Acts 25:16 (KJV) Roman Model of Justice

Acts 25:16 (KJV)
To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.

The Roman system was far from perfect but it seems obvious why the founders of the United States looked to the ancient Roman government as a pattern for the one they would create. In this one instance, while there were injustices, an attempt at treating Paul fairly and justly is apparent.

• Festus did not require Paul to be drug back to Jerusalem at the whim of his accusers but placed the burden upon the accusers 
• When an obvious judgment could not be given two options for appeal were available to Paul and his own choice was accepted
• Before being sent to Caesar, every opportunity to gather evidence for the higher officials was made

When everything was said and done, Paul became the victim of a fickle Caesar. Still, there is an impressive model for justice here.

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Acts 25:16 (KJV) Roman Model of Justice

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Acts 24:25-27 (KJV) What If Our Need Isn’t Met?

Acts 24:25-27 (KJV)
And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.He hoped also that money should have been given him of Paul, that he might loose him: wherefore he sent for him the oftener, and communed with him.But after two years Porcius Festus came into Felix’ room: and Felix, willing to shew the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.

God owns the wealth in every mine. Money is no problem for God. I have personally witnessed God providing again and again in unexpected, and abundant ways.

That said, God doesn’t always give us money.

Felix, the Bible says, would have released Paul for the right amount of money.

• He did not believe the accusations made against him. 
• He was moved (though not to conversion) by his message and 
• He had the authority to release him. 

All he lacked was money. Whether it was a bribe, a fine or a bond, it did not happen. For two years Paul stayed, at liberty to have visitors and preach the Word but still a prisoner. The money never came.

It isn’t always the plan of God to give us the money. I have witnessed God do some of the most amazing things, providing us money and materials by the tens of thousands of dollars, but I have also asked for things that haven’t come.

Paul never grew bitter with God. He never softened his message. He never backed away and grew quite because God didn’t give him what he wanted.  Paul lived for God regardless:

• Wholeheartedly, 
• Passionately 

with

• Conviction, 
• Joy and confident 
• Faith

We ought to do the same.

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Acts 24:25-27 (KJV) What If Our Need Isn’t Met?

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Acts 23:1 (KJV) A Good Conscience Still Gets Convicted

Acts 23:1 (KJV)
And Paul, earnestly beholding the council, said, Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.

Imagine the pressure Paul was under at this moment. He had been:

• captured, 
• threatened, 
• mistreated and 
• misunderstood

Things he had done and said, that were intended to calm and convince the audience of his accusers, had backfired into an inferno of violent and irrational behavior. He was an experienced and successful articulator of the doctrines of the Christian faith but he had been utterly incapable of pacifying much less convincing this crowd.

Paul now stands before the one group powerful enough to make all of this go away. He begins with the thought; “I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.”

Likely our first impression is that Paul has in mind, “Since I got saved.” I want to entertain the argument that is not what he meant. Perhaps he meant that all of his mature life he had lived in a growing and ever developing path towards the knowledge of God.

• He had a good conscience about studying under Gamaliel
• He had a good conscience about practicing the faith of the Pharisees 
• He had a good conscience about witnessing and endorsing the stoning of Stephen
• He had a good conscience about persecuting, binding and hunting down Christians 

until the day he met Christ on that road to Damascus. After which:

• He had a good conscience about giving his life to Christ 
• He had a good conscience about telling as many of his brethren as possible about the Lord and
• He had a good conscience about winning all the Gentiles he could to the very same Lord

All of us are in a state of growing consciousness concerning things around us and concerning those things that are spiritual. For that reason, while it is important to live in all good conscience, it is essential that we do not trust our conscience exclusively. It can lead us astray. We need a higher rule with which to guide us. We need God’s Word.

Saul of Tarsus lived in all good conscience toward God even before his salvation but the Bible tells us that he did live under conviction even then.

• He wrestled with the evil that he would not but did anyway and
• He kicked against the pricks of the Holy Spirit

Live with a good conscience, obey the Word of God and don’t ignore the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

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Acts 23:1 (KJV) A Good Conscience Still Gets Convicted

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Isaiah 39:4-6 (KJV) No Matter How Innocent…

Isaiah 39:4-6 (KJV)
Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the LORD of hosts:Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the LORD.

