AD Norris – The Apostles, Their Acts and Their Words – Class 6

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In Bible school, this is the 6th
and last session with our

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brother Alfred Norris speaking
on the subject Apostles, their

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Acts and their works.
We left the Apostle Paul

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yesterday just about the extreme
end, geographically, of the

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outward part of the second
missionary journey, right down

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in the bottom end of Greece,
what they call Hellas in those

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days in Athens.
He then went on to Corinth, and

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the early part of Acts chapter
18 is devoted to his experiences

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in Corinth, and after quite a
considerable stay there, which

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is summarized very briefly, he
left from Sankria the port of

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Corinth, on his way back to the
Promised Land.

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A very peculiar event is
reported with only a sentence

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there in the 18th chapter of the
Acts, which was that he set sail

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for Syria having shone his head
in Sankria because he had a vow.

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And one puzzle that is not yet
fully resolved in my own mind

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about Paul and the law is that
he would have taken a vow,

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apparently a Mosaic Law vow, at
that stage in his career and why

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he would do so.
It looks as though it must have

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been a short term Nazirite vow
that he must during that period

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have abstained from alcoholic
drinks and allowed his hair to

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grow long.
And that that period had

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probably by now come to an end
than he had had shown his head

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to signify its ending.
Under Old Testament terms you

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would have done that at the door
of the Tabernacle, and then the

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hare would have been burnt as an
offering.

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But apparently the custom had
grown up with Jewish vows that

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if you were living in the
Dispersion or in faraway parts,

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you might share off your head
wherever you were and then

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preserve it and take it with you
to Jerusalem.

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So Paul’s journey by sea from
Sankari to Syria presumably had

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at least as part of its object
doing that.

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But of course that by no means
explains why he had a bow in the

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1st place, what it was intended
to demonstrate, whether it was

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for the public to see, whether
it was a private matter between

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himself and his God.
I think it must have been the

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latter of these.
And what particular matter was

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involved in taking it something?
There were great perils.

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In which he was involved in
Corinth, because of the extreme

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enmity of the Jews.
And it’s true as a fact that

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there were such enmities,
because God had God said to him

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that the Lord Jesus said to him.
Fear not, Paul, for I am with

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thee.
I have much people in this city,

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and no man shall set on me to
harm thee.

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No that comes just after the
period in Athens as well.

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And it could be the two are
linked.

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But I don’t know the answer.
Say that I have a suspicion that

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I was not concerned with what
had already happened.

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It was concerned with what was
going to happen.

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The immediate result, anyway,
was that Paul set sail for

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Syria.
He arrived in the north and went

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immediately up and saluted the
church and then went down to

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Antioch.
Now if you can picture this, if

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somebody arrives at Caesarea and
then goes up in One Direction,

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he goes down in the other
direction.

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Now all our maps are the right
way up, of course, and so you go

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up when you go further north.
Everybody in the Southern

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Hemisphere got this the wrong
way round, but that’s what it is

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to us.
However, in in the United

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Kingdom, we don’t look at things
like that.

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You go up to London and
everywhere away from them is

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going down South.
Nearly all our railway stations,

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for example, our depots, have
got two platforms.

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One is the up platform that
takes you into London, the other

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is the down platform that takes
you away.

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And I think that in Pauline time
they have the same kind of

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thing.
You went up to Jerusalem, you

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came down away from it.
Although therefore the record

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doesn’t say that he went up to
Jerusalem and saluted the

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church, it does say he went up
and saluted the church and then

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he went down to Antioch.
So I presume that since anywhere

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from Caesarea would be
northwards to Antioch, his up

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was going southwards.
So Jerusalem seems to be the

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likely place.
So his visit to Jerusalem is so

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briefly reported, he just went
there and came back again.

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That’s all the record says.
And I suspect that there’s a

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deep mystery as yet unresolved
in that that Paul had some

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particular task he wanted to do
in Jerusalem and didn’t get it

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done, and it had to be deferred
until another day.

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Well, in so unceremonious a way
is the end of the second

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missionary journey signalled and
the third missionary journey

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begun.
He lands at Caesarea, goes up to

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Jerusalem, goes back to Antioch,
and stays there for some time.

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Then he sets off on the next
journey.

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Well, the next journey, to a
very large extent, takes him

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over familiar ground.
It takes him through to the West

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as far as Athens and Corinth
again, at least as far as

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Greece, where those cities were.
And then, But as early as

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chapter 19, something rather
peculiar seems to be happening

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and I want you just to look at
that verse and then see what it

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might signify to you.
Acts chapter 19, verse 21, Paul

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is in Ephesus by this time.
Now after these things were

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ended, Paul purposed in the
Spirit when he had passed

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through Macedonia and Acaya to
go to Jerusalem, saying after I

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have been there I must also see
Rome.

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So he sent into Macedonia two of
them that ministered unto him

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Timotheus and Erastus.
But he himself stayed in Asia

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for a while.
Now the situation as you will

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see geographically is this.
Paul has left Antioch gone round

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the corner through Asia Minor.
He has arrived in the western

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part of Asia Minor near the
western coast at Ephesus.

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And then he makes a long term
plan.

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He says I must go to Macedonia
and Acaya, that is to North East

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and then to South Greece as we
now know it.

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I must go to those places, and
after that I must go to

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Jerusalem.
And then I must also see Rome.

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And it would seem that uttermost
in his mind was Jerusalem.

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He purposed in the Spirit when
he had been through Macedonia

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and the Kaya to go to Jerusalem
after.

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That’s it.
Here I must also see Rome.

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So that hurried journey to
Jerusalem at the end of the

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second missionary journey was to
be followed by what looked like

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a long term planned visit to
Jerusalem again sometime during

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the third missionary journey,
something which was particularly

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important to Paul.
He had a very keen desire to get

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to Jerusalem, for what reason we
haven’t yet discovered, but he

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very badly wanted to get there.
Very good.

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Then he continued in his
journey.

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Having sent Timotheus and
Erastus to prepare the way, he

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went down through Macedonia
again, once more found himself

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in the neighbourhood of Greece,
of Corinth and Athens, and was

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about to go back, apparently
direct to Jerusalem, or at least

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direct to Israel by sea once
more, when he discovered a plot

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which had been laid by the Jews
against him.

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In consequence, he had to revise
his travel plans and divert his

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way.
And he went back the way he’d

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come, going northwards through
Macedonia and Dakaya, and then

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overland at least part of the
way until he came to the West

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Coast of Asia Minor.
From there he sailed from Troas

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over to Israel again.
Well, one can say very little

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about this plot of the Jews.
There were so many of them.

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They were always doing it.
Paul’s life, as I think I said

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at an earlier stage of this
talk, was just not worth

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anything as far as the Jews were
concerned.

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As soon as he became a renegade
to their faith and accepted the

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Christian faith everywhere he
went, Jews who knew about him

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were lying in wait for him, or
followed him and hounded him

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out, or turned the populace
against him, and there was

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nothing that Paul could do to
get himself safety.

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And those words of the Lord
Jesus in the second journey

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which I have quoted Fear not,
Paul, for I am with thee, and no

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man shall set on thee to harm.
Thee revealed how perilously

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Paul was walking the tightrope
of life, with the cousins of

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death extending beneath him on
either side.

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Paul was a man in danger with a
price on his head, but I really

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mean with the price on his head
because I’m quite sure that they

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would have paid good money to
get both Paul killed.

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So he goes back on his way to
Jerusalem.

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Now there is so much that is
worthwhile discussing on that

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route that one is tempted to
stop and do it, particularly

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that marvellous speech to the
elders of Ephesus when he

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summoned them to Belitas to hear
him speak.

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But the moment, for the moment,
I want to concentrate upon the

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fact that he did summon the
elders of Ephesus at all.

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He’s going down the coast of
Asia Minor from Troas.

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When he gets to Mellitus.
He could very easily have

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diverted his steps to Ephesus,
and that was what they wanted

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him to do.
But he couldn’t do it.

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He was in too big a hurry.
He was wanting to get back to

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Jerusalem.
He wanted to be there by the

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time of the feast, and he’d
already wasted valuable time by

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going overland instead of going
by sea.

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So instead of going to Ephesus,
he sent for the elders of the

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church, and they came, and they
met him at Melitas.

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And he preached them this
splendid sermon, telling them

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indeed that his own devotion to
God was taking him nearer to the

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point where grievous things
might happen to him, and then

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bidding farewell of them in the
terms I know that you shall see

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my face no more.
So when he said goodbye to them,

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they fell on the ground, and
they wept most of all.

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For this saying you shall see my
fails no more.

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Paul had a sense of an impending
fate about him when he left the

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neighbourhood of Asia Minor and
went back to Palestine.

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He was aware that the crisis was
coming out of which he might

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not, not to say, would not, but
might not emerge.

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What that was we can hardly say
yet, but let’s look at the

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evidence that there was such a
thing.

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Acts chapter 20, verse three
verse to to connection.

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But when in Macedonia he had
gone through those parts and had

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given them much exaggeration, he
came into Greece and there about

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3 months, and when the Jews laid
wait for him as he was about to

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sail into Syria, he purposed to
return into Macedonia, and that

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accompanied him into Asia.
Sir Parta of Berea and the

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Thessalonians, Aristarchus and
Secundus and Gaius of Derby and

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Timotheus and of Asia, Tachykos
and Trophimus.

