A little under the weather so you know usually Usually you get my normal Angelic sounding voice and so so don't be don't be too disappointed At this but but we'll make make the best of it now in Acts 28 Paul arrives in Rome and remember back in Acts 23 God promised Paul that he would get to Rome. Acts 23 verse 11, But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, Be of good cheer, Paul, for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, where he got arrested, so you must also bear witness at Rome. And so Paul got arrested in Jerusalem. He spent a long time in Caesarea in prison to protect him from the Jews. And then he appealed, as a Roman citizen, he appealed his case to Rome. And so God promised that Paul would witness in Rome. And that's going to be a big theme running throughout this chapter, is that God keeps his promises. Okay? So you and I, like Paul, we've got to cling to the promises that God has made. Unfortunately, in a day and age where there's so much lousy preaching going on, a lot of us cling to promises that Jesus and his word never made. And we'll be able to talk about that a little bit in this passage as well. But whatever the case, Paul's en route to Rome, he gets shipwrecked. All were saved, but they were shipwrecked on an island, it's called the Island of Malta. And Paul, as we saw last week, exercised tremendous leadership. And had he not, a couple hundred lives would have probably been lost. So now Paul is on the island of Malta. Look at verses 1 to 10 of Acts 28. Now when they had escaped, they swam to the island, those who couldn't swim, grabbed on parts of the ship that were floating. Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. And the natives showed us unusual kindness. Now by natives there, we usually think when we hear natives, going to an island. We think like tribal peoples. In reality, the Greek word, we get our word barbarian from it. And you got to keep in mind the Greeks classified people into two categories. The Greeks and the barbarians, you know. It's kind of like the Jews and the Gentiles. And the Gentiles was the equivalent with the heathen, the pagans. And we're like that, we humans. We find people who are like us and we think, man, That guy's really squared away. That's just, that's everything a human being's supposed to be. He's just like me. And it's like, and then we look at everybody that differs from us and that's what prejudice is all about. But all this meant was these were a group of people. Probably an insignificant enough island for Alexander the Great and the Greeks when they took over the ancient world before the Romans knocked them off. They never got around to teaching this group of people Greek. And the natives showed us unusual kindness. for they kindled the fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 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. So 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 the sea, yet justice does not allow to live. For he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up and suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. So they went from, okay, he must be a murderer, he's getting punished by God, now he doesn't swell up, he doesn't die, and it's like, okay, he must be a god. And by the way, you know, there are people that are set in their religious views, and you're not gonna shake them from it. And so if they're not a Christian, there's some people who just will not come to Christ. But there are other people that are all over the map. They'll go from thinking, you know, this guy's a murderer, and two minutes later, wow, this guy must be a god. You know, the same with Paul and Barnabas earlier on. when they were preaching throughout the ancient world people thought they were Zeus and Hermes and you know this and that and these are the gods and then when they told the guys not to worship them then they wanted to kill them. So I mean people are constantly like that. And don't count people out too quickly. Because people change their religious views rather quickly if they're the kind of people that are trying a lot of different things. We've got to get them to try Jesus. So now they said he was a god. In that region there was an estate, an estate of the leading citizen of the island whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick. of a fever and dysentery. Paul went into him and prayed and he laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. And I'm sure Paul was preaching the gospel as he healed these people. Then in verse 10, they also honored us in many ways and when we departed they provided such things as were necessary. So a very very pleasant people here on the island of Malta. Now Malta is about 60 miles to the south of Sicily and Sicily was right near the toe of Italy. I think everybody knows what Italy looks like, a boot, and right near the toe of Italy, that's where Sicily is. Well this is 60 miles to the south, so they're getting close to Italy, which means they're getting close to Rome. The natives were kind to Paul and the crew. They made fire to warm their visitors. If you notice here, the Apostle Paul, how many of us if we lived back then would consider Paul a big shot? I'd say, man, this is the apostle to the Gentiles. I mean, this is one of the top three or four guys in Christianity today. And yet he was not too important to do his share of work. And that's the thing about leadership. I remember I used to go to, I used to speak at Worldview Academy, they do these high school camps training kids how to defend the Christian faith all over the country and I would do some speaking for them. And I remember Randy Sims would just sit down with his hands behind his head and one of his volunteer leaders would come in like it's the end of the world and Randy would tell them just in a Texas accent, just slow down, relax, okay what are, what are they doing, okay what, what is supposed to be done. Okay, well this and that, okay, alright, well good, you're a good man, now go get it done. And then the guy would leave and I thought, man, well this guy's sitting on the couch with his hands behind his head, he's such a good leader, he even wrote a book on leadership. He's such a good leader, he gets more done sitting on the couch than I do when I'm running all over the place. So there's a place when leaders need to lead where you delegate authority and you get things done through other people. I don't think anybody would know what we're