main passage preached through, Paul's arrival at Malta and Rome
1 When we had escaped, then they learned that the island was called Malta.
2 The natives showed us uncommon kindness; for they kindled a fire, and received us all, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.
3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4 When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped from the sea, yet Justice has not allowed to live.”
5 However he shook off the creature into the fire, and wasn’t harmed.
6 But they expected that he would have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but when they watched for a long time and saw nothing bad happen to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.
7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us, and courteously entertained us for three days.
8 The father of Publius lay sick of fever and dysentery. Paul entered in to him, prayed, and laying his hands on him, healed him.
9 Then when this was done, the rest also who had diseases in the island came, and were cured.
10 They also honored us with many honors, and when we sailed, they put on board the things that we needed.
11 After three months, we set sail in a ship of Alexandria which had wintered in the island, whose sign was “The Twin Brothers.”
12 Touching at Syracuse, we stayed there three days.
13 From there we circled around and arrived at Rhegium. After one day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli,
14 where we found brothers, and were entreated to stay with them for seven days. So we came to Rome.
15 From there the brothers, when they heard of us, came to meet us as far as The Market of Appius and The Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God, and took courage.
16 When we entered into Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
17 After three days Paul called together those who were the leaders of the Jews. When they had come together, he said to them, “I, brothers, though I had done nothing against the people, or the customs of our fathers, still was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans,
18 who, when they had examined me, desired to set me free, because there was no cause of death in me.
19 But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything about which to accuse my nation.
20 For this cause therefore I asked to see you and to speak with you. For because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.”
21 They said to him, “We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor did any of the brothers come here and report or speak any evil of you.
22 But we desire to hear from you what you think. For, as concerning this sect, it is known to us that everywhere it is spoken against.”
23 When they had appointed him a day, many people came to him at his lodging. He explained to them, testifying about God’s Kingdom, and persuading them concerning Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening.
24 Some believed the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved.
25 When they didn’t agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had spoken one word, “The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah, the prophet, to our fathers,
26 saying, ‘Go to this people, and say, in hearing, you will hear, but will in no way understand. In seeing, you will see, but will in no way perceive.
27 For this people’s heart has grown callous. Their ears are dull of hearing. Their eyes they have closed. Lest they should see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their heart, and would turn again, and I would heal them.’
28 “Be it known therefore to you, that the salvation of God is sent to the nations, and they will listen.”
29 When he had said these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute among themselves.
30 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who were coming to him,
31 preaching God’s Kingdom, and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness, without hindrance.
quoted by Paul to the Jews in Rome about hearing but not understanding, tied back to Isaiah's call in the temple
9 He said, “Go, and tell this people, ‘You hear indeed, but don’t understand; and you see indeed, but don’t perceive.’
10 Make the heart of this people fat. Make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and turn again, and be healed.”
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
This message walked through the final chapter of Acts, where Paul reaches Rome after shipwreck and hardship, and the gospel moves forward without being stopped. Ray wove in personal stories from the week, including witnessing a motorcycle accident in Swan Valley and the church's ongoing mission work in Guatemala, to show that the same pattern from Acts is still playing out.
What was said
Acts 28 opens on the island of Malta, where the Maltese show Paul and the shipwreck survivors unexpected kindness. When a viper bites Paul and he suffers no harm, the islanders swing from calling him a murderer to calling him a god, which Ray held up as a picture of how fickle people can be when they are watching but not yet understanding. The miracles on Malta, including the healing of Publius's father and others on the island, authenticated the message Paul carried, and Malta has been deeply Christian ever since.
When Paul finally arrives in Rome, his first move after three days is to call together the leading Jewish men. He is not bitter toward them even though it was Jewish opposition that put him in chains. He explains his situation plainly, says he appealed to Caesar only because he had no other safe option, and then invites them to hear what he has to say about the hope of Israel.
A second, larger meeting follows, and Paul spends the whole day, morning until evening, explaining from the law of Moses and the prophets how everything points to Jesus. Some are persuaded. Others refuse to hear. Ray noted that this split response is the consistent pattern across the entire book of Acts, every time the gospel is presented, some accept and some reject.
As the resistant ones begin to leave, Paul quotes Isaiah 6, the passage where God commissions Isaiah to go and speak to people whose hearts have grown dull. Ray paused on the context: Isaiah 6 is where Isaiah sees God's glory in the temple, declares himself undone, is cleansed, and then says "here am I, send me." Paul is making the point that refusing to hear is not a new problem, and the word of the Lord goes out anyway.
Paul then tells them directly that the Gentiles will listen, and the gathering breaks apart. What follows is two years of Paul in his own rented lodging in Rome, open to everyone who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, the same message John the Baptist preached, the same message Jesus preached, the same message running through the whole book. Ray called the last word of Acts the most important word in it: "unhindered."
The sermon closed with Ray pointing back to his week, the accident, the mission team already in Guatemala, and his own sense of being in an "in between" moment, all of it as lived illustration that hindrances to us are not hindrances to the gospel. Acts 28 is not the end of the story. What happens next, Ray said, is Acts 29, which is what the church is living right now.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages
in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
Ray described the gospel as 'unhindered' even when he and others feel like they are walking in deep mud. When have you felt that tension personally, where the gospel seemed to be moving forward even while your circumstances felt stuck?
Ray shared the story of stopping at the motorcycle accident in Swan Valley and called it a divine appointment 'in between.' What does it look like in your own life to stay open to those in-between moments rather than waiting for the big, planned opportunities?
Speaker 2Okay. I think we're ready. Thanks for being here again. This is, First Baptist Church. We call it First B, Jackson, Wyoming.
Might need to turn my mic up. Okay. Thanks for being here again, and we're just gonna I'm gonna start with, Hebrews four sixteen. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will we will find his grace to help us when we need it most.
If you would stand with us, and we'll sing. Amen. You can have a seat for a second. Ray's got some announcements for us.
Speaker 1Thank you very much. But halfway through that song, thought, something feels funny. I didn't have a microphone on, hadn't had the clicker. Engine room. The Sunday morning prayer group is meeting downstairs about 08:30.
They gather in this middle room, youth room, the purple room, whatever you wanna call it, downstairs in the labyrinth. There is a group of people that are gathering on Sunday mornings to pray for the Sunday services specifically, but beyond that too. So if you want to be a part of the engine room, head on down on Sunday morning. There is this is a new announcement. There's a children's choir for Christmas this year.
We have Lisa Landis right here who is trained musical genius. Can't help it. She's just that's that's who she is. And we have Lauren Feldman, also an opera singer and wonderful vocal coach, and they are going to team up together for a performance for the children on December 21 during the 9AM service. So if you want to know more about it, you can contact Lauren at that email address, laurenmcneese@gmail.com, or you can sign up at first b jackson dot org.
And we'll it'll be building, but we're gonna start practicing 11:16. So that's mid November for this. This is something I'm looking to. It's pretty exciting. So Awana is happening Monday nights in this room.
The circle is pulled up right now, but it'll go back down in between now and tomorrow night. So we have pre k through and you can sign up for it there, but I think if you just show up, you'll be fine. So Sisters Saved by Grace, women's book study, they're gathered for prayer here and gathered. And this time, they're specifically going through a book together called Praying with Power. And I've got a it's a long story, so I can't go all the way into it.
But this week, Thursday about 04:15, something happened with me and just I witnessed an accident. And I was like, who can I call? So I called the elders and Phil was like, I'm telling Nancy and the and the Sisters by Grace part. And we it kind of spreads out from there, know. But it's it's a really good thing.
Sisters Saved by Grace women's study down the hall, fellowship hall, Thursday evenings. There's also another group that meets on Thursday mornings for they're working through Ephesians and starting at 09:00 in the morning, Heidi is leading that group. There's a men's study at Thursdays, which I'm really really digging. Somebody actually brought me a sandwich, so wouldn't make the same announcement three weeks in a row. It was really nice.
Come and go as needed, but it starts about 11:55 gathering and then twelve, we're really into it and we're praying for each other at the end. It's wonderful. The missions moment. Norris and Laurie Williams, you all have met them before. He has been here and spoken before.
There are several things Norris has said that registered in my mind that helped me a lot. And he's a good guy and they are going through it right now. I'll just say, there are all kinds of things in ministry that that feel like you're walking in deep mud. And I'm hoping to get to a place today in acts where we see that the gospel though is not hindered. Right?
