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Acts chapter 23 · Scripture Unscripted

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  Acts chapter 23. Let us pray.
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  Lord God Almighty, who reigns on high, we love you, Lord Jesus.
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  Thank you God for another day. Thank you Lord for waking us up.
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  Thank you Lord for clean drinking water.
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  Thank you God for food in our bellies.
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  Thank you, Lord for the love that we share amongst our
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  brothers and sisters. Thank you Father for the church.
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  Lord, the gates of hell will not prevail against.
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  Thank you, God, for missionaries, for those that are
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  sent out on the front lines. Thank you, Father, for your
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  spoken word, for the complete authority.
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  I thank you, Lord Jesus, for the deposit of the Holy Spirit.
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  God, make us have sound minds and bodies.
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  God, I pray for your will to be done today.
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  Lord, I get out of my own way. Lord, we get out of our way,
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  Lord, and we say yes and Amen to all the promises that are
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  contained in this book. We love you, King Jesus, guide
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  us. Holy Spirit, show us the eternal
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  path. Help us to know what to do and
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  when to do it and how to do it. God, I pray that we will not
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  shrink back in fear. I pray against anxiety.
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  Lord, in the name of Jesus, I pray that we'll have a zeal and
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  a boldness for your word. I pray that we'll be able to
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  rightly divide the word of God. I pray for sound doctrine.
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  God, I pray for sound theology. In the name of Jesus, Lord, I
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  pray Holy Spirit, you'll be our teacher and our God.
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  Hide me and hide my words and hide my thoughts.
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  It's all about you, King Jesus. It's always been about you, King
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  Jesus, and it'll always be about you, King Jesus.
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  We love you and you are the banner over our lives.
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  And it is in your holy and precious and powerful name that
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  I pray. Amen.
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  Well, let's start in verse one. And Paul, earnestly beholding
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  the council, said, Men, brothers, I've lived in all good
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  conscience before God until this day.
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  So he sang that after the road to Damascus and after his
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  conversion from Saul to Paul, he has preached the word of God.
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  He has been found preaching in season and out of season.
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  Paul has had a clear conscience, knowing that he was doing the
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  Lord's work too. And the high priest Ananias
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  commanded them that stood by him to strike him on the mouth.
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  Does this sound familiar? Friends?
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  Can you see how this is resembling how they treated
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  Jesus? And don't be surprised when
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  you're speaking for Jesus. If you are not treated like
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  Jesus, you could be speaking the truth and Speaking of love and
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  joy and contentment and peace. And those that are hostile to
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  God will strike you on the mouth. 3 Then said Paul unto
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  him, God shall strike you, you whitewashed wall, for you sit to
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  judge me after the law, and command me to be struck contrary
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  to the law. Paul knew the law, and he knew
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  that this was not right, but he also knew that he should not
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  have spoke out against the high priest.
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  Four And they stood by, said, You reviled God's high priest. 5
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  Then said Paul, I knew not, brothers, that he was the high
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  priest. For it is written, You shall not
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  speak evil of the ruler of your people.
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  Imagine that this high priest is doing Satan's biddings and Paul
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  still gives him the respect because that's what the word of
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  God tells us to do. And we always obey the law until
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  the law goes against the word of God.
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  And the word of God Trump's every law in every land across
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  this entire globe. And there is no government and
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  there is no official who could ever get first place.
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  We would do well, friends, to make sure that we learn the Word
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  of God, own the Word of God, memorize the Word of God.
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  It is the Word of God that has supreme authority over every
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  single people group over this entire world.
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  Friends, this is the finality. This is the supreme order is the
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  Word of God and that is why it is so attacked and that is why
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  people are so hostile towards Christians and towards church
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  and towards God is because once you know the Word of God, you
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  are blood bought, bulletproof until the end when the Lord
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  takes you from glory to glory and the blood of the martyrs,
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  the seed of the gospel, friends, don't forget it. 6 went.
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  But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the
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  other Pharisees, he cried out in the council.
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  Men, brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee of the
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  hope and the resurrection of the dead.
