Continuing Philippians

If you would turn this morning to the book of Philippians, we're going to pick right back up where we left off week before last.

Book of Philippians chapter 1. You want to keep your finger there and turn back into the book of Acts and mark a spot because we're going to be reading from there.

Remember, as we did week before last, everybody remembers and knows that the number one key to interpreting

Scripture is not reading it and then assuming that it is saying what you think it says, but we interpret

Scripture by the Scripture, amen? That is the rule. It has never been about what

I think or what you think. A lot of times and a lot of places, you may hear that said or you may hear that brought up.

Hopefully, you'll never hear a preacher stand up and read something and ask you the question, what does that say to you?

Because truly, in the big scheme, in the grand picture, it doesn't matter what it says to you and it doesn't matter what it says to me.

It says what it says and we are called to align up with God. So if you want to turn to Acts chapter 23, we'll pick up in chapter 23 of Acts once we read in Philippians and we're going to read again.

It's going to be very Scripture intensive today. We're going to be looking at a lot of Scripture, but it's going to be very important.

So that being said, Martin Luther said this concerning the Scriptures being interpreters of themselves.

He said, from the beginning of my reformation, I have asked God to send me neither dreams nor visions nor angels, but to give me the right understanding of His Word, the

Holy Scriptures. For as long as I have God's Word, I know that I am walking in His way and that I shall not fall into any error or delusion.

The quickest way to fall into error and delusion is to lean on our own understanding. And we're called, as a matter of fact, the writer

Proverbs taught us, lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge

Him and He shall direct your paths. And we know the mind of God because we have the

Scriptures, the Word of God. So someone was asking me yesterday at work, they came up and said, so what are you preaching on tomorrow?

I don't know if they've asked other preachers this question, got some kind of a weird answer, but I looked at them dead in the eye and I said,

I'll be preaching from Philippians chapter 1. We'll probably be reading from verse 18 through 21, but I said, and here's why,

I said because we believe it's important to go verse by verse through the text of Scripture so that, and because that many preachers get hooked in on a favorite verse or two and they like to preach on that the whole time, right?

And a preacher will end up preaching just what we like to you and you'll miss out on what

God has for you and what is necessary. The preacher has to preach the hard parts as well as the easy parts.

We have to preach the shouting messages as well as the hard messages, so -called.

But in any case, this is not a hard message, again, but it is a very important message because we're going to talk about defending the gospel today and we're going to see how the apostle

Paul defended the gospel. So I took off my shoes and socks and I counted up the number of times that the apostle

Paul in Philippians chapter 1 just up to verse 18 mentioned Jesus Christ, mentioned

God, mentioned the Holy Spirit, mentioned the Spirit, or he used he in reference to Jesus Christ, and 16 times in the first 18 verses of the book of Philippians, the apostle

Paul makes it clear who he's speaking about, about Jesus Christ. And in this, where we've read, we've read to you last week, we looked at the context of why

Paul and the Philippians had such a bond. Do any of you all remember that? I know it's been a week and a half.

Paul and the Philippians had such a bond because Paul, being called of God, saved by the amazing grace of God, called to be an apostle, went to the people of Philippi and preached the gospel, spent much time in prison there, spent much time sharing and communicating the gospel of Jesus Christ to these people, and because he did this, they had a bond with each other.

John, are you supposed to take my word for it? Whose word are you supposed to take? Take the scripture, take the word of God for it.

And that's exactly what we're going to do today. I told you I was going to test you on that regularly, test you on it regularly.

So, Philippians chapter 1, and let's just read, let's pick up in verse 16 actually, and I just want to read down actually to verse 18 rather than going on through verses 21 because we're going to be looking at so much of Paul's actual defense of the gospel in the book of Acts, in Caesarea.

Can anybody tell me where Caesarea is? Yes, somebody, who just said that?

Did you say that? Brandy? You said

Israel. Brandy, where did you say? Somebody said

Philippi. Okay. All right, and that is exactly where it is, and that's what's so incredible that here from the book of Philippians, it is written to the church at Philippi.

Everybody remember that? It is written to the Philippian believers there in Philippi, to the saints in Christ Jesus, to the bishops and to the deacons there, and so Paul is sharing and communicating his love for the people and why his love for them is as it is because of Jesus Christ, because of the gospel of Jesus Christ, they have a bond.

