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INTRODUCTION

Context

      In the previous set of Studies in Acts, we saw the apostle Paul coming back to Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey.  So far he has been used to establish and build up local churches across Asia Minor and on into Europe, but that phase of his ministry now seems to have come to an end.

 

These Studies

      In this last set of Studies in Acts we see the apostle Paul apparently being restricted at the hands of men, but in each case we will see him testify to the rulers, to:

•  the Sanhedrin (23:1-)

•  governor Felix at Caesarea (24:1-)

•  governor Festus at Caesarea (25:1-)

•  King Agrippa and Queen Bernice at Caesarea (25:23-)

•  the chief official of Malta (28:7-)

•  Jewish leaders in Rome (28:17-)

 

God's Purposes

     These last chapters of Acts were not accidental. Again and again when we read narrative passages in Scripture we should look for signs of the spiritual implications or indications. We'll recap the last part of the previous set of Studies to get the context. We'll see a prophecy coming that Paul will be handed over to the Gentiles (21:11) which confirmed the feeling the believers at Tyre had had (21:4) which was only what Paul himself already knew (20:22,23). Later in the studies we'll see the word of the Lord coming to Paul to encourage him that he is to testify in Rome (23:11), then in the middle of a storm an angel confirms God's purposes for him (27:23,24). Understand, therefore, this is not Paul going astray, but God working out His plans and purposes to use Paul to testify to top people!

 

PART 1 : In Jerusalem

     In this first Part we'll pick up the story again on the way back to Jerusalem and then follow the events surrounding Paul while he remains in Jerusalem. We'll see Paul testify to the Jerusalem crowd and then see how he speaks before the Sanhedrin.

Study No.1 : Prophecy from Agabus : Acts 21:7-16

A. Find Out:

1. With whom did they stay, where? v.8

2. Who came from where? v.10

3. What did he do? v.11a

4. What did he say? v.11b

5. What was the response of the listeners? v.12

6. But what was Paul's response? v.13

 

B. Think:

1. Read Acts 11:27,28 What do we therefore know about Agabus?

2. How do you think most of the listeners understood the word differently

     from Paul?

3. Do you think that “word” HAD to happen?

C. Comment:

     On the way home from the third missionary journey, the disciples stop off at Caesarea on the coast of Israel, for a few days. While they are there the travelling prophet, Agabus, arrived. It was he who was identified earlier in Acts as having prophesied a famine which had come about. He is clearly designated as a prophet.

     Agabus graphically prophesies that when Paul gets to Jerusalem, the Jews there will bind him and hand him over to the Gentiles (obviously the Gentile rulers - the Romans).. When the others hear this prophecy there is no doubt in their mind as to its authenticity and they plead with Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

     Paul's view of this prophecy is slightly different to theirs. He sees it as the decreed will of God and as such he is quite prepared, if necessary, to die for his faith in Jerusalem. Such is the commitment of this man. There is no question of his using this prophecy as a warning to avoid Jerusalem, he is utterly committed to his Lord and does not fear anything that might face him. He completely trusts his Lord and will not, therefore, be put off going to Jerusalem. Here is an example of a man with a fixed goal - to do his master's will, whatever it costs!

 

D. Application:

1. The others viewed this prophecy negatively. They feared.

2. Paul trusted his God and thus saw the word positively.

Study No.2 : Riot : Acts 21:27-38

A. Find Out:    

    

1. What accusation did the Jews make against Paul? v.28

2. What did they do with Paul? v.30,31a

3. What stopped this happening? v.31b,32

4. What then happened to Paul? v.33

5. What then was done with him and why? v.34

6. Who did the soldiers think he was? v.38

 

B. Think:

1. Read again 21:11 How accurately was that prophecy fulfilled?

2. Why were the Jews against Paul?

3. Why were the Romans against him?

C. Comment:

     The prophecy of Agabus is being fulfilled. Paul has been going through the seven day Jewish purification ritual and is at the temple. Some Jews from Asia Minor recognise him and denounce him as one who teaches against the Jews. A clear case of misunderstanding. They then denounce him for bringing Gentiles into the temple. That was clearly untrue, but emotional religious crowds frequently are not too concerned with truth. So worked up are they that they beat Paul desiring to kill him. Those are the lengths to which religious fervour will go. Zeal without righteousness soon becomes clear sin!

