Bible Study: January 5, 2022

I'm not going to repeat everything I said. That'll just have to be, you know, as we move into Acts 23, as we remember where we were in Acts 22 last week, Paul is in jail. He is being held for no legal reason.

He's in insurrection. If we can use modern language there in Jerusalem, they're blaming Paul for it. Remember the commander of the Roman garrison there? He doesn't understand what the problem is with Paul. And they bring him before him, and there's this uproar again. And so as we begin chapter 23, Paul is now, you know, now there's another hearing. There's another hearing before the garrison so that the Romans can figure out what is the problem.

Wherever you go, Paul, there's this rebellion or this conflict in tumult among the Jews. So we see Paul now being brought before the Romans and the Jews are there as well. So it's a trial, if you will. The Rome is there in the form of the commander to make a judgment. What's going on here? Paul's the defendant, the accusers are the Jews, Ananias is there to represent the Jews we see in verse 2, and Paul is defending himself. So let's pick it up in chapter 23. You know, in this chapter, we're going to find some life lessons in it for all of us as well.

We're going to see where God led Paul and some of the things that he did. He was pretty wise, and God opened his eyes to see some things, some things that we may learn from this as we find ourselves in the future or wherever in the same situation or a situation where we were brought before people. We find one of those things in verse 1 as we look at the very first few words of chapter 23.

Chapter 23, verse 1, it says, Paul, looking earnestly at the counsel, said, men and women, or men and brethren, I've lived in all good conscience before God until this day. I know he says he's looking earnestly. And what that is, is he was gazing intently at the people that were gathered together in that realm. He was sizing them up, if you will. You know, there's one principle that they will talk about, public speaking and pervasive public speaking that I remember from college and the classes I had there.

You know, know your audience. And size them up. When you get there, it's good to be able to know who you're speaking to because you might find that your message has to be tempered a little bit. And that's why they always encourage, don't just, I was always taught in college, don't just read your speech, know what your speech is and let it be tempered to the audience.

You don't want to come in with a topic that is going to offend everyone when you're looking around the audience and think, well, everything I have planned on saying this could be offensive. I might tailor my words a little bit. That's what Paul is doing. He's looking here. Who is it? These people are here to judge me. That's what they're here for. So he's looking at the people.

He knows some of them and he understands, as we're going to say, there's a division here among the Jews. Some are Sadducees, some are Pharisees. Paul is well aware what that division is and how that's the visa thing in the Jewish community. But he's also looking at Ananias.

And it doesn't appear as we go through this that this chief priest, he even knows that Paul even knows who Ananias is because of some of the ways that he addresses him in the process. But it is one thing to just know your audience, look at them, and even see what their demeanor is. Smiling at you? Are they whatever? You know, in some of the recent trials on TV when they would talk about that, and I would hear some of the commentators saying, you know, when you try to read the jury and when you look at them, they seem a little more lighthearted, some are smiling, that would indicate they're in favor of the defendant.

Others are scowling and they just look too intent. That might indicate that they're against the defendants. And they try to read into it. What is the eventual verdict going to be? As Paul is doing here, sizing up his audience and seeing what the lay of the land is. So he does that, and then he makes the comment. His opening comment in his defense is, I have lived in good conscience. I have lived according to my conscience. I haven't done anything outside of anything I've done.

I have reviewed what I have done. I wouldn't have changed anything that I do. And the Jews would have been very aware of conscience, you know, and living faithfully to what you believe.

You know, Paul, I've mentioned a few times, you know, later on in his epistles, we see him talk about these various things. And as he talks about, I've lived in all good conscience before God. I come before you, he says, with nothing to hide. I come before you without anything saying, well, you know, maybe I could have done this differently or that difference.

Let us know. I've lived in good conscience. Everything that I've done. Let's just look at a few things that Paul, you know, wrote later here. Romans 14. We were in Romans a little bit last week as we looked at the Jews and the calling of the Gentiles, but in Romans 14, you know, Paul makes a comment. Well, you know, the book of Romans, we're going to come back to this a little bit later here, too. You know, the the commentaries and sources say that it was probably the last of the epistles that Paul wrote, probably somewhere around 57 AD.

Two of the Romans, and he always wanted to go to the Romans. We'll get to that in a little bit. And God did take him there. But in Romans 1423, he says, He who doubts is condemned if he eats.

Of course, he's talking about this controversy about, you know, things, the idol, some people saying you don't eat meat at all, etc. He who doubts is condemned if he eats because he does not eat from faith. Whatever is not from faith is sin. And we know that, you know, we will say we don't sin, we don't sin against our consciousness, you know, we do, we do it, we don't let people talk us into doing something differently.

God will lead us, His Holy Spirit will lead us into what is right. You know, recently, as we've dealt with, you know, the vaccine mandates and some have applied for religious exemptions, the church, the letter the church allows us or permits us or, you know, gives us the opportunity to give and support those who are seeking religious exemptions specifically talks about conscience.

But it is up to everyone's conscience what they do with that. And many of the companies will leave and delve into that with their own questionnaires. What do you believe, you know, we don't want to just hear from your minister or your spiritual guide, as some of them call. So we want to know what you believe. And it's been a very interesting thing because it has to be of the conscience. What do you believe is what they're searching for so that you don't violate your conscience?

Well, that's what Paul is talking about in Romans 14 and verse 23. He also talks about that in 1 Timothy, when the importance of not going against our conscience and knowing that God is the one through His Holy Spirit who leads us in all of conscience. 1 Timothy 4 and verse 2. I'll read verse 1 as well. Timothy 4 verse 1 because he's talking about latter times. He's talking about times that you and I live in today.

Now, the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons. There will be things going out in the world, and some will believe those and leave the faith, if you will. It doesn't even necessarily mean like leave the church, but they will be persuaded to follow these deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy and having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

That's something we never want to do. If our conscience says, follow this, follow that. Even if friends, family, whatever it is. Last week we talked about how do we agape God. It's what do we do. Do we love God more than this? Do we love God more than these? Do we love God more than that? What do we do? We follow God always. When we follow Him first. When we sin against our conscience because friends want us to, or we have another thing we really want to do, and that's, well, okay, I'll do that. Because this is more important to me than what God's will is.

That's sinning against your conscience, and that's developing a pattern of life we don't want to go down. Because we want to develop a pattern in our life just like Paul did, just like Peter did, just like Jesus Christ did, just like Christians do, that we are always, always following what God said. Even when it's at our inconvenience, even when it's at our pain, even when it's at whatever it is. And so He says, don't go against your conscience. Don't let other things take you away from what God is leading you to do. Know what you think, know what you believe, and then follow it.