And then in verse 16, Paul is addressing the issue of those who preach Christ, some from selfish ambition.

If you want to pick up in verse 16, the former preached Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing to add to affliction to my chains, but the latter, he says, out of love, knowing that I am appointed, and this is the phrase we're going to focus in on this morning, for the defense of the gospel.

What then, he says, only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth,

Christ is preached. And in this, I rejoice. Yes, and will rejoice.

So Paul is addressing the issue, he's encouraging the people, they've been exhorted, they've been encouraged to continue on in the faith despite hardships, despite difficult circumstances, despite what people might say or what people might do.

There was the practice constantly in the New Testament churches, in the scriptures of folks trying to go back to Judaism, the works of the law, rather than trusting in the grace of Christ.

The fact that Christ Jesus, according to the scriptures, came, lived a sinless life, died on the cross as an atonement for our sins, raised again on the third day for our justification.

Folks were kept wanting to go back to the deeds of the flesh, to the works of the law, and they did not want to lean wholly and fully upon Jesus Christ.

And folks, it is no different today. And this is why defending the gospel is so important.

And this is why it's important for you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and you, and all of y 'all to know how to defend the gospel and why it's important.

Because the gospel, whether completely overt and outrightly denied and refused to be heard, is also watered down, weakened, and changed to suit the culture in which we live today.

Now the gospel is necessary. Everybody know this. Number one, the gospel is necessary because men are still sinners.

Nothing has changed since Adam and Eve. Men from Adam and Eve are born sinners.

And sin has separated us from God. And the Bible says the wages of sin is death.

There's no ifs, there are no ands, and there are no buts. There are no semi -good people.

There is no ince of goodness within us. We are sinners separated from a holy

God. That's why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to come and to die. Now, we're probably, y 'all are probably sitting here saying, yes, yes, yes, we hear this all the time, we know this.

Right? But the sad truth is many people do not and are not being fed a constant diet of this truth.

And because of what takes place in the world, they think sin is something to be mocked.

They think sin is something to be laughed at. They think sin is something to be cast aside as something small and insignificant.

But friends, sin kills. You want to know the death rate of sin? One hundred percent.

Ten out of ten people die of sin. Did you know that? Everybody dies of sin.

But let me tell you, I got, April, she probably thought I was having a heart attack last night. I got home from work, turned on the

TV, the news was on. And the first thing that came up, and I don't normally talk much about news or anything like that, but this is a perfect example and illustration why we must defend the gospel.

The news was on concerning a story in California. California, marijuana's been legalized.

And so because of the legalization of something that was formerly illegal, they are going back to 1973 to people who were convicted of crimes due to drugs and they are whopping their slate clean as though to say that, sure, it was sin then, it was wrong then, but now it is not.

Friends, I want you to know Congress can legislate laws to do whatever they want to do, but they will never legislate a law that ceases to make sin what it is, sin against a holy

God. Right is right and wrong is wrong.

That is why we must defend the gospel of Jesus Christ as the church of Jesus Christ.

But Paul says this, he said in verse 17, but the latter, the latter preached

Christ out of love knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

That was all introduction just to lead us to where we are. He said knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

Paul's defense of the gospel that he is speaking to these people about, they recognize and they saw how he defended the gospel and that is what we are going to look at from the book of Acts.

Acts, if you would turn back over there where you marked your place, Acts chapter 20, let's start in 23 and verse, let's just go to verse 33.

Acts chapter 23 and verse 33 and we are going to just begin reading and I am going to read to you the account of Paul's defense of the gospel in Philippi when he was in prison for the gospel's sake.

Verse 33, is everybody there? Chapter 23 verse 33. When they came to Caesarea, which is in where?

Philippi, and had delivered the letter, there is that connection still, and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented

Paul to him. And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from.

And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, he said, I will hear you when your accusers also have come.

And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's praetorium. Chapter 24 verse 1.

Now after five days, Ananias, the high priest, came down with the elders and a certain orator named

Tertullus. These gave evidence, maybe Tertullus, I don't really know how to pronounce that.

These gave evidence to the governor against Paul. And when he was called upon,

Tertullus began to make his accusation saying, seeing that, and now, understand what's going on here.

Paul is being accused, he's been imprisoned, his accusers are coming before him, the high priests have come before him, and they brought someone who is very well spoken, referred to as an orator, meaning someone that speaks very well and very eloquently publicly.

And they had this Tertullus begin to give his speech, and so in verse 2, this is the beginning of Tertullus' speech to the authorities concerning Paul, and this is what he said.

Seeing that through you we may enjoy great peace and prosperity, and prosperity is being brought to this nation by your foresight, he's kissing up to the authorities is what he's doing.

We accept it always, and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness.

Nevertheless, not to be tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear, by your courtesy, a few words from us.

For we have found this man, in reference to Paul, we have found this man a plague.

Now they're calling the apostle Paul, this man who preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ, they call him a plague, they call him a creator of dissension among all the

Jews throughout the world. So those folks even today who will say that let's all just get along, let's not be divided, friends, there is a dividing line when it comes to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we must make that distinction.

They called him a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the

Nazarenes. He even tried to profane the temple, they said, and we seized him and wanted to judge him according to our law.

But the commander, Lysaeus, came by and with great violence took him out of our hands, commanding his accusers to come to you.

By examining him yourself, you may ascertain all things of which we accuse him.

And the Jews also assented, maintaining that these things were so. So Tertullus is giving the big hate speech, if there ever was a hate speech, a hate speech against the apostle

Paul for preaching the gospel, trying to paint him as the one who was in the wrong for doing the right thing.

That is no different than today, just to give you an illustration, just by way of illustration and example, folks will do that today.

When you stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ, you will be accused of many things.

You'll be accused, as some would call it, and I've heard with my own ears, spiritual bigotry.

Friends, let me tell you something, it is not bigoted to stand in defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is wrong not to defend the gospel of Jesus Christ. So the

Bible says here in verse 10, Then Paul, after the governor had nodded to him to speak, answered.

Now here begins Paul's defense, first defense of the gospel. He said this, Inasmuch as I know that you have been for many years a judge of this nation,

I do the more cheerfully answer for myself. Can I say this?

I believe Paul was a happy Christian. Christianity, you don't have to be walking around with your lips stuck out to prove that you're a

Christian. You can be happy. You ought to be happy as a Christian, amen? Some of you might be thinking,

I'll be happy when we get out of here. Amen? I'm happy while I'm here. I'm going to make the most of it.

Paul, he said, I cheerfully answer for myself because you may ascertain that it is no more than 12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship, and they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone.

So Paul began to defend himself here. He said they neither found me in the temple disputing with anyone nor inciting the crowd either in the synagogues or in the city, nor can they prove the things of which they now accuse me.

But this I confess to you, Paul said, that according to the way.

Does everybody, everybody in your Bible, it probably has the way capitalized.

That was the reference, that was the term used for folks who were Christians in the day back then, who followed

Jesus Christ. They were followers of the way. By the way,

Jesus said it himself, concerning himself, I am the way, the truth and the lie.

So he said, I confess to you that according to the way, which they call a sect, so I worship the

God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and in the prophets.

In the process of the inspiration as we're reading the New Testament, what

Christians depended on was not some other form of writings other than the gospel or other than the

Old Testament law and the prophets. So that's important because scripture is interpreted by what?

Scripture, always. He said this, I have hope in God, which they themselves also accept that there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.

This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and man.

So Paul has communicated that he was not causing trouble. He was not there to raise a ruckus.

He was not there to start a fight. He was there because of Jesus Christ and he said, look,

I'm here because I believe what God has said. I believe what the law and the prophets have said and who he was speaking to were people who understood, who knew, who recognized the law.

And so he came back to that in 15 and he said, I have hope in God, which they also themselves accept understanding there's a resurrection because that was the issue.

Folks had a problem with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So Paul went on to say this in verse 17, now after many years

I came to bring alms and offerings to my nation. He said, you want to know why I was where I was when they came and got me?

I came to bring offerings to my nation. In the midst of which some of the

Jews from Asia found me purified in the temple, neither with a mob nor with tumult.

They ought to have been here before you to object if they had anything against me. I love this.

The apostle Paul, he didn't play around. He said, them people that make this accusation against me, they should have done something more than send old

Tertullus over there and his gang to try to speak on their behalf. He said, if they had a problem with me, they should have been here and answered the problem themselves.

That's exactly what Paul was saying right there. Or else let it, let those who are here themselves say, if they have any found any wrongdoing in me while I stood before the council.

Unless, verse 21, it is for this one statement, which I cried out. He said, if there's anything, if there's anything that they may have latched on to, he said, this is it.

