Paul the Roman citizen - Acts 22:22-30 - N. T. -

So far they had listened to him, but at these words they began to shout, 'Rid the earth of the man! He is not fit to live!' They were yelling, waving their cloaks and throwing dust into the air, and so the tribune had him brought into the fortress and ordered him to be examined under the lash, to find out the reason for the outcry against him. But when they had strapped him down Paul said to the centurion on duty. 'Is it legal for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and has not been brought to trail?' When he heard this the centurion went and told the tribune; 'Do you realise what you are doing?' he said 'This man is a Roman citizen'. So the tribune came and asked him, 'Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?' 'I am' Paul said. The tribune replied, 'It cost me a large sum to acquire this citizenship'. 'But I was born to it' said Paul. Then those who were about to examine him hurriedly withdrew, and the tribune himself was alarmed when he realised that he had put a Roman citizen in chains. 

His appearance before the Sanhedrin - Acts 22:30; 23:1-11 - N. T. 

The next day, since he wanted to know what precise charge the Jews were bringing, he freed Paul and gave orders for a meeting of the chief priests and the entire Sanhedrin; then he brought Paul down and stood him in front of them. - 23 - Paul looked steadily at the Sanhedrin and began to speak, 'My brothers, to this day I have conducted myself before God with a perfectly clear conscience'. At this the high priest Ananias ordered his attendants to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him. 'God will surely strike you, you whitewashed wall! How can you sit there to judge me according to the Law, and then break the Law by ordering a man to strike me?' The attendants said, 'It is God's high priest you are insulting!' Paul answered, 'Brothers, I did not realise it was the high priest, for scripture says: You must not curse a ruler of your people.'

Now Paul was well aware that one section was made up of Sadducees and the other of Pharisees, so he called out in the Sanhedrin, 'Brothers, I am a Pharisee and the son of Pharisees. It is for our hope in the resurrection of the dead that I am on trail.' As soon as he said this a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees, and the assembly was split between the two parties. For the Sadducees say there is neither resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, while the Pharisees accept all three. The shouting grew louder, and some of the scribes from the Pharisees' party stood up and protested strongly, 'We find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit has spoken to him, or an angel?' Feeling was running high, and the tribune, afraid that they would teat Paul to pieces, ordered his troops to go down and haul him out and bring him into the fortress.

Next night, the Lord appeared to him and said, 'Courage! You have borne witness for me in Jerusalem, now you must do the same in Rome.'

Cf. - Acts 21:36; 25:24; 16:37+; 23:27; 16:39; 21:33; 24:16 - 

Cf. - John 18:22 - N. T. - At these words, one of the guards standing by gave Jesus a slap in the face, saying, 'Is that the way to answer the high priest?'

Cf. - Ezekiel 13:10-16 - O. T. - And you will learn that I am the Lord Yahweh, since they have misled my people by saying: Peace! when there is no peace. Instead of my people rebuilding the wall, these men come and slap on plaster. Tell these plasterers: It will rain hard, it will hail, it will blow a gate, and down will come the wall. Will not people ask: Where is the plaster you slapped on it? 

Well then, the Lord Yahweh says this: I am going to unleash a stormy wind in my anger, torrential rain in my wrath, hailstones in my destructive fury. I mean to shatter the wall you slapped with plaster, to throw it down and lay its foundation bare. It will fall and you will perish under it; and so you will learn that I am Yahweh.

When I have exhausted my anger against the wall and those who plastered it, I shall say to you: The wall is gone, and so are those who slapped it over with plaster, these prophets of Israel who prophesy about Jerusalem and have visions of peace for her when there is no peace - it is the Lord Yahweh who speaks.

Cf. - Acts 4:1-4; 26:5 - 

Cf. - Philippians 3:5 - N. T. - I was born of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents, and I was circumcised when I was eight days old. 

Cf. - Acts 24:15; 26:6f; 28:20; 4:2+; 5:17 - 

Cf. - Matthew 22:23 - N. T. - That day some Sadducees - who deny that there is a resurrection - approached Jesus and they put this question to him. 

