Episode 132: Acts 23:1-24:9

Summary

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Back to the Bible Podcast

Episode 132: Acts 23:1–24:9
Host: Larsen B. Plyler
Date: December 7, 2025

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Overview of the Episode

This episode delves into Acts 23 and the start of Acts 24, working through Paul’s defense before the Sanhedrin, the plot against his life, and the transition of his case to Roman authorities. The speakers focus on both the historical context and practical applications, exploring the interplay of faithfulness, providence, personal responsibility, and God’s promises. The study also previews Paul’s upcoming defense before Governor Felix and analyzes the motives and actions of his accusers.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

Paul Before the Sanhedrin (Acts 23:1–10)

[03:00–13:03]

• Paul’s Conscience and Conflict:

  • Paul opens his defense asserting, “Brothers, I have lived my life in all good conscience before God to this day” (05:44).
  • The high priest Ananias reacts violently, commanding Paul be struck on the mouth, apparently insulted by Paul’s claim to moral consistency.

• Paul Responds with Strong Language:

  • “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?” (06:09–06:18).
  • The co-speaker explains Paul accuses Ananias of hypocrisy, referencing Jesus’ own criticisms of outwardly religious yet inwardly corrupt leaders.

• Paul’s Acknowledgement (or Not) of the High Priest:

  • Paul says, “I was not aware, brothers, that he was a high priest. For it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people’” (06:18–06:37).
  • The speakers debate whether Paul’s ignorance is literal or a comment on Ananias’ illegitimacy due to his conduct.
  • “I have a sense that he is saying that he did not know this was a high priest because a legitimate one would never act the way Ananias was acting.” (10:19–10:29)

• Paul’s Strategic Declaration about the Resurrection:

  • Paul identifies as a Pharisee, “a son of Pharisees… on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead” (12:54), causing a schism between the Sadducees and Pharisees.
  • The debate escalates to violence, and Roman soldiers rescue Paul again.

Divine Encouragement and Plot to Kill Paul (Acts 23:11–35)

[14:17–24:13]

• The Lord Reassures Paul:
  • “Take courage, for as you have solemnly borne witness to my cause at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome also.” (11:50)
• The Assassination Plot:
  • More than 40 Jews swear not to eat or drink until they have killed Paul (15:03–15:45).
  • Paul’s nephew alerts him to the conspiracy; Paul directs him to report it to the Roman commander.
  • Main Speaker notes, “God had made a promise about Paul testifying in Rome. But Paul still took precautions… God’s promise here… did not mean that there was nothing that Paul could do to address the situation” (17:34–20:07).
  • Quote: “Paul still took precautions… In this we see God’s protection of Paul not through miraculous means, but through ordinary, perhaps seemingly providential ways.” (17:34–19:25)
• Evacuation Under Roman Guard:
  • The commander arranges for 470 soldiers to escort Paul to Caesarea to prevent the plot (22:05–22:25).
  • The letter to Felix reorders the official version, emphasizing Paul’s Roman citizenship and painting Claudius Lysias in a favorable light.

Paul in Caesarea and Formal Accusations (Acts 24:1–9)

[24:13–29:00]

• Arrival of the High Priest and Accusers:
  • After five days, Ananias, elders, and professional orator Tertullus bring charges before Felix.
  • Tertullus commences with effusive flattery: “We welcome this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness…” (24:13)
  • Main Speaker remarks on his disingenuity, noting contemporary historians viewed Felix as “absolutely wicked.”
  • Tertullus accuses Paul of:
    • Being “a real pest” and causing international dissension
    • Leading the “sect of the Nazarenes”
    • Attempting to desecrate the temple
• Paul’s Initial Response (to be continued next episode):
  • Paul is respectfully brief: “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense” (27:55).
  • He refutes the charges, insisting “Neither in the temple nor, Nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot” (28:22–28:28).
  • Paul reaffirms his faith, “But this I confess to you, that according to the way which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers.” (28:57)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Paul’s Rebuke of Ananias:
  • “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall!” (Main Speaker quoting Paul, 06:11)
• On Legitimate Rulers:
  • “A legitimate one would never act the way Ananias was acting.” (Co-Speaker, 10:24)
• On God’s Protection and Personal Responsibility:
  • “In this we see God’s protection of Paul not through miraculous means, but through ordinary, perhaps seemingly providential ways.” (Main Speaker, 19:25)
• On Providence and Action:
  • “God had made a promise about Paul testifying in Rome. But Paul still took precautions…” (Main Speaker, 17:34)
• On Accusations Against Paul:
  • “We have found this man, a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” (Tertullus via Main Speaker, 24:13)
• On Paul’s Defense:
  • “Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.” (Paul via Main Speaker, 27:55)

