I invite you to take your Bibles first of all tonight and do not turn to the book of Acts but rather turn to the book of Zechariah in your Old Testament. Zechariah right before the last book of the Old Testament so you don't have to go too far. Zechariah chapter 14. Well, tonight we want to continue in our study in the book of Acts, getting up to chapter 21 and 22. And here we're going to see Paul's testimony before a hostile mob. If you had the opportunity to address an entire mob of people, even those who are angry at you, who might have had more than tomatoes to throw at you, like rocks and maybe some other very sharp projectiles, what would you say to such a mob? Well, we're going to see with the Apostle Paul that rather than using this as an opportunity to defend himself, he uses it as an opportunity to share the gospel. as he has the mind of Christ to want to reach the lost. And so he has a right perspective. And we're going to see in this passage tonight a number of very important principles in that regard, about priorities, about using our citizenship status and privileges with that in this world in order to further a greater cause and objective, namely the gospel and those things of eternity. And also we're going to see here tonight a little clarification again on Paul's trip to Jerusalem and why he was engaged in offering animal sacrifices with the Nazarite vow as well as purification rituals coming before a temple priest. And we will see again that indeed that was a lapse into legalism, but where do animal sacrifices really fit if they're going to be reinstituted in the millennial phase of the kingdom to come? We'll answer that question as well. And then we're also going to spend some time looking at Acts 22 verse 16, where Paul is told to arise, be baptized, wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord, which is often used as a proof text. For those who teach, you must be water baptized in order to be saved. What is that verse really teaching? So we're gonna look at all these things tonight in the context of Paul's testimony before a hostile mob. We've seen in the last study, that really chapters 21 through 28 which we've now come to kind of puts in the rear view mirror Paul's missionary endeavors where he went from town to town preaching the gospel and planting churches. His three missionary journeys are now behind him and now he takes up a new ministry as he's going to be under arrest in Jerusalem where he now will have a prison ministry for the next four years. He still gets to share the gospel as he stands before kings, governors, those in authority, and even before the emperor of the empire at the very end of the book of Acts when it closes. And so he's sharing the gospel and still giving out that message for the lost. And so Paul is going to be arrested in chapter 21, which we will see. But let's continue to look at the subject of his lapse into legalism while he was in Jerusalem. I had a couple of questions about this afterwards, both from people online, as well as people watching. So let me expand on that. But let's just go back, or we'll read here, I have up on the PowerPoint for you, Acts 21, verses 20 and following, so we get the context. It says, and they said to him, that is these others with James who received Paul when he came into them in their fellowship. And they said, it's so wonderful to hear about all the things the Lord is doing through you, brother Paul. But then verse 20, they said to him, you see brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed and they are all zealous for the law. And at this point, I'm sure James was expecting Paul to clap, but they have been informed about you. that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, nor to walk according to the customs." Now, is that true? No. In fact, Paul used the opportunity at times to encourage in the case of Timothy, half Jew, half Gentile, go ahead and get circumcised, Timothy, if you're gonna travel with me in ministry, because we don't wanna be a stumbling block to the Jews we're trying to reach, and that could be a hurdle. So go ahead and use your liberty, just go ahead and have it done. So it's not a stumbling block. But Paul wasn't putting himself under the law in doing that, or Timothy, in the sense that they felt they had to be circumcised, that's the difference. They weren't trying to keep the law because they felt they were under the law. They were rather in grace saying, you know what? Why not go ahead and have that done? If it removes the stumbling block for preaching the gospel, so be it. And in that sense, 1 Corinthians 9, 20 and 21, Paul said to the Jews, I became as a Jew, to the Gentiles as a Gentile, yet under law to Jesus Christ, never forgetting that fact. And so, going on here, James says to Paul, And that statement just always amazes me. It's not, hey, we've got a suggestion for you, but it's your choice, is unto the Lord. No, do what we tell you. Doesn't that sound like legalistic pressure? We have four men who have taken a vow, that is a Nazirite vow in the context. Virtually all commentators and scholars agree on that point. Verse 24, take them and be purified with them and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads, which was the completion of the Nazirite vow according to Numbers chapter six. And that all may know that these things of which they were informed concerning you are nothing, but that you yourself also walk orderly and keep the law. James was saying, show all these other believers in Christ who are part of the church, who have a legal bent, as well as the unsaved Jews, that you're a law keeper. You keep the law of Moses, Paul. When really, we're not under law, we're under grace, Paul wrote in Romans 6.14. And that truth was taught in many other passages Paul wrote. Going on, verse 25, James says, but concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written, i.e. Acts 15, the Jerusalem Council, and decided that the Gentiles should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from things offered to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, those four things. Then Paul took the men, and the next day, having been purified with them, which, by the way, would have required him to go to a temple priest, and get the okay that you are now purified and cleansed in this temple law ritual. They then entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification, at which time an offering should be made for each of them, those four men. And we saw in our last study from Numbers chapter six, that when it comes to the Nazarite vow, there were several offerings that had to be made there in the temple, including animal sacrifices. And that leads to the question then, What about the animal sacrifices that are going to