 Amen, Acts chapter 22. So we remember from Acts chapter 21, Paul was basically saved by this chief captain of the Romans and, you know, just used the fact that, you know, he was, he was not, he kind of talked to this chief captain into letting him speak. And then when he speaks, we see what he says in chapter 22. So that's what we're going to look at tonight. We're going to look at Acts chapter 22 tonight in Paul's speech. And Acts chapter 22 kind of gives a really unique, it gives a really nice summary of the uniqueness of who Paul was and why he was so effective for so many different people. So we'll look at that this evening. Look at verse number one of Acts chapter 22. So Paul now has permission to speak. He was saved. He was rescued. He was being beaten by this mob of the Jews from the synagogue. And then he was rescued by the Roman soldiers. And then he has now been given permission to speak to the same mob that was trying to kill him. In verse number one, this is what he says. He says, So basically Paul starts speaking to them in Hebrew so they know that, you know, he's a Jew. So they know that he's a Jew. And they shut up because he starts speaking to them in Hebrew. He's not speaking to them, you know, in Greek. So look at verse number 20 of 1 Corinthians chapter 9. We mentioned this before, but this is what's being demonstrated here in Acts chapter 22 in 1 Corinthians 9. 20 it says, He did the purification to do, you know, show the Jews that, you know, he doesn't despise the law. It's not just because he's teaching, you know, the gospel of Jesus Christ for salvation doesn't mean he despises the law, that he thinks that everyone should just throw the law out the window. It just doesn't have anything to do with being saved. Now he's talking to them in the Hebrew tongue. Again, the same thing. He's becoming as a Jew here to try to gain the Jews. All right. Look at verse number three of Acts chapter 22, keeping your place in 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Now look at Acts chapter 22 verse 3. Now remember, Gamaliel turned to Acts chapter 5. Remember this guy? This guy was already in the lives of the apostles documented. In the book of Acts already, he was a Pharisee. Look at Acts chapter 5. If you remember Peter, when Peter said, We ought to obey, basically they threw Peter in prison with the apostles, and then they were rescued from prison by God. And then they came out and they immediately just started preaching the gospel again in the synagogue. And everyone's like, what in the world are you crazy? And he's like, we ought to obey God rather than men. That famous line in Acts chapter 5. And Peter is the one that said that, but Gamaliel is quoted in Acts chapter 5. Look at verse number 34. When they have this council come together of the Pharisees, it was Gamaliel that kind of passed sentence. So this is a man of, he's a man of renown in the Pharisee circles here. Look at verse 34 of Acts 5. It says, A doctor of the law, meaning he's got an advanced degree in the Bible, basically. So this is a man who's probably got a bunch of stripes on his coat and all these things. A doctor of the law is something special. Even today, that same term is used. If you go to college, you have a bachelor's degree, then you have a master's degree after that, which is usually four years for a bachelor's degree, six years for a master's degree, and then a doctorate degree, a doctor of engineering, a doctor of the law, a doctor of something is usually an eight-year degree. Now it's probably 16 years or maybe infinity, who knows. But the point is, is that this man is very educated. He's very respected. And he's actually kind of a reasonable character if you listen to what he says in Acts chapter 5. Look at verse 35. He says, He said unto them, ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves that ye intend to do as touching these men. For before these days rose up Thudeus, boasting himself to be somebody to whom a number of men about 400 joined themselves who was slain. And all as many obeyed him were scattered and brought to naught. And after this, a man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing and drew away much people after him. He also perished. And all even as many as obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, refrain from these men, let them alone. He's basically saying, just leave the apostles, leave Peter alone. For if this counsel is to be, or this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it. Let's happily be, happily you be found even to fight against God. So he basically says, leave these men alone because if it's just of men, it's going to come to nothing. But if it's of God, you know, then you're fighting against God. He's like, just leave him alone, you know, don't do anything. You're putting yourself in danger. So anyway, Galileo, you know, all kind of name drops this name. He's obviously a very respected person. You can kind of see why he's respected, even though he's kind of on the wrong side with the Pharisees here. He's a respected person. He passes judgment in Acts chapter 5, very similar to how James passed judgment on the situation with circumcision in the book of Acts as well. Okay, go back to Acts chapter 22. So Paul's kind of explaining to them, he's like, hey, you know, I came from you. You know, I was actually trained under this very, you know, very wise and very, you know, someone that they're a very respected person. Look at verse 4, he says, I persecuted this way, meaning the Christians, unto death, binding and delivering into prisons both men and women. As also the high priest that bear me witness, and all the estate of elders from whom I also received letters unto the brethren, and went to Damascus to bring them which were bound unto Jerusalem for to be punished. So Paul's like talking to people from his past here, basically, is what we're seeing. He's talking to these people from his past, and you know, not only is he talking to people from his past, but he still has compassion on these people. He's still trying to give them the gospel here, alright? And even after all the persecution and the violence that has just happened to him, you know, that says something about Paul and his long suffering and his mercy, that he's just still willing to just keep giving these people a chance, and he's like, you know, maybe if I can connect with them on their level. So he's really trying to explain, look, I was just like you, alright? Look at verse number 6. And it came to pass. Now he's going into his salvation testimony here. It came to pass that as I made my journey, it was come nigh into Damascus about noon, suddenly they're shown from having a great light round about me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, Saul, why persecutist me? This is when Jesus, you know, confronts Paul, and I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me, I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutist. And they that were with me and saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto me, So the Lord, you know, Jesus tells him to go into Damascus. There shall be, you know, he's going to have some people that are going to meet him. Verse number 12. And Ananias, a devout man, according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me, stood and said unto me, He, Brother Saul, received thy sight, in the same hour I looked upon him. And he said, verse 14, the God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldest know his will, and see the just one, of course, that's Jesus, and shouldest hear the voice of his mouth. Now verse 15. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. Now this is interesting because Paul's giving this testimony, I mean this is just an interesting observation about verse 15, that Paul's giving his testimony and his testimony actually contains a prophecy that is being fulfilled as this testimony is given. Just an interesting thing there. In verse number 15, if you don't know it, if you're not following me, just forget it. Maybe it's something only I think is interesting. But anyway, the point is, Paul is giving this testimony and in verse 15, you know, it is pointed out that it was told to Paul that, look, he has been chosen to be a witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. So he's going to, you know, be giving this testimony to all men. And Paul is very unique in this sense. We can see in Acts chapter 22, I want to show you, you know, why God chose Paul to be this person that gives this testimony. Look at verse number 16. Look at verse number 16. Now why terriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name, calling on the name of the Lord. Turn to Romans chapter 10. So look, I mean, Acts chapter 22 and verse number 16 is basically saying, look, you know, you need to just like call upon the name of the Lord, be saved and, you know, be baptized and, you know, have your sins forgiven. It's not saying baptism forgives your sins. It's not, you know, necessarily listing the order that he should do those things. It's just saying, hey, do these things and get moving on with this task that God has called you. But notice how it says calling on the name of the Lord. Look at, that's, of course, Romans chapter 10. Look at Romans chapter 10. We can look at that real quickly. Romans chapter 10. Let me turn there myself. Romans chapter 10. Look at verse number 9. So this is, of course, if you're a soldier, you know this verse very well. You know, you say, why call upon the name of the Lord? I thought I was supposed to, you know, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Why does it not say, you know, believe on the, why does it not say believe on the name of the Lord? The name of the, you know, of Jesus Christ. But basically it's equating the two here. Calling upon the name of the Lord, believing on Jesus, it's equating the two. Because if you look at Romans chapter 10, in verse number 9, the Bible says that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe with thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. But I thought, hey, what must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. But notice how it says, you know, what God is saying in Romans 10 and verse number 9 is that, you know, it still says believe in your heart but it's saying, look, God just wants you to ask for it. He just wants you to call upon his name. And look, here's the thing you need to understand about Romans 10 and 9. I mean, a lot has been, you know, dissected about calling upon the name of the Lord. But here's what you need to understand. If you believe in your heart and you trust on Jesus, you are going to call upon the name of the Lord. You know, you are going to, I mean, here's this wonderful gift that's available to you. You believe that you're a sinner. You believe you deserve to go to hell because of your sins. You, I mean, you see it. You see the gospel. You believe it. You trust Jesus. And the Bible says, you know, God just wants you to call upon him. You'll pray to him and ask him. And you're going to be like, no, I don't want to. It's not going to happen. All right? It's a, they come together. All right? And that's why, you know, when we pray with people, when we go out soul winning, we will pray with people. And