by the crimes laid against them.
We thank you, heavenly father for this
wonderful church to your God, for dear
brothers and sisters, we ask that you
please bless our pastor tonight as he
preaches your word in Jesus name.
We pray.
Amen.
Okay.
We're continuing tonight with the book of
acts and we are in chapter 25.
Now let me do just a little bit of
review from chapter 24.
Of course, we're still involved in Paul's
predicament here, and this is what we're
seeing over these last couple of chapters
that he made a decision to go back to
Jerusalem, which is just a bad choice to
make, and he's really suffering the
consequences of his actions because of
the fact that now he's being persecuted
heavily and really he's being hindered
from the work of God to a certain extent.
Now, uh, we see that he was put to trial
and the high priest basically hires a
lawyer to prosecute him falsely and just
bring up these railing accusations against
him that are obviously false.
He is permitted to make his case and just
begins to explain his beliefs.
And what he believes and really the leaders,
the higher powers begin to see this guy's
not worthy of death.
He's not doing anything wrong.
He's just, he believes differently than
these Jews is what it is.
And so as they examine, you know, what
his beliefs are and the actions that he's
taken, they're starting to see this guy's
not a bad guy, you know, he just a preacher.
He affirms that Jesus Christ has risen from
the, from the dead and that's who he's
preaching.
And so, you know, they're kind of
confounded over what to do with him because
they want to please the Jews.
They want to please the Jews.
They want to placate the mob and therefore,
you know, they're, they're kind of not
releasing them as of yet.
And we see that the mob, they're making a
considerable effort to put them to death.
They still want to kill him.
Now keep in mind that right here in chapter
25, we're actually at a point in Paul's life
where this actually has taken place.
I mean, two years have gone by since the time
that he was rescued by Claudius.
If you remember a couple of chapters back,
he was rescued from Claudius with the
military escort since then.
And then he's in prison.
He's been here for two years, so he's been
imprisoned for two whole years.
Now, you know, when you read the Bible, two
whole years can happen within a chapter within
a couple of verses.
So you kind of breeze over there and like,
okay, he's been there for two years, but two
years is a very long time.
Okay.
To be in prison.
And so, uh, what is the, what is the, the
lesson that we can learn there?
Well, you know, bad decisions can cost you
time.
And what we see here is that, you know,
obviously this wasn't God's original plan
for the apostle Paul.
This is not what he wanted for his life.
And obviously it became acceptable because
Paul still loved the Lord.
He had the, he had good intentions, so to
speak, and he loved the Lord.
He loved his brethren.
According to the flesh, he wanted to see
people saved.
He wasn't necessarily trying to do his own
thing.
He just, his motives were just wrong.
Okay.
His actions were wrong and look, God sent
preachers, sent people to warn him and say,
Hey, you're going to be persecuted.
You're going to be hindered.
Don't go.
And in spite of all those warnings, he still
decided to do it anyways.
And now he's paying the consequences because
of it.
Now, I believe he's winning people to Christ
because throughout the other epistles, we see
that he wins people in his bonds.
So we still getting people saved.
He's still in God's will, but you know what?
It's like the acceptable will is what it is.
Okay.
And the lesson to learn there is that, you
know what?
Yes.
All things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose.
But the reality is, is that sometimes we can
make decisions that will hinder us from
receiving certain blessings immediately.
It'll prolong those blessings a little
further down the road, or maybe God has to
basically reroute his original plan for you.
And it'll take longer for you to accomplish
the work of God.
Look, in these two years, he could have
started more churches.
He could already been in Rome.
He could have won more people to Christ, but
obviously that's not the case.
He made a bad decision.
And now two years in a sense have, have been
wasted, so to speak, you know, dealing with
this Jewish mob, dealing with, you know, the
leaders and being in prison and going in and
out and in and out.
Cause they're examining him.
I mean, how many times do they have to
examine the apostle Paul?
Right.
I mean, he's been there for two years.
Every time they bring him out, he just tells
them what he believes.
And they're just like, all right, go back in.
You know, it's just like, what should we do
with them?
I don't know what to do with them.
I guess we'll just move them somewhere else.
And then they bring them back out again.
And he's just like, all right, you're good.
Go back in.
And it's just like, it's like a waste of time.
So the lesson that we can learn there is, Hey,
don't waste your time doing your own thing.
Serve God, seek the wisdom of God, seek the
wisdom of Godly leaders.
So you make the right decisions and you're not
wasting your life.
Okay.
You know, where you can really operate at max
capacity, you know, you can, you can serve the
Lord and win as many people to Christ as you
possibly can and not be hindered from the work
of God because of a bad decision that you make.
And really a lesson that we can learn there is
don't make hasty decisions, right?
You know, don't say, well, you know, I just need
to do this right now because this is what I feel
like I need to do.
You know, just sleep on it, pray about it, ask
God for wisdom, ask for Godly counsel, et cetera.
So this is where we find ourselves.
And really chapter 25, not a whole lot is
happening in 25, just a lot of the same thing.
It's him going before magistrates.
And we see the, uh, the introduction of Festus.
We see the introduction of King Agrippa and
Bernice, and, uh, they're basically examining him
and he's telling them the same thing that he told
Felix a chapter before.
So let's start in chapter 24 and verse 24 and
segue into chapter 25, it says in verse 24.
And after certain days, when Felix came with his
wife, Jerusalem, which was a Jewess, he sent for
Paul and heard him concerning the faith in
Christ.
And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance
and judgment to come, Felix trembled and answered,
go thy way for this time.
When I have a convenient season, I will call for
thee.
Now, some people will say, yeah, but pastor, I
mean, like he got to witness to like these
governors though.
He got to preach the government, the gospel to
governors and to Kings.
Yeah, but he didn't win them though.
So what would you rather do, preach the gospel to
like the mayor, to the governor or preach the
gospel to who's not receptive, especially
Newsome, you know, I mean, good night.
You know, I think I would have a better chance
preaching the gospel to some worldly person in
Hollywood than preaching it to governor Newsome.
Well, what would you rather do, preach the gospel
to like the mayor, the governor or preach the
gospel to the common people, which will hear you
gladly.
So, yeah, yeah.
He was given a platform to preach the gospel to
these magistrates and these important people, but
he didn't even win them.
