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What does it look like when the message of Jesus finally arrives at the very center of worldly power, carried by a man still wearing chains? How did he keep preaching when the people who should've recognized their own Messiah keep walking away, unmoved? And why does a book which begins and ends with the kingdom of God leave the story deliberately unfinished?
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/unstoppable-gospel
#mlcc #church #churchonline
📝 Study Notes, Scripture List, Transcript, and more: https://medicallake.church/sermons/unstoppable-gospel
#mlcc #church #churchonline
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LearningTranscript
00:00Many years ago, William Tyndale was talking about, they did an experiment.
00:04It's quite an interesting experiment.
00:05They hung a 500-pound piece of steel on a chain in a vertical position.
00:11So like this, it's hanging down like this.
00:14And really close to it, they put a cork on a string.
00:18So you have this 500-pound piece of metal bar on a cable or chains and this little cork.
00:26And the experiment was, could you take this cork and pound it against that 500-piece of metal and get
00:34the metal to move?
00:36And you're thinking, of course not.
00:38It's a cork.
00:39It's really light.
00:40And the 500-pound piece of metal, there's no way that you could possibly get that thing to move with
00:44a cork.
00:46So they sat there and for 10 minutes, they bounced this cork off that 500-pound piece of steel.
00:53After about 10 minutes, you started seeing a little shimmering in the steel.
00:58After 30 minutes of taking that cork and pounding it against that 500-pound piece of steel,
01:04that piece of steel was swinging like a pendulum back and forth.
01:13Faithfully obedient to Jesus' call, Paul preached the gospel to the Gentiles and to the Jews.
01:20And especially when he got to the Jews, it's like taking a cork and bouncing it off a 500-pound
01:25piece of steel
01:26because under the Jews, there doesn't seem to be any movement whatsoever with the gospel.
01:30The Gentiles were willing to listen, but often the Jews rose up other people to chase him out of the
01:36city or to kill him.
01:37And it just seemed like he was taking this cork and bouncing it against this 500-pound piece of metal
01:41and no movement whatsoever.
01:44Nothing seemed to be moving.
01:46Again and again, Paul faithfully preached Christ.
01:50And soon there was a slight tremor in the massive block of unbelief.
01:56People were saved.
01:58Lives and cities were changed.
02:00The kingdom of God grew.
02:04Now Paul comes to the belly of the beast, Rome itself, the head of the empire, the city of the
02:11empire.
02:12He came as a prisoner, passionate preacher, and a humble servant of his king to proclaim the truth about Jesus
02:20and the kingdom of God, which you're going to see throughout this rest of this chapter right here.
02:26Tremors of truth were now felt even in the belly of the beast, Rome.
02:33As we continue out and finish the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 28, the last half of this chapter,
02:40what we're going to see is that faithfully proclaim the message of the kingdom of God
02:44in whatever circumstances or circumstance we find ourselves in.
02:49So no matter where we're at, we want to take the opportunity.
02:51Just like John Francis was, wherever he was at, he's taking the opportunity to preach Jesus.
02:55He'd go out to the village and preach Jesus.
02:57Wherever the opportunity arose, he would go out.
03:00In whatever circumstance he may find himself in, he was talking about the preachers being persecuted,
03:06killed for the gospel's sake, churches burned down.
03:08Even in those circumstances, they were willing to continue to go out.
03:12And that was the Apostle Paul.
03:15It doesn't seem like when we're sharing the gospel with people,
03:19it's like you're taking a cork and bouncing it off a 500-pound piece of metal,
03:23that there's just no movement whatsoever.
03:25It doesn't seem like anyone is responding whatsoever.
03:29How are we going to remain faithful when it seems like most people are not paying attention
03:33to the gospel message?
03:36So Paul now has arrived in Rome.
03:38We saw that last week.
03:40He's placed under house arrest.
03:41He's got some freedom to invite people to come to him.
03:44He's under house arrest, so he can't leave,
03:45but he can invite people to come to him, and that's exactly what he's going to do today.
03:49So if you notice, we're going to begin reading in verse number 17 of chapter 28.
03:53So if you have a Bible, open it up.
03:55We'll look at it together.
03:55It's just God's word.
