Paul’s defense before Felix (Acts 24) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Paul’s defense before Felix (Acts 24)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical Precepts & Gospel music

 

Scriptures reading Acts 24

Accused by the Jew’s advocate          

¹ Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea, with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. ² When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. ³ Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude.⁴ But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly.

⁵We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect ⁶and even tried to desecrate the temple, so we seized him. ( and would have judged according to our law.⁷ But the chief captain Lysias came upon us, and with great violence took him away out of our hands, ⁸ Commanding his accusers to come unto thee: (kjv)) By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.” ⁹ The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true.

¹⁰When the governor motioned for him to speak, Paul replied: “I know that for a number of years you have been a judge over this nation; so, I gladly make my defense.¹¹ You can easily verify that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. ¹² My accusers did not find me arguing with anyone at the temple or stirring up a crowd in the synagogues or anywhere else in the city. ¹³ And they cannot prove to you the charges they are now making against me. ¹⁴ However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, Which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, ¹⁵ and I have the same hope in God as these men, that there be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. ¹⁶ So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

 ¹⁷ After an absence of several years, I came to Jerusalem to bring my people gifts for the poor and to present offerings. ¹⁸ I was ceremonially clean when they found me in the temple courts doing this. There was no crowd with me, nor was I involved in any disturbance. ¹⁹ But there are some Jews from the province of Asia, who ought to charge if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or these who are here should state what crime they found in me when I stood before the Sanhedrin — 21unless it was this one thing I shouted as I stood in their presence: “It is concerning the resurrection of the dead that I am on trial before you today.”

²² The Felix, who was well acquainted with the Way, adjourned the proceeding. “When Lysias the commander comes,” he said, “ I will decide your case. ²³ He ordered the centurion to keep Paul under guard but to give him some freedom and permit his friends to take care of his needs.

²⁴ Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was a Jewess, He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus.²⁵ As Paul discoursed on righteousness, self-control and the judgement to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 

²⁶ At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him. ²⁷ When two years had passed, Felix was succeeded by Porcius Festus, but because Felix wanted to grant a favor to the Jews, he left Paul in prison.

 

Verse 1 Ananias headed the group that presented the complaint against Paul. Tertullus (Roman name) was probably a lawyer hired by the Jews in Caesarea to present their case. A spokesman, one who knew Roman legal procedure.

Verse 2 Tertullus’s word from here to the end of v.3 displayed his baseness, his lack of any ethical standard. (23.1)

Verse 5 Tertullus broadened the charge, and made it more serious in Roman eyes by, for the first time, accusing Paul of being an insurrectionist (stirring up riots).

Verse 6 many ancient MSS omit the section from this word through come to you in v.8

Verse 8 Tertullus now argued that Lysias had exceeded his authority in removing Paul from trial by Jewish authorities on the charge of profaning the Temple.

Verse 15 The resurrection of the righteous will occurs before the millennium at the Lord’s coming back (1Cor.15:23;1Thes.4:16). This will be the resurrection of life (John 5:28-29 and Dan.12:2a) and the resurrection of reward (Luke 14;14), which includes the first, or the best, resurrection (Rev.20:4-6)  the out –resurrection (Phil.3:11) The resurrection of the unrighteous will occur after the millennium ( Rev.20:5). This will be the resurrection of judgment (John 5:29b) and of shame and everlasting contempt (Dan.12:2b) and will be for the judgement of eternal perdition upon the unrighteous (Rev.20:12-15). It was concerning this judgment that the apostle warned the unrighteous Felix in v.25. 

Verse 22 adjourned the proceedings. Because Lysias wasn’t there to be heard from.

Verse 23 To give him some freedom. Paul was under a relatively loose military confinement.

Verse 24 A daughter of King Herod Agrippa. She was persuaded by Felix, who became enamored of her, to forsake her husband and marry him. This showed the intemperance and corruption of Felix, a Roman politician.

Verse 25 reasoning concerning Lit., saying thoroughly, discussing (in argument or exhortation), disputing the same as in 17:2;18:4,19). 

