WEBVTT 00:00:05.099 --> 00:00:07.700 Hey friends, welcome back. Another week, another 00:00:07.700 --> 00:00:11.560 episode of the Semi -Seminarium. We're continuing 00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:15.439 our Bible study that we're calling the Bible 00:00:15.439 --> 00:00:19.460 for Grownups. And this episode is part nine of 00:00:19.460 --> 00:00:23.260 our look at the Acts of the Apostles. This part 00:00:23.260 --> 00:00:28.199 is called Paul Gets Busted. And in this episode, 00:00:28.239 --> 00:00:31.660 we're going to look at the third missionary journey. 00:00:32.350 --> 00:00:35.369 and Paul's return to Jerusalem where he's eventually 00:00:35.369 --> 00:00:38.990 going to end up in hot water with the Jewish 00:00:38.990 --> 00:00:41.750 authorities. I'll see you on the other side. 00:00:46.710 --> 00:00:52.049 I thought I was better at this than I apparently 00:00:52.049 --> 00:00:56.570 am. Not, I guess, or whatever. So just to begin 00:00:56.570 --> 00:00:59.149 tonight by recapping a little bit about where 00:00:59.149 --> 00:01:02.859 we had come from last time. We looked last time 00:01:02.859 --> 00:01:07.719 at the second mystery journey of Paul and his 00:01:07.719 --> 00:01:10.579 disciples as they moved Christianity outside 00:01:10.579 --> 00:01:14.040 of Asia Minor and actually into the continent 00:01:14.040 --> 00:01:18.359 of Europe. We saw with the conversion of Lydia, 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.420 the dealer in the purple dye. We saw the first 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:27.659 convert to Christianity in Europe. And notably, 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:32.819 she was a woman. What we are also seeing throughout 00:01:32.819 --> 00:01:37.379 chapters 15 up to where we begin tonight in chapter 00:01:37.379 --> 00:01:42.219 20 is still this dissonance between Gentile believers, 00:01:42.659 --> 00:01:50.299 new previously non -Yahwehist believers, in other 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:52.739 words, people who were not associated with Judaism, 00:01:52.939 --> 00:01:55.500 becoming Christians. And what does that mean? 00:01:55.680 --> 00:01:58.340 What does that look like to be a follower, a 00:01:58.340 --> 00:02:01.769 convert of that religion? And we also have the 00:02:01.769 --> 00:02:07.069 Jewish converts, those that grew up as Jewish 00:02:07.069 --> 00:02:11.449 and see recognized for themselves Jesus as the 00:02:11.449 --> 00:02:15.210 Messiah. So what with the Messiah coming to the 00:02:15.210 --> 00:02:18.550 earth in the body of Jesus, what implications 00:02:18.550 --> 00:02:22.009 does that have for worship in the life of the 00:02:22.009 --> 00:02:26.169 traditionally Jewish person as well as the new 00:02:26.169 --> 00:02:31.409 Gentile convert? So we have these. Two bodies, 00:02:31.530 --> 00:02:36.210 if you will, of people joining together to make 00:02:36.210 --> 00:02:39.050 the early Christian church. And we're going to 00:02:39.050 --> 00:02:44.030 find that the relationship between the two doesn't 00:02:44.030 --> 00:02:47.729 get better. In fact, it gets worse. The relationship 00:02:47.729 --> 00:02:50.370 between the Gentile believers and the Jewish 00:02:50.370 --> 00:02:55.449 believers will continue to deteriorate. Honestly, 00:02:55.590 --> 00:03:01.460 as a response to... Roman oppression and Roman 00:03:01.460 --> 00:03:08.460 heat being placed on these non -Roman deity -worshiping 00:03:08.460 --> 00:03:11.039 people. As Christianity becomes a new movement 00:03:11.039 --> 00:03:16.240 in and of itself, the Roman Empire is going to 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:20.000 begin to take more notice of what's going on 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.960 with this new movement, how it relates to Judaism, 00:03:23.199 --> 00:03:28.340 and begins to put some political pressure. on 00:03:28.340 --> 00:03:31.900 these religious groups, which causes these two 00:03:31.900 --> 00:03:34.780 groups, the Jewish believers and the Gentile 00:03:34.780 --> 00:03:36.699 believers, to fracture. We're going to begin 00:03:36.699 --> 00:03:41.379 to see that really tonight. As our story, we're 00:03:41.379 --> 00:03:44.539 going to look at chapters 20, 21, and 22 tonight. 00:03:44.840 --> 00:03:47.919 As our story opens for this evening, we'll notice 00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:50.879 right away that something with the apostle Paul 00:03:50.879 --> 00:03:55.680 is definitely up. Something seems to be different. 00:03:56.490 --> 00:04:01.030 Paul is going to spend the years 52 to 57 AD 00:04:01.030 --> 00:04:05.129 traveling through Asia Minor and strengthening, 00:04:05.490 --> 00:04:08.349 revisiting and strengthening the churches that 00:04:08.349 --> 00:04:11.830 he and his other disciples had planted. And what 00:04:11.830 --> 00:04:15.270 we'll see in the beginning of our work tonight 00:04:15.270 --> 00:04:18.750 is a retracing of the steps that Paul and his 00:04:18.750 --> 00:04:22.889 disciples took in chapters 16, 17, and 18. The 00:04:22.889 --> 00:04:27.740 last eight chapters. The chapters 20 to 28, the 00:04:27.740 --> 00:04:31.060 last eight chapters of Acts, presents an action 00:04:31.060 --> 00:04:35.720 -packed account of attempts on Paul's life, followed 00:04:35.720 --> 00:04:38.319 by his imprisonment at the hands of two Roman 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:41.800 governors, his harrowing shipboard journeys in 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:45.720 his trial in Rome, and in many ways, Paul's experience 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:51.079 recapitulates a culmination of Jesus' own personal 00:04:51.079 --> 00:04:56.600 earthly ministry. 20 to 27, kind of the last 00:04:56.600 --> 00:04:59.220 seven chapters that we'll begin looking at tonight 00:04:59.220 --> 00:05:02.180 with 20, can kind of be thought of as the passion 00:05:02.180 --> 00:05:06.480 of Paul. We're going to begin to really see... 00:05:07.230 --> 00:05:11.610 The persecution of Paul, the rejection of Paul 00:05:11.610 --> 00:05:15.069 by his own. Remember, Paul is a Jew. He is a 00:05:15.069 --> 00:05:18.269 Roman citizen, but he's also a Jew. A rejection 00:05:18.269 --> 00:05:22.430 of his own people because of his apostleship 00:05:22.430 --> 00:05:26.930 to the Gentile believers. And I also think that 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:29.750 what we really see in these final chapters is 00:05:29.750 --> 00:05:34.009 a very narrowing in on a depiction of Paul's 00:05:34.009 --> 00:05:38.029 leadership. I think we really get a vision of 00:05:38.029 --> 00:05:42.290 the type of empathetic, emotional leader that 00:05:42.290 --> 00:05:46.009 Paul was. And I think we'll also focus on what 00:05:46.009 --> 00:05:49.290 we'll see of his courage, his suffering, his 00:05:49.290 --> 00:05:52.209 respect for others, and his concern and well 00:05:52.209 --> 00:05:55.819 -being for others. So, beginning with chapter 00:05:55.819 --> 00:05:59.459 20 tonight, and this is Paul through Macedonia 00:05:59.459 --> 00:06:02.699 and Greece. This will be the winter months of 00:06:02.699 --> 00:06:07.540 the year 56 into 57 is time -wise where we're 00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:10.879 at. Now, chapter 20, verse 1 is going to begin. 00:06:11.040 --> 00:06:13.800 When the uproar had ended, we're going to skip 00:06:13.800 --> 00:06:17.939 chapter 19. So just let me recapture what's happened. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:21.579 Paul is in Ephesus teaching and has formed a 00:06:21.579 --> 00:06:27.089 church there. The idol makers, those silversmiths, 00:06:27.089 --> 00:06:30.730 are really beginning to see a decline in their 00:06:30.730 --> 00:06:34.129 business because Christians don't need idols 00:06:34.129 --> 00:06:37.850 made for worship. So as more Christians become 00:06:37.850 --> 00:06:39.970 Christians, that's each and every time someone 00:06:39.970 --> 00:06:42.569 becomes a Christian, that's one less customer 00:06:42.569 --> 00:06:46.769 for the idol makers in Ephesus. And finally... 00:06:47.149 --> 00:06:49.730 The silversmiths get together and they decide 00:06:49.730 --> 00:06:54.569 that they need to do something about Paul. They 00:06:54.569 --> 00:07:00.490 take him to the tribunal there and a riot erupts 00:07:00.490 --> 00:07:03.490 until finally the city clerk in Acts chapter 00:07:03.490 --> 00:07:08.930 19, the city clerk of Ephesus quiets the crowd 00:07:08.930 --> 00:07:11.920 and says, fellow Ephesians. Doesn't all the world 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:14.040 know that the city of Ephesus is the garden of 00:07:14.040 --> 00:07:16.720 the temple of the great Artemis and of her image 00:07:16.720 --> 00:07:19.259 which fell from heaven? Therefore, since these 00:07:19.259 --> 00:07:21.500 facts are undeniable, you ought to calm down 00:07:21.500 --> 00:07:24.500 and not do anything rash. You have brought these 00:07:24.500 --> 00:07:27.600 men here. This is Paul and his disciples. You 00:07:27.600 --> 00:07:30.060 brought them here, though neither of them have 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:34.279 robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess Artemis. 