03:56We want to look at it together.
03:59Verse number 17 says,
04:00After three days, so he's arrived in Rome.
04:03He's got this place.
04:04And after three days, he initiates a call to the Jews.
04:09After three days, he called together the local leaders of the Jews.
04:36So he's not blaming his nation.
04:39He's not mad at the Jews.
04:40He's not saying to Caesar, wipe out the Jews.
04:43He has nothing to say against his nation.
04:44That's bad.
04:45Nothing can say to them.
04:47For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you,
04:51since it is because of the hope of Israel that I'm wearing this chain.
04:56And they said to him, that's the Jewish leaders who came to speak to him that day.
04:59We have received no letters from Judea about you,
05:02and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you,
05:07which is interesting in itself, thinking about how long Paul's been preaching at this point.
05:11But we desire to hear from you what your views are.
05:15For with regard to this sect, that's the way, that's Christianity.
05:18We know that everywhere it is spoken against.
05:22So the very first thing he does, he comes to Rome after three days,
05:26which is a very short period of time.
05:27He's getting acclimated to the city.
05:29He initiates a conversation.
05:31Paul initiates the conversation with the Jews.
05:34He cares for his people, even though throughout all the book of Acts, as we've seen,
05:38it's the Jews that are causing him the most problem in all the cities that he's going to.
05:42Nevertheless, he says, these are my people.
05:45These are my people.
05:46God made promises to my people, and through my people came the Messiah,
05:50and I want my people to get saved.
05:52So much so, I'm willing to go to hell.
05:54I'm willing to be accursed if my people would just get saved.
05:57That was Paul's attitude.
05:58Even though he could have said, hey, I'm tied with the Jews.
06:01Gentiles will pay attention.
06:02I'm done with the Jews.
06:03I'll exclude them from the gospel presentation.
06:05He says, no, I cannot do that.
06:07I cannot exclude anyone from the gospel presentation.
06:10In fact, in Romans chapter 10, we get Paul's heart right here.
06:14Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.
06:19So he wanted to initiate a conversation to talk to the Jews so they could come to know the Messiah
06:23that's written in their scriptures, the Old Testament.
06:27Paul knows that the unbelieving Jews had been the source of most of his problems and suffering.
06:32However, he purposed to witness to them.
06:35He would not exclude them.
06:36Even though they were enemies for the gospel's sake, he would not exclude his people.
06:40He said, you know, Gentiles are easy to preach to.
06:42I don't really like the Jews.
06:43But he said, no, everyone needs to hear the gospel message, both Jews and Gentiles.
06:49Even Jesus said this about those who spoke and knew that had opposition, enemies of the gospel.
06:57Jesus said about those people, blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you
07:03and revile you and spurn your name as evil on account of the Son of Man.
07:09He talked about that.
07:10And people speak poorly of Paul.
07:13People speak poorly of missionaries or evangelists or pastors.
07:21Is there anyone, do you think, when we're presenting the gospel message,
07:26is there anyone you think that we ought to exclude?
07:30What if they don't look like us?
07:33What if they don't dress like us?
07:36What if they don't talk like us?
07:39I mean, every other word's an F-bomb coming out of the mouth.
07:41What if they don't talk?
07:42Should we exclude those people from the gospel message?
07:45And I say a thousand times, no.
07:49Everyone needs to hear the gospel message.
07:51Even if they look different than us or talk different than us or wear different kind of clothes than us,
07:55everyone needs to hear the gospel message.
07:57And we need to take it to them.
08:00He told us to make disciples of all nations.
08:03That means we can't exclude anyone in our presentation of the gospel.
08:09Paul reminded us again that he's innocent.
08:11Everyone's found him innocent.
08:12I mean, the Jews, not so much, but the Romans, all the Romans said,
08:14you didn't do anything wrong.
08:16In fact, if you wouldn't appeal to Caesar, you wouldn't even be here.
08:19You could have been set free.
08:21The Jewish leaders, they don't seem to know what's going really on about Paul.
08:26And I'm really surprised they didn't get any kind of letters.
08:28Now, there is about, let's see, from AD 49 to AD 54,
08:34Claudius was emperor, and he expelled the Jews from Rome.