It makes for a good story.
You know, I know the Fox News Baptist love these
passages of scripture when they want to do their
American hero Sunday and invite, you know, the
mayor and the governor and all these people to
their church so they can say that they came to
their church, but they're not being won to Christ.
Okay.
As far as I know, I've been to many, I've attended
many American hero Sundays, so I know what I'm
talking about.
And not a single magistrate ever got saved.
So just throw that in there.
So we see there, look at verse 26.
He hoped also that money should have been given
him of Paul.
He might lose him, wherefore he sent for him the
oftener and communed with him.
So basically Felix is like, come out.
So, you know, I'm giving you, I'm trying to give
you a hint here.
You can give me a bribe and then, you know, I can
release you and you can, you can go about your way.
But Paul is obviously a man of integrity and it
might be that he's broke too, but it could, but I
don't, you know, there's, I'm sure there's people
who are willing to pay his bail or whatever, pay
his bride.
So, but he's a man of integrity.
He's like, I'm not going to pay my way out of here.
You know, that's not right.
Verse 27, but after two years, Portia's Festus
came into Felix's room and Felix willing to show
the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound.
So what do we see here?
We see that, uh, another individual has taken this,
this person's office and Felix is like, you know
what, I want to placate the Jews.
I want to placate the mob here.
So I'm just going to leave Paul bound.
I'm not going to put him to death.
I'm not going to kill him because he's not a bad
guy, but I'm just going to go ahead and leave him
bound.
Verse one of chapter 25.
Now when Festus was coming to the province, after
three days, he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
Now Jerusalem in respect to Caesarea is actually
south of Caesarea, but in regards to elevation,
it's a lot higher.
Okay.
So he is ascending from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
That would make sense because of the fact it's
a higher elevation.
It's more mountainous, so to speak.
And therefore he is ascending from Caesarea to
Jerusalem.
Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews
informed him against Paul and besought him and
desired favor against him that he would send for
him to Jerusalem, laying weight in the way to
kill him.
Now, obviously he didn't admit that to Festus.
He said, Hey, can you bring Paul over here?
Because we've been trying to kill him for these
last two years.
It's just not working out.
This is obviously the Holy Ghost allowing this to
be penned for us to know what their motive is in
bringing Paul back to Jerusalem.
So they've obviously failed with Felix.
So what the high priest Ananias is doing is he's
going to the new governor and saying, Hey, can you
do us a favor?
There's a guy over there in Caesarea.
He needs to be here in Jerusalem.
He's a criminal.
You know, can you bring him over here?
Verse three, let's read it again, desired favor
against him that he would send for him to
Jerusalem, laying weight to kill him.
So look at verse four, but Festus answered that
Paul should be kept in Caesarea and that he
himself would depart shortly thither.
So he's just like, no, why wouldn't we bring him
over here?
He's locked up over there.
He's just going to stay there.
Let them therefore, said he, which among you are
able, go down with me and accuse this man if there
be any wickedness in him.
So he's just, you know, he's not a respecter of
people, so to speak at this point, because what is
he saying?
Look, we'll keep him there.
There's no reason to bring this guy all the way
over here to Jerusalem, escort him all the way
over here when he's already in prison there.
Why don't we just do this?
Get all your able men, the guys who are accusing
him, the guys who supposedly have all this evidence
against him.
And then you can come down to Caesarea and accuse
him there.
And then we'll basically do due process is what
he's talking about.
Okay, he wants him to see his accusers.
In fact, skip down to verse 16 verse 16 says to
whom I answered, is it not the manner of the
Romans to deliver any man to die before that he
which is accused have the accusers face to face?
That's referred to as that's known as due process,
right?
The sixth amendment that tells us that criminals
have the right to know their accusers and the
nature of the charges and evidence against them.
So he's just like, hey, you got to make if you
really want to do this justly, if you guys are
really have the right motive about this, then what
you're supposed to do is come with me so that Paul
can see you to the face.
As you're accusing him, let him see who his accusers
are.
So it's not just some random person who's just
calling in this crime or whatever, and they don't
know who he is.
Okay, because obviously they can just make stuff
up, which is exactly what they're doing.
They're making that up.
Go up to verse six.
And when he had tarried among them more than 10
days, he went down unto Caesarea and the next day
sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be
brought.
So Paul is making a stir.
He's getting the attention of a lot of people,
including the magistrates.
And so, you know, Festus is like, you know, bring
this guy up here.
I want to talk to him.
Who's this guy who's just making all this ruckus?
Is this guy really as bad as people say?
I mean, there's a bunch of people who want him in
Jerusalem.
We know that he's a Roman, but he's a Jew.
What's going on with him?
Verse seven.
And when he was come, the Jews, which came down
from Jerusalem, stood around about and laid many
and grievous complaints against Paul, which they
could not prove.
Funny.
You get this.
You get like 10 people.
Let's say there's 20 people here.
You have 20 people who are there to complain about
Paul, but not one of them can prove what they're
saying.
Not one of them can prove the accusation that
they're bringing forth.
It's just like, well, where's the proof?
Well, we don't have it.
We don't have the proof.
Now, look, it's not that they couldn't prove it
because of the fact that Paul like buried his
YouTube channel or something.
Right?
It's not like Paul when he just deleted all his
videos and hit his stuff and got rid of his
channel.
That's not the case.
It's just that there's just no evidence.
And look, Paul even said, everyone heard me.
Everyone's listening to my preaching.
You could ask the Jews, you could ask the
disciples, you could ask the churches.
My ministry is very open.
He's not like, well, hey, go hide that scroll.
Please go erase that scroll before anybody
finds it about all the stuff I said about the
Jews.
You know, is that what he's saying?
He's like, it's open.
But here's the thing.
They have all these grievous complaints about
Paul, but no proof whatsoever.
So what are they probably saying about it?
They're probably just lying is what they're
doing.
Now, hold your place there.
Go to Mark chapter 14.
Mark 14.
Let me read to you from Exodus 23 verse 1.
It says thou shall not raise a false report.
Put not thine hand with the wicked to be an
unrighteous witness.
Thou shall not follow a multitude to do evil.
Neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline
after many to rest judgment.
Neither shall thou countenance a poor man in
his cause.
So what is the Bible telling us?
It doesn't matter how many people you've rallied
to your so-called cause against one individual.
If it's wrong, it's wrong.
And you would think if you have 20, 40, 50
people who are all accusing this individual,
you would think at least one of them would
have some evidence.
You know, if you had a church of 50 people,
a hundred people, they claim that their pastor
is not teaching false doctrine.
You would think that they have some sort of
proof about that other than, oh, you guys are
just being, you guys are just, you guys just
don't believe the Bible.
So tell me what part of the Bible I don't
believe because my ministry is open.
My channel is open.
My doors are open.
Not to reference, but it's open to anybody
to come and see what we do here.
Don't want to get ahead of myself here.
But the Bible says don't follow a multitude
to do evil.
So guess what?
The majority is not always right.
In fact, the majority sometimes is wrong.
And we have a multitude of Jews here seeking
to persecute Paul and accuse Paul and not
a single one of them has any shred of evidence
against him to validate that what they're
saying is true.
Look at Mark 14 verse 55.
It says the chief priest and all the council
sought for witness against Jesus.
That's interesting.
We had a chief priest in the book of Acts.
We have a chief priest here to put him to death.
So they're looking for a witness against
Jesus to put him to death.
And what happens?
They found none.
They have all these people that are trying
to accuse Jesus and they're bringing up
false witnesses and they just can't find any.
Verse 56, for many bear false witness against
them, but their witness agreed not together.
Here's what's funny when it comes to these
individuals who are just a bunch of liars.
When they both lie, they never agree with
one another.
They always contradict one another.
Like Manly Perry, right?
Saying that Jesus didn't burn in hell and
then you have his church members preaching
that Jesus burned in hell when they're out
sowing him.
Right?
You know, how about he's saying that Jesus
didn't burn in hell and then you rewind to
a couple of years back when he's preaching
and he's preaching that Jesus went to hell.
It's like, hello?
Your witness doesn't agree together Manly
Perry when you're saying that this is the
most blasphemous teaching you've ever heard
in your life.
But yeah, you were preaching this a couple
of years ago.
I've never heard a Baptist preacher ever
say such a blasphemous statement.
Yeah, he's the one preaching that.
What in the world?
Your witness doesn't agree.
You know, when people lie, how many have
ever met a chronic liar?
When they lie so much, it's like they have
a hard time keeping track of their lies.
I personally knew a chronic liar and it
was just like they could not keep up with
all of their tales.
I remember one time, this person who I
knew, I was working at a restaurant and
I was gone for about three days or something
like that.
I was sick or something and then I was
driving down the freeway down 710 freeway
and one of my coworkers, a girl, one of my
coworkers was driving and I see her and
I'm like, hey, what's up?
You know?
And she's like, what are you doing here?
And I'm like, what do you mean?
She's like, so-and-so told me you're in
Brazil.
I'm like, what?
They're like, oh, and they're like really
mad.
So I went to that person.
I was like, did you tell this person that
was in Brazil?
And he was like, yeah.
I'm like, well, I just saw them on the
freeway.
He's like, you didn't tell them.
Oh, you should have went along with it.
I'm like, why?
I wasn't in Brazil.
I haven't even left California.
I'm still, you know, I think at that time
I was living in Paramount.
I was like, we're still in Paramount.
But he had told this lie to this individual
and I guess he forgot to tell me about it
or whatever or forgot that he told her
that lie.
But that's the thing, when you lie, it's
a lot of work, isn't it?
Because you have to keep like building
upon your lies to make sure no one finds
out.
Folks, when you tell the truth, it's just
super easy.
You don't have to keep track of the truth.
You just keep preaching the truth.
You keep speaking the truth.
You don't have to worry about anything.
But when you're telling lies, then your
witness doesn't agree together.
You look like an idiot.
I've never heard about the preacher,
ever preached or anything like this.
And then they post the video of him
preaching that.
And you know, this is what Manly Prayer
does.
He prays in the comment section.
Oh, Lord, forgive me for preaching this
damn boy heresy and being deceived by
the...
Like, is the computer your God or
something or what?
Is the computer a confessional booth or
something?
Folks, what in the world is that?
And this is who Bob Gray wants as a
friend?
A dude who types out his prayer of
confession on a YouTube channel?
We're not talking about they're just
speaking it.
He's typing it.
You wonder how many times he backspaces
like, oh, I got to make it more humble.
God made this more humble.
I got to make this more genuine.
Honey, what do you think about this?
Does this sound real or what?
She's like, you might want to take out
the part where you say you fast twice
in a week or something, you know?
Just kidding.
I'm kidding about that part.
Verse 57, and there arose certain and
bare false witness against him, saying,
we heard him say, I will destroy this
temple that is made with hands.
And within three days, I will build
another made without hands.
Now, this is the only thing that people
can do, right?
Is take something that we literally
said, okay?
And just completely take it out of
context.
Because that's what they did with Jesus.
But he was referring to his body, okay?
Verse 59, but neither so did their
witness agree together.
But here's the thing.
This is what I like what Jesus did.
This is what we should do.
Like, yeah, I said that.
Yep.
Did you say, you know, you hate people
and all?
Yeah, I've said that.
Instead of kowtowing and just bowing
down, capitulating, like, well, no, yes,
no, but yes, but no, but yes, but no.
Just like, yeah, I said it.
Or just don't say anything at all.
Jesus was just like, as the sheep
before shearers is dumb, he opened
out his mouth, the Bible says.
Neither did so their witness agree
together.
The high priest stood up in the midst
and asked Jesus, saying, answer is
thou nothing?
What is it which these witness against
thee?
But he held his peace and answered
nothing.
Again, the high priest asked them and
said unto him, art thou the Christ, the
son of the blessed?
And Jesus said, I am.
And you shall see the son of man
sitting on the right hand of power
coming in the clouds of heaven.
He's like, you'll see it.
Go back to or hold your place there.
So what do we see here?
We see that in order for wicked
people to wage war against us, they
have to lie.
They have to lie and come up with
these, you know, just complete made
up stories, things that they cannot
prove.
And it's foolish.
Okay.
Now people complain about us, but,
you know, their accusations are
unfounded and they have zero evidence
for a lot of the things that they
say.
