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Acts 21 and the title comes from verse number 31 which reads and as they went about to kill him Titans came unto the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was in an uproar the title for the sermon tonight is Jerusalem was in an uproar Jerusalem was in an uproar so we've been following Paul so far on his third missionary journey and in the previous chapter he had made the decision to go to Jerusalem he wanted to be there for the feast of Pentecost and so he in this chapter he makes it there he eventually gets there but all hell breaks loose okay when he gets there it's all a bit of a disaster and so there are quite a few interesting things that we can learn from this chapter let's start the reverse one it says and it came to pass that after we were gotten from them and had launched we came with a straight course unto and the day following on two roads and from thence unto Patara and finding a sheep ship sailing over unto Phoenicia we went abroad and set forth so they're heading back to Syria which then will lead them to Jerusalem and so these are just little islands that they're making their way from ship to ship to ship to ship and then it says in verse number three 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 unlaid her burden all right so the ship well intentionally was going to Tyre now you may recall when Jesus Christ was walking the earth that he had many Tyre is one of the cities of the Gentiles you may recall that there were the two cities Tyre and Sidon and many of them came seeking Jesus to hear him preach and to do great miracles and many of these people were greater believers and saw Christ even more than amongst many of the Jews of that day and so they're there in Tyre which is part of in this time a Syria right now remember that every single time so far the first time the second time when Paul has made his way back to Syria he has made his way back to the Antioch Church okay that's the church that sent him and after his first missionary journey after his second missionary journey he would go back to that church and give a report and then he would eventually commence his next journey well now that he got to Syria it you know you would think that well if you do what you normally do Paul you know you should be on your way to Antioch right to give the church there an update of your trip but if you can keep your finger there and come back to the previous chapter in Acts 20 in Acts 20 verse number 16 it says here for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus because he would not spend the time in Asia for he hasted all right so Paul hasted he's in a rush all right he's passing through we know that he got the elders of Ephesus he gave them these final words and then it says here if it were possible for him to be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost okay that's why he's rushing his rushing is like man I gotta make it to back to Jerusalem for the the feast of Pentecost and if you drop down to verse number 22 X 2022 it says and now behold these are the words of Paul I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem not knowing the things that shall before me there now when it says I go bound in the spirit that spirit that is referring to there is not the Holy Spirit this is speaking of his own spirit he goes look I've made a commitment you know I'm going to Jerusalem right rain hail or shine I'm gonna go there and I don't know what's gonna happen I don't know what kind of problems there might be but I'm determined to go to Jerusalem all right so this is why he's a rush okay he gets to Syria but instead of going to Antioch which would be heading north he begins to head south to go to Jerusalem now remember Tyre is a place like I told you that there were many that sought after Christ when he walked this earth which makes sense because when you get to come back with me to acts 21 acts 21 and verse number 4 it says and finding disciples all right so even within these gentle cities there are disciples there are people that have followed Christ why you know they got him saved during Christ ministry they're still there all right they're still trying to serve the Lord so he finds disciples it says we tarry there seven days who said to pull through the spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem all right we saw in chapter 20 that he's like determined to go to Jerusalem in the spirit but now these disciples he's there for a whole week with them they said to pull through the spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem all right so now we're referring to the Holy Spirit the Holy Spirit is telling Paul you should not go to Jerusalem Paul don't go to Jerusalem right all of these disciples their entire are saying the same thing they're all in one accord don't go to Jerusalem right now when we read the Bible you know we understand that the narrator of the Bible is the Holy Ghost all right so when Paul says of himself when Paul is saying the words that I'm determined to go in the spirit these are the words of Paul these are the words that Paul spoke but you know the reason we know that that spirit that is referring to is his own spirit or his own determination is because when we get to the next chapter it's clear that the narrator is saying that these disciples spoke by that same state or that Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is saying he should not go up to Jerusalem all right so this is kind of important I believe this is important because when you compare the two chapters you know essentially there are two views you can say well Paul is in the right to go to Jerusalem all right he's doing the right thing he's doing what God wills of him or you can say well Paul actually is not doing the right thing that's my position I don't believe Paul is doing the right thing here okay let's read verse number four again and finding disciples we tarry there seven days who said to Paul through the spirits okay so again the narrator which of course is Luke but is being you know led by the Holy Spirit to write these words he says that these disciples are speaking for the spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem all right so don't go to Jerusalem that's how I read that I just can't help like if you're going to say Paul you're in the right to go to Jerusalem I is I would take that to mean that you're saying here then the Holy Spirit is wrong to give him the command that he should not go up to Jerusalem all right so you know this is why I believe Paul is in the wrong like they can't both be right the Holy Spirit can't be right and Paul can't be right it's contradictive okay so one's right and one's wrong and I'm gonna side with God God is right okay and if the Holy Spirit is saying don't go to Jerusalem Paul then Paul you're in the wrong here okay you're making a mistake going to Jerusalem now keep your finger there and come with me to acts 16 come with me to acts 16 please acts 16 this is not the first time that the Holy Spirit