and we just have a couple of
verses now to read together. So Acts chapter 28 and verse
30 and 31. Paul is in Rome and we're told
that he 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. I purposefully left ourselves
with these two closing verses from the Book of Acts so that
we could take the opportunity to tie together the whole story
in a very short summary and that's what I mean to do today. and what a story it is. If you
have been following with us over the weeks and months since we
began our little studies in the book of Acts, you'll know something
of this story. From the early days of the apostles
in Jerusalem, and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. We've charted and we've mapped,
literally using some maps as well from time to time, just
over 30 years of apostolic labours. We've met some fine men and women
on our journey through these chapters. People like Stephen,
a particular favourite of mine, and Barnabas, Dorcas and Lydia,
Silas and Apollos and Timothy, Aquila and Priscilla, men and
women upon whom God the Holy Spirit was pleased to bless with
salvation and with a sense of purpose in the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ in those earliest days of the church. And we've
also met troublers of the church, like Ananias and Sapphira, and
like Simon Magus, whose deceitfulness and whose presumptuousness were
lessons to us all of how God's judgment can fall upon the wicked. But mostly, you will agree perhaps
with me, that Luke, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles,
has followed the life and ministry of the Apostle Paul. From his
early days as Saul of Tarsus, when we first met him, persecuting
the church to his conversion and his commission as a servant
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and then his extensive ministry We
have followed him as he went to Antioch with Barnabas in order
to help the embryonic church there. And when that church grew
and was thriving, how that he left there with Barnabas and
went on three successive missionary journeys with different people
at different times, going to different places. And we saw
his successes and his disappointments along the way and we've seen
how he was imprisoned, how the Jews kept on attacking him and
how he was kept for years after these missionary journeys were
completed before being transported to Rome for trial and all the
excitement of the shipwreck that he encountered on the way. We have seen how the Gospel was
welcomed by some and rejected by others. How the Lord opened
the hearts of some and passed by others, leaving them in their
sin. We've seen how grace changed
people's lives and set them free from false religion and superstition. We've seen Jews converted and
Gentiles converted, and we've seen the way in which the Gospel
makes all men and women equal before God, how it renders all
to be sinners and shows the Lord Jesus Christ as the only way
of salvation. And now we have come to the end
of our story. Except it's not the end, is it? It's merely the end of the beginning. Because from these early days
of the Acts of the Apostles, these 30 years following the
death and resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, we
know that the Gospel spread out. When the Lord Jesus Christ told
his disciples, the Apostles, to go into all the world and
preach the Gospel, these men were faithful to their calling.
and that spread all around the world of the Gospel of Christ
still continues to this day. It's why you and I are here today
worshipping God together. The preaching and the ministry
of the Apostles of Jesus Christ is still loved and valued and
honoured all these centuries later. Let me just point out
two interesting things from these final verses that I want to leave
with you, and then a little postscript as we bring these studies in
Acts to their end. The first point I want you to
notice is that we're told here that Paul spent two years in
Rome awaiting his trial. Now, he had already spent quite
a lot of time in prison in different places. He had been in prison
in Caesarea. He had been there for several
years before being transported to Rome. And then he spent another
two years in Rome waiting trial, having appealed to Caesar. But
during that time, these verses tell us that Paul received all
that came in unto him. You see, Paul was now in chains. He literally, it seems, was chained
to a Roman guard. So while he was in his own house,
he was under house arrest. So he could not leave, but people
came to him. Paul could no longer go out,
so the Lord brought people to him, Jews and Gentiles. nobles and slaves, the educated
people of Rome, the common people of Rome, rich and poor, for the
gospel is for all who will hear. And that's the point that I simply
want to leave with you. Here we see the Apostle Paul
receiving all who came in unto him. And that gives us a lovely
little glimpse of the way in which the Gospel is to be set
before all men and women, no matter what kind of people they
are, no matter what their station or status in life, no matter
their needs or their well-being, we preach the gospel to all men
and women, and the Lord brings those whom he will to that place
of believing. Some believed and some did not,
but the message goes out to everyone. The second point I want to leave
with you is this. that on all the years, over all
the years of Paul's ministry, his message did not change. When Paul was first converted,
way back in Acts chapter 9, we read about the conversion of
the apostle Paul, or Saul of Tarsus, as he was then. We read
about that conversion on numerous occasions through the Acts of
the Apostles, but in chapter 9, verse 20, we're told this. And straightway he preached Christ
in the synagogues, that he is the Son of God. And now look
at our verse again today. Here is Paul once again. And what are we told? That he
received all that came unto him. And what did he do when these
people came to him? he preached the kingdom of God
and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ
with all confidence. You see, his message did not
change. From first to last, the Apostle
Paul was faithful to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that, again, is something for us to note and remember. The
gospel is for all men and women. It is to be preached and declared
to all who will listen. And we are to be faithful to
that gospel that we preach. Faithful to the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful to the gospel of sovereign
grace. And that is a fine epitaph for
any preacher. We can say of Paul, faithful
to the end. And may all true gospel preachers
desire no more, no less than to be found faithful to their
calling and the message of salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. I have
a little postscript that I want just to leave with you as we
wrap up our studies. The Apostle Paul was here in
Rome for two years awaiting trial and he put his time in captivity
to good use and he received people who came and preached to them
but he also used his time to write letters to his friends
and to many of the churches that he had previously visited. It
seems indeed that the epistles to Philemon and the Philippians,
Colossians and Ephesians were written at this time and perhaps
to the epistles to the Hebrews, Titus and Timothy. So the Apostle
Paul was very busy. He used his time here in Rome
wisely. Now it is thought that the Apostle
Paul was killed in Rome. We're not told that at the end
of Luke's letter. Luke brings his letter to a conclusion
before we know the outcome of this trial and these two years
that Paul was in house arrest awaiting trial at Caesar's court. it is thought that the great
apostle, the apostle Paul was killed in Rome. What is not clear
as well is if it was at this time that he was killed because
some people think that he did go to court and that he was acquitted
and released and he spent several more years in missionary work,
perhaps visiting some of those places that he had previously
said he wanted to go to, perhaps in Italy, perhaps in France,
perhaps in Spain. before returning once again to
Rome and then being martyred after that period of ministry. We don't know. The people who
say that that might be the case endeavour to draw one or two
little facts and insights and indications from the later epistles
of the apostle to some of these churches that I've just mentioned. But either way, either way, whether
this was the occasion of Paul's death or if he did have a fourth
missionary journey before being martyred, we know that Paul today
is in heaven with his Saviour. He is with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ whom he
once persecuted, he now praises. And I hope that with me, you
can look forward to meeting the Apostle Paul and his Lord someday
in heaven and being able to join him there and share together
in the worship of our precious Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.