Verse 25 Righteousness and self-control and the judgment to come.  Felix was afraid. Realizing Felix’s unrighteousness (vv.26-27) and intemperance, the apostle reasoned with Felix regarding righteousness and self-control, the control of passions and desires, especially, here, sexual desires. The coming judgment is related to the resurrection of the unrighteous, which the apostle preached in v.15. The apostle reasoned with Felix regarding the coming judgment also, this was a warning to Felix. Through this, Felix became afraid. Felix had stolen Drusilla from her first husband. He also was corrupt as a governor (v.26), and Paul may have challenged him concerning his low morality.

Verse 26 This indicated the Roman politician’s corruption.

Verse 27 Luke does not disclose what the apostle did during these two years. He might have used the time to be with the Lord for His move on earth. If so, this might have influenced the Epistles he wrote during the time of his appeal in Rome-Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians-which are the most mysterious, most profound, and riches in the divine revelation. The supply that they have brought to the church throughout the generations cannot be fully told.

Verse 27 Festus, Felix’s successor as the governor of Judea. The change came about A.D.58. A Roman magistrate could decide when a case would be called; often the delays were long, as here.

Bibliography,

King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

 

Paul encouraged by the Lord, transferred to the Roman Governor Felix (Acts 23) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

 Paul encouraged by the Lord, transferred to the Roman Governor Felix (Acts 23)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospek music

Scriptures reading Acts 23

¹ Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” ² At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!”

⁴ Those who were standing near Paul said, “ You dare to insult God’s high priest?” ⁵ Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: “ Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.” ⁶ Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “ My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee, I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead.” ⁷ When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.  ⁸ (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.)

⁹ There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously, “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “ What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” ¹⁰ The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him ino the barracks.

Paul escorted to Caesarea; Encouraged by the Lord

¹¹ The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

The Plot of the Jews

 ¹² The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. ¹³ More than forty men were involved in this plot. ¹⁴ They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵ Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”

Transferred by the Commander to the Roman Governor Felix

¹⁶ But when the son of Paul’s sister heard of this plot, he went into the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷ Then Paul called one of the centurions and said, “ Take this young man to the commander; he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸ So he took him to the commander. The centurion said, “ Paul, the prisoner, sent for me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.”

¹⁹ The Commander took the young man by the hand, drew him aside and asked, “What is it you want to tell me?”²⁰ He said: “ The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul before the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about him. ²¹ Don’t give in to them, because more than forty of them are waiting in ambush for him. They have taken an oath not to eat or drink until they killed him. They are ready now, waiting for your consent to their request.”

²² The commander dismissed the young man and cautioned him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have reported this to me.” ²³ Then he called two of his centurions and ordered them, “Get ready a detachment of two hundred soldiers, seventy hoursemen and two hundred spearmen” to go to Caesarea at nine tonight. ²⁴ Provide mounts for Paul so that he may be taken safely to Governor Felix.” ²⁵ He wrote a letter as follows:

To His excellency, Governor Felix: Greetings. ²⁷ This man was seized by the Jews and they were about to kill him, but I came with my troops and rescued him, for I had learned that he is a Roman citizen. ²⁸ I wanted to know why they were accusing him, so I brought him to their Sanhedrin. ²⁹ I found that the accusation had to do with questions about their law, but there was no charge against him that deserved death or imprisonment. ³⁰ When I was informed of a plot to be carried out against the man, I sent him to you at once. I also ordered his accusers to present to you their case against him.

³⁰ So the soldiers, carrying out their orders, took Paul with them during the night and brough him as far as Antipatris. ³² The next day they let the cavalry go on with him, while they returned to the barracks. ³³ When the cavalry arrived in Caesarea, they delivered the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him. ³⁴ The governor read the letter and asked what province he was from. Learning that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵ He said, “I will hear your case when your accusers get here.” Then he ordered that Paul be kept under guard in Herod’s palace.

