welcome back to class number nine boys class this the year is just the semester's gone by just flying by here and of course we have to get really going because we i want to be able to finish up make sure you get everything here so uh today we're going to finish up with lesson four and we're going to get into lesson five we're going to go as far as we can go in lesson five so that we can finish up with five the next time around for sure and that will leave us two classes to do lesson number six all right so let's pray father we thank you our god that you continually open up our eyes on our understanding father god so that we may be able to comprehend what it is that we're actually studying and reading when we think about the book of acts we thank the lord god that as we see paul in all of his missions look at and the things that he encounters and the way that you deliver him father god that we we will get to know that you're doing the same thing today father and we thank you for that we thank you lord god that you lead us and guide us and father we just thank you for the word we thank you for your spirit in jesus name amen all right so in lesson four we saw that much of luke's accounts often leave out the time elements hence when we read the book of acts it reads and sounds like it happened in a few months oftentimes we saw that just in one verse months have passed by all right so let me just give you an idea of what we're talking about here the time element most scholars believe that the time element for the book of acts are you ready was between 30 and 35 years you don't get that when you're just reading the book of acts you know you can sit down and you can read it probably in two or three hours uh but you you lose the concepts you lose the time element which is important because we have to see that time was effective even for paul so that when it's taken time for us we don't uh grow impatient in the middle of it we saw the rise of uh to prominence of apollo apollo who gets mentored by aquila and priscilla who have been left in ephesus by paul as he returns to jerusalem remember paul he meant that aquila and and priscilla and they left rome and they came and they were with paul and he said you stay in ephesus now and we know that between the two of them they set up house and they had many many people there the church was basically coming out of their house and they took the time to mentor apollo all right so apollos would at some point go on to current and we read where paul has to talk to the church and say you're of apollo you're of paul and your jesus and you know so paul was was prominent and so was apollo paul returns to ephesus and stays there approximately two and a half years paul leaves ephesus and goes to macedonia and greece right remember that they were going to kill him and so he leaves greece and instead of getting on the ship where they were waiting for him he comes back around and uh and catches the ship that way all right uh but he did stay in ephesus for two and a half years some places some people will say he was there for three years but in those times they had a tendency to round off numbers paul leaves ephesus and goes to macedonia greece and from here he writes now listen he writes his letter to the romans and we pick up here all right so once that troas we're going to pick up in lesson lesson number four now once a troas paul wanted to take a side trip by foot and he orders his group to continue with the ship while he visits the people between trois and perhaps saying goodbye because he's been getting all kinds of messages about how he will be delivered to the gentiles they sailed down the coast stopping overnight at different cities possibly greeting the leaders of those churches for the last time excuse me wanting to get back to jerusalem to celebrate the day of pentecost with those believers he by bypasses ephesus now why did he bypass ephesus number one there was too much turmoil in this city all right a visit there would probably lead to more trouble consume a huge amount of time and delay his return to jerusalem and to antioch paul had a schedule that he was trying to keep and he didn't want to get stuck in ephesus ephesus was the kind of city where there was a lot of people had a lot of questions and there was a lot of jews there who would try to tie him up so instead they said directly to a place called militis if you look at your map you'll see my leaders is further south right and paul sends for the leaders of the church at ephesus now we pick it up in acts chapter 20 verse 17 and we're gonna we're gonna read a good portion here so just follow along with me we're gonna begin in verse 17 acts 20 verse 17. and for my leaders he sent to ephesus and called the elders of his church and when they would come to him he said unto him you know from the first day that i came into asia after what manner i have been with you at all seasons serving the lord with all humility of mind and with many tears and temptations which befell me by the lying and weight of the jews verse 20 and how i kept back nothing that was profitable unto you but i've showed you and have taught you publicly and from house to house in other words he did everything right testifying both to the jews or and also to the greeks repentance towards god now repentance means what repentance means having a change of mind to repent means to turn around and go in the other direction so in other words they were saying they thought god was one way and he was saying to them we want you to see god in a different light god is not that god that's just standing up there and just hope everything works out right god is the god that is taking uh some part in your life all right and faith towards