Chris Sales - Paul's Enemies and Friends - Class 3 - Worldly Friends

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1. 0:00

   This is the day three of the 2023 Palm Springs Bible School. Our second period teacher is Brother Chris Sales. His general subject is Paul's enemies and friends. Today's topic is worldly friends. Well, good morning, everyone. Thanks for that.

2. 0:24

   So this one might be a bit tricky. Okay, we've been going back and forth between enemies and allies. And we looked at his Christian friends in class one. You know, those in the ecclesia that were his friends. And then yesterday we looked at those that were in the ecclesia that were enemies. And the challenges that that produces.

3. 0:48

   So the next two sessions, we're going back to friends today and then enemies tomorrow. And sort of on the periphery, some definitely, you know, not in the truth. As we'll see today. And some, you know, they may be in the truth, but their experiences are coming from the world as we would see it.

4. 1:11

   So I kind of got it in quotes there. So we'll see how this goes. It's, it'll be a little bit different than we've looked at before. So, I don't know, this brainstorm might be a little bit trickier. We'll see how it goes. You know, who are the worldly or non-religious friends of Paul?

5. 1:32

   And again, maybe friends could be in inverted commas as well. Okay, associates, colleagues. You know, let's kind of expand our thinking that way. Can we think of any, do any come to mind? And you may not know their name. So it might be like a category or a type of person.

6. 1:51

   Gamaliel. I hadn't thought of that one. That's a good one. He was definitely a mentor, an instructor. Yes. And what relation did they have after his conversion? We're not sure.

7. 2:02

   Centurions. We'll definitely, the whole, the second half of the thing is centurions and chief captains. Felix. Okay, we're going to very briefly talk about like Felix and Agrippa and Festus. Yeah, maybe not friends, but there's something going on there. Like cent for him, the oftener and, you know, kind of a, yeah, that's, there's some interesting things there.

8. 2:22

   Okay, this is good. Prison guards. Ships captains. Ships captains. We're going to finish today as ships captains. Good. Okay, excellent. I'm impressed. I really, you've got way more. I just had other officials. You've done better than I did in my brainstorm. Storm. So, so that's excellent. Now, just before we get into this, I want to make this really, really clear.

9. 2:42

   It's really important for you to, I wanted to, this is going to be like a slide I kind of concluded with. And I thought to myself, why would I conclude with this? Let's get this straight. Okay. It's very clear that James in chapter four, verse four says, don't you know that friendship of the world is enmity with God?

10. 2:59

    Okay. Whosoever therefore be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. That's pretty strong language. Okay. So we're not talking about that. We're not suggesting that Paul had a double life. That he had all these friends that he, you know, cavorted around with. And, you know, that's not what we're looking at.

11. 3:14

    Okay. It's more these kind of passages. These ones came to my mind. Colossians four, verse five. Walk in wisdom towards them that are without redeeming the time. We have to interact with people that aren't Christadelphian. Okay. Or believers. And we need to walk in wisdom. And we're going to see that with Paul, I think.

12. 3:34

    You know, those that he had to interact with. Sometimes there was, he had to apply himself unto wisdom. For example, when does he use the citizenship card and when doesn't he? Okay. This is important. And then this other one I thought of, this is in the, this is a first Timothy three, verse seven in the context of, of, um, elders, servants in the ecclesia.

13. 3:56

    It says he must have a good report of them that are without. Okay. Lest he fall into reproach and snare of the devil. So there's, there's some, some ideas. This is what we're talking about today. Hopefully this is, this will guide us in our thoughts that we're looking at. You know, how do we interact with those that don't share the same beliefs with us, but we must interact with.

14. 4:18

    We need to walk wisely and, and have a good report. Okay. Now, now that's not to say we appease them and they're always going to be happy with what we say or with what we do. Okay. But they at least able to have a good report. You know, we can't be like so irritating to them and aggravating that they're, you know, they're not happy with us for, for those reasons.

15. 4:39

    Now, if we say the things that are the truth and that gets us into trouble, that's a different category. Okay. But we're not talking about this. We're not talking about, you know, compromising our beliefs just so that we can have friends in the world. That's not what we're talking about today. Okay. So let's get our Bibles open and we're going to start in Acts chapter 17.

16. 5:06

    And we're, we're familiar, hopefully that again, this is, we're not trying to follow the life of, of Paul and his missionary journeys, but here we are as a second missionary journey. He's over here. He's gone. Remember we said yesterday he's gone into Europe. Okay. And let's just start reading at the beginning of, of Acts 17.

17. 5:23

    Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where it was a synagogue of the Jews, little aside, notice their change of pronouns here when they passed through Apollonia. So, so Luke must've stayed behind in Philippi. This is a suggestion because we know Luke, Luke is writing this. So that's an interesting little study on the side.

18. 5:45

    Paul, as his manner was, went unto them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scripture. So his, his idea was always to go to the synagogue and, and start there opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, risen again from the dead. And this is Jesus whom I preach unto you as Christ.

19. 6:01

    Okay. So this, it's really, we get insight into his, his, um, preaching style, his message, his methods. He always started in the ecclesias. Even in these, these, um, you know, foreign countries, there was, there was an ecclesia, not everywhere, which is also interesting. There's places like in Philippi, there was no ecclesia. He had to go to the place where the women went to pray.