doing here at Trinity Bible Fellowship or the Institute of Biblical Defense without people like Pastor Pat. behind the scenes, doing the hard work of getting the word out. There have been people who, you know, sometimes I've been too tired or too sick to drive out to a talk and Robert O. would give me a ride out and, you know, and so a good leader is going to delegate at the same time a good leader does not consider himself, he's a servant leader, does not consider himself higher up. than the people he serves. And like the Lord Jesus, who gave his life a ransom for many, Christian leaders need to be willing, you know, there's times when we gotta pick up the sticks and all. A good example of this was Booker T. Washington. He enrolled in college. He was a black American when it was very rarely that blacks would go to college. He enrolled in college, but the college classes were full. So he didn't know what to do and he had traveled a long way. So he accepted a job there making beds and sweeping floors until the next year when he would enroll. And he excelled at his job. He went on to be, you know, He was the go-to guy. When you wanted the beds made, the floor swept, and he'd understand, I'll do whatever it takes. And then Booker T. Washington went on to be one of the greatest thinkers in history. Had he copped a bad attitude and said this is beneath me and gone back home, we might never have heard his name. But we're never too important to do our share of work, whatever that may be. And having said that, you want to primarily do what God's called you to do. And don't allow people, you know, I'll never walk up to a guy and say, the Holy Spirit told me that God's calling you to be a pastor or God's calling you to do this or God's calling you to do that. No, that's between you and the Lord. Okay? Now I can tell you God's general will for your life because that's the general will for all believers. But God's specific will, that's between you and the Lord. And I suppose if God gave me a word of knowledge or a word of wisdom, that's a whole separate thing. But whatever the case, even if God has called you to be a leader, in the church there's only one kind of leader that God wants, and that's a servant leader. Was it Mark 10 verse 45? For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve. and to give his life a ransom for many. So Paul was willing to get out there and work with others. Now a viper, a snake, poisonous snake, bit his hand and the islanders thought he was a murderer being punished. Paul suffered no harm and now all of a sudden they thought he was a god. And this is the way America is today, by the way. We are so fickle uh... when it comes to religious issues that you know americans will laugh at Christians for believing in quote-unquote outdated fairy tales when there's so much historical evidence for Christianity. But then they'll, you know, we've had some people worship a rock. You've got people who worship themselves. We've got people who do all kinds of foolish things. And so we're living in a neo-pagan culture, a return of ancient paganism And so people are believing fairy tales and then making fun of the Christians who believe in good, solid, historical truth. The fact that God has become a man and died on the cross for our sins. But Paul suffered no harm. And now, hold this page and look back at Mark 16. And there's a debate among Bible-believing Christians whether the last few verses of Mark's gospel actually belong in the Bible. Verses 9 through the end of the chapter, there's a big debate about whether these verses belong in the Bible. And let me just say this, and that's because this passage is not in the oldest manuscripts that we have found. However, we have some very early church fathers, like Irenaeus, who was a bishop in the church writing in 180 AD, and he quotes from this passage. And you can't tell me that a bishop in the early church had a lousy manuscript. So just because we found some ancient manuscripts that don't contain it doesn't mean that I think we should throw out a passage that people like Calvin and Luther preached on. But in this passage, In verse 17, Mark 16, verse 17, Jesus says, And these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Okay? So, because of this passage, there have been an awful lot of Christians throughout the generations that have thought, okay, well if these signs accompany true believers, and I'm a true believer, then I can drink strychnine, I can mess with snakes, poisonous snakes. There's places in America where they still do that, okay? That's what you call taking a passage out of context. This is assuming I'm correct in that passage. First off, if all you have is the Acts 28 passage, this was something that happened to Paul. It doesn't mean it's automatically going to happen to us. If the Mark 16 passage does belong in the Bible, and I think it does, then Jesus is just saying, as the gospel is preached, these signs are going to accompany the first preaching of the gospel. So in other words, Jesus is not saying this is the norm in the Christian life. You get bit by snakes and they don't kill you. So every Sunday morning break out a few snakes, a little bit of strychnine. And people have been killed because of misinterpreting this passage. Taking passages out of context can be deadly. And so again, you know, God promised Paul you're going to get to Rome. You're going to preach in Rome. We serve a God who is a God of truth. We serve a God who keeps his promises. Let's not be idiots and cling to promises that God never made. So you pick up a poisonous snake, you know, there's no promise in there that you're going to be spared. Now, by the way, you do see some really weird, miraculous stuff happening when missionaries take the gospel. to other countries when it's the first time the gospel's preaching. God still seems to be in the habit of accompanying the initial preaching of the gospel to a land that's never heard it. He does seem to accompany it with signs and wonders at times. Even sometimes Baptist missionaries who don't believe these weird things are still happening, and sometimes it happens to them. But whatever the case, just make sure, if you're clinging to a promise the Lord made, make sure he made it. And so, now the Roman official in charge of Malta, his name was Publius, His father lay sick with fever and dysentery. This was possibly Malta fever, which is very common in Mediterranean islands. It's now been traced back to Maltese goat's milk. So they were probably drinking goat's milk and got it. The fever could last four months to three years. So this was like no, you know I got it. I got something right now, I'm expecting to be doing fine maybe by Tuesday. You get this man, you're out of commission for quite some time. Dysentery, I mean it's a lot of gross, I'm looking at What Webster's Dictionary says about dysentery, and it's pretty gross. There's an awful lot of, you know, caused by an infection and diarrhea, all kinds of crazy stuff. I don't want to get into the gory details, but whatever the case, this dude was sick. This dude was like out of commission. And Paul prayed, laid his hands on him and healed him. And then other sick islanders came to Paul and were healed. Now let me say this too. Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 12 that when he preached the gospel the signs of an apostle were present with him. What he was saying is, I'm not a second-class apostle. I wasn't appointed by the apostles to share them and their work. I was appointed directly by Jesus. And so the idea that we Christians are supposed to do the exact same signs and wonders as the original apostles No. At the same time, the other extreme says, yeah, God doesn't heal anymore. No. The Bible teaches that God may choose to heal, He may choose not to heal. Anytime someone's sick, I think the first thing we ought to do is cry out to God in prayer. but we have to be content with God's will. Sometimes God chooses to heal, sometimes He does not choose to heal. The secret of prayer is not dragging God off the throne to do your will. That's what the televangelists want you to think. The secret of prayer is rising up, you yourself rising up to where you get so in love with the Lord that you desire for your life and for the lives of others what God desires for them. Okay? And so the secret of prayer is praying prayers in accordance with God's will. It's not twisting God's arm and changing His will. So many of the islanders are coming to Paul. See, you know, remember I always say it's got to become natural to walk in the supernatural. Okay? You go to Barnes & Noble. I mean, it's just like, look, if you really are a child of the King, if you're really a born-again Christian, If the Holy Spirit who created the heavens and the earth is residing in you and working through you and leading you, you ought to think, you know what, this is a pretty big event. Joe Schmode, a Christian, is walking into Barnes & Noble. And I'm going to be there for five minutes, pick up a cup of coffee, and leave. This is a really big power encounter. Satan and his demons are trying to get people in Barnes & Noble to do anything but trust in Jesus. But if you really are a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, then where do you go? We're not talking about a natural event. And we gotta be so into God's Word, so in love with Jesus, so in love with His Word, we gotta be people of prayer to the point that it becomes natural, just a normal thing for us to walk in the supernatural, for us to be led by the Spirit to where we can impact lives. And I'm telling you, when you do this, you won't even get excited anymore. when you're sharing Jesus with people because it's just a normal thing to do. I get excited when I see my pupils sharing Jesus with others. But I'm telling you, this is why we're here, 2,000 years after Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead. Because we had a spirit-led church. Christians, being led by the Spirit, going places. I'm wearing this shirt that says Cal, and I don't like Cal. I just spoke once at a young adult study at a camp from students of Cal Berkeley, so they gave me this. But my shirt underneath this says Crosspoint Academy, it's the school that I teach at. So it's kind of like, so actually when I wear the Cal shirt, I can be a real jerk because I don't like Cal, but when I wear Crosspoint Academy, I'm representing Crosspoint Academy. If I wore a sweatshirt that said Trinity Bible Fellowship or Institute of Biblical Defense, all eyes are on me. Okay? Once you let people know that you love Jesus, before you put that next Jesus bumper sticker on the back of your car, you've got to ask yourself, am I going to drive in a way that would be honoring to my King? Or am I going to bring shame to the cause of the gospel because I'm going to cut off four people today and all they're going to see are my license plates and my Jesus loves you sticker. Okay? Let me tell you, Paul showed up on an island called Malta. It was probably never the same. We go places like, you know, I get, you know, you gotta run an errand. I gotta go pick up milk at Fred Meyers. Okay, look at that as a powerful opportunity. through word and deed to represent the Lamb who was slain, the Lamb of God who was slain on the cross for our sins, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. You know, like I say, you know, there's some psychologists who tell you you're a nut if you think you're on a mission from God. Everyone who's a Christian, you're on a mission from God and you're not a nut. You're a nut if you don't think you're on a mission from God. Guys on the ship, their lives are changed. The island of Malta, their lives are changed. Now Paul's gonna go to Rome and change some more lives. You know, wouldn't it be great if Satan and his demons would throw a fit every time he showed up somewhere behind enemy lines? you know, but more than likely they'll probably say, oh wait a minute, there's a Christian going to Barnes, oh it's only Phil Fernandez, don't worry. He's just going to get his coffee, he's not even going to say hello to anybody, he's not going to say God bless you to anybody, he's not going to share his face, he's going to be in there and out, you know. And by the way, I'm not saying force things on people, I'm just saying be so filled with the spirit that When the Spirit says speak, you speak, and when He says shut up, you shut up. Okay? Because Pilate asked, what is truth? And Jesus didn't say anything because He wasn't ready for the answer. Doubting Thomas was earlier. So Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through me. But be sensitive to the Spirit. Okay, verses 11 to 16, Paul sails to Rome. After three months, We sailed in an Alexandrian ship, Alexandria, Egypt, an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the twin brothers, we'll talk about them, which had wintered at the