     Jerusalem was obviously in a bad way, for crowds came and joined in from all directions and a full blown riot soon ensued. This quickly comes to the attention of the Roman garrison who turn out to quell the trouble. Arriving on the scene they stop the violence and arrest Paul without further questioning. We later find out they mistakenly believe Paul to be an Egyptian revolutionary. The situation is clearly out of hand and the soldiers seek to take Paul into custody although that was difficult under the circumstances. Well it wasn't actually the Jews who bound Paul but they certainly gave him over to the Gentiles who bound him. God knew this would happen.

 

D. Application:

1. Over zealousness is not to be commended. It breeds sin.

2. Before we condemn we need to be sure of the facts.

 

Study No.3 : Paul Speaks : Acts 21:39 - 22:5

A. Find Out:

     

1. How does Paul identify himself? v.39

2. What does Paul want to do? v.39c,40

3. How does Paul address the crowd? v.1,2

4. What does Paul say about his background? v.3

5. What does he say he did? v.4

6. Who did he say can testify to that? v.5

 

B. Think:

1. Why do think the crowd listened to Paul?

2. What is Paul trying to do in these first verses of his speech?

3. How has Paul sought to use this situation for good?

C. Comment:

     Having shown the Roman commander that he is learned by speaking in Greek, Paul now shows the crowd that he is one of them by speaking in Aramaic. He addresses them as brothers and fathers, again identifying with them. Indeed the whole the first part of his speech seeks to identify with the people of Jerusalem. He wants them to listen to his whole message so he goes to some lengths to get them to identify with him and accept him.

     He tells them he is a Jew, born elsewhere but brought up in Jerusalem. He was even trained by the famous Gamaliel. He was a good Jew, fully trained in the Law, and just as zealous for God as any of them. Indeed he went even further and had been persecuting the Christians who belonged to this new sect (as the Jews saw it), throwing men and women into prison. He worked with the help of the high priest and the Sanhedrin, so they could all testify to the truth of what he is saying. In all he says here, he seeks to show his credibility in the eyes of the Jewish population. He had been just like they were, he understood what they felt and why they were acting as they were, he had been just where they were (all implied). That's how he had been, so he knew what they felt. But he has yet more to tell them.

 

D. Application:

1. We can be utterly zealous and utterly wrong! Beware!

2. Seek to identify with those to whom you share the Gospel.

Study No.4 : Paul speaks of his conversion : Acts 22:6-16

A. Find Out:

     

1. What had happened on the Damascus road? v.6

2. Who had been speaking to him? v.8

3. What effect had it had on him? v.11

4. How did he describe Ananias? v.12

5. What had Ananias done? v.13

6. What had Ananias told him? v.14,15

 

B. Think:

1. What things in Paul's story were outside his control?

2. Why do you think he described Ananias as he did?

3. Why was what Ananias did and said thus important?

C. Comment:

      Remember Paul is speaking to a devoutly Jewish crowd. He wants to tell them about his conversion but he wants to do it in the most acceptable way possible. He does it by showing a) the circumstances were out of his control and b) they involved a devout Jewish man.

     First the circumstances beyond his control: a bright light making him fall to the ground, a voice speaking to him, and finally blindness. These were all things outside himself that he had no power over; they were things imposed upon him.

     Then the devout Jew: Ananias, described as a) a devout observer of the Law and b) respected by all the Jews living there. This makes Ananias acceptable to the listeners. The fact that Ananias then “performed a healing miracle” by making Paul see, adds to his credibility. It was Ananias who told Paul the import of what had happened to him and what he was now to do. In other word, everything Paul was doing came from the instructions of a devout and respected Jew! In all of these things, so far, Paul is preparing his listeners to receive the unacceptable by seeing it all in an acceptable and valid context, a Jewish context. So far, so good.

 

D. Application:

1. Everything of Christianity came out of a Jewish context.

2. Do we share with others sensitively?

 

Study No.5 : Paul to the Gentiles : Acts 22:17-22

A. Find Out:

     

1. What had later happened to Paul? v.17

2. What had he been told? v.18

3. But what had Paul replied? v.19,20

4. Yet what had he been told? v.21

5. How did the crowd react to this? v.22

 

B. Think:

1. What was the end reaction of the crowd to what Paul was saying?

2. What was it that seemed to stir them against him?

3. How had he sought to show the validity of what he was saying?

C. Comment:

     Up until this part of Paul's speech the crowd seem to be listening attentively. They have just listened to his testimony of how he met the Lord and now he jumps on to when he eventually went to Jerusalem and there had a vision of the Lord instructing him. Again he seeks to win their approval by saying it happened when he was praying in the temple, thus showing them that he is indeed a devout Jew. Yet what he then goes on to share is not likely to win them over.

