syrians." 07:25 And when Jeroboam, 07:30 when Rehoboam, no, no, 07:31 Jeroboam was having a talk 07:37 with one of the prophets, 07:39 as he was walking away, he grabbed the prophet... 07:42 No, no, Saul, sorry, 07:44 he grabbed Samuel's robe and he says, 07:47 "Thus the kingdom is going to be torn away from you 07:50 and given to someone else. 07:51 So sometimes, they would illustrate these things. 07:54 And then another prophet told Jeroboam, 07:56 he tore a garment into 12 pieces 07:58 and he gave 10 of them to Jeroboam. 08:01 So they do things that were like, 08:03 you know, like something you do for, 08:05 you know, kindergarten, and in Sabbath school, 08:07 they tried to illustrate a point they would do things. 08:10 So Agabus, he takes his belt off 08:13 and he ties up his hands, 08:14 he says, "Thus shall the man be bound who owns this belt, 08:17 " it was Paul's belt, " 08:19 and deliver him into the hand of the gentiles. 08:22 Now when we heard these things, 08:23 both we and those who are from that..." 08:25 Oh, wait, I want to stop. 08:27 There's so much here. 08:30 Now who is Agabus? 08:34 He is a prophet, 08:35 not only does he make this prophecy and it comes true 08:39 but it says in another place, 08:40 he prophesied there'd be a great famine in Israel 08:43 and it comes true. 08:45 So were there still prophets 08:47 after the time of Jesus and the apostles? 08:51 You think, well, the last of the prophets 08:52 would be the apostles 08:53 but here they got another prophet, 08:55 wasn't one of the deacons, he wasn't one of the apostles, 08:58 he was just a believer that had the gift of prophecy. 09:01 And so these gifts, 09:02 they're still part of the church, 09:04 when you notice them. 09:07 And then, "When we heard these things, 09:09 both we and those who were from that place 09:12 pleaded with him not to go to Jerusalem." 09:14 Luke is speaking here. 09:15 "Paul answered, 09:16 'What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? 09:19 For I'm not only ready to be bound 09:21 but also to die in Jerusalem 09:23 for the name of the Lord Jesus."' 09:25 How many of us can say that? 09:27 Ready to die for the Lord. 09:29 "So when he would not be persuaded, 09:32 we ceased saying the Lord's will be done." 09:35 Now why did Paul go 09:39 after the Holy Spirit told everybody 09:40 these terrible things would befall you? 09:44 Let me read something else to you, 09:45 Matthew 16:21. 09:49 "From that time, Jesus began to show His disciples 09:52 that He must go to Jerusalem 09:54 and suffer many things from the elders, 09:56 and the chief priests, and the scribes, 09:59 and be killed, and be raised the third day. 10:02 And Peter took him aside and rebuked him saying, 10:04 'Far be it from You, Lord, shall this happen to You?' 10:08 But he turned, and he said to Peter, 10:09 'Get behind me, Satan, 10:11 for you are an offense to me, 10:13 for you're not mindful of the things of God 10:15 but the things of men."' 10:17 Just because the Lord tells you 10:20 that some trouble is coming, 10:22 does not mean you're supposed to change directions. 10:26 Sometimes He tells you to help brace you 10:29 for what's coming. 10:30 It was God's will for Jesus to go to Jerusalem. 10:33 Just because Jesus knew those things would happen, 10:36 God told Abraham, 10:38 "Your descendants are going to go down to Egypt 10:40 and they're going to be captives 10:41 for several hundred years and be afflicted." 10:45 Why did Jacob knowing that prophecy go down to Egypt? 10:49 And it says, the rest of the prophecy said, 10:52 "And God would bring them out 10:53 with great abundance and mighty hand." 10:56 But He told him, 10:57 "You're going to go through trials." 10:59 So sometimes God lets us know ahead of time, 11:02 there's going to be trials. 11:03 Paul knew when he went to Jerusalem, 11:05 the things we're about to read about 11:07 were going to happen and he went anyway. 11:10 Luke 9:51, 11:12 "Now when it came to pass, 11:14 the time had come for him to be received up. 11:17 He steadfastly set his face 11:20 to go to Jerusalem." 11:21 What does it mean you set your face? 11:25 It means you're not looking over your shoulder like, well, 11:27 shall I do this or shall I not do this, 11:29 it means you say this is... 11:31 You're focused, "I am going to Jerusalem." 11:33 Another place it says, 11:34 "He set his face like a flint, " 11:36 meaning he said, 11:37 "Time has come, I'm on my way to die, 11:39 and I'm not going to change my mind." 11:41 So Paul, he was willing to go to Jerusalem, like Jesus, 11:46 and be killed in Jerusalem 11:47 if he could just reach some of his kinsmen. 11:50 How many of you remember where Paul said, 11:52 and I forget which letter it is, 11:54 where he said, 11:56 "I would be willing to die if Israel might be saved. 12:00 I'd be willing to perish 12:01 that my kinsmen might be saved." 12:04 Did Moses have the same attitude 12:07 when God said, "Look, 12:08 I'm going to just strike these people dead, 12:09 but I'm going to make of you a great nation." 12:11 Moses said, "Lord, take my book out of the name 12:14 but don't do this to Your people." 12:17 And so, you know, 12:19 this is the self-sacrificing spirit 12:20 that Jesus and others have. 12:23 All right, so going back to Acts 21, 12:28 "When we take a leave of one another, 12:29 we boarded the ship and they returned home." 12:32 Wait, I missed something, verse 5, Acts 21:5, 12:35 "When we had come to the end of those days, we departed, 12:37 and went on our way, 12:38 and they accompanied us with wives and children 12:42 till we were out of the city." 12:43 So they're going to go from... 12:45 They're going to probably walk from Tyre 12:46 down towards Jerusalem. 12:48 "And we knelt down on the shore and prayed." 12:52 Now I don't want to take this too far, 12:54 but I always like to just mention this 12:56 because it's very much out of style. 12:59 I'm thankful that Granite Bay is a church 13:01 where we still kneel. 13:03 Now not everybody can kneel. 13:05 So those of you out there with bad knees, 13:07 don't interpret this as a guilt trip. 13:11 As you get older and you kneel down, 13:13 you start saying, "What else can I do 13:14 while I'm down here before I get back up again 13:16 'cause it's so hard to get up and to get down." 13:19 But you do say something with your posture. 13:24 It says, "They knelt and they prayed." 13:26 I always thought it was really nice 13:27 when he's leaving, 13:28 they all saw him on his way, wives, children, 13:31 they all followed him part of the way down the road, 13:34 that was the custom. 13:36 When the angel and the Lord were leaving Abraham, 13:39 he saw them on their way. 13:40 When Ruth and is it Orpah? 13:44 Were following Naomi, 13:46 they followed her part of the way, 13:48 that was just considered good manners. 13:50 Karen has always tried to teach me 13:51 that when someone leaves, 13:52 see them to the door, 13:53 "You kind of stand there on the door 13:54 and you wave as they leave, 13:55 you don't just shout over your shoulder 13:57 as they leave the house, goodbye." 