SUNDAY - AUGUST 9, 2026 "Not What I Remember" Acts 25:1-12

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God bless.

This morning we'll be in Acts chapter 25.

Acts 25 · chapter mention

We'll be looking at verses 1 through 12.

So I was reminded this week of a time, a story.

When I was in seminary, there was a guy in seminary that I was friends with.

He had grown up in Pontiac.

He was a little bit older than me, but that you know that Pontiac connection is pretty strong.

And so we we uh made friends and our knew each other, and Norris was in a unique situation to, in my opinion.

He was working on his PhD, but also while he was doing that, he was teaching in the undergrad department.

He was teaching Greek in the undergrad department, and he was married, living in seminary housing.

Well, for my roommate and I, that was a big deal.

We kind of thought Norris had arrived.

I mean, we were working on our master's, we were both dating the girls that we were we were uh going to marry, and we were um working at churches, but I was bi vocational, he was an interim, and to us, I mean, Norris was there.

He had arrived, we we looked up to him.

And one night Norris and his wife Kim invited us to their house.

And Ben and I were stoked.

Home cooked meal, way to go.

So we went over to their apartment and uh they had cooked tacos and uh big thing of tacos, and we we ate, and I won't ever forget this this part of the story.

I don't forget, Ben looked at me and said, Grant, I I've never been a quitter.

And we ate all of the tacos.

All of it, the whole thing.

I hadn't thought much about that story until a couple of years ago.

Amber and I ran into Norris and Kim, and I had forgotten all about it, but Kim told Amber her side of the story.

It's a little a little bit different than ours.

Her side of the story was that while we thought they had made it, they were newlyweds, living in New Orleans while he was going to school and working at school.

So they were just, they were, they were getting by.

And when they had invited us over, their plan had been, you know what, we'll get taco stuff, it's not that expensive, and we'll make a whole bunch of it, and we can eat that for the rest of the week.

When she told Amber that story, I wanted to hide.

I was so embarrassed.

And listen, she still, when we run into them, whoever is around, Kim tells that story, and I just I hate that story.

I hate it.

I hate the fact that I was so oblivious.

I hate the fact that I just took no thought into anything.

I I hate that story.

Now, here's the thing that I want us to see in this.

We can remember things differently.

Maybe we don't have all the information, maybe we have all the information and we choose not to see, maybe we're oblivious, maybe, but but we can we can there can be events and and we can choose to remember things differently.

And as we come to our our passage today, that's going to kind of happen.

There's a new governor, we've been saying governor, there's a new governor in Judea named Festus.

We saw that last week at the end of chapter 24.

We read in verse 27, when two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus, and desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

So Festus has followed Felix in this, and it's been about two years since Paul was in prison.

So Festus comes on to the scene here, but what we see is Paul is brought before Festus with the same false accusations that have been made against Paul that we've seen for several weeks now.

The same false accusations have come up and Paul is still having to stand trial for the same thing.

But I hope as as we look at this, what we see is while Paul has the same false accusations being brought against him, what he does is he looks at the sovereignty of God and understands that God is in control.

What I hope we can see is that God is still in control.

He is still sovereign and he is still working.

So the challenge for us is this just trust in his sovereignty.

Trust that he is working.

See how he is working.

What we're going to try to investigate today is how two different groups, or a group and a person, remember this story.

How the Jews remember what's happening and how Paul remembers what's happening.

Hopefully we can understand this challenge and learn to trust in God.

I invite you, if you're able, this morning to stand with us as we read God's word together from Acts chapter 25, verses 1 through 12.

Acts 25:1–12

Luke writes, God says, Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea.

And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem, because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way.

Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea, and that he himself intended to go there shortly.

So, he said he, let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.

After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea, and the next day he took his seat upon the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought.

When he had arrived the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him that they could not prove.

Paul argued in his defense, Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.

But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, Do you wish to go to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?

But Paul said, I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried.

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.

Then Festus, when he had conferred with his counsel, answered, To Caesar you have appealed, to Caesar you shall go.

Let's pray together.

God, I thank you for today.

I thank you for this opportunity that we have now to explore your word.

God, to see how you are moving and working.

We pray that as we see you, you will prick our hearts and draw us to you.

Jesus, it's in your name that we pray.

Amen.

So again, we're we're seeking, we're looking to try to figure out and understand how they are remembering God's working and what's happening.

Well, understand first what we see in this passage in the first seven verses is that the Jews remembered their hatred of Paul.

Man, I don't use that word lightly either.

They hated Paul.

Here's how we know that.

Think of the time that has elapsed.

We've already talked about it.

Felix went to Paul, questioned Paul, talked with Paul after he had him arrested for two years before Festus came on the scene.

So Paul was in custody in Caesarea for two years.

He had done nothing.

He hadn't stirred anybody up.

He hadn't been to the temple.

He hadn't been to Jerusalem.

He hadn't done anything except maybe write some letters.

That's all he'd been able to do.

For two years, he hadn't done anything.

And then shows up Festus.

He came to Judea.

He was there for about three days before, and then he went to Jerusalem pretty quickly because that is the cultural center of the people over whom he's ruling.

He's ruling over the Jews.

Jerusalem is the place to go.

So Festus goes to Jerusalem, and it looks like almost immediately upon coming into Jerusalem, the leadership of the Jews, they come to Festus and almost immediately start just bombarding Festus with questions about Paul.

For two years he's been off the scene.

For two years he's done nothing.

And immediately when Festus comes in, they start going after Paul because they hated him.

It kind of makes me think, though, way back.

Way back in Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

In Acts chapter 5, here's what's happening in that chapter.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

The apostles, the the 11 apostles, they are out preaching in the temple complex.

They're arrested and they're thrown into this public prison.

They're arrested by the Jewish leadership, not by Rome.

They're arrested by Jewish leadership.

They're thrown in this public prison.

And during the night, an angel comes and releases them, and they immediately go back to the temple to start preaching again.

The next morning, when the leadership comes to the prison to get them, they're not there.

They go to look for them.

Don't have to look long, don't have to look far.

They find them in the temple complex preaching again.

Again, they bring them into custody and question them.

And during that questioning, Peter is going to stand up and he's basically going to say, this is the GSV, the Grant Steagall version.

Here's what he basically says, okay?

Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, was the Messiah that we have been waiting on, and you killed him.

Basically what he says to them.

And then so we're going to pick up the story.

I want us to look back at Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

I want us to pick up that story right there.

I'm going to start reading in verse 33.

Here's what it says.

And when they, that's the Jewish council, heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

That them is the apostles.

But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care about what you do with these men.

For before these days Thuticus rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred joined him.

He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

After him, Judas, the Galilean, rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the meek people after him, he too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone.

For if this plan is an underta for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail.

But if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.

You might even be found opposing God.

So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.

Then they, that's the apostles, left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name, and every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Jesus is the Christ.

See what happened?

Gamelael said, Listen, way back early, this is Jesus at this point, they were still early.

The resurrection had not was was in the near future in Acts chapter 5.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Only not even less than a year, it was less than a year, probably.

Hey, if this thing is of men, it's gonna fade away just like two other examples he gave them.

But if it's of God, we won't be able to stop it.

So now we come to Paul in Acts chapter 25.

Acts 25 · chapter mention

About 27 years later.

About 27 years later, and you know what's happening?

Jesus is still being proclaimed.

He is still being preached.

People are still being drawn to him.

People are still being saved by the power of Jesus.

People are still coming into a relationship with God through preaching of Jesus Christ.

They are coming to faith in him.

It is still happening.

It is still going on.

It has not stopped.

Yet they have forgotten the words of Gamalael.

They had forgotten that he said, hey, give it a little while, and if it's of man, it'll go away.

But if it's of God, we can't stop it.

The Jews have done everything that they could to stop it, yet it still hasn't been stopped.

And here we are 2,000 years later, and we are meeting in the name of Jesus.

But they had forgotten.

They didn't remember the words of Gamalael.

If they did, they were so skewed in their view and in their hatred of Paul that they failed to listen.

But listen, they weren't just angry at Paul.

Their hatred went deeper than Paul.

Jesus told them.

He told them about this kind of hatred way back in John chapter 15.

John 15 · chapter mention

In John chapter 15, starting in verse 18, here's what Jesus told the apostles.

John 15 · chapter mention

If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.

If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own.

But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

Remember the word that I said to you a servant is not greater than his master.

If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.

But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.

If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin.

But now they have no excuse for their sin.

Whoever hates me hates the Father also.

If I had not done among them the works that no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin.

But now they have seen and hated both me and my father.

But the word that is written in their law must be fulfilled.

They hated me without cause.

What Jesus said to the apostles is taking place in Paul's life.

Listen, the only charges that really they can bring against him is charges of sedition.

And still, even two years later, after they have have made these charges, these false accusations against Paul, they still have no witnesses.

No one has stepped forward in over two years to say, hey, yeah, I saw that.

Yeah, I saw Paul do that.

Yeah, I saw Paul be bring Gentiles into the temple.

Yeah, I saw Paul rise rousing up people against Rome.

I saw that.

No one, no one has done that.

They don't just hate Paul.

They hate the one about whom Paul is proclaiming.

They hate Jesus.

And Paul, they have been so skewed and so wound up in their hatred that they miss the very one who came to fulfill the law and the prophecy.

They miss the very one who came and not only came to fulfill, but fulfilled the law and the prophets.

They missed him.

Because all they can remember is how much they hate Paul.

Second thing we see here is we see the Jews, how they remembered their hatred.

But we also see how Paul remembered God's sovereignty.

That God is at work.

Again, we just we just talked about it, how the only charges really that they can bring before Paul is the charges of sedition.

Although Luke writes, when he writes here, he says that they bring uh against him many serious and dangerous charges against him, bringing serious charges against him that they could not prove.

But Paul, the only one he's worried about is sedition, because listen, if if if he was going attacking the Jewish leaders, Rome has no problem with that.

As long as he's not causing a riot, and as long as he's not messing with Roman peace, they don't care.

If he's opposing Jewish law, they don't care.

If he's opposing Caesar, now we have a big problem.

But he's not, listen to what Paul, he comes to Festus in verse 8 and says, Paul argued in his defense, neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple.

Paul has said that over and over, but he adds a little phrase here, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.

He's not done anything wrong.

He says that.

He knows that.

But Festus, what he sees is Festus is like Felix.

He's trying to play favoritism to these Jewish leaders who are have some power, they have some control, they have some influence.

So Festus is trying to play favor to them.

So he comes to Paul and he says, Hey, Paul, listen, what if we go to Jerusalem, go back to Jerusalem and you stand trial?

I'll be the judge, I'll sit over it, I'll do this.

Let's go back to Jerusalem.

But here's what Paul remembers in God's working in his life.

He remembers why he's in Caesarea.

You remember?

He had been in Jerusalem.

Some of the Jewish leaders, Felix, was going to bring him out of custody into another trial, and there were Jews that had a plan that while they were bringing him, while they were transporting him, they were going to ambush him and kill him.

Paul found out about it about it.

Felix found out about it, sent Paul to Caesarea.

That's why he's there.

I don't know if Festus knew this plan or not, but Festus says, hey, why don't we go back to Jerusalem?

But here's what's happened now.

Now, what is happening, it's not just a few people that are planning to ambush Paul.

It is all of the Jewish leadership have made this plan that on the journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem, on that journey back, they are going to ambush Paul and have him killed.

But God, in his sovereignty, brings this back to Paul's mind.

He says, mm-mm.

No way.

Look at what he says in verse 11.

He, I mean, he really, or verse 10, he really calls, he calls Festus out on this in verse 10.

But Paul said, I am standing before Caesar's tribunal where I ought to be tried.

To the Jews, I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well.

Felix, you you know that I have not done anything wrong.

Felix, I am standing before the Roman tribunal where I should be.

Why is he standing before the Roman tribunal?

Why should he be there?

Because he is a Roman citizen.

Understand this.

From the very beginning of Paul's life, God has been working.

It is not a coincidence, it is not a mistake.

It is not something that just happened that Paul is a Roman citizen.

It was the work of God.

It is not a coincidence.

It is not something that happened that Paul is a Jew.

It was the working of God.

It was the sovereign working of God's sovereign plan, bringing all things together for Paul to stand right there in that moment and proclaim the name of Jesus.

God had been working all of it, moving him right here to that place.

Listen, and in our lives, if we see this and understand this, it is not a coincidence that you are here.

It's not a coincidence that you live where you live.

You may say, Grant, I live here because of my job.

Not a coincidence.

God worked it out.

You may say, God, I you may say, Grant, I live here because my parents live here.

I didn't have a choice.

Not a coincidence.

God brought you right here.

He has you right here and he's working in your life and he's doing something among you.

And what you need to do, like Paul, is remember that it's God's working, trust in his working and follow him.

You may think you made a choice to be where you are.

I promise you, while yes, God works in our we hold responsibility for the choices we make, and I understand that.

But in that responsibility, God has been working and brought you right here to this place for this moment for this time.

Don't miss it.

Remember that he is at work in your life.

Don't take it for granted.

Paul didn't.

He saw God working, and so he says at this point, then, hey, Festus, I know what you're doing.

I see it.

I appeal to Caesar.

Now listen, we've talked about this a whole lot.

I've read these next two verses to you that I want to point out to you.

I've read them.

I feel like I've read them to you ten times.

Well, let's go for 11.

Here's what he says, what God says about Paul back in Acts chapter 9, when Paul had just been saved, he sends this man named Annias to Paul to help him begin this journey with Christ, but he doesn't want to go.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

But in Acts chapter 9, verse 13, God says, But Anias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem, and here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on his name.

Acts 9:13

But verse 15, here's the thing.

But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

God has had this plan from Paul from before he was a believer.

He was his chosen instrument that he was going to use to carry this gospel message to Jews and Gentiles and kings.

We saw it even more recently back in Acts chapter 23.

Acts 23 · chapter mention

In Acts chapter 23, verse 11, after Paul had first been taken and he was in custody and he had stood before Felix and he had done all these things and he was back in the barracks.

Acts 23:11

And in verse 23, verse in chapter 23, verse 11, it says this, and the following night the Lord stood by him, that's Paul, and said, Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me and Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.

Do you know where Paul's going now?

He's headed to Rome.

He's going to Rome to testify about the facts of Jesus Christ, that he is the savior of the world.

He's going.

God has been working, he has been orchestrating, he has been carrying it all out, preparing it all from a long, long time ago, even before Paul was Paul.

He had been working and moving.

And church, I need you to understand.

Just as God worked and moved in Paul's life, he works and moves in our lives.

Again, I've said it, let me say it again.

He has you in this moment, in this place, for this time.

To be witnesses to the kingdom of God.

To bear witness to the facts about Jesus Christ.

That he came, that he lived, that he died, that he arose so that we can have salvation.

He came to take the punishment of sin and death that we deserve.

And arise so that we can have life.

God has been working.

Paul, in his letter to the church at Ephesus, he says some of the very same things.

Not about himself, not about the apostles, but to members of that congregation at Ephesus.

He's not writing to the leaders of the church.

He's not writing to Timothy.

He's not writing to Silas.

He's not writing to Luke.

He's not writing to anybody that we would sometimes go, oh, well, of course they're supposed to be doing it.

He is writing to the congregation at the church at Ephesus.

And here's what he writes in Ephesians chapter 1.

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ Jesus with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.

In love, he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace with which he has blessed us and the beloved.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of his will according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Did you hear that?

We just talked about, we just talked about how God told Enias he had chosen Paul to carry the message to Israel, Gentiles, and the kings.

We just read about Paul telling the church at Ephesus that he chose them to be holy and blameless, to carry out this plan that he's had to unite all things in heaven and on earth before.

When was the plan made?

Before the foundations of time, he made those plans.

He made those plans for the church at Ephesus, and hear me, he made those plans for us.

We need to trust his sovereignty and his working and follow him.

He has called us to be witnesses to the kingdom of God, to witness how Jesus came to save us and to then go and proclaim how he came to save the world.

Church.

God is at work.

Will you trust him?

I don't know where you are today.

Maybe you've never believed in Jesus Christ.

You've never believed in his redemption that he offers us.

Because he died on the cross and rose from us, rose for us, to give us life, to redeem us, to pay the price, to pay the price for our guilt.

Jesus did that.

And if you have never trusted in him, oh I pray that today will be the day of salvation for you.

That you will trust in him because hear me.

If you have trusted in him.

But listen right now.

Something has happened in your life.

There's something going on, and you are not trusting in his sovereign work in your life.

Pray that today will be the day.

Maybe this morning you need to repent because you are not trusting in him.

Maybe you need to come kneel at this altar and pray to him.

Maybe right where you're sitting, you need to do that.

Just a moment.

I'm going to pray for us and then we're going to stand and sing.

As we sing, we are, we call it the invitation because we are inviting you to make a decision.

If you've never believed in Christ, we are inviting you to come.

We'll be down here.

We would love to pray with you and pray for you.

There will be counselors who will take you out and share with you how you can know Christ.

You can believe in him.

You can follow his sovereign plan.

Maybe this morning you need to come and do that as we sing.

If this morning you need to just come and repent, we would love to pray with you over that.

Or you can, again, like I said, kneel at this altar, kneel at these steps, make them your altar and pray.

If you're looking for a church home, we invite you to come.

Because here's the great news.

We don't have to do this on our own.

We don't have to be Lone Rangers.

God gave us each other to help each other, to hold each other up, to encourage one another.

If you're looking for a church home, we would love to have you here at DeSoda Hills.

We invite you to come.

Let's pray.

God, I thank you for today, and I thank you for this moment that we have.

This opportunity that we have now to respond to you.

To respond to your moving, to your working, to trust in your sovereign plan.

God, I pray for those this morning who have never trusted in you or believed in you.

I pray that for them today will be the day of salvation.

God, I pray for those who who have, but but Father, aren't right now in their lives, they're not following your sovereign plan.

God, I pray that today will be the day of repentance for them.

God, I pray for those who need to find home.

God, if DeSoda Hills is that place, I pray that they come.

God, I pray that you will give us the faith that we need now to respond to you.

Jesus, it's in your wonderful name that we pray.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.

If you have any questions for our pastor, feel free to reach out at DeSotoHills.com.