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  I am called in question. So he pulled out the word that
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  would have divided the Sanhedrin, this resurrection.
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  The Sadducees did not believe in any of the supernatural.
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  They did not believe in angels, in the resurrection of the dead,
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  But the Pharisees did. And so Paul, by using this
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  little word resurrection, he drove a wedge between these two
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  parties and weakened them. 7 And when he had said so, there arose
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  A dissension between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and
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  the multitude was divided. 8 For the Sadducees say that there is
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  no resurrection, neither Angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees
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  confessed both. It seems to me that the
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  Sadducees didn't read the Bible, even the Pentateuch in all the
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  Old Testament major and minor prophets in the law.
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  These Sadducees were steeped in ignorance and it's no different
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  in our day, in our hour. There are a lot of men who are
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  preaching heresy and apostasy and I believe that these men do
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  not even read the Bible. They're culturally minded, they
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  are worldly minded, they are carnal minded, and it is just a
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  profession unto them, and it's for selfish, greedy gain.
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  And God sees through it all. 9 And there arose a great cry, and
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  the scribes that were of the Pharisees part arose and strove,
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  saying, we find no evil in this man, but if a spirit or an Angel
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  has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
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  So they got it right friends, right there.
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  They're fighting against God, and it will never amount to
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  anything. 10 And when there arose of great dissension, the
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  chief captain, fearing Les Paul should have been pulled in
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  pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him
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  by force from among them, and to bring him into the castle.
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  So what you're going to find here is that history tells us
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  that this high priest here was haunted down and murdered by his
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  own people. And that is what you find
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  whenever you stop following God and start following after sin
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  and self. It is stealing, killing and
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  destroying is all it's ever going to amount to.
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  And in the beginning it sure looks pretty, but in the end it
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  bites like a Viper. 11 In the night following, the Lord stood
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  by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have
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  testified of me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also at
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  Rome. So the Lord Jesus Christ himself
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  comes to visit Paul and his jail cell.
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  It's much better to be in jail with Jesus than to inherit the
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  entire world and lose your soul. Imagine that.
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  And we see that he was well pleased with what Paul had said,
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  and he wanted him to speak the truth and the life and the way
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  unto those at Rome also. And he's going to give him a
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  first class ticket. 12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews
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  banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying
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  that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed
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  Paul. Look at this delusional spirit.
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  Look at this Antichrist spirit. Look at this satanic revolt.
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  These men who were supposed to be serving God are serving the
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  devil. They're going to murderously,
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  blasphemously kill Paul for speaking the truth.
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  Imagine that, friends. 14 And they came to the chief priests
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  of the elders and said, We have bound ourselves under a great
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  curse, that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul. 15
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  Now therefore, you with the council signify to the chief
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  captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though he
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  would inquire something more perfectly concerning him, and
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  we, or ever he come near, are ready to kill him.
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  So these 40 men had taken an oath that they would not eat or
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  drink until Paul was dead. But it leaked out, news got out,
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  let's see what happens. 16 And when Paul's sister's son heard
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  of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle and
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  told Paul, so his little nephew here is looking out for him.
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  Praise the Lord, what's spoken in the darkness will be spoken
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  in the light. Be careful what you say, for a
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  little bird will take it along the way, and you will be found
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  out. And that is God's divine plan
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  and wisdom. Friends, nothing is hidden, and
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  we must practice integrity with or without the monitoring of the
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  state. We must give an account to God
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  more than anyone else. It is God that we are
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  accountable to. 17 Then Paul called one of the centurions
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  unto him, and said, Bring this young man unto the chief
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  captain, for he has a certain thing to tell him. 18 So he took
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  him, and brought him to the chief captain, and said, Paul
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  the prisoner, called me unto him, and prayed me to bring this
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  young man unto you, who has something to say unto you. 19
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  Then the chief captain took him by the hand and went with him
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  privately, and asked him, What is it that you have to tell me?
