1406 - Acts 28:11-30 "Paul in Rome...And the Story lives on!"

Transcript

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Welcome to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Each weekday, Dr. Crisp will be discussing biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Tune in daily to start your day right and deepen your understanding of how to better walk the way and enjoy the journey. Here's your host, Dr. Tony Crisp.

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Welcome to On the Way. This is Tony Crisp and this is Podcast 1406. The last chapter of the Book of Acts. Acts chapter twenty eight. We could entitle this The Chapter of Dot. That's right, as you know, an ellipsis is used in many ways, but one is to say it just kept on going. That is, etc, etc. That's what happened in the book of Acts. The story of Jesus and the apostles and the Acts of the Apostles did not end with Paul's imprisonment in Rome. Oh no, that was not the end. The end is not yet. And now twenty five hundred years later we are still telling the message of Jesus. That Jesus came, that he died for our sins after living a perfect life in total obedience to his Father, and He died and was raised again after three days, and that he ascended to heaven. All of this is the good news. It's the message of the Redeemer who came for our sins. Now this is what Paul preached everywhere he went. This is what Peter and the other apostles preached. And remember, not until the end of the century, some thirty five years later, or close to it at least thirty, the apostle John was still the youngest of them all when Jesus was here on the earth. And now he's still preaching the gospel. As a matter of fact, they tried to put him to death according to the tradition. He wouldn't die, and so Caesar said, Well, I'll put him out on this island called Patmos. Nobody will ever hear from him again. Well, most of you would not even know who it was that put him out on that island, but we all know John. You see, we've got to remember that the end of the story was not with the Caesars. And I want to remind you of something. We name our sons Paul, we name our dogs Nero. But Nero thought he had the upper hand. In Acts twenty eight, Paul finally arrives in Rome in verse eleven. The scripture says that Paul had a tremendous ministry while he was there. I won't just pick up on the very end of the book of Acts because I think it's worth reading. It says and it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. Now isn't it amazing? God took him to Rome and did not put him bound fast in chains, but for two years, two whole years in his own rented house he was able to wait for Caesar, and that's exactly what he did. And so it says that he called all the Jews together, all the leaders. So when they had come together, he said to them, Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Remember, we've been talking about that. How he was arrested, was dragged before the Sanhedrin. Remember, they got into a fuss and a fight between the Pharisees and the Sadducees under Paul's wise leadership, because he said, I'm being called into question here simply for believing the Torah and believing the prophets and the writings. I'm just doing what we have all been looking forward to, and that got everything in an uproar. Verse 18 And when they examined me, that is the Romans that he was talking about, so they let me go because there was no cause for putting me to death. But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar, not that I had anything of which to accuse my nation, for this reason therefore I have called for you to see you, to speak with you, that is all the leaders at Rome there, because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. You see, Paul was still going to the Jew first. Why? Because God has not cast his people off. Paul was not cast off, neither were tens of thousands of Jews, but the leaders in the nation, the Jews couldn't do anything about that. It was not even their nation, they were not even in control. So when they had appointed him a day, many came, that is, of the Jews, the Jewish leaders, the people of the synagogue. They came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets. In other words, remember the only Bible that the apostle Paul had, along with Jesus, John the Baptist, all the apostles, was the law, the prophets, and the writings. And from morning till evening he did this. He explained these things to them. He preached Jesus to them. He showed how Jesus was the Messiah in word and deed. And some were persuaded by these things which were spoken. Some disbelieved, so when they did not agree among themselves, they departed after Paul had just said one word. And the Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah, the prophet to our fathers, saying, Go to this people and say, Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive. For the hearts of this people have grown dull, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. This is what God said. Now I can't even tell you how many times I have been in Israel over the last fifty years, and I have been with a group of pastors, or I've been a group with people from a church, they will say, How do these people just day after day hear all of these things and read the Bible and have it in school and they are living in the land? How can they hear all of this and still not believe? I say the same way that people come to church Sunday after Sunday, not just on Easter or Christmas, but they many come week after week. They even are involved, but they don't truly trust Jesus. They don't give their life to Jesus, and some die and go to hell by their own testimony before they died, because they will not give their life to Jesus. They will not turn and repent and give Him their life and trust Him alone to save them. This happens all the time. I would say at least in my ministry, I have baptized five hundred, at least five hundred or more church members. Maybe a thousand. I've baptized a lot of people. And I can't even tell you the people that said, I've been a church member all my life, and I just sat there and sat there, and really I didn't even think this even applied to me because I didn't give it a chance. You see, the reality is all of us are capable of doing things that surprise others, and I tell you, my biggest surprise is the surprises I give myself that I understand without Jesus just how wicked I am. I remember reading where Charles Spurgeon said that he doesn't really get upset anymore when people criticize him because he realizes that if he hasn't done what they've accused him of, he's thought much worse. Isn't that so true? That's so true of all of us if we'd be honest. If you're sitting there saying, Well, I've never thought anything like that, you've deceived yourself, because the reality is we are all sinful creatures, and without Jesus we are desperately lost. But then verse twenty eight says, Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles and they will hear it. Now does that mean that he never witnessed to a Jew again? No. And when the Jews heard these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house and received all who came to him. It's just amazing how God did that. And what was he doing? He was preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. And so the book of Acts ends. You see, it's just a dot dot dot. It doesn't end formally. Why? Because it's not ended to this day. It's still going on. The ministry of Paul and the Apostles, the ministry of Jesus is going on. This is why Luke, writing down the annals of the gospel and then of the gospel sequel, that is the book of Acts, he says, O Theophilus, I wrote you before this former letter, this former treatise. Of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. He didn't say all that Jesus finished. You say, wait just a minute, when Jesus was on the cross, he said it's finished. That meant the debt has been paid. Our salvation has been bought. But our salvation is not finished. No, as long as we're in this body, our salvation's not finished. And as long as we're in this body, God's still working with us, and aren't you glad? You've not arrived, sir. You've not arrived, ma'am, and I certainly and doubly haven't. But I'm so glad that God's not finished with me yet. He's still working on you, he's still working on me. Paul said to the Philippians, not that I have arrived or already attained, but no, no, I forget those things which are behind. He wasn't talking about good things, he just told them everything he'd ever done good, that he was a Hebrew of Hebrews, he was of the tribe of Benjamin, on and on and on. He said, Forgetting those things which are behind, good and bad, I pressed forward to the things which are ahead, to the upward, to the high calling of God that is in Christ Jesus. And that's why he told those Philippians up front and at the end, the one who has started a good work in you will finish it unto the day of Jesus Christ. God's not finished the book of Acts, it's still being written in you and in me, and he is still writing his story in our heart. And I pray today that you will continue the message of Jesus and His wonderful redemption and love, His greatness, and all that He said He would do, He will do. My prayer is as we finish this book of Acts, that God would continue His good work in you. Well, we'll be starting something new next week. I hope you're here to begin with us. For on the way, this is Tony Crisp.

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Thanks for listening to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Tune in every weekday for information on biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Fridays are for your questions. Email your questions to questions at TonyCrisp.org. Then just listen for your question to be answered on Friday's podcast. That's Questions at TonyC R I S P dot org. Thanks for listening and have a blessed day on the way.