Cf. - 5:34f; 18:9-10; 27:24; 19:21 -                                                                                                         -                                                                       PAGE  136  -

The conspiracy of the Jews against Paul 

When it was day, the Jews...               -  PAGE 137  -

 -     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  

   

Paul's arrest - Acts 21:27-40 - N. T. - 

The seven days were nearly over when some Jews from Asia caught sight of him in the Temple and stirred up the crowd and seized him, shouting, 'Men of Israel, help! This is the man who preaches to everyone everywhere against our people, against the Law and against this place. Now he has profaned this Holy Place by bringing Greeks into the Temple.' They had, in fact, previously seen Trophimus the Ephesians in the city with him, and thought that Paul had brought him into the Temple.

This roused the whole city; people came running from all sides; they seized Paul and dragged him out of the Temple, and the gates were closed behind them. They would have killed him if a report had not reached the tribune of cohort that there was a rioting all over Jerusalem. He immediately called out soldiers and centurions, and charged down on the crowd, who stopped beating Paul when they saw the triune and the soldiers. When the tribune came up he arrested Paul, had him bound with two chains and enquired who he was and what he had done. People in the crowd called out different things, and since the noise made it impossible for him to get any positive information, the tribune ordered Paul to be taken into the fortress. When Paul reached the steps, the crowd became so violent that he had to be carried by the soldiers; and indeed the whole mob was after them, shouting, 'Kill him!'

Just as Paul was being taken into the fortress, he asked the tribune if he could have a word with him. The tribune said, 'You speak Greek, then? So you are not the Egyptian who started the recent revolt and led those four thousand cut-throats out into the desert?' 'I?' said Paul 'I am a Jew and a citizen of the well-known city of Tarsus in Cilicia. Please give me permission to speak to the people.' The man gave his consent and Paul, standing at the top of the steps, gestured to the people with his hand. When all was quiet again he spoke to them in Hebrew.

Cf. - Acts 24:18 - 

Cf. - Romans 15:30-31 - N. T. - But I beg you, brothers, by the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of the Spirit, to help me through my dangers by praying to God for me. Pray that I may escape the unbelievers in Judaea, and that the aid I carry to Jerusalem may be accepted by the saints.

Cf. - Acts 18:13-15; 21:21; 24:5f, 14; 25:8 - 

Cf. - Lamentation 1:10 - O. T. - The oppressor has laid his hands on all she treasured; she has seen the pagans enter her sanctuary, men whom you had forbidden to attend your Assembly.

Cf. - Ezekiel 44:9 - O. T. - The Lord Yahweh says this: No alien, uncircumcised in heart and body, is to enter my sanctuary, none of those aliens living among the Israelites.

Cf. - Acts 20:4; 26:21; 23:27; 20:23; 21:11; 22:29; 22:22 - 

Cf. - Luke 23:18 - N. T. - But as one man they howled, 'Away with him! Give us Barabbas!' 

Paul's address to the Jews of Jerusalem - Acts 22:1-21 - N. T. -

'My brothers, my fathers, listen to what I have to say to you in my defence.' When they realised he was speaking in Hebrew, the silence was even greater than before. 'I am a Jew,' Paul said 'and was born at Tarsus in Cilicia. I was brought up here in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was taught the exact observance of the Law of our ancestors. In fact, I was as full of duty towards God as you are today. I even persecuted this Way to the death, and sent women as well as men to prison in chains as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify, since they even sent me with letters to their brothers in Damascus. When I set off it was the intention of bringing prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment. 

'I was on that journey and nearly at Damascus when about midday a bright light from heaven suddenly shone round me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" I answered: Who are you, Lord? and he said to me, "I am Jesus the Nazarene, and you are persecuting me". The people with me saw the light but did not hear his voice as he spoke to me. I said: What am I to do, Lord? The Lord answered,' "Stand up and go into Damascus, and there you will be told what you have been appointed to do". The light had been so dazzling that I was blind and my companions had to take me by the hand; and so I came to Damascus.

'Someone called Ananias, a devout follower of the Law and highly thought of by all the Jews living there, came to see me; he stood beside me and said, "Brother Saul, receive your sight". Instantly my sight came back and I was able to see him. Then he said, "The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Just One and hear his own voice speaking, because you are to be his witness before all mankind, testifying to what you have seen and heard. And now why delay? It is time you were baptised and had your sins washed away while invoking his name."

