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Caption transcript for In The Footsteps of The Rabbi From Tarsus: “Roman Imprisonment, Release, Travels, and Death” (6/12)

• 00:03 WITH DR. JEFFREY SEIF AND SANDRA LEVITT
• 01:01 A HEARTY SHALOM TO ALL OF YOU.
• 01:03 JEFFERY SEIF HERE
• 01:04 WITH MY BUDDY SANDRA LEVITT.
• 01:06 SHALOM.
• 01:07 WELCOME BACK TO IN THE FOOTSTEPS
• 01:08 OF A RABBI FROM TARSUS.
• 01:10 WE'RE TALKING ABOUT PAUL.
• 01:11 WE HAVE SEEN HIM A LOT OF PLACES.
• 01:14 WE'VE SEEN HIM EPHESUS, GREECE, WE'VE SEEN HIM EVERYWHERE.
• 01:18 AND NOW HE'S IN STOCKS, IN EFFECT RESTRICTED IN PRISON,
• 01:22 RIGHT UP AGAINST THE END.
• 01:24 WITH THIS PROGRAM WE'RE LOOKING AT THE BEGINNING OF THE END.
• 01:28 NOT THE END OF THE SERIES, NOT THE END OF THE WORLD,
• 01:31 BUT CERTAINLY PAUL'S WORLD.
• 01:33 AS HE TRAVELED ABOUT FINALLY AT THE END OF LIFE, HE IS RESTRICTED.
• 01:38 AND YOU CAN LOOK AT PRISON AS THE END,
• 01:42 BUT HE WAS INDUSTRIOUS EVEN IN THAT CIRCUMSTANCE.
• 01:44 HE WAS.
• 01:46 HIS CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGED, HE KNEW THE END WAS COMING
• 01:48 AND YET WHAT WAS HIS RESPONSE?
• 01:50 HIS RESPONSE WAS TO GET THE WORD OUT,
• 01:52 TO BE ENCOURAGING TO HIS FOLLOWERS,
• 01:54 STAY THE COURSE, WAS HIS MONTRA, I GUESS?
• 01:59 CERTAINLY IT WAS HIS MONTRA.
• 02:01 NOW IN THE COURSE OF THIS PROGRAM, THIS SERIES,
• 02:05 WE'RE LOOKING AT A 12 PART SERIES DIVIDED IN 2.
• 02:08 THE FIRST OF WHICH WE LOOK AT HIS MOVEMENTS AND THEN HIS PARCHMENTS.
• 02:12 AND AS HE FINISHES UP WE SEE JUST WHAT SANDRA SAID,
• 02:16 THAT IS, AS HE'S WINDING UP HE'S MINISTERING TO THE END,
• 02:20 ENCOURAGING, LOVING, HELPING, COULD WELL BE SUMMED HERE.
• 02:23 YOU'RE BOUND UP IN A NURSING HOME, BOUND UP IN BEDROOM SOMEWHERE.
• 02:29 YOU DON'T HAVE THE ENERGIES OR THE RESOURCES THAT YOU HAD IN A BYGONE ERA.
• 02:32 THAT DOESN'T MEAN THAT LIFE ENDS FOR YOU.
• 02:35 WE ALL CAN KEEP LOVING RIGHT INTO THE END,
• 02:37 CAN'T WE?
• 02:38 AND WE CAN AND THAT IS THE ENCOURAGEMENT FOR ALL OF US.
• 02:40 WE'RE GONNA GO TO JEFF NOW ON LOCATION,
• 02:42 CONTINUE WITH PAUL
• 02:44 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS.
• 02:48 COME WITH ME AND SEE THE GLORY THAT WAS ROME.
• 02:54 A SPLENDID EMPIRE BEGAN IN THE ITALIAN BOOT IN ITALY
• 03:01 AND SPREAD TO POINTS EAST AND FROM THERE WEST AND SOUTH.
• 03:07 ALL OVER THE MEDITERRANEAN BASIN.
• 03:09 EXTENDED TO ISRAEL AND EVEN FURTHER EAST THAN THAT.
• 03:14 AND HERE WE ARE IN THE EMPIRE.
• 03:18 FASCINATING TO SEE THE OLD RUINS AND THE PLACES.
• 03:22 AND IT'S MY PLEASURE, BY THE WAY.
• 03:24 I THANK YOU FOR TURNING ON THE TELEVISION, SO THAT YOU CAN SEE WHAT PAUL SAW.
• 03:29 SO YOU CAN MAYBE FEEL IT, SO YOU CAN SENSE IT.
• 03:33 HERE'S PAUL, A SLAVE FOR THE KINGDOM, MAKING HIS WAY ABOUT THE GLORIOUS ROMAN EMPIRE.
• 03:42 AND IT'S IN THAT EMPIRE FINALLY WHERE PAUL WAS BROUGHT LOW.
• 03:47 CONSIDERED UNWORTHY TO GO ON LIVING HE'S GOING THERE FOR ALL INTENSIVE PURPOSES,
• 03:53 OR SO THEY'LL THINK, MEET AN INGLORIOUS END.
• 03:57 AND IN THIS SEGMENT WE'LL GO TO WHERE HE ARGUABLY ENDED.
• 04:01 WE'LL GO TO THE DUNGEON, THE X MARKS THE SPOT, WE'LL SHOW YOU THE ROMAN PRISON,
• 04:07 THERE WEREN'T MANY, THIS WAS ONE PERHAPS THE ONE WHERE PAUL SAW HIS FINAL DAYS.
• 04:14 HE WHO TRAVELED AROUND THE EMPIRE, THAT YOU'RE LOOKING AT RIGHT NOW.