13:58 And so that's supposed to be good manners. 14:00 But then they knelt and they prayed. 14:03 Can you name some other places in the Bible 14:04 it talked about kneeling when you pray? 14:10 Daniel 6. 14:13 He went up to his upper room, and he knelt down, he prayed. 14:20 I'm waiting for you, I got some others. 14:22 Solomon, dedicating the temple, got... 14:25 This is the king, got down on his knees 14:28 before the King of the kings, and he prayed. 14:31 Jesus knelt down and prayed. 14:35 I believe, not only in the Garden of Gethsemane 14:38 but you're going to find a number of places 14:39 like that in the Bible where they knelt and prayed. 14:41 So I just hope that the church doesn't get to the place 14:45 where we in our personal devotions 14:48 and in our worship that we forget 14:51 to just respect by our posture 14:55 and adore God. 14:57 And I think that's important. 14:58 Amen? 15:00 All right. 15:02 So they knelt down, they prayed, 15:03 they reboarded the ship, and they returned home. 15:07 "And when we had finished our voyage from Tyre, 15:09 we came to Ptolemais, 15:12 greeted the brethren and stayed with them one day. 15:15 On the next day, 15:16 we who were Paul's companions 15:20 departed and came to Caesarea..." 15:21 That was a town on the coast, 15:23 Karen and I were there a few months ago, 15:25 and there's still... 15:26 You can see the coliseum that was built 15:28 and named in honor of Caesar's wife, 15:32 so they named it Caesarea. 15:33 "And entered the house of Phillip the Evangelist, 15:36 who is one of the seven, and stayed with him." 15:39 Now this man, this is the Philip who was originally, 15:42 Philip, a deacon, he becomes an evangelist. 15:45 Remember he baptizes the eunuch 15:48 who was on his way to Ethiopia 15:50 and he also preaches in Samaria. 15:52 This man had four virgin daughters who prophesy. 15:55 That word prophesied didn't mean 15:57 they went around predicting the stock market. 15:59 It means that they taught, 16:01 they were also probably teaching 16:02 other women different Bible truths. 16:06 "And as we stayed many days, 16:08 a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judah." 16:10 Now we just talked about that. 16:12 "When we heard those things, 16:13 both we and who were from that place 16:15 pleaded with him not to go and they said, 16:18 'The will of the Lord be done.'" 16:19 Verse 15, "After those days, 16:22 we packed and we went up to Jerusalem, 16:24 also some of the disciples from Caesarea went with us 16:28 and brought with him a certain Mnason of Cyprus, 16:33 an early disciple, with whom we were to lodge. 16:36 And when we had come to Jerusalem, 16:38 the brethren received us gladly." 16:40 Now this is quite an occasion, 16:42 Paul has been on a mission trip. 16:44 You get an idea that traveling back 16:46 then was very time consuming. 16:49 You know, it's just incredible 16:51 if we tried to explain to the apostles 16:54 that Karen and I had been to the other side of the world 16:56 three times in one year. 17:00 It took them years to do that, 17:03 and some people many times never came back. 17:06 I mean you and I have no idea 17:07 what it was like to travel back then 17:10 and when husband told his wife, 17:11 "I'm going on a sea voyage." 17:12 You didn't know if you'd ever see him again 17:14 or when you'd see him, 17:15 you couldn't be at the dock waiting for him 17:17 because you never know when they'd come back. 17:19 It was really hard on whalers' wives even 150 years ago, 17:23 when they go all the way from Boston down around, 17:27 there's no Panama Canal, 17:29 they'd go all the way down around South America 17:31 out into the Pacific Ocean to get whaling oil 17:34 and come back two years later. 17:36 That was rough. 17:37 And so here Paul, when he goes on this missionary journey 17:40 and he finally returns to report 17:41 on what's happening among the churches in Asia. 17:43 This is a big deal, 17:44 they get a church assembly to come together 17:47 and to report. 17:50 And it said here that "On the following day, 17:54 Paul went in with us to James." 17:57 Now who was the first pope? 17:58 Peter? 18:00 Where does it say Peter is the first Chairman of the Board 18:02 for the early church? 18:05 Peter did have a prominent role, 18:06 but have you noticed that as you read 18:08 through the Book of Acts, 18:10 who is usually considered the patriarch of the church? 18:14 James. 18:17 Yeah, James is the one sharing the Board in Acts 15. 18:21 James who was probably an older brother of Jesus 18:24 wrote the Book of James, 18:25 one of the oldest books in the New Testament. 18:29 So when they say that Peter was the first pope, 18:33 it doesn't really teach that. 18:34 James was considered a patriarch of the church. 18:37 He was given all the honors of an apostle. 18:39 And so they meet with him. 18:42 And he had that position for quite a while, 18:44 I think until he was executed for his faith 18:46 during a certain persecution. 18:49 "They went in with us to James and all the elders were present 18:53 and when we had greeted them, he told in detail," Paul, 18:57 "told in detail of those things that God had done 19:00 among the gentiles through His ministry. 19:04 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord." 19:06 Now that must have been some testimony service. 19:09 Paul is telling about him and Silas praying in jail 19:12 and an earthquake that opens the prison doors. 19:14 And he's talking about the riots that took place 19:17 and the big conversions that are happening, 19:20 and he is preaching in the auditorium there 19:23 or the stadium in Athens, 19:27 and I mean incredible things had happened, 19:29 you know, you're talking about these 19:30 different missionary journeys and all the miracles 19:32 that were done, Paul is giving this report. 19:35 Now keep in mind, this is the same Paul 19:38 when he was first converted and they brought him to James 19:41 and the apostles, they were very apprehensive, 19:43 they said, "This is the guy, 19:45 how do we know he's not a double spy? 19:47 He was sent by the Pharisees 19:48 to kill all the believers in Damascus, 19:51 now he's claiming to be one of us, 19:53 we better be real careful." 19:54 They didn't trust him at first until Barnabas came along. 19:58 Now he comes back and he's, you know, 20:00 done this incredible work among the gentiles 20:04 and they're glorifying the Lord. 20:07 "And they said to him," but they've got a concern, 20:10 "you see, brother, 20:11 how many myriads of Jews there are 20:13 who have believed 20:15 and they're all zealous for the law 20:18 but they've been informed about you 20:19 that you teach the Jews who are among the gentiles 20:23 to forsake Moses saying that they ought 20:25 not to circumcise their children 20:27 or walk according to the customs, what then?"' 20:30 Now let's just pause. 