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:38.939 If then Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen, that's 00:07:38.939 --> 00:07:42.050 these silversmiths, If they've got a grievance 00:07:42.050 --> 00:07:44.670 against anybody, the courts are open and there 00:07:44.670 --> 00:07:47.629 are pro -councils. They can press charges. If 00:07:47.629 --> 00:07:49.470 there's anything further you want to bring up, 00:07:49.589 --> 00:07:53.310 it needs to be settled in a legal assembly. As 00:07:53.310 --> 00:07:55.189 it is, we're in danger of being charged with 00:07:55.189 --> 00:07:58.180 rioting because of what's happened today. In 00:07:58.180 --> 00:08:00.379 that case, we would not be able to account for 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:03.339 this commotion since there's no reason for it. 00:08:03.480 --> 00:08:07.040 These men have just not broken the law. They 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:10.540 might have dug into the silversmith idol -making 00:08:10.540 --> 00:08:13.420 business, but that's not against the law. These 00:08:13.420 --> 00:08:18.079 men have not broken the law. And he dismisses 00:08:18.079 --> 00:08:21.420 the assembly. That's where we find ourselves, 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:24.120 chapter 20. When that uproar had ended, Paul 00:08:24.120 --> 00:08:27.939 sent for his disciples. And after encouraging 00:08:27.939 --> 00:08:30.339 them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia, 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:32.700 he traveled throughout the area, speaking many 00:08:32.700 --> 00:08:34.639 words of encouragement to the people finally 00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.620 arriving in Greece. Remember, we're talking about 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:40.899 kind of retracing the steps of the second missionary 00:08:40.899 --> 00:08:43.940 journey. So he's made it back to Macedonia. He's 00:08:43.940 --> 00:08:46.200 made it back to Greece. A lot of these place 00:08:46.200 --> 00:08:48.200 names are going to be familiar to us because 00:08:48.200 --> 00:08:53.720 in the last lesson, Paul was there before he 00:08:53.720 --> 00:08:57.820 returned back to. or after he had left Jerusalem. 00:08:58.299 --> 00:09:01.019 So he was accompanied, and so we're going to 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:03.740 name some new helpers of Paul's here. So we've 00:09:03.740 --> 00:09:12.740 got Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus, 00:09:12.840 --> 00:09:16.860 Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, 00:09:17.039 --> 00:09:20.259 Timothy, right? That's the Timothy that becomes 00:09:20.259 --> 00:09:26.069 the preacher that follows him, Timothy. Titius, 00:09:26.069 --> 00:09:30.330 Trompius, and they're from Asia. These men, but 00:09:30.330 --> 00:09:33.909 there's also two other guys that's not mentioned 00:09:33.909 --> 00:09:37.029 there. The first one is going to be the guy who's 00:09:37.029 --> 00:09:39.529 writing all of this down, Luke. Luke's there. 00:09:39.850 --> 00:09:44.529 And so is Titus. It's assumed that Titus, it 00:09:44.529 --> 00:09:46.970 kind of comes and goes. Throughout this part, 00:09:47.009 --> 00:09:48.870 he is traveling with them. At one point, though, 00:09:48.970 --> 00:09:53.340 Paul sends him to actually deliver. The first 00:09:53.340 --> 00:09:58.059 Corinthian letter. So he's off to Corinth to 00:09:58.059 --> 00:10:00.960 give them the letter. Also to pick up, they're 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:04.019 going to work their way back to Jerusalem. Which 00:10:04.019 --> 00:10:06.700 we'll see here in just a little bit. So he's 00:10:06.700 --> 00:10:09.360 also been sent there to pick up tithes from the 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:11.139 Corinthian church to take back to the church 00:10:11.139 --> 00:10:13.299 in Jerusalem. So we're going to find a period 00:10:13.299 --> 00:10:15.139 there where Paul's kind of waiting on Titus to 00:10:15.139 --> 00:10:19.179 get back. And the main reason he's waiting for 00:10:19.179 --> 00:10:22.480 Titus to get back is... to complete the collection 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.580 for the churches for the poor in Jerusalem, but 00:10:25.580 --> 00:10:28.899 also it's supposed that Paul's very anxious to 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:32.200 hear what the Corinthians have said about this 00:10:32.200 --> 00:10:35.259 first letter. So these men went ahead and waited 00:10:35.259 --> 00:10:38.460 for us at Troas, but we sailed from Philippi 00:10:38.460 --> 00:10:40.360 after the festival of unleavened bread. Five 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:43.000 days later, joined the others at Troas, where 00:10:43.000 --> 00:10:47.720 we stayed for seven days. Most of the time spent 00:10:47.720 --> 00:10:51.320 in Greece was in Corinth. While here he writes 00:10:51.320 --> 00:10:54.460 to the church, while he's there in Corinth in 00:10:54.460 --> 00:10:56.399 this area, this part that we're just reading 00:10:56.399 --> 00:10:59.000 of this part of his journey, it's here actually 00:10:59.000 --> 00:11:01.860 where he writes a letter to the church in Rome, 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:05.539 which is preparing the church in Rome for his 00:11:05.539 --> 00:11:08.529 visit. which he had hoped to take on his way 00:11:08.529 --> 00:11:12.149 to Spain. And so it's in this little time period 00:11:12.149 --> 00:11:15.470 that I'm discussing here, 56 -57, where we know 00:11:15.470 --> 00:11:18.750 that Paul writes what we will later know to be 00:11:18.750 --> 00:11:21.309 the letter to the Romans or the book of Romans. 00:11:23.830 --> 00:11:26.129 So we're going to be introduced now to a new 00:11:26.129 --> 00:11:32.409 guy, Eutychus, on verse 7. On the first day of 00:11:32.409 --> 00:11:34.450 the week, we came together to break bread. And 00:11:34.450 --> 00:11:35.750 I just want to pause right there because this 00:11:35.750 --> 00:11:39.190 is the earliest clearly stated account of Christians 00:11:39.190 --> 00:11:42.809 meeting together on Sunday for worship. Big, 00:11:42.809 --> 00:11:47.529 big different deal here between Gentile followers 00:11:47.529 --> 00:11:51.889 and Jewish converts or Messianic Jews, right? 00:11:51.950 --> 00:11:55.610 Because now we're seeing Christians are gathering 00:11:55.610 --> 00:11:59.610 for their day of worship on Sunday. It's not 00:11:59.610 --> 00:12:02.250 in opposition to. It's actually in remembrance 00:12:02.250 --> 00:12:06.909 of the resurrection. But it is distinctly different 00:12:06.909 --> 00:12:09.529 from the Sabbath, which the Jewish people will 00:12:09.529 --> 00:12:12.250 recognize begins on Friday evening and runs through 00:12:12.250 --> 00:12:15.409 Saturday evening as their Sabbath day. So there 00:12:15.409 --> 00:12:18.830 we see this real distinction beginning to blossom 00:12:18.830 --> 00:12:22.750 here between what the word Sabbath will mean 00:12:22.750 --> 00:12:24.470 depending on when you're a Gentile Christian 00:12:24.470 --> 00:12:29.419 or a Jewish believer. And Paul spoke to the people, 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.039 and because he had intended to leave the next 00:12:32.039 --> 00:12:35.000 day, he kept talking until midnight. There were 00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:37.379 many lamps in the upstairs rooms where they were 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:39.580 meeting. Seating at a window was a young man, 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:42.860 Eutychus. Now, Eutychus also, just to let you 00:12:42.860 --> 00:12:46.360 know, in Greek would mean lucky. So this guy's 00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:49.559 name is Lucky. Eutychus, who was sinking into 00:12:49.559 --> 00:12:52.120 a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he 00:12:52.120 --> 00:12:54.480 was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:58.509 the third story and was picked up dead. So Eutychus, 00:12:58.570 --> 00:13:02.029 drowsy probably from the warm room, the late 00:13:02.029 --> 00:13:04.350 night, the droning on of the preacher, we've 00:13:04.350 --> 00:13:07.769 all been there, right? Falls out of the window. 