• 04:17 HE WHO TRAVELED THOUSANDS OF MILES COULDN'T GO A DOZEN FEET, AS HE'S RESTRICTED IN A DUNGEON.
• 04:26 AND FROM THAT DUNGEON HE WILL EMERGE AND FACE HIS DESTINY TO DIE.
• 04:33 THE TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, HE STARTED DYING THE MINUTE HE STARTED LIVING.
• 04:39 NOW WHAT DO I MEAN BY THAT?
• 04:40 IF WE CAN FOR A MOMENT, SAY NEVER MIND HIS FINAL STEPS.
• 04:44 AND IF WITH ME YOU CAN LOOK AT THAT FIRST STEP.
• 04:48 LOOKING HERE IN MY BIBLE IT'S THE BRIT HADASHAH IN HEBREW.
• 04:52 WHAT THAT MEANS IN ENGLISH IS THE NEW TESTAMENT.
• 04:54 THERE LUKE IN HIS BOOK CALLED ACTS, RECORDS AN EXCHANGE BETWEEN PAUL AND SOMEONE.
• 05:03 IN ACTS CHAPTER 9, VERSE 5;
• 05:25 PAUL AT THAT MOMENT CAME TO KNOW JESUS.
• 05:29 WHAT A STORY!
• 05:31 IT'S LIKE PAUL WAS THIS RELIGIOUS LEADER, HE STUDIED FOR YEARS AND YEARS.
• 05:36 HE WAS THE MOST STUDIED OF ALL OF JESUS' DISCIPLES.
• 05:39 THE OTHERS WERE COMMON FISHERMEN.
• 05:41 BUT NO, PAUL WAS A SAGE.
• 05:43 HE CUT HIS TEETH, THEOLOGICALLY, BUT EVEN WITH HIS STUDIES SOMETHING WAS MISSING.
• 05:49 HE KNEW THE WORD, THE WRITTEN WORD.
• 05:53 BUT NOW HE CAME TO KNOW THE WORD INCARNATE, THE WORD THAT WAS LIFE.
• 05:57 AND THAT TRANSACTION CAUSED SOMETHING TO BE INFUSED WITHIN HIM.
• 06:03 WITH THE NET RESULT THAT PAUL CAME TO LIFE.
• 06:06 AND AFTER HE CAME TO LIFE, HE WAS PARTICULARLY PROACTIVE
• 06:11 IN HELPING OTHER PEOPLE COME TO KNOW LIFE.
• 06:14 BUT THERE WAS A PRICE TO BE PAID.
• 06:17 PAUL WAS BLEEDING TO DEATH, IN SOME SENSE, THE WHOLE WHILE.
• 06:20 THE PROPHETIC WORD OVER PAUL WAS, THE LORD SAYING, "I'LL SHOW HIM WHAT HE NEEDS TO SUFFER."
• 06:26 BUT PAUL COUNTED IT ALL GLORIOUS.
• 06:30 HE COUNTED HIS LIFE AS INSIGNIFICANT,
• 06:33 FOR THE PURPOSE OF BEING ABLE TO HELP PEOPLE KNOW THE LORD.
• 06:36 FOR HIMSELF BEING ABLE TO PRESS ON TO KNOW HIM BETTER.
• 06:40 PAUL COMES TO FAITH ON THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS.
• 06:43 HE GOES INTO DAMASCUS.
• 06:44 HE'S GONNA WIND UP BEING SPIRITED AWAY FROM DAMASCUS.
• 06:47 HE'S GONNA SEE JERUSALEM FOR A SEASON.
• 06:49 HE'S GONNA SEE ARABIA FOR A SEASON.
• 06:51 HE'S GOING TO SEE TARSUS FOR 10 YEARS.
• 06:54 AND THEN THE LORD'S GONNA DROP IT INTO BARNABAS TO COME AND FETCH HIM.
• 06:59 AND BARNABAS AND PAUL TOGETHER WILL GO TO A MISSION OUTPOST, ANTIOCH,
• 07:03 COSMOPOLITAN CITY.
• 07:06 MADE UP OF JEWS AND NON-JEWS, RICH AND POUR.
• 07:09 AND THERE, THERE WAS A CHURCH MADE UP OF ALL KINDS OF PEOPLE.
• 07:12 AND IN THAT CHURCH, PAUL HAD A VISION.
• 07:15 HE ALREADY HAD KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORD AND HE HAD SPIRIT.
• 07:20 HE WAS A NEW CREATION.
• 07:22 BUT THERE IN THAT MATRIX, HE BEGINS TO DEVELOP SOME SENSE OF THE VISION FOR PLANET EARTH.
• 07:28 WHEN WE FOLLOW IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS,
• 07:32 WE NOTE SOMEONE WHO WENT ON VARIOUS MISSIONARY JOURNEYS FROM ANTIOCH.
• 07:36 TO MAKE KNOWN TO THE WORLD THAT THE MESSIAH HAS COME AND HIS NAME IS JESUS.
• 07:40 BUT NOT JUST TO THE JEWISH WORLD, BUT TO ALL THE WORLD.
• 07:42 HE WENT BY SEA, HE WENT BY LAND, HE FOUND HIMSELF EXPERIENCING RECEPTION AND REJECTION.
• 07:50 HE PREACHED IN SYNAGOGUES, SOME LOVED HIM, SOME DIDN'T.
• 07:54 HE SPOKE IN MARKET PLACES, SOME IGNORED HIM, SOME DIDN'T,
• 07:58 BUT THAT INTREPID BOLD PIONEER OF THE FAITH WAS USED BY GOD TO ESTABLISH COMMUNITIES.
• 08:05 BUT THERE WAS A PRICE TO BE PAID.
• 08:07 FOR IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NEW LIFE, THE SPIRIT OF ANTI-LIFE WAS INVESTED AGAINST HIM
• 08:14 WITH THE NET RESULT THAT HE WAS ARRESTED ON MANY OCCASIONS.
• 08:17 HE ESCAPED FROM HIS IMPRISONMENT ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS, BUT NOT THIS TIME.
• 08:23 AND SO, OFF WE GO TO THE DUNGEON IN ROME.
• 08:28 OFF HE WENT.
• 08:30 I WOULD IMAGINE HE HAD A SMILE ON HIS FACE, HOWEVER, FOR THIS WAS THE MAN WHO SAID,
• 08:36 HE COUNTED HIS LIFE AS NOTHING.
• 08:38 FOR HIM TO INVEST HIS LIFE FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, FOR HIM TO DIE FOR CHRIST, IT'S ALL GOOD.
• 08:42 THIS WAS A MAN ON A MISSION.
• 08:45 AND HIS MISSION FINALLY TOOK HIM TO THIS PLACE.
• 08:47 AND YOU'LL SEE THE PLACE IN ROME, WHERE PAUL MET HIS END.
• 08:52 BUT WHAT WAS HIS END?
• 08:54 TRUTH BE KNOWN WAS A WHOLE NEW BEGINNING.
• 08:56 FOR PAUL AS YOU KNOW EMERGED FROM HIS DEATH AND ENTERED INTO GOD'S PRESENCE.
• 09:01 AND IN A MINUTE WE'RE GONNA SEE WHERE PAUL FINISHED.
• 09:04 AND WE'RE GONNA TAKE YOU TO THE PLACE, THAT WAS PAUL'S FINAL PLACE.
• 09:19 WANT YOU TO GET TO KNOW PAUL A LITTLE BETTER
• 09:22 AND FRANKLY I WANT YOU TO GET TO KNOW US.
• 09:25 IF YOU'LL CALL:
• 09:28 THAT'S THE GO TO NUMBER TO GET IN TOUCH WITH US,
• 09:31 ZOLA LEVITT MINISTRIES.
• 09:32 IF YOU'D LIKE WE'RE PLEASED TO SEND YOU A FREE MAGAZINE.
• 09:36 THERE'S ARTICLES.
• 09:37 YOU CAN READ IT, RESPOND TO IT, GET SOME INTERACTION GOING.
• 09:42 WE WANT YOU TO GO ON THE JOURNEY WITH US AS WITH PAUL.
• 09:45 AND SPEAKING OF JOURNEYS, WE TAKE TRIPS TO ISRAEL AND GREECE.
• 09:49 WE LIKE TO WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF JESUS AND PAUL.
• 09:52 JOIN US ON A TRIP.
• 09:58 ROME, IT'S CALLED THE ETERNAL CITY.
• 10:01 I MAY BE DATING MYSELF,
• 10:03 BUT ABOUT 40 YEARS AGO I WAS IN ROME,
• 10:05 SO IT WAS REALLY INTERESTING FOR ME
• 10:07 TO GO BACK AND SEE HOW LOVELY ROME WAS.
• 10:11 YOUR TEACHINGS THERE WERE WONDERFUL.
• 10:13 IT WAS A GREAT EXPERIENCE TO SEE ROME.
• 10:14 WE'VE SEEN ISRAEL, WE'VE SEEN GREECE,
• 10:17 AND NOW WE'RE IN ROME.
• 10:18 I WONDER HOW PEOPLE IN ITALY WOULD FEEL
• 10:21 IF WE WANTED TO CARVE UP ROME
• 10:22 AND GIVE THE HEART OF IT TO SOME ETHNIC GROUP AND SO FORTH?
• 10:25 THAT CITY IS PRIDE OF PLACE IN ITALY AND I'M SURE IT'S WELL VALUED.
• 10:29 AND IT SHOWS.
• 10:31 AND THE OTHER THING I ALWAYS THINK ABOUT IS
• 10:32 ROME IS GONNA PLAY IN THE END TIMES ALSO.
• 10:35 HERE IT IS THIS MAGNIFICENT CITY AT THE BEGINNING, NOW IT'S KIND OF SO-SO,
• 10:39 BUT IT'S GONNA COME BACK AND BE PART OF THE END TIMES.
• 10:42 SO THAT'LL BE INTERESTING.
• 10:43 HERE'S JEFF ON LOCATION IN ROME.
• 10:47 I ALWAYS LIKE WORKING WITH BIBLICAL SOURCES
• 10:50 WHENEVER POSSIBLE.
• 10:51 BUT IN LOOKING AT PAUL'S FINISH
• 10:53 WE JUST DON'T HAVE BIBLICAL RESOURCES TO DRAW UPON.
• 10:56 LUKE, PAUL'S HISTORIAN, TELLS US THAT PAUL WAS IMPRISONED IN ROME.
• 11:03 IT WAS MORE LESS A HOUSE ARREST, A CASUAL ARREST.
• 11:05 AND THERE'S A VERY COGENT ARGUMENT
• 11:08 THAT HE WAS FREED FROM THAT.
• 11:10 AND THEN HE WENT ABOUT AND CONTINUED HIS MINISTRY.
• 11:14 THIS IS ENFORCED BY HIS LETTER TO TITUS, FOR EXAMPLE,
• 11:18 WHEN HE REFERS TO THE MINISTRY IN CRETE THAT WAS ESTABLISHED.
• 11:22 ENCOURAGES TITUS TO CONTINUE ON.
• 11:24 BUT AS YOU FOLLOW PAUL'S MISSIONARY JOURNEYS IN ACTS,
• 11:26 THERE'S NO RECORD OF HIM SPENDING ANYTIME IN CRETE TO SPEAK OF.
• 11:31 FOR THAT AND OTHER REASONS SCHOLARS ARGUE
• 11:34 THAT PAUL GOT OUT OF HIS QUANDARY IN ROME AND TRAVELED ABOUT.
• 11:39 ONLY TO THEN RETURN TO ROME AND ARGUABLY RETURN TO THIS PLACE IN ROME WHERE HE FINISHED UP.
• 11:46 THIS PLACE IS AN INTERESTING PLACE.
• 11:49 I'VE SPOKEN TO SOME EXPERTS THAT COULD SPEAK MORE TO THIS THAN I, BUT THIS ARGUABLY IS A PRISON.
• 11:55 THERE'S A STAIRWAY BEHIND ME THAT I'M GOING TO DESCEND,
• 11:58 BUT THOSE WHO CAME TO THIS PRISON, CAME THROUGH THIS HOLE RIGHT HERE.
• 12:03 LOOKS LIKE A MANHOLE, I GRANT, BUT WHAT THIS WAS, THIS WAS THE ENTRANCE.
• 12:07 AND PEOPLE WERE LOWERED DOWN, THEY WERE SHOVED IN THERE.
• 12:10 AND THERE'S AN ARGUMENT THAT IF PAUL WASN'T PLACED IN THIS PRISON,
• 12:14 AS IS ALLEGED BY THE TRADITION, THEN CERTAINLY ONE LIKE IT.
• 12:18 AND WE DON'T KNOW WHAT OTHER ONE THERE'D BE, BECAUSE THIS IS THE ONE THAT WE KNOW OF IN ROME.
• 12:21 PAUL WE'RE TOLD, WAS EXECUTED UNDER NERO ALONG WITH PETER.
• 12:32 AND AS WE CONSIDER HIS FINALE, IF YOU WILL,
• 12:37 THERE'S A SENSE IN WHICH WE'RE SAYING GOODBYE TO AN OLD FRIEND.
• 12:42 IN THIS SERIES WE'VE BEEN CONCERNED WITH FOLLOWING
• 12:46 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARUS.
• 12:48 WE'VE BEEN INTEREST IN HIS MOVEMENTS AND IN HIS PARCHMENTS.
• 12:53 AND AS WE DO A WRAP ON HIS MOVEMENTS LET'S JUST SAY
• 12:57 THAT ONE OF HIS MOVEMENTS WOULD HAVE BEEN TO BE COMPRESSED INWARD
• 13:01 AND SHOVED DOWN THIS HOLE, WHERE HE FOUND HIMSELF IN PRISON FOR A SEASON, SUCH IS THE TRADITION.
• 13:07 LET'S GO DOWN AND SEE WHAT WE FIND, WHEN WE GO DOWN INTO THE JAIL THAT ARGUABLY HOUSED PAUL.
• 13:24 IT'S HARD TO GET COMFORTABLE DOWN HERE, BUT THEN AGAIN IT'S NOT A HOTEL.
• 13:28 THE WALLS ARE PRESSING IN ON ME.
• 13:31 FEEL LIKE THE CEILINGS COMING DOWN.
• 13:33 I'M A PRETTY TALL GUY ANYWAY AND I'M RIGHT UP AGAINST IT.
• 13:36 THIS IS ARGUABLY WHERE PAUL FINISHED UP AND AS I'D SAID,
• 13:39 IT'S NOT COMFORTABLE, IT SMELLS TOO.
• 13:41 THERE'S A CISTERN HERE WHERE THE PRISONERS COULD TEND TO THERE BUSINESS.
• 13:47 MUST HAVE BEEN A HORRIBLE PLACE TO BE.
• 13:49 BUT PAUL WAS NO STRANGER TO THESE ENVIRONS INTERESTINGLY.
• 13:52 IN A WORLD WHERE PEOPLE EXTOLLED THE VIRTUES OF A CHRISTIAN LIFE, HOW EVERYTHING COMES UP ROSES,
• 13:58 WHEN SOMEONE PRAYS A SINNERS PRAYER, FOR AS MUCH AS THAT'S ADVOCATED,
• 14:03 I DON'T KNOW THAT THE CHURCH KNOWS WHAT TO DO IN A PLACE LIKE THIS.
• 14:07 NEVER MIND THIS PLACE FOR A MOMENT, THE LORD PREPARED PAUL FOR THIS.
• 14:10 THIS WASN'T HIS FIRST TIME WHEN WAS IN DIFFICULT STRAITS.
• 14:13 HE IS AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL IN HIS CORINTHIAN CORRESPONDENCE.
• 14:16 AND I WANT YOU TO LOOK IN 2ND CORINTHIANS, CHAPTER 11, VERSE 23;
• 14:26 AND THAT'S NOT TO SAY HE LIKED WEARING STRIPES AS APPOSED TO PAISLEY OR WHATEVER.
• 14:29 IT SAID THAT HE WAS (WHIP SOUND) BEAT SO MANY TIMES.
• 14:33 HIS BACK, HIS LEGS HE WOULD'VE BEEN A MESS.
• 14:36 HE SAYS,
• 14:44 HE WASN'T JUST WHIPPED WITH A BELT, BUT THERE WERE LITTLE SHERDS AT THE END OF THAT,
• 14:48 SHARDS TO KINDA TEAR INTO THE SKIN, IT WAS HORRIBLE.
• 14:56 PEOPLE SAY, WAS PAUL MARRIED?
• 14:57 AT ONE LEVEL HE WASN'T MUCH TO LOOK AT AND TOUCH,
• 15:00 HE WAS JUST LIVING MOVING SCAR TISSUE, IF YOU WILL.
• 15:03 A BUSTED UP KIND OF FELLOW FOR ALL HE'D BEEN THROUGH.
• 15:06 HE SAYS,
• 15:08 AS IF ALL THE IMPRISONMENT AND TORTURE WASN'T BAD ENOUGH.
• 15:13 THIS GUY HAD A RUFF GO OF IT, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?
• 15:15 DIFFICULTIES NOT WITHSTANDING, THE GRACE OF GOD SUSTAINED HIM.
• 15:19 AND HE WAS ABLE TO FIND A TRIUMPH IN TRAGEDY.
• 15:36 PAUL SAID THAT HE LEARNED TO ABOUND AND HE LEARNED TO BE ABASED.
• 15:40 HE LEARN TO GET IT BOTH WAYS IN LIFE.
• 15:42 WOULD THAT WE LEARN THAT SECRET?
• 15:44 SPEAKING TO YOU FROM THE DUNGEON WHERE PAUL WAS ALLEGED TO HAVE FINISHED
• 15:49 DEEP IN THE BOWELS OF ROME.
• 15:52 SPEAKING FROM THIS PLACE, LET ME REMIND YOU THAT THERE IS A TRIUMPH THAT COMES FROM TRAGEDY
• 15:59 AND THAT'S ONE OF THE LESSONS THAT WE LEARN WHEN WE CONSIDER THE LIFE,
• 16:04 WHEN WE WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBI FROM TARSUS.
• 16:08 LOOK AT HIS LIFE AND LOOK AT HIS DEATH.
• 16:10 WE LEARN THERE'S SOMETHING MORE THAN LIFE AND MORE IMPORTANT THAN DEATH.
• 16:14 HERE IN THE DUNGEON WHERE PAUL SPENT SOME OF HIS LAST MOMENTS
• 16:19 THERE IS A PLAQUE HERE AND IT SHOWS PAUL IN THE ORANT POSTURE.
• 16:25 I'VE SEEN THIS ORANTE POSTURE WITH HANDS UP AND EXTENDED IN THE CATACOMBS OF ROME.
• 16:31 IT WAS THE PRAYER POSTURE IN ANTIQUITY WHERE PEOPLE, IT'S INDICATIVE OF SURRENDER.
• 16:36 AND HERE PAUL WAS IN SOMETHING OF A TRIUMPHANT POSTURE.
• 16:40 INTERESTINGLY HE HAS CHAINS ON HIS HAND AND HE'S CHAINED TO THIS PILLAR, ARGUABLY.
• 16:45 BUT THOUGH HE WAS CHAINED CIRCUMSTANTIALLY, HE WAS A FREE MAN, FREE INDEED.
• 16:51 AND THE REASON, OF COURSE IS BECAUSE, HE WHO HAS THE SON, IS FREE INDEED.
• 16:56 AND JESUS WAS IN THIS MAN'S HEART AND HE KNEW THE TRUTH AND THE TRUTH DID SET HIM FREE.
• 17:01 AND PAUL WOULD SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE, DIFFICULTIES NOT WITHSTANDING.
• 17:05 WOULD THAT WE ALL LEARN THAT LESSON?
• 17:08 WOULD THAT WE LEARNED ABOUT THE TRIUMPH THAT'S MADE AVAILABLE?
• 17:12 AND THE WAY SOMEONE COMES TO TERMS WITH THAT IS
• 17:15 THEY FIRST REALIZE THAT WHAT SHACKLES US IN LIFE ISN'T OUR CIRCUMSTANCES.
• 17:20 WHAT SHACKLES IN LIFE IS OUR SIN.
• 17:22 AND WE CAN GET FREE OF THAT THE SAME WAY PAUL DID.
• 17:25 THE SAME WAY PEOPLE HAVE BEEN DOING IT BEFORE PAUL AND AFTER
• 17:28 AND THAT IS BY REACHING UP TO GOD AND OUT TO THE FUTURE AND SAYING,
• 17:31 "LORD PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR MY SINS."
• 17:33 AND THEN REACHING OUT TO THE FUTURE WITH HIM AND SAY,
• 17:36 "LORD I WANNA WALK WITH YOU IN THE NEWNESS OF LIFE,
• 17:38 PLEASE COME INTO MY HEART AND GIVE ME THE HOLY SPIRIT."
• 17:41 AND THEN WE CAN GET ON WITH OUR BUSINESS.
• 17:43 YOU KNOW YOU CAN'T SOAR LIKE AN EAGLE IF YOU ACT LIKE A TURKEY.
• 17:46 AND THERE ARE TO MANY PEOPLE RUNNING AROUND GOING,"GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE."
• 17:50 WOULD THAT WE LEARNED WHAT IT IS TO TRIUMPH?
• 17:53 WHAT IT IS TO SOAR?
• 17:55 AND SO HERE WE ARE NOW MIDWAY THROUGH OUR TREATMENT OF PAUL.
• 18:01 WE'RE LOOKING AT THE FOOTSTEPS OF THIS RABBI FROM TARUS.
• 18:05 IN THE FIRST 6 PROGRAMS WE'VE CONSIDERED PAUL'S MOVEMENTS.