Standing among them concerning the resurrection of the dead, I am being judged by you this day.

But when Felix heard these things, having more accurate knowledge of the way because he didn't know the things that Paul was saying necessarily to him.

Paul was giving an explanation, a defense of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so the

Bible says here that Felix adjourned the proceedings and said, when Lysaeus the commander comes down,

I'll make a decision on your case. So he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty and told him not to forbid any of his friends to provide or visit him.

Where was Paul in prison during the time of this trial? Philippi.

Everybody, where was Paul in prison during the time of this trial? In Philippi. And what we're studying is the book of Philippians, which is

Paul's letter to the people of Philippi. So even while he was in prison, he was given liberty by Felix to have folks visit him, to come freely, to go and to come, to bring him what he wanted.

No doubt those people from Philippi were coming to encourage Paul from time to time. So it goes on to say, the scripture says, verse 24, after some days when

Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self -control, and judgment to come,

Felix was afraid and answered, go away for now. When I have a convenient time,

I will call for you. Why should we still to this day defend the gospel?

Because people are still waiting on a convenient time to get themselves right with God.

We talked about it in Sunday school. Truly, there's never really convenient time for anything.

And if you're waiting for a convenient time, that time will never come. But friend, when the

Holy Ghost of God convicts you of sin, you'll be convicted of sin.

It won't matter whether you're in a mud hole or whether you're on top of the world. Felix said,

I'm waiting for a convenient time. I'll call you again when I'm ready to hear some more. Meanwhile, listen to what the scripture says, meanwhile, he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul that he might release him.

Felix said, Paul, you stay here. I'll call for you when I'm ready to hear some more.

And by the way, I know you've got some supporters out there. Maybe you'll end up giving me some money and I'll let you up out of here.

That's exactly what was going on. But listen to what the scripture says. Therefore, he sent for him more often and conversed with him.

Why did Felix converse with Paul? Because he wanted something in return. He was doing it for greedy gain is why he was doing that.

So the scripture goes on. Verse 27. After two years,

Porteous Festus succeeded Felix. Felix went out, Festus came in.

And Felix, wanting to do the Jews a favor, left Paul bound because the

Jews were the ones who put Paul on trial. Chapter 25, verse 1.

Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem.

Then the high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul, and they petitioned him, asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem while they lay an ambush along the road to kill him.

So they said, let's have Paul brought up, and we'll set an ambush, and when

Paul's on his way up, we will kill him. And so, verse 4,

Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea Philippi, and that he himself was going there shortly.

So he said, no, we're going to leave him exactly where he is, therefore, he said, let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man to see if there is any fault in him.

For two years, Paul sat in prison. The plot against him was still on. Festus said, we'll leave him where he is, and those who have authority amongst you can come down, and if there truly is anything worth hearing, we'll hear it, and we'll put him on trial for that.

Verse 7, when he had come down, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

They were still falsely accusing him. Friends, if we're going to be accused of anything, let it be for defending the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And when we defend the gospel of Jesus Christ, folks can say what they want about us, they can say what they want about our character, but we must remain true and faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If it costs us staying this size as a body of believers from now until the

Lord comes back, hallelujah. If it means God growing the church to a big number, hallelujah.

But we must remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Old country preachers, you know what, they didn't worry about the crowds.

I've read one, I can't remember his name off the top of my head, but it may have been Spurgeon talking about him actually, one country preacher, he said he didn't have a congregation to preach to, he just went out in the woods and climbed up on a stump and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The only critters that was around to hear him was the squirrels and the skunks and the other animals in the forest, but he didn't care, he just preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, no matter what his crowd looked like.

So it goes on to say this, let's keep reading, while he answered for himself, neither against the law of the

Jews, verse 8, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.

Know this, understand this about the Apostle Paul, he was not an ignorant man. God does not intend for you and I to be ignorant people, okay?

It's important for you to be learned in the scriptures, whether you're a preacher, Sunday school teacher, singer, lay member, whatever the case may be, you must study to show yourself approved unto

God, so that you can defend the gospel of Jesus Christ. He said,

I've not offended against any, but Festus, wanting to do the Jews a favor, just like Felix, answered

Paul and said, are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?

He said, look, we'll move this up to a higher court, as if to call

Paul's bluff, as if to think Paul would back down, and to back away from the gospel, he said, look, if you want to, we'll take this up a notch.

I believe old Paul pulled an emerald legacy, and he said, bam! Alright, let's do it.

So he went on, and the Bible says in verse 10, so Paul said, I stand at Caesar's judgment seat, where I ought to be judged.

To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know, for if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death,

I do not object to dying. Now they probably never heard nothing like that, because everybody that was in a court of law is always trying to weasel out, always trying to justify whatever it is they've done, and try to get out of it, but Paul said, look, if I have done anything, go ahead and kill me.

And then he said this, I do not object to dying, but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them.

I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, you have appealed to Caesar?

To Caesar you shall go. After some days, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea, where was

Caesarea? In Philippi, to greet Festus. So the king and his wife come to Caesarea Philippi.

When they had been there many days, the Bible says, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, there is a certain man left, a prisoner by Felix, about whom the chief priests and the elders of the

Jews informed me when I was in Jerusalem, asking for a judgment against him.

To them I answered, so Festus is giving the breakdown, the rundown of what's going on with Paul to King Agrippa.

And the Bible says here, to them I answered, Festus said, to them I answered, it is not the custom of the

Romans to deliver any man to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.

Therefore, when they had come together without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in.

So this is, Festus is saying, this is what I did. When the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I had supposed, but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain

Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.

And because I was uncertain, Festus said, of such questions, because I didn't have a right knowledge of the way, questions

I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning this matters. But when

Paul appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, which is the Caesar, the king,

I commanded him to be kept till I should send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa, the king, said to Festus, I also would like to hear the man myself.

Tomorrow, he said, you shall hear him. So if we go down just a little bit further,

I want you to notice the picture that's painted that sets the stage for Paul's full defense of the gospel before King Agrippa.

So the next day, verse 23 is where we're at, so the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great pomp and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus' command,

Paul was brought in. So the trumpets are playing, the pageantry is going on,

Agrippa and Bernice come in, and everything, the stage is set.

They brought Paul in, Festus said, King Agrippa, and all the men who are here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole assembly of the

Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying out that he was not fit to live any longer.

But when I found that he had committed nothing deserving of death, that he himself had appealed to Augustus Caesar, I decided to send him.

I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him, therefore I have brought him out before you, especially before you,

King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place, I might have something to write, for it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him.

So Festus was saying, I need a higher authority to give me a final ruling on this matter so I can put it down on paper and so that we can get this persecution or prosecution commenced.

Verse 26, verse 1, then Agrippa said to Paul, you are permitted to speak for yourself.

So the king himself looks at Paul, says, Paul, I'm giving you permission to speak.

And so the Bible says, Paul stretched out his hands and answered for himself.

And this was his defense. He said, I think myself happy, King. I think myself happy,

King Agrippa, because today I shall answer for myself before you concerning all the things of which

I am accused by the Jews. No one can give an account or defense of the gospel for you,

Christians. Did you know that? It is not my job to give a defense of the gospel for you.

A lot of times over the years and throughout church history, it has always been the practice of the church members to always, always, always say this, let's call the preacher and find out what the

Bible says. No, that is the wrong answer. I am glad to help.

I am glad to point you in any direction that I can to encourage you in your faith. But you have the responsibility yourself to know what the scriptures say and teach concerning Jesus Christ.

There it is, John. Who's responsible? For knowing the gospel.

That's exactly right. Let's be more specific. More than we are, who's responsible for knowing the gospel?

I am. Give me five. I like that.

Because that's the truth. That's it. You are responsible for knowing the gospel.

So he goes on to say this, and let's move right on through this. I think myself happy because I am able to answer for myself concerning all the things which

I am accused, especially, Paul said, addressing the king, especially because you are an expert in all customs and questions which have to do with the

Jews, therefore I beg you to hear me patiently. My manner of life, and here it goes,

Paul said, my manner of life from my youth which was spent from the beginning among my own nation at Jerusalem, all the

Jews know. Paul, later on in Philippians, we'll get to that whenever we get to that in Philippians, but Paul's testimony to them was this.

He said, look, I was raised up to be a Pharisee. If anybody knew the law inside and out, it was

Paul. And so Paul said, there's no doubt that the Jewish people know me.

They know my stance and my take on what the Old Testament Scriptures teach and say, and they know that I'm not about to go contrary to that.

He said, they know me from my childhood up. They knew me from the first, and if,

Paul said, if they're willing to testify that according to the strictest sect of our religion,

I lived a Pharisee, and now, Paul said, and now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers.

To this promise, our twelve tribes earnestly serving God night and day hope to attain the promise.

The promise he is speaking of is the promise of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, which was what they were against when

Jesus came. That is why they put him in chains. That is why they put him on trial, because the very law and the prophets that they said they held to, they denied by admitting

Jesus Christ was the only begotten Son of God come to be the Messiah for God's people.

So he said this, to this promise our twelve tribes earnestly striving, serving

God night and day hope to attain. For this hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused by the

Jews. Why should it be thought incredible by you that God raises the dead?

He said, because King Agrippa understood and believed what the Jewish law taught and concerning resurrection and how that was not something that was outside the scope of belief.

And he said this, indeed, I myself thought I must do many things contrary to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.

Here's Paul's testimony. Paul begins to testify to them concerning how that he himself, being a strict religious

Pharisee, thought that he should stand against Jesus Christ and the way that they called the way of Jesus Christ.

He himself had people delivered unto prison, and we'll read that here. He said this, this

I also did in Jerusalem, and many of the saints I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, and when they were put to death,

I cast my vote against them. He said I punished them often in every synagogue and compelled them to blaspheme, and being exceedingly enraged against them,

I persecuted them even to foreign cities. Paul, just so that you're aware of it,

Paul was saying what y 'all are doing to me, I did to the people who claim the name of Jesus Christ.

That's exactly what he's saying. While thus occupied, as I journeyed to Damascus with authority and commission from the chief priests, he said

I had the authority of the religious crowd to have these folks cast in prison and to put them to death, but while I was on the way,

I thought I had the okay of the highest authority in the land, but he said something happened.

He said at midday, O king, along the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun shining around me and those who journeyed with me.

Everybody here knows, we're all country people, everybody knows who Hank Williams is, right? Everybody probably knows that famous Hank Williams song, right?

Praise the Lord, I saw the light, that wasn't original.

Friends, Paul was singing that way before Hank was. And the Bible goes on to say here, when we had all fallen to the ground,

I heard a voice, the apostle Paul is testifying, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the

Hebrew language, Paul takes this because the Hebrew tongue is a word, another word used there, in the

Hebrew language, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the pricks or to kick against the goads.

So I said, who are you, Lord? And he said,

I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, but arise, stand on your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose.

Paul lays out the fact that he, though he was raised to be a strict

Pharisee, a strict adherent to the Old Testament law of God, came under conviction, came into the reality that Jesus Christ was truly who he said he was, and that God called him for this purpose, and he says, look

King Agrippa, this is why I am here right now, because Jesus told me that he was going, and the

Bible says, let's read it, he said, to make you a minister, a minister is a servant by the way, a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which

I will yet reveal to you. I will,

Jesus said to Paul, I will deliver you from the Jewish people as well as from the

Gentiles to whom I now send you. The Apostle Paul was not coming into the faith of Jesus Christ, the

Apostle Paul did not have the misguided notion that the gospel simply entailed

God giving you your best life now and him being the icing on the cake, but him being the only thing and him being everything concerning salvation.

The Lord never told Paul, you go ahead and trust in me and your life is going to be great, it's going to be a bed of roses, no, many times we read in the scriptures themselves,

God says, I am not going to let you go here, I am going to let you go through there, by the way there is going to be a whole lot of suffering in the meantime, but the

Apostle Paul, because of genuine biblical salvation and the truth of the gospel message was able to say in one place,

Paul said, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed unto me.

Hallelujah for that. Paul said this, Jesus told him, for this reason I am going to deliver you, to open their eyes in order to turn them from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.

Now Paul was not saying that he himself had the power to do this.

This is what Jesus would do, Jesus sent him with the gospel message because in the gospel message there is the power to open blinded eyes.

I could spit on you and lay my hands on you a hundred times and all you are going to do is get more slobbery.

But friends, Jesus Christ has the power to open blinded eyes and it says to turn them from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins.

That is the gospel message. When Jesus sent them out to preach, he said, repent, go and preach saying, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Repent and be baptized every one of you for the remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

So that was the message, that was the testimony. This was Paul's defense of the gospel and Jesus went on to tell him, and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in me.

How many folks are going to be saved, I don't know. And none of you know.

None of the great theologians of history have ever known. Nobody knows.

Jesus put it best, the best way I can explain it to you, to give you a defined answer,

Jesus told Nicodemus you must be born again and Jesus said this, he said, look the wind blows where it wants to and it blows where it wills and when it does blow, people will know it and you'll know it, praise

God. But no man knows how many are going to be saved and who is going to be saved personally.

Therefore King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea and then to all the

Gentiles that they should repent, turn to God and do works befitting repentance.

For these reasons the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me.

I was not doing anything wrong, I was simply proclaiming the message of the gospel.

Therefore having obtained help from God and next week, Lord willing, we'll be getting into where Paul talks about deliverance and being helped by God and being basically endued with power from on high with the

Holy Spirit. But he said here, therefore having obtained help from God, to this day

I stand witnessing both to small and great, saying no other things than those which the prophets and Moses said would come.

We do not have to, in closing, we do not have to have five steps to salvation because truly there are no five steps to salvation.

The steps of salvation are this, we contribute our sin to salvation.

Would everybody agree to that? That's the only thing we contribute to salvation because the work of salvation is the

Lord Himself. The only thing we contribute to salvation is the sin that makes it necessary, is what some of the old timers said.

So Paul said this, I've not preached anything other to you than what the law and the prophets have said concerning Jesus Christ.

And that's all we need. All we need is the gospel of Jesus Christ. Men need to be told and the only way they can recognize that they are sinners is by the supernatural work of the

Holy Spirit, convicting and bringing to life the heart of the dead sinner, drawing them unto

Himself, both to the small and great which the prophets and Moses have said would come, that Christ would suffer, that He would be the first to rise from the dead and would proclaim light to the

Jewish people and to the Gentiles. So going back, if you would stand with us and we're going to close.

In closing back over in Philippians, just to look at that verse, verse 17, Philippians chapter 1 verse 17 again, where the apostle

Paul said, But the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.

The encouraging news that we see in this text of Scripture and what we read in the historical text of Scripture concerning Paul's actual defense of the gospel before King Agrippa is this, all that you need to be equipped to be an effective witness in this world in which we live, you're told all the time, be a good witness for Jesus Christ, do this, do this, do this.

Your greatest asset as a Christian is simply number one, to be saved yourself.

That's where it starts. You must be born again. You cannot give someone something that you do not possess.

Be saved today. Repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ today.

Number two, know what the gospel says.

And how can you do that? Read. How can you do that?

Be faithful and regular in your attendance to the house of God. Be faithful and regular in praying and talking to the

Lord. Be faithful and be regular in asking the Holy Spirit to give you knowledge of His Word.

And if it takes you sitting down when you read, we read those what, two verses, three verses to you today, but we read about a hundred verses to bring it into perspective.

Take the time to do that. Take the time to do that. We live in a hurry up world.

And I like things in a hurry. I don't like to sit in Taco Bell line for 20 minutes. I told

April I'd wait in 40 minutes, but it seemed like it. I don't like to have to wait. But guess what folks, when it comes to salvation, when it comes to knowing the gospel of Jesus Christ, take the time.

If we don't get out of Philippians before the end of this year, hallelujah. We are not in that big of a hurry to rush through the scriptures and sacrifice what

God has truly said in His Word about Himself and about the gospel.

So, my encouragement to you is this. Be saved. Know the gospel.

Study the gospel. Pray about the gospel. Stay faithful and regular in your attendance to God's house, being with God's people.

Heavenly Father, God, today I just want to thank you and I want to praise you for this privilege and this honor that you give us to be here in your house.

God, I want to thank you and praise you, dear God, for just being able to dig into your

Word and to see, dear God, what you say in your own

Word concerning yourself, dear God. I thank you so much for that. I thank you for the illumination of the

Holy Spirit, dear God, bringing to light the things that are already here in your

Word to your people. For this people here, dear God, I just ask you to bless them. Encourage their hearts and their minds, dear

God. Dear God, soften the hardened hearts, dear God. Quicken them, bring them to life, dear

God. Energize and enliven those who may be weak in the faith, dear

God. Encourage their hearts and their minds through your Word. And dear Lord, make us sensitive as your people.

Make us aware. When I say sensitive, God, for the sake of the people I say this, make us keenly aware and attuned, dear

God, to your Word. Help us to be able to recognize truth from error, dear

God, or any mixture thereof. Help every ounce of our being, for it's in Jesus' name we pray.