Hello, this is Hackberry House and we want to welcome you once more to the Word of God. Father, it is your heart cry that the Word of God be spread to all the earth. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to share with some these precious truths. In Jesus' name, Amen. Hackberry House can be reached on your computer because it's a website. You just type in MyHeartCry.net and you go to that little house way out on the cyber prairie, and you will find all kinds of Bible studies and studies about ecumenism and Romanism. You go there and check it out. I think you'll find something that you like and that you need. Right now we're going through the whole Bible. We've been doing this for quite some time now. We're right in the middle of, of course, the end of that study. In fact, Lesson 46 is where we begin today. starting with Acts 21. The Lord willing, we will finish the book of Acts in this lesson, this audio lesson, and in the written lesson we'll go on to Ephesians and Colossians, which are two letters that Paul wrote while he's in Rome, but not in Rome as he thought he would be as a visitor, but rather as a prisoner. And Acts 21 is where we will begin. The city of Rome is now going to take center stage in our story. As Paul, who was arrested per that prophecy, you recall, in Jerusalem, he appeals his case to Caesar and makes the journey there to close the history portion of the New Testament. The letters following in this and the part of the next lesson, actually lesson 47, are written from a Roman prison. We call them the prison epistles. He's awaiting trial. All these events take place in the years 57 to 60 A.D. Now, if you go to the website, as I was saying, and you look for the library page and scroll down, you'll find the lesson I'm reading from and filling in as we go along here. So go there and get the lesson and come back and join us and you can fill in as we go. But then I'll be speaking right from the Bible, too, if you don't want to do the written part. Let's go to Acts 21. We've been following the missionary journeys of Paul, and we're following his journey to Jerusalem now. He goes to Jerusalem, and the people there try to warn him, not even to go to Jerusalem at all, but he says, I'm ready to be killed at Jerusalem. But the prophecy is simply that he will be bound. That's what Agabus says in chapter 21, verse 10. He's going to be bound, verse 11, tied up, He's going to be made a prisoner. Nothing about his death is mentioned there. So he goes up to Jerusalem, according to verse 15, 16. And verse 17, when we got there, the brothers are all glad to see us. And the next day, Paul goes in. On the following day, Paul went in with us to James. Now, James and all the biggies of the church, the big guys, the top men of the church are all gathered together, and there's these greetings exchanged. and I'm sure he gives this offering that he's been wanting to give, although that's not mentioned exactly here, but that was one of the big reasons that he came. He tells everything that God's been doing among the Gentiles, and they're so happy, and they want to glorify God, but that glorifying is cut short by a real emergency in the city. James and the others say to him, you know, we're real happy for you, but there's all kinds of Jews here in the city, and they believed, And they're still, though, very zealous for the law, and we're hoping it's a good kind of zeal. Remember, James is the one who's writing all these things in the book of James about how it works. He was right in what he said, but his emphasis was different than Paul's. And here are these two men meeting. They weren't against one another, but they had different emphases in their lives. They believed the exact same gospel quoted in the same Old Testament scriptures to prove their point. But he's warning, Paul, we got a lot of zealots in the city that are very zealous for the law and they think that you've come against Moses. They think you've come against circumcision. He says they're going to get together and when they hear that you've come, there's going to be trouble. Here's what we are asking you to do, Paul. Paul, why don't you take these four men? These men have taken perhaps like a Nazarite vow. I want you to take them like you did once. You took this vow. You were purified. I want you to go with them. Even pay their expenses. Let the people around see that you're still very Jewish at heart. That you still believe in the righteousness that's in the law. It's a good thing. You believe in it. In some of the ceremonies and the rituals that we had. That you're not against these things. You just don't want them to be done for salvation anymore. But let them realize you keep the law of God. You haven't gone against the law of Moses. As far as the Gentiles, verse 25, we wrote a letter to them, as you know, that they wouldn't have to be bound in some of these things that we do. But you're still a Jew, and these Jews are about to cause some trouble. So Paul took the men, those four men, and got purified with them. Entered the temple to announce that it was over, that it was completed. and that there was an offering that needed to be made. He wasn't against doing some Jewish things, not to be saved, but to make peace. He himself taught, as much as you're able to do, make peace with all people. Don't bend your conscience. There was nothing wrong with these Jewish things. He just made it very clear you can't be saved because of keeping them. But, at the end of this time, when these vows are about to be done, The Jews from Asia, not the local crowd, but a bunch of Asian Jews who realized who he was, saw him in the temple. They saw him in the temple and they thought he had brought a Greek in there with him too, but they saw him in the temple and they go around stirring up the whole crowd and they actually arrest him. and they drag him over to the people and say, this is the guy, this is the guy that we've been telling you about, he's against the law, he's against this temple, he's bringing Greeks into the temple, he's defiling the temple, we've got to get rid of him. Verse 30, the whole city starts to get disturbed, including those Jews that he's been trying to pacify. And so you see, once God has said something's going to happen, there's nothing you can really do to stop it from happening. He went through the motions here, but he knew he was going to be in trouble one way or another in this city, because God had already told him that through the prophet, and I think in his own spirit too. So they drag him out of the temple. They don't want to defile the temple with all this nonsense, and they drag him out They shut the doors behind him so he can't get back in again. And they're trying to kill him. They're actually trying to kill him right there. They're not looking for justice, a judge, anybody. They know he's wrong and so they're going to kill him right then. And so the commander, the local Roman commander has to come up, see everything in turmoil here, and he