WWUTT 1395 Q&A Paul Under House Arrest, Many False Prophets, Bible Flock Box

Why Paul Was Under House Arrest and Not in Prison

Why was the Apostle Paul placed under house arrest and not thrown in prison? What are the concerns with Neil T. Anderson's ministries? And how do you respond to somebody saying that we should keep the dietary laws?

The answers when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, a daily Bible teaching podcast that we may be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky, who is not in studio with me today. We are moving this weekend. Praise the Lord, we closed on our house on Wednesday. It's been nice not having debt for a couple of months.

We've been debt-free, but now we've assumed a mortgage. So we're moving into our new house on Saturday. Saturday is the move day, so pray for us as we're doing that. Becky is actually currently packing boxes while I'm here at the church and have enough time to myself to be able to record the Friday Q &A.

You can submit your questions to the program by sending them to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com. We'll see if we can invest a half an hour into responding to some good godly questions here, inquiring about the truth of God's word.

This first one comes from Scott. This may be more of a comment than a question. He says, Pastor Gabe, not only have I been encouraged by what podcasts and videos, I want to thank you for connecting me to just thinking.

The two brothers in Christ are so wise and professional. I would love to be taught under their pastoral care. The CRT series was shockingly true. I hope you and Becky can move into your new home soon.

Congratulations on the new member of the Hughes family. Please do not use any explosive devices for gender reveal parties, unless you have triplets. October is a great day. Take care, brother Gabe, Scott.

Well, the due date is actually September, and we just found out this past Wednesday, we are having a boy. Thank you so much for your prayers and for your encouragement. Yeah, so the program Scott was mentioning there is Just Thinking with Daryl Harrison and Virgil Walker.

Look that one up on whatever podcast device you use to listen to podcasts. The most recent episode they did was a monster episode on critical race theory. You've got to listen to it, especially if you've heard this term thrown around, but do not know what it is.

Just Thinking defines their terms, and they turn pages, bro. So check out that program. I love the work that Daryl Harrison and Virgil Walker are doing, and we have played segments of Just Thinking on this podcast before.

Paul’s Appeal to Caesar and the Rights of a Roman Citizen

Next question comes from Neil. He says, dear Pastor Gabe and Becky, I hope you find this email in good spirits. Congratulations on finally purchasing a house. I have two questions. Why was the Apostle Paul put on house arrest instead of a jail or a prison?

I know he was put in jail before traveling to Rome. I'm assuming there are differences between house arrests and imprisonment back then, just like today. Second question, you mentioned a lot of church history this week on the program.

I was talking about church history in some of the episodes in, well, both in our study in Romans and also in Proverbs yesterday. So Neil goes on to say, I would like to read more about church history.

Do you have a specific church history book that you would recommend, a History 101 of sorts? Also, I noticed a few of your listeners named Neil. I'm Neil from Las Vegas. Thank you for clarifying that, Neil.

I didn't realize we actually had a whole lot of Neils. I know that I occasionally hear from my friend Neil in the Carolinas, but I didn't, I guess I've just not paid enough attention to notice that there are a lot of other Neils that write into the program.

Somebody named Neil would definitely notice that though. Okay, so Neil's first question, why was the Apostle Paul on house arrest instead of a jail or a prison? As we talked about that a little bit on the broadcast this past week.

So Paul appealed to Caesar because he was a Roman citizen. That he might have the chance to be able to make his case before Caesar. Now, Paul can do that as a citizen. It was within his rights to request that, but he did it because he wanted to be able to declare the gospel to Caesar.

That's really why he did it. That was his ultimate motivation. But if you'll recall, when he journeyed back to Jerusalem, he's going to Jerusalem to take the money that was collected for the benefit of the saints at the church there under the care of James and the other elders there was a famine that was in the land.

There were Christians from Macedonia and Achaia that had collected money to benefit the Christians who were struggling under the pressure of that famine, under the weight of the famine. So Paul journeys back to Jerusalem to take the money to them.

And it's while he's there in Jerusalem that he's persecuted and arrested. And it's the Jews that do this. They turn him over to the Roman officials. And then Paul is saying, as he's appearing before Governor Festus, this is Acts 25, starting in verse 10.

He says, I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried because that was his rights as a Roman citizen to have the right to a Roman trial. So he goes on to the Jews, I have done no wrong as you yourself know very well.

If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.

Paul is reminding Festus as to what his rights are as a Roman citizen. He cannot be given over to the Jews to be tried because as a Roman citizen, he deserves to have his case heard before Caesar. So then in verse 12, he says, then Festus, when he had conferred with his counsel, answered, to Caesar you have appealed, to Caesar you shall go.

Now, it's interesting there that Festus conferred with his counsel. Paul knew his own rights better than Festus did. And so when Festus' counsel said, well, he's right, he's a Roman citizen, he's appealed to Caesar, he gets to go to Caesar.

And so Festus turns him over to Caesar. Now, King Agrippa comes after that. Paul shares his testimony with him and makes his case before Festus and Agrippa. Then at the end of Acts 26, the two of them are talking together and they said to one another, this is Acts 26, 31, this man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.

So Paul had not even done anything for which he deserved to be in prison. And Agrippa said to Festus, this man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar. Paul decided that it was more worth it to be in chains, that he might go to Rome and share the gospel there and even proclaim the gospel to Caesar, than it would be for him to be set free.

He saw that as an opportunity to be able to preach before Caesar. If he had not appealed to Caesar, well, Festus and Agrippa would have decided he's not done anything wrong, we're just gonna let him go.

So then Paul being imprisoned is sent as a prisoner up to Rome and we know there was a shipwreck on the way there, I talked about that earlier this week. And you can also go back and listen to the lessons that I did in Acts over a year ago here on the podcast.

Anyway, so Neil's question is, why was Paul put under house arrest instead of put in jail or prison? For two reasons, number one, because he really hadn't done anything wrong. And if he had not appealed to Caesar, then he would have been let go.

But it was only those who had cases against them that would have their case heard before Caesar. So he still had to be transported as a criminal, even though there really wasn't a reason for him to be in jail anymore.

Second reason why he was not in prison is because he was a Roman citizen and citizens of the empire of Rome had certain rights and privileges that others who were not citizens did not receive. If you think back to the story of Paul and Silas in Philippi in Acts chapter 16, remember they were beaten and thrown in prison and there was an earthquake and the prison doors were thrown open and the Philippian jailer was going to kill himself, but Paul said, do not harm yourself, we are all here.

And the Philippian jailer was converted, he became a Christian, him and his whole household and all of this, okay, you know that story. So then the jailer comes to Paul and says, the magistrates have sent to let you go, therefore come out and go in peace.

In Acts 16, 37, Paul said to them, they have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens and have thrown us into prison. And do they now throw us out secretly? No, let them come themselves and take us out.

The police reported these words to the magistrates and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. So Paul was a citizen of Rome, yet he was not treated as a citizen and they were afraid when they heard that because it's like, we're all gonna get in trouble.

He's followed the law and we have not. Even when Paul appeared before Festus, it seems there that he knew the law better than Festus did. And Festus had to consult his own counsel to know whether Paul's appeal was legitimate according to the law.

So this is a man who knew his rights well that he might exercise them for the cause of being able to spread the gospel. It's because of his appeal to Caesar, he got to go to Rome. He got a free trip to Rome.

It wasn't a luxury cruise, but nevertheless, he got to Rome to be able to continue to preach the gospel there, which he did for two years. He would not have had that kind of an influence if not for the fact that he was under house arrest.

So there under house arrest, he has the protection of the government and even the opportunity to be able to share the gospel with anyone who came in his house. This is all by the providence of God. Now he does make reference to his chains, however, that's in Philippians and Ephesians and in Colossians.

He talks about being in chains. So he's under house arrest. He's not in prison, but being under house arrest, not in prison, like in a dungeon sort of a sense. That's what I mean. Because he does make a reference to being imprisoned.

And that is why he's there for preaching the gospel. He is in a place where he cannot go. The guards are guarding him. They're not gonna let him go anywhere, but he talks with the Philippians about how even some of the guards have been converted and they've come to faith because they've heard about what's happened to Paul and he's shared the gospel with them.

So being in that place, he is being persecuted because of his faith, but God has, by his providence, given Paul that opportunity to be able to share the gospel from where he is. So a reference to his chains would be the fact that he actually does have chains on his feet.

That prevents him from running off. He's under house arrest. He's got his own house. He doesn't have to stay in some kind of a dank dungeon, but he's not gonna be able to go anywhere. And those chains serve as a testimony to what the world is gonna do to a person who proclaims Christ, whose citizenship is in heaven instead of, and Paul values his citizenship in heaven more than he values his own citizenship as a Roman citizen.

And so we need to follow that example as well. We can use our rights to share the gospel of Christ. Know what your rights are so that you may be able to do that. But as Paul says in Philippians 3 .20, our citizenship is in heaven and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

So we can use our rights as citizens here on earth to be able to proclaim the gospel, but ultimately that citizenship that we truly have, the one that we should really value and long for and the laws of which we are under is that citizenship that we have in heaven.

Obey Christ, your King. He is Lord, not Caesar. Okay, so we go on there to Neil's second question where he says, you mentioned a lot of church history this week. I would like to read more about church history.

Do you have a specific church history book that you recommend, a history 101 of sorts? Well, there is a church history 101. It was edited by Sinclair Ferguson, I believe. It's a small short book, but it covers about 2000 years of church history.

Each chapter is like a very abbreviated summary of a particular century. So it's 20 centuries and you can find it on just about anywhere that you buy books. Ligonier I know would have a copy. So if you go to their bookstore and buy it from there, you can find Church History 101 edited by Sinclair Ferguson.

As for a more robust history book, I don't know that I've read one. I've read Church History by Eusebius. That was a long time ago. I've read Josephus's writings, Augustine, Jerome, reading the Didache, the Apocrypha.

I've read some of Against Heresies by Irenaeus. Not the whole thing though. I think the whole thing's like 700 pages. I downloaded it on Kindle and I know I didn't read the whole thing, but I read quite a bit of it.

Anyway, it's just things like that. Find some of those old documents from early in the church and read those just to have a knowledge or an awareness of some of those things that were taught within the first few centuries of the church.

Now that's a lot more research. I mean, that's a lot more complicated than just grabbing a simple Church History 101 book. That one there by Sinclair Ferguson, like I said, I recommend that one. I don't know that I've read another book or a bigger or thicker book on that.

I would also recommend Robert Godfrey's Church History DVD series. And that's, man, dozens of lessons. I can't remember how many lessons are in that series, but he goes through Church History, 2 ,000 years of Church History and one of the best lecture series on Church History that I've ever listened to.

Probably, I would say it is the best. It might be the only one, but check that one out as well. And Ligonier would have that in their shop also. Trying to think if there's anything else. But yeah, like I said, you may just have to read some of those old writings.

A lot of that is free online. You can just kind of do some research and look that up. That was how I found a lot of it. I mean, it is a lot of work. It's not simple. It's not gonna be spoon-fed to you.

And then a lot of those, even modern day Church History books that you might find can be kind of complicated. They can be some difficult reads, but it just depends on how much work you wanna put into it.

That Sinclair Ferguson book though is a great place to start, because I think from there, you're gonna get some recommendations on some of the men in the history of church that you'll want to look up and read.

This next question comes from Preston. He says, dear Watt, I've been listening to your podcast and watching your videos for a few years now. Like all your listeners, I especially enjoy the Friday Q &As with your wife, Becky.

Thank you, Preston. Sorry to disappoint you that she's not with me this week. Recently, I was asked to attend a class for the Bondage Breaker by Neil T. Anderson at a nearby church for Freedom in Christ Ministries.

While some of what is said seems to be very solid, there are some things that just feel off. Are you familiar with Dr. Anderson, the Bondage Breaker or Freedom in Christ Ministries? Are they biblically sound or is it a ministry that should be avoided?

Any resources you can point me to for a better understanding of this would be appreciated. Thank you and God bless you and your family. I don't have any resources I could point you to, but I would just say that Neil T. Anderson is a false teacher.

It's kind of funny. I just read an email from Neil who said I have a lot of listeners named Neil and now we're talking about a Neil T. Anderson. But this is not a Neil to go after. He is a false teacher.

And the concerning thing about him is that on the surface, everything looks okay. Like if you go to his social media account, he's just got your generic sort of memes or verse graphics that will say things like, well, Psalm 42 .1 is a deer pants for flowing stream.

So pants my soul for you, oh God. Psalm 41 .1, blessed is the one who considers the poor. It's just a general light fare like that. But when you buy his books and you look into the stuff that he teaches, that's where you come into some very, very serious problems.

He's got some really wonky things that he teaches about spiritual warfare. And I think that's the one that you're asking about in particular, bondage breaker. Cause I think he goes into a lot of spiritual conflict sorts of stuff there.

But he also will say that you are not a sinner saved by grace. Like he will say that to Christians and you should not consider yourself as a sinner that is saved by grace. Rather, you need to think of yourself as a person who is already good, but you occasionally sin.

Is that what scripture says about us? No, Romans three says there is none who are righteous, not even one person. No one understands, no one seeks for God. All have turned aside, together we have become worthless.

No one does good, not even one. And Ephesians 2, eight and nine says, it is by grace you are saved through faith. And this is not your own doing. It is a gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.

I know I've seen some things from Anderson where he says stuff like, you should not even examine yourself where the scripture explicitly states that we are to put ourselves to the test. That's Paul in second Corinthians 13, five.

Do you not recognize regarding yourselves that Christ is in you unless you fail to meet the test? So we are to examine ourselves. We are to pursue holiness and righteousness, which we cannot have without faith in Christ.

But if we do not know that we are sinners deserving of the judgment of God, then what motivation does a person have to want to pursue the righteousness of Jesus Christ? Not only does Anderson say we should not examine ourselves, he says we should not examine other people either.

Like he'll say things like you should examine deeds and not actually judge a person's character. But don't, isn't it true that a person's actions reveal their character? That's what Jesus said in Matthew chapter seven, you will know them by their fruit.

And so we know who is evil because they do evil things. We're therefore to flee from unrighteousness and we are to pursue righteousness. We're not supposed to submit ourselves any longer as slaves to unrighteousness, as Paul says in Romans six, but we are slaves to the righteousness of Christ.

So yeah, Anderson's teaching is garbage, don't have anything to do with it. And even though on the surface, it kind of meets the eye test, you know what I mean? Where he's like, oh, look, a good Christian teacher who's even publishing Bible verses and stuff like that must be pretty neat.

Once you get down into the stuff that he actually teaches, it's very, very problematic. I would call him a false teacher. I would not say he's an unbeliever. I don't know that much about him personally to be able to say that about Neil Anderson, but he certainly should not be teaching.

He will be leading people astray. James three one says not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Thank you for your question, Preston.

Why There Are No Modern-Day Prophets

This next one's from Debbie. Hi, Pastor Gabe and Becky from Southern Illinois. I don't know if this specific subject as it relates to this person has been asked before since I was approached Sunday morning with the question from a fellow church member asking are there modern day prophets?

I immediately said no. She said that there was scripture to back this up, that in the last days there will be prophets. I can't find the scripture verse she's talking about. Well, she showed me a Google search, this person named Kim Clement, who is dead by the way.

This person supposedly prophesied about the Trump versus Biden presidential election years ago and one of his prophecies is supposedly to happen this spring. So my question is, are there any modern day prophets at all?

Even if what they prophesy aligns with scripture? Yes, I am putting prophesy in quotation marks because from my reading of scripture, there are no modern day prophets. Thank you, I love your podcast, especially the Friday episodes when you have your beautiful bride, Becky.

Once again, somebody else I have to disappoint and say that Becky is not with me on this episode. Yeah, so in Hebrews chapter one, verse one, we read long ago at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets.

But in these last days, he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. And then we also have this in Hebrews two, next chapter, beginning in verse two, for since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?

It was declared at first by the Lord and it was attested to us by those who heard while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.

So prophecy was one of those things that affirmed the message that was going forth was truly from God. Something would be proclaimed and then it would happen, it would come true to verify that this word that is being proclaimed to you is therefore from God.

So Christ appointed his apostles and he blessed those apostles with certain apostolic gifts to affirm that their message was truly from God. When the last apostle died at the end of the first century, that would have been John, who died in what's modern day Turkey, when he died, there's no new revelation.

That was the end of the apostolic era. So those things that were to be revealed by the prophets, we have in the scriptures and we don't need anything else. This has been revealed to us by Christ. He is sufficient.

We need nothing else, but what has been given to us in Genesis through revelation. And Peter says in 2 Peter 1, that we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed to which you will do well to follow, to obey as a light shining in a dark place.

So what has been given to us in the scriptures has been fully revealed, fully confirmed, and we don't need any new prophecy. What benefit will there be to God revealing to us something that's gonna happen this spring?

What benefit would there be? It's not going to, we're not gonna gain anything by knowing about some sort of a current event that's gonna happen here in just a few months, especially by some dead guy who doesn't have any idea what's going on in the world right now, because he's dead, he's gone.

And Kim Clement was wrong. He was a false prophet. And that was fully confirmed after Trump did not win reelection. Because one of the things that these false prophets kept saying about Kim Clement is that Clement prophesied Trump's election and his reelection, which did not happen.

So we know that Clement is a false prophet. As it says plainly in Deuteronomy 13 and 18, how do you know if a man is a false prophet? If he declares that he's been given a word of God and he proclaims it to you, and that thing he declares does not come to pass.

He's a false prophet. And in Israel, that would get you stoned to death. And every single one of these guys who proclaim that God revealed to them that Trump would be reelected and he wasn't, they spoke a word from God to benefit themselves, to either gain attention for it or wealth from it.

And they were all liars and deceivers. If anything, the last year with COVID and Trump's not getting reelected, all this other kind of thing, all of those things revealed to us that there are no modern day prophets, nobody.

You're even talking about an event that's on the calendar and you have a 50 -50 chance of getting it right. I'm talking about election. The election of our next president of the United States. You have a 50 -50 chance of getting that right.

And they still couldn't even get that right. Revealing that they are all liars and deceivers, have nothing to do with them. It's a very simple common sense test that we can put on any prophet. They say something that doesn't come to pass, they're a false prophet.

If they get one out of a hundred prophecies right, they're still a false prophet because all these things that they claim have been revealed to them by God do not come true. That's the test that God gives us according to his word.

Bible Flock Box, Seventh-day Adventism, and Dietary Laws

Appreciate your question, Debbie. Always good to hear from you. This next one comes from Brody in Winfield, Kansas. I used to live there for a little while. Hello, I have a problem. Today, I saw a video from YouTube named Bible Flock Box.

And it's about eight scriptures that are misunderstood about unclean meat. He also says that the New Testament does not abolish the dietary laws and Christians are still to obey them. Does this need to be exposed?

If you are willing, will you please correct him if possible? I've been stressed out about this today. God bless you. Well, Brody, I don't want you to be stressed out about this. That guy on that YouTube channel, Bible Flock Box is a false teacher.

So do not be burdened by anything that he tells you. He's a seventh day Adventist. And he says that very plainly. Seventh day Adventism is a false teaching. They may claim in their statements of faith that they believe that the Bible is their utmost authority, but they also claim that the teachings of Ellen G. White are their authority.

And Ellen White was a false prophetess. She was a woman who claimed to hear from God and vomited out all these horrible false teachings. So have nothing to do with seventh day Adventism. Just as I was talking a moment ago about how there are no modern day prophets, and you can test by their own prophecies that they're not truly prophets.

So the same is true of Ellen G. White. So many of the things that she proclaimed turned out to be false. She even at one point testified to the day that Jesus was gonna return and it did not happen. But instead of admitting, yeah, I was wrong, I lied to you all.

She said, well, the reason why Jesus didn't come back is because you guys didn't pray hard enough. That's the MO of the false prophets today to say, hey, if I've declared you something and it doesn't come to pass, well, it's your fault.

It's not mine. A lot of them do that. So do not be burdened by this guy. He's not even a good speaker. Just be very careful about, especially some of the stuff that you watch on YouTube. My channel is safe though.

Go to youtube .com slash WWUTT. Watch some of those videos. In Colossians chapter two, I'm gonna begin reading in verse 13. It says, and you who were dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him. Therefore, this is verse 16. Therefore, let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. I just went through a teaching on the podcast out of Romans chapter 14, where it says we are to pass judgment against nobody in the church because of matters of conscience over food and drink.

This false teacher is burdening you over things that God has declared are good. First Corinthians 10 31 says, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. We read in first Timothy chapter four that those who require abstinence from foods, teach the teaching of demons.

God created these foods to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. This is first Timothy four four. For everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving for it is made holy by the word of God and prayer.

And that's in regards to food. You can go there and read that for yourself. Read also Acts chapter 10, the vision that Peter has before he goes and preaches the gospel at the house of Cornelius and read also what Jesus said to the Pharisees in Mark chapter seven.

And it's there that it says he declared all foods clean. Do not let yourself be burdened by the lies of false teachers. Thank you, brethren. And I appreciate you listening today. I just recently wrote a new article about the evils of the Equality Act.

You can read it by going to pastorgabe .com. And I begin that article with Proverbs chapter eight, which we studied yesterday on the broadcast. Proverbs eight, starting in verse four. Wisdom, the wisdom of God calls out to you, oh men I call and my cry is to the children of man.

Oh, simple ones learn prudence. Oh, fools learn sense. Here for I will speak noble things and from my lips will come what is right. For my mouth will utter truth. Wickedness is an abomination to my lips.

All the words of my mouth are righteous. There is nothing twisted or crooked in them. And skipping to the end of Proverbs chapter eight, wisdom says, and now, oh, sons, listen to me. Blessed are those who keep my ways.

Hear instruction and be wise and do not neglect it. Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord.

But he who fails to find me injures himself. All who hate me love death. Friends, all who love the Equality Act love death. They hate people, they hate life. They love death. Be in prayer for this nation, that God would be merciful to us, granting repentance, but we must be brave.

Go to church, preach the gospel, defend the truth. Romans 1 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. God bless, friends.

This is when we understand the text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. There are lots of great Bible teaching programs on the web and we thank you for selecting ours. But this is no replacement for regular fellowship with the church family.

Find a good gospel teaching Christ-centered church to worship with this weekend and join us again Monday for more Bible study when we understand the text.