20. 6:21

    Oh, why is that? That's interesting. So watch for those things. And then you have this verse four. And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude and of the chief women, not a few. Now we've got some believers here. Some of them believed and, and interacted with him.

21. 6:44

    And obviously some didn't believe, but I just want you to highlight here, chief women, like this is interesting. Often we, and we saw for brother Kitson's class the other night that, you know, in, in third world countries, sometimes we get a more, um, they appreciate the gospel more because they see what it offers.

22. 7:03

    But here we've got some chief women of the region who are responding to the gospel message. Um, of course the very next verse, the Jews, which believe not verse five of chapter 17 moved with envy and, you know, caused an uproar. And that's who we're going to look at tomorrow. Okay. Those that didn't believe and cause trouble.

23. 7:23

    Those were his, his enemies, but he had some friends. Okay. We might say friends in high places. It would seem, um, we come down to, to verse 10 and of course they have to flee from Thessalonica to Berea. Okay. Um, just, just keep, um, some, uh, a marker or something there and come over to first Corinthians chapter one.

24. 7:47

    Um, and, and I hope, I hope in all, all my classes, uh, that there's, you know, I'm, I'm presenting some ideas that may be food for thought. And it may be that you go off in your own mind on a tangent. And, and I think that's fine. You know, if you're, if, if these things you're thinking, oh, this relates to me or what about this?

25. 8:07

    And I think that's great. And we, then we share those things together. Um, after that's one of the great things about Bible school, right? Is the discussion to take place around the table or, you know, around the making of the puzzle or, you know, whatever it is that you're doing. So, so this verse has always stood out to me.

26. 8:22

    First Corinthians chapter one and verse 26. This is all about, you know, the, the foolishness of, of, of man, the wisdom of man and, and, and all these things and, and, and the juxtaposition of the, of those things. And, but this, for, let's just go to verse 26 here. You see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise.

27. 8:49

    God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty and so on. The word that I want you to think about at this time is after you're calling not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty. It means there is some, there are some, and perhaps you know, some, you know, you know, that, that, that are successful to a very high degree in whatever field they're in.

28. 9:13

    So here, well, just in that previous one there, you know, there were, there were chief women that came and here in Berea, I'm just going to scroll this down a little bit.

29. 9:23

    You know, many of them that believe also honorable women, which are of the Greeks and of men, not a few. So the gospel did appeal and these, some of them came into the truth and they brought that worldly experience. And I think we can think of perhaps brethren and sisters in our community today.

30. 9:42

    You know, there, there, there's not many of us who are in these positions of influence, but how do we, how do we navigate through that? You know, how do they manage the success in their lives now that they've come into the truth? Just, just kind of let that percolate in your mind as we go through this.

31. 9:59

    So he's come from, from Thessalonica to Berea and they go to the Jews. Quick little aside here, verse 11. Sometimes this is maybe the only verse we look at in this chapter. I think it's probably the most off quoted one, right? He's gone into the synagogue. These were known more noble than those in Thessalonica and that they received the word with readiness of mind and search the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

32. 10:27

    Okay. Who were these people? Well, some of them were the honorable Greeks that believed the women. And it's, it's many of them believed. There are some people in this category in verse 11 that, that didn't become believers. This verse 11 here is not the ecclesia. I mean, it's, it's great. It's, I mean, this, we use this all the time, right?

33. 10:50

    And I learn to read the Bible effectively. And so on. Yeah. We got to search the scriptures daily. And we say something like, if, if, if you're like me, we say something like, you know, they were questioning Paul. Paul had the spirit guide word. And Paul said, blah, blah, blah. And they're like, oh, that's very interesting, Paul.

34. 11:05

    What does the Bible say about that? Right? We, we use in that way. These people at this point, when they're in verse 11 are not believers yet. So just keep that in mind. Okay. Okay. So when in our appeal to people and our preaching efforts, these are the people, my experience, these are the people that do come into the truth.

35. 11:23

    Right? Cause they're searching the scripture and they don't care what the pastor said or what their, maybe even what their parents believed. There's a searching and a seeking and a desire to know truth. Those are the ones that respond, I think. Like, but they've, they, they kind of come to the table with that motivation, with that appreciation.

36. 11:43

    All right. And then there's a bunch of people that are like, well, that's really interesting what you say about doctrine X, whatever it is you think, want to think about. But you know, that's, that's not the way I was brought up or that's not what my church says, or, you know, it's not what I've, and they, and they walk away.

37. 12:00

    Right? Like the seed that's scattered on the wayside. Okay. So just a little aside there. So here's some people hit there and notice again, and we're going to see these people tomorrow, but when the Jews were to Thessalonica, so they come from Thessalonica and they're chasing Paul and they're driving them from place to place.

38. 12:19

    And of course they have to escape. He has to escape from, from Berea and he comes down here to Athens where those are going next. And I thought about this. Maybe some of these people who were believers had some influence and helped Paul. Like, how did he get out of there? You know, we know it was by the hand of God.

39. 12:39

    Obviously we understand that. We believe that God is, is working in our lives day by day. And, and, and, but you know, how do those things come about? How was it that Paul was able to escape? You know, sometimes it's lighting over the, the wall, uh, down by a basket out of Damascus.