20:32 Is that true? 20:35 Partially. 20:36 What was Paul's attitude about circumcision? 20:40 You read Galatians, he's pretty clear. 20:42 People read Galatians where he talks about the law, 20:44 they try to tie that to the Sabbath. 20:46 Paul never mentions the word Sabbath 20:47 in the Book of Galatians. 20:49 You know the word that keeps appearing? 20:50 Circumcision, the big battle was circumcision. 20:53 And Paul said, "Circumcision is nothing, 20:57 uncircumcision is nothing, 20:59 but keeping the commandments is what matters." 21:01 That's a quote. 21:03 And so yeah, he was teaching the gentiles, 21:07 you don't have to be circumcised. 21:09 And James is saying, "You see how many myriads 21:13 of the Jews have come to believe in Jesus." 21:15 So even in Jerusalem, 21:17 they had thousands that were converted. 21:19 Now, how many were baptized at Pentecost? 21:23 Three thousand. 21:24 And then a few weeks later, they had another occasion 21:28 where there's a healing and a preaching, 21:29 after Acts 3, 5,000 are baptized. 21:34 So now you get 8,000. 21:35 Jerusalem's not that big. 21:37 And then it says, "A great many of the priests believed." 21:40 And when you read Josephus account of Jesus, 21:44 you come to think that even Josephus 21:45 was definitely a follower of John the Baptist 21:49 but he may have even believed that Jesus... 21:51 While he, Josephus says 21:52 he believes that Jesus was Messiah. 21:55 And so there were a great number, 21:58 but there were more against than for 22:00 and that ultimately turned into a persecution 22:03 and they had to kind of flee. 22:05 So they're concerned, they said, 22:09 "Look, Paul, you know, 22:11 we want to settle things down, 22:12 we're starting to get some real resistance 22:14 from the religious leaders here 22:15 because so many people are turning to Jesus. 22:17 It's created a great division 22:20 and you could set everybody at ease 22:23 if you do some very Jewish things. 22:26 If you take a vow, and you go to the temple, 22:29 and you pay the expenses for other people 22:31 that are taking vows, that'll show 22:32 how dedicated you are to the laws of Moses 22:35 and, you know, go through your days 22:37 of purification in the temple, and let them know that 22:41 you're a devout follower of Moses." 22:44 And so Paul kind of says, "All right." 22:47 So... 22:52 "But they have him," in verse 21, 22:54 "they've been informed about you 22:56 that you teach the Jews who are among the gentiles 22:58 to forsake Moses saying 22:59 they ought not circumcise their children, 23:01 nor walk according to the customs, what then?" 23:04 In other words, what shall we do? 23:05 "The assembly must certainly meet 23:07 and for they'll hear that you're here, 23:09 therefore do what we tell you. 23:12 We have four men who've taken a vow, 23:15 take them, be purified with them, 23:18 pay their expenses for their vow, 23:20 so they may shave their heads and that all may know 23:24 that those things that they were informed 23:25 of concerning you are nothing, 23:28 but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. 23:34 But concerning the gentiles who believe, 23:36 we've already written and decided 23:37 that they should observe and do no such thing, 23:40 except they should keep themselves 23:42 from things offered to idols from blood, 23:44 from things strangled, and from sexual immorality." 23:46 Now they're not saying that the gentiles 23:47 don't have to keep the Ten Commandments, 23:49 they're saying, among these disputed things, 23:52 these are the highlights we needed to emphasize. 23:54 Now, is it required today for Christians, 24:00 does a Jew need to sacrifice lambs? 24:04 Does a Jew need to be circumcised? 24:08 Technically no. 24:10 But they believed, true, 24:14 the gentiles do not need to keep these customs 24:19 but the Jews have to. 24:21 So even after Jesus died, they had a hard time saying, 24:24 "You mean, we don't have to do some of those things?" 24:28 They thought "Well, we'll wink at the gentiles 24:30 but Jews have to keep the laws of Moses, 24:33 and the laws of purification, and things about the temple." 24:36 So it just took a long time for them to get over that. 24:41 All right, verse 25. 24:42 So Paul agrees. 24:43 Now, was that a good thing? 24:45 Let me read a quote to you from the book, 24:46 Acts of the Apostles, page 404, 24:50 "The Spirit of God 24:51 did not prompt this instruction. 24:54 It was the fruit of cowardice. 24:58 The leaders of the church in Jerusalem knew 25:00 that by nonconformity to the ceremonial law, 25:04 Christians would bring upon themselves 25:05 the hatred of the Jews 25:07 and expose themselves to persecution. 25:09 The Sanhedrin was doing its utmost 25:12 to hinder the progress of the gospel. 25:14 Men were chosen by this body to follow up the apostles, 25:17 especially Paul, 25:18 and in every possible way to oppose their work. 25:22 Should the believers in Christ be condemned 25:24 before the Sanhedrin as breakers of the law, 25:26 they would suffer swift and severe punishment 25:28 as apostates from the Jewish faith." 25:31 They were trying to avoid 25:33 complete excommunication from Judaism. 25:36 You know what they're doing? 25:39 They're trying to serve two masters. 25:44 They were trying to still satisfy the Pharisees, 25:50 and the Sadducees, 25:52 and then satisfy the gospel and the teachings of Christ. 25:55 Now what happens when you try to satisfy 25:57 two opposing groups like that? 25:59 You make them all mad. 26:03 I won't say where or who but I knew a pastor that... 26:07 He had a church that got split on worship. 26:10 And one group in the church, they wanted to have a more 26:12 rambunctious demonstrative worship service, 26:16 more popular songs and bring in some drums. 26:20 And the other group, 26:21 they wanted a more conservative, 26:22 traditional worship service. 26:25 So the pastor didn't want to get anybody mad, 26:28 and he said, "Well, we'll just have two services," 26:31 which they ended up doing. 26:33 And the church just kind of went at war with each other. 26:37 They said, "You know, you're part of that 26:38 early service and you're part of that late service." 26:40 And the pastor is trying to make both groups happy. 26:42 How do you think both groups ended up 26:44 feeling about the pastor? 26:46 They both lost respect for him. 26:49 You heard about the man in the Civil War, 26:51 he lived very close to the north and the south 26:54 and he didn't want to make anybody mad. 26:56 And so he wore a blue jacket and grey pants. 27:01 Because he didn't want to make the north mad 27:03 and he didn't want to make the south mad. 27:05 But the final result was that 27:06 the south shot him in the jacket 27:08 and the north shot him in the pants. 27:11 So Aesop tells a story one time, he said, 27:18 the bats wanted to be at peace with all the animals 27:22 and they told the birds, 'We're birds, 27:24 look we fly, we're birds. 