island. And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days. From there, we circled around and reached Regium. After one day, the south wind blew, and the next day we came to Puteoli. where we found brethren and were invited to stay with them seven days, and so we went toward Rome. And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. Now when he came to Rome, the centurion, the Roman centurion, the head of a hundred soldiers, the guy who was the head Roman officer on the ship. Now when he came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. So Paul's getting special treatment because this guy recognizes, no, he's not going to run away. He can be trusted. He's a good man. If the day comes when we outlaw Christianity in America, and I think it'll come, and if we make it a capital crime so they're going to execute you for it, one of my goals would be that as I'm being marched down a long corridor to go to my execution, that the guard who is there with me will be saying, man, this is a good man. If I had my way, I'd spare his life. Wherever he was in prison, all the guys guarding him just treated him well because they knew he was a good man and he led a lot of them to Christ. To be a Christian who does what God calls you to do doesn't mean you have to be the biggest jerk in the room. It doesn't mean that you have to go everywhere and offend everybody. My goal, by the way, my goal is never to offend people. Okay? But I will preach the gospel message. Guess what? The gospel message offends most people on earth. So if the gospel message is going to offend most people on earth, why should I try to make make it be even more offensive than it already is. We gotta speak the truth in love. And that's what Paul did and he impacted many lives. So the crew stayed on the island for the winter months, November, December, and January. Then they set sail on an Alexandrian ship. It had the figurehead of the twin brothers, Castor and Pollux. mythological sons of Zeus who were considered the protectors of sailors. So you have all this Greek pagan mythological thought. They stayed three days in Syracuse. They reached Regium and Puteoli, which was a port of Rome. So now they're pretty much getting to Rome. and then some Christians. So some of the Roman Christians met Paul there. Other Christians from Rome traveled 33 miles south to three inns to greet Paul. They were excited that this famous apostle was finally coming to Rome. He's receiving like a kind of a king's welcome. They're rolling out the red carpet for him. That's one side of the coin. The other side of the coin, he's in chains. And then other Christians from Rome traveled ten miles further south to meet Paul at the Appii Forum. And so again, an ancient way of greeting a dignitary. Now, look at Romans 15, Romans chapter 15. I am so glad Paul didn't get to Rome until this point. Because Had he visited Rome earlier than this, the Book of Romans would probably just be, you know, a one-chapter book, and Paul wouldn't spell out the whole gospel message. Paul did not want to build on another man's foundation. He wanted to preach the gospel where the gospel had not been preached before. And there was already a thriving church planted in Rome. Early church history seems to imply it was Peter who planted the church there. And I think that's possible in two ways. One is that in the early 40s AD in Acts 12, when Peter had to flee Jerusalem, many scholars believe he went to Rome. But it's also possible that, you know, when Paul preached the first sermon in Acts 2 on the Feast of Pentecost, we find that there were Jews from Rome there. So when Peter preached that message, and so when Peter preached and people from Rome accepted the Lord, then they went back to Rome and probably planted churches, and I could see why they would consider Peter as the one who founded their church. It wasn't like Paul was saying, well, if Peter founded your church, I don't want anything to do with it, or this or that. It's just like saying, no, if another guy founded your church, that's great, but that's not what I'm called to do. Now with the Corinthians, Paul planted the church, Apollos then came in and watered, and then God caused the growth. So Paul's not opposed to other guys doing that, but he said, for me, I go where the gospel's never been preached. I do the toughest work and just, you know, and I train leaders, stay there a couple years, preach the gospel, and just when being the pastor gets fun, I pack my bags and leave and go somewhere else the gospel's never been preached before. And so Paul had never been to Rome. Now, Here in Acts it's about 59 A.D. Paul wrote his letter to the Romans about three years earlier, maybe 56 A.D. And listen to what he was saying three years earlier to the Romans. Romans 15 and verses 22 to 25. For this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you. But now, no longer having a place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come to you, whenever I journey to Spain, I shall come to you. For I hope to see you on my journey and be helped on my way there by you, if first I may enjoy your company for a while. But now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to the saints." See, what Paul is telling us, these are Paul saying, here's my plans. I've never been to Rome since I got saved, the capital of the Roman Empire, the most famous city. I've never been there because I don't want to preach the gospel. I feel led to preach the gospel where it's never been preached before and you already have a church established there. However, I plan someday to preach as far west as Spain. And so, on my way to Spain, I plan to stop off and visit you, and you can help me, you can pray for me, you can support it, help support it financially, and I get some good fellowship with you, and then I'll go on to Spain. So, this is why Paul writes the Book of Romans. in 56 AD. He says, in a few years I'm hoping to visit you. When I come there, I don't want to freak anybody out. I'm going to write down for you in this letter the gospel I would have preached. The way I preach to others, I'm going to give you that same systematic presentation of the gospel message, the good news of salvation through Jesus, that mankind is condemned, we're all sinners, we cannot save ourselves, but if we trust in Jesus alone for salvation, God justifies us, then we enter a process of sanctification where we grow in the Lord, and then eventually we will be glorified. Glorification when Jesus returns