What a wonderful blessing to be able to assemble with the people of God. Good to have you here on this Lord's Day. We trust the Lord will bless our gathering. If Jesus meets with us, it'll be good. And he's promised to.
Where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst.
So I think we have every prospect of a wonderful time in worshiping the Lord together. We received word this morning that Dwayne Craig's Mother Janice passed away this morning at 4 a.m. very peacefully. He was holding her, and Duane's in the service today. Trusting the Lord.
And rejoicing in God's goodness. But please pray. for Dwain at this time. I remind you that we are going ahead with our October Bible Conference, October 4 through 7, with Jim Oryk from Louisville, Kentucky.
So mark your calendar. That'll be some additional services. We haven't been overburdening you with a lot of meetings lately. Just Sunday morning. And that's about all, except for the live stream that most of you are tuning into on Wednesday night and Sunday night, and we appreciate that very much.
But the COVID has made things very different, but we feel like we need A Bible Conference. We need This time of refreshment. And so please. Plan to be with us on not only Sunday morning, but Sunday night and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night. October 4th through 7.
for our Fall Bible conference. We are very grateful and very encouraged by your faithfulness in giving during these times of COVID.
Somehow or another, you're getting your You're giving to the Lord to us by mail, by offering plates on the table in front of us or out at the usher station. And Our needs are being met, our bills are being paid, and we are very, very grateful for the faithfulness of God's people. Through the Lord's mercies, we are not consumed. Because his compassions Fail not. They are new every morning.
Great. is your faithfulness.
Well, let's begin by this reminder. of the way of salvation. Thy works, not mine, O Christ Speak gladness to this heart. Shall we stand as we sing together? For me to save me, there's no voice from thee.
Those things that come in to sing for sin and shall be just as well. Heavenly Father, we thank you for allowing us to assemble once again to approach the throne of grace once again. Lord, we are just reminded of our dependence upon Thee as never before. Think of those in government, Lord. leadership that needs to wisdom from on high we are not sufficient in it ourselves and Lord, you have done great things.
toes to stand in the hall. Yeah. Father, we thank you for the good leadership here, Lord, for our pastors and teachers who spin themselves to prepare and minister the word of God to others through the years. Thank you for that. blessed him and encouraged him in wonderful ways in the days ahead.
Heavenly Father, we do confess that we have sinned, Lord. We have our hearts have strayed and We have not feared you as we ought. We have not loved you as we ought. We have not honored you as we ought. Lord, thank you for second chances.
Lord, just restore our souls and renew. within is the right spirit. Establish our gaunts, keep us from the evil.
Solids our adversary, even now this morning. In Jesus' name, amen. It's one thing to believe theologically and doctrinally in the sovereignty of God. It's another thing to apply that truth to our lives day by day and moment by moment and circumstance by circumstance. And we really don't have full peace.
In our lives, until we get to the place where we can say with the songwriter. What air? My God ordains. is right. Let's sing a testimony.
of that faith in God this morning. Lord my God, the Jesus one is holy and all I am and far be thy hand. He is my God and I love Him's Lead and I shall fall that He is all my God the Say there are us free My God is good for you, since our world is ever and they solve angels, here shall our sand is free.
So we will be light and one who sing my heart's garlands are me there. Open your Bibles with me, please, to Acts chapter twenty-one. Our message today is going to be unusual in the regard. that we will not be looking at one small text. to analyze it in careful detail, but rather we're going to be surveying over about four chapters in the book of Acts today.
So obviously I can't read them all. I'll read a portion. The first passage that we're going to be examining in Acts chapter 21. Beginning with verse 26, and I'll read through chapter 22, verse 1. Then Paul took the men.
And the next day, having been purified with them, entered the temple to announce the expiration of the days of purification. at which time an offering should be made for each one of them.
Now when the seven days were almost ended, The Jews from Asia Seeing him in the temple, stirred up the whole crowd, and laid hands on him. crying out. Men of Israel, help! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against the people, the law. and this place.
And furthermore, He has brought Greeks into the temple and has defiled this holy place. For they had previously seen Trophimus. the Ephesian with him in the city. whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the city was disturbed.
And the people ran together, seized Paul, and dragged him out of the temple, and immediately the doors were shut.
Now as they were seeking to kill him, News came to the commander of the garrison that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. He immediately took soldiers and centurions and ran down to them. and when they saw the commander and the soldiers, They stopped beating Paul. Then the commander came near and took him. and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and asked who he was.
and what he had done. And some among the multitude cried one thing and some another.
So when he could not ascertain the truth because of the tumult, He commanded him to be taken into the barracks. When he reached the stairs, He had to be carried by the soldiers because of the violence of the mob. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying out. Away with him Then, as Paul was about to be led into the barracks, he said to the commander, May I speak to you? He replied, Can you speak Greek?
Are you not the Egyptian who some time ago stirred up a rebellion and led 4,000 assassins out into the wilderness? But Paul said, I am a Jew. from Tarsus in Cilicia. A citizen of no mean city, And I implore you permit me to speak to the people.