27:26 And told the beasts, we're beasts, look we crawl, 27:28 we eat bugs, we are beasts. 27:30 And they both got disgusted with the bats 27:32 and they banished them to the night. 27:35 So if you try to make everybody happy, 27:39 you'll end up usually violating 27:40 your own conscience in the process. 27:42 You got to stand for something. 27:44 Know what you stand for, 27:45 you're not going to make everybody happy. 27:47 Paul ended up trying to acquiesce. 27:51 You know, this was the order the leader 27:52 but you can read there, she says, 27:54 "The spirit did not prompt this instruction, 27:57 it was a fruit of cowardice." 27:58 Now you know what that tells me? 28:01 Does the Bible say that everything the apostles 28:03 did was right? 28:06 No. 28:07 I know that they were apostles, they were spirit filled, 28:10 but you know what the Bible says about men 28:11 and women of God? 28:13 That they have faults and they make mistakes. 28:15 Was it the Holy Spirit 28:16 that inspired Elijah to say, "Lord kill me. 28:18 I'm no better than anyone else." 28:20 No, he was discouraged, 28:21 or the Prophet Jonah to start crying 28:23 under a bush because God didn't destroy the Ninevites, 28:27 or when Paul had to rebuke Peter, 28:29 because Peter was showing favorites 28:31 when the Jews came to town, 28:33 he act like he didn't know the gentiles. 28:35 And Paul rebuked him publicly said, 28:37 "You're being hypocrite, Peter." 28:38 Paul rebuking the one who preached at Pentecost 28:43 and Peter evidently took it well. 28:45 He said, "Before the Jews showed up from Jerusalem, 28:48 you're hobnobbing and eating with the gentiles, 28:50 but when the Jews came, you act like 28:51 you didn't know your gentile friends. 28:53 You're being a hypocrite." 28:56 "I guess you're right." 28:57 And so just because they were called of God, 29:00 and God spoke and worked through them 29:01 doesn't mean everything they did was right. 29:04 Did Paul and Barnabas have a heated argument 29:07 about whether or not they should take Mark? 29:09 Paul was wrong 29:11 'cause later you find Mark ends up becoming 29:13 very faithful follower, writes one of our gospels, 29:17 and Paul later admits, "Send Mark to me, 29:20 for he is profitable to me in the gospel." 29:23 So even Paul had to later admit that, 29:25 "Yeah, Mark is profitable." 29:27 So they were people and they sometimes made bad decisions 29:30 and this was obviously a bad decision, 29:33 try to make everybody happy, 29:34 it turns into a riot which I haven't gotten to yet. 29:38 Then Acts 21:26, 29:41 "Paul took the man and the next day 29:43 having been purified with them entered the temple to announce 29:46 the expiration of the days of purification..." 29:48 They registered. 29:49 "At which time an offering 29:50 would be made for each one of them. 29:52 Paul said he'd pay for that to show his zeal 29:53 for the law and the sacrifice. 29:56 Now when the seven days were almost ended, 29:59 the Jews from Asia seeing him..." 30:01 The Jews in Asia all knew him. 30:03 And I understand that Paul was, He had an obvious appearance. 30:08 "The Jews from Asia seeing him in the temple 30:11 stirred up the whole crowd 30:13 and laid hands on him crying out, 30:16 'Men of Israel help. 30:18 This is the man who teaches all men everywhere...'" 30:21 Did he really do that? 30:23 "Against the people and the law and this place the temple..." 30:26 That was their most sacred shrine, 30:28 he's teaching against the temple. 30:30 "Furthermore he brought Greeks into the temple..." 30:32 That wasn't true. 30:33 "And has defiled this holy place." 30:37 Now, you know, many people have been killed 30:38 in the Bible through false witnesses. 30:41 Stephen was killed through false witnesses, 30:43 Naboth was killed, they worked the people into a lather, 30:46 took him out and stoned him. 30:48 Jesus was killed through false witnesses. 30:50 And now, several people are bearing 30:51 false witness about Paul. 30:53 They don't know what he's done in Asia. 30:55 They don't know who he brought into the temple. 30:57 And the idea that he would bring Greeks into the temple. 31:01 "For they had previously seen him 31:02 in the city with Trophimus, 31:05 an Ephesian who was with them in the city, 31:06 who they supposed Paul had brought into the temple," 31:09 which he hadn't, "And all the city was disturbed 31:12 and the people ran together and they seized Paul, 31:16 then they dragged him out of the temple, 31:18 and immediately the doors were shut." 31:20 You know, they thought it might have been defiled, 31:21 they didn't want the riot coming back in. 31:24 "Now as they were seeking to kill him..." 31:25 Here's a mob that's trying to tear him limb from limb. 31:29 "News comes to the commander of the garrison 31:31 that all of Jerusalem is in an uproar." 31:35 Now, would you want to have Paul as your pastor? 31:39 How many of you think it'd be great 31:40 to have Paul as your pastor? 31:42 Everywhere he goes, he starts a riot. 31:47 I saw an interesting little write up 31:51 on what people are looking for in their pastor. 31:53 Everyone wants a perfect pastor. 31:56 And then someone wrote down a description of Paul, 31:57 they didn't put Paul's name on it. 31:59 They said, "Looking for opportunity as a pastor, 32:02 I've been in prison several times. 32:04 I caused riots as I go from place to place 32:07 and it lists all the things..." 32:08 And people's like, "We never want him as a pastor." 32:11 And they say, "That's the Apostle Paul." 32:15 All right, "And they dragged him out of the temple, 32:20 shut the doors, and immediately the soldiers 32:23 and the centurions ran down to them. 32:26 And when they saw the commander 32:27 and the soldiers they stopped beating Paul." 32:30 He must have been beaten for quite a while. 32:33 I mean, it must have been 5-10 minutes 32:36 that they were just beating him. 32:37 It's amazing, he survived. 32:40 This is the mob of thousands. 32:43 "And they took and they commanded him 32:44 to be bound with two chains..." 32:45 They figured, he must be some terrible criminal. 32:48 No, you're never supposed to bind a Roman, 32:50 remember from our earlier study, 32:51 he's a Roman citizen. 32:52 you never bind a Roman without a trial, 32:55 without a warrant. 32:57 "They bound him and they asked who he was, 33:01 and what he had done, and some among the multitude 33:04 cried one thing and some another. 33:06 So when he could not ascertain the truth 33:08 because of the tumult, he commanded him 33:10 to be taken into the barracks, 33:12 and then when he reached the stairs, 33:14 he had to be carried by the soldiers 33:16 because of the violence of the mob." 33:18 You've probably seen these concerts 33:20 where they carried someone over their head, you know, 33:21 everyone in the crowd is kind of reaching up 33:23 and they're passing people along, 33:25 and here the soldiers have to hold Paul 33:27 clean up off the ground 33:29 because they're trying to tear at him, 33:31 and just filled with so much anger. 