 

Verse 1 After man’s fall and his being sent out of the garden of Eden (Gen3:23), God in His dispensation wanted man to be responsible to his own conscience. But man failed to live and walk according to his conscience and fell further into wickedness (Gen.6:5). After the judgment of the flood, God ordained that man should be under human government (Gen.9:6).Man failed in this also Then, before fulfilling His promise to Abraham concerning the blessing of the nations in his seed, Christ (Gen.12:3;Gal3:8), God put man under the test of the law (Rom.3:20;5:20). Man failed this test utterly. All these failures indicate that man has fallen from God to his conscience, from his conscience to human government, and from human government, and from human government to lawlessness; that is, man has fallen to the uttermost. Hence, to conduct oneself in all good conscience before God, as Paul did, was a great return to God from man’s fall. Paul spoke this word to vindicate himself before those who accused him of being a lawless and even reckless person. In his defense he referred again to his conscience in 24:16. This showed his high standard of morality, in contrast to the hypocrisy of the Jewish religionists and the crookedness of the Roman (Gentile) politicians.

Verse 2 ordered …to strike him. Ananias (high priest about A.D.48-58) was reportedly insolent and overbearing. He was probably angered at Paul’s bold claims and ordered him struck.

Verse 5 I did not realize that he was high priest. Some think Paul’s weak eyes caused him to fail to recognize the high priest; however, the remark may have been sarcasm –“ I didn’t think the high priest would ever speak like that!”

Verse 6 in effect Paul said, “ I a Pharisee by inheritance and trainin g, can hardly be regarded as a subversive teacher!” He then proceeded to split the Sanhedrin into its two factions.

Verse 10 This was the Lord’s sovereighty exercised to rescue Paul from the hand of the Jews. Through the riot of the Jews in Jerusalem, God delivered Paul out of the predicament into which he fell when he took James’s comprmising proposal and participated in the Nazarite vow. Now through the commander of the Roman cohort, God in His sovereignty again rescued Paul, this time from the hand of the rioting Jews, who had attempted to kill him, that He might separate him from all the dangerous situations and entrapments and send him to a quiet prison. This was to afford him a quiet environment and give him tim, whether in Caesarea (24:27) or in the city of Rome (28:16,23,30), that through his last Epistles he might release exhaustively to the church throughout the generations the revelation of the mystery of God’s New Testament economy that he received from the Lord. The benefit and profit that the church throughout the generations has received from these Epistles will take eternity to measure.

Verse 11 Christ appeared to Paul four times. At his conversation (9:5), in Corinth (18:9-10), on his first visit to Jerusalem (22:17-18), and here during his last visit to Jerusalem.

According to the Jewish calendar, sundown is the beginning of the next day. The Lord was living all the time in Paul essentially (Gal.2:20). Now to strengthen and encourage him, the Lord stood by him economically. This showed the Lord’s faithfulness and good care for His servant. The Lord admitted that the apostle did bear a solemn testimony concerning Him in Jerusalem. A testimony differs from mere teaching . To carry out His heavenly ministry for the propagating of Himself that the kindom of God might be established for the building up of the churches as His fullness, the ascended Christ wanted to use not a group of preachers trained by man’s teaching to do a preaching work, but a body of His witnesses, martyrs, who bore a living testimony of the incarnated, crucified, resurrected, and ascended Christ . Satan could instigate the Jewish religionists and utilize the Gentile politicians to bind the apostles and their evangelistic ministry, but he could not bind Christ’s living witnesses and their living testimonies. The more they bound the apostles and their evangelistic ministry, the stronger and brighter these martyrs of Christ and their living testimonies became. In His appearing to the apostle, the Lord indicated that He would not rescue him immediatedly from his bonds but would leave him in bonds and bring him to Rome that he might testify concerning Him, as he had done in Jerusalem. The Lord encouraged Paul to do this.

Verse 12 The plot in vv.12-15 manifested the falsehood and satanic hatred (John8:44; Matt.23:34) in the hypocritical Jewish religionists. To put themselves under a curse means that they would keep their vow, and that if they were to break the vow, they were willing to be cursed.