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These going before Tarit for us
at Troas.

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See the picture.
Paul is leaving the southern

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part of Greece by the direct
route.

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These men go straight across at
Trias.

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Paul goes round the corner to
avoid this plot by the Jews and

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meets up with them when he gets
to Trias.

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From there he goes South and he
comes to Mellitus and in the

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course of what he says to the
elders of Ephesus.

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There we read these words Acts,
chapter 20, the introductory

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words and then part of the
speech verse 16.

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For Paul had determined to sail
by Ephesus, because he would not

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spend the time in Asia.
For he hasted, if it were

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possible for him to be at
Jerusalem, the feast of

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Pentecost, the day of Pentecost.
And from Melissa he sent to

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Ephesus, and called to him the
elders of the church.

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And when they were come to him,
he said to them, Ye know from

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the first day that I came into
Asia, after what manner I have

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been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord, with all

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humility of mind, and with many
tears and temptations, which

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befell me by the lying in wait
of the Jews, the same old theme

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again, the lying in wait of the
Jews.

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It was there all the time.
He was constantly menaced by it,

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and I kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you, but have

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showed you, and taught you
publicly, and from house to

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house, testifying both to the
Jews and also to the Greeks,

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repentance toward God, and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Just pause for a moment there
when Paul detailed the

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afflictions we he had suffered
in the second letter to the

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Corinthians, which would have
been written somewhere round

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about this time just a little
bit earlier.

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He included amongst those cares
and tribulations, that beside

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this which cometh upon me daily,
the care of all the churches

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00:11:30,600 –> 00:11:34,200
daily notice well, daily.
You might think he was caring

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00:11:34,200 –> 00:11:37,480
for the church where he happened
to be living at the time, but he

219
00:11:37,480 –> 00:11:39,840
puts it more stronger than that
and says the care of all the

220
00:11:39,840 –> 00:11:44,320
churches comes upon me daily.
Paul was a man who had a roving

221
00:11:44,320 –> 00:11:48,560
Commission and a list of people
depending upon his help, so long

222
00:11:48,560 –> 00:11:51,240
that one would think he could
have spent all of every day

223
00:11:51,240 –> 00:11:55,400
simply reading out their names.
And yet Paul was so very much a

224
00:11:55,400 –> 00:11:58,560
friend to each individual in the
communities he went to, however

225
00:11:58,560 –> 00:12:01,520
large they were, however far
away they were, however short a

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00:12:01,520 –> 00:12:03,280
time he’d spent there.
That, he said.

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00:12:03,840 –> 00:12:08,200
I thank God for you all making
mention of you in my prayers,

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00:12:08,600 –> 00:12:10,760
sometimes making mention by
name.

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00:12:10,760 –> 00:12:15,240
I’m a little bit ashamed,
actually, when I read that kind

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00:12:15,240 –> 00:12:16,880
of word from the lips of the
Apostle Paul.

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00:12:18,440 –> 00:12:22,880
I think, for example, of Brother
AD Norris of whole England

232
00:12:22,880 –> 00:12:25,360
coming to the Texas
Christadelphian Bible School,

233
00:12:26,840 –> 00:12:32,600
and he talks to an audience like
that, assembled now, and he

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00:12:32,600 –> 00:12:34,680
learns to know some of you by
name, but with the kind of

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00:12:34,680 –> 00:12:37,120
forgetter he’s got.
He forgets even some of those

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00:12:37,120 –> 00:12:40,240
when he goes away, another when
he meets them again.

237
00:12:40,240 –> 00:12:42,120
They’re just paces and he’s
catches and heads.

238
00:12:42,120 –> 00:12:44,440
So I wish they’d told me their
name before I have to get wrong.

239
00:12:45,600 –> 00:12:49,360
And the intimate connection
there ought to be, even with a

240
00:12:49,360 –> 00:12:52,640
relatively small company like
this, is by no means easy to

241
00:12:52,640 –> 00:12:54,200
secure.
You make it easy, you’re

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00:12:54,200 –> 00:12:56,120
splendid, and it’s a lovely
thing to have.

243
00:12:56,120 –> 00:12:59,880
But I’m aware of my own faults
now.

244
00:12:59,880 –> 00:13:05,000
The Apostle Paul went thousands
of miles over many years, met

245
00:13:05,320 –> 00:13:07,840
thousands and more of brothers
and sisters, and he seems to

246
00:13:07,840 –> 00:13:11,080
have been able to store in his
sanctified memory the

247
00:13:11,080 –> 00:13:12,480
recollection of all of them in
need.

248
00:13:12,480 –> 00:13:15,360
And when he went on his knees
before God in prayer, he didn’t

249
00:13:15,360 –> 00:13:17,960
offer some generalities such as
you and I might offer in ours.

250
00:13:17,960 –> 00:13:21,200
He brought before God the
particular problems of all the

251
00:13:21,200 –> 00:13:24,440
people he was concerned with,
sometimes name by name, and knew

252
00:13:24,440 –> 00:13:27,560
all about them, and pleaded for
God’s special mercy for their

253
00:13:27,560 –> 00:13:31,480
particular needs.
Sometimes when we see this great

254
00:13:31,480 –> 00:13:34,880
preacher going around and think
of him as getting on with the

255
00:13:34,880 –> 00:13:37,840
mechanical job of witnessing to
the Word, we don’t see how human

256
00:13:37,840 –> 00:13:41,120
was his preaching, how close and
intimate, and how loving his

257
00:13:41,120 –> 00:13:43,760
relationships.
But they were and the number of

258
00:13:43,760 –> 00:13:45,840
names he gives at the end of
nearly all his letters greet

259
00:13:45,880 –> 00:13:47,680
this and that.
Remember that person.

260
00:13:47,840 –> 00:13:49,760
Oh, there’s a slight problem in
that household.

261
00:13:50,360 –> 00:13:52,800
Give particular attention to
those people, because they

262
00:13:53,000 –> 00:13:56,320
worked very hard for the Lord.
All of that reveals that Paul’s

263
00:13:56,320 –> 00:13:59,680
was by no means a mechanical
work when he did what he did in

264
00:13:59,680 –> 00:14:03,800
the churches that he met.
So that was part of his care of

265
00:14:03,800 –> 00:14:05,880
all the churches.
A loving thing to know, no

266
00:14:05,880 –> 00:14:07,000
doubt.
Perhaps he wouldn’t well have

267
00:14:07,000 –> 00:14:08,960
been without it.
But care there must have been in

268
00:14:08,960 –> 00:14:15,600
abundance.
And now now I have kept back

269
00:14:15,600 –> 00:14:17,840
nothing that was profitable unto
you, but have showed you, and

270
00:14:17,840 –> 00:14:21,160
taught you publicly, and from
house to house, testifying both

271
00:14:21,160 –> 00:14:24,400
to the Jews and to the Greeks,
repentance toward God and faith

272
00:14:24,400 –> 00:14:28,880
toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
And now behold, I go bound in

273
00:14:28,880 –> 00:14:33,040
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not
knowing the things that shall

274
00:14:33,040 –> 00:14:37,160
befall me.
There, Bound in the Spirit, he

275
00:14:37,160 –> 00:14:39,480
goes to Jerusalem.
Bound in what Spirit?

276
00:14:40,840 –> 00:14:44,280
Bound by the decision of the
Holy Spirit or bound by some

277
00:14:44,440 –> 00:14:49,040
compulsion of his own Spirit.
Well, the word can certainly be

278
00:14:49,040 –> 00:14:50,800
used in the latter way.
It sometimes is.

279
00:14:50,960 –> 00:14:53,600
Paul was moved in spirits that
happens and couldn’t keep quiet,

280
00:14:53,600 –> 00:14:56,080
so he preached diary of pagas to
the Athenians there.

281
00:14:56,920 –> 00:14:59,880
On other occasions too, Paul’s
spirit waxes strong within him

282
00:15:00,080 –> 00:15:02,400
and something compels him to go
on and do something.

283
00:15:02,560 –> 00:15:04,800
And I have no doubt that that
must be what it means in this

284
00:15:04,800 –> 00:15:08,000
verse, because the next verse
talks about the Holy Spirit

285
00:15:08,000 –> 00:15:12,400
quite differently and says, say
that the Holy Spirit witness of

286
00:15:12,440 –> 00:15:16,160
in every city, saying that bonds
and afflictions are by me.

287
00:15:18,080 –> 00:15:22,000
Now we learned in chapter 19,
verse 15 that Paul had decided

288
00:15:22,680 –> 00:15:25,360
that having gone through
Macedonia and Achaia he would go

289
00:15:25,360 –> 00:15:28,200
to Jerusalem.
And after that he wrote.

290
00:15:29,320 –> 00:15:31,120
We learned that he was in a
hurry to get away from the

291
00:15:31,120 –> 00:15:33,840
neighbourhood of Ephesus because
he wanted to be at Jerusalem at

292
00:15:33,840 –> 00:15:36,280
a certain time.
It is addressed to the elders.

293
00:15:36,280 –> 00:15:39,000
When they come to see him he
tells them he can’t spend long

294
00:15:39,000 –> 00:15:41,000
because he must get on his way
to Jerusalem.