our lord jesus christ in verse 22. and now behold they go bound in the spirit unto jerusalem not knowing the things that shall befall me there save listen save the holy ghost witness in every city saying that bonds and afflictions abide me so the spirit of god was already showing him what was going to take place right verse 24 but none of these things move me neither can't die in my life dear unto myself so that i might finish my course with joy and the ministry which i have received of the lord jesus to testify that the of the gospel of grace of god right verse 25 and now behold i know that you all among whom i have gone preaching the kingdom of god shall see my face no more wherefore i take you to record this day that i am pure from the blood of all men in other words i've done everything here with you folks at ephesus that i was required to do there's going to become people after me and they'll pick up the baton so to speak and they will help finish the race with you but i have done all that i've been called to do right wherefore i take the record this day for i have not verse 27 for i have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of god take heed therefore unto yourselves into all the flock over which the holy ghost hath made you overseers in other words he's talking to the elders now that's who he called down the leaders right so he says made you overseers to feed the church of god which he hath purchased with his own blood for i know this that after my departing shall grieve his wolves entering among you not sparing the flock so he's saying these wolves are going to come in and they're going to look they're going there's going to be jews that come in gonna be all kinds of people coming in to steal the word of salvation from you folks but you elders are going to have to be strong you you're going to have to be what the church needs you're going to have to continually teach the word that you've learned also of your own self shall men arise speaking perverse things to draw away disciples after them in other words they'll be guys that'll be in it for their own agenda and won't have the agenda of god verse 31 therefore watch and remember that by the grace of three years i cease not to warn everyone night and day with tears and now brethren i commend you to god to the word of his grace which is able to build you up to give you an inheritance among all of them which are sanctified i have coveted no man's silver gold or apparel i didn't look at any man's things for myself yeah you yourselves know that these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that were with me in other words i worked and i paid for myself and i paid for those that were with me the ones that were ministering with me verse 35 we're coming to the end of this i have shown you all things how they're so laboring you are to support the weak and to remember the words of the lord jesus how he said is more blessed to give than to receive and when he had thus spoken he kneeled down and prayed with them all this is paul now verse 37 they all wept sword fell on paul's neck and kissed them sorry most of all for the words which he spake that they would see his face no more and they accompanied him unto the ship so they they were with paul right up to the last moment they had been weeping we talked about men putting their their heads on his shoulder and hugging them and kissing them so uh i want us to see the humanity here the the the people that really love paul and paul really love these people and we have to have that same desire for people you know people come into our lives sometimes and they're really a sore to us you know they they like something that just rubs us raw and i hate to say this but you almost wish that god would do something hard to them to teach them a lesson but the bottom line is jesus already did something for them and we have to remember that and paul remembered that see he saw these people remember when he was first there these people it took three years to get these folks up and running so just remember that paul invested in them so we have to in turn invest in people that god brings into our life paul rehearses the things that took place while he was at ephesus and our text at red tree is okay so this is where i said to you the text says three years but most people believe it was two and a half years so they rounded it up all right paul shares with them what he perceives the plan of god has for him and says that they will not see him they will not see his face any longer that was he's not making the trip back to ephesus he's saying you're gonna become bound he's not quite sure he's already been shown that he has to go to rome and but he's thinking maybe i'm gonna take a boat to rome but god has a different plan right and we'll get to that verse 37 38 and acts 20 and they all wept saw him fell on paul's neck and kissed him sorry most of all for the words which he spake that they will see his face tomorrow and they accompany him up to the ship look at the love that they had for each other and that's what we have to remember their faith their father in the faith had called for them and that's all that was important so that we see that god has put people into our lives and when they're ministering to us we have to remember that maybe we don't know all things and that was the good thing about apollos apollos would listen to what priscilla and what a quill that said and he grew stronger to the point where he can go out and witness and so the people that are in our lives that god brings in they are there to fulfill us and to build us up and to strengthen us and to give us wisdom and understanding right all right so they department leaders heading for jerusalem stopping