Verse 14 Lit., We have cursed ourselves with a curse. This means that they were bound under a curse and could not break their vow. It is a very strong expression.

 Verse 16 son of Paul’s sister. Only here is any memtion made of Paul’s immediate relatives. This too was the Lord’s sovereignty exercised to secretly rescue Paul’s life.

Verse 24 Governor Felix. Roman procurator of Judea (A.D.52 to probably 58 ) with headquarters in Caesarea.

Verse 31 A place about forty Roman miles from Jerusalem and about twenty-six from Caesarea.

Verse 34 What province he was from. Roman law required that this question be asked at the opening of a hearing, for Paul had the right to be tried in his home province or in the province where the alleged crime was committed. Tarsus was in Cilicia. Felix was a deputy of the legate of Syria and Cilicia, and so claimed the right to conduct the hearing, whichever choice Paul made. Such a detail is strong proof that Luke was with Paul at the hearing.

Verse 35 The palace of the former kings, built by Herod the Great. It became the official residence of the governor of the Roman province of Judea. Paul was guarded there leniently, not confined in the common prison.

 

Bibliography,

King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

 

Paul defending Himself before the rioting Jews (Acts 22) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Paul defending Himself before the rioting Jews (Acts 22)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music

 

Scriptures reading (Acts 22)

¹ “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.” ² When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: ³ “I am a Jew born in Tarsus of Cilicia but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. ⁴ I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, ⁵as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

⁶ About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. ⁷I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Who are you, Lord? I asked. “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.” He replied. ⁹ My companions saw the light, but they didn’t understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. ¹⁰ “What shall I do, Lord” “I asked. “Get up,” the Lord said, “And go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.” ¹¹My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

¹² “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. ¹³ He stood beside me and said, “Brother Saul, receive your sight!” And at that very moment I was able to see him.

¹⁴ Then he said, “The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from His mouth. ¹⁵ You will be His witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. ¹⁶ And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.”

¹⁷ When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance ¹⁸ and saw the Lord speaking. “Quick!” He said to me. “Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.” ²¹ Then the Lord said to me,

 “Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.”

²² The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him!” He’s not fit to live!”  ²³ As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, ²⁴ the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him life this. ²⁵ As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?”

²⁶ When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. “What are you doing to do? He asked. “This man is a Roman citizen.” ²⁷ The commander went to Paul and asked, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” “Yes, I am,” he answered. ²⁸ Then the commander said, “I had to pay a big price for my citizenship.” “But I was born a citizen,” Paul replied. ²⁹ Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains.

Paul brought before the Sanhedrin

³⁰ The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them. 

 

Verse 1 Paul faced his opponents in a way different from Christ’s way. For the accomplishing of His redemption, Christ was like a lamb brought to the slaughter, and like a sheep dumb before its shearer, He did not open His mouth when judged by men (Isa.53:7; Matt.26:62-63;27:12,14). But as a faithful and bold apostle sent by the Lord, Paul needed to make a defense and exercise his wisdom to save his life from his persecutors that he might fulfill the course of his ministry. Although he was willing and ready to sacrifice his life for the Lord (20:24), he still endeavored to live longer that he might carry out the Lord’s ministry as much as possible.

Verse 5 Referring to the presbytery, the eldership (of the Sanhedrin), Hence, the Sanhedrin.

Verse 9 understand, as in Mark 4:33;1 Cor.14:2. They heard the voice but did not understand it, just as they beheld the light but saw no one (9:7).

Verse 16 Calling on the Lord’s name here was a means for Paul to wash away his sins committed in arresting so many of the believers who called on the Lord’s name. All the believers knew that he had considered calling on the Lord’s name a sign of those whom he should arrest (9:14,21). Now he had turned to the Lord. In order for Paul to wash away, before God and before all the believers, the sins that he had committed in persecuting and arresting the Lord’s callers, he was charged by Ananias to call on the name that he had formerly abhorred . He had to do this-an act contrary to his former practice-at his baptism, in which he made a public confession of the Lord whom he had persecuted.

