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

for himself. I think myself happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself this day before thee, touching all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews, especially because I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are among the Jews. Wherefore, I beseech thee to hear me patiently. My manner of life for my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify that after the most straightest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers, unto which promise our 12 tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope, say King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them off in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme. And being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even onto strange cities. Whereupon, as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw in a way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me, and then was journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecuteest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest. But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness, both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Whereupon, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then to the Gentiles that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue on to this day, witnessing both the small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come, that Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. And as he does spake for himself, Festa said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself, much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festa, but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely, for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from them, for this thing was not done in a corner. King Agrippa, believeth thou the prophets? I know that thou believeth. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and they that sat with them. And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves, saying, this man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa unto Festa, this man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the Bible, dear God, for your precious words. We thank you for this precious church, and our pastor, dear Lord, please bless him as he preaches in your word tonight. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. All right, we are continuing this evening with the book of Acts, we're in chapter 26, and we're basically nearing the end of the book of Acts here. And of course, if you remember from last week, in chapter 25, Paul is still bound, and they're trying to figure out what to do with him, how are they gonna deal with him because of the fact that many people are seeking to kill him, they want him to be arrested, they want him to put him to death. But the thing is, he's done nothing worthy of death. And the authorities, the kings, the magistrates, the governors, they see this, and they understand, hey, this guy's done nothing wrong, these are his beliefs, we can't put this guy to death, we can't just do this to him because obviously it's not lawful. But they're trying to figure out what to do, and towards the latter end of chapter 26, he basically says, hey, I've appealed already unto Caesar. And therefore, at that point, they said, well, unto Caesar, thou shalt go. And it's one of those things that because he appealed to a higher authority, they basically said, okay, anything that we do is null and void. You have to go to that person, and then they'll figure out what to do with you there. Now, the purpose behind that was that Paul wanted to go to Rome. Originally, that was his original plan, he wanted to go to Rome to win people to Christ, to start churches, to bear fruit in that area. Obviously, he would have preferred to have done it through a different avenue, not through persecution, not through being arrested or being escorted and deported to that part there. He wanted to just go, but obviously he made a mistake with just going back to Jerusalem, period. But hey, all things work together for good to them that love God, and we see God redirecting them to Rome via these authorities of the land here. And so we continue with chapter 26, and he's speaking to Agrippa, King Agrippa, and he begins to make his appeal. Now, I'm tired of this sermon, basically how Paul made enemies, and I'll explain to you why in just a bit. But look at verse number one, it says, "'Then Agrippa said unto Paul, "'Thou are permitted to speak for thyself.' "'Then Paul stretched forth the hand and answered for himself, "'I think myself happy, King Agrippa, "'because I shall answer for myself this day, "'before thee touching all things whereof "'I am accused of the Jews, "'especially because I know thee to be an expert "'in all customs and questions which are among the Jews, "'wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently.'" So what do we see right off the bat? Well, we see that King Agrippa's a reasonable individual, and the reason he's reasonable is because of the fact that apparently he's an expert in the customs of the Jews. So he knows this guy's not a criminal, this guy hasn't done anything wrong, I know the customs of the Jews, I know what they believe, this guy has done nothing worthy of death, not even for their, you know, what they claim to be being worthy of death, and so he knows that. So Paul is hoping that King Agrippa is basically gonna just let him off the hook and say, all right, you're not a bad person, you're not a criminal, I'm just gonna let you go, I understand that you have these biblical beliefs or whatever, and there you have it. So he begins to reason with him, look at verse number four, he says, "'My manner of life for my youth,' he begins to go through his reputation, "'which was at first among my own nation at Jerusalem, "'know all the Jews which knew me from the beginning, "'if they would testify that after the most straitest sect "'of our religion, I lived the Pharisees.'" So what does this tell us about Paul? It tells us that people actually knew who he was in Jerusalem. So they apparently have known him since even when he was a child, they know his upbringing, they know what kind of type of training that he received, and they knew that he was of the straightest sect of the Pharisees, okay? Now, the Pharisees were somewhat of a subgroup that basically branched off of biblical Christianity, obviously it wasn't Christianity at that time, it wasn't called Christianity, but biblical belief of the true God, you understand? And so they're like a subgroup off of that, and they begin to come up with their own customs, their own traditions, and we see that basically they