The Story That Never Ends

Acts 28:17-31

If you will take your Bible and look at the 28th chapter of Acts this morning. We are in our study of the book of Acts drawing to a conclusion. We'll be looking at the very end of the book, Acts 28:17 to 31. I trust as we complete this book this will not be the completion of your study but perhaps just the foundation on which you will future study the book with great benefit and blessing.

Now the paragraph that we're going to look at is the end, really, of the first chapter of the history of the church. The Holy Spirit has given us in the book of Acts the first. historical look at the early church. And it comes to a conclusion, the record does, here in 2?.

Going back to the very beginning you'll remember that the book began when our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit and said You shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the uttermost part of the earth. And that became the format for the book of Acts. The gospel began in Jerusalem then throughout all Judea and then spread to Samaria and finally to the uttermost part of the earth. We have seen the church go from Jerusalem through Judea to throughout Samaria and all the way through the world to the city of Rome.

Now at this point the record ceases. But I hasten to add the story does not end. And so we've entitled the message this morning the Story That has No End. It's still going on and the story of the church will go on throughout all eternity for it does not end. In fact, right now in 1975 the month of February we are writing the continuation of the book of Acts as the Spirit of God continues to build the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Acts, then, is in a very real sense an unfinished book. It ends without an ending. In fact, as you look at verses 3O and at the very end it ends so abruptly that many have thought that there was a lost chapter or at least a lost paragraph. Verse 3O says, "And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him." And there it ends. We don't hear what ever happened to Paul. We don't hear what happened at the end of the two years. We don't hear what happened in the growth of the church in Rome. It seems to be very, very incomplete. And I think this is by design of the Holy Spirit. It is the story that has no end. It just stops it doesn't end. The record just ceases to be written, the story goes on. And as we have journeyed through the book of Acts, we've traveled many miles, back and forth, back and forth with Peter and John around the city of Jerusalem, from one spot to another. Then, back and forth on a greater scale with the Apostle Paul from one city, from one country to another. Finally we arrive in the city of Rome. All the way from the three‑thousand who were saved at Pentecost to those who will believe right here in the last paragraph of chapter 2?. We saw the unity of the church as it was born in the book of Acts in chapter 2 we saw the fellowship of the church as it was exhibited in the world. We saw then the reaction of the Jewish leaders and the consequent persecution that broke out which resulted in the spread of the gospel and the conversion of the Apostle Paul. We've seen how the church has spread and finally reached the Imperial Mistress of the world, the city of Rome.

It is incomplete in a sense but there's enough here, enough has bee written to reveal the source of power for the church who is the Holy Spirit. Enough has been written to reveal the pattern of blessing for the church, that is to walk in the Spirit. Enough has been written to indicate the approach of evangelism for the church, that is to declare Jesus Christ. Enough has been written to warn of the perils to the church, talking about sin and discipline and judgment. And enough has been written to establish the priorities of the church to teach the word and to reach those who do not know Christ. There is enough here to see by example what the church is to be as you see in Ephesians, I II Timothy and Titus what the church is to be by precept and principle.

And now we come to the last page. The church as spread to Rome and Paul finally has arrived there after many years of longing.

Now as we approach verse 17 let's just give a little bit of a background on what Rome is like when Paul arrives. Verse 1? tells us that he came to Rome. And after, of course, the journey across the Mediterranean and all of the things he endured in that, he was glad to be there and the saints welcomed him, they met him and they came out as far as 43 miles to the city to greet him. He's encouraged and he arrives in this great imperial city. Now just a couple of things we should know about Rome so we get an idea of what he was facing. Historically speaking it's pretty evident by this time in the golden days of the imperial city were long gone. Rome was on the way down by this time. The dictators of Rome had usurped the power of the people and what had begun as a republic was now dead. It had turned into a despotism. The emperors had ceased more and more power and this man who was now the emperor was maybe the worst of all, his name was Nero. In fact, when Paul arrived Nero would have probably been no more than 25 years old but already his hands were bloodied with the murder of his own mother. Which probably occurred maybe a year before Paul arrived. And very likely, also the murder of his wife Octavia had also taken place. As Paul entered the city, he would have seen the temple of Jupiter which stood out and dominated the city. There was no Coliseum .in Rome at the time of Paul.