40. 12:55

    Well, who had that place on the wall? You know, here, we don't know how he got from Berea to Athens. It's quite a trip. How was that orchestrated? Was he kind of snuck out? You know, was it, was there a wealthy merchant involved who, you know, Paul was in, in, in amongst the, the goods, you know, like, did they have to like get the, get them out of the city and kind of, well, the official kind of, oh, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

41. 13:16

    Let's get them out of there. Like, how did that happen? We need people like that, you know, and perhaps you can think of stories and it would be good. Actually, it'd be interesting for you to share maybe some experiences of, of brothers or sisters in high places who use their influence for the furtherance of the truth.

42. 13:33

    I think that's kind of where I'm going in this first half of this, of this class today. That's what I mean by worldly friends. Some were believers. We're going to see some were not. And yet they still helped Paul. I find that, I find that incredible. So that was in Berea. And then he comes to, he comes to Athens.

43. 13:52

    Okay. Continuing on here in chapter 17. So he has to flee from Berea. He's got to come down to Athens. So immediately the brethren send Paul away to go as it were by sea. Okay. To go as it were by sea. So there's a little bit of overland here, a little bit of sea.

44. 14:06

    Maybe, you know, there's a bit of diversions going on here because the Jews are chasing him. Right. He's, he's fleeing for his life. And they, the conducted Paul brought him to Athens. Well, who's the they? Maybe some of the honorable women or the honorable men who had, had, had influence. And he had to flee so quickly that Silas and Timothy were, were safe.

45. 14:27

    They weren't under threat. But he said, look, come, come and come catch up to me, please. I need you. And he comes to Athens and it says, his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city was wholly given to idolatry. So we're familiar with, with this section here. So he's on Mars Hill and this is apparently Mars Hill today.

46. 14:48

    I've had friends that have gone there and they say, it's, you know, it's very moving to stand there and, and read Paul's speech. Like, I'm only imagining what it might have been like. And there's an artist's rendition of what it might have been like.

47. 15:02

    And because, and of course, and we got the whole, we got the whole speech. We're just going to jump in at the conclusion here. You know, it's the, the altar to the unknown God. And, and I think one of the things we can take from Paul is, you know, he, he found every opportunity to, to preach, didn't he?

48. 15:16

    Okay. So it's, oh, you know, let me tell you about that unknown God. You know, I happen to, I happen to know him. And he, and he has this, he has this great speech.

49. 15:26

    And I want you to think about it. If you could imagine, this is a classic sort of open air preaching kind of thing. My father-in-law and his brother Ron Abel were known for their open air preaching, right? So imagine if you could script, script a campaign. Okay. You're going to go back from your, from a level school here.

50. 15:42

    Our ecclesia is going to, going to have a, an open air campaign. You know, who should we get to do the talk? What's, what's the, what's the theme going to be? Do you think you could pull something off better than this? Like, think about it. You know, they're there listening to him. You've got the apostle Paul.

51. 15:59

    And I mean, it would be fun to read through it. We're not going to take the time, but like, what a speech. He starts with an altar to the unknown God. And he ends up teaching them about God, the one who they're, you know, don't even know about and bringing them right to Jesus, right?

52. 16:17

    And he's wrapping it up because he's appointed a day in which he, God, this unknown God that you don't know about, he's the one who made everything by the way. All right. And he's going to judge the world in righteousness by that man, which he's ordained, wherever he has a given assurance unto him.

53. 16:34

    You want proof that this is the God and there's only one God? He raised him from the dead. He raised Jesus from the dead. I mean, just, can you imagine Paul and his enthusiasm? You think brother Kitson is, is, you know, enthusiastic in his participation, in his presentation. You know, can you imagine Paul at this point?

54. 16:51

    And what happened? What happened? How successful was that preaching campaign? They're like, oh, it's really interesting, Paul, but like, you're nuts. What are you talking about there? Like the resurrection of the dead? Some mocked, like outright, like you've lost it. And some were more polite. We'll hear, well, maybe we'll talk to you later.

55. 17:18

    Which is just a polite way of saying, I'm never going to talk to you again. Right? Okay. But, you know, there's a passage, just make a note of, if you're making notes, Zechariah 4 verse 10, you know, they're back there, they're rebuilding the walls. And some are looking at the temple and they're remembering Solomon's temple and going, this is like pitiful.

56. 17:42

    Now there's like, we're building the temple. This is awesome. And the encouragement of Zechariah was don't despise the day of small things. Right? Don't be discouraged. And Paul couldn't have been discouraged. And he had this little, little token, right? They departed from Paul and Paul had to leave. It says, but how be it certain men claved unto him and believed.

57. 18:03

    And there's this Dionysus, the Ariacobite, you know, some sort of official from the area and a woman named Damaris and others, just a small, just, there was just some. And it was, it was maybe a day of small things, despite this amazing open air preaching effort. There's a few people that, that, that, that, that follow along.

58. 18:25

    And, and again, there must've been some officials. I'm not sure who Dionysus was, but he, but he believed that the word impressed him. So, so don't be discouraged in, in the day of, of small things. I think we can, we can take encouragement from that. And, and, and I'm sure Paul did as well.

59. 18:46

    So the, the, the, the, the preaching efforts continued and let's, let's turn over and let's pick it up in, in chapter 19. We're going to spend quite a bit of time tomorrow in chapter 19 because one of his main opponents is in here in Ephesus. Ephesus.

60. 19:05

    So we'll, we'll just go, I'm going to rely on your knowledge of the events in Ephesus. Do you remember how it all went down? And, you know, this, this, they're in Ephesus there. Let's just pick it up. I mean, they're there for two years in verse 10. It says, though, that all the world knew this was a successful campaign, right?

