(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Now beginning verse number one, the Bible reads, Now Hephaestus was come into the province. After three days, he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem. Now to bring you up to speed in the story, if you remember, Felix was the governor that Paul was brought to. And Felix heard Paul preach, and he didn't want to condemn him because he really couldn't figure out what he was even being charged with. And he said, there's nothing that this guy's done that's worthy of death. But the Jews kept demanding that he be killed, demanding that he be put to death. And he didn't want to make them upset. He wanted to please them. And so he decided to just kind of leave him in jail. He kept delaying things. And he said, well, we'll bring up this witness, you know, Claudius Lysias, and we'll wait for him to get here. He just kind of stalled and delayed. And then after two years went by, he was no longer in office. So he just decided to just leave Paul bound. And now the new governor comes into his office. Hephaestus is now the new governor. And he doesn't really know anything about Paul. He's just going to find out about it. He takes a trip down to Jerusalem. It says he was coming to the province. So he just got into the province. He just took up his post as governor in Caesarea. Three days later, he heads to Jerusalem to meet with the people there. It says in verse two, then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul and has sought him and desired favor against him that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying weight in the way to kill him. So this new governor has only been in office for three days. He comes down to Jerusalem to see the Jews there, because that's when he's going to be ruling over. And when he gets there right away, they start to tell him, you know, what about Paul? You know, Paul's in prison. We want him to be judged. We want him to be put to death and punished. And he didn't really know anything about it, but they inform him about it. And they want him to bring Paul to Jerusalem so that he can be judged in Jerusalem. Well, that's not really their plan. What they're planning on doing is having Hephaestus bring Paul to Jerusalem to be judged there. And then on the way there, they're going to kill him. They're basically waiting for him to be transported so that they can attack the transport. And they have all kinds of guys, we saw in the previous chapter, that are going to try to assassinate Paul. And those guys either ate food or they're dead by now, because that was two years ago. You remember that? They swore they're not going to eat anything until they kill Paul. And that was two years ago. So they're either dead or they ate something or whatever. But there's plenty of other people who are ready to kill Paul. And so they were going to lie in wait and ambush this prisoner transport. But Hephaestus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither. 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 says, no, I'm not going to bring him to Jerusalem, but I'm heading to Caesarea in 10 days, and you can come along with me, and we can have a trial there. And when he had tarried among them more than 10 days, verse six, he went down into Caesarea, and the next day, sitting in the judgment seat, commanded Paul to be brought. And when he was come, the Jews, which came down from Jerusalem, stood round about and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove. So they're basically just making stuff up. Just all these railing accusations against Paul of all the bad things that he supposedly did. And while he answered for himself, it says in verse eight, neither against the law of the Jews, Paul is saying, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended anything at all. But Hephaestus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul and said, will thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me? 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 knows. Now we'll come back to this, but doesn't it just strike you how intent the Jews are on killing Paul? Why do they want to kill him so bad? Think about this. He's been sitting in jail in Caesarea for the last two years. So he's not preaching in Jerusalem. He's not affecting them at all. Wouldn't you think that after two years have gone by, they would have just forgotten about it? And just said, you know, so what? Okay, we fought him, he's in jail, he's in prison, and we haven't heard from him, he's not bothering us. But no, they are just dead bent on having him put to death. They just want him dead. Go to Galatians chapter four, and keep your finger, of course, in Acts 25, we'll be back there. But while you're turning to already know the scripture, Psalm 11 two says, for lo, the wicked bend their bow. They make ready their arrow upon the strings, they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. Proverbs 29, 27 says, an unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked. Why do wicked people hate those who are righteous? The Bible says they do. If you're just, if you're righteous, you're an abomination unto the wicked, the Bible says. 1 John three, stay in Galatians four, it says in 1 John three, 11, for this is the message that you heard from the beginning that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Marvel not my brother, and if the world hates you. So the Bible says, going all the way back to Cain and Abel, those who are wicked and ungodly are always gonna hate the righteous. Even if the righteous are just doing their own thing, not causing any trouble, sitting in a prison cell, that's not good enough. The unjust, the wicked people as well, they hate those who are right. Why did Cain kill Abel? What was the point of murdering Abel? The Bible tells us. Because his own works were evil and his brother's righteous. Just made him mad that his brother was doing the right thing and he wasn't, and therefore he just hated his brother and killed him. Same thing throughout the Bible, you'll see this. And here's another example in Galatians four. Besides Cain and Abel, this is about Ishmael and Isaac. It says in Galatians four, 21. Tell me ye that desire me under the law. Do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bond made, the