295
00:15:41,120 –> 00:15:43,680
He goes bound in the Spirit.
There he can’t resist the

296
00:15:43,680 –> 00:15:46,680
impulse to go.
And yet when he gets there he is

297
00:15:46,680 –> 00:15:51,520
told by the Holy Spirit bonds
and afflictions abide him, the

298
00:15:51,520 –> 00:15:53,480
Holy Spirit witnesseth in every
city.

299
00:15:54,200 –> 00:15:58,200
Can you picture that picture?
Paul makes his decision,

300
00:15:58,200 –> 00:16:02,280
Ephesus, and by word of prophet,
or by vision of the night, the

301
00:16:02,280 –> 00:16:04,600
message comes to him.
If you do that, bonds and

302
00:16:04,600 –> 00:16:08,120
afflictions abide you.
He goes round the corners of

303
00:16:08,120 –> 00:16:12,800
Philippi, and by word of the
spirit or by dream by night

304
00:16:12,800 –> 00:16:16,400
something says to him, If you go
on with your plans, bonds and

305
00:16:16,400 –> 00:16:19,920
afflictions abide you, and he
goes to Thessalonica, and Berea,

306
00:16:19,920 –> 00:16:23,160
and Athens, and Corinth, and at
each city bonds and afflictions

307
00:16:23,160 –> 00:16:24,760
abide you if you go to
Jerusalem.

308
00:16:25,280 –> 00:16:27,360
He was thoroughly warned in
every city.

309
00:16:28,480 –> 00:16:30,640
I think that makes it probable
that it was by the word of

310
00:16:30,640 –> 00:16:33,360
prophets, because the other kind
of message could have come

311
00:16:33,360 –> 00:16:36,160
wherever he went in his bed at
night in the course of

312
00:16:36,160 –> 00:16:38,040
travelling.
But now he was in every city.

313
00:16:38,040 –> 00:16:40,760
Perhaps wherever he met a
church, there he met a prophet.

314
00:16:41,240 –> 00:16:43,360
And that prophet made the point
of coming to him and saying,

315
00:16:43,360 –> 00:16:46,120
Paul, if you go on with this
plan of yours, bonds and

316
00:16:46,120 –> 00:16:49,360
afflictions abide you.
And still he went on.

317
00:16:50,400 –> 00:16:55,440
Still he hurried, and still the
messages came, and he was so

318
00:16:55,440 –> 00:16:58,800
full of foreboding about what
would happen if he went to

319
00:16:58,800 –> 00:17:03,640
Jerusalem, where he was
determined to go, that he told

320
00:17:03,640 –> 00:17:05,480
the men of Ephesus when he met
them at militias.

321
00:17:05,720 –> 00:17:07,599
I know you will see my face no
more.

322
00:17:09,440 –> 00:17:13,359
So on he went when he had taken
his leave of them, cured from

323
00:17:13,359 –> 00:17:15,119
his death.
The man who fell down during

324
00:17:15,119 –> 00:17:18,880
Paul’s long speech and left the
church is full of love for him,

325
00:17:18,880 –> 00:17:22,280
as he was full of love for them,
and went on his way and landed

326
00:17:22,520 –> 00:17:24,720
at Tyre, store the record
shares.

327
00:17:25,599 –> 00:17:27,839
And after saluting the brethren
there, they went further

328
00:17:27,839 –> 00:17:30,360
southwards until they came to
Caesarea again.

329
00:17:30,640 –> 00:17:34,440
And then the episode in Caesarea
next deserves our attention.

330
00:17:35,160 –> 00:17:44,000
Chapter 21, verse 7.
And when we had finished our

331
00:17:44,000 –> 00:17:47,400
voyage from Tyre, we came to
Ptolemais, and saluted the

332
00:17:47,400 –> 00:17:49,320
brethren and the board with them
one day.

333
00:17:50,040 –> 00:17:52,680
And the next day we that were of
Paul’s company Luke, you can

334
00:17:52,680 –> 00:17:55,440
see, is there now We that were
of Paul’s company departed and

335
00:17:55,440 –> 00:17:58,840
came unto Caesarea, and we
entered into the House of Philip

336
00:17:58,840 –> 00:18:02,320
the Evangelist, which was one of
the seven, and abode with him.

337
00:18:03,360 –> 00:18:05,760
Now the same man had four
daughters, virgins, which did

338
00:18:05,760 –> 00:18:08,400
prophecy.
And as we tell you, there are

339
00:18:08,400 –> 00:18:11,200
many days there came down from
Judea a certain prophet named

340
00:18:11,200 –> 00:18:13,880
Agabus.
And when he was come to us, he

341
00:18:13,880 –> 00:18:17,280
took Paul’s girdle and bound his
own hands and feet, and said,

342
00:18:17,440 –> 00:18:21,480
Thus set the Holy Spirit.
So shall the Jews at Jerusalem

343
00:18:21,480 –> 00:18:24,680
bind the men that owneth this
girdle, and shall deliver him

344
00:18:24,680 –> 00:18:29,000
into the hands of the Gentiles.
Same story continues.

345
00:18:29,560 –> 00:18:36,040
He goes from Troas to Tyre to
Tolemais to Caesarea, and the

346
00:18:36,040 –> 00:18:39,640
tail is taken up by Agabus.
If you go to Jerusalem, the Jews

347
00:18:39,640 –> 00:18:42,120
will bind you as thoroughly as I
have bound feet with your

348
00:18:42,120 –> 00:18:44,160
girdle.
That will be the fate that you

349
00:18:44,200 –> 00:18:51,080
must accept and endure if you go
to Jerusalem, and strangely not

350
00:18:51,080 –> 00:18:53,320
strange that they should beseech
him that he wouldn’t go, you’d

351
00:18:53,320 –> 00:18:55,920
expect that which they did
immediately afterwards.

352
00:18:56,320 –> 00:18:59,400
And when we heard these things,
both we and they of that place

353
00:18:59,400 –> 00:19:03,440
besought him not to go to
Jerusalem, But strangely, that

354
00:19:03,440 –> 00:19:06,080
in spite of Paul’s determination
that he was going anyhow.

355
00:19:06,400 –> 00:19:09,680
Verse 13 What mean you to weep
and to break my heart?

356
00:19:09,960 –> 00:19:12,680
For I’m ready not to be bound
only, but also to die at

357
00:19:12,680 –> 00:19:14,520
Jerusalem for the name of the
Lord Jesus.

358
00:19:15,240 –> 00:19:17,880
And when he would not be
persuaded, we ceased saying the

359
00:19:17,880 –> 00:19:21,200
will of the Lord be done.
The strange thing is that the

360
00:19:21,200 –> 00:19:24,880
record tells us that, verse 10,
he tarried there many days.

361
00:19:26,200 –> 00:19:28,360
He’d been in a big hurry to get
away from Greece.

362
00:19:29,640 –> 00:19:31,640
He was going to race against
time.

363
00:19:31,640 –> 00:19:34,800
So the record seemed to read
that he might get to Jerusalem

364
00:19:34,800 –> 00:19:36,440
in time for the day of
Pentecost.

365
00:19:37,280 –> 00:19:39,600
He got a long way around, which
made the hurry all the more

366
00:19:39,600 –> 00:19:42,080
urgent.
Nobody gets to see the rear.

367
00:19:42,080 –> 00:19:46,280
He tarries there many days.
I wonder why that would be.

368
00:19:48,520 –> 00:19:51,280
I feel that it is likely to be
that he was subject to a great

369
00:19:51,280 –> 00:19:55,080
deal of pressure at Caesarea.
If you’ll find yourself

370
00:19:55,080 –> 00:19:59,080
surrounded by four daughters,
virgins which do prophecy, and

371
00:19:59,080 –> 00:20:00,880
they’re giving the same message
you’ve been getting in every

372
00:20:00,880 –> 00:20:02,920
city up to now, you don’t have
to easy a time of it.

373
00:20:04,160 –> 00:20:06,760
And if each of those prophetic
women came to him at regular

374
00:20:06,760 –> 00:20:08,880
intervals and said, Paul don’t
go to Jerusalem.

375
00:20:09,080 –> 00:20:11,760
If you do bonds and Afflictions
abide you, and sought to reason

376
00:20:11,760 –> 00:20:14,680
him out of his going, it might
have been very, very hard to get

377
00:20:14,680 –> 00:20:17,800
away.
And when it looked as though he

378
00:20:17,800 –> 00:20:20,560
was not going to be persuaded,
and by the gesture of the Holy

379
00:20:20,560 –> 00:20:24,000
Spirit, even bigger guns were
bought, brought to bear upon his

380
00:20:24,000 –> 00:20:25,960
determination.
And Agabus came along.

381
00:20:25,960 –> 00:20:28,880
And he said, this is what will
happen if you go to Jerusalem

382
00:20:29,200 –> 00:20:31,560
and by implication stop.
Well, there’s time.

383
00:20:31,560 –> 00:20:34,960
And when all the disciples had
their tearful entreaties, don’t

384
00:20:34,960 –> 00:20:37,720
go what mean?
Is a weep and break my heart.

385
00:20:38,280 –> 00:20:41,120
It seems as though Paul had had
to fight his way through the

386
00:20:41,120 –> 00:20:43,360
opposition to keep on with his
journeys to Jerusalem.