be reinstituted in the coming kingdom? If those sacrifices are reinstituted then, why would it be wrong for Paul necessarily in the age of grace, the church age, to go ahead and practice animal sacrifice as well? Well look with me now at Zechariah chapter 14 where I had you turn. The context of Zechariah 12 through 14 is the return of Jesus Christ at his second coming to the earth when he is the king and he sets up his kingdom on the earth. And in chapter 14, let's begin in verse 16, where it says, and it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, that is at the end of the tribulation, they shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts. And who is that? The Lord Jesus Christ. They'll go to Jerusalem, all those nations, year after year, and they will keep the feast of tabernacles And it shall be that whichever of the families of the earth do not come to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, on them there will be no rain. It'll be withheld as an incentive, a nudge to those nations to come and worship the Lord. Now it is true that in the kingdom age, it is going to be characterized more by law than the present age. And some people are put out by that. They see Jesus ruling with the rod of iron, as Revelation 2 says He will, as though, oh, that doesn't fit the character of Jesus that I have now. Yeah, that's because we're so used to abundant grace. We live in this dispensation of grace. But it is true, when the king comes back, the king is gonna rule. And there will be these government mandates from a righteous ruler, Jesus Christ, and if you don't come to worship, guess what? No rain for your country. Verse 18. If the family of Egypt will not come and enter in, they shall have no rain. They shall receive the plague with which the Lord strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. In that day, holiness to the Lord shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. The pots in the Lord's house, that is the temple, shall be like the bowls before the altar. Notice you don't have an altar if you don't have sacrifices, they go together. Verse 21, yes, every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holiness to the Lord of hosts. Everyone whose sacrifices shall come and take them and cook in them, in that day there shall no longer be a Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts. Notice the mention of sacrifices, verse 21, and an altar in verse 20. Very clearly, there'll be the reinstitution of the feast of tabernacles as well as some offerings. So let's raise the question, how could Paul's purification and offerings, done in his sponsorship with the four men fulfilling their Nazarite vows, be considered a lapse back into legalism if these practices of the law will be reinstituted during the millennial reign of Christ? Well, it's very evident. that we have shifted from the law of Moses as a dispensation, not we, but the Jews were under that for 1,500 years before the cross. Once the cross of Jesus Christ, he died on that cross, shed his blood for our sins. The temple veil was ripped from top to bottom. God was saying, I'm done with this system, right there in 33 AD. That's why by 70 AD, he had the temple in Jerusalem destroyed, no more temple for sacrifices. And Judaism has functioned without their temple since that time, 1,900, 2,000 years. And after that is the age of grace, the longest of all the dispensations, 2000 years of God's abundant grace. But when Jesus Christ comes back to set up his kingdom on the earth, that thousand year millennial reign, again, he will rule as a king, he will have a rod of iron. There will be this government enforcement of worship upon planet earth and all those who are unsaved will chafe if they reject Jesus Christ as king. And so we must understand that the character of the thousand year kingdom to come has a greater degree of law, not necessarily mosaic law, but greater degree of law than we have today. We are very privileged to be living in oceans of grace today. Now it is also true, again, as I mentioned, that temple veil was ripped from top to bottom when Christ cried out, it is finished, showing that God was done with this sacrificial system for the time being. And in the time being, this church age Hebrews is very clear that people are not to go to the temple to offer their animal sacrifices. In fact, the writer of Hebrews says in chapter 13, verses 12 and 13, Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Remember, he was not crucified up there in that temple compound area, but outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp. bearing his reproach. Now when you read this, can you picture the Apostle Paul going to the camp inside the temple and offering sacrifices? It doesn't make any sense. Paul would be going in the wrong direction. Now we know this temple was destroyed again in 70 AD, but there will be a rebuilt temple during the tribulation period right after the rapture. Perhaps it'll start being built before the rapture. Regardless, there will be a temple for the Antichrist by the midpoint of the tribulation to set himself up in and declare himself to be God. But when Christ comes back, that temple will be rebuilt. There'll be this glorious millennial temple, which is massive in size. In fact, as Ezekiel describes it in Ezekiel 40 to 48 of his book, it is much larger. than Herod's temple. In fact, here you have a size comparison. The millennial temple is on the left there, the large square size. To the upper right, you see Herod's temple in light blue. That was the size of the temple in Jesus's day, in Paul's day. that we read about in Acts 21. In fact, I was just speaking with someone who went to Israel, a believer from the Iron Range, and she was there in June with Carol Helen. In fact, it was her mother-in-law. And I said, what were some of your main impressions there in Israel? She says, well, I couldn't get over how big the temple platform area is. You know, I always pictured it as basically maybe like an American football field, but it's actually like at least twice the size of that. Well, Herod's temple is much smaller than the millennial temple's gonna be, which is gonna be about two and a half times the size of Herod's temple. Massive by comparison. And then you can see Solomon's temple, which was much smaller by comparison there. So these sacrifices are coming back. There will be a temple in the thousand year kingdom. But what will be the purposes of those sacrifices? I like what Charles Ryrie, who's now with the Lord, said. There's basically two reasons for those sacrifices. One is the memorial view. He says the sacrifices will remind unbelievers of their need to deal with the eternal consequences of sin and point them to the one, i.e. Jesus Christ, who paid