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["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] ["Pomp and Circumstance"] Alright, well thanks for coming everybody. Let's go ahead and take our seats and we'll begin the service tonight. We'll go ahead and take our seats and turn up the song number 68. Remembering in Heaven, that's going to be song number 68 tonight. We'll open up with song number 68. ["Remembering in Heaven"] ["Remembering in Heaven"] ["Remembering in Heaven"] ["Remembering in Heaven"] ["Remembering in Heaven"] ["Remembering in Heaven"] ["Remembering in Heaven"] That's good. Come over here. This time we have an unbelievable week to come into your house. We're preaching with your word. I pray, Lord, you'd meet with us tonight. You'd help me, Lord, to edify your people. And Lord, that we'd be a lot closer to you rather than here tonight. Yes, it seems in Christ's name. Amen. Amen. For song number 3, Jesus paid it all. Song number 3. ["Jesus with the North-East End"] The saints pray, the Lord is great, and the strong are the leaders of the country, and they weep and they weep. Jesus with the North's end all alone, sing in heaven with praise his name, we worship as one. Oh, Mary, with thee I come, I come, I come alone. Let it change the language of God, sing in heaven my heart is full. Jesus with the North's end all alone, sing in heaven with praise his name, we worship as one. Oh, Mary, with thee I come, I come, I come, I come alone. Sing in heaven with praise his name, we worship as one. Oh, Mary, with thee I come, I come, I come, I come alone. Jesus with the North's end all alone, sing in heaven with praise his name, we worship as one. Let it change the language of God, sing in heaven with praise his name, we worship as one. Let it change the language of God, let it change the language of God. Jesus with the North's end all alone, sing in heaven with praise his name, we worship as one. And if you'd like to pull it in, just go ahead and lift up your hand, Brother Adam will bring you one. As always, we have a service times there in the upper left-hand side, we're in Acts check number 21 tonight. We've got the salvation, the baptisms for both month and year, and then a few notes for those that are visiting, and of course, on the right-hand side, we celebrated the October birthdays this last Sunday. Don't forget, there it is, the small town swimming trip to Eloy coming up next Saturday, so that's going to be October the 14th. I'll have a sign-up sheet tonight for that, I've got that in my bag, I just need to get it out. But if you'd like to join us on Saturday, who here thinks they would like to go or potentially go? Just like you guys, I get an idea. Okay. Alright, so that'll be available, and then of course, on the back, we've got a great success to the Dominican Republic, and then below that, the yearbook portraits coming up, Sunday, October 29th. We've got the background color, which is blue this year, so make sure you come out and get your photo taken, practice smiling between now and then, if you can do that, manage somehow, and get a high-quality resolution photo for your family and being the yearbook. We'll go down in history. Below that, we've got the annual chili cook-off coming up at the end of the month, and we've got just a couple rules to keep in mind, no preseason packets, no MSG, and then, I'm saying that for the sake of one person in particular. I'm not going to say who, because I don't want to embarrass Rob. He's asking. So you've got to keep an eye on that guy back there. He's always trying to find a loophole, right? Which I don't know why, because you're renowned, you're cooking, your reputation as a cook precedes you, and it's a good reputation. You're too good for MSG, brother. I don't mean to rely on these gimmicks, these hacks. Start with the MSG. Next thing, you're going to start cooking up alley cats. It's not going to be good. All right, so stay off that hard stuff. Use your skills. Get creative if you want, but no preseason packets. You know the deal. It's got to be from scratch, and we did move back the cutoff time to 6 p.m. this week, or this month, excuse me, and then, as always, we'll have sides provided. I don't know that we'll have the spice lighter. I think my wife's back there hidden away in the nursery right now, but did she do the spice lighter girls last year? Yeah, so we'll have the spice lighter, too, which is great. And then you've got the missions conference coming up at the end of next month, as well as the annual church picnic up there in Tempe. Let's go ahead and count up solely here quickly, just going back to Monday. Anybody has anything from Monday to report, or from Tuesday? Three. Three for Tuesday. And then anything from Wednesday? Two. Two. And what about today? Today. Today. Okay. All right. We'll keep up that great work so many, and we'll go ahead and sing another song before we get into preaching tonight. We'll go over to song 138, even abreast. That's song number 138. Okay. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. One, two, three. Again there in verse one of Acts chapter number 21 where the Bible reads, and it came to pass, After we were gotten from them and had launched, we came straight with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara. In finding a ship sailing over unto Phoenicia, we went aboard and set forth. Now when we had discovered Cyprus, we left it on the left hand and sailed into Syria and landed at Tyre, for the ship there was to inlaid her burden. In finding disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit that we should not go up to Jerusalem. When we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way, and they all brought us on our way with wives and children till we were out of the city, and we kneeled down on the shore and prayed. When we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship and they returned home again. We had finished our course from Tyre, we came to Ptolemus and saluted the brethren and abode with them one day, and the next day we that were of Paul's company departed and came unto Caesarea, and entered the house of Philip the Evangelist, which was one of the seven, and abode with him. The same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy, and we tarried there many days, we came down from Judea, a certain prophet named Agabus. When he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle and bound him with his hands and his feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owned this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. And we heard these things, both we and they of that place besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. But Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at the Jerusalem for the name of my Lord Jesus. And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. And after those days we took up our carriages and went to Jerusalem. There went with us also certain of the disciples of Caesarea, and brought with them one nascent of Cyprus, an old disciple, with whom we should lodge. And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following, Paul went in with us unto James, and all the elders were present. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly the things that God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. When they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews which are here believe, there are, excuse me, which believe, and they are all zealous of the law. And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. What is it therefore? The multitude must needs come together, for they will hear that thou art come. Do therefore this that we say to thee. We have four men which have a vow on them. Take them, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads. And all may know that those things which they were informed concerning thee are nothing, but thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we have written and concluded that they'd observed no such thing, save only that they keep themselves from things offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangle, and from fornication. Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them, entered into the temple to signify the accomplishment of those days of purification. Until that, an offering should be offered for every one of them. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, saying out, Men of Israel, help, this is a man that teacheth all men everywhere against the people, and a law, and this place, and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. For they had seen before him in the city of Trophimus and Ephesian, they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple. And all the city was moved, and the people ran together, and they took Paul and drew him out of the temple, and forthwith the doors were shut, and as they went about to kill him, the tidings came under the chief captain of the band, and that all Jerusalem was in an uproar, who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them, and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains, and demanded that he was who he was, and what he had done. And some cried one thing, and some another, among the multitude, and could not know the certainty for the atonement he commanded him to be carried into the castle, and he was come upon the stairs, so it was, that he was born of the soldiers for the violence of the people. For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, saying, Away with him! And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee, who said, Canst thou speak Greek? Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days made us an uproar, and led us out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city, I beseech thee, saw for me to speak unto the people. And when he had given him license, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people, and when was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, Let's go ahead and have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, again, I ask that you would help me tonight, Lord, to preach your word, so that your people would be edified by it, and Lord, that you would meet with us, and Lord, you would minister to our hearts. We ask in Christ's name. Amen. So we're there again in Acts chapter number 21, and we get really just in the beginning here, just some more of Paul's movements as he's making his way down to Jerusalem. If you remember last week, he had the meeting with the elders of Ephesus, and said that he was going to be going down there, and that they would see his face no more. So he's continuing on in that journey to be in Jerusalem, and we kind of get an idea of how this turns out here at the end. But really there's some details in this chapter, and when you kind of pay attention to the different characters involved, you can see a bit of a theme develop. And really this is a very encouraging, and also a very frustrating chapter to read. There's certain characters that are very encouraging, and then there's other characters in here that are very disheartening, and even aggravating in my opinion. And the first person I want to look at, of course, is the person of Philip. I won't take the time to reread all of the first seven verses, but it says there in verse 8, In verse 8, the next day, we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea, and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven, and abode with him. So this is probably a familiar name if you were paying attention, but Philip is one of the seven deacons that were ordained back in chapter number 6. In fact, he is the second one that's named on that list. Of course, you have Stephen first, and then Philip. And Stephen, we know, was martyred. But Philip here is a very encouraging character for several reasons, and mainly, really the main reason is because of the fact that he is found to be a faithful man. And there's really nothing, really a better compliment you can pay somebody than to tell them that they're a faithful man. If you would, go over to Acts chapter number 8, Acts chapter number 8. We're going to take a look at some things about Philip. And it says there that Philip was the evangelist. Now, of course, he was ordained as a deacon back in Acts chapter number 6. But if you remember, after the persecution of Stephen, and everybody was scattered from Jerusalem, Philip then becomes an evangelist, and we see his evangelism take place in Acts chapter number 8, where he's traveling about and preaching the gospel, of course, most famously to the Ethiopian eunuch. It's a story we're all very familiar with. So that's the Philip that we're talking about tonight. We have Philip in Acts chapter 8, and then he's showing up again tonight in Acts chapter number 21. He was the deacon who became the evangelist in Acts chapter number 8. And I know we know the story, but we'll look at it very briefly here. It says in verse 26, So we see that Philip here is actually being spoken to by the angel of the Lord. He's being led of the Spirit to go and preach the gospel unto this eunuch. Now, what's interesting is in Acts chapter number 21, you can keep something there in both places, is that it's kind of the opposite story with Paul in Acts chapter 21. The Holy Spirit is trying to tell him not to go to Jerusalem, but he keeps insisting on going. And it's because the Holy Spirit had perhaps other plans. And that's made very clear. Paul is warned several times not to go down into Jerusalem. In fact, even Agabus shows up there and binds him with that girdle. And he says, Thus shall sayeth the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle. And I don't think he was just making that up. I think that really was the Holy Spirit speaking there. One, because it came to pass. Because he was bound, he was taken, and eventually the Romans came, of course, and took him into prison. And, of course, we had very plainly earlier, it was stated that he was forbidden to go down there. It says in verse 4 of Acts 21, In finding disciples, we tarried there seven days, who said to Paul through the Spirit that he should not go up to Jerusalem. And that's the narrator of Scripture speaking there said that they said these things in the Spirit. So the Spirit of God is actually trying to lead Paul away from Jerusalem. And yet he's going. So Paul, you know, we see is somebody who had some growing of his own to do. And the last half of Acts 21 makes that perfectly clear. That there's still some things he hasn't gotten straightened out. It's hard for us to grasp and wrap our heads around sometimes when we read the Epistles because Paul has it locked down in the Epistles and he's so vehement in the Epistles about not observing the law, not observing, you know, the things of Moses, circumcision, so on and so forth, all these things. And yet in his life story, we read things, chapters like Acts chapter 21, and we're left kind of scratching our heads wondering what's going on here. And again, we're just reminded that the men of the Bible are just that, just men. But isn't it interesting that we have this character showing back up in Acts 21 who has been faithful from where he started out to where he ended up in Caesarea. He's been faithfully serving the Lord, somebody who's just being led of the Spirit and just serving God, and then you have Paul who's kind of, you know, going against the Spirit. And that's not necessarily a hard knock on Paul. His motives were, of course, right. You know, he says that he was willing to die for the Lord Jesus, not to be bound only but also to die for his Lord Jesus Christ. And I believe that was his motive. That's what he wanted to do. And we know elsewhere in Scripture that Paul has a very strong burden for his kinsmen in the flesh, the Jews. So you can kind of see why, you know, Paul still had this hang up and why he was even willing to go against what the Spirit was trying to tell him. He might have just written it off. He might have just said, oh, you guys are being dramatic. You know, that's not really the Spirit speaking there. You know, we have the advantage of stepping back from the whole situation and having the Bible tell us, oh, that was in fact the Spirit. Paul at the time might have just written that off. So it's important to be sensitive to the Spirit's leading in your life. He might end up somewhere that he'd rather not have you be, no matter how good your intentions are. If they're not where God would have you to be, you know, that's not good. Not to say that God can't still use you. We know the story that eventually he goes into prison and the angel comes and comforts him and tells him that he'll go to Rome, he'll preach there, that his life is going to be preserved. But let's focus again here on Philip here, the evangelist. So we see first of all that Philip is somebody who's being led of the Spirit. It says the Lord spake unto Philip, arise and go toward the south. And it says, and he arose and went. I love Philip's attitude. Wherever God sends me, that's where I'm going to go. If God says, go here, that's where I'm going to go. There's no debating