387
00:20:45,120 –> 00:20:47,240
I mean not told that he missed
the day of Pentecost, but it

388
00:20:47,240 –> 00:20:50,440
seemed very likely that he did,
having stayed in Caesarea for

389
00:20:50,440 –> 00:20:53,600
many days, but he got to
Jerusalem at some time anyhow.

390
00:20:55,760 –> 00:20:58,360
Now when he got there, you know
roughly the course of what

391
00:20:58,360 –> 00:21:01,600
happened.
First of all, he meets delegates

392
00:21:01,600 –> 00:21:03,800
from the Church there, which
tell him that there are quite a

393
00:21:03,800 –> 00:21:07,080
lot of people suspicious that
Paul is not being faithful to

394
00:21:07,080 –> 00:21:10,160
the law as they require it, and
is telling people to break the

395
00:21:10,160 –> 00:21:13,720
law and not to circumcise their
children, which he did say, the

396
00:21:13,720 –> 00:21:17,520
Gentiles, of course.
Secondly, there’s that suggested

397
00:21:17,520 –> 00:21:20,120
plan of theirs, that what he
ought to do in order to clear

398
00:21:20,120 –> 00:21:23,360
himself of this charge is to
take two men who were reaching

399
00:21:23,360 –> 00:21:26,760
the end of their vows and pay
their terminal fees, as it were,

400
00:21:26,840 –> 00:21:29,960
which is a common act of vow
sponsors in those days.

401
00:21:30,200 –> 00:21:32,520
And then everybody would know he
was being a good Jew as far as

402
00:21:32,520 –> 00:21:34,160
his own personal life was
concerned.

403
00:21:34,400 –> 00:21:37,560
And Paul accepted that advice
and went with them into the

404
00:21:37,560 –> 00:21:39,720
Temple.
And there the trouble arose.

405
00:21:40,520 –> 00:21:43,200
The Jews assembled round him.
They made a false accusation

406
00:21:43,440 –> 00:21:45,880
that he had brought into the
forbidden places, trop him as a

407
00:21:45,880 –> 00:21:49,480
gentile, which he hadn’t.
And on that charge they took him

408
00:21:49,480 –> 00:21:52,160
out, and were in the post
process of setting a lynching

409
00:21:52,160 –> 00:21:55,720
operation in motion, when news
came to the ears of Claudius

410
00:21:55,720 –> 00:21:58,680
Lycius, the Roman governor.
And he was delivered from them,

411
00:21:59,000 –> 00:22:02,160
allowed to make a speech upon
the steps, and then confined in

412
00:22:02,160 –> 00:22:04,080
prison till they could decide
what to do with him.

413
00:22:05,320 –> 00:22:08,160
They were about to scourge him,
and Paul used his Roman

414
00:22:08,160 –> 00:22:09,840
citizenship as the reason why
they shouldn’t.

415
00:22:09,840 –> 00:22:13,320
So they didn’t.
He had appeared before the Jews,

416
00:22:13,320 –> 00:22:15,920
and they weren’t at all pleased
with what they heard, Cried out

417
00:22:15,920 –> 00:22:17,880
that this man should be taken
away from the earth, but it was

418
00:22:17,880 –> 00:22:21,000
not fit that he should live.
Then they made a plot against

419
00:22:21,000 –> 00:22:23,160
him, and certain men bound
themselves with an oath, but

420
00:22:23,160 –> 00:22:25,440
they would not eat or drink till
they had killed Paul.

421
00:22:25,600 –> 00:22:28,760
And I often wonder what happened
to them, because some relation

422
00:22:28,760 –> 00:22:31,640
to Paul came and made the
captain aware of the fact that

423
00:22:31,640 –> 00:22:34,640
this plot was there, and he was
sent away under a very heavy

424
00:22:34,640 –> 00:22:37,440
armed guard until he came to
Caesarea, and there he was put

425
00:22:37,440 –> 00:22:40,240
in prison there.
There you will know, he stood

426
00:22:40,240 –> 00:22:42,920
trial before Festus, who had
wanted him to go to Jerusalem,

427
00:22:43,320 –> 00:22:45,920
and then before Felix had
followed Festus, and then as a

428
00:22:45,920 –> 00:22:50,680
kind of public, informal holiday
hearing before King Agrippa, and

429
00:22:50,680 –> 00:22:53,640
during the course of all those
things he said, Because it seems

430
00:22:53,640 –> 00:22:56,520
I can’t rely upon justice here.
As a Roman citizen, I use my

431
00:22:56,520 –> 00:22:59,240
last line of defence, and I
appeal unto Caesar.

432
00:23:00,680 –> 00:23:04,360
There’s always what strikes me
as being a rather strange form

433
00:23:04,360 –> 00:23:06,480
of speech used in connection
with appeal to Caesar.

434
00:23:07,320 –> 00:23:09,160
He appeals to Caesar.
And the Roman governor says,

435
00:23:09,280 –> 00:23:12,200
hast thou appealed unto Caesar?
Unto Caesar thou shalt go with

436
00:23:12,200 –> 00:23:15,240
all due pomp and solemnity.
And then when King Agrifa comes

437
00:23:15,240 –> 00:23:17,880
along, the Roman governor says,
I’d like you to hear this man

438
00:23:17,880 –> 00:23:21,520
because he’s appealed to Caesar
and it seemed to be unreasonable

439
00:23:22,120 –> 00:23:25,160
to send a man unto Caesar and
not with all to signify the

440
00:23:25,160 –> 00:23:27,680
charges laid against him.
I should have thought it was

441
00:23:27,680 –> 00:23:30,120
too, wouldn’t you?
He didn’t appear to know what he

442
00:23:30,120 –> 00:23:33,520
ought to say, and he’d got to
find out this not unreasonable

443
00:23:33,520 –> 00:23:35,760
thing of signifying the charges
that were against him.

444
00:23:36,880 –> 00:23:38,280
Anyway, that’s jumping the
story.

445
00:23:38,280 –> 00:23:40,120
We will just finish the acts
record, though.

446
00:23:40,320 –> 00:23:43,440
He does, as you know, go through
various trials and tribulations

447
00:23:43,440 –> 00:23:46,600
at shipwreck until he lands at
Malta and then finally finds

448
00:23:46,600 –> 00:23:49,640
himself in Rome, where he is
allowed to meet with friends,

449
00:23:49,640 –> 00:23:52,760
where he has soldiers that keep
him, where his own hired house

450
00:23:52,760 –> 00:23:54,240
is his home and he’s well
treated.

451
00:23:54,480 –> 00:23:55,760
And there he stays for two
years.

452
00:23:55,760 –> 00:23:57,840
And that’s doesn’t say what
happened after that.

453
00:23:58,800 –> 00:24:01,320
But the common belief, and I
think the right one, is that

454
00:24:01,560 –> 00:24:04,840
since Roman law required that
charges must be pressed and the

455
00:24:04,840 –> 00:24:08,200
trial be held within two years
of the accusation, since nobody

456
00:24:08,200 –> 00:24:10,640
came and offered that
accusation, he was released to

457
00:24:10,640 –> 00:24:13,280
do the rest of the work.
We’ve spoken about and write his

458
00:24:13,280 –> 00:24:16,800
last letters to Timothy and
Titus and once again find

459
00:24:16,800 –> 00:24:19,640
himself imprisoned in near those
days and suffer execution.

460
00:24:21,400 –> 00:24:24,800
But we go back to the point
where he’s shown an intense

461
00:24:24,800 –> 00:24:28,200
determination to go to Jerusalem
and he’s got there and it’s not

462
00:24:28,200 –> 00:24:32,040
done him any good.
When he gets to Jerusalem, he

463
00:24:32,040 –> 00:24:35,480
makes one speech in which in a
sense it almost reveals that he

464
00:24:35,480 –> 00:24:37,720
ought to have known that it
wouldn’t have done any good.

465
00:24:38,200 –> 00:24:46,200
So if we turn to the speech of
Paul in Acts Chapter 22, Paul is

466
00:24:46,200 –> 00:24:48,920
there describing his conversion,
which had taken place these many

467
00:24:48,920 –> 00:24:56,680
years before, and in verse 14
records the speech of Ananias to

468
00:24:56,680 –> 00:25:01,400
him before he was baptized.
And Ananias said, The God of our

469
00:25:01,400 –> 00:25:04,320
Fathers have chosen thee, that
thou shouldest know his will,

470
00:25:05,280 –> 00:25:07,880
and see that just one and
shouldest hear the voice of his

471
00:25:07,880 –> 00:25:10,200
mouth.
For thou shall be his witness

472
00:25:10,200 –> 00:25:12,400
unto all men of what thou hast
seen and heard.

473
00:25:13,280 –> 00:25:17,280
And now why, Tarius, thou arise,
and be baptized, and wash away

474
00:25:17,280 –> 00:25:19,640
thy sins, calling on the name of
the Lord.

475
00:25:20,720 –> 00:25:23,400
And it came to pass, because
when I was come again to

476
00:25:23,400 –> 00:25:26,360
Jerusalem, and while I prayed in
the temple, I fell into a

477
00:25:26,360 –> 00:25:29,520
trance, and saw him saying unto
me, Make haste and get thee

478
00:25:29,520 –> 00:25:32,440
quickly out of Jerusalem,
because they will not precede

479
00:25:32,440 –> 00:25:35,680
thy testimony concerning me,
which accounts for the haste

480
00:25:35,680 –> 00:25:38,440
with which Paul was sent away
from Jerusalem at the end of

481
00:25:38,440 –> 00:25:40,200
Acts Chapter 9, which we read
earlier.

