1. Acts 23Acts Chapter 23, Ananias, A PerfectlyGood Conscience, Caesarea, Cilicia,Sadducees Pharisees, Separation OfChurch And State, Taking An Oath

2. Turbulent TimesAhead For Paul 3. ACTS 23Were GettingClose To The End 4. BIBLE IN FIVEPastor Dave KooyersValley Bible FellowshipBox 433Boonville CA 95415http://www.slideshare.net/dkooyerswww.ValleyBibleFellowship.org(707) 895-2325These Microsoft PowerPointpresentations are provided "for theequipping of the saints for thework of service, to the building upof the body of Christ" (Ephesians4:12-15). To help Christians to "togrow up in all aspects into Himwho is the head, even Christ." Sothat "we are no longer...tossedhere and there...by every wind ofdoctrine." They may bedownloaded and modified free ofcharge.God bless you as you examine His Word,Your servant in Christ, 2Cor. 4:5,Dave Matthew 10:8 Freelyyou received, freely give. 5. Last Time Acts 22Paul was rescuedfrom scourging bydeclaring that he wasa Roman 6. ACTS22:25 Isit lawfulfor youtoscourgea man 7. Acts 23, Be of good cheer Paul was not guilty Acts 23:1-5; a perfectly good conscience Acts 23:9; nothing wrong with this man 8. Acts 23:1, A Perfectly Good Conscience NAU Acts 23:1 Paul, looking intently at theCouncil, said, "Brethren, I have lived my lifewith a perfectly good conscience before Godup to this day. Paul is not claiming sinless perfectionism. He is claiming that he did his best to keepGods Law. Offering the prescribed sacrifices,making restitution, etc., as God required. 9. Acts 23:2,Ananias Used 10 Xs in Acts(Acts only), Wikipedia NAU Acts 23:2 The high priest Ananias commanded thosestanding beside him to strike him on the mouth. Ananias son of Nedebaios (Josephus, Antiquites xx. 5. 2,called "Ananias ben Nebedeus") in the Book of Acts, was ahigh priest, who presided during the trial of PaulatJerusalem and Caesarea. He officiated as high priest fromabout AD 47 to 52. Quadratus, governor of Syria, accusedhim of being responsible for acts of violence. He was senttoRome for trial (AD 52), but was acquitted by theemperor Claudius. Being a friend of the Romans, he was murdered by thepeople at the beginning of the First Jewish-Roman War. Hisson Eliezar ben Hanania was one of the leaders of the GreatRevolt of Judea. 10. Acts 23:5, I Did Not Realize Acts 23:5 Paul replied, "Brothers, I did notrealize that he was the high priest; for it iswritten: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler ofyour people. Eye problem, zeal/passion of the moment,sarcasm, or the high priest was out of uniform Ex 22:28 "Do not blaspheme God or curse theruler of your people. 11. Acts 23:6, Sadducees/Pharisees Acts 23:6 Then Paul, knowing that some of themwere Sadducees and the others Pharisees, calledout in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am aPharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trialbecause of my hope in the resurrection of thedead." Great strategy! Acts 23:8no resurrection, and that there areneither angels nor spirits Sad-u-cee Scripture records salvation of Pharisees but notSadducees 12. Acts 23:11, Be Of Good Cheer KJV Acts 23:11 And the night following the Lordstood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul:for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, somust thou bear witness also at Rome. Be of good cheer, not because you won soulsbut you testified We are to obey and give witness, Gods in chargeof who gets saved. They tried to kill him hear and they will kill him inRome, yet Jesus said, Be of good cheer Paul Jesus said Paul is going to Rome 13. Acts 23:16, Paul's Family NAU Acts 23:16 But the son of Paul's sisterheard of their ambush, and he came andentered the barracks and told Paul. This is all we know of Paul's family! NAU 1 Corinthians 9:5 Do we not have a right totake along a believing wife, even as the rest ofthe apostles and the brothers of the Lord andCephas? Paul's family sent him to Jerusalem to school 14. Acts 23:17, A Young Man, A Youth NAU Acts 23:17 Paul called one of the centurionsto him and said, "Lead this young man to thecommander, for he has something to report tohim. In the Old Testament we have many examples ofbrave young youths (Daniel, Samuel, Joseph,Esther, David, Zadok). Not in the New; Acts has more uses of young and moreexamples for young people than any other NTbook. 