Acts 25:1-27  I Appeal Unto Caesar

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Acts 25:1-27  I Appeal Unto Caesar

[Study Aired October 1, 2023]

Act 25:1  Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
Act 25:2  Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him,
Act 25:3  And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.
Act 25:4  But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither.
Act 25:5  Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him.
Act 25:6  And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought.
Act 25:7  And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.
Act 25:8  While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.
Act 25:9  But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?
Act 25:10  Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest.
Act 25:11  For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
Act 25:12  Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.
Act 25:13  And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.
Act 25:14  And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:
Act 25:15  About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.
Act 25:16  To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.
Act 25:17  Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.
Act 25:18  Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:
Act 25:19  But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
Act 25:20  And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.
Act 25:21  But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.
Act 25:22  Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him.
Act 25:23  And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.
Act 25:24  And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.
Act 25:25  But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.
Act 25:26  Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.
Act 25:27  For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

In this chapter we will learn that, just as it was with Joseph when his ten brothers who hated him simply because their father loved Joseph more that his brothers, so it is with us as the Lord’s elect who are hated by our brothers in Christ for the same reason. Paul’s experience with his Jewish brothers signifies our experience with our Christian brothers. We, too, are safer and we receive more mercy when we are being judged by the secular people of this world than we are if we are being judged by our ‘Diotrophes’ brothers in Christ who have “cast [us] out of the church” in favor of all the lies of Babylon over the truths of the doctrines of Christ. This truth is no doubt part of the reason for these inspired words via the pen of the apostle Paul:

Rom 13:1  Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.
Rom 13:2  Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:
Rom 13:4  For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
Rom 13:5  Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.
Rom 13:6  For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.
Rom 13:7  Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

At the beginning of this book of Acts, the Jewish synagogues signify the churches of Babylon. Near the end of this book, and in the epistles of Paul, Peter, and John, the “synagogue of Satan” and “Babylon the Great” signify the apostasy of the Christian church itself.

Here are a few verses which reveal the extent of the apostasy of the Christian church before the death of the apostles. While these verses may make us shake our heads, we had better just pray that the Lord does not take away our own spiritual vision and our spiritual ears:

2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

Earlier Paul had warned Timothy about false ministers who were already within the church:

1Ti 1:19  Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1Ti 1:20  Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

This ‘Hymenaeus’ is mentioned again as working to spread his heresy with another apostate:

2Ti 2:17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

If Hymenaeus were sharing this heresy with Philetus, there is no doubt he shared it also with Alexander, whom Paul also incriminates as an early apostate along with some of Paul’s own fellow laborers:

2Ti 4:9  Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:
2Ti 4:10  For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.
2Ti 4:11  Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.
2Ti 4:12  And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.
2Ti 4:13  The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.
2Ti 4:14  Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:
2Ti 4:15  Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.
2Ti 4:16  At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. [“Father forgive them for they know not what they do” (Luk 23:34)]
2Ti 4:17  Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.
2Ti 4:18  And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter was also contending with this same spirit of apostasy within the church in his epistles where he also reveals that Paul’s epistles were already canonized as scripture by the apostles:

2Pe 3:15  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;
2Pe 3:16  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.
2Pe 3:17  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

The apostle John was also struggling against the apostasy taking hold in the church:

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them [meaning those in the church], receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

It was the leaders of the apostasy of the church who already had the upper hand and had the influence and the ability to cast Christ’s “disciples indeed” out of the church. Just like the Jews who were persecuting Paul, Diotrephes loved being preeminent in the church, and he hated John’s doctrines to the extent that, as a church leader, he cast those who received John’s messengers out of the church.

The gospels reveal that this same spirit, which desired preeminence, was in the Jewish leadership which hated Christ and His doctrines. That would be these Jews who were falsely accusing the apostle Paul:

Joh 11:45  [After raising Lazarus from the dead] many of the Jews which came to [Lazarus’ sister] Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
Joh 11:46  But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done.
Joh 11:47  Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles.
Joh 11:48  If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation [and we will lose our preeminence].

Cain wanted to be preeminent over Abel, Joseph’s brothers wanted to be over Joseph, and Korah and the 250 elders wanted to be preeminent over Moses and Aaron. That is the spirit of preeminence which was driving Paul’s detractors, and that is the same spirit which withstands the Truth until this very day. The Truth is that the leaders of modern Christianity do not know the doctrine of Christ and will not be in the first resurrection. It is the same thing as telling them, “You are of your father, the devil” (Joh 8:44). For anyone to acknowledge that fact, alienates that person from the mainstream historic Christian church which speaks with such high regard about all the past church councils and synods, which came after the Jerusalem council of Acts 15. All those councils and synods were full of heresies about a triune God and another Christ who wants us to get involved in the affairs and politics of this age. All who follow them and do so will hear these words of our Lord:

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Such is the spirit of the leaders of “the church in the wilderness” who are seeking to kill Paul, the New Testament symbol of all who are faithful to the words of Christ. “The church in the wilderness” is the symbol of the great harlot who is also “in the spirit… in the wilderness.”

Rev 17:3  So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

This ‘woman’ wants Paul, and all who are faithful to Christ and His doctrines, dead:

Rev 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

In this study Paul signifies “the saints” whom this great harlot wants to murder:

Act 25:1  Now when Festus was come into the province, after three days he ascended from Caesarea to Jerusalem.
Act 25:2  Then the high priest and the chief of the Jews informed him against Paul, and besought him,
Act 25:3  And desired favour against him, that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying wait in the way to kill him.

The physical type must always precede the spiritual anti-type. Therefore, physical Jerusalem, the city which symbolizes the capital of the physical kingdom of God on this earth, is declared to be a spiritual harlot and a literal murderer of men:

Isa 1:21  How is the faithful city become an harlot! it was full of judgment; righteousness lodged in it; but now murderers [“Drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus”].
Isa 1:22  Thy silver is become dross, thy wine mixed with water: [Truth twisted into heresy]
Isa 1:23  Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Isa 1:24  Therefore saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies:
Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, [His own people] and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

The Lord has declared He will judge this great whore and “purge away [her] dross and take away her tin.”

The apostle Paul refers to physical Israel as an olive tree, with Christ as the root of that tree and the branches signifying physical Israel.  In Romans 11 he reveals that God has broken off the natural branches, and it is the Gentile Christian church which the Lord has “graffed” into the root of the olive tree. The natural branches were originally and physically only Jewish and of the seed of Abraham “according to the flesh”:

Act 2:29  Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Act 2:30  Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

Heb 2:16  For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

The doctrine of the gospel going to the Gentiles infuriated the established ‘church in the wilderness’, the leaders, and the people of Judaism. It infuriated them because it alienated them from God, just as the doctrine of universal salvation alienates the leaders and the people of Christianity today from a God whom they teach will never do such a thing.

Paul explains this phenomenon in:

Rom 11:11  I say then, Have [the Jews] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.
Rom 11:12  Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness?
Rom 11:13  For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:
Rom 11:14  If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them.
Rom 11:15  For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?
Rom 11:16  For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.
Rom 11:17  And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
Rom 11:18  Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.

What Paul writes in the next few verses here in Romans 11 is a prophecy of the apostasy of the Christian church itself. We will come back to Romans 11:19 in a few minutes, but first we must understand that being grafted into the spiritual “Israel of God” does not inoculate one from the scourge of apostasy any more than being the seed of Abraham, kept “those Jews which believed on [Christ]” from being “of your father the devil.”

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

The fact is that Christ spoke those words to ‘spiritual’ Israel, because He was speaking to “those Jews which believed on Him.”

Joh 8:30  As he spake these words, many believed on him.
Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham’s seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin [even if you are Abraham’s seed and even if you do believe on Jesus].

Armed with the knowledge that believing in Jesus does not keep us from believing a lie, let’s go back to what Paul tells us in Romans 11:

Rom 11:19  Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in.
Rom 11:20 (a) Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith.

Earlier in this same epistle, Paul reveals that faith in Christ turns a physical Gentile Christian into a “spiritual… Jew”, and in the epistle to the Galatians he says that being ‘a new creature in Christ’ makes Gentiles who are in Christ “the Israel of God.”

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: [Many professing Christians would say this verse is blatant heresy]
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Gal 6:15  Certainly, it doesn’t matter whether a person is circumcised or not. Rather, what matters is being a new creation.
Gal 6:16  Peace and mercy will come to rest on all those who conform to this principle. They are the Israel of God. (GWV)

In Romans 11 the holy spirit inspired Paul to tell us that God Himself has broken off the natural branches for the purpose of grafting into His ‘olive tree’ the spiritual branches composed of physical Gentiles who now become “inward… spiritual… Jews” and therefore “the Israel of God.” Then in the very next few verses Paul gives us Gentile believers, these ‘spiritual Jews’, the exact same warning Christ gave to “those Jews which believed on Him… but could not receive His Words.”

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Joh 8:37  I know that ye are Abraham’s seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.

Few Christians have ever heard that it is entirely possible to believe in Jesus and yet “continue [not] in [His] word.” Few Christians know that there is a world of difference between being a disciple of Christ and being “[His] disciples indeed [only] if ye continue in My Word…”  Those are Christ’s words to Jews who believed on Him, and these are Paul’s words to Gentiles Christians who also believe on Him:

Rom 11:20  Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:
Rom 11:21  For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.
Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.
Rom 11:23  And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again.
Rom 11:24  For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree?

Paul’s warning to us as believing Gentiles today, and to the early Gentile Christian church, is the exact same warning Christ gave to ‘those Jews which believed on Him.” Let us place John 8:31 side by side with Romans 11:22:

Jesus said to “those Jews which believed on Him”:

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

Paul, to believing Gentiles:

Rom 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

It is the same warning in both verses. ‘If [we] continue in [His] Word’ is ‘continuing in His goodness.’ “Otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.”

“Thou also shall be cut off” was a prophecy of what happened to the Gentile Christian churches before the apostles died, as is demonstrated from the words of Paul to Timothy, the words of Peter “to them that have obtained like precious faith… and the words of 3rd John to Gaius, concerning the power the apostate Diotrephes had to cast those who were continuing in Christ’s words out of the church.

The church that was conceived on the day of Pentecost in the New Testament was strongly opposed by the church in the wilderness, which in a sense was conceived on the first Pentecost in the wilderness of Sinai.

Act 7:35  This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
Act 7:36  He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
Act 7:37  This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear.
Act 7:38  This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us: [On the first Pentecost foreshadowing the birth of the New Testament church on that same day]

It was the concept that God would come to the Gentiles without going through physical Israel that infuriated these Jews who so hated Paul that they wanted to kill him. The same spirit of preeminence “rose up against Moses” through “Korah… Dathan and Abiram… and… two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown.” That same spirit resides in the modern Christian church today. That spirit despises the message that “all in Adam… shall be made alive” (1Co 15:50). That spirit especially hates those who are faithful to the words of that ‘Prophet like unto Moses.’

The Christian church grew rapidly from the day of Pentecost and throughout the entire first century. It began to apostatize away from the doctrines of the apostles while the apostles were still alive to the extent that, after all the years the apostle Paul had spent raising up churches in the province of Asia, the home of “the seven churches of Asia” of Revelation 1-3, this is what the apostle Paul tells us in 1st Timothy.

1Ti 1:19  Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
1Ti 1:20  Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

In 2nd Timothy Paul reveals that the apostasy was continuing and had now encompassed “all they of Asia”, which would include “the seven churches of Asia” of the first three chapters of the book of Revelation. The fact that the entire book of Revelation is addressed to “the seven churches of Asia”, and the fact that Paul tells us “all they in Asia have forsaken me”, signifies that the apostasy of the church was a thorough apostasy and that it was completed before the apostles had all died.

2Ti 1:13  Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
2Ti 1:14  That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us.
2Ti 1:15  This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me; of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
2Ti 2:16  But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
2Ti 2:17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
2Ti 2:18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

All my life I wondered how anyone could say “the resurrection is past already”. The fiery experience made it very clear how that is done. It is done by appeal to those who take pride in seeing a spiritual meaning to every word of scripture, including the word ‘resurrected’, but excludes these words:

1Co 15:22  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
1Co 15:23  But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming.
1Co 15:24  Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
1Co 15:25  For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
1Co 15:26  The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

This seductive false doctrine reasons that we are spiritually crucified and raised in newness of life with Christ (Rom 6:1-4), and therefore there will be no future first resurrection. That is the false doctrine of Hymenaeus which teaches that “the resurrection is past already.” It was that same spirit which led the Catholic Church to proclaim that the kingdoms of the world had become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ when the Christian religion was declared to be the religion of The Holy Roman Empire.

It is because of the apostasy of the church that the entire book of Revelation is addressed to “the seven churches which are in Asia.”

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Rev 1:10  I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
Rev 1:11  Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

“The seven churches which are in Asia” and “all they which are in Asia” are the same. Both signify the complete apostasy of the Christian church which was accomplished before the apostles had died. Paul had been warned by the holy spirit that this would happen after he left Asia on his last trip up to Jerusalem to “bear witness” of the gospel to his “own kinsmen” the physical nation of Israel:

Act 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.
Act 20:29  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Act 20:30  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
Act 20:31  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

“Drawing away disciples after them” is just another way of saying they would be seeking preeminence among the brothers in the churches. It is the desire for preeminence which has contributed to fracturing the church of God into over 40,000 disagreeing and conflicting denominations of men. Any church which is a legal entity is owned by a man or a group of men. That fact alone disqualifies that church from being led by Christ, who is not a ‘legal entity’ which is an organization of men. The “body of Christ” is not a legal organization of men. Rather, He is a living spiritual organism of which He is the head and which is united by the Truth which He IS.

Joh 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7  If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

This is the spirit that was in the church in the wilderness which has risen up against the Lord’s Christ in the person of the apostle Paul. The Lord’s Christ is the apple of His eye, and He has never forsaken His elect. Even Festus, the new governor of Judea, is caused to be Paul’s protection against the roving lion who is seeking whom he may devour:

Act 25:4  But Festus answered, that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself would depart shortly thither.
Act 25:5  Let them therefore, said he, which among you are able, go down with me, and accuse this man, if there be any wickedness in him.
Act 25:6  And when he had tarried among them more than ten days, he went down unto Caesarea; and the next day sitting on the judgment seat commanded Paul to be brought.

Informing us that Festus remained in Jerusalem “more than ten days” tells us that Festus, who was caused by the Lord Himself to protect the Lord’s elect, was nevertheless comfortable and right at home there with those carnal-minded Jews. It was in Jerusalem, which signifies Babylon, that the Jews felt strong enough to kill Paul who signifies God’s elect in every generation. Nevertheless, the Lord causes Festus to declare that the judgment of Paul would be done in Caesarea, and the Jews who were willing and able would have to go with him down to Caesarea to falsely accuse Paul once again.

Act 25:7  And when he was come, the Jews which came down from Jerusalem stood round about, and laid many and grievous complaints against Paul, which they could not prove.

They were the same false accusations made by “the Jews of Asia” who accused Paul of taking a Greek into the temple and of teaching the Jews which were among the Gentiles to forsake Moses and not circumcise their children. They also accused Paul of fomenting an insurrection against Caesar by proclaiming that Christ is a king.

Act 25:8  While he answered for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all.
Act 25:9  But Festus, willing to do the Jews a pleasure, answered Paul, and said, Wilt thou go up to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these things before me?

Paul knew that “above forty” [starving] men had taken a vow to neither eat nor drink until Paul was dead. He knew better than to agree to going back into spiritual Babylon to be judged.

Act 25:10  Then said Paul, I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged: to the Jews have I done no wrong, as thou very well knowest.
Act 25:11  For if I be an offender, or have committed any thing worthy of death, I refuse not to die: but if there be none of these things whereof these accuse me, no man may deliver me unto them. I appeal unto Caesar.
Act 25:12  Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? unto Caesar shalt thou go.

Now the Lord’s promise to Paul that he would testify for Him in Rome is about to come to pass, but not before Paul is given the opportunity to share the gospel of Christ with King Agrippa and Bernice.

Act 25:13  And after certain days king Agrippa and Bernice came unto Caesarea to salute Festus.
Act 25:14  And when they had been there many days, Festus declared Paul’s cause unto the king, saying, There is a certain man left in bonds by Felix:
Act 25:15  About whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, desiring to have judgment against him.
Act 25:16  To whom I answered, It is not the manner of the Romans to deliver any man to die, before that he which is accused have the accusers face to face, and have licence to answer for himself concerning the crime laid against him.
Act 25:17  Therefore, when they were come hither, without any delay on the morrow I sat on the judgment seat, and commanded the man to be brought forth.
Act 25:18  Against whom when the accusers stood up, they brought none accusation of such things as I supposed:
Act 25:19  But had certain questions against him of their own superstition, and of one Jesus, which was dead, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.
Act 25:20  And because I doubted of such manner of questions, I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.
Act 25:21  But when Paul had appealed to be reserved unto the hearing of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar.
Act 25:22  Then Agrippa said unto Festus, I would also hear the man myself. To morrow, said he [Festus], thou shalt hear him.
Act 25:23  And on the morrow, when Agrippa was come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and was entered into the place of hearing, with the chief captains, and principal men of the city, at Festus’ commandment Paul was brought forth.

The scholars agree that this King Agrippa is the son of Herod Agrippa who had the apostle James, the brother of John, who were the sons of Zebedee, killed, and who was eaten of worms. They also tell us that Bernice was the sister of Felix’s wife, Drucilla. Both women were Jewesses.

Here are John Gill’s comments concerning this King Agrippa:

Act 25:24  And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men which are here present with us, ye see this man, about whom all the multitude of the Jews have dealt with me, both at Jerusalem, and also here, crying that he ought not to live any longer.
Act 25:25  But when I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death, and that he himself hath appealed to Augustus, I have determined to send him.
Act 25:26  Of whom I have no certain thing to write unto my lord. Wherefore I have brought him forth before you, and specially before thee, O king Agrippa, that, after examination had, I might have somewhat to write.
Act 25:27  For it seemeth to me unreasonable to send a prisoner, and not withal to signify the crimes laid against him.

Paul will now, once again, have the privilege of speaking the Truth about the kingdom of God, and he is enjoying every minute of doing so.

King Agrippa and Bernice were both Jews and while Festus, the Roman governor of Judea, is asking for Agrippa’s Jewish point of view to assist him in what to say of Paul when he sends him to Augustus Caesar, the Lord is using Paul’s legal issue to give His chosen physical nation many opportunities to hear His Word. He has also hardened their hearts, but He must still give them a witness, thereby giving Himself the occasion He is seeking to judge them for their rejection of Him and His doctrine, just as He gave so many signs and wonders as a witness against Pharaoh, whom He had raised up for the very purpose of displaying His power over this physical realm.

Rom 9:15  For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
Rom 9:18  Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
Rom 9:19  Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Rom 9:20  Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
Rom 9:21  Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
Rom 9:22  What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
Rom 9:23  And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
Rom 9:24  Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

There is no room in any of those verses for the false doctrine of ‘free moral agency’.

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