'Once, after I had got back to Jerusalem, when I was praying in the Temple, I fell into a trance and then I saw him, "Hurry," he said "leave Jerusalem at once; they will not accept the testimony you are giving about me." Lord, I answered, it is because they know that I used to go from synagogue to synagogue, imprisoning and flogging those who believed in you; and that when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I was standing by in full agreement with his murderers, and minding their clothes. Then he said to me, "Go! I am sending you out to the pagans far away."

Cf. - Acts 7:2 - 

Cf. - 2 Corinthians 11:22-23 - N. T. - I can be as brazen as any of them, and about the same things. Hebrews, are they? So am I. Israelites? So am I. Descendants of Abraham? So am I. The servants of Christ? I must be mad to say this, but so am I, and more than they. -

Cf. Acts - 26:4-5; 5:34; 26:5 - 

Cf. - Romans 10:2 - N. T. - I can swear to their fervour for God, but their zeal is misguided.

Cf. - Galatians 1:13-14 - N. T. - You must have heard of my career as a practising Jew, how merciless I was in persecuting the Church of God, how much damage I did to it.

Cf. - Philippians 3:5-6 - N. T. - I was born of the race of Israel and of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrew parents, and I was circumcised when I was eight days old. As for the Law, I was a Pharisee; as for working for religion, I was a persecutor of the Church; as far as the Law can make you perfect, I was faultless.

Cf. - Acts 8:3; 9:2; 9:1-18+; 26:9-18 - 

Cf. - Matthew 2:23+ - N. T. - There he settled in a town called Nazareth. In this way the words spoken through the prophets were to be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.

Cf. - 1 Corinthians 9:16-17 - N. T. - Not that I do boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands.

Cf. - Acts 9:17; 26:16 - 

Cf. - 1 Corinthians 9:1 - N. T. - I, personally, am free: I am an apostle and I have seen Jesus our Lord. You are all my work in the Lord.

Cf. - Acts 1:8+ - 

Cf. - Matthew 13:16-17 - N. T. - But be happy are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear! I tell you solemnly, many prophets and holy men longed to see what you see, and never saw it; to hear what you hear, and never heard it.

Cf. - 1 John 1:1-3 - N. T. - Something which has existed since the beginning, that we have heard, and we have seen with our own eyes; that we have watched and touched with our hands: the Word, who is life - this is our subject. That life was made visible: we saw it and we are giving our testimony, telling you of the eternal life which was with the Father and has been made visible to us. What we have seen and heard we are telling you so that you too may be in union with us, as we are in union with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. we are writing this to you to make our own joy complete.

Cf. - Acts 2:38+; 9:26 - 

Cf. - Galatians 1:18 - N. T. - Even when after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him for fifteen days.

Cf. Acts 9:29-30; 5:40; 7:58; 8:1; 26:10; 2:39+; 9:15 -                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              -  PAGE 135  -

Paul the Roman citizen

So far they had listened to him,.......      -  PAGE 136  -

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.   

 

The journey to Jerusalem - N. T. - Acts 21:1-14 -

When we had at last torn ourselves away from them and put to sea, we set a straight course and arrived at Cos; the next day we reached Rhodes, and from there went on to Patara. Here we found a ship bound for Phoenicia, so we went on board and sailed in her. After sighting Cyprus and leaving it to port, we sailed to Syria and put in at Tyre, since the ship was to unload her cargo there. We sought out the disciples and stayed there a week. Speaking in the Spirit, they kept telling Paul not to go on to Jerusalem, but when our time was up we set off. Together with women and children they all escorted us on our way till we were out of the town. When we reached the beach, we knelt down and prayed; then, after saying good-bye to each other, we went abroad and they returned home.

