Well, let's see here. Are we going live? Now? Yeah, almost. All right. Well, there we go. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. Welcome to Coffee and devotions is for every day you and I we get together we get into God's word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year 2022. We'll go from the book of Acts to the book of Philemon and today, we finish up the book of Acts, Acts chapter 28, verses 17 through the end of the chapter. So good to be with you this morning. When we have some coffee. We'll pray and we'll get into what the Lord has for us this morning. Let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day. And we thank you so much for Your word. Lord, we thank You that Your Holy Spirit has given us these words. We pray that You would give us eyes to see Give us hearts to believe give us minds to understand. We pray these things in Jesus's name. Amen. Here we go. Acts chapter 28. The final 17 verses and you'll find my glasses there. Acts chapter 28. beginning at verse 17. Here we go. And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. And when they had come together, he said to them Men and brethren, though I have done nothing against our people or against or the custom of our fathers, yet I was delivered as a prisoner from Jerusalem. into the hands of the Romans, who when they had examined me wanted to 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 done anything of which to accuse my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have called for you, to see you and speak with you. Because for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain. Then they said to him, we know the received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren who came reported or spoken in any evil of you. But we desire to hear from you what you think, for concerning this sect. We know that it is spoken against everywhere. So when they had appointed him a day, many 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 and of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening. And some were persuaded by the things which were spoken, and some disbelieved. So when they did not agree amongst themselves, they departed after Paul had said one word, the Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to your father's saying, Go to this people and say, hearing you will hear, and shall not understand and seeing you shall see and not perceive for the hearts of this people have grown dole, their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes, they have closed less they should see with our eyes and hear with their ears less they should understand with their hearts and turn so that I should heal them. Therefore, let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it and when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had a great dispute amongst themselves. Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no one forbidding him. Oh, what a wonderful end of the book of Acts. We need to ask ourselves a What is this about be what's the best verses summarize this and see, what are we called to do in response to these words, right. So what what are what is this about?

Well, Paul has made it to Rome. He's made it to Rome and Rome and the head of the Praetorium, the head of the Earth, the Praetorian Guard has, has said, he's able to go to a house and he just has, most likely this rotational, just one soldier at a time having a watch over him maybe four hours or so. Just watching over him in his own house. He's in house arrest, but he's able to have visitors. He's able to do his own thing. He has his own rented accommodations. And it came to pass after three days that he's at that house. He calls the Jewish people to together. I'm going to zoom out this camera just a little bit here. And so he has, he has these Jewish people, the especially the first people, the synagogues, they come together to him and, and he tells them he says Men and brethren, though I have done, done nothing against our people, or the customs of our father's right he, he's going to give his apology. He's going to give his defense he's going to tell them that he hasn't done anything wrong. He didn't bring the Gentiles into the temple like they had accused him of and that he hasn't done anything against the nation and he's not going to bring any charges against the nation either. And so he's telling them I'm guilty, but I was handed over to the Romans and because I knew I wasn't gonna get a fair shake down. I appealed to Caesar. And so I'm here and they say, Well, we haven't gotten any letters about you. So nobody in Jerusalem has hired a lawyer rhetoric to come and to bring their accusations about against Paul and Rome. They haven't done anything like that. They haven't the people in Jerusalem haven't talked to them and told them anything about Paul specifically. I remember it's been a long time. It hasn't been going on forever. And so it's very possible at this point that the Jews in Jerusalem are just just good riddance, right? He's out of our hair. They got enough problems of their own that they're dealing with, as they're, as they're in Jerusalem. And so they say but they know that he's a Christian. And this is a sect that's tucked against everywhere. So this is this is the divide and they want to make up their minds for themselves. So they're gonna hear Paul and so they said an appointed time and they come and when they come together, he reasons with them. He explains with them, he goes to the law of Moses, he goes to the prophets. He wants to bring them what what it said about Jesus Christ, He wants to show them from the morning till the evening this is marathon type running all day long that probably you know stopping every once in a while and having meals he would say something you would preach to them for a while. Somebody would ask questions, he would answer those questions, they would dialogue. And he'd keep on going all day long. And at the end of it, there's a mixed group. Some people believe, and some people do not believe. And so at the end of all of this, this is when Paul finally in verse 25, he says, after it says, some were persuaded about the things that were spoken, and some disbelieved. He says, The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to your father saying, and then he quotes Isaiah chapter six. He quotes Isaiah chapter six is a very important passage in Christian theology. Jesus himself says this to the people of Israel. And so, there's a few things that I think are important to point out here one, it is the Holy Spirit, who speaks to holy men, and they give us the word. Right What is it saying here? The Holy Spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to your father's saying, it is the Holy Spirit who speaks his word. Why do we believe that this is God's word? Because the Holy Spirit is the one who gave it. And so we believe that it's a holy spirit who's giving it and it's apropos, it's, it's applicable to the situations and so Jesus quoted this passage and Matthew chapter 13, Mark, chapter four, Luke chapter eight and John chapter 12. So in every single gospel, they quote Jesus quoting this passage, why? Because Jesus's ministry was also to the Jews. There were Gentiles who came around but as he spoke to the woman from Tyre that he was sent to the children of Israel. And so what is Paul's Why does Paul invoke Isaiah chapter six here is getting at their hardness of heart.