for those sins and who is their present offering, who is their present offering that salvation to them. Then he goes on to say, there will be unbelievers living during the millennium, even to the close of the 1,000 years. Remember, there's a rebellion at the end of the 1,000 years, Revelation 20 says. Apparently, they will have to give outward allegiance to the king or suffer consequences, Zechariah 14, we just read that. But inwardly, their hearts will be in rebellion against him. In other words, they will be closet rebels. Regarding the memorial view, he goes on to say, to those people, the sacrifices should be a constant reminder that there is a way to have a right and eternal relationship with Christ. Sacrifices will be a reminder to those who have accepted the Lord and have a continual sermon to those who have not. Now there's a second view regarding the purpose of those sacrifices in the millennium. It's called the theocratic government forgiveness view. And Ryrie addresses this as well, in fact I believe this is his view. He says in Ezekiel 40-46 burnt offerings in the millennium are mentioned 19 times, grain offerings 15 times, peace offerings 6 times, and the sin offering 14 times. Failure to keep the feast of booths or tabernacles, which we read in Zechariah 14, with its nearly 200 animal sacrifices during the eight days of its observance will bring drought or a plague on those who do not observe it. These many offerings will be appropriate under the theocratic government in the millennium as they were under the previous Mosaic theocracy, under the law of Moses, that dispensation. King Jesus will be reigning visibly as head of the theocracy so that not only will violations of his government be atoned for by offerings, but the righteous functioning of that government will involve sacrifices. And so there seems to be a twofold purpose for sacrifices in that future dispensation. But again, we're under the dispensation of grace, not law, not kingdom, something entirely different. And James should have understood that from Paul's writings. Paul should have been consistent with his own writings and what he had received as revelation from the Lord earlier in Galatians and Romans and other books, Ephesians. But let's be clear about the dispensation in the millennium. It's different from the Mosaic Covenant or the Law of Moses. There are similarities, but there's important differences. They're not one and the same. It's not as though the Law of Moses is gonna be slapped back on the rest of the world and said, here, now keep the old covenant. No, that is done, it's gone, but there are some similarities and some differences. Here's some important differences. In the millennium, There'll be no evening sacrifice like under the law. There'll be no feast of Pentecost, no feast of trumpets, no day of atonement, no Ark of the Covenant, no golden lampstand, no table of showbread, no anointing oil, no colorful priestly clothing, et cetera. There are important differences. Now another question that somebody asked me was, what about James and company? He didn't seem to have quite the grasp on grace that Paul had, even though Paul lapsed in this situation. Did James and company ever seem to come around and see the inconsistency of mixing law and grace in the church age, church dispensation, age of grace? Well, from God's perspective, there was only one shift after Calvary and that took place with the church age, which began at Pentecost. And on the day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two, from God's standpoint, he says, I'm starting a new dispensation, a dispensation of grace. Where he took out Jew and Gentile to form one body, the church, from Acts two onward. Now there were some bumps along the way for the next few decades. And though from God's point of view, the change was stark and occurred on a certain day, from man's point of view, even those in the early church, they didn't quite get the big change. That's why as we read in the book of Acts, there are some transitions going on, right? Even in the thinking of church leaders like James in Jerusalem. So I'm not sure if James and company ever did really grasp this significant shift from law to grace that Hebrews talks about and is mostly described in Paul's epistles as well. These are interesting questions to ponder and I look forward to a greater explanation from the Lord when we get to heaven about some of these things. But regarding James, in 44 AD, we have his epistle. It's 100% inspired in the word of God. If you read the epistle of James, it's there, it's profitable, very practical and very valuable. But it reads a lot like an Old Testament wisdom book. If you're reading Proverbs or Ecclesiastes with references to Jesus Christ and certain grace truth mixed in, but not to the degree we have with Paul's writings or even Hebrews. In 49, Paul writes Galatians, a blistering rebuke of legalism. But there are three references to James in the book of Galatians, one of which is in chapter two where he says men from James came down and so influenced the apostle Peter that he felt the legalistic pressure so that he had to hide his ham sandwich under the table when the men from Jerusalem and James came down, because prior to that he had been acting under grace with the Gentiles enjoying his ham sandwich. And that's often how legalism operates. It gets people to have the fear of man and operate by double standards and hypocrisy. And then in AD 56, Paul writes 1 Corinthians. There's another reference to James there. All it says is that James saw the risen Lord Jesus Christ after his resurrection. He was one of the witnesses. And then in 58, we see this incident in Acts 21. where James proposes a plan, imposes it on Paul, Paul accepts it, of sponsoring these vows. And then in 62, James is martyred in Jerusalem by stoning. Pharisees were involved under pressure from the high priest. And then the last reference to James is in the epistle of Jude, verse one, where Jude simply says, hey, James is my brother. We're both half brothers of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's it. So we have no revelation as to what James' thinking was after Acts 21. So I just wanna clarify all that because a couple people have asked me some questions about that. Acts 21 and that incident with Paul is a hard section, no doubt. But let's move on. Acts 21 verses 27 and 28. Now, when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews from Asia, seeing Paul in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd and laid hands on him. They seized him, in other words, crying out, men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, i.e. Jewish people, against the law, the Mosaic law, and this place, i.e. the temple. And furthermore, he also brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. So there were four charges brought against Paul, and they're all false. False accusations, stated right there in verse 28. You don't have to write them down, just put verse 28 and go back and find them. Verse 29, for they had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian with him in the city, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple, which he didn't. To be in Jerusalem versus in the temple are two very different things. By the way, there was a sign in the temple that said, and the Romans allowed this of the Jews, they said, if you trespass beyond this point, you could die. We have the right to put you to death. And the Romans gave him that right. And so Gentiles were not allowed inside the temple. Verse 30, and all the city was disturbed and the people ran together, seized Paul and dragged him out of the temple. And immediately the doors were shut. The Levites or priests shut those doors so that no one else could come in. And there was a riot that ensued. Now, how did Paul respond when he was falsely accused? We're gonna see in Acts 22. that he gets the opportunity to speak, and what does he say when he stands up? He doesn't defend himself. He doesn't say, oh, by the way, one, two, three, four, I remember the four charges you have against me. None of them are true, so let's start and just go one by one, and I'll show you why they're all wrong. He doesn't do that. Instead, he gives his testimony. Why? Because he wants them to be saved rather than saving his own neck. This is the mind of Christ, the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the essence of Romans 5.10. For if when we were enemies, and these Jews were enemies of Paul at this point, they wanted to kill him. If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. Remember, we were all enemies at one time, but the glory of the gospel is that God takes his enemies, he saves them, and he makes them his child and his friend in the Lord Jesus. Amazing. What about you? How would you respond in a situation like this? when falsely accused? Well, one, I think it's good to keep in mind that we should always take heed to ourselves because sometimes an accusation is true, even when our knee-jerk reaction is, oh, that's not true. Stop and think, well, could it be true? This is the posture of the disciples on the night of the Lord's Supper and that Passover meal when they were told, one of you is gonna betray me. And one by one, they asked the Lord, is it I? Lord, is it I? And that's a good response. Secondly, I think, entrust your situation to the Lord when you're falsely accused. Don't take vengeance or retaliate. Vengeance is His, says the Lord. Now there's a place to seek justice if in this legal system that's necessary. But do not take justice or vengeance into your own hands or seek to put that other person down because they're putting you down. Think of the Lord Jesus and his example in 1 Peter 2 verse 23, what does it say there? Of Jesus Christ, who when he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but he committed himself to him who judges righteously, i.e. the Father. And that's what we are to do as well. Going on in this passage, verse 31 and 32 says, now as they were seeking to kill him, news came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them, and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. In other words, when the police are there, we can't beat up Paul anymore to kill him. But notice here in this passage, commander, singular, soldiers, verse 32, plural, centurions, plural. What does this tell us? Well, this passage shows us that God used the intervention of the Roman troops stationed in Jerusalem to save this Jewish Christian's life, Paul's life. And these Roman troops included a commander, or could be called a tribune, The Greek word that's used here in this passage is kiliarch, arch meaning ruler, like archangel or archbishop. Arch combined with kilia, the Greek word for 1,000, meaning a ruler of 1,000 roughly. And so this commander, and we even know his name from Acts 23 verse 26, because he's going to write a letter, and it's right there in the passage. His name is Claudius Lysias. He was the highest ranking Roman soldier in the city of Jerusalem. And underneath him were centurions, plural. That means at least two centurions, which means at least 200 soldiers, right? Cent meaning 100 or so. There's some centurions who oversaw fewer than that, but let's just say probably at least 200, maybe more. So this was a vast army that was there in that temple area of Jerusalem. Can you imagine 200 Roman soldiers out there trying to break this mob up? It must have looked like a small war going on right there in Jerusalem. And in the midst of all that, the commander comes in and it's his job to keep the peace. And he wants to know what is going on. From his post up there in the fortress of Antonia, he can see as well as the other soldiers, there's chaos breaking out in Jerusalem. This was not to happen. Verse 33, then the commander came near and took Paul and commanded him to be bound with two chains. And he asked who he was and what he had done. And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another. So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, He was getting multiple answers, it was chaos. He commanded Paul to be taken into the barracks. And when he reached the stairs, he had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. They were protecting him. For the multitude of the people followed after crying out, away with him! They wanted him to die. And so we see here for his protection and interrogation, Paul was bound with two chains. That probably means he was between two soldiers, one on his right, one on his left. Very well guarded. And taken back to the fortress of Antonia. right there in the temple compound area. Now we know a lot about this Fortress of Antonia, and I won't go into details, but this is a depiction of that whole temple platform area there. You see in the center, in white, was the temple itself, with the holy place, the Holy of Holies, and the outer court of that temple, while the temple platform was far bigger with these colonnades surrounding it. And on one corner, was a four post outlook that had been built by King Herod at great expense for the Roman army that was stationed right there to oversee everything in Jerusalem. And this is where Paul was kept for safekeeping. But who was really keeping Paul? In fact, who keeps us even when circumstances go in our favor like they did for Paul here? Well, we know it's the Lord who's keeping us, and yes, he uses means. In fact, I'll attest to that, thank the Lord for human means. But ultimately, it is the Lord. Proverbs 18.10 says, the name of the Lord, a reference to himself. The name of the Lord means the Lord. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. And then Nahum 1.7, which we teach all the kids in Sunday school, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. The Lord is our fortress of Antonia. In fact, I was really encouraged this last Saturday, we had some video meetings with Gibbs students from other countries, and one is a new student from Venezuela, and the connection with Venezuela is not that great, video-wise. Dropping in and out, typically, he said, if I'm able to stay on for this whole hour, it'll be because of Jesus, not the Venezuelan government, which as you probably know, is like a socialist dictatorship. And so, what happened? I said to him by the end of that time, Gustavo, you've been with us for a whole hour. He says, it's Jesus. I thought, what a great attitude. Very encouraging. Going on verse 37. Then as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, that fortress of Antonia, he said to the commander, may I speak to you? He probably recognized which guy was the commander. He was the one with the big red broom on top of his head. And the commander replied, can you speak Greek? That was the common language of the Mediterranean world. And so the commander asks him, are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led the 4,000 assassins out into the wilderness? Now we don't even know, apart from one reference in Josephus, who this individual was. But apparently it was like, you know, you go into the post office and you see most wanted pictures of the FBI or whoever has, you know, our government agencies have of these criminals. This commander thought he had come across a prize catch. But it wasn't who he thought it was. In fact, this was not only not an Egyptian, he wasn't an assassin by any means. He was out to help people be saved. Verse 39, but Paul said, I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. That's an understatement for a great city. And I implore you, permit me to speak to the people. So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language. Now there's a reference here in verse 38 to Paul being a Tarsian. In Greek culture they had city-states, and for centuries there was great pride if you came out of the Greek-speaking world, which Paul did in Tarsus here of Asia Minor. It was very much a Greek-influenced region. whether it was Greece itself or Macedonia up there by Philippi, it was all Greek in culture and language and Tarsus was as well. We've already gone over in the Book of Acts a little bit about this city, that it was a key city in terms of learning, one of the greatest of three cities in terms of an educational center of the ancient world along with Alexandria and This is a great city, that high standing in the eyes of Rome. So for Paul to say, I am of no mean city, Tarsus in Cilicia, was a Greek way of thinking about citizenship. But he also had a second citizenship, humanly, earthly speaking. He was born a Roman citizen. there in the city of Tarsus as well. So by two accounts from a human standpoint, whether a Tarsian or a Roman, he had a very high social standing in the ancient world. And yet, he had an even greater citizenship and standing. What was that? He was a citizen of heaven as well. Philippians 3.20 says, For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear believer, you're a citizen of heaven, which is so much higher than your American citizenship. There are people around the world who hear about America, they want to come to our country, and some have said, you know, you basically won the lottery when you were born in the sovereignty of God into this country. And I thank the Lord for the freedoms we have, the prosperity we have in the United States. But you know what? If it's not used to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and glorify him, it's all in vain, right? Our highest citizenship is who we are, what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. And Paul had this perspective as well as we're going to see. Going on in the passage, After he begins, gets permission from the commander to speak to the crowd in the Hebrew language and they're all silent, he says, chapter 22, verse 1, brethren and fathers, hear my defense. And the Greek word is apologia, from which we get apologetics. Hear my defense before you now. And Paul's defense here before the Jerusalem mob was the first of six defenses we're going to see in Acts 22 through 28, where he essentially shares his testimony of salvation in Jesus Christ. One testimony is right here in chapter 22 that we're going to read before the Jerusalem mob. And then next time in Acts 23, we'll see he's before the Sanhedrin, the council of 70 there in Jerusalem who run the country, Jewish law anyway. And then a third defense is before the Roman governor Felix in chapter 24. And then a fourth before the Roman governor Festus in chapter 25. And then a fifth defense before the Jewish King Herod Agrippa II in chapter 26, and then a sixth defense before his fellow Jews when he gets to Rome in chapter 28. But you know, there's a seventh defense that's coming, that all this is building up to, which happens at the close of the Book of Acts, he gets a chance to defend faith in the Lord Jesus Christ before the highest ranking human being on planet Earth at that time, Nero Caesar. Seven defenses from this point on, pretty amazing. And having these opportunities, what does he say in his defense? Again, he doesn't talk about himself, justifying himself or his actions per se, that was not his objective. Though at times he did have to explain, I've done nothing wrong, and here's why. But he always works in the gospel, trying to point people to Jesus Christ, because it's really all about him. And that's what this should say about our priorities. Let's preach the gospel instead of politics, instead of our privileged status here in the United States and all the blessings that we have. You know what? They're all gonna be gone one day, humanly speaking. Kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall, but your eternal citizenship in heaven will go on forever. That's where our priorities and treasures should be. Going on in this passage now in verses two through five, he emphasizes his Jewish religious background. Verse two, these are his BC days, so to speak, what he got saved out of. Verse two, and when they heard that he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, they kept all the more silent. Then he said, I am indeed a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, the preeminent teacher of the law in Jerusalem in that day. Wow, you're privileged, Paul, you got to sit under Gamaliel. Taught according to the strictness of our Father's law, he was a