along the way they land in syria in a city called tyra there they spent seven days in the past they would look for ships that went directly to caesarea after ministering to these to those of tyres they were getting ready to depart by ship and we pick it up in acts 21. now hopefully you understand we're not reading every verse in the book of acts but i'm trying to take us through the book so that we can understand the different things that were happening to paul so that we can understand that he was subject to a lot of things that were going on he had some good times he had some down time had some up times uh he had some bad times and so we're just trying to pick and choose to let you see what what paul was going through so we can identify listen the book of acts is still being written and you and i are in it and so we have to see what paul went through so that we can identify with that and so that life is not always cherry for us right it's not always to through the tulips sometimes we we meet resistance sometimes we meet dark sides and so we have to be prepared for it and be ready but we know that just as god took paul out he's going to take us out all right acts 21 verse 5. and when we had accomplished those days we departed went our way and they all brought us on our way with wives and children until we were out of the city and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed again we such an overwhelming love for one another remember luke is writing this right he's saying we he's now with them he's coming together with paul so when he's writing the book of acts he can write it with passion because he's experienced it right they bought the ship for a quick ride to uh i'm not even going to try and say that word paul mayes then onto caesarea while they uh well there they stand and philip the evangelist is home we haven't heard from him for a while right uh he moved to caesarea and uh he was ministering to everybody that was there we know that there's no way that he would stop in paul would have stopped in his house if he wasn't one of the leaders if he wasn't one of the men that were continually sharing the gospel with people so we haven't heard from philip in about 20 25 years all right uh he was known to paul he is respected and gladly resides with him during his stay in caesarea interesting how things come around in the bible isn't it verse 10 they say they're they stay there for a good time probably for weeks can you imagine you you can't just drop into somebody take a meal and you wind up staying a few weeks why because you feel welcome there there's peace there there's a rejuvenation there's other people that are around so you're going to walk into those kind of situations where you'll be invited back again and again because people enjoyed you well they're the prophet now listen well there the prophet agabus comes down to visit activists more than likely the same prophet who prophesied about the famine throughout the world in which we saw how the early christians took up the offering and sent it to jerusalem the famine did take place so so agaves was not without credentials he was one who prophesied and the things about whatever he prophesied about came to pass and so god was honoring what he said not only honoring what he said but honoring the fact that he used him to speak what was going to happen verse 11 acts 21 11. uh and when he came unto us he took paul's girdle and bound his own hands and feet and said thus saith the holy ghost so shall the jews at jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the gentiles now as we look and study this the question arises was paul wrong in his response in verses 12 and 13. let me read it to you and when we heard these things both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to jerusalem in other words dewey is the people that travel with paul plus luke was traveling with them and he was part of the people that tried to persuade paul you remember when peter was talking to jesus and he said far apart from you to be get caught up with those those people and he said get behind me say now listen what paul says something simple verse 13. then paul answered what me need to weep and to break my heart for i am ready not to be bound only but also to die at jerusalem for the name of the lord jesus now he was ready to die in jerusalem but he knew in the back of his mind that the lord had already shown him he was going to have to go to rome now paul in his own mind just like you or i always thought okay god is telling me to go here so i will begin to make plans how do i get there do i go by car do i fly do you uh take a train so you start to plan the whole thing out meanwhile god has got his own plan and so often times we can make plans but the bottom line is we leave the final plan to god right so was paul warned not to go there and was he ignoring it it's an argument among scholars for a long time some some say he should have heeded the warning others say god said in the beginning of his ministry i will show him what he will have to suffer for my name's sake in addition everywhere he went people prophesied then that he would suffer on his return to jerusalem if paul if god was prophesying that paul was going to get caught up at jerusalem then it would not have been profitable for for him not to go to jerusalem because he wouldn't have fulfilled that word right you follow what i'm saying so i think many of the early apostles knew by revelation that they would literally have to die for their faith in the course of fulfilling their calling and ministry when people prophesy you have to remember something people prophesy god shows and reveals some things to them sometimes not always but sometimes people will