482
00:25:40,880 –> 00:25:44,800
And I said, Lord, they know that
I imprisoned and beat in every

483
00:25:44,800 –> 00:25:46,560
synagogue them that believed on
thee.

484
00:25:47,320 –> 00:25:50,360
And when the blood of Steve and
thy holy martyr was shed, I also

485
00:25:50,360 –> 00:25:53,200
was standing by and consenting
unto his death, and kept the

486
00:25:53,200 –> 00:25:58,320
raiment of them that slew him.
And he said, Depart, For I will

487
00:25:58,320 –> 00:26:00,360
send thee 5 heads unto the
Gentiles.

488
00:26:02,200 –> 00:26:04,600
But if we can reconstruct that
reasoning that took place

489
00:26:04,600 –> 00:26:07,440
between Paul and his Lord at
that time, it would seem that

490
00:26:07,440 –> 00:26:10,480
Jesus is saying, Paul, you’re
out of place in Jerusalem.

491
00:26:11,320 –> 00:26:14,320
You won’t do any good here.
You’ve got to get away and go

492
00:26:14,320 –> 00:26:15,720
somewhere where you will do some
good.

493
00:26:15,720 –> 00:26:19,080
So depart out of Jerusalem.
Here they will not receive thy

494
00:26:19,080 –> 00:26:21,320
testimony concerning me, Paul
says.

495
00:26:21,320 –> 00:26:23,320
But Lord, if only they’ll
listen.

496
00:26:24,200 –> 00:26:26,160
I used to be the ringleader of
persecution.

497
00:26:26,440 –> 00:26:28,960
I was the one who gave my voice
against Stephen when he was

498
00:26:28,960 –> 00:26:30,720
martyred.
Surely they will see that I

499
00:26:30,720 –> 00:26:32,880
wouldn’t have changed from that
for a very good reason.

500
00:26:33,000 –> 00:26:35,080
And I’m not the very best person
to reason with them.

501
00:26:35,080 –> 00:26:37,760
Say I used to be one of you and
now I’ve been converted.

502
00:26:37,760 –> 00:26:41,720
This is why you must see the
reasonable reasonableness of it.

503
00:26:41,720 –> 00:26:43,440
Why don’t you come and join me
now?

504
00:26:43,440 –> 00:26:45,880
I suppose in what Paul was
pleading before the Lord Jesus

505
00:26:45,880 –> 00:26:50,160
Christ, And Jesus, as was his
authoritative right, brought the

506
00:26:50,160 –> 00:26:52,280
discussion to an end and said
that’s enough of that.

507
00:26:52,320 –> 00:26:56,600
Get out, Depart.
I will send thee far hence even

508
00:26:56,600 –> 00:27:01,680
unto the Gentiles.
Well, Paul got out, and he went

509
00:27:01,680 –> 00:27:05,440
to the Gentiles and he returned
to Jerusalem, but only into the

510
00:27:05,440 –> 00:27:08,120
disciples company at the end of
the first missionary journey,

511
00:27:08,480 –> 00:27:11,680
Chapter 15.
And briefly, so briefly, that we

512
00:27:11,680 –> 00:27:14,280
have no record of what was done
at the end of the second

513
00:27:14,280 –> 00:27:16,640
missionary journey.
Acts chapter 18.

514
00:27:16,640 –> 00:27:20,680
And now he is there again.
And the Lord Jesus proved so

515
00:27:20,680 –> 00:27:23,280
right.
For Paul has not had the

516
00:27:23,280 –> 00:27:26,280
testimony received.
He has tried it, and he’s been

517
00:27:26,280 –> 00:27:28,000
seized almost before he can open
his mouth.

518
00:27:28,960 –> 00:27:31,600
And his speeches he makes are
from the dark, from the from the

519
00:27:31,600 –> 00:27:34,360
witness stand.
He is there as a criminal on

520
00:27:34,360 –> 00:27:38,280
trial, and when he does report
the words which the Lord Jesus

521
00:27:38,280 –> 00:27:42,520
Christ spoke to him when he said
depart the first time from

522
00:27:42,520 –> 00:27:45,480
Jerusalem, for they will not
receive thy testimony concerning

523
00:27:45,480 –> 00:27:47,840
me.
It is as though he said, leave

524
00:27:47,840 –> 00:27:50,800
Jerusalem, because there’s no
good disdain there, no good in

525
00:27:50,800 –> 00:27:52,680
coming back to preach, no
efforts.

526
00:27:52,680 –> 00:27:54,920
You try to reach my name here
will do any good.

527
00:27:55,120 –> 00:27:58,520
And when he says it to the Jews
in Acts chapter 22, it is as

528
00:27:58,520 –> 00:28:01,000
though he said.
And now I see how right he was.

529
00:28:02,760 –> 00:28:05,080
And when he goes on to the point
where he says, and the Lord

530
00:28:05,080 –> 00:28:08,360
said, go from Jerusalem and
preach to the Gentiles, then in

531
00:28:08,360 –> 00:28:11,760
screaming their hate at him,
they make plain why most of all

532
00:28:11,760 –> 00:28:14,560
they dislike him.
They heard him with some degree

533
00:28:14,560 –> 00:28:17,880
of quietness till that point.
And then they said, oh, why with

534
00:28:17,880 –> 00:28:21,320
such a fellow from the earth it
is not fit that he should live?

535
00:28:21,560 –> 00:28:24,600
And they cried out and cast off
their clothes and threw dust

536
00:28:24,600 –> 00:28:27,600
into the air.
And the chief captain commanded

537
00:28:27,600 –> 00:28:30,160
him to be brought into the
castle, and beard that he should

538
00:28:30,160 –> 00:28:36,280
be examined by scourging.
Now piece together these things.

539
00:28:37,480 –> 00:28:39,960
Paul knew from the very
beginning that to attempt to

540
00:28:39,960 –> 00:28:41,760
preach in Jerusalem would be
fruitless.

541
00:28:41,760 –> 00:28:46,800
Jesus had said so.
Yet Paul, possibly during the

542
00:28:46,800 –> 00:28:51,520
second missionary journey when
he was at Corinth and Sankari,

543
00:28:52,320 –> 00:28:56,200
had made some kind of a vow
which led him immediately to go

544
00:28:56,200 –> 00:28:58,400
back to Jerusalem.
And there seems to be some

545
00:28:58,400 –> 00:29:02,360
unspecified link between the
two, but whatever it was did not

546
00:29:02,360 –> 00:29:05,920
come to completion.
Then, having gone on his third

547
00:29:05,920 –> 00:29:08,720
missionary journey, he’s on the
way outwards still when he

548
00:29:08,720 –> 00:29:12,360
purposed in the Spirit to make
what looks like a whistle stop

549
00:29:12,360 –> 00:29:17,040
tour of Macedonia and Acaya, and
then go to Jerusalem, from which

550
00:29:17,320 –> 00:29:22,360
he says I must also see Rome.
When he goes on to Jerusalem.

551
00:29:22,360 –> 00:29:26,080
Wherever he goes, he says, I am
bound in the Spirit and I’m

552
00:29:26,080 –> 00:29:29,880
going, but admits in every city
the Holy Spirit says, if you do,

553
00:29:29,880 –> 00:29:34,800
bonds and afflictions abide you.
When he gets to see Zaria, in

554
00:29:34,800 –> 00:29:37,320
addition to the possible efforts
of Philip’s four daughters, who

555
00:29:37,320 –> 00:29:40,760
were prophetesses, there’s the
undoubted effort of Agabus, who

556
00:29:40,760 –> 00:29:43,280
with the binding of the feet
with the girdle, says that’s

557
00:29:43,280 –> 00:29:46,520
what will happen if you will go
to Jerusalem and he gets there.

558
00:29:46,520 –> 00:29:47,840
And all the prophets proved
right.

559
00:29:49,000 –> 00:29:51,160
He’s not allowed to witness at
liberty at all.

560
00:29:52,040 –> 00:29:55,200
They intend, if they can, to use
every possible means, fair,

561
00:29:55,200 –> 00:29:57,600
fairly fair, or very foul, to
get rid of him.

562
00:29:58,200 –> 00:30:01,360
And from that place he goes to
Rome to stand on trial before

563
00:30:01,360 –> 00:30:03,560
Caesar if the witnesses arrive
on time.

564
00:30:05,440 –> 00:30:08,680
Now how do we reconcile together
2 interesting things?

565
00:30:08,680 –> 00:30:11,960
One is that Paul determined to
go to Jerusalem and nothing

566
00:30:11,960 –> 00:30:15,920
would stop him.
And the other is that the Holy

567
00:30:15,920 –> 00:30:18,880
Spirit, by whatever means, was
repeatedly used to tell him that

568
00:30:18,880 –> 00:30:22,080
it would be useless and in fact
that he shouldn’t go.

569
00:30:23,800 –> 00:30:28,080
Well, how do you reconcile them?
Paul was a very faithful

570
00:30:28,080 –> 00:30:33,320
apostle, very devoted to his
Lord, who would have done

571
00:30:33,320 –> 00:30:37,520
nothing to contravene the
commandments of the Lord unless

572
00:30:37,520 –> 00:30:40,240
it were for some absolutely
overwhelming reason.