takes some soldiers and runs down to them. And when they saw the commander, when these Jews looked up and saw the Romans standing around them, they stopped, what, beating Paul. That's what they were actually doing to him. Here he was again, being beaten, just like he had been on all these trips. Nothing's different, is it? So the commander came near and took him, commanded him to be bound with two chains. And he said, Paul, he didn't say Paul, he didn't know who he was. He said, who are you? What have you done? And he can't even be heard. And the crowd starts shouting all these accusations. So brings him into the barracks and you got to go up some stairs to get into the barracks. But before Paul climbs up those steps, he has to be carried by the soldiers. There's such a violent, violent group there, but he's at the steps and they're all saying away with him. He says, can I talk to you a minute? And he says, Oh, you can talk Greek. I thought you were an Egyptian. I thought that's why we didn't hear your voice just now. I thought you were that Egyptian that came in and tried to kill people before and you led 4,000 assassins out into the world. And I said, no, no, no, you got me mixed up with some Egyptian. No, that's not me. I'm a Jew. I'm a Jew. I speak Greek, but I am a Jew. I'm from Tarsus. I'm a I come from Silesia, it's a pretty good city, you know. I want you to let me speak to these people. Let me talk to the people, because I think I can calm them down. That's the implication that he's given to them, because he wouldn't have been given permission if he hadn't implied that. So Paul is given permission to stand on those steps that lead up to the barracks, motion with his hand, everybody calms down. I think that was kind of a miracle there, that Paul himself Paul himself was able to still the crowd. Now, Paul was the reason that they were loud, but he's saying, stop. He's waving his hand after him, stop, I want to talk to you. And there was a great silence. And he begins talking, but he starts talking in Hebrew. He says, brothers. Now, when he realized, when they realized he's talking in Hebrew, they're really even quieter. Greek was the language of the day. But here he is talking as a Jew to Jews. He tells them his testimony. I'm a Jew. I was born in Tarsus, but I'm a Jew. I was brought up right here in Jerusalem. Remember me? Paul, Saul. I was raised under Gamaliel spiritually. He taught me everything according to the law. I was so zealous. I killed Christians everywhere I went. I persecuted them. I bound them. I wanted them to die. The high priest will tell you this. All the elders, they know. They know who I am. They're the ones that gave me letters to go up to Damascus to kill people up there. And then he tells the story that we already know from Acts chapter 9. We talked about it when we were there, how he said some things here that were a little bit different. You can go back to that lesson to talk about that apparent contradiction here. There is no contradiction though in his story. So he tells the story of his conversion all the way up until Well, verse 12 he starts talking about Ananias. And we talked about that before and again in Acts 9. It's all there. God told me, verse 14, that He's chosen me to know His will and to see the just one and to hear the voice of His mouth. Some of these things are not recorded in His story by Luke in Acts 9. But this happened also. He's telling everything here. He says, you're going to be His witness to all men of what you've seen and heard. And now, why are you waiting? This is Ananias speaking. Arise and be baptized. Wash away your sins. Calling on the name of the Lord. Does water wash away sin? No, water doesn't wash away sin. God washes away sin. We allow it to be washed away by the grace of God. But baptism is always a part of that package somewhere. Yeah, it's right after Christ comes in. But it's always there. Let's not ever bypass anything that's on the way to our full calling in God. Verse 17. When I was going back to Jerusalem, I was praying in the temple. This is Paul telling the rest of his story. When I got baptized and went back to Jerusalem, and I was praying in the temple one day, God appeared to me. He told me to get out of Jerusalem quickly. He said, they're not going to receive your testimony. So I said, Lord, it's true. They know that in every synagogue I am prison and beat those. I mean, I'm nobody here. What am I going to do? And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I was there consenting to his death. We have that story also in Acts chapter 6. I was guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. Yes, Lord. I know. I'm very guilty. And God says, just leave. Because I'm going to send you out of here. What he's trying to do is show them, these good Jews, why he left Jerusalem. That he wasn't just abandoning the temple, abandoning the Jewish faith. He was sent out. He wants them to know, God sent me out. I had to go. And where did you have to go? Well, I had to go to the Gentiles. Oops! Verse 22, it says, they listened to him until this word. What word? The word Gentiles. And they raised their voices and said, let's kill this man. He's not fit to live. Why? Because he's taking our Jewish faith and he's giving it away to Gentiles, pagans, dogs. How dare he give it away to the uncircumcised? That's what made them mad to begin with. It was their Jewishness. They didn't understand the grace of God to the Gentiles. They didn't understand the grace of God at all. And when Paul talked about going to the Gentiles, that was enough to start this whole riot again. They tear off their clothes. They throw dust in the air. And the commander is having all kinds of trouble here. He says, get up into the barracks. I should never have let you speak. Get upstairs. And they decide they're going to examining themselves. They still maybe think it's this Egyptian in a disguise, but they actually beat him. They tortured him to get more information out of him. That's what it says. He was examined under scourging. So they might know why the Jews are so angry. I mean, they couldn't possibly be angry for anything light. It's got to be a horrible thing. They bound him. Oh, they're going to torture him. I'm sorry. They didn't torture him. That was the plan. They were going to torture him to get more information. They're tying him up and Paul just casually says to the centurion, verse 25, by the way, is it right, legal, for you to be treating a man like me this way? I guess maybe I didn't tell you. I am a Roman citizen and we haven't had a trial. I'm not condemned of anything. You haven't convicted me of anything. When they heard that, It really began to panic because indeed it was against the law. And the commander says, you know, I paid a lot for my citizenship. Paul says, Oh no, I was free born. That was even more serious for all of his life. He's been a Roman citizen. Didn't have to bribe anyone for this. Didn't have to go through any process. He was just born that way