about it. He just gets up and he goes. Then the Spirit said unto Philip, go in here and join thyself to this chariot. Now did he tell him how to get there? Did he say in what manner? Did he say run? No, he didn't. But it's, you know, Philip ran thither to meet him, right? This is why he could never be an evangelist. It says, and Philip ran thither to meet him. So he just sees, hey, I got to catch up to this chariot and just runs after it, right? He doesn't go, oh, but Lord, it's in a chariot, it's so much faster than I can move. Running is hard, it's exhausting, I don't know if I really want to do that. You know, he was doing whatever it took to get to that Ethiopian eunuch. So Philip here is a very faithful man, somebody who is willing to do what it takes and is willing to go wherever it is that he's sent. It says there, of course we know the story, he preaches the gospel to him and he baptizes the Ethiopian eunuch in verse 38. And he commanded the chariot to stand still and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip and the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing. So that's a pretty exciting baptism when the guy who baptizes you just disappears. When all of a sudden you come out of the water, you know, you wipe the water away and the guy's like, congratulations, and you go to shake his hand and all of a sudden it's not there, right? He just takes off and he's led away. But notice in verse 40 it says, well let's finish verse 39. When he's come up out of the water, the spirit of the Lord caught away Philip and the eunuch saw him no more and he went on his way rejoicing. So the Ethiopian eunuch is saved, he's glad, he's going on his rejoicing and then we are told what happened to Philip. It says in verse 40, excuse me, but Philip was found in Azotus and passing through he preached in all the cities until he came to Caesarea. So you can see why he's called Philip the evangelist and that's how we get the sense of what an evangelist is. It's somebody that goes out and preaches the gospel. Now, you know, sometimes that's an ordained position within a church where that's just what somebody does. Perhaps they preach, you know, behind the pulpit. They might offer leadership within the church. They might not, you know, perhaps be a final authority within the church. They might have the pastor over them. But, you know, that is one biblical model that we see of the evangelist as somebody who just goes out and is ordained to preach, right. That's what Philip is doing and that's why he's known as Philip the evangelist here who was once the deacon. And in a sense, you know, we can all fulfill that role. That's something we're all supposed to do. We can all go out and preach the gospel. We can all be like Philip, okay. In fact, we're told to. The Bible says go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature and that's for every single one of us. That's not something that's, you know, meant for some people and not for others, okay. That's something we're all supposed to be doing. The question is, do we do it? Are we like Philip tonight? Are we like this faithful man, Philip? When the spirit says go, do we just say send me and do we go? And when we, you know, run into a difficult circumstance, do we let that stop us from preaching the gospel to somebody? Are we like Philip? We see, oh, it's a chariot. It's moving faster than I can walk. Let me pick up the pace. Or are we like many today who would just say, well, you know, it's too fast. Somebody else will get them, right. Somebody else will catch up to that Ethiopian eunuch and they'll preach in the gospel. Well, you know, maybe. But then again, maybe not. Perhaps, but perhaps not. You know, are we willing to gamble with another person's soul that way? To just say, well, someone else will get them. And let me tell you tonight, there's many Baptists today that they are willing to gamble. In fact, they're banking on it. They're saying, oh, if God really wants them saved, somebody else will preach in the gospel and thereby excusing themselves from going out and doing what Christ commanded us to do. This Calvinistic thinking that's crept into Baptist churches that once were strong on soul winning, that were against these kind of doctrines of predestination and others, where they're just counting on the fact of, well, if God wants them saved, it will happen. No, we are ambassadors for Christ. God, you know, beseeches them through us. You know, it's our job, our duty. If we don't preach the gospel, it will not be preached. If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. So we need to be like Philip. We need to obey the command to go. The Spirit has told us, arise and go. And when it's difficult, when it's hard, when it's hot outside, when it's, you know, we don't feel like it, when it's a chariot that's moving a little faster than we care to move, well, you know, that's not an excuse. That's just a time to, you know, pick up the pace a little bit and get moving. Because you never know what might happen. You never might know who you're going to speak to. You never know, you know, who it is that you're going to end up preaching the gospel to. You know, and somebody might get saved, and they're going to go on their way rejoicing. And in all likelihood, so will you. So we see that Philip is an evangelist here, and that's a model for the rest of us. We should all fulfill that evangelist. Now, I think Philip maybe was fulfilling more of an official role in that capacity. You know, maybe he was part of the local church there. He was in leadership to some degree or whatever it is. But nonetheless, he's an example of being faithful to the calling that was given to him and just serving God day in and day out. If you look there in verse 40, it says at the end there that he came to Caesarea, right, which is where we find him. And you can go ahead and turn back to Acts 21. We're done there in Acts 8. That's where Philip is in Acts 21. Now, a lot of time has passed between Acts 8 and Acts 21. Many, many years have gone by. And yet, Philip is right where we left him in Acts chapter 8. He's still in Caesarea. And he still has enough of a reputation that when Paul rolls into town, they say, well, you need to go see Philip. You need somewhere to stay? Go see Philip. He's a faithful man. He's somebody who is given to hospitality, right? He's somebody that will take you in and will be a good testimony to you. He was someone that would treat you well, Paul. So what a great thing to have someone like Paul show up at your door saying, hey, do you mind if I crash here, right? Of course, you know, that would be an honor, wouldn't it? But who was that honor bestowed upon to be able to host a great man of God? Well, it was Philip. And what is it that Philip did to earn that honor? He was just faithful. He was just right where he was supposed to be. He was willing to go wherever the Spirit led him. He would go there. But whenever the Spirit said, this is where I want you, that's where he was. And it appears from the story that while, you know, he went and preached while he was going through all these other cities. He was willing to go that eventually he landed in Caesarea, and that's where the Spirit said, okay, now stay here. Stay here and preach, be an evangelist, and, you know, continue to just, you know, serve God the best of your ability. And that's, you know, it's kind of an interesting thing that from Acts 8 to Acts 21, you don't hear anything about Philip. He's just kind of behind, you know, he's, you know, in the background. He's not even really in the background. He's just not even there. He's not, you don't hear anything about him. But we know where he's at this whole time. And so many other things are happening. The Bible's focusing on all these other characters, of course, namely Paul, and we learn a lot of things from that. But, you know, that's a lesson in and of itself is that Philip is just there faithfully serving all those years going by, you know, unrecognized by the Scripture, perhaps, until Acts 21. But is that why he's in it? Is he in it to make a name for himself? It's like I preached the other Sunday. Do you want to be somebody or do you want to do something? Right? You know, Philip was the person who just wanted to get something done. He was just the person who just wanted to preach the gospel, win souls, and really wasn't worried about having a big name. Wasn't really worried about people acknowledging him. And he's considered a very, I believe, a very faithful man. Now, if you would, go over to Proverbs chapter number 26. I want to just talk a little bit more about this. Proverbs chapter number 26, 20 verse 6, excuse me. The Bible says in Proverbs chapter number 20 in verse 6, most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness. Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness. Most guys are more than willing to tell you how great they are, how they're good at this, how they're the best at that, all their accomplishment, and boast about everything that they've done. He says there at the end, but a faithful man, who can find? It's easy to find the guy that's willing to tell you of all his accomplishments and tell you why he's a good man and to try to convince you that he's a great man, but the truly great guy, the faithful man, who can find? Well, he'd probably be a lot easier to find if he was more like these other guys that would just like to toot his own horn, but a faithful man, he's not out there making himself known. It's kind of like the preceding verse there. Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water, but a man of understanding will draw it out. A truly wise person doesn't just go around gushing out his wisdom because the Bible says speak not in the ears of a fool lest he despise the wisdom of thy words. Jesus said not to cast your pearls before swine. So a man who truly has wisdom doesn't just go around gushing. That's why it says that a man of understanding will draw it out. A person who already has understanding and wisdom, they will bring that out of a man who has counsel in his heart like deep water. How do you find that guy? Well, you don't, because he doesn't proclaim his own goodness. He's not out there like just some flowing well, it's like a sprinkler that's just kind of broken, an irrigation sprinkler that's just spraying water over the place. That's like the braggart. You know when you see one of those, right? You go, man, that thing's broken. You've got to fix that. That's the braggart. That's most men. But the other ones, all those other spigot heads, they're under the earth. They're that deep water. They're hidden. They're not as easily seen. The Bible says, but a faithful man who can find. Well, you know, Paul found one here in Acts 21. He found a guy who was just faithfully serving God at Caesarea, not trying to make a name for himself, and is willing to just be in the background, serve God to whatever capacity God deems fit. And as a result, he's actually a very blessed man. If you look at verse nine, it says, And the same man had four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. So he's raising good, godly young ladies. You know, he's just focused on being a good father. He's just focused on, you know, raising his family, being an evangelist, doing the work that God has given him, and he's blessed as a result. You know, a faithful man shall abound with blessings. You know, the just man walketh in his integrity, and his children are blessed after him, the Bible says. And that's really a great description of Philip in this passage. He's somebody who's raised virtuous daughters, and they're prophesying. You know, I don't know that it's necessarily saying that they're preaching the word of God. I believe when you look at it in the context, they're probably just another group of people telling Paul, don't go to Jerusalem, because it's kind of sandwiched between the disciples, where they de-boarded, you know, they met them, and they said, hey, by the Holy Spirit, they told them not to go to Jerusalem. He meets up with Philip, his four daughters. I believe what they were saying, were prophesying, was kind of like Agabus. They were kind of foretelling what was going to happen if he went to Jerusalem. That's just my opinion. The Bible doesn't explicitly state that here, obviously. It doesn't tell us what they said. But, you know, when you look at the context of what's taking place, there's a lot, there's other prophesying that's taking place on either side of Philip's daughters doing the same. And in both instances, it's the disciples and Agabus saying, don't go to Jerusalem. So I think that's probably what's going on here. I don't know that it means that, you know, it certainly doesn't mean that his daughter's prophesying. That does not mean that, you know, they had their own, you know, every Sunday they're getting up, or something like that, and teaching the church, okay? That's not the kind of prophesying that the Bible's talking about. That's an obvious contradiction. And then we wouldn't be able to call Philip a faithful man, right? But he is a faithful man. And as a result, you know, he walks in his integrity, and his children are blessed after him. See, this is why it's so important to be faithful. Because some people will think, well, you know, it's just me, or, you know, it doesn't really matter, or, you know, my kids will get it somewhere else. You know, if I just bring the kids to the church, they'll figure it out. You know, we as parents need to be faithful ourselves. You know, whatever we do, our children are going to do, okay? That's what I see with Philip. You know, Philip here is faithful. He's serving God. He's preaching the gospel. And his children are doing the same, okay? The Bible's kind of making it clear here that they were, you know, virgins. They're not out there, you know, living in sin. They're being filled with the Spirit here and being used to prophesy to the Apostle Paul. Obviously, these are good, godly young ladies that he's raised. And why is that? Because they've had the example of their father all those years, okay? So you can see how a just man walketh in his integrity, and his children are blessed after him. You know, if we can't be faithful for our own sake, we should be faithful for our children's sake. Be faithful to church, be faithful to soul winning, you know, and be faithful throughout the week. You know, we don't want to be somebody who comes to church and then leaves and starts to grumble about the sermon in front of our children. In fact, I would just suggest not grumbling about it at all to anybody, okay? You know, murmuring and complaining is not something that God likes, but, you know, especially in front of your kids. If we start to criticize and attack a man of God, you know, to our spouse, and our kids are overhearing this kind of stuff, I mean, they're going to develop that same attitude. And they're going to feel the exact same way towards that pastor. They're going to feel the exact same way about that ministry, okay? So we should be faithful for our children's sake. You know, if we want to have good, godly children like Philip, well then we must do as Philip did, and be faithful. Be faithful to church, be faithful to the work of God, and, you know what, if it means having to go all these chapters, if it means having to go just unnoticed by everybody else and unrecognized, so be it, okay? Because more than getting a name for oneself or having some kind of great reputation amongst, you know, other people, you know, what good is that if you don't have faithful children? If your children turn out bad. If you raise a bunch of heathen, okay? You know, if you raise a fool, you know, your soul will have no joy. It'll be a grief of mind and heart to you, okay? So be faithful. That's what I learned from Philip here, and he's a great example of that. And we see that in the story. He just shows back up, kind of out of nowhere, and, you know, we just see that he's been faithfully serving in Caesarea all these years. Praise God for men like Philip. It says in verse 11, and when he was come, excuse me, verse 10, and we tarried there many days, excuse me, and as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet named Agabus. And when he was come to us, he took up to Paul's girdle and bound him at his own hands and feet and said, thus saith the Holy Ghost, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth his girdle. So he takes Paul's girdle and binds his own hands and feet. He didn't bind Paul's, okay? He says, thus shall be done to the man that owns this girdle in Jerusalem. That's what the Jews are going to do to him. You know, I guess he couldn't, what really happened is he got jumped by the Jews, okay? I guess you can't, it's kind of hard to jump yourself, you know, as an example. You know, maybe you can start hitting himself, thus shall be done to the man by the Jews in Jerusalem, right? He's like, the girdle's enough, okay? I'm making my point. In verse 12, and we heard these things, both we and they of that place, but sought Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. So