So when he had given him permission, Paul stood on the stairs and motioned with his hand to the people. And when there was a great silence, he spoke to them in the Hebrew language, saying, Brethren, and fathers Hear my defense before you now. May God bless to the good of our souls the reading of this portion of His eternal word. And shall we now look to the Lord in prayer? Lord, our Lord, how excellent indeed is your name in all the earth.
We see the evidence of your wisdom and power all around us. We see the evidence of your goodness and patience and long suffering day by day. We see, O Lord, the work of your love in our own souls. And we have seen the ultimate evidence of that. as we look upon the cross of Christ and see the sacrifice that you gave that sinners might be reconciled to you.
We come, therefore, O Lord, as grateful people. Saved by grace. deserving of damnation, but brought into the family of God. And we come to worship and exalt and to praise you. We come, O Lord, because our hearts are troubled.
They cannot help but be troubled by all that is going on in the world around us. And Father, we need to have our minds renewed. We need to have our faith strengthened. We need to have our focus Pointed again to your word and to your son and to the promises that remind us. that you are indeed upon your throne, and still in charge of all things.
and that furthermore your ways are always right. and your wisdom is unsearchable. And therefore, when we see things that trouble us, we need to know. That you have a wise and gracious purpose for them in whatever you, our God, ordain. is indeed right.
And we submit to that, O Lord. and ask you to teach us these truths day by day. We thank you for the birth of Logan Timothy Starnes. The latest grandson to Alan and Priscilla, and we pray that you will bless Thomas and. his wife and his family at this time in Asheville.
We thank you, O Lord, that Taylor Or Tyler Rankin is out of ICU at Duke Hospital and is. Doing amazingly well considering the injuries that he has to his head. that we realize that he's not completely out of the woods and all is not well. We praise you, O Lord, that you have spared his life and we praise you, O Lord, that he is progressing so amazingly well. And Father, in your goodness, would you please continue to bring him to full restoration?
We thank you that Ann Enoch's mother, Sarah Gilmore, is recovering nicely in New York State. We thank you that Rob Conrad continues to recover. We pray for Scott DeLaurie in the Philippines as he has. Can't contracted this fever which is very Dangerous and occasionally is deadly, and we pray that you will touch and strengthen and spare him at this time. We pray for Stuart Waugh that you might bring him that liver transplant which she has been waiting for and which he needs to prolong his life.
And with him, O Lord, we also pray for Paul Snyder and Trevor Johnson. all of our missionaries, who all have needs of one kind or another, And Father, we have at least four, no five, families in our church that have been touched by death over the last few days in one way or another. We pray. that you will strengthen. Encourage Help them.
cause them to focus their hearts and minds completely upon you. And help us to do the same as we gather together this morning. assembled in the name of Christ, and whose name we pray. Amen. Lord, we bow before your glory.
manifested In your son. Shall we stand and sing together? To save the salt, God is our free.
So just be my time, Jesus Christ our living Lord. Let the Lord has here holy world in every Four weeks ago, as most of you know, we began a study of the Roman Centurions in the New Testament. The first in Matthew chapter 8 was the centurion at Capernaum. Whose servant was healed by the Lord Jesus Christ from a distance at his own. Insistence.
And Jesus marveled at the extent of the faith of a Gentile. The second was the centurion at the cross of Christ, who was actually in charge of the execution. And when Jesus Committed his spirit to his heavenly father, That centurion manifested that he had come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Surely, this is the Son. of God.
The third one that we looked at last Lord's Day was Cornelius. The centurion in Caesarea, Maritima, Who was already a worshiper of God, but did not know the Lord Jesus Christ, and was therefore directed by God to. call Peter to come to him and to explain the gospel to him. And at the same time, the Holy Spirit prepared Peter to be willing to come into the home of a Gentile. And so it was a wonderful time of enlightenment.
For Cornelius and his household, enlightenment in the gospel of Christ, for Peter and the Jews that were with him. Enlightenment in God's intention to bring together into one body Jew and Gentile, all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, received without stipulation, without circumcision, without dietary laws. Gentiles, when equal standing with the Jews, simply upon faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful truth.
Well today We're taking a whole group of centurions. At least seven, possibly more, as we'll see when we go along. Unnamed None gave evidence. Of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. We would presume by the evidence that's given us in Scripture that they were all idolaters.
Worshiping false gods, Roman gods of of stone and of wood and of clay. But nevertheless, every one of them men whom God used in order to protect. and care for his servant, namely the Apostle Paul. The account of these centurions is scattered over four chapters in the book of Acts. Chapters 21, 22, 23, and 24.
And we really cannot consider them without considering a great deal of the narrative of these four chapters, and that is a very challenging thing. I hope I'm going to be able to do it properly. And yet, I think there's a wonderful lesson, a very important lesson that can be learned from the lives of these centurions. And when we have concluded this group today, we'll have one more to go in Acts chapter 27. the last centurion, who is in fact named, his name is Julius, and quite a bit is told us about him.
But we'll save that for another day. But now in Acts 21 through 24, we'll see centurions who minister to Paul. Those whom God uses, unconverted idolaters, to protect one of his dear children. And we will look, number one, at two centurions to the rescue. Number two, a centurion prevents a scourging.
Number three, a centurion exposes a plot. Four, two centurions provide an escort, and finally, A centurion protects the prisoner. Can we cover that? Let's try. Hang in there.