because of his family. When they found that out, they were in trouble. So the next day, Now, verse 30 actually begins a brand new topic and goes right into chapter 23. You see again that the chapter divisions in the Bible are sometimes misleading. We're going to really start a new chapter with chapter 30. Sorry, with verse 30. Now, let's stop there a minute. Go to our question sheet and see what we've missed so far. Number one. At the advice of the elders, what did Paul do to appease the Jews? Well, he took some men and went through this purification process that we described. Number two, why was Paul beaten by the Jews? Well, he had a reputation of being against the law. They even thought he brought Gentiles. They thought he was abandoning the faith altogether and giving it away to Gentile dogs. Number three, who rescues him? It was the commander of the garrison. Number four, what is Paul's only request? Well, he just wants to speak to the accusers. He gives the implication that he's going to calm them down. And you can bet that commander was pretty upset that he ever let Paul talk later on. What story does Paul tell the mob? He tells about his conversion. Number six, at what word do they turn him off? I believe it's just the very word Gentiles. When he says that God sent him to the Gentiles, they've had enough. Number seven, as he's about to give his second defense, what is discovered? Well, that Paul is a Roman citizen. And so, we'll stop right there with seven questions. Let's go back to the text, verse 30. The next day, he, now who's he? That's the commander. We find out later that his name is Lysias. Lysias or Lysias. He wants to know for certain why Paul is being accused. They're not going to beat him now, but they want to find out what in the world's going on. So he takes his bonds off of him, and he asks him, to give his case before the Sanhedrin, before the Jewish leaders, so that he, that is Lysias, can hear what's being said. He wants to have some kind of an accusation. You'll see all the way through this process that they're really fumbling to try to find something, and they can't. Legally, he hasn't done anything wrong, of course, against the rules of Rome. So Paul addresses the council. The first thing he says is, guys, you know what? My conscience is clean. Right then, somebody, the high priest himself, says, hit that man, slap that man. And he slapped. And Paul says, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. Now here's a case where anger is being used by a man of God, but it's not sin. Jesus said, be angry, but don't sin. He didn't strike him back. except he struck him with the Word of God, the prophecy of God. God's going to strike you. In fact, this Ananias had been appointed in 48 AD, ten years before. This is 58 AD. The next year, 59 AD, Ananias was deposed. And in about five or six years after that, he was murdered not by the Romans who deposed him, but by his fellow Jews. God will strike you, you whitewashed wall." God did strike him, just as Paul said. You command me to be struck contrary to the law? You're trying to judge me according to the law? But then you're breaking the law yourself? How dare you? And they were all around. They couldn't believe he would talk to a high priest like this. Do you revile God's high priest? And Paul said, Oh, I didn't know he was the high priest. Now, that could mean that he literally didn't know, he'd been in for 10 years though, so I'm, and of course Paul's been out of the country quite a bit, maybe he didn't know some of those things, possibly, or he's just saying, I didn't realize that God himself had appointed you to this post. He was known as a compromiser, Ananias was, he was in and out by the Romans, he was Rome's man. So Paul's saying, I didn't realize you were the high priest. In fact, Paul worships one high priest, and that's Jesus Christ, talked about in the book of Hebrews that we believe Paul wrote, perhaps. When Paul perceived, as he looks around the room, he sees that there's Jews, I'm sorry, Pharisees in this Jewish group, and he sees also that there are Sadducees who don't believe in the resurrection. And here Paul does the only thing that could be considered not cool in this whole time, not spiritual, not of God, because he himself admits that it's possibly wrong later on. He knew what he was doing. And we would say he was acting in wisdom. And when he might have tried to hit Ananias, he used words. And now he's using some more wisdom. Men and brothers, I'm a Pharisee. And when all the Pharisees' ears are pricked out, oh, he's a Pharisee. and I'm here because of the resurrection of the dead. You're judging me because of the resurrection of the dead." Well, indirectly that was true. Indirectly this whole thing was about Jesus who'd been raised from the dead. But the direct reason that they have arrested him and that they're very mad at him is because he's gone to the Gentiles and taken this resurrection message and the whole Jewish message to the Gentiles. But when the Sadducees and Pharisees hear this, They get at each other's throats because the Sadducees don't believe in angels or spirits or resurrection from the dead. They don't believe in any of that. And the Pharisees did and they began to fight right there. And there's such a dissension that the commander, Lysias, has to pull Paul out of there again because they're about to pull him apart. That's what it says literally in verse 10. Well, the Jews regroup and the Romans take Paul aside and the Jews Some of the Jews get together and said, you know, we got to kill this man. We've got to take this thing into our own hands because Rome, you know, Rome's justices, they're not going to take care of this. Let's take care of ourselves. So 40 of them get together and they say, we're going to ask for him to say his peace again over here. When he's coming from there to here, we're going to grab him and we're going to kill him. We're not going to eat again until he's dead. So let's get this done as quick as possible. Well, it just so happened, of course we say that, but we know God was there in this. Paul's sister's son, Paul's nephew, was there listening to these Jews. And he's just a young man and they don't pay any attention to him. sneaks out of the meeting and he goes over and tells Paul what he hears. And Paul says, don't tell me, go tell Lysias. And the young man goes and tells Lysias that there's a bunch of Jews that are going to jump on Paul as soon as Paul is going from one place to another to get tried again. Well, the commander listens and decides he better do something and he tells the young man, be sure you don't tell anybody what you told me. And he calls for two centurions. And each of these centurions is to get his 100 men, because that's what a centurion is, is a man over 100. Get your 100 guys. Get 70 horsemen. Get 200 spearmen. And I want you to take Paul tonight at 9 o'clock over to Caesarea. Get him out of here. This is becoming... We don't need this. Take him to the Roman