61. 19:23

    So it goes from here and the gospel message is spreading. And verse 20, so mightily grew the word of God and prevailed. And, and what came, what happened was this man, Demetrius came along and it got to the point here. Now he's in, in Ephesus. The whole city was filled with confusion and they caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel.

62. 19:49

    They rushed with one accord into the theater. Of course, they're all chanting, you know, great is God, a dynasty of the, of the Ephesians, or Artemis, as some of your versions might have.

63. 19:59

    And, and Paul's like, I gotta go help those guys, right? He felt, he felt responsible for them. This, this Gaius and Aristarchus, men that had come along with him and now their kind of life is in jeopardy. And the disciples suffered him not. You can imagine, right? You can imagine that, that his, his friends, his, the other disciples were like, no, no way, Paul, we can't, can't afford to, to lose you.

64. 20:22

    Okay. Okay. But then this next verse jumped out at me. Certain of the chief of Asia, which were his friends sent unto him, desiring him that he would not adventure himself into the theater. Hmm. Who are these people?

65. 20:41

    You know, were they also disciples? It seems to be different, right? But they were chief of Asia. They had influence. They, they had, they had strings they could pull. And, and somehow Paul was, you know, extricated from that, from that situation. They could have gone quite poorly.

66. 21:01

    You know, how, how, how is this riot? How is this potential riot diffused? Well, the, the, the, the, the, the steward of the city, as it were, how's, how's he described here? Um, the town clerk has in the King James verse 35, when the town clerk had appeased the people and he gives this spiel.

67. 21:23

    And he says, look, you know, look, there's no issue that we all know Diana is, is a great God. And, you know, Paul's saying some other stuff. If Demetrius got a concern, there's a lawful way to, to do this. And he, he diffuses the situation, doesn't he? Was he one of these? You know, did he have some sympathy towards Paul and realizing that the situation Paul was in was, was not right?

68. 21:44

    You know, he doesn't come across. I don't think he was a believer. Or did some of these chief of Asia, which really were worried about Paul, did they have some strings they could pull to get to the town clerk and say, look, you gotta, you gotta calm this thing. We're going to be in big trouble.

69. 22:00

    Like if there's a riot that takes place and people are killed, like that, that's going to be on us. That's going to be on you. You know, what did they do to help that situation? Um, I think it's worth, I think it's worth thinking about, you know, there's an interesting passage. Again, just keep a finger there.

70. 22:16

    It's, it's over in, in first Timothy chapter two. And of course we know Timothy was at Ephesus, right? He was the, he was the, um, the, the elder there, even as a young person, he was there to, to, to help the flock. And in first Timothy chapter two and verse two, well, verse one, we'll start verse one.

71. 22:37

    So it's Paul writing to Timothy at Ephesus, at, to the place where this went down. He says, I exhort therefore that first of all, supplications, prayers, interstabbing, recessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for Kings, and for all that are in authority. Maybe some of these people that helped Paul, he's now thinking about, and he's saying, we need to pray for those people.

72. 23:01

    Be thankful that they're there. It's like, you remember that town's clerk guy? That was getting bad. And he, he calmed the group down. He, he calmed the mob down and got them all to go back to their homes. Why? That we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.

73. 23:19

    It's like, there's something for us to think about there. You know? Some have said that, you know, Christadelphians for not being involved in politics are sometimes the most political people. You know, we got opinion on everything. You know, this party, that party, this leader, that leader. And we just got to be careful with that.

74. 23:37

    Okay? And, and, and remember some of these things that, that Paul has, has written to us about. So, so who are, who are these people? You know, what's the lesson for us? Just hold that thought for now. We will revisit at the end. But, but again, you know, are there individuals in our midst that, that, that we can, can use these, these connections.

75. 23:58

    And there's really two things to, to help the brethren. Right? It's not for, it's not for personal gain. It's to help others. And it's for preaching the truth. You know, friends in high places, as it were. And I was talking to, to brother Jeff on, when he was bringing this up here. And, and, you know, he knows a brother who's extremely wealthy and, and has lots of pull.

76. 24:22

    And, and uses that. They hold Bible schools in, in, in the Orient. Um, where it's not, they're not allowed to. And he uses his connections to make sure the brethren and sisters are safe. And, and if, you know, and, and, and get them in and out of places. That, that's an appropriate use of, you know, he's also a brother, but he, he must know people.

77. 24:42

    You know, and they, they tip him off if the, if the authorities have been alerted. This, this is, this is cool. Not many wise and not many mighty and not many noble are called, but we do have some. We have a brother in Canada who, um, at one point was really good friends with the governor general of Canada.

78. 24:57

    And we had refugees coming in from Syria. Uh, in, in that, you know, not the most recent refugee crisis, the previous one. And he had to be careful. He didn't want to take advantage of his friend. Right? That wouldn't be like, he had to walk that fine line. But he, he had a connection to someone in the highest places in government.

79. 25:15

    And they were able to help out some brothers and sisters getting into Canada. You know, I think that's, that's kind of what we're looking at here. And, um, it's not been my experience. Um, but I think each of us, you know, whatever sphere we're in, um, you know, how can we use our influence in, in a positive way, uh, to help the brotherhood and to, and to help the preaching.

80. 25:37

    So we'll turn the page a little bit and we'll think about, uh, centurions and chief captains. And I just, I just grabbed this from, um, again, Encyclopedia Britannica.

