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When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive

  Good morning. While everything was being prepared for Paul to go to Rome, King Agrippa and Bernice came to pay their respects to Festus. My Bible says that he was the last of the Herods. Festus tells them about Paul’s case. When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. We need to realize that the world does not understand what we believe. They think that we are talking about something completely different. They may not think it’s the same as this, but it is very different from what we truly believe. When I asked Paul whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters, he appealed to be held in custody for the emperor’s decision. I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said, I also would like to hear the man myself. Hi...
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You have appealed to Caesar, to Caesar you shall go

  Good morning. The Jews brought many and serious charges against Paul, which they could not prove. Paul said, I have committed no offense either against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar. But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me on these charges? Why would he want to go to Jerusalem? He was standing trial right there, and they were unable to prove anything against him. Paul knew that if they had planned to kill him previously, they would probably do the same again as he went to Jerusalem. I am standing before Caesar’s tribunal, where I ought to be tried. My Bible says that as a Roman citizen, he could refuse to go to a local provincial court; instead he looked to a higher Roman court. I have done no wrong to the Jews as you very well know. If, then, I am a wrong doer and have committed anything worthy of death, I do not refuse to die; but if none of these things is true of whic...
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The chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were urging him, requesting a concession against Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem

  Good morning. Felix was given plenty of opportunity to turn his life over to Christ, but he refused. Why was Paul stuck there for two years? Why didn’t God set him free? God was preparing everything for Paul’s eventual trip to Rome. If he had been set free or had gone earlier, then what was supposed to happen would not have happened. My Bible says that Festus only lived two years longer before he died. Basically he was there only so that he could send Paul to Rome because Felix was not going to. So Festus arrives in Caesarea for his new job. After a few days by the seashore, he goes up to the big city – Jerusalem, not having a clue of the controversy that was about to strike him. The chief priests and the leading men of the Jews brought charges against Paul, and they were urging him, requesting a concession against  Paul, that he might have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time setting an ambush to kill Paul on the way). It would’ve been easy to give in to their demands...
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Let these men themselves tell what misdeed they found when I stood before the council, 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.

  Good morning. Paul continues describing what happened in Jerusalem and said, let these men themselves tell what misdeed they found when I stood before the council, 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. But Felix, having a more exact knowledge about the Way put them off, saying, when the commander comes down, I will decide your case. He knew there was no real crime, and that it was simply jealousy that brought all this on; but he couldn’t just let Paul go or the Jews would’ve been tremendously upset. Paul was more or less under house arrest. Paul must have struck a chord in the soul of Felix, talking about the resurrection, because Felix and his wife came to listen to him speak about faith in Christ Jesus. There was more than one man named Herod, and she was the daughter of one of them. As Paul was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became...
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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; having a hope in God, which these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked

  Good morning. The Jews were upset that “Paul got away“; so 40 formed a plot to kill Paul, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had done so. They wanted the council to pretend like they wanted to investigate him further, but they were going to attack and kill him while he was on the way. Paul’s nephew learned of the ambush, and came to the barracks to inform him. He asked that his nephew be able to tell the commander about the plot, and he was able to do so. The commander sent Paul with 200 soldiers and 70 horsemen to Caesarea, where the governor, Felix, was staying. They waited for the Jews to come down from Jerusalem for a hearing. The high priest, some elders, and a lawyer (went into a bar - well it sounded like the beginning of a joke) came to bring charges against Paul. The lawyer claimed that Paul stirred up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and was the ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. He even tried to desecrate the temple; and th...
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I am a Pharisee, and am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead!

  Good morning. Now Paul could’ve kept attacking the high priest; but he perceived that one group was Sadducees and the other Pharisees. These two groups were like Republicans and Democrats – they really disagreed with each other and only came together when there was a common enemy, like Jesus. I am a Pharisee, and am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead! This created quite a commotion because the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel, nor a spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all. The Pharisees said, we find nothing wrong with this man; suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him? They were about to slug it out when the commander stepped in and took Paul away from them. That night the Lord stood at his side and said, take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also. This seems to indicate that it was God‘s will for Paul to go to Jerusalem. It also confirms Paul’s desire to go to ...
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God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the law, and in violation of the law order me to be struck?

  Good morning. As they were getting ready to scourge Paul, he said to the centurion, is it lawful for you to scourge a man who is a Roman and condemned? Remember when he was in the Philippian jail that when they sent to release him, Paul realized too late that he had the same defense. It was against the Roman law for a Roman citizen to be subjected to any kind of degrading form of punishment. The next day, the commander ordered the chief priests and the council to assemble so that he could find out why they were accusing Paul. He said to them, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day. The high priest commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth. God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall! Do you sit to try me according to the law, and in violation of the law order me to be struck? But the bystanders said, do you revile God‘s high priest? I was not aware that he was high priest; for it is written, you shall not speak ev...
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