And don't let others take you astray, but make sure that it's from the Bible, right? We always talk about that. Go to the Bible and let the Bible and God lead you into it. Finally, back in the book of Ephesians. Ephesians is a very good book. It speaks an awfully lot about doctrine and a very foundational book. You know, as you look at that church in Ephesus, and this letter sent to them, you know, God did teach Ephesus a lot that we look at a lot today.

Ephesians 4 and verse 17. Paul, again, you know, speaking of conscience in Acts 23, he says, This I say therefore, and I testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, walk in the futility of their mind. He's drawing a comparison between the way the Gentiles, that's the rest of the world that doesn't have the knowledge of God, walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened. Darkened. They let things, they let their own will, they let their part from God, darken their minds.

They look for the things and it actually shuts their minds off from truth. Romans 1, Paul will talk about that. He says, you know, in Romans 1, the latter verses there, he says, Boy, if people would just look at the world around them, they would know there's God. There's no excuse for not knowing there's God because you can't possibly look at creation and the earth and know it and say there's in that this is all by chance. But they choose not to follow it.

They close their minds to that. They don't want God and they resist them. And that's what he's saying here. They walk in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God. That's something you and I never want to become, is alienated from the life of God. Have to do what God says. Being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them and because of the blindness of their heart.

And so, you know, Christ often talks about, you know, our hearts. Even when we talk about the agape of God, you know, he says, love him with all your heart, mind and soul. And we are the ones who can darken our hearts if we let that happen. So as we're in the latter times, you know, conscience is a very important thing.

And it'll be a joy to all of us who can look at someone down the road if we find ourselves in a situation like Paul and say, you know, I've done everything in good conscience. I've done everything the way God has led me to do that. And Paul, when he says that, he says that in all sincerity. And he says that, he says that because he knows the Jewish, his Jewish accusers there are not going to like that at all because what he's saying is, I have followed God and I am being accused because I have been following God. So if we go back to Acts 23, and that's one of those life lessons. Follow the conscience, know God, know the Bible, choose what he would have, have you do. You know, and so in verse two, we see that what Paul has said has struck quite a chord in the high priest Ananias here. He hears this simple statement, it says in verse two, the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike Paul on the mouth. One simple little opening statement, and Ananias is already irritated. Smack this guy. How dare him saying that what he's done is what God has led him to do because that isn't what he wants to hear at all. He wants to hear that, you know, they're right and Paul is anti-God and doing things apart from, you know, the law, the Torah as they know that. Shows Paul something in verse two. He's now, he's looked at the court and now he's found out he's already being prejudged. Ananias, you know, Ananias isn't there to hear Paul's side of the story. The Roman commander has called them together because he wants to hear both sides of the story, but Ananias has already made his determination. Paul is guilty. He's deserving of death. I don't even want to hear a word he has to say and it irritates me that he's saying he's done what God has done. Strike him on the mouth. It's, you know, it's an unfair trial is what Paul sees already that is going to occur here. In verse three, you know, Paul, Paul responds in kind, right? If you and I are slapped by someone, 99% of the time, you know, we're going to have a report back. It's just a natural thing and that's what Paul does in verse three. Paul says, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall. What he's saying when he says whitewashed wall, we have our own little words through. He's saying, you're a hypocrite.

You're a hypocrite, you're a hypocrite. You're a hypocrite. Your hand, you're a hypocrite. And the Jewish days when you look this up in the commentaries, what it means if you call someone a whitewashed wall, it means you're hiding behind this facade. You look all clean and bright on the outside and you look white and pure but on the inside you are really, you are really a miserable person, if you will. You say one thing, but you do another. That's exactly what Jesus Christ was saying to the Pharisees when he in Matthew 23 said, you know, you all are like, you know, you clean up the outside, but what about in the inside, right? You all look like nice white washed, white pure cups, but on the inside you're full of all these evil things. Paul is saying the same thing here to him in the modern day, you know, in the modern day verbiage there. Ananias knew exactly what he was calling them, and everyone knew what Paul was saying to Ananias there. You white washed wall. You sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law? So saying, you know, you sit there and say this is all about law, but what law gives you the right to strike me? You haven't even heard what I've said yet. You know, the Jews, remember, as we've gone through the book of Acts, they tend to take matters in their own hands. They will hide behind what the law is, but then they do something completely different. They don't go through the process. You know, they've had Paul beaten, they've had Paul stoned, they've had Paul, you know, removed from from cities, all not in accordance. Just because they get emotionally involved and just strike him down, that's exactly the same thing we're happening seeing here in verse three. The high priest, Ananias, if indeed he was a high priest, or some commentaries will suggest that he was a stand-in for the high priest. I don't know. But here he is emotionally, emotionally making this comment as the trial begins. So in verse four, you know, those who stood by said to Paul, do you revile God's high priest? And Paul, Paul apologizes. It's another life lesson that we learned here in verse five. He says, I didn't know, I didn't know, brethren, that he was the high priest. For it's written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

So, you know, we might ask, how could Paul not know who Ananias is? And that's a good question.

You know, and that's why some commentaries will suggest, well, he really wasn't the high priest, he was a stand-in for the high priest, and Paul didn't recognize that. But I don't know if that's the case. It could well be. We have to remember that Paul has been away from Jerusalem for a number of years. Remember, he's been traveling throughout Asia, he's been establishing churches, and then God led him back in Jerusalem for the day of Pentecost. So Paul follows that. He's down in Jerusalem, and years have passed. And when he's there, he doesn't come. He's no longer part of Judaism. He didn't go to the temple. He didn't go there to meet with the people there. He went to the church in Jerusalem. He met with James and the elders we read in chapter 21, I guess it was. So there could have been changes in their hierarchy in Judaism that Paul just simply wasn't aware of. He wasn't going to Sabbath services in the temple. He was there with the church in Jerusalem. So he may well not have known who Ananias was at all. Just like we might not know who if we were standing next to the mayor of our city. We might not have any idea even who his name is, much less if we know his name, what he looks like. So Paul, it might well be Ananias of the sudden. He just didn't know. Now the commentaries still kind of assumed there's this interaction between the Jewish church and Paul, and that everything was around the temple. And the Judaism was the temple, but the church in Jerusalem, Christian church, was not part of that Jerusalem temple. They were there. All the Jews were in town for Pentecost, and they were all keeping the same day. But there is a difference between Judaism and Christianity when you look at the church in Jerusalem versus the temple in Jerusalem. At any rate, Paul hears that Ananias is the high priest.