15. Acts 23:17, A Young Man, A Youth NAU Acts 23:17 this young man NAU Acts 20:9 And there was a young man namedEutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deepsleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome bysleep and fell down from the third floor and was pickedup dead. NAU Acts 5:6 The young men got up and covered himup, and after carrying him out, they buried him. NAS Acts 2:17 your sons and your daughters shallprophesy, And your young men shall see visions, Andyour old men shall dream dreams; 16. Acts 23:21, Taken An Oath NAU Acts 23:21 "So do not listen to them, for more thanforty of them are lying in wait for him who have boundthemselves under a curse not to eat or drink until theyslay him; and now they are ready and waiting for thepromise from you." 332 anathematizo {an-ath-em-at-id'-zo} Meaning: 1) to devote to destruction 2) to declareone's self liable to the severest divine penalties Grk word only here in NT, Galatians 1 uses anathema How many starved to death? 17. Acts 23:23, NAU Acts 23:23 And he called to him two of thecenturions and said, "Get two hundredsoldiers ready by the third hour of the night toproceed to Caesarea, with seventy horsemenand two hundred spearmen. They left with this big of a entourage at 9 PMon this long of a journey, indicates urgency. He took this plot seriously, he sent to 1/3 ofhis troops to guard Paul. 18. Acts 23:27, Politically CorrectGovernment Employee Acts 23:27 This man was seized by the Jewsand they were about to kill him, but I camewith my troops and rescued him, for I hadlearned that he is a Roman citizen. 19. Acts 23:29, Separation Of Church AndState Acts 23:29 I found that the accusation had todo with questions about their law, but therewas no charge against him that deserveddeath or imprisonment. Government solutions only ultimately end indeath or imprisonment Big hammers should be used very selectively 20. Acts 23:31,Antipatris Acts 23:31 So thesoldiers, carryingout their orders,took Paul with themduring the nightand brought him asfar as Antipatris A rest stop on theway to Caesarea,about 40 mi. fromJerusalem 21. Acts 23:32, Safety in Gentile Territory NAU Acts 23:32 But the next day, leaving thehorsemen to go on with him, they returned tothe barracks. Foot soldiers returned 22. Acts 23:33, Arriving In CaesareaActs 23:33 Whenthe cavalry arrivedin Caesarea, theydelivered theletter to thegovernor andhanded Paul overto him. 23. Acts 23:33, Arriving In Caesarea Not Caesarea Philippi at Panias, or Banias (north) It is what Eastons describes as; Caesarea,(Palestinae), a city on the shore of theMediterranean, on the great road from Tyre toEgypt, about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem,at the northern extremity of the plain of Sharon.It was built by Herod the Great (B.C. 10) whonamed it after Caesar Augustus That is Caesarea Maritime 24. Caesarea Maritime 25. Caesarea Maritime 26. Caesarea Maritime 27. Acts 23:34, Cilicia NAU Acts 23:34 When he had read it, he askedfrom what province he was, and when helearned that he was from Cilicia, Felix had jurisdiction from Cilicia to Judea sohe would hear Pauls case. 28. Acts 23:34, Cilicia NAU Acts 23:34 When he had read it, he askedfrom what province he was, and when helearned that he was from Cilicia, 29. Acts 23:35, Herod's Praetorium The praetorium in Jerusalem covered part ofthe original palace of King Herod the Great 30. John 3:16, For God So Loved The World God loves everyone, butprobably prefers 'fruits of the spirit' over'religious nuts!' 31. Keep Looking For TheBlessed Hope 32. Acts 22:6, 8, 10, 18, 21, 18:9, 9:4-16, 1:4-8, 23:11, DoesGod still speak? Does God still speak? http://www.blogos.org/gotquestions/God-still-speak.phpBy S. Michael Houdmann, Got Questions Ministries"God told me to tell you" "I have a word from the Lord for you." "I am a prophet of God." "I know what the Bible says, but God spoke to me and"The above sayings are increasingly common these days. Sadly, most people who say them do not understand how dangerous they are. Claiming direct revelation from God is essentiallyputting yourself in a place of equal authority with the Word of God. If God speaks, it is always going to be 100% inerrant, authoritative, true, holy, and