He would have seen on the Palatine hill the three houses of Augustus Tiberius and Caligula which now had been tied together to make one formidable and massive palace the home of Nero. He would have seen the great temple of Mars. And all of this would have spoken to him of the degeneracy and the idolatry and paganism of this great city.

Rome had become the center of paganism and the center of decadence and it was on its way down. The population of Rome at the time when Paul arrived would be approximately 2 million people. Two million people confined to a very small area. Historians tell us that one million of them were slaves and the other million of them were known as citizens. That is they were legitimate citizens. The vast majority of them were absolutely penniless, paupers who slept in the streets and who slept upon the parapets and whatever else they could find outdoors in the city of Rome because they had absolutely nothing. But they were citizens and they had citizenship and consequently they lorded it over the slaves. But nearly all of the two‑million people were absolute paupers both the slaves and the citizens and all of the money resided in the hands of the very few. There were 700 senators once there was a thousand but that had begun to degenerate. There were 10,000 knights 15,000 soldiers and then a handful or so of dignitaries and that was pretty much it. And all of the finances and all of the power rested with those people and the mass of the two‑million people existed in abject poverty. This bred all kinds of decadence. The great mass of paupers who were even proud of their citizenship held the slaves in contempt beneath them. And, of course, there were constant slave revolts Thousands of these poor people had no homes and their lives were totally amoral, into this melee of depraved, and deprived humanity came the Apostle Paul, the messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ. And his interest in Rome was not sociological, it was not economic, it was not cultural it was purely evangelism. He desired to win them to Jesus Christ and to mature the Christian. Now for the time that he was in Rome he was chained to a guard. Somewhere in a house in the middle of those two‑million people this apostle continued to minister in chains. Now operating as a prisoner to him was no problem he learned how to do that very well. In fact, it was an advantage in many ways. The book of Acts, then, closes with Paul in chains in the midst of this tremendous mission field and his first approach at evangelism is recorded for us beginning in verse 17. I think it's kind of fitting as we look at this we'll see it, as we note evangelism is what it's all about in this last paragraph, it's kind of fitting.

The Book of Acts should really end with an evangelism effort, should it, because that's what it's really been all about. The story isn't over, we're still continuing the evangelism that begun in the book of Acts. And my prayer certainly is as yours must be that the evangelism that begins in the book of Acts that surges through the book of Acts and is included in the last chapter of Acts would also be included in our lives as well.

Now as we go through the text I'm just going to give you a simple little outline there and then you'll notice on the outline that you have in your bulletin that at the very end I'm going to draw a summary that will help us to pull the whole passage into perspective. I want us to look at the passage from the standpoint of its historical narrative and then I want to look at it from the standpoint of its emphasis and perspective on evangelism. And we'll do that in conclusion.

Now the text falls into five sections, the first one is the introduction. Paul introduces himself to the city. Now he's arrived there, he wants to have an impact on the total city, it's pretty difficult to have an impact on ? million people but Paul's got some strategy. And you'll notice what he does in the beginning in verses 17 through 2O.