• 18:10 AND THE NEXT 6 WE'LL CONSIDER HIS PARCHMENTS.
• 18:13 WE'LL CONSIDER HIS WRITINGS.
• 18:15 AND I TRUST THAT WITH ME YOU'LL AGREE THAT PAUL IS A PRINCIPAL INTERPRETER OF THE JESUS STORY.
• 18:21 AND BY COMING TO TERMS WITH PAUL, YOU CAN COME TO TERMS WITH JESUS.
• 18:24 BY COMING TO TERMS WITH JESUS, YOU CAN COME TO TERMS WITH LIFE.
• 18:27 AND EXPERIENCE THE HEALING THAT'S AVAILABLE TO YOU IN LIFE BY THE ONE WHO GIVES NEW LIFE.
• 18:32 AND THIS WE LEARN THE MORE SO AS WE CONSIDER WITH PAUL,
• 18:35 AS WE WALK IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF THE RABBIT FROM TARSUS.
• 18:51 ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I FIND FASCINATING ABOUT PAUL'S IMPRISONMENT,
• 18:55 IS THE FACT THAT IN MANY RESPECTS HE WAS NEVER THERE.
• 18:59 WHAT DO I MEAN BY THAT?
• 19:01 VICTOR FRANKLE, A JEW SURVIVED THE HOLOCAUST, BECAME A PSYCHIATRIST AND HE SAID,
• 19:06 "YOU KNOW EVEN IN THE DARKEST HOUR IT'S NOT UNTIL
• 19:09 YOU DESIDE TO GET BITTER THAT THEY OWN YOU."
• 19:11 HE WAS MINDED TO KEEP A GOOD ATTITUDE AND A POSITIVE RESOLUTION,
• 19:15 DIFFICULTIES NOT WITHSTANDING.
• 19:17 AND FOR ALL PURPOSES, PAUL SHOWS THAT SO VERY WELL, DOESN'T HE?
• 19:21 IN THE WAY THAT HE FINISHED SO GLORIOUSLY.
• 19:23 BUT HE DOES.
• 19:24 BUT WE'RE ALL IN A PRISON OF SOME SORT.
• 19:26 WHETHER IS A PHYSICAL PRISON OR A SPIRITUAL,
• 19:28 ANY OTHER KIND OF PRISON,
• 19:31 WE'RE IN PRISON OF SOME SORT.
• 19:32 IT'S HOW WE HANDLE IT.
• 19:34 WELL THERE'S A SENSE IN WHICH OUR PERSONA IS IMPRISONED IN THIS EARTH,
• 19:36 SOON CALLED THE BODY. >>RIGHT.
• 19:38 AND THERE CIRCUMSTANCES ROUND ABOUT US.
• 19:39 BUT IT'S GOOD TO BE ABLE TO TRANSCEND THAT
• 19:42 AND HAVE A VISON BEYOND OUR OWN LIFE,
• 19:44 BEYOND OUR OWN MORTAL EXPERIENCE.
• 19:46 WELL AND THE COMFORT.
• 19:47 THE COMFORT OF KNOWING THAT WE DO HAVE AN ANSWER.
• 19:50 WE DO HAVE BELIEF THAT KEEPS US, SUSTAINS US THROUGHOUT THE TRIALS.
• 19:54 AND LEADS US IN TRIUMPH BEYOND THAT IS WELL. >>RIGHT ABSOLUTELY
• 19:57 IT'S A GREAT PACKAGE. >>IT'S A GREAT PACKAGE.
• 19:59 YES AND PAUL DOES IT SO VERY WELL.
• 20:00 AND DR. JOHN FISCHER TALKS ABOUT PAUL SO VERY WELL.
• 20:04 ONCE AGAIN WE RETURN TO AN OLD FRIEND OF OURS NOW.
• 20:07 I KNOW YOU'VE APPRECIATED THE RABBI, DR. JOHN FISCHER.
• 20:10 AND HERE HE IS AGAIN WAXING ELOQUENT ON THE FACT THAT
• 20:13 PAUL WASN'T IN TROUBLE BECAUSE HE ABANDONED JUDAISM,
• 20:15 HE WAS IN TROUBLE BECAUSE HE SPOKE THE TRUTH
• 20:18 AND INVOKED THE IRE OF SOME,
• 20:21 AS A RESULT OF HIS SO DOING.
• 20:23 SO HERE'S PAUL, HE'S NOW IN ROME, HE'S IN PRISON.
• 20:27 SOME SAY HOUSE ARREST, SOME SAY WE'RE REALLY LOOKING AT THE DUNGEON,
• 20:31 NOW THAT HE'S IN THE DUNGEON.
• 20:32 AND YET, HE STILL FINDS THE WHEREWITHAL
• 20:35 TO WITNESS.
• 20:37 IT'S AN INCREDIBLE STORY.
• 20:39 HE'S BEEN BEATEN, HE'S BEEN STONED,
• 20:40 HE'S BE LET DOWN IN A BASKET,
• 20:41 SHIPWRECKED.
• 20:43 YOU NAME IT HE'S DONE IT AND NOW HE'S IN PRISON.
• 20:44 THAT'S PART OF HIS LIFE.
• 20:46 WHAT MORE CAN HAPPEN?
• 20:47 THERE WAS MORE TO HAPPEN, YEAH.
• 20:50 BUT IT'S AN ESSENTIAL PART OF HIS LIFE,
• 20:52 SO HE'S IN ROME, HE MEETS WITH JEWISH LEADERS THERE,
• 20:57 BUT THIS WHOLE PACKAGE STARTED EALIER WHEN HE WAS MEETING WITH
• 21:00 THE JEWISH LEADERS IN JERUSALEM, IN THE VARIOUS TRIAL SCENES.
