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Amen, Acts chapter 22. So we remember from Acts chapter 21, Paul was basically saved by this chief captain of the Romans. And, you know, just used the fact that, you know, he was he was not he kind of talked to this chief captain into letting him speak. And then when he speaks it, we see what he says in chapter number 22. So that's we're gonna look at. Tonight, we're gonna look at Acts chapter 22. Tonight in Paul's speech and I Acts chapter 22 kind of gives a really unique, it gives a real nice summary of the uniqueness of who Paul was and why he was so effective for so many different people. So we'll look at that this evening. Look at verse number one of Acts chapter 22. So Paul now has permission to speak. He was saved, he was rescued, he's being beaten by this mob of the Jews from the synagogue. And then he was rescued by the Roman Roman soldiers. And then he has now been given permission to speak to the same mob that was trying to kill him. In verse number one, this is what he says, he says, men, brethren, and fathers hear you my defense, which I now make unto you. And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue of them, they kept the more silence and he saith, turn to First Corinthians chapter nine. So you're going to keep your place in First Corinthians chapter nine, and in Acts chapter 22. So basically, Paul starts speaking to them in Hebrew, so they know that, you know, he's a Jew. So they know that he's a Jew, and they shut up because he starts speaking to them in Hebrew. He's not speaking to them, you know, in Greek. So look at verse number 20 of First Corinthians chapter nine. We mentioned this before, but this is what's being demonstrated here in Acts chapter 22. In First Corinthians nine, 20, it says, and unto the Jews, Paul speaking, unto the Jews I became as a Jew that I might in the Jews, to them that are under the laws under the law that I might gain them that are under the law. So you remember, he goes and he did that. He finished the vow. He did the purification to do, you know, show the Jews that, you know, he doesn't despise the law. It's not just because he's teaching, you know, the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation doesn't mean he despises the law, that he thinks that everyone should just throw the law out the window. It just doesn't have anything to do with being saved. Now he's talking to them in the Hebrew tongue. Again, the same thing he's becoming as a Jew here to try to gain the Jews. All right, look at verse number three of Acts chapter 22, keeping your place in First Corinthians chapter nine. Now look at Acts chapter 22 verse three. I am barely a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers and was zealous toward God as ye are all this day. Now remember, turn to Acts chapter five. Remember this guy? This guy was already in the lives of the apostles documented in the book of Acts already. He was a Pharisee. Look at Acts chapter five. If you remember Peter, when Peter said we ought to obey, basically they threw Peter in prison with the apostles and then they were rescued from prison by God and then they came out and they immediately just started preaching the gospel again in a synagogue and everyone's like, what in the world are you crazy? And he's like, we ought to obey God rather than men, that famous line in Acts chapter five. And Peter is the one that said that, but Gamaliel is quoted in Acts chapter five. Look at verse number 34. When they have this council come together of the Pharisees, it was Gamaliel that kind of passed sentence. So this is a man of, he's a man of renown in the the Pharasitical circles here. Look at verse 34 of Acts five. It says, then stood there one up in the council of Pharisee named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law. You know, a doctor of the law, meaning he's got, you know, he's, he's got a advanced degree in, you know, the Bible basically. So this is a man who's, you know, probably got a bunch of stripes on his, on his coat and all these things. You know, a doctor of the laws is something special. Even today, that same term is used. You know, you have, if you go to college, you have a bachelor's degree, then you have a master's degree after that, which is usually, you know, four years for a bachelor's degree, six years for a master's degree, and then a doctorate degree, a doctor of, you know, a doctor of engineering, a doctor of the law, a doctor of something is usually an eight year degree. Now it's probably 16 years or maybe infinity, who knows. But the point is, is that this man is very educated. He's very respected, and he's actually kind of a reasonable character if you listen to what he says in Acts chapter five. Look at verse 35. It's, he says, excuse me, he said unto them, ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves that you intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Thuteus, boasting himself to be somebody to whom a number of men above four hundred joined themselves who was slain, and all as many obeyed him were scattered and brought to naught. And after this, a man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him. He also perished, and all even as many as obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, refrain from these men, let them alone. He's basically saying, just leave the apostles, leave Peter