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Important Timestamps

• 03:00–10:50: Paul before the Sanhedrin, confrontation with Ananias
• 13:00–14:17: Paul invokes resurrection, division between Pharisees/Sadducees
• 15:03–20:07: Assassination plot; Paul’s nephew’s intervention
• 22:05–24:13: Paul escorted under heavy guard to Caesarea; letter from Claudius Lysias
• 24:13–28:57: Tertullus’s accusations; Paul’s preliminary defense

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Key Takeaways

• Paul’s steadfastness in conscience, his identification with both his tradition and the resurrection hope, and his skillful use of internal rivalries in the Sanhedrin to his advantage.
• God’s providence is most often exercised through ordinary means—Paul took responsible action even while trusting in God’s promises.
• Corruption in leadership (Ananias’ conduct; flattery of Felix) contrasts with Paul’s integrity and honesty.
• Faithful witness does not preclude shrewd actions or engaging with legal processes responsibly.
• The main narrative trajectory of Acts pivots here towards getting Paul to Rome, in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy.

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Next episode: Paul’s detailed defense before Felix and further implications for Christian conduct under hostile earthly authorities.

Transcript

[Host]

Back to the Bible. Let it be our plea, God's Word alone, our authority, every word, every step in the name of Christ, back to the Bible for the way of life.

[Main Speaker]

Welcome. Thank you for joining us for this period of Bible study. We are delighted at each and every opportunity we have to consider God's Word. And we hope that you find this time today to be profitable and encouraging as you seek to study and understand God's Word. We are going to be looking at the end of Acts 22 and the beginning of Acts 23 as we make our way through the Book of Acts. And we will probably spend a good bit of the rest of our year looking at Luke and Acts as we make preparation for some plans and projects that we have for the new year. And we want to finish up the Book of Acts. And we will begin to make our way through my idea, my intention, if the Lord wills, is to go through the book of Romans, and we have other plans for that. And so we look forward to spending time with you in study of that. If you have questions or concerns or any if you have concerns about the lessons or you would like to make some comment about what we're doing or what we've tried to do, we would love to hear from you and we would love for you to reach out to us. And if there's anything that we can do in order to be a help, an encouragement with regards to spiritual things, that's precisely what we want to do. And we don't want to leave anything unclear and we certainly don't want to say anything that's untrue. And if there is some way in which we need to make correction, please reach out to us and we will be happy to make correction where we see fit and where God's Word has corrected us. And we will be happy to do that.

Our website is backtothebiblepodcast.com backtothebiblepodcast.Com there you can find access to not only this program, but to previous essay episodes of it, and you can find information in the About Us column. And you can find ways to contact us in various ways, whether it's about requesting an episode topic or whether it's.

[Co-Speaker]

About asking a question.

[Main Speaker]

We also have archives and access to other resources and we hope that you would take advantage of those if you would. Now we come to, in our study today, the end of Acts 22, which we looked at briefly last time, and.

[Co-Speaker]

We come down to the very end.

[Main Speaker]

Of 22, and you have this Roman soldier, the Roman centurion Who wants to understand why there was such a riot against Paul? Now, the issue we know was because of.

