Acts 28 "Rome At Last"

[Music] we're looking at acts 28 and again this is our last installment in our study in the book of book of Acts and so let's begin reading in Acts chapter 28 at verse 1 I'll read to verse 6 and we'll get into our study Acts chapter 28 beginning at verse 1 reading 2 verse 6 now when they had escaped they then found out that the island was called Malta and the natives showed us unusual kindness for they kindled the fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold but when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand so when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand they said to one another no doubt this man's a murderer whom though he has escaped the sea yet justice does not allowed to live but he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm however they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead but after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm came to him they changed their minds and said he's a God well they endured a storm as we know let me introduce this chapter by reminding you they had 14 days of enduring a storm and Paul and some 275 other passengers had become shipwrecked as it says here they landed on a small island in the Mediterranean it's if you were looking at a map and you saw Sicily which is the football that the boot of Italy is kicking well this this island Malta is 60 miles south of Sicily verse 2 tells us that the passengers are stranded and they're huddling on the beach that called the wet they're exhausted and as they're on the sure the natives approached them and as it says here that they showed them unusual kindness in other words they treated them decently they kindled a fire for them and they help them to become comfortable and so as all of this is taking place verse three says Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire and a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand so one small thing just an aside here but noticed with me Paul is busy serving the people because that's what Christians do Christians serve he points that out in in chapter 20 verse 34 when he had said yes you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me in 1st Thessalonians 4 verse 11 he commands work with your own hands as we commanded you and so Paul was an example of somebody who was busy serving and so he is busy gathering sticks in order to keep the bonfire burning because he didn't want the other people to do all the work he's exhausted but he's still serving so he's placing the sticks on the bonfire and as he's doing so one of them wasn't really a stick at all it was a Viper a deadly poisonous snake and the Viper fastened itself on Paul's hand well as this took place verse 4 tells us the native saw the creature hanging from his hand and they began to speak to one another no doubt this man's a murderer whom though he has escaped to see yet justice does not allow to live and so they had noticed that Paul was there being guarded by Roman soldiers so naturally they assumed him to be a criminal and they say he's a murderer somebody wrote that they have a sense of cosmic justice in other words he's receiving a fit judgment for his crime this idea of reaping what you sow is found in the old as well as the New Testament in job chapter 4 verse 8 it says even as I have seen those who plow iniquity and so trouble reap the same and so there's this the sense that if you do evil evil will be returned to you to you in Galatians chapter 6 verses 7 and 8 do not be deceived God is not mocked for whatever a man so is that he will also reap for he who sews to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption he who sews to the spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life sometimes people will say I don't know why the Lord is mad at me and sometimes it's not not simply that he's mad at you is that we're reaping what we're sowing and I we blame God so much when in reality it's really something that we're doing to ourselves well as this is happening they're beginning to speak amongst themselves and that's what to say no doubt this man's a murderer why would he be a murderer well because capital punishment is being enacted the Viper is fastened on him it's poisonous snake he's going to die but notice how it says here and I find this interesting how casually he does it he's in verse 5 he he shook off the creature into the fire suffered no harm however they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead so they're just watching him but after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him they changed their minds and said that he was a God which is an interesting way of thinking now why would Paul be calm here's something for you by way of application because he calmly shakes the Viper off of his hand and goes about his business why would he be so calm when he has just been bitten by a poisonous snake and the answer to that is simple God had promised him that he would make it to Rome and he's taking God at His Word in acts 23 11 it reads the following night the Lord stood by him and said be of good cheer Paul for as you have testified for me in Jerusalem so you must also bear witness at Rome so he was holding fast to what God had said to him and that's why he could do that as far as shaking his hand and dropping this snake into the fire remember mark 16 verses 17 and 18 how Jesus said these signs will follow those who believe in my name they will cast out demons they will speak with new tongues they will take up serpents and if they drink anything deadly it will by no means hurt them so that's a promise if you go to a potluck at church you don't die they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover now the Islanders are watching him carefully they're waiting for him to begin to puff up to swell to die and so seeing that he doesn't they changed their mind and they say well