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  20 And he said, The Jews have agreed to desire you, that you
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  would bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they
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  would inquire somewhat of him more perfectly. 21 But do not
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  you yield unto them? For there lie in wait for him of
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  them more than 40 men which have bound themselves with an oath
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  that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed
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  him. And now are they ready looking
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  for a promise from you? 22 So the chief captain then let
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  the young man depart and charged him.
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  See you tell no man that you have showed these things to me.
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  So you can see here that their whole plan was foiled.
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  It was all unfolded, it was unravelled, and these men were
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  so delusional and they loved evil more than they loved the
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  truth. And you can see how God makes it
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  his business to tell the truth and to get the truth out, and
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  that this man would see that they were trying to kill Paul.
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  How amazing is it? 23 And he called unto him, 2
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  centurions, saying, make ready 200 soldiers to go to Caesarea,
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  and horsemen 3 score and 10 and Spearman 200 And the third hour,
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  at the third hour of the night. So you can see here that he's
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  called together an army of men to protect this one little
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  prisoner. Imagine that, so they can see
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  that this is of envy, and they are hostile, and it is going to
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  amount to the word of God being preached in Rome.
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  How amazing is that? 24 Provide them beasts, that
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  they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the
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  governor. 25 And he wrote a letter after this manner.
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  Claudius Lysius, Unto the most excellent governor Felix sends
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  greetings. This man was taken of the Jews,
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  and should have been killed of them.
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  Then came I with an army, and rescued him, having understood
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  that he was a Roman. 28 And when I would have known the cause
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  wherefore they accused him, I brought him forth into their
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  counsel, 29 whom I perceived to be accused of questions of their
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  law, but to have nothing laid to his charge worthy of death or of
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  bonds. 30 And when was told me how that the Jews laid wait for
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  the man, I sent straightway to you, and gave commandment to his
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  accusers also to say before you what they had against him.
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  Farewell. So here you can see that Doctor
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  Luke the physician is writing an affidavit in the form of the
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  Gospel of Luke and then the book of Acts.
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  He's wrote to the Romans here that Paul was innocent and there
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  was nothing. You can see here in this letter
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  from Claudius that there was no charge that was brought against
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  Paul that was worthy of death or of imprisonment.
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  So that is the whole crux of the whole matter of the whole thing
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  of the Gospel of Luke and of the book of Acts, is that Luke
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  wanted them to know that the early church, the Christians,
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  were innocent and they did not need to fear them.
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  They were not doing anything wrong.
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  But can't you see how the enemy of God, how Satan uses all of
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  this early beginnings to try to snuff out the way he's trying to
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  get rid of it? Because he knows all the way
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  back in Genesis that God said you will bruise his heel, he
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  will crush your head. And that is what is going to
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  happen. And that is 100% going to
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  happen. Satan's head will be crushed,
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  the rebellion will be crushed. He will be thrown into the lake
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  of fire never to return again. Hallelujah, praise God, Amen.
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  We look forward to that day. 31 Then the soldiers, as it was
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  commanded them, took Paul and brought him by night to
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  Antipatras. 32 And on the Morrow they left the horsemen to go
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  with him, and returned to the castle. 33 Who, when they came
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  to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they
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  presented Paul also before him. 34 And when the governor had
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  read the letter, he asked of what province he was and when,
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  and he understood that he was of Cilicia.
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  We'll end on 35. I will hear you, said he, when
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  your accusers are also come. And he commanded him to be kept
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  in Herod's judgment hall. It's going to be from this
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  moment that Paul starts writing to all the churches and you and
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  I have hold of those letters and we can go and we can search them
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  and read them and be edified and built up.
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  We can be encouraged as we see Paul and chains bound as a
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  bondservant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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  We need to count the cost before we ever come to the Lord.
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  We just need to know that God can do anything.
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  He is unlimited. He can make the chains fall off
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  and let you walk out free. But sometimes He leads.
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  He leaves you in there to be a witness unto Him.
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  You need to be OK with that. I hope you've been blessed by
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  this amazing book, amazing chapter here in the Word of God.
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  I know I sure have for you. I love you.
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  I'll see you back here tomorrow. God bless you.