headquarters. technical headquarters right down here in Jerusalem. It's always been the capital in God's eyes. That's where the high priest is. And that's where the governor stayed, as you can see later. But in fact, the technical headquarters is where Caesar's headquarters is, Caesarea or Caesarea. And they're to take him there at nine o'clock that night. So they do. And they send with him a letter. And the letter is recorded. in verses 26 to 30. See if there's something in this picture that doesn't make sense to you. Claudius to Felix, greetings, sending you a man who was seized by the Jews. They were about to kill him. And I came with a bunch of troops and I rescued him, because I found out he was a Roman. Now, there's kind of truth in there, but there's a big portion he missed, isn't it? He left out the fact that after he rescued him, And before he learned he was a Roma, right in between that sentence somewhere, he was about to whip Paul with forty lashes, save one, and to torture him into telling him what he needed. And he had bound him up and was basically counting him guilty before there was even a trial. And that part he left out. The letter goes on and says, I found him, he's been accused of certain things of their law. I don't know anything about their law. I thought maybe you should hear about this. So would you please take this case, basically. And he sends him on and they bring him over to Caesarea. The governor, who is Felix, says, all right, I will hear you when your accusers have come. and you stay in Herod's Praetorium. Five days later, Ananias comes down, chapter 24, all the elders, and they've hired an orator named Tertullus. And Tertullus stands before Felix on that classic day and they say, you know, and he praises him for two or three verses here and there, we found this man to be a plague. True? Not really. A creator of dissension. True? Yes, that's true. Among all the Jews throughout the world. True? No, not all the Jews throughout the world. A ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Well, he was a leader of the Nazarenes, but it's not a sect. Of course, we understand why he would say that. He even tried to profane the temple. True? Not true. We seized him. That was true. But the commander Lysias came and with great violence took him. It was unnecessary violence. He's trying to make Lysias look bad. Now Lysias would look bad if they knew the rest of it. Good thing he didn't say that. But with great violence he came and took him. No, they only used what was necessary because the greater violence was in the mob that was about to kill him. We wanted to judge him according to our law. But they weren't judging him according to our law. They were judging him according to the lynch mob. And they were breaking their own Jewish law too. Anyway, He came and he took him out of our hands, but by examining him yourself, you're going to find out that he's guilty, and we just trust him that you will. So, Paul was given the nod here to tell his story, and he also praises him a little bit, and they're both making him look real good. So glad that I get to talk before you, because you do know these things. And it's been 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. You know, I couldn't have caused all this trouble in just 12 days. They never found me in the temple, even arguing, much less defiling the temple. I was not trying to incite the crowd. Well, we're going to talk about that in just a minute. Verse 13, they can't prove anything that they said. But I do confess this. They call it a sect. But what they call a sect, yes, I do worship the God of my fathers in that way. I worship their God and my God. I am a Jew and still a Jew. I believe everything that's in the law. I believe everything that's in the prophets, every word of it. But I do worship according to the way Jesus. And I have hope in God that there's going to be a resurrection. Here he goes playing that card again, seeing the Jews there. And I have a conscience that's without offense, just like he said to the high priest, I haven't done anything wrong. I have nothing to confess. After many years, I came to Jerusalem, my city, to bring alms and offerings to my nation. I love the Jews. Macedonia and Achaia gave me all these offerings and I brought them here because I wanted to bless my people. And if there's any Jews in Asia, where I received all this money, who had anything against me, they ought to have come here. But I don't see them. They don't seem to be brave enough to say these things in front of you. They didn't find anything wrong that I did. Unless, unless, verse 21, it's that one thing I said about the resurrection of the dead. Yeah, that did cause a little trouble. But you know, I wasn't really trying to cause trouble. I was trying to get the truth out. Does he feel convicted that he might have done something wrong here? That's verse 21. Well, Felix puts this thing off for quite a while. He's thinking that if he waits long enough, he even gives Paul total liberty because he realizes it's not a really serious thing. It's just a Jewish problem. And he's got a wife that's Jewish, and she listens, and they don't find anything wrong, but they hang around and wait. They listen to all of his stories about righteousness and truth and all that, but he doesn't even like that at all. He's afraid of that. So he's not listening because he wants to hear truth. He's waiting because he thinks somebody, Jew or Paul or somebody, is going to give him money. And nobody does. And after two years, Felix goes on to whatever he goes on to, and a new governor comes in. Two years have passed. In this short time, the short verses here, suddenly two years are gone. And Paul is still in Rome, a prisoner. doing, I believe, the work of God there during that two years. There's other two years later on we're going to hear. But he's there quite a few years and gets to minister the gospel just as he had always wanted to, but not with these chains. So, Felix leaves him as a prisoner because it says he wants to please the Jews. Later on, Festus wants to do the same thing and asks Paul, if he will be tried back in Jerusalem, he also is trying to get favor with the Jews. Why? Why did they curry to the Jews this way? Because the Jews held the power for them. Pontius Pilate, Felix, Festus, they all knew that to rule this land, you better have the leadership of the Jews on your side. It was a horrible situation to be over, for any Gentile to be over. We're still finding that in our day. It's hard to rule in that part of the world. Palestinians, I don't know how they will ever convince the world that they have a right to rulership and leadership in that land that God has promised to Abraham's son Isaac. But that's another issue, isn't it? In chapter 25, we're dealing with Festus now. Festus says Paul's going to have to stay here. They're hoping that they'll be able to send Paul back to Jerusalem, and they're going to have an ambush along the road. They still got that same trick