33:36 Now do you know most of the people 33:37 in the crowd don't even know what's going on. 33:40 What spirit do you think was filling that crowd? 33:44 Same spirit that filled the crowd 33:46 that cried, "Crucify Him. 33:47 Crucify Him." 33:48 Devils had filled the people in that crowd 33:51 to try to destroy Paul that day, 33:53 and I think angels were there protecting him. 33:57 If you ever read any of the stories 33:58 about John Wesley, George Whitfield, 34:02 and some of the early revivalists and reformers, 34:05 there were mobs that often tried to kill them, 34:07 and it's a miracle that they survived. 34:10 Wesley gives one account where someone lunged at him 34:12 with a knife and missed, just cut his clothes, 34:15 they punched him, and he said, "I did felt like a feather." 34:18 And he said, he just knew angels were... 34:22 They hit him with a club and he said, 34:24 "I didn't feel a thing." 34:26 And he describes the mobs trying to kill him 34:30 and he walks right through the mob. 34:32 And I just know that Paul probably had 34:34 angels watching him that day, 34:36 some of the angels came in the form of Roman soldiers, 34:38 believe it or not. 34:40 So, let me see, I lost my place. 34:46 Yeah, "And when we reached the stairs, 34:47 he had to be carried by the soldiers 34:49 because of the violence of the mob 34:50 or the multitude, people following him, 34:53 crying out, away with him," 34:55 which is what they said to Jesus. 34:56 "Then Paul was about to be led into the barracks 34:59 and he said to the commander, 'May I speak to you?'" 35:03 Now the commander's surprised that he's speaking 35:04 such fluent Latin or Greek rather, sorry. 35:07 "He said, 'Can you speak Greek? 35:09 Are you not that Egyptian 35:10 who some time ago stirred up a rebellion 35:12 and led 4,000 assassins out into the wilderness?'" 35:15 They misunderstood and thought 35:16 he was some common enemy of the Israelites 35:20 and Paul said, 35:21 "I am a Jew from Tarsus and Cecilia, 35:24 a citizen of no mean city, 35:26 and I implore you permit me to speak to the people." 35:30 Now, why in the world would the captain of the guard... 35:33 First of all, why would Paul want to talk 35:37 with these people that were trying to kill him? 35:41 You know, that is an evangelist for you. 35:43 He just... 35:44 Here he is, you know, probably bruised and he's cut, 35:48 and his clothes were torn to shreds, 35:50 and they'd spit on him, 35:52 and they're trying to carry him away 35:53 from the violence of the mob, and Paul says, 35:55 "Wait, can I please preach to them?" 35:58 That mean, what kind of man is that? 36:01 He was consumed with love for his people. 36:05 He didn't even think about, I mean, 36:06 I'd be thinking about self-preservation 36:08 at that moment, right? 36:10 Wouldn't you be like shaking with terror? 36:12 And you're just like, "Mob is trying to kill you." 36:14 Paul was so spirit filled, 36:15 all he could think about was reaching the people. 36:19 With God, we all have that kind of love for lost people. 36:21 He said, "Can I speak to..." 36:23 And then the other amazing thing is that 36:26 he gives him permission. 36:28 He said, "Look, you just called the riot, 36:30 you think I'm going to let you talk to them, 36:31 it'll get even worse." 36:33 It says, "When he had given him permission..." 36:34 The Holy Spirit had to do that. 36:37 "Paul stood on the stairs 36:38 and motioned with his hand to the people 36:40 and there was a great silence..." 36:42 Which there had to be 36:43 'cause there's no PA system back there. 36:46 I mean, we've got a little group here in this church 36:47 and you probably wouldn't hear me very well 36:50 if it wasn't for the PA. 36:52 "Paul stood on the stairs, a great silence. 36:55 He spoke to them in the Hebrew language. 37:00 'Brethren and fathers..." 37:01 Here I am in Chapter 22 now. 37:03 "Brethren and fathers hear my defense before you now.' 37:07 And when they heard him speak to them in Hebrew, 37:09 they kept all the more silent, 'Oh, he's one of us.' 37:12 Then he said, 'I am indeed a Jew, 37:15 born in Tarsus of Cilicia, 37:17 but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, 37:21 taught according to the strictness 37:22 of our Father's law, 37:24 and was zealous toward God as you are today. 37:27 I persecuted this way to the death, 37:30 binding and delivering into prison both men 37:33 and women as also the High Priest bears me witness, 37:36 and all the counsel of the elders 37:38 from whom I receive letters to the brethren...'" 37:40 He's now, he's kind of implicating the elders 37:43 that they gave him letters to persecute Christians. 37:47 "And I want to Damascus to bring in chains even those 37:50 who are there to Jerusalem to be punished...'" 37:52 Isn't it interesting? What's happening? 37:55 He's been bound in Jerusalem. 37:57 They're getting ready to whip him 37:59 for believing in Jesus. 38:00 He had once been sent to Damascus 38:02 to bring people to Jerusalem, bound. 38:06 It's interesting twist. 38:10 "Now as it happened, as I journeyed 38:12 and came near Damascus at noon, 38:14 suddenly a great light from heaven..." 38:15 He said it's not the light of the sun 38:16 'cause it was at noon. 38:17 It's brighter than the sun. 38:19 "Shone around me and I fell to the ground." 38:22 Some have wondered, did he fall from a horse, 38:24 or did he just fall down. 38:25 "I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, 38:28 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' 38:32 So I answered and said, 'Who are You, Lord?' 38:35 He said, 'I am Jesus of Nazareth, 38:36 who you are persecuting.' 38:38 And those who were with me indeed saw the light afraid, 38:41 but they did not hear the voice of Him 38:43 who spoke to me. 38:44 So I said, 'What shall I do, Lord?' 38:47 And the Lord said to me, 'Arise and go into Damascus, 38:50 and there you will be told all things 38:52 that you are appointed to do.' 38:54 And since I could not see for the glory of that light, 38:58 being led by the hand of those who were with me, 39:00 I came into Damascus." 39:02 And we read earlier Paul's conversion story. 39:06 "Then a certain Ananias, 39:08 a devout man according to the law 39:09 having a good testimony with all the Jews 39:11 who dwelt there..." 39:12 Notice, he's emphasizing, these are loyal Jews. 39:15 Ananias was a loyal Jew. 39:16 Why is he being persecuted right now, Paul? 39:19 They say he's a disloyal Jew. 39:21 So he's saying, "Look I'm a Jew of Jews, 39:22 I'm a Pharisee of the Pharisees. 39:24 You don't have to stop being Jewish to be believe in Jesus. 39:28 You know, I tell all my Jewish friends, 39:31 I say I'm more Jewish than you are 39:33 because I got a lot of Jewish friends 39:35 that they may go to temple and they like, 39:38 you know, they go together for bar mitzvah 39:40 or for Hanukkah or Purim, but they don't keep Sabbath. 