this is kind of Paul's final warning here. And everyone's been telling him this whole chapter, don't go, don't go, don't go. And it's the Holy Spirit speaking through these people about not going. Then Paul answered, what meaning to weep and to break mine heart? And he's saying, what do you mean I can't, what not to go to Jerusalem? His heart's been set on Jerusalem. He's been trying to get there for the feast, you know, for some time now. For I am not ready to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. Now, Paul, I believe, is very sincere in what he's saying here. At this point in time, he absolutely means it. He's more than willing. And, you know, at this point, there's no reason to doubt that. Paul, in many different instances throughout scripture, you know, throughout the book of Acts, has suffered. You know, he has been stoned, he has been beaten, he has gone through great tribulation to get to where he's at now. And I believe he absolutely means that he's willing to go through that. So it's kind of confusing when you get towards the last half of the chapter and you see him doing what he's doing. So he's ready to die. I believe he means it. And it says in verse 14, when he would not be persuaded, we see saying, the will of the Lord be done. Then, of course, they travel to Jerusalem. And it says in verse 17, when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following, Paul went in with us unto James and all the elders were present. So James is the one who's going to be speaking here in a minute. He's basically a leader. He's the pastor here in Jerusalem. And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly the things that God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry. And when they heard it, they glorified God and said unto him, thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe, and they are all zealous of the law. So it's kind of an odd sequence of events here. Paul comes in, tells them about the ministry to the Gentiles. They're like, oh, great, that's great. Hey, do you see all the Jews? They're instantly saying, hey, do you see all the Jews that believe? Do you see how zealous they are for the law? They instantly get on this thing, right? They give Paul his kudos for, hey, good job with the Gentiles. Now let's talk about the Jews. So they have this hang up and they're trying to, you know, draw Paul's attention to that and they're going to try and talk him into something, OK? And I'll get into the reason why I think a lot of this happened with James and others, but let's just quickly remind ourselves of the story. And it says, they are informed of thee that thou teacheth all the Jews that which are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. They're saying, Paul, they're onto your preaching. They know what you've been out there talking to everybody about, what you've been telling everybody to stop circumcising their children, which was right. They should stop following the customs and stop circumcising their children. That, you know, it profits nothing at this point. You know, there's no, there's no, the keeping of the law is done away, OK? And that's what Paul's been out there preaching and that's right, OK? But what you have here in Jerusalem with James is a bunch of people who are hanging around in their old neighborhood in Jerusalem who are just, you know, just fixated on getting the Jews saved, which are a group of people that have had the gospel preached to them, the entire ministry of Christ, and for many years beyond that, even after Jesus told them to go into all the world, he had a bunch of the apostles just stay there in Jerusalem and not go out like Paul did, not go out like others, not go out like Philip, and they just wanted to stay there and just preach, keep preaching to the group of people that had wholeheartedly rejected Christ, OK? And yeah, they had a few that, they had some that believed, but, you know, there's some major issues here, OK? And they end up talking Paul into taking this vow and going into the temple and shaving his head and observing this law, this custom that they had, thinking, oh, this is going to bring them around, because what's really going on here is these guys just want a big church. And what it's leading to is compromise. They're not supposed to be circumcising their children, they're not supposed to be observing their traditions and the law. These things are done away. But they're just like, well, we got Paul here and we know that, you know, it's not going to go over well with them that Paul's here, but we can't deny the fact that Paul's an apostle of God and is also out there doing a great work. I mean, out of his own mouth, he's had this great ministry to the Gentiles. We got to get these guys together and find some common ground, OK? Because James, I believe, is just hung up on just making sure everybody gets along and just trying to smooth things over. James is a compromiser in my book, OK? Say, well, how can you say that about a pastor? How could you say about a man of God? Oh, excuse me, do you know any pastors today that are compromisers? As if that doesn't exist today, like it's such a new thing, that's something that just came along. It's human nature, OK? And it's something that every pastor has to be on guard against, you know, because the temptation is to just back off, just start preaching, you know, not preaching anything that's going to upset anybody, you know, and if you do that, you just preach the things that people want to hear. That's how you build a church. You give people what they want. Oh, you want to observe the law? You want to keep going to the temple? You want to keep some of these customs? Oh, that's fine. You know, James reminds me of the seeker-sensitive pastor here, who's just, you know, he's building a community church down there in Jerusalem. You know, his ecumenical community church in Jerusalem where he's just trying to bring in a bunch of people, and then you have a man of God who's been out there paying the price for preaching the word of God, who's been out there going through hardships in the Apostle Paul, and he's trying to get Paul to compromise. And what's amazing about the story is that Paul compromises. That Paul does it. We just read it. He goes in there and shames his head, and he goes along with it. And, you know, sometimes it's hard for us to grasp that because we consider the Apostle Paul such a great, powerful man of God, and truly he is. But at the time, you know, all they know about Paul is that, oh, he was out preaching the Gentiles. They haven't read all the epistles. They don't have all these things that we have today. They don't have all the, they don't know all the things that Paul has said and so on and so forth. They just know, you know, who he is and what he's doing. To them, he's just another apostle. He's just another one that's out there. He's not as great a man of God as we might consider him to be today. You know, that's how I kind of work through this story, okay? So, in fact, Paul might even be looking at James and others, you know, the brother of, the half-brother of the Lord, and these other elders in Jerusalem and kind of maybe thinking of men more highly than he ought to. And what this speaks to, I believe, in the story is the power of peer pressure. Okay? And if the apostle Paul can get worn down and cave on something he knows is not right, you know, how much more so are you and I capable of doing that? You know, if we start to esteem men's persons and we start to have respect of persons, if we start to think of men more highly than we ought to, you know, they might be able to talk us into doing things that the Spirit wouldn't have us to do. You know, the Spirit might be saying, don't go there. And we're just, you know, we want to go to Jerusalem, then we get there, and all of a sudden we're hearing, you know, hey, you need to go in and take this vow, and we're just looking at this big church that this compromiser has built, and we're just impressed with everything that's taking place there, and we'll just go along with it. Okay? The same thing can happen in our lives. You know, we can be worn down by peer pressure, all right? Obviously there's some things that some people are never going to be able to talk us into doing, okay? But that's not to say we shouldn't be on our guard against this type of thing in our life, and not to allow people to, even well-intentioned people to misguide us, okay? But how about, how much more so, you know, especially you young people, you kids, you