He introduces himself first of all to the Jews. "And it came to pass that after three days", you'll notice that he never lets any grass grow under his feet. "Paul called the chief of the Jews together." Now that is not one person that is many of them. All of the important leaders of the synagogues. And historians have told us there's anywhere from 12 down to 7 synagogues operating in Rome at this time in history. Each of those synagogues would have some chief men, they were also wealthy trade merchants and other people who were of an official character in the city of Rome who were Jewish which would have been in on this. So Paul called the chief of the Jews together. "And when they were come together he said unto them, Men and brethren though I have committed nothing against the people or customs of our fathers yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans." And here is Paul's pattern as always, we see that whenever he has gone to a city previously to whom did he go first? To the Jews. He always went to the Jews because if he went to the Gentiles first he couldn't go to the Jews because he would have alienated himself from them. He always went to the Jews first because that was where he would find an open door. If he goes to the Gentiles first then the door of the Jews would be closed to him because they don't want to be in on anything that is second‑hand, especially having gone to Gentiles first. So his approach was always to the Jew. I think we ought to note here that Paul though he has been accused by many Jews throughout history of anti‑Semitism had no such attitude. And although he has been maligned and persecuted and threatened and plotted against and beaten up and abused by the Jews for the past several years before he gets to Rome he feels no animosity and he goes directly to them at the very beginning of his time in Rome. Again showing us the love that the man had for Israel. He says in Romans ?, I think this bears it out, "I say the truth in Christ, I lie not. My conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart for I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." There he makes the testimony clear that he loves Israel to the place where he could almost wish himself accursed for their benefit. In 10:1 of Romans he says my hearts desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. And so the same love burns in his heart for Israel. It has never been daunted, it has never been shaded, it has never been extinguished by all that he has endured by their hands. He calls together the chief of the Jews.

Now it was obvious that he couldn't go to a synagogue to speak to them so he had to have them come to him. And I think it's interesting that they did come. They had undoubtedly a deep interest in the man, they certainly had heard about him. He was by now/very popular person ‑In addition to that he was a very unpopular person in the Roman world.

in the Jewish world. He had turned about every synagogue that he had come to by winning some people to Jesus Christ and the word had certainly reached these Jews at Rome. So they were interested in the man. They were also interested in what he had to say about Messiah. He was the one who was going around with all this Messianic information and certainly the Messianic issue was interesting to them. And so evidently their interest was peaked and they were willing to meet with him. A footnote on this would be to remember that back in chapter 1? there was the indication that the Jews had been banished from Rome. Apparently the banishment of Claudius had run out under Nero and they were allowed back in because they're there. So the Apostle Paul, then, confronts the leaders of the Jews. Now he recognizes that he has a very delicate matter on his hands. He must explain his circumstances as a prisoner. He must show that he is innocent of any charges that have been laid against him by the Jews and at the same time he must not alienate his Jewish audience Now that's difficult. How does he do it? Middle of the verse, "Men and brethren", and the brethren has not to do with Christians but Jewish brethren, "though I have committed nothing against the people", that is the Jews, "or the customs of our fathers yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans." He gives a brief defense and I said to you many months ago now that he would give six defenses from the time that he was taken as a prisoner in the temple ground there in Jerusalem back in chapter 21. This is the sixth, this is the final defense since his arrest in Jerusalem. He says I have committed nothing against the people or customs of our fathers. He had not violated Jewish law, he had not injured the Jewish people. He had done absolutely nothing he was innocent of any crime. His imprisonment though caused by Jewish antagonism against him did not reflect any crime against the Jewish people that is anti‑Semitism or against the customs of the people, the Law of God or God Himself. The Jews had accused him of these things.

Remember that they had accused him of sedition that he was a reactionary against the Roman government. They had accused him of sectarianism, you remember back in chapter 21 they had said he was a leader in the sect or the Nazarenes and tried to label him as a heretic. They had accused him of sacrilege and saying that he profaned the temple therefore blaspheming God. They repeated all those accusations in chapter 24. If you want to look at it for just a minute, you can look at chapter 24 verse 5, "A pestilent fellow a mover of sedition among the Jews throughout the world a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes, gone about to profane the temple etc. etc." They said he was a public nuisance, a pest who was guilty of all of these crimes. You'll remember that he was taken before Felix and found to be innocent. He was then taken before the Second Roman governor Festus found to be innocent. He was then brought by Festus before the king Agrippa and again found to be innocent. All the trials that he endured proved his innocence even the melee in front of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem which ended up in a fight proved his innocence because they were split right down the middle as to whether he was guilty or not. It was a hung jury, if you will. The case therefore should have been thrown out.