The end of our voyage from Tyre came when we landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed one day with them. The next day we left and came to Caesarea. Here we called on Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven, and stayed with him. He had four virgin daughters who were prophets. When we had been there several days a prophet called Agabus arrived from Judaea to see us. He took Paul's girdle, and tied up his own feet and hands, and said, 'This is what the Holy Spirit says, "The man this girdle belongs to will be bound like this by the Jews in Jerusalem, and handed over to the pagans". When we heard this, we and everybody there implored Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. To this he replied, 'What are you trying to do - weaken my resolution by your tears? For my part, I am ready not only to be tied up but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.' And so, as he would not be persuaded, we gave up the attempt, saying, 'The Lord's will be done'.

Cf. - Acts 11:19; 15:3; 20:23; 21:11; 20:36-38; 21:12; 15:3 -

Cf. - Acts 6:5; 8:4f,40; 2:4+,17; 11:27-28; 1:8+; 20:23; 21:33; 21:4; 9:15-16; 20:24+ -

Cf. - Matthew 6:10 - N. T. - Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

Cf. - Luke 22:42 - N. T. - 'Father,' he said 'if you are willing, take this cup away from me,'

Paul's arrival in Jerusalem - Acts 21:15-26 - N. T. - 

After this we packed and went on up to Jerusalem. Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and took us to the house of a Cypriot with whom we were to lodge; he was called Mnason and had been one of the earliest disciples. 

On our arrival in Jerusalem the brothers gave us a very warm welcome. The next day Paul went with us to visit James, and all the elders were present. After greeting them he gave a detailed account of all that God had done among the pagans through his ministry. They gave glory to God when they heard this. 'But you see,' brother,' they said 'how thousands of Jews have now become believers, all of them upholders of the Law, and they have heard that you instruct all Jews living among the pagans to break away from Moses, authorising them not to circumcise their children or to follow the customary practices. What is to be done? Inevitably there will be a meeting of the whole body, since they are bound to hear that you have come. So do as we suggest. We have four men here who are under a vow; take these men along and be purified with them and pay all the expenses connected with the shaving of their heads. This will let everyone know there is no truth in the reports they have heard about you and that you still regularly observe the Law. The pagans who have become believers, as we wrote when we told them our decisions, must abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from fornication.

So the next day Paul took the men along and was purified with them, and he visited the Temple to give notice of the time when the period of purification would be over and the offering would have to be presented on behalf of each of them.

Cf. - Acts 1:15+; 12:17+; 14:27; 15:4,12; 11:18+ -

Cf. - Romans 15:31 - N. T. - Pray that I may escape the unbelievers in Judaea, and that the aid I carry to Jerusalem may be accepted by the saints.

Cf. - Acts 6:11,14; 15:1; 28:17 - 

Cf. - Mark 7:1-13 - N. T. - The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered round him, and they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with unclean hands, that is, without washing them. For the Pharisees, and the Jews in general, follow the tradition of the elders and never eat without washing their arms as far as the elbow; and on returning from the market place they never eat without first sprinkling themselves. There are also many observances which have been handed down to them concerning the washing of cups and pots and bronze dishes. So these Pharisees and scribes asked him, 'Why do your disciples not respect the tradition of the elders but eat their food with unclean hands? 

He answered, 'It was of you hypocrites that Isaiah so rightly prophesied in this passage of scripture: This people honours me only in lip-service, while their hearts are far from me, The worship they offer me is worthless, the doctrines they teach are only human regulations. You put aside the commandment of God to cling to human traditions.' And he said to them, 'How ingeniously you get round the commandment of God in order to preserve your own tradition! For Moses said: Do your duty to your father and your mother, and, Anyone who curses father or mother must be put to death. 

But you say, "If a man says to his father or mother: Anything I have that I might have used to help you is Corban (that is, dedicated to God), then he is forbidden from that moment to do anything for his father or mother". In this way you make God's word null and void for the sake of your tradition which you have handed down. And you do many other things like this.'  

Cf. - 18:18+; 24:17; 15:19f,28f; 15:1+ -

                                                          -  PAGE  134  -

Paul's arrest

The seven days were nearly over when some Jews...  -  PAGE 135  -

 -     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -

Your generous contribution and support is profoundly cherish. I sincerely pray that: God blessing be upon you, always. Amen! Bank transfer: Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah - Public Bank Berhad account no. 4076577113 - Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.