He's appalled at what he's done. He even writes later in Romans. In Romans 13, he says, respect the authorities. Be respectful of them. They're in an office. They have authority over us. Be kind to the king. Don't speak out against him. So he says that here, and he says, I didn't know. I didn't know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. And he did the right thing by apologizing for it. But he sets a principle for us that of having respect for those in authority, even if we disagree with what they're doing. Paul clearly does not approve of what Ananias did. He called him out on what he did. But he doesn't recognize he's got authority in this religion. And so I will respect him. I will respect him. And I look at this concept of respect and look at the world around us. And those of us in America, I don't know how it is in Canada these days, but often, not so much lately, but often in the past year, we've seen, you know, videos on TV of people being pulled over for traffic violations or something going on. And someone in authority, you know, whether it be a police officer, so we'll say stop.

You know, this, and then you see, you see this disrespect come from the people who are being pulled over. And you look at those, you look at those, and you think, wow, if you may just respected, what could this have come out differently? And I understand I've had conversations with some, you know, what society has done and everything like that. But boy, we always have to remember, you know, be respectful. Be respectful, and then let things happen. That's what Paul is teaching us here. He's in an adversarial situation, and he knows that, but he recognizes I should have been respectful. And the Bible teaches us, be respectful. Be respectful, and then, you know, because if we are disrespectful, you know, who knows what that is going to arouse, and Paul realizes that as well. Great shaping. Yes, yeah, Igardo. Two quick comments that come to mind when this incident, a similar thing happened to Jesus when he was before the high priest. He was basically slapped on the face by someone, and basically still was the respect there. And the point you made about the respect, you know, I guess also the point is that there's a respect not necessarily for the person, but for the position that the person occupies. Right. So that's, I think, that's the thing at the point that he makes there that he may not like what the person did, but that person occupies a certain position that God allowed him to have, which is, like you said, a cellism for us right now. You know, you may not like the person or what the person is doing, but it's the position that occupies that in the future someone else would probably occupy. Yeah, very good. Good point. You might not care for what the person says, but the office is there, and it has a position of authority. You know, good point. Let's go back to Exodus 22, because when Paul says, when Paul says, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people, he's quoting from Exodus 22 verse 28.

But he's also giving us a principle for New Testament times, because when you look at Exodus 22 and verse 28, the actual verb is there is you shall not revile God. Well, we all know that, right? We would never revile God. You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.

And the word curse, when you look it up, that's a legitimate translation. It means wish evil, wish evil on the person. And so that, you know, what God is showing there in that in the back of the next is 22, the principle of respect. Paul, following what Jesus Christ said, it's not just keeping the physical commands, right, but the spiritual intent of the laws. And so when he says, you know, it's been said of old, you shall not kill, but I'm saying don't even be angry with your brother for a cause. You're guilty of violation of that commandment if you're just angry without a cause. Not just the physical act of adultery, but even if you lust after a woman in your own heart, you're guilty of that commandment. And Paul is doing the same thing. Look at the spiritual intent here. It's not just, you know, I'm going to bring a curse down on you or whatever they do when they curse people or wish them to whatever. Be respectful. It's all about being, you know, respectful and looking at the spirit of what's in our heart. And as Eduardo said, respecting that position that that person is in. So it's one of those things, you know, for us to learn. Again, you know, coming down the road, you know, who knows what God has in store for us or where society goes, not only in America, but in Canada and Australia and, you know, throughout Europe and in this worldwide situation that we find ourselves in. Who knows? When we'll find ourselves up against authorities because of this we believe or that we believe or this we will not do and whatever it might be. And we might find ourselves agitated, irritated and whatever.

But still knowing, you know, God knows what's going on and still respecting, not that we wouldn't, not that we wouldn't speak out about what we believe, but to do it respectfully and not, you know, not condemn and whatever. So Paul, you know, Paul is in this situation. So, you know, for the first five verses of, you know, an intense trial, I guess, I'm going to keep using the word trial because that's in essence what it is here. You know, Paul finds himself in, we see a lot that's going on in the first five verses. But Paul, but Paul employs, you know, through the next several verses here, a technique and argument to take the attention away from himself and cast it on to the Jews. So we've got the Jews. They're clearly against Paul. They, you know, they, he's, he's done this, he's done that, he's, you know, what they really don't like is back that he sees Jesus Christ as a Messiah. But he sees an opening and he relates, if you will, what he's, what he's preaching is about a resurrected Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Messiah. And he sees a division between the Jews, there's the Pharisees who believe in a resurrection, and the Sadducees who don't believe in a resurrection. And so he takes the argument in that way and knows there's this dissension or this division in the Jewish community over whether there is life after death and what is, you know, what is the resurrection of the dead. And he makes a statement that takes all the attention away from himself, but also reveals the problem with the Jews. And verse 6 then says, when Paul perceived, and then he intently looked at the, at the, you know, he was gazing intently earnestly at the audience, there are some Sadducees, they were the ones in charge of the, of the Sanhedrin at that point. He himself is a Pharisee, so there's Pharisees and Sadducees there, when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead, I am being judged. What it comes down to here is I'm preaching about resurrection from the dead, and that's what the Jews are mad at me about because he's preaching about a resurrected Jesus Christ. He's not lying in anything he said there, but he is going to open up and see, open up a conversation there that's going to show the dissension between the Jews and how they behave. Again, the Roman garrison, the Roman commander is there, and remember back in chapter 21, there was all this furor, all this commotion about Paul, and he had some people were saying, oh Paul did this, and other people said Paul did that, and he had no idea. So remember he even asked Paul, are you the one who led this revolt, so 4,000 people back some years ago, are you this Egyptian Jew? Well, no I'm not. And so the Roman commanders, you know, seeking, what is all the furor about? When Paul does this, we see the Jews move into action. You know, they take the bait, and in verse 7, all of a sudden the division occurs, and there's dissension in the crowd, and when he had said this, the dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and no angel or spirit, but the Pharisees confess both. So he's got this contention now that arises between the two. Now he's the one standing back and watching what's happening, and the commander's watching what is happening here.

