Paul in Rome

Introduction

Paul has made it to Rome and we have come to the last part of the book of Acts

the second of the books by Doctor Luke

his first was the gospel of Luke, giving us the works of Jesus while on earth

in this he gives the works of the church in the power of the Holy Spirit as it spreads from the Judea

Acts 28:17–31 CSB

17 After three days he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them, “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 After they examined me, they wanted to release me, since there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19 Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; even though I had no charge to bring against my people. 20 For this reason I’ve asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I’m wearing this chain.” 21 Then they said to him, “We haven’t received any letters about you from Judea. None of the brothers has come and reported or spoken anything evil about you. 22 But we want to hear what your views are, since we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.” 23 After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets. 24 Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe. 25 Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave after Paul made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your ancestors through the prophet Isaiah 26 when he said, Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving. 27 For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, 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 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Pray

Our calling to share the gospel does not end until he returns or we are with him in glory.

Paul’s Defense to the Jews

No way Paul thought the Jerusalem problems had not followed or beat him to Rome

the Jews tried to kill him when he was in Jerusalem, twice

two years later with a new Governor they tried again

continually traveled from Jerusalem to Caesarea to prosecute him in hopes the Governor would be in their favor

Acts 28:17–22 CSB

17 After three days he called together the leaders of the Jews. When they had gathered he said to them, “Brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. 18 After they examined me, they wanted to release me, since there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. 19 Because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar; even though I had no charge to bring against my people. 20 For this reason I’ve asked to see you and speak to you. In fact, it is for the hope of Israel that I’m wearing this chain.” 21 Then they said to him, “We haven’t received any letters about you from Judea. None of the brothers has come and reported or spoken anything evil about you. 22 But we want to hear what your views are, since we know that people everywhere are speaking against this sect.”

Paul calls the Jewish leadership to him

Paul is a address the problem head on kind of guy

often two types of people, or a couple different ways people handle problems

avoid - If I pretend that the problem is not there, it will go away, or I won’t have to deal with it

I have found that this creates more problems…

like putting off a house repair because you are simply too busy or just do not feel like messing with that

the next thing you know, it is a much bigger problem and costs a lot more time or money to repair

head on - attacking the problem before it creates more problems

attacking the problem as soon as possible

not letting it dictate to you how things will go, but you taking it to the problem

Paul does not wait for the Jewish leadership to come and accuse him of anything

he calls for them, he gives his defense as to how he got to Rome

the Jews accused him

instead of an unfair trial in Jerusalem, he wanted to take his chances with Caesar

The Jewish leaders had heard nothing

this had to surprise Paul

he had been a prisoner for almost three years by this point

between the assassination attempts, the terrible cruise that we looked at last week, who could blame him for coming out and immediately going on the defensive

but they had heard nothing from the Jewish rulers

if you are waiting for Luke to tell us why, too bad

the book is not a biography of Paul, but how the gospel spread and the church grew in the days after the ascension of Jesus

that is why we are left with kind of a cliff hanger, almost like a to be continued way of ending this book

it is to go on with you and I

the command to go and make disciples is not complete

The Jewish leaders want to hear about this “sect”

though word had not come from the religious leaders in Jerusalem about Paul, they had heard rumor about this sect

we do not need to look to deep into the lines of what Luke is writing to see that what they had heard was not good

they are calling it a sect, like calling it a cult

Why do they think this is a sect or a cult

sect = false teachings - where we get our word heresies

the freedom they were looking for was not spiritual and had nothing to do with sin

they were looking for the great and mighty warrior king to come and free them from Roman oppression the same as Moses delivered them from Egypt

We are not much different than thees unbelieving Jews

Oh sure, we want Jesus to get us into Heaven

but we do not see our sin for the disgusting, heartbreaking thing that it is

we desire Jesus to come and give us our daily wants in exchange for a shallow daily walk with him

Lets give credit where credit is due, at least these leaders were willing to listen to Paul

a time to be set to explain to them what Paul was in chains for, the only hope of humanity; faith in a risen savior

Paul’s Message to the Jews

Th message did not change just because he was not condemned by them

the is presented to different people differently

I mean that when I am preaching here or sharing with kids I may change my style, different styles but the gospel does not change

Paul does not preach a different gospel to the Jews, but he does approach them from the Jewish perspective

Acts 28:23–25 CSB

23 After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets. 24 Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe. 25 Disagreeing among themselves, they began to leave…

The Law is fulfilled in Jesus

the jewish people thought that through their works, they could make themselves clean

by keeping the religious laws handed down to them

what they did not see was that this law they attempted to live up to, was there to reveal their sinfulness, not cure them from it

as Jesus shows us in the sermon on the mount, we can hold a technical view of the law, but our hearts break the law continually

I murder my brother when I hate him,

my tongue reveals my wickedness when I gossip and guise my gossip as a prayer request, or a passive aggressive comment

the law reveals our sinfulness and shows that the freedom that we need is not from any oppressors, this slavery to sin

like an addict grasping their cigarette, drink, or a glutton grasping one more bite we cannot put our sin down

we say that we can quit anytime, but continually fall back into it every time.

this is the freedom that Jesus came to give us

where we give into temptation every time, he stood strong

never sinning but obeying the law perfectly

as such, he was the perfect sacrifice, the spotless lamb that the law required to take our guilt and shame once and for all

The prophets told of the suffering servant

but this is not just Paul’s opinion on how this was to happen

he took them through the prophets and showed them

Isaiah 52-53 speaks of the suffering servant

Isaiah 53:4–6 CSB

4 Yet he himself bore our sicknesses, and he carried our pains; but we in turn regarded him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced because of our rebellion, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on him, and we are healed by his wounds. 6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

What is our sickness, the sin we are addicted to

and we see that it is this rebellion to the law, our iniquities that he was hung on that roman cross

but Isaiah goes on to show us that he would rise from that grave

the Gospel is foolishness to those who will not believe

that I do not have to pay for my own mistakes

complete grace

it is a hard pill to swallow

we desire to earn, for God to say, “Well done! You and Jesus the two perfect ones.”

Paul’s Condemnation of the Jews

The results of Paul’s expounding of the scriptures did not change and will be the same for us; some believe, many do not

we often want a sure thing

we want to know they are ready to receive the gospel and believe

we want to know that we are not going to face any problems from them by sharing with them

but the simple truth is that narrow is the way and few find it, but Jesus did not tell us to share with those we knew for sure would accept and be happy with us when we shared

Acts 28:26–31 CSB

26 when he said, Go to these people and say: You will always be listening, but never understanding; and you will always be looking, but never perceiving. 27 For the hearts of these people have grown callous, their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, 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.”

Prophesied by Isaiah

Paul takes them back to Isaiah 6, you might remember the first part of this chapter

in the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up and his train filled the temple. Angels were around him, each had six wings, with two they covered their face, with two they covered their feet, and with two the flew. They called out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty!” The foundations shook and the temple was filled with smoke. (sign in Exodus that God was present) When Isaiah saw this he said, “Woe is me! For I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, I live among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King! An angel flies over from the altar and puts a coal on his lips, and says, “Your sins have been forgiven!” Then a voice calls out, who will I send, who will go for us?” Isaiah says, “Here am I, send me.”

it is at this point that God tells him he is going to a people who have hard hearts and will see the works of God, hear the word of God and will not believe because their hearts are hard

Confirmed by Jesus

Jesus spoke in parables, why?

to turn those whose are against God over to their pride, and harden their hearts

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary on the Bible Chapter 6

God sometimes, in righteous judgment, gives men up to blindness of mind, because they will not receive the truth in the love of it. But no humble inquirer after Christ, need to fear this awful doom, which is a spiritual judgment on those who will still hold fast their sins.

Explained by Paul in Romans

Paul tells the Romans a few years earlier that the Jewish people’s stumbling has brought salvation to the Gentiles

we can get caught up in what sounds fair to us, but God is just and knows each persons heart

remember when he used the plagues to free the Israelites, it was to show the Egyptians that there is a God in Israel

now for the third time, Paul says he will be going to the Gentiles

where he says will hopefully make his people, the Israelites jealous of the grace of God to them and repent

Conclusion of Acts

Acts 28:26–31 CSB

30 Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house. And he welcomed all who visited him, 31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

we do not know if Paul ever made it to Spain for sure… tradition holds that he was in Roman custody again a couple years later when he wrote the book of 2 Tim

2 Timothy 4:6 CSB

6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.

but this is not about Paul he is just a part of the story

the book comes to an abrupt end because the story is not over

you and I are a part of it

let us pray that we share the gospel with the boldness of the early disciples, that the Holy Spirit would use us in a mighty way and that we would not be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto Salvation for all people.

Discussion Questions

Why is it significant that Paul used the Law of Moses and the Prophets to persuade the Jews about Jesus?

What does Isaiah's prophecy tell us about the nature of human hearts in relation to God's truth?

In what ways can we be more bold in sharing the gospel?

What are some effective ways to make the gospel relevant to friends who may think it is outdated?

What role does prayer play in preparing us for discussions about faith with others?

How can we ensure our sharing of the gospel reflects the true message of grace and not legalism?

How do we respond when people reject our message about Christ, following the example of Paul?

How has your understanding of Jesus as the fulfillment of the law changed over time?

What challenges do you face when trying to share your faith with peers who may not believe?

How does understanding our own sinfulness help us relate to others in need of the gospel?