after two years. I don't think it's the same guys. I think if they were fasting all that time, they'd have been dead long before. But he does stay in Caesarea. Jews come down from Jerusalem, verse 7. They bring their complaints against Paul. They can't prove anything. And so, he answers for himself. And this is his next appeal. By the way, this is his fourth sermon already. If you start back in 21, he addresses the mob. And then in 22 and 23, he addresses the Sanhedrin. And in 24, he addresses Felix. Now, a little bit to Festus in chapter 25. He says, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the Temple, or against Caesar. I've offended, you guys are all making a big mistake here, although God's going to have His way in it all, and He does. God's going to have His way, and Paul is right there establishing, re-establishing the Church in Rome. The Church had some problems, we just read from the Book of Romans in our last lessons. They had some problems, and Paul was able to address those problems, not only by his letter to Rome, but now his personal appearance there, as he said he would come, now he has come. Hephaestus wants to do the Jews a favor. He says, why don't you go on up to Jerusalem? Paul says, no, as a matter of fact, I'm not going back to Jerusalem. I'm a Roman citizen. If I did anything wrong, then let Rome judge me. I appeal to Caesar. That's where I ought to be judged. I haven't done anything wrong to the Jews. You know that yourself. I don't understand why you want me to go back down there, is the implication. Of course, we know it was because of favor, political favor, maybe some money being offered here too. If I'm an offender, I don't object to dying, just let me go down to Caesar over in Rome and let me see what he says. Well, you've appealed to Caesar, Festus says, then that's exactly where you'll go. But before you go, Just like Pontius Pilate, before he sends him to the cross, he says, there's a man up in Galilee, just like here. King Agrippa had taken over that place that King Herod, Antipas, in the days of Jesus, had taken. King Agrippa is related directly to the Herod line. He has a wife named Bernice, who evidently knows some Jewish things. Now, these are technically Jewish kings, you know, but not really. They're really Edomites. They're from Edom, from Esau. and perhaps a little Jewish blood mixed in there, and they're half Jews here and there, but not accepted by the people at all, unless when the people need them. And boy, the people need them right now to get rid of this Paul. Let's bring in Agrippa. And he tells Agrippa, you know, I told the Romans, I told the Jews it's not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man, by that they mean any Roman, because they were about to beat him, to destruction before the accused meets the accuser face to face. So when they had come together without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat, I heard all this accusation, but it's all about their Jewish law, you know. They're talking about this one Jesus that died, Paul says he didn't die, he's still alive, and verse 20, I didn't know anything about any of this religious stuff. I just want you to come down and take a look at this." And when Paul decided he was going to go to Augustus, Caesar, well, I said he should stay here. So he's going to be leaving soon, and it would be good if you could come down and check this man out. So Agrippa says to Festus, you know, I would like to hear the man myself. He says, tomorrow you will hear him, because they're both in Caesarea right now. So the next day here comes Agrippa and his wife, Bernice, and they make a big royal entrance. So they don't have the power that Festus and Felix have because these are Roman governors. This is just an Edomite king, but they're trying to play it up for all its worth. They've been invited. They're a king and queen. So they come in with great pomp and they all sit down. Festus says in verse 24, King Agrippa, and all you are here with us, you see this man, The Jews are saying he shouldn't live any longer. But when I found that he hadn't really done anything worthy of death by our laws, and that he wants to appeal to Caesar, I decided to send him. He's just saying again what he said in private to Agrippa. And you know what the problem is though, verse 26, Agrippa, I don't have anything to write down on the accusation when I send him in. You know, Caesar's not going to want some frivolity, trivia to deal with here. I got to have something to really accuse him of. I thought maybe if you listen long enough you might find something. Seems unreasonable, verse 27, to send a prisoner and not to say why he's guilty. It is unreasonable. In just a little while He's going to be saying, Paul, you're mad, you're crazy. Festus will be saying that. But he's the crazy one. He's going to send a prisoner to the great Augustus Caesar and not have a charge against him. I'd say that's pretty crazy. He's the one that says, I don't know anything about all these religious questions. That's pretty crazy too. He had access to all the truth, but he abandoned that search because of his own desire for power and money. Chapter 26 then is the fifth presentation of the great apostle of his faith and of his life and Agrippa says to Paul you can now speak for yourself again he says I'm happy to talk in front of you you know about these things you're an expert in Jewish things and he's buttering up a little bit here also I beg you to hear me patiently but but you know what the Herod line did have to know certain things about the Jewish matters in order to rule them. So they're a little closer to Jewishness than the Romans would be. So he says, well, I'm glad to have somebody that's local here that understands me a little bit better. And then he starts talking about his youth, how I was brought up. They knew me. These Jews all around here knew me. If they were willing to testify, they could tell you I was the strictest Jew you could imagine. And I I'm being judged because of the promises that were made to God about resurrection. You remember the promise? To this promise, our twelve tribes earnestly serving God, day and night, hope to attain. We're all looking for life after death. You know that. God has promised us that, Agrippa. That's what they're accusing me of. Of course, he's coloring it a little bit. Of course, it is the truth, but that's not what the Jews had in mind. when they were accusing Him. They thought He was creating new doctrines. Verse 8, why should it be thought incredible by you, Agrippa, or any Jew that God raises the dead? Yeah, I know. I was against this Jesus myself. I was against Him. I thought I had to do a lot of things against Him. And I did those things. I killed people. I cast my vote against people. And they died because of me, Agrippa. I mean, I was a real Jew. I was like they are now. I punished them often in every synagogue. I made them blaspheme. My heart breaks to think of the things I did for them. I was so mad