And you know, you wonder about the Sadducees, how they could have known the Bible and not known there was a resurrection, you know, and I want to take just a moment, looking from the Old Testament. We could quote New Testament chapter and verse, many of us, about the resurrection, but let's go back to Job. And you have to wonder how the Sadducees couldn't have ever thought there was no resurrection and no life after death, because back in the book of Job, you know, we read this at the funerals of people. You know, it clearly talks about the resurrection of the dead. There's other places in the Bible in the Old Testament that talk about the dead die. They sleep until the return of Jesus Christ, that they're just laying in wait. But in Job 14, you see Job specifically talk about living again, and what life is about. In Job 14, in verse 2, speaking of man, it says, he comes forth like a flower and fades away. He flees like a shadow and doesn't continue. Well, he's talking about man's here for a little bit of time, then he just sort of dies and the world continues on. If we drop down to verse 10, he specifically says that man dies, he's laid away. Indeed, he breathes his last, and where is he? As water disappears from the sea and a river becomes parched and dries up, so man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake. What is he saying? Till the heavens are no more. There will be a time when he will awake. He's sleeping right now. The very same things that Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4, 1 Corinthians 15, so man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake, nor be roused from their sleep. They're just unconscious. Verse 13, Job speaking to God, oh, that you would hide me in the grave, that you would conceal me until your wrath is passed.

When is the times of God's wrath? We know when that is. It's the day of the Lord, the time before Jesus Christ returns, that you would conceal me until your wrath is passed, that you would appoint me a set time and remember me. There's a time, Job says, when I'll live again, there's a time in the future when your wrath is passed that I will be resurrected, that I will live again.

You would appoint me a set time and remember me. If a man dies, will he live again? All the days of my hard service, I will wait until my change comes. Job is giving a pretty clear answer here. You will call, and I will answer you. You know, Jesus Christ uses that same type of, of, you know, verbiage. When he talks in John 5 verses 28 and 29, they'll hear the voice come forth.

The call will come, and they will, and they, and the dead will be made alive. You shall call, and I will answer you. You shall desire the work of your hands. What Job is saying is, all my life, I've been trained by you. I followed you. You know, as God calls him, I've become blameless. I've followed you. I've obeyed you. I've done the things right in your eyes, and you've worked with me, and you will want to see me again, just like God works with you and me today. He's molding us, leading us into who we need to become. And when we die, or when Jesus Christ returns, whatever comes forth, God will resurrect. And all that work that he's done in you and me, as we have yielded to him, and followed his way, and been faithful, he's going to want to see it again. That's part of what he's doing. Part of what he's doing? Well, that is what he's doing with us, preparing us for that future time. So you look at the Sadducees, and you have to wonder, how could they not have known that there was a time coming? That's in the Old Testament. It's pretty clear to me. That's just as clear as 1 Corinthians 15 that says there will be a resurrection. It's just as clear as 1 Thessalonians 4. And yet, the Sadducees say, there's no spirit beings, there's none of this. Even in Job, it talks about the sons of God and the angels. He said, there's no spirit beings, there's no resurrection from the dead. When we die, we die. So it's kind of interesting that even among themselves, they just didn't understand part of the Bible. Someone had something to say. Mr. Sadducees? Yes. That can also be applied today.

People in churches like the Baptist, I've been in the Baptist for months, and we were taught, if you're good, once you die, you're going to go to heaven. And your relatives are going to be looking down at you. So in essence, sometimes they speak of the resurrection, but at the same time, they really don't believe in the resurrection because they believe that once they go to God, they're going to go to heaven. So they're both the Sadducees. They're actually the same thing.

It doesn't make any sense to them. They don't have any idea what the resurrection is, right? And Job says, I will wait. I will wait. And it's crystal clear in the New Testament, too, we wait and we sleep until Jesus Christ returns. And yet, for some reason, they've been led astray to think it happens right away. They also, I guess, disregarded Daniel 12, the very end of the book, which says that, to Daniel God is saying, but you go your way until the end, for you shall rest and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.

There you go. So you look at things like that, and you look at the Sadducees and Pharisees, and you would think that if they were letting God's Spirit lead, then they would come to an easy accord on this, right? Then yes, there's this continual division between the Jews, and Paul exploits that here, using exploits in the right sense of the word here, to show there's a division among the Jews. They don't even agree.

They don't even agree on something pretty basic that's in the Bible, right? So here they are. If we go back to Acts 28 or Acts 23, we got the Jews, now all of a sudden emotions are involved. And we got the Sadducees versus the Pharisees, and now the attention has been drawn to these guys can't even agree with one another on what the truth is. Then yet they were saying here, Paul isn't telling the truth, but they can't even agree among themselves what the truth is.

So in verse 9 we say, whoops, now the Pharisees, the scribes are saying, oh, there's no fault in Paul. He believes in the resurrection. He believes in the resurrection of the dead. Verse 9 of chapter 23, they're arose, allowed out free, cry, and the scribes of the Pharisees party arose, and protest, saying, we find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let's not fight against God. Well, you know what? You're right. Paul, that's right. He's peaking of a resurrection from the dead. That's what it must be. It must be God who has led into this. Let's not fight against him. So all of a sudden you have half of the crowd there.

If we just use it, roughly half are all of a sudden for Paul, you know. Ananias isn't. And it says in verse 10, And there arose a great dissension. When there arose a great dissension, and when the Bible uses a descriptor there, an adjective, it was a major thing. When there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them. Can you imagine? One side's tucking on him. Yeah, we agree with him. Yeah, he's right. The other side, no, he's not.

Put him to death. Boom, boom, boom. And the commander's looking at this, thinking, hey, literally, we'll pull Paul to pieces here. Fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them and bring him into the barracks. So what has happened here is the same thing that happened at the end of chapter 21. The commander has to get involved and say, wow, these Jews, they're not even agreed.

Half of them are saying Paul is guilty. Half of them are saying Paul isn't guilty. And yet they're ready to kill him. They're ready to pull him apart, and they're out of control, if you will. So again, his eyes are open. What is going on here? What is it among this? What is this Paul saying? He's heard Paul just say a few words, and yet the whole house has been brought down. So Paul finds himself continuing to be in prison. Verse 11 is such an encouraging verse when you look at it, because here's Paul. He sees what's going on. He knows he's not incarcerated for the right reasons.

He hasn't done anything illegal or deserving of what he's doing. He's been through a lot, too, as you see, of the watchwood has unfurled there that day. And in verse 11, it says, you know, the Lord stood by him. Christ was there. He kind of appeared to him. For the following night, it says, the Lord stood by Paul and said, be a good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.

So it has to be very comforting to Paul, you know, to see God, to see Christ there with him and speak to him in this way. You know, Paul, you know, God reminds us, he's always with us. He never leaves us. He's never away from us. He's always there at our side.