Arguments, contentions between the Jewish people and Paul over his preaching of the Gospel. But the accusation that they made was that they brought in. That Paul brought in a Gentile into the temple. Now Paul is saying, that is not what happened. Give me a chance to make a statement to them. And he does make that statement. This is through the beginning of chapter 22. And when they heard Paul say that the Lord told him that he would not be able to continue to preach to the Jewish people because they would not listen, and that God had intentions sending him to the Gentiles, the Jewish people got very upset. And they said that such a man.

[Co-Speaker]

Ought not to live. And it was when they attacked him that the centurion comes down and he.

[Main Speaker]

Rescues Paul in some way again gets him out.

[Co-Speaker]

And they were going, he was going to beat Paul because he had not.

[Main Speaker]

Figured out who he was yet. And Paul goes to claim his citizenship.

[Co-Speaker]

And so the centurion is going to hold off on punishing him, but he wants to know for sure what was going on.

[Main Speaker]

And so in chapter 23, as we're going to look at today, Paul is.

[Co-Speaker]

Going to make his defense before the Sanhedrin Council. Now, the Sanhedrin Council was the Jewish council. They were not the highest authority because the Romans had come in and taken that authority.

[Main Speaker]

But as far as Jewish officials, this.

[Co-Speaker]

Would have been the highest council, the highest authority they could go to. Of course, they did not have the right, for example, to carry out the death penalty or something like that. For that they would have to appeal to the Romans. But in many cases of ordinary day.

[Main Speaker]

To day service, they would have had the right to do a lot of things as far as managing the Jewish nation.

[Co-Speaker]

Now we come to chapter 23, picking.

[Main Speaker]

Up right at the end of 2122, excuse me.

[Co-Speaker]

The centurion brings him to the centurion ready to hear the defense. And Paul looks intently at the Sanhedrin and said, brothers, I have lived my life in all good conscience before God to this day. And the high priest Ananias commanded those standing beside him to strike him on the mouth.

[Main Speaker]

Then Paul said to him, God is.

[Co-Speaker]

Going to strike you, you whitewashed wall.

[Main Speaker]

Do you sit to try me according to the law and in violation of.

[Co-Speaker]

The law order me to be struck. But those standing nearby said, do you revile the high priest of God? And Paul said, I was not aware, brothers, that he was a high priest. For it is written, you shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.

Now, Paul began his address to the Sanhedrin court explaining that he had consistently done what he believed was right. He had always recognized that he was before God and conducted himself in keeping with that. Now, you might find it strange that at that statement the high priest would call for him to be slapped. I take it to be that what's happening here is that Paul's statement that.

[Main Speaker]

He always tried to do what was.

[Co-Speaker]

Right is now telling the court, and of course the high priest, that he believed that they were not doing right because they were not doing the same thing he was doing.

[Main Speaker]

You see, he says, I was always.

[Co-Speaker]

Doing what was right. As best I understood it, as best I knew to do right, I was doing it. And now I am on a different track. I am following Jesus. And you know, formerly he was doing what they were doing. He was where they were. And now the fact that he is going a different route and saying, I've always done what was right. Perhaps the high priest is seeing this as an insult to him, as a strike at him. And so the high priest orders him to be slapped on the mouth. Now Paul says, he comes back and says, God was will strike you, you whitewashed wall. How dare you sit there saying that you're judging me in accordance with the law and then you have me slapped not in accordance with the law in breaking the law. Now, the people around are upset at this. But I want you to notice what Paul is saying here. He says, you are a whitewashed wall. That is, he's a hypocrite on the inside. You remember, Jesus would make the statement that they might be painted on the outside, but inside they are corrupt. And that's what you have here. You have a high priest who on the outside might be painted up. He might look really nice, he might look very spiritual. He probably has the high priest clothes on. He probably looks like a very religious, spiritually minded person. But on the inside, Paul is saying, you are corrupt, you're breaking the law. You act like you're the judge that can tell me whether or not I am in obedience to the law or not. And in reality, what's happening is you are breaking the law in your judgment of me. Now, those who are standing beside him are jarred. They are shocked because Paul would speak to the high priest in such a way. Now, Paul's words sound like an apology when he said he did not know it was the high priest who ordered it. I think there are several options as to what this means. What Paul Is saying here one. Is he saying that he did not know it was the high priest because of something like his eyesight. Or that he just didn't recognize him? Or is Paul saying, I wasn't aware he was the high priest? Brothers, in the idea that there's no way that a true high priest would act like that. Saying he didn't know he was the high priest because of his poor character. Is he really saying that he wouldn't speak badly of a ruler of the people, but that this doesn't apply to this high priest because he is not a legitimate ruler?