First of all, send two centurions to the rescue. And that one comes within the reading that I conducted a few moments ago. The the exact text is Acts 21.32. It says, he immediately, this is Lysias, the commander. He immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down to them, And when they saw the commander and the soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.
This passing reference to two centurions. Two Centurions to the Rescue.
Now let me give you the background. Paul travels back to Jerusalem at the conclusion of his third missionary journey. He's coming bringing the Substantial offering, monetary offering that has been raised among the Gentile churches for the persecuted saints at Jerusalem. He is also coming to report to the Mother Church for The church at Jerusalem was the first church and the largest church at that time. It was the mother church for all the churches that were being planted, now probably too numerous to count, all across the Roman world.
And Paul is coming back and talking to the leadership of that church and reporting to them what the Lord is doing out among the Gentiles. And at this time, he learns. that there are some questions about his ministry among the Gentiles. that certain reports have been circulating among the believers in Jerusalem about Paul and his ministry and things that are not accurate, but they are causing some of the Christians to have questions about The Apostle Paul and whether he is a reliable servant of God. And so the leaders of the Church of Jerusalem.
Instruct Paul. To identify himself with four members of the church, Jewish Christians, of course, as they all were in that location. And to enter with them into the conclusion of a vow, presumably a Nazarite vow that they had taken some time before. And the Ritual, and this is a Jewish ritual, and These details that Paul follows, you're not going to find these details. in the Law of Moses in the Old Testament, but these are the things that had developed over the years.
And the completion of these Nazarite vow, in addition to cutting their hair off, which had grown all during the duration of the vow, Paul himself having taken a similar vow on a previous occasion, Required seven days of purification in the temple. which included a number of things, but Probably most significantly, the offering of animal sacrifices, and there was some significant expense involved in that. And so the leaders of the church, said Paul, in order to demonstrate to the members of the church that you. Have not turned your back on Moses. You have not taught the Jewish Christians out in the dispersion to no longer.
Observe the customs of the fathers. You have not told them that they must not keep a kosher diet and so forth, things that have been reported, in order to demonstrate to them that you have. No objection to these Jewish customs. Paul, of course, recognized that they were not required, but he did not consider them to be wrong. They had become a matter of Conscience, a matter of liberty, a matter indifferent.
They may be observed if a person chose. They didn't have to be observed if a person did not choose. And, of course, for the most part, the Jewish Christians continued to observe them, and the Gentile Christians did not. And this was a point of conflict. It really shouldn't be.
It didn't need to be, but it was. And that's why it's important that Paul addressed this matter. And so he gladly followed these instructions and entered into this. Ritual cleansing with them by going to the temple every day for seven days to go through the prescribed ritual. And he agreed to pay the cost.
of their sacrifices out of his own pocket. Was Paul destitute?
Sometimes, yes. Other times? No. He knew both how to abound and how to be abased. How to be full and how to suffer need, how to be hungry, how to have every need supplied.
He said he'd learned in whatever state he was therewith to be content. And at this time, he seems to have a full a full pocket book. And so he gladly pays for the offerings. We aren't told that these men weren't able to pay. That's really not the point.
The point is that Paul is demonstrating his identity with them and with the religious ritual which they're carrying out. He's saying, I have no objections, no problems with these Mosaic Elements of the law, and even the additional traditions that have been added to them, as long as they don't contradict the gospel. And so Paul is in the temple with these men on. Probably the seventh day, it's toward the end. of this cleansing ritual.
When he is observed by a group of Jews from Asia, that would be in the area of Ephesus. Who had come to Jerusalem themselves for the Feast of Pentecost. That's why Paul was there at this time. He had hurried to get back in time to be able to observe the Feast of Pentecost. Another Demonstration that he was not opposed to Jewish.
Customs. He still observed them. according to his Jewish upbringing. And he had hurried back to Jerusalem to be there to observe the feast of Pentecost. And of course, these three annual feast days drew Jewish worshipers from all over the world.
And there happened to be some there from Asia who knew Paul and knew of his success in preaching the gospel and turning many Jews to Jesus Christ in Asia. And they certainly had, you might say, a chip on their shoulder against the Apostle Paul. And they saw him in the temple and They had seen him in the streets earlier with a Greek, a Gentile by the name of Trophimus from Ephesus. And so they assumed wrongly That Paul had taken him into the temple, and with a Gentile unqualified to be in the temple, had defiled the temple. And so they cried out to their Jewish compatriots: Come to our aid.
This is the man who is. doing terrible things to the Jewish religion, and he is even brought a Gentile into the temple to defile it.
Now you know, as I tried to explain to you before, that the temple was a vast, vast, vast area. It was not a single building. It was. a temple area with many courtyards. The size of a number of football fields, it was very large.
And so it was actually okay for Gentiles to come into the outer courtyards, no problem there. There was a large area all the way around the temple proper. There was a large area that was considered the court of the Gentiles. Gentiles could come there. Gentiles could pray there if they wanted to pray.
But. Where the the temple proper, the building that we would probably call the temple. was situated. There was another wall around that And there was There was a courtyard in there, in fact, a couple of courtyards, before you actually got into the temple proper. And this is where you came to the courtyard of the.