know, the peer pressure for you to go out and commit sin is real. The world's putting its peer pressure on you. The devil, through all his different avenues, is putting the peer pressure on you. You know, you start rubbing shoulders with certain groups of people, and they're going to make it just seem perfectly normal to go out and get involved in this sin. They're going to make it just seem, you know, well, everybody else is doing it, but the Bible says, falling out of multitude to do sin, to do evil. Falling out of multitude to do evil. You need to be a guard against peer pressure in your life. You know, if you're going to serve Christ, you're going to stand out. You're going to be a peculiar people, okay? That's what God has said. He's ordained unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works, okay? So that's just part and parcel with the Christian life, to kind of just stand out a little bit. It can't be helped. But, you know, if you get weak, you get in the flesh, you let the peer pressure get to you, you know, you'll find yourself doing things that you thought you never would have done, alright? That's the power of peer pressure. I believe that's what's going on in the story. They got the apostle Paul, and that's why he's willing to just go along with this. Look at verse 22. He says, what is it therefore, right? Again, he's, verse 21, he's saying, hey, the Jews are informed of the, that you teach to forsake Moses and circumcising the children and to not walk after the customs. What is it therefore? He's like, what's the big deal? You know, what are we going to do about this, Paul, right? You can see how James is just kind of maybe one of these smooth talking guys, okay? Now, look, I'm sure James is a saved man, and I'm sure he loved the Lord, but he's just way, way off on this one, okay? And this is a warning, you know, if all people get concerned about is having a big church and making a name for themselves, they will compromise. It's, and it's like, it's the perfect contrast to Philip, isn't it? Philip's not really interested in just being a big shot. He's like, oh, you want me in Caesarea? That's where I'll be. And he's blessed. He's got his four virgin daughters prophesying. His family's blessed. His children are blessed after him. He's blessed. He's a faithful man. He's walking in his integrity. You know, the Bible says, you know, to let another man praise thee and not thine own lips. Paul rolls in the town and says, oh, you're looking for someone to say, go see, go see Philip the evangelist. He's a faithful man. Other men said that about Philip, right? And he's just being solid all these years. And then you count, then you, you know, you have the opposite of that in James here, right? Who's just trying to build a big church. And he's willing to bend the rules or flat out break them and be a compromiser. Look, I'm not saying every guy that builds a big church is a compromiser. But you and I both know there's a lot of big churches out there and the only reason they're that big is because the guy behind the pulpit is a compromiser. Okay? Some of them are real obvious. Some of them, it's just, it's plain as the nose on your face. The Joel Steens and the other, you know, the Rick Warrens of this world. I mean, who's going to argue that that's a compromiser? I mean, they compromise doctrine. They compromise the Word of God. They compromise all of it. Okay? And as a result, they have these massive mega churches, right? But I'm telling you, this happens even within independent fundamental Baptist churches. You have guys that can build a really big church because they'll never get up and preach anything that's going to be considered too controversial. They're never going to get up and preach against the homos because they know that everyone, you know, all the people out there, everyone's got a fag uncle or cousin today or nephew or whatever else. You know, that everyone knows somebody who's a homo and they don't want to offend anybody. And they'll never touch this stuff. They won't get any more radical than what's coming across Fox News. That's as extreme as they get. Okay? I guess Trump came out and was making a stink about the fact that they're, about having, that we're debating the mutilation of children today. Right? He said, someone was telling me this, he says, I can't believe this is where we're at, where I'm having to get up and say we're not going to mutilate our children. Talking about gender reassignment surgery. Right? Hopefully there's some Baptist that will follow their idol's lead now and say, oh, well, Trump said it, you know, he talked, the basis is for it. So now I can get up and get a little bold. Like, it's so bold to say that. Like, oh, hey, let's not, let's not, you know, hack up our children. You know, wow. Right? But that's where we're at. How do we get there? Because of all the compromising that's been going on all this time. Because they, they rolled over for the fags when they wanted to get married. They rolled over for them when they came out of the closet. And they just said, well, let's not, let's not rock the boat here. Let's, and, and, and I'm telling you, these Baptist churches have just gotten softer and softer and softer. And then some man of God gets up and doesn't compromise on the word of God and just preaches it. And all of a sudden, you know, we're these extremists all of a sudden. It's like, no, we're, we're right where, you know, your Baptist forefathers were. We're right where, you know, the generations that preceded you were. We, we haven't moved. You're the one that's moved. You're the one who's compromised. Okay? And why do they do it? Because you can get more people in that way. Look, some people are more concerned with being famous than they are with being faithful. You know what I love about Philip? You know why he's so encouraging in his book? Because he's not worried about being famous. He's not like, well, you know, I was in Acts 8. It's a pretty big story. And then all of a sudden it comes about Paul. You know, where was I for all those, you know, other, you know, 13 chapters? And why wasn't I involved in all that? Why couldn't I add more part in that? You know, he's, he didn't do it, not that he did any of it to be anywhere in Scripture. Right? But he's not worried about that. He's just, hey, if it's all about Paul, it's all about Paul now. I'll just be all about Caesarea. I'll just be all about right where the Lord has put me and I'll serve God here. I'll just be all about my family and taking care of them. You know, James, it's all about Jerusalem. You know, the place God said, we're done here. And we said, go, leave this place. Go preach the gospel. I'm going to destroy this place. And he did. But they're all there. Why? Just so they can get all their old buddies and get their old family members and build some big, giant church. I'm not against a big church, but at what price? That's the question. At what price? Paul told Timothy, preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort all long-suffering doctrine. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but shall heed to themselves teachers having itching ears. Right? He said, preach it in season, out of season. When it's popular, when it's not. Someone should have told James. And I think this is a hard lesson that Paul learned here. Because what are the consequences of his compromise? He says, oh, well, you know, you're right, James, I guess. I'll go along with this. Thinking that they're all going to go, oh, okay, well, you know, now that we've got some common ground, like they're going to make peace with Paul. Is that what happened in the story? Did Paul compromise in the story? Yes, he did. Did that prevent anything bad from happening? No, it didn't. Did it change anybody's mind at all? Nope. It was too late. Look at verse 23. Do you therefore this that we say to thee? Here's what we're going to tell you what to do, Paul. We have four men which have a vow on them. It's like, what? He's saying, we do. Our church. We've got four guys that have a vow. They've taken this old tradition. They've taken this vow on them. And they're going to go into the temple and shave their heads as a signification of purifying. It's like, well, I thought we did away with all that in Christ. And this isn't early on in the story where they're trying to figure all this out. We're deep into the New Testament church here. This is all becoming very apparent. At least it should have. Paul's figured it out when he's been out preaching among the Gentiles. All of a sudden he gets around these compromisers and he just goes along with it because of the peer pressure. But he's saying, we have four men. That's James speaking. We've got four guys in the church that are doing this. It's like, what's going on in this church? That's the problem with compromising. It lets sin into the church. Well, you know, you'd build a bigger church if you didn't preach against the homeless so often. You'd build a bigger church if you didn't preach against adultery and divorce, fornication and drunkenness and everything else. If you just backed off a little bit and stopped preaching on those things. You know, if you quit preaching so hard about the King James Bible and just go ahead and get yourself a new Bible, update that thing. Maybe if you, you know, got a little bit more hip music in here. Get the drum kit up here and get some guitars and everything else and start rocking out a little bit for Jesus. You know, get rid of those old hymnals and we got some big screen and a little bouncy ball for you to follow along. And then I could get some, you know, PG-13 R-rated Hollywood movies to help illustrate my points. And that sounds crazy to you, but that's what goes on out there. I've been in a church like that. Guys like, well, I'm just trying to be more relatable. So let me get some Hollywood movie up here that I watched and use this part of the plot to help illustrate my biblical points. What a bunch of garbage. What a bunch of compromising nonsense. Love not the world, not the things that are of the world. It's ridiculous. And that's compromise. But you know what? What's going to happen if you do that? You're just going to bring sin into the church. You compromise on these things and sin is just going to come right into the church. You're going to be going, we have four men that are fags sitting in the front row. Not, not referring anybody here tonight, obviously. You don't think there's Baptist churches out there that have fags in their church service and they know it? I could tell you about some. The pastor's own son is a sodomite and he sits in the front row. Because we got to love everybody. That's not Bible. That's compromise. And that's the problem with compromise is that it'll bring sin right into the church where you'll be going, well, we have four, four guys in our church that have been just all about being Judaism and just hanging on to the law and hanging on to the prophets and hanging on to Moses and all these things that have been done away in Christ. They're just all for it. Well, la di da. Send me back to Caesarea. Send me back to faithful Philip. The guy is more worried about being faithful than being famous. And Paul, you know, just goes along with it. Verse 24, Them take and purify thyself with them and be it charged with them that they may shave their heads and all may know that those things whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing. So they'll all go, oh, that must have been a rumor that we heard. Obviously, Paul's all about the, the customs and Moses and circumcision and keeping the traditions of the elders. That's what he wants them to do this for. So that they'll know that everything that they've heard is nothing. Whereof they were informed concerning thee are nothing. That, you know, they'll think that it's not true. He's saying compromise, Paul, but that thou thyself also walkest orderly and keepest the law. I mean, at this point in the story, you expect Paul to just flip out and just tear James up. You're like, what are you talking about? You compromise? Are you hypocrite? You want me to go in there just and pretend that everything I said I didn't say and go along with this? And yet he does it. He doesn't flip out. He goes along with the story. It's the power of peer pressure. That's what I think. He started out saying, hey, I'm ready to die for the Lord Jesus. He gets there. He's like, well, yeah, I'll go along with that. You know, let him that thinketh he stand and take heed lest he fall. OK, that's the lesson there. Verse 24 is touching the Gentiles, which believe we have written concluded that they observe no such thing. Say they keep themselves from things offered to idols and for blood and from strangled fornication. Right. So the problem is that they're having respect of persons. And it's amazing to hear the story and then read Paul later, his writings later, where he's saying to Timothy to that he said, I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus and Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that thou that thou keep these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. That's what he told Timothy. Observe these things without preferring one before another, doing nothing by partiality. You know, maybe that's he learned that lesson here. Right. Because that's not what's going on here. This is partiality. This is preferring. Oh, the Gentiles, that's fine for them. But, you know, with the Jews, we've got to make sure we still observe these things. It's compromise. Verse 26. Then Paul took the men and the next day, purifying himself with them, entered in the temple to signify the accomplishment of days of purification until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. It's insane. It's a crazy chapter, folks. It's the Apostle Paul we're talking about. And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews were to of Asia when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people and lay hands on him. So how'd that work out for you, Paul? How'd that work out, James? Did I get everybody on one page? Did they fall for Paul's trick? Did he fall for your little trick there? No, they're like, oh, that's him. Grab him. Verse 28. Crying out, Men of Israel, help. This is the man that teaches all men everywhere against the people and the law and this place. That's all true. He did teach all people those things. He's out there. That's what he's preaching among the Gentiles. They're right. But they're just supposed to forget that. Like, James is just trying to snow the Jews in this chapter. He's just trying to whitewash everything that Paul's done. You know, he's trying to treat it like Hillary Clinton's emails, you know, never happened. I don't know what you're talking about. He's just getting out like the black marker and just redacting everything that Paul has said. But, you know, you can't fool them. These Jews, they know it's out there. So, you know, it would have been better for Paul to just say, no, James, I'm not doing that because it would have been the exact same result anyway. Which is exactly what the Holy Spirit was telling Paul the entire time. You go down there, bud, it's not going to end well. They're going to lay hands on you. You're going to be bound. You're going to be taken captive. When he gets there and it's like, well, maybe there's a way out of this. Maybe I can maybe maybe, you know, James has got a point here. To me, this is one of the wildest stories to see a man of God like that go along with this. And it's a warning to all of us. Okay, that none of us is above compromise. None of us is above going back on things that we believe. None of us is above being pressured into doing things that we know are wrong. Okay. So they cry out and, of course, 29 is kind of their mistake in there because they see that they thought he brought some, you know, Gentile into the temple. And all the city of Versailles was moved. The people ran together and they took Paul, drew him out of the temple, forthwith and were shut the door. It's like, where's James now? Where's James and the elders now? Where are those four guys now? Why isn't he stepping up now? I mean, imagine being James in this story. Oh, whoops. Well, I didn't know I was going to get that carried away because it didn't work. You know, and that's my message to all these compromising Baptists out there. Just keep on compromising. Keep trying to just play nice with everybody. Keep trying to get along. And they're just going to tear people you care about limb from limb. The real man of God is just going to get shredded. They're just going to, you know, and you're not going to, and you won't be anywhere in sight. Look, we see it all the time. You know, people have, even our Baptist brethren have differences with us over, you know, minor doctrines. Well, I wouldn't even say minor, but, you know, doctrines that are no reason to separate over. Okay? The pre-trib, look, the pre-trib rapture is nothing to separate over. Okay? A lot of, a lot, and let me tell you something, a lot of these online people, they like to use that as