00:13:07.789 --> 00:13:10.789 The problem is he's on the third story. So he 00:13:10.789 --> 00:13:14.889 falls down and Paul goes down there and put his 00:13:14.889 --> 00:13:17.090 arms around him. Don't be alarmed. He said he's 00:13:17.090 --> 00:13:20.169 alive. Then he went upstairs and broke bread 00:13:20.169 --> 00:13:24.600 and ate. Paul revives this young man, it's supposed, 00:13:24.820 --> 00:13:28.879 through other tellings of the story and through 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.340 other translations that what Paul probably did 00:13:32.340 --> 00:13:36.200 was provide artificial respiration for him. And 00:13:36.200 --> 00:13:39.059 that's what revived him. Then they went upstairs, 00:13:39.399 --> 00:13:42.980 broke bread, had communion, right, that's what 00:13:42.980 --> 00:13:46.480 that would mean, and ate. And then he talked. 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:51.559 If you think that dying is going to get you out 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:54.220 of another sermon, you're crazy. Because I've 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:56.139 got to leave in the morning, so you're going 00:13:56.139 --> 00:13:57.899 to fall out of the window. I'm going to revive 00:13:57.899 --> 00:14:00.299 you. We're going to take a break to do communion, 00:14:00.320 --> 00:14:01.419 and then I'm going to preach until daylight, 00:14:01.580 --> 00:14:04.259 Paul says, which is exactly what happened. The 00:14:04.259 --> 00:14:06.799 people took the young man home alive and were 00:14:06.799 --> 00:14:11.639 greatly comforted. So we, here's Luke again, 00:14:11.740 --> 00:14:14.600 inserting himself. Remember, he likes to use 00:14:14.600 --> 00:14:16.820 we whenever he's talking about these voyages. 00:14:17.549 --> 00:14:20.889 We went ahead on to the ship and sailed for Assos 00:14:20.889 --> 00:14:25.669 where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had 00:14:25.669 --> 00:14:27.470 made this arrangement because he was going there 00:14:27.470 --> 00:14:31.950 on foot. When he met us at Assos, we took him 00:14:31.950 --> 00:14:34.529 aboard and went to Mytilene. The next day, we 00:14:34.529 --> 00:14:37.970 set sail from there to Chios. The day after, 00:14:38.009 --> 00:14:40.409 we crossed over to Samos. The following day, 00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:44.769 we arrived at Miletus. Paul had decided to set 00:14:44.769 --> 00:14:48.379 sail. decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending 00:14:48.379 --> 00:14:50.539 time in the province of Asia, for he was in a 00:14:50.539 --> 00:14:53.480 hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the 00:14:53.480 --> 00:14:55.960 day of Pentecost. Now, he had initially wanted 00:14:55.960 --> 00:14:59.879 to make it there for the festival of unleavened 00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:04.399 bread or Passover. But we see early on in our 00:15:04.399 --> 00:15:07.220 reading tonight that he was somewhere else when 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:10.919 it came to Passover, which means he's got seven 00:15:10.919 --> 00:15:14.799 weeks, seven sevens. From that time, if he wants 00:15:14.799 --> 00:15:19.340 to make it down to Jerusalem for Pentecost, because 00:15:19.340 --> 00:15:23.159 Pentecost comes 50 days after the Festival of 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:26.580 Unleavened Bread. So what he's going to do here, 00:15:26.700 --> 00:15:29.039 they're actually going to sail a little bit further 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:33.200 south and east, and he's going to call the church 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:36.899 of Ephesus down to him. And that's going to save 00:15:36.899 --> 00:15:39.120 him some time from actually having to go into 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:42.879 Ephesus. and then travel further. So we see this 00:15:42.879 --> 00:15:46.440 from Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:48.460 of church. So they're in Miletus, and he sends 00:15:48.460 --> 00:15:52.480 out for the elders. Ephesus is about 30 miles 00:15:52.480 --> 00:15:55.279 away from Miletus, and when they arrived, that 00:15:55.279 --> 00:15:57.860 would take about three days for these guys to 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:00.240 get there. When they arrived, he said to them, 00:16:00.279 --> 00:16:02.399 you know how I lived the whole time with you? 00:16:03.179 --> 00:16:06.080 I was with you from the first day I came into 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.220 the province of Asia. I served the Lord with 00:16:08.220 --> 00:16:11.019 great humility and with tears in the midst of 00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:14.279 severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. 00:16:14.639 --> 00:16:18.419 As we read Paul's words tonight, I want us to 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:22.970 focus. on how Paul is really trying to show the 00:16:22.970 --> 00:16:26.330 people he's talking to his heart and what has 00:16:26.330 --> 00:16:30.129 gone into his ministry, what has motivated him 00:16:30.129 --> 00:16:34.090 throughout this entire missionary project, and 00:16:34.090 --> 00:16:36.769 how every time whenever he has tried to open 00:16:36.769 --> 00:16:39.450 up his heart and do what's best for the people 00:16:39.450 --> 00:16:42.350 around him, he does always seem to encounter 00:16:42.350 --> 00:16:47.299 opposition from Jewish believers. OK, this is 00:16:47.299 --> 00:16:50.059 going to be the theme that is going to reoccur 00:16:50.059 --> 00:16:53.220 and reoccur throughout the entire evening here. 00:16:53.559 --> 00:16:56.980 Right. And so he says, you know, I've not hesitated 00:16:56.980 --> 00:16:59.100 to preach anything that would be helpful to you, 00:16:59.139 --> 00:17:01.639 but I've taught you publicly and from house to 00:17:01.639 --> 00:17:04.160 house. I even came to your house. I didn't make 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:07.579 you all come down to one location and be out 00:17:07.579 --> 00:17:10.839 of your home. I actually come to you. And I declared 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:13.559 to both the Jew and the Greek that they must 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:16.380 turn to God and repentance and have faith. In 00:17:16.380 --> 00:17:19.680 the Lord Jesus. And now compelled by the spirit. 00:17:20.140 --> 00:17:23.259 I'm going to Jerusalem. I think Paul is saying 00:17:23.259 --> 00:17:28.599 here. I'm not ducking out on Jerusalem. I'm not 00:17:28.599 --> 00:17:31.259 trying to stay away from Jerusalem. I'm not afraid 00:17:31.259 --> 00:17:34.079 of what happens to me at Jerusalem. But I know 00:17:34.079 --> 00:17:36.279 what's going to happen to me at Jerusalem. And 00:17:36.279 --> 00:17:38.240 the spirit has told me now is the time to go. 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:44.559 And it's not good. Right? It's not good. I only 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:47.650 know that in every city. The Holy Spirit warns 00:17:47.650 --> 00:17:51.509 me that prison and hardships are facing me. However, 00:17:51.630 --> 00:17:54.369 I consider my life worth nothing to me. My only 00:17:54.369 --> 00:17:57.490 aim is to finish the race and complete the tasks 00:17:57.490 --> 00:18:00.490 the Lord Jesus has given me, the task of testifying 00:18:00.490 --> 00:18:03.809 the good news of God's grace. That's what he's 00:18:03.809 --> 00:18:07.329 trying to do in the face of Jewish oppression. 00:18:07.430 --> 00:18:11.220 At this time, remember I said he writes... The 00:18:11.220 --> 00:18:14.099 letter to the Roman church. Well, let me just 00:18:14.099 --> 00:18:17.599 pull one little part from that letter that kind 00:18:17.599 --> 00:18:20.160 of illustrates what's going on at the same time 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:22.380 we're hearing what he's saying in Acts, what 00:18:22.380 --> 00:18:25.359 he's writing to the Romans in chapter 9 in their 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.980 letter. He says, I speak the truth in Christ. 00:18:28.299 --> 00:18:31.779 I'm not lying. My conscience confirms that it's 00:18:31.779 --> 00:18:34.119 through the Holy Spirit. I have great sorrow 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:37.740 and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could 00:18:37.740 --> 00:18:41.720 wish that I myself were cursed. and I were cut 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:45.180 off from Christ for the sake of my people, the 00:18:45.180 --> 00:18:48.400 Jewish people, those of my own race, the people 00:18:48.400 --> 00:18:52.619 of Israel. Theirs is the adoption to sonship. 