And Paul says, I'll write this out in a letter, so when I come there, there's not going to be any surprises. You'll know the gospel I preach. Okay? By the way, Paul preached the same gospel that Peter preached, and that James preached, and that John preached, but they had a different emphasis. Okay? So the gospel is multifaceted. Paul emphasizes you're sinners, you can't save yourselves. You're saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, and Jesus alone. James emphasized if you are truly saved, it will produce good works. So James is kind of like the good news is that my big brother Jesus sets you free to obey the law. As a Jew you've been trying to obey the law from the heart all your life. You can't do it. You trust in Jesus for salvation and now you'll be able to do it. Jesus sets you free to obey God's law from the heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul's emphasizing that we're lost we can't earn our salvation, we're saved by God's grace alone, through faith alone, and Jesus alone. Same gospel message, just different emphasis. And so Paul writes that in Romans, and so it's great that we have the book of Romans so that we could see this. So when you see three years earlier, Paul tells the Romans, this is my plan in how I'm going to come and visit you. What we see in the book of Acts is that the Lord keeps his promise to Paul. Paul does end up in Rome. But, you know, here's an important thing that we need to understand. God keeps his promises. You've got to make sure that it's something that he promised. He didn't promise you that, you know, snakes are going to bite you, poisonous snakes and all. Don't take verses out of context. Make sure God made the promise, but if God made the promise, God keeps his promises, but not always in the way we expected. Paul thought, you know, they're just gonna be traveling and just show up in town with Paul, Timothy, and the boys, and they're just gonna come in and just get hugs and everything's gonna be great. He had no idea that when he would show up, When the Apostle Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church, when his feet finally stand on Roman soil, he'll be chained to a Roman soldier. God keeps his promises, but not always the way we plan. You know, God wants us to think things through and to make plans, but God wants us to trust the Lord. It's like James says, don't say, tomorrow I'm going to go to this town and do this business. I should say, tomorrow, if the Lord wills, I'll go to this town and do this business. But you recognize that God is sovereign. And so he's received, Paul's received real well. And finally he arrives, you know, he thanks God for the fellowship, was encouraged, finally he arrives in Rome. Look at 1 Thessalonians 5.24. 1 Thessalonians 5.24, Paul says this, He who calls you is faithful, who will also do it. Okay? What he's saying is that, look, the one who called you, the triune God of the Bible, he is faithful. If he called you to do something, he is going to empower you to do it and he will bring it about. Okay? And, you know, God is faithful. If we fall on our faces, don't blame God. Say, God, how could you let me down? Okay? The Bible that I read says God is faithful. It says it over and over again. He always provides us a way of escape. 1 Corinthians 10, 13. So when you fall on your face and you don't escape and you fall into sin, you got no business blaming God. My Bible says God is faithful. I've read the Bible cover to cover and nowhere do I see it saying Phil Fernandez is faithful. Okay? I can drop the ball, but my God is faithful, he will bring it to pass. And so you don't trust in yourself, you don't trust in your own strength, you trust in the Lord who is faithful. and he who has called you is faithful he will bring it to pass and now Paul arrives in Rome the prisoners were handed over to the captain of the guard but Paul was allowed to live in his own rented quarters guarded by a soldier and he was allowed to receive visitors so Paul's in Rome he can't go to the people but they can come to him and when you're Paul the Apostle, believe me, people are going to come to you. And verses 17 to 29, And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. So when they had come together, he said to them, Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who when they had examined me, wanted to let me go, because there was no cause for putting me to death. But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, the Roman Emperor, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have called for you, to see you and speak with you, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." Now who does he think is the hope of Israel? Jesus. We all want hope. Nobody wants to despair. But Jesus is the only hope Israel ever had. And Jesus is the only hope the world, the Gentiles, will ever have. Because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. Then they said to him, this is really puzzling to me, we neither received letters from Judea, concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken any evil of you. But we desire to hear from you what you think, for concerning this sect, you know, the Christians, the way, we know that it is spoken against everywhere. So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging. to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening." By the way, can you do that? Can you preach the gospel from the Law of Moses and the Prophets? Can you preach the gospel to people using only Old Testament passages? I would argue most Christians can't even preach the gospel using only New Testament passages. where it's clearly spelled out. But can you preach the gospel from Old Testament passages? Maybe a day I'll preach a message on that and show you how you can preach the gospel. Just from the Old Testament, long before Jesus showed up, Jesus is still the theme of the Old Testament. But by the way, there's some sense where Paul's job is harder than today's pastors, and there's another sense where it's easier. It's harder because they worked so hard and they got beaten all the time and stuff like that. But it was easier, they didn't have the time limits we have in the American culture. You know, he preached the gospel to them from morning till evening. So these guys show up, I don't know, six, seven in the morning, and they're there till like eight, nine, ten o'clock at night. We saw earlier in Acts, he preached a message at midnight, and the guy fell asleep, fell out of the window, and Paul had to raise him from the dead. Verse 24, and some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. So some of the Jews came to Christ. Verse 25, So when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word. So when Paul saw that they all didn't accept Christ, he said, I'm going to quote Isaiah to them. The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our father, saying, Go to this people, go to the Jews, and say, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them. Therefore let it be known to you, says Paul, that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it. This is why the Christian Church is the largest church on the planet. About 2.3 billion people, one out of every three people on the planet Earth professes to be a Christian. Now you could cut that number in half when you separate the true believers from just from the pretenders, but the fact of the matter is Paul understood. He understood God's Word. He understood where the Jews rejecting the gospel, he understood that the Gentiles, and the book of Isaiah says that, that the Gentiles, that Messiah would receive a wide Gentile following. And last I heard, you know, I mean, you just look at a few of the hundreds of prophecies that were written down before Jesus and Nazareth walked the earth, You look at just a few of those prophecies and you find that only Jesus could be the Jewish Messiah. Only He is qualified to be the Jewish Messiah. It says that throughout Isaiah, the Jews are going to reject. Isaiah 53, Isaiah 43, the Jews are going to reject their Messiah when He comes, yet He's going to receive a wide Gentile following. And then Daniel 9, 24 to 27, the 70 weeks prophecy, Messiah, whoever He is, will be cut off, He'll be executed before the temple was destroyed. The temple was destroyed in 70 A.D. Now I got a question for you. What guy claimed to be the Jewish Messiah was rejected by his own people but received a wide Gentile following and he was executed before 70 A.D.? Hundreds of guys before 70 A.D. claimed to be the Jewish Messiah. And most of them got killed. Because Rome didn't like that. But it seems to me that there's only one guy who claimed to be the Jewish Messiah, was rejected by the Jews, received a wide Gentile following, and was executed before 70 AD. His name is Jesus. We're evidence of that right now. Thousands of miles away from Israel, most of us, not all of us, most of us are Gentiles. And we're gathering to worship The Jewish Messiah? The one that God promised would someday rescue Israel from her enemies? Why would Gentiles worship the Jewish Messiah? God predicted that it was going to happen. And you have houses of worship all over the Gentile world. followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Only Jesus fulfilled those prophecies and is qualified to be the Jewish Messiah. Okay, so the Jews of Rome visit Paul. Former Emperor Claudius had expelled Jews from Rome. That was probably about 49 A.D. Now his decree had lapsed, so many Jews had returned to Rome. We know that by 56 AD there were a lot of Jews in Rome. You can see that when you see Paul's letter to the Romans. After three days in Rome, Paul called the Jewish leaders to meet with him. Probably spent those three days in prayer. He preached to the Jews first, and then to the Gentiles. You see that in Acts chapter 18. That was, even though he was the apostle to the Gentiles, because the gospel came from the Jews, he would first preach to the Jews, and when they rejected, he would see that, okay, now I got the green light to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. And Paul tells them, he tells the Jews he was falsely accused, and the Jews tell him they received no word about Paul. That's really interesting. You would think they would have sent word ahead to Rome, to the Jews in Rome, and said, hey, this Paul is a deceiver. When he gets there, make sure you kill him. We failed to kill him when he was there. And all I could figure here is, you know, maybe Paul's enemies gave up, or maybe they were afraid of upsetting Caesar. They wanted the Roman authorities, just deliver him to us. We'll give him a fair trial before we kill him. So maybe they were afraid of upsetting Caesar, I don't know. Whatever the case, the word never got back to the Jews in Rome. And so the Jews of Rome were not even interested in Paul's legal battle. That's really interesting. However, they wanted to hear about Christianity, which at that point was still considered a sect or a branch of Judaism. A group of Jews who thought Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, and they wanted to hear about that. So on another day, Paul preached the good news of Jesus to them from the Old Testament for a full day. Some were persuaded and came to Christ for salvation, some did not believe. So Paul quoted what Isaiah predicted about the Jewish rejection of the Messiah from Isaiah 6, verses 9 and 10. Even though they see, they would not see. Even though they heard, they would not hear. And they did not understand the gospel. They were blinded, and the gospel would go to the Gentiles. Teaching on the high school level, Colin knows this. Teaching on the high school level, you'll get this reaction sometimes from your students. Especially when you're teaching Bible, you'll teach them and you'll realize my students are hearing me, but they're not really hearing me. They're seeing me but they're not really seeing me, you know? And the problem is today's students are just as bad as we were when we were students. And so sometimes we can hear what people are saying and not really hear with understanding. And Paul's looking at him thinking, man, how can you guys be so blinded to the truth? This is so obvious. I just spent an entire day, hours upon hours, explaining to you how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies. How could you not get it? And then it dawned on Paul, they're as blinded as I was before I got saved. You know, when you're sharing your faith with somebody and the guy just doesn't get it, You might think, oh man, boy, this guy. Can you be that thick? You just don't get it and then realize, yeah, I was that thick for the first 21 years of my life. Okay. But we got a God who draws us. We got a God who chips away at hardened hearts. We have a God who removes the veil from our eyes. So that we can see Jesus in all his glory. And most of us still say no. Most of us still walk away. We got a culture that, just to be honest with you, we got a culture right now that hates Jesus. And so what do we do? Well that just means it's our job to preach Jesus to a culture that hates Jesus. Jesus didn't say it would be easy. Look how many times Paul got beat up. Look at how he died. You know, now you cling to God's promises, but one of God's promises is not that you're going to live a comfortable life here and now. In fact, when Jesus describes the Christian life, he says, pick up the cross and follow me. And last I heard, the word comfortable doesn't come up in conversations about a cross, death by crucifixion. And so whatever the case, the Jews left Paul's presence debating his words. And then verses 30 and 31, then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God. It's like the Institute of the Apostle Paul. Free tuition, just show up, he'll preach to you. Preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. Look at the last words of the book of Acts. No one forbidding him. Why? Why did Luke put that in there? Don't forget, he's writing this to Theophilus, he calls him most excellent Theophilus, who's probably a Roman official. And he's telling him, he's saying, hey, Paul was allowed to preach the gospel and no Roman law, no Roman politicians, no government officials forbade him from preaching the gospel. And so he's basically trying to convince Theophilus His name means lover of God. To love God and to become a Christian at the same time if you don't, be nice to these Christians. We're not doing anything illegal. But whatever the case, Paul's under house arrest for two years, from about 59 A.D. to about 61 A.D. During this time, he preached to visitors. That's not all he did, too. He also wrote four of his letters, the prison epistles, in about 61 A.D. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. He also preached the kingdom of God. I tell my students at Crosspoint, what is the kingdom of God? A kingdom is the domain, the sphere in which a king rules. So the kingdom of God is wherever God rules. Okay? There is a present spiritual stage of God's kingdom that is here already. Jesus reigns in the hearts of believers right now. This is why Paul could say in Romans 14, 17, For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Whenever you do kingdom living, whenever you allow the Holy Spirit to bear fruit in your life, and you display the characteristics that we see in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7, people see the kingdom of God in their midst. Okay? So there's a sense where the Kingdom of God is here right now in a spiritual stage of the Kingdom of God in the hearts of believers. Jesus, right now, Jesus is reigning in the hearts of believers. But there is still a physical future stage, and that is on Earth when Jesus returns. That's why in the Our Father Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Let me tell you, God's will is not being done on earth as it is in heaven right now. So that day is yet to come. That's why Revelation 11, 15 says, And the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever. The kingdom of God right now is in the hearts of believers. And we proclaim the gospel message, but the day will come when the kingdom of God will come to earth and the Lord Jesus will shepherd the nations with an iron rod. And at that time, at that day, the final domino that's going to have to fall to usher in the second coming of Jesus Christ to the planet Earth, is when the hardening of the hearts gets removed from the Jews and all Israel is saved. When all Israel cries out, we were wrong, Jesus of Nazareth is our Messiah. Now, what's it going to take to get them there? I'm telling you, I grew up among a stubborn people. The Italians, they were stubborn. Nobody's more stubborn than the Jewish people. Okay? More persecuted than anybody else. And they're still going to keep their Jewishness, whether the Adolf Hitlers or the Joseph Stalins of this world like it or not. But what's it going to take? It's going to take the Tribulation period. It's going to take a holocaust on Jews and believers like this world has never seen. It's not going to be a holocaust of bloodlines like Darwin's survival of the fittest and the Nazis. It's going to be Nietzsche's will to power, Friedrich Nietzsche's will to power. It's going to be a holocaust of ideology. If you're not politically correct, there will be no place for you. And so all nations will be invaded in Israel. And there will be some Jews saying, Things look really bad and then all of a sudden the sun will be darkened. The moon won't give its light. The stars of the heavens are going to fall. Powers of the heavens are going to be shaken. They're going to say, wait, it's the end of the world. And our Messiah never came. Then Joel 2 says they're going to be receiving visions and dreams and it's going to click. Wait a minute. Our Messiah came 2,000 years ago. and he's Jesus of Nazareth and when Israel cries out to him from the heavens will come the Lord Jesus Christ riding a white stallion with all his angels and power and glory and and he will come to earth and Jesus will shepherd the nations with an iron rod. That's the future physical stage of God's kingdom on earth when Jesus returns. Paul taught about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord, the word in the Greek is koreos, it means Jesus is Yahweh, Jesus is God. He is the Christ, that means Messiah. He's the Jewish Messiah, the greatest Jewish king who will someday rescue Israel. Paul taught with all confidence, with boldness. We need the boldness that Paul had. Paul prayed for boldness. If there was ever anything I didn't think Paul should pray for, it would be boldness, because he was so bold. Ephesians 6, 18 to 20, he prayed for boldness and without hindrance, because the Roman authorities did not prohibit him from preaching. Luke emphasized this for Theophilus, a Roman official. We'll close with 2 Timothy chapter 4, 2 Timothy chapter 4. This is the last letter Paul wrote before he was executed, but let me just tell you what happened to Paul after the book of Acts. The book of Acts ends abruptly, he's in prison there for two years, it ends abruptly in 61 AD with Paul in Rome under house arrest. Luke then completed the letter and sent it off to Theophilus. Not mentioned in Acts, why don't they mention the death of Peter and Paul, which happened probably around 67 AD? How come they don't mention the death of James in Jerusalem, 62 AD? Or the Jewish war with Rome that started in 66 AD? Or the destruction of the Temple, 70 AD? No events after 61 AD are mentioned. That tells us that the book of Acts was written, was completed by 61 AD and then Luke sent it off and mailed it. It'd be like a history of Manhattan and the book closes and the Twin Towers are still standing. Well then you know it's before September 11th, 2001. So Acts ends abruptly in 61 AD because that's when Luke completed it. And by the way, Acts is the sequel to Luke's, which means the Gospel of Luke had to be written earlier than 61 AD. Paul was eventually released. We don't have time to look at it, but Philemon 22 and Philippians 1, 19 to 25, Paul makes it really clear that he's pretty sure, you know, he wants to die and be with the Lord, but he knows it's for the sake of those he needs to minister to, God's going to allow him to remain, and he's going to be set free very shortly. Paul writes 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, those three books after the close of Acts. Titus 1.5, Paul says that he ministered in Crete, someplace he hadn't ministered to in Acts, so that came afterwards as well. He may even have preached in Spain. Remember Romans 15? So that he was his goal to preach in Spain? Well we're going to see that he says he finished his course, so he may have preached as far as Spain. Now later on he was rearrested, condemned, and beheaded in Rome, somewhere between 64 and 67 AD. And right before that happened, listen to what he said in 2 Timothy chapter 4. Verses six to eight, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. Paul's saying, I'm about to die. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day. And not to me only, but also to all have loved his appearing. But Paul's saying, I'm about to die, the time of my departure has come. Verses 16 to 18 of 2 Timothy chapter 4, At my first defense, no one stood with me, but all forsook me, may it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that the message might be preached fully through me and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion." I think his first offense, I think he's talking about his first imprisonment, and the Lord delivered him from that. And now with the second imprisonment, verse 18, and the Lord will deliver me. from every evil work and preserve me for his heavenly kingdom to him be glory forever and ever amen let me tell you something if you are a Christian the Lord will deliver you and sometimes he's going to deliver you so you're in prison and he's going to set you free But sometimes when he delivers you, he allows the enemy to kill you so that he can take you home into his presence. But Paul understood Jesus sits enthroned, whether the godless of this world kill you or set you free, you're still delivered by the Lord. If you're still here on earth, he's got more work he wants you to do. And if you're in a presence, of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and you see him face to face, then maybe you'll hear the words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. But that second, Timothy 4, verse 7, hopefully we'll be able to say with Paul, I have fought the good fight. And I think all of us, we got some more fighting to do, okay? Fighting for God's kingdom. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Paul reached a point where he's like, you know what? I've done everything God called me to do. And now I'm gonna go to heaven, I'm gonna see Jesus, and I'm gonna ask, where is Stephen? I wanna apologize to the guy. But I've finished the work. that God had me do. So the gospel had been preached throughout the ancient world just like Acts 1.8 in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the uttermost parts of the earth. And Paul had preached in Rome. The early church was becoming less Jewish and more Gentile. But we should never forget our Jewish roots and Old Testament foundation. And then Paul set an example for us by fighting the good fight of faith. So a little application here, be all that Jesus has called you to be. Fight the good fight. Be all that Jesus has called you to be. Be willing to suffer for Jesus. Yet, always look for opportunities to share Jesus with others. Build Jesus' kingdom, not your own. You know what? One of the biggest problems in the American church, we're not excited about the kingdom of God. We get more excited if the Seahawks win a football game than we do about the kingdom of God. The church, how can the church be the church if we're not excited about the kingdom of God? We need to get excited about God's kingdom, so excited That if the world kills us for preaching Jesus, well that's fine because then I'm going to see him face to face. And so we need to finish the race, fight the good fight of faith. In other words, the lesson we can learn from Max and from Paul is persevere. Endure the trials of life. When people mock you, when people hit you, when people beat you or imprison you, you just keep preaching Jesus just the same, you persevere in the faith, you be all that Jesus has called you to be, and you finish that race. We're not done yet. We're done with the sermon, praise God, but we're not done yet with the race. Until you pass that finish line, And you're in the arms of the one who holds in his hands and holds in his feet and appears side until he wraps his arm around you. You gotta keep on keeping on. You gotta persevere. You gotta fight the good fight of faith. Let's close with a word of prayer. Father in Jesus precious name we just love you Lord and we love you for empowering, for saving Paul and empowering him to be the apostle to the Gentiles. Without the apostle to the Gentiles and the work that your spirit did through him, most of us would probably not even be here today. Most of us would not even be heaven-bound. So Lord, I just pray that each and every one of us would accept the good news of salvation in Jesus, that we would recognize we're sinners, we can't save ourselves, that it's only by trusting in Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead to conquer death for us. It's only by trusting in Him that we're saved. And then I just pray that you empower us with your Spirit. to run the race, to fight the good fight, and we long for that day when we will see your son face to face and we pray that he will say to us, well done, thou good and faithful servant. In Jesus' precious name we pray, amen. Last I heard, our king is still on the throne.