Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

How do you make a priority of knowing the Scriptures and bearing witness to Christ… in your home, on your job, in your classroom, while you’re enjoying your hobbies, and with your friends and neighbors?

How are you joining the centuries-old crowd of Christians who have lived as princes and peasants, owners and workers, educated and illiterate, old and young, but all of them living for a cause greater than themselves?

…all of them aiming to play their part in a divine commission that transcends geography and history?

I guess I might just ask, “What are you doing with your life?”

Today, I want to invite you to give your life to the greatest mission ever announced, and the best part is, you can be sure that the mission will succeed and there will be unimaginably great rewards for those who participate.

Today we are completing our study through the book of Acts, which we began in June of 2021.

We’ve covered a lot of ground since then, but I plan to give a very fast summary of the whole book of Acts in my final point of today’s sermon, and I think everyone will be able to follow along.

For a while, we’ve been reading about how the Apostle Paul traveled as a prisoner from Jerusalem to Rome, and today, he’s finally arrived.

Let’s stand together as I read Luke’s account of this profound scene in the final days of the Apostolic era.

Scripture Reading

Acts 28:11–31 (ESV)

11 After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead.

12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.

13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium.

And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.

14 There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.

And so we came to Rome.

15 And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us.

On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

16 And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who guarded him.

17 After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them,

“Brothers, though I had 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.

18 When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case.

19 But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation.

20 For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.”

21 And they said to him, “We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you.

22 But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.”

23 When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers.

From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets.

24 And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved.

25 And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement:

“The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: 26 ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

27 For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’

28 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”

30 He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Main Idea:

God is building the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which shall ultimately prevail, through the power of His Spirit and the preaching/teaching of His word.

Sermon

1. Provision and Courage (v11-16)

Our text this morning continues charting Paul’s adventurous journey from Jerusalem to Rome.

The soldiers who guarded him and the sailors who carried him had seen first-hand what Paul’s God was capable of.

They had all recently been preserved through a terrible storm and the total destruction of their ship.

Paul had prophesied that all this would happen, and we could expect that the series of events should make believers out of at least some of them.

But alas.

Luke indicates that they had not become Christians by telling us that the next “ship” they arranged for their remaining travels was one “with the twin gods as a figurehead” (v11).

The King James and the NIV translators include the names of these “twin gods,” Castor and Pollux.

These were the mythological sons of Jupiter or Zeus, and there was a mariner superstition about them.

Roman sailors believed that these two sons together would ensure smooth sailing.

It seems to me that Luke’s note of these “twin gods as a figurehead” gives a two-fold indication to the reader.

First, it shows that the sailors and the soldiers remained fixed in their pagan superstition.

Though Paul’s God (the God of the Bible) had saved their lives previously, they did not fear or trust or believe the one true God.

Second, it offers a sense of irony and transcendence to the reader.

The clear theme of Luke’s narrative here is that “Paul’s security has everything to do with the benevolence of his God and nothing to do with the whims of pagan deities.”[i]

So, the reader is able to see that the true God transcends or far surpasses these silly idols, and Luke seems to invite the reader to shake his/her head at the irony that these man-made gods were riding on the bow of the ship.

In fact, not only was God providing for Paul’s safety, He was also providing for Paul’s “courage” or confidence (v15).

Even though Paul was surrounded by unbelievers, and even though Paul was subject to them (he was a prisoner on a pagan ship), Paul was (yet again) the object of God’s kindness and favor.

In “Puteoli,” a seaport of Italy (v13), and then in “Rome” (v14), Paul was encouraged by “brothers” or Christians (v14, 15).

The “brothers” in the port-town “invited” Paul and Luke and Aristarchus to “stay with them” (v14).

We talked about Luke and Aristarchus last Sunday, and the presence of these two Christians was already a demonstration of God’s kindness toward Paul.

And now, the moment Paul set foot in Italy, he was able to “find” fellow Christians who were glad to welcome and accommodate him (v14).

So too, in Rome “the brothers” or fellow Christians came to encourage Paul (v15).

In fact, some traveled “as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns” (v15).

These were two roadside markets, about 30 and 40 miles (respectively) outside of Rome.

This would have been about a-day-and-half’s journey, so it’s no wonder that Paul “thanked God and took courage” when he saw them (v15).

All of this reminds us that Paul’s safe arrival in Rome was not the ultimate goal.

It was a means to an end.

Paul’s final destination was Rome, but his commission from the Lord was to “testify” to “the facts” about Jesus (Acts 23:11).

And for this, Paul would need “courage” (v15).

He was facing opposition from his own countrymen (the Jews), and he was under the legal jurisdiction of the Roman authorities (who were not happy about all the chaos that seemed to follow Paul wherever he went).

Paul believed that Jesus was the Christ, but all around him was unbelief!

There was ridicule, affliction, and a worldly kingdom that seemed to be rocking along with no interest in Christ… I wonder if you’ve ever felt like that.

None of us have ever had to endure the kind of persecution Paul did, but I know I’ve sometimes felt like true/biblical Christianity is not winning.

Have you ever looked around at the success of unbelievers, and wondered “what’s up with that?”

Does it strike you that many worldlings seem totally confident, and they seem baffled by your trust in a God that seems so distant, irrelevant, and outdated?

Brothers and sisters, we can take courage in the weekly gathering of the saints on the Lord’s day.

We can take courage in the regular shows of love and care from our fellow church members.

We can take courage in the stories we hear of the Lord’s work among and through other churches.

We can take courage, because we know that the way things appear for the moment is not always the way things truly are.

As a matter of fact, things are often different than they appear.

2. Courageous Explanations (v17-23)

In this next section, v17-23, Paul acts on the courage he had just received from the Lord by way of fellow Christians.

I see two specific ways that Paul shows exemplary courage.

The first is by his direct approach toward the “leaders of the Jews” in Rome (v17), and the second is by his courageous testimony to the “hope of Israel” (v20) or “the kingdom of God” (v23) or the facts “about Jesus” (v23).

Remember that Paul’s arrival in Rome was the result of a whole series of events that all began with a mob of Jews trying to kill him in Jerusalem (Acts 21:27-31).

A Roman “tribune” rescued Paul by “arresting” him (Acts 21:32-33), and thus began Paul’s repeated courtroom appearances (the Jews accusing Paul, and Paul defending his character and preachingJesus as the Christ).

Because of the corruption among the Roman officials, and because the Jewish leaders were persistent in their desire to see Paul dead, Paul appealed his case to Caesar in Rome.

But now that Paul had finally arrived in Rome, he fully expected that the Jewish leaders there would have received word from those in Jerusalem, and Paul must have assumed that the Jews in Rome would treat him and his message the same as the Jews in Jerusalem.

Nevertheless, Paul showed great courage here in taking the initiative to “call together the local leaders of the Jews” (v17).

He had no intentions of hiding out or avoiding conflict.

Instead, he met them head on and explained the situation for what it was.

Luke records Paul’s explanation, starting about halfway through v17.

Paul calls these Jewish leaders “Brothers,” because they are fellow Jews, not because they are fellow Christians.

This is some of the overlap between the Old Testament and the New.

Under the old covenant, all common descendants of Abraham were “Brothers,” referring generally both to men and women.

In the New Covenant, family lineage and ethnicity make no difference at all… the only thing that matters is genuine faith or belief or trust in Jesus Christ.

Do you believe Jesus is the Christ, the only Savior for sinners?

Are you repenting of sin and aiming to live in obedience to Jesus?

Are you publicly committed to and joined with other Christians in an effort to follow Christ well and to help others do the same?

If so, then you are a brother or sister in Christ!