39:45 They're real careless about if there's little pork 39:47 in their food and I said, 39:49 "Look, I'm a better Jew than you are." 39:53 And the whole reason that the Jews were raised up 39:55 is to announce Jesus and you guys 39:57 have not announced Jesus yet. 39:58 So it gives me an advantage where I have to talk to them. 40:03 Anyway, so Ananias is send to them, 40:06 "He came to me..." 40:07 I'm in Acts 22:13 40:11 and he said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight 40:13 and at that same hour I looked upon him, 40:15 miracle took place..." 40:17 Second miracle, he said, "I saw this miracle of Jesus." 40:20 Then he said, "The God of our Fathers had chosen you 40:23 that you should know His will and see the just one, 40:26 and hear the voice of His mouth, 40:28 for you will be his witness to all men 40:30 of what you have seen and heard, 40:32 and now why are you waiting, 40:34 arise and be baptized and wash away your sins 40:36 calling on the name of the Lord?' 40:38 And it happened when I returned to Jerusalem 40:40 and I was praying in the temple, 40:42 but I was in a trance, 40:44 and I saw him saying to me, 40:46 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, 40:49 for they will not receive your testimony concerning me.' 40:52 So I said, 'Lord, they know that in every synagogue 40:55 I imprisoned and beat those who believe on You. 40:58 And when the blood of Your martyr Stephen was shed...'" 41:00 People in Jerusalem knew about that. 41:02 "I was also there standing and consenting to his death 41:05 and guarding the clothes of those 41:06 who were killing him.'" 41:08 Now I always wondered, why did Paul, 41:10 why did he have to say this. 41:13 "Then he said to me, 41:14 'Depart I will send you far from here to the Gentiles.'" 41:17 That was like poking your finger 41:19 in the eyes of the Jews in the temple 41:22 because he had just been accused 41:24 of bringing a gentile into the temple, 41:27 but Paul in sincerity saying, 41:28 "Look, I've had this experience. 41:29 I got to tell you my testimony. 41:31 I used to be the public enemy number one of the Christians. 41:35 I was your accomplice in trying to eradicate Christianity, 41:40 but Jesus appeared to me..." 41:41 And a lot of people heard that sermon that day, 41:44 it had probably touched them. 41:45 There are probably people around the cross 41:47 that heard Jesus say, "Father forgive Him." 41:49 But they don't know what to do and they never forgot that. 41:52 So I'm sure some were touched by it, 41:54 but that was as far as the crowd could handle. 41:56 Verse 22, "They listened to him until this word..." 42:00 When he said, I'm going to the gentiles, 42:01 that was the word just filled them with rage. 42:04 "They said, 'Away with such a fellow from the earth, 42:08 for he is not worthy to live.'" Why? 42:09 Cause he would take Jesus to the gentiles. 42:12 See they believe we are the frozen chosen, 42:16 we are the ones, we are special. 42:19 They didn't understand 42:20 that God gave the gospel to them to go to others. 42:23 They were supposed to share it. 42:26 "For he's not fit to live." 42:27 And as they cried out and tore off their clothes 42:30 and threw dust in the air, the commander ordered him 42:33 to be brought into the barracks, 42:34 he said that he should be examined under scourging 42:37 that he might know why they shouted against him." 42:40 The commander's there, 42:41 he didn't understand the Hebrew. 42:43 "And as they say bound him with thongs..." 42:45 They're getting ready to whip Paul. 42:49 "Paul said to the centurion who stood by," got a question, 42:52 "is it lawful for you to scourge a man 42:54 who is a Roman and uncondemned?'" 42:56 Paul was educated, he knew the law. 42:58 Now did we run into this earlier 43:00 when the Philippines put him in jail and they said, 43:01 "Look, you beat me, I'm condemned." 43:03 And they were petrified 43:05 because if you did that to a Roman, 43:06 you could be receiving the same punishment you gave to a Roman. 43:10 "When the centurion heard that, he went and told the commander 43:13 saying, 'Be careful what you do to this man. 43:14 He's a Roman.' 43:16 The commander came and said to him, 43:17 'Tell me, are you a Roman?' 43:19 He said, 'Yes.' 43:21 The commander then answered, 43:22 'With a large sum I obtain the citizenship.'" 43:25 Some soldiers were from all over the empire, 43:26 if you weren't born Roman, 43:28 you could purchase your citizenship. 43:31 And Paul said, "I was born a citizen." 43:33 He was born in a Roman province. 43:36 "Then immediately those who are about 43:37 to examine him withdrew from him, 43:39 and the commander was also afraid 43:41 when he found out he was a Roman 43:42 because he had bound him..." 43:44 So he probably unbound him. 43:45 "The next day 'cause he wanted to know for certain 43:48 why he was accused by the Jews, he released him from his bonds, 43:52 and commanded the chief priests, 43:54 and all their council to appear, 43:56 and they brought Paul down and set him before them." 44:00 So now he said, "Look, you guys got to bring some 44:02 official charge against him. 44:04 Why was this riot taking place?" 44:06 "Then Paul looking earnestly at the council said, 44:09 'Men and brethren...'" 44:11 Now this is brilliant. 44:12 "I've lived in good conscience before God until this day. 44:16 And the High Priest Ananias..." 44:18 Now, you remember that name? 44:21 He is the same one that condemned Jesus. 44:24 "The High Priest Ananias commanded those who stood by, 44:29 'Strike him on the mouth. 44:30 How dare he speak? 44:31 He hasn't been given permission to speak to me yet.'" 44:34 And Paul, now this is one reason, 44:36 have you heard before about where Paul says he got a thorn 44:38 in his side sent by the devil? 44:41 Many believe the thorn was his vision 44:44 and for several reasons, 44:45 one is when Paul writes a letter, 44:47 he often has the secretary write for him. 44:50 When he wrote a letter himself, he said, 44:51 "Notice with what large characters I'm writing..." 44:53 Because his vision was very bad, he could see, 44:56 but he couldn't see very well from a distance, 44:59 and he didn't know it was the high priest, 45:00 you'll notice here. 45:02 "Paul says to him, 'God will strike you, 45:05 you whitewashed wall. 45:07 For you sit to judge me according to the law 45:09 and you command me to be struck contrary to the law?'" 45:13 And those who stood by, they're flabbergasted. 45:15 "They said, 'Are you reviling God's High Priest?' 45:18 Paul said, 'Oh, I didn't know brethren, he was a High Priest, 45:21 couldn't see.' 45:22 For them Paul now quotes the Bible, 45:24 'You shall not speak evil of the ruler of your people.' 45:27 But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees," 45:30 including the high priest. 45:31 You know what a Sadducee is? 45:33 They don't believe in angels, resurrection, spirit. 45:37 "And the other Pharisees..." 45:39 He knew about the political division behind. 