alone, for if this counsel is to, is, or this work be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest happily be, happily you be found even to fight against God. So he basically says, leave these men alone, because if it's just of men, it's going to come to nothing, but if it's of God, you know, then you're fighting against God. He's like, just leave them alone, you know, don't do anything, you're putting yourself in danger. So anyway, Gamaliel, you know, all kind of name drops this name. He's obviously a very respected person. You can kind of see why he's respected, even though he's kind of on the wrong side with the Pharisees here. He's a respected person. He passes judgment in Acts chapter 5, very similar to how James passed judgment on the situation with circumcision in the book of Acts as well. Go back to Acts chapter 22. So Paul's kind of explaining to them, he's like, hey, you know, I came from you. You know, I was actually trained under this very, you know, very wise and very, you know, someone that they, a very respected person. Look at verse 4, he says, I persecuted this way, meaning the Christians, unto death, binding and delivering into prisons, both men and women, as also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of elders, from whom I also received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus, to bring them which were bound unto Jerusalem, for to be punished. So Paul's like talking to people from his past here, basically, is what we're seeing. He's talking to these people from his past, and, you know, not only is he talking to people from his past, but he still has compassion on these people. He's still trying to give them the gospel here. All right. And even after all the persecution and the violence that has just happened to him, you know, that says something about Paul and his long suffering and his mercy, that he's just still willing to just keep giving these people a chance. And he's like, you know, maybe if I can connect with them on their level. So he's really trying to explain, look, I was just like you. All right. Look at verse number six. And it came to pass. Now he's going into his salvation testimony here. It came to pass that as I made my journey, and was come nigh into Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutest me? This is when Jesus, you know, confronts Paul. And I answered, who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me and saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, what shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, so the Lord, you know, Jesus tells him to go into Damascus. There shall be, you know, he's going to have some people that are going to meet him. Verse number 12, Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, stood and said unto me, brother Saul received thy sight in the same hour I looked upon him. And he said, verse 14, the God of our fathers has chosen thee that thou shouldest know his will and see the just one, of course, that's Jesus, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. Now, verse 15, for thou shall be his witness unto all men of what thou has seen and heard. Now, this is interesting because Paul's giving this testimony. I mean, this is just an interesting, just an interesting observation about verse 15. That Paul's giving his testimony and his testimony actually contains a prophecy that is being fulfilled as his testimony is given. Just an interesting thing there in verse number 15. If you don't know it, if you're not following me, just forget it. Maybe it's something only I think is interesting. But anyway, the point is, Paul has, is giving this testimony and in verse 15, you know, it is pointed out that it was told to Paul that, look, he has been chosen to be a witness unto all men of what thou has seen and heard. So he's going to, you know, be giving this testimony to all men. And Paul is very unique in this sense. We can see in Acts chapter 22, I want to show you, you know, why God chose Paul to be this person that gives this testimony. Look at verse number 16. Look at verse number 16. Now, why terriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name, calling on the name of the Lord. Turn to Romans chapter 10. So look, I mean, Acts chapter 22 in verse number 16 is basically saying, look, you know, you need to just like call upon the name of the Lord, be saved and, you know, be baptized and, you know, have your sins forgiven. It's not saying baptism forgives your sins. It's not, you know, necessarily listing the order that he should do those things. It's just saying, hey, do these things and get moving on with this task that God has called you. But notice how it says calling on the name of the Lord. Look at, that's, of course, Romans chapter 10. Look at Romans chapter 10. We can look at that real quickly. Romans chapter 10. Let me turn there myself. Romans chapter 10. Look at verse number 9. So this is, of course, if you're a soldier, you know this verse very well. You know, you say, why call upon the name of the Lord? I thought I was supposed to, you know, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Why does it not say, you know, believe on, why does it not say believe on the name of the, you know, of Jesus Christ? But basically it's equating the two here. Calling upon the name of the Lord, believing on Jesus, it's equating the two. Because if you look at Romans chapter 