00:18:53.500 --> 00:18:56.940 Theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving 00:18:56.940 --> 00:18:59.400 of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 00:19:00.019 --> 00:19:02.960 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced 00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:06.940 the human ancestry of the Messiah, who is God 00:19:06.940 --> 00:19:12.150 over all, forever praised. He's saying, you know 00:19:12.150 --> 00:19:16.730 what? I would want to be cursed. If in the trade 00:19:16.730 --> 00:19:20.130 my Jewish brothers and sisters could see that 00:19:20.130 --> 00:19:23.109 the Messiah has come, I would willingly give 00:19:23.109 --> 00:19:28.750 up my eternal inheritance for them. So back to 00:19:28.750 --> 00:19:31.289 Acts. This is what's going through his thought 00:19:31.289 --> 00:19:34.900 process. as he's retracing his steps back eastward, 00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:38.319 making his way to Jerusalem, speaking to churches 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:41.859 that he has since founded. Now, I know he's talking 00:19:41.859 --> 00:19:44.400 to the Ephesians here. Now, I know that none 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:46.660 of you, among whom I have gone about preaching 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:51.099 the kingdom, will ever see me again. Therefore, 00:19:51.180 --> 00:19:54.819 I declare to you today that I am innocent of 00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:57.700 the blood of any of you. He says, for I have 00:19:57.700 --> 00:20:00.460 not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will 00:20:00.460 --> 00:20:04.369 of God. Keep watch over yourselves and all of 00:20:04.369 --> 00:20:06.569 the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you 00:20:06.569 --> 00:20:10.089 overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, 00:20:10.210 --> 00:20:14.450 which he bought with his own blood. I know that 00:20:14.450 --> 00:20:17.789 after I leave, savage wolves will come in among 00:20:17.789 --> 00:20:20.950 you and will not spare the flock. Even from your 00:20:20.950 --> 00:20:23.630 own number, men will arise and distort the truth 00:20:23.630 --> 00:20:26.849 in order to draw away disciples after them. So 00:20:26.849 --> 00:20:31.559 be on your guard. Remember that for three years 00:20:31.559 --> 00:20:34.259 I never stopped warning each of you night and 00:20:34.259 --> 00:20:39.319 day with tears. He knows that there is a real 00:20:39.319 --> 00:20:42.680 good chance that when I get to Jerusalem, I may 00:20:42.680 --> 00:20:46.559 not make it out alive. He also knows that given 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:50.819 his advanced age and given the... power of the 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.859 Holy Spirit in his life, given the establishment 00:20:53.859 --> 00:20:56.640 of the church of Ephesus, there is a high likelihood 00:20:56.640 --> 00:20:59.720 that he is never going to see these Ephesians 00:20:59.720 --> 00:21:02.839 again. But he also points out something very 00:21:02.839 --> 00:21:06.039 important to us, that just because Paul came 00:21:06.039 --> 00:21:09.420 in and started the church didn't mean that that 00:21:09.420 --> 00:21:13.269 was the only word of God game in town. Because 00:21:13.269 --> 00:21:17.190 there were all types of people that have seen 00:21:17.190 --> 00:21:20.410 the creation of the body of Christ and wanting 00:21:20.410 --> 00:21:23.450 to emulate it, not for the sake of Christian 00:21:23.450 --> 00:21:26.609 unity, but for the enrichment of themselves had 00:21:26.609 --> 00:21:29.849 begun to distort the Christian message and pull 00:21:29.849 --> 00:21:33.109 people away from Paul's church and create their 00:21:33.109 --> 00:21:35.609 own churches so that they could be enriched. 00:21:36.450 --> 00:21:39.490 And Paul says, look, this has been going on and 00:21:39.490 --> 00:21:43.130 I know that whenever I leave, I'm not going to 00:21:43.130 --> 00:21:45.390 have the power to stop it anymore. And I know 00:21:45.390 --> 00:21:47.809 it's not even going to come from people outside 00:21:47.809 --> 00:21:49.890 of the group. There are going to be people inside 00:21:49.890 --> 00:21:52.369 of the group that you have to be careful of as 00:21:52.369 --> 00:21:56.049 well. So he finishes his speech to the Ephesians 00:21:56.049 --> 00:21:59.170 by saying, Now I commit you to God and to the 00:21:59.170 --> 00:22:02.710 word of grace, which can build you up and give 00:22:02.710 --> 00:22:05.750 you an inheritance amongst those who are sanctified. 00:22:06.089 --> 00:22:08.789 I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or 00:22:08.789 --> 00:22:11.930 clothings. Clothing, you know yourselves that 00:22:11.930 --> 00:22:14.150 these hands of mine have supplied my own needs 00:22:14.150 --> 00:22:16.450 and the needs of my companions. I've never asked, 00:22:16.589 --> 00:22:19.109 right? I've never asked for you guys to ever 00:22:19.109 --> 00:22:23.390 pay me a salary. I've been able to handle everything 00:22:23.390 --> 00:22:27.210 I did on my own. And everything I did, I showed 00:22:27.210 --> 00:22:30.410 you by this kind of hard work, we must help the 00:22:30.410 --> 00:22:33.509 weak. Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself 00:22:33.509 --> 00:22:36.109 said, it's more blessed to give than receive. 00:22:36.859 --> 00:22:38.799 When Paul had finished speaking, I find this 00:22:38.799 --> 00:22:41.759 incredibly touching. He knelt down with all of 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:45.579 them and prayed. And they all wept. And they 00:22:45.579 --> 00:22:48.720 embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:51.259 most was his statement that they would never 00:22:51.259 --> 00:22:54.440 see his face again. Then they accompanied him 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:57.779 to the ship. It's an incredibly poignant part 00:22:57.779 --> 00:23:02.619 of the story, I think. So we get back on the 00:23:02.619 --> 00:23:05.500 boat. We're continuing our retracing of steps. 00:23:06.109 --> 00:23:08.990 down to Jerusalem. I'm going to pick up here 00:23:08.990 --> 00:23:12.170 with verse 7 of chapter 21. This is Luke now 00:23:12.170 --> 00:23:15.190 speaking. We continue our voyage from Tyre and 00:23:15.190 --> 00:23:17.849 landed at Ptolemy, where we greeted the brothers 00:23:17.849 --> 00:23:20.789 and sisters and stayed with them for a day. Leaving 00:23:20.789 --> 00:23:23.269 the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed 00:23:23.269 --> 00:23:25.569 at the house of Philip the Evangelist, one of 00:23:25.569 --> 00:23:28.650 the seven. He had four unmarried daughters who 00:23:28.650 --> 00:23:31.829 prophesied. After we had been there a number 00:23:31.829 --> 00:23:34.730 of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from 00:23:34.730 --> 00:23:38.299 Judea. which again, he would be coming south 00:23:38.299 --> 00:23:41.279 to north. I don't know why, but it just seems 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:44.019 like he came up from Judea, the way that I would 00:23:44.019 --> 00:23:46.559 say it. Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt. 00:23:46.660 --> 00:23:48.980 I think this is another very poignant part of 00:23:48.980 --> 00:23:51.640 the story. So Agabus comes up from Judea. He 00:23:51.640 --> 00:23:57.500 is a prophet, and he takes Paul's belt off, and 00:23:57.500 --> 00:24:00.200 he ties his own hands and feet with the belt. 00:24:00.940 --> 00:24:04.990 And he says, The Holy Spirit says that it's in 00:24:04.990 --> 00:24:07.670 this way that the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem 00:24:07.670 --> 00:24:11.390 will bind the owner of this belt, Paul, and will 00:24:11.390 --> 00:24:14.390 hand him over to the Gentiles. So he's had a 00:24:14.390 --> 00:24:17.869 vision that the Holy Spirit has told him that, 00:24:17.910 --> 00:24:22.049 Paul, you are headed for clear danger. Because 00:24:22.049 --> 00:24:24.869 when they had heard this, Luke says, when we 00:24:24.869 --> 00:24:27.950 had heard this, we and the people there pleaded 00:24:27.950 --> 00:24:30.980 with Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Paul says, 00:24:31.059 --> 00:24:34.160 why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:37.539 am ready not only to be bound, but also to die 00:24:37.539 --> 00:24:39.339 in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 00:24:40.180 --> 00:24:42.519 When he, Paul, would not be dissuaded, we gave 00:24:42.519 --> 00:24:46.119 up and said the Lord's will be done. The disciples 00:24:46.119 --> 00:24:49.839 at Tyre and a prophet named Agabus at Ptolemy 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:53.660 warn him about the travails going to Jerusalem. 00:24:53.779 --> 00:24:56.299 Agabus tells him that he'll be bound and delivered 00:24:56.299 --> 00:24:58.940 to the Gentiles. The concern of his fellow believers 00:24:59.559 --> 00:25:01.799 caused them to plead with Paul not to go, but 00:25:01.799 --> 00:25:04.140 Paul tells them he's not only willing to go, 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:06.559 he's willing to die for Christ, and then they 00:25:06.559 --> 00:25:08.619 commit this whole matter over to God's will. 00:25:08.720 --> 00:25:12.180 And again, I believe that this really opens up 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:18.400 to us Paul's comfort with the fact that he's 00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:23.220 not done anything wrong. His conscience is clear. 