And sometimes we can feel like Izzy, you know, as Paul was watching all this unfurl, you know, God knew what Paul was thinking. And it's like, you know what, Paul? I'm here by your side. Everything that went on today, everything I know exactly what went on, it was, you know, scary in a way. It was strange to see this multitude gathered against you and half of them for you and half of them against you, but I'm right here. And he makes a comment to Paul that, you know, you've testified for me in Jerusalem. He's going to continue to do that, right? And in the next few chapters, we're going to see Paul testifying to Felix and the Vestas, and he's there for a couple of years as he's testifying of God in Jerusalem now in a different phase of his life. But he also tells Paul, you will bear witness at Rome. So what he's telling him is, you're not going to die in Jerusalem. You're not going to die in Jerusalem, Paul. There's a, you're going beyond here. You're going beyond Jerusalem to Rome. You're going to testify in Rome as well. So that's got to be a comfort to Paul as well. It's not my time. These guys aren't going to, you know, whatever they're going to do to me. But I mentioned the book of Romans. Now we see in the book of Romans, again, it's the last, you know, according to all the sources, it's the last epistle that Paul wrote, and he references this desire to come to Rome. And if it wasn't 57 AD, and they, you know, some say that he wrote it from Corinth when he was there. Others will say it'll be later. Some even say it was from Jerusalem when he was there. No one knows exactly the date, but sometime around 57, I guess, AD is what seems to be the consensus. He talks about wanting to go to Rome. Now he's in, he's not in Rome at that time, right? But in Romans 1 verse 10, well, let's pick it up in verse 9 where the, where the sentence began. Romans 1 verse 9, he says, For God is my witness, writing to the Romans, For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit, and the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers. He hasn't met these people yet. You know, no one knows exactly who's began the Church in Rome. We know it was God who did it, but it wasn't Paul who raised up the Church in Rome. Ceasing, without ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers, making requests if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. For I long to see you, excuse me, I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gifts, so that you may be established, that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith of both you, of you and me. Now, I want to, verse 30, I want you to be, I don't want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you, but was hindered until now, that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. So we see that's where his heart was. He wanted to go there. He wanted to be with that Church in Rome. He didn't know how he was going to get there, but there in Acts 23, God is telling him, you're going to Rome. You're going to Rome, Paul, just like God had put it in Paul's heart to want to go to Rome. He references it again at the end of this epistle in Romans 15. Romans 15.

Verse 22. Yeah, Romans 15 verse 22. He says, you know, for this reason I've been much injured.

I'm coming to you, but now no longer having a place in these parts. Now, what he's showing here, because remember, as we've talked about, one phase of Paul's work and commission is done.

He's met with the elders in Ephesus. That part of those journeys are done. Now he's in Jerusalem, where God wants him to be. Now the rest of his life is going to be testifying before kings and magistrates and in Jerusalem and in there. And he goes, but now having a place, no longer having a place in these parts. God's work in this place I'm done. I'm done. I've completed. It's no longer, I don't have a job left to do here, but now longer having a place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come to you. Whenever I journey to Spain, I'll come to you, for I hope to see you on my journey and to be helped on my way there by you.

At first I may enjoy your company for a while, but now, he says, gives us a clue where he's writing this from, but now I'm going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints. So he kind of lets us know some of where he is when he's writing this to the Romans. His desire is, remember God is the one who led him to Jerusalem, even though all the people that he encountered on his way to Jerusalem said, don't go, Paul. Danger awaits. God loved, or Paul loved God more and didn't fear his own danger and harm. He went to Jerusalem above all the objections of the people along the way. I've got to put it in his heart. I'd like to go to Rome, too. I'd like to see the church and meet the people that God has raised there in Rome. And in Acts 23, God tells him that's where you're going next, Paul. Paul doesn't know how long it's going to be. It's going to be a while before he gets to Rome, but in chapter 23 verse 11, God tells him, you testified before me in Jerusalem. You're going to also testify before me in Rome, Paul. And I think that probably heartens Paul quite a bit. This is what the desire of his heart has been. God has put that in his heart, and that's where he is going. So let's go back to chapter 23 again. Again, as we go through the book of Acts and you see some of the things that are written in the Osepistols, it opens it up. It helps us to appreciate the timeline, what Paul is thinking, what he's been going through to see the words that he's writing to the Galatians, the Ephesians, the Philippians, Timothy, and these people and churches that we've met along the way.

So Paul is heartened. God has encouraged him just as God will always encourage us. When we're doing his will, he will encourage us, and he will let us know he's there by our side. So in verse 12, you know, I don't have to add a whole lot to what's going on here, but we see that the Jews, they realize, wow, the trial didn't go that well. We kind of blew it. We don't have the commander ready to sentence Paul to death. And so again, the Jews will take it into our own hands and we'll just get our job done apart from the law. And they have this plan that is concocted here beginning in verse 12. And the Bible is pretty clear on what it is. A little read through this. It says that when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. Now, there were more than 40 who had formed this conspiracy, and they came to the chief priests and elders and said, we found ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. Now, here's religious leaders of the land, right? They're committed to the Bible. They're committed to the law, they say. And you have this group of 40 people coming saying, you know what? Our mission is here and we have taken an oath before God. We're going to kill Paul. Now, you would think that if they're following the Bible, they might say, oh no, no, no, no. That's against the law. You can't just bound by and together and kill someone. We have to go through the process, you know? We have to have a trial. We have to find him guilty of something deserving of death. It's not just because we want him dead that we can put him to death. What did he do deserving of death? But you don't see the chief priests or the elders there saying anything at all, like, oh, okay, good. That's what we want. So we'll just take matters into our own hands and we're going to concoct this plan to kill Paul.

You see what's going on here, right? It's the same thing that Paul was encountering wherever he set up a church. And they were just, you know, we've determined we want him dead. Can't prove that he did anything wrong. We had our opportunity before the commander, but we fell apart, you know, and kind of showed him the dissension between us. And we can't even agree on basic biblical principles, but we'll kill Paul because we don't like what he's saying. So these four of you come to the chief priests and the elders and they say that in verse 15, and they tell them what to do. Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that Paul be brought down to you tomorrow as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him. But we, we will be ready to kill him before he comes near. You say, you know what? Yeah, things got out of hand. We need to question him more concerning what he did, but we'll kill him before he ever gets to the trial. We'll lay in wait and take care of that. Well, you know, they, I'm sure, think this is a foolproof plan. We can take matters and end this, you know, and hey, whatever happens, at least Paul is dead. But God is always there to watch and protect. I mean, he had just told Paul the night before, no harm's going to befall you here in Jerusalem. You're going to Rome, Paul. You don't have to worry about that. But here's this plot that's being infurled. And, you know, unbeknownst to them, apparently, Paul's nephew is sitting there listening to this plan. Maybe they had no idea that this young man was a nephew of Paul. So when Paul's sister's son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him. This is the same commander who has seen now twice the Jews fall apart and go crazy over Paul. So we took him and brought him to the commander and said, Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He asked something to say to you. And the commander took him by the hand, went aside and asked privately, what is it that you had to tell me? And the nephew said, the Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. But don't yield to them, for more than 40 of them lie and wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him. And now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you.

They're just waiting for your word. They're just waiting for you. So the commander already knows, you know, twice there's something about Paul, but boy, the Jews just want him dead. Now remember, he is a protector of the Roman law, and he has made the comment, I don't see anything that this man has done, you know, that's deserving of death. And now he's watched a so-called trial just unfold and fold up before him. So he's aware there's something not right about this trial of Paul. So he listens to this, and he knows, he knows this young man is telling the truth. He's got some details here, you know, for him. So verse 22, the commander let the young man depart, and he commanded him, tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.

You know, obviously, you know, obviously they didn't know who you were, because this is a secret plot that they're just, that they're just hashing or hatching with their own people. And somehow you know about it, but you don't mention this to anyone. Basically, don't go back to Paul and tell him what's going to happen. You don't go tell anyone. Just keep this between you and me, because the commander is interested in protecting Paul. So verse 23, armed with his knowledge, the commander has a plan. He called for two centurions, saying, prepare 200 soldiers. Look at this, look at the security that he has around this man Paul. Call two centurions, saying, prepare 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night.

I mean, this is like the most wanted man in Jerusalem, it would seem. I mean, what could you possibly do to have to guard one man that you would have that many people?

Because the commander knows, boy, if the Jews have already gone to this, who knows what's going on out there? What are we going to face? But what his intent is, I'm getting Paul out of Jerusalem. He doesn't need to be in Jerusalem anymore. He's not going to get a fair trial here in Jerusalem. We see that even happen in our world today, right? Someone is convicted of crime. It's like, okay, we have to change the venue for the trial. He's not going to get a fair trial here in this city. We're going to have to move the trial someplace else. It's the same thing the commander is doing there. He's not going to get a fair trial in Jerusalem. Let's send him up to Caesarea, you know, at nine at the third hour of the night is nine p.m. So before the, you know, in the night fall, while the Jews would not suspect any movement going on, to say they're waiting for the morning for him to be called down, let's get him out of town because there's no fair trial here.

All right, so verse 24 says, he provided mounts to set Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor. Felix, you know, Felix, you read a little bit about him. You find out he's not that great of a governor. He's got some things in his background. And, you know, later on in chapter 24, we're going to meet his wife, Drusillas, the third marriage he has. She's a Jew. And he's got, he's got a background. He's got a background that's not sterling, but he is in command. And again, you know, some might look at him and say, he's this kind of funny creature, and we don't approve of what he's done, but he has that position of authority. And, you know, this Claudius, Lecius, or Lysius, is sending Paul now down to Felix the governor for him to hear the case. Verse 25, he writes the letter that's going to accompany Paul as he's sent on to Caesarea. Now remember Caesarea, well, I'll have a map in a minute here, but remember Caesarea is north of Jerusalem, even though they're saying, let's go down, let's go down to Caesarea. So he wrote a letter in the following manner. Verse 26, Claudius, Lecius, that's the name of the commander, to the most excellent governor Felix, greetings. This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops, I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their counsel. I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell.

So he's giving it to Felix, okay? You're going to be the judge on this one now. Paul's coming to you, and I've also told his accusers, they're going to have to go to Caesarea and face you there.

They're going to trial, change the venue. You don't know anything about Paul. You don't know any, but he can get a fair trial there, perhaps, and they're just going to have to travel to Caesarea. Maybe he was thinking they wouldn't even bother coming to Caesarea, but he doesn't know the Jews well enough because the Jews follow Paul wherever he goes to accuse him. And then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatres. So they left in the middle of the night, and they go part way to Caesarea, not all the way to Caesarea. Now, let me pull up just a map here. I'm finding myself that I actually kind of like these maps, and as we go through the book of Acts, it helps us see the journeys that Paul is in.

And if you look at this map, you see Jerusalem down there on the, a little bit below the middle on the right side of the screen. There you see Jerusalem, and then you see Antipatres right there between Jerusalem and Caesarea. So they leave Jerusalem by night at 9pm. They go to Antipatres. They're going to complete the journey to Caesarea the next day. And that red line that you see is that, as we go through the remaining chapters of the book of Acts, those are going to be the cities that we see along the way as Paul gets all the way up to Rome. But that's going to be the route that they follow. And there's a lot of things that happen along that way. You know, as you look at that, you see Galatia, you see Cappadocia, you see Asia, you see Macedonia, you see Greece, you know, all those places that we've been where Paul has been raising up churches along the way. And as you remember, the first missionary journey, as they call it, that Paul was in, the only one as far as, you know, Galatia, Lystrom, Lystra, Derby, boy, Iconium, the three churches of Galatia, you came back, then God took them a little further west into Corinth and Greece. And now, on his final journey, if you will, or trip, he's going to go all the way even further west into Rome. So you can see the progression that God has and the route that he's taking. But he's here at nine o'clock at night there. He's on the way to Caesarea, where Felix is, the governor of that province, if you will. And that next day, he will be there. You see down here in this map, they said this is Paul's captive journey 8058 to 63. It did take a while for him to get to Rome. We're going to see he was detained in Jerusalem for a while before he would go to Jerusalem. Of course, in those days, sailing takes quite a while. It's not like today you hop on a plane in a few hours, or there it takes quite a while and quite a few events between Caesarea and Rome. But let's go back to chapter 23.

So they have all this virtual army, if you will, that takes Paul, Paul, the prisoner up to Antipatris. And then they stayed there that night. It says the next day in verse 32 of Acts 23, the next day they left the horsemen to go on with him and they returned to the barracks. So the soldiers, they got him on to Jerusalem safely. He's there. They see the next morning. The Jews are unaware of the plan. You know, Paul's safe. They go back to Jerusalem. The horsemen continue the journey to Caesarea. Verse 33, when they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. Well, you can get the picture there. Here's Paul. Here's the letter from Claudius Lusius, and this is what the situation here is. When the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. Again, he wanted to verify, show me your idea. What Roman provinces were from? You claim to be a Roman, and that's why you're here before me, and that's why we're involved in this whole process. The governor asked him, where are you from? Paul says, Cilicia. He recognizes, yes, Tarsus is a Roman state. Yes, you are a Roman citizen. Cilicia is a Roman province. You're there. And he said, I will hear you when your accusers also have come.

