Let us turn this morning in our bibles to Acts chapter 28. In this chapter 28 of Acts, we read about the last part of the journey of the Apostle Paul as a prisoner being taken or being brought rather from Caesarea to the city of Rome. And we see named here in the first part of this chapter different places where they stopped.

In verse 1, we have Malta. It's spelled a little different here. It's spelled with an E. But we read, and when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Malta. And then shipwrecked on this island. They spent several days there. Then when the wind was such that they could leave and there was a ship there, they sailed on to Italy. And you notice in verse 12, they came to a city named Syracuse, which is on the island of Sicily. And then in verse 13, from Vence, they came to a town here named Regium, and that's on that part of Italy that's referred to as the boot. the boot of Italy, and then they sailed further up the coast there to a city, Futeoli, which is a seaport, and they found brethren there. The gospel had already come to this city, and the Lord had saved some people, and they stayed there seven days, and then the last part of their journey, they made by land. They went to Rome from this port city. That was a journey of about 170 miles. And on two places at Happy Forum, we read in verse 15, which some would say was about 50 miles from Rome, that some of the brethren from the church at Rome came out to meet Paul those who traveled with him. And then another place there named Three Taverns, which was about 30 miles from Rome.

What a lesson. You know, just reading the history of this journey, what a lesson it's for us here because you notice there in verse 15, we read, and where we found brethren and were desired to tarry with them seven days, and so we went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as the happy quarrel and the three taverns. Here's the thing I wanted us to see, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage. He thanked God. In other words, Christian fellowship. These brothers and sisters, I assume, also came from Rome and met Paul. He was a prisoner being taken to Rome, and they came out and met him, and no doubt they worshiped, they prayed together, maybe sang hymns together, and Paul shared the gospel with them, I'm sure, and yet we read that Paul thanked God, and he took courage.

And I thank God this morning that we have a church family, that the Lord has raised up a church here where we have Christian fellowship. It'd be very difficult, wouldn't it, to be living on an island by yourself, being a believer, a child of God, and being in a place where there was no one you could fellowship with, no one you could pray with, no one you could meet together with. What a blessing it is, and how we should always be mindful and thank God for each other. God has raised up a church that we are part of. What a blessing. And it's important for sheep especially. Of all the animals that there are, God chose sheep to picture the believers. And sheep, they are an animal that flock together. They need a shepherd. And so we thank God for the Christian fellowship that we have.

And also it says he took courage. It's hard to think of the Apostle Paul in any other way as a man of great courage. We know that he spoke and confessed Christ and preached Christ everywhere he went with such boldness and such authority and many times he was beaten. Beaten with rods, he was beaten with stones, or stone rather, left for dead, dragged out of one city thinking he was dead, and the Lord raised him up. He was a man of great courage, and yet it says he took courage. And we encourage one another. We need to encourage one another. Because we live in a world where there's much discouragement. And as believers, we're not exempt from discouragement in this world. Things happen to us just like things happen to those that are not believers. Now we know the things that happen to us are all part of God's plan for us and happen according to his wisdom and love. But still, we need to to be encouraging one another, thanking God for one another. And I thank the Lord for each one of you, each one in this church family here.

Then we come down when Paul came to Rome. It'd been four or five years, the best I could determine. It's been four or five years since he wrote the letter of Romans, the letter in our Bible, the letter of Romans. He wrote that, I believe, from Corinth. It's been four or five years now since he had written that letter, and in that letter he had stated, so as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. And I would remind us of this also as we begin to look at what is recorded here. In that letter of Romans, Paul made this statement. My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. Now you know sometimes when that is, the Church of God. But Paul's kinsman, he was a Jew by nationality, and his concern, his desire, his heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. And he tells us in the next chapter there, Romans chapter 10, they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.

And so, as Paul comes here to Rome, in God's providence, he's brought there as a prisoner. He's got a chain. We read that, if you will, in verse 20. When he is speaking, he said, for this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you and to speak with you because that for the Now, when they came to Rome, many believed the Roman centurion who was in charge of delivering Paul to Rome maybe had been saved along the way, hearing the gospel, that God had had mercy upon him and he had been saved. Whether that's so or not, we do not know, but he delivered all the prisoners to the captain of the guard there in Rome, except for Paul. And Paul was still a prisoner, and he speaks about the chain when he wrote this letter that was on his arm. He was chained to a Roman soldier. But he lived in his own hired house. He was a prisoner, home prisoner, I guess you would say.

And as you read through the Book of Acts, I know you've seen this. It's been called to your attention. that Paul's usual way when he would go into a new city, he would go first to a synagogue. If there was a synagogue in that town, that's where he would go, and he would preach the gospel to them first in the synagogue. But now he's come to Rome, and he's a homebound prisoner, so to speak. He can't go to the synagogue. I'm sure there probably was one there in Rome. But what he does, he calls for the leaders of the nation of Israel there in Rome to come to him. And that's what we read here, if you will, in verse 20. For this cause, therefore, have I called for you. He called for the leaders to see you and to speak with you because for the hope of Israel.