• 21:03 AND HE'S ALWAYS USING THOSE TRIAL SCENES
• 21:05 AS A WAY OF DOING TWO THINGS INTERESTINGLY ENOUGH.
• 21:07 NOT ONLY TELLING THEM ABOUT THE MESSIANIC MESSAGE,
• 21:11 IT'S SO MUCH A CORE OF HIS BEING,
• 21:12 BUT ALSO CONTINUALLY TESTIFYING TO HIS CONSISTENT OBSERVANCE
• 21:18 OF THE TRADITIONS.
• 21:19 SO IT'S BEFORE THESE TRIBUNALS, THESE JEWISH TRIBUNALS,
• 21:23 HE'S SAYING NOT, "I USED TO BE A PHARISEE", "I AM A PHARISEE".
• 21:25 RIGHT
• 21:26 HE SAYS YOU KNOW MY MANNER OF LIFE.
• 21:28 YOU CAN TESTIFY TO THE FACT THAT I'VE LIVED CONSISTENTLY AS A JEW,
• 21:31 PRESENT TENSE, NOT PAST TENSE.
• 21:33 I AM HALACHICLY OBSERVANT, PRESENT TENSE, NOT PAST TENSE.
• 21:37 AND THEN...
• 21:38 SO THAT'S THE KIND OF JEW HE IS,
• 21:42 IN FACT ON THE WAY TO ROME PRIOR TO THE SHIPWRECK,
• 21:44 THIS SLIDES BY MOST INTERPRETERS,
• 21:46 HE'S CELEBRATING YOM KIPPUR, ACTS CHAPTER 27.
• 21:48 SO HE SHOWS UP IN JERUSALEM FOR THE MAIN FEAST AND FESTIVALS.
• 21:52 HE'S ON A BOAT GETTING READY TO BE SHIPWRECKED, HE CELEBRATES YOM KIPPUR.
• 21:55 THIS GUY'S A GOOD JEW ALL THE WAY THROUGH TO THE END,
• 21:59 BUT HE'S MESSIANIC. >>AND HE DOESN'T APOLOGIZE FOR IT.
• 22:01 HE DOESN'T SAY, OH BUT NO I'M NOT.
• 22:03 I BELIEVE THIS, I AM A JEW.
• 22:05 AND I THINK THAT IS SO ENCOURAGING FOR ALL OF US TO STAND UP FOR WHAT WE BELIEVE IN.
• 22:11 SAY I AM A JEW AND I BELIEVE THIS IS THE MESSIAH.
• 22:13 IT'S AS THEY SAY, THE WARP AND WOOF OF HIS LIFE IN THE BEGINNING.
• 22:16 HE'S AS A JEW HE'S ALSO COMMITTED TO THE MESSIAH.
• 22:19 AND BOTH OF THOSE THINGS SHOW UP WHEN HE'S TALKING TO THE RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP IN ROME.
• 22:23 HE SAYS, THEY WANNA KNOW WHY ARE YOU HERE?
• 22:27 WHY WERE YOU BROUGHT TO TRIAL?
• 22:28 HE SAYS, "LOOK,"
• 22:36 NOT JUST THE TORAH.
• 22:38 HE WAS, TORAH OBSERVANT ALL THE WAY THROUGH,
• 22:39 BUT HE WAS TRADITION OBSERVANT ALL THE WAY THROUGH.
• 22:41 I'M NOT HERE BECAUSE I VIOLATED THOSE,
• 22:43 I'M HERE BECAUSE I'M SPREADING A MESSIANIC MESSAGE,
• 22:46 THAT CAUSES SOME PEOPLE SOME DISCOMFORT.
• 22:48 THOROUGHLY JEWISH AND VALIDLY MESSIANIC.
• 22:52 WONDERFUL COMBINATION, BUT THAT WAS THE CORE, HEART OF HIS LIFE.
• 22:56 IT WAS HIS HEARTBEAT.
• 22:57 AND THEY SHOULD'VE BEEN EXCITED.
• 22:58 BUT EVERYWHERE HE WENT THEY WEREN'T THAT EXCITED.
• 23:01 LET ME DIFFER JUST A LITTLE BIT. >>OK
• 23:03 THERE WERE SOME WHO WERE "THEY" WHO WEREN'T EXCITED, >>RIGHT
• 23:05 BUT MANY THAT "THEY" WERE VERY ENTHUSIASTIC.
• 23:07 AND THAT'S WHAT CAUSED SOME OF THE "THEY" TO BE A LITTLE LESS EXCITED.
• 23:10 SOME OF THE LEADERS PROBABLY.
• 23:12 IT WAS THE LEADERS.
• 23:13 IT WAS THE SAME PROBLEM WITH YESHUA.
• 23:14 THE PROBLEM WITH YESHUA WASN'T THE PHARISEES, IT WASN'T THE LAY PEOPLE,
• 23:17 IT WAS THE SADDUCEES, SANHEDRIN, AND THE HIGH PRIEST.
• 23:20 THE PROBLEM WITH RAV SHAUL, THE RABBI LATER, SAME PROBLEM.
• 23:23 LEADERSHIP FELT THEIR STATUS BEING JEOPARDIZED.
• 23:28 THEY FELT THEIR STATUS BEING UNDERCUT, SO THEY WERE ENVIOUS, JEALOUS.
• 23:33 THE HIGH PRIEST IN YESHUA'S TIME SAID,
• 23:36 IT'S BETTER THAT ONE PERSON DIE THAN THE WHOLE NATION PERISH.