It seems to me that Merodachbaladan’s intentions in sending ambassadors to Hezekiah were sincere.

• Hezekiah saw no threat in their visit
• Babylon was not an enemy at this time, Assyria was and Babylon had challenged Assyria
• Merodachbaladan was not the Babylonian who eventually captured Jerusalem; that would not happen for decades. 

But a seed was planted in Babylon at this moment, a seed that would grow into the overthrow of Jerusalem.

I am reminded that sincere intentions can have dramatic consequences if they are not guided by Biblical instruction:

• An attempt to rescue someone from a pit of bondage can lead to bondage
• A relationship intended to reach a soul for Christ can turn into an inappropriate relationship 
• A meaningless act, like giving a friend a ride has led to numbers of people being unwittingly involved in a crime and ending up in prison 
• A look at something inappropriate may plant a seed of immortality that takes years to mature but finally ends in destruction

No matter how innocent our intentions may be it is always right to follow the Bible’s instructions.

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Isaiah 39:4-6 (KJV) No Matter How Innocent…

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Acts 21:2-4 (KJV) Put Down Your Burdens Here and There

Acts 21:2-4 (KJV)And finding a ship sailing over unto Phenicia, we went aboard, and set forth.Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand, and sailed into Syria, and landed at Tyre: for there the ship was to unlade her burden.And finding disciples, we tarried there seven days: who said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem.

A ship is built to transport burdens. It is not build to store them and carry them forever.

The ship would stop at one port to pick up a burden and stop again to unlade the same. It would serve no purpose for the ship to sail always empty but neither would it to sail without unlading. The point is not to carry but to transport.

There is a picture here of the profitable Christian. It is worthless for him to

• never serve, 
• never grow in grace 
• never bear a burden 

But it is equally useless for him to bear burdens needlessly.

A burden without purpose is wasted weight.
A burden that is never unlade is devastating to the ship.

The profitable Christian learns the plan of God and employs himself in bearing that burden. He or she also unloads the burden for new ones from time to time. He discovers a destination for the glory of God and makes that voyage. From there he discovers the next destination and gives his all to it. It is a series of ports to his final destination. Once this current voyage is completed, and not before, the focus is set on the next.

Profitability is found not in living burden free or in carrying needless burdens. The profitable Christian simply transports the plan of God for his life from one port to the next until he reaches home.

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Acts 21:2-4 (KJV) Put Down Your Burdens Here and There

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Isaiah 36:21 (KJV) Well Placed for Blessing

Isaiah 36:21 (KJV)
But they held their peace, and answered him not a word: for the king’s commandment was, saying, Answer him not.

The exchange between Rabshakeh and Hezekiah (through his representatives) is an amazing one in my mind. Having had some experience in leadership, this passage is an incredible test of the same:

It is all handled through representatives.It is representatives of Hezekiah we hear from most (even Rabshakeh is merely a spokesman for Sennacherib). One would think a matter of this importance would demand the King’s personal attention. Hezekiah believed his attention was better spent with God.

Rabshakeh appealed to the common people rather than the officials.Evil men always go to those they believe they are most likely to sway, not those whose devotion and loyalty has been proven. Never trust a man who tries to circumvent authorities.

Hezekiah’s command not to answer Rabshakeh’s accusations was heeded.Those unproven common people soundly rejected Rabshakeh by fully honoring their king’s command. Good for them!

It is no wonder that God gave such a victory as is recorded here. The king knew where his real priorities lay and the people loyally followed his leadership. That put them in a position to receive God’s blessing.

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Isaiah 36:21 (KJV) Well Placed for Blessing

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Acts 19:3-5 (KJV) John’s Baptism is Believer’s Baptism

Acts 19:3-5 (KJV)
And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John’s baptism.Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

In our day, when Baptist thinking has either been written off as non-academic or else has surrendered to the doctrines and compromises of Protestantism, it is refreshing to read Gill’s view concerning this passage where he says, (I will quote the whole segment),

“Then said Paul,…. In reply to their answer, understanding them that they were baptized by John, he takes it up, and gives an account of John’s baptism: showing how agreeable it was, and that it was the same baptism with the baptism of Christ, being administered in his name: John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance; which required repentance antecedent to it, and was a fruit and effect, and so an evidence of it: saying unto the people; the people of the Jews, the common people, the multitude that attended on his ministry: that they should believe on him, which should come after him, that is, on Jesus Christ; so that he preached faith in Christ, as well as repentance towards God; and made the one as well as the other a necessary prerequisite unto baptism; which shows, that his baptism and Christian baptism are the same.”