45:42 "He cried out in the council and he said, 45:44 'Men I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisees 45:46 concerning the hope of the resurrection 45:48 of the dead I'm being judged...'" 45:50 'Cause it was about Jesus' resurrection, 45:51 they didn't believe in. 45:52 So Paul, he understood what was going on. 45:55 He knew very well 45:56 what was happening in the Sanhedrin. 45:58 It would be like you walking into Congress and you look 46:00 and you say, "I need some friends here." 46:03 "I'm a Republican. 46:04 I've been a Republican all my life." 46:05 And you know there's Democrats and there's Republicans also, 46:08 and you've got the Republicans against the Democrats 46:10 instead of them being against you. 46:12 And so what Paul did, he divided them 46:15 which is what he should have done on the steps, 46:18 "Paul said, 46:19 'I'm being accused of the resurrection of the dead.' 46:21 When he was preaching to the crowd, 46:23 he would have all the Pharisees on his side. 46:27 'I'm a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee 46:30 concerning the hope of the resurrection 46:31 of the dead, I'm being judged.' 46:33 And when he said this, a dissension arose between 46:35 the Pharisees and the Sadducees, 46:38 and the assembly was divided for the Sadducees say, 46:40 'There is no resurrection or angel or spirit.' 46:42 But the Pharisees confessed both. 46:44 There arose great outcry, and the scribes, 46:47 and the Pharisees partly arose, and protested saying, 46:50 'We find no evil in this man, 46:51 but if a spirit or an angel spoken to him, 46:53 let us not fight against God.'" 46:55 That's what Gamaliel said. 46:58 "Now there arose great dissension, 46:59 the commander fearing Paul might be pulled to pieces..." 47:01 This is the second time. 47:03 The commander has rescued Paul from being pulled into. 47:07 He sends the soldiers down to take him by force 47:10 from among them. 47:11 I mean, Paul's just trouble everywhere he goes. 47:15 "And bring him into the barracks, 47:19 but the following night the Lord stood by him and said, 47:22 'Be of good cheer Paul, 47:24 as you have testified for Me...'" 47:26 Now how many of you have read 47:27 a letter edition in your Bibles? 47:30 You know, what color this is? It's red. 47:32 What does red mean? 47:34 Words of Jesus. 47:35 He says, "The Lord stood by him." 47:37 He doesn't say He sent an angel. 47:39 Jesus was there with Paul. 47:42 "Be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified 47:44 for Me in Jerusalem, you must also bear witness at Rome." 47:49 Now that promise from Jesus I think encouraged Paul. 47:53 We'll get to it later, 47:54 but when you're in the last few words in the Book of Acts, 47:57 Paul is in a terrible storm at sea 48:00 and everybody is afraid for their life except Paul. 48:03 Everybody and all those circumstances 48:05 make you think the boat is going down. 48:07 Fourteen days, they're out there tossed by the wind 48:09 and the waves, no star, 48:11 no guidance, they don't know where they are, 48:12 they threw all their food overboard. 48:14 They're about to be shipwrecked on the rocks. 48:17 Paul's not afraid, why not? 48:19 Jesus said, Paul, you still have to testify in Rome. 48:21 He hadn't been to Rome yet. 48:23 He wasn't worried. 48:25 It's like, Peter wasn't worried when Jesus said, 48:28 "You're going to die from crucifixion." 48:29 Here they threatened to behead him the next day, Peter said, 48:33 "I don't know how he's getting me out of this prison, 48:34 but Jesus told me something different." 48:37 So he believed he was going to survive. 48:40 "And when it was day, 48:41 some of the Jews banded together..." 48:42 Notice this. 48:44 "They bound themselves under an oath, 48:46 saying they would not eat or drink 48:49 till they had killed Paul." 48:51 Now, that's pretty severe. 48:52 Not only not going to eat. 48:55 Karen and I were in the Middle East, 48:58 it was during Ramadan, and our bus driver, 49:02 he told us about three quarters of the way 49:04 through the day he hadn't eaten or had water 49:06 all day long in the desert. 49:08 And we were afraid he was going to faint, 49:10 he's driving our bus with, you know, 50 people on. 49:13 These people have made a vow, 49:16 but as soon as the sun went down 49:17 the Muslims going to eat and drink. 49:19 These people aren't gonna eat or drink 24 hours a day 49:22 until Paul was dead, that's a pretty serious vow. 49:25 Later I think, we read there's 40 of them. 49:28 Oh, yeah, here it is. 49:29 "Now there were more than 40 who had formed this conspiracy. 49:33 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, 49:35 'We've bound ourselves under a great oath 49:37 that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul.' 49:42 Now therefore, together with a council 49:43 suggested the commander that he be brought down...'" 49:47 You know, it's really dumb to make an oath like that 49:49 based on food 49:51 because you just get weaker and weaker. 49:54 How many of you remember King Saul made a dumb oath? 49:57 He pronounced the curse, 49:59 he's fighting against the Philistines, 50:01 he tells the soldiers, 50:03 "Nobody is to eat..." 50:05 I think maybe he said eat or drink anything 50:07 until I'm avenged with my enemies. 50:09 Any of you remember that? 50:11 And the army just got weak 50:12 and they couldn't chase them anymore. 50:14 So, anyway. 50:17 "And they said, 'Tomorrow as though 50:19 you are going to make 50:20 further inquiries concerning him, 50:22 but we will be ready to kill him 50:23 before he comes near.' 50:26 So when Paul sister's son..." 50:28 Oh, that's one of the first insights we've got, 50:30 who knows about Paul's wife? 50:34 We don't know if Paul had a wife. 50:35 Some say he was married, 50:36 and she left him when he became a Christian. 50:39 He seems to know a lot about marriage 50:40 'cause he wrote more about marriage 50:41 than the other apostle, but never mentions his wife. 50:44 Some think he had a wife and she died 50:46 because he was part of the Sanhedrin 50:49 and you had to be married 50:50 to be part of the Sanhedrin, 50:53 but maybe not always. 50:56 And so no one really knows, 50:57 we know so little about Paul's family, 50:59 but alas it says he had a sister 51:03 and he's got a nephew, we just discovered that. 51:06 So it tells us, 51:09 "Paul sister's son heard of their ambush, 51:13 and he went and entered the barracks and told Paul..." 51:15 We hoped that they had become believers. 51:18 "Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, 51:20 'Take this young man to the commander, 51:21 for he has something to tell him.' 51:23 So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, 51:25 'Paul the prisoner called me to him 51:27 and asked me to bring this young man to you. 51:29 He has something to say to you.' 51:31 Then the commander took him by the hand, 51:32 went inside and asked him privately, 51:34 'What is it you have to tell me?' 51:36 He said, 'The Jews have agreed to ask 51:38 that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow 51:41 as though they want to do inquire 51:42 more fully about him. 51:44 But do not yield to them for more than 40 of them lying 51:47 and wait for him, men who have bound themselves 51:49 with an oath they will neither eat nor drink 51:51 till they have killed him. 51:53 And now they are ready waiting for the promise from you 51:56 or a commitment from you to go. 51:58 So the commander said, 'Let the young men depart.' 