81. 25:48

    Just to get some insights, uh, into, uh, into centurions and chief captains. It says, most centurions were of the, uh, plebeian origin, plebeian, plebeian, origin, and were promoted from the ranks of the common soldiers. They formed the backbone of the legion and were responsible for enforcing discipline. They received much higher pay than a, and a greater share of the spoils than did common soldiers.

82. 26:10

    The centurion in the inventory was chosen for his size, strength, and dexterity in throwing his missile weapons. And for his skill in the use of his sword and shield. I'm not even sure what the equivalent would be today. These were not, uh, these were tough men, right? They had to come up through the ranks.

83. 26:32

    Just a quick little brainstorm. We haven't had a whole lot today. Centurions in scripture outside of the life of Paul. Paul. Name some. Sorry? In Capernaum. Okay. Cornelius. Yep. Any other centurions? We know him by name. And, and what do we know about him? He, he prayed to God. He gave alms. He was kind.

84. 26:53

    It's a centurion. The one of these guys. Right. Right. Okay. Oh, that's right. The centurion that, that sent message to Jesus to come and heal a servant that was deal, dear to him. And what did that guy say? That centurion?

85. 27:13

    Don't come into my house. I'm not worthy for you to come into my house. You don't have to actually be there physically. Just say it. I say stuff and things happen. How much more are you, Lord? Jesus was like, wow, this guy is like put the pieces of the puzzle together. That's one of these guys.

86. 27:27

    Okay. Have we got any others? The foot of the cross. And what did he say? So just keep that in mind. And, and I don't know why I've, can I want to think of an example of a, an evil or bad centurion?

87. 27:48

    So keep that in mind. Anyway. So this is interesting. You know, they were, they were warriors first and foremost, but here it's interesting. You know, expertise and exercises, vigilant, temperate. That's interesting. I think we're going to see some temperance in the life of Paul and his interaction with centurions. Strict in exercising, executing orders, had to do what they were told.

88. 28:12

    Make sure that the rank and file were in good, in good condition. They had to be at least 30 years of age. They had to be literate. Okay. Because they, there was sending and receiving of messages. So they were smart as well as being warriors. That had letters of recommendation. You know, there was a process to go through.

89. 28:31

    Several years of military service, commander, and so on. They had to keep the morale and peace and inspire their men in battle. So these are the men that we're, we're going to be looking at. So let's go over to chapter 21. This is where we left off yesterday. And chapter 21, you'll remember that things didn't go well with the little plan in the temple.

90. 28:58

    And Paul was taken violently. And he was about to be killed. Let's, let's not, let's not miss that point. Okay. Let's pick it up in verse 30 of chapter 21. All the city was moved because of this false accusation that he was trying to cause sacrilege in the temple.

91. 29:21

    The people ran together. They took Paul and drew him out of the temple and the doors were shut. And as they went about to kill him. Okay. So that was the intent. This is, this is the Jews that are so incensed at Paul that they're going to kill him.

92. 29:42

    Tidings came to the chief captain of the band. Well, that's interesting. I wonder how that happened, right? This is the hand of God. He heard just in time.

93. 29:52

    Who immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down into them. And when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. A couple of things to think about here.

94. 30:04

    He didn't have to really do anything. Not right away. Right? Well, now we're talking about a chief captain here with some centurions. I'm kind of lumping them together. What did that chief chief captain think was going on in that mob that was going on in Jerusalem? What, what did he assume was happening?

95. 30:22

    Sorry? Sure. Maybe argument about Jewish law. He's going to find out later that he can't, he can't even process it because he doesn't understand the implications. Jerry?

96. 30:40

    He thought something. Yeah. He thought, well, that, that, that Egyptian guy, like one of those, remember that Gamaliel told about, there's all kinds of guys who led rebellions and the way to, to, to handle those or to have the leader killed. And then hopefully the thing just dissipates. So why did he intervene?

97. 30:57

    He must've been a little, maybe differently. There's a sense of, I think a sense of fairness or there's something more there. You know, he could have just left that go and kind of cleaned up the mess later, but he didn't. He went and intervened and he grabs Paul, leads him into the castle.

98. 31:15

    And they have this conversation, you know, he's going to whisk them away. And, and, and Paul says, um, I, can I speak to the people? And I was like, what? He's surprised, first of all, that he can speak Greek. Aren't you the Egyptian, you know, which made an uproar and led people out into the wilderness, 4,000 men that were murderers.

99. 31:33

    Like that's what he thought Paul was. And yet he still chose to intervene because he wanted to kind of get at the heart of the matter. There's, there's a sense of, of fairness and, and so on there with this, with this man. And he says, no, I'm a Jew of Tarshish. He hasn't used the, the Roman card yet.

100. 31:50

     That's coming later. And he gave him license. This guy's like, okay, these people are about to kill you. And now you want to talk to them. Okay. But see how, how Paul is using, he knew the man could give him that authority. And, and you see the, the reason Paul intervenes here is because he wants to speak to the people.

101. 32:12

     Isn't that interesting? If, if that was me, I'm like, I'm with, I'm with the, the chief captain, get me out of here. Right. These people are literally going to kill him. So that's interesting there as well. So we get into chapter 22. And again, we won't, we won't go through all the details here.