Jewish men. the courtyard of the women was elsewhere, but The men, Jewish men, could come into that courtyard, and then a little bit further there was a courtyard that only the priests could enter into, and of course, only priests could go into the temple.
So Paul evidently was in this Court of the Jewish men, the men, And was seen there by these Men from Asia And they accused him of bringing a Gentile into that courtyard, which was strictly forbidden. In fact, there were signs. prominently posted that said something like Gentiles, beware, if you pass this point, you are taking your life into your own hands. It was a capital offence. And that was the one thing, the only thing.
that Rome conceded to the Jews to give to have permission to carry out executions. They were so determined. And Rome finally said it's not worth the fight. Rome originally said nobody can carry out executions but Rome. You can't do that.
You don't have that authority. You are under our authority. But the Jews were so strongly. committed to protecting their temple from defilement from Gentiles. That Rome even allowed them to carry out executions in the case of a Gentile who breached that sacred space.
And that's what the crowd of Jews are accusing Paul of doing. And so they drag him outside that inner courtyard, into the outyard courtyard. The gates are slammed shut. And they start beating him, obviously, intending to kill him. They're planning to beat him to death.
The report immediately comes to the Roman commander. In the Fortress Antonia, I've explained to you at the northwest corner of this vast temple courtyard. And as I was looking recently, this week, one more time at a At a um Map is not the right word, but a sketch. Of the temple area and the different elements and their relationship one to the other. And saw the The Fortress Antonio in the northwest corner, and realized what a small area it occupied.
On that northern wall, it doesn't even cover a quarter, maybe only 20%. of the the length of that wall. And this fortress is large enough to house a thousand Roman soldiers in the barracks. Again, it gives you an idea of the immense size of that Jewish temple area. But that fort had been built there, Fortress Antonia.
Named for? Anthony, of Anthony and Cleopatra. Fame. And built by Herod the Great, who built, built, built, built, built so many things. He built the temple to its present size, and he built that fortress.
And the purpose of the fortress was so that the Roman occupying force could keep a close eye on Jerusalem because. The Jews were prone to riot and rebellion. And generally, when these things happened, they started in the temple. And so the fortress was right there where they could watch. And there was a tower up above even the fortress itself, which was high above the courtyard.
And the tower was always stationed with lookouts. As soon as they saw trouble in the courtyard below, they sent word to the Roman commander, and he immediately sprang into action, and he commanded two centurions to come instantly with their soldiers that they were.
Well, it doesn't say two. That's the interesting thing. Most commentators assume that it probably was two. It just simply says centurions, plural. We know that it was more than one.
Minimum of two. Two or more centurions with their band of soldiers. Each one of them had a hundred men under their command. And so swooping down, there were two staircases down from Fortress Antonia into the courtyard. And I would suppose one centurion and his men streamed down one staircase, the other centurion and his men streamed down the other staircase.
And if there was more than one, I guess they took their turns and they came down the staircases as well into the courtyard below. and rescued Paul. kept him from being killed. by the mob. This rescue was initiated by the Roman commander Who we learn later in chapter 26, when we finally get his name.
is Claudius Lycius. He has The Roman Tribune As he would be more commonly called, or in the Greek, the Roman kiliarch. And a Roman tribune or Killiarch was a commander over a thousand Roman soldiers.
Now, remember a legion? I told you all this before, but I don't expect you to remember all the details. A Roman legion was 6,000 men.
So we're talking about a garrison, as it's called here, which is a thousand men. Force, an occupational force, a cohort plus. A cohort was 600, you remember.
So this is bigger than a cohort. And the Killiarch is over one thousand soldiers who are all stationed in this Fortress Antonia. And that indicates that there would have been how many centurions stationed at that location? Probably ten. Each with a hundred men times ten makes a thousand.
That's what it would have taken to make up a force of a thousand.
So there were probably at least ten. Centurion stationed there.
So when Claudius Licius said, Give me two, go. It could have been any two of the ten who were there, probably the two closest. And Down they went, scrambled out of the barracks and down they went. And they rescued Paul from his Murder by the mob. Two centurions.
who God used to rescue Paul from Death by a Mob. But number two, a centurion prevents a scourging, and I have to move on. It would be very easy to get caught up in all these details and never get done. But now we come to a centurion prevents a scourging, and the exact verses for that is chapter 22, verses 25 and 26, and I'll read those, and then we'll have to fill in the background again. Acts 22, 25, and as they bound him.
with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who stood by, Is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and uncondemned? When the centurion heard that, He went and told the commander, saying, Take care what you do. For this man is a Roman.
Well, when Lysias Sent the centurions to rescue Paul from the courtyard. He had Paul bound with chains and Carried manually up the stairs into the barracks. He had to be carried because the mob wasn't willing. To let him go. They were still fighting.
For him, fighting to hold on to Paul, even though there were hundreds. Of Roman soldiers there, so determined were they. And so Paul is rescued by being carried manually, physically, up into the barracks, up into the fortress above. And when he arrives there, he speaks to the commander, Claudius Lysias, and he says to him, in Greek, educated Greek. Obviously, he's a well-educated man.