Pharisee and was zealous toward God as you all are here today, which is why you wanna kill me. He says, I persecuted this way, in reference to those who follow Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life, John 14, six. I persecuted this way to the death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest bears me witness and all the council of the elders, that would be the Sanhedrin, from whom I also received letters to the brethren and went to Damascus to bring in chains, even those who were there to Jerusalem to be punished. So in other words, I was in the upper echelon of all the leaders in Jerusalem here, the highest dresser drawers within Judaism, And so you should listen to me as a fellow Jew is really what he's saying here. So he gives his background from which, out of which he got saved in his testimony. That's how he begins. And he gives his credentials as a Jew who was a zealous law keeper. And at this point, I think he has the rapt attention of the audience because they're rabid fellow Jews as well, zealous for the law. Then we're gonna see in verses six through 11, he shifts his testimony from his BC days to his AD days now, so to speak, when he came to Christ. He shifts it to his experience on the road to Damascus when he literally saw the light of the glory of Jesus Christ. And in that moment, he instantly understood the gospel, which previously he knew, remember he was a prosecutor of this religion. He knew all about it, probably knew more about it than even those on the Sanhedrin. But yet he rejected it. So what do we read? Verses six through 11. Now it happened as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, high noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? A voice from heaven saying, I'm persecuting you. So I answered, who are you Lord? And he said to me, I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting. He's alive from the dead and he really is Lord. In a flash, in an instant, Paul realized I've been wrong. Dreadfully wrong. This is a moment of repentance in his thinking. This is a moment of his faith changing in an instant from his religious works and tradition to now Jesus Christ. These Christians were right all along. The gospel is true. All this happened in a moment. Verse nine says, and those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of him who spoke to me. So I said, and by the way, so that means there's witnesses to this. So I said, what shall I do, Lord? Notice Paul's posture immediately was, here I am, Lord, what would you like me to do? The posture of a servant, a willing heart. Does he seem like an unsaved man here to you? Not to me, as we'll see. And the Lord said to me, arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which you are appointed for you to do. And since I could not see for the glory of that light, it was so bright, brighter than the sun, one passage says. He was literally blinded. Being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus. He was blinded, but they weren't. Isn't that interesting? Those who are with me indeed saw the light, but they didn't hear the voice. The voice spoke to one person, not the rest. And the light shined on them too, but not to the degree it did for Paul. He was blinded by that light. I think God had his selective purposes for Paul, don't you? Verse 12 and following goes on. Then a certain Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good testimony with all the Jews who dwelt there. By the way, why is that important? If this guy's gonna come and lay hands on Paul and show his public acceptance and approval of this new brother in Christ, wouldn't you want someone who's got a good testimony and standing among Jewish believers in Christ already in Damascus? Yeah, that's Ananias. And he came to me, verse 13, and he stood and said to me, Brother Saul, receive your sight. And at that same hour, I looked up at him. Notice Paul was down, Ananias was up. Verse 14, then he said, the God of our fathers has chosen you, that you should know his will and see the just one, the righteous one, Jesus Christ. A messianic title. And hear the voice of his mouth, for you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. And now why are you waiting? Waiting to do what? To go be his witness, right? Arise, you're sitting down, get up. Be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord. Now this verse, verse 16, is very controversial, as you can imagine. But I think if you take a passage in its context, and that's where we always need to start. So many times I have seen verse 16 stated or quoted without any context, to give the impression that you have to be water baptized to have your sins washed away. And that's really easy to do. If you don't take the Bible in context, if you don't read the verses before or after or compare it to the two other places in Acts, Acts 9 and 26, where Paul gives his testimony, three times his testimony occurs in this book. And what do we see when we compare all those passages and look at the context? We see number one, that Paul calls Jesus Lord, right after he sees him on the road to Damascus. He wasn't calling him Lord before that. In fact, he was killing those who called him Lord. Now he's calling Jesus Lord. And he was immediately obedient to Jesus Christ's will. That shows the heart response of a new believer. We know from another passage, Acts 9, that he spent the next three days in prayer. calling on the name of the Lord. Isn't that interesting? He was praying to the Lord Jesus. Thirdly, he received a vision from the Lord himself, chapter nine tells us, telling him, hey, there's a guy coming to meet you. His name is Ananias. And by the way, the Lord had spoken to Ananias too and said, there's a guy named Paul, go find him. So this was a divine encounter. But why would the Lord Jesus be telling him, hey, there's a guy coming to meet you. I know you're not saved yet and you're praying to me, but you know, there's a guy coming who's very important named Ananias. Wait for him to get there and then he'll baptize you so you can be saved, but keep praying to me. We also see that Ananias called him brother before baptizing him, which doesn't necessarily mean You know, it could be a cultural thing, you know, fellow Jew, but I tend to think in the context again, he says, this is another believer in Christ, a brother in the Lord. We also see that Paul's physical sight is restored. Verse 13 said that. Chapter 9 says that as well. Now turn with me to chapter 26 and I'll show you why this is important. Acts 26. This is his third testimony given in Acts of his salvation. In verse 15, Paul asks him, who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. Verse 16, but rise and stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness, both