I have a sense that he is saying that he did not know this was a high priest. Because a legitimate one would never act.

[Main Speaker]

The way Ananias was acting.

[Co-Speaker]

Of course, I could be wrong about that. A couple of things that indicate that.

[Main Speaker]

Perhaps he is not saying it like that.

[Co-Speaker]

Is the way he respectfully addresses the rest of them. I was not aware of, brothers. And then he cites being that way that he was not aware.

I think that it could go both ways. But as of right now, I am on the side that he did not believe that Ananias was legitimate. And that Paul would never have done something like that with somebody who was a legitimate ruler. But Ananias was proving then and there in that very exchange that. That he was not the ruler that God had wanted for his people. Now coming to chapter 23 and verse 6. But knowing that one group were Sadducees and the other Pharisees. Paul began crying out in the Sanhedrin brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. And I am on trial for the hope and resurrection of the dead. As he said this, there was a dissension between the Pharisees and Sadducees. And the assembly was divided. For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor an angel nor spirit. But the Pharisees acknowledged them all. And there occurred a great outcry. And some of the scribes of the Pharisaic party stood up and began to argue heatedly, saying, we find nothing wrong with this man. Suppose a spirit or an angel has spoken to him. And as a great dissension was developing. Because the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. But on that very night the Lord stood by his side and said, take courage. For as you have solemnly borne witness to my cause at Jerusalem, so you must bear witness at Rome also. Now Paul did know that the court was made up of Sadducees and Pharisees. Now, these two parties, if we could call them that, of the Jewish nation, had very different understandings, very different conceptions of reality. Paul used this moment to tie himself to the Pharisee legacy. Now, note that he still identifies as a Pharisee.

[Main Speaker]

And I would say, at least in.

[Co-Speaker]

The good ways he says, I'm a Pharisee, and I am the son of a Pharisee. This is a legacy for him. But notice what he does here. He argued that it was because of the hope of the resurrection that he was standing on trial. Now, that is right, isn't it? He says that Jesus was raised from the dead and that in view of.

[Main Speaker]

That resurrection from the dead, we have.

[Co-Speaker]

Hope of eternal resurrection because Jesus is going to return and raise all those who are in Christ Jesus from the dead. And Paul says, that's what I'm on trial for, is about the resurrection. Now, the Pharisees, wanting to defend their agenda against the Sadducees, say, well, maybe there's a chance he's saying something right here. Maybe he's not wrong. Maybe he did have an angel or a spirit speak to him. Now, this sharp disagreement between the court that was supposed to be judging him and some of the Pharisees even positing ways that.

[Main Speaker]

That Paul could actually be right, led.

[Co-Speaker]

To this violent argument. And the Romans come down and they get Paul out of the middle of it. Now, the following night, the Lord stood by him and told him to be courageous. He had been able to serve as a witness for Jesus in Jerusalem, but he. He would now go to Rome and do the same thing. Now, it was going to take a couple of years to get to that point. It was not going to happen immediately. But surely this gave Paul the confidence that he will have the opportunity to go to Rome. And this seems to be the orientation of the rest of the Book of.

[Main Speaker]

Acts is how do we get Paul to Rome?

[Co-Speaker]

How does Paul arrive there? Now, as we come to the end of chapter 23, when it was day, the Jews formed. This is verse 13, a conspiracy. And bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. And there were more than 40 who formed this scheme. And they came to the chief priests and the elders and said, we have bound ourselves under a curse to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. So now you, along with the Sanhedrin, notify the commander and bring him down.

[Main Speaker]

To you as though you were going.