573
00:30:41,800 –> 00:30:45,600
Yet Paul determined to go to
Jerusalem in spite of everything

574
00:30:46,720 –> 00:30:49,160
and in spite of constant
witnesses that to go there would

575
00:30:49,160 –> 00:30:51,840
be useless.
How do we reconcile those two

576
00:30:52,120 –> 00:30:54,840
that the Lord said don’t go and
Paul said I’m going?

577
00:30:57,320 –> 00:31:01,040
Well, I think there is a way,
and I think we find that way in

578
00:31:01,040 –> 00:31:03,720
his letters of the Romans, which
would have been written during

579
00:31:03,720 –> 00:31:06,920
that third missionary journey at
the point where this crisis was

580
00:31:06,920 –> 00:31:10,120
strung upon him, whether he will
go to Jerusalem or not.

581
00:31:10,680 –> 00:31:24,080
Romans Chapter 9
I say the truth in Christ.

582
00:31:25,240 –> 00:31:29,920
I lie not my conscience, also,
bearing me witness in the Holy

583
00:31:29,920 –> 00:31:34,200
Spirit, that I have great
heaviness and continual sorrow

584
00:31:34,200 –> 00:31:38,120
in my heart.
For I could wish that myself

585
00:31:38,120 –> 00:31:42,040
were a cursed from Christ.
For my brethren, my kinsmen

586
00:31:42,040 –> 00:31:45,920
according to the flesh, who are
Israelites, to whom pertaineth

587
00:31:45,920 –> 00:31:50,520
the adoption and the glory and
the covenant, and the giving of

588
00:31:50,520 –> 00:31:56,200
the law and the service of God,
and the promises, whose are the

589
00:31:56,200 –> 00:31:59,000
fathers, and of whom, as
concerning the flesh, Christ

590
00:31:59,000 –> 00:32:03,600
came, who is over all God
blessed forever.

591
00:32:05,160 –> 00:32:09,960
Amen.
Listen to the confession of that

592
00:32:09,960 –> 00:32:13,680
man.
I say the truth in Christ.

593
00:32:15,920 –> 00:32:18,400
Whoever would have thought that
Paul wouldn’t say the truth?

594
00:32:20,040 –> 00:32:23,240
Usually that doesn’t need
saying, not for a man you know

595
00:32:23,240 –> 00:32:27,400
to be honourable.
If I say well as a matter of

596
00:32:27,400 –> 00:32:29,680
fact, you begin to wonder
whether I am speaking the truth,

597
00:32:29,680 –> 00:32:34,400
because my my very confirmations
or truthfully and so forth tend

598
00:32:34,400 –> 00:32:36,680
to suggest that if I’m speaking
the truth, no I wasn’t last

599
00:32:36,680 –> 00:32:40,320
time.
Our sealing of things with

600
00:32:40,320 –> 00:32:44,080
affirmations tends to cast in
doubt whether our normal how it

601
00:32:44,080 –> 00:32:48,320
is to speak the truth, which is
no doubt one of the very good

602
00:32:48,320 –> 00:32:51,520
reasons why the Lord told us not
to swear by Jerusalem, or by

603
00:32:51,840 –> 00:32:54,280
God’s throne, or by our hair, or
whatever it might be.

604
00:32:54,280 –> 00:32:57,040
Because we couldn’t change any
of that but to let our gay be

605
00:32:57,040 –> 00:33:00,720
gay and our nay be nay warning
us that whatsoever came of that

606
00:33:01,400 –> 00:33:05,920
exceeded that came of evil.
That’s why one takes so little

607
00:33:05,920 –> 00:33:08,800
notice when men take the book in
their hand and swear by almighty

608
00:33:08,800 –> 00:33:11,160
God that they will speak the
truth, the whole truth, and

609
00:33:11,160 –> 00:33:13,640
nothing but the truth, when we
know very well that at least a

610
00:33:13,640 –> 00:33:15,880
criminal on the witness stand is
not going to speak the truth if

611
00:33:15,880 –> 00:33:20,280
he was guilty.
So when the Apostle Paul says I

612
00:33:20,280 –> 00:33:22,760
say the truth in Christ, there
must be some very special reason

613
00:33:22,760 –> 00:33:25,160
for it.
He wouldn’t normally have needed

614
00:33:25,160 –> 00:33:28,000
to emphasize that, but now he
wants there to be no

615
00:33:28,000 –> 00:33:30,840
misunderstanding.
I am telling you the truth, he

616
00:33:30,840 –> 00:33:36,880
says.
But he says in Christ, and

617
00:33:36,880 –> 00:33:39,760
although in the ordinary way the
counselor Scripture both from

618
00:33:39,800 –> 00:33:44,680
Jesus and from James, is that we
don’t take oaths yet to say the

619
00:33:44,680 –> 00:33:47,400
truth in Christ is surely to
say, I say the truth with the

620
00:33:47,400 –> 00:33:51,000
Lord Jesus Christ as witness.
He knows I’m telling the truth.

621
00:33:51,120 –> 00:33:53,800
I stake my reputation on what
Jesus hears me say.

622
00:33:54,280 –> 00:33:58,640
I say the truth in Christ and
then double if you emphasize it.

623
00:33:58,760 –> 00:34:02,880
I lie not.
So what I’m telling you now,

624
00:34:02,880 –> 00:34:06,880
says Paul, is solemn, literal,
hard fact.

625
00:34:06,880 –> 00:34:09,480
There’s not a word of
exaggeration or invention about

626
00:34:09,480 –> 00:34:11,920
it.
My conscience also bearing me

627
00:34:11,920 –> 00:34:15,400
witness in the Holy Spirit.
Knowing that God’s spirit is

628
00:34:15,400 –> 00:34:18,719
everywhere and that by that he
hears and every word that I

629
00:34:18,719 –> 00:34:22,280
speak and knows every intent of
my heart, I say my conscience is

630
00:34:22,280 –> 00:34:25,040
clear in this matter.
What I say is 100% right.

631
00:34:25,280 –> 00:34:29,719
This is the truth.
And what is the truth?

632
00:34:31,320 –> 00:34:38,120
That I have great heaviness and
continual sorrow in my heart?

633
00:34:40,360 –> 00:34:42,520
Having read the verses to
follow, we know that it is

634
00:34:42,520 –> 00:34:46,679
concerning the condition of his
own people that Paul has great

635
00:34:46,679 –> 00:34:48,920
heaviness and continual sorrow
in his heart.

636
00:34:50,520 –> 00:34:55,000
He went about from hour to hour,
from day-to-day, from week to

637
00:34:55,000 –> 00:34:58,120
week.
Night by night he went to bed

638
00:34:58,120 –> 00:35:01,760
with an ache in his heart,
something that couldn’t be

639
00:35:01,760 –> 00:35:05,120
healed.
Always I hungover him, that

640
00:35:05,120 –> 00:35:09,240
heaviness, but something that
grieved him and could not be

641
00:35:09,240 –> 00:35:12,960
cured.
I have great heaviness and

642
00:35:12,960 –> 00:35:18,640
continual sorrow in my heart.
Not a moment’s beast did this

643
00:35:18,640 –> 00:35:23,160
man have from something that
afflicted him so grievously.

644
00:35:24,760 –> 00:35:30,680
And it was all about his fellow
Jews, all about that misguided

645
00:35:30,680 –> 00:35:33,880
body of people whose privileges
were so great and who were

646
00:35:33,880 –> 00:35:40,320
throwing them away, whose were
the fathers and the promises and

647
00:35:40,320 –> 00:35:44,160
the covenants, from whom
concerning the best Christ came,

648
00:35:44,720 –> 00:35:46,960
who is over all.
And God be blessed to sending

649
00:35:46,960 –> 00:35:49,040
him with one of the
characteristic doxologist that

650
00:35:49,040 –> 00:35:53,400
Paul does indulge in.
I’m grieved that my people don’t

651
00:35:54,040 –> 00:35:57,240
pursuit of the pool.
There the starting point

652
00:35:57,240 –> 00:36:03,000
advantages in being the heirs of
all that and instead throw it

653
00:36:03,000 –> 00:36:06,360
away.
Being ignorant of God’s

654
00:36:06,360 –> 00:36:08,760
righteousness and going about to
establish their own

655
00:36:08,760 –> 00:36:12,480
righteousness, they have not
submitted themselves unto the

656
00:36:12,480 –> 00:36:17,080
righteousness of God.
I’ve no peace in my mind as long

657
00:36:17,080 –> 00:36:24,080
as that persists.
Well then, if Paul has no peace

658
00:36:24,080 –> 00:36:28,480
in his mind, as long as that
persists, and if nothing could

659
00:36:28,480 –> 00:36:32,440
cure the ache of being grieved
over the rejection of Christ by

660
00:36:32,440 –> 00:36:37,440
his people, what could he do?
He said There’s nothing I

661
00:36:37,440 –> 00:36:41,400
wouldn’t do.
I do everything possible,

662
00:36:43,000 –> 00:36:50,120
everything permissible, and he
almost seems to say even more if

663
00:36:50,120 –> 00:36:52,960
only I had the opportunity of
getting that message through to

664
00:36:52,960 –> 00:36:58,000
them, I could wish myself a
cursed from Christ for my

665
00:36:58,000 –> 00:37:01,880
brethren who throw aside such
privileges.