He says, Can I speak to you? And Lysias is quite surprised to hear Paul speak Greek because he assumed. that he was a certain seditious Egyptian, who had created a riot about four years before. And evidently, he knew enough about that Egyptian to know that he didn't speak Greek. He wasn't that well educated.
Now what we know about this Egyptian we only get from secular sources. But he had come He was a Jewish, he was an Egyptian Jew. He had come to Jerusalem and he had acquired a following, and he promised his followers that when he spoke the word, the walls of the Fortress Antonia were going to crumble down. He was claiming to have miraculous power. Kind of like Joshua fit the Battle of Jericho.
And his followers believed him, and he had collected a following of 4,000 men. And he was getting ready to foment some kind of rebellion, And his rebellion was brutally Crushed. by none other than Felix, the Roman procurator who comes up at the end of our count today. And they killed most of the 4,000 followers. A few of them escaped, but the Egyptian himself escaped.
Now, what Lysias is assuming is this Egyptian came back for another try. And he was not welcomed by the Jews because he had tricked them before. He had deceived them. He had claimed powers that he clearly didn't have. And he had caused the death of many of them, and they would not welcome him.
So when Lysias saw them beating this man in the courtyard, they thought that Egyptian has come back, and he's getting what the Jews are going to meet out to him. He probably at that point was saying, You know, should I rescue him or should I just pretend to? You know, kind of delay, drag my feet here until they can do the job that probably ought to be done. Rid both the Romans and the Jews of this pesky fellow. Aren't you, he says to Paul, that Egyptian?
Who created all this problem? And Paul says, no, I'm not. I may Jew from the city of Tarsus, a city that had a reputation of having a highly educated populace. And I would like to have permission to speak. to the crowd below.
And the Commander McKilliark is Rather taken back by all of this, and realizes he's not dealing with a ruffian, he's dealing with a highly educated man, and so he gives him permission. And so when the crowd is quiet, Quieted, and Paul is standing on the steps and now speaking to the mob below, hundreds of people, no doubt. He begins to speak to them in what our Bible calls the Hebrew language. But it was actually Aramaic, but it's it's a it's kind of a development out of Hebrew, and it was the form of Hebrew, you might say, that Jews in that day spoke. And it is very unlikely That Claudius Licius or any of the Romans understood a word of what Paul spoke at this point.
They didn't know what he was saying to the crowd below. Because they communicated With all the Jews in Greek, and the Greeks all the Jews all spoke Greek and communicated with them in Greek, so it wasn't necessary for them to learn Aramaic. And so when Paul begins to give his testimony, and that's what he does in speaking to these Jews, they don't know what he's saying, I don't think. That's supposition on my part. But they really don't know what he's saying.
And Paul is just simply giving his testimony. He tells them how he used to persecute Christians, how he was a Pharisee. And how he was arrested by Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road. And he met the Lord Jesus Christ. From heaven above, speaking to him on earth below.
And That he realized that the one he was persecuting was actually the Lord of glory. Was actually the Son of God, the eternal Son of God, King of kings and Lord of Lords. That was actually the God that he thought he was worshiping, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And he had been completely wrong about all of these things. And he explains all of this in his testimony.
And he's doing fine. They're all listening with rapt attention until he says, Jesus Christ gave me a commission. He told me to. Go to the Gentiles and preach the gospel. And when he said that, There Fury Knew no bounds.
Their hatred was stirred up once again. It's hard to imagine how deep is their hatred and animosity against Gentiles. It's a terrible thing to see how racial animosity can just be stirred up and stirred up and stirred up until it becomes this irrational hatred. We see it here. We see it in our day in America.
And so All right, again. The commander needs to Rescue him again? He does? Brings him back into the barracks. Of course, he wasn't in their hands at this time, he was standing on the steps.
And the soldiers were guarding, no doubt, the steps. Jews couldn't come up to get him. But now the commander really is puzzled. Who is this guy and what's he doing? And what is it that's setting these Jews into such an irrational frenzy?
And so He's going to find out in the way that he knows how as a military man. He's going to. interrogating by scourging. With The Roman Flagellum. which is the most cruel and awful scourging ever devised.
It was a whip. Wooden handle leather thongs, but on the end of each each thong was a piece of Something very sharp, stone boned. whatever it could be. And every time that Roman lictor Flogged a man. with that whip and pull.
Hold it back, it always tore flesh from him. Paul, who had been beaten by rods, another lesser form of beating. And Had been whipped by thongs, but not the flagellum with these sharp. objects in the end had never experienced the Roman scourging, the Roman flagellum before.
Sometimes it was not was not uncommon for Men to be actually killed in the course of this kind of beating. They did not always survive. Jesus was scourged. with the Roman flagellum. before the cross.
He did survive. And he died on the cross. Jesus was quite The man.
Well, they stretch Paul out to Scourge him. And Paul signals to A centurion. who was in charge of the scourge. Is it one of these other two centurions? Maybe so, maybe not.
Who knows? In fact, we don't even know. I slipped again. We don't even know that the other ones were only two, two or more. With ten centurions there, it Statistically, it's more likely than not that this is yet another centurion.
Who is perhaps the one in charge of floggings? I mean, who knows? They all had different tasks, no doubt. And so he signals to the centurion as he's been. stretched out, tied to the rack for this flogging, this this uh terrible scourging.