there are people that are just like, you know, they just don't want to do that. You know, and look, there's really two main reasons that people would maybe not want to pray after they've believed the gospel. The first reason is, you know, maybe they're just really shy and they don't want to pray in front of somebody. They just met you or whatever. But probably the more likely reason is, is that they just, they just don't really believe it. You know? I mean, I've had those people many times will run into that situation very often where we will give the gospel to people. Say they believe it, they just don't want to pray. And then, you know, look, what we do is we leave them with, hey, you know not to pray with me? Just please go and find a closet, a quiet place somewhere and just ask God, tell God you believe these things that we talked about. You know, kind of guide them on how to do it and then, you know, they'll do it. If they believe, they will do it. Most times though, it's most likely that when you give the gospel to somebody and they do believe it, they're going to be excited and happy to pray because they know what is in front of them, they know what they're facing, and they know what they're being offered. And of course, so those two things come together. So it's not that, you know, oh, it's believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and, you know, say a special prayer or something. No, it's, the prayer is just, it's coming from, it's just what Matthew, Matthew 15 says. But what's in the heart will come out of the mouth is basically what's saying. So look, if they believe in their heart, it's going to come out of their mouth, right? But that's why, you know, we don't really, you know, count salvation. It's not that it matters, you know, not that the count in heaven matters on what we put in the bulletin, but we don't count the salvation unless they pray because there is, you know, that chance that, you know, they don't want to pray because, you know, they were just being nice and, you know, they were just listening to some doubts, things like that. Look, I mean, the gospel for people that believe something different can be a long bridge to cross for some people, you know, in a 20-25 minute conversation at the door. And that is many times the case which is why people won't want to pray. But anyway, this is what this guy is saying in verse number 16. He's saying, hey, don't just stand there. He's like, you know, you need to call upon the name of the Lord, get this thing done, and, you know, get baptized and get moving with verse number 15, this calling that you're supposed to have. Look at verse number 16, 17. And it came to pass when I was coming again to Jerusalem. Even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance, and I saw him saying unto me, Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me. And I said, they know that I am imprisoned and beat in every synagogue of them that believed on thee. He's like, this is, you know, talking about the first trip to Jerusalem that Paul made where everybody was afraid of him. We're even afraid of him when Ann and I grabbed him here, because he had a reputation. Paul had a reputation for just persecuting Christians. And when the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, he not even gets into details about where he was in Acts chapter 7, when the blood of the martyr Stephen was shed, I was also standing by and consenting unto his death. He's like, I held their coats. It's what he says. He's like, I was holding the raiment of them that slew him. He's like, when they stole Stephen and took him out of the city and murdered him, he's like, I was holding their jackets. I mean, Paul is like really explaining how deep he was into, you know, this mob that he's talking to. And he said unto me, depart, for I will send the far hints unto the Gentiles. That's where, you know, now go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 9. That's where, you know, Jesus is just like, you know, you're going to go to the Gentiles. You're going to go off to, you know, and Macedonia in all those places. So look, Paul, Paul's a two-edged sword. Paul's a true two-edged sword. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 9, verse 21 now. He says, to them that are without the law as without the law. This is, he's saying, to them so to the Gentiles became as the Gentiles. We're going to see that demonstrated in Acts chapter 22 as well. Being not without law to God but under the law to Christ that I might gain them that are without the law. So all he's saying there is like I've already explained this a couple of weeks ago. He didn't just start sinning with all the Gentiles. He just didn't become this parasitical, you know, law giver, this, he wasn't just going in and just expecting the Gentiles to follow all the Jewish customs, all right, is what he's saying here. Look at verse 22 of Acts 22. And they gave the audience unto his word and they lifted up their voices and said, now let's see if they receive what he said here, right. Away with such a fellow from the earth for it is not fit that he should live. They're like, kill him. He's like, oh, that sermon didn't go over very well. So verse 23, they cried out and cast off their clothes and threw dust into the air. And the chief captain, again, here's the Roman brought him, brought into the castle and bade that he should be examined by scourging. So no, this guy's not really happy with him either that he might know where for they cried so against him. So this chief captain, you got to look at this guy's perspective. This chief captain, he lets Paul go and give this speech and it just makes the mob even angrier. It just makes them even matter at Paul. And he's like, all right, you know, I'm going to beat this guy, you know, examining by scourging means I'm going to beat you until you tell me everything I want to hear. Basically. So that's what he's going to do. And as they bound him with thongs, Paul said unto the centurion that stood by is it lawful for you to scourge a man as a Roman and un-condemned? So now what is he doing? Now he's being without the law, see? Now he's being a Gentile. So Paul just switches modes and he says, look, I'm a Roman citizen. You can't beat me. So he plays the same card as he played with the chief captain. The centurion knows it serious and he goes and tells the chief captain saying, take heed what thou doest for this man as a Roman. And then the chief captain came and said to him, tell me, aren't thou a Roman? And the chief captain answered and said, with a great sum, obtained I this freedom. And Paul said, but I was free born. I don't know if I would have put it that way, but that's what Paul did. Paul said I was free born. So basically, this chief captain said, you know, I had to work and get sponsored by a company and get my green card over 10 years. That's basically what the chief captain had to do. And Paul's just saying I was born here. Because let me look, it's the same thing today, right? With US citizenship. You know, just a side note, you should appreciate that. If you were born in this country and you have citizenship, look, I know I'm pretty hard on this country from the pulpit and I'll continue to do so. But look, I appreciate that I'm a citizen of this country because there's things that come with that. There's things that come with that. We know people, we know friends, we know brothers, we know sisters that are not citizens of this country. And look, they have a harder path because they're not citizens. You know, are they, am I better than them? Because, you know, I'm a citizen and I have all these privileges and they're not a citizen. No, I was just born here. I was just free born. So, I mean, God just blessed you with that privilege of being free born. That's what Paul said here, alright? And this captain's like, man, I worked and I worked and I worked and I worked. And I mean, the chief captain, I mean, I'm pretty sure he appreciates his Roman citizenship as you listen to it here. But anyway, all that to say that, look at verse 29. He stops it in his tracks. He's like, oh, you're a Roman citizen. We're not going to be beating this guy. Straight away, they departed from him which should have examined him. And the chief captain was also afraid after he knew that he was a Roman and because he had bound him. He was afraid, he didn't even beat him. He was afraid because he tied him up with no charges, basically. He arrested him on mob rule. I mean, so, you know, Roman society was wicked but they apparently took the law seriously to some degree here. Look at verse 30. On the moral, because he would know in the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews, he loosed him from his bands because he would have known the certainty wherefore he was accused of the Jews. He loosed him from his bands and commanded the chief priests and brought Paul down and set him before them. So he's like, all right, let's have a real trial. Basically is what he's saying. Instead of just like, all right, we're going to do this through brute force, he's going to follow the law and do a real trial. So we see Paul here. That's Acts chapter 22. It's a really unique chapter because we see both sides of Paul in Acts chapter 22. We see him appealing to the Jews saying, I mean, Paul not a unique a Pharisee and he wasn't just a Pharisee. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was a chief Pharisee. He was trained underneath this highly respected chief Pharisee and he was a chief Pharisee and he was a Pharisee of action as well. He was actually against, he was one of the top persecutors of the Christians while he was a Pharisee. And then on the other side of things he's a Roman. And he's just appealing to the Gentiles and getting all these Gentiles saved. So we kind of figure out why God, why Jesus knocked this guy off his donkey because he was just the right person for this job. And look, he was just ignorant. He was just ignorant about what the truth was. But really the point I want to bring up towards the end of the sermon tonight and kind of the application I want to make is Paul preaches Jesus in a specific way here. He preaches Jesus in a way that we don't usually preach Jesus. He preaches the gospel in a specific way. He preaches Jesus here using his salvation testimony. And I don't know if I've really even talked about this to be honest. But I want to talk tonight a little bit about the importance of your testimony. And you know, so first of all I want to talk about the importance of your testimony and then I want to talk about why we use it sometimes, why we don't most of the time. And then you know when to use it, when to not basically and how you could actually misuse your salvation testimony. And Paul used his salvation testimony in the correct way and we'll look at that in just a few minutes. But the point is this, your salvation testimony if you're saved tonight, you have one. If you're saved tonight you have a salvation testimony. This was kind of a strange thing when I first got into a Baptist church. First of all if you're saved tonight you should have a salvation testimony. You should know when and how you got saved. That's what your testimony is. You should know who preached the gospel to you. You