Hey, you reformed Baptists who have dismissed John the Baptist as something other than Baptist baptism John Gill, more than two hundred years ago, said that John the Baptist’s baptism and Christian Baptism are the same.

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Acts 19:3-5 (KJV) John’s Baptism is Believer’s Baptism

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Acts 18:6-8 (KJV) Join Hard to God

Acts 18:6-8 (KJV)
And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

There is at least some evidence that this Justus is also the Titus to whom Paul will later write a pastoral epistle. He is a Gentile, but one who had a heart for God. Whether his house joined hard to the synagogue just so he could worship God or because of his affection for the God of the Jews, we cannot know. We can know the effect of being close to the things of God:

• He did have a heart to worship God
• He was in a position to be saved
• He was near at hand to be used of the Lord[1]
• His position served to the conversion of the chief ruler of that synagogue[2]
• He became an agitation to the unbelievers in the city

Those with a heart for God get close to God and in turn, God gives them more of a heart for Him.

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Acts 18:6-8 (KJV) Join Hard to God

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[1] When Paul left the synagogue to preach elsewhere.

[2] Because Paul had turned his focus on the Gentiles did not exclude Jews from being saved.

Acts 17:2 (KJV) What Is Your Manner?

Acts 17:2 (KJV)
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

I used to pastor a man who would never commit to anything. Whenever I rode in his car he would take weird, out of the way routes to our destination. He said he learned to be like that as a soldier in Vietnam. He never wanted the enemy to discover a pattern in his life. He never wanted the bad guys to know for certain where he would be at certain times.

Paul was just opposite that. Paul had particular customs, patterns and mannerisms that were consistent and therefore predictable you would always know what Paul was going to do because he did it repeatedly.

His manner was to enter into a city, find the synagogue of the Jews and reason with them there. His manner was to reach out to His kinsmen after the flesh and attempt to win them to Christ.

I wonder what someone else would say is our manner?  I want to be known for:

• My predictable walk with God
• My persistent study of the Scriptures 
• My pattern of teaching and preaching and
• My passion for bringing others to know Christ

What would people say your is manner?

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Acts 17:2 (KJV) What Is Your Manner?

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Acts 16:1-3 (KJV) Godly Character

Acts 16:1-3 (KJV)
Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

What an example of godly character Timothy was! How our day needs Christians like him.

The testimony of the Bible reveals that he was a young man. Yet in his youth he demonstrated maturity beyond his years, certainly beyond that of most youth today.

Timothy was well reported of by the brethrenHis testimony and reputation among those who knew him best was exemplary.

Timothy was yielded to the will of GodIt appears that Paul suggested Timothy travel and train with him. This was not his plan that he worked out. He was willing to go where God led. He was willing to hear and follow the counsel of the preacher.

Timothy was obedient to difficult dutiesHe did not have to go with Paul yet here he submits to the painful and even extreme ritual of circumcision because Paul determined it would create less controversy as they ministered.

What a treasure in the church are those few souls who:

• Maintain a good testimony 
• Willing follow God’s leading and
• Do the hard things for the sake of unity and the saving of  souls 

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Acts 16:1-3 (KJV) Godly Character

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Acts 15:2 (KJV) Lessons from Contention

Acts 15:2 (KJV)
When therefore Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas, and certain other of them, should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.

This chapter begins and ends with contention and dissension within the ranks of the church. Those who troubled Antioch had come out from the church in Jerusalem. The final contention involved Mark, a young minister of the Word, and caused a permanent rift between Paul and Barnabas

• Though a decision was agreed upon about the troublers, it did not prevent them from continued troubling. 
• Though Paul And Mark were reconciled, no evidence is provided that the same took place between Paul and Barnabas

It is worth noting that Paul and Silas left with the church’s commendation but Barnabas and Mark left without it.

Lessons to be observed are:
Contention will happen.It doesn’t mean we have lost God’s blessing. Move on for God

Answers come through the multitude of counselors.We are usually too emotionally affected to see clearly to make good choices on our own.

Some disputes just won’t get settled.The sinfulness of man is active. Just count on it that you won’t resolve everything.

Always be prepared to forgive.Sometimes it’s years later when a resolution happens.

Make sure whatever side you come out on, you have the approval of your church.It’s not perfect but God yoked you with it on purpose. Don’t ever leave without that approval. If you can’t get it, cheerfully stay and serve where you are.

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Acts 15:2 (KJV) Lessons from Contention

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Acts 14:2-3 (KJV) All About Obeying

Acts 14:2-3 (KJV)
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

I don’t know how long a long time was that Paul and Barnabas abode there in Iconium. It doesn’t seem like it could have been as long as he spent in either Corinth or Ephesus.  It was obviously longer than he spent in Thessalonica. What I do know is what kept him there and I do know what didn’t cause him to leave.

• He stayed to speak, “in the Lord.”
• He would not leave because of trials or lack of success

Paul saw himself as a tool in the hands of the Lord and, with only a few exceptions where his humanness is evident, Paul’s testimony is that of a man who did what a God led him to do, where God led him to do it.

He would not leave when the Spirit of God compelled him to stay. He would not stay when God’s Spirit bade him to leave.

• It had nothing to do with the whiteness of the harvest
• It had nothing to do with the hardness of the soil
• It had nothing to do with either the ranting of his enemies or the pleadings of his friends

Paul was all about obeying the Lord.

This in no way means that a Paul had no love for his friends, converts and brethren in the faith.A cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal a huge heart for the believers.

Neither does it mean that Paul had some sort of fatalistic view of life…“If God wants me alive nothing can kill me and if God wants me dead nothing can save me.” He clearly took measures to protect himself when those measures were:

• Called for, 
• Appropriate and 
• Available 

He was every bit as human as any of us. He simply yielded himself to God’s service as it was revealed through His Word and confirmed by his church.

Any of us can do the same.

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Acts 14:2-3 (KJV) All About Obeying

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Isaiah 31:1-3 (KJV) Choosing the Devil or the World

Isaiah 31:1-3 (KJV)
Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!Yet he also is wise, and will bring evil, and will not call back his words: but will arise against the house of the evildoers, and against the help of them that work iniquity.Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.

Nobody in Israel thought Egypt was perfect. Their own history with Egypt attested to that. They knew only too well Egypt’s fierce anger.(Click here to see a video version of this blog)

But at this moment in their history Egypt looked like their best option. On the other side stood Assyria and, after her, Babylon. If Egypt was worldliness, Babylon was the devil.

They were prone to lean more toward worldliness that Satan. God said that they should have leaned upon Him.

I find in this a picture of the current state of believers in America. This election appears to be between “the devil” and “the world.”

On the one side we have a candidate who is opposed to almost everything we hold sacred.I have heard that she flatly pronounced, “Christians are just going to have to change.”

On the other side we have a man who appears to hold a few[1]more of our more valued principles.He is uplifted by some as the only candidate strong enough to possibly defeat our archenemy. But he is:

• Brash, 
• Proud, 
• Outlandish and 
• Unabashedly self promoting

He is not our preference but many believe he is our only hope.

Not so!

Our only hope is the Lord. He has always been our only hope. Woe to them who go down to worldliness for help!

I am not of the opinion that good men cannot vote for the man[2]. Jeremiah objected at first[3], but went down to Egypt with the rest of his people and did not compromise in doing so. I, however, do believe that we must be warned not to trust in this man.

Our hope must be in seeking the Lord.

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Isaiah 31:1-3 (KJV) Choosing the Devil or the World

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Isaiah 29:11-12 (KJV) Where Truth is Found

Isaiah 29:11-12 (KJV)
And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

Here is described the vicious trap the world finds itself in; almost no one can discern the mind of God through His Word.

On the one hand we have those who think of themselves as educated.They do not believe we can know. They believe the most knowledgeable of men are the most uncertain of truth.

One the other hand we have the unlearned.They can’t know because they have not tried to know. They are content in their ignorance. At the very least they are unwilling to pay the price to learn.

Truth is found in neither learning nor ignorance. Truth is found in the Spirit of God. He illuminates the minds of those who “Study to shew (themselves) approved of God…”

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Isaiah 29:11-12 (KJV) Where Truth is Found

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Acts 11:22 (KJV) What Tidings?