at them. I persecuted them city to city. And while that was going on, I was on my way to Damascus to persecute some more, to kill some more. But God intervened. I saw a light. And there he goes again into his story from verses 12 on to tell the story that we've heard twice already in Acts chapter 9. And in Acts chapter 22, he loves giving his testimony. He's not preaching here. He's testifying. He's got a story to tell. You need a story also that people will listen to, not just doctrine, but something that Jesus has done for you and to you, opening your eyes. Has he done it yet? Well, he heard the voice and he is blinded and he's told to go into the city. I'm going to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. And that's why we have our letters, the epistles, those doctrines that he gives us in the letters are from the Holy Ghost. God promised right here that he was going to tell him more revelation and he did. And that's what we have in the scriptures today. God says, I will deliver you, verse 17, from the Jewish people. I'll deliver you also from the Gentiles." So Herod and Festus looked at each other at that time. Oh, he's going to be delivered from both of us? Right. To whom I now send you. And so that's true. He went and preached everywhere and they gave him trouble. But he always kept going. And he's still going. We're going to open their eyes. We're going to turn them from darkness to light. From the power of Satan to God. To an inheritance among those. And King Agrippa I couldn't be disobedient to that vision. I had to do what I was told to do. So I went to Damascus, then I went to Jerusalem, then I went throughout all Judea, then to all the Gentiles and told them all to repent and turn to God. God told me to do this, do you see? That's why the Jews got me in the temple and tried to kill me because I went out to the Gentiles, telling them this story. God's been helping me even to this day, witnessing all these things. doing just the things that God said to do and telling about the things that God said would happen. It's nothing new, Agrippa. It was the prophets, it was Moses that said that Christ would suffer and that he'd be the first to rise from the dead and would proclaim light to the Jewish people, to the Gentiles. It's all in their scriptures, you guys. And while he just, like me right now, getting a little intense and emotional and just really going off, Festus interrupts him and said, Paul, calm down. You're acting like a madman. You've been studying too hard. It's driving you crazy. He says, I'm not crazy, Festus. I'm just speaking the truth. The king knows what I'm talking about. The king knows, don't you? Don't you, Agrippa? Don't you believe the prophets? I know you must believe the prophets Agrippa's put on the spot here. What's he going to say? He doesn't say the answer that Paul wants. Agrippa says, oh, you're trying to make me a Christian too, are you? You're trying to convert me too. You know how a secular man would be if he's under conviction but doesn't want to talk about it. He'd kind of laugh it off. Oh, you're trying to make me a Christian? Paul says, I would to God. And his intensity does not stop. I wish to God that not just you, But anybody that would hear me, and not just almost, like you're saying, but all together were just like me, except for these chains you put on me. Could you say that, friend? Could I say that? Why are we so filled with the Holy Ghost and the Word of God and the power of God and the life of God and the church of God and the people of God, the prayers? Are we so filled with God that we could look a man in the eye and say, I wish you were exactly like I am? Well, they get up brush it off. All they can say to one another is, you know, this guy, you're right, Festus, he hasn't done anything bad. In fact, if he hadn't appealed to Caesar, he could be a free man right now. But you know what? Freedom is not what Paul is after, but the will of God. He believes he's in the will of God, and he's going to keep preaching this gospel, and you're going to see as he gets to Rome here, he still doesn't stop. But we've missed a lot of questions. Let's go back. Who is Paul's next audience, according to number 8, chapter 22? That's the council. Number nine, how does Paul start an argument in the crowd? Claiming to be a Pharisee, which he is, and believe the resurrection, which he does. Number ten, what is the plot to kill Paul and who exposes it? The plot is sin for him to ask more questions and we will grab him. And that was Paul's sister's son that did that. What point is omitted from Claudius' letter to Felix? That he bound and almost beat him. Number 12, whom did the Jews find to bad mouth Paul? An orator named Chatelus. 13, to what does Paul confess before Felix? I worship God according to the way, Jesus, but I do believe the law and the prophets also. 14, how is Felix affected by Paul's teaching? With fear, and you see trembling in mention in the King James Bible. Righteousness, self-control, judgment, he just can't handle it. Fifteen, who and when was the next governor? In two years, Festus. Sixteen, why the long imprisonment? He's waiting for a tribe, a trial, excuse me. I'm sorry, he's waiting for a bribe. I couldn't read my own writing. Waiting for a bribe from Paul or anyone. Felix was an evil ruler with three wives, had a long list of personally justified crimes. He was so bad many Jews rose against him. Reaction to his enemies finally brought on the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. A little background note there. Number 17. After a nearly identical scene with Festus, to whom does Paul appeal? Caesar. Number 18. When Festus described the Paul case to Herod Agrippa, what was the king's response? Well, I want to hear him too. Number 19. What does Festus need to send Paul to Augustus? An accusation. Number 20, in Paul's thinking, why is he being judged? Believing in the hope of God's promise. Number 21, Paul here tells more of his work against believers. Describe it. Well, he imprisoned the saints. We don't know all of this from reading earlier in Acts. He condemned them to death, forced them to blaspheme, chased them to foreign cities. Number 22, what is Festus' conclusion about Paul? That he's mad. And Agrippus? That he's not worthy of death. We're going to Rome now. We're going to Rome now. Chapter 27. They get on a boat. And notice in verse 1 that we, we got on a boat. Here's where Luke, the author of this book, rejoins him. And we're going to have a first-person account of what actually happened on that horrible boat ride. It talks about the boat and it talks about some things that begin to happen here in verse 9. A lot of time has been passed and sailing is now dangerous, so they're in a hurry. They're in a hurry to get moving. They're going to get on this boat. And Paul says, you know, I just had a vision. I had a dream. I perceive this voyage is going to end with disaster and loss. Not just the cargo, not just the whole ship, but I think our