of the things which you have seen in this vision, and I'm telling you now, and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. All that stuff in his epistles. I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the Gentiles to whom I now send you to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among all those who are sanctified, how? By faith in me. Jesus spoke of faith in him as the condition to be set apart or sanctified unto the Lord and have sin forgiven, I believe, right in this encounter, but it's not recorded in Acts 22 or in Acts 9, but it is here. But notice verse 18 again. The purpose of Paul going out to them was to open the eyes of the blind, spiritually speaking. And so I think God allowed this powerful figure and symbolic blindness in Paul's life for three days so that when Ananias comes, lays hands on him, he gets his sight back. Now he can go begin his ministry of helping the spiritually blind see. I think this is symbolic. So his physical sight was restored, picturing his ministry of turning unbelievers from darkness to believers and the light, the light of Jesus Christ. We also see from another passage that he was filled with the Holy Spirit, Acts chapter nine says. which you can't have somebody filled with the Holy Spirit who's not saved, right? Which means he already had to have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit and placed into union with Jesus Christ, whom he's calling Lord. All this seems to indicate he's already saved before he ever gets baptized. And then we also see in chapter 22, verses 14 and 15, that he's commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ and here in Acts 26. He's commissioned to go and reach all these people. And that's why Acts 22.16 begins, why are you waiting, Paul? Waiting to do what, get baptized? No, no, no, no. Why are you waiting to go out and fulfill the commission that I have now given you sight to do, and I've now filled you with the spirit to do? Oh, but there's one thing you've gotta do on your way out to witness to others. It's very important that you publicly identify with Jesus Christ, i.e. get baptized. So why are you waiting is not a reference to why are you waiting to get baptized to be saved? He's already been saved for three days. That's the context and that's the value. You have to read passages in their context. And I say all this because there are in essence three main views on this verse, verse 16. The first is the baptismal regeneration view that a lot of traditional churches that have sacraments of baptism and communion. By the way, we don't believe in sacraments here. That's a Latin word which speaks of grace coming through an ordinance. They call that a sacrament. No, we don't believe in sacraments. We believe in ordinances that Jesus Christ instituted. Big difference. Grace comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not a work such as baptism. So that's one view, and of course that's how they take verse 16, rip it right out of context. A second view is held by a lot of evangelicals and many Baptists, and that is they say that the washing away of sins is tied to the phrase, wash away your sins, comma, calling on the name of the Lord. One difficulty with that interpretation is Paul had already been calling on the name of the Lord for three days in prayer. Secondly, it's in the Aorist tense there, and it literally is translated, wash away your sins, having called on the name of the Lord. Well, if I've already called on the name of the Lord, why aren't my sins washed away yet? It doesn't quite seem to make sense. That's why I'm convinced that Ananias' point here was the third view, that it's figurative and it pictures something. Arise, be baptized, wash away your sins, and call on the name of the Lord. Having called on the name of the Lord, literally. And so in a figurative sense, your sins are washed away, not by literal baptism, but that's what baptism pictures. And Ananias was making that statement here. It's kind of like with the Lord's Supper. Is it not figurative for Jesus to say, this is my body and this is my blood? Of course, sacramental churches take that literally, but we know from context there too that he was speaking figuratively. This is my body which is given for you and for your sins. Well, he hadn't even given up his body yet till the next day when he's on the cross. And furthermore, his body is right there holding the bread saying that. So obviously the bread can't be the body yet. And then in 1 Corinthians 11, it's actually called bread. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim or show the Lord's death, picture it, till he comes. And so it's representative. In fact, when he says with the cup, this is the cup of the new covenant in my blood, it's not literally his blood. Because right after he says that, if you read Matthew 26, he goes on to say a couple of verses later, I will not drink with you this fruit of the vine. until I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. Well, which is it? Is it his blood or is it the fruit of the vine? Well, obviously it's the fruit of the vine and he's speaking metaphorically. Just like in John 10, when Jesus says, I am the door or John six, when he says, I am the bread of life or John 15, when he says, I am the vine, you are the branches. Those are all figures of speech. The Bible's filled with them. And here's one that actually has a command attached to it. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 7, that Christ is our Passover, next verse, verse 8, therefore let us keep the feast with unleavened bread. Now I ask you, did the Corinthian church, do we as Duluth Bible Church keep Jewish feast days like Passover? No, Paul was clearly speaking figuratively there, even using an imperative, let us do this. And that's the context, or the sense, I believe, in which Ananias is saying to Paul here, wash away your sins. I like what Harry Ironside says in his commentary. I didn't have time to put it on the PowerPoint. Let me just read it to you. He says, nevertheless, the baptism was a picture of the washing away of sins. But no sin can be purged by water. Sin is only purged by the precious blood of Christ. And there's several passages in scripture that say that. But there is a sense in which Paul was baptized, in which when Paul was baptized, his past was washed away. He had been a bitter hater of the name of the Lord Jesus. But when he went down into the water of baptism, all that disappeared. He came forth not as the persecutor, but a preacher of the gospel of the grace of God. The past was gone. He was henceforth to walk in newness of life." And I think that's what this passage is saying as well. It fits the context. Now, before we go on to verse 17, let me just say that verse 17 and following