[Co-Speaker]

To determine his case more carefully. And we, for our part, are ready to slay him before he comes near. But when the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, he came and entered the barracks and reported it to Paul. And Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, lead this young man to the commander, for he has something important to report to him. So he took him and led him to the commander and said, paul, the prisoner called me to him and asked me to lead this young man to you, since he has something to tell you. And the commander took him by the hand and, stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, what is it that you have to report to me? And he said, the Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to the Sanhedrin, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more carefully about him. So do not be persuaded by them, for more than 40 of them who have bound themselves under a curse not to eat or drink until they slay him, are lying in wait for him. And now they are ready and waiting for the promise from you. So the commander let the young men go, instructing him, tell no one that you have notified me of these things. And when he called to him two of the centurions, he said, make ready 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, 200 spearmen to proceed to Caesarea by the third hour of the night. And provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to Felix the governor. And he wrote a letter having this. Claudius Lysias, to the most excellent governor Felix.

[Main Speaker]

Greetings.

[Co-Speaker]

When this man was arrested by the Jews and was about to be slain by them, I came up to them with the troops and rescued him. Having learned that he was a Roman and wanting to ascertain the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him down to the Sanhedrim. And I found him to be accused over questions about their law, but under no accusation deserving death or imprisonment. And when I was informed that there would be a plot against the man, I sent him to you at once, also instructing his accusers to speak against him before you. So the soldiers, according to their orders, took Paul and brought him back by night to Antipatris. But the next day, leaving the horsemen to go on with him, they returned to the barracks. When these had come to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. And when he had read it, he asked from what province he was. And when he had learned that he was from Cilicia, he said, I will give You a hearing before your accusers arrive. Excuse me, after your accusers arrive. Also giving orders for him to be kept in Herod's praetorium. Now the Jews put put themselves under a curse that if any of them ate, that none of them would eat or drink before they killed Paul. And so what they did is they conspired with the court to arrange for Paul to be brought down and assassinate him. But Paul's nephew heard about what was going on. He told Paul and Paul sent him to the commander. I want you to note something here. God had made a promise about Paul testifying in Rome. But Paul still took precautions, he explained. And the Roman officer told the nephew not to tell anyone that he had served as an informant. In this we see God's protection of Paul not through miraculous means, but through ordinary, perhaps seemingly providential ways. What I mean by that is, is that God's promise here that Paul would be taken care of did not mean that there was nothing that Paul could do to address the situation.

That means that here is an opportunity.

[Main Speaker]

Here is a word, here is an.

[Co-Speaker]

Informant about Paul's condition. And Paul doesn't say, oh well, don't worry about it, God's going to take care of me, everything's going to be fine. No, he says, go talk to the commander, give him this information. And he does and Paul is taken care of.

I want you to think about the fact that God has made promises to us. Now we don't have the promises like.

[Main Speaker]

Paul had that everything's going to be.

[Co-Speaker]

Alright and we're going to make it to Rome or something like that, but we do have the promises that God.

[Main Speaker]

Will provide what we need, that if.

[Co-Speaker]

We'Ll seek first the kingdom and his righteousness, that all these things will be added to us. And we do have promises with regards to eternal life. But you need to know, and I need to know that that does not mean that because God has made promises like that, there's no responsibility on my part to manage those things. Whether it's food or clothing or shelter, I have responsibilities that I need to meet in order to be able to provide those things for myself and for my family. And whether it's.

[Main Speaker]

You know, when we're.

[Co-Speaker]

Talking about physical things, for sure that is the case. But when we're talking about spiritual things, God's promises are not without our responsibility. And somebody will say, well, do you think that somehow you deserve all of it? No, I don't think Paul would have thought that.

God was not taking care of him when his nephew came I take it to be that Paul saw this as a way in which God was providing and protecting him. And that's how we should think of it. When God calls us to respond to the gospel, we should not think of that in terms of something that is not. Now. We have to meet some threshold of requirements that would make us worthy of things. Indeed, that is not the case.

[Main Speaker]

And very much differently is the situation.