other by a free woman. But he who was of the bond woman was born after the flesh. But he of the free woman was by promise. Now this is referring to the fact that Abraham had a child with Sarah, the child that was promised by God. And that was his wife, Sarah. And it was supernatural because his wife was 90 years old when she gave birth to that child. And that is not humanly possible. But God performed a miracle and she supernaturally gave birth to a child, not through just a normal, natural means. Well, the other child that Abraham had was with his bond servant, Hagar. This is what he basically, what you call his adultery. He has this bond made that's living in the house and Sarah said, well, I'm too old to have children. I don't have children. I want you to have a child with her and then I'll raise it as my child. That was a really bad idea. And it was a sinful, wicked thing for him to do. But he basically went to bed with the bond servant, this lady, and she gave birth to the child, Ishmael. So that's what he's talking about, the child who was born after the flesh. Nothing miraculous about that, right? Nothing miraculous about this young woman, Hagar, giving birth to a child. Was that the child that God had promised? No, God promised that he would have a child with his wife, Sarah. And Abraham should have just waited on the Lord even though it seemed impossible. But he sinned with the bond woman and so these are the two children. Well, the Bible says that in verse 24, which things are an allegory. An allegory basically means that this is symbolic of something. God is trying to teach us something symbolically. For these are the two covenants. The one from the Mount Sinai, which gender is the bondage, which is Hagar. For Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia and Hagar is the New Testament spelling of Hagar. An answer to Jerusalem, which now is and is in bondage with the children. But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of Saul. Now, these two covenants, there's another word that's used synonymously with covenant in the Bible. What is it? Testament, right? Bible used in the book of Hebrews, he rotates between those two and proves that they're synonymous. Covenant, he's saying the two testaments, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Bible says, for the law came by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Those are the two testaments or the two covenants that God made with man. The first covenant that God made with man was that he that doeth these things, talking about the law, he that doeth these things shall live by them. Now, has anyone ever followed all of God's laws? No, every one of us has broken God's laws, hence the necessity for the New Covenant, the New Testament, which is basically when Jesus Christ picked up the cup of the great juice of the last supper and said, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you, this do in remembrance of me. That was symbolic of the fact the New Testament is in the blood of Christ. The Old Testament was the blood of the bulls and goats and lambs. The New Testament was in the blood of Christ. Doesn't mean people weren't saved in the Old Testament. Doesn't mean they didn't call upon the name of the Lord and be saved, because Jesus Christ, the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, they were still justified by faith. Abraham believed God, and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. But these are the two covenants. One of them is the law, and one of them is grace. Now, the people in the Old Testament who were saved, they were saved by grace. And people say, well, if they were saved by faith in the Old Testament and saved by grace, or saved the same way, then why did Jesus have to come die on the cross? If they were saved some other way, then why would Jesus have to die on the cross? Couldn't we just still be saved that way? Doesn't make any sense. Jesus had to die on the cross to pay for their sins and our sins. I mean, what kind of nonsense is that? Jesus Christ died for the sins of all mankind, past, present, and future. And he died for the sins under the Old Testament, and he died for the sins under the New Testament. It's the same thing, okay? The law, the purpose of the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, the Bible says in Galatians, to show us our sinful condition, to show us that we need to be saved, because if we didn't have any laws, we wouldn't have any sin, because sin is breaking God's law. Sin is the transgression of the law. So the purpose of the law is to guide us in the right way to live and to expose our sins for what they are. So here we see these two covenants. We see the covenant of Agar, Mount Sinai. It represents the physical, natural side. And then we have the spiritual promise side, which is Isaac and the new Jerusalem. Now look what it says. Verse 26, for Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of Saul. For it is written, rejoice thou, barren, that bearest not. Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not. For the desolate hath more children than she which hath them husband. Now this is the important part, pay attention to this. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. So we are the children of promise, right? Who's he writing to? Well, he's writing to the Galatians, or the Galatians Jews. No, they're Gentiles, aren't they? The Galatians are Gentiles. He's writing to them and saying, we, he's saying, you and I, as believers in Jesus Christ, whether Jew or Gentile, whether bond or free, we are the children of promise, just like Isaac was. But as then, he that was born after the flesh, persecuted him that was born after the spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the scripture? Cast out the bond woman and her son, for the son of the bond woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we are not the children of the bond woman, but of the free. So look at verse number 29 again. But as then, he that was born after the flesh, who was the one that was born after the flesh? Ishmael, right? Agarth, the child that he had with the bond servant. Ishmael persecuted him that was born after the spirit. What was his name? Isaac. So Ishmael persecuted Isaac. And God is saying here that just like it was back then, he that