Acts 11:22 (KJV)
Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

Given:

• the lack of technology in those days, 
• the animosity of the world against Christians and 
• the comparatively brief life of the faith 

it is amazing that tidings of what was happening in Antioch reached the church in Jerusalem.

It wasn’t as if Antioch was advertising.

Nor was Jerusalem in a physical position to exert authority over those in Antioch,

But tidings reached them nonetheless. It always does. The work we do for the Lord may seem

• insignificant, 
• unnoticed and 
• forgotten 

but that isn’t the case at all.

For one thing, the Christian community looks for people of like faith and practice.In the days of the first century Rome had created a culture of travel. People from all over the Roman world traveled, many of them widely. This travel enabled news to spread by word of mouth and by letters passed off to those known to be heading in a particular direction. That ability to travel has, of course, expanded dramatically since then. We may contact anyone around the world through personal travel, phone, email and, these days, video communications. People who are interested look for and find out what others are doing for Christ; and they tell what they hear.

More importantly, God is keeping an eye on those who serve Him.It may seem like we are alone at times but we are never far from the blessed presence of God.

For good or for bad, tidings of those things we do for the Lord get out there. Let’s be sure those tidings serve to glorify the Lord.

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Acts 11:22 (KJV) What Tidings?

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Isaiah 27:1 (KJV) That Old Dragon

Isaiah 27:1 (KJV)
In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.

Scientists tell us that hundreds of species of life go extinct every day.

• Plants, 
• Bugs, 
• Fish and 
• Animals; 

something is endangered of extinction or has already gone into extinction. Sometimes we hear reports that a species thought to be extinct has been discovered alive.

It t is for this reason I have no problem believing that animals spoken of in the Bible but not in existence today were real. Leviathan was neither mythical nor merely symbolic. This is an animal that most certainly existed.

This in no way means God’s Word must not use Leviathan in a symbolic way. Indeed, it seems sensible to use those things that are most literal as symbolic instruments. Leviathan, an actual animal now extinct, is here used to picture Satan and likely those nations under him.

Leviathan is a serpentSatan is styled as a serpent because it was in the form of a serpent that he deceived Eve.

Leviathan is a piercing serpentHe is dangerous to the core. He is able to appear as an angel of light but he is not light. He is a killer, a destroyer of men.

Leviathan is a crooked serpentHe is twisted and bent. Lucifer was meant to be something other than what he became. Men who follow him are also bent, crooked and broken. They are not what God would that we are.

Leviathan is in the seaVery often the sea is a type for the masses of people. Satan moves and works among the masses. He is present, active and powerful. He is empowered by the masses and the masses follow him, not the Lord.

Leviathan is destroyed by the LordHe is no match for God. Though the majority opposes God, God alone is a majority. God’s power is His own and not that of the collective.

I put my trust in God.

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Isaiah 27:1 (KJV) That Old Dragon

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Acts 9:1-2 (KJV) Our First Line of Defense

Acts 9:1-2 (KJV)
And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.

When the chief priests and rulers in Israel wanted to execute Jesus, they took Him to Pilate, yielding authority to put a man to death to the Roman occupiers. Though Pilate eventually washed his hands of the matter and allowed the priests their will, this surrender of authority provides a small degree of civility to the region. Rome considered itself a civilized nation and at least pretended to bring that civilization to those people they ruled.

But then there are examples of Jewish usurpation of this authority:
The stoning of StephenNo one appealed to Rome for authorization for that. No one that we know of was held accountable for it. Perhaps the authority the Jews sought in Jesus’ case was that public humiliation of Roman crucifixion. Perhaps they didn’t want to do something so base just prior to the Passover. I think they had no authority to kill either Jesus or Stephen and in both cases the Romans simply washed their hands of it.

The threatening of SaulSaul of Tarsus did not go to Rome, but to the high priest for letters of authority to round up Christians for persecution. Whether he should have gotten that authority from Rome or not it is clear he did not need it. Rome seems to have washed her hands of this too.

The appeal of the Christian for deliverance and help must go to God and not the government because, even when the government isn’t the agency persecuting Christians, governments are quicker to wash their hands of the matter than to lend real help in the matter.

Of course we ought to use any legal means at our disposal, but our first line of defense and our total dependence must be to the Lord.

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Acts 9:1-2 (KJV) Our First Line of Defense

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