rejected the word of God and made the word of God null and void through their traditions. So they preferred to keep the traditions of the elders rather than keep the word of God, okay? So this group as a whole rejected the Bible and sought to make it void by their traditions. In fact, the Bible says in Mark chapter seven and verse number eight, for laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things ye do. So what do we see as a whole, Pharisees were not, it wasn't a group that was sanctioned by God, okay? Now look, there were Pharisees, they were somewhat good people. They were sincere, they were genuine, and they actually wanted the truth, I mean they believed in the resurrection, they believed that there was going to be a Christ, they believed in those essentials, but they weren't saved, obviously. And they were being taught, hey, you need to follow the traditions of the elders and go with that. But by and large, we know that the Pharisees, the sect of the Pharisees rejected Jesus Christ, okay? They were not for him at all. Now how would we compare that today? Well, think about today, all the so-called Christian groups out there, right? They claim to believe in Jesus, they claim to believe the Bible, but they reject the true way of salvation. They think it's by works or whatever. Obviously there's Catholics out there who are not saved, but there's Catholics out there that even though they're not saved, they're not hateful towards Christianity. Or if you bring them the gospel, they're very much open to the gospel. They adhere to a separate form of doctrine, but it's not to say that they hate Christianity, it's just what they were taught. That was just their upbringing, so to speak. And then you come to them, you give them the gospel, they accept it, they get saved, and they become a Christian. And there's a lot of groups like that, you know? There's a lot of people who have a different upbringing, doesn't mean they're wicked people, it doesn't mean that they're reprobates, it doesn't mean that they're heretics, it's just part of their upbringing, you understand? Their religious beliefs. But here's the thing, once they receive the gospel, obviously those things should change, right? You know, the type of church they go to, the doctrines that they adhere to, et cetera, that needs to change thereafter once they believe on Jesus Christ for salvation. Now go to Philippians chapter three, hold your place there in Acts chapter 26. So he says there, hey, I was of the straightest sect of the Pharisees. What does that mean? In other words, he was part of one of the most strictest groups of the Pharisees, okay? I mean, these people, obviously we understand his reputation, he was hauling Christians from Damascus, or he was going to Damascus to go do that, he was arresting them, he was there present when Stephen was being stoned. I mean, he was very zealous for the traditions of the elders but he wasn't saved, okay? He had zeal but it wasn't according to knowledge. Look what it says in verse number four, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he must trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law blameless, but when things were gained to me, those I kind of lost for Christ. What is he saying? Look, don't trust in your flesh, don't trust in your works to get you saved, because look, I was part of a group of believers, so to speak, this subgroup of Pharisees, we were zealous for the things of God, or at least we thought we were, and he wasn't even saved. And he specifically says, look, those things were a loss to me, like I could have those things but loss. In fact, later on he says, those are like dung to me, which is crap, okay, he's like, this is basically like crap to me, I don't adhere to any of that stuff. Which, by the way, should be our attitude, right? Once we get saved, whatever religious belief you had prior, whether you're Orthodoxy, or Catholicism, or Mormonism, or you're Jehovah's Witness, or whatever you are, once you believe in the God of the Bible, it should be said, just like Paul, well those things are dung to me now. It's not like, whoa, I gotta hold onto a little bit of that tradition, this icon, or this idol was given to me by my great-great-great-great-great-great-great- grandmother, and a whole sentiment of value, obviously that's not right, according to the Bible, flee from idolatry, the Bible says. Keep yourselves from idols, the Bible says. So we need to make sure that when we get saved, we adhere to the word of God, and adhere to that religion, right, when we get saved. Now, as I mentioned, there were some Pharisees who were genuine, and you know what, I would say that Paul was one of them. He was obviously one of them, because that's why he got saved. He thought he was doing right, but obviously he wasn't. You know, it took Jesus to get him saved, right, as far as preaching the gospel to him. You know, I believe Jesus is the one who actually got the apostle Paul saved there, but here's the thing is that what we see is that by and large, the vast majority of them rejected him, and even when the Pharisees believed on Jesus, most of them didn't even confess him. They didn't want to publicly say that they were like, you know, they believed in Jesus. It says in John chapter 12, verse 42, Nevertheless, among the chief rulers, also many believed on him, chief rulers. But because of the Pharisees, they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue, for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God. And look folks, it's the same today. You have people who get saved, and they believe on Jesus Christ, but they don't want to be associated with the church. They don't want to be associated with a church like ours. They're just like, oh man, these people are under fire right now. I don't know if I want to attend that church yet or something, you know? They're like, they don't want to do that because they don't want the heat. And basically what they're saying is like, hey, we don't want to be put out of the synagogue. We don't want the persecution. Therefore, we're not going to take a stand and say, hey, this is what I believe. You know, fool you with that. Folks, you know, these Pharisees are like Nicodemus. They come to Jesus by night. You understand? They're ashamed, they're afraid. Folks, if you are standing with a righteous person, with a righteous man in a righteous church, be open about it. I mean, think about this. He's like, yeah, but you're hated, pastor. Yeah, but there's no man who has ever hated as much as Jesus. Amen. Would you stand with him, right? You know, if you think I'm hated, look at the Lord. They hated him so much that they crucified him. They shamed him, they crucified him, they betrayed him. I