Lesson 370 - Junior

Memory Verse

"If we suffer, we shall also reign with him:  if we deny him, he also will deny us"  (II Timothy 2:12).

Notes

En Route to Jerusalem

A sad farewell on the shore, to the elders of the church of Ephesus, and Paul's third missionary journey was under way. The first important stop was at Tyre, where the ship was to unload. Seven days were spent with the people of God there. Paul had been there before; Jesus had also walked along the shores of Tyre. It was there that a woman asked Jesus to have mercy on her daughter who was ill, and the daughter was healed.

The people of Tyre asked Paul not to go to Jerusalem, for they knew that trouble awaited him there. They did not wish to see him place himself in a position where his life would be in danger; but Paul was a fearless man of God, and he had unbounded joy underneath it all. Sometimes when we have a few aches and pains, our rejoicing is temporarily gone; but not so with Paul.

The men, women, and children of the church went to the seashore and there they knelt and prayed before bidding farewell to Paul. It must have been a great prayer meeting, as their hearts were touched by Paul's courage in the face of imminent danger.

In Cæsarea

In Cæsarea, Paul spent many days at the house of Philip, the evangelist. He had four daughters who also preached. While there, a prophet named Agabus came down and "took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles." Others also pled with him not to go to Jerusalem. Paul answered: "What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."

In Jerusalem

Paul proceeded to Jerusalem, where the saints were most happy to see him. It was perhaps as if someone in our church had been on a missionary journey, and when he returned everyone was overjoyed.

We are not told very much about Paul's appearance, but he made a great impression on people wherever he went. How do we account for that? It was divine authority; the Holy Spirit attended all that he did and all that he said. The world today is much taken up and carried away with speakers who have great personalities. The personality of a Christian is controlled by the Spirit of the living God. When we read Paul's history, we must conclude that he impressed the people with whom he came in contact because in his character, nature, and all he was much like the Lord Jesus. Paul was one of the greatest Apostles, if not the chief, but he was humble.

The Tumult

All went well for Paul in Jerusalem until he entered the Temple. At once the Jews stirred up the people and laid hands on him. The whole city was stirred and the people took Paul out of the Temple and would have killed him, but the chief captain came to his rescue. He asked who Paul was and what he had done. The mob cried, "Away with him."

We are reminded of the day when Jesus stood in Pilate's judgment hall, and the people cried out, "Away with this man" [LUK:23:18]). Evil men have often succeeded in doing away with righteous men. But there is coming a day when the righteous Judge will punish all wicked men. Those who have cause Christians to suffer and have not repented and received forgiveness will be tormented day and night in an eternal hell.

Paul was taken into the castle, or prison, and, standing on the stairs, he was given permission to speak. When the people quieted down he told of having arrested men and women who followed Christ, before he was converted. He told how the Lord had "arrested" him that day on the Damascus road. The mob listened for a time, but soon cried out again, "Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live."

Then the chief captain gave orders to have Paul scourged, in order to determine why the people were so much against him. This Roman scourging was one of the most cruel treatments and produced terrible pain. They would bind a man to a post and with a whip with bits of metal braided into it would beat his bares back until the blood gushed out and the veins and muscles were exposed. This was done in order to force him to confess anything, which he might be trying to cover.

Paul was a Jew, it is true, but he was also a Roman citizen. So he asked, "Is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman, and uncondemned?" They told the chief captain, who then asked Paul, "Tell me, art thou a Roman?" Paul answered that he was. At once the chief captain and the others became frightened and loosed Paul of his bands. He was told that he must appear before the council, or Sanhedrin, the Jewish name for it. This was a body of seventy men, and was controlled by the high priest. They dealt with religious matters as well as with civil and criminal laws.

Before the Council

As Paul sat before this group of men, he noticed that some of them were Pharisees and the others were Sadducees. They differed in their religious beliefs. The Pharisees believed in the Resurrection, in angels and spirits, but the Sadducees did not. (Someone suggests it will be easy to remember it, if we think of it this way: Pharisees, "That is fair, I see"; Sadducees, "That is sad, you see.") The world today is still full of this unbelief, which was manifested by the Sadducees. Some modern religious do not believe in the Resurrection.

Once more, as the cry arose, and the mob became enraged at Paul, the chief captain came to his rescue. He feared that they might pull him in pieces, so he commanded the soldiers to take Paul and bring him into the castle.

One can picture that man of God standing uncompromisingly before the council, with faith in his heart. He was a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ before the very people who had proved to be his worst enemies throughout his ministry. Paul felt that it was a privilege to be in such a position. We can see that God had other reasons for Paul's going to Jerusalem than only to suffer persecution and trouble. Paul's going to Jerusalem helped to herald out the Gospel to the Jews, the Gentiles, the officials, and the common people. He wrote to the Philippians: "I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel" [PHL:1:12]).

The Lord has something far deeper than appears on the surface in His dealings with people and permitting them to go through trials. Sometimes the sufferings of God's people cause sinners to see the power of God, and may even bring them to salvation.

"And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome." The words of the Lord, as He stood by Paul that night, must have brought great comfort to his heart. He had never had the privilege of walking and talking with the Lord as the other disciples had had, but Paul, too, had met the Lord Jesus.

The Conspiracy

A plot was formed by more than forty Jews who banded together under a curse saying that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. But they did not take into account the fact that the Lord was on Paul's side. God sent a young man, a nephew of Paul's, to reveal this secret to him, and also to the chief captain, Paul's friend.

The Lord's Side

The enemies of Christ may set themselves against the real children of God; they may plot and scheme; their plans may be well laid and they feel certain of victory over those whom they hate. But the child of God need not fear or worry so long as he knows that the Lord is on his side, and he is on the Lord's side.

What God is seeking for above everything else in our lives is an absolute surrender of our will unto Him. Some people say, "There is nothing more for me to consecrate." But there is always a deeper consecration yet to be reached, where nothing is held back; and whatever comes to one, he will say, "Lord, have Thy way," and mean it. Trouble comes to everyone, but the question is: Are we going to try to steer the matter ourselves or let God direct our lives according to His divine will? Paul wrote, "Present your bodies a living sacrifice"; and he could speak that out of the depths of his heart because he had done that himself.

The Escape

No doubt something about Paul had awakened admiration and favour in the heart of the chief captain, because he was doing everything he could to protect and deliver Paul from the riots. He worked out a plan to get Paul out of Jerusalem by night in order to save his life. He prepared a guard of 470 to take Paul by night to Cæsarea. There was a Roman law that a man could not even he held in prison without a definite charge against him upon which a trial could be based.

The captain sent a letter to the governor, Felix, telling of the riot in Jerusalem and the plans to kill Paul; but he said that there was no charge against Paul worthy of death or of bonds. He gave commandment to those who accused him to say before Felix what they had against him. Felix read the letter and commanded Paul to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.

It is well for us to remember that even today "the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished" [2PE:2:9]). 

Questions

1. Which missionary journey was Paul making at this time?

2. Why did the people of God plead with Paul not to go to Jerusalem?

3. Did it have any effect? What was his reply?

4. Tell of the riot of Jerusalem.

5. Who helped Paul?

6. Tell in brief the testimony Paul gave as he stood on the stairs.

7. How did the people receive his testimony?

8. What is scourging? Did they scourge Paul?

9. Before what group of men was Paul taken?

10. Who helped Paul escape to Cæsarea? How?

11. Before whom was he to appear there?