52:00 The commander said to him, 52:01 'Tell no man that you've revealed 52:02 these things to me.' 52:05 And they call for two centurions saying, 52:07 'Prepare 200 soldiers...'" 52:10 They only get 40 men... 52:12 "70 horsemen, 200 spearman 52:15 to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night, 52:18 the middle of the night, 52:19 and provide mounts to set Paul on 52:21 and bring him safely to Felix..." 52:23 Boy, they're going through a lot of trouble 52:24 to protect this one Jewish Roman. 52:28 Paul is getting the attention of the whole empire, isn't he? 52:32 "Bring him to the governor 52:34 and he wrote a letter in the following manner, 52:36 'Claudius Lysias, 52:38 to the most excellent Governor Felix, greetings. 52:41 This man was seized by the Jews 52:43 and he was about to be killed by them. 52:45 Coming with troops I rescued him 52:47 having learned that he was a Roman...'" 52:48 Now he was about to whip him when he learned it. 52:51 "And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, 52:53 I brought him before their council, 52:54 I found out that 52:55 he was accused concerning questions 52:57 of their law, 52:58 but had done nothing charged against him 53:00 discerning of death or chains. 53:03 And it was told me that the Jews lay 53:04 and wait for this man, I sent him immediately to you 53:07 and also commanded his accusers to state 53:11 before you the charges against him. 53:13 Farewell." 53:14 It's a copy of the letter from this Roman. 53:17 "Then the soldiers as they were commanded, 53:19 they took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. 53:24 The next day they let the horsemen go on with him 53:27 and return to the barracks. 53:29 When they came to Caesarea and they delivered the letter 53:32 to the governor, they also presented him Paul. 53:35 And when the governor had read it, 53:37 he asked what province he was from. 53:39 When he understood he was from Caesarea, he said, 53:42 'I will hear you when your accusers have come.' 53:45 And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium." 53:49 And those 40 Jewish assassins 53:53 I guess have starved to death, 53:55 because they never did really get to him. 53:58 Anyway you can just see 54:00 that Paul had a pretty exciting life. 54:02 Now it's exciting up to this point, 54:04 he ends up spending quite a bit of time 54:06 from here on in and out of jail. 54:08 And a lot of the New Testament is written to you 54:10 and I from his chains. 54:13 Sometimes God allows us to go through hard things 54:15 when He knows He's going to work it together for good. 54:17 You don't always know 54:18 until retrospect how that happens. 54:21 Thank you, friends, for studying with us today. 54:23 I want to remind you that we have a free offer, 54:25 it's called 12 Steps to Revival by yours truly, 54:28 and all you have to do is call 866-788-3966, 54:32 we'll send you one. 54:33 Please ask for offer number 780. 54:36 God bless you till we study His Word together again. 54:49 Among the people living in the tropics, 54:51 for thousands of years 54:53 the coconut has been a virtual tree of life. 54:56 The people use it for food, for clothing, for water, 54:59 for tools, for soap, it does just about everything. 55:04 The coconut has also saved a lot of lives. 55:08 During World War II, 55:09 pilots that were shot down or sailors 55:11 that were stranded on Pacific Islands, 55:13 they lived for many months on nothing 55:15 other than the coconut trees that were on their islands. 55:18 Yes, sir, the coconut is a tree of life. 55:22 One of the amazing things about coconut 55:24 is they're designed 55:25 so they're actually able to float across oceans. 55:28 Coconuts can go thousands of miles 55:30 after many months be washed up on some deserted sandy beach, 55:34 then they take root, sprout, come to life 55:38 and they'll develop a whole new ecosystem, 55:41 holding islands in place through a hurricane. 55:43 When the ancient Polynesian travelers crossing oceans saw 55:47 an island with coconut trees, they knew there was hope. 55:50 It's amazing how in virtually no time at all, 55:53 those living on Pacific Islands know how to make baskets 55:56 and all kinds of tools 55:58 from the leaves of the coconut tree. 56:03 The coconuts even serve different purposes 56:05 at different times in their development. 56:07 The younger green coconut, they're full of water, 56:09 that'll keep you alive. 56:13 You can even make utensils from the coconut. 56:15 My spoon is part of the green shell and here, 56:20 this is a coconut jelly, makes good for breakfast. 56:25 The more mature coconuts, that's where you get the meat, 56:28 but you want to make sure that they're not bad, 56:30 the way you test this is you can hear 56:31 the water inside. 56:33 You bring that mike over here. 56:35 Can you hear it? That's a good one. 56:38 How about we take a bite? 56:39 Now that makes meal that will really fill you up 56:41 and it cleanse your teeth at the same time. 56:46 Throughout the Bible, 56:47 Jesus uses a number of metaphors 56:49 to remind us that everything 56:51 we need to survive comes from Him. 56:53 He says that He's the living water. 56:55 Jesus tells us He is the bread of life. 56:57 His robe covers us with righteousness. 57:00 He is our good shepherd that protects us. 57:03 Jesus is the living vine 57:05 through which we get our life and our nourishment. 57:07 You might say Jesus is like the coconut tree, 57:10 a tree of life. 57:12 You know, the first few verses in the Bible tell 57:14 that God provided a tree of life for man 57:16 so he could live forever, 57:18 but because of sin man was separated from that tree 57:21 and from the garden. 57:22 But through trusting in Jesus 57:23 and trusting in His sacrifice on the cross, 57:26 we once again will have access to the tree of life 57:29 and have eternal life with Him in the kingdom. 57:31 But this is all made possible because we trust in Jesus, 57:34 who is the real tree of life. 57:36 Jesus said, "Unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, 57:39 you have no life in you." 57:40 But when we accept Christ as our sacrifice 57:43 and we allow Him to cleanse us and fill us with His Spirit, 57:45 we become new creatures, 57:47 and we can be with Him in sharing 57:49 the gift of everlasting life with others. 57:52 Matter of fact, we could do that right now 57:53 by tossing a coconut out 57:55 and praying that it lands on a deserted beach. |
Revised 2018-09-05