And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's Praetorium. That's where his jail, a place that you would detain prisoners, and things like that. Another thing, because, Felix shows his wisdom here. Here he's got this controversial prisoner that is brought to him by Jerusalem. He knows the circumstances of why he's been brought there. Jews are looking to kill him. They've plotted against him. They've got this plan to murder him. I'm sending him up to you.

Felix has all this. He only asks Paul one question. Where are you from? He wants to hear Paul's answer. Okay, you're a Roman citizen. Get it. And he says, fine, I'm just going to hear from you, but I'm not going to talk to you, or I'm not going to entertain this until your accusers come for it.

There's a couple things we learned from this that we can be, that we would remember from experiences that we've all had. Felix knows, if I talk to Paul, I'm going to get Paul's side of the story. And it's going to sound very good. He's going to make himself sound innocent and everything. But I'm not going to know the whole story until the other accusers get here. There are two sides to every story, and there's no sense for me listening to Paul. I'm going to hear both sides of the story at one time. We've all been caught in this, right? And many times over, you hear one side of the story and say, oh, that party, yep, that party is the one that's in the right. Then you get with the other party, you think, oh, yeah, okay, well, no, not so right. There's other things to look at, too. Usually when there's disputes like this, both parties are at fault. Not one is totally innocent, and that one is totally wrong. So he wants to hear both sides of the story at the same time so he can make a judgment. Something that you and I need to be reminded of. You know, Proverbs 18... let's turn to Proverbs 18. Proverbs 18 and verse...

Proverbs 18, yeah.

Nope, that's not it. Let me see where I wrote it down here.

Oh, verse 17. Proverbs 18 verse 17.

The first one to plead is cause seems right. Right? Everyone presents themselves when they're talking about their side of the story, and I'm really, really right. Until his neighbor comes and examines him. No one hears the other side of the story, I think, well, okay, there's fault there, too. So there's... it's a different situation. So sometimes you can spend some time talking to one, have your determinations made, then you talk to the other, and you think, well, okay, no, that isn't as crystal clear as I thought it was going to be. There's something that both sides need to be working on and whatever. So Felix has been around the corner more than once, and he goes, hey, I'm not going to listen to Paul because I know I'm going to hear Paul is great. He's innocent. That's the only thing he can say. It's all the other person's fault. So I'm going to wait till the... till his accusers come, we'll hear the souls to the side of the story as well. So same way our justice system is set up, it used to be that, you know, when jurors were selected, they didn't know anything about the case. And so they were going into a trial without any kind of predetermined notion about who was guilty and whether the person was guilty or innocent. You know, not so much anymore. They used to be sequestered so that they didn't have any opportunity during the trial or during their deliberations to hear anything that was going on on the outside that might sway their opinion. You know, recently we've seen that sequestering hasn't happened as much, but that's where Felix is, right? So Paul, sit in prison here until your accusers come. He may also have been waiting. Will the accusers who's there be calm? Will they come up? Because if they don't come, Paul's a free man. That happens in court, too, right? If we get a traffic violation, if you go to court, then the officers, the ones who ticketed you don't show up, I guess I've never done this, but I hear that the case is just dismissed. If they don't come to plead their case, it's just dismissed. So maybe, you know, maybe that's what Felix is looking at here.

We go on to chapter 24 for just a few verses here to get into it, and then we'll complete.

We kind of see what happens. We find that, indeed, the Jews do come all the way up from Jerusalem. It's a 70-mile journey from Jerusalem to Caesarea. Not by car, not by airplane, not by bus, not by train. They have to walk, they have to ride mules or whatever they ride, but they're determined we're going to get Paul. So they make the trip up to Caesarea to have this trial their second chance now. Or actually, third chance, I guess, having Paul convicted and put to death. Chapter 24 verse 1, after five days, took them five days to get there now, after five days, Ananias the high priest came down with the elders and a certain orator named Tertulus. Tertulus, or however you say that, they're Tertulus, I'm going to say, sounds better to me. These gave evidence to the governor against Paul. So it's like, okay, you know, so what's happened here is Ananias and the Jews are like, well, okay, that last trial didn't go well.

Paul fooled us, or Paul was able to show the division among us. This time, it can't be any of us that are speaking. We need our attorney with us, right? We need our attorney with us. We can present the case and color it in just the way we want it presented because we can't have the same thing happen in front of Felix that happened in front of the commander, right? So here's Tertulus now. He is going to give up, and he's going to make his opening statements, just like we see in trials today. When he was called upon, Tertulus began his accusation, saying, seeing that through you, and of course he is going to be very gratuitous in his flattery of Felix. He's going to try to win the good graceness here of that. Seeing that through you, we can enjoy great peace, or that we do enjoy great peace and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight. We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. So he's doing the things, and it's always nice. This is a bit gratuitous and whatever, but we saw back earlier, several chapters ago, in Acts, when the people had to be brought before Herod, and how they would remember. It's almost a comical statement. When Herod would speak and the Jews would respond, oh, not the voice of a man, but the voice of a god.

Butter up the king, and that's what Tertulus is doing here. Felix, you're so wise, you're so wonderful. We enjoy peace, and thank God that you are our governor. Verse 4, he says, nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us. Verse 5, for we have found this man a plague. We found this man a plague. I think the old King James might say pestilence fellow or a pestilence, right? He is a plague upon the Jewish people. He's a troublemaker. He is someone you don't want to have around. Wherever he goes, trouble erupts. So he's saying he's a plague. Everywhere he goes, there's problems. For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world.

And he can rightly say that, because he would have history if he was going to bring people down from Galatia, if he was going to bring people down from Greece or bring people down from Thessalonica. They'd all say, yeah, they'll have Paul. Everywhere we go, he creates dissension.