this man must be really a God verse 7 in that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island whose name was Publius who received us and entertained us courteously for three days and it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery Paul went in to him and prayed and he laid his hands on him and healed him so when this was done the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed they also honored us in many ways and when we departed they provided such things as were necessary and so as this is taking place notice Paul prays for this man's father and after he's healed it's an opportunity for him to preach the gospel you know you receive I receive reports and so do you I'm sure of how sometimes the Lord would do a miracle in another land we hear this quite often by the way in South America and and now we're getting more reports from the Middle East how the Lord will do a miracle and when he does a miracle how people are gathering together to hear the reason that this happened it happens in a lot of crusade outreaches in in the African continent also in the United States it's less frequent because in the United States we have a tendency of trusting in technology and medicine but when you don't have an aspirin and you've got a splitting headache what do you usually do you pray you pray God help me you know and I discovered a long time ago that I can rely a lot more on aspirin not that I shouldn't and I'm not saying you shouldn't either but I've discovered that I can rely a lot of times on just some basic medicinal things but that when I'm with out I find myself more open saying God could you please move could you please move in this particular case what happens is Paul does a work that awakens the curiosity and the need for an explanation and so Paul had prayed there was a miracle and now he begins to preach and share again in mark 16 verse 20 it says they went out and preached everywhere the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs and so as they were proclaiming the word or would preach the word God was moving in honoring his word it's interesting how in verse 10 it says this they also honored us in many ways and when we departed they provided such things as were necessary this is an aside but it's interesting to note the word honor when it says they honored us the word honor is often used to signify financial recompense or a present the point that is being made here is Paul administered to them in a practical way and they supported him for what he had done they honored him by giving him those things that were needed verse 11 after three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the twin brothers which had wintered at the island and landing at syracuse they went all the way to New York no I'm just teasing landed had Syracuse we stayed three days from there we circled round and reach Reggie amande after one day the south wind blew and the next day we came to Pune Olli where we found brethren and were invited to stay with them seven days and so we went toward Rome and from there when the Brethren about us they came to meet us as far as FBI forum and three ends when Paul saw them he thanked God and took her just spent a few moments looking at this with you obviously this is just giving to us a place by place account of the travel so I'll just touch those lightly they've gotten a they're being transported to Italy the ship is from Alexandria Egypt was more than likely part of what was called the Imperial grain fleet castor and pollux were sons of Zeus who in Greek mythology protected sailors so they travel a hundred miles to Syracuse to Sicily and they went to the southern tip of Italy they traveled to booty Olli which is a seaport 150 miles from Rome it had a large population of a hundred thousand and there was a Christian colony there and that's what we're looking at when it says in verse fourteen we found brethren and were invited to stay with them seven days and so we went toward Rome and from there when the Brethren heard about us they came to meet us we'll look at that in just a moment so a church had been planted there by an unknown church planter it says we were invited to stay there for a week these people were gracious and generous notice how it says the Brethren heard about us now these would be Romans who live around 150 miles away and it says that they heard you was coming and they met them at the OP I for 'm and three ends so the OP I forum is 43 miles south of Rome and what was called the three Inns is 33 miles from Rome and so they sacrificially walked just to greet Paul and show him love and support and when Paul says that he thanked God and took courage for them he's thanking him for the visible show of love and support that moved him I want to talk with you for just a moment about that a couple of things one this reveals to us the church at its best these are people who are being hospitable verse 14 we were invited to stay with them so one this shows the church at its best generosity has always been not only an earmark of the church but it's also been extremely attractive because in a world that is filled with selfishness it's unusual to encounter people who are generous you look you can occasionally encounter an individual who is generous because there are obviously many who are generous but it's unusual to encounter several people who are generous and to me that's one of the beautiful earmarks of believers is the generosity that they show to one another and the hospitality that is afforded to those in need when I first got saved as a matter of fact before I got saved and this was one of the ingredients that the Lord used in bringing me to Christ I would go to a friend's house and he was a Christian or at least a proclaiming one he'd profess to be a Christian and he had a lot of friends who would come over who were Christians and I would show up sometimes just