has told Paul don't go to certain places so the first time acts 16 verse number six acts 16 verse six it says now when they had gone throughout fygeria fygera in the region of Galatia and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia right so Paul's already gone through this process where he's determined to go certain way but the Holy Ghost says no don't do it Paul look at verse number same same chapter verse number seven after they would come to Messiah they are said to go to Bethania so they wanted to go to Bethania but the spirit suffered them not the spirit did not allow them to go there so this is again not the first time Paul has experienced there are times he's like I want to go here I want to go there and many times brethren we might have our desires and our will that we want to accomplish we're like that surely there's no problem going here or making this decision but every now and again the Holy Ghost will say to you no the Holy Ghost closes the door right or you hear loud and clear that's not what he wants you to do what I love about acts 16 is that Paul obviously listens to the Holy Ghost and then he gets the Macedonian call it goes into Macedonia and it does a great work for God many people believe on the Lord Jesus Christ okay because he was harkening to the Holy Spirit when we get to acts 21 once again the Holy Spirit is saying Paul don't go to Jerusalem and Paul's like but that's what I've been planning to do this whole time right I've really said it in my heart I'm gonna do it no matter what so boy you know when you've got many people many disciples many brethren all kind of in one accord you should listen to that you know even as a pastor sometimes I've got to make a decision and I'm not really sure like I'm just thinking you know I know and I'll start asking a few brethren what are your thoughts here what are your thoughts there right because we're all saved brethren we have the Holy Ghost living within us and you know go away and if I ask you a question what do you think about this or that I'd hope that you'd go away and ask the Lord and see if the Lord reveals something to you and many times I've made decisions simply because the brethren have been in one accord and it's given me that confidence so it's given that assurance all right I'm gonna go this way you know I've gotten some some views here and I think we're all on the same page so let's move forward now at the end of day these disciples are not the ones in charge Paul is the one with the office of the apostle apostleship right here's the one who's the leader so he's good at the end of day even if you ask other brethren for their thoughts and opinions the decision is going to fall on the leader rightly or wrongly it's under this it's on the leaders you know call to make one way or the other and Paul will keep going here Paul decides to go to Jerusalem anyway all right let's look at verse number five it says and and when he had accomplished those days or those seven days that was with them we departed and went our way and they all brought us on our way with wives and children till we were out of the city and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed so the brethren their entire they bring their wives they bring their children they bring the whole families you know let's go see Paul and his company off as you can see the we we we then Luke is also involved in all this work he's there and they kneel they pray okay I mean they concern for Paul all those dangers in Jerusalem please don't go but verse number six and when we had taken our leave one of another we took ship and they returned home again and when we had finished our course from Tyre we came to Ptolemais and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day so they find other brethren here but only one day he's with them verse number eight and the next day we were let me read again and the next day we that were of Paul's company departed and came unto Caesarea and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist which was one of the seven and abode with him and the same man had four daughters virgins which did prophesy all right so they get to Caesarea and they meet Philip we've been introduced to Philip already if you're not sure which because you know sometimes in the Bible people have the same names right here I was saying okay this Philip is one of the seven okay who is the one of the seven just very quickly turn with me back to Acts chapter 6 Acts chapter 6 this is when the the Jerusalem Church was growing numerically and there were widows that needs to be taken care of and the Grecian widows were not being taken care of according to you know what was being testified by some of the people of the church and so the apostles are like look it's just too much work you know we're being pulled away from the Word of God you know it's not for us to serve tables and they appoint seven deacons all right look at Acts 6 and verse number 5 and so sorry before I read that the apostles asked the members of the church all right select seven men full of the Holy Ghost right that we can appoint this work over and in Acts 6 verse 5 it says and the same please the whole multitude and they chose Stephen a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost that's the man that was martyred and Philip there is Philip and Prochorus and Nicanor Nicanor and Timon and Parmenas and Nicholas a proselytes of Antioch so you've got the seven people there verse number six whom they set before the Apostles and when they had prayed they laid their hands on them all right so they brought before the Apostles and the Apostles lay their hands on them and they're appointed into that office of a deacon all right so that same Philip is the one who's now in Caesarea serving as an evangelist now coming to another passage please come with me to 1st Timothy chapter 3 1st Timothy chapter 3 please all right 1st Timothy chapter 3 now I recognize that my view of evangelists are a little bit different than maybe some other churches to be honest I'm not even sure what the standard independent Baptist view is on evangelists like I've gone to churches over the years and we've had guest preachers and some of these guest preachers were known as the evangelists you know evangelists this or evangelists that and quite often when we have those evangelists come to the churches they would come and they would do like special services maybe you know maybe a service on a on a Tuesday night a Wednesday night a Thursday night for example and that evangelist would come and he'd preach a sermon but that sermon always was the gospel okay and so the the idea there was that church members would invite their family and their friends quite often there would be a like a postal drop-off of just you know pamphlets saying that we've got an evangelist coming to the area you're more than welcome there's gonna be food afterwards etc etc you know it's an you know and the idea there is that we would have you know visitors that don't normally come to church and they would hear the