     He first mentions that God had told him to leave Jerusalem because his testimony wouldn't be received there (that was a number of years back). That might have made the crowd feel a bit defensive. Paul had struggled with this because he knew that his reputation there as a persecutor of the Christians was strong and he anticipated that people would remember that and accept him. Finally the Lord told him that He would be sending him to the Gentiles and (implied) that's why he went off on his missionary journeys.

     It is at this point that the crowd boil up again. Their views of the Gentiles was very low. They hadn't realised that God had a heart for the whole world, not just the Jewish part of it. The fact that this devout Jew should apparently be sent away from Judaism to the Gentiles was beyond them. This was virtually heresy! They revolt!

 

D. Application:

1. God loves the whole world, not just small groups within it.

2. Spiritual blindness stops us seeing the immensity of God's love.

 

Study No.6 : A Roman Citizen : Acts 22:23-29

A. Find Out:

     

1. What was happening? v.23

2. What 3 things did the Roman commander instruct? v.24

3. What did Paul ask? v.25

4. What effect did this have? v.26

5. What was the difference between the commander and Paul? v.28

6. What effect did this have? v.29

 

B. Think:

1. How was the commander shown to be hasty?

2. Why do you think he was acting like this?

3. What does this passage show about being a Roman citizen?

C. Comment:

     The riot is about to break loose again and so the army commander who had come to arrest Paul continues with the course of action he started before Paul started speaking (21:33,34) and have Paul taken into the barracks and be interrogated. To make the subject more pliable the Romans would first flog him and as they go to do this Paul, almost casually, asks if they usually flog Roman citizens without trial.

     At that moment the whole situation changes. The man in charge immediately goes and tells the commander what they are doing. They are about to offend one of Rome's most important rules - abuse a citizen without fair trial. To be a citizen of the Roman empire meant you had either to be born to a Roman citizen or you could buy the privilege, if you could afford it. Obviously the former was of greater status, and thus was Paul. The commander had bought his citizenship, and realises he could be in trouble for being so casual in the arrest, where he had nearly flogged a citizen. They draw back from beating Paul and presumably also release him from chains, although they do hold onto him over night. In all this we observe that Paul was almost reticent to rely upon his human qualifications to protect himself. It seems he would rather trust himself to the sovereignty of God.

 

D. Application:

1. We are citizens in the kingdom of God, under God's protection.

2. Can we rest in the knowledge of that, secure in God's love?

  

Study No.7 : Before the Sanhedrin : Acts 22:30 - 23:10

A. Find Out:

     

1. What happened the next day? v.30

2. What was Paul able to declare? v.1

3. What happened as a result of this? v.2

4. What was Paul's reaction? v.3

5. What did Paul obviously not realise? v.5

6. How did Paul get out of this situation? v.6-8

7. What was the outcome? v.9,10

 

B. Think:

1. What are we shown here of the power of the high priest?

2. What is shown about the Sanhedrin in general?

3. Why did the army commander intervene?

C. Comment:

     Because the army commander has been thwarted in his interrogation of Paul he decides to send him before the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, made up of many senior religious figures, to see if they can bring out the truth.

     Paul declared his absolute innocence and for this he is slapped across the face at the instigation of the high priest, a thoroughly unpleasant individual who is clearly not bothered about abusing his power and breaking the rules. Presumably he knows all about Paul and knows his belief in Jesus, and therefore takes Paul's statement as a blasphemous lie. He is unwarranted in having Paul struck. Paul reacts angrily at this abuse of justice but calms as soon as he realises who the high priest was.

     As Paul looks at the Sanhedrin, he realises that some are Pharisees and some are Sadducees, in other words that it was made up of people with differing religious beliefs. Paul plays on this difference and the result is mayhem! Again! These are supposed to be leaders of the nation and yet they are provoked into division by belief. The army commander has no option but to take Paul out of this - again!

 

D. Application:

1. Unrighteous religious belief can be divisive.

2. Power is to be used justly and not abused.

 

Study No.8 : Conspiracy & Warning : Acts 23:11-22

A. Find Out:

     

1. What did the Lord tell Paul the next night? v.11

2. What happened the next morning? v.12-14

3. How did they plan to do it? v.15

4. But who heard about it and told Paul? v.16

5. So what then happened? v.17-21

6. What did the commander instruct? v.22

 

B. Think:

1. Who were involved in the plot to kill Paul?

2. What does that say about the state of Judaism at that time?

3. What effect would the Lord's word to Paul have on him in the light of all

     that followed?