before they ate because there was a time when the young Jesus freaks would actually hang around a lot together and and prayed a lot and worshiped a lot and read the Bible together and it was almost a communal kind of mentality and so when I would come over as an unbeliever I would go into the house and they would be making meals and serving one another and to me that was interesting because the people I was hanging with at that time were all about themselves it you know whenever some of you are familiar with this whenever you're in the kind of lifestyle that I living in which which was dominated by alcohol and and drugs it was more a matter of you finding a way to barter to get something from somebody I'll give you a joint if you give me a ride that kind of thing but the thought of actually showing generosity well it's something that you would speak about because after all generosity is a good thing to speak about but to actually be generous or well that's something different and so when I used to go over to my friend's house and I would walk in and and they would make a meal and invite me to the table and and feed me I I was blown away but I really was because I wasn't used to people giving like that I wasn't used to it I was always the kind of person who'd say okay you gave know what do you want as a matter of fact I I had this philosophy that if somebody hands you something be very careful that they don't grab your wrist when you take it because there are so many who use things to get people then I had this attitude that I don't trust anybody who wants to be generous with me because they want something and I'll find out what it is later on but they definitely want something so when I was at this house and there were people who were generous it blew my mind because they'd never been around generous people before it was very very attractive and I really do believe that that is one of the marks of the church generosity and hospitality are very attractive in first Peter chapter 4 verse 9 we're commanded be hospitable to one another without grumbling in third John verses five through eight beloved you do faithfully whatever you do for the Brethren and for strangers who have borne witness of your love before the church if you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God you will do well because they went forth for his namesake taking nothing from the Gentiles we therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth and so we didn't have to the early church didn't have to go to the world to ask for help the church cared for itself we've seen that a family as we've gone through acts all the way from chapter 2 in chapter 4 in various other places since then how that people would make sure that they were able to care for those in genuine need and that was just a mark of the church and that's what took place and so here's Paul and he goes to this area and he's on his way to Rome and here comes some brethren from the church and they take care of him and ministered to him because that's what Christians do a second thing it says when when Paul saw them he thanked God and took to courage that also gives us insight into the blessings of being in the family of God in Hebrews 13 verse 3 it says remember the prisoners as if chained with them those who are mistreated since you yourselves are in the body also now these would have included members of the Church of Rome it may be some who are referred to in the closing of the book of Romans if you read the book of Romans the sixteenth chapter contains a lot of names that Paul is saying greet these people greet appala greet empanada screep greet and dronicus or Junius and Herodian there are different names that he mentions because they had relationship what we have right now and here's the second thing I wanted to share with you what we have right now that we have to deal with as the body of Christ in the United States is we are substituting artificial relationships for actual relationships what do I mean by that well I've got 5,000 Facebook friends are they really my friends I think they are cuz they keep asking for money no um well of course they're not up of course they're not how many friends do you think you can really have in a lifetime and how many people do you really have and do I really have in my life that I can say this is really a friend because we have a lot of acquaintances and we know a lot of names and we may have a lot of head not allows in church but how many do you have do I have that if you're really down and really in need you know you could pick up a phone and you can dial and immediately you'll get hold of this person who will drop everything and come and help you how many of us have real friends like that very few very few we have a lot of acquaintances that we call friend and what we've seen in our generation and I'm seeing it and I believe is real is a substitution of actual relationship for artificial relationship so you can go to a church that doesn't have a pastor preaching he's on the screen and there's nobody there that the pastor doesn't come down and spend time or have opportunity to why because he's in another location and that's acceptable now because people believe that the messenger that one whom I see on the screen is just as important or even more important sometimes than the message that I'm receiving and what we have is we have an artificial relationship even in church today we have artificial relationships because I can get a text message and I get a lot so do you if you have the service at all and there was a time when your telephone that you carry in your pocket you actually used to talk on it I know that's ancient history I realized that but now we we have a device that's been invented so I could speak we have a device that we don't use in that way anymore why because we can get our text messages and our emails on it and what that