evangelist preach the gospel and they'd call upon the name of Lord yeah sometimes they were great success in that way so that's kind of the evangelists that I'm familiar with but I've never really learnt if those evangelists needed certain to meet certain criteria all right do they have to meet certain qualifications to become an evangelist and so when we read epistles like first Timothy chapter 3 where we have the qualifications for pastors and deacons what we don't have qualifications for the evangelists all right we don't have any we can't find anywhere in the scriptures that say these are the qualifications for an evangelist and so some people then take that view and go well if there's no qualifications then anybody can be an evangelist right anyone can be that person to evangelize which I kind of agree like if you're just going to reach the gospel anybody can preach the gospel you can be divorced five times like that woman at the well and she can still go out to a city and preach the gospel okay so yes if you're just evangelizing right I I don't see any need for qualifications but if you're going to hold the office as an evangelist I think there are some important parts that need to make up who you are anytime you hold an office where you've got a leadership position you'll be in a point to that set position for the benefit of the local church I believe there should be some measure by which that man will be selected and so when you look at first Timothy chapter 3 and verse number 12 the Bible says let the deacons be the husbands of one wife ruling their children and their own houses well just like pastors just like bishops all right the husband of one wife and ruling over their children ruling over their house well all right now here's the thing about Philip in the Bible we know that there are many evangelists we don't know exactly how many but there are plural evangelists in the Bible but there's only one evangelist by name there's only one that we can say yes this man was an evangelist and the only man we know of is Philip and what we learn about Philip as an evangelist in Caesarea is that he first started as a deacon in the church in Jerusalem and in order for him to be selected as a deacon he had to be the husband of one wife having children that he ruled over well which makes sense because when you read about him as an evangelist not only is he preaching but his daughters are as well verse number nine and the same man had four daughters virgins which did prophesy we learn a few things yes he had more than he had children for four daughters at least they're virgins so he's raised them well right they're not whores or whatever right they've got a good chase testimony about themselves and they're prophesying they say pastor what does it mean to prophesy I mean to prophesy is not always for telling the future more often in the Bible to prophesy simply to proclaim the word all right so as Phillips out there evangelizing preaching the gospel it looks like his daughters are part of the plan they're helping that out right there they're his partners that those daughters are his soul winning partners or what have you right they're going out and doing their bunny hops or whatever they're knocking opposite sides of the door however the system operates but his daughters are there part of you know working together with their dad preaching the gospel and so the reason I bring this up and I it's just because I don't I've never I've never sat in church and heard what are the qualifications of an evangelist and I'm not saying that the Bible is clearly saying like a commanding these are the qualifications but what I am saying is that when we do if we ever do select someone to be an evangelist I'm gonna look at the pattern because I don't have a commandment I don't have you know a clear black and white passage here so I'm just gonna look at the pattern the only one that's ever named for us in the Bible is Philip he's an evangelist but he first started as a deacon and as a deacon he must have met the qualifications of a deacon to start off with that and so I would say the qualifications of an evangelist at least for me to have a clear conscious before God because I'm not to suddenly lay my hand on a man all right I need I need some level of confidence that if I'm gonna lay my hands on a man and appoint him into a position that he's proven himself and if he's proven himself to meet the qualifications of a deacon then I believe that man wants to be evangelist and you know then I would obviously want to ordain that man as evangelist so those are my qualifications those are the qualifications of pastor Kevin Sepulveda all right I'm not saying that other churches have to be like this I'm not saying other pastors have to be like this I'm not saying if another man was ordained an evangelist but they're not married or they're not husbands of one wife but they don't have children I'm not saying they're not evangelists okay if they've been appointed they've been appointed all right but what I'm saying is that for me to have a clear conscience I need to make sure that man at least meets the qualifications of a deacon and look is it really is it asking that much just have one wife and have a few good kids it's not you know it's not like you're demanding some major you know major like you know huge wonderful works in their life when you're like just just be a normal human being just be the standard what most people aim to be a good dad a good husband and have good kids and you know you can step up in and buy that testimony by the the fact that you've ruled your house well proves that you can also take on a leadership position within a church anyway we're there in acts 21 and verse number 10 it says here and we tarried there many days so they stayed a while with the evangelists philip they came down from judea a certain prophet named agabus now we've already met agabus I can't remember what chapter I feel like saying acts 11 but I could be wrong anyway we already we already met him he's a prophet he's a prophet from the jerusalem church or preacher and he says in verse 11 and when he was come unto us he took paul's girdle so good was like a belt but you know our belts are kind of like leather or imitation leather a girl is kind of more like a piece of clothing but it's it suits the same reason okay to kind of just have your coat close it up and you know it works like a belt okay so it says here he took paul's girdle verse number 11 and bound his hands and feet and said thus saith the holy ghost all right this is what the holy ghost says paul so shall the jews at jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle and shall deliver him into the hands of the gentiles so the holy ghost tries again this time through another prophet all right and he ties himself he's he ties up his hands the prophet does he ties up his feet and says whoever this girdle belongs to which is paul's obviously he goes that man is going to bound as well and given over to the gentiles also the roman soldiers right it's kind