666
00:37:04,040 –> 00:37:08,080
Now that when Paul tells you he
is speaking the truth in Christ,

667
00:37:08,360 –> 00:37:11,440
lying not his conscience is
clear in the Holy Spirit must

668
00:37:11,440 –> 00:37:13,840
mean that he could wish himself
a curse from Christ.

669
00:37:14,560 –> 00:37:18,000
That’s what he’s saying.
And he’s not lying for his

670
00:37:18,000 –> 00:37:21,960
brethren, who are rejecting such
a precious heritage.

671
00:37:23,880 –> 00:37:26,720
And that if we take it as
literally, as Paul puts it,

672
00:37:27,720 –> 00:37:30,280
agreeing with him, is he
offering no exaggeration that

673
00:37:30,280 –> 00:37:34,800
this is just what he means,
means that Paul says.

674
00:37:35,240 –> 00:37:40,600
If I had to suffer my own
rejection from my Lord in order

675
00:37:40,600 –> 00:37:43,640
to do what must be done, to make
known his ways to my people, I

676
00:37:43,640 –> 00:37:49,680
would do it.
In which case, can we not see

677
00:37:49,680 –> 00:37:52,680
that reconciliation between the
two impossibles?

678
00:37:52,680 –> 00:37:58,120
One, don’t go, Paul reinforced
by the witness of the Holy

679
00:37:58,120 –> 00:38:02,720
Spirit.
And two, I’m going.

680
00:38:02,720 –> 00:38:06,400
Whatever you say, I will not be
dissuaded.

681
00:38:07,560 –> 00:38:10,320
I am willing not only to suffer
at Jerusalem, but to die.

682
00:38:12,560 –> 00:38:15,040
So the Lord says it’s no use.
Paul, I don’t want you to go.

683
00:38:17,000 –> 00:38:18,760
And Paul says it’s no use, Lord,
I can’t help it.

684
00:38:20,760 –> 00:38:23,040
And he goes, and the Lord is
right, of course, absolutely

685
00:38:23,040 –> 00:38:25,280
right.
But Paul has at least cleared

686
00:38:25,280 –> 00:38:27,280
his function.
So he says at least 1/2 of the

687
00:38:27,280 –> 00:38:28,960
conscience that was concerns his
own people.

688
00:38:30,600 –> 00:38:35,440
And he’s failed as he was bound
to fail in the face of so

689
00:38:35,440 –> 00:38:40,000
implacable an enemy.
But he tried, and his own

690
00:38:40,000 –> 00:38:42,520
conviction bound in the Spirit.
That was all he could do.

691
00:38:45,960 –> 00:38:49,000
When one goes against the
instructions of the Lord for

692
00:38:49,000 –> 00:38:51,640
unworthy reasons from
selfishness or sloth or

693
00:38:51,640 –> 00:38:55,120
cowardice, then one is a
disobedient servant.

694
00:38:56,880 –> 00:39:00,240
When one finds oneself unable to
accept the Lord’s instruction

695
00:39:00,240 –> 00:39:02,480
and advice for reasons like
Paul’s, what do you call it

696
00:39:02,480 –> 00:39:06,400
then?
I don’t know a name for it.

697
00:39:08,240 –> 00:39:10,400
It was certainly not wilful
disobedience.

698
00:39:10,400 –> 00:39:14,920
It was a self sacrifice that he
couldn’t draw back from.

699
00:39:14,920 –> 00:39:18,200
It was done through not if so
good you couldn’t think of a

700
00:39:18,200 –> 00:39:22,560
better one.
And all we can do in that

701
00:39:22,560 –> 00:39:26,400
context is take the Lord Jesus
comment when Paul had done it.

702
00:39:28,280 –> 00:39:29,960
There’s now languishing in
prison.

703
00:39:31,720 –> 00:39:38,320
The Lord said to him, Fear not,
Paul, for as I have been with

704
00:39:38,320 –> 00:39:40,480
thee in Jerusalem, so will I be
with thee in Rome.

705
00:39:43,200 –> 00:39:46,560
It might not be just all is
forgotten and forgiven.

706
00:39:47,600 –> 00:39:50,400
It might be.
Well, Paul, I know you did your

707
00:39:50,400 –> 00:39:51,880
best.
I told you it’d be no use.

708
00:39:51,880 –> 00:39:54,880
But you’re just as dear to me as
ever you were.

709
00:39:56,120 –> 00:39:59,080
Now you’ll go to Rome and bear
witness there, though perhaps

710
00:39:59,080 –> 00:40:01,720
not quite as you intended to.
But you’ll go all right.

711
00:40:04,000 –> 00:40:07,000
And so we have the graciousness
of the Lord responding to the

712
00:40:07,040 –> 00:40:10,680
urge of this man whose
conscience was so keen to help

713
00:40:10,680 –> 00:40:14,360
his people.
And Paul goes.

714
00:40:14,960 –> 00:40:18,800
Contentedly with knowing that
his Lord is with him to the next

715
00:40:18,800 –> 00:40:25,080
stage of his work.
It has some parallels, perhaps

716
00:40:26,160 –> 00:40:30,880
with another man of God who saw
the same people of God in an

717
00:40:30,880 –> 00:40:33,920
earlier generation turning away
from their God, and who saw the

718
00:40:33,920 –> 00:40:36,360
danger that they might even at
that time be extinguished from

719
00:40:36,360 –> 00:40:38,400
God’s presence and blotted out
of his book.

720
00:40:39,960 –> 00:40:42,240
Who said, oh Lord, forgive?
And if not, I beseech they

721
00:40:42,240 –> 00:40:45,960
blocked me out of that book.
If you’ll be satisfied with

722
00:40:47,200 –> 00:40:49,560
getting me out of the way and
keeping them, I’d willingly give

723
00:40:49,560 –> 00:40:51,920
up my life for them.
So said Moses.

724
00:40:54,040 –> 00:40:57,840
Paul seems to have been
following Moses example, though

725
00:40:57,840 –> 00:40:59,600
God could accept it from neither
of them.

726
00:41:00,600 –> 00:41:05,840
As far as enjoying a curse that
others might be saved, it has

727
00:41:05,840 –> 00:41:09,880
some parallel to perhaps with
that message of Acts chapter six

728
00:41:09,880 –> 00:41:12,720
we should be noticed.
Isaiah chapter 6, which you may

729
00:41:12,720 –> 00:41:14,880
know quite well.
Where in the year that King

730
00:41:14,880 –> 00:41:21,640
Isaiah died, Isaiah saw the Lord
high and lifted up in a temple

731
00:41:21,640 –> 00:41:24,760
of his vision with his train
filling the temple and heard

732
00:41:24,760 –> 00:41:28,640
those around crying.
Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God

733
00:41:28,640 –> 00:41:30,320
of hosts.
All the earth is filled with his

734
00:41:30,320 –> 00:41:35,120
glory.
And as he stood there and

735
00:41:35,120 –> 00:41:38,120
watched, or slept there, and saw
in his dream the vision of God

736
00:41:38,120 –> 00:41:42,720
in his temple a voice was heard
saying, Whom shall I send and

737
00:41:42,720 –> 00:41:47,800
who will go for us?
I almost picture this in my own

738
00:41:47,800 –> 00:41:51,200
mind as though the prophets
dream, leads him into the hall

739
00:41:51,200 –> 00:41:53,880
of the empty temple of the Echo
goes around the hall.

740
00:41:53,880 –> 00:41:57,480
And he has repeated without an
answer coming, Whom shall I

741
00:41:57,480 –> 00:41:58,760
send?
And who will go for us?

742
00:41:59,040 –> 00:42:00,760
Whom shall I send And who will
go for us?

743
00:42:01,000 –> 00:42:02,680
Whom shall I send?
And who will go for us?

744
00:42:02,680 –> 00:42:06,480
And at last the Prophet wakes
up, as it were, and says it must

745
00:42:06,480 –> 00:42:09,200
be calling me.
There’s nobody else around.

746
00:42:10,400 –> 00:42:12,160
So in his dream he says, Here am
I send me.

747
00:42:14,760 –> 00:42:18,840
Yet he’s not fit to be sent, or
he wouldn’t have been but for

748
00:42:18,840 –> 00:42:22,880
the events just before.
When seeing that great vision of

749
00:42:22,880 –> 00:42:25,200
the glory of God, he did not, as
we might have thought he would

750
00:42:25,200 –> 00:42:29,440
have done, burst into an ecstasy
of admiration, but called down

751
00:42:29,440 –> 00:42:30,960
war upon his head for what he’d
seen.

752
00:42:31,120 –> 00:42:33,720
Woe is me, he says.
For I am a man of unclean lips,

753
00:42:34,080 –> 00:42:36,280
and I dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips.

754
00:42:36,280 –> 00:42:38,240
For man eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts.

755
00:42:40,320 –> 00:42:42,160
I’m less fortunate than they
are, he says.

756
00:42:43,080 –> 00:42:45,600
They can go on with all their
daily lives without seeing a

757
00:42:45,600 –> 00:42:47,840
searing vision like this.
I’ve had to see it.

758
00:42:47,840 –> 00:42:49,240
It’s terrible.
I can’t stand it.