102. 32:32

     Um, just, I'm going to just look at, look at the repetition of phrases here from verse 24 to verse, verse 29. Cause he speaks to the people and they, you know, they end up in the end, they're like, you know, away with him, away with him, which is Paul must've interested. I just see that in verse, uh, where was that?

103. 32:53

     Um, you know, they're, they're calling for his, you know, verse, it's actually verse 21, verse 36, you know, away with him. Um, then he, then he speaks to them and, uh, it, it, it goes nowhere. They, verse 23 of chapter 22, they, they throw their dust in the air and take, rip off their clothes and, you know, are causing a commotion.

104. 33:11

     So the chief captain says, okay, I gotta get to the, I gotta get to the bottom of this. And he's, he, he says to a centurion, look, um, you know, take this guy and like beat him till you find out what's going on. Cause I know he says he's not the Egyptian. He says he's a Jew, but like, this is just crazy.

105. 33:24

     Whatever's going on here. He's just inciting these people to like, you know, mob, mob like scenes. So find out what's going on. Um, Paul at this point tested the centurion. Should you be beating Romans? Cause I want a Roman. You're a Roman. Okay. So Paul hasn't mentioned that up to this point. That's a whole nother study.

106. 33:42

     And if you want to have lots of great discussion around your tables and wherever about why and when he uses this, you know, um, Roman citizens card. And they have an interesting discussion. The centurion hears it. He tells the chief captain, the chief captain comes, they have this discussion. And there's all this interaction with these high officials, the centurion and the chief captain who's even above him.

107. 34:05

     Interesting to find out that this chief captain says, I paid a lot of money to get my citizenship. Paul's like, I was born free. You know, wow. You know, so there's, there's, there's some, some mutual respect and things going on here. Um, the chief captain, of course, is afraid at that point. He didn't go through with the beating, but the very fact, even that he apprehended him.

108. 34:25

     Um, so there's, there's some interesting, um, dynamics here in this, in this relationship. And so he, he, um, he loses it from, from his bands. And, and, and the, and the story goes on here in, in Genesis or sorry, in, in Acts 22. And, uh, then we come to chapter 23 and 40 Jews make a vow that they're going to eat nothing until they kill Paul.

109. 34:52

     So Paul's now in the hands of the Roman authorities. And, and I think Paul eventually understood this, but, but certainly the Lord knew that that was the safest place for him to be, was in the, in the authorities, you know? Um, so the, the plan for the Jews is they make this vow and they say to their leaders, well, just go talk to the chief captain, get him to transport Paul from point A to point B under the guise that you want to ask more questions of Paul.

110. 35:21

     And while he's in transit, we're going to kill him. That's the plan. Okay. Why didn't their plan succeed? Well, because God had another plan. Absolutely. But, and what means did God use to circumvent their plan?

111. 35:43

     Somebody heard about the plot. Paul's sister's son. Who's that guy? I don't think he's a believer, but he's sympathetic to the cause of Paul. Maybe the family connection was enough. I was thinking of, of, um, you know, Mordecai who just happened over here, the plot against the King's life, you know, right place, right time.

112. 36:05

     Do we see the hand of the Lord working in our lives in that way? You know, I don't know if you're, if you're like me, you know, you pray, you know, Lord, please direct my steps, you know, open doors or closed doors. But what does that look like in reality? Sometimes it's just an overheard conversation that's passed on to you.

113. 36:22

     The Lord works through our friends and maybe sometimes our enemies to direct our steps. So, um, Paul's sister's son, here's the plot. He tells Paul, Paul tells the centurion, the centurion tells the chief captain, the chief captain takes the time to listen. Like, again, why does he care? There's something, there's something about Paul's demeanor.

114. 36:43

     I'm sure he's like, I haven't seen a prisoner like this guy. You know, they obviously hate him. The mob hates him, but he doesn't seem all that bad of a guy. He seems kind of reasonable. There's something about his demeanor that, that, that causes the chief captain to take the time to listen.

115. 37:04

     And, and then the chief captain is so concerned. He says, it calls him a lad. We don't know how old he was. He's, he's in, he's in, maybe he was just standing on by a door as kind of, you know, an official of Somar. He hears this plot. Like he's, he's in the right place at the right time.

116. 37:17

     And the chief captain says, okay, that's great. Slip out the back door and don't tell anyone you talk to me. Like this is a, this is a guy of, of authority who probably in other situations would slit a guy's throat without even thinking twice. Right. I mean, he's, he's a proven warrior, you know?

117. 37:34

     Um, so interesting, interesting. Um, and, and he, he seems to be concerned about, about Paul. How do we know that he, he seemed to be concerned about Paul?

118. 37:49

     He gets about, I did some calculations, like 472 soldiers and horsemen and spear throwers to protect him. Is that an indication of how serious this situation was? I mean, wasn't one centurion enough? All right. And they leave in like the middle of the night. So it's just interesting. He took, he went to this level of, of, he cared about Paul that much.

119. 38:14

     Actually, he says, look, conduct Paul safely to Caesarea. I'm giving you a commission. You make sure he makes it to Caesarea. This is interesting. This is Paul. These aren't believers. These are like men of the world, but there's something about Paul and his demeanor. Um, that's, that's just impelling them to, to do this.

120. 38:34

     So we know the story goes up to Caesarea and we don't have time to go through. We can talk about Felix. We can talk about Festus and Agrippa. You know, Paul had been told from, from the Lord through Ananias that you're going to witness before Kings. Okay. And, and perhaps some of us have had that opportunity, you know, for me, it would be something like the most would be having to, um, um, explain my behavior as a teacher in my school to my principal.