of like if you took my like let's say i'm at the i'm at the evangelist's house and i'm just chilling and i've got my tie off right and then we have i better be careful because i you know leave the mic there all right i just got i got my tie sitting there and we got you know the guest preacher turns up from judia and he says oh whose tie is this he begins to tie up his hands and his arms he goes all right here it is whoever owns this tie if you go to jerusalem all right the holy ghost is saying this if you go to jerusalem you're going to be bound like this as well all right so look you could say well maybe it's just a ramblings of a crazy prophet or you can say hold on that's what the other guy said right entire that's what the disciples said entire there's like consistency no matter where we go the holy ghost is warning paul about jerusalem now if you can keep your finger there come with me to second corinthians 13 second corinthians 13 please second corinthians 13 and these are the writings of paul right so paul wrote this himself in second corinthians 13 verse number one this is the third time that i am coming to you in the mouth of two or three witnesses till every word be established all right you've got more than you've got at least two different scenarios one entire you had a whole bunch of disciples saying don't go the holy ghost says don't go all right and now you've got the prophet from judia completely different places completely different regions okay and they all come with the same voice is being warned by the way just cause two or three winners to say something it doesn't mean it's true but what you're meant to do is go right let me investigate let me figure this out let me see if there's some weight to these words or to this doctrine or to this idea to this concept or to these accusations some people have this idea that if there's two or three witnesses that say the same thing it must be true no it doesn't mean this must be true but it warrants investigation okay so paul i think if i mean if you and paul she's like i think i would be like all right god let me take a breather here all right lord can you reveal to me with clarity whether i should go or not i really want to go to jerusalem all right i really want to get there and i want to celebrate the feast of the day of pentecost all right and uh but lord is that what you want in my life and ministry is like that many times i've already told you when there are times that i need to make decisions i'll be like um brother michael what do you think brother matt what do you reckon brother jason brother jordan what do you think all right i just because sometimes it just doesn't seem very clear you want to do something and it looks good right it looks right but sometimes the holy ghost says no and you just have to be able to listen to the leading of the holy ghost you know about this time last year i think what's up at this time last year i had to make a big call and uh kick a family out of our church it's never pleasant to kick people out of church all right and there were certain accusations and certain things and you know a pattern of behavior a buildup of issues and i'm like i think i need to you know i think i need to get rid of these people you know i think i need to prioritize you know i want to go into too much detail but i think i need to prioritize the church rather than this one family that's a big call it's a big call to make such a big decision so i'm like grab a few brethren all right i need your input all right what's the holy ghost leading you to think in this scenario here's the details here's the evidence here's what's being said what would you do in my situation here's what i'm thinking what do you think am i on the right path here or am i wrong right i think that's why we have brethren many times to just bounce off like be a sounding board bounce off some ideas and you know you know be a judge over such matters many times and you know we're brethren we love the church we love each other we want to serve the lord faithfully we all have the holy ghost just because you're a past doesn't mean you always have the right idea and just clearly because you're an apostle doesn't mean you're always right you know the lord is trying to wake up paul paul come on it's going to be dangerous for you right like i said normally he goes to Antioch to report but now he's going to go to Jerusalem and he's going to potentially well he will he'll be turned over to the to the to the gentiles he'll be arrested he'll be bound and you would think well we'll talk about this in a moment but you'll think if you're bound it's really going to limit your ability to continue doing your ministries all right if you're thrown into prison it's much harder to get out there and continue your missionary journeys or what have you all right but let's continue there in verse number we're up to verse number 12 and when we heard these things so when we heard so luke right luke as he's writing this epistle writing the book of acts and again he's filled with the holy ghost that's why he's writing the book of acts and when we heard these things both we so the we are the paul's company that are traveling with him and they of that place the brethren that are in um cesarea with uh philip the evangelist besought him not to go up to jerusalem paul please don't go well come on paul you got it look this is not this is not a coincidence you know that now we've got another man telling you not to go right he's telling us this is not the holy ghost he came all the way from jerusalem to warn you all right paul and verse number uh 13 then paul answered what mean ye to weep and to break mine heart for i'm ready not to be bound only but also to die at jerusalem for the name of the lord jesus he goes he's already suffered a lot of persecution all right like i actually believe one time when he got stoned he actually died back to his face a lot of problems and he's like you know being bound what who cares i've been bound before i've been arrested before if they kill me they kill me in jerusalem it's like i'll do it for the name of jesus christ all right so they can't convince him he's like he's he's fixed i'm going to jerusalem verse number 14 and when he would not be persuaded we ceased saying the will of the lord be done and after those days we took up our carriages and went up to jerusalem all right so they go to jerusalem now when they say in verse number 14 that the will of the lord be done what is the will of the lord again verse number four and finally the disciples we tarry their seven days who said to paul through the spirit that he should not go to jerusalem that's the the holy spirit is the lord the holy spirit is god almighty all right the will of the lord is don't go to jerusalem so when they say the will of the lord be done i don't think they're saying well if we turn up we turn up that must be god's will i think they're saying whatever problem whatever happens in jerusalem that's whatever problem whatever happens in jerusalem i guess we're just