00:25:23.980 --> 00:25:29.000 For me, the way that Paul... works his way to 00:25:29.000 --> 00:25:31.480 jerusalem with the confidence does that he does 00:25:31.480 --> 00:25:36.859 really puts to bed any issue of the idea that 00:25:36.859 --> 00:25:40.099 paul might have been a religious opportunist 00:25:40.099 --> 00:25:44.539 that he might have seen an opportunity to kind 00:25:44.539 --> 00:25:46.839 of take over this fledgling christian movement 00:25:46.839 --> 00:25:51.680 and seek power because i believe that this simply 00:25:51.680 --> 00:25:54.759 illustrates that that's not the case whatsoever 00:25:54.759 --> 00:25:58.799 that what he was doing He was guided in every 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:01.359 step by the Holy Spirit to do it. And I believe 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:04.599 that this really shows that commitment. After 00:26:04.599 --> 00:26:07.660 this, Luke says, we started our way up to Jerusalem. 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:11.660 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied 00:26:11.660 --> 00:26:17.339 us and brought us to the home of Nason where 00:26:17.339 --> 00:26:20.220 we stayed. He was a man from Cyprus, one of the 00:26:20.220 --> 00:26:22.880 early disciples. Now, one of the things that 00:26:22.880 --> 00:26:26.910 I had mentioned a little bit ago was this. that 00:26:26.910 --> 00:26:29.470 is growing between the early Gentile Christians 00:26:29.470 --> 00:26:34.910 and the Jewish converts, so the ones that, Messianic 00:26:34.910 --> 00:26:39.150 Jews. It's not the right term because Messianic 00:26:39.150 --> 00:26:42.230 Judaism is a term that won't even show up in 00:26:42.230 --> 00:26:45.569 theological discourse until the 1960s and 1970s, 00:26:45.569 --> 00:26:48.829 but that just seems to be, although it can be 00:26:48.829 --> 00:26:53.329 seen as anti -Semitic by some, I don't mean that. 00:26:53.720 --> 00:26:55.759 with the intention of being anti -Semitic. It 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:59.980 just seems to be the most concise way to express 00:26:59.980 --> 00:27:05.200 the identity of Jews who accepted Jesus as the 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:09.180 Messiah. It just seems to make sense that that 00:27:09.180 --> 00:27:11.680 term would work. So we have these two groups. 00:27:11.779 --> 00:27:16.619 The early Christians, these Jewish converts, 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:21.180 the Jewish converts didn't believe that they 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:26.150 were forming a new religion. But I'm going to 00:27:26.150 --> 00:27:28.910 set up the stage, because as we get into Jerusalem 00:27:28.910 --> 00:27:32.089 here, we're going to see this distinct break 00:27:32.089 --> 00:27:35.690 between Gentile Christianity and Jewish Christianity. 00:27:36.150 --> 00:27:39.829 So I want to introduce this subject by kind of 00:27:39.829 --> 00:27:42.269 making sure we're all on the same page. So these 00:27:42.269 --> 00:27:45.470 first early Christians, these Jewish converts, 00:27:45.869 --> 00:27:48.470 Jewish Christians didn't believe that they had 00:27:48.470 --> 00:27:51.690 created something new. In fact, they were Jews, 00:27:51.730 --> 00:27:54.740 and their main difference, With the rest of Judaism 00:27:54.740 --> 00:27:57.859 was quite simply that they were convinced that 00:27:57.859 --> 00:28:02.480 the Messiah had come. Whereas other Jews continued 00:28:02.480 --> 00:28:11.039 to await his advent or his appearance. So we're 00:28:11.039 --> 00:28:13.299 not anything new. It's just that the fulfillment 00:28:13.299 --> 00:28:15.839 of the promise of the Messiah has come. Then 00:28:15.839 --> 00:28:17.839 you have these Jews over here that go, well, 00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:21.279 I'm not convinced. I believe that God is still 00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:23.829 working in the world. I believe that God will 00:28:23.829 --> 00:28:27.170 bring a Messiah into the world, that his promise 00:28:27.170 --> 00:28:29.430 will be fulfilled. I'm just not convinced that 00:28:29.430 --> 00:28:34.509 Jesus Christ is it. So you have that group. From 00:28:34.509 --> 00:28:38.390 the point of view of the Jews who rejected Christianity, 00:28:38.529 --> 00:28:42.190 the situation was understood in a similar manner. 00:28:42.250 --> 00:28:48.069 Christianity wasn't a new religion. So you have 00:28:48.069 --> 00:28:52.359 the Jews that feel like scripturally in the Torah, 00:28:52.599 --> 00:28:55.640 the Tanakh, in the books of the laws and the 00:28:55.640 --> 00:28:58.940 prophets, the promise of the Messiah has not 00:28:58.940 --> 00:29:01.779 been fulfilled through Jesus Christ. So I'm a 00:29:01.779 --> 00:29:05.480 good Jewish boy, and I believe that the Messiah 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:09.380 will come. I just don't believe that that's this 00:29:09.380 --> 00:29:14.160 Jesus guy. So they don't look at these people 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.660 and say, my Jewish neighbor who does believe 00:29:17.660 --> 00:29:19.839 in Jesus, that they've created a new religion. 00:29:20.299 --> 00:29:23.519 What they believe is he's become a heretical 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:28.839 Jew. Nothing new, it's just that he screwed up 00:29:28.839 --> 00:29:33.339 the Jewish belief. Again, the point here is from 00:29:33.339 --> 00:29:36.759 the Jewish perspective, this is not a new creation, 00:29:36.960 --> 00:29:43.039 but rather fulfillment or heretic. And as we've 00:29:43.039 --> 00:29:45.920 seen, first century Judaism, when we talked about 00:29:45.920 --> 00:29:48.769 this, The very, very beginning, when we looked 00:29:48.769 --> 00:29:51.750 at the Acts of the Apostles, first century Judaism 00:29:51.750 --> 00:29:56.410 was not a monolithic entity. It was not just, 00:29:56.490 --> 00:29:59.490 I'm a Jew and we all believe and think alike. 00:30:00.250 --> 00:30:02.990 Because we had Pharisees, we had Sadducees, we 00:30:02.990 --> 00:30:06.430 had Zealots, we had the Essenes, and then we 00:30:06.430 --> 00:30:09.609 had just regular Jewish people, and it's no different 00:30:09.609 --> 00:30:13.150 in the 1st century than in the 21st century where 00:30:13.150 --> 00:30:16.690 religion just played a greater impact on some 00:30:16.690 --> 00:30:18.890 people's lives than it did on others. Although 00:30:18.890 --> 00:30:20.910 they would have identified with themselves as 00:30:20.910 --> 00:30:24.130 Jewish, they're just not as religious as, say, 00:30:24.130 --> 00:30:27.140 their neighbor, just like... just like we certainly 00:30:27.140 --> 00:30:29.799 see with Christianity, and not just Christianity, 00:30:29.920 --> 00:30:33.440 but other religions today. So it's important 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:36.759 to remember that Judaism wasn't just one type 00:30:36.759 --> 00:30:39.359 of person and everybody was the same flavor. 00:30:39.660 --> 00:30:45.079 There was a diverse set of identities within 00:30:45.079 --> 00:30:48.759 the Jewish religion. It included many different 00:30:48.759 --> 00:30:52.519 divergent sects and opinions. So when Christianity 00:30:52.519 --> 00:30:57.440 enters the scene in the first century, The Jewish 00:30:57.440 --> 00:31:02.200 people just saw it as another one of these sects 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:07.940 of Judaism. And it's for these reasons, in most 00:31:07.940 --> 00:31:11.400 of the New Testament, it's the Jews who persecute 00:31:11.400 --> 00:31:15.079 Christians, who in turn seek refuge under the 00:31:15.079 --> 00:31:18.930 wing of Roman authorities. This happens, for 00:31:18.930 --> 00:31:21.470 instance, when some Jews, and we read about this 00:31:21.470 --> 00:31:24.029 last time we were together, when some Jews in 00:31:24.029 --> 00:31:28.410 Corinth accused Paul before the procouncil Galio. 00:31:28.609 --> 00:31:32.529 And he said that this man is persuading men to 00:31:32.529 --> 00:31:36.509 worship God contrary to the law. To which Galio 00:31:36.509 --> 00:31:41.349 answered, if it were a matter of wrongdoing or 00:31:41.349 --> 00:31:45.210 of vicious crime, the procouncil from Rome says, 00:31:45.250 --> 00:31:49.869 I would have... Reason to hear you, O Jews. But 00:31:49.869 --> 00:31:52.109 since it's a matter of questions about words 00:31:52.109 --> 00:31:56.089 and names and your own law, whatever it is you 00:31:56.089 --> 00:32:00.069 guys do as Jews, right? He says, see to it yourselves. 