should know when you did believe it and called upon the name of the Lord. You should know that. That was something that baffled me much of my unsaved life. This whole salvation testimony. Because I was raised Lutheran I was in Sunday school I went to church camps where there was some ecumenical things every now and then. And you would have these people get up on stage every now and then and give one of these salvation testimonies. And as a 14, 15 year old kid I wasn't saved. I didn't know what they were talking about. I remember telling my wife when I was in my mid 20's I remember exactly where I was and there was my wife a couple other adults that I won't mention who were there. But I literally said like Lutherans that you see saying like, oh there was this great wonderful moment where I found the truth and I got saved. Because first of all Lutherans and most Protestants they don't even speak in that terminology. I know that as a Baptist and somebody that is saved that's hard for you to understand but they don't speak like when did you get saved? They don't talk that way. I knew Lutherans that I was friends with but they were just irritated with Baptists over this whole. Baptists always want to come up to me and be like when did you get saved? And all the Lutherans that I knew they would say well their answer would be when I got baptized as a baby. Which means they don't know because they're not saved. Because baptism as a baby is not baptism and baptism doesn't save you anyway even if it was baptism. It's like a double error. The point is this I didn't know what they were talking about because I didn't have a salvation testimony. I was just like somebody would get up at a church camp and give this testimony about how they got saved and this happened and this, this and this. And I'm just like that's so weird. That's never happened to me. These weirdos, they're not Lutherans. You know what I mean? Excuse me. But anyway, so you should have a salvation testimony. All that to say this. Now when to use it is another thing and that's kind of what we learn from Paul. Because here's the thing folks you should have a salvation test and you should know when you got saved but the thing is it is not necessary for somebody to know how you got saved in order for them to get saved. So when we get to the door and turn to 2 Timothy chapter 2. This is why I don't go up to every single door. Look and if it was necessary for everybody to know my personal salvation story that's what you would hear me doing at every single door. But it's not necessary. It's not necessary for everyone to know how I Pastor Jared Pizarnsky got saved. That's not necessary for them to get saved. So that's why we generally just don't go and give our testimony to every single person that's walking down the street or that we talk to. Look at 2 Timothy chapter 1 in verse number 8. The testimony that's important is this. The Bible says be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord nor of me his prisoner, but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the Gospel according to the power of God. Psalm chapter 119 the longest book of the Bible the longest chapter in the Bible talking about the word of God says in verse 46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings and I will not be ashamed. So this is the Psalmist, this is David saying God I'll speak of your testimony so it's God's testimony that matters it's the testimony of Jesus Christ that matters. And he said well when David wrote that in Psalm 119 you know Jesus wasn't even here so the testimony of God before Jesus came was that God was going to send a Messiah it was the future it was the future promise of a Messiah. That's how David was saved the same as you. David was saved looking forward just as we're saved looking back same Messiah though we're looking at the same point look at John chapter 1 John the Baptist was really aware of this so look it's not our personal testimony that matters it's God's testimony that matters John the Baptist was really aware of this look at verse number 25 of John chapter 1 verse number 25 of John chapter 1 and they asked him and said in him why baptize baptize the style then if thou be not that Christ nor Elias neither that prophet John answered them saying I baptize with what? But the standard one among you whom you know not he it is who coming after me is preferred before me whose shoes latch it I am not worthy to unloose and the Baptist is saying it's not about me at all he's saying it's not about me at all it's not about what I'm doing it's all about this guy that's coming after me I'm just here to prepare the way alright so you should have a salvation testimony if you're saved you know you should definitely have that you shouldn't be like okay you know did I forget it or whatever if you don't have a salvation testimony you know you got saved and how that happened but here's what testimonies are not for okay here's where testimonies are misused and this is where I was a little confused and a little overwhelmed when I first came into the first old IFB church that we went to there was really an emphasis on like testimonies of people especially like just like these extreme it kind of made me feel bad to I mean here I had a testimony but it wasn't like these testimonies because you know testimonies sometimes can be misused especially when they're used like publicly a lot to really focus on works to really focus on you know a changed life and you know this is the guy that gets up and he's like I was just a I was a drug addict and I was a total derelict and you know tells this horrible story you know for everybody to hear I was possessed by demons and all this stuff and you know these wild stories and then you know they get saved right the problems with this is number one and I talked about this before we never want this to happen here it becomes a sin competition you know it becomes this competition of who has the most fantastic past you know when I say fantastic I mean like like let's just take sins that we did let's just embellish the living daylights out of everything and just like let's be that it basically gives incentive to people to glorify past sin in their life and you know that's no good we never want that type of environment here but the second thing is this it makes people it glorifies sin yes but if testimonies are used in that way and there may be fantastic and the fantastic testimonies are really just like put up front all the time it's like it makes people feel bad and inadequate who don't have testimonies like that and let me ask you a question do we want people to have testimonies like that? what about the six or seven year old that gets saved? I mean can he stand up there and be like man I was drinking two cases of whatever a day and you know doing heroin and all this stuff and no he's like seven and somebody preached from the gospel and he's like yeah I believe that I've been hearing that my whole life I'm in you know that's not as fantastic though you know that's not as fantastic look but here's the thing that six year old seven year old eight year old nine year old says that gets saved that doesn't have all this that isn't just a derelict and you know isn't in a gutter you know like how rock stars die basically it's what some of these testimonies that I've heard sound like but isn't the person that doesn't have a fantastic testimony like that what our goal is? I mean isn't our goal for people to not go down that road? especially our kids and you know kids that are being raised in church look folks there's three ways to learn right? there's three ways to learn there's the best way which is to listen right this is how we want our kids to learn there's three ways to learn kids the first way and the best way to learn is to just listen to the bible and listen to your parents who are teaching you the bible listen to those things that's the best way you know that you're like I don't like to listen like I'm not gonna listen well here's the second best way the second best way to learn is to watch other people make mistakes this is why if you live in California you should never have to talk to your kids about drugs ever because they can watch other people make mistakes it's actually fairly amazing to me that we have teenagers going down the drug road today the peer pressure in school and the world must be it must be heavy because to see what it produces is a good way to learn so the best way to learn is to just listen the second best way is to learn from the mistakes of other people and you're like I don't like to do that look you'll meet these people they're like I don't want to listen I don't want to learn from anybody else you're like I got to jump in every single hole myself I don't care if somebody is saying there's a hole there don't go there I got to get in there every single time you will meet those people but look we don't want to be those people we don't want our kids to be those people so we want to have that salvation testimony for our children and our family of that kid that just listen and just you know what they just got saved they just lived a decent Christian life they got married they don't have all the garbage you know maybe they're 20 years old 25 years old whatever and you know they go to a new church and the pastor's like could you give up get up and give your salvation testimony and they're like yeah here it is and they're like ah that's not going to sell but that's the salvation testimony we want that's why salvation testimonies shouldn't be used in that way they shouldn't be used in that way because that Christian life and that person that listened and didn't go down those roads that is what should be celebrated you know that's what should be celebrated but see the world hates that though the world hates that there would be a result like that because this is the world telling you you know oh no no no your kids they need to experience things you know this is the world telling you this is this is college this is oh you gotta send your your sons and your daughters off to college so they can be drunkards and hormongers and harlots and and like I mean I just wish sometimes that people that are in the world unsaved people I wish that they would just sit down and think about what people are selling them show me show me the society show me the society that has ever prospered by destroying the virtue of their young people where is it it doesn't exist I mean just if people would just sit down and just think about what these this bill of goods that they're being sold by clown world think about it for just maybe five consecutive seconds they would start to head in the right direction at least they would turn away they'd be like that doesn't seem right and turn away from that and then we could catch them on the other end with the real truth but that's the thing it's a satanic philosophy it's a satanic philosophy that you need to pick option 3 to learn instead of listening to the bible why did god give us the bible instead of listening to the bible learning from the mistakes of others you know there's some of that in the bible too it's called Ecclesiastes it's called the Old Testament it's called all these mistakes that all these imperfect men made we're supposed to learn from