lives, maybe all of us will die. And that was what he got the first time, whether thinking about it, praying about it, a vision. We're not totally sure because things that happen later that change it. But you see why it was changed later. But the first vision was there's going to be a horrible shipwreck and lives are going to be lost. But they didn't listen to that. They listened to man. They didn't want to believe this old man. They respected Paul. They knew he hadn't done any crime and he was a good old man, but they didn't believe him. They just kind of wrote him off. So, sure enough, in the next verses, you can read this yourself. There's no need me detailing a storm for you. But there it is from verses 13 on, just constant storms, constant problems, no sun, no stars for many days, verse 20. Paul prays and fasts for a long time. What's he praying down there in the ship? He's praying for the people, that God would change his mind and spare these people. That's the intercessor. That's why God gave him the vision to begin with. Whenever God's men are being what they ought to be, they are intercessors. They are caring about other people. They have the compassion of Christ within them, asking God for mercy. He says, man, one day after he's fasted and prayed a long time, he says, man, you know, it'd have been good if you'd have listened to me. We shouldn't have sailed when we did. But I want to encourage you. The ship is going to be wrecked. But I've been praying. There'll be no loss of life because I've been praying. God appeared to me and He said, don't be afraid. He says, you are going to stand before Caesar, not just you. You know, when God said that to him, I could just hear Paul saying, yeah, but not just me, Lord. I want all these men, everybody on this ship. Please, God, please, God. And God has granted you all those who sail with you. He might have tried to keep the shipwreck all together, but there are things within the purposes of God that cannot be changed. Why go through a shipwreck at all? But God wouldn't change that, but he gave him every one of the persons on board that ship. So take heart, man. God's going to do, just as he said. However, we are going to be on an island for a while. He didn't know the name of the island, he just knew it would be there. Verse 30, some people trying to get off the ship and God speaks to Paul, you better stop those guys. And Paul says to the centurion, these guys have to stay in the ship or they can't be saved. Why? Because they're going to go off right now. They're going to go off into the water and they're going to drown. Because you don't just, they're on a little raft And they're not going to survive that. Paul has only been granted the promise that all the people on the ship will be saved. He says, these guys I don't have a promise for. He didn't put it that way. But he's got to have them on the ship so that they will be saved too. So the centurion caught a hold of that right away. He said, you guys ain't going nowhere. Well, for 14 days the people on the ship could not eat or drink. They were so shaken by all this. They're fasting to perhaps their own gods. or just too sick to eat, they don't want to eat. And you can imagine how sick they could have been. He says, you guys, you need to eat a little bit. I'm trying to tell you, nothing's going to happen to you. Your life is going to be spared. Not a hair of your head is going to be destroyed. It's going to be all right. And then he began to eat in front of them. And that just, that was contagious. And they all began to want to eat. And they ate and and there's joy throughout the group. 276 people are now eating and happy because they know now, they seem to feel that Paul is right about all this. Well, they get to this land, this little piece of land called Malta or Melita, a little island. When they get there, as the boat begins to fall apart, the sanitarium wants to go around and kill all the soldiers, all the prisoners. The centurion doesn't want that, the soldiers want that, but the centurion, wanting to save Paul's life, and wanting to be consistent, says, no, let's save the prisoners. He didn't want to show any special favor, I guess, to Paul, in front of the other men, that maybe he had a soft heart for this guy. But he did, he saved all the prisoners, and so Paul's word from God would be true. So they get on the island of Malta in chapter 28, and the natives there are very friendly to them, you remember the story? It's still raining, but Paul's gathering some sticks together and trying to get a fire together in the midst of all this downpour. Because he took up a bunch of sticks that he hadn't looked through, he didn't realize there was a snake living in there. And the snake reached out and bit him. It was a poisonous snake, and normally if you get bit by a poisonous, that particular snake, you would have died. The people of the island knew that. They thought, aha, it's a murderer. God's having vengeance on him. But then they realized he wasn't dying and they changed their mind. Then they see him healing the sick. Publius, who is the leader of that community, his daughter, was it his daughter? The father, I'm sorry, Publius' father is sick, but he's healed by Paul. And all these other people realize this man's really from God. Let's bring all the sick. And so we have a revival breaking out. Everywhere Paul goes, there's a stirring up of something. We need to be that kind of people. Not looking for trouble, but looking to be used in the power of God wherever we are. And that the truth of God will change people's lives and minds. Three months later, verse 11, We sailed in another ship, and we finally get into Rome, and he's meeting brothers all along the way. Every little stop, every little harbor, there's brothers meeting him. Verse 15. The brothers heard about us, and they came to meet us as far as Appiae Forum. Three Inns. Paul saw these brothers, and he's all encouraged in God. He doesn't need much to encourage him, but he's so encouraged in God now. Verse 17. After three days, The leaders of the Jews there are called together. We're not talking about the Jewish group in Jerusalem. They're still in Jerusalem. But he's got Jews here together and they haven't heard the whole story. So he calls all the Jews, not the believers, but the Jews together. He says, brothers. He calls them brothers. He says, I haven't done anything against the Jewish people, but they're accusing me that I have. He's using this as an excuse to preach to these Jews in Rome as he wanted to. In the Book of Romans, you'll see, I wanted to come and preach to you too. But I was a prisoner, he says, and the Romans had me, and what could I do? When they examined me, and he tells why he's on his way here. That's why, verse 20, I called for you. I wanted to tell you too. It's because of the hope of Israel that I'm bound with this chain. They said, we didn't hear anything about this. None of the brothers have told us anything, but now that you bring it up, we would