Right he's saying that he's applying the words of Isaiah chapter six, saying, Your minds are darkened. Your eyes are shut, your ears are deaf. Your heart is cold. He's telling them you won't understand. Because if you would open your eyes if you would understand with your heart, if you would hear with your ears, you might turn and be healed, you might actually be saved. And he said, but because you have such hard hearts because you do not want Jesus Christ because you do not want the gospel that is freely offered to you're no different than those who listened to Isaiah. And now salvation is going to the to the Gentiles, and it has come to the Gentiles. See, Paul knows what happened. In places like Galatia and Cappadocia, in Asia and Macedonia. He knows that the gospel went out to all sorts of different nations, all sorts of different ethnicities. So he says, The Gospel is going out and so they leave and there's a great dispute between them. And verse 20, or verse 30, and 31 wrap us up and say Paul is in his rented house for two years. For two years. He's there in Rome, awaiting trial for two years. He's left there but he's not left there without anything to do. What is verse 31? Say? He's preaching the kingdom of God, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no one forbidding him. He preached, he proclaim, he taught no one forbade him.

And that's where Luke decides to leave us. We might as well what is that really the end of the story? I don't think it is.

We could get into that just a little bit here. But many people have asked what happens to Paul after this point. What what's going on? How do we know like, what happens after this? Well, this is like many good movies in our time that don't give us a nice bow tie at the end. I think that Luke is writing this whole thing to to the awfulest Theopolis. And I think this is a friend of the court brief. He's writing about everything that's happened and and why Paul is supposed to be there in front of Nero. And so, as he's writing this all to Theopolis, who might be the one who's going to be arguing Paul's case, we don't know what the offices, but I think the events have caught up to Luke, that after these two years, Paul is still waiting to be heard by Nero. But if we turn to church history, and we've read something like first Klymit it gives us hints and first limit that maybe Paul went on from room and first limit. I'm just going to read this first limit. Five, he says this, by the way, first limit is most likely written sometime around 70 ad it's really early Christian writing is not the scriptures but it's really early. It says that Paul reached the furthest bonds of the West, and when he had born his testimony before the rulers, so he departed from the world and went unto the holy place, having been found a notable pattern of patient endurance. And so he finds its way, all the way to Spain, like you wrote to the Iffi or wrote to the Romans and his epistle to DOM that he desired to visit them and even to go to Spain. I think that first claim it gives us reason to believe that actually happened. If we've go a little bit further in church history. We could actually get to Eusebius the father of church history, his book is literally Ecclesia historia. So, church history and he's he's going to he writes that Paul, left Rome. And then he went to Spain. And then he had and then later he was brought back and he was murdered. He was martyred under Nero. So this is what the Church Fathers would tell us. This is what tradition would give us from the histories of the church. We'll leave it there. You know how trustworthy the things are. I put a lot of weight on them, but people disagree. That's fine. So what's the best verse to summarize this? Well, I have a few things in my Bible. That I have underlined. I have underlined verse 25, where the Holy Spirit's spoke through Isaiah. I also have underlined Verse 28 And verse 31. I really think verse 28, and verse 31. Get at the heart of what Paul or what Luke is writing about. Therefore, let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles and that they will hear it, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching all things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. This is the story of how it went from just Jesus and his disciples there on resurrection day, or an Ascension Day sorry. And as they're there, in Jerusalem, right or in Judea, this little tiny group, and how did it get all the way to Rome? Where the people in Rome were able to say we've heard that everywhere in the world, people talk against this movement. Well, this is the story of how Christianity spread this is a story of how Paul fulfilled what he thought was going to the ends of the earth, sharing the good news of Jesus Christ reasoning with everyone, not being ashamed of the gospel of Christ versus the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believe, to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. So what are we called to do in response to this? Do you believe, week after week, day after day, we've gone through this? Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Do you see with your eyes? Do you hear with your ears, you understand in your heart? That we are sinners in need of a great God and that He has sent us His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and whoever believes in Him shall not taste death. Do you believe that God demonstrated His own love for you? And that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us?

Is that your testimony? Do you confess your sins? Do you believe in your heart that God raised Christ from the dead is here Lord.

This is what we're left. This is the end of the book of Acts. The end of the story of Paul's life, we're gonna get into his letters starting on Monday. But do you believe? Let's pray. Father, I don't know who's listening to this this morning. Well, Lord, I pray that they might not be like those who were preached against from Isaiah chapter six, but Father I pray that Your Holy Spirit might be working in our hearts that you would open our eyes to see. I pray that You would give us minds to understand and ears to hear that we might know that you sent your only begotten son and that in him we can have life and have it abundantly. Lord, we thank you for the righteousness that we have in Christ. We thank you for Lord, we pray that we would follow after you all the days of our lives in Jesus's name, Amen. Well, may you endure with much patience, that you cling to the hope of your salvation, and made that great shepherd of the sheep finished the good work that he has begun in you I'll see you on Monday. Bye.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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