He says, just ask a question. Is it lawful to scourge a Roman citizen?
Now, that doesn't mean a whole lot to us because. To us, citizenship is so common that it's almost means nothing. It's a shame. in America today. We just take it for granted.
In Rome, that vast empire, Only a small, small, small handful, small percentage of the population were actually Roman citizens. Most of them. Romans from Rome. But some of them from other places At different times, when a particular person, or in some cases, a whole city, like the city of Tarsus. had performed some Significant Favor for the Roman Empire may be Rescuing them in some strategic battle or something, the reward would be to bestow Roman citizenship upon them.
That was one of the most highly valued things that a person could have. And so, as soon as the century, and by the way, if anyone claimed to be a citizen and it proved to be a lie, that was an execution. point. He would be killed for lying like that.
So it's not very likely The centurion is not of the opinion that Paul is lying, because he knows if he lies, he'll die for certain. And and they did they did carry a little um I forget the name of it, but a little um identifying We would call it a A passport or something in our day to certify that they were Roman citizens.
So, Paul no doubt had that, but probably not in his possession as he was stretched out on the rack. But if he claimed to have it, they no doubt assumed he could go get it out of his bag. But um He sends word, the centurion sends word to Claudius Lysias immediately and says, Be careful what you do with this man, he's a Roman. And that in itself is enough to literally shake. Claudius Lysias, up because not only is it illegal to flog a Roman with the flagellum, but it's even illegal to stretch him out in.
Preparation for that. He can get in serious trouble for this. If he'd actually flogged him, he could pay with his life. That's how serious it was to do this to a Roman citizen. And so he comes and talks to Paul.
And Says, Are you a Roman citizen? Yes. He says, Well, I obtained that favor with a lot of money. Cost me a bundle.
Now, mm Probably for the majority, I'm told, of the history of the Roman Empire, citizenship was not for sale. But there were certain times that it was, and under Emperor Claudius They were selling. Citizenship at high price. It was a way of of aligning the pockets of some of the officials in Rome. And this, no doubt, is where he acquired his name.
His name, no doubt, was Lysias. His given name, and now he'd acquired citizenship, this highly prized citizenship, from. the Emperor Claudius or someone in his his cabinet. And so he now takes the name Claudius Lysias, and his citizenship now allows him to become this high-ranking. Killiark in the Roman army, he wouldn't have been able to do that before.
And so he explains this to Paul. It cost me a bundle. He must have been a wealthy man. Cost me a bundle.
to become a citizen, Paul says. I was born a citizen. Which In the intricacies of the hierarchy of that day, actually made him a little bit. Higher rank in the minds of people than somebody who purchased their citizenship.
Somebody who was born a Roman citizen was a very high-ranking personage in the Roman Empire. You better be careful what you do with this man. And so a centurion rescued Paul from the Roman flagellum. Number 3, a centurion exposes a plot against Paul, chapter 23, verses 17 and 18. I'll read the verses, then I'll give the background again.
Then Paul called one of the centurions to him. Here we go again, one of the centurions. to him, and said, 'Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him'.
So he took him, and brought him to the commander, and said, 'Paul the prisoner, ' called me to him, and asked me to bring this young man to you he has something to say to you. All right, what happened in the meantime was Lysias, realizing that he couldn't interrogate him by force. Flogging decided that another way to try to find out why the Jews wanted to kill Paul was to have Him placed before the Jewish Sanhedrin and let them conduct a trial and with Roman representatives there to hear what's going on so he could figure this thing out. And In the presence of the Sanhedrin, Ananias, the very corrupt high priest at that time, orders Paul to be smitten, slapped across the mouth, simply for claiming to be to be one who had worshipped God. in clear conscience.
And Paul calls him out. Paul says How come you are here trying me according to the law, and you've already violated the law? It's against the law to punish someone until they have been tried and found guilty. You whited sepulchre, you? But Paul didn't know that he was the high priest.
Why not?
Well, because they turned over so frequently. Again, not the way it was designed by God in the days of Moses. High priests served until they died and then were replaced for another high priest who served for a lifetime. But now it had become very political, and because the Jews were under the authority of Rome, The Romans always had a hand in who would be the next high priest. And high priests became high priests by cozying up to the Roman government.
And so if they could cozy up enough and get this appointment, that was a good thing. And as long as they were in favor, they held the appointment. But as soon as they fell out of favor, out they went, and Rome put in another Jewish high priest who they could trust to be favorable to them.
So Paul. Had been away from Jerusalem for years. And it He didn't recognize the present high priest, Ananias. And so when he found out that he had just Publicly. called out the high priest on no uncertain terms.
Paul Apologized. Said forgive me. The law The law of Moses, the law of God, says you shall not speak evil of the leaders of your people.
Now think about this. I don't have time to get into all of the Applications here. Here was a man who was corrupt, he was evil. Here was a man who had broken the law. Does Paul have a responsibility to show him honor to?
Defer to him. to submit to his authority. I know a lot of Christians who would say no, no, only if he's acting rightly. The Bible says otherwise. And Paul said, I'm sorry.
I submit to his authority. That's what God tells me to do. But The light turned on.