Verse 25 this was Paul’s wisdom, to utilize his Roman citizenship to save himself from suffering persecution.

Verse 28 A big price. In the reign of Claudius, contemporaneous with these events, Roman citizenship could be purchased for what would be a princely sum for a soldier, Somehow Paul’s parents had earned Roman citizenship before Paul’s birth.

Verse 30 The Sanhedrin. Somehow the Sanhedrin had interposed itself so that Paul’s case did not get directly and immediately referred to the Roman governor in Caesarea. 

Verse 9 understand, as in Mark 4:33;1 Cor.14:2. They heard the voice but did not understand it, just as they beheld the light but saw no one (9:7).

Verse 16 Calling on the Lord’s name here was a means for Paul to wash away his sins committed in arresting so many of the believers who called on the Lord’s name. All the believers knew that he had considered calling on the Lord’s name a sign of those whom he should arrest (9:14,21). Now he had turned to the Lord. In order for Paul to wash away, before God and before all the believers, the sins that he had committed in persecuting and arresting the Lord’s callers, he was charged by Ananias to call on the name that he had formerly abhorred . He had to do this-an act contrary to his former practice-at his baptism, in which he made a public confession of the Lord whom he had persecuted.

Verse 25 this was Paul’s wisdom, to utilize his Roman citizenship to save himself from suffering persecution.

Verse 28 A big price. In the reign of Claudius, contemporaneous with these events, Roman citizenship could be purchased for what would be a princely sum for a soldier, Somehow Paul’s parents had earned Roman citizenship before Paul’s birth.

Verse 30 The Sanhedrin. Somehow the Sanhedrin had interposed itself so that Paul’s case did not get directly and immediately referred to the Roman governor in Caesarea. 

Bibliography,

King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

  

Paul's ministry to Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea, Jerusalem, ending the third Journey (Acts 21) by Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Paul's ministry to Tyre, Ptolemais, Caesarea, Jerusalem, ending the third Journey (Acts 21)

By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Art Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music

Scriptures reading Acts 21:1-6 to Tyre

 

¹ After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.² We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. ³ After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. ⁴ Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. ⁵ But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt ot pray. ⁶ After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

To Ptolemais

⁷ We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day.

To Caesarea

⁸ Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist one of the Seven. ⁹ He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. ¹⁰ After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. ¹¹ Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, “In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.” ¹² When we heard this, we and the people there pleased with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. ¹³ Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” ¹⁴ When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.”

          

To Jerusalem, Paul with the Jerusalem church, ending the Third Journey.

¹⁵ After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁶ Some of the disciples form Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples. ¹⁷ When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly.¹⁸ The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present.

The negative influence of Judaism

¹⁹ Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. ²⁰ When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. ²¹They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. ²² What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, ²³so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. ²⁴ Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. ²⁵ As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”

²⁶ The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.

 Paul’s journey to Rome, arrested and seized by the Jews

²⁷ When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him. ²⁸ shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.” ²⁹ (They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.: ³⁰ The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. ³¹ While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. ³²He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

³³ The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. ³⁴ Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. ³⁵When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. ³⁶The Crowed that followed kept shouting, “Away with him!” ³⁷ As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?” “Do you speak Greek?” he replied. “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?” ³⁹ Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people.” ⁴⁰ Having received the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic.

 

Verse 1 Luke obviously enjoyed describing a sea voyage. His masterpiece comes later (chapter 27).

Verse 4 In 20:23 the Holy Spirit made known to Paul that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem. Now the Spirit took a further step to tell him, through some members of the Body of Christ, not to go to Jerusalem. Since Paul practiced the Body life, he should have taken this word and obeyed it as a word from the head.

Verse 8 Wherever Paul went, he visited the brothers and stayed with them. He was actually practicing the Body life of the church, living according to what he taught concerning the Body of Christ.

Verse 11 Again, the Holy Spirit told Paul beforehand, indirectly through a member of the Body of Christ, what would befall Paul in Jerusalem. This was again a warning in the nature of a prophecy, not a charge. It was again the Head speaking through His Body. Since Paul practiced the Body life, he should have listened to this speaking.