was born after the flesh, persecuted he that was born after the spirit, the promise, he said that's the same way it is right now. Now, we are the children of the free woman. We are, as Isaac was, the children of promise. Therefore, we are gonna be persecuted. Isn't that true? And who are we gonna be persecuted by? The children after the flesh. Now, this represents two different things. Go to Romans chapter nine, if you would. Basically, what he's referring to there when he says, you know, the children of the flesh versus the children of promise. The first thing he's referring to is the physical seed of Abraham, the physical children of Abraham versus the spiritual children of Abraham. Because the Bible says that Abraham is the father of all those who believe in Christ by faith. Romans chapter four. He's the father of us all. Whether we be Jew or Gentile, whether we be circumcised or uncircumcised, if we believe on Christ, Abraham is our father. The Bible says, if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. So, on one hand, this represents the physical children of Abraham versus the spiritual children of Abraham. The physical children of Abraham would be the Israelite, you know, the Jews, the people who are physically descended from Abraham. And then the spiritual seed of Abraham is every believer on Jesus Christ, whether they be Jew or Gentile. Some people could be both. You know, a physical son of Abraham and a spiritual son. But most of Abraham's physical seed do not believe on Jesus Christ. They are not the children of promise. But then there's another representation here. Look at Romans chapter nine. It says in verse six, not as though the word of God had taken none effect, for they are not all Israel, which are of Israel. Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children. But in Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, they which are the children of the flesh, watch this, these are not the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted for the seed. For this is the word of promise, at this time will I come and Sarah shall have a son. So he goes on using this illustration again about the children of promise versus the children of flesh, the children of Ishmael versus the children of Isaac. You say, what does that mean? Well, he's saying that the children of promise are the children of God. Well, what does the Bible say about the children of God? But as many as received him, to them gave him power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. So those who believe on Jesus Christ are the children of God, right? They are the children of promise. They are the spiritual Israel. He said, they're not all Israel, which are of Israel. They're not all children of Abraham, which descend from Abraham. He said, no, it's those that are the children of promise that are the children of God and the physical season. So first of all, we have the difference between the physical Jew, the unbelieving Jew and the believer in Jesus Christ. The unbelieving Jew is going to persecute the believing Christian, whether he be Jew or Gentile. But then there's also a symbolism of Ishmael represented Abraham trying to do something on his own that God had said he was gonna do instead of trusting the promises of God. This also pictures work salvation. People who are trying to get to heaven in the flesh, they're trying to get to heaven by their own works. They're trying to do something to earn their way to heaven, just like Cain. Remember Cain brought an offering to God of fruits and vegetables, and it was his best. He was a farmer, that's what he did best. So he brought up the best of his fruits and vegetables and offered it to God, and God rejected it. He accepted Abel's offering, which was a lamb, which was a blood sacrifice, which was a burnt offering, which pictured Jesus Christ. And that's a picture right there. God will not accept our works as a payment for our sin. Cain brought his best works, and God rejected it. God would accept the lamb as a payment for sin, which the lamb is Jesus Christ, okay? It's the same thing here. Ishmael represents a works salvation. A physical fleshly earning the right to be in that family because he was just physically born into that family. He has a right, but you know what God said? Cast him out. He will not inherit. He did not inherit Abraham's wealth. He did not inherit Abraham's blessings. He was thrown out of the house because he was illegitimate. He was not the legitimate child, and Isaac inherited everything, the child of promise, okay? And so what the Bible's teaching us here is the difference between the saved and the unsaved, those who trust in faith versus those who trust in works. And then also he's referring to the spiritual Israel, believers in Christ, versus physical Israel, which are by and large unbelieving, not the children of God and on their way to hell. Because the Bible says, he that believeth not shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth not. Okay, so God's wrath is abideth not. And so what do we see in Acts? We see the Jews persecuting Paul. And of course there are unbelievers. So we see unbelievers persecuting believers. It's the same thing. And we should expect the exact same thing to happen today. The Bible says, ye and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You say, why? Why wouldn't they just leave us alone? Why can't we just live our life? Why can't we just serve God and just raise our family? Because unsaved, ungodly, unrighteous people hate those who are righteous. Now, have you ever been to a job? Let me just try to break this down to you. Have you ever been to a job and somebody all of a sudden starts working twice as hard as everybody else? And what do people say? Hey, are you trying to make us all look bad? Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Hey, what are you trying to do? Make us look bad? You know, you're working all kinds of extra hours. You're going twice as fast. Hey, you're trying to make us look bad. Slack off like us. We all slack off. None of us are going to get in trouble. But now we're going to look like idiots. Look, when you live a righteous life, guess what? It makes the people around you seem unrighteous. Therefore, they want to drag you down to their level and drag you down to make you like them so that they can feel better about themselves. I remember when I used to work at Round Table Pizza. I had people, I literally had people offer me $200 cash to go to a strip club with them. I mean, why would they want to waste their $200? Why would they want to spend $200 cash to get me to go to a strip club? Because it would have been so worth it for them to take me down a notch. Because they knew I didn't drink. Because they knew that I was trying to live a clean and godly Christian life. They want to drag you down. They want to attack you. They want to persecute. It's just like Haman in the Book of Esther. He had everything. I mean, he had 10 children. He had all the wealth he could want. And he was the second most powerful man in the entire world. I mean, we're talking about a man who ruled a world empire and he was his right-hand man. And everywhere he went, people would bow down to him because he was so respected and so important. And he said, you know what? All of this avails me nothing. As long as I see that Mordecai the Jew refusing to bow down to me. There was one man who wouldn't bow down to him. And it was Mordecai. Because he believed that he should never bow down to anybody except God. He refused to get on his knees before man. And Mordecai refused to do it. And Haman ended up losing everything because he tried to do battle with Mordecai. And guess what? God was blessing Mordecai. God protected Mordecai. And Haman lost everything, destroyed his life. Why? Because wicked people fixate and are obsessed with hurting those who are righteous and dragging them down and tearing them down. Look at Cain. He messed up his life by murdering his brother. You know, all throughout the Bible, you'll see this insane, you know, fixation on persecuting God's people on the part of the Jews or on the part of other unbelievers or whatever. And you see it in the book of Acts. I mean, it's crazy. Two years later, the new governor, and I'm just going, oh, you know, right away, right out of the gate. The guy just took office. He's just inaugurated three days ago. What are you gonna do with Paul? Why is he still in jail? We want him dead. See, and look, things haven't changed. There's nothing new under the sun. You're gonna be persecuted for doing right. You're gonna be hated by those who are unknown. It's just a fact. And I'm not saying we should want that or try to, you know, we try to live peaceably with all men and try to get along with everybody as best as we can. But let's face it, it's gonna, I mean, Paul's being pretty meek here in this story. Paul's being pretty mild-mannered and reasonable, and yet, he's being persecuted and hated. But another thing that stood out to me, look there at Acts chapter 25. Not only did it stand out to me just how fixated they are on persecuting him, but do you notice how in the last chapter last week and this chapter, it keeps talking about how the rulers just want to please the Jews, you know, in order to do the Jews a pleasure or to please the Jews, he did this. To please the Jews, he did that. Now look what it says in verse 11, or verse 10. It says, then said Paul, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be judged. To the Jews have I done no wrong, look at that next phrase, as thou very well knowest. I mean, Paul's pointing out to him, look, you know that I haven't done anything wrong. You know that I'm innocent. The last guy knew he was innocent. That's why they didn't punish him. But they didn't release him because they didn't want to make the Jews mad. So they said, okay, we'll just kind of stall and keep him in jail. This guy doesn't want to make the Jews mad, so he goes through this game. Look what he says in verse nine. But bestest willing to what? To do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul and said, wilt thou go up to Jerusalem and there be judged of these things before me? Now what's going to happen when he goes up to Jerusalem to be judged? What would happen? They're going to kill him. He's not just going to go to Jerusalem and be judged. On the way there, they're going to ambush him and kill him. They've already decided that, they've already planned that. The only way that he made it out of Jerusalem alive is because Claudius Lysias had 450 soldiers protecting him. Well those soldiers aren't going to be there this time and they want him to come down so that they can kill him. That's all it is. And he wants to please them, he wants to make them happy. And so here he is, got an innocent man in jail. He knows the guy's innocent. And look what it says later just to prove it to you. It says in verse 17, or look at verse number 18. This is Festus talking. Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusations of such things as I supposed, but had certain questions against him of their own superstition. You know, that's what he's calling their religion. He's just calling it superstition because he doesn't have respect for it. And of one Jesus which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem and there be judged of these matters. But when Paul had appealed to be reserved under the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. But look at verse 27, or verse 26. Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my Lord. So he's saying, OK, you appealed to Caesar, and I'm going to deliver him to Caesar, but I don't know what the charges are. I don't know what the crime is. And so he says, wherefore I brought him before you, especially before thee, O king of Grippa, that after examination had, I might have so much right. For it seemeth to me unreasonable, watch this, verse 27, to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him. Yeah, it does seem unreasonable, doesn't it? OK, here's a prisoner. OK, what did he do? I don't know. But guess what? Doesn't it seem unreasonable that he's been in jail for the last two years? Isn't that unreasonable? You say, well, then why is he doing it? He doesn't even care about their religion. He's like, I don't care about their superstition. I don't even know what this is. I don't even understand it. I don't even care. He said that this guy, Jesus, he doesn't even know who it is. There's a guy named Jesus. They say he's dead, and Paul says he's alive. You know, I don't know what the big deal is. So we need to figure out what he did wrong so that we can send him to Caesar with some kind of, why didn't you just let him go? There's one reason why he didn't let him go, because he's an unjust ruler who's more interested in pleasing man than in executing a righteous judgment of the law. Paul had not broken the law. If Festus was doing his job right, he would just let him go. But he's just trying to please man. The Bible talks about this a lot. Go back to Deuteronomy chapter 1. Deuteronomy chapter number 1. And while you're turning there, I'll read you another scripture. The Bible says this in Exodus 23, 2. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil. Neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to rest judgment. Rest means to twist, okay? He said just because everybody wants a certain judgment doesn't mean it's right. And he said don't twist judgment just because people want that, or that's what the crowd wants. Look at Deuteronomy 1, verse 16. It says, and I charged your judges at that time, that was their rulers, their judges, saying hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother and the stranger that is with them. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment, but ye shall hear the small as well as the great. Here's the key. Ye shall not be afraid of the face of man, for the judgment is God's. And the cause that is too hard for you, bring it unto me and I will hear it. He says, look, it doesn't matter what people want. It doesn't matter what man wants. The judgment belongs to God. Judge righteously. And look, we need to keep this in mind because we all have areas of authority, and areas of leadership in our lives. And today we live in a society that thinks about things a little bit differently. Like they'll say this, you know, if you don't like something, call your congressman, and if they get enough calls, then they're gonna do it our way. Now that's all fine and dandy, but wait a minute, shouldn't they just do what's right no matter who's calling them? I mean, shouldn't it really matter who calls them? I mean, and this is what we say, when we live in a representative republic, and so they need to do what people want, I don't believe that at all. I think they need to do what's right. And if 99% of the people in our country want to do something wrong, they should say, no, I'm not gonna do it. I'm only gonna do right. And you see, that's why we even have leaders. The only reason why we even have representatives, the only reason why we live in a republic instead of a direct democracy, because a democracy is just ruled by the people. The reason we have a republic is because we choose leaders to make righteous decisions, to do the right thing, and to protect the minority, to protect the rights of the few. Because if you have just democracy, if you just have majority rule, okay, then basically what you have, and here's, I think it was Benjamin Franklin that said democracy is two wolves and a sheep voting on what's for them. And that's what democracy is. If you have democracy, then 51% of the people can say, well, we're poor, and 10% of the people are rich, let's just vote to take all their money and give it to us, right? I mean, that's democracy. But is that right? Is it right to take money from somebody? What if 99% of the people in our country say, well, we just believe that we should take money from so-and-so, and we should have it, just because we want our fair share. We don't think it's fair that these people have more money than we do, and so we're gonna redistribute all that money. Well, yeah, I mean, if that's what people want, that's what they vote. What if there's a proposition on the ballot that just said, let's just close all Baptist churches, because we don't like it. And if 51% of people hate Baptists, just shut them down. Put every Baptist pastor in jail. All the papers say aye. And just vote. It doesn't matter, you can't do that. It's wrong, it's against the natural law, it's against the Bible, it's against right, okay? And so what God is telling these judges is, don't go by what man wants. He's saying, if you're a judge, don't go by what people want, don't fear the face of man, don't follow the multitude. He says, do what's right in the eyes of God. Not just what people want. But you see, today they just want to be elected, they're just gonna do what people want. You know, they're gonna go like this and decide what they're gonna do. Instead of having integrity and saying, you know what, I'm gonna do what's right no matter what. That's the same thing in a family. My family is not a democracy. We don't vote in my family on what we're gonna do and what this is. My family is a dictatorship, okay? Just guess who the dictator is. I'm gonna sit there and have a vote. And look, I might make a decision that might make my family upset, but guess what? I'm gonna make the right decision. My goal is to see what God wants me to do and make the right decision. Now hopefully that's what my family wants. Hopefully my family likes that decision. But guess what? If they don't like that decision, it doesn't really matter. I mean, what if we ran our church as a democracy? Okay, who wants to use the NIV? You know, let's have a vote. Okay, who wants to use the King James? Okay, well, 51% want the NIV, so I guess I'm preaching on the NIV. Okay, who wants rock music? Okay, who wants to sing the hymns? I mean, have we ever had a vote like that? I mean, stop and think about that. The majority is usually wrong. Broad's the way to the least of destruction, and many of their viewpoints go in their act. And so the job of a leader is to do what's right, not to figure out what everybody wants and then just give them what they want. Figure out what my kids want and just give it to them. Figure out how the church members want this church. I'm gonna send around a survey and see how people want me to preach. How do you think I should preach? I'm gonna get in, look at it, see what people want, and we give them what they want, because they hired me to do that. No, I'm not just some hired preacher. Like, I'm just hired to just preach and to do what you say and preach how you want me, but no, I'm gonna do what's right. You know, and if you don't like it, then go find another church. And if enough people don't like it, then