You know, oh, you guys are false
teachers.
Show me the false doctrine.
You know, you guys are wicked.
Show me the criminal activity.
Oh, you say, well, show me where
I'm double-tongued.
Show me.
And look, this is the only thing
that they can come up with because
they can't, they can't accuse
anything about our doctrine because
they know we prove it from the
Bible.
And every time we preach something
and someone comments and says, this
guy's out to lunch.
He doesn't know what he's talking
about.
It's like zero versus.
So show me where I'm wrong.
Right.
And this is the only thing that
they can come up with.
Well, they just have a bad spirit.
They're wrong because they just
have an icky bad spirit.
They just have a bad spirit is
what they say, right?
You can turn that off by the way
for the mark.
Let me read you, cause I'm not done
with this.
Let me read you Bob Gray's
statement that he made.
Cause you know, Bob Gray Jr., he
went on a podcast with Manley
Perry and they went on this
campaign.
The podcast was like literally
about me.
That's that.
That was like the purpose behind
the podcast.
Okay.
And you know, Manley Perry is
just like buttering him up with
flattery and
go listen to yourselves.
That's exactly how it sounds.
Any individual who's heard it,
they're just like, oh man, this
guy's just flattering Bob Gray
Jr.
And obviously because Bob Gray
Jr. is not educated when it comes
to false prophets, he just
doesn't see it.
He can't identify flattery.
He doesn't know how to identify
false prophets to his detriment,
unfortunately.
Okay.
But you know, Bob Gray wanted to
go on this podcast because he
has certain opinions about the
new IFB and about yours truly.
Which by the way, he knew I was
part of the new IFB from long
ago.
When I first talked to him, he
knew I was part of the new IFB
because I specifically told him,
hey, the new IFB, which you know
that I'm a part of, you know,
they're reading this statement
that Manley Perry put out there.
And a lot of these people respect
you.
Do you want me to clear your
name before them?
He said, absolutely.
But now he's just backpedaling.
And look, if you listen to the
video that I made and the
statements that he made on that
podcast, it's basically the same
thing.
He didn't take anything back.
The only thing he's doing is,
this is how he answers Manley
Perry.
Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no.
It's very vague.
But he wanted to go on record to
say this.
So this is something that he
wants people to know.
He said, I quote, I would go on
record to say this, the new IFB
has an attitude problem.
And they are contentious by
nature.
And usually that falls with
people that are mid-trip,
post-trip, pre-wrath.
By the way, what's Manley Perry
doing this time?
Cricket.
So does that apply to him too?
Because isn't he post-trip?
Because they truly, listen to
this, the statement is truly
telling, folks.
He said, that falls with people
that are mid-trip, post-trip,
pre-wrath, because they truly
believe that they're going to
have to contend and fight to the
very end.
Now, look, when it comes to end
times Bible prophecy, it doesn't
matter whether you're pre-trip
or post-trip, don't we all
believe that we're supposed to
fight until the end?
Regardless of when you think
that end is.
Right?
So even if you're pre-trip,
don't you have the integrity and
the desire to say, I need to
fight in the Christian life to
the very end.
Now, maybe what he meant was
they believe they have to endure
until the end, you know, because
they believe they're going to
go to tribulation, but that's
not what he said.
He said they're contentious
because they literally believe
that they have to contend and
fight until the end.
Now, what does that tell us?
Well, by his own admission, he's
saying that he's no longer
fighting by his own admission.
By Bob Gray's own admission,
he's saying, look, they think
they have to fight and contend
to the bitter end.
What he's saying is, I'm not
fighting to the very end.
I'm done fighting.
And again, regardless of what
your view is on end times Bible
prophecy, even if you think that
it's a pre-tribulation rapture,
the end is referring to the
coming of Christ.
When we talk about the end for
us as Christians, we think of
the second coming of Christ.
That's the end for us.
That's when we finish our work.
That's when we go to heaven, we
receive our resurrected bodies.
That is the end for us, for
anybody, as long as you're not
a preterist.
So he's basically saying you
shouldn't contend and fight until
the second coming of Christ.
What in the world?
Now I'm going to address that
statement a little later.
Go to 1 Samuel 11.
1 Samuel 11.
Let's address this whole thing
about having a bad spirit.
Haven't you heard that?
You guys have a bad spirit.
You guys are so mean, not nice,
bad spirit.
It's like, well, are we in the
fifth grade here or what?
Now look, folks, you know, I
hope they're not referring to
the Holy Spirit that dwells
within me.
I hope they're not calling him
an unclean spirit.
And then you got yourself a
problem.
Okay.
But look, when the Bible says,
or when someone says that we
have a bad spirit, well, let's
look at the Bible to identify
what this really means.
Because what they're saying is,
well, because you call out
people, false prophets, you
preach against doctrines, false
doctrines, you call people out,
you call churches out, you're
always fighting.
Therefore, you have a bad
spirit.
But hold on a second.
We have examples of people in
the Bible who were filled with
the spirit who did those things.
Would we say that that person
has a bad spirit?
Look at verse number one of
First Samuel chapter 11, it
says, then Naash the Ammonite
came up and encamped against
Jabesh Gilead.
And all the men of Jabesh said
unto Naash, make a covenant
with us and we will serve thee.
And Naash the Ammonite answered
them, on this condition, when I
make a covenant with you, that
I may thrust out all your right
eyes and lay it for reproach
upon all Israel.
And the elders of Jabesh said
unto him, give us seven days
respite that we may send
messengers unto all the coast of
Israel.
And then if there be no man to
save us, we will come out to
thee.
Then came the messengers to
Gibi of Saul and told the
tidings in the ear of the people
and all the people lifted up
their voices and wept.
So a bit of a background story.
What we have here, Saul is the
king of Israel and we have these
foreigners coming in threatening
one of these tribes here.
They come and they basically
say they're going to pluck our
eyeballs out if we don't
capitulate to what they want.
Verse five, and behold, Saul came
after the herd out of the field
and Saul said, what aileth the
people that they weep?
And they told him the tidings of
the men of Jabesh and the spirit
of God came upon Saul when he
heard those tidings.
And he said, let's just do it.
Let's just surrender, guys.
They need grace.
They don't know any better.
They've been serving false gods
their whole life.
And that poor king probably was
abused as a child.
He has a complex about his eyes
and therefore he wants to pluck
everyone else's eyes out.
Let's make an affinity with them.
And look, folks, nothing in the
Bible is accidental.
The Bible says here that the
spirit of God came upon Saul when
he heard those tidings and his
anger was kindled greatly.
What does that mean?
He's pissed off.
Oops, did I cuss?
That's another thing about the
new, I mean, you guys cuss
behind the pulpit.
He's mad.
He's angry.
And guess who's the one who
facilitated that anger, who
helped him to get angry?
It was the spirit of God.
But you know, that's foreign.
To a lot of Christians today,
is it not?
They think, well, the spirit is
just some effeminate Casper-like
ghost that wants us to just have
peace with everyone.
Folks, the spirit of God gets
angry as well.
He's not some, this is not Star
Wars.
It's not The Force.
This is the Holy Ghost who is
grieved.
He can be quenched and he can be
angered.
And you know what happened when
he heard those glad tidings?
God put his spirit upon Saul,
and he was greatly angry.
I mean, it says his anger was
kindled greatly.
Picture of fire.
So what did he do after that?
He's like,
No, he took a yoga voxen and
hewed them in pieces.
He's like,
Bring that yoga voxen.
My yoga voxen?
Yeah, your yoga voxen.
What does it mean to hew them in
pieces?
You just cut them up.
This is a bad spirit.
No, it's God's spirit.
And sent them throughout all the
coast of Israel by the hands of
messengers saying,
Whosoever cometh not forth after
Saul and after Samuel, so shall
it be done into his oxen.
And the fear of the Lord fell on
the people and they came out with
one consent.
Yeah, you better believe it.
They're like,
You had me at hello.
Where's the enemy?
I'll take him out right now,
King Saul.
Look, this is all when the spirit
of God was on him.
It's like basically like the
president.
Let's say the president of the
United States, okay?
He comes out and he hears that
like people are approaching the
name of God and they're
threatening our land and they're
mocking Jesus Christ.
Let's say we had a righteous
president and he just gets a dog
and just hews it in pieces.
It's like whosoever does not come
to fight against this army, I'm
going to chop up your little
chihuahua too.
Especially what he's doing.
And they all came with one
consent.
He didn't go recruit them.
He just said,
Look, if you don't come out, this
is what's going to happen to your
oxen.
PETA would just like just die.
Okay, but I want you to notice
this folks to send the pieces of
the yoke of oxen throughout all
of Israel is very creative.
It's the spirit of ingenuity.
I wisdom dwell with prudence and
find out knowledge of witty
inventions, referring to the
spirit of God.
You know, when the spirit does
things, he doesn't do them like
all boring.
He's just like spirit of God falls
upon him.
12 yoke of oxen, you know, 12 yoke
of oxen, chop them up, send them
out.
They'll understand what I mean by
that.
It gets the message across.
Well, that's a bad spirit wrong.
Go to 1st Samuel 16.
This is when Saul was right with
God.
And when Saul was right with God,
folks, the spirit of God would
come upon him and he would fight
against the enemies of God.
He would threaten them.
He would fight against them.
He would preach and prophesy.
He would be turned into another
man.
That's what he did.
Oh, you bring this, Saul, back
today?
Independent fundamental Baptist
today would be like, oh, you got
a bad spirit.
That's not the kind of spirit
that I would want to have in my
church.
You must be a post-tripper.
That's very contentious, Saul.
Now, obviously, we know that Saul
backslid hard.
Right?
He backslid super hard.
And he wasn't right with God.
He began to disobey the
commandment of the Lord.
Look at verse 13.
And Samuel took the horn of oil
and anointed him in the midst of
his brethren, referring to David.
And the spirit of the Lord came
upon David from that day forward.
So Samuel rose up and went to
Rhema.
But the spirit of the Lord, look
what it says, departed from Saul
and an evil spirit from the Lord
troubled him.
And Saul's servants said unto
him, behold now an evil spirit
from God troubleth thee.
Go to chapter 18.
So what do you see?
When he backslides, he receives
another spirit, an evil spirit.
Now, this doesn't mean he's not
saved.
It doesn't mean he lost his
salvation.
We obviously understand that the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit is
not something that took place
until the New Testament.
Old Testament saints were still
saved the way New Testament
saints are.
That doesn't change.
But we see that God sends an evil
spirit upon Saul because of his
rebellion, his disobedience, and
it troubles him.
So we see that when the spirit of
God comes upon him, how does that
manifest itself in Saul's life?
By taking out the enemies of God?
By hewing a yoke of oxen in
pieces?
Well, let's see how it manifests
itself when he has the evil
spirit.
Look at verse 8 of 1 Samuel 18.
And Saul was very wroth.
And the saying displeased him
and he said, they have ascribed
unto David ten thousands.
And to me they have ascribed
but thousands.
And what can he have more about
the kingdom?
So what do we see?
Envy?
And Saul eyed David from that day
and forward.
And it came to pass on the moral
that the evil spirit from God came
upon Saul and he prophesied in
the midst of the house.
So he's still preaching.
And David played with his hand as
at other times.
And there was a javelin in Saul's
hand.
And Saul cast the javelin for he
said, I will smite David even to
the wall with it.
And David avoided out of his
presence twice.
So what is the manifestation of
an evil spirit upon Saul?
He tries to go after God's man.
So if we're going to apply it
because look, all scripture is
given by inspiration of God.
That which was written before
time is for our admonition.
So when people say you have a bad
spirit, well, am I attacking good
men of God?
Am I envious of Bob Gray Junior's
church?
Am I envious of, you know, all
these other great men of God or
winning souls?
Do you see me like doing anything
like that?
No.
What is the bad spirit
characterized when you start
attacking good men?
Right?
Oh, like Bob Gray Junior, who for
no reason has decided to attack
me.
A person who was my friend, who
took sweet counsel together.
My own friend.
Folks, I didn't even know he was
going to do that podcast.
The last I heard from him, I said,
I love you.
That's what I told him when I
took down the video.
And look, I didn't take down the
video because it was inaccurate.
I took it at his request because
I wanted to honor what he wanted.