Is it Paul creating dissension, or is it the Jews that are creating dissension? Is Paul doing something to create and to be the creator of dissension? I'm reminded of Jesus Christ's words when he said, I didn't come to bring peace to the world. I didn't come. That's for another time. When he returns, he'll bring peace to the world. But right now, he's come that mother will be pitted against daughter, son against father. Because the truth divides. There are people who will listen to the truth and others who reject the truth totally and simply don't want it. And that's what Paul is facing here. Same thing that Jesus Christ faced. But what Tertullus is saying here is, he's presenting his case. This man is a troublemaker. Wherever he goes, we have dissension. That's part of the problem he would say that happened back there in Jerusalem a few days ago. He's created dissension among all the Jews throughout the world. He's a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. Okay, now, you know, the the the Strongs will say this word ringleader here is it's the only time used in the New Testament. It's a pretty strong word. It means he's the reason. He is the creator. He's the one who who's creating all of this, uh, funeral. He's the leader. He's the leader of all these groups, this cult. You know, you read the word sect. Today we would hear the word cult. So here we have Tertullus saying, you know, this man is a leader of a cult, right? They've got some strange religious ideas. They claim that they're following this man, Jesus Christ, who the Jews reject totally. And when you see the sect of the Nazarenes, that was what they they called, you know, Jesus Christ was, you know, from Nazareth. So they called the Christian church at that time a cult, the sect of the Nazarenes. That was what they were calling them. Other places of Bible called them. They were first called Christians, but here's a cult. Here's a cult is what he's saying. This group that believes in Jesus Christ, there are problems. There are problems. And when you you you read about it, you see in some of the commentaries and then in some of the secular things as well, part of Roman law was that religions had to be approved or authorized by the Romans. And so Judaism was one of those approved religions, right? They they were free to operate. The Romans tolerated them. They allowed them to be in Jerusalem and Judea and practiced their religion. They also had other religions in their that were approved. But part of what the Jews are going to make the point when they talk about Paul is unlawful. This cult that is raised up is a danger. They're a danger to society.

They've never, they're not an approved religion. This is a new religion. Rome doesn't know anything about them. We have exactly the same thing in the world around us today. You know, sometimes you'll read from council minutes and whatever about we're looking to be certified in this country or that country. And countries today, you know, have to have the proper documents in order to operate in that country to be seen as a legal religion. And so we have that today. You know, we spend money on attorneys to have these things done. And sometimes it takes years. I mean, we've got a couple places in Africa that as long as I've been treasurer of the church, we're still, well, the attorney is still working on it. No, we're learning. It's not a, why do I not know if I only go there. But, you know, you have to be documented, if you will. And this is the same thing that the Jews are the case that they're going to make. It's not a documented religion. That's why it's a sect. It's a cult. They're a danger. You know, it's kind of one of the marks of the Church of God, right? Because back in worldwide days and the times past, what did they color the Church as?

It's a cult. It's not the Christian religion as the world would talk about Christian religions. It's not the Catholic religion. It's not Muslim. It's not all these other religions that are there. This is something new. They're preaching something different than what you think of as a Christian. You think they're preaching something different than what the Catholics preach. It's a cult. And people are following Jesus Christ, and they're against things that are, you know, mainstream America. Now think of what we believe today as we believe the Bible, and look at the situation that we're in today when we know what the Bible preaches and we know where the world is. We see the morality of the world. We see the edicts of the world. We see the laws of the land that are changing and moving further and further away from the Bible more toward a world that is, unlike any world you and I have ever lived in, probably what's going to be leveled somewhere at the point to you and me is it's a cult. They're dangerous. They have ideas that aren't beholden to the state. The state wouldn't agree with what they're doing and everything. So this is the same thing that the Jews are going to present in a way here to them. That's part of where Tertullus is going. He's a ringleader of a cult. You don't even know what this is about. This is a problem. This is a problem in our world. Verse 5, that's where he is. In verse 6, I'm going to read verse 6 and then I'm going to just stop here and then we'll take it up next week. Just so we can see, this is a new trial. Now we've got an attorney. They've had time to prepare their case and lead Felix to where they wanted to be. Then he starts de-actuizing. He even tried to profane the temple. We seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law. Let me read the next couple verses. Paul does have a chance to explain. Here's the Jews first, then Paul. But the commander, Alyssius, came by and with great violence took him out of our hands. We weren't even able to judge him by our law because this Roman commander got involved, commanding his accusers to come to you by examining him yourself. You may ascertain all these things of which we accused him. So, kind of lays out his case there in a little bit of that. Then Paul has an opportunity to talk about what his defense is, if you will. We'll talk about that next time. Pick up there, I guess, beginning in verse 6 next time, Acts 24. But let me leave it there. Let me leave it there and entertain any thoughts, questions, on anything at all. Whatever you want to talk about, we can. While you're thinking, I'm going to look at my notes and make sure I didn't overlook something that I wanted to talk about here. I think we've covered a lot of things. Again, in chapter 23, we do learn some things. As God tells us of the Old Testament and really the New Testament, when we see these things happening, there are examples to us of what may befall, you or me or all of us in the future, how to handle the situation, to be aware of where we are. Remember that God is with us, watching over us, protecting us, and that his will is always done. Mr. Shavey? Yes. Go ahead. Oh, Edgardo or Wayne. Either one. Go ahead, Wayne. Okay, I was just going to comment about the 40 people who are fasting. Do you think they took that five-day journey?

I don't know. They either all died or they thought, oh, well, they had a reason that they broke that oath. I've lost a little weight by now. Anyway, just a couple of comments. You mentioned this in that scripture in verse 11. You find it remarkable because it doesn't say like he had a vision or he heard a voice, but that Jesus stood by him. So that's really amazing. Yeah, however, whatever that means. Yeah. The other thing is that the way God provides for certain things is this Roman commander, he seems to have been an honorable man. He basically played by the book and was fair. He did a good job, actually, as basically upholding Roman law, which in that case favored Paul in that sense. Yep. I totally agree. He could have gotten a totally different guy. Sometimes, no, I mean, we pray for God to put us in favor with people. We have situations like that, too. And certainly, God's favor was shown on him by who the commander was and the way he handled that situation. I agree with you. That's good. Mr. Shaby, Paul probably didn't know Ananias was the high priest. Back in the beginning of chapter 9, it mentions that he went to the high priest for the letters to go to Damascus. So he obviously would have known who the high priest was there.

But in Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, he said that Ananias served approximately from 47 to 52 AD, which was much later than when Paul would have been asking for letters to go to Damascus. Very good. Very good. You're absolutely right. He would have known who the high priest was, so that one was gone and Ananias just replaced him. And there would be no reason for Paul to know that because he's been away. Very good point. So. He may have gone to Caiphas for the letters later. Go where did you say? They had gone to Caiphas for the letters, which I think was the predecessor of Ananias.

Anything else, anyone?

Okay, well then I will, I'm gonna sign off. We will see. Let me see. I always put people in Jacksonville. What is it? 11? Where are we? January 8th. I'm in Jacksonville this week. So Saxonville services, 1130. Orlando services at 130 this week. We'll see some of you this Sabbath then, and the rest we don't see. I hope we see you back here next Wednesday.

Okay, okay. Thanks. Thank you everyone for joining. Thank you.

Bye, everyone.