Now he has another idea. And recognizing and knowing, because he had probably been a member of the Sanhedrin himself in his earlier years. Recognizing that the Sanhedrin was made up of two classes of Jews, Pharisees and Sadducees, he saw. An idea. He had an idea.
Pharisees deny the resurrection. the possibility of anyone rising from the dead. They don't believe it's possible. Pharisees support the resurrection. They believe in it, and so Jesus, Paul cries out, for the doctrine of the resurrection, I am on trial this day.
And suddenly, the Sanhedrin is divided, and they're fighting with each other. The Pharisees are saying, I don't see anything wrong with this man. And the Sadducees are saying, He's a bum. And they're fighting like crazy among themselves. And the Romans realize that Paul is in danger again of being now this time being torn in two by these two factions.
One of them's got him on one side, one of them's got on the other side. They're tugging against him. Paul had a very interesting life. I don't envy his life. But now Paul is rescued.
from this situation. And they take him back up into the barracks. And The Jews get busy. With a plot. 40 of them get together and they make a sacred vow that they will eat or drink nothing until they've killed Paul.
And they plan to ambush him. They're going to ask Lysias to bring him down to the Sanhedrin again. We promise we'll behave this time. Bring him down again. And this time they're planning to put him to death when he comes.
And Paul's Nephew Over here's The plot.
Now this just comes out of nowhere. We didn't know Paul had any relatives. in Jerusalem. But this is his sister's son. We didn't know he had a sister.
We didn't know. But he had a sister who evidently lived in Jerusalem because he's this is still a young man. A boy. If he had any relatives, we would have assumed by now that they'd all disowned him because he'd become a Christian. And there's no evidence that his relatives had come to faith in Christ.
There's a lot of unspoken things, and all we can do is just deal with what is written here. And God, in His providence, has a nephew someplace. Where in the world would this nephew have heard of this plot? Which obviously they weren't broadcasting all over Jerusalem, they didn't want the Romans to know about it, but somehow God in His sovereign ways caused Paul's nephew to hear of the plot. And he comes into the barracks and tells Paul, Paul has an amazing liberty.
He can have people come and go and visit him. He's not he's not like he's in jail, really. Good old Roman citizenship. He put the fear of Rome in Lysae, and they're treating him very respectfully. And his nephew comes and tells Paul.
That there is a plot against him, and Paul beckons one of the centurions, a centurion again, unidentified centurion, and says, Come here. And it's almost like Paul's in charge when you read what he says here. He doesn't say, Could I make a request of you, please? Like he had with Lysias when he wanted to speak to the crowd. It's like he's commanding the centurion: take this boy and take him to the commander and let him tell the commander what information he has.
I mean, really, I can't read too much into this, but it does almost seem like Paul is viewing himself as in charge of the centurion, and the centurion doesn't seem to object to that. Yes, sir. And away goes the nephew. And he tells Lysias what's going on. He exposes the plot.
And so a centurion rescued Paul from the Jewish death plot. Quickly, number four, two centurions provide an escort. Lysias immediately springs into action. He is a capable Roman Kill the ark, he knows what to do. The plot to kill Paul changes everything.
And so he takes immediate action, and Lysias immediately puts Well, here we go again two centurions in charge of an escort. Chapter 23 Verse 23, Centurions again. and he called for two centurions, saying, Prepare and notice the size of this escort. Two hundred soldiers. Seventy horsemen.
Two hundred spearmen, to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night. It was probably already night, and he says, Be ready to go by nine o'clock. Two centurions put together This military Escort. Four hundred and seventy men in all. And we're told in verse 24 that horses, plural, were provided for.
For Paul, they were going to go. Basically, without stopping until they got all the way to Caesarea, about 65 miles away. And it would wear a horse out. They had to have more than one horse to get them all the way there before. They accomplish their purpose to Sepsaria.
And Lysias composes a letter. This is where we learn his name because the letter is there. And in the Roman fashion, the name is given first of the author. And so Claudius Lysias writing to Felix, the procurator of Judea, the very. one who had quashed that Egyptian rebellion four years earlier.
He writes to Felix.
Now Felix is the present Governor, as our Bible usually calls him, of Judea, he is in the same position that Pilate was in. The crucifixion of Christ. He is the governor, the procurator of Judea. I wish I had more time to tell you about Felix. But anyway, they take off at nine o'clock at night.
To M. Tipris, Antipatris, A town halfway away built by Guess who? Herod the Great. Named in honor of somebody named Antipater, I forget who that is. When they get that far, they think they're far enough away that they're no longer in as huge a danger, and so they send all the foot soldiers back.
But just think about 470 Roman soldiers, and this is a forced march. They're going quickly. And they're in, I'm sure, in perfect rank. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, marching through the night. Anybody who was anywhere near that road knew something was going on.
The Roman army is on the move. Nearly 500 men marching in the middle of the night.
Something big. is going on here. But when I got to Antipateris, Now they didn't need quite as many, so just the Cavalry. The seventy horsemen Are enough to finish it out and take him to Caesarea. And they do, and they deliver Paul to Felix.
And he's kept in Herod's praetorium.
So our fourth example is two centurions protect Paul. From an ambush by the Jews, they are given the responsibility of putting together this military escort. Number five. A centurion protects the prisoner.