But even though he was innocent all the way down the line and here he is a prisoner in Rome. It is not because he is guilty that he is a prisoner it is because the Romans were being blackmailed by the Jews.

In other words, if the Romans did not keep him in prison, if they did not prosecute him the Jews would lead an insurrection against Rome in Judea and that would be very bad. So the Roman governor succumbed to the pressure of the Jewish leaders and kept Paul a prisoner.

Now verse 1? takes us a little further into his introduction as he talks to the elders of the Jews, the chief ones. Talking about the Romans, "Who when they had examined me", the Romans examined him, repeat they examined him, Felix, Festus and Agrippa, "Who when they had examine me would have let me go because there was no cause of death in me." He establishes right at the very beginning that in the eyes of the Roman government he is innocent. What he is saying is ‑ This is a Jewish problem. The Jewish people have sent me here but in the eyes of the Roman law as I faced it there I am innocent. Through all that series of examinations in chapter 24 with Felix, in chapter 25 with Festus, in chapter 26 with Agrippa he was innocent. Why was he not freed? Verse 19; "But when the Jews spoke against it", or against me, "I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar." In other words, he says ‑ Even though I was innocent the Jews kept the pressure on me so much so that my only escape was to appeal to Caesar and have this thing transferred to Rome with the hope that I might get a fair trial. They recognized, you'll remember, that he wasn't going to get any justice in Judea because of the Jewish pressure and so he did what every Roman citizen had the right to do he appealed his case to Rome. And he was then transported to Rome where his case was to be heard and he felt, perhaps, that justice could be attained there.

Now having said all of this might be kind of a bad thing because he really lays the onus on the Jews and he may be just Xing himself out of any ministry so in order to kind of neutralize what he's just said he adds the bottom half of verse 1?; "Not that I had anything to accuse my nation of." Now notice, this is really a very important thin He hastens to show that his defense is only that. It is only a defense It is not offensive against the Jews. He's saying, ‑ I'm not condemning the Jews, I'm not attacking the Jews, I'm only defending myself. I have nothing against them, I'm not attacking back is what he's saying. He was no traitor to the natural cause of Judaism, he was a Jew in nationality and he was a Jew in interest, certainly he was a Jew in his special love for them. You'll notice that he says, ‑ I have nothing to accuse ‑m? nation of. What he's saying is ‑ I am the accused not the accuser.

I have no bitterness toward Israel, I draw no accusation against them I only defend myself. And you remember back on all five of the defenses that we have heard of Paul, Paul has leveled no accusations against them He has merely defended himself.

Verse 2O: "For this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you and speak with you because for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain." Now here he hits the real issue. The antagonism was based on this point. It was the issue of the hope of Israel that got him into all this trouble. Who is the hope of Israel? Who is the hope of every Jew? Messiah. The hope of Israel was the Messiah. And along with the Messiah came the resurrection. And for preaching that Jesus was the Messiah and that Jesus rose from the dead and provided a resurrection tn was the real issue that got him into trouble. For this reason am I in this chain, it is nothing that I have done against Israel, it is nothing for which Rome can convict me it is simply because I have proclaimed tha Jesus is the hope of Israel, He is the Messiah and He provides a resurrection.