He didn't even ask me to take it
down.
He's just like, he's like, and
I'm like, do you want me to take
the video down?
And he said this, or you can make
a new one.
That's what he said.
You can make a new one.
And I'm thinking to myself, like a
new one saying the same thing?
Like, what's going to change?
You want me to change the color
grading?
You want me to put background
music, lower thirds?
Or like, you want me to enhance
it a little bit?
You think I didn't look very
sharp in there?
Like, you want me to shave?
What's the problem?
And you know, when we left that
conversation, I told him I loved
him and that was it.
And then he gets on this podcast
and begins to rail against me
against the movement that he
knows that I'm a part of.
Why?
Oh, because he has the bad
spirit.
Not me.
I do not have a bad spirit.
Amen.
Yeah, but you're angry.
Yeah, but anger is part of
getting angry at sin, false
doctrine, heretics, damnable
heresy.
That's because I'm filled with
the spirit.
When you see me getting mad and
angry and calling out wicked
false teachers like Manly Perry
and calling them out of the
carpet for a stupid heresy and
you see me spit and cry and
yell, that's because I'm filled
with the spirit.
That's what it is.
The spirit of God has come upon
me and I'm angry at that.
Well, how do you know if you
have an evil spirit when I
start attacking my friends?
When I start going after men
who love the Lord, who are
preaching right, who have done
nothing against me, who are not
preaching damnable heresy,
they're winning souls to Christ
and just attack them for no
reason whatsoever.
Folks, no one knows the
definition of loyalty anymore.
People don't know what loyalty
is anymore.
I don't have a bad spirit.
And look, anybody here knows
after church, half the time I'm
just laughing too much.
I'm having a blast.
I'm just laughing my head off
and just like having a good
time and joking around with the
brethren.
I'm not an angry person at all.
I'm angry when the spirit of
God comes upon me to rip on sin,
to rip on false heretics, you
know, to rip on these people who
are just wicked.
That's when God says, let me
just give him a portion of my
spirit to rip on this so the
congregation knows how I feel
about the situation.
Don't tell me I have a bad
spirit.
No folks, Saul has the bad
spirit because Saul is attacking
David, because Saul is envious
of David, because Saul is eyeing
David, because Saul is trying to
kill David.
Saul is trying to take him down,
so he has the bad spirit.
You know what, Bob Gray Jr.?
You have the bad spirit.
You know what, David?
He loves Saul.
He wanted Saul to get right with
God, but you know why God sent
Saul an evil spirit?
Let me just let you in on a
little secret.
God gave Saul an evil spirit to
his demise.
Anytime in the Bible where God
would send an evil spirit, it
was for the demise of the
recipient of that spirit.
You remember the lying spirit
that came in the mouth of the
prophets for Ahab?
What was it for, so Ahab could
go to war and die?
Why did God send, why did God
remove his power from Saul to
give him an evil spirit so that
he would die?
Because he crossed the line.
And I'm not saying that every
pastor who has a bad spirit, who
is a compromiser, you know,
they're just going to die
tomorrow.
I'm not pronouncing, I'm not
predicting Bob Gray Jr.'s death,
but you know what, like
spiritually he's dying.
And look, I'm just saying what
he said, which is he's not
fighting anymore.
He specifically said, they
actually believe, they actually
believe that they have to fight
until the end.
DiCaprio, do you believe you're
going to fight and contend until
the end?
Hey, isn't there someone in the
Bible that says, you know, that
he that overcometh and keeps my
commandments until the end, he
rewards people who do it until
the end?
Folks, this is God's spirit.
And look, the common thing right
now is just like, well, man, when
people get older, they just
compromise.
Sometimes they do, but you know
what, that it doesn't have to be
that way.
Jack Hyles, who is a major
pre-tripper, that guy kept the
spirit of God upon him until the
very end.
He fucked until the very end.
He fought for the King James
Bible until the very end.
Oh, and he's a pre-tripper,
that's funny.
Oh, there's these mid-trippers,
post-trippers, they just want to
fight and contend and
contentious.
No, it's men of God.
Spiritual judgeth all things,
the Bible says.
Go to 1 Peter chapter 4.
I'm going to read to you from
2 Corinthians 11 verse 3.
But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled the
eve through his subtlety, so
your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in
Christ.
For if he that cometh preached
with another Jesus, whom we
have not preached, or if he
received another spirit, which
he have not received, or another
gospel, which he have not
accepted, ye might well bear
with him.
That's a scary thought.
That ye can be so blinded, so
beguiled, so unstable, that if
someone comes preaching another
Jesus, unlike Manly Perry,
someone has another spirit like
Manly Perry.
And what does it say?
You will bear with him.
Amen, brother.
Amen.
Hey, he says, but though I be
rude in speech.
This is in that same chapter.
Though I be rude in speech, yet
not in knowledge, we have been
thoroughly made manifest among
you all in all things.
You just have such a bad
attitude.
All right.
But though I be rude in speech,
yet not in knowledge.
The only thing you complain
about me is that I'm mean
behind the pulpit, I'm rude, but
you can't complain about the
knowledge.
Because though I be rude in
speech, yet not in knowledge.
Look at 1 Peter 4.
How do we keep the glory, the
spirit of glory upon our lives?
Well, we know that by staying
humble, right, is one way.
Look at verse 14 of 1 Peter 4.
If ye be reproached for the name
of Christ, happy are ye for the
spirit of glory and of God
resteth upon you.
On their part, he is evil spoken
of.
That's a bad spirit.
But on your part, he is glorified,
the Bible says.
Hold on a second.
How does someone get reproach for
the name of Christ?
Oh, by preaching things that are
controversial, by preaching
negative sermons, by preaching
against false doctrine.
What is Paul doing that's getting
him persecuted?
Oh, he's preaching against the
Jews.
And you know what gets us
persecuted by the old I.F.B.?
Preaching against the Jews.
Hey, but I'm happy.
Don't worry.
Be happy.
Why?
Because the spirit of glory of God
resteth upon us.
So when we're reproach for
Christ's name, when we're being
criticized because of what we
preach, because we simply repeat
what God says and what Jesus says,
I'm happy.
I am happy.
Why?
Because the spirit of glory.
That's a confirmation that the
spirit of glory resteth upon me.
Now, obviously, look, that can
change if I start compromising.
That can change when I start
disobeying God's word and
disobeying his commandments
because God is not a respecter
of any person.
So what is my marker to make sure
that the spirit of God resteth
upon me?
Well, I need to make sure that
I'm preaching the whole council
of God and still taking people
off.
Right?
Go to 2 Timothy chapter 4.
Getting off Acts 25.
But this is it applies.
Okay, it applies.
Paul's the new eye of beer, folks.
At least he would have been if
he would have been here today.
Oh, can you say something like
that?
Because we preach everything
that Paul preaches.
That's why we call Paul like
every single Thursday, Sunday,
Sunday morning and Sunday night
here.
We preach everything.
I mean, we preach Romans one.
You name me and all that be
preacher.
They're willing to preach to
Romans one.
You can call us Paulitians if you
want.
Look what it says in 2 Timothy 4
verse 2.
So he's given this admonition
to Timothy, right?
Paul is a young preacher.
Timothy is a young man.
He's a young preacher, a little
fearful, a little scared.
You know, he has a tendency to
be a little anxious and afraid.
And Paul, what he says, preach
the word, be instant in season
out of season, reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all long suffering
and Paul Chapel sermons and his
books.
No, all long suffering in
doctrine.
Why, Paul?
Well, because for the time will
come when they will not endure
sound doctrine.
But after their own lust shall
they heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears.
They'll become little softy
effeminate people and they shall
turn away their ears from the
truth and shall be turned into
fables.
They want that cotton candy
preaching, that soy boy
preaching, that tofu preaching.
He says, hey, but watch thou and
all things, endure afflictions.
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa, are you
telling me I have to like fight
and contend until the end?
Endure afflictions?
I thought the Christian life was
like a playground.
What are you talking about?
So when he says endure
afflictions, what is he talking
about?
There's going to be fightings
within and without.
Endure afflictions, do the work
of evangelists, make full proof
of thy ministry.
Look what he says, for I am now
ready to be offered in the time
of my departures at hand.
He's not at LAX right now.
What is he talking about?
He's talking about dying.
He said, I'm about to die.
So this is like the end for him
then, right?
Isn't this like his end?
And what does he say at the end
of his life?
I have fought a good fight.
I have finished my course.
I have kept the faith.
So finishing the course, keeping
the faith is synonymous with
fighting the good fight.
Now, verse eight is the kicker.
Because remember, what is the
end for us?
Well, it's either when we die,
obviously, or when the second
coming of Christ comes.
So what he's saying in verse
number seven is directly
connected to verse number eight,
because he says, henceforth
there is later for me a crown
of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge shall give
me at that day and not to me
only.
Look what it says.
But unto all them also that love
his appearing.
What does that mean?
They love the end.
So because Paul loves the end,
he loves the appearing of Jesus
Christ.
That's why he fights.
He's not like, we're not Timothy.
Quit being a post river.
Don't be contentious.
Is that what he's telling Timothy?
Don't be contentious.
Don't fight?
No, in fact, he's saying, follow
my example, because I fought the
good fight.
Why?
Because I love his appearing.
So what does this tell us?
This tells us that if we love
the end, we love the appearing
of Jesus Christ.
In anticipation of that, we
fight the good fight of faith.
We don't put this thing on
cruise control.
We don't pussyfoot around biblical
truths.
We don't tiptoe around the
tulips.
We don't beat around the bush.
We preach the word.
We're in the end season, out of
the season.
Why?
Because we love his appearing.
We anticipate it.
We're waiting for it.
We love it.
And you know what?
If we don't, if the tribulation
never comes in our time, you know
what, and we die, well, at least
we die fighting.
Just like Paul did.
Paul didn't make it until the
rapture, but he made it to his
end.
Never be the kind of Christian
that feels like, well, I've
accomplished so much in my past
that I can just take it easy in
the future.
I'm just going to not fight,
criticize those who do, throw a
javelin at David.
That's what he did.
I, them, they're only ascribing
to me 1,000, and David 10,000.
I only get 100 subscribers, they
get 1,000 subscribers.
This guy thinks they are.
Where's that javelin?
Don't have a bad spirit.
Hey folks, if you get anything
from this sermon, get this,
don't have a bad spirit.
All right, let's go back to Acts
25.
Let's just finish on Acts 25.
Just kidding.
So look, they couldn't find
anything against him, obviously,
but they're just complaining
about him.
Why, why do they want Paul dead?
Why is, why do they hate him so
much?
Because he took all their
converts.
He's taken all the Jews, he's
taken, he's making a big splash.
He's winning a lot of people
to Christ, he's starting a bunch
of churches where there's
synagogues.
He's making them look bad because
unto them were committed to
oracles of God.
They're supposed to be alighted
to the Gentiles.
They're supposed to be the ones
who are teaching the word of God
to everyone else and they failed
at it.
And Paul's like, I'll do it.
Looking for a saying, while he
answered for himself, neither
against the law of the Jews,
neither against the temple, nor
yet against Caesar have I offended
anything at all.
But Festus, willing to do the
Jews a pleasure, answered Paul
and said, will thou go up to
Jerusalem and there be judge of
these things before me?
So he's saying, he's like, hey,
because you know, he wants to
still be good with the Jews and
he's just like, why don't you
just come to Jerusalem?
You know, where all these guys
are at that want to kill you and
you know, you can make your case
there.
Well, Paul's, he's really smart.
So obviously he already knew
that this was going to happen,
that he was going to present
this before him.
Look what it says in verse 10,
then said Paul, I stand at
Caesar's judgment seat where I
ought to be judged.
To the Jews have I done no wrong
as thou very well knowest.
For if I be an offender or have
committed anything worthy of
death, I refuse not to die.
It's like, if I'm a murderer, put
me to death.
Well, that sounds like he still
believes like in the death
penalty and stuff.
But if there be none of these
things, where if they accuse,
these accused me, set them at
liberty, they can't punish them,
they can't put them to death
because apparently this basically
means like, all right, now you
really have to go and see Caesar.
Now, why did he appeal unto
Caesar's because he believed in
the justice system?
You know, is it because, you
know, he was just a really, he
voted Caesar.
He's like, I'm a Republican.
He's a Republican.
I'm going to tell him about the
constitution and I'm just going
to lay it out there for him.
He's going to be good.
Is that why he's doing that?
No.
You know why?
Because it's his ticket to go to
Rome, which is where he intended
to go in the first place.
And if you remember the vision
that God gave Paul was that he
must bear witness at Rome also.
So he's like, I'm going to go
to appeal to Caesar because
Caesar's at Rome and that's where
I want to go because that's where
I want to win more people in
Christ.
He's using this world is what
he's doing.
Okay.
Verse 12.
Then Festus, when he had
conferred with the council,
answered, hast thou appealed
unto Caesar?
Not to Caesar, thou shalt go.
And after certain days, King
Agrippa and Bernice came into
Caesarea to salute Festus.
And when they had been there
many days, Festus declared Paul's
case unto the king, saying,
There is a certain man left in
bonds by Felix, about whom when
I was at Jerusalem, the chief
priest and the elders of the
Jews informed me, designed to
have judgment against him, to
whom I answered, It is not the
manner of the Romans to deliver
any man to die.
Before that he which is accused
have the accusers face to face
and have license to answer for
himself concerning the crime
laid against him.
Therefore, when they were come
hither, without any delay on
the morrow, I sat on the
judgment seat and commanded the
man to be brought forth, against
to him when the accusers stood
up.
They brought none accusation of
such things as I supposed.
They're like, Man, I thought
these guys were going to make a
good case.
Like their cases just suck.
It was like they didn't have
anything.
Verse 19.
But have certain questions
against them, he says, of their
own superstition, and of one
Jesus, look what it says here,
which was dead.
That's interesting.
So even the unsaved Roman guy
knows that Jesus died.
Okay, just thought I'd throw
that in there.
Whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
So he's basically saying, look,
they keep talking about like
their superstitious beliefs.
He's talking about Christianity.
He's like this one Jesus who
was dead and Paul affirms to be
alive.
Now, another thing that this
proves is that pretty much a lot
of people have heard the word of
God, even if they know just this.
Right?
So this guy knows enough to say,
well, he believes in a guy named
Jesus who died and Paul affirms
to be alive.
Verse 20, because I doubted of
such manner of questions, I asked
him whether he would go to
Jerusalem and there be judge of
these matters.
But when Paul had appealed to
reserved until the hearing of
Augustus, I commanded him to be
kept till I might send him to
Caesar.
Then Agrippa said to Festus, I
would also hear the man myself
tomorrow, said he, shalt thou
hear him.
And on the morrow when Agrippa
was come and Bernice with great
pomp, great pride, in other
words, and was entered into the
place of here with the chief
captain to principal men of the
city at Festus commandment, Paul
was brought forth and Festus
said, King Agrippa and all men,
which are here present with us.
You see this man about whom all
the multitude of the Jews have
dealt with me, both at Jerusalem
and also here crying that he
ought not to live any longer.
But when I found that he had
committed nothing worthy of
death and that he himself hath
appealed to Augustus, I have
determined to send him of whom I
have no certain thing to write
into my Lord.
So in other words, he's saying,
I got to send him to Caesar, but
what am I going to send him with?
There's no like reason.
There's no crimes that he's
committed.
So what am I going to say to him?
What am I going to say to my Lord?
In other words, it's like, where
are the crimes that he's
committed?
What am I going to say?
So Paul's just going to show up
at Rome and say, all right,
what's up with this guy?
He's like, I don't know.
They want him dead for what?
I don't know.
He's not worthy of death.
I don't know what we're going to
say.
Wherefore, I have brought him
forth before you and especially
before the King Agrippa, that
after examination had, I might
have someone to write.
So he's basically saying, hey,
the ball's in your court.
This is your baby.
These are your bananas to take
care of here.
Can you examine him and figure
something out?
Because I need something to
write.
You can't just have this guy show
up at Rome and there's nothing
against him on paper or on skin
to say, hey, this guy's guilty.
For it seemed to me unreasonable
to send a prisoner and not with
all to signify the crimes laid
against him.
So what do we see here?
We see that the Romans are
actually being pretty just.
It's a lot different than what
independent fundamental
Baptists have portrayed Romans
to be in the Bible.
Now, obviously, we know that
Rome was wicked.
It's a pagan culture.
But here's the thing.
Christians today want to blame
the Romans for crucifying Jesus.
They're the ones that killed
Paul.
I mean, you look it up.
How did Paul die?
Oh, he was beheaded by the
Romans.
But is that what we see here?
What we actually see is that the
Romans are trying to do Paul
justice.
They're constantly trying not to
kill him and like, well, just
release him or he already made
an appeal to Augustus.
You know, I don't see why he's
should be put to death.
They're constantly trying to
help him.
And in fact, we'll see later on
in the coming chapters that they
do help him.
You know, but you said, why do
Christians do that?
Because they want to get your
attention away from the real
enemy of the New Testament,
which is the Jew.
That's what it is.
There's nothing to see here,
guys.
It's all the Romans.
The Romans did it all.
But when you actually read the
New Testament, you see all the
Jews.
They're the ones who are trying
to kill Christians.
They're the ones who are
persecuting them.
They're the ones who are
responsible for this stuff.
It's not necessarily the Romans.
Okay, we'll finish there.
Let's pray.
Father, we thank you so much for
your word.
Thank you for Paul's example.
And Lord, I'm thankful for
everything that he had to go
through because it's an
inspiration to me as a young
preacher.
I'm sure it's an inspiration to
many pastors out there.
And Lord, in a time of shifting
sands when older preachers are
just given over to compromise
and they're given to change,
Lord, we know that you'll never
change.
The men in the Bible will never
change the men of God.
And I'm thankful that I know men
personally who have not changed.
And I'm thankful to have friends
like that.
And Lord, I pray, God, that you'd
help us to have the right
spirit and the spirit that
exposes wickedness, that
exposes false doctrines and
false prophets, but also is out
there preaching the gospel,
seeing people save and loving
them.
Help us to never have a bad
spirit where we would attack men
of God who have done nothing
wrong.
We love you so much, Lord, and
we thank you.
Pray these things in Jesus'
name.
Amen.