Now chapter 24 verse 23.
So he, this is now Felix, commanded the centurion. These guys are popping up a lot. Had you really noticed how often centurions are mentioned? In the book of Acts. He commanded the centurion to keep Paul.
and to let him have a liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide or visit him. What happened here?
Well, the Jews come from Jerusalem to Caesarea to bring their accusations against Paul, Felix. As decided he's going to hear their their case. And they have a Famous orator Orator slash lawyer. named Tertullus, who comes to to speak the prosecution, to prosecute the case. And he does in verses 2 through 9 of chapter 24, and then Paul.
without legal representation, defends himself. In verses 10 through 21. And essentially, Paul says, I haven't done the things that they have charged me with. They charged him, of course, of sedition. And he said There's no witness here to Prove any of these things they said.
Where are these Jews from Asia that accused me of bringing a Gentile into the temple that they're saying I'm guilty of? There's not a single person here to testify to that. Felix knew the Jews didn't have a legal case. They're obviously Feel very strongly about this man, but they don't have a legal case, nothing that'll hold up in Roman court. But Felix is not an honorable man, and he stalls.
He doesn't. What? to offend the Jews. You know, you've got one man and he knows he's innocent. You've got a whole nation that you're responsible.
You're the governor of Judea. And these folks don't have a reputation for being calm and easily ruled and managed. And if The way you treat Paul favorably upsets the whole nation and sets them all in a riot. You're in trouble with Rome, and in a situation like that, what do you do? Do you do the honorable thing and obey the law, or do you do the expedient thing?
and be careful not to offend the Jews. Se same position that Pilate was in with Jesus Christ. Do I do the right thing and turn a man that I know to be innocent loose? Or do I offend this nation and maybe lose my office? That's what Felix is doing now, so he stalls.
So, while he's stalling and trying to figure out what to do, he needs to make sure that Paul is in good protective custody because he knows what the Jews will do if they have a chance. And so A centurion is commissioned to keep Paul And that's at least the seventh centurion that is mentioned in these four chapters, and possibly more. And Paul is in protective custody. A centurion safeguards Paul from Jewish intentions.
Now, I must Conclude. What do we learn from all of this? I've given you some interesting biblical history.
Well, I think the main lesson is how God faithfully cares for his own. Whatever it takes. God is going to take care of his own. Even if he's going to use pagan idolaters to do it, he's going to take care of his own. Fear not, little flock.
God has ordained to give you the kingdom. Why do you think he's not going to take care of you now here upon the earth before the kingdom gets here? With promises like we have in the Word of God and examples of God's care that we have before us today. Why should we fear COVID-19? God knows how to take care of his children.
I'm not saying be foolish and careless, but why should we fear COVID-19? Why should we fear social unrest? Our nation's in turmoil. And it may, who knows what may happen? Only God knows.
It may implode. God knows how to take care of his children and has promised to do so. Why should we fear political upheaval? Why should we fear if the wrong person gets elected? Wrong being according to course to your politics.
I'm not telling you who that from the pulpit. I'm not telling you who that wrong person is. If you want to know afterwards, come and talk to me privately. But anyway, why should we fear? God No's How?
To care for his children. Look how he cared for Paul. He used. Roman pagan idol worshipers to do it.
So, what should we fear? No one but God Fear God and God alone. He cares for you. He cares for you. He ever loves and cares for you.
He'll do what no one else can do for Jesus. cares for you.
Furthermore, God is sovereign over all peoples and nations. Believers and unbelievers alike. They all do his bidding. They all accomplish his purposes. Pagan Gentile kings, pagan Gentile centurions.
They all do his bidding. God is sovereign over all people and nations.
So, why would we doubt a God like this? We're getting to the conclusion now. Why would we doubt a God like this? Why wouldn't we trust a God like this for our soul's salvation? Hear what He says and believe His word.
Why wouldn't we trust Him for our safety and security? Why would we worry and fret? Why do we trust Him for our future? As if we have to secure our future, as if we could. For goodness sakes.
Trust in God and quit worrying about it. This is a God you can trust for your every need. and concern. Shall we pray? Lord God, teach us to trust you as we ought.
We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Can't we trust a God who has provided His Son? For our salvation. His robes for mine.
A wonderful Exchange. This was the mind for what could change. Only my sin was unbelief rage. Fatimes right just as I live when I lazy eye. My faith arises.
Jesus was saved by strength for God. The Christ, my life is thy own. Shining over my soul, what close thy prayer was closed in God, Christmas is myself, of Christ myself with precious words of life, saved by my Lord, my grace and love. I praise Christ and love Jesus forsake my strength, I'm the town that I desire by praise. Jesus is Christ and thus the highest peace was great on sin and that is done since page is faith by faith and my love Jesus was saved by the strength of God of highest time and Grace I own shall be our song These things for mind such a Christian hell Christ divest for Christian love I am for thee in grace and love My family forsaken thy strength for God my life is not my own Will you bow?
O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments. and his ways past finding out For who has known the mind of the Lord, Or who has become his counsellor? or who has first given to him and it shall be repaid to him. For of him And through him And to him are all things.
To whom be glory forever. Amen. Yeah.