Now to see what the hope of Israel refers to I want you to come back to chapter 23 for a minute and let me just show you a couple of things. 23:6; "But when Paul perceived that the one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees", and this, of course, was when he was before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, "he cried out in the council, Men and brethren I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee", now watch, "of the hope even or also or and whichever, perhaps the best is even, of the hope even of the resurrection of the dead I am called in question." Now what was the hope of Israel here? Resurrection. Or perhaps he's saying of the hope and resurrection meaning the Messiah and the resurrection. But the point was this, the Jews knew that God had promised a Messiah and that that Messiah would bring a kingdom, and in order for the Jews that had already died to share in the kingdom there would have to be what? A resurrection. You go back into the old testament, for example, and you find this promise in Isaiah 2?:1?, "Thy dead men shall live together with my dead body shall they arise, awaken and sing ye that dwell in the dust for thy dew is like the dew of the herbs and the earth shall cast out the dead." An you see, this is all talking about the kingdom time, the Jews had the confidence from the words of Isaiah that there would be a resurrection in order for them to share the kingdom. So there was the hope of Israel that's the coming of Messiah and the resurrection so that they could enjoy his kingdom. Job 1?:26, "Though after my skin worms destroy this body, says Job, yet in my flesh shall I see God." In Daniel 12:2; "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt." And so there was the promise that there would be resurrection. That they would awake to share the kingdom. And the Jews hop+ was in the coming of Messiah and the resurrection. In Acts 24:1? we find it again, Paul again speaking before Felix, "And have hope toward God", he says ‑ I have hope toward God, "which they themselves also allow", in other words, the Jews also have this hope, "that there shall be a resurrection of the dead." Now chapter 2? verse ?; "And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers." In other words, he talks about the hope again. What is the hope? Verse 7, "Unto which promise our 12 tribes earnestly serving God night and day, hope to come for which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused by the Jews", what is the hope?

"Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" The hope then is the Messiah and His resurrection.

And the provision of resurrection for Messiah's people. Read Ezekiel 37 sometime, verses 11 through verse 1? and you'll read about the hope of the resurrection of the dead that the Israelites had.

So Paul says, now back to chapter 2?, he says the reason that I am in chains is because I have been declaring that the Messiah has arrived He has risen from the dead and the resurrection has been provided for.

And I can imagine that when he said the things that he said in verse 2O when he said at the end, that the hope of Israel I am bound to this chain, he probably held the chain up and dangled it so they could see i He was very constantly talking about that chain he had on. He wrote the book of Ephesians, incidentally, at this very time when he was chained to this guy. And he says in Ephesians ?:2O, "I am an ambassador in chains In II Timothy 1:1?, I think it is,"the Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain."

Repeatedly then he refers to the chain that he has which bound him to the Roman guard and thus we know that all through the two year period he was indeed bound. So he introduces himself and he says I am not her because I have been convicted of anything by the Jews even though they pursued the issue and I have nothing against them. I'm not here because I have been convicted of anything by the Romans they would have let me go except for Jewish pressure. I have nothing against Israel, the only thing I have done is announce that the hope of Israel is come.

And thus the introduction.

Second point, is interest. They showed tremendous interest in what he said. What Paul prayed for, I'm sure, was a basic openness at least a hearing, a willing ear from these Jews to begin with and it came in verse 21, listen; "They said unto him, We neither received letter out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spoke any harm of thee." Isn't this amazing? You know, we haven't heard a word of bad things about you out of Judea but we desire to hear of thee, verse 22 to what thou thinkest. "For as concerning the sect", that is Christianity, "we know that everywhere it is spoken against." All we hear is bad about Christianity, go ahead and defend i Isn't it amazing that they had no word if this is the truth and let's assume that it is, that we have received neither letters nor information from a person who has come from Judea to indicate anything about you.

word on Paul. You say, ‑ How could this possibly be? Remember this, Paul's ship was probably the last ship. Right? To come from Judea to Rome. Why? Because it left really later than it should have left. An by the time it got through all of the terrible storms and was smashed of Malta and everything, there wouldn't be Any other ships but that one ve likely. Why? Because when Paul was finally going to be sent to Rome it was only a matter of days before he grabbed the first ship and was of his way. So Paul would have been on the first ship to Rome from that area. There couldn't have been anybody getting there any sooner. And of course, then when they had to spend the winter he probably picked up the closest ship and would have been there again before any messenger could have come, that's very possible. But in addition to that I think it's important to remember too that the Jews were probably not real anxious to pursue the case to Rome because they didn't have a case. Rig And they were probably somewhat satisfied just to have him out of Judea and so they didn't bother to send anybody with any word about it. And the attitude of these Jews is very diplomatic. They deny any knowledge of his case, no one had come and told him these things and they were saying we're open to hear what it is that you have to say. The leaders of the Sanhedrin as I say, probably didn't bother to come they had been such miserable failures in front of the provincial rulers they weren't about to come across as a total flop in front of Caesar.

And, incidentally, I think an interesting thing to note is that the Roman government looked very, very harshly on somebody who prosecuted a case without strong evidence. And it would have been a very difficult thing to prosecute Paul who was a Roman citizen in the city of Rome especially when they didn't even have a case. And then to add to that a favorable information from Festus and Felix, there was no way they were going to come to Rome, there was no way they were going to make a stand against this man. So they say, ‑ We haven't heard anything. of you and we're interested in what you have to say about this sect that we hear everywhere spoken against. It has a bad reputation among us Jews. And I think they moderated that, I think they could have said which we despise and hate because they knew all about Christianity, believe that, folks. The church had already been established in Rome.

They were playing a little diplomacy here.

So all right, that leads us to the third section in our paragraph or .

really two paragraphs and that is the invitation. Having seen their openness and interest Paul, then, proceeds to give them a message and an invitation. He establishes a time for a great meeting, a day to make his presentation. All the Jewish leaders gather to hear him speak. And I think, it's kind of the fulfillment of Romans 1 where he said in verse 14, I am debtor to the Greeks and the barbarians to the wise and to the unwise, so much as in me is I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are at Rome also for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it i the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew what? To the Jew first, and also to the Gentiles. And so here he is fulfilling Romans 1 and preaching to the Jews. Verse 23; "And when they had appointed him a day", they set up a time when they would all come back to wherever he was, "there came many to him into his lodging", what ever this house was, "to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets", and you'll notice how long the meeting lasted, "from morning to evening." That's early in the day till sundown of the day.

Now I think this is kind of an exciting time. The Apostle Paul wanted to get a hearing and he got it with all the leadership. We can surmise what he said but it says here that he said he expounded and testified the kingdom of God. And that would be the general rule of God with all of its features. Then he would zero in the kingdom on to this, persuading them concerning whom? Jesus, that Jesus is the king in the kingdom, that He is the Messiah. And the persuasion that he used was Old Testament prophets out of the law and the prophets. Now this is Paul's pattern all through the book of Acts. He labors to prove the gospel of Jesus Christ is the true and necessary fulfillment of Israel's religion, of Old Testament history and the typology of Moses and Old Testament prophecy as it was spoken by the prophets. So he takes the Old Testament, the Jewish Scripture and interprets the coming, the death and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And I'm convinced too, that it was no+ just a sermon that it was a dialogue, that it was so much like his other things where he talked and interacted in response to their questioning.

So he declares the general truth, God's rule. Anytime you see the phrase the kingdom of God it's general meaning is the rule of God and it's extended to include the whole universe and all of God's plans and all of God's operations. And having then discussed the general rule of God he makes it specific as he zeroes in on Jesus as the Messiah. Now, in a sense, I think it's kind of a gracious thing that he talks to them about the kingdom. In the gospels, you'll remember, Jesus had offered them the kingdom. Jesus had told them the kingdom was theirs if they would accept the king. And Jesus authenticated the presentation of the kingdom by signs and wonders. That's exactly what the apostles did as well in the book of Acts. They represented the kingdom to Israel and again authenticated it by signs and wonders and miracles. The condition for the kingdom was the same, repent and faith in Jesus Christ.

Look at the response in verse 24; "And some believed the things tha were spoken and some believed not.." Now there you have the division tha always comes in the preaching of the gospel. Some believe and some believe not. And I think this reminds us again too that the response to the gospel of Jesus Christ is based upon a man's own faith. The way to chronicle what happened was simply to say whether they believed or didn't believe. Man is responsible for faith. Both are in the imperfect tense which means continuous progressive actions and some were in the process of continuing to believe, some were in the process of continuing to disbelieve. So some believed. And what an exciting time it must have been to see these Jewish people come to know their Messiah. To see ‑ three days he's been there, he sets up a meeting on that day. There is faith in Israel, tremendous.

And so they were divided in th