helps me to do is manage my time by rejecting conversation with somebody who calls me so they can call me we'll say and leave a voice message but I may not get back to them for two or three days as per when I have time to do it I may not even check my voicemail which I don't sometimes for a long time I have 18 voicemails I just remembered I ought to check them and then you get text messages and what do you do when you get the text message well some of us respond quickly but many don't will respond when it's convenient for us to do so what am I really doing what I'm really doing is saying that your effort to reach me on my phone that you have access to me at any time through your effort is going to be moderated by my desire to talk to you that means that I can be as selfish as I want because I don't have to talk to you if I don't want to I don't have to respond to you if I don't want to and yet we say we've got deep friendships when in fact we don't when in fact we bury our faces and our phones at our convenience but we really don't even notice real life around us and we don't that's why people are getting in crashes that's why people walking down the street are getting hit by cars because they're not even noticing because they're so caught up reading the message and see this is artificial this isn't real the scripture says weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice the Bible speaks concerning real human relationships where you actually get to know people and you get to bear one another's burdens and you get to pray for one another and and and and you have real human relationship people are threatened by it several years ago I had been in Japan I'd been in a cafe Church they actually meet in the church in Tokyo and this one of the prefectures in in Tokyo and before the mess before the message the pastor said to the church I turn to your neighbor and pray and ask God to minister to you I was so impressed by that I thought now that's deep spiritual reality yeah if I'm saying God speak to my heart chances are when the word goes out he will so I thought that was great and then he closed the service by saying now I ask the Lord together but you please help me to obey what you just taught me now don't you think that's good I think that's good so I ride her home to the church did I ever make a mistake some of you were in the church at that time I started I said you know what I explained I said I think it's a good thing to pray for one another I lost hundreds of people hundreds left the church I don't wanna I don't know those strangers I don't like me and that that that disappointed me like very few things have very few things out I thought I thought at that time I I had made the mistake of believing that we were more mature than that as a congregation and in fact we weren't I misjudged my own church I misjudged it because I didn't realize that asking someone to actually pray with somebody else was that threat and I didn't realize that my bad I made a poor judgment I still think it was a great thing to do but the fellowship wasn't ready for it and I pressed on the church that which they were not ready for and I saw hundreds leave the church within two months unbelievable we need real fellowship we really do I want you to notice again in verse 15 the last portion when Paul saw them he thanked God and took courage that's what the church ought to do it ought to cause us to see our brothers or sisters and thank God and be encouraged because we have support in this world that we're living in where people are in opposition to the message it's a great thing to have those who love the Lord in support of you now moving on Paul's taking a long walk to Rome imagine with me for a moment what he'd be seen he's been longing to go to Rome and now he's on his way and so I was reading something and let me just read it to you as they neared the city the Appian Road would present more of its characteristic features the tall milestones the stately tombs which lining either side gave to the road the appearance of one long cemetery and bore their record of the fame or the vanity the wealth or the virtues of the dead as they drew nearer still Paul's companions would point out to him the Grove and the sacred spring in the valley of agario he would pass the cemetery of the Jews of Rome lying on the east of the Appian Way perhaps he would see the beginning of the catacombs were the Christians who were excluded from the cemetery of the Jews laid their dead to sleep in peace continuing his journey Paul and his companions that would come within view of the pyramid of KSS Dias would pass under the arch of Drusus and entered the city by the portico Penna proceeding from there to the palace of the Caesars which stood on the Palatine Hill and looked down on one side upon the forum on the other upon the Circus Maximus so as he's walking into the the beauty and magnificence of Rome this is what he's seen now it says in verse 16 when you came to Rome the Centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself but the soldier who guarded him so Paul finally gets his heart's desire he's in the Magnificent city of Rome and he had been determined to go to Rome to preach Christ in this incredible city in acts 19:21 it says when these things were accomplished Paul purposed in the spirit when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia to go to Jerusalem saying after I've been there I must also see Rome later Paul would be taken before the Jewish Council and he ended up incarcerated he was greatly upset acts 23 11 says the following night the Lord stood by him and said be of good cheer Paul as you have testified for me in Jerusalem so you must also bear witness at Rome so he is now in Rome and he's prepared to continue his mission of proclaiming Jesus so verse 16 tells us that the Centurion delivered the prisoners and he had a special privilege