00:32:00.730 --> 00:32:06.349 I see nothing. I refuse to be a judge to these 00:32:06.349 --> 00:32:11.829 matters. This is not a Roman issue at all. Okay? 00:32:12.680 --> 00:32:16.400 And that's why we see the Jewish people trying 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:20.099 to use the Roman authorities. Well, let me say 00:32:20.099 --> 00:32:24.359 this. Why do we see the Jewish authorities using 00:32:24.359 --> 00:32:27.460 the Roman authorities to try to persecute the 00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:29.839 Christians? Of which they don't do. They were 00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:32.400 not able to ever do. It's because the Jewish 00:32:32.400 --> 00:32:35.099 people, the Jewish authorities don't have a lot 00:32:35.099 --> 00:32:38.740 of authority. This is the same reason why... 00:32:39.539 --> 00:32:44.059 Jesus is taken to Pontius Pilate because as mad 00:32:44.059 --> 00:32:46.700 as the Jewish authorities were, as mad as the 00:32:46.700 --> 00:32:49.720 Sanhedrin were, the Sadducees and the Pharisees 00:32:49.720 --> 00:32:52.359 that made up that Supreme Court, as mad as they 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:54.940 were, as mad as the high priest was, they had 00:32:54.940 --> 00:32:58.140 no authority to enforce their own Roman law. 00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:02.640 They needed Rome to enforce their law for them. 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:05.480 And if Rome chose not to do it, then it just 00:33:05.480 --> 00:33:09.940 didn't get done. And so we see time and time 00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:13.299 again these Jewish, that we are seeing this distinction 00:33:13.299 --> 00:33:16.420 between the two groups here now because the Jewish 00:33:16.420 --> 00:33:19.680 people are trying to get the Romans to persecute 00:33:19.680 --> 00:33:23.440 the Christians because they see them as fundamentally 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:27.420 different, as heretical. But every time they 00:33:27.420 --> 00:33:31.299 try, they fail up to this point because the Roman 00:33:31.299 --> 00:33:33.759 authorities just don't see the cause or need 00:33:33.759 --> 00:33:39.880 to persecute them. And so that is the inter -religious 00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:43.839 tension that is going on between these groups 00:33:43.839 --> 00:33:47.299 of Jewish believers and Christian believers as 00:33:47.299 --> 00:33:52.059 Paul enters Rome here in the 17th verse, chapter 00:33:52.059 --> 00:33:58.500 21. Luke says, when we arrived at Jerusalem, 00:33:58.660 --> 00:34:00.720 the brothers and sisters received us warmly. 00:34:01.519 --> 00:34:04.119 The next day, Paul and the rest of us went to 00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:06.180 see James, brother of Jesus, right, head of the 00:34:06.180 --> 00:34:09.900 church, and all of the elders were there. Paul 00:34:09.900 --> 00:34:12.880 greeted them and reported in detail what God 00:34:12.880 --> 00:34:15.820 had done amongst the Gentiles through his ministry. 00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:20.039 He's relating to the Jerusalem council what all 00:34:20.039 --> 00:34:22.900 had been going on in Asia Minor and in Greece. 00:34:23.719 --> 00:34:27.360 And they praised God when they heard it. And 00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:30.429 then they said to Paul, you see, brother, How 00:34:30.429 --> 00:34:33.690 many thousands of Jews have believed and all 00:34:33.690 --> 00:34:36.869 of them are zealous for the law? Remember, just 00:34:36.869 --> 00:34:38.670 because they became Christians didn't mean they 00:34:38.670 --> 00:34:42.590 stopped becoming Jews, right? Thousands of Jews 00:34:42.590 --> 00:34:45.610 have chosen to believe and they're all zealous 00:34:45.610 --> 00:34:49.150 for the law. And then they, the council tells 00:34:49.150 --> 00:34:52.610 Paul, they've told us that you teach all the 00:34:52.610 --> 00:34:54.929 Jews who live amongst the Gentiles to turn away 00:34:54.929 --> 00:34:58.889 from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their 00:34:58.889 --> 00:35:03.349 children. Or live according to our customs. And 00:35:03.349 --> 00:35:05.190 the Jerusalem council looks at Paul and they 00:35:05.190 --> 00:35:08.429 look at his record sheet, his sales report for 00:35:08.429 --> 00:35:10.590 the last couple of years and goes, look, there's 00:35:10.590 --> 00:35:12.849 nothing we can do to argue with your success, 00:35:12.969 --> 00:35:15.809 but what are we to do with you? What are we supposed 00:35:15.809 --> 00:35:19.630 to tell you? Right? They will certainly hear 00:35:19.630 --> 00:35:21.889 that you've come. They're going to know, Paul, 00:35:21.929 --> 00:35:27.030 that you're here. So what do we tell you? And 00:35:27.030 --> 00:35:30.519 they say this. They say, listen, there are four 00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:32.860 men with us who have made a vow. They have made 00:35:32.860 --> 00:35:36.039 a vow to become Nazarites, which is the guys 00:35:36.039 --> 00:35:38.239 who won't cut their hair or they'll cut their 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:44.639 hair and start over. It's a purification ritual, 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.239 right? And then they won't be touching alcohol 00:35:47.239 --> 00:35:49.340 or dead people or blood and all that stuff. It's 00:35:49.340 --> 00:35:51.980 a time of purification which they dedicate to 00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:55.119 God. And so there are four of us, there are four 00:35:55.119 --> 00:35:58.989 of them rather, who've made that vow. Take these 00:35:58.989 --> 00:36:02.969 guys, Paul, join their purification rites, pay 00:36:02.969 --> 00:36:06.130 their expenses so that they can have their head 00:36:06.130 --> 00:36:07.570 shaved. Remember, they're going to start over 00:36:07.570 --> 00:36:09.710 through the purification rite. Then everyone 00:36:09.710 --> 00:36:12.889 will know, the Jews that are really mad, when 00:36:12.889 --> 00:36:15.630 they see you performing these very important 00:36:15.630 --> 00:36:20.090 purification rites as a Jew with other Jews, 00:36:20.230 --> 00:36:23.530 we hope that they will see you living in obedience 00:36:23.530 --> 00:36:27.309 to the law. As for the Gentile believers, the 00:36:27.309 --> 00:36:29.949 Greeks who are Christians, who we really have 00:36:29.949 --> 00:36:32.690 no real authority over because we're more concerned 00:36:32.690 --> 00:36:35.449 right now about the Jews that are mad, we've 00:36:35.449 --> 00:36:38.309 already told them how to live their lives, right? 00:36:38.730 --> 00:36:40.630 And that's what we talked about when we looked 00:36:40.630 --> 00:36:42.789 at chapter 15, when we looked at the Jerusalem 00:36:42.789 --> 00:36:45.510 Council, when they said that they should abstain 00:36:45.510 --> 00:36:50.360 from food, sacrifice to idols, from blood. from 00:36:50.360 --> 00:36:52.440 meat of the strangled animals and sexual morality. 00:36:52.619 --> 00:36:55.179 That was the contents of the letter that James 00:36:55.179 --> 00:36:58.099 had sent to the Gentile churches in Antioch. 00:36:58.739 --> 00:37:02.960 So Paul agrees. And the next day, Paul took the 00:37:02.960 --> 00:37:07.099 men and purified himself along with them. Then 00:37:07.099 --> 00:37:09.260 he went to the temple to give notice of the date 00:37:09.260 --> 00:37:11.900 when the days of purification would end and the 00:37:11.900 --> 00:37:13.719 offering would be made for each one of them. 00:37:13.820 --> 00:37:16.119 So he's done just as the council of Jerusalem 00:37:16.119 --> 00:37:19.980 had asked. So Paul meets up with James and debriefs 00:37:19.980 --> 00:37:22.780 him, the elders, and he goes back and he tells 00:37:22.780 --> 00:37:26.559 them what he's done. Certain disciples go with 00:37:26.559 --> 00:37:29.960 him, and he's counseled. He's then told, all 00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:32.480 right, go to the temple with the devout Jews 00:37:32.480 --> 00:37:35.980 and take a vow. This is for Paul to publicly 00:37:35.980 --> 00:37:40.340 identify with Judaism as a man with Jewish heritage 00:37:40.340 --> 00:37:44.369 in order to negate this accusation. that he was 00:37:44.369 --> 00:37:47.849 somehow against the law of Moses. So go to the 00:37:47.849 --> 00:37:51.690 temple, the holiest place we have. Go in there 00:37:51.690 --> 00:37:54.329 as a Jew, which you are. Act like a Jew. Make 00:37:54.329 --> 00:37:56.869 a vow in front of everybody saying that you're 00:37:56.869 --> 00:38:00.070 a Jew. And that should get rid of this idea that 00:38:00.070 --> 00:38:02.730 you're going around preaching against the law 00:38:02.730 --> 00:38:07.130 of Moses. The apostles' previous directions to 00:38:07.130 --> 00:38:10.630 the Gentiles, however, are confirmed. So go do 00:38:10.630 --> 00:38:14.489 this. Do all of this stuff. The Gentiles, we've 00:38:14.489 --> 00:38:16.409 already told them how to do it. We're not worried 00:38:16.409 --> 00:38:19.869 about them right now. So he does it. But when 00:38:19.869 --> 00:38:25.429 seven days were nearly over, verse 27 says, some 00:38:25.429 --> 00:38:28.010 Jews from the province of Asia. Now remember, 00:38:28.110 --> 00:38:30.849 we have a couple of these Gentile Christians 00:38:30.849 --> 00:38:34.269 that have come with Paul from Asia, right? Earlier 00:38:34.269 --> 00:38:37.210 when we listed all those funny names off, the 00:38:37.210 --> 00:38:40.230 last two that we mentioned were dudes that were 00:38:40.230 --> 00:38:43.360 from Asia. Some Jews from the province of Asia 00:38:43.360 --> 00:38:46.860 saw Paul at the temple. And these guys that had 00:38:46.860 --> 00:38:49.599 come from Asia stirred up the whole crowd, and 00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:52.840 they grabbed hold of Paul. Fellow Israelites, 00:38:53.119 --> 00:38:56.780 help us. This is the man who teaches everyone 00:38:56.780 --> 00:39:00.199 everywhere against our people and our laws and 00:39:00.199 --> 00:39:01.960 this place. Remember, they're in the temple. 00:39:02.139 --> 00:39:05.199 And besides, he's brought Greeks into the temple 00:39:05.199 --> 00:39:08.059 and defiled this holy place. They had previously 00:39:08.059 --> 00:39:12.599 seen Trompheus. In the Ephesian city with Paul. 00:39:13.000 --> 00:39:16.119 And assumed that Paul had also brought him to 00:39:16.119 --> 00:39:18.840 the temple with him. He had not. It was an incorrect 00:39:18.840 --> 00:39:21.880 assumption. But this is what really riles people 00:39:21.880 --> 00:39:25.059 up. That a lot of these people had yet heard 00:39:25.059 --> 00:39:28.460 about the purification rite. That Paul had went 00:39:28.460 --> 00:39:31.199 through. So Paul shows back up at the temple. 00:39:31.300 --> 00:39:33.539 Some of these people had yet to hear what he 00:39:33.539 --> 00:39:36.599 had just done. And they see the Gentile guy. 00:39:37.400 --> 00:39:40.019 is with him, not in the temple, but is there 00:39:40.019 --> 00:39:42.699 in Jerusalem with him, and they make the assumption 00:39:42.699 --> 00:39:45.360 that when he's gone into the temple, he's taken 00:39:45.360 --> 00:39:48.780 this Gentile along with him. He hadn't, but you 00:39:48.780 --> 00:39:51.099 guys, we understand how kind of mob mentality 00:39:51.099 --> 00:39:54.960 works, and the snowball begins to roll, and that's 00:39:54.960 --> 00:39:58.119 what's happening here. Paul has acted on the 00:39:58.119 --> 00:40:01.019 counsel of James and the elders and goes to the 00:40:01.019 --> 00:40:03.699 men of the temple. However, these Asian Jews 00:40:03.699 --> 00:40:06.300 stir up the crowd against him, falsely stating 00:40:06.300 --> 00:40:08.960 that he had brought an uncircumcised Greek into 00:40:08.960 --> 00:40:13.099 the temple. Verse 30 continues. The whole city 00:40:13.099 --> 00:40:15.699 was aroused. The people come running from all 00:40:15.699 --> 00:40:18.539 directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from 00:40:18.539 --> 00:40:20.380 the temple and immediately the gates were shut. 00:40:20.480 --> 00:40:24.260 They, the crowd, was trying to kill him. News 00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:26.659 reached the commander of the Roman troops that 00:40:26.659 --> 00:40:28.980 the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 00:40:29.210 --> 00:40:31.590 He at once took some officers and soldiers and 00:40:31.590 --> 00:40:34.349 ran down to the crowd where the rioters saw the 00:40:34.349 --> 00:40:36.909 commander and his soldiers. They stopped beating 00:40:36.909 --> 00:40:39.070 Paul. So we got a fight breaking out, right? 00:40:39.170 --> 00:40:41.090 And then the cops show up and everybody kind 00:40:41.090 --> 00:40:42.650 of says, I didn't have anything to do with it. 00:40:42.750 --> 00:40:44.630 And the guy's just kind of laying there on the 00:40:44.630 --> 00:40:47.610 ground bleeding. The commander came up and arrested 00:40:47.610 --> 00:40:50.650 him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. 00:40:50.789 --> 00:40:54.090 Remember the prophecy of the belt? Then he asked 00:40:54.090 --> 00:40:56.539 who he was. and what he had done. Some of the 00:40:56.539 --> 00:40:59.099 crowd shouted one thing, some another. And since 00:40:59.099 --> 00:41:00.820 the commander could not get the truth because 00:41:00.820 --> 00:41:03.639 of the uproar, he told Paul, basically, listen, 00:41:03.780 --> 00:41:06.460 we're going back to the police station and sort 00:41:06.460 --> 00:41:09.380 all this out. When Paul reached the steps, the 00:41:09.380 --> 00:41:12.139 violence of the mob was so great, he had to be 00:41:12.139 --> 00:41:15.199 carried by the soldiers. And the crowd that followed 00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:18.920 kept shouting, get rid of him. As the soldiers 00:41:18.920 --> 00:41:21.880 were about to take Paul into the barracks, he 00:41:21.880 --> 00:41:23.920 asked the commander, may I say something to you? 00:41:24.679 --> 00:41:28.780 Do you speak Greek? The commander replied. Other 00:41:28.780 --> 00:41:32.059 translations would say, oh, so you speak Greek? 00:41:33.559 --> 00:41:36.539 The reason why he says this is because it's a 00:41:36.539 --> 00:41:39.260 case of mistaken identity. The commander thinks 00:41:39.260 --> 00:41:45.320 he's somebody else. Aren't you, verse 38, aren't 00:41:45.320 --> 00:41:48.079 you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led 00:41:48.079 --> 00:41:51.079 4 ,000 terrorists out into the wilderness some 00:41:51.079 --> 00:41:56.170 time ago? Amazingly, enough mention of this revolt 00:41:56.170 --> 00:41:59.590 led by a self -proclaimed prophet from Egypt 00:41:59.590 --> 00:42:01.829 is confirmed actually in the annals of history. 00:42:01.929 --> 00:42:03.929 We have a historical account outside of the Bible 00:42:03.929 --> 00:42:07.250 of this event taking place. The Jewish historian 00:42:07.250 --> 00:42:09.510 Josephus, writing in the first century, gives 00:42:09.510 --> 00:42:12.690 us this account. At this time, there came out 00:42:12.690 --> 00:42:15.789 of Egypt to Jerusalem a man who said he was a 00:42:15.789 --> 00:42:19.090 prophet and advised the multitude of the common 00:42:19.090 --> 00:42:22.150 people to go along with him to the Mount of Olives. 00:42:22.679 --> 00:42:25.280 which lay a distance of about five furlongs from 00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:28.079 the city, not too far. He said that he would 00:42:28.079 --> 00:42:30.539 show them at his command the walls of Jerusalem 00:42:30.539 --> 00:42:36.699 would come down. And then he promised that he 00:42:36.699 --> 00:42:38.579 would procure them an entrance into the city. 00:42:38.980 --> 00:42:42.139 Now, Felix was the Roman procurator. He's the 00:42:42.139 --> 00:42:46.139 kind of Pontius Pilate type guy. The Roman official 00:42:46.139 --> 00:42:49.119 there was informed. And whenever he heard of 00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:52.860 this, he told the soldiers to take their weapons. 00:42:53.000 --> 00:42:55.019 And with a great number of horsemen and footmen, 00:42:55.079 --> 00:42:57.780 they went from Jerusalem and attacked the Egyptian 00:42:57.780 --> 00:43:00.659 and the people that had followed him out there. 00:43:01.119 --> 00:43:06.059 And he, this Roman soldier, he and his men killed 00:43:06.059 --> 00:43:09.920 about 400 of them and took another 200 of them 00:43:09.920 --> 00:43:13.699 alive. 600 people following this Egyptian terrorist. 00:43:14.039 --> 00:43:16.719 Actually, it's a pretty large crowd of people, 00:43:16.760 --> 00:43:19.760 as you can imagine. But the Egyptian himself 00:43:19.760 --> 00:43:23.219 escaped from the fight and didn't appear anymore. 00:43:24.119 --> 00:43:27.119 And again, the robbers stirred up the people 00:43:27.119 --> 00:43:29.920 to make war with the Romans. And these guys, 00:43:30.059 --> 00:43:33.360 robbers, he was a member of a group of zealots 00:43:33.360 --> 00:43:37.619 called the Sicarii. The Sicarii is the name for 00:43:37.619 --> 00:43:41.159 the Jewish dagger. And that was their weapon 00:43:41.159 --> 00:43:43.019 that they would use to assassinate people. They'd 00:43:43.019 --> 00:43:46.429 get up really close and they'd shiv them. That's 00:43:46.429 --> 00:43:49.230 called a sikar. And so these men, these assassins, 00:43:49.250 --> 00:43:51.630 these robbers that did it, of which this Egyptian 00:43:51.630 --> 00:43:54.510 was a part of, were called the sikari because 00:43:54.510 --> 00:43:59.349 of the weapon they used. So the Roman official 00:43:59.349 --> 00:44:02.590 who has arrested Paul first thinks he's this 00:44:02.590 --> 00:44:05.869 Egyptian guy, right? But Paul begins speaking 00:44:05.869 --> 00:44:10.869 in Greek. And he says, not am I not only the... 00:44:11.780 --> 00:44:14.619 Egyptian terrorist, the Saqqari. I'm actually 00:44:14.619 --> 00:44:18.400 a Jew, and I'm from Tarsus and Cilicia, and I'm 00:44:18.400 --> 00:44:21.619 a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me 00:44:21.619 --> 00:44:24.599 speak to the people. After receiving the commander's 00:44:24.599 --> 00:44:26.599 permission, Paul stood on the steps, motions 00:44:26.599 --> 00:44:28.420 to the crowd, and when they were all silent, 00:44:28.480 --> 00:44:31.260 he said to them in Aramaic. Remember, Aramaic 00:44:31.260 --> 00:44:35.940 is a derivation of Hebrew. So Paul is trying 00:44:35.940 --> 00:44:39.860 to make his Jewish point here. So instead of 00:44:39.860 --> 00:44:43.780 trying to address the crowd in Greek, he addresses 00:44:43.780 --> 00:44:46.860 the crowd in Aramaic in a language he knows all 00:44:46.860 --> 00:44:48.679 of these people or understands. And he says, 00:44:48.719 --> 00:44:53.099 brothers and fathers, listen to my defense. And 00:44:53.099 --> 00:44:54.860 when they heard him speaking in Aramaic, they 00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:57.800 became quiet. Then Paul says, I'm a Jew born. 00:44:57.960 --> 00:45:02.289 And this is Paul's kind of doing his. His resume 00:45:02.289 --> 00:45:05.429 again. I'm in Tarsus of Cilicia. I was brought 00:45:05.429 --> 00:45:08.070 up in that city. I stundered up in this city, 00:45:08.150 --> 00:45:11.969 Jerusalem. I studied under Gamaliel, the famous 00:45:11.969 --> 00:45:15.670 Jewish rabbi. I was thoroughly trained in the 00:45:15.670 --> 00:45:17.989 law of our ancestors, and I was just as zealous 00:45:17.989 --> 00:45:22.610 for God as you are today. I persecuted the followers 00:45:22.610 --> 00:45:24.329 of the way. Remember, Christians weren't called 00:45:24.329 --> 00:45:26.409 Christians at this time. They were called followers 00:45:26.409 --> 00:45:29.570 of the way. And I persecuted them to their death. 00:45:29.789 --> 00:45:31.969 I arrested both men and women, throwing them 00:45:31.969 --> 00:45:35.570 in prison as the high priest and the council 00:45:35.570 --> 00:45:39.409 here can testify. I even obtained letters from 00:45:39.409 --> 00:45:42.570 them, from these Jewish guys that you guys think 00:45:42.570 --> 00:45:45.530 are your leaders. We know each other. We've worked 00:45:45.530 --> 00:45:49.110 together, right? They gave me letters to persecute 00:45:49.110 --> 00:45:52.949 Christians in Damascus. And I went there to bring 00:45:52.949 --> 00:45:56.449 people as prisoners back to Jerusalem to be punished. 00:45:57.579 --> 00:45:59.639 And then he tells the story of his conversion, 00:45:59.780 --> 00:46:03.280 his road to Damascus, his encounter. He says, 00:46:03.340 --> 00:46:06.059 About noon I came near Damascus, and suddenly 00:46:06.059 --> 00:46:07.840 a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 00:46:07.980 --> 00:46:10.840 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to 00:46:10.840 --> 00:46:13.980 me, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? And 00:46:13.980 --> 00:46:17.679 then he retells his story of his experience with 00:46:17.679 --> 00:46:21.599 Jesus Christ on the road to Jerusalem. He goes 00:46:21.599 --> 00:46:25.280 to Ananias' house and discovers the other believers 00:46:25.280 --> 00:46:28.360 and is healed. And the Lord says to him, go, 00:46:28.599 --> 00:46:31.619 and I will send you far away to the Gentiles. 00:46:31.699 --> 00:46:35.059 He's saying, guys, I'm just doing what God told 00:46:35.059 --> 00:46:40.360 me to do. But whenever he said, I'll send you 00:46:40.360 --> 00:46:43.559 far away to the Gentiles, whenever he used the 00:46:43.559 --> 00:46:48.360 word Gentiles, the Jewish crowd erupted in pandemonium 00:46:48.360 --> 00:46:52.360 again. Paul, they listened to him until he said 00:46:52.360 --> 00:46:53.920 this, and they raised their voices and shouted, 00:46:54.000 --> 00:46:57.039 Rid him, the earth of him. He's not fit to live. 00:46:57.900 --> 00:47:02.139 What's a Jewish Christian to do? He feels, this 00:47:02.139 --> 00:47:04.480 Paul, he feels very comfortable in his new faith 00:47:04.480 --> 00:47:09.019 with its Old Testament, Hebrew Bible roots. At 00:47:09.019 --> 00:47:12.820 the same time, his faith has radically transformed 00:47:12.820 --> 00:47:18.579 him into a world Christian. And now he's at home 00:47:18.579 --> 00:47:22.380 in the ethnic diverse body of Christ. People 00:47:22.380 --> 00:47:26.619 from all types of ethnicities and languages are 00:47:26.619 --> 00:47:30.420 now open to Christianity. Misunderstandings, 00:47:30.420 --> 00:47:34.039 even opposition, are bound to arise. How do you 00:47:34.039 --> 00:47:38.639 explain that following a universal, a message 00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:42.139 of good news, a universal gospel for all people, 00:47:43.559 --> 00:47:46.519 How do you explain that doing that doesn't necessarily 00:47:46.519 --> 00:47:51.480 mean you have to give up following your own Jewishness? 00:47:53.039 --> 00:47:58.079 Especially giving up your idea of God. In Paul's 00:47:58.079 --> 00:48:03.019 defense, he uses Christ as the key. And as they're 00:48:03.019 --> 00:48:05.440 shouting and they're flinging their cloaks and 00:48:05.440 --> 00:48:07.699 flinging dust into the air, the commander ordered 00:48:07.699 --> 00:48:11.280 Paul to be taken into the barracks. And as they 00:48:11.280 --> 00:48:14.579 stretched him out to flog him, verse 25, Paul 00:48:14.579 --> 00:48:17.199 said to the centurion standing there, and I love 00:48:17.199 --> 00:48:19.780 this, this is a very Columbo moment, kind of 00:48:19.780 --> 00:48:22.280 a, you know, just before I go, one more thing. 00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:25.739 Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who 00:48:25.739 --> 00:48:29.519 hasn't ever been found guilty? When the centurion 00:48:29.519 --> 00:48:34.400 heard this, he went to the commander and said, 00:48:34.500 --> 00:48:38.489 this guy's a Roman citizen. The commander went 00:48:38.489 --> 00:48:40.769 to Paul and asked, tell me, are you a Roman citizen? 00:48:40.969 --> 00:48:44.929 He said, yes, I am. The commander said, I had 00:48:44.929 --> 00:48:48.150 to pay a lot of money for my citizenship. Paul 00:48:48.150 --> 00:48:53.769 says, but I was born a citizen. And those who 00:48:53.769 --> 00:48:55.730 were about to interrogate him withdrew immediately. 00:48:56.630 --> 00:48:59.989 The commander himself was alarmed when he realized 00:48:59.989 --> 00:49:03.849 that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. 00:49:05.320 --> 00:49:07.400 The commander had Paul tied up in the barracks 00:49:07.400 --> 00:49:12.119 away from the crowd as a preliminary to scourging 00:49:12.119 --> 00:49:15.300 him. Paul protests that he's a Roman citizen 00:49:15.300 --> 00:49:19.360 and is uncondemned because it is against Roman 00:49:19.360 --> 00:49:21.460 law to bind and scourge a Roman citizen who's 00:49:21.460 --> 00:49:24.820 not had a trial. His examiners withdraw from 00:49:24.820 --> 00:49:27.119 him. The commander has Paul taken to the Jewish 00:49:27.119 --> 00:49:30.300 council the next day to find out for sure why 00:49:30.300 --> 00:49:36.050 Paul is accused. Verse 30. The commander wanted 00:49:36.050 --> 00:49:38.789 to find out exactly why Paul was being accused 00:49:38.789 --> 00:49:42.869 by the Jews. So the next day, he released him 00:49:42.869 --> 00:49:44.570 and ordered the chief priests and all the members 00:49:44.570 --> 00:49:46.949 of the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought 00:49:46.949 --> 00:49:51.730 Paul and had him stand before them. And that's 00:49:51.730 --> 00:49:54.269 where we'll leave off for this time. And we'll 00:49:54.269 --> 00:49:58.710 see the trial of Paul next, next time we're together. 00:49:59.369 --> 00:50:06.159 Any questions? Well friends, I hope that that 00:50:06.159 --> 00:50:09.059 episode was as illuminating for you as it was 00:50:09.059 --> 00:50:11.940 for me to study. Hey listen, before we go... 00:50:12.400 --> 00:50:15.699 I would like for you to know that we really appreciate 00:50:15.699 --> 00:50:19.159 you taking the time to listen to the semi -seminary. 00:50:19.179 --> 00:50:21.139 And make sure that you subscribe to the podcast 00:50:21.139 --> 00:50:24.559 so you'll know when new episodes come out. Also, 00:50:24.619 --> 00:50:28.179 however it is that you listen to the semi -seminary, 00:50:28.179 --> 00:50:30.219 and if you have the opportunity to give us a 00:50:30.219 --> 00:50:32.900 five -star rating and a review, we would certainly 00:50:32.900 --> 00:50:36.139 appreciate it. That helps get the podcast out 00:50:36.139 --> 00:50:39.400 to a bigger audience. Well, friends, I'll see 00:50:39.400 --> 00:50:42.340 you next time. And until then, be blessed and 00:50:42.340 --> 00:50:43.420 be a blessing.