perfect. If God truly told you to tellme something, I better listen or I am in direct rebellion against God.The problem with this idea that God is directly speaking to people, and through people, today, is the fact that the messages attributed to Him are anything but inerrant, authoritative, andtrue. They are almost always a jumbled mess of confusion, inconsistencies, and outright contradictions of the Word of God. Far too often, "God told me" is in reality, "I thinkand I thinkGod would agree with metherefore, I am going to tell you that God told me"In response to this, many argue that God no longer speaks outside of His Word. Period. Never. The Bible is the complete and sufficient Word of God that gives us everything we need tobe saved and walk with God (2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 4:12). Therefore, there is no need for any further revelation from God. God does not speak. Rather, God has spoken.This is the viewpoint I was taught in Bible College and Seminary. This is still the viewpoint that I strongly lean towards. Admittedly, it is a very comforting position. It means I can ignore allthe claimed messages from God. It frees me from having to use biblically informed discernment in separating truth from error in supposed messages from God. The problem for me is Ido not see solid biblical evidence on which to claim God NEVER speaks today.Interestingly, even those who hold the "God never speaks" position seem to allow for exceptions to the rule. For example, stories of people in closed countries having dreams/visions thatresult in them coming to faith in Christ seem to be accepted, even rejoiced over. Accounts of people in third world countries being told to go to such and such a place at such and such atime to speak with God's messenger, only to bump into a missionary at the exact place and time, are accepted as amazing miracles of God. The justification for the exception is usuallysomething along the lines of, "Well, God only does stuff like that in places where they don't have access to the Bible."Hmm. Where does the Bible say that God works differently based on whether a person has access to the Bible? And, the fact that the United States has tens of millions more Bibles thanYemen does not mean the average American is significantly more biblically literate than the average Yemeni. One could argue that with the massive amount of false doctrine beingpropagated in the United States that the United States is more in need of corrective direct revelation from God than most third world countries. I just don't see a solid biblical orreasonable basis for the "God only does stuff like that over there" argument.So, where does that leave us? To be honest, I am not completely sure.I firmly believe that the Bible is the perfect and complete Word of God. It contains everything we need to know to follow God's will for our lives. While it does not give specificinstructions related to the personal situations and decisions we face, it does provide all the wisdom we need to be able to make right judgments in those situations and decisions.With that in mind, I do not see any reason for God to "supplement" His Word with additional revelation. But, at the same time, there is nothing in the Bible that indicatesGod NEVER speaks today. I do not know the mind of God, and therefore I do not claim to know every reason why God might say something to someone (Isaiah 55:8-9; Romans 11:34).What I do know is this: if God were to speak today, what He said would be in perfect agreement with His Word. God does not contradict Himself. God does not change His mind. Compareany supposed message from God with God's Word, and if the message in any way is in contradiction or disharmony with God's Word, reject the message. If you think God has spoken toyou, but are unsure about it, ask Him for confirmation (Judges 6:36-40; 1 Samuel 3:1-10). Seek wise counsel from men and women of God whom you respect and trust (Proverbs11:14; 15:22).Above all, understand that God speaking is a miracle, not a normal. Even in the Bible, God speaking directly to people, whether through an audible voice or a "still small voice" is rare. Wewould all benefit from spending far more time on what God has said instead of on what God might be saying.