of not being placed in a cold damp cell God was caring for him providing for him proverbs 28:27 man will abound with blessing and God was showing him his favour again in verse 17 it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together 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 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 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 so Paul doesn't waste any time at all he immediately desires to speak to the elders of the Jewish community now this has become his normal practice the first people that he would go to normally would be his Jews and he introduces himself and he addresses the charges as we just read that have been launched against him why'd he do that well he wanted them to hear from him firsthand he wanted them to know the gospel and he wanted them to hear it unprejudiced by others notice how verse 20 he says for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain the hope of Israel is Messiah who's to come it's the hope of life in him by resurrection and he's saying it's for that cause because Jesus had been resurrected that's why I'm being held in Chains in verse 21 he says they said to him we neither receive letters from Judea concerning you nor have any of the Brethren who who came reported or spoken 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 it's interesting how they do this notice they're diplomatic they say well we're familiar with Christian doctrine but you know it is controversial you see 10 years earlier Jews had been expelled from Rome for clashing with Christians they're very familiar with Christian doctrine and so they're basically saying hmm this is interesting but verse 22 we desire to hear from you what you think for concerning this sect we know that it is spoken up against everywhere it's spoken against everywhere so now we ask the opportunity to explain the gospel firsthand and what he wants to do is he wants to persuade them he wants to share with them it says in verse 23 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 of Moses and the prophets from morning until evening the word persuading means to confidently attempt to win someone over and how was he trying to win them over he pointed to them the law of Moses as well as the prophets he wanted to show him what scripture said concerning Messiah so that they would see what had happened with Christ was something scripture had predicted would happen so as he's given them a Bible study and sharing with him all of these things verse 24 some were persuaded by the things which were spoken and some disbelieved so when they did not agree among themselves they departed after Paul had said one word 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 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've closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears unless 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 when he said these words the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves 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 concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confident confidence no one forbidding him so will close the book of Acts with a few last things as always as always the gospel is divisive it proves to be divisive some were persuaded others refused to believe what the gospel has to say I haven't always been a pastor and I haven't always been the pastor of this church I you know as a young believer I was brought into the knowledge of Christ through through a revival that was sweeping the United States I was brought into faith in Christ and I was blessed to be put in the calvary chapel family so the only thing I've ever known from the time I was 20 years old until my age now 10 years now the only thing that I've ever known it's it's what you get every time you come to Bible study that's all I know I know that without God man is going to perish without Jesus man has no relationship with God I know that the Bible is the Word of God and that people everywhere need to repent and receive Christ I know that I believe with all of my heart that it's important to take the faith that God gave to me and to share it and I was doing that long before I was a pastor long before was capable of even explaining the gospel clearly I knew basic things once I was blind now I see I was deaf now I hear I was dead but now I am alive I knew those things because I was hearing that in the Bible studies and that's why I thank God for faithful Bible teachers who influenced me throughout my life I never never sat under a pastor who told me that you can't trust the Word of God I never sat under a pastor who tried to entertain me with the latest thing coming down the pike that was a novel thing for the church I never had that I I had faithful pastors and faithful teachers all my life as a Christian so the only thing I know is to open the book and to read it that's what I know and to to treat it as if it's God's Word because it is and I know that through the embracing of the word of God people are changed but I also know that the claims of the gospel are to those who are unsaved ridiculous you really believe that there was a man named Jesus who was alive who was killed and three days later rose from the dead you really believe that you really believe that only only through Christ can a person go to heaven you believe in a heaven where do you get all of this well I didn't invent it yeah I found it in the Word of God and so when I got saved I made it my life's a determinate plan to try and understand God's Word that's what I've been trying to do now for 47 years and I can't say that I really understand it that well so if you feel sometimes that you're overwhelmed but with your inability to understand me too me too you know so I don't ever want to come on to you my church as if I've got it all nailed and it's all in this little box of truth I'm still growing I'm still trying to understand I'm still pursuing and I'll do that until one day when I finally say oh that's what and then I'll die a long time ago and I'll say this quickly ice I remember telling the church this when our church was new I said it's not that the Lord needs someone to speak for him he certainly doesn't he does a fine job on his own he certainly doesn't need me but I will speak for him I will if God gives me the opportunity I will somebody should somebody should say God is good somebody should say Jesus Saves somebody should say God transforms lives somebody should say there's forgiveness in him somebody should say you don't have to be alone somebody should say God can be with you he will be with you'll never leave you he'll never forsake you somebody ought to say that that's what the Bible teaches Paul had this great desire this great desire I want to go to Rome and I want to share with the people there about the goodness of God and he finally gets his opportunity to do that but the gospel always proves to be divisive there were some persuaded and others who refused to believe what it says some were willing to receive Messiah others wanted to remain under Moses Islam it says in verse 25 they didn't agree among themselves even as their fathers had rejected the prophets they rejected him and that's why Paul responds by saying the spirit spoke rightly through Isaiah the prophet to our fathers you are stiff-necked and you resist what God wants to do and he gave them a word that I think was a stinging word it was a rebuke but it was right and that's why he says in verse 28 therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles they will hear it Gentiles we heard it we heard it we did hear it and God changed our lives while the Bible says that Paul remained in Rome for two years as a prisoner he was under house arrest and while he was there he continued his ministry he was restricted but not without fruit while he's there Paul evangelize he wrote four letters he wrote Ephesians Philippians Colossians and Philemon he says to Timothy and second Timothy 2:8 and 9 you remember that Jesus Christ that the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel for which I suffered trouble as an evildoer even to the point of Chains but the Word of God is not chained so he used this time to continue his ministry of teaching and evangelizing in Philippians 1 12 through 14 he said I want you to know brethren that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard and to all the rest that my chains are in Christ and most of the Brethren in the Lord having become confident by my chains are much more bold to speak the word without fear he spoke to the palace guard see he would be guarded by by these elite guards and they would be chained to him and they'd have to do shifts with him and so all every time the guard would come in and would relieve the one who was before him he was chained to Paul can you imagine what Paul was doing with every guard who came in he wasn't able to leave but they were coming to him and before you know it like he says the whole palace guard has heard in Philippians 4 22 he said all the Saints greet you but especially those who are of Caesars household so he was able to reach them too so the Word of God has not changed some of you have jobs with your saying oh man I hate this job I wish that I had opportunities to go out and share the gospel and reach people for Christ there's many people like that and but the bottom line is is that's why you're in that job because there are people there that you can reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ not gonna come to a church but they're stuck with you and you can share with them you don't have to shove it down their throat or anything but just by being there and being a witness to them and using the opportunity when given is a blessing so finally it says preaching the kingdom verse 31 preached in the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence no one forbidding him now commentators say that he was set free from this particular imprisonment after the two years and they reasoned that the Jewish leaders who had been lodging the complaints and charges against him never appeared to formalize them therefore his charges would have been dismissed ultimately he was really he lost his life and church tradition holds that he was taken out of the prison that he had been held in he was taken to the side of the road and he was beheaded for his faith in Jesus Christ this is a man who said I have fought the good fight I have finished my race and God is going to reward me and when you read the story of the Apostle Paul you can't help you can't help but admire him and one of these days by the way one of these days we're gonna have an opportunity to meet this guy yeah it's gonna be cool that's gonna be so cool to see him his writings have been used to reach so many people God used this man in tremendous way but I love just I just love the last thing I'll read it again and then we'll pray it says preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concerned the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence no one forbidding him come on and he'd say I got some things to talk to you about and he'd share the gospel with all these warriors all of these amazing soldiers Paul wasn't afraid of them it wasn't intimidated by them he saw what an opportunity is to preach the gospel to them they'll never hear it any other way sent me here put me in these chains in order that I might be able to remove the chains from them mine are physical there's our spiritual their chains can be removed by the gospel you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Chino Valley

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Length: 44min 43sec (2683 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 27 2017