Verse 12 Including Luke, the writer. Here the Body of Christ, through many members, expressed its feeling, entreating Paul not to go to Jerusalem. But because of his strong will, manifested in his readiness even to sacrifice his life for the Lord. He would not be persuaded, forcing the members of the Body of Christ to leave this matter to the will of the Lord. (v.14).

Verse 17 This was the end of Paul’s third ministry journey, which began in 18:23.

Verse 20 Indicating that the Jewish believers in Jerusalem still kept the law of Moses, remained in the Old Testament dispensation, and were strongly under the Judaic influence, mixing God’s New Testament economy with the outdated Old Testament economy.

Verse 21 To forsake the law of Moses, not to circumcise, and not to walk according to the customs of dead letters are actually according to God’s New Testament economy. But these were considered by the unbelieving Jews, and even by the Jewish believers in Christ, to be apostasy from God’s Old Testament dispensation.

Verse 24 To be purified with the Nazarites was to become a Nazarite with them, join them in the fulfilling of their vow. The same word is used in the Septuagint in Num.6:3 in describing the Nazarite’s duties. To take the Nazarite vow was a purification before God. The cost of the offering, which a Nazarite had to pay for the completion of his purification (Num.6:13-17). This was very expensive for the poor Nazarites. It was a custom among the Jews, and was considered proof of great piety, that a rich person would pay for the poor the expenses of the offerings.  To be done at the completion of the Nazarite vow (Num.6:18). This shaving differed from the shearing in 18:18, which was for a private vow. Pay their expenses. Paul was being asked to pay the expenses involved in the offerings required at the completion of the Nazirite vow these four men had taken (Num.6:13-21). He was being urged to take actions that would indicate that he was, after all, a “middle of the road” Jewish –Christian.

Verse 26 Participating in their Nazarite vow. To do this Paul had to enter into the temple and remain there with the Nazarites until the completion of the seven days of the vow, then the priest would offer the offerings for each one of them, including him. Surely, he was clear that such a practice was of the outdated dispensation, which according to the principle of his teaching in the New Testament ministry, should be repudiated in God’s New Testament economy. Yet he went through with it, probably because of his Jewish background, which had also been manifested earlier in his private vow in 18:18, and probably because he was practicing his word in 1 Cor.9:20. However, his toleration jeopardized God’s New Testament economy, this God would not tolerate. At this point he must have felt that he was in a predicament, and he must have been deeply troubled, longing to be delivered from it. Just at the time when their vow was to be concluded, God allowed an uproar to rise up against him, and what they intended to accomplish was blown away (v.27). Moreover, by God’s sovereignty Paul was rescued out of his predicament.

The Mixing of Judaic practices with God’s New Testament economy was not only erroneous in relation in God’s dispensation but also abominable in the eyes of God. This gross mixture was terminated by Him a mere ten years or so later with the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the center of Judaism, through Titus and his Roman army. This rescued and absolutely separated the church from the devastation of Judaic.

God might have tolerated Paul’s carrying out of a private vow in 18:18, but He would not allow Paul, a vessel chosen by Him not only for the completing of His New Testament revelation (Col.1:25) but also for the carrying out of His New Testament economy (Eph.3:2, 7-8), to participate in the Nazarite vow, a strict Judaic practice. In going to Jerusalem, Paul’s intention might have been to clear up the Judaic influence on the church there, but God knew that the church there was incurable. Hence, in His sovereignty God allowed Paul to be arrested by the Jews and imprisoned by the Romans that he might write his last eight Eptistles (chapter 25), which completed the divine revelation (Col.1:25) and gave the church a clearer and deeper view concerning God’s New Testament economy (Eph.3:3-4). Thus. God left the Judaism influenced church in Jerusalem to remain as it was until the devastating mixture was terminated with the destruction of Jerusalem. For Paul to write his last eight Epistles to complete God’s New Testament revelation was far more important and necessary than for him to accomplish some outward works for the church.