C. Comment:

     In the night the Lord speaks to Paul and encourages him that in the same way that he has had to testify in Jerusalem, he was also to testify in Rome. Now such a word as this must have various effects. First, simply the presence of the Lord speaking is comforting. The Lord's presence when He speaks is always comforting. Second, this word confirms that all that is happening is under the overall will of the Lord and Paul is not to be fearful of the course of events. Third, when the following events become apparent, such a word can bring comfort to Paul in that, although his life is going to be threatened here, it will not be ended here. God has spoken, so he's not going to die yet!

     Then we have the plot. A large group of zealous Jews plan to kill Paul. What is worse they involve the spiritual leaders who join in and become part of it. Whether or not they feel Paul is guilty of blasphemy is not the point here. The point is that they have not given Paul the chance to be tried properly, and when he did come before them as a Council, they did not come to a decision, so this activity is completely illegal. However the word slips out and counter actions are going to be taken. Paul will remain safe - because God has said so!

 

D. Application:

1. When God speaks to us personally, it is always comforting.

2. He may correct us but His loving presence is always comforting.

 

Study No.9 : To Caesarea : Acts 23:23-35

A. Find Out:

     

1. What precautions did the commander provide? v.23,24

2. What did he also do? v.25,26

3. Why did he say he had rescued Paul? v.27

4. What was his conclusion about Paul? v.29

5. So why was he sending Paul? v.30

6. What did the governor check? v.34

 

B. Think:

1. What indications are there that the commander took the threat to Paul's

     life seriously?

2. What seems to be the purpose of sending him?

3. What seems to be Felix's response?

C. Comment:

     Felix ruled as provincial governor of Judea from the provincial capital, Caesarea, so the army commander in Jerusalem decides that if there is a case to be answered, it should be before the local governor. This is now the fourth time this commander has rescued Paul (21:32,33, 22:23,24, 23:10, 23:23-) and thus we see the Roman sense of justice and law-keeping at work, to protect Paul.

     The army commander writes to Felix, telling how he has rescued Paul, acknowledging him to be a Roman citizen who should receive the proper protection of the Roman law, declaring he could find no cause for either death or imprisonment (this is the first of a number of occasions where Paul will be declared innocent), telling of the plot to kill Paul and also of the arrangements he has made for the accusers to come to Caesarea to present their case before Felix.

     When Paul is delivered to Felix, Felix reads the letter and checks that Paul comes from his administrative area, so that he knows he is under his jurisdiction. Paul is able to confirm this - we know he had been brought up in Jerusalem (22:3) and his family was still there (23:16). Now we have to wait for the case to proceed.

 

D. Application:

1. The Roman law protected Paul. The righteous need not fear the law.

2. The law declared Paul innocent, but he still has to stand trial.

 

RECAP No.1  "In Jerusalem"  Acts 21-23

SUMMARY :  

      

In this first group of 9 studies we have seen :

- Agabus prophesying what would happen in Jerusalem

- A riot at the temple over Paul who is arrested

- Paul addressing the crowd outside the barracks

- Paul before the Sanhedrin

- A death conspiracy against Paul

- Paul being taken to Caesarea

 

COMMENT :

      In these tumultuous passages the temptation is to only see the events which could be construed at being completely out of control, Paul getting swept along by a tide of events beyond him. Yet twice in these readings we have seen the word of the Lord coming, first to warn Paul what would happen at Jerusalem and then to say that he would also testify in Rome. Of course Paul could have completely avoided Jerusalem and avoided that outcome, but he was sold out to the purpose of God and saw it as further opportunity to testify to what God had done in Jesus, and through his ministry.

 

LESSONS?

1. Prophecy doesn't make things happen, it simply warns or informs.

2. Zeal can be unrighteous and lead to sin.

3. We should not condemn without the full facts.

4. Spiritual blindness is often a characteristic of religious people.

5. God loves all people groupings, not just some.

6. The Lord knows all that is going to happen.

 

PRAY :

      Thank the Lord that even though at times events seem out of our control, they are not out of His!

 

PART 2 : "Before Rulers"

     In this next Part, watch and see how many rulers Paul is able to testify before. Watch and see how he speaks to the various rulers and see their reactions to him. Remember, they may not be very receptive but at least they have heard first hand. They have no excuses now.