WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.520 All right. 00:00:00.520 --> 00:00:05.800 So we started the book of Acts just about a year ago. 00:00:06.440 --> 00:00:13.920 And if you're anything like me, you will need a refresher as to what the book of Acts 00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:17.680 has been all about, right? 00:00:17.720 --> 00:00:24.720 The book of Acts begins with a man named Luke, who begins writing Acts as 00:00:24.720 --> 00:00:32.040 a history to send to Theophilus, and this is a sequel to his first book 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:37.440 that is also in the New Testament. 00:00:37.680 --> 00:01:57.170 A hundred youth group points who knows what 00:02:26.050 --> 00:03:06.820 the book 00:03:31.340 --> 00:03:31.580 is. 00:06:22.440 --> 00:13:48.900 We do 00:15:07.270 --> 00:15:27.630 this randomly in 00:15:27.630 --> 00:15:55.590 youth group, but I 00:24:32.020 --> 00:27:10.590 don't think 00:32:30.400 --> 00:32:30.640 it's hard. 00:36:52.670 --> 00:37:11.870 I think most of 00:37:25.790 --> 00:37:26.310 you guys can probably guess it. 00:37:26.310 --> 00:37:35.870 It is the 00:37:35.870 --> 00:37:37.430 book of Luke, right? 00:37:37.430 --> 00:37:45.710 Luke is the 00:37:45.710 --> 00:37:46.710 story of Jesus. 00:37:46.710 --> 00:37:46.710 Acts is the story of the movement that he started continuing through his apostles and this continued chronicle of that. 00:37:46.710 --> 00:37:50.670 In Acts they're mostly referred to as the Way, but today we know it commonly as Christianity. 00:37:50.670 --> 00:37:50.670 And Acts focuses on the acts of the apostles and them carrying out the mission that they were entrusted with by Jesus. 00:37:50.670 --> 00:37:50.670 And we get a snapshot of this mission that Jesus gives his apostles in Acts 1:8, right before Jesus ascends into heaven. 00:37:50.670 --> 00:37:50.670 He gives the disciples this mission. 00:37:50.670 --> 00:37:51.510 He says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 What is their mission? 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 To be his witnesses. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 What Jesus said, what he did, what he commands, and what he promises to do. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 They are to go forth and bear witness to that. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 Who does Jesus command them to go to? 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 Well, first, their next door neighbors. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 They're in Jerusalem right now. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 They're all from Judea. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 So they can go to their neighbors and friends, as well as Samaria, which are the Jewish cousins. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 They're kind of rivals. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 They kind of don't like each other, but they're cousins, essentially. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 They're going to their next door neighbors and then also to even the remotest parts of the earth. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 This message of Jesus, this witnessing message, is for all nations and all peoples throughout the earth. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 And that scene seemingly is monumental and impossible for these disciples to do, but Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit to help them accomplish this goal. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 The book of Acts details for us all the ways in which the Holy Spirit works in the lives of the apostles to carry out this mission of bringing the gospel, advancing the kingdom of Christ to the world. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 And it's the story of less than a dozen people, a dozen Jews, discipling and going throughout the world and creating a mass movement of people that is made up of Jews and Gentiles throughout the Roman world and beyond. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 And the book of Acts also focuses on two apostles. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 The first 12 chapters of the book of Acts focuses on the Apostle Peter and his ministry to mostly Jewish people, and the last half of the book of Acts, chapters 13 through 28, focuses on Paul and his ministry to mostly Gentiles. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 Both Peter and Paul, as well as the whole church, faces a number of obstacles, trials, and different things that make it hard for them to bear witness to Christ. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:51.510 And in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul sums up what he has gone through during this period of Acts to bear the gospel to the world. 00:37:51.510 --> 00:37:52.990 In 2 Corinthians 11:24 through 28, it says this: five times I received from the Jews 39 lashes — and that's not eyelashes, that's like a whip, right — three times I was beaten with rods. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Once I was stoned. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Three times I was shipwrecked. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 A night and a day I spent in the deep. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I've been on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I've been in labor and hardship through many sleepless nights in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And apart from such things, there is a daily pressure on me of the concern for all the churches. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 This is what Paul went through, but also the church as a whole during this time period is facing very similar things, very similar threats and dangers. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And despite what Paul has endured, his greatest desire isn't for his comfort, safety, or security or to retire somewhere. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I mean, it would be pretty awesome to retire on a Greek beach. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And I'm sure if I was Paul, that's what I would be thinking about doing. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But instead, he focuses his entire strength and will on the health and growth of the church. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And it receives all his energy and devotion and time. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The book of Acts records his three missionary journeys throughout the Roman world, going through Asia Minor, what would be today Turkey, Greece and other places. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And we read some of the churches that he started as well as went back to and visited during these three missionary journeys, churches that you are probably familiar with, such as Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Philippi, because those are all letters that we have from Paul to those churches that he started in our scriptures. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And it's up for debate that in Acts 28 he is on his fourth missionary journey. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And why it's up for debate is that Paul isn't necessarily going on this missionary journey on his own accord. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 He is being forced by the Roman government because he appealed to Caesar, and he takes a voyage from Jerusalem to Rome in a very roundabout way because of all the things that happened to him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But even with all of that happening, Paul is still preaching the gospel and bearing witness to Christ the same as he has always done, just instead of people he chooses to, he does it with the people he's forced to spend time with, that being his prison guards, fellow prisoners, and the random strangers he meets along the way. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And as we have read or heard from Pastor Nathaniel for the past several weeks, Paul is relentless in his efforts to be a witness for Christ, no matter the circumstance and where he finds himself, which is a great example for us to have and to strive for. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And to be honest, if I were Paul, last week Paul got to Rome, which is where we'll continue from. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I would be like, okay, finally I can rest, right? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I've been on this crazy voyage where I almost died a few times. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Apart from that, before that, I was doing all these things where I didn't get any rest. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I was constantly in danger. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Now I'm where I'm supposed to go. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I have a prison guard watching over me, so at least I'm not in danger of people coming in and taking me out. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Now I can finally get some rest. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Maybe I can talk to an attorney or a lawyer who knows Roman law well, so I can present my case towards Caesar and make sure that I'm good and not condemned. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But that's not really what Paul does. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 We see what Paul does in Acts 28:17. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 It says this: after three days, Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And when they had come together, he began saying to them, brethren, though I had 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. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me, because there was no ground for putting me to death. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Not that I had any accusation against my nation. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, for I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They said to him, we have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But we desire to hear from you and what your views are, for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The question is, why is Paul so interested in talking with them? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Well, as we have gone through the book of Acts, you might have noticed a pattern of Paul's: wherever he went, he would first go to the synagogue, right? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 He would go to the synagogue where the Jews are, and he would begin to explain from scriptures that Jesus is the Messiah, the long awaited one, the anointed one of Israel that they had been waiting on all this time. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And he does so from looking at the law and the prophets, their scriptures, and explaining that to them. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And the problem in Rome, as well as his problem right now, is that he is not free to go anywhere. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And so essentially what he does, and effectively what he does, is instead of go to the synagogue, he gets the synagogue to come to him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But his task will be hard because, as admittedly so, their view of Christianity, their view of what Paul is preaching, is already obscured. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Because what it says in verse 22: we desire to hear from you what your views are, for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Essentially, we've heard about this and everybody we've talked to says it's terrible, it's awful. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And it doesn't sound like a lot of good press has reached the Jewish community in Rome. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They've only heard negative things. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But fortunately for Paul, as well as the church of Rome, the leaders there are open minded and curious to what Paul will say. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And so they say, let's hear you out. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Continuing on into Acts 28:23, it says this: when they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers, and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 What Paul does is what he's always done, even when he is in prison. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 He opens up the scripture, and he begins to explain to them that the law and the prophets were fulfilled in Jesus, and they point to him as the Messiah, and that the Messiah had to die, be buried, and rise again. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And now he offers peace and life and relationship and life with God by grace, through faith, not through works of the law, to all who believe in him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And now, as a reader of Scripture reading this passage, the thing that jumps out to me is, Paul, what scriptures did you cite? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 What were you explaining? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 What did you go through? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Can we have verse references for this? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Of course, they didn't have verse references back then, but that's another matter. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 All we can do is speculate as to what Paul brought up. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Paul might have brought up Genesis 3:15, where God promises, right after Adam and Eve sinned, that there would be one born of a woman whose the serpent would bruise his heel, but he would crush the serpent's head. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And Christ was the only one truly just born of a woman, right? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Not only that, but his heel was bruised. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 He was mortally wounded, but it did not kill him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 He rose again, and by dying and rising again, he crushed the power, the head of the serpent, by conquering sin and death. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Or maybe he brought up the story of Abraham, where Abraham was called by God to go to Mount Moriah and sacrifice his one and only son. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And as Abraham goes and attempts to do this, the angel of the Lord stops him right at the moment he's about to do that. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And the Lord provides a ram as a temporary sacrifice instead of his one and only son, only for God to thousands of years later send his own one and only son to die in the place of not just Abraham and Isaac's sins, but all of our sins. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The number of stories that paint a picture, that illustrate, that foreshadow and allude to who Jesus is going to be and what he has to do, is really almost beyond numbering in the Old Testament. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Whether it is the stories that I referenced, or Isaiah, or Psalms, the Exodus story, or the sacrificial system in the law, they all point to who Jesus is. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And the reality is that Paul probably talked about these and talked about much more, because as it says in verse 23, he talked to them, preached to them from morning until evening. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 So I want you guys to remember that the next time you yawn in here and want to close your eyes — remember that we only have an hour and I'm not going from morning until evening — and be grateful for that fact. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 So how did they respond to Paul opening up scriptures and showing them that Jesus is the Messiah? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Acts 28:24 gives us their response. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 It says: some were persuaded by these things spoken, but others would not believe. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Now, out of everyone in the New Testament, I think Paul would be the least shocked about people rejecting Jesus, because Paul was in that same boat just a few years ago. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Paul not only just rejected Jesus, but he made it his life's mission to end the followers of Jesus, being there at the first martyr of Stephen, holding the coats that we see in Acts chapter 7, as well as actively going and trying to arrest Christ's followers in Damascus, where he has his experience where he sees the risen Christ and gives his life to Jesus. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Out of everyone, he would understand why people, and specifically Jewish people, are resistant to believe that Jesus is the Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And he explains why in Romans 10:1 through 4. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 It says this: brethren, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation — and he is talking about the Jewish people here, you know that by reading chapter 9 — as well as verse 2: for I testify about them, that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Seeking to establish their own righteousness instead of subjecting themselves to the righteousness of God. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Maybe this is best illustrated with the idea of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The Pharisees and the Sadducees knew the scriptures better than just about anybody who has ever lived. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They had the Torah as well as other books of the Bible just completely memorized from front to back. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They could just say it, spit it out verbatim. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I struggle with verses, but they have entire books memorized. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And not only that, but they lived during the time of Jesus, saw Jesus perform miracle after miracle, fulfilled the prophecies that were in the Old Testament. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And they heard his teaching, and they saw all these things being fulfilled in their own time. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And if anyone should have recognized who the Messiah was, it should have been them. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But that's talking about it in a purely factual and intellectual way. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They knew the most. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They saw Jesus do what the scriptures talked about, but they still rejected Jesus and conspired to kill him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Why? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Well, they did so not out of ignorance, but out of arrogance. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The Bible talks about them being jealous of what Jesus was doing. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Jesus told them to repent and believe in him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And they needed that. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They needed to be born again. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Jesus, talking to Nicodemus in John 3, who is a Pharisee, says, you need to be born again. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The Pharisees thought that they were in a class above the sinners, and Jesus told them as well as the sinners plainly that their own righteousness, their keeping of the law, their morality, their devotion to God, their religion and fervor and keeping it, wouldn't save them, that they were indeed whitewashed tombs, and that only he was the way, the truth, and the life, the resurrection, offering eternal life to all who would believe. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But for them to believe that Jesus is the Messiah would mean that they are not their own Messiah. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 To trust in Jesus, they would be making him big and themselves small. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 To repent and believe in Christ is to admit that you are a sinner in need of a Savior, and that you are wholly inadequate and desperate for a radical transformation, and that your work, your way, and your own goodness is not enough. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And that was a bridge too far for them. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And of course, this isn't exclusive to just Jewish people at all by any means, because for everyone and anyone to believe in Jesus is to surrender that messiahship, that lordship over our own lives, and give it to Christ, trusting in his way and in his purposes. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And it wasn't out of a lack of knowledge that the religious leaders rejected Jesus or the Jews in the synagogue. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 It was because of their pride, ego, and self-righteousness. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And that's what Paul will say in the next couple of verses. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And that's what Romans 10:1 through 4 is describing to us, because our hearts and the desire to be master over them, to decide what good and evil is, to believe that we are the exception to the rule or better, is a much bigger obstacle to faith in Jesus Christ than intellectual assent. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Which is why James, in his book, James 4:6, as well as repeated throughout scripture in many different ways, says this: God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Continuing in Acts 28:25, it says this: and when they did not agree with one another, they began leaving. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 After Paul had spoken one parting word, the Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, go to this people and say, you will keep on hearing, but will not understand, and you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For the heart of this people has become dull, and with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and return. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And I would heal them. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They will also listen. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 When he had spoken these words, the Jews departed, having a great dispute amongst themselves. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Now, some versions don't have verse 29. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I wish I had a reason for that, but I don't. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 That is some extra homework today. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 You can get some extra credit by looking up why that is left out of the ESV, for all those who are interested in that. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But what Paul does is give the people their scripture to chew on. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And quite clearly there is a lot of spirited debate amongst them about what Paul has just shared, because it is a revolutionary idea that the Messiah that they have been waiting for has already come, and they're debating on whether he is right or whether he is wrong, and whether Jesus is who he says he is and who Paul says he is. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And this new information is uncomfortable, causing division and strife amongst them. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And the reality is, guys, it isn't just uncomfortable and divisive amongst them, but it's also for us. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Why? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Because these verses demonstrate the reality that not everyone who hears the gospel will believe. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Matthew 10:34 through 39 — perhaps one of the most difficult things to wrestle with that Jesus taught. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 He says this: do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 A man's enemies will be the members of his own household. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Whoever finds their life will lose it. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 As a father of a young son, as the kids say, this verse hits different, right? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Thanks for laughing. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I can't think of anything more terrifying than the fact that I cannot decide whether my son believes in Jesus or not. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And I'm certain that with this crowd, I'm not the only one who fears that. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I'm also sure that all of us have friends or family that are unbelieving. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And just as there was tension back in Acts, there is tension now in our own lives, strife because of that division. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 So what are we to do? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Are we to force everyone to believe by the point of the sword and say, if you don't, we're going to punish you? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Or do we retreat and create a commune with just Christians? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 No. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Just to clarify, both of those are not the answer. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Both of those have been tried in history and both are not the answer. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And Paul gives us it. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Jesus gives it. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Paul demonstrates for us what it means to be a follower of Jesus, as someone who keeps sharing the word, keeps witnessing to Christ everywhere he goes, whether in word or deed, as someone who follows Christ sincerely and genuinely and loves others just as Christ loves him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Above all that, Paul's faith is firmly planted in Christ, knowing that it is Christ alone that saves, that he is faithful to do so, and that Christ ultimately loves the people that Paul is ministering to even more than Paul himself. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Paul's job is to just share Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 We see this understanding in Paul's letters to his protege Timothy. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 We're going to read some in 1 and 2 Timothy. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 2 Timothy 4:2 says this: preach the word, be ready in season and out of season. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I think that's Paul writing to his protege, his fellow pastor, who is now taking over a church. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But those are great verses for parents as well, right? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 With great patience and instruction. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 1 Timothy 2:3 through 4 shows us the heart of God. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 It says: this is good and acceptable in the sight of our God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 God so loved the world. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 2 Timothy 1:12 says this: for this reason I also suffer these things. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Our faith in Christ as believers should not just be limited to ourselves, but also to the ones we love. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And I'm going to be honest with you guys, that's going to be harder. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But what we know through reading scriptures is that the Lord is good, that he is faithful, that he loves, and that we can trust him. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 It is only him that saves. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 We cannot do that. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 We cannot force people to believe. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But he is good. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And that doesn't absolve us from the responsibility of bearing witness for Christ and to Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But what it does mean is that the result is in his hands, and it is much better that way. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Now for the final verses in the book of Acts, Acts 28:30 through 31, which says this: and he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Yeah, that's the end of the book of Acts. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Anyone else feel a little disappointed by the ending? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 I mean, it's great. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Paul is doing what we just talked about. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 He is continuing to preach the word in and out of season, whether he's imprisoned or not. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And he will be a faithful minister to Christ in this time, writing books such as Philippians and Philemon and more. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But it's not really an ending. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 There is no resolution, no conclusion, no end of a character arc for either Peter or Paul. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And maybe that's the point. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Acts really doesn't have an ending because the story of Acts is the story of the church. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The story of what Jesus started in the book of Luke and transitioned to in the book of Acts. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And the body of Christ is still alive even till this day. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And these early chapters of church history are critical because they are the foundation of what has been laid and what we are to follow. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And it's where we come from and what we are doing now. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Ephesians 2:12 says this: remember that you were at the time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope without God in the world. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were formerly far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Who is in the body of Christ, who is a part of the church? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Those who are brought near by the blood of Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Verse 19: so then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole building being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the spirit. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 The story of the church, the story of the body of Christ, doesn't end in Acts chapter 28 because it is still being written today with each one of us here worshiping, celebrating, and learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who has reconciled us by his own blood so that no matter what language we speak, what ethnicity we belong to, or what family we were born into, we now have a family and are a part of this story as the body of Christ, the church. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And how do we become a part of that church? 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 By believing in Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 By believing in Christ, we receive Christ's righteousness. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 His blood covers us by trusting in him for salvation, laying aside our pride, our ego, our self-righteousness, and our claims of being Messiah and clinging to Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Paul and Peter, the two main characters of Acts, as well as the main apostles that set the foundation for the church of which Jesus started and is the chief cornerstone, are in complete agreement about this, even though they've had their disagreements in the past. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 They agree through the Holy Spirit. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 Paul wrote Ephesians, and through the Holy Spirit, first Peter, Peter writes this in 1 Peter 2:4 through 10. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 It says this: in coming to him, that being Christ, as to a living stone, which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For this is contained in Scripture: behold, I lay in Zion a choice stone, a precious cornerstone. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 And he who believes in him will not be disappointed. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 This precious value, then, is for you who believe. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But for those who disbelieve, the stone which the builders rejected, this became the very cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who have called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:52.990 For once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. 00:37:52.990 --> 00:37:54.070 You had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.