121. 39:02

     Right. Like, why are you wearing that tie that has a, you know, a cross on it or whatever? You know, I've had those kind of, you know, with the principal of a school, you have to explain yourself. There's one story. Um, my school was doing, um, they did a musical every other year and they did Joseph and the amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

122. 39:21

     You know, you know, this musical. So that's interesting. I've never seen it and I don't really have any desire to see it. Well, actually I did watch the performance that my students put on. Um, but I thought, okay, they got these, all these posters all over the school and this is a Bible story, but I mean, Andrew Lloyd Webber didn't get it all right.

123. 39:42

     So I went around, I just had verses from Genesis, just printed on a sheet of paper and I just put them underneath the posters. No, no explanation. Just, you know, and Joseph went before Pharaoh or, you know, whatever. Well, I got in trouble for that.

124. 40:00

     Um, so I, I did give an account before my principal, like, why did you do this? You know, it's a public school. We're not supposed to be doing this kind of thing. I'm like, I just wanted to take the story, the context of like where your musical is coming from. This is not, this didn't come from Andrew Lloyd Webber's mind.

125. 40:16

     Okay. That's, and it was fine. The principal was fine. He had to do it because someone complained and the union and all that kind of stuff. But I mean, that's my, the greatest of my experience and it's the principal of my school and you don't even know where my school is. But, but imagine if you were someone who had, you know, maybe you had the ear of someone who was a government official or whatever.

126. 40:34

     Like we all have that from small to great. I think we can take some, some lessons from, you know, how we interact and, and how we're received. And I probably only got away with some of the stuff I got away with because of who I am as a person. And they saw some consistency and, you know, I wasn't some crazy, you know, Bible thumping kind of person.

127. 40:55

     Some of people on earth thought it was like that, but you know, um, so we need to think about that. We have to be careful not to overstep bounds. We need to respect, you know, whatever the, whatever position we're in. And yet I think we see Paul here, you know, he tells Festus and Felix and Agrippa, he tells it like it is.

128. 41:12

     Right. And anyway, I got off track there. So this, this particular chief, um, chief captain, we learn his name. So that's interesting. His name is Claudius Lysias. And he writes this letter, right? He sent Paul off to Caesarea and he writes this letter. I, I, this letter is incredible. Claudius Lysias, I'm the most excellent governor, Felix, sendeth greeting.

129. 41:38

     This letter is so political. It's great that we get an insight into like what was really happening. I mean, talk about trying to insert yourself into the story and, and just soaking it up. Can you imagine he sent Paul off? He's like, I got to explain what I'm doing here. So he writes this letter, this man, Paul was taken of the Jews and should have been killed.

130. 42:00

     That's true. Then I came with an army and rescued him because I knew he was a Roman. No, you didn't. You thought he was an Egyptian, but boy, that sounds a lot better. Right. I would, I wanted to know what was going on. So I, you know, I tried to do everything decently in order at a council.

131. 42:23

     And, you know, then it was like, I didn't understand what's going on. Something about their law, but it was nothing serious in terms of Roman law. Okay. And when I was told that the Jews had laid wait for the man, I sent straight away. This, this is all true. I mean, most of it's true.

132. 42:39

     Just the whole, when he found out it was a Roman thing and he didn't mention he was about to beat him and he put him in chains. Didn't mention that bit, but anyway. So I'm sending to you and, and please, please sort out for me. I think that's just, that's just amazing. Okay.

133. 42:56

     So what happens next? Well, he spends years and years in, in, you know, in custody and eventually he has to appeal to Caesar. Right. Paul has to appeal to Caesar. The Lord's told him that you're going to, you know, don't, don't fear. You're going to be, you're going to make it to Rome and so on.

134. 43:11

     So he gets on a boat and we are out of time almost. Okay. This is the trip from, you know, to trip to Rome. And again, we're told that the name of this centurion, okay, Julius. And he courteously entreated Paul and gave him liberty. Like, this is interesting. Maybe he'd heard some of the backstory.

135. 43:29

     Maybe Lysias told Julius what really went down. I'm like, this guy's in prison, but he really didn't deserve it. Maybe, maybe, you know, Festus or Agrippa, instead of just doing a political thing, you know, they left him in bounds to show the Jews a favor. That was just the political thing that was constraining on their, their conscience.

136. 43:50

     Kind of like Pilate and Jesus, I guess. But he, but he had some, he had some liberty. We're in Acts 27 now. And in like two minutes, we got to do some stuff here. This is really interesting. Sorry? Oh, Jerry's giving me more time. Excellent. So, they're on their way and they get to Cyprus.

137. 44:14

     And, you know, the weather's turning like it's not the time for, for, for sailing. Verse, verse nine. The sailing was now dangerous. Time was much spent. The time was past. And Paul says, look, don't go. Don't send out the ship. Verse 10. I perceive that we voyage, will be much damage. Not only to the lading of the ship, but also our lives.

138. 44:38

     But the centurion, this is Julius, who had, you know, courteously entreated Paul. He, he listened to the master and owner of the ship. Well, that's understandable. I mean, who's Paul? He's not a, he's not a sailor. I'm reminded of, of, you know, Peter and Jesus. Like, throw over the net there. Okay, Jesus, I will.