mean, think about that, okay? And if they call the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call him of his household? So, you know, don't, you know, oh man, but they're saying all this manner of evil against you, calling you a devil. Well, yeah, that's because my master, that's what they said to my master. That's what they said to the master of the household. So obviously, what do you think, I'm better than Jesus? You know, these pastors out here, they want to be better than Jesus. They think they're nicer than Jesus. They think they're better than Jesus. Oh, you know, I would have handled that whole situation a little differently, pastor. You're not being very Christian, pastor. Oh, are you more Christian than Christ? Because if Jesus is the same, they're calling him Beelzebub, and they're going to call you of his household Beelzebub as well? And they don't call you the devil today? What does that say about your Christianity? Think about that, pastor. Pastors out there, man, I don't know, I just don't want to ruffle any feathers. What are you talking about? I'm not trying to ruffle feathers, I'm trying to pluck them. That's what Jesus did. You can't expect the world to love you, and look, they're always going to hate Christians. That's what Jesus said, they're always going to hate them. And look, if it's not for the sodomite issue, it would be for something else. That's how it is. If it wasn't for the sodomite issue, they would be fighting us on some other, you know, forefront of whatever biblical belief that we have. It's not the sodomite issue, it's the Bible issue. It's the God issue. So when people call me the devil, and I'm wicked, and I'm evil, I'm just like, thanks. Because that's what they call my master. That's how they revile my master, you know? But look, there's Pharisees out there, there's people who believe, and they're just like, I don't know if I can associate with this church, you know? I've had people contact me and say, we're praying for you, and I'm thinking, I want to text them back, like, hey, why don't you publicly stand with me instead? That's what I want to say. I don't want to do that, because I'm not trying to shame them and everything, but I'm thinking to myself, like, why don't you just take a public stand with me? Why don't you get on a YouTube and say, I stand with Pastor Mejia? I mean, my pastor friends do that. It's a walk in the park with them, they're just like, yeah, that's part of the job, right? I get calls from my pastor friends, they're like, right on, man, this is awesome, this is good, you know? But some people don't, because they love the praise of men more than the praise of God. They fear men more than they fear God. And so, you know, now look, here's the thing, is that when it comes to this matter of salvation, who cares if someone serves Christ thereafter? Obviously we want them to be saved immediately, right? That's the most important thing. Now we want them to serve God, don't get me wrong. But we don't go out there to say, well, I'm gonna go make sure that someone is just serving God, full-fledged after they get saved. That would be great, but the most important thing is for them to get saved, period. So thank God that some of these Pharisees got saved, amen? You know, it's their bad, and you know, it falls upon them when they reach the judgment seat of Christ, and when they see all their works burned because they were ashamed of God's man, the Bible, Jesus Christ. And in fact, Jesus said, I'm gonna be ashamed of you. Think about that. He said, I will be ashamed of you when I come in the clouds with his angels, I will be ashamed of you. You know, I don't want Jesus to be ashamed of me. And so, and by the way, you know these people out there, oh, Jesus is ashamed of you. Don't let some atheistic person who knows nothing about the Bible try to school you on the Bible. I chuckle when I see stuff like that, this person's an idiot. Like, oh, Jesus wanted to, it's like, what are you reading? Are you reading like the Torah, or like, what book are you reading? When unsaved people try to school me on the Bible, it's hilarious. Don't capitulate to that. Don't surrender to that. Laugh at that. Because that's what it is, it's funny. So look what it says in verse six, it says, Now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers. What is he saying? He's like, I'm a Pharisee, we believe in the resurrection. You know, I was a Pharisee, I believe in the resurrection. We believe in the Messiah, and these same people who claim to believe the same thing are persecuting me because of that. Ain't that something? He says, Now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers, unto which promise our 12 tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come, for which hope, say, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews. He's basically showing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. You know, it's just like, I thought you guys believed this. Don't you believe in the resurrection? Don't you believe in this doctrine? Isn't this what you believe? I mean, you fight with the Sadducees over this. I believe this, and then you just hate me. And again, it's the same thing with pastors today. It's like, you believe exactly how I believe about Sodomites. Don't even go there. You know you watch my stuff, and you're like, yeah. Yeah, they're just like, yeah. They poke their head through that, you're like, yeah, that's it, yeah. They know they like it. You come on. Come on. Any Bible-believing Christian, saved Christian, KJV-only, normal human being, they love what I'm saying. I mean, folks, there's unsafe people who are contacting me saying that they love what I'm saying. People I've never met in my life. There's like cholos out there who are contacting me, and they're just like, this is good, like, hey, that's good preaching right there, I like that. They don't even go to church. I don't know them. Their Instagram is like a middle finger, and they're just like, hey, this is good. Hey, you're right about that. Okay, how much more the one who's saved who has the Spirit of God in them? Who has the Word of God, who's read through the Bible, a pastor, they love what we say. Here's the thing is that it's just hypocrisy is what it is. And so he's being judged by what he had believed even prior to his salvation, that there was gonna be a resurrection. He just obviously didn't know that it was Jesus Christ, but he's being judged of that now. So it's just being a hypocrite, okay? But this is a classic example of the Pharisees garnishing the sepulchres of the righteous, you know? Often, you think about what Jesus said, he says, well, unto you Pharisees, hypocrites, because he built the tombs of the prophets and garnished the sepulchres of the righteous. And say, if we had been in the days of our fathers, we would have not been partakers with them and the blood of the prophets. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, the year of the children of them which kill the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. What is he saying? You guys are funny, this is ironic. You're persecuting me, and you're saying, and you're trying to praise and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, these prophets of old who preached just like me? And you're saying, yeah, if we would have been in those days, we wouldn't have been partakers of that blood. It's just like, well, by your own admission, you're saying that you're the sons of the people who kill the prophets. It's basically what he's saying. Now, what is the modern day application to this? Well, again, you have pastors today, they're like, man, J. Frank Norris was like a hot preacher, he was good, Jack Hiles, and it's just like, well, why are you hating on us then? Why are you hating on us? You know, J. Frank Norris was a fiery preacher. This guy's from the Roaring Twenties, and a tape of his actually survived, and this is when he was like a lot older, and he's just like going off. I mean, he's screaming throughout the whole sermon. And you have pastors today that love J. Frank Norris. I mean, they honor him, they garnish the sepulchres of the righteous. And he's like, why are you willing to tolerate that and claim that, yeah, yeah, I mean, that's who we are right there, that's independent fundamental, but that's who we are. What's the difference? Well, here it is. It's the fact that they're the Pharisees who garnish the sepulchres of the righteous. They're trying to make it seem as though, yeah, we would have been right there with those guys and supporting J. Frank Norris and supporting John the Baptist. We would have supported, you know, Jack Hiles, and we would have been there right there with them. Liar. You don't do it now, you wouldn't have done it then. You would have been along with this caravan that's coming in a couple weeks. That's where you would have been. You would have been capitulating with Jeff Owens. You garnish the sepulchres of the righteous. But the reality is, you're like the children of them that kill the prophets, because you criticize the people who do it today. You know, we have the spirit of Elijah upon us today. Oh, what do you mean the spirit of Elijah? Well, the spirit of Elijah is the spirit of God. I mean, don't you read the Bible where you see all these prophets just going off on false prophets and just doing all kinds of crazy stuff? Well, I mean, that's what we do today. But oh, no, that's a bad spirit. You shouldn't do that, it's a bad spirit. That's only for biblical times, you know, in the Bible. Hey, these things are written a fourth time for our example. Amen. So he's just telling them, look, I was a Pharisee, and this is what I believe, and now I'm being judged for the things that apparently, all Pharisees are supposed to believe, but they, you know, they're mad at me about it. Now, why are the Pharisees mad? Why are the Jews mad at Paul? Because he's winning a bunch of people to Christ. That's why. Because of the work that he's putting in. Because he is taking their proselytes and teaching them the right way, getting them saved, and that's why they hate him. Look at verse eight, go back to, are you still in Acts 26? Look what it says in verse eight. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? I verily thought with myself that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth, which thing I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints that I shut up in prison having received authority from the chief priest, and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them, and I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme, and being exceeding mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities. So he's basically saying, look, I'm not innocent in this whole thing. I mean, I was at the very top persecuting Christians myself. You know? And he actually later reiterates this in First Timothy chapter one, when he's talking to Timothy, he says, look, I thank Christ Jesus who hath enabled me for that he be countin' me faithful, puttin' me into the ministry, who was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, injurious, and he says, but I obtain mercy because I did it ignorantly and unbelief, and the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, the Bible says, and he said, look, this is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. So he's not excusing himself, he's not saying like, oh, I'm just some holy roller or whatever. This is how I've always been. I have my mistakes, I have my past, I made mistakes, and let me just say this, most of us can probably attest that there was a time in our life when we rejected Christianity at one point. Whether it was like a gospel tract, or someone came to our door, or someone tried to impart some knowledge of the Bible to us, and we said, no, we're not interested. Now, obviously, it probably wasn't to this extent, whether he's out there arresting Christians or whatever, but I'm sure all of us have a testimony like that, where we were just not interested in the things of God. Now, Paul, he was about to hit that threshold, was he not? Because I mean, he's putting in work for the other side. It's not until Jesus came and preached the gospel to him that he recognized, okay, I was obviously wrong. And so he's just telling him, look, obviously I understand where these guys are coming from and everything, but you can't necessarily be against me, because I was part of that, too. I know what we're about and what we believed, et cetera. Now, look at 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 15. Now, wouldn't you say that someone with a past like that can often be like, oh, man, what can I ever do for God? I have so many mistakes in my past. I've just lived a sinful life. I was a persecutor, I was a blasphemer or injurious. I was involved in adultery or fornication. I smoked weed, I drank, you just list it. That's what I was about. How can God use me in the future? Well, God can obviously still use you. It doesn't matter. If you're saved, and look, obviously there's certain things that would disqualify you from being like a pastor, but doesn't disqualify you from serving God. And the pastorate is not the only capacity where you can serve at. You can win people to Christ, preach the word of God unto your children. You can teach others the Bible. You can still do great works for God, even with a bad past, you understand? I mean, think about Paul. Look at 1 Corinthians 15, verse number eight. It says, last of all, he was seen of me also as a one born out of due time. So what is he saying? He's saying, man, I got saved later on in life. How many can attest, I got saved later on in life? Raise your hand if you got saved later on in life, okay? I mean, that's a lot of people sometimes. They don't hear the gospel till very much later in their 20s, maybe even 30s, and he's thinking like, man, I spent most of my life working for the other side. I was one born out of due time. And typically, people who that happens to, they're like, well, I've already wasted time. Like, why even try, right? Well, just make up for lost time. Get serious about serving God now, amen? For I am the least of the apostles, that I'm not meant to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God. I mean, think about that spectrum there. He went from persecuting the church to being an apostle of Jesus Christ. Two complete opposite sides of the spectrum, right? And he's like, look, I'm not meant to be called an apostle. He wasn't there when Jesus was walking on this earth. He wasn't there with him. He wasn't backing him up. He wasn't believing these things. And yet he's saying, look, this is where I was, and now I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. Verse number 10, it says, but by the grace of God, I am what I am, and his grace, which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me. So what was the determining factor for him to do more works than most of the apostles? The fact that he worked. He labored more abundantly than they all. And let me say this, you might get saved later on in life, and you think, well, I got saved in my 30s, 40s, or 50s, or whatever, what can I do? Well, you can labor more abundantly. And you know what? Your latter end can be greater than your beginning. You can get more serious. You know the severity of the fact that you don't have that much time left. And say, I'm gonna put in more work. I'm gonna labor. The grace of God is not gonna be vain with me. I'm gonna learn. I'm gonna preach the gospel. I'm gonna seek to get the blessings of a second-generation Christian. And it's possible, folks. It's possible, why not? It can happen. Don't have this attitude, why I got saved on and on in life, so I can't really do anything for God, false. That's false, it's not true. You can still do great works for God, and you just gotta utilize the grace of God in your life. What is the grace of God? It's just God's favor in your life. You clean up your life, you get sin out of your life, you get faithful, you read the Bible, you pray, you ask for God to fill you with the Spirit, and I guarantee you, he'll use you in great ways. Guaranteed. Don't ever have this victim mentality. It's the most unattractive quality in any individual is a victim mentality. Whoa, whoa, it's me. I got fed with a slingshot by my mom, and my daddy left me. Oh, that's not right for you to make, hey, I didn't grow up with my dad. There you go. Oh, man, I was a bastard child and all these things. Well, I mean, join the club, there's many who are like that. So why don't you just forget those things which are behind and press forward to those things which are before. Yeah, that was you before, but now you're saved. Now you have the Bible. Now you have the Holy Spirit. Now you have First Words Baptist Church. Now you have God, you're equipped, you got no excuse. Serve God, why not? Yeah, but you don't understand my position and all the heartache that I went through. Folks, we all have a story like that, do we not? And God doesn't look down and say, well, except for this individual, I gave them a really bad hand. I gave her a really bad hand, I gave him a really bad hand, I gave this family a really bad hand. You know what, if you're saved, folks, the possibilities are endless. Don't have a victim mentality. Let those things catapult you forward. And say, you know what, yeah, I had a pretty bad past, but you know what, that means God gets more glory when I do works for him. It's by the grace of God that I am what I am. Don't think, well, you know, I'm just like, I got saved later on in life, therefore I can't do X, Y, I can't read through the Bible. I barely read through my text messages or something. I barely read through, like, I never read anything, you know? I don't read through books, I don't read anything. How can I just pick up the Bible and read it through? You can do it. Why hinder yourself like that? Apply yourself and say, I'm gonna pick up this book and read it from cover to cover this year. I'm gonna read it twice. Yeah, but I used to be involved in alcohol, and not all my brain cells are there now, and I damage my body. Folks, but you have the Holy Spirit. And look, you know, do whatever you can to get clarity, take your vitamins or whatever, you know, exercise, get on a diet, if you need mental clarity, but you can do it. How can I, I can't memorize scripture. I can't even memorize my wife's phone number. You can do it. Don't hinder yourself. I can't learn, how can I learn Spanish? You know, Pimsleur, Duolingo, language transfer. You wanna go check out what that is? So I'm gonna go outside. Oh, no, no, it's these protesters in our mother-baby room, sorry. They're protesting my preaching right now. You know, you can learn Spanish, why not? You can do it. You can learn a different language. You're like, man, I wanna win Spanish speakers to the Lord. Well, why don't you? Learn it. Diligence, prayer, character. These are the things that are necessary. The Holy Spirit's power is necessary. Don't hinder yourself. Paul got saved later on in life, and he did more work than the disciples who actually walk with Jesus. Let that be a testimony to you. Go back to Acts 26, if you would. You can turn that off, Brother Mark. It says in verse 12, whereupon, as I went to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, that midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun shining round about me, and then which journeyed with me. And we were all falling to the earth. I heard a voice speaking unto me, saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecuted. So he basically shows his defining moment when he basically gets saved. Verse 16 says here, But rise and stand upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister, and to witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things into which I will appear unto thee, delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them, which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Now, notice that he doesn't say, I'm gonna make you an apostle. He just says, I'm gonna use you to open people's eyes. And that's typically how it starts. It starts with God's revealed will, and then his specific will comes later. Because remember, in the beginning of the book of Acts, he's just faithfully serving with Barnabas, right? Running errands, sending relief, and then he comes back and then they tell, the Holy Ghost tells the apostles, hey, separate these guys for a specific work that I have for them. So look, this is the same commission that we have today, every individual, to open their eyes, to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. How do we do that? Preaching the gospel, getting people saved. That's your commission, that's my commission. But look, folks, even thereafter, we're still sent to open the eyes of people, right? Not necessarily for salvation if they're already saved. How about just from the filth of this world? The brainwashing of this world, where people, you know, have infiltrated with certain ideologies that are not biblical, even to the point that the very elect, which are Christians, are being deceived by these things. Psonomy is normal, bestiality is normal, pedophilia is normal. We're sent to open people's eyes and say, no it's not! Let me show you what the Bible says about this. And you know what, people's eyes are open. Oh, but you know, you're not gonna reach that many people, though, but hey, if I reach five, it's worth it. Hey, if I reach one, if I'm able to open the eyes of one individual and change their mind with the word of God, it's worth it. If you have a thousand people who disagree with me, if you have 10,000 signatures against me, it's at 12,000 right now, by the way. Good job, folks, keep it up. Let's go for 20,000. I'm not satisfied, you know. But you have one individual out of those 15,000 who we open the eyes of, that's an accomplishment right there. We open their eyes to the gospel to get saved, then we open their eyes and show them from the word of God what God actually expects and what he teaches, that's an accomplishment. We've turned them from a wicked way and turned them into righteousness. There's rewards in that, folks. And look, wouldn't you say that maybe you got saved and then another pastor, like Pastor Anderson, came along and showed you from the Bible specific doctrines, like man, you opened my eyes to that specific topic of Zionism, the pre-tribulation rapture, post-trib pre-rapture. You opened my eyes to these specific topics. I didn't know this before, but now I know them. That's what we're here for, to open people's eyes, to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to the power of God, okay? That's why it's necessary that we have the power of God in our lives, amen? Amen. Look at verse 19. He says, whereupon, O king of Grippa, I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first unto them of Damascus and at Jerusalem and throughout all the coast of Judea and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God and do works meet for repentance. Now, one thing that you won't see here is the word sin, right? That doesn't say repent from sin and turn to God because that's not the gospel. A lot of people are like, hey, the Bible says you gotta repent of your sins to be saved, and then it's just like, where does it say that? Well, repent and believe the gospel. It's like, I'm sorry, I missed the part where it says sin. Well, it's implied. Like, are you adding to God's word or something? It doesn't even say that. It doesn't even say it in the Greek or something, you know? Repent and turn to God. Now, what is this referring to? Well, repent, depending upon the context that you're reading in the Bible, is obviously referring to turning from dead works in faith toward God. So when someone gets saved, they obviously have to repent of whatever they're trusting in to be saved and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not from sin, though, okay? They have to turn from whatever they previously believed would get them to heaven and turn to God in faith, and more specifically, Jesus Christ, okay? It's not just enough to say, well, you gotta believe in God, right? You know, we know the name of Jesus. The Bible clearly says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, okay? There is no name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, and the implication there is that it's talking about Jesus. So it says that they should repent and turn to God, and look what it says, and do works meet for repentance. So obviously, folks, when we get people saved and they come to church, we wanna teach them righteous living. Do works meet for repentance, right? Get them into church, you know, they're involved, they're drunkard, they drink alcohol, they smoke weed, they're involved in drugs. We want them to clean up their life. Oh, what, you guys like some sort of holy group or something? I mean, I would like to think so, yeah, I mean. Doesn't the Bible say, be holy for I am holy? It's ridiculous when people criticize you for things that the Bible tells us to do. You know, obviously, we're sinners, we're not perfect, but guess what, not everyone is a fornicator. Not everyone is an adulterer, not everyone is a drunkard, not everyone is an extortioner. People can put those things away from themselves, and you know why we preach against those things to the people in our church? It's because we want them to get right with God, we want God's blessing upon their life, and that is the avenue right there. Someone cleans up their life, God begins to bless them. You understand? So that's our message, you know, our message is, hey, get saved, and then do works meet for repentance, and not just that, but just preach the whole counsel of God. I mean, Paul told Timothy, preach the word, be instant in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. So he's saying, look, you need to teach the Bible, everything, when it says doctrine, it means the Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, from John chapter three to Genesis chapter 19, from Judges 19 all the way up until Matthew chapter one, we have to teach the entire word of God, doesn't matter how controversial it is. God said to teach the whole counsel of God and don't hold anything back. I kept back nothing from you that was profitable unto you, but have showed you publicly and from house to house, Paul said. That needs to be the attitude, okay? Look at verse 21. For these causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to kill me. Said this is the reason they want to kill me, because this is what I'm preaching. So he's saying, look, he's saying, look, these are the reasons, this crazy doctrine that I believe, this is the reason why they want to kill me, because I'm teaching the word of God, because I'm saying what God says, you understand? And you know what, folks, it's the same today, okay? You know, we read these stories and we think, oh, Paul, that's Paul. That's Paul, that's just the, folks, if we preach the Bible, they want to kill us too. If we preach the Bible, they want to hate us too. For these causes, they seek to kill us. For these causes, they want to shut down our church. For these causes, right here, right here. No, we're just doing it because you have a bad spirit. So do you. It's a bad spirit when you're threatening little children. It's an evil spirit, actually. It's an evil spirit when you attack innocent people, like a wife, children, innocent people in our church. That's an evil spirit! There's something, there's a word in the Bible for that. Oh yeah, hypocrisy! Yeah, it cracked. It's hypocrisy, folks. It's one of those things, I want to hit you, but you can't hit me back, right? I want to be able to hit you, but you can't hit me back, and once you hit me back, I'm telling the teacher. I want to be able to threaten you and say all manner of evil against babies and children and wives, but don't you dare even call me that F word, because that's hate speech. So what do you consider when you're doing the children? Well, that's right, you're a pervert, so it's just love to you, right? Wicked, folks! I'm not standing down to that. You've got to be kidding me! Amen. For this reason, they seek to destroy us. For this reason, they want to shut down our church. For this reason, they're coming after moi, because I'm teaching the Bible. Well, you know, like it or lump it, we're not standing down. Amen! You know, and look, I want to issue this apology to absolutely no one. Just as a reminder, all right? If the world hate you, you know that it hated me before it hated you. That's what Jesus said. So when you're in shock, like, oh man, they hate me, Jesus said, well, if the world hate you, remember they hated me before they hated you. Take solace in that. You feel alone, oh man, these people hate me, don't worry, you're in good company. They hated Jesus. Amen. If you were of the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not of the world, but I've chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, pastor. Pastors out there, you're not greater than our Lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, and you know what I say to that? Amen. Amen. Because they know not him that sent him, sent me, he says. Folks, rejoice, amen. Amen. Look at verse 22. So he's like, look, they're trying to kill me just because I'm preaching this. And obviously, what's going through King Agrippa's mind right now? Oh man, this guy hasn't done anything bad. This is why they're mad? It's like the people on social media right now, they're like, hey, why are you guys getting on this pastor? Didn't he say he was a Christian? Isn't this what people are supposed to believe in the Bible? Like, doesn't he say he believes in the Bible? Isn't this what they, why are you guys surprised that he's saying these things? Oh, I'll tell you why they're surprised. Because they're expecting for these Christians, so-called, these Bible-toting Christians to just back down and not believe the Bible. And then they run into someone who actually believes the Bible, and they're like, oh, you can't do that. What are you doing? You're getting out of the mold. And literally, people who are not Christians are like, why, Satanists, folks, are like saying like, why are you guys shocked at this? They're Christians, this is what they believe. When you have the Satanists telling you that, folks, it's just like a no-brainer. It's not like that guy has any love in his heart for us. You know what he's using? Common sense. Shame on you for teaching the Bible. Shame on you for believing the Bible. Verse 22, having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day. Amen to that. And he's saying, look, they seek to kill me, but because of God's help, I'm still here. You know, because of God's help, we're still here. And you know what, they can seek to do whatever they want and threaten us and even try to come and take our lives. Folks, it's a win-win situation for us as Christians. It's always a win-win situation. If they come and kill your pastor, you have the honor of having a martyr for a pastor. Who's your pastor? Pastor Bruce Meehan, he got killed him last month for his faith, isn't that awesome? That dude, like, he just died and like, he's a martyr. You're like, what the heck, pastor? I mean, isn't that true, though? Isn't this true? Well, what about your wife and kids? Well, they have the honor of having a father and a husband for a martyr. My children and my wife, if something ever happened to me like that, they have the honor of saying, my dad was a martyr for Christ. But you know, folks, it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen because you know what? He will deliver us from every evil work, the Bible says. And God wants to show himself strong on our behalf and he will continue to do so, just like he did with Paul. Witnessing both the small and great, saying none of the things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come, that's a verse for your dispensationalist right there, that Christ should suffer and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. So he's saying, look, you know these Pharisees, they really want to hold to Moses' law and stuff. Well, I didn't say anything different than what Moses said. I'm actually preaching the same sermon that Moses is preaching. Now, what happens when you actually believe the Bible and you preach the Bible? Most people are gonna look at you and say, you're crazy. But that's obviously only for Christians in 2021, right? No, it says in verse 24, and as he thus spake for himself, that is to say with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself. Much learning doth make thee mad. What is he saying? You're crazy. You're mad. You're beside yourself. You believe these things? Now look, if someone tells that to you, don't take it as an insult. Because here's the thing, they don't know what they're talking about. They think you're crazy because the Bible's foreign to them. You know who's really the crazy one? They are. They're the crazy ones, not us. When they look at us, it's like, you guys believe those things? It's like, wait, hold on a second. You believe these things? Oh, you believe in them, that pedophiles should be put to death? You don't believe that they should? What in the world? You're crazy. I'm not crazy, you're crazy. Yeah, but there's millions of people across America that believe like we believe, so what? Folks, you can get a billion people to agree that the sky is purple. It doesn't change reality. They can have that opinion all they want. Doesn't make it so. You can get 15,000 signatures to kick me out of Omani, doesn't mean anything. People are literally