going to take it as god's will right if he gets arrested if problems happen we're just going to take that as god's will all right that you know this will be a tribulation this will be a persecution that god has given to uh paul to carry you know due to his disobedience if you want to look at it that way because you know when god chastises us so god puts us through trials of problems you know it's for his will ultimately to be done for some good some profit to come out of that challenge so that's what i think they're saying it's like well you know hopefully it's all safe for us but god's will be done like you know whatever happens happens you know we're just going to trust ourselves to the lord in his hands and verse number 16 uh there went with us also certain of the disciples of cesarea and brought with them one mason of cyprus an old disciple with whom we should lodge all right so i assume this uh mason has like a property somewhere there okay somewhere they can stay with them they're in jerusalem verse 17 and when we will come to jerusalem the brethren received us gladly and the day following paul went in with us unto james and all the elders were present so james is obviously one of the pastors at this point in time of the jerusalem church for him to be named and then all the elders are also named i'll talk about that in a moment verse number 19 and when he had saluted them he declared particularly what things god had wrought among the gentiles by his ministry all right so paul starts giving an update to the brethren there in jerusalem about all his travels so far on his third missionary journey now keep your finger then come with me to acts 9 come with me to acts 9 and verse number 31 so when it says all the elders were present look at acts 9 just as a reminder acts 9 31 acts 9 31 it says then had the churches so notice there's more than one church then had the churches rest throughout all judea and galley and samaria and were edified because the persecution wasn't that hard anymore in jerusalem or in the area so the brethren of the churches they're resting okay you can see that there are churches in judea throughout judea there are churches in galley there are churches in samaria all right and i assume then probably many of the elders that are now in these churches are coming and hearing the update of paul of his missionary journey that's why all the elders there were present well let's continue then verse number acts 21 acts 21 verse number 20 and when they heard it they glorified the lord and said unto him thou seest brother how many thousands of jews that are that uh there are which believe and they are all zealous of the law all right so now he's hearing their feedback their news they're like man look at all the jews here that believe right we've really been able to you know make some work amongst these you know hard-hearted jews but the zealous they're on fire many of them have believed right those of judea the jews there and then it says in verse number 21 and they are informed of thee so these believing jews have been informed by others all right that thou teachest that all the jews which are among the gentiles to forsake moses saying that they ought not to circumcise their children neither to walk after the customs so there are these accusations coming out now all right now of course salvation we've already dealt with this in acts 15 circumcision is not part of the gospel physical circumcision has no part of the gospel message right whether if jews are already circumcised fine but you know that doesn't save them right they need to put their faith and trust in jesus and the gentiles which are not circumcised physically circumcised they don't need to be physically circumcised right all they need to do is believe in the lord jesus christ it's only faith that saves no efforts no works no customs no traditions only your full faith in christ is what saves you right and so because paul is preaching that message i guess those that hate paul are saying well he's telling everybody because you know he's not telling to get circumcised you know he's he's telling people what was to say forsake moses so moses of course the first five books of the bible when they say they mean the scriptures that he wrote all right so that's like me saying to you guys all right guys i know you got your six six books of the bible but the four gospels matthew mark luke and john they're not for you jesus did not come for you do you know there are christians that teaches they're called mid-ax dispensationalists or hyper dispensationalists they say we live in the new testament times and therefore the only one that we ought to be reading and learning from is paul have you heard this the pauline epistles just paul don't peter's the writings of peter are not for you neither is jude neither is revelation or first john second john none of the gospels are for you jesus did not come for you paul is the one that came for you and there are people that so you know they're actually they actually are forsaken you know the the stories of jesus it's crazy there are people that believe mid-ax dispensationalism okay they're called mid-ax dispensation and they're many times just frustrated ex-baptists they're frustrated at dispensationalism like me i got frustrated at dispensationalism so i rejected dispensationalism they get frustrated dispensationalism so they dig in deeper it's like they're stuck in a hole that doesn't work they're like if we just keep digging we can get out of the hole no you're digging deeper you become a hyper dispensationalist and so they try to plug all the gaps somehow and say well what jesus said was not for us and jesus taught another gospel paul taught his gospel and his gospel is for the gentiles and peter taught another gospel and that gospel is for the jews we've already proven as we've gone through the book of acts that peter and paul taught the exact same gospel and faith alone on christ alone and it's stupidity but there are people that teach and so anyway paul's being accused of being kind of like a mid-ax dispensationalist it's like you know you're telling people for sigma don't read the first five books of the bible like that's the accusation you know and that's where we find god's laws that's where you find his commandments that's where we understand you know the the schoolmaster that brings us to christ it's those five books that show us that we're a sinner and how to live our holy life and obviously we understand changes have happened between old testament to new testament but we get to know the heart of god the thoughts of god you know what is right and wrong what is holy and unholy in the sight of god and so the accusations are you're telling people to not read moses and by extension you're not you know because you're not telling them to get circumcised so there are these accusations being made about you verse number 22 what is it therefore so they're kind of asking paul why is why is this being said about you the multitude must need to come together for they will hear that they are outcome he goes look we need to get everybody to hear what you have to say because a lot of people think you're an idiot paul they think you're you hate the scriptures you hate moses all right so we need to get the multitude to hear um verse 123 oh this is really this is really i find this really interesting so paul has a bad reputation at this point in time in jerusalem even amongst believers because they've been hearing the accusations from others about what paul does right and so they the the brethren they're in jerusalem give paul this advice in verse number 23 do therefore this that we say to thee we have four men which have a vow on them all right so they've got four members of the church that have made this vow take them and purify thyself with them and be at charges with them that they may shave their heads so they're like paul you go with these four you know you do the vows and and these these these this act of you know cleanliness with them all right it's it's like they're saying they're not saying paul you're a horrible person you need to be cleansed this is strategic you know your testimony is ruined here in jerusalem paul we need to fix it so you need to be seen with these other great men that are purifying themselves and making these vows right that's kind of and then it says uh and all may know that those things where of they were informed concerning thee are nothing right so if they see you being righteous and you know doing some of the customs whatever it is and fulfilling your vows they're going to go oh actually no he doesn't hate the scriptures you know he he yeah look at him he's got a good ah they must be lied i can see paul for myself and i can see him honoring you know the vows that he's making and and going through the customs and all this and so these accusations about him hating moses or forsaking moses aren't true then right that's kind of the they're being strategic tactile tactful right in how they want paul to conduct himself uh and then it says at the end of some 24 but that thou thyself walkest orderly and keep us all all right so you know what this reminds me of because we preach at salvations by grace through faith alone people then think because we say it's not of works it's not you can't keep enough laws it's it's without law it's without works stop doing the works as a means of salvation and only faith on christ and you know what some people say about that ah you're giving people a license to sin in other words you're telling people to forsake moses and so these accusations get made about you and me because we believe in free grace it's all been paid for by the blood of jesus there's nothing necessary on our part but to trust what christ has done for us so people then think oh you must be this very disorderly rebellious sort and the reason you preach such a gospel is because you just all want to sin you just want to cave it and feel like you're saved and going to heaven anyway you know no yeah we teach salvation by grace through faith alone but we also teach all the bible the whole council of god we do want to walk orderly we do want to walk after christ we do want to walk in the spirit and walk in righteousness and we teach all these things but you know people make accusations don't they and so sometimes you kind of have to you know be tactful with such accusations i'll give you another example in the independent baptist world it's very rare you guys are rare by the way within within a rare movement of the independent baptists to reject dispensationalism like i brought up earlier to reject the pre-tribulation rapture because we believe in a post-tribulation pre-raft rapture and you know when we say sometimes we don't believe in the pre-trib rapture the accusations get made oh then they don't believe in the rapture of course we believe in rapture okay all accusations like this oh they're not waiting for jesus they're looking forward to the coming of the antichrist stupid accusations like this right and so by being a a non-dispensationalist by being a post-trib pre-raft believer sometimes your pastor and yourselves get viewed as rebellious in fact i got taught that one of my old pastors kevin you're rebellious i never rebelled i never write it in the church i never argued i was just rebellious because i didn't believe in the pre-trib rapture so you know what you have to do in such situations like that you have to be strategic because they're expecting you to be this foaming out the mouth new ifb you know calling everyone a reprobate or whatever that's what they that's what they think you are but you turn up when you meet these people and you put a smile on your face and if they're your brethren if they're saved you bless them and you serve them and you love them and you be a friend i've done this many times brethren many many times all right because i've got a reputation of being rebellious just ask chat gbt just ask grok whatever it is right and it will tell you that you know pastor kevin support but as um i don't know hate field preacher or something like this right i don't know whatever that's the perception that's out there and so there are times that i sit down with pastors i meet up with pastors for different reasons and they kind of want to bring up the rapture and i'm like brother look i know where you stand i know where you believe what you believe i believe in the preacher rapture for many many years but i don't hold to that position and you know if you really do want to talk about that we can talk about that some other time but i'm i'm interested in you you know how you doing how's your church how's your ministry you know you guys winning souls you know how you're trying to you know how you're trying to further the ministry do you need prayer is there anything i can do to help you all right and when you start to be tactful like and it's not just tactful i actually want to be a blessing to other believers believe it or not i actually want to make friends with other believers even if they think i'm some rebellious you know crazy person or something right because it's that interaction when they finally get to meet the real you when they realize oh all that stuff i heard online or all those accusations that were being made they're all false and that's kind of what they're trying to do with paul paul will just behave yourself just put it like you just you know show your best right show everybody that you don't hate moses and the scriptures and surely they're all going to you know be won over you know by your by your testimony so i think it's good advice i think it's a good thing to do in fact i've won many people believe it or not to the post-treat pre-raft position not by arguing the position by simply being a friend by simply being loving simply showing a good testimony walking after christ jesus and when they see that this guy's a genuine believer this guy's a real brother in the lord this guy's not horrible and i think you know what i'm going to tune in and listen to that sermon on the pre-raft rapture or whatever it is right i'm going to listen to the sermon why that he doesn't believe in dispensationalism and when they do not always but many times they listen to that they know it's based on scriptures i'm not foaming at the mouth just hating on brethren that believe differently and they get many times won over just by the word of god but it's that testimony all right that brotherly love that got them to that point of let me hear a different position all right and so it works and again they're asking paul can you do the same unfortunately for paul it doesn't work very well in this story but what i'm trying to say is it's good advice all right it's good advice because like if you show yourself to be like this this orderly guy just combative just constantly in conflicts they're going to be like yeah we always knew it see all right it's true that the reports are true that he doesn't read the scriptures the reports are true he gives people a license to sin the reports are true right he's looking to for the antichrist his heart is toward the antichrist rather than jesus christ all right you don't want to give them that kind of you know fuel to the fire that is a false accusation about you anyway where am i up to brethren i've lost my place 25 thank you as touching the gentiles which believe we have written and concluded that they observe no such thing that's they don't have to do the circumcision save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols and from blood and from strangled and from fornication all right we've already covered this actually then you can go back and listen to the sermon they're just repeating the same thing that they concluded for the gentiles they're like look we can't ask the gentiles to keep the law we can't ask the gentiles to be circumcised but let's give them some good teaching anyway some other commandments that they are to follow and and and this is kind of the list the the general list that they've given to go from place to place anyway i won't talk about that too much because i've covered that in acts 15 but verse number 26 then paul took the men so he does he listens to the advice and the next day purified himself with them entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification until that an offering should be offered for every one of them and when the seven days were almost ended so he's there in the temple for almost seven days like no one recognizes no one realizes this no one realizes this is paul remember paul's been away on his missionary journeys he's been away for years people in jerusalem have not seen him for a long time all right so he almost gets to the end of this process but then the jews which were of asia ah that's like turkey right it says when they saw him in the temple stirred up all the people and laid hands on him so he almost got away with it but some of the turkish jews in that area right they oh that's paul he's the one that's going around preaching and doing all these missionary journeys it's him right and they tell all the other jews this is the guy that is forsaking moses this is the guy that's causing problems so they take a hold of him and verse number 28 crying out men of israel help this is the man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place and further brought greeks also into the temple and have polluted this holy place it's like he's reaching the gentiles so he's polluting the place the temple right these greeks are trying to just they want to serve the lord they want to serve the god of the bible right anyway it's these accusations have been made about paul now and verse number 29 for they had seen before with him in the city of trophimus and ephesian whom they supposed that paul had brought into the temple and all the city was moved and the people ran together and they took paul and drew him out of the temple and forthwith the doors were shut and as they went about to kill him so these guys they're like that's it we're going to kill we're going to kill paul right now once and for all we're done with paul how dare he come into jerusalem you know with his lies and his you know rejecting the scriptures the accusations right i mean was the holy spirit right the holy spirit was right all along paul don't go to jerusalem and anyway they're seeking to kill him verse number 20 to 31 tidings came upon the chief captain of the band that all jerusalem was in an uproar all right so there's a huge mob in there they're seeking to kill but you know obviously with all that noise all that commotion the police officers of the day the roman soldiers they hear about it verse number 32 who immediately took soldiers and centurions so i mean there must have been a lot because if they're centurions the centurion is supposed to be a leader of what is it 100 soldiers roughly about 100 so that's what the you know the century 100 so if there's centurions and they're bringing their soldiers with them there's probably maybe 200 or 300 soldiers all right to try to sort this out and ran down unto them and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers they left beating of paul then the chief captain came near and took him and commanded him to be bound with two chains and demanded who he was and what he had done all right so they were beating up paul all right so it's probably all bloody and bruised at this point clothes ripped bloody and bruised all right they really tried to kill the paul but thankfully the roman soldiers come to the rescue verse number two you know what's interesting about this it's like when you read through all this it's like the roman growing up in church i've always heard that the romans were the ones that hated christians but i read the bible they're kind of like saving them out of the hand of the jews constantly i'm not saying the romans are great guys i mean they're horrible people and they worship false gods but at least they've got some semblance of law and order all right we can't just let a large mob of people kill a man all right there's proper systems it's got to be brought before courts and all this stuff right if there's such we need to hear the accusations we need to investigate you know i believe even today our governing systems and our laws are very much built upon what the romans did back in those days anyway so the jews the synagogue of satan they're the ones that hate christians makes a lot of sense when you read the bible all right oh you're anti-semitic i'm like paul i want to see them saved i want them to stop rejecting jesus and accept him as a messiah you know one thing about paul you learn about him in romans 11 especially he wants to see his people saved he's kind of like in his mind he's like if the easiest people to get saved should be the jews because they're god's people under the old covenant they were given the oracles of god they should know the scriptures you know jesus walked in their midst like the easiest people that should get saved as far as paul is concerned are the jews that's why he's always trying to reach these people even at the cost of his own life not understanding so many have hated jesus so many are reprobate and they hate the church they hate jesus to this day they hate jesus but paul's you know a bit of a bleeding heart with his own people all right i mean he's a he's a man okay and he's made a mistake going into jerusalem at this point in time uh i lost my place again sorry uh let's see verse 34 oh yeah so the chief captain says like he's trying to ask people what did he do right it says uh and what had he done who is he and what's it who is this guy why are you beating him up you know what what did he do like give me something i've got a report on this incident right all right verse 134 and some cried one thing some another so they're not even in agreement with their accusations about paul all right among the multitude this is why when you have two or three witnesses you still need to investigate you got two witnesses here saying paul's a bad guy but they don't agree okay it says here and when he could not and when he could not know the certainty for the torment he commanded him to be carried into the castle so he's trying to investigate he's asking all these people all these multitude of people what did he do what did he do i can't get an answer no one knows it's all contradictive tales about this guy all right and it says uh so they go into the castle where he's going to be obviously a bit safe amongst behind the walls there uh this one 35 and when he came upon the stairs so it was that he was born of the soldiers for the violence of the people so it's kind of like surrounded he's gonna like paul's got like the secret service of the roman army around him protecting him all right uh verse 136 for the multitude of the people followed after crying away with him anyway this ends the third missionary journey the first one the second one he goes back to anti-yoke he gives a good report this is the end of the third missionary he never gets back to anti-yoke okay he gets arrested okay in uh jerusalem and this ends like this you know problem this this uh uproar all right this riot ends that third missionary journey for him he doesn't get to go back to anti-yoke here verse 137 and as paul was to be led into the castle he said unto the chief captain may i speak unto thee who said canstel speak greek so paul spoke in greek and that's why the captain's like you speak greek like you're not like one of these jews or something like that you're not like you know and so he says uh and then the captain responds in verse 138 are not thou that egyptian which before these days made us an uproar and led us out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers so i think it's like okay not long ago there was another uproar and there was this guy in the wilderness with his men who were just murderers they're just i don't know serial killers or something right are you not one of the are you not that egyptian that is isn't this why i i mean again they're trying to get reports as to what happened who is this poor why i guess part of that report was someone said this is the egyptian this is the guy that's caused the murderers and uh was fleeing into the wilderness and we've caught the man now whatever right so even this guy's a bit confused i don't even know why i've arrested you aren't you the egyptian that's why he's surprised that he's speaking greek because he thought he's the egyptian anyway verse 139 but paul said i'm a man which am a jew of tarsus a city in salissa a citizen of no mean city and i beseech thee suffer me to speak unto the people he's essentially saying look i'm a i'm a roman citizen that's essentially what he's saying right you're the roman your roman soldiers i'm one of your citizens you know when i pay taxes that goes to your wages right and so can you allow me to speak to the people verse number 40 and when he had given him license in other words he allowed paul paul stood on the stairs and beckoned with a hand unto the people and when there was made a great silence he spake unto them in the hebrew tongue saying and next week we'll find out what he said all right anyway i i believe that paul made a mistake he should have listened to the holy ghost holy ghost said don't go don't go to jerusalem he didn't get to report back to the anti-och church the third missionary journey ends in disaster and false accusations are being made about him and he's trying to appease the brethren by following you know certain traditions what have you he should just stayed away right he should just stayed away here's the thing though he gets arrested he gets sent into a ship into rome we'll go into all of that later on but this is the point that as independent baptists we look at a leader like paul and say paul has failed you're now disqualified as a apostle paul now's the time for me to you know uh what's the word expose you on facebook now's my time to make youtube videos about paul and highlight his mistakes because that's what we do as independent baptists don't you know when the leader makes a mistake even though for years and years and years he's been serving the lord making the right decisions doing a great work winning souls starting churches but once the leader makes a mistake there's something within human beings that we just want to tear him apart now i'm just adding that to it okay because the independent baptists did not exist yet but if they did all right paul would be all over social media right now what a failure i knew it all along all his teaching was garbage wasn't it you know paul was in it for himself he just wanted to you know uh take the wealth and the possessions of all the churches and all the brethren he was always in it for himself he was always a judas you know probably because that's what i see happen you know this pastor sometimes makes mistakes and sometimes same thing same thing man we forget that pastors and apostles they're just human beings and sometimes they get it wrong and you got to learn the hard way when you get it wrong all right but you know what this is not the end of paul paul made a mistake and god's going to use paul in a great way even now moving forward a different way and paul's still gonna do great works he's still gonna win many souls okay the hard way but he's going to do it the lord's going to use him and so brethren if paul can fail and still do something great for god then this pastor can i don't know if i failed you recently but just in case and you can when you fail when you mess up when you do something wrong ah i'm a failure god can't god can still use you right even if plan a is destroyed and you went with plan b and you shouldn't listen to the lord but then you realize man i messed up god can still use you in plan b all right we need to just pick ourselves up continue serving the lord and not just rip each other into pieces every time someone fails i'm glad paul had his company i'm glad paul had his friends they're like warring paul don't go don't go don't go but i guess we'll go with you paul we'll go to jerusalem anyway and the lord's will be done all right let's pray