10 in verse number 9, the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shall believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But I thought, hey, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But notice how it says, you know, what God is saying in Romans 10 and verse number 9 is that, you know, it still says believe in your heart, but it's saying, look, God just wants you to ask for it. He just wants you to call upon his name. And look, here's the thing you need to understand about Romans 10, 9. I mean, a lot has been, you know, dissected about calling upon the name of the Lord, but here's what you need to understand. If you believe in your heart and you trust on Jesus, you are going to call upon the name of the Lord. You know, you are going to, I mean, here's this wonderful gift that's available to you. You believe that you're a sinner. You believe you deserve to go to hell because of your sins. You, I mean, you see it. You see the gospel. You believe it. You trust Jesus. And the Bible says, you know, just God just wants you to call upon him, you know, pray to him and ask him. And you're going to be like, no, I don't want to. It's not going to happen. All right. It's a, it's a, they come together. All right. And that's why, you know, when we pray with people, when we go out soul winning, we will pray with people. And there are people that are just like, you know, I just don't want to do that. You know, and look, there's, there's really two main reasons that people would maybe not want to pray after they've believed the gospel. The first reason is, you know, maybe they're just really shy and they don't want to pray in front of somebody. They just met you or whatever. But probably the more likely reason is, is that they just, they just don't really believe it. You know, I mean, I I've had those people many times will run into that situation very often where we will give the gospel to people. They will say they believe it. They just don't want to pray. And then, you know, look, what we do is we leave them with, Hey, you know, not to pray with me. Just please go and, and, and find a closet, a quiet place somewhere. And just ask God, tell God, you believe these things that we talked about, you know, kind of guide them on how to do it. And, and then, you know, they'll do it. If they, if they believed, they will do it. Most times though, it's, it's most likely that when you give the gospel to somebody and they do believe it, they're going to be excited and happy to pray because they know what is in front of them. They know what they're facing and they know what they're being offered. And of course, so those two things come together. So it's not that, you know, Oh, it's believe on the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. And, you know, say a special prayer or something. No, it's the prayer is just, it's coming from, it's, it's just what Matthew, uh, Matthew 15 says, you know, what, what's in the heart will come out of the mouth is basically what's saying, so look, if they believe in their heart, it's going to come out of their mouth. Right. But that's why, you know, we don't really, you know, count salvation. It's not that it matters, you know, not that the count in heaven matters on what we put in the bulletin, but we don't count the salvation and let's say pray because there is, you know, that, that, that chance that, you know, they don't want to pray because, you know, they were just being nice and, you know, they were just listening and maybe they have some doubts, things like that. Look, I mean, the gospel for people that believe something different can be a long bridge to cross for some people, you know, in a 20, 25 minute conversation at the door. And that is many times the case, which, which is why people won't want to pray. But anyway, that this is what this guy is saying in verse number 16, he's saying, Hey, don't just stand there. He's like, you know, you need to call upon the name of the Lord, get this thing done and, you know, get baptized and get moving with verse number 15, this calling that you're supposed to have. Look at verse number 16, 17. And it came to pass when I was coming again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance and I saw him saying unto me, make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem, for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, they know that I am imprisoned and beat in every synagogue, them that believed on thee. He's like, this is, you know, talking about the first trip to Jerusalem that Paul made where everybody was afraid of him. You know, they were even afraid of him when Ananias grabbed him here, because he had a reputation. Paul had a reputation for just persecuting Christians. And when the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, now even gets into details about where he was in Acts chapter seven, when the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, I was also standing by and consenting unto his death. He's like, I held their coats. It's what he says. He's like, I was holding the raiment of them that slew him. He's like, when they stoned Stephen and took him out of the city and murdered him, he's like, I was holding their jackets. I mean, Paul is like really explaining how deep he was into, you know, these, this mob that he's talking to. And he said unto me, depart for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles. That's where, you know, now go back to first Corinthians chapter nine. That's where, you know, Jesus is just like, you know, you're going to go to the Gentiles. You're going to go off to, you know, the Greeks and Macedonia and all of those places. So look, Paul, Paul's a two-edged sword. Paul's a true two-edged sword. Look at first Corinthians chapter nine and verse 21 now. He says to them that are without the law as without the law. This is, he's saying to them, so to the Gentiles became as the Gentiles. And we're going to see that demonstrated in Acts chapter 22 as well. Being not without law to God, but what under the law to Christ that I might gain them that are without the law. So all he's saying there is like, I've already explained this a couple of weeks ago. He didn't just start sinning with all the Gentiles. He just didn't become this Pharisaical, you know, lawgiver. This, he wasn't just going into just expecting the, the Gentiles to follow all the Jewish customs. All right. Is what he's saying here. Look at verse 22 of Acts 22. And they gave the audience unto his word and they lifted up their voices and said, now let's see if they receive what he said here, right? Away with such a fellow from the earth, for it is not fit that he should live. They're like, kill him. He's like, well, that sermon didn't go over very well. So verse 23, they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air. The chief captain, again, here's the Roman, had him brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by scourging. So now this guy is not really happy with him either that he might know where for they cried so against him. So this chief captain, you got to look at this guy's perspective, this chief captain, he lets Paul go and give this speech and it just makes the mob even angrier. It just makes them even madder at Paul. And he's like, all right, you know, I'm going to beat this guy, you know, examining by scourging, meaning it means I'm going to beat you until you tell me everything I want to hear, basically. So that's what he's going to do. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said under the centurion that stood by, is it lawful for you to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned? So now what is he doing? Now he's being without the law. See, now he's being a Gentile. So Paul just switches modes. And he says, look, I'm a Roman citizen, you can't beat me. So he plays the same card as he played with the chief captain. The centurion knows it serious. And he goes and tells the chief captain saying, take heed what thou doest for this man is a Roman. And then the chief captain came and said to him, tell me, aren't thou a Roman? And he said, yay. And the chief captain answered and said, with a great sum obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, but I was freeborn. I don't know if I want to put it that way, but that's what Paul did. Paul said I was freeborn. So basically, this chief captain said, you know, I had to work and get sponsored by a company and get my green card over 10 years. That's basically what the chief captain had to do. And Paul's just saying, I was born here. You know, because let me look, it's the same thing today, right? With US citizenship, you know, and, you know, just a side note, you know, you should appreciate that. If you were born in this country, and you have citizenship, look, I know, you know, we're pretty, I'm pretty hard on this country from the pulpit. And I'll continue to do so. But look, I appreciate that I'm a citizen of this country, because there's things that come with that. There's things that come with that. We know people, we know friends, we know brothers, we know sisters, that are not citizens of this country. And look, they have a harder path, because they're not citizens. And, you know, are they, am I better than them? Because, you know, I'm a citizen, and I have all these privileges, and they're not a citizen? No, I was just born here. I was just freeborn. So, I mean, God just blessed you with that privilege of being freeborn. That's what Paul said here, all right? And this captain's like, man, I worked, and I worked, and I worked, and I worked, and I worked. And, I mean, the chief captain, I mean, I'm pretty sure he appreciates, you know, his Roman citizenship as you listen to it here. But anyway, all that to say that, look at verse 29. So, I mean, he stops it in his tracks. He's like, oh, you're a Roman citizen. We're not going to be beating this guy. Straightaway, they departed from him, which should have examined him. And the chief captain was also afraid after he knew that he was a Roman, and because he had bound him. He was afraid he hadn't even beat him. He was afraid because he tied him up, because he arrested him with no, you know, with no charges, basically. He arrested him on mob rule. I mean, so, you know, Roman society was wicked, but they apparently, you know, took the law seriously to some degree here. Look at verse number 30. On the model, because he would known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands, because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews. He loosed him from his bands, and commanded the chief priests and all their council to appear, and brought Paul down, and set him before them. So, he's like, all right, let's have a real trial, basically, is what he's saying. Instead of just like, all right, you know, we're going to do this through brute force. He's going to follow the law, and do a real trial. So, we see Paul here. That's, you know, that's Acts chapter 22. It's a really unique chapter, because we see both sides of Paul in Acts chapter 22. We see him, you know, appealing to the Jews, saying, I mean, is Paul not a unique? I mean, he's a Roman citizen, and he was like a Pharisee, and he wasn't just a Pharisee. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was a chief Pharisee. He was trained underneath, you know, this highly respected chief Pharisee, and he was a chief Pharisee, and he was a Pharisee of action, as well. He was actually against, you know, he was one of the top persecutors of the Christians, while he was a Pharisee. And then, on the other side of things, he's a Roman, and he's just appealing to the Gentiles, and getting all these Gentiles saved. You kind of figure out, you know, why God, why Jesus knocked this guy off his donkey, you know, because he was just the right person for this job. And look, he was just ignorant. He was just ignorant about what the truth was, all right? But really the point I want to bring up towards the end of the sermon tonight, and kind of the application I want to make, is Paul preaches Jesus in a specific way here. He preaches Jesus in a way that we don't usually preach Jesus. He preaches the gospel in a specific way. He preaches Jesus here using his salvation testimony. And I don't know if I've really even talked about this, to be honest. But I want to talk tonight a little bit about the importance of your testimony. And, you know, so I, first of all, I want to talk about the importance of your testimony. And then I want to talk about, you know, why we use it sometimes, why we don't, most of the time. And then, you know, when to use it, when to not, basically. And how you could actually misuse your salvation testimony. And Paul used his salvation testimony in the correct way. And we'll look at that in just a few minutes. But the point is this, your salvation testimony. If you're saved tonight, you have one, right? If you're saved tonight, you have a salvation testimony. This was kind of a strange thing when I first got into a Baptist church. First of all, if you're saved tonight, you should have a salvation testimony, all right? You should know when and how you got saved, all right? That's what your testimony is. You should know, you know, who preached the gospel to you. You should know, you know, when, you know, you did believe it, and called upon the name of the Lord. You should know that. I mean, that was something that just, what, that baffled me much of my unsaved life. This whole salvation testimony. Because, look, I was raised Lutheran. I was in Sunday school. I was, you know, I went to church camps where there was some ecumenical things every now and then. And you'd have these people get up on stage every now and then and give one of these salvation testimonies. And, you know, as a 14, 15-year-old kid, I wasn't saved. I didn't know what they were talking about. I remember telling my wife when I was in my mid-20s. I remember exactly where I was. And there was my wife, a couple other adults that I won't mention who were there. But I literally said, like, what is with all these Christians that you see, like, saying, like, oh, there was this great, wonderful moment where I found the truth and I got saved. Because, first of all, like, Lutherans and most Protestants, they don't even speak in that terminology. I know that as a Baptist and somebody that is saved, that's hard for you to understand. But they don't speak, like, when did you get saved? They don't talk that way. I knew Lutherans that I was friends with that they were just irritated with Baptists over this whole, you know, Baptists always want to come up to me and be like, when did you get saved? And, you know, all the Lutherans that I knew, they would say, well, you know, their answer would be, when I got baptized as a baby. Right? Which means they don't know because they're not saved. Because baptism as a baby is not baptism. And baptism doesn't save you anyway, even if it was baptism. It's like a double, it's like a double, you know, error. Right? But the point is this. I didn't, I didn't know what they were talking about because I didn't have a salvation testimony. I was just like, you know, somebody would get up at a church camp and give this testimony about, you know, how they got saved and this happened and this, this and this. And I'm just like, that's so weird. You know, that's never happened to me. These weirdos, they're not Lutherans. You know what I mean? So, excuse me. But anyway, so you should have a salvation testimony. All that to say this. All right. Now, when to use it. When to use it is another thing. And that's kind of what we learn from Paul. Because here's the thing, folks. You should have a salvation testimony. You should know, you know, when you got saved. But the thing is, it is not necessary for somebody to know how you got saved in order for them to get saved. Okay. So, when we get to the door and turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. Turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. This is why I don't go up to every single door. Look, and if it was necessary for everybody to know my personal salvation story, I, that's, that's what you would hear me doing at every single door. But it's not necessary. It's not necessary for everyone to know how I, you know, Pastor Jared Pazarski got saved. That's not necessary for them to get saved. Okay. So, that's why, you know, we generally just don't go and give our testimony to every single, you know, person that's walking down the street or that we talk to. All right. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1 in verse number 8. The testimony that's important is this. The Bible says, Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. Psalm chapter 1 19. Psalm chapter 1 19. The longest, you know, book of the Bible. The longest chapter in the Bible talking about the word of God says in verse 46, I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings and I will not be ashamed. So this is the psalmist. This is David saying, God, I'll speak of your testimony. So it's God's testimony that matters. It's the testimony of Jesus Christ that matters. And you say, well, when David wrote that in Psalm 1 19, you know, Jesus wasn't even here. So the testimony of God before Jesus came was that God was going to send a Messiah. It was the future. It was the future promise of a Messiah. That's how David was saved the same as you. David was saved looking forward just as we're saved looking back. Same Messiah though. We're just, we're looking at the same point. Okay. Look at John chapter 1. John the Baptist was really aware of this. So look, it's not, it's not our personal testimony that matters, right? It's not our personal testimony. It's God's testimony that matters. John the Baptist was really aware of this. Look at verse number 25 of John chapter 1, verse number 25 of John chapter 1. And they asked him and said unto him, why baptize thou, baptize this, baptize this thou then, if thou be not that Christ nor Elias, neither that prophet. John answered them saying, I baptize with one, but stand with one among you whom you know not. He it is who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoes latch it, I am not worthy to unloose. Even John the Baptist is saying, it's not about me at all. He's saying, it's not about me at all. It's not about what I'm doing. It's all about this guy that's coming after me. I'm just here to prepare the way. All right. So you should have a salvation testimony if you're saved. You know, you should definitely have that. You shouldn't be like, okay, you know, did I forget it or whatever. If you don't have a salvation testimony, you know, let's get you saved after the service. Okay. You should know, you know, when, you know, you got saved and how that happened. But here's what testimonies are not for. Okay. Here's where testimonies are misused. And this is where I was a little confused and a little overwhelmed when I first came into the first old IFB church that we went to. There was really an emphasis on like testimonies of people, especially like just like these extreme, and it looked, it kind of made me feel bad too. I mean, here I had a testimony, but it wasn't like these testimonies. Because, you know, testimonies sometimes can be misused, especially when they're used like publicly a lot to really focus on works, to really focus on, you know, a changed life. And, you know, this is the guy that gets up and he's like, I was just a, I was a drug addict. And, and I was a total derelict. And, you know, tells this horrible story, you know, for everybody to hear, I was possessed by demons and all this stuff. And, you know, this, these, these wild stories. And then, you know, they get saved, right? The problems with this is number one, and I've talked about this before, we never want this to happen here, it becomes a sin competition. You know, it becomes this competition of who has the most fantastic past. You know, when I say fantastic, I mean, like, like, let's just take sins that we did, let's just embellish the living daylights out of everything. And just like, let's be that it basically gives incentive to people to to glorify past sin in their life. And, you know, that's no good. We never want that type of environment here. But the second thing is this. It makes people, it glorifies sin, yes. But if testimonies are used in that way, and there may be fantastic, and the fantastic testimonies are, are really just like put up front all the time. It's like, it makes people feel bad and inadequate, who don't have testimonies like that. And let me ask you a question. Do we want people to have testimonies like that? What about the six or seven year old that gets saved? I mean, can he stand up there and be like, man, I was drinking two cases of whatever a day and, you know, doing heroin and all this stuff. And no, he was like seven and somebody preached in the gospel. And he's like, yeah, I believe that. I've been hearing that my whole life. I'm in, you know, that's not as fantastic, though. You know, that's not as fantastic. Look, but here's the thing that six year old, seven year old, eight year old, nine year old, 10 year old, whatever it is that gets saved, that doesn't have all this, that isn't just a derelict and, you know, isn't in a in a gutter, you know, of his, you know, you just all, you know, like the how rock stars die, basically, is what some of these, some of these testimonies that I've heard sound like, but isn't, isn't the person that doesn't have a fantastic testimony like that, what our goal is? I mean, isn't our goal for people to not go down that road, especially our kids and, you know, kids that are being raised in church? Look, folks, there's three ways to learn, right? There's three ways to learn. There's the best way, which is to listen, right? This is how we want our kids to learn. There's three ways to learn, kids. The first way and the best way to learn is to just listen to the Bible and listen to your parents who are teaching you the Bible, listen to those things. That's the best way. You know, this, that you're like, I don't like to listen. Like, I'm not gonna listen. Well, here's the second best way. The second best way to learn is to watch other people make mistakes. This is why, if you live in California, you should never have to talk to your kids about drugs, ever, because they can watch other people make mistakes. It's actually, it's actually fairly amazing to me that, that we have teenagers going down the drug road today. The peer pressure in, in school and the world must be, it must be heavy because to see what it produces is, is a good way to learn. So, the best way to learn is to just listen. The second best way is to learn from the mistakes of other people and the, you're like, I don't like to do that. I don't like to do that. Look, you'll meet these people. You'll meet these people. They're like, I don't want to listen and I don't want to learn from anybody else. You're like, I got to jump in every single hole myself. I don't want, I don't care if somebody's saying, there's a hole there, don't go there. I got to get in there every single time. You will meet those people. But look, we don't want to be those people. We don't want our kids to be those people. So, we want to have that salvation testimony for our children and our family of that kid that just listened, that kid that just obeyed and just, they just got saved. They just lived a decent Christian life. They got married. They don't have all the garbage. You know, maybe they're 20 years old, 25 years old, whatever. And, you know, they go to a new church and the pastor's like, could you give up, get up and give your salvation testimony? And they're like, yeah, here it is. And they're like, ah, that's not going to sell. But that's the salvation testimony we want. That's why salvation testimonies shouldn't be used in that way. They shouldn't be used in that way. Because that Christian life and that person that listened and didn't go down those roads, that is what should be celebrated. You know, that's what should be celebrated. But see, the world hates that, though. The world hates that there would be a result like that because this is the world telling you, you know, oh, no, no, no, your kids, they need to experience things. You know, this is the world telling you, this is college. This is, oh, you got to send your sons and your daughters off to college so they can be drunkards and whoremongers and harlots and like, I mean, I just wish sometimes that people that are in the world, unsaved people, I wish that they would just sit down and think about what people are selling them. Show me, show me the society. Show me the society that has ever prospered by destroying the virtue of their young people. Where is it? It doesn't exist. I mean, just, if people would just sit down and just think about what these, this bill of goods that they're being sold by clown world and think about it for just maybe five consecutive seconds, they would start to head in the right direction. At least they would turn away. They'd be like, yeah, that doesn't seem right and turn away from that and then we could catch them on the other end with the real truth. But that's the thing. It's a satanic philosophy. It's a satanic philosophy that you need to pick option three to learn. Instead of listening to the Bible, why did God give us the Bible? Instead of listening to the Bible, instead of, you know, learning from the mistakes of others, instead of, you know, there's some of that in the Bible too. It's called Ecclesiastes. It's called the Old Testament. I mean, it's called all these mistakes that all these imperfect men made. We're supposed to learn from these mistakes. We're supposed to learn from these things. But no, the world wants to pick option three every single time. They're like, no, you should go out there and you should, you should throw yourself into every single meat grinder that you can find. It's just like, who's, who's accepting this? A lot of people though. A lot of people are. So what, testimonies. Testimonies are important. You should have one. We don't want fantastic testimonies. If you have a fantastic testimony, I'm glad you're saved. But we want our, our children and our families to have testimonies where they just, you know what, they just picked option one. They just, they listened to the Bible. The Bible worked for them. They got saved. And then they just lived a Christian life. I mean, that is the testimony right there. So the point is, testimonies can kind of turn into selfish things. You know, pastors, pastors being called is another one that I've heard a few times. You know, pastors, you know, not necessarily a salvation testimony, but a pastor, you know, giving a fantastic testimony about how he was called into the ministry. How he, the moment he, that God, you know, pulled a Paul on him, because look, God specifically picked Paul. And you know, you'll hear these fantastic testimonies of, you know, I was sitting in the church one day and, and you know, God punched me in the chest and I flew across the room or whatever, you know, and then I just knew I was supposed to be a preacher. You know, and they're trying to give legitimacy to their, to their, you know, validity, you know, to, to their ministry or whatever it is. But what does the Bible say about being called? Turn to First Timothy chapter three, First Timothy chapter three. It's less fantastic than that. All right. It's less, you know, there's no mysticism. There's no mysticism and whether or not, you know, a man should go into the ministry. All right. There's really two things that it depends on. And the Bible is very clear in First Timothy chapter three. Look at verse number one. It says, this is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a Bishop, he desireth a good work. And then the rest of the, the next several verses go through the what? The qualifications of a Bishop, the qualifications of a pastor. So basically here's the math folks. Here's the, here's the formula for a pastor. If you have the desire and you're qualified equals pastor. I mean, that, that's, that's it. It's not, it's not, you know, I mean, God didn't punch me in the face or whatever, you know? I mean, yeah, I prayed and I listened to the Spirit and, and I prayed and prayed and prayed for several months before I made that decision just to make, but that was just to make sure that it was God's decision and not my decision. I didn't want to go into the ministry for my own reasons or anything. I just wanted to be pure hearted about it. But basically, you know, if you have the desire and you're qualified, you can be a pastor. That's what the Bible is saying. All right. So you don't have to be scared off by all the, you know, God didn't pick me up out of my bed and, and, you know, move me to another state at night or whatever. I mean, you know what I mean? I mean, just wild stories. But the point is, it's just, are you, do you have a desire to be a pastor and are you qualified? And look, I mean, the qualifications, they, they filter out a lot of people, you know, so there's not a lot of people that are qualified to be a pastor. So it's not like a simple thing, you know, either, either. Right. So conclusion. Your testimony should not be about you if you give it. Okay. And that's not what Paul used it for here. All right. But if it helps you identify with someone, if it helps you, even at the door, even at the door, I will identify with people on a certain level. If I find out people are Catholic or Lutheran, I will say to people, I grew up that way. I grew up Lutheran. I grew up Catholic because Catherine and Lutheran are exactly the same thing. Even if Catholics and Lutherans don't know that, they are. Right. There's no doctrinal differences. All right. As far as the gospel goes, anyway, it's all the same thing. So if you can identify with somebody, because look, the best soul winners, as I've said before, the best soul winners will just find a way. Look, the best soul winners, the best people that disciple people, the best people that are able to bring people into church, they do one thing well and they make connections with people. That's what they do. They make connections with people. They're able to identify with people, connect with people, let people know that they care about them, let people know that, hey, I had similar situations like you. Hey, I used to be, you meet a Pentecostal and you were Pentecostal. I used to be Pentecostal and I used to believe this, this and this. And they'll say, that's exactly what I believe. Let me tell you what I found in the Bible or what somebody showed me. Let me show you what somebody showed me to help you see what I see now. That's how you use your testimony, you know, to get somebody saved. You know, I mean, maybe it's even, I grew up in this, I mean, look at Paul. I grew up in the same area of the country. Or, you know, anything that would get people to identify, you know, with you and just kind of connect like, hey, I have something in common with this guy. You know, this guy grew up like me and now he's way different than me. You know, I meet a Lutheran. I'm like, I used to be a Lutheran. I met a Missouri extended Lutheran a few weeks ago. I'm like, I used to be Missouri extended Lutheran and now I'm the pastor of this Baptist Church. Super interested. Just because I gave him that one tidbit of information, right? I didn't tell him my life story, but it's just, it was very valuable for him to know that and it gave him interest in what I had to say. To do what? To point to Christ. Just like Paul. Just like Paul. He used this testimony, this fan, and you know, his was a pretty fantastic story, but he used it effectively here, not to glorify himself, not to do anything, but just to, you know, point people to Jesus. That's what he used it for. So look, it's not a bad thing. You should have one and if you can use it to point people to Christ, to identify with people, just like Paul did in both sides of 1 Corinthians chapter 9, use it. Use it. I mean, it's there and it can help you, but make sure that you're pointing people towards Christ, not glorifying anything about, you know, your past or anything like that. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.