an excuse to not go to a church. Because the real story is they just don't want to go to church. Because they might actually have to change something about their lives if they went to church. Because it might turn out, it might just so happen that an old IFB preacher actually does know a few things that they don't know and might actually preach some sermons that would, you know, light a fire under them. And they might have to make some changes. So it's a lot of interesting to say, well, you know, he's got an American flag in the corner, so, he's a Zionist. He's pre-tribbed. I can't go to that church. Look, we're against all those things, but that's no reason to separate from brethren over. Okay? If any one of you came into the church and said, you know what, I'm pre-tribbed, I'd say, okay, I mean, you're wrong. And I'd try to lovingly correct you, but I wouldn't be like, get out of here. You know? I wouldn't do that. But there's plenty of pre-tribbers out there, that's what they'll do to our kind. You know, you walk in and say, well, I listen to Pastor Anderson. Oh, there's a door. Oh, you're not pre-tribbed? There's a door. Oh, you're not a Zionist? There's a door. They'll kick you right out, and it's unbiblical. I have no idea where I'm going with this, where I was starting. You know, that's what happens to our, that's right, that's what happens to our brethren. They're like, you know, the old IFB is like James. They want to compromise and play nice with the world, and then like the real man of God, you know, he just gets left to the wolves. He gets thrown to the wolves. You know, and we don't have to see doctrinally eye to eye, but good night. When a Baptist preacher gets up and preaches a hard sermon against the fags, against the homeless, against the most filthy, disgusting, vile people there are in this world, against predators, against child molesters, and you can't, and our Baptist brethren can't stand alongside us on that issue? It's ridiculous. You know, go, you know, we can see, don't have to see eye to eye on Zionism and the Jews. We don't have to see eye to eye on, you know, the end times prophecy. Fine. But good night. We can't all agree that, that predators and child molesters and fags, which are all the same thing, shouldn't be allowed inside of a church. Compromiser. Compromiser. Jerusalem Baptist Church. Pastor James at the helm. And he's willing to just leave Paul out in the cold. Right? It'd be better, you know, that's why I say just don't compromise. Because they're going to get an uproar either way. Paul says just got in there, you know, the same thing would have happened. You know, at least, at least then he would have, be able to go out on a shield. At least he'd be able to go out with some integrity and say, well, I never, I never compromised. Verse 31, as they went about to kill him. I mean, that's, they're going to rip him apart. Okay? Tydings came under the chief captain of the band and all Jerusalem was in an uproar. So the Romans hear about it. We know the story. They take soldiers, they run down there and they left beating of Paul, verse 32. They see the army, you know, the cops show up and they're like, we're out of here, you know. Wasn't me. And he got jumped by the Jews. And some cried one thing and another in multitude and when he could not know the certainty for the atonement, he commanded to be carried to the castle. So he's, the Romans are saving Paul from certain death. And we know the story. He comes up on the stairs and he, and Paul still wants to speak to these people. It's like, let it go, Paul. They're done. And I mean, I know, love your enemies, you know, love them that persecute you, pray for them which despitefully use you and say all men are evil against you falsely for my sake. But it's like, Paul, they're done. You're making, you know, it's like, this should have been your clue. And, you know, he of course speaks to the chief captain in Greek and he assumes him to, he takes him for an Egyptian who would commit an insurrection at another time and place. And then you get that cliffhanger right at the end, right, where Paul speaks to them in the Hebrew tongue saying, at chapter ends. So what's the lesson we can take out of this chapter tonight? Just be faithful. Just be faithful. I love Philip in this story. Philip is one of the most encouraging people to me because he's just such a faithful guy. He's just right where he's supposed to be, doing what he's supposed to do for all the right motives. And James is kind of the opposite. He's not where he's supposed to be. Jerusalem is, they were supposed to leave Jerusalem. The Jews had their chance. They had the Lord Jesus with them for three years preaching and doing miracles. They were given opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. Meanwhile, there's Gentiles all around them who would get saved but they're just so hung up on Jerusalem and being in some particular plot of land and just trying to build a big church and they compromise. They're unfaithful to the things of God. So who are we going to be more like tonight? Or are we going to be like Paul where we're kind of caught in the middle? Well-intentioned, I'm willing to die for the Lord Jesus. Get around the wrong group of people, get some pressure put on you, you cave. The lesson is just be faithful. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. If they hated me, they'll hate you also. If they've called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they have of his house? If they hated Christ, they're going to hate us. So we might as well just be faithful anyway. Instead of just backing up and just saying, well, you know, actually, you know, preferably shave our head and, you know, go along with whatever. Whatever stupid custom just to get along because you're not going to, they don't want to get along. They want to destroy you. They want you to just, you know, they set about to kill him. Be faithful. You know, it's like the song we sang in the beginning of service. Never mind the world's praise and possessions men crave, but all for the Savior leads souls into glory and joy through eternity's day. Who cares about the things of this world? Who cares about the building a big church? Who cares about all the wealth and all the fun and all the toys and just going after the things? Who cares? What will you remember when remembering in heaven? That's what's going to matter. You know what? I want to get up into heaven and remember I was faithful. I raised a godly family. I left my children a goodly heritage. Not a bunch of money, not a bunch of things and stuff, but some real spiritual substance. That's what I'm looking to leave behind for my children. And if it means pastoring a smaller church, if it means not being some big name somewhere, so be it. I'm more interested in being a Philip. I'm dead sure have no interest in being a James tonight. Who's willing to just, you know, skip over the certain chapters in the Word of God, never go near them, never preach them, just so you can have a big fancy program. And it just seems like the day and age we're living in, it's one or the other. It's one or the other. Which one is it going to be? Are you going to be James or are you going to be Philip? Be Philip! You won't regret it in the end. You know, Paul learned a hard lesson and he's going to be licking his wounds for a little bit. It didn't have to be that way. Let's go ahead and close the Word of Prayer. Dear Lord, again, thank You for, Lord, Your faithfulness, Lord, even when we fail, when we come up short, when we do things we're not supposed to do, Lord, when we compromise, when we go against Your will, Lord. Even a great man of God like the Apostle Paul, Lord, it's plainly seen in this chapter, Lord. You told them repeatedly not to go there and he went anyway. And, Lord, thank You for Your faithfulness that even in spite of all that, You still used him, You still forgave him, You still, Lord, were able to accomplish great things through him, Lord. I pray that You'd help us to be like Philip, Lord, to just be a faithful people who can be used mightily of You and that we would seek the praise of God and not of men. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. All right, let's go ahead and sing one more song before we go tonight. We're going to sing song number 129, Rock of Ages. Song number 129. Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages. All right, thanks for coming, everybody. The art is dismissed. Have a good rest of your week. Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages.