We do have a snare drum at the house, but I neglected to bring it with me because I would ask somebody to sound off a drum roll. It was now about two and a half months ago that I started Acts 28, the very last chapter of the book of Acts. Now here's where the drum roll comes in. I plan on getting into the last portion of Acts 28 and finishing off that book finally after about a hundred and, I think, a hundred and eighteen messages from that book and over the last couple years. And I've been going through, going through getting caught up with sermonaudio.com with all the difference. You saw the link I sent out about the blessed hope. Yesterday, they, much more viable, YouTube has a lot more censorship going on, they're just holding back on Christian material, and not putting out to the public, all kinds of different things. I've been taking my time and getting caught up on sermonaudio.com and that's all caught up and hope to keep up with that. It's amazing and not that I'm really totally into how many views or anything but within minutes you'll see like several, I mean several, put up a post and bingo, it's got 30, 40, 50 views within a few minutes. And YouTube will show a view with a much bigger audience. You'll see 30 over a course of weeks. You know, so that's just the way things are and we've all known it. So there's other options out there. We've been paying for sermon audio service for a long time. We've just gotten away from it because YouTube is so easy. You know, it's just bingo, done. And everything connects to it and everything. But the part of that is now we're caught up finishing more than likely Acts chapter 28 today, and then we'll see what happens in the next several weeks. My plan is to go into the book of Jonah and the book of Nahum. And there was a book that came out several years, I'll steal the title of that, called A City of Two Tales, about Nineveh. Nineveh, as we know, was prophesied by Jonah, and Nineveh was spared. But Nahum, about 87 years later, prophesied to Nahum about its destruction. And guess what happened? It was destroyed. She repented for a few years, but then went back into her idolatry and her hatred of God. And seemingly that's what happens with even people today. God will do a work in even people in their lives, forgiving every one of their sins. And so many people turn back to their old life, turn back and actually say they hate God, the one that delivered them. And that's what happened with the city of Nineveh. and the Assyrian Empire as well. So that'll be coming up in the next, who knows when, but it'll be coming up. The City of Two Tails. But today, Acts chapter 28, and we'll read the entire chapter, pick it up in verse number 11 today, where Paul actually departs from from the city of Melita or the island of Melita or the isle of Malta as we know it in today. So Acts chapter 28 verse number one says, and when they were escaped Then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received us, every one, because of the present rain and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw that the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly, but after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. In the same quarters there were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux, to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, others also which had diseases in the island came and were healed, who also honored us with many honors, and when we departed, they laid at us with such things as were necessary. And after three months, we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle whose sign was Castor and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. And from thence we fetched a compass and came to Regium, and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day in Puteolio, where we found brethren and were desired to tarry with them seven days, and so we went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Epiphorum, and the three taverns, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage. And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. And it came to pass that after three days, Paul called the chief of the Jews together, and when they were come together, he said unto them, men and brethren, Though I have committed nothing against the people or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, would have let me go because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar, not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you and to speak with you, because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.' And they said unto him, We neither receive letters out of Judea concerning thee neither any of the brethren that came showed of spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest, for as concerning this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him and to his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both of the law of Moses and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed. After that Paul had spoken one word, well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For the heart of this people is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and they that will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had great reasoning among themselves, And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him." And Lord, we just pray that you would add your blessing to your word this morning, and we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Now, there's a lot there, but we covered the first part, the first 10 or so verses of this, and we see that they had ended up shipwrecked in the Isle of Melita, or Malta, and they were treated incredibly kindly by the barbarians there. And we know that barbarians just mean somebody of a foreign tongue, a foreign language, somebody that's a foreigner to a person. We take it today thinking of Conan the Barbarian, thinking that they're, you know, savages, and they're not. It's not what barbarian means, it just means that they were foreigners. So they were treated kindly there, even from the point of setting a fire for them to warm their hands by. They didn't have to do that to these people who they did not know who had ended up shipwrecked on their land. And remember why they got shipwrecked? Because Paul, in Acts 27, thought it would be a good thing once they got to the port of the Fair Havens, said this would be a good place to take up the winter here before the traveling gets really bad, but the owner of the ship and the captain said, no, no, no, we ought to get over to Phoenix, or Phoenix, on the other side of the island where it was more commodious to live in. In other words, they had more accommodations, they had commodities that were, that would be more suitable for the sailors to live in. They'd have better hotels, they'd have better restaurants, better casinos, all kinds of different things. They would have a blast there. What's there to do in this little hick place called Fairhavens, but dock your boat? I'd choose Fairhavens myself. I'd rather have the quiet than be around with all of the scene that was over in Phoenix. So, nonetheless, the owner... The owner needed them to get moving along, and they needed to get their shipment over to Rome from Arabia. So they get shipped right there, and they spent several months. As we see, three months they spent in the Isle of Malta shipwrecked there instead. But it was a wonderful time. Paul, under his apostolic authority, remember what had happened? He had gotten bitten by the snake in the fire, and the people were like, he's a murderer! He deserves to die! The gods are taking vengeance! And then when he shook that snake off, they said, he's a god! They changed their tune, but yet we're told that those, the apostolic miracles, that these things would happen, that people would get taken up by serpents and they would be healed. And this happened to Paul. It happened in the apostolic days. And he was able to heal Publius' father as well, and so they were sent off with great, I want to say the word fanfare. Great fanfare. They had been there, but it's time to get to Rome, because we know what happened. The Lord Jesus Christ himself told Paul that he was going to get to Rome. The way he got there was a lot tougher than the intended way, but nonetheless, we see the conclusion coming up in just a few verses. He would finally get to Rome. But let's pick it up down in verse number 11. says that after three months, we departed in a ship of Alexandria. Now, if your memory's short, you remember that Alexandria was the same place that the shipwrecked ship came from. And you know, we think of today, if we think of a ship from Alexandria or a ship from any place, we would think, oh no, I'm not going to get on any ship from Alexandria anymore. I'm not going to go to this place because something happened here. We would think the same thing. I was recalling one time I went to see the movie Jaws when it first came out. Those of you that are old enough, you remember when it first came out, that was the scariest movie ever. Now you watch it, hey, it's like, that's kind of hokey. Bad special effects. It's not even scary anymore. But I made the mistake of going to the beach the next day. I would not get in the water. I don't know if I'd jump on a ship again after being shipwrecked, especially another ship out of Egypt, out of Alexandria, if I had just come off a shipwreck, but there wasn't much choice. Paul had a mission, his mission was from God, from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, to go to Rome, and there was nothing that was going to stop him. Shipwrecks, nothing else. lying in wait of the Jews to kill him, that couldn't stop him. Nothing could stop him from going because Jesus made those promises to him that he kept. So he gets on this, oh, by the way, back to my story of going to the beach, I did finally go in the water and I stepped on what I thought was a shark. It was a sandbar. But I went running right out of that water once again, and would not go back in. But nonetheless, I'm still here. I haven't been eaten by a shark or anything. But Paul and Luke, those with them, the prisoners, they were all still there, and they would board another ship from Alexandria. Another grain-bearing ship bringing goods into Egypt. They did a lot of trade. They were a powerful nation. They would get their wheat from afar. So that's why they had ships there. Nothing to do with it being the Alexandrian cult or anything like that. They were a mighty merchant fleet that they had at the time. So they were there. They departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was Castor and Pollux." And that's one of the things, I wonder why Luke puts this part in here, under that whose sign was Castor and Pollux. Many of you know your astronomical signs that sign Gemini? That's Castor and Pollux, the twins. They were twin sons of Zeus, and they were looked at as being bright lights that would guide sailors. So the image of Castor and Pollux was on basically every masthead of every ship that there was. But Luke puts this thing, puts it in here just to show that it was a real ship. This wasn't a made-up story. They had, just like all the other ships, they would have this symbol on their masthead that all sailors had. You've heard there's sailors' blessings, there's all different things, different tales of ancient mariners and what they went through at night. They all point out that their deliverance was by Castor and Pollux, that guided them by night. You know, they could see the stars and be able to know where they're going. So there was nothing out of the ordinary that was there. But Luke points it out, that the reality was this was a true ship that was going. So Hussain was Castor and Pollux. Then verse number 12, they landed in Syracuse. I've been to Syracuse before. Oh, wrong Syracuse. Syracuse, New York is not quite the same as Syracuse here in the island of Sicily. So they landed in Syracuse. So Syracuse was at the eastern end of Sicily. It was a port city, a mighty port city, a very famous city during times past. Wars were fought there. All different things happened there. But they ended up there, this major city, they ended up there for three days. And then verse number 13 says, and from thence we fetch the compass. I mean, how do you fetch a compass? Well, we think of trying to find a compass so you can figure out where they're going, but fetching a compass here means is they circled around. They circled around outside of the harbor. They had to circle back up and go north in order to go south. They had to go around the tip of the island to go in the direction. This would give them a clear passageway to Italy. And that's where they went to next. And from thence, we fetched the compass. We went around and came to Regium, the modern city of Regio today. This was on the coast, I will say the right coast of Italy, in the region of Naples today, in the southwest. Like I said, it's now called Reggio. They went there, so they've now arrived in Italy itself. The island of Sicily, then they arrived in Reggium, or Reggio, and They came to Regium, and after one day, so they stayed one day there in Regio, Regium, the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli. a place known as the Wells. It was a resort town at the time, where it was known for their warm baths. So meanwhile, if you go to Syria, you might as well go to Saratoga Springs, right? Same thing. Known for its baths, and it's now known as Pozzuoli. And so it's on the northern side of the same what we would call the boot on the western side, the southwest of Italy. So they're in Pudioli, and look at verse 14 says, where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days, and then we went toward Rome." These brethren they had, remember, if we look at the biblical narrative all through, these brethren would have come down from all through the region of Rome. Let's go to Acts chapter 2, Acts chapter 2 for a second, just one verse. I know you're saying, yeah, right, one verse, you're right. Let's just go to verse number 10. Let's go, yeah, let's go to verse number seven. And they were all amazed and marveled, saying one to another, Behold, we are not all these which speak Galileans, and how here we, every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born. Now in the day of Pentecost, these were Jews gathered together for the feast of Pentecost. They were Jews from all over the world. They were the known world at the time. Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia. So those were from the region of the east, from what we would have modern Babylon, Iraq, Iran, or ancient Babylon, Iraq, Iran, Iran, and that area of Mesopotamia. And in Judea, then from Cappadocia in Pontus and Asia. These were areas in modern-day Turkey or Asia Minor. And then Phrygia and Pamphylia, also of Turkey, modern-day Turkey. This is the area where Paul would have gone also on his first and second missionary journeys. And so, but here, these people were here already in Acts chapter 2. They were Jews who had been scattered. When were they scattered? Let's keep on going here. Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt, in the parts of Libya, about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome. The people of strangers means that they were scattered to Rome. They were sent to Rome Strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our own tongues the wonderful works of God." So these people were scattered all through these regions, all around, on a few occasions. The last one before this time was the Babylonian captivity. They'd been taken out of their land in Israel In Judah, rather, Israel, the ten tribes of Israel, had gone into the Assyrian captivity, and about a hundred years later or so, Judah, O righteous Judah, also fell into idolatry, and God allowed them to be taken into Babylon. That's about 587 BC. And then, for 70 years, they were in captivity in Babylon. Now what happened after that captivity? They were scattered. A small remnant would come back into Jerusalem, led up by Ezra and Nehemiah. A small contingent would come and build a second temple there. But by and large, the Jews were scattered throughout all the world. And by and large, the Jews are still scattered throughout all the world today. There is movement back into the nation of Israel, but one day when Jesus Christ returns and sits on the throne of David once again, he's going to gather all those Jews back together. They will be all in the promised land. Where did they come from? Where are they now? God has always kept a remnant for himself. We hear the term remnant for the church, of Bible-believing churches. That doesn't actually fit. The remnant is the remnant of the nation of Israel. I'm never going to finish this if I go back to the Gospel of Luke, back to those who were involved with the birth of Christ, back to Anna and Simeon, and the birth of John the Baptist with Elizabeth and Zacharias. Mary. They were part of that remnant. They were looking for the consolation of Israel. And that's what happened in Acts chapter 2. They believed Peter's message. They believed there was a message, not of having the church, but a message of prophecy being revealed. This is that which was prophesied by Joel. And now it was stopped, midstream, and that'll pick up once again. The book of Joel and all the prophets talking about the judgment of the nation, that'll all start once again. When will it start? I can't wait. It'll start after the rapture of the church, after the church is gone. The tribulation will not be for the church, it'll be for those that are left behind, and those who rejected the Messiah, and they'll still be able to get saved during that time, but in human terms it'll be impossible. But yet, how during that tribulation? Joel 2.32 says, whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's still standard. That'll be standard during the tribulation. So let's go back to Acts chapter 28. So where we found brethren, those brethren there already, had they heard Paul's message? Had they heard Peter's message? I'll say yes. They probably heard them both, but Peter's message was one that once they left, once we go out of Acts chapter 2, we see Acts chapter 3, where Peter blames, he said, you guys, you're the ones that crucified the Lord. I won't mention the name Jews, but that's who it was. The nation of Israel rejected the Messiah, but yet there were those that believed at that time, and what happened to them? Acts chapter 4 and onward, Acts chapter 4 through 7, they would go and they would be scattered once again, going back to their places where they dwelled, thinking that the judgment was coming. What had been talked about of Joel chapter two was gonna happen at any time. But God in his richness and his mercy, he stalled that program and we are in the age we're in today because of that. Isn't that amazing? God has done that before. Luke chapter four. Yeah, let's go back there. Let's go to Luke chapter four. Luke chapter four. First number 16, actually 15. This is after the temptation by Satan. Verse number 15 says, and he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. Coming back to Galilee. And he came to Nazareth. where he had been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read. This is Jesus that's being talked about here. And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written. Imagine Jesus searching for the scripture. He knew exactly where it was in Isaiah chapter 61. He says, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down, and the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." In other words, he's saying, I am the fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 61. And all bear him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, hmm, they have to do this. You have to scratch your head. Is not this Joseph's son? Now let's go to Isaiah chapter 61. In the opening verses of Isaiah 61, we see something missing here. Not missing here, but missing in Jesus's words. Isaiah 61.1, and we'll read the whole chapter. It's a long one. It's 11 verses. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. That's where Jesus stopped. Now look at what the rest of it says. And the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified, and they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations, and the strangers shall stand and feed your flocks. and the sons of the alien shall be your plowmen and your vinedressers. But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord." So that goes back to Exodus 19. As Moses is receiving the commandments, the ten commandments from God, he says that that nation would be a kingdom of priests. People teach that we're priests today, but we're not really priests today. This kingdom of priests and holy nation belongs to the nation of Israel. It doesn't fly in face with a lot of our modern theology, but that's the truth there. But ye shall be named priests of the Lord, men shall call you the ministers of our God, ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall you boast yourselves. For your shame ye shall have double, and for confusion they shall rejoice in their portion, therefore in their land they shall possess the double. Everlasting joy shall be unto them, for I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offerings, and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them, and their seed shall be known among the Gentiles. and their offspring among the people. All that see them shall acknowledge them. They that are the seed which the Lord hath blessed, I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown into the spring forth, so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." And we could continue through chapter 66, the same thing that's going on. Israel will go through tribulation. will go through the indignation of the Lord, but then they will be the head, not the tail. I repeat that too often. So they will be the number one thing. The Gentiles will look to the nation of Israel during that everlasting covenant or the new covenant with them. So we see how Jesus used that right now. That would have been fulfilled is an if-then that happens. Had Israel received her Messiah, they would have gone right in to that program, that prophetic program. But Jesus knew, the Father knew in their foreknowledge, or the Father knew in his foreknowledge, that they were gonna be rejected by the nation of Israel. So henceforth, salvation went to the Gentiles. Back to Acts chapter, actually, let's go back to Acts 2 again, just in comparison. Let's just look at verse 15 and 16 for a second, or start with verse 15. It says, But these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel. So here it is. Here's the fulfillment of Joel's prophecy that's taking place right now. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, So this is potentially the last days. We've had an interruption on those last days. Well, those last days won't come into effect until... I mean, the last days concerning the kingdom on earth won't come into effect until after the church is gone. Yet there is an overarching kingdom of God. There is an overarching last days. We've been in the last days since Jesus was crucified, but technically those very last days during the time of tribulation, these things will happen. And it shall come to pass. In the last days, saith God, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. He hasn't done that yet. When God pours out his spirit upon all flesh, the entire world is going to be part of that program. It's going to be on all. The book of Revelation is upon all of the earth. The primary focus is the nation of Israel and her going through that tribulation and going into the kingdom. I will pour out my spirit upon all the flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." Well, after the rapture of the church, there's going to be, remember, a kingdom of priests will be on this earth ministering to themselves and ministering to the world. They'll also be the 144,000 will be, I like to say, unleashed upon the world as well. And on my servants and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my spirit and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs in the earth beneath, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. All right, did that happen on the day of Pentecost? No. It was an interruption in the program. Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse these same exact things. That's why the Olivet Discourse is not for the church, it's for the nation of Israel. What shall be the signs of thy coming? These are the signs. taken right from the book of Joel, the sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before that great and notable day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Then look at the very next verse, and we'll stop here and here. Ye men of Israel, Hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves know. him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, if taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain, whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible, that he should be holden of it." And I'm going to stop there just for time's sake, but a good place to go would be to look at all of Joel, the prophecy of Joel. Three chapters, that's it. Joel chapter 2 and chapter 3, Peter quotes extensively from verbatim. This is a fulfillment of this prophecy and that fulfillment didn't come. It will fulfill once again. Remember the church here, we're in the church age, on either side is what happened before and what's going to happen later in prophecy. Once the church is gone, Those two things come together. Prophecy will continue. But yet, while the body of Christ, the Church, is here, these prophecies will not take place. They'll take place once we're gone. I can't wait. I can't wait just for the aches and pains and all the things going on. But then will come the tribulation on this earth. There's a lot of debate about, is there a gap between when the rapture happens? Is there a generation gap? I lean to know, I lean strongly that as soon as the rapture of the church happens, we'll enter into those last days, very last days, into the day of the Lord. This day of the Lord can be a couple things. It could be a specific day, the day the Lord actually comes to earth, and it could encompass the entire seven-year tribulation period as well, starting with the rapture. It's the commencement of the day of the Lord, the rapture, and then ending with a new Jerusalem. I'll see if we can finish this now. But just to go back, and these interruptions in the program, the program was interrupted. Jesus said that Isaiah 61 was fulfilled then. He cut that short. Peter said, this is that which was spoken of by Joel. And when you read the book of Joel, you can see that that wasn't fulfilled. That's why every time we see a full moon or a blood moon, we say, oh, it's prophecy. Don't worry about, while we're on this earth, don't worry about those prophecies. You know what? Even this, don't worry about how bad things are in this earth. Because once the church is gone, once the rapture happens, then all heaven is going to break loose on this earth. Let's go back to Acts 28 now. Where was I now? Oh yeah, they found brethren. They found brethren in verse 14. They found brethren. Those brethren were there through the various diasporas, you know, through the Babylonian captivity. Many of them came back to Jerusalem in Acts chapter 2 for the Feast of Pentecost, and many of them left. Many of those that believed ended up leaving and going back to where they came from. First number, let me get back to my place here. where we found brethren and were desired to tarry with them seven days, and so we went toward Rome." Just think of those seven days with Paul after being shipwrecked and with those brethren that were there to hear the wonderful things that were happening. Then verse number 15, and from thence, When the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appi Forum. So from there, they headed towards Rome. As soon as people there in the area around Rome heard they came from different places, they came and met at the Appian, I'd rather call it Appian, the Appian Forum or Appian Marketplace. Did you ever have Appian Way pizza? This is probably where that was made, and the way it tastes, it was probably made then, too. But I haven't had one of those since I was a kid. It's a relic, just like that. So they were at the Apai Forum. about 50 or 60 miles from Rome at this point. He's getting closer, getting closer. Rome is almost here. So there's still a city that's there. It was on the Appian Way, which was a very prominent route of travel for trade in the area from Rome to Capua. The road was built by Appius Claudius. It's amazing how all those All those people built roads after themselves, and it was the marketplace of Forum. Just like when we see the Agora, it's in a place, it's the marketplace, the central marketplace. Corinth had it, the major cities would have an area where they'd have vending. Vending, you know, not like today, not like vending machines, but they would sell their foods and everything in the marketplace, and that's what was there. So it was a great place to stop for travelers because they had food, they had everything that a traveler could want. It was a very popular place. And then, moving on, they came as far as the Apai Forum. And the Three Taverns. The Three Taverns is now another 10 miles closer to Rome than the Appii Forum. And so the Three Taverns, just by its name, was another meeting place where people went. Tavern wasn't always, we think of a tavern having nothing but drink, but it was usually food and drink where people would be able to spend the night, etc. at the time. So they were there at the three taverns, who when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage. He's like, wow, I'm not being chased around by people who want to kill me anymore. I have these brothers, brethren that I can share with, that we have something in common with together. Then verse 16, here's where the drum roll, They're heading to Rome. Verse number 16 says, And when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard. Remember Paul had even said not a single person will be lost. You know, take up your boards and the shipwrecked, not a single person will be lost. So the guard was able to do his duty. The captain of the guard was able to take in all the prisoners that were promised they would get there to Rome. But, there's another one of those, but Paul was suffered or allowed to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. We'd seen what had happened with Paul throughout all the trials. Justice, or Julius rather, the keeper of the centurion, had a soft spot for Paul and trusted him during that time. That's the way to act in prison, trustworthy. When you're a prisoner, that's what Paul acted like. So he was allowed to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him. Just himself and one soldier that kept him. By kept, he meant kept under lock and key. He had a chain that he still had with him here at this point. Verse number 17. I love this part. We've witnessed what had happened with all the shipwrecks, with all of the Jews lying in wait for Paul throughout this whole ordeal in the book of Acts. And it came to pass that after three days, Paul called the chief of the Jews together. And when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people or customs of our fathers, yet was I a delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Now, first off, how many times did Paul, after a trial with the Jews that laid in wait, said, we go to the Gentiles? And what's the first place he did? He went to see his own countrymen, the Jews, wherever he went. First place he goes here, he calls the leader, he calls the chief of the Jews to him. He didn't go right to the Gentiles again, but you'll see what happens at the end of the chapter. So he's done this, he was delivered prisoner from Jerusalem unto the hands of the Romans, who when they had examined me would have let me go because there was no cause of death in me. Remember, they were actually saying to Paul, You have the liberty to go. You're a free man, but because you've appealed to Caesar, you'll go to Caesar. Why did Paul do that? Because Jesus told him he was going to Rome. Jesus told him that he would be protected and go to Rome. For this cause, verse number 19. Oh, yeah. Verse number 18, who, when they had examined me, would have let me go because there was no cause of death in me. He hadn't broken any Roman laws, nothing. He was a free man. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar, not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you and to speak with you, because that, for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain.' And they said unto him, We neither receive letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee." Word hadn't even gotten to those Jews in Rome of anything of what happened to Paul. I find that to be amazing. They seem to be everywhere lying in wait for him, but he gets to Rome to his destiny, where Jesus has told him to go. They hadn't even heard of anything that happened with him. It's only one thing they knew. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest, for as concerning this sect Those were those that believed that Jesus was the Messiah, that Jesus rose again from the grave, from the dead. We desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest, for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. We haven't heard about you, Paul, and your trials by us Jews throughout the world, but we know that this sect The sect of believers is spoken against everywhere. We want to hear more about it, though. 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. See, the kingdom of God is an overarching kingdom, where there's the plan for Israel, it's the earthly plan going into the promised land, and then we have overlapping, that is the plan for the church today, the body of Christ, which is a heavenly call. Well, it's all a heavenly call in reality. It's all, all will come together one day at the end of the tribulation, "...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 till evening." Paul was opening up the law. He was opening up the prophets, saying, this Jesus is the Messiah. He is the hope of Israel. And look what happened, verse 24, And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not." Isn't that typical? You could tell two people good news. One will believe, and one will not believe. I don't care what good news you tell them. It could be anything. One person will care. One person won't care. But some believed, and some didn't believe. And look, verse 25. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed. In other words, Paul started some pretty good arguments among them. They couldn't agree on it. Some believed, some didn't, they couldn't agree. After that, Paul had spoken one word, well spake the Holy Ghost by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers. When you see the term fathers, it's always talking about Israel in this case. Our fathers, not our father which art in heaven, but our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the patriarchs he's talking about here. saying, and those fathers rejected this, as did the people here, saying, Go unto this people, saying, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them." Directed, once again, to the nation of Israel. Let's turn over to Isaiah chapter 6 for a second. Isaiah chapter 6. We'll get the words right out of the prophet's mouth. Verse number one. We have our closing here too. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims, each one had six wings, With twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts! The whole earth is full of his glory. And the post of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, woe is me, for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes have seen the king the Lord of hosts." So God gave Isaiah this vision of his glory. And Isaiah's reaction was one that any would have. He said, wait, I dwell in a nation, a nation that rejects you, a nation that's unclean. Verse number six, then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongues from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this hath touched, am I in the right, yeah, I'm in Isaiah six, that's where I want to be. Yeah, I'm in the right, yeah. Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips, and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I. send me." And he said, go and tell this people. Hear ye indeed, but understand not." God knew that he was going to be rejected, but yet he told Isaiah to prophesy it. And fortunately there were people that did believe the prophecies, but the nation did not. And see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. And said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate. And the Lord hath removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten. as a teal tree and as an oak whose substance is in them when they cast their leaves, so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof." That holy seed is that nation. There would be a remnant that would come back into the land and a remnant that would believe. And as we saw before, we see some of that remnant with the narrative of the birth of the Messiah, of Jesus Christ. So back to Acts 28. Verse number 28. We made it to the last verse of Acts 28. Be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles and that they will hear it. Now let me ask you a question. Has every Gentile believed? I think almost all Gentiles have heard it, have heard the simple message of salvation. A couple places. Let's go back to Acts chapter 13. See, I already mentioned about the rejection by the Jews. Acts chapter 13. Verse number 46, then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you, but seeing you put it from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we go, we turn to the Gentiles. This was in... What's the city it's in? in Antioch, Acts 18. Acts 18. This is in Corinth, verse number 6. And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, these were the Jews in Corinth, He shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads, I am clean. From henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles." We see here in Acts chapter 28, he went to the chief Gentile city, Rome, but the first person he spoke to was the Jewish leaders there. The purpose of the Gentiles and the reception of the gospel is because of the rejection of the Jews in order to provoke them to jealousy. One day, all of Israel will be saved. That will be the times of refreshing that will come upon the earth. You find that in Acts 3.19 in Peter's address to them. Let's go to the closing of the closing, Romans 11. This is the last verse of the day. And I would also submit to you someday if you read chapters 9, 10, and 11 together, you'll see the plan, the dispensational plan for the nation of Israel is there. Verse 11 of Romans 11 says, I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? It's talking about the nation of Israel and it's stumbling. God forbid. but rather through their fall, salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy." See, why would Israel be jealous over the Gentiles having salvation? I'm glad I asked that question. Israel would be jealous because the Gentiles have always been part of the plan. Gentiles could come through the nation of Israel and have all the benefits of the adoption into the nation, but they would have to be that. They would have to be proselytes. We see that in Acts chapter 2. We saw there were those from all over the world and proselytes. They were the Levitical law would have a place where one Gentile could come in and be taken in and give the same sacrifice and be a partaker in the nation and therefore a Jew. But yet, this is a unique time. Aren't you glad you don't have to become a Jew? Aren't you glad you don't have to do anything else except for believe in the gospel? Aren't you glad you don't have to wear a collar backwards? I shouldn't joke, but I saw something about a little boy asking a priest why he wears the collar backwards. He said, this is a flea and tick collar, but that was pretty bad. But the reality is Israel is provoked to jealousy. Because you and I have access to salvation without the merits of the nation of Israel. We're strangers from the commonwealth of Israel. We will always be strangers to the commonwealth of Israel. But yet Jesus Christ came and made nigh one. So any Jew, any Gentile, any male, any female, any rich, any poor, any bond, any free, has the same access to God, it's through belief in the Gospel. That Jesus died, was buried, and rose again according to the Scriptures. That's what went on. And Paul, at the end of his ministry, during his two years in Rome, would write the prison epistles. And here you see this doctrine more of the completeness of salvation in Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon, were all written from this prison. As I said last week, I went to Ephesians for the gifts rather than Corinth because Ephesians has further revelation by Jesus to Paul than when he was in Corinth several years earlier. So we have a complete revelation in the scriptures. Salvation is free. Amen.