Verse 28 God’s New Testament teaching according to His New Testament economy was indeed against the Jews, who opposed God’s New Testament economy was indeed against the Jews, who opposed God’s New Testament economy (Matt.21:41, 43-45; 22:7;23:32-36; Acts 7:51;13:40-41), against the law of dead letters (Rom.3:20,28; 6:14;7:4,6:Gal.2:19,21; 5:4), and against the holy place, the temple (Matt.23:38 24:2; Acts 7:48). Since Paul’s ministry was to carry out God’s New Testament economy, it could not please the Jews, who were possessed and usurped by Satan, the enemy of God, and were instigated by him to oppose and ravage God’s New Testament move. Hence, it offended the Jews and was opposed to the law and the temple, for which they were zealous, and it stirred up their jealousy and hatred to the uttermost, so that they made a plot (20:3) to do away with Paul (vv.31,36).  Brought Greeks into the temple. Verse 29 explains that the crowd assumed (though it was untrue) that Paul had taken Trophimus, a Gentile, into the inner courts of the Temple, which were reserved for Jews only. This was an offense punishable by death.

Verse 31 A chiliarch, in command of one thousand troops or a cohort.

Verse 38 The Egyptian. The historian Josephus records such as event in A.D.54. The leader disappeared. The tribune jumps to the conclusion that Paul is he.

Verse 40 Aramaic, the language then used in Palestine.

Bibliography,

 King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

 Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.

  

Paul’s ministry in Greece and Asia Minor (Acts 20) By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

 Paul’s ministry in Greece and Asia Minor (Acts 20)

 By Rev.Katherine Liu Bruce

Christian Arts Ministries: Biblical precepts & Gospel music

Scriptures reading (Acts 20)

Paul arrived in Greece 20:1-6

1 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. ² He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, ³ where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. ⁴ He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. ⁶ But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

Asia Minor: Troas and the elders of Ephesus 20:7-38

⁷ On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. ⁸There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. ⁹ Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. ¹⁰Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said, “He’s alive!”¹¹ Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. ¹² The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

¹³ We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. ¹⁴ When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵ The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus.¹⁶ Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

¹⁷ From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.¹⁸ When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. ¹⁹ I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. ²⁰ You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. ²¹ I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

²² And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³ I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warms me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴ However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.

²⁵ Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. ²⁶Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷ For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. ²⁸ Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God which he bought with His own blood. 

²⁹ I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. ³¹ So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³² Now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. ³³ I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.³⁴ You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. ³⁵ In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus Himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

³⁶ When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷ They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. ³⁸ What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

 

Verse 1-4 Luke’s brevity here, a mere mention of the missionary team and a journey through Macedonia revisiting established communities, suggests that Acts could have been a much longer book. It was there that Paul wrote his second Epistle to the church in Corinth (2 Cor.2:13).

Verse 3 During that time, in Corinth, the apostle wrote his Epistle to the saints in Rome (Rom.15:22-32; Acts 19:21;20:1-3’1Cor.16:3-7). Paul had originally intended to go to Jerusalem through Syria from Achaia in Greece (19:21;1Cor.16:3-7).  Because of the Jews’ plot against him, he changed his route, going northward to Macedonian. From there he returned to Jerusalem. He knew that the Jews were plotting against him and that he would suffer because of this (v.19). Therefore, he begged the saint in Rome to pray for him concerning his return to Jerusalem (Rom.15:25-26,30-31). This might also have been the reason that he was bound in his spirit to go to Jerusalem (v.22). Eventually, after returning to Jerusalem, he was seized by the Jews (21:27-30) who sought to kill him (21:31;23:12-15).

Verse 7 On the first day of the week. This became the regular day of worship for Christians in remembrance of Christ’s resurrection of Sunday. The Lord’s Day (Rev.1:10) Paul stayed in Troas for seven days (v.6), but it was only on the first day of the week that they gathered together to break bread in remembrance of the Lord. This indicates that at that time the apostle and the church considered the first day of the week a day to meet together for the Lord.