like to hear about this sect that you belong to. Everybody speaks against it. all the Jews anyway. So when they appointed him a day, let's set a time. I'll come over next Thursday. We'll sit down. We'll talk about this. So he comes over. And he's been given a lot of freedom by the Romans. And I'm sure there's Roman centurions around him somewhere. But he's free to preach and to teach. And he tells them all about Jesus. And some, verse 24, were persuaded. That minority is always there. The elect. They came out. But a whole bunch of others didn't. And that's when Luke decides to quote, actually it's Paul quoting here, Isaiah, hearing they will hear, but not understand, and so on. God has closed their eyes, and that's kind of how this book winds down. You let it be known that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, you Jews. I know most of you did not hear me, you don't want me. Now I want to tell you the rest of the story, why I'm here. I went to the Gentiles, and I'm going to the Gentiles in Rome too. They will hear it. Then the Jews disputed among themselves. They had a huge fight because of these words. Should we accept them or not? And you know, that little bit of that carried over into the Church of Rome and had already been in the Church of Rome. They were already fighting among themselves, even the believers, trying to receive one another. That's why the book of Romans was written. Verse 30, Paul dwelt two years in his own rented house. his own house. They gave him that. He's under house arrest, but he has the freedom to be in his own house. He received all who came to him, and they came to him. He couldn't go like he wanted to all over the city, but he had his own house, certain area he was allowed to walk in freely. and they came to him and he told them about Jesus and nobody ever stopped him and the book ends right there. You don't know what happened. We have tradition. We have some other things in the epistles that give us clues about what happened. The rest of it's buried in tradition. But what we need to know is right there. Brother Luke was very faithful to give it to us. While he's in jail, I don't even want to stop right here. Oh, we've got to go back to some questions. I'm sorry. Who rejoins Paul on board a ship to Rome? That's Luke. 25? How many ships did they need to get to Rome? Well, in verse 2 there's one, in verse 6 there's one, and then there's another one later. It's three ships to get to Rome. How was Paul treated on the trip? Great honor and respect. How did Paul's prophecy change and why? Well, first was perception, perhaps. The angel gave specific later, but Paul Well, Paul had to go to Rome. We knew that from the beginning. So all the lives weren't in danger from the beginning. But Paul prayed that these people would be saved. What human reasoning drove the helmsman on? Well, the harbor was not good. The south wind was good. What were the sailors pretending to do? What were they doing? And how were they stopped? They were pretending to put anchors out. But in fact, they were trying to let down a skiff. Paul said, stop. These men have to stay in so that all the people can be saved. Describe a native's philosophy. Well, if good happens to you, you're a god. If bad happens to you, you must be a criminal. Number 31. List the miracles of this chapter. Well, the snake bite, Prudence's father healed, other diseases healed, and Jesus, excuse me, the Jews come to Christ at the end of this chapter. Lots of miracles. Number 32. Why did the Jews of Rome want to hear Paul's story? Well, they were a sect spoken against, the Christians were. 33. What effect did he have in their lives? Well, belief and disbelief, as always. 34. Awaiting trial, what is Paul doing and how long? For two years he's preaching and teaching. And also during that time he writes a letter back into Asia to the church at Ephesus, which is our next stop. He won't be going there, but his letter will, and that's why we take it up right here. Ephesus is a commercial center of Asia and a center of Diana worship. We've been there before, right? Paul was there. The magnificent temple to that goddess was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. On both his second and third preaching tour, remember, Paul visited this city. He stayed nearly three years the second time. He put a dent in Diana worship and had to move on. ending the relationship with that tearful farewell in Acts chapter 20. He wrote to the church while imprisoned in Rome about A.D. 60 and in it he tries to get the Ephesian believers to be aware of their riches in Christ and to live a life that's worthy of their calling to him. A truly pastoral letter. He's an apostle with a pastor's heart, an evangelist's heart, so many gifts. this man had. That brings us to Ephesians chapter 1. We could maybe at least start out Ephesians chapter 1. You know what that is? Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians. His greeting in verses 1 to 3 is the same in all of his epistles. It seems they're very close. And then he begins to praise God. about what Jesus has done for us, how He has called us and predestined us. He's chosen our very lifestyle according to this, chosen our relationship. He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Yes, God saw you and knew you before there was a world, if you are truly in Christ. And it's in Christ that we have redemption through His blood. He just lifts up Jesus, big time, from verses 3 to 14, lifts Jesus up. We've got an inheritance, he says. We have a major piece of land, territory, that's ours when we die. We're not going to leave it to somebody else. Jesus left it to us. And not only that, He's left us a down payment. He's left us some earnest money. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. And that Holy Spirit, verse 14, is the guarantee, the down payment, the earnest money of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession. When you see Jesus, you'll realize how little you had. Now, you've got everything you need and more now. But when Christ comes and you have your new body so that you can appreciate things even more and you're able to fly here and fly there and you're one of those who rules the earth with Jesus, you'll realize that the bad things that you had to go through in this life were absolutely nothing in comparison to the good that's going to be revealed. Question one, how long have we been chosen before the foundation of the world? Question two, what has all been What all has been predestined regarding our salvation? The adoption, redemption, blood, all gathered together in Christ. We will be a praise of His glory that's all been planned out, plotted out, and you just need to get into the plan so you can do exactly what Jesus wants you to do. How was God's inheritance secured? Through the Holy Spirit. We'll pick up right there next time. We've actually run over a little bit today. God bless you though. Let this Word sink down in you and rule your life today. In Jesus' name, Amen.