[Co-Speaker]

We are only meeting the conditions in order to receive the help that God has already provided. Now, the commander here prepares 470 soldiers. That soldiers, cavalry.

And other spearmen that are going to go with him. And they're going to make sure Paul gets to Caesarea to stand before a Roman court of Felix. Now, Felix was the governor of the area of Palestine, and the commander named here as Claudius Lysias wrote a letter to Governor Felix to explain why he was sending Paul. Now, if you look at the letter, he changes the order of some things with regards to when things happened and why he did what he did, and especially when it comes to finding out about Paul's citizenship. He says that he found out about Paul's citizenship and rescued him knowing that he was a Roman, when in reality what happens is he rescues him out of that, was planning on beating him, thrashing him, and then finds out, oh, he's a Roman citizen. I can't do that. So he saves him first. I think here he's trying to paint himself in a little bit of a better light with regards to the Roman structure and saying, I went down to save him because I knew he was a Roman citizen, and now I'm sending him to you in keeping with that. Now, perhaps he is intending to portray himself in a better light. But he explains that though the question was about Jewish religious matters, that the plot against him merited sending him to a higher court in order to sort out the issue. So the soldiers, they got Paul to Caesarea, and Felix told him he would hear his case when his accusers arrived.

Now we come to chapter 24. After five days, the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus came with them, and they brought charges to the governor against Paul. And after he had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, as we have attained much peace through you, and because by your provision, reforms are being carried out for this nation. We welcome this in every way in everywhere, most excellent Felix, Carried out for our nation. We welcome this in every way and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness, but that I may not weary you Any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly, for we have found this man, a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes. And he even tried to desecrate the temple. And then we arrested him. We wanted to judge him according to our own law, but Lysias the commander came along and with much violence took him out of our hands, ordering his accusers to come before you. By examining him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain of the things of which we accuse him. And the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so. So it takes five days for the high priest and some elders and a hired spokesman named Tertullus to arrive and bring accusations. Now, first, Tertullus is buttering up Felix. I believe if we look at the primary sources about Felix, if we look at the record that we have of him historically, we would find that he was an awful ruler, that the contemporary sources say that he was absolutely wicked. But of course, Tertullus here, he's a hired gun. He's not coming to tell the truth. He's coming to get Paul convicted. And so he's buttering up Felix in all of these ways in order to provide as good of a hearing for himself as he possibly can. Then he directs his attention to Paul and he makes some specific accusations. First, he calls him a pest, and one that he was stirring up riots all through the world, that he was the ringleader of a Nazarene sect and that he was profaning the temple. Now, some manuscripts include the contention with Claudius Lysias actions, but others leave that section out. But regardless, they bring it all before Felix for him to be able to discover the facts about the accusation. Now, the governor then turns to Paul, and Paul is going to be able to speak. And we won't be able to address everything that Paul says today, but next time our plan is to look at Paul's response in more detail. But Paul says, knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense. Now, Paul is kind to Felix and he seems to be respectful here, but he does not butter him up. He just says, I know you've been a judge here for a long time, and I cheerfully make my defense. And basically he's basing that on his time in rule, time and experience there. So he says, since you are able to ascertain the fact that no more than 12 days ago, I went up to Jerusalem to worship. So just think about that. Paul has been with Felix for five days and then he's giving himself a defense to the Jewish people with the help of Claudius.

Lysias. Excuse me. For a couple of days before that. And now. So Paul's saying, when would I have had time to stir up some kind of riot? As they're talking about, he says, neither in the temple nor, Nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or causing a riot. Nor are they able to prove to you of what they are now accusing me. So he's saying, they're saying that I'm stirring up riots everywhere. But I hadn't even been in Jerusalem long enough. I hadn't been having any discussions that would have stirred up riots or anything like that. And he says, but this I confess to you that according to the way which they call a sect, I do serve the God of our fathers. That's where we'll have to leave off for today. But until next time, we bid you a pleasant good day.

[Host]

Back to the Bible. Let it be our plea. God's word alone, our authority, every word, every step in the name of Christ Back to the Bible for the way of life.