08:40And that lasted until his death in 54.
08:42And this is right around 64.
08:44So, it's been about 10 years since the Jews were allowed to come back to Rome.
08:48So, maybe they just aren't paying attention to what's going on in Judea.
08:51I'm not sure, but they don't seem to know anything about him.
08:53In fact, we learn in Acts 18, we found out what Claudius did.
08:57And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently came from Italy with his wife Priscilla,
09:03because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome, and he went to see them.
09:07So, that was around 49 AD, all the Jews left Rome.
09:10They came back a little bit later, AD 54.
09:14So, it's been about 10 years since they've been back in the land.
09:16They don't seem to know anything about him.
09:18Paul says, I'm here because of the hope of Israel.
09:21Is that the resurrection?
09:22It's more than that.
09:23The hope of Israel was more than the resurrection, which is very powerful preaching that we will rise from the
09:30dead,
09:30that this life is not over when we die.
09:32There is another life to come.
09:35It's more than that.
09:36It was all of the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises concerning Israel that were given.
09:42All of that, the hope of Israel.
09:46So, throughout Acts, as you and I have been walking through this,
09:50we have seen the witnesses to the Gentiles and their acceptance and the rejection of the Jews
09:56when presented with the gospel.
09:58Here is another instance of that very same thing.
10:01Look at verse number 23.
10:04When they had appointed for him, when they had appointed a day for him, so they left.
10:10Now, they made an appointment, and they came to him at his lodging in greater number.
10:14So, they brought even more people back with him.
10:16Again, these are all Jewish people.
10:18From morning till evening, he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God
10:23and trying to convince them about Jesus, both from the law of Moses and from the prophets.
10:29And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.
10:33There it is right there.
10:33That's all.
10:34We see that in every city he went.
10:35Some Jews believed, some disbelieved.
10:38And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement.
11:09And I would heal them.
11:10That's what the prophet Isaiah spoke about.
11:13Therefore, let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles.
11:18They will listen.
11:20Now, I can imagine some who disbelieve were not real happy with that statement right there.
11:25So, the content, you notice, of Paul's message centered around the kingdom of God.
11:30Talking about the King Jesus, and the kingdom is here because the King has come.
11:34So, it revolved around the kingdom of God and everything revolving around that.
11:38King Jesus, how one enters into the kingdom, how one lives his life in the kingdom.
11:43All about the kingdom.
11:45And that was even central in Jesus' teaching.
11:47Remember, when he got baptized by John the Baptist, he starts his ministry, and the very
11:51first thing he says in Matthew chapter 4, verse 17 is this.
11:54From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
11:59It was a central message of Jesus as well.
12:02He started right off saying the kingdom of heaven.
12:04Why?
12:04Because the King was here.
12:06Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is now present here.
12:09The kingdom.
12:11The kingdom is here because the King is here.
12:14Remember, notice what he did.
12:15He just didn't say, hey, let me tell you some stories.
12:17You know, Rabbi so-and-so said this, and Rabbi so-and-so said this, and Rabbi so-and-so.
12:23No, Paul, he went back to the Old Testament scriptures to prove that Jesus was the Messiah.
12:30He uses the scriptures to present Jesus as the Messiah.
12:33He just gave me his opinion, some rabbi's opinion.
12:36He goes back to the word of God.
12:37This was their word.
12:38The Jews were given these revelations so that we would have them.
12:42He went back and taught them.
12:44And if you think about it, isn't that what Jesus set the example on the road to Emmaus?
12:49He did the exact same thing on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples.
12:52They're walking along, and all of a sudden, their eyes are closed.
12:55They don't know who it is.
12:56And in Luke 24, we read this.
12:58Jesus speaking, and he said to them,
13:00Oh, foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
13:04Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?
13:08And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
13:15And then down in verse 44.
13:17Then he said to them,
13:18These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
13:21that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.
13:26Jesus set the example.
13:28Paul followed it.
13:29Yeah.
13:29So he took the Old Testament, and he began showing them all the things concerning Jesus in the Old Testament.
13:34And you say, well, Jesus is not in the Old Testament.
13:38Jesus is in the New Testament.
13:40You can't find Jesus anywhere in the Old Testament.