these mistakes we're supposed to learn from these things but no the world wants to pick option 3 every single time they're like no you should go out there and you should throw yourself into every single meat grinder that you can find it's just like who's accepting this there's a lot of people though a lot of people are so look testimonies testimonies are important you should have one we don't want fantastic testimonies if you have a fantastic testimony I'm glad you're saved but we want our children and our families to have testimonies where they just you know what they just picked option 1 they listened to the bible the bible worked for them I mean that is the testimony right there so the point is testimonies can kind of turn into selfish things pastors being called is another one that I've heard a few times pastors not necessarily a salvation testimony but a pastor giving a fantastic testimony about how he was called into the ministry the moment that God pulled the Paul on him God specifically picked Paul and you'll hear these fantastic testimonies I was sitting in the church one day and you know God punched me in the chest and I flew across the room and then I just knew I was supposed to be a preacher and they're trying to give legitimacy to their validity to their ministry whatever it is but what does the bible say about being called turn to 1 Timothy 3 1 Timothy 3 it's less fantastic than that it's less there's no mysticism there's no mysticism and whether or not a man should go into the ministry there's really two things that it depends on and the bible is very clear in 1 Timothy 3 look at verse 1 it says this is a true saying if a man desire the office of a bishop he desired a good work and then the rest of the the next several verses go through the what the qualifications of a bishop the qualifications of a pastor so basically here's the math folks here's the formula for a pastor if you have the desire and you're qualified equals pastor I mean that's it it's not being the face or whatever I mean I prayed and I listened to the spirit and I prayed and prayed and prayed for several months before I made that decision but that was just to make sure that it was God's decision and not my decision I didn't want to go into the ministry for my own reasons or anything I just wanted to be pure hearted about it but basically if you have the desire and you're qualified you can be a pastor that's what the bible is saying so you don't have to be scared off by all the you know God didn't pick me up out of my bed and you know move me to another state at night or whatever I mean you know what I mean I mean just wild stories but the point is it's just do you have a desire to be a pastor and are you qualified and look I mean the qualifications they filter out a lot of people so there's not a lot of people that are qualified to be a pastor so it's not like a simple thing either right so conclusion what it should not be about you if you give it okay and that's not what Paul used it for here but if it helps you identify with someone if it helps you even at the door even at the door I will identify with people on a certain level if I find out people are Catholic or Lutheran I will say to people I grew up that way I grew up Lutheran I grew up Catholic because Catherine and Lutheran are exactly the same thing Lutherans don't know that they are there's no doctrinal differences as far as the gospel goes anyway it's all the same thing so if you can identify with somebody because look the best soul winners as I've said before the best soul winners will just find a way the best soul winners the best people that disciple people the best people that are able to bring people into church they do one thing well they make connections with people that's what they do they're able to identify with people connect with people let people know that they care about them let people know that hey I had similar situations like you hey I used to be you meet a Pentecostal and you were a Pentecostal I used to be a Pentecostal and I used to believe this this and this and they'll say that's exactly what I believe let me tell you what I found in the Bible what somebody showed me let me show you what somebody showed me to help you see what I see now that's how you use your testimony to get somebody saved I mean maybe it's even I grew up in this I mean look at Paul I grew up in the same area of the country or you know anything that would get people to identify with you and just kind of connect like hey I have something in common with this guy I grew up like me and now he's way different than me you know I meet a Lutheran I'm like I used to be a Lutheran I met a Missouri extended Lutheran a few weeks ago I'm like I used to be Missouri extended Lutheran and now I'm the pastor of this Baptist church super interested just because I gave him that one tidbit of information I didn't tell him my life story but it's just it was very valuable for him to know that and it gave him interest in what I had to say to do what to point to Christ just like Paul he used this testimony his was a pretty fantastic story but he used it effectively here not to glorify himself not to do anything but just to you know point people to Jesus that's what he used it for so look it's not a bad thing you should have one and if you can use it to point people to Christ to identify with people just like Paul did in both sides of 1 Corinthians chapter 9 use it use it it's there and it can help you but make sure that you're pointing people towards Christ not glorifying anything about your past or anything like that let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer