SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/2/2018
11:09 PM
My Worship Time Focus: PT-3 “The
Defense”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
24:10-21
Message of the verses: ““10 When the
governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: "Knowing that for
many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense,
11 since you can take note of the fact
that no more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12
“Neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself
did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot. 13
“Nor can they prove to you the charges of which they now accuse me. 14
“But this I admit to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect I do
serve the God of our fathers, believing everything that is in accordance with
the Law and that is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, which
these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both
the righteous and the wicked. 16 “In view of this, I also do my best to
maintain always a blameless conscience both before God and before men.
17 “Now after several years I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings;
18 in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been purified,
without any crowd or uproar. But there were some Jews from Asia- 19
who ought to have been present before you and to make accusation, if they should
have anything against me. 20 “Or else let these men themselves tell what misdeed
they found when I stood before the Council, 21
other than for this one statement which I shouted out while standing
among them, ’For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you
today.’"”
Let
us pick up by looking at verse 17 which tells us what Paul was really doing in
Jerusalem, as he wanted to present alms to his nation and he also wanted to bring
the money that he had collected from the Gentile churches, something that Paul
was worried about, worried if the Jewish church would accept the gift since it
came from the Gentiles. Paul prayed the
following about this situation when he wrote to the church at Rome: “30 Now I urge you,
brethren, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive
together with me in your prayers to God for me, 31 that I may be rescued from those who are
disobedient in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may prove
acceptable to the saints’ (Rom. 15:30-31).” You can see from these two verses that Paul
wanted prayer support from the church at Rome, and the words “strive together
with me” is a very powerful Greek word that means Paul wants this church to
fight with him in prayer for this cause.
Also the Greek word “disobedient” speaks of those who are not believers.
We
know what happened to Paul after he delivered the money and that is that he was
falsely accused of taking a Gentile into the temple, something we discussed in
an earlier SD, stating that that would have been impossible to happen because
of the guards there.
John
MacArthur writes “Paul then turned to the real cause of the disturbance—‘certain
Jews from’ the Roman province of ‘Asia.’
Their false charge that Paul desecrated the temple provoked the ensuring
riot. Accordingly, as Paul reminded
Felix, those Asian Jews ‘ought to have been present before you, and to make
accusation, if they should have anything against me’ (cf. 25:16). This was a telling point in Paul’s favor,
because ‘Roman law was very strong against accusers who abandoned their charges’
(A. N. Sherwin-White, Roman Society and
Roman Law in the New Testament)…That the eye-witnesses of Paul’s alleged
desecration of the temple failed to show up undermined the Sanhedrin’s case.”
Paul
then presses home the point, Paul boldly challenged the Sanhedrin to “tell what
misdeed they found when I stood before the Council, 21 other than for this one statement which I
shouted out while standing among them, ’For the resurrection of the dead I am
on trial before you today.” In reality
since the witness had not showed up the case should have been dismissed, but we
will lean what happened in the verdict which will be seen in our next SD.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “John the Baptist” (John
1:32).
Today’s Bible question: “Where did God tell Elijah to hide?”
Answer in our next SD.
9/2/2018 11:37 PM
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