13:43Really?
13:45Really?
13:46I think we Christians sometimes think that when we get to our daily devotions in the Old Testament, don't we?
13:51Oh, that's the Old Testament.
13:52I can't wait to get in the New Testament so I can hear some things about Jesus.
13:55Oh, wait a second.
13:56He is all over the Old Testament.
13:59You'll see him all over the Old Testament.
14:02And I encourage you today, as you read the Old Testament, look for Jesus in the Old Testament.
14:08You'll see him in types and prefigures and shadows.
14:12The shadows are there.
14:13He is the reality, we were told in the New Testament.
14:16Look for Jesus.
14:17I'm not a good journalist.
14:19I don't write down my thoughts and stuff like that, but some of you do.
14:22Maybe you want to write down the references that point to Jesus that you see in the Old Testament as
14:26you're reading.
14:27Oh, yeah, that's talking.
14:28The Passover is pointing to Jesus.
14:31These types that we see.
14:33Now, granted, sometimes a tree is just a tree, so don't read too much into the Old Testament.
14:38I get that.
14:38But look for him.
14:40He is all over the Old Testament.
14:42And so, since the gospel is the fulfillment of the promises in the Old Testament concerning the redemption of people
14:48through the blood of the Messiah, knowing what the Old Testament says about him will help you in your witnessing
14:53as well.
14:55So, some believed, some didn't.
14:56Pretty typical.
14:57Every city Paul went in the synagogues, it was basically the same thing.
15:00Some believed and some didn't.
15:02As a whole, the Jews in Rome rejected the message.
15:04As a whole.
15:04There were some who believed, but as a whole, they said, no, we don't want anything to do with this.
15:09And then Paul goes, I love this.
15:10Paul doesn't say, well, you know, Isaiah said about you.
15:14Did you notice what the text said?
15:15The text says, the Holy Spirit says about you through the prophet Isaiah.
15:20What does that tell us?
15:21It gives us the inspiration of the word of God.
15:24It wasn't Isaiah speaking.
15:25It was the Holy Spirit speaking through Isaiah who gave us the prophecy.
15:29Here we see the inspiration of the Old Testament and the word of God incomplete.
15:34It wasn't Isaiah saying it.
15:36It was the Holy Spirit saying it.
15:392 Timothy, Paul talks about the word of God.
15:42He says, all scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof,
15:48for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped
15:52for every good work.
15:54So since the scriptures are breathed out by God, inspired, they're 100% reliable.
16:01There are no contradictions in the Bible.
16:03If there's something that we can't put together, that's our fault, not the Bible's fault.
16:07Maybe we'll get an archaeological dig sometime that'll help us put it together.
16:13This is the truth.
16:16We have complete confidence that we can trust the Bible in everything it says because it's
16:21inspired by God.
16:24So the Jews, Paul said, they could see and hear, but not about spiritual things.
16:29I mean, their eyes obviously saw and their ears obviously heard audible sounds, but not
16:33about spiritual things.
16:34They were blind and deaf.
16:36They were blind and deaf.
16:38Exactly what Jesus said in John 9, after he healed the blind man.
16:43Jesus said to them, to the religious leaders, if you were blind, in other words, if you said,
16:48I can't see, you would have no guilt.
16:51But now that you say, we see, your guilt remains.
16:53He goes, you can't see.
16:54You're not seeing correctly.
16:56You're not perceiving correctly.
16:58They had heard Paul's message, but they refused to act upon it.
17:01They audibly heard it.
17:03They saw him speak, but they didn't see and they didn't hear truly exactly what Isaiah's
17:10quote.
17:10Let me, let me give you Isaiah's quote.
17:12Isaiah six.
17:13Now, if you remember Isaiah six, at the beginning of the chapter, Isaiah's called up to the throne
17:18room of God.
17:18He sees God in his, with his train filling the whole temple.
17:21And God is saying, who will go for us?
17:24And Isaiah says, I'll go.
17:26And immediately following Isaiah said, I'll go, his volunteer, immediately following that
17:31God goes, guess what?
17:32They're not going to listen to you.
17:34How would you like to have a ministry like that?
17:36Hey, go, I'll go.