telling those people, hey, so why do you guys keep signing this? This is not gonna do anything. Like, you know this does nothing, right? And they're like, we'll see. What kind of world do they live in? And they think I'm crazy. Hey, but you know what the Bible says for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But what is done to us which are saved is the power of God. So look, obviously they're gonna look at you like you're nuts, like you're crazy, like you're beside yourself, you're mad, but just remember that verse. Obviously the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. It's stupid to them. Don't be insulted by that. To us, it's the power of God. We are fools for Christ's sake, the Bible says. He says in verse 26, for the king knoweth of these things before whom also I speak freely, for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him, for this thing was not done in a corner. I love that right there. He's like, we're not hiding. I'm not hiding what I believe. This is the new poster they have of me right now, okay? They have a poster of me, you know, they put my head. It was a graphic that Dunglinger made about me. It was like they put my head on some like jihad body or something. And then they used that for their poster. And they're like, oh, we're exposing him. It's like, my sermons have been public for like a really long time. You're late. You're kind of late, okay? Oh, we're exposed. I've never done anything in a corner. I've been ripping on sodomites since we started the church. My first sermon was on, ripping on sodomites. My first sermon, I was ripping on them. You guys remember? I was talking about biblical balance and ripping on sodomites. That was my first sermon. And it was public. It's not done in a corner. Right, like come over here to this little secret compartment. Let me just tell you what I really think. Folks, it's public. It's not, it's out in the open, okay? And he's saying, look, whatever they're telling you about me, go check it yourself. Everyone knows what I've taught. You know, by the way, the new thing right now against me is like they're trying to quote me, but they're adding to my quote. Like saying that I'm, you know, they add like a cuss word, like I cuss people out and stuff, you know? Because they have to lie. And it's just like, okay, point to the sermon where I said that. And by the way, the sermon they're referring to is this little clip that I made, that I made, that has thousands of views, right? It's like, go look at it yourself. It's called yellow journalism, folks. People have to lie about you in order to prove a point. We don't have to lie. Just say the truth. But that's their big thing right now, is just like, oh yeah, he said the B word. He called women the B word in his church. What? This is crazy. You guys are nuts. You guys are wicked. You guys are evil. And your day shall come. Not in my hand. At God's hand. Amen. Because you know what God said? Vengeance is mine. Say it to the Lord. I will repay. Amen. I will repay. What a day that will be. Look at verse 27. King Agrippa, believeth thou the prophets? I know that thou believeth. Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. So he's just like, man, I'm this close, but I'm, he's just like, I'm not, but you're persuading me though. You know, there's people who've contacted me and said, I want to come to your church. After this whole thing. They're like, hey, this is cool. Can I come by and visit your church? I'm like, yeah. Because they see what's going on. These people are trying to deter people from getting the word out. They're doing me a favor. You see that poster they made of me? I think it's cool. Who framed it for me? Was that you, Miss Esther? Janelle? Janelle printed it out and she framed it. It's awesome. I took a picture with it right before service and I posted it on my social media. You see, the typical pastor is just like, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. They're just afraid, like, oh, oh, what are we gonna do? The tides! Man of God are like, this is sweet. They put like a red bar over my, like, I look like Cyclops. I'm like, frame that thing. I even told the person who made it, the sodomite that made it, I messaged them and I said, hey, I know you hate my guts, but could you save me one of those? I'd really appreciate it. Thanks in advance. They didn't respond, I don't know why. You know what that does? That persuades people to our side. Because people seem to be like, man, these people are taking a stand, they're not standing down. I want to go see what that's all about. That actually incites interest in Christianity when true biblical Christianity is put forth. Paul said, I would to God that not only thou but also all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am except these bonds. And when he had thus spoken, the king rose up and the governor and Bernice and they sat with them. And when they were gone aside, they talked between themselves saying, this man doeth nothing worthy of death or of bonds. Then said Agrippa and Festus, this man might have been set at liberty if he had not appealed unto Caesar. So basically at the end of the day, yeah, Agrippa didn't get saved and nothing really changed, but at least Agrippa realized, this guy's normal. And you know what, any individual under the sound of my voice who's not a reverberate, who's listening to this, you come meet me face to face, you come meet our church, you're gonna walk away saying the same exact thing. Yeah, these people are normal, normal. Yeah, but I've seen you're preaching. Well, cause I have, this is preaching. Okay, but if you come, you see that everyone's normal. Any individuals that ever come to our church who's a visitor, they always say the same thing like, this place is just normal, normal, happy, kind people. And amen to that. So how did Paul make enemies? By just preaching the Bible. That's it. So pastors, if you don't have any enemies, then what are you preaching? Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for your word, and Lord, thank you for Paul's example. Thank you for the persecution that we're receiving, Lord, and we're thankful, Father God, for it. I pray that you continue to place a hedge of protection about us and help us to fulfill your will in every which way, Lord, that you see fit, and continue to give us wisdom, guidance, and direction. And I pray many people would get saved because of this. I pray that many people would come to our church. I pray that people's eyes would be open to the truth. And even if they don't come all the way to our side, if we could just move them an inch closer, it's all still worth it. And bless the remainder of our evening. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen.