Let us then together this evening return to the portion of God's Word that we read from the New Testament, the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 28 and the New Day, verses 23 and 24 as our text. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning to evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not." These words in their context, and as Lord Jesus would so help us, this final chapter evidences Paul's resilience in Rome, the title for our sermon this evening, Paul's resilience in Rome. Are you a resilient Christian? Are you hardy? Are you intrepid? Are you tough? Are you stout-hearted? Are you committed because Paul was. And this is the last historical record that we have in the biblical narrative about this mighty Apostle Paul. He was first introduced to us way back in chapter seven. He was the one who had the clothes of those who stoned Stephen laid at his feet. We know in chapter nine of his dramatic conversion on the road to Damascus to bind and take into prison the Lord's people. And we know throughout the Acts of the Apostles how he was then used mightily by God as an instrument to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. The most relevant chapter concerning our text this evening is chapter 21, where we read that he was there accosted by the Jews, by the crowds in the temple in Jerusalem. He was arrested. He was sentenced to death for preaching the gospel. And then in chapter 25, he intimates his intention to appeal to Caesar. That was the right of every Roman citizen. We know from chapter 22, in Paul's discussion with the chief captain of the Roman guard, that Paul was a Roman citizen. And that's repeated here in verse 19 for us. When the Jews speak against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar the right of every Roman citizen to go to Caesar to officiate and to judge the charges against him. And so began his journey to Rome, which ends in this chapter. We know of his epistles. that he wrote from Rome, but as far as the narrative is concerned, this is Roman. This is the last that we hear of Paul. We take our leave of him before he appears before Caesar on trumped up charges of insurrection, sedition, and treason. Verse 23 tells us that Paul was not in a dungeon. He was in lodgings there again in verse 30. It was his own hired house that he rented, that he paid for, but that there was an armed guard there permanently to keep him from absconding there in verse 16. Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. And there he was in verse 30 for two whole years. not knowing when Caesar would call him to hear the charges. And what is Paul doing throughout that two years? He is proving to be a resilient, stout hearted, committed, determined servant of the Lord. He may be confined, but he was not confounded. He was not silenced. He preached the gospel. He spoke to everyone within earshot. about his saviour, Jesus Christ. They may have him confined in a hired house, but they could not shackle his tongue and they could not shackle his mind. They could not shackle his pen. He remained active. He remained useful. He remained faithful and he proved himself to be resilient, though he was isolated, though he was alone, though he was probably fearful. He was a man after all. So we want to look this evening at four things, four pieces of evidence that demonstrate wonderfully to us Paul's resilience in Rome and helpfully and hopefully for ourselves, we can learn something for ourselves to help us be resilient in the dark day in which we live. The first thing that we see in relation to Paul's resilience in Rome is that Paul pressed on, takes determination, takes resilience to press on when every strain of your humanity is telling you to give up, to curl up in a ball. Because the circumstances that we read, the situation that Paul found himself in was Not ideal. Very challenging. I'm sure he would not have chosen that for himself, but he chose what the Lord had chosen for him. And yet everything appeared to be against him. But Paul didn't give up. He was determined that even in these circumstances that he found himself in, he would do whatever he could to continue to propagate The gospel, despite the difficult circumstances, despite the constraining and restrictive providence by God's grace, he would press on. He would maintain his witness. He would continue to be resilient. How can we prove that? Well, this, this passage from verse 17 is the letter. With evidence, how Paul continued to press on. Verse 17, the first thing that he did three days after arriving in Rome in his hired accommodation, he invited the chief Jews to his house. Come and speak with me. He wants to defend himself against the accusations that have been made against him. He wouldn't take these false accusations. lying down even in the shadow of Nero. Nero is the Caesar who reigned at this time. He will present this case. He will seek to argue that he is innocent of all the charges against him. He wasn't waiting for them to call him. He called them down to him and was determined to speak to them. But in verse 20, There are some who would perhaps be tempted when the chief Jews and those who are in powerful positions come to speak to him. There are some who might try and be slightly evasive, not the apostle Paul. He told them immediately about Jesus Christ, the hope of Israel. He wasn't afraid of them. He would tell him the truth in his own defense. He wouldn't hide the fact that he's in this trumped up predicament because he spoke of the hope of Israel, the Messiah, the promised one from the old Testament, who would be the hope of Israel. He's not trying to be evasive. There's no messing around. There's no disguising the truth. He would tell them that Jesus of Nazareth, his savior was the Messiah that they were longing for and looking for that was revealed in the scriptures of the old Testament. He pressed on and he pressed on and he pressed on there in verse 23. Then he organized another appointment. One appointment wasn't enough. He organized another date for many more Jews, non-Christian, non-believing Jews, to come to his lodgings to talk to them about Jesus Christ, to witness to them. He persisted. One witness wasn't enough. One opportunity wasn't enough. Again and again and again. Look what they say to him in verse 21. We neither received letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee, but we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest." We believe this to be a lie. Highly unlikely that someone as well known as Paul would end up in Rome when there was no correspondence had come from Jerusalem to expect this vagabond, this renegade, this traitor. See what they say in verse 22, but we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest. Exactly the same tactics that they used on the Lord Jesus Christ. They wanted Paul to condemn himself from his own mouth. Now Paul wasn't afraid. Paul pressed on speaking the truth. You've asked to hear. I'll tell you the truth about Jesus Christ. I'll tell you how he is the hope of Israel. I'll tell you of my dealings with him on the road to Damascus. I'll tell you all about how justification by faith alone and salvation in his name is the only way to be saved. He pressed on even when in verse 22, they accuse him of being part of a sect. They were accusing him of being in an unpopular movement, a heretical movement, strict and elitist, because everything that he was saying was in opposition to the Jewish teaching. So he was unpopular. He was derided. The Jews were saying, everything that you're doing is blasphemous to God. For us concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. We in our denomination know what that feels like for the last 25 years. Everywhere we are spoken against, because they don't understand. They prefer to believe the gossip rather than coming and hearing coming and discussing, it's absurd to think that the Christian religion, biblical Christianity, reformed expository preaching is harmful. The world still sees that. See, these Christians, they're dangerous. They are part of a dangerous, they want to bring us back to the 1890s. No, we don't want to bring you back to the Lord Jesus Christ. He was timeless. He pressed on for two years there in verse 30. He received all that came in unto him. Jews, Gentiles, barbarians, Roman guards, Greeks. He wrote letters to Ephesus, to Colossae, to Philippi. He didn't flag. He didn't faint. He didn't curl up on a ball, and he didn't give up, he would promote the gospel of Jesus Christ to Zerubbabel. Perhaps there in this house for two years, Paul was mindful of what the Lord told Ananias concerning this great apostle to the Gentiles. You remember what the Lord said to Ananias, who was skeptical. I've heard of this man. He's a murderer. He's the worst of the worst. He's an adulterer. Surely you've not called him to be a preacher of the gospel. Anyone but him. And the Lord says to Ananias, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And here he is suffering. Suffering for the cause of Christ is. The Christian path is a path of suffering. It's a path of difficulty. If you are a professing Christian and you're finding the way easy, beware. Question your profession, because that's not promised. Difficulty and challenge is promised by our holding and keeping from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul pressed on, and as he encourages Timothy, he endured hardness. It means endure the tribulations, endure the afflictions, endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. A Christian's a soldier, and a soldier is a tough life. We see secondly, the second piece of evidence of Paul's resilience, and not only did he press on, But Paul preached the gospel there in the words of our text. To whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God. He wasn't discussing politics, social matters. He wasn't even speaking about the trumped up charges. He was expounding and testifying the kingdom of God. He wasn't wavering one little bit from his witness and testimony as a faithful servant of Jesus Christ. He would speak of and he would preach only of Jesus. How did he do it? How did he preach the gospel? Well, he expounded and he testified the kingdom of God. Very descriptive words. In the Greek, it conveyed Paul's method of communication, Paul's method of preaching. It conveys that it was comprehensive, it was systematic, it was explanatory, there was an earnestness, there was passion, there was application. That's what expository preaching is. To take a text of scripture and open it up and expound, not taking a political topic, not taking a particular hollyhost or a particular doctrine, but expounding the text that has been given. That's what Paul did. What did he expound? Well, I'll give him a quote. He expounded the law of Moses and out of the prophets. He expounded the whole of God's word. prophets, Amos, Micah, the Psalms, Job, all the Old Testament, which is crammed for beginning to end with the Messiah, the hope of Israel. I was having a discussion with a lady in the congregation. The Bible is two-thirds Old Testament. Your minister's sermon should be 66% from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is full of Jesus Christ expounding from the wall the historical books, the prophetic books. Why do we do that? Well, we're imitating Jesus Christ. What better example to follow than Jesus Christ who on the road to Emmaus began at Moses and all the prophets. He expounded unto the two men all things concerning himself that were found in the Old Testament. How long did he do it? See how resilient Paul was. He preached from morning until evening. He didn't get tired. He didn't give up. He didn't take a break. Whoever came, whenever they came, whenever the opportunity arose, however long it took. I'm always looking at the clock. Maybe we should take all the clocks down. Maybe we should throw them out into the paddock. and just preach and see what happens, see if we're still here in the morning, still engaged, because the Bible speaks about Jesus Christ. He never shied away from preaching the gospel to needy, unbelieving, hard-hearted sinners because they desperately needed to hear it. And from this narrative, it appeared that they never seemed to tire of coming. For what reason? We don't know. But he never appears to have had a shortage of people wanting to come and discuss with him. But we see most importantly that Paul preached the gospel. He had one subject. Concerning Jesus. It wasn't concerning Paul. It wasn't a testimony evening about Paul's conversion. It wasn't a discussion about the Levitical law or the sacrificial system. This was about Jesus. The human name of Jesus Christ. Joshua, Yeshua, the Savior. This is who he preached to these Jews. He kept preaching and kept preaching. He resiliently pressed on, expounding and preaching for two years, His message never changed because the gospel concerning salvation in Jesus Christ never changed. It's exactly the same term. Every time the gospel is preached. Perhaps he was mindful of what he himself wrote to Timothy. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. And so not just ministers, particularly ministers, elders, deacons, every professing Christian, everyone who is on the communicant role, And being a member of a Christian is a great, a member of a congregation is a great privilege. We have to remain steadfast. We have to remain resilient, wholeheartedly committed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see, thirdly, Paul persuaded men to follow him. and testified, expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus. Paul's exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ had a specific goal, a specific purpose. It wasn't for his personal gratification. It wasn't to develop social intercourse and pass the time because He was lonely and wished to fill his lodging house with convivial company. He wasn't showing them kindness. His single objective was converting these poor, dead sinners. These unbelieving Jews, these Gentiles who would come in, those who were enveloped in the darkness of sin, and even worse, enveloped in the darkness of empty ceremony, thinking that their empty religious practices would curry favor with God. He tried to persuade them because he knew that they were on the broad path leading to a lost eternity. He was expounding the word, he was expounding Jesus with all his energy, all his passion, all his resilience, persuading them, concerning salvation in Jesus. We looked at this word in our New Year's Day sermon when we preached from 1 Corinthians chapter 5, and Paul says, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, he persuaded men. It means a very strong word. It means to press upon them, to speak with urgency, seeking to convince them, seeking to persuade them by the presentation of the gospel with endeavor, with resilience, constantly, unflinchingly expounding the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, telling people that there's only one way to be saved. Justification by faith. in the finished work of Jesus Christ, faith alone in his blood, faith alone in his atoning sacrifice, not by the works of the law, not by the deeds of the flesh. That's what these Jews relied on. That's what the Roman Catholics rely on. That's what the Muslims rely on. As one man said, every other religion says you have to do this. You have to do this. You have to do that. You have to do it this way. The Christian faith says it's already done. Just believe it. Trust in it. Trust in a crucified, risen and ascended savior. He sought to persuade men because he loved them. He loved their souls. And so he diligently and energetically kept on going for two years, telling them of the hope of Israel, telling them of the great hope that there is in Christ Jesus. When the gospel is preached, when the gospel is expounded faithfully, it has to be done like Paul did it. It must be seeking to convince the sinner. to persuade the sinner that they're heading for a lost eternity and that salvation in Jesus Christ is freely offered. That there is no need to end up in a lost eternity because Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice satisfied the offended justice of God. He's angry with sinners. But those sinners who draw nigh to him through the blood of Jesus Christ are accepted. He's done it. He's entered in beyond the veil with the sacrifice of himself and God the father says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear him, hear what he has to say about the free offer of salvation. We are unrighteous. We are filthy. We are repugnant before God. He cannot look upon sin. So how can he look upon sinners this evening? Because Jesus Christ has given to his people the robes of his perfect righteousness, imputed to them, accounted to them and received by faith. Faith in his work upon the cross, repenting, acknowledging your sinfulness and coming to him and saying, Lord, I believe, help thou who mine unbelief. Save me from my sins. I sometimes feel like a broken down record. I cannot believe these charlatans that think there's any room for lighthearted frivolity when you're appealing to sinners to be saved from a lost eternity. There's no room for smiles. There's no room for entertainment. There's no room for social distractions. I have to give an account before God as to how I try to persuade you sinners to come to Jesus Christ. And so I'll try and do it passionately. I'll try and persuade you. I'll try and tell you of the loveliness of this Jesus who saved Paul on the road to Damascus, who here in Rome, he is serving resiliently. And he's freely offered in his own gospel to all who will come, barbarians, people, every tribe, every kindred, every tongue, every nation, no one excluded. Are you persuaded? Well, let's look fourthly. And finally, Paul prevailed on some. Paul pressed on, Paul preached the gospel. Paul persuaded men, and fourthly, and finally, Paul prevailed on some, verse 24, and some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. This is, at the same time, both a wonderful verse, an encouraging verse, and it is also an alarming verse, a rather solemn verse. Some believed, and some believed not. And even as we see in our mind's eye, these Jews and Gentiles and Romans and all these visitors coming into Paul's lodging house in Rome, this text presents the division between them and between every public gathering of the worship of God. This congregation is made up of some who believe and some who believe And when Jesus, the hope of Israel is expounded, that's the division he made. Oh yes, make no mistake. Jesus is love. But he also came to bring division. Division between households, division between families. And that's the division here. those who trust in him for their salvation, who believe to the saving of their soul, and those who will not be persuaded, those who believe not. And that's why Paul preached, because he knew that belief, faith, there's only one way that we know that faith is communicated to the sinner. Faith cometh by hearing. and hearing the word of God. And that's why Paul maintains his resilience, because he knew that his work in preaching Jesus, the hope of Israel, may be used by the Holy Spirit as the means of saving some of these Jews who are coming into him. And so we see, forcefully, joyfully, wonderfully, encouragingly, some believe. They came in with skepticism. They came in with hard, stony, self-righteous hearts. They came up, perhaps, with great defenses that they were going to resist this man, Paul, with all their pharisaical Jewish practices. gospel that Paul preached softened our hearts. Not by his power, but just using him as an instrument. Through the applying power of the Holy Spirit, the defenses came crumbling down. The hard, resistant heart became a soft heart of flesh, like the sun melting the snow and the ice around us. That's what the sinner's like. An iceberg. gospel of the sun that melts that iceberg. They believed, it means they were converted, they were saved, they repented of their sins. By faith, they believed and accepted Jesus Christ. They accepted and believed Paul's exposition that salvation from sin alone lay in Jesus Christ. They believe that if they did not repent, they would end up in a lost eternity. They believe that salvation and entrance into heaven came through the blood of Jesus Christ, who is the only acceptable offering, the only acceptable work. The only work that God receives is the work of a son. And those who believe, plead that work, rely on that work, and they are accepted. in Jesus Christ, or do you believe? Do you believe everything that you hear about Jesus Christ? But we see the division solemnly and secondly, but some didn't believe. And it's amazing to think all the exposition was exactly the same. He didn't say one thing to one half of the room. And something else to the other part of the room, he expounded the hope of Israel, Jesus of Nazareth, the savior of sinners, in exactly the same way, but on some, it had no effect. Because we are told why in verses 26 and 27. Their ears were stopped. It was like they were sitting in the exposition of the gospel of Jesus Christ by Paul with their fingers in their ears. for with their hands over their eyes, the scales of unbelief, their hearts were dead and slowly closed to the gospel. It was offensive to them because they wanted to have a hand in their own salvation. They wanted to work some great work. They wanted to pray some great prayer. They wanted to offer some great sacrifice in the temple. In other words, it was a stumbling block. We looked at this word, foolishness, on Thursday evening. It's a stumbling block to the Jews. To the Greeks, it's foolishness. It's moronic. The word for stumbling block is scandalon, scandalous. They found it scandalous. They found the simplicity of the gospel a stumbling block. And so they refused, and they went away unchanged, and they left Paul's lodging house still on the broad path that leads to destruction. How many of you have been doing that time and time again? You come in on the broad path, and you leave on the broad path, on the way of salvation, is freely offered to you in the gospel. When we hear of sinners coming to faith in Jesus Christ, that our hearts not leap with joy, that Paul close to death, close to execution under Caesar, and here he is still preaching the gospel and still sinners are being converted. Some believed in the things that they heard. or that Jesus Christ would prevail in your life this evening, or that you would believe to the saving of your soul, or perhaps Christ is prevailing upon you. Perhaps Christ is pricking your conscience. Perhaps Christ is seeking to persuade you concerning himself. Will you be prevailed upon? Will you hear the gospel of Jesus Christ? We asked at the beginning of our sermon, are you a determined, committed, resilient Christian? Well, this account of Paul should inspire the Christian. Those who know that they have been saved, those who know they don't deserve to be saved, like Paul, but yet know that they are, Paul's resilience should encourage us, should make us more determined. It should energize us to press on in our Christian walk. We live in a dark day. We live in discouraging times, but we're not waiting in a rented house, waiting execution in Rome. So let's put it in perspective. Paul knew that he was going to die. We don't have that threat over us. So let's press on seeking to do what you can do. Standing firm for the gospel. Look at what we're told in the final verse. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. He had confidence in the Savior that he preached. and he wouldn't let any man stop him. And even if you can't speak, and it's not easy to speak in public, particularly not nowadays, you can still walk the walk of a Christian. You can still stand out like a sore thumb. But maybe there might be some here and some listening online who do not believe, well, our prayer for you is that you will be persuaded that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners of humanity. May it be in His good pleasure that just like Paul's Lord and Justice, He would bring in many a year. He'd bring them in time and time and time again, but that none of them would leave, nor believe that. But that all of them would leave God's house. I believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God as my Savior. May the Lord bless His work to us. We pray that thou, O Lord, by thy Spirit, would lift scales of blind eyes, unstop dead ears, take away the fatness from gross heart, and that many would understand the simplicity of the gospel, and that thou would heal them, that they would be converted that they would profess that once they were lost, but now are found by the Good Shepherd. They were once dead in trespasses and sin, but are now alive again through the power of the Great Physician, who alone can pour in the balm, the preserving blood to cleanse from all unrighteousness. Help us upon the week in which we are just in. Help us to be resilient. Help us to be steadfast, stout-hearted, unmovable, always abounding in the things of the Lord. May thou take all the glory and honor unto thyself, hearing our prayers for Jesus' sake. singing to God's praise in Psalm 109, opposing four standards, 28 and 31. The division between those who believe and those who believe not. Although they curse with spite, yet, Lord, bless them with loving voice. Let them ashamed be when they rise thy servant, let rejoice. Let down mine adversaries all, when shame be drove over, and let their own confuse in them as a man shall cover. But as for me, I with my mouth will greatly praise the Lord, and I among the multitude whose praises will be bought. At the end of the summer, 28 to 31 of summer, 109, will be God's sweet grace. Oh, make us with sight yet more, and bless them with loving voice. Let them ashamed be when they rise, Thy servant let rejoice. Let all mine adversaries, all with shame be clothed over, And let their own confusion never summon to cover. Your task for me I, with my might, will greatly praise the Lord. And I among the multitude its praises will record. For ye shall stand. At his right hand, who is in poverty, to save him from all those that would trump and The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Ghost be with you all.