• 23:38 HE WASN'T BEING POLITICALLY CORRECT OR PATRIOT THERE,
• 23:43 HE WAS BEING, HE WAS JUST REMINDING THE REST OF HIS CREW THAT,
• 23:46 RIGHT IT'S THEM OR US. >>IT'S HIM OR US.
• 23:49 IT'S HIM OR US, RIGHT.
• 23:51 AND ROME'S NOT GONNA BE TOO HAPPY
• 23:53 IF THIS CHARACTER GETS TOO MUCH OF A LARGER FOLLOWING,
• 23:55 AND WE'RE THE ONES WHO ARE GONNA PAY.
• 23:56 SAME THING AS THE RABBI TRAVELS.
• 23:59 WE'LL TALK SOME MORE.
• 24:01 YEAH, WE'LL TALK ABOUT IT.
• 24:02 ALRIGHT. THANKS
• 24:34 DR. FISCHER TALKS ABOUT PAUL BEING A JEW.
• 24:36 AND FOR ME IT WAS MY LATE HUSBAND, ZOLA.
• 24:39 TOWARD THE END OF HIS LIFE, HE WAS STILL A JEW,
• 24:42 BUT HE WAS SO EXCITED ABOUT THE MESSIAH.
• 24:46 THAT WAS HIS PRIORITY.
• 24:48 HIS PRIORITY BECAME "PEOPLE NEEDED TO KNOW, THIS WAS THE TRUTH".
• 24:52 HE WASN'T FAKE, IT WASN'T HE DID FOR A LIVING, THIS WAS HIS LIFE.
• 24:57 IT WAS A GREAT TESTIMONY FOR ME TO SEE HIM ENDURE TIL THE END AND TO TAKE OFF.
• 25:02 WELL WE GET IN TROUBLE FOR THOSE OF US GIVEN
• 25:05 TO WANTING TO KEEP A FOOT IN THINGS JEWISH
• 25:07 AND ANOTHER FOOT IN THINGS JESUS.
• 25:09 JEWISH PEOPLE SAY WE'RE REALLY NOT AUTHENTIC BECAUSE OF JESUS
• 25:13 AND JESUS PEOPLE SAY WE'RE REALLY NOT AUTHENTIC BECAUSE WE'RE JEWISH.
• 25:16 WE TAKE SOME PIES IN THE FACE,
• 25:18 BUT WE OUGHTA TAKE THE REJECTION GRACEFULLY,
• 25:20 BECAUSE IF I UNDERSTAND PAUL IT GOES WITH THE TERRITORY.
• 25:23 ZOLA ABSORBED THE REJECTION WELL
• 25:25 AND I THINK THAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO MUCH OF THE SAME.
• 25:27 WELL SOMETIMES HE ABSORBED IT WELL,
• 25:29 THERE WERE TIMES
• 25:31 THAT IT REALLY DID CUT HIM DEEPLY.
• 25:32 AND IT HURT BECAUSE HERE HE WAS TRYING TO GET THE TRUE WORD OUT
• 25:36 AND NO ONE WOULD LISTEN.
• 25:37 NO ONE WOULD BELIEVE HIM
• 25:39 AND IF THEY BELIEVED THEY WOULD SAY,
• 25:40 "YES, BUT YOU'RE COMING FROM THE JEWISH PERSPECTIVE."
• 25:43 AND THEN ONCE THE JEWS HEARD IT THEY'LL SAY,
• 25:45 "WELL, NO, BUT YOU'RE REALLY COMING FROM THE CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE."
• 25:46 AND HE JUST REALLY PERSEVERED AND IT HELPED ME,
• 25:50 IT HELPS ME TODAY TO KNOW I CAN GO ON. >>YES.
• 25:53 WELL, I THINK IT'S HELPFUL THAT OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE ISN'T TO GET THE PAIN OUT,
• 25:57 OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IS TO GET THE MESSAGE OUT.
• 26:00 AMEN
• 26:02 AND THERE'S PAIN THAT GOES WITH THE PASSION, BUT IT GOES WITH THE TERRITORY.
• 26:04 I LEARN THAT WHEN I THINK OF RABBI PAUL.
• 26:07 IT'S ENCOURAGING.
• 26:09 I HATE TO KEEP SAYING THAT, BUT IT'S ENCOURAGING.
• 26:11 IT'S ENDURING, IT IS THE HOPE THAT I HAVE THAT I CAN ENDURE TOWARD THE END.
• 26:16 PEOPLE MAY PUSH AT ME OR SPIT AT ME AND I HAVE I'VE BEEN PUSHED, I'VE BEEN SPIT AT.
• 26:21 IT'S NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT PAUL HAS DONE.
• 26:23 IT'S NOTHING TO WHAT ZOLA DID, NOTHING.
• 26:25 AND WHAT DID YESHUA SAY? HE SAYS,
• 26:27 "I WILL SEND YOU THE HELPER."
• 26:29 "I WILL SEND YOU THE HELPER."
• 26:30 NOW THE HELPER COMFORT, BUT THE HELPER HELPS IN OTHER WAYS AS WELL
• 26:33 AS WE KEEP BREAKING AGAINST THE PREVAILING DARKNESS.
• 26:37 JOIN US NEXT WEEK AND WE LOOK AT PAUL'S WRITINGS, HIS PARCHMENTS AS JEFF CALLS THEM.
• 26:43 1ST THESSALONIANS AND GALATIANS
• 26:45 AND SHA'ALU SHALOM YERUSHALAYIM.
• 26:47 PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.