is going to describe an interval of time between verse 16, when Paul's baptized, and then he comes back to Jerusalem a few years later in AD 37. So let's pick it up in verse 17. It says, now it happened when I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple that I was in a trance and saw him saying to me, make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, for they will not receive your testimony concerning me. And then Paul argues with the Lord Jesus Christ, And he says, so I said, Lord, they know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believe on you. And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by consenting to his death, guarding the clothes of those who were killing him. In other words, I've got good standing among these Jews who don't believe because of my anti-Christ background. Verse 21. Then he, the Lord Jesus said to me, depart, for I will send you far from here to the Gentiles. Now all this is being said by Paul to the Jerusalem mob, keep that in mind. Verse 22, and they listened to him until this word, what word? Gentiles. And then they raised their voices and said, away with such a fellow from the earth, for he's not fit to live. All it took was the reference to the Gentiles. So the Jewish mob is triggered by the mere mention of Paul being commissioned by Christ to go to the dreaded Gentiles, the goyim, the dogs, as they viewed them. Now what factors contributed to the mob's reaction here? Well one, there was an anti-Roman nationalistic fervor at the time among the Jews that would manifest in just a few years in their rebellion against Rome. And Roman came and crushed them. One commentary says this, there were great tensions in Jerusalem during this period. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus described this time period, approximately 56 to 57, as being filled with political unrest and strong Jewish nationalism. There were several uprisings by Jews against their Roman leaders, all of which had been brutally put down by Felix, the Roman procurator. This caused even more anger from the Jews and intensified their hatred for Gentiles. Paul, missionary to the Gentiles, entered the city with news of vast Gentile conversions, which upset these Jews even more. Furthermore, I would say a second factor is the Jews with their works righteousness approach to salvation had lost sight of God's grace. And that they were God's chosen nation by his grace. His agape love for them, his hesed. If you read Deuteronomy chapter seven, he says, I didn't pick you because you were so special. I just set my love upon you for my own purposes. That's what he says, and they had lost sight of that. Thirdly, there was a hardness of heart and spiritual blindness that had set in after they had rejected the Lord Jesus in their unbelief. Remember even when Jesus was around 25 or six years before this episode in Acts 21. They said, crucify him, crucify him. Let his blood be upon us, they literally said, Matthew 27, 25. So hardness had set in. And the course for future events were now set in motion and all this would culminate in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Romans when God would pour out his wrath on that Christ-rejecting nation. But going on in the passage, it says, then, verse 23, as they cried out and tore off their clothes, sign of angst, they threw dust into the air. The commander ordered Paul to be brought into the barracks and said that he should be examined under scourging so that he might know why they shouted so against him. Remember the commander here, The Tribune over Jerusalem still doesn't know really what's going on here. He didn't know if he was innocent or guilty of inciting this violent mob, which in the eyes of Rome was punishable by death in many cases. So he ordered him to be tortured and interrogated through scourging with a Roman flagrum, just like Jesus Christ. And these flagrams were brutal. In fact, many people were handicapped for life as a result of this, and many died during the flogging process or scourging. And Paul knew this. He knew what was about to happen. And that's why notice what he says here, verses 25 through 29. As they bound him with thongs, they tied him to this post, they were gonna whip him. Paul said to the centurion at that point, who stood by, is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, he went immediately and told the commander saying, take care what you do for this man is a Roman. Then the commander came and said to him, tell me, are you a Roman? He said, yes. The commander answered, with a large sum I obtained this citizenship. And Paul said, but I was born one, a citizen. Then immediately those who were about to examine him, i.e. flog him, withdrew from him. It's like they're backpedaling. And the commander was also afraid after he found out that he was a Roman because he had bound him. You know, it was actually illegal for him to bind a Roman citizen. Now, he did it in ignorance, but he was afraid at this point. In fact, Paul had a higher social status than even the commander, the tribune. Why? Because Paul was born a Roman citizen. He didn't have to buy it. And all this says, Paul's gonna get more favorable treatment now. Now if Paul was an uncondemned Roman citizen, why did the commander bring him then before the Sanhedrin? That's what we see in the next verse and we'll see more about this in our next study. Verse 30 says, and it closes this chapter, the next day because he wanted to know for certain why Paul was accused by the Jews, the commander released him from his bonds. and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear and brought Paul down and set him before them. So the next major defense we're gonna see is not before a mob, but now before the Sanhedrin in chapter 23. But what I find amazing is Paul doesn't even play the card of his Roman citizenship to the very end here. Why? What's on his mind? He's trying to reach people for Jesus Christ. And dear saints, I love our country. Wonderful past. I thank the Lord for it. I pray for our country. But I'll tell you this, your citizenship status as somebody in Christ and a member of heaven far out trumps being an American citizen. Let's keep that in mind and use the liberties, the freedoms we have, our rights in this country to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in a greater way like Paul did. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word tonight and for all these stories that convey truth and story form. May we just follow the example of Paul where he was following you. Thank you for the Lord Jesus who appears throughout these stories in various places as constant reminders that he's the one we're looking to by faith, not by sight, but by faith. And so we pray all this now and ask the