139. 44:58

     But like, it's going to be a waste of time. We went all night. Right? Like, you do your thing. You do the preaching thing. I'll do the fishing thing. So, I'm sure this centurion's like, that's really nice if you mention that, Paul. But I'm going to go with like the guy who owns the boat.

140. 45:11

     Okay? We understand that. But why was it important for Paul to make that point? Have you ever thought about that? Why bother saying it?

141. 45:23

     Yes? For next time. Right? And when you think about that, my mind's going a million different places. Why did Joseph tell his brothers the dream, even though he knew it was going to receive poorly? Well, it was the truth. And it's because at some point in the future, they would understand it. Why did Jesus tell them he was going to be crucified and raised the third day?

142. 45:46

     There was going to be a betrayer. Why did he tell them all that stuff? It went over their head. So, when they reflected back, I was like, he was right. And he knew about Judas all along. Right? It was to reflect back on things. So, don't be discouraged when you tell your friends and neighbors about the truth.

143. 46:02

     And they're like, really? No. That doesn't make sense. Because God willing, there will come a time. And they'll go, okay. They were right. Jesus has returned. And, you know, so on. So, a little bit of encouragement there. Paul testifies to the people on this ship. I find that amazing. This one's incredible. Verse 29.

144. 46:24

     This, to me, is amazing. The sailors are like, okay, we've got to check the boat. We've got to go see if it's breaking apart. So, we're going to put the lifeboat, the only means of escape. We're going to go down in it. And we're going to check things out. And their idea really was to get out of town.

145. 46:43

     Right? Abandon the ship. Which meant everyone else. And Paul says to them, you know, those guys got to stay in the ship. Does the centurion consult with anyone else at this point? Nope. Chop, chop. He tells the soldiers. And they got rid of the lifeboat. They're listening to Paul at this point. It's quite interesting.

146. 47:02

     Paul encourages them all to eat. And then they take it as his advice. This is interesting. Because I don't know if you read these words. How you read them. Verse 33. And while a day was coming on, Paul sought them, saying, take meat, saying, This is the fourteenth day that you have tarried and fasting and taken nothing.

147. 47:25

     Wherefore, I pray you to take some meat. For this is for your health. For there shall not a hair fall from your head. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all. And when they had broken it, they began to eat. And they were all of good cheer.

148. 47:40

     This is the middle of the most raging storm. Euro Clyde. And it's so bad it's got a name. You don't say name storms these days? Right? Just to kind of like emphasize it. They're in good cheer. And they took some meat. And Paul takes this opportunity to. He gave thanks in front of them all.

149. 48:01

     This is a preaching opportunity. They would not ever forget Paul. I think there's a lot of encouragement there for us. And then this. This blows my mind. Verse 42. The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. Do you understand what's going on here? This is a prison boat.

150. 48:24

     This is like as if they were in prison. Right? And it's about to be wrecked. It's in a storm. People are going to be jumping off and heading to land. Now were the soldiers right to worry about their own lives? Absolutely. Right? If a prisoner escapes, it's your life for theirs. So they were right.

151. 48:54

     I think their suggestion probably happened many, many, many times. Maybe some of these own men. Verse 43. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose. And said, oh, no, let's just all jump in. We'll sort it out on land. Let's just all jump in the water and go. Oh, and they did.

152. 49:20

     And they all escaped safe to land. They didn't lose one, as Paul had said. So there were other prisoners whose lives that day were saved because Paul had a relationship with the centurion. They would have never known that. Maybe. They wouldn't have. So think about your influence or the influence that you know of others who, because of who you are and the relationship you have with whoever, can impact and influence the lives of others.

153. 49:55

     I think that's really a powerful thought for us. And again, we come to the end of Acts. And Paul is given this liberty to dwell by himself with a soldier. And he wasn't locked up. And we know that, again, Paul, we don't know that it's the end of the story. It's Acts 28.

154. 50:12

     Because it's not a story about the life of Paul. It's a story about the gospel had come to Rome. And there were many in Caesar's household that heard the message. We know that from Philippians 1, verse 13, and 4, verse 22, that those in Caesar's household accepted the gospel message. And that's because of Paul's influence with those in authority, his worldly friends, as we've tried to style it today.

155. 50:38

     So what have we learned? How do we act before neighbors, colleagues, and friends? You know, who's influencing who? Do we allow the good influence of the gospel message to spread to them? You know, that's the key. We don't take on the world. You know, we're not friends of the world, but we have friends in the world.

156. 50:57

     And we're not to be of the world, but we have to be in the world. And then hopefully shining lights, being salt, all those lessons. How do we act before authorities? You know, and why we have authorities come into our life. You know, how do we think about them? How do we treat them?

157. 51:17

     Are we good citizens? Are we good friends? Do we render unto Caesar his due? I think there's some things to think about there. And perhaps this is the best takeaway from Paul's example with his, those of the world that he got to know. Do we look for every advantage to preach the word in season and out of season?

158. 51:39

     You know, in the middle of a storm on a boat, I'd kind of go like, ah, they probably don't want to hear about Jesus right now. Let's just try and get through this storm. And Paul's like, no, he used that opportunity. Right? He's before Felix. He's before Festus. And he preaches the truth.

159. 51:56

     You know, may it be, God willing, that in whatever sphere of influence we have, however large or small, we take the advantage to preach the word, to be instant in season and out of season. Thank you. And sorry for going over time. Thanks for the bonus time.