759
00:42:49,800 –> 00:42:53,720
Woe is me, for my eyes have seen
the king, the Lord of hosts.

760
00:42:56,040 –> 00:42:59,640
And then one of the Seraphim
comes with a cold from the altar

761
00:42:59,640 –> 00:43:02,320
and touches his lips and
cleanses them and empowers him

762
00:43:02,320 –> 00:43:04,120
to speak.
And then he says, Here am I send

763
00:43:04,120 –> 00:43:06,000
me, does it with the fullness of
faith.

764
00:43:06,000 –> 00:43:08,080
We just need to say where do you
want me to go, Lord?

765
00:43:09,000 –> 00:43:10,920
But says here am I.
Send me before he knows where to

766
00:43:10,920 –> 00:43:15,080
go, like Abraham leaving his own
home, not knowing whether he

767
00:43:15,080 –> 00:43:18,440
went.
And then the Lord tells him

768
00:43:18,440 –> 00:43:22,240
where to go.
Go now and tell this people,

769
00:43:23,920 –> 00:43:26,720
these Israelites around you,
these men have unclean lips.

770
00:43:26,720 –> 00:43:31,240
Go and tell them.
And then he says, how long Lord?

771
00:43:32,680 –> 00:43:35,320
And the Lord says, until the
city has been wasted without an

772
00:43:35,320 –> 00:43:38,440
inhabitant, as long as there’s
anybody there to tell, just keep

773
00:43:38,440 –> 00:43:40,280
on preaching rather than anybody
to talk to.

774
00:43:40,880 –> 00:43:45,240
So the Lord says to the prophet,
and once you’ve seen all that in

775
00:43:45,240 –> 00:43:47,200
one piece, the two hearts hang
together, don’t they?

776
00:43:47,640 –> 00:43:50,200
Eliza has been granted a vision,
which they haven’t.

777
00:43:50,600 –> 00:43:54,280
That’s painful, as I has been
granted A purification, which

778
00:43:54,280 –> 00:43:55,960
they haven’t.
That’s a very high privilege.

779
00:43:56,600 –> 00:44:00,040
So where is he sent to share the
privilege with them?

780
00:44:00,040 –> 00:44:03,760
Of course.
Go and tell these people it

781
00:44:03,760 –> 00:44:06,800
didn’t do any good, not
nationally at all events.

782
00:44:08,040 –> 00:44:12,000
Paul is very like that.
A man of unclean lips speaking

783
00:44:12,000 –> 00:44:15,600
unclean things against God,
cleansed now to and purified to

784
00:44:15,600 –> 00:44:17,320
say right things are peaked
right words.

785
00:44:17,440 –> 00:44:22,080
And he has certainly said here
am I send me and now he’s sent

786
00:44:23,120 –> 00:44:25,840
and then he chooses to go beyond
where he has been sent to that

787
00:44:25,840 –> 00:44:29,560
same category of people I know
and they don’t.

788
00:44:30,440 –> 00:44:36,520
I must tell them, and tell them
He does and it fails.

789
00:44:39,440 –> 00:44:45,640
But what a servant of the Lord.
I suppose there is many a person

790
00:44:45,640 –> 00:44:47,400
in this room.
I suppose there is not a person

791
00:44:47,400 –> 00:44:51,120
in this room who hasn’t been in
this position, who for reasons

792
00:44:51,120 –> 00:44:55,240
quite unworthy, has refrained
from obeying the masters general

793
00:44:55,240 –> 00:44:59,160
commands as to what we ought to
do in bearing witness to his

794
00:44:59,160 –> 00:45:02,520
name.
And the reasons we should have

795
00:45:02,520 –> 00:45:04,960
led us to pain in our duty have
never been good reasons.

796
00:45:06,560 –> 00:45:10,400
They might have been sloth or
preoccupation with the things of

797
00:45:10,400 –> 00:45:15,080
this life, or timidity.
I know them all.

798
00:45:17,320 –> 00:45:20,160
But I imagine there is no one in
this room who has ever done as

799
00:45:20,160 –> 00:45:24,920
Paul seems to have done, and
said, Lord, I will go and do all

800
00:45:24,920 –> 00:45:27,160
that you asked me to do.
But there’s one thing I must do,

801
00:45:27,160 –> 00:45:29,600
even though you don’t tell me it
will be any good, and you do

802
00:45:29,600 –> 00:45:33,680
tell me it won’t.
Who steps just a little over the

803
00:45:33,680 –> 00:45:37,080
letter of what the Lord tells
him, for the reason that he’d

804
00:45:37,080 –> 00:45:40,160
rather lose his life in trying
to achieve that impossible end,

805
00:45:41,440 –> 00:45:43,640
than live on with a conscience
which said you didn’t try it

806
00:45:43,640 –> 00:45:49,280
when you could have done.
And the Lord accepted it so

807
00:45:49,280 –> 00:45:53,160
graciously, that when the end of
Paul’s life was very near to

808
00:45:53,160 –> 00:45:58,480
him, when he had borne witness
in Rome as a prisoner, and then

809
00:45:58,480 –> 00:46:01,160
was released to bear witness
again, a freeman through the

810
00:46:01,160 –> 00:46:04,360
world, and when back in prison
once more, there was to be no

811
00:46:04,360 –> 00:46:07,880
release.
This time he could utter the

812
00:46:07,880 –> 00:46:10,880
words which are so famous in our
midst that probably everybody

813
00:46:10,880 –> 00:46:16,080
could repeat them.
He said in Militus on his way to

814
00:46:16,080 –> 00:46:19,800
Jerusalem.
If by any means I might finish

815
00:46:19,800 –> 00:46:25,880
my course with joy, he says in
his second letter to Timothy,

816
00:46:25,880 –> 00:46:30,240
imprisoned in Rome.
I am now already being offered,

817
00:46:30,240 –> 00:46:32,120
and the time of my departure is
come.

818
00:46:33,480 –> 00:46:39,120
I have fought a good fight, I
have finished my course, I have

819
00:46:39,120 –> 00:46:43,920
kept the faith.
Henceforth there is laid up for

820
00:46:43,920 –> 00:46:50,320
me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous

821
00:46:50,320 –> 00:46:57,480
judge, shall give me at that
day, and not to me only, but

822
00:46:57,480 –> 00:47:00,280
also to all them that love his
appearing.

823
00:47:03,480 –> 00:47:07,080
Paul died as since the days of
his conversion he had lived,

824
00:47:08,600 –> 00:47:11,720
giving himself, offering his
prayers and pinning his hopes on

825
00:47:11,720 –> 00:47:17,320
the salvation of his friends.
A crown of ricings for him, of

826
00:47:17,320 –> 00:47:21,480
course, but for him it would
have been a barren, empty

827
00:47:21,480 –> 00:47:26,040
triumph also for all them that
love his appearing.

828
00:47:28,600 –> 00:47:31,720
It was the greatness and the
unselfishness of our Lord first

829
00:47:31,720 –> 00:47:34,120
and foremost.
And that Paul also that they

830
00:47:34,120 –> 00:47:36,320
thought of the future in terms
of the blessing they could give

831
00:47:36,320 –> 00:47:39,400
to others, and the glory they
could give to their God.

832
00:47:40,720 –> 00:47:43,960
So Paul could write to the
Thessalonians and say, What is

833
00:47:43,960 –> 00:47:47,000
my joy and my glory and my crown
of Rejoicing?

834
00:47:47,920 –> 00:47:52,160
Are not even he in the presence
of our Lord Jesus Christ, as his

835
00:47:52,160 –> 00:47:55,200
coming?
His happiness would be when he

836
00:47:55,200 –> 00:47:59,520
saw many sons come to glory, as
would be the supreme happiness

837
00:47:59,520 –> 00:48:06,640
of his greater the Lord.
And it looks, doesn’t it, as

838
00:48:06,640 –> 00:48:11,560
though the Lord who appeared to
Saul on the Damascus road, and

839
00:48:11,560 –> 00:48:14,840
the Lord who appeared to Paul in
Corinth, and said, No man shall

840
00:48:14,840 –> 00:48:16,440
set a finger on thee to harm
thee.

841
00:48:17,640 –> 00:48:20,400
The Lord, who appeared to Paul
in prison in Jerusalem, and

842
00:48:20,400 –> 00:48:26,920
said, Fear not, I am with thee.
As thou hast borne witness in

843
00:48:26,920 –> 00:48:29,560
Jerusalem, so shalt thou also
bear witness in Rome.

844
00:48:30,480 –> 00:48:33,440
And at some point in words, we
have not come down to a said to

845
00:48:33,440 –> 00:48:37,600
Paul facing the headman’s block.
Fear not, Paul.

846
00:48:39,440 –> 00:48:44,200
Henceforth there is laid up for
you a crown of righteousness,

847
00:48:46,080 –> 00:48:49,920
much as he had said at an
earlier state, to a man who had

848
00:48:49,920 –> 00:48:53,960
similarly confessed his sins.
Lord, Remember Me when thou

849
00:48:53,960 –> 00:48:57,760
comest into thy Kingdom.
The man had said, and the Lord

850
00:48:57,760 –> 00:49:01,640
had answered very last.
Say unto Today, thou shalt be

851
00:49:01,640 –> 00:49:04,520
with me in paradise.