just throw me out from being the pastor and go get some other pastor that you do like. But the bottom line is I'm not anybody's puppet up here. I'm a leader, okay? I'm not following your directive. I'm leading the church. I'm saying, hey, this is what the Bible says. This is where we're going. We're preaching this way. We're doing this kind of soul-winning. We're having this kind of music. We're having this kind of preaching. It's not up for debate. It's not a vote. It doesn't matter. I'm gonna do what's right. That's all I know how to do. I don't know how to do some other method of preaching. And I'm not saying I'm perfect, but I'm saying my goal is to do what's right, according to God's Word. And if I'm not suitable to be followed, then throw me out and get somebody else. Get your little puppet up here that'll preach and say and do what you want him to do. But that's not who I am. And would to God that our political leaders would be the same way and just say, well, I'm not your puppet. I'm gonna do what's right. If you don't like it, then vote for somebody else. This is who I am. That's what we need people with integrity. People, and the Bible tells us that we should not follow man's directive as a leader. A judge in the Old Testament was a ruler. He was a leader. A pastor is a leader. A father in the home is a leader. You know, if you own a business, you're a leader, okay? It's your job to lead and to do right and to make the right decisions, not to make the decisions that people want. You know, to vote and decide what people want. That's not what God intends us to do. Because just because people approve of something doesn't make it right. Now, you know, and I'll just read this verse for you quickly, go back to Acts 25. I'll quickly read this verse for you. Ecclesiastes 5-8 says, If thou seest the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgment and justice in a province, marvel not at the matter. He says, like, don't be surprised when you see the oppression of the poor and violent perverting of judgment in a province. He said, that shouldn't surprise you. You know, man is a sinful creature. And because of man's sin, people who get into power are corrupt in many cases, and they pervert judgment. Festus perverted judgment because he was trying to please the Jews. Felix perverted judgment. He's trying to please the Jews. He's trying to please man. He didn't do what he knew in his heart was right. He did what people wanted. Don't be surprised by that, but the Bible says, for he that is higher than the highest, regarded, and there be higher than that. He says, they're not the top of the ladder. God will judge unrighteous rulers, and God will bring. And that's why we don't have to worry about it. He says, don't marvel about it. Don't frighten out thyself because of evildoers. I don't just have to go through my life every day and say, oh man, this is not fair. These rulers are so wicked. These politicians, and they're not. Because guess what? I know that they're going to be punished by God. I don't have to avenge it. I don't have to worry about it. The Bible says, vengeance belongeth unto me, sayeth the Lord. I will repay. I don't have to worry about it. God will bring it into justice. And so he says, hey, don't get all bent out of shape when you see it happening. God's going to bring them into judgment. But you need to just take heed on yourself and be righteous and do right. He says in Acts 25, here, let me get back there myself. Basically what it ends up is, they come down and bring all these railing accusations against them. Festus is up there like, what? This is what he's accused of? This is why he's been in jail for two years? Because of some doctrine about religion? So then he says, okay, well, why don't you go to Jerusalem to be judged? Well, Paul, he knows what's going on because he already knew about their plan to kill him the first time. So he says, I'm not going down there. He says, I'll appeal it unto Caesar. So he's basically using his rights as a Roman citizen. He can appeal to Caesar like any Roman citizen who's being treated unfairly in a courtroom type setting can appeal unto the highest ruler in the land and be judged directly by Caesar. It'd be like today, people appealing something under the Supreme Court. He's appealing it unto Caesar. So he basically decides that he's gonna go to Caesar to be judged. And basically, Festus says, okay, I shall appeal unto Caesar at the end of verse 12. Unto Caesar shalt thou go. Now look, if you would, to Acts chapter 26, verse 31. Just, you're in chapter 25. Look over to chapter 26. Look at verse 31. This is skipping ahead a little bit. This is after Paul has already preached to Agrippa. And remember, Agrippa almost gets saved. Paul is in the courtroom. He preaches to Agrippa. And Paul is pleading with Agrippa to be saved. And Agrippa says, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. He's like, wow, you almost convinced me to be saved to believe on Christ, to follow Christ. And of course, Paul is preaching the truth to him. So Agrippa is really impressed by Paul. And he doesn't think that there's anything wrong with him. In fact, he's thinking about getting saved himself. But it says in verse 31, when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves. This is Festus, Agrippa, and Agrippa's wife. This man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. So Festus is coming right out and saying, this guy has not done anything wrong. He doesn't even deserve to be in jail. Agrippa says the same thing. But watch this in verse 32. Then said Agrippa unto Festus, this man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar. Now look, here's the situation. There's, and I've heard people interpret the Bible this way too. Like, well, Paul messed up when he appealed to Caesar. Because they said Paul messed up because if he hadn't appealed to Caesar, he would have been set at liberty. But what would have happened if he hadn't appealed to Caesar? They would have killed him. They would have killed him. Okay, so I mean, that wasn't really an option. Because they're basically saying, yeah, he probably would have been acquitted. He probably would have been declared not guilty. Why did he appeal to Caesar? Now we gotta send him to Caesar. He probably would have been set at liberty. But they weren't gonna send him at liberty. They were gonna send him to Jerusalem to be judged. He's gonna be ambushed and killed. And so Paul did the smart thing here just to stay alive, just to save his skin. He appeals unto Caesar so that he doesn't get murdered along the way. So he didn't make a mistake here by appealing to Caesar. He did the smart thing. Now you say, well, what eventually happened to him? Well, we're gonna get there later in the chapter or later in the book of Acts, that is, when he gets brought there. I personally, I've been taught my entire life, and you can start thinking about this over the next few weeks. I've been taught my entire life that Paul was sent unto Rome and he was there for a couple of years in prison and that then his head was cut off by Nero, Caesar. Who has heard that before, that Paul was beheaded by Nero? It is not true. I do not believe it for one second. I've been studying the Bible on this, and sometimes you just assume things and just take things for granted because of the fact that you just hear them so many times you just assume like, oh yeah, history tells us that he's beheaded by Nero. Well, guess what, history tells a lot of things. It doesn't mean that they're biblical. I don't believe that the Bible teaches that for one second. The Bible does not mention that anywhere. And if you look at the last thing that it says in the book of Acts, Paul is basically just on house arrest. He's able to come and go, his friends are able to come, and he's soul winning every day, he's preaching the gospel to people, he's wanting people to cry, no man forbidding him. Then if you look at Paul's epistles, in the book of Philippians, he says, all the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. He's writing to the Philippians from Rome saying that people in Caesar's household say hi, and they're saved because I got them saved. He said, all the saints salute you. Hey, by the way, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. Saints of Caesar's household? Now, he didn't say that Caesar got saved. He didn't. And we don't even know which Caesar it was. They said, oh, it's Nero and whatever. We don't know exactly which Caesar, we don't know exactly what year this is taking place. We know that people in Caesar's household did get saved, because Paul was winning souls everywhere he went. And we ought to be the same way. And so he's in prison, he's in all these places, he's given the gospel to people. But not only that, in 2 Timothy, the last book that Paul ever wrote, he talks about the fact that he's gonna be gone soon. He says, for I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. The Bible talks about death as a departure, the spirit departs the body. And he says, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I've fought a good fight, I've finished my course, I've kept the faith, henceforth there is laid out for me a crown of righteousness, the Lord, the righteous judge, to give me a third to second, third to second Timothy chapter four. We'll close on this, because you say, you know, man, did he mess up by healing the Caesar? He's gonna get his head cut off now. He might have been sent to liberty. Well, let's look at the Bible. Put that out of your mind, because you can't just trust things that people tell you historically, because most of the time they're not accurate. I mean, that was thousands of years ago. People know very little about events in those times. They're going by very little evidence. So here's the last chapter of the last book that Paul wrote, because in this book, he's referring to the fact that he's about to be gone. He's about to die. Hey, I've fought a good fight, I've finished my course, I'm about to be offered, he said in verse seven, or verse number six, I'm now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. So what is he referring to? He's referring to the fact that he's about to die. He's referring to the fact that he's going to be gone soon. So does he know that he's about to die? Yeah, he knows. I mean, he has a premonition to die, and he realizes that he's about to be gone, but yet, go back, if you would, to verse number 10 of chapter three. It says, verse 10, but thou has fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra, what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. But evil men and, yea, all that will look godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, but evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, but on the extra, if he's about to be executed for preaching the gospel, why would he say, you know, I endured a lot of persecutions, but I was delivered out of them all? Except this one, okay? Because it was a thing. It's not like he doesn't know what's gonna happen. He's saying, I'm about to die. But if he was about to die by being executed, why would he say I was delivered out of every persecution? And why did he say in verse 10 with the, I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion? He says, the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom to be glory forever and ever, amen. I mean, he's saying like, hey, God's protecting me from all I've been through persecution. I've been beaten. I've been, you know, in prison. I've been, but you know what? God has delivered me. He's gonna protect me. I'm gonna be okay. But you know, he's saying, you know, my time at Parch's Dam, I fought a good fight. So he's not talking about the fact he's about to be killed. There's no mention of that. He's saying he was delivered from persecution. And go to Acts 28. I'll close on this. And you know, I bring this up in a few weeks before we get to chapter 28 because maybe you can think about it and do your own Bible study. Study to show thyself approved unto God and see if you can find any evidence in this book that Paul was put to death by Caesar. It's just not there. You're not gonna find it. You know, and if you find it, let me know. But look at Acts 28. This is the last verses of Acts 28, verses 30 to 31. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house. What does that mean in his own hired house? That means he's renting his own place. Is he in jail? Is he in prison? No. So here he is. He's brought there as a prisoner to Rome to appeal unto Caesar. And it says he dwelt two whole years in his own hired house. So that's, boy, that's maximum security prisoner right there. And received all that came in unto him so everybody could come see him whenever they want. Preaching the kingdom of God. So what's he doing with his time? Preaching the gospel, preaching the kingdom of God. And teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. And that's the end of the book of Acts. So look, something happened at the end of those two years because it gives a time frame. It says he lived there in his own hired house for two years. Did he live there for three years? No. Something happened at the end of that two years. Now, you say, what happened? Oh, he was beheaded. He was killed. Is that what it looks like is happening? Is there any scripture that says that? No, if he lived there for two years, then he'd probably just died of natural illnesses after two years, okay? And so you can't just take things for granted that you hear. I mean, I've heard so many things in these Christian schools and Bible colleges and Sunday school classes where they do history, and you can prove it false with the Bible. You can prove that it's a lie. I mean, I remember that picture I had, it was from Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary. People are always telling me, you need to read more than the Bible. You need to study the history and the customs. And there's this picture in Zondervan's Pictorial Dictionary. It said, this is the eye of the needle. Because you know how the Bible says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle? Than for a rich man to be saved? Well, here's what history tells us. It wasn't really talking about the eye of a needle. There was this gate in the wall in Jerusalem called the Needle's Eye, and it was just a really low gate, and in order for a camel to go through that gate, it had to be completely unloaded and get on its knees and be stick through this gate. And that is what Jesus was afraid of. So then there's this picture in the Zondervan Illustrated Bible Dictionary that said the Needle's Eye, and you see this little short door, where a camel could have to be totally unloaded and shoved through on its knees, and then right next to it is just a huge gate. Okay, now something about it. Who's ever worked in a warehouse before? Like with forklifts around? I work in warehouses all the time because I install fire alarm systems, and I install them in tons of warehouses. And you know how you'll have like a man door like this, and then what do you have right next to it? A big old roll-up door, big overhead door that trucks pull into, okay? So here's an idea. Instead of everybody unloading their camel, unloading everything on their camel and shoving it through on its knees, why didn't they just go through the other door that's right next to it? See how stupid people are? People just look at it, oh, there it is. Did you know that? Did you know that Jesus wasn't really talking about it in Needle's eyes? Look at this picture. And they sell millions of copies of that stupid book. It doesn't say that. It says it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be saved. And you know what the Jews said to him, or not the Jews, you know what his disciples said to him? They said, hey, how can anybody be saved then? They didn't say, oh, you have to get on your knees to get saved. You gotta unburn yourself of all your sins. You gotta, I've heard people use this. You gotta unburn that you gotta get on your knees to be shoved into it, you know, whatever. No, they said, hey, that's impossible. They said, hey, then nobody can be saved, Jesus. And you know what Jesus said? He said, with men, it is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. And the reason he said it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, he's saying that it's impossible for you to be saved. But with God, it's possible. You can't do it in the flesh. It's not possible. But through Jesus Christ, you can be saved. But not through the flesh. You can't do it. You can't earn your way, and you can't get to heaven on your own. It's gonna have to be a miraculous work of God that you're saved. And they'll say that, you know, when the Bible says that John the Baptist was eating locusts and wild honey, those weren't really locusts. It was really this kind of fruit that was just called locusts. You know, when he was eating grasshoppers, it was actually those cookies that they sell at the store that were called grasshoppers. You know what I mean? When he, you know, I mean, people will try to twist the Bible, and it's all through history. It's all going back to the Greeks. It's all going back, but if you stop and analyze it, it's nonsense. And here's another thing that we're all just taught our whole life. Paul had his head cut off by Nero in such and such the year, and he was put to, to me, the Bible is saying that he was preserved from all that. So, just, you know, and you know, if you could prove me, and I'll challenge you to prove me wrong, you know, and if you prove me wrong, then I'll admit that I'm wrong. I mean, you know, hey, I don't know everything, but I'm just saying that I started questioning this recently, and I went through the whole Bible, and I'm saying that it didn't happen, based on the Bible. This is the only book that we can trust. We can't trust some history. We can't trust some Bible dictionary, you know, that shows people shoving a camel through a little door. There's a big, giant door right next to it, it's stupid. All right, but let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer tonight. Father, thank you so much for the man like the Apostle Paul, who preached the gospel everywhere he went. He once sold to Christ, even when he was in prison, even when he was in Caesar's household, even when he was in Rome. Everywhere he went, he preached your word, and he went all the way to the finish line. He didn't get old and say, oh, you know, I'm too old for this. He kept preaching the gospel all the way up to the very end, and he finished his course, he fought a good fight. I pray that we would be the same way, dear Lord. Please just help us to study your word, to show ourselves approved, and not to just blindly believe every fable that we hear. And we love you, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.