17:37But guess what?
17:37They're not going to listen to you at all.
17:39In fact, that's what it says up there.
17:41And he said, go and say to this people, this is immediately following his acceptance to go on
17:46God's call.
17:47Go and say to this people, keep on hearing, but do not understand.
17:50Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.
17:53Make the heart of this people dull and their ears heavy and blind their eyes, lest they
17:57see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their hearts and turn and
18:01be healed.
18:02You see, there is a great difference between hearing audible sounds and hearing that's
18:09contemplating, thinking about the message or seeing, sensory seeing and perceiving understanding.
18:17They heard audibly, but they didn't hear with their heart.
18:19They didn't understand.
18:20They didn't perceive at all.
18:23Once again, Paul says, hey, the Gentiles, they'll listen.
18:27They'll listen.
18:29They recognize this.
18:30They'll listen.
18:33Romans 11, Paul talks about the relationship of Israel to the Gentiles.
18:38So, I ask, did they stumble, that's Israel, in order that they might fall?
18:43By no means.
18:44Rather, through their trespass, that's Israel, salvation has come to the Gentiles.
18:49So, as to make Israel jealous.
18:51Now, if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for
18:55the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean?
18:59The Gentiles heard the message.
19:05I am so glad to hear this, because I'm a Gentile.
19:10And the message came to us Gentiles.
19:13Not just the Jews, but us Gentiles heard the message as well.
19:16Well, John Pohlhill wrote, the Jewish rejection was a reality and a riddle.
19:23To a great extent, it remains so.
19:25How the gospel of God's salvation, which was foreshadowed in the Jewish scriptures, fulfilled
19:31in a Jewish Messiah, and first proclaimed by Jewish heralds, like Paul, would ultimately
19:37be embraced not by Jews, but primarily by Gentiles.
19:41And again, I say, thank you, God.
19:46The book of Acts talks about the gospel going to everyone, to every nation, not just to
19:51the Jews, but to the Gentiles, to every nation.
19:53In that sense, it's a universal gospel.
19:56Not that everyone's going to get saved.
19:57That's not what I mean.
19:58What I mean, it is to be preached to everyone.
20:01It's a universal gospel to be preached to everyone.
20:04John 1, John the Baptist, speaking about Jesus.
20:07The next day, he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold, the Lamb of God who takes
20:10away the sin of the world.
20:11That's the message we preach to everyone.
20:14He came to forgive sin.
20:16And then when we get to the revelation, we hear the praises of the heavenly host praising
20:21God for what he has done.
20:23We read this.
20:24And they sang a new song saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals
20:29for you were slain.
20:31And by your blood, you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people
20:37and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign
20:42on the earth.
20:43For the gospel is for all people, every nation.
20:48Everyone who believes on Jesus the Messiah is born again, regardless from which nation they
20:53come for.
20:53It doesn't matter.
20:54The gospel is to be preached to everybody.
20:57So, now in these last two verses, the Acts of the Apostles comes to a apparent conclusion.
21:06But let me say, it didn't really conclude.
21:10Look at verse 30.
21:13He, Paul, lived there two whole years at his own expense.
21:17So, he's got this house that he's staying in.
21:20He's having to pay for it.
21:21So, he's got to come up with the money to pay for this house and the food and everything
21:24that's there for two whole years and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom
21:31of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.
21:38He preached the kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus, for they go hand in hand together.
21:43And when we speak of the kingdom now, it is the rule of God in the hearts of his people.
21:49If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you're part of God's kingdom.
21:52He is your king.
21:53You are his loyal subject that he reigns over.
22:00Paul may still be in chains, but the word of God is not in chains.
22:03It has the freedom.
22:05Notice it says, without hindrance.
22:08No one's stopping the proclamation of the gospel here in this whole two-year period.
22:13And while he was there in prison, he wrote Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon
22:18while he was there in prison those two years.
22:20So, books that we have in the New Testament were written during that time.
22:23And from morning to evening, he expounded.
22:26Boy, that would have been a great Bible study, huh?
22:28The Apostle Paul expounding from the Old Testament who Jesus was.
22:31That would have been a great study.
22:33I would have liked.
22:33I would not have been a Eutychus.
