Introduction
In 1999, Sonny Bharadia, a 25-year-old Indian immigrant and recent college graduate working as a convenience store clerk in Savannah, GA, was wrongfully convicted of assaulting and murdering 19-year-old Stephanie Bennett.
The crime occurred in a parked car near a local park.
Bharadia was arrested two days later based on a single eyewitness identification from a passerby who claimed to have seen him near the scene.
Despite no physical evidence linking him—no DNA, fingerprints, or blood matches—the prosecution built its case on this shaky testimony and a coerced confession.
Bharadia later said the confession was extracted after 18 hours of relentless interrogation without a lawyer or proper Miranda warnings.
He was sentenced to life without parole.
He spent over two decades in Georgia’s prison system, where he maintained his innocence while pursuing self-education in law and advocating for other inmates.
In 2018, the Georgia Innocence Project took up his case.
They secured post-conviction DNA testing on evidence that had been preserved.
The results were exonerating.
None of Bharadia’s DNA was found on the victim or at the scene.
Further investigation revealed prosecutorial misconduct, including the suppression of evidence about the eyewitness’s reliability and alternate suspects.
Bharadia’s case moved forward to the Georgia Supreme Court.
On May 16, 2025, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously vacated Bharadia’s conviction in a landmark ruling, citing “actual innocence” based on the new DNA evidence and constitutional violations in his interrogation.
Bharadia said afterwards, “Prison stole my youth, but truth gave me back my life” (https://www.georgiainnocenceproject.org/general/sonny-bharadia-exonerated/).
The Apostle Paul had been held in custody in Caesarea for two years.
Like Bharadia, Paul asserted his innocence and kept proclaiming the truth with unwavering conviction.
Today, we will examine Paul’s fourth of six defenses in the Book of Acts (Acts 22:1–21; 22:30–23:10; 24:10–21; 25:1-12; 26:1–29; 28:17–29) in a sermon I am calling, “Using Appropriate Legal Channels.”
Scripture
Let’s read Acts 25:1-12:
1 Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. 2 And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews laid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, 3 asking as a favor against Paul that he summon him to Jerusalem—because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. 4 Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. 5 “So,” 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.”
6 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 on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. 7 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. 8 Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.” 9 But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” 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. 11 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.” 12 Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”
Lesson
Acts 25:1-12 shows us how God sovereignly protects his servants in the face of hostile opposition, enabling them to proclaim the truth with unwavering conviction.
Let’s use the following outline:
1. God Preserves His Servants from Assassination (25:1-5)
2. God Protects His Servants from Accusations (25:6-7)
3. God Provides His Servants with Answers (25:8)
4. God Prompts His Servants to Appeal (25:9-12)
I. God Preserves His Servants from Assassination (25:1-5)
First, God preserves his servants from assassination.
Porcius Festus replaced Felix as the governor of Judaea.
Desiring to do the Jews a favor, Felix kept Paul in custody in Caesarea, where he had already been for two years (Acts 24:27).
“Now three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea” (v. 1).
Unlike Felix, Festus was not a procrastinator.
He had inherited all the problems that Felix had left behind.
So, Festus went to Jerusalem to meet the Jewish leaders and learn about their concerns.
When Festus arrived in Jerusalem, “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” (v. 2-3a).
Festus was in a difficult spot.
He wanted to develop good relations with the Jewish leaders.
However, he also knew that the Jewish leaders were masterful at manipulating their governors.
We are not told what the Jewish leaders told Festus about Paul’s case.
I suspect that they did what they had done before: provided charges against Paul without sufficient supporting proof to make Festus believe the charges were plausible.
In any event, Luke tells us the real reason why the Jewish leaders wanted Paul to be brought to Jerusalem. It was “because they were planning an ambush to kill him on the way” (v. 3b).
Two years earlier, about forty Jews made a plot to kill Paul (23:12-13).
That plot did not succeed.
However, now the Sanhedrin itself was plotting to have Paul killed.
Festus had probably been told how two years earlier it had taken 470 Romans to escort Paul from Jerusalem to Caesarea.
He did not want to risk any trouble.
Wisely, “Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly(v. 4).
Because Paul was a Roman citizen, it was appropriate for him to be tried in Caesarea.
“So,” 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” (v. 5).
Though Festus was new on the scene, he wanted to work well with the Jewish leaders, and he did not know Paul.
God sovereignly worked through Festus to protect Paul from assassination.
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker and devout Christian.
She was arrested in February 1944 by the Nazis for hiding Jews in her Haarlem home in the Netherlands during World War II.
With her family, she operated a secret room, saving dozens from deportation.
After a Gestapo raid, Corrie and her sister Betsie were sent to Ravensbrück concentration camp, where Betsie died in December 1944.
Facing execution, Corrie was miraculously spared due to a clerical error.
On December 28, 1944, a mix-up in Nazi paperwork led to her release instead of death.
Camp records later confirmed this mistake.
She returned to Haarlem, learning that most women her age were soon gassed.
Corrie attributed her survival to the sovereign hand of God, who preserved her from being killed.
God used her preservation from death through a bureaucratic fluke to later share her story of God’s preservation with a global audience for many decades (Corrie Ten Boom, The Hiding Place [Chosen Books, 1971], n. p.).
There are times when God preserves his servants from assassination.
II. God Protects His Servants from Accusations (25:6-7)
Second, God protects his servants from accusations.
Festus stayed in Jerusalem a little more than a week to attend to other matters.
Then he went down to Caesarea.
Again, not procrastinating, “the next day, Festus took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought” (v. 6).
Festus wanted to get the trial behind him.
As soon as Paul was brought into the chamber where the trial was being held, “the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him”(v. 7a).
Luke did not tell us what the charges were.
However, based on Paul’s response to the charges, they were the exact charges that had been brought two years earlier and could not be sustained before Governor Felix.
The three charges that they brought against Paul were a political charge, a religious charge, and a criminal charge.
Luke tells us at the end of verse 7 that “they could not prove” the charges against Paul.
Once again, they made charges without sufficient supporting proof.
In March 2006, three white Duke University lacrosse players faced felony assault charges after a dancer accused them of assaulting her at a team party in Durham, NC.
The case ignited national outrage, with media frenzy, racial tensions, and protests branding the athletes as privileged predators.
Duke suspended the team, and the prosecutor, facing reelection, aggressively pursued the case despite glaring inconsistencies in the dancer's story.
But cracks appeared quickly.
DNA tests showed no match to the players, while evidence revealed the dancer had changed her account multiple times and had a history of mental health issues.
Timeline alibis—phone records, ATM footage, and cab receipts—placed one of the players elsewhere during the alleged assault.
By April 2007, an independent review exposed the prosecutor’s ethical violations, including withholding exculpatory evidence.
He was disbarred and jailed for contempt.
On April 11, 2007, the North Carolina Attorney General dropped all charges, declaring the players "innocent victims of a hoax."
The exoneration highlighted prosecutorial misconduct and media bias, leading to multimillion-dollar settlements for the men (https://sddefenseattorneys.com/blog/famous-wrongful-conviction-cases/).
Accusations are not always true.
Christians are not immune to wrongful accusations.
In Paul’s case, he repeatedly faced accusations that could not be proved.
Yet, he still sat in prison.
The reason, in this instance, was that God was protecting his servant from accusations so that he could proclaim the gospel in Rome.
III. God Provides His Servants with Answers (25:8)
Third, God provides his servants with answers.
Luke said that Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense” (v.8).
The charge “against the law of the Jews” was the religious one.
The charge “against the temple” was the criminal one.
And the charge “against Caesar” was the political one.
Presumably, Luke gave a summary statement of Paul’s defense.
Paul would have clearly stated for each charge that there were no witnesses, no evidence, and no supporting proof to substantiate the charge against him.
Please note that Luke stressed that Christians are law-abiding citizens.
Christians are not lawbreakers.
When Paul was on his missionary journeys, there were occasional riots that broke out.
He was accused of provoking and causing the riots.
Yet, the town clerk of Ephesus acknowledged that Paul was a law-abiding citizen (cf. 19:27).
Gallo, the proconsul of Achaia, also acknowledged that Paul was a law-abiding citizen (cf. 18:12ff).
The frequent charges by the Jews against the Christians that they were lawbreakers were not accurate.
When Jesus was alive, he warned his disciples that they would face persecution for the sake of his name.
He said to his disciples in Matthew 10:19-20, “When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”
As Paul faced false charges from the Jews before Festus, God provided him with answers.
Mariam Yahia Ibrahim, a Sudanese Christian, faced persecution in 2014 when falsely accused of apostasy and adultery.
Raised as a Christian by her Ethiopian mother after her Muslim father left, Mariam was reported by a relative for abandoning Islam and marrying a Christian, Daniel Wani.
Arrested while pregnant, she was imprisoned with her toddler son, Martin, in Khartoum’s Omdurman prison.
Despite pressure to renounce her faith, God provided Mariam an answer to declare to the judge, “I am a Christian and will remain so.”
Convicted and sentenced to death and 100 lashes, she gave birth to her daughter, Maya, while shackled in prison.
International outcry from Amnesty International and diplomats led to her acquittal in June 2014 (https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr54/006/2014/en/).
Should you ever be falsely charged because of your faith in Jesus, you can be confident that God will provide you with answers at that time.
IV. God Prompts His Servants to Appeal (25:9-12)
And fourth, God prompts his servants to appeal.
Festus was in a dilemma.
He proposed a compromise.
Luke notes in verse 9, “But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, ‘Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?’ ”
The trial in Jerusalem would be before Festus and not the Jewish Council.
Presumably, Festus wanted to reassure Paul that his rights as a Roman citizen would be protected.
However, Paul knew the Jewish leaders better than Festus did.
The compromise would give the Jewish leaders what they wanted.
The Jewish leaders did not care that Festus would preside over Paul’s trial.
The Jewish leaders did not intend for there to be a trial, for they planned to assassinate Paul on the way to Jerusalem (v. 3).
Paul realized that he would not get justice in Jerusalem.
He asserted that he was already standing before Caesar’s tribunal, implying that Festus should do his job.
Therefore, 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” (vv. 10-11a).
Paul was not afraid to die for something that deserved death.
However, he had done nothing wrong.
He should not receive the death penalty.
In fact, he should not even be in prison because he had broken no law.
Paul finally used the last legal avenue open to him.
He said, “I appeal to Caesar”(v. 11b).
Paul, not that he might escape justice, but rather that he might receive justice, appealed to be heard by Caesar, using a right granted to every Roman citizen.
The request to appeal was not automatically granted.
But if the appeal was granted, that took the case out of the governor’s hands and transferred it to the emperor.
Now, who was the emperor at this time?
It was none other than Nero.
Surely, Paul’s appeal was unwise or foolish.
However, this was early in Nero’s reign, and it was not yet marked by the cruelty and insanity of his later years.
Paul’s request to appeal to Caesar offered Festus a way out of his dilemma.
Luke notes in verse 12, “Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, ‘To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.’ ”
As we shall learn in subsequent lessons, Paul eventually got to Rome to have his case heard by Caesar.
Conclusion
The question arises whether Christians can use appropriate legal channels to protect themselves.
The Dutch Prime Minister and theologian, Abraham Kuyper, stated that God has ordained certain spheres of society, such as family, church, and state, and that each sphere functions best when it properly manages its own area of responsibility.
God has authority over each of the spheres, and each sphere has its own God-ordained purpose.
The Westminster Divines captured the role of the state in the chapter on The Civil Magistrate in The Westminster Confession of Faith:
God, the supreme Lord and King of all the world, hath ordained civil magistrates to be under Him, over the people, for His own glory, and the public good: and, to this end, hath armed them with the power of the sword, for the defense and encouragement of them that are good, and for the punishment of evil doers…. Civil magistrates may not assume to themselves the administration of the Word and sacraments, or the power of the keys of the kingdom of heaven (The Westminster Confession of Faith[Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996], 21:1, 3).
The civil government of the state exists for the glory of God and the public good.
God has ordained that the state has the power of the sword.
That is, the state may use lawful and forceful means to uphold the public good.
Paul acknowledged this truth when he said that if he was a wrongdoer and had committed anything deserving of death, he was willing to die.
Paul agreed that those found guilty of transgressing civil laws were rightly subject to their penalties—so long as compliance with these laws did not violate God’s revealed law.
Derek Thomas rightly notes:
Laws that forbid what God requires or require what God forbids may necessitate some form of civil disobedience with acceptance of any civil consequences that may result. Peter and John had acted in precisely this way when they refused to stop preaching in the name of Jesus and were imprisoned as a result (Acts 4:18–31; 5:17–29) (Derek W. H. Thomas, Acts, ed. Richard D. Phillips, Philip Graham Ryken, and Daniel M. Doriani, Reformed Expository Commentary [Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2011], 683).
Paul believed that it was appropriate to use legal channels to protect himself.
He believed that he had done nothing worthy of punishment.
Therefore, he exercised his legal right to appeal to the highest civil authority to have his case heard.
I pray that you and I may never have to face improper legal charges.
But, if we do, I want you to know that as Christians we may—and should—use appropriate legal channels. Amen.