The gospel is not hindered, but we feel that way sometimes. So they're walking in deep mud. If you remember to pray for Norris and Laurie Williams, Just Between Friends is their newsletter. So Just Between Friends, which I'll pray for them, and I'm gonna pray for them right now. God, for Norris and Laurie and for our team that's down in Guatemala right now.
The rest of the team is down there, and I'm hoping to be with them tomorrow. Lord God Almighty, I pray you're blessing that the gospel would go forward and that whatever it is that we are going through in that, Lord, is well worth it. It's well worth it and nobody would deny that. We ask that you would strengthen and encourage them and that all of the loss and all of the grief and all of the the difficulty would be met with the all sufficient love and peace of Jesus. In Jesus' name, we pray for them.
We pray for for the advance of the gospel and our part in it. Amen. And I think that's all. Would you all stand with us and we're gonna sing, sing, sing. We're gonna shout, shout, shout.
I've got all kinds of kids songs in my head and I'm thinking in Spanish, so forgive me. I've got in my head and it's going around. Would you all stand with us and sing?
Speaker 2Amen. Let's pray. God, we we just come before you this morning, and we just bring all of what we are and all of who we are and what you've made us and lay it at your feet. And all the things that we're working through, dealing with, we just we all bring different things this morning, and we just pray that you would help us to lay that lay that down at your feet and at your throne, and that you you you do wanna come beside us and help us. And we just You can have a seat for a minute.
We're gonna enter the time of worship through giving part of the service, and I'll invite the ushers to come on forward. We're gonna sing here's my heart. It's from Psalm one thirty nine and it says, search me o God and know my heart. Test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Ray, do you mind praying? Lord
Speaker 1God, no, my anxious thoughts hits me right now. No, my anxious thoughts, Lord. In front of us, we don't know what's in front of us. And it's been said that if we spend so much time thinking about the future and that we don't know part of the future, Lord, that leads to anxiety. But Lord, would you allow us to sit in the present knowing that you will lead us where you want us to be?
You will make the divine appointments that you have already said ahead of time and we don't know about. Would you let us recognize them Lord? I pray that the gospel would advance and these people that are gathered in your name this morning, I pray that what is filling our hearts, would be the goodness of God, the kindness of God, the word of God, and that that would fill our heart. Anyway, may we spend our present moment right now. Lady, wait.
May we spend our present moment right now looking to you, the author, the perfecter. You did it from the beginning. You will be it in the end. And Lord, in the right now, may we just trust you wherever the path leads forward. I know that there are folks that are going on trips from this place today that have no idea what waits for them.
Lord God Almighty, we glorify you in that moment. You say that we'll stand before governors and kings and we don't have to worry about it, that you'll give us the words. May that be true in every workplace for every person that's present here. May it be true of us that we're just ready. In Jesus name, Lord, I pray that you take this offering and you do with it as you will.
Your will done in your way. That's what we want to be a part of in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Y'all can have a seat.
And it's time for children's church downstairs. And there they go. I'm gonna try to calm down for just a minute. Sorry. I was coming down the hall earlier this morning.
I saw a friend and I did a spit take of coffee and I'm a ball of nerves and I don't know why. Acts 28 is in front of us and maybe the shipwreck last week, the bunny last week, all of that stuff that we talked about. Midweek this week, the rest of the team left to go down there. And me in the house without Tanya is a little weird, after thirty three years, that's kind of weird. And the different kind of divine appointments along the way, you start to just be more cognizant of or I start to be more introspective, circumspect, whatever, when when I'm not in the norm.
And I think mission trips help us to do that. Going to new places help us to do that. And so the other day, I was handling a couple items on my list before I left and I hit Swan Valley on the way to Idaho Falls carrying a piece of junk behind the truck, know, that's that's what I do. And it's like Peter going back to fishing. I just go back to the hauling junk.
And as I was hauling this old piece of junk, I was following a motorcycle up about a eighth of a mile in front of me, and then they veered off into the ditch and they bounced. And it was like all over the place and wild, pretty violent. Road speed not flying. I had a piece of junk behind me. Was probably running 45 or 50, not 70.
And they were in front of me keep we're maintaining safe distance, you know, long they were way in front of me. When I saw them go off, I immediately started praying. I'm the next car, and then they did. I I thought it was just one person. I saw someone go like a rag doll, but this rag doll landed like a gymnast, both feet on the ground and then sat down.
And that was a 60 year old lady. Her husband, a 69 year old man was driving the bike neither had helmets on. And and I was the next guy. And there were other people behind me. I pulled over and stopped and started rendering.
I was going to her because I didn't know there was a him. I was going towards her and he was lying there in agonal breathing, And that's near the end. Right? But he was breathing. And I saw to her, are you okay?
Yes. What's his name? Bruce came back and started working with him. And they both lived. I stayed there, so did everybody else.
There were tons of other people that stayed with us. And we I I wanna I want you all to be praying for me. That's why I'm bringing this up. Bruce and Violet are their names. They're at the Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center.
I'd stayed there with them until we had him on the helicopter and we had her ambulance and and then went on visited the guy in the, you know, the nursing home, took the junk to the junkyard, and then went by Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and met the daughter as she was just arriving. I I was there just as she was arriving and was able to go back with her and met the son as I was leaving. And that's a divine appointment without any doubt in my mind, and I'm praying for that on this mission trip, and it was an in between. It was in between. They had already gone, and I'm going next time, and, you know, what this is between.
I gotta get a funeral done and two services on Sunday. I knew of those things, but can we pray just a moment? Would you all pray where you are now? God, for Bruce and for Violet and for Amy and for Ron and for Jordan and for his wife, I pray right now as Bruce is lying there unconscious, sedated because of the great pain, intubated, and on a ventilator. I pray that you'd heal his body completely and that he would he would recognize you, Lord, that he'd be drawn into a relationship.
Previously, he, I believe, has a relationship with that he'd be drawn into a relationship that is new and fresh and absolutely unhindered. And, Lord, that each of us that are praying for him would feel the same way. For Violet, who did fly up into the air and come back down and has a a slight fracture in her neck and one in her foot. Lord, for her completely conscious from the moment she landed, completely conscious. I pray, Lord, that this consciousness of the of the miracle that you have brought, Lord, that that she would be in her anticipation of Bruce's healing.
Lord, that she'd be able to center her thoughts on you. And I pray that I would be able to center my thoughts on you. God, show us the way that you'd have us to go. And give us the grace, to walk in it. Allow us to have our wits about us.
Amen. Amen. Thank you. Acts 28. Here we are.
This is the last chapter in the book of Acts. I, sitting in sitting in seminary one time, I had a professor that said, well, what happens after Acts 28? And I said, Acts 29. I hadn't really counted how many chapters there were in Acts. Now I know, But Acts 29 is what's happening now.
Right? This story is still being written. It's still happening. Acts 28, this is where we left off. So they they had left from Caesarea Maritime, went through Sidon up around Cyprus, Cilicia, Pamphylia, Lydda Lydia, down towards Crete, Fair Havens, and then on to Phoenix, and then all about in the drift.
And they ended up being brought safely to land. I can say, hey, these folks have been brought safely to land. This is our group plus Jay Buckhalter who is the leader of the team. He's standing there next to Tanya, we're old friends. They used to bring teams down to Mexico and his administrative abilities are incredible.
And so we just piggyback on their trip, so we don't have to do that part. But that's a great that's all the team from here except for Jay. So you can pray for them, and they were brought to land safely there in Guatemala. Now, when they had been brought safely through, we there we found out that the island was called Malta. So that's Malta out in the Mediterranean, and here's a little better map.
People made fun of my maps last week, they said it looked like that was LEGOLAND, and a lot of people online did not like it. So Malta is right there, and this is where they landed according to the lay of the land from scripture. And you know what? Saint Paul's Bay. What a coincidence.
That's why they call it Saint Paul's Bay. Okay? They really love Paul on Malta from what I hear. The natives, the Maltese showed us extraordinary kindness for they kindled a fire and they took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold. I have been accused of leaving on the first day that snow hit the valley, and I am guilty.
But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper, that is a venomous snake. So when it says viper, it's not just any old snake, it's a viper. Sorry. If any of y'all are triggered, close your eyes. Here.
This is a Bathyrops asper. Know more about this snake than I want to. A viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on Paul's hand. On 05/11/2017, we had a team in Guatemala. And that little snake I just showed you was a barba amaria, that is a yellow bearded snake.
It's also called a tercio pelo, a velvet snake and it's got a few others, a bathrobes asper. That's it. And that is my wife's finger. Yeah. On a mission trip, went up to just get something out of her bag and came back.
Woah. Drew back this and slung the snake just like oh, it says Paul will do this in just a minute. But he slung it off, you know. She slung it off, couldn't find it after that. We ended up going to the hospital that's there on-site, Saint John's, and they had this the powder form of the serum, the anti venom, but they didn't have the serum that you put with it.
And so we went down the hill in the suburban as fast as we could go in the pouring rain, and we got to another clinic and they had the serum. And so they had a rotavirus outbreak and they wouldn't allow anybody to come in to the hospital. So they handed us the serum through the bars, and we ended up at the Mega Medica Emergency Clinic. And it's a big hospital, not too terribly far away. And we ended up spending the night there.
Tanya had this antivenom infused, and we have great care. No problems with the care there. It was wonderful. And then overnight, at 04:41AM, there was an earthquake. You know, whenever you watch and coverage of Central America and you see an earthquake, the thing that they show that's flattened is always the hospital.
Almost always. And we're on the 5th Floor, Top Floor, 4th or 5th Floor of this hospital. And it was like, goodness gracious. What else can go wrong on this trip? We had left Paschal.
She had no no way of being in touch with us. They took her on a a trip the next morning. The next morning was the time where they take you out and you see the ruins of whatever. So she's walking through the ruins where they used to do child sacrifice without either of her parents, not knowing. Anyway, Tanya said, is the shaking of my hand shaking this whole room?
I said, no. This whole room is shaking. We spent the night in this little room right there. Pray for our trip to Guatemala, would y'all pray for our people? I just thought I'd mention this.
When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, undoubtedly, this man is a murderer. Now, they know it's a ship full of prisoners. This guy, he's one of the really, really bad guys. This is a murderer. Though he has been saved from the sea and we've heard quite the tale, justice has not allowed him to live.
You know what? People have a sense of what is good and right. Even if they don't know to God, they have a sense of what is right. God has given us a conscience and he's given us an idea that there is such a thing as right and wrong, even if we disagree about what that is. Justice has not allowed him to live.
However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and he suffered no harm. Thank you. Tanya suffered no long lasting harm from this. Now, they were expecting that he was going to swell up and suddenly fall down dead, because that's what happens when you get bit by a venomous snake, and they know that. But after they had waited a long time and seen nothing unusual happen to him, then they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
Can you see how people are all over the map? Fickle people that we are. First of all, he's a murderer, now he's a god. And this is not the first time for Paul that he's been accused of being a god. You remember in Lystra, it says, when the crowd saw what Paul had done, healing a lame man, they said the gods have become like men and they attributed that he was the God.
And that just Paul rips his clothes. I'm not a God. You're misunderstanding. I do carry the message of God with me, but I do this in Jesus' name. Jesus is God.
I am not God. So now in the neighboring parts of this place or lands belonging to the leading man of the whole island was named Publius. And Publius who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days. And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and with dysentery. Actually, this place down there in Guatemala is this is the main thing they they help rescue.
Hope of Life is the name of the organization. And what they do apart from the teams that come down all of the time, what they do is they hear about somebody in a village in a remote area, and they go up into the village. Tanya's been on a couple of these rescues, where you go up into the village and they find a child usually or an older person that has fever and dysentery, and they don't have any way of getting better. And they bring those folks back to this compound hope of life. There's a hospital there, there's a nursing home there, there's an orphanage there, and there's a village of people who have come down from the villages to have the aftercare needed.
But Publius' dad was lying in bed. Publius is an important guy. He's a wealthy landowner, but he can't do anything about his dad's illness. And so, Paul went in to see him. And after he prayed, he laid his hands on him and he healed him.
And after this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and they were being cured. The miracles always authenticate the message. When I say Malta is they love Paul, they love Paul. And they love Christ because they follow after Paul who followed after Christ. And it's still that way.
Two thousand years later, Malta is very very Christian and it's because Paul presented with them with the gospel. It doesn't go into it at great length here, but we know what Paul does. They also showed us, Luke says, many honors and when we, Luke says, we're about to set sail, they supplied us with everything that we needed. Luke was there. He was a witness to what was going on.
And after three months, we set sail on an Alexandrian ship. They had arrived on an Alexandrian ship. Remember what happened to that Alexandrian ship? Stuck in the reef and beaten to pieces. This is a different one.
So this is the third ship they've been on since they left Maritime Caesarea. After three months, we set sail because that's the time of year they should have been sailing in the first place, which had wintered on the island and which had the twin brothers for its figurehead. There they are. Thank you, Nick. Thank you, Chris.
The twin brothers. It's interesting because we live in a live in a land that is like we know that this is not we know that this is not Christian. Right? We know that our place now, it belongs to this is my father's world and this is Christ. Everything's made through him and belongs to him, but we know that not everybody attributes the glory to God like they should.
The twin brothers, these are Castor and Pollux. If you are into astronomy or astrology or constellations at all, Gemini, the twins, this is them. And they were the patron, not saints, but the patron gods or whatever of sailors and horsemen for some reason. I don't know why, just this. Castor and Pollux, sons of Zeus, one supposedly divine and one human.
Y'all probably need to know all this, but Castor and Pollux were the figurehead of this boat that's now transporting Paul and Luke and Aristarchus and all of those other prisoners, soldiers and whatnot. After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. So they went from Malta to Syracuse which is on the Southeastern End of Sicily. And it says, and from there, we sailed around and arrived at Regium. If you're modern day Italy is Regio, Italy Regio, Italy, which is right about there between Italy and Sicily, but on the Italian shore, not the Sicilian shore of the Strait.
And it says, oh, on the second day, we came to Puzzoli, and Puzzoli is Puzzoli, now in Italy, is very near Naples. And so there, we found some brothers and sisters. Isn't that cool? This is the first time Paul's been this way. He's he's getting there and there are already brothers and sisters there.
That's cool. So there, we found some brothers and sisters and we were invited to stay with them for seven days. They were hospitable towards them. That's what they're supposed to be. And that's how we came to Rome.
We got from Naples to Rome. Now whether they went by ship or whether they walked from there, it doesn't go into that. There are people that are differing opinions, but and from there, the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, they came as far as the market of Appeus and the three ends to meet us and when Paul It's it's interesting that he gives all these place names. They're they're It's very detailed. It's very detailed and I think for Theophilus reading this, he didn't make this story up, you know.
He's just saying this is what happened. And when Paul saw them, he thanked God and he took courage. There are brothers and sisters here already. Now, think about this. And this is in '61, I think, about '61.
So winter of fifty seven, beginning of fifty eight, he writes Romans and he sends it to the Romans. Ain't that cool? Like the church at Rome and then the spreading out from there has reached these brothers and sisters. It's it's so awesome. And can you imagine how grateful Paul was to God and how much it encouraged him after this journey?
Now, when we entered into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself after being on the ship with 276 people. And after all of the guard guards guards, everything else it says, he did he did have one soldier that was there guarding him. It doesn't sound like he was in a bad position at all. Now after three days, Paul called together those who are the leading men of the Jews. What a persistent guy he is.
What happens usually when he calls when he's called in by the leading men of the Jews? Well, he's been beaten, he's been threatened, he's been flogged, he's been run out of town, he's been attempted stoning, exactly. He's had all these things happen. But after three days of sitting there in Rome, I'm sure prayerfully says to the Jew first and then the Gentile. I'm gonna start where they ought to know the story.
Right? So he calls them together and when they came together, he began saying to them, brothers, how gracious that is. He's not holding any animosity in his heart towards his fellow Jews. Brothers, though I had not done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem. So the Jews are the ones who handed them over.
Right? And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there were no grounds for putting me to death. And that's true of Felix and that's true of Festus and that's true even after a group of Bernice. It's true. Right?
When they had examined me, they were willing to release me. But but when the Jews objected, I was a forced to appeal to Caesar. Not that I had any accusation against my nation. I didn't countersue. The norm today is if somebody sues you, you immediately sue them back.
It's not my fault. It's your fault. But he he didn't do that. I was forced to appeal to Caesar. He knew that there were plots against him if he were to take him a ship across to Caesarea or to Syria one time.
He knew there was a plot against him from Jerusalem to Caesarea the next time. He knows that there are multiple plots to kill him, and so he does appeal to Caesar, uses his Roman citizenship as he should have. I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you. I wanna do everything I do in the open.
I'm I'm not doing anything in secret. I wanna speak to you. Since I'm wearing this chain for the sake of what? The hope of Israel. The hope of the people of God.
I'm wearing these chains for the hope of Israel. Now, they said to him, we have neither received letters from Judea concerning you nor has now, it which is interesting because they the Rome had received the letter from him. The the church had received the letter but he hasn't, They have not. The brothers in the synagogue have not received the letter from Jerusalem. We've needed to receive letters from Judea concerning you nor have any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you.
As far as we're concerned, you've got a clean slate. State your case. But we desire to hear from you what your views are. For regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere. We know that what the way is, they were maybe called Christians at this point, in other places they were, but he's saying, we understand the sect of the Nazarenes.
We know that they exist, and we understand that usually when we hear about them, it's not good. So you tell us what you think. And when they had set a day for Paul, this is the second meeting. After three days, Paul calls them all together and then he says, let's let's come up with a time when we can get together. And so they bring more people this time.
When they had set a day for Paul, people came to him at his lodging in large numbers, and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and from the prophets, and he was doing it from morning till evening. This is like the fourth time that Luke has said Paul talks for a lot. You know, he goes on and on and on. He just keeps on. But this, you know, when Jesus called him and he said, you're gonna be my representative.
He he showed him all the things in the old testament that were about him. And Paul knowing this stuff and knowing their view of this stuff would be just right for explaining it to him. And some were being persuaded by the things that Paul said, but others would not believe. And I I would say that if you look throughout the book of Acts, every time that we have seen the gospel presented all the way back to the second chapter and on the day of Pentecost empowered by the Holy Spirit. If you see anytime that the gospel is presented, it almost always says, and some accepted and some rejected.
And in Acts 17, it says, some will hear you later. Right? So the same thing is happening. The other cool thing is, this is the same gospel that was being presented. It doesn't change.
You know what? It hasn't changed. The way. Jesus is the way. He's the truth.
He's the life. The Old Testament, both the law of Moses, Torah, and the prophets, Tanuk, all of this points towards Jesus. Now, he's gonna explain this. Wouldn't you have loved to had that series? That video series of the question and answer period from this?
And some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe. And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said this one parting statement. Now, it caused a rift. The gospel does cause a rift. We shouldn't cause a rift just because, But the gospel will cause a rift between the ones who believe and the ones who reject.
It will. But let it be the gospel that does that, not your opinion or your attitude. Right? When they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said to them this one parting statement. The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah, the prophet to your fathers.
Would all of them have agreed with that? At this point, all of them would have agreed that the Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm with you.
I agree. I agree. And they might have even thought a chapter and verse while Paul was wrong, but they would have been wrong. The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah, the prophet, to your father saying this, go to this people, Isaiah, Paul, Ray. Go to this people and say, you will keep on hearing and you will not understand.
And you will keep on seeing and will not perceive for the hearts of this people have become insensitive. And with their ears, they hardly hear and they've closed their eyes, they don't wanna see. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes and otherwise, they might hear with their ears and understand with their heart and return and I would heal them. I this is Isaiah and this is word of the Lord, you know. But have you all ever heard of confirmation bias?
If we okay. You have heard of it too. How about the Paul Simon line? Still man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. No.
No. No. Right? I don't wanna hear what you're hearing right now. That's what the ones who are disagreeing with him were doing.
He's saying, open your ears. Open your ears and hear. Now, the Holy Spirit spoke rightly when he said this. Isaiah six nine and ten, this is what it says. It's exactly what he said.
Quoted it. Go and tell this people, be ever hearing, but never understand. Be ever seeing, but never perceiving. Make the heart of this people callous, make their eyes dull and close their eyes. Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and be healed.
And you know where it says this? It's Isaiah six. Isaiah six where Isaiah receives this call from God, sees him in the temple, his resplendent glory fills the temple and immediately Isaiah says, woe is me, I am undone. When confronted with the holiness of God, it's woe is me, I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips.
I dwell in amongst the people of unclean lips And he feels like he needs to be smited. Right? And God takes an ember and cleanses his tongue and gives him what he is supposed to say. Amen. It's right after six eight.
And then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send? And who's gonna go forward for us? And I said, here am I. Send me. That's so cool.
Now, knowing what follows is this, I'm gonna go and tell these people and they're they're not gonna respond or at least some of them are not gonna respond. It's still the word of the Lord. When you read through the prophets, and I'm thinking about going into the minor prophets. Pray for me. That's what I'm thinking about going into next.
When you hear the word of the Lord coming through Amos, or the word of the Lord coming through Micah, or the word of the Lord coming through Malachi. You hear it and a lot of those guys are like, I don't wanna deliver this message cause it's an unpopular message. Even Amos saying, listen, was neither a prophet nor the son of a prophet, but the word of the Lord came to me and this is what it said. Right? So this is what he's saying, go and tell these people.
And so Paul says that to them and they start to leave, you know, morning and evening, I'm not listening to that. And they're condemning themselves again for not having heard and understood and taken it in because they don't want to hear it. In their pride, they don't want to hear it. In humility, you can say, oh, I've had this wrong, and now I see. Therefore, let it be known to all of y'all that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will also listen.
If you go back to Deuteronomy eighteen eighteen fifteen, I think it is where he says, look be looking for there's God is gonna send you a prophet. He's gonna send you somebody from among you that's like me, and he is gonna speak the words of God and y'all listen to him. And Paul is saying the Gentiles are gonna listen. You're rejecting it, but you're rejecting it fully well hearing all that you need to know. The Gentiles are gonna listen.
And when he had said these words Oh, this is King James version by the way. If you look through your most of your translations will go from 28 to 30, I'll just skip over 29 altogether. It's a textual tradition. So this is from the Texas Receptus. So the King James version, New King James, and a lot of them will have it as a marginal note.
Says verse 29 says this, after 28, the the Gentiles are gonna listen and then when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had great reasoning among themselves. So he started an argument among them. And then 30 says this, now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and he welcomed all who came to him. Doesn't that sound peaceful? It does.
After all that he's been through, doesn't it sound peaceful? He stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him and he was proclaiming or preaching the kingdom of God, which is what John the Baptist preached, which is what Jesus preached, which is what Peter preached, which is what Paul it says was preaching, and that's what we wanna keep on preaching. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness. He was not doing it in a corner. He was open to everybody who would come to him, And the last word in this whole book is unhindered.
That's my favorite word in the whole book. And if you consider all of acts, have we hit hindrances? Yeah. Over cultural bounds, over geographic bounds, over all kinds of misunderstanding, over all kinds of pride issues, religious issues, all kinds of stuff. But the way that the gospel moves forward is steadily and the gospel itself is unhindered.
It says at times in the book of acts that the Holy Spirit hindered them from doing what they thought they ought to do. And hey, he might do that to you too. May we be unhindered. Lord God Almighty, I pray that the hindrances that we feel on this earth and in our time that, Lord, that we would recognize that they are not hindrances to the gospel. Lord God almighty, would we be willing and able to make the next right step to fulfill the commission to get your gospel to the ends of the earth.
May we trust in the sovereignty of God, but use the responsibility that we have. May we be assuring to people. May we have confidence amid opposition. May we prioritize proclamation. May we encourage people that are stuck in restricted context, actually looking at Paul being stuck in different places.
May we care about those who are stuck in prison. May we care about those who are stuck in restrictive government places. May the gospel flourish in our living rooms. I think back to Acts two forty two and five forty two where it says, and daily in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. And then often it'll add, and the Lord added to their number those who are being saved.
In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Would you stand with us and we're gonna close it out with a song. Christ be all around me.
Speaker 2Amen.
Speaker 1And the benediction today is from the book of Jude. The last two verses in the book of Jude said this. Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be the glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time, now, and forevermore. I think that covers it. Amen.