22:35I would have not fallen asleep on that one.
22:36That would have been good.
22:38I would have liked that one.
22:39Morning to evening, it says.
22:41And although Paul was in chains, his mouth was open and unbound, speaking about Jesus and
22:47the kingdom of God.
22:48And so fulfills now the command of Jesus to go into all the world and preach the gospel,
22:54to make disciples of all nations, starting at the very beginning back in the book of Acts
22:59that we saw, giving his disciples the command in Acts 1.8.
23:03But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses
23:09in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
23:13Rome would be considered the end of the earth.
23:16Now fulfills exactly what Jesus asked us to do.
23:20And the final message of Acts is that the word of God has triumphed.
23:24It has not been silenced.
23:26It goes out.
23:27It has been that little cork that was bouncing against unbelief over and over again until
23:32the word of God penetrated and it begins moving.
23:35And unbelief has broken down.
23:40Paul spoke boldly, not hindered by anyone.
23:43In fact, the very last word in the Greek and the English text is this word, well, it's two
23:48words in English, without hindrance.
23:50It's the very last word in the Greek text and also in the English text.
23:52In other words, the word of God is not being hindered.
23:54It keeps going out.
23:55Nothing is stopping it.
23:57It's the triumph of the word of God being proclaimed.
24:01Frank Stagg has persuasively demonstrated that this final word sums up the message of Acts.
24:06The gospel has overcome all human-made prejudice and every geographical, social, ethnic,
24:12gender, and theological barrier.
24:15The word of God cannot be stopped.
24:18Did you notice that the book of Acts concludes with the kingdom of God?
24:24Did you know it actually started with the kingdom of God?
24:27They're like two bookends.
24:29Chapter 1, the kingdom of God.
24:30Chapter 28, the kingdom of God, like two bookends.
24:33The central theme throughout all of the Acts of the Apostles.
24:36Acts chapter 1, he presented himself, Jesus, alive to them after his suffering by many proofs.
24:42Appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of heaven.
24:47That's verse 3.
24:48And then down in 6 and 7.
24:50So when they had come together, they asked him,
24:52Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
24:54He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or season that the Father is fixed
24:58by his own authority.
24:59It started with the kingdom of God and it ends with the kingdom of God.
25:02And everything in between talks about the kingdom of God.
25:04How it's growing on the face of the earth.
25:07Overcoming all unbelief and obstacles and idolatry.
25:12Did you know, believer, that you are a subject of this kingdom that I'm talking about?
25:16You're a subject of this kingdom.
25:18You have a king.
25:19His name is Jesus.
25:20He's the king of kings and Lord of lords.
25:22And we are his subjects.
25:24We don't understand that.
25:25We've talked about that in America.
25:26We've not had kings.
25:27We don't understand this idea of the relationship of a king to its subjects.
25:31We don't understand that.
25:33However, if you're part of the family of God, you're also part of the kingdom of God.
25:38And you have a king and his name is Jesus.
25:41Colossians 1, Paul told the Colossians,
25:43He has delivered us from the domain of darkness
25:47and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son
25:50in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
25:54And our responsibility as subject of the kingdom is to be loyal to our king.
26:00What he wants done is what we want done.
26:02His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
26:06Faithful in our daily walk with him
26:08and committed to proclaiming his message of salvation to everyone.
26:13No one is excluded.
26:16Notice that Luke did not end Acts with the person Paul.
26:21He ended Acts talking about the kingdom of God and the word of God.
26:25Wasn't about Paul.
26:26It's about God.
26:28Christosim said,
26:30The author, Luke, conducts his narrative up to this point
26:33and leaves a hearer thirsty so that he fills up the lack by himself through reflection.
26:40In other words, it hasn't stopped.
26:42Think about that for a while, saints.
26:44It's still going on today.
26:47Think of 64 to 68 AD, Paul died.
26:50It's still going on today.
26:54It's possible that Luke was writing Acts during Paul's imprisonment
26:58and did not write about the trial that followed, if there was a trial,
27:02and everything because it hadn't happened yet.
27:04That's possibly why he stopped right here.
27:06We know Paul died a martyr in Rome.
