Line Upon Line

Continuing the "On Trial" series in Acts, this teaching examines Acts 25 as Paul, after two years imprisoned in Caesarea, stands before the newly appointed governor Festus, refuses a plot to be tried in Jerusalem, and appeals to Caesar. Pastor Miles draws five lessons: believers stand at the center of world conflict, God providentially works His plan, God's timing differs from ours, we should be guilty only of righteousness, and we must always be ready to give a defense.

Drawing from Acts 24, this teaching examines the private meeting between Paul and the Roman governor Felix and his wife Drusilla, showing that being familiar with Christianity is not the same as truly knowing Christ. Through four warnings drawn from Felix's response, the message presses listeners to move beyond mere fear of God to genuine surrender to the lordship of Jesus before their "convenient time" never comes.

Continuing the "On Trial" series in Acts 24, Pastor Miles examines Paul's defense before Governor Felix, drawing lessons on how Christians should walk uprightly, remain in the world without being conformed to it, and effectively state their case for Christ to unbelievers.

As Paul sits protected in the Roman barracks in Jerusalem after two riots, Jesus stands by him in the night to encourage him, a conspiracy of forty men plots his assassination, and God orchestrates an extraordinary military escort to deliver him safely to Caesarea—demonstrating that God works through both ordinary and extraordinary means even amid suffering.

Examining Paul's private hearings before the Roman governor Felix and his wife Drusilla in Acts 24, this teaching warns that one can be familiar with "the way," hear gospel truth, and even fear God, yet never come to actually know Jesus Christ. Through the tragic histories of Felix and Drusilla, the message presses the urgency of bending the knee to Christ's Lordship before a convenient time that may never come.

Through Paul's appearance before the Sanhedrin in Acts 22:30–23:10, this Easter teaching shows that living actively for Jesus inevitably causes a stir, that genuine faith in the risen Christ supersedes empty religion, and that the resurrection remains the truly divisive issue—while an outside world watches to see whether our hope in the resurrection has transformed how we live today.

Studying Paul's final hours as a free man in Acts 22, Pastor Miles shows how God works all things together for good even in trials, and draws four exhortations: God's heart is for those outside our circle, we should be wise as serpents and gentle as doves, and we should use every available resource and opportunity to reach others for the kingdom.

Continuing the study in Acts 21–22, Pastor Miles examines Paul's arrest in the temple, mirroring the stoning of Stephen, and Paul's defense before the Jerusalem mob. The teaching calls believers to thank God for civil government, refuse to let others mistake their Christian identity, set the record straight, tell their story, and expect a response—even a hostile one.

Examining Acts 21:15-27, Pastor Miles shows how Paul, an apostle to the Gentiles, returned to Jerusalem to address the racial divide between Jewish and Gentile believers, demonstrating that the gospel is supracultural and that Christians can maintain much of their native culture while letting the gospel reject what is sinful and influence what remains.

As Paul finishes his third missionary journey, the Holy Spirit warns him through believers in every city that chains and tribulations await him in Jerusalem, yet he presses on. Pastor Miles argues that Paul went because only he, the apostle to the Gentiles, could carry a peace offering from Gentile churches to Jewish believers and thus heal the internal division threatening the early church.