add to what god has already prophesied god was once again showing paul do not be surprised when you get to jerusalem you think they're all going to be patting you on the back for the great job you've been doing and all the people that have come to know christ but you're going to find when you get there not everybody's going to like you and there's going to be some people going to want to do you bad and so uh just be forewarned and so he gets another warning for magnus and i believe that what happened is these people loved paul so much that they didn't want to see him getting that and so they were saying maybe you shouldn't go to jerusalem but of course that's where god had said you're going to go there right so the prophecy was right what they added to it was not correct all right besides god all right uh remember as we will see paul is bound as he gets to rome as a prisoner so paul is thinking i'll take a ship or go over here maybe i'll stop and see these people and eventually i'll get to rome and i'll go to the synagogues like i've normally been doing with all these other countries and all these other cities but that's not the plan that god had for him god wanted him to witness to a different group of people right all right so let's go into lesson number five yay add a four all right so in the last lesson we remember that paul was being warned that bad things were in store for him when he returned to jerusalem the visit there would be like no other in other words paul has been to jerusalem i don't know how many times but this one was going to be the creme de la creme so to speak not good but active the way god had planned it let's turn to verse 17 in acts 21 and when we come to jerusalem the brother received us gladly so remember that luke is writing the book of acts and he's saying us when he says us so we that means he's with them all right and the day find paul went in with us unto james who was the leader right and all the elders were present and when he had saluted them he declared particularly what things god had wrought among the gentiles by his ministry and so up to this point paul is having a good time right uh and when they heard it they glorified the lord and said unto him now see his brother how many thousands of jews there are which believe and they are all zealous of the law so they're happy for him but he's saying i want you to look at all the jews that are still here in jerusalem uh the gentile is one case and a jew is another case we've been given the law and they weren't we understand that but we are to observe the law along with everything else now of course we know that that's not true right verse 21 and they informed of thee that thousands teaches all the jews virtual among the gentiles to forsake moses saying that they are not to circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs what is it there for the multitude must need come together for they will hear that thou art come so james is saying look we have a problem here we have to see several things first of all paul never said don't circumcise he said it was of no avail you want to circumcise your kid knock your socks off you think it's more apropos for a cleanliness great but don't you shouldn't do it because you think that it accomplishes more than what god has already uh allowed it secondly the law given to moses was already written on our hearts when we get saved all the things that that god wrote on the stones for paul to bring down to the jewish people they're in here but i don't do it as to judge how i'm doing i look at them and i say i'm not going to do it because this goes against god right and if i do do it then i have to repent and i have to ask god to forgive me and move on uh the blood of jesus is continually cleansing me of all unrighteousness so i don't use the law to judge me on my relationship with god i use the law as guard rails so that when i get too far over to the left and i scrape the guardrail i know that i can't continue to go that way i gotta come back in and get more centered in the things of god all right uh so paul was saying by depending on the law as to your worth and standing before god no man can do that you and you say listen i told you about the law before no man could keep the law and without the sacrifice the lord would not do anything for you because you can't keep it it was just to point us to the fact that we would need a savior and lo and behold the savior has come right what shall we need what shall we do then they ask all right so paul begins the pill verse 23 same book acts 21. do therefore this that we we say to thee here's what here's what james's answer is we have four men which have a vow on them then take and purify thyself with them and be at charges with them that they may shave their heads and all may know that those things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing but that thou myself thyself also walk us orderly and keep us the law all right now we we have some dangers here right we we are we're aware with what they're asking paul to do as touching the gentiles which we believe we have written and concluded that they observed no such thing save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood and from strangled and from fornication now let's just stop there for a moment if there's two sets of rules then the blood of jesus isn't working right if the gentiles have one set of rules and the jews have another set of rules how does god justify that in the courts of heaven he doesn't because it's not working that way it's supposed to work the same for the gentile as it is for the jew and the jew the same as it is for the gentile verse 26 then paul took the men and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple to signify the income the accomplishment of the days of purification until that an offering should be offered for every one of them all right so rather there be mass confusion paul understood that it would take time for the jewish believers to go to actually go against their tradition so paul takes the vow it has been said excuse me it has been said that these men probably are taking the vow because of something that they may have already taken place they may have done something right and now that or they got a situation that's going on and they're taking a vow so that poverty or some other vow that they're making god if you bless me with with four million dollars i give a million dollars back because they're doing some kind of vow right uh paul obviously was not making a sacrifice of any sort in order to be good in good stead with god or to pay back or to put something down on a future favor why because all things come through the good through the through the covenant through the promises that all the promises are yesterday man and then god is looking to pour out his promises on us because we're in a covenant we're in jesus the father's on this side and he blesses us we don't do it because we're such goody two-shoes we get the blessings because we're in a covenant the bottom line to me is that everyone is feeling the pressure from the jews and they knew it was getting and they knew it was getting out of hand they acquiesced to the vast number of people that james and all their leaders that were in jerusalem were starting to acquiesce to them so that they would not have a riot paul's heart was right but the end result was that it didn't accomplish what they wanted so perhaps in this case the proof was in the pudding many writers agree that in this case paul james and the other leaders missed it because it would only f it would only have substantiated what the jews were saying that you have to keep the law and by paul going in and doing this he only substantiated what they were believing and therefore taking away from the blood of jesus right so let's read let's read on acts 21 verse 27 what we're reading a lot in acts 21 today and when the seven days were almost ended the jews which were of asia when they saw him in a temple now listen they saw him at temple right they stirred up all the people and laid hands on them there was these inner people doing what james had asked him and the people saw him there especially those that had seen him with other people in on the temples uh they laid hands on him crying out men of israel help this is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place and further brought greeks also into the temple and have polluted this holy place now the this the temple was a place of meeting but it had lost everything remember the veil was ripped from the top to the bottom it was no longer needed why because jesus ascended into the heavenlies holy holies poured his blood on the mercy seat and that accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished right verse 29 what they had seen before him before with him in the city of trust and ephesus whom they have supposed that paul had brought into the temple in other words they weren't even sure if paul brought anybody but they saw other people they just assumed that paul brought them in and all the city was moved and people ran together and they took paul and drew him out of the temple and forthwith the doors were shut now let's just look at what was really taking place here paul had not completed his effort to appease the model of jews so oftentimes we come up with our own plan and god is saying at some point i never asked you to do that plan don't be disappointed in me if you were trying to work it out your own self right god could have had paul take a stand right then and there it was an important stand it wasn't a trivial one paul had not completed his effort to appease the jews and when they stormed the temple grantham hold of him with the intent to kill him now look what happens to paul verse 31. and as they went about to kill him uh titans came down under the chief captain of the band in other words to the chief of the of the soldiers of the roman soldiers that all jerusalem was in an uproar who immediately there was this this leader who immediately took soldiers and centuries and ran down unto them and when they sought the chief captain and the soldiers they left beating of paul that was they stopped why because the more they if they've rioted and these people the roman soldiers came in they didn't care whose head they bashed in they just rode down swinging clubs swinging spears stabbing hitting them with shields hitting them with all kinds of things right uh to make them stop to bring the insurrection to a close and so they thought that they would stop doing what they were doing so as to avoid all that all right all right so they wrestle from the mob and bring them to the barracks of the soldiers with the mob yelling and screaming behind them now they were yelling and screaming but they didn't touch paul at this particular point so if you take the time to read chapter 22 you'll see paul's test testifies to the mob concerning his earlier days as the persecutor of the church in other words you go ahead and read finish acts 22 on your own they listen as he speaks in the hebrew language in other words we know that paul could speak all kinds of language he could speak greek aramaic and hebrew right they listen as he speaks in a hebrew language he tells them about meeting jesus on a road to damascus and after being blind in heaven ananias pray for him and be healed they are quiet as he tells them of the letter from the jerusalem council but when he gets to the part where god says to him about ministering to the gentiles well they begin to go berserk again why because up to that point they didn't believe that the gentiles had any part in this new covenant all right the commander grabs paul and brings them back into the barracks so we pick it up again in acts 22 verse 24 the chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle and obeyed that he would be examined by scorching that he might know wherefore they cried so against him now understand what that means it means they were going to whip paul beat him and do all kinds of things until he confessed what what he did wrong that these people were in such an uproar verse 25 and if they bound him with thongs paulson it was as they tied him up with with thongs were like rawhide kind of things paul said unto the situation that stood by is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is roman and uncondemned when a century heard that he went and told the chief captain saying take heed what thou do for this man is a roman then the chief captain came and said until tell me if thou were roman and paul said yes and the chief captain said with a great summon uh i obtained this freedom and paul said but i was born free i was born a roman why because his dad had already spent the money and all the father's children were roman citizens by law then straightway they departed from him which should have examined him and the chief captain also was afraid now listen they were afraid and and he knew that he was roman because he had bound him here because paul was a roman citizen the fear of being punished themselves for what they did so far causes them to release him in other words you couldn't the roman law was you couldn't condemn a roman without a trial and it had to be a trial by romans right you couldn't not even condemn it but you couldn't scorch them they had already tied him up and were ready to beat him and they shouldn't have done any of that right so my question to myself is is that a coincidence that paula being being a jew was also a roman citizen and then what i said to you way back in lesson one i said that god would use that god would use the very thing that he was a roman citizen to get paul to be where he wanted him to be right so i wanted to see how much god gets involved in our lives long before we are born along the path that he is directing he constantly is preparing for the days that are ahead of us god says i know the plans that i have for you they're for a future and a whole right they're for good and not for evil he already knew the plan he had for us when we were in our mother's womb and along the way he has been planning things he has been putting things into your life that he's going to use down the road you don't think much of them now but you will later on so what a powerful god we serve we need to keep this in mind constantly as we walk our walk that god is not sitting back saying gee i hope richie sure can make it out that's a tough thing he's in there now good luck brother hope it all works out that's not the way god operates god is really involved in my life right god has prepared it he has prepared you also we just have to trust him look to the word listen to the holy spirit obviously there are times when paul was listening to the spirit there's times that he wasn't and so we see that even paul had a learning curve so we have to have a learning curve we have to learn more and more how to hear that still small voice paul would have gone to rome on his own would have gone to the synagogues and preaching the streets god was looking for something different paul was going to get the chance to testify before kings the roman soldiers bundled them up and shipped them shipped them off to caesarea when it says that they bundled them up they didn't tie them up they just dressed them up so that he was comfortable and they ship them off to caesarea all right we pick it up in acts 23 verse 23 23-23 and he called out to him two centurions saying make ready 200 soldiers go to caesarea and horsemen three scored 10 boys the crowd going with them right and spearmen 200 at the third hour of the night and provide them beasts that they may set paul on bring him safe unto felix the governor in other words they put paul on the horse he didn't have to walk he was all bundled up he was nice and nice and warm and and provide them beasts that they may set paul on and he wrote a letter after this man glorious lycias the most excellent governor felix centered greetings and there was this man to send salutations this man was taken of the jews and should have been killed of them then came out with an army and rescued him having understood that he was wrong we know that that's a lie right he didn't find out though afterwards right and now he was he was scared now he's trying to cover up his tracks and when i had i would have known the cause therefore they accused him i brought him forth into their council whom i perceived to be accused of questions of their law but have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or bonds and when it was told me how this jew how that the jews laid weight for the man i sent straightway thee and gave commandment to his accusers also to say before thee what they had against him farewell signing off so this is funny right all the things that are happening to paul are things that we might be able to identify with in our own life so now paul is under arrest or at the least constrained under guard is now brought before the governor felix he never would have had an opportunity to be before this man but god was going to give him an opportunity to speak to this man paul has confined that caesarea for two years now when we read the book of acts we don't see the two years he's there for two years while felix is trying to make up his mind now listen paul has some freedoms and was not restrained concerning the people that visited he was not in the dungeon atmosphere why because he was a roman they couldn't do that unless a roman trial unless romans tried him and found him guilty there was nothing that they could do they had to be very careful how they treated him felix at the same time was looking to extract some payment from paul to help with his release this was common practice to bribe officials in other words he he left him there longer than he should have only because of the fact that he was hoping that paul would pay him off but paul wasn't paying anybody off because paul knew that he was going to have to go to rome and if this was the avenue that god was choosing then so be it right so uh paul knew he was supposed to go to rome so often in conversation felix would hear what paul would have to say become fearful and send him to his room in other words every time he sat down and talked with paul and paul will begin to share with him there's two things that scared him one that he was a roman i had to be careful how i treated him and number two the gospel always frightens people in the dark right so let's turn to acts 24 chapter 24 i'm going to read verse 27. but after two years foresees fetish came into felix's room and felix willing to show the jews of pleasure left paul bound the governor felix was was what we call in the service uh was being rotated out and in this case he probably was being sent back to rome or some other part of the empire to rule and he was being replaced by this new governor named festus festus leaves caesarea where he mentioned their headquarters was and visits jerusalem where immediately the jews go to work on him concerning paul they understood the changing of the guard and you know what they say first in tells the story and that's the one that's believed most of all and now you have to get all the other side and you have to wash out all the contradictions right so uh you begin to look for any way to clean things up and that's where asbestos and felix were so we go to acts chapter 25 we're going to read six verses there and when he had retired among among them became verse six sorry and when he had carried among them more than ten days he went down into caesarea and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commander paul to be brought and when he was come to jews which came down from jerusalem stood round about and laid many and grievous complaints against paul which they could not prove well he answered for himself neither against the law of the jews neither against the temple nor yet against caesar have i offended anything at all in other words i didn't talk i thought evil about any of this stuff professors wanted to do the jews a pleasure answered paul and said will thou go to jerusalem where and be judged with these things before me then said paul i stand at caesar's judgment seat where i ought to be judged to the jews have i done no wrong as thou very well know you know and you're just trying to get me up there because getting me up there you're going to know you know in your heart what's going to happen verse 11 for if i've been offended or have committed anything worthy of debt i refuse not to die but if there be none of these things wherever they accuse me no man may deliver me unto them because i appeal to caesar then festus when he had con conferred with the council answered hast thou appealed unto caesar unto caesar you will go so in other words here is the trip to rome paid by the romans on return to caesarea fastest calls for paul while all the time the jewish jewish leaders are really railing in his ear don't send him away let us have him we're going to condemn him first thing wanted to do is a favor all right uh he asked if paul wants to go paul says nope i'm not going i i appealed to caesar and in acts 25 verse 13 it says and after certain days kenya gripper and bernice came into caesarea to salute festus now let me tell you something about uh king agrippa and bernice they were brothers and sisters and yet they were having sexual affairs with each other okay so there was all kinds of things going on this king of gripper was the was of the lineage of herod and this particular king was given great power by claudius season and then by nero claudia is his successor his rule was northeast portion of palestine there was he was somebody you didn't want to be playing with he was allowed to appoint the high priest and control much of the money in the temple treasury at that particular point the high priest though powerful probably did not follow the lineage dictated by god how was the high priest he was supposed to be someone that was in the lineage of of moses's brother aaron right and of course these people probably were not all right so why would god allow this the main reason was that god had already established the high priest he wanted for eternity jesus it didn't matter who sat on the seat of the high priest because he wasn't it was just a name only he wasn't really the high priest the bottom line is jesus is the high priest it's already been established jesus already went to the cross he already ascended into heaven he's already sitting on the throne he already is our high priest father then so the veil was torn in the physical of holy holies and now the holy voice was in heaven it is that place at that throne where we enter hebrews 4 16 remember what it says there with a high priest sitting at the right hand of the father says come boldly to the throne of grace where you may obtain mercy and grace to help you in the time of need we are told to come up to his throne his grace right he is the high priest he is the one that goes before the father and continually intercedes for us king agrippa accompanied by bernice bernice was married to her uncle king herod of charities when king herod died she returned to gripper who was her brother all right the jews had no problem dealing with with or honoring the likes of agrippa and bernice but they did they challenged paul at every turn so you're going to find in today's day that uh the people that are doing wrong will challenge you for doing right and you're just going to have to get used to that because the bible says in the end days what is right will be wrong and what is wrong will be right and don't be surprised when these different things come upon you right so uh so they were completely hostile to paul that's how you know that this was demonically inspired and when it's working in your life you just got to know them devils are working overtime to stop you from preaching the gospel to stop you living like christ stop you from believing in what the word says and take on the thoughts and understanding of the world we need to break that cycle we need to bind up the forces of darkness and we need to just adhere to the word of god and just follow what the word of god is saying all right uh this is about keeping the kingdom of god from advancing in the devil's territory the devil doesn't want you breaking into his ground and every time you witness this a group of people whether it's your family your friends or co-workers or whoever every time you witness that there's always going to be a devil sitting right there to try and prevent that because he doesn't want you to witness to them he doesn't want the word of god to come in and bring light he wants to keep them in darkness right satan's plan is to rob kill and destroy and was to challenge these workers of god at any and all levels using people even nice misinformed ones and some just plain evil hearted to prevent the spreading of the gospel the devil is not fussy on who he uses we can't always determine the end result for what is going on in the present well looks one way god is working behind the scenes where it turns out he eventually fulfills his plan so what we have to do is we have to continue psalm 37 is to trust in the lord with all your with all your heart with all your understanding why because you don't know everything that god has planned and now you're just trusting god that he's going to work it out he's going to reveal it step by step so festus says to a gripper here's a problem i have festus explains concerning the jews and paul why because festus would like to give them to the jews the jews would like to kill him paul claims he wants to go see caesar and now festus is stuck all right so in chapter 25 verse 17 it says therefore when when they were come hither without any delay on tomorrow i sat at the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought forth against him when he the accuser stood up they brought none accusation of such things as i suppose but at certain questions against them of their own superstition and of one jesus which was dead when paul affirmed to be alive and because i doubted such a man of questions i asked him whether he would go to jerusalem and therefore be judged of these matters but when paul had appealed to the to be reserved unto the hearing of augustus i commanded him to keep till i might send him to caesar then agrippa said to festus i would also hear the man myself tomorrow said he thou shalt hear festus said when i returned to caesarea i immediately took my place in the seat and had paul and jews brought before me but it just was not working out in other words he's telling a gripper what took place gripper says i'd like to hear this man for myself and we pick it up in acts 25 verse 23 and on tomorrow and grebrick it was come and bernice with great pomp and was entered into the place of hearing with the chief captains and the principal men of the city at beth's commandment paul was brought forth so this was not a trial or even a hearing first it was great pomp and circumstance was for grip festus also had all the prominent leaders there plus his commanders of the army were here so that's not the kind of people you have for a trial right so this gathering was for gripper because he had found great favor with caesar the auditorium was really an audience chamber this gathering was more of a curiosity than anything else there was they had gotten together they went on a gripper and the bottom line is they said now we're going to entertain you with this man paul and acts 26 verse two and three says i think myself happy king agrippa because i shall answer for myself this day before thee touching all the things where i am accused of the jews this is paul speaking especially because i know the to be an expert in all customs and questions which are among the jews wherefore i beseech thee to hear me patiently paul is asked to speak by king agrippa group the group says hey tell us your side paul draws a gripper into his defense by saying i'm fortunate you're here to listen to me you're an expert in other words paul knew how to i'll use the word manipulate he knew how to use the circumstance in a situation to make it better for him so that they would understand where he was coming from a gripper probably had heard all things all kinds of things regarding jesus but now i wanted to hear directly from someone accused of speaking out about this dead deliverer paul gives his testimony about his life i think we'll stop here and we'll pick it up next week because i think we already are in the 51-minute job so you go ahead and read acts 22 for yourself and then take take care of the notes we'll see you next time