27:09We know that he was beheaded because he was a Roman citizen on the Ostian Road.
27:15He was arrested and spent two years here.
27:18And some of our traditions tell us that he was released after the two years
27:24and traveled around a little bit more.
27:27Maybe he made it to Spain like he said he was going to do in the book of Romans.
27:30So, tradition tells us he was released.
27:32Now, some have said because if you, the theory is,
27:36if you didn't appear before Caesar by two years,
27:40your case would be dropped, dismissed.
27:43So, we're told in the text, two years have gone by.
27:45So, maybe that's why.
27:46Maybe he's released now.
27:47He goes out.
27:48Maybe he goes to Spain.
27:48Not sure.
27:49But he comes back.
27:50He gets rearrested again under the later reign of Nero.
27:54Nero's first part of his reign was pretty tolerant to the Christians.
27:57At the end of his reign, not so much.
27:59He burned Christians in his garden.
28:01So, he comes rearrested under Nero,
28:04probably because he's preaching about the king, Jesus, and the kingdom of God.
28:10And Nero, the emperor, is probably not really happy about it.
28:14So, Nero rearrests him.
28:17And at this point, he dies.
28:20Paul's ministry is now completed.
28:24And it is now in the hands of the next generation.
28:28Charles Spurgeon said,
28:29What was begun with so much heroism ought to be continued with ardent zeal,
28:35since we are assured that the same Lord is mighty still to carry on his heavenly designs.
28:41It's not over with yet, folks.
28:43Maybe in eternity, he will share with us over this 2,000 years,
28:47all the things he has done with his church and all the countries of the world.
28:50Maybe the first million years, we'll get to hear about all of that.
28:54Because it's not done.
28:55And as long as he tarries, the work is still not completed yet.
29:00Edward Henson said,
29:02The unfinished ending of the Acts of the Apostles does not conclude besides the Tiber River,
29:08but in reality continues on in our own day and time,
29:12as the living Lord of the church continues to build his church,
29:15against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.
29:19And the saints say, Hallelujah.
29:21Hallelujah.
29:22Hallelujah.
29:23Let me give you a couple of things to take away.
29:25First is this.
29:27The gospel is to be proclaimed to all people.
29:29No one is to be excluded.
29:31I don't care what they look like.
29:33I don't care what they dress like.
29:34I don't care what they talk like.
29:35I don't care.
29:36Neither did Paul.
29:38We ought not to care.
29:39We got the message to everyone.
29:40It's where we send it out to.
29:43Secondly, this.
29:44In your daily devotions, look for Jesus throughout the Old Testament and mark it to remember.
29:49Mark it off to the side.
29:51Oh yeah, here's a picture of Jesus.
29:52Oh yeah, here's a picture of Jesus.
29:53And often in the New Testament, it'll point back to the Old Testament and you can go back
29:57and look at, oh yeah, there's a picture of Jesus.
29:59Write it down.
30:00He's all over the Old Testament.
30:02Lastly, as a subject of the kingdom of God, be loyal to your king, faithful in your walk,
30:08and committed to proclaim his message.
30:12Because, hey, the story's not over.
30:15It's still being written in the mind of God.
30:18And he'll tell us one day all the things he did in this time period from about 68 AD to
30:252026.
30:27Hopefully he comes today, if not, until he comes back.
30:31Let's pray.
30:31Father, we would like to thank you.
30:33It has been more than an adventure to walk through the book of Acts.
30:39It's been discouraging.
30:43It's been encouraging.
30:45We see disruptions and we see people coming to a saving knowledge of Jesus.
30:51We've seen cities impacted with the gospel, families impacted with the gospel.
30:57We have seen so many things and we walk away refreshed to know that you're still alive and
31:03at work in your churches today, Father.
31:05And you're still through us proclaiming your gospel message to the nations so that everyone
31:10will hear, every nation, people, tribe, and tongue, that they all hear the gospel message.
31:17And we pray as like John Francis prayed, that you would open up their understanding, that
31:22you would graciously redeem them and save them and draw them into your kingdom, making them
31:27your child.
31:28Oh, Father, may we be part of all of this in Medical Lake as the story continues on.
31:34We pray in Jesus' name.
31:36Amen.
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