Verse 16 Probably to meet people from different countries who came to Jerusalem on that day (21:5).

Verse 22 Paul’s regenerated spirit, in which he served God. In his spirit, a spirit joined to the Lord the Spirit (1Cor.6:17). Paul sensed beforehand that something would happen to him in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit testified this to him. (v.21).

Verse 23 Paul did not know what he would encounter in Jerusalem (v.22) but he did know one thing the Holy Spirit was solemnly testifying to him those bonds and affliction awaited him. The Holy Spirit’s testifying was only a prophecy, a foretelling, not a charge. Hence, he must not have taken it as a command but as a warning.

Verse 28 The apostles appointed the elders in every church (14:23).But here Paul, the leading one, who did the appointing said that the Holy Spirit did it, indicating that the Holy Spirit was one with the apostles in their appointing of the elders, and that the apostles did it according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. The elders of the church (v.17), proving that overseer and elder are synonymous terms denoting the same person. To make an overseer a bishop of a district to rule over the elders of various localities in that district is grossly erroneous. That is what Ignatius did. His erroneous teaching became the basis for the establishing of rank and brought in the hierarchy. The main responsibility of the elders as overseers is not to rule over but to shepherd, to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock, the church of God.

Indicating the precious love of God for the church and the preciousness, the exceeding worth, of the church in the eyes of God. Here the apostle did not touch the divine life and nature of the church as in Eph.5:23-32, but the value of the church as a treasure to God, a treasure which He acquired with His own precious blood. Paul expected that the elders as overseers would treasure the church as God did. 

Both the Holy Spirit and God’s own blood are divine provisions for the church that He treasures. The Holy Spirit is God Himself, and God’s own blood denotes God’s work. God’s redemptive work acquired the church; now God Himself, the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1Cor.15:45), cares for the church through the overseers. God’s own blood is the blood of Jesus Christ. This implies that the Lord Jesus is God.

Verse 29 The Apostle did not care for his own life, but he was very concerned for the future of the church, which was a treasure to him as well as to God.

Verse 30 The perverted ones among the believers in the church are always used by the devil, who hates the church, to draw the sheep away to form another flock.

Veres 32 The Greek word here refers to the legal inheritance of a share of an estate. To participate in God’s inheritance requires us to be sanctified, and to be sanctified requires the word of God’s grace (John 17:17).

Verse 35 or the infirm. Referring to those who were weak physically (1Cor.11:30), hence, the poor ones. This word is not recorded in the Gospels; it must have been received by oral communication. Paul reminds the elders of the church of these words of Jesus, " it is more blessed to give than to receive." The word blessed as used here means productive. Jesus was saying, it is more productive to give than to receive. Why Because only what you give can be multiplied back, not what you receive. In God's eternal law of seedtime and harvest, of giving and receiving, if you give nothing, then there is nothing to be multiplied, and nothing to be received. Jesus teaches: A rejected opportunity to give is a lost opportunity to receive! Jesus said that when you give your giving will be multiplied back to you in the same manner --"good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over." Luke 6:38) Running over. This is an extension of Malachi 3:10 in the Old Covenant, which tells us if we bring all the tithes and offerings to God, He will open the windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing where there is not room enough to contain it. The return from God to us is uncontainable in its abundance. In the New Covenant God's multiplication of our giving is running over...and in Philippians 4:19 it is inexhaustible; "But God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Giving is your seed -faith to God...multiplying a miracle harvest back is God's commitment to you. Paul reminded them of this by quoting Jesus' own words. One of the greatest things you and I as believers can do is to take our love and make it into acts of our giving... then use our faith to receive. 

 

 

Bibliography,

 King James, The Holy Bible (KJV), Cleveland, OH: The world publishing company

 Ryrie, Charles C. The Ryrie study Bible (NIV). Chicago, IL: The Moody Bible Institute, 1986

Lee, Witness. The New Testament (R.V.) Anaheim, CA: Living Stream Ministry, 1985.