Now what was the hope of Israel? It's a gospel, it was Christ, it was the Messiah. Remember when the Lord Jesus was just a baby, I think six weeks of age, Mary and Joseph took him to the temple and that old man by the name of Simeon there, waiting what? What was he waiting for? For the consolation, the hope of Israel. And the truth is the Lord Jesus Christ is the only hope for this world. He's the only hope that this world has. He's the only hope that you have. He's the only hope that I have. There is no other hope of salvation, of being reconciled to God, apart from Jesus Christ. He said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life, and no man cometh unto the Father but by me.

Paul told these leaders, he said, I'm chained here, yes, but I haven't done anything against my nation. Notice that. For this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you and to speak with you, because that for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain. And they said unto him, We neither receive letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee, but we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest.

For as concerning this sect, and that's what Christianity was referred to or called by the Jewish people, this sect, and the Romans looked at it like that too, it's just a sect of Judaism Concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. How about that? At that time, everywhere where there were believers, where the gospel was preached, it was spoken against. The natural man has never loved to hear the gospel. Never will. Why? because the gospel addresses men as we are, not as we like to think we are. We all like to think we're pretty good fellows, and maybe we are compared to others, but that's not the point. The comparison is of a holy God, a thrice holy God, and what he demands and expects. And we don't come up so, So good when compared with the Lord Jesus Christ who loved God with all his heart, all his soul, and all his being, and that's what the law commands.

Yes, the gospel has always been spoken against. Believers have always been spoken against. You know, many places in the world today, God's people are suffering persecution from the civil authorities. And the best citizens, the best citizens that any country could ever have are believers, are God's children. What do we do? We pray for our leaders, don't we? Yes. We know that all power is ordained of God. And as long as the civil authority doesn't command us to do something against them, Very far, yes. But in God's providence, here's the Apostle Paul, after he had said several years before, I'm ready to preach in Rome. I don't think he ever could have imagined that he would come to Rome as a prisoner. But he calls for these people, the Jews, as I said, he always spoke to the Jews first, preached the gospel to them first, And they said, we desire to hear of thee, notice verse 23, and when they had appointed him a day, and here's my text, these next two verses.

There came many to him and to his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening. Some believed, the things which were spoken and some believed not.

Let's look at these two things. First of all, Paul expounded, testified, persuaded concerning Jesus out of the Scriptures. Now there was never a question what he would preach. There was a question. He didn't have to think, well, what will I preach to these people at Rome? You know, they're a little more educated than these people out here in these cities where I've been preaching. Well, no, no. He's going to preach Jesus. Amen. And he's going to preach from the word of God. He's not going to take his text from philosophy, from philosophers, from the Reader's Digest, you know, a lot of places, men today who call themselves preachers, they get their messages from. No, he's going to preach from the Bible, from the word of God.

This is a faithful saying he wrote to Timothy, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am sheathed. Yes, the gospel, the word of God is a faithful saying. It's all faithful because it's a word of a faithful God. Faithful God.

Well, let's think about these three things and see if there's any difference between expounding and testifying and persuading. First of all, to expound means that he proclaimed or he said before them the Lord Jesus out of the Old Testament. The Lord Jesus did the very same thing after his resurrection to his disciples in Luke chapter 24. He showed them how that in Moses and in the Psalms and in the prophets, the word of God spoke of Christ. It spoke of him. And I've often said this when preaching from the Old Testament, and I love to preach from the Old Testament. But I've often said this, I'm not here trying to give a history lesson. You know, we've got a lot of history in the Old Testament, don't we? But that's not my purpose. My purpose is that we see Christ. We see Him, because if we miss Him, I don't care if we're preaching out of Genesis, or Exodus, or Deuteronomy, or the Psalms, or Ezekiel, or Isaiah, wherever, we want to see Christ, because He, the Scriptures, where He said, the Scriptures speak of me. Search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have life, but they are they which testify of me. This is what he said, and you will not come to me that you might have lied.

Paul proclaimed he wasn't trying to explain. That's not the purpose of a preacher, try to explain everything. Well, where did, where did, who was it? King, where did he get his wife? What difference does that make? When you stand before God, And you need a substitute? You need someone to answer for you? You need someone to wash away your sins? What difference is it going to make where Cain found his wife? People like to ask all these foolish questions. Paul warned about those things. Paul preached He expounded, he wasn't trying to explain everything out of the word of God.

And in 2 Corinthians, he tells the church there how he operated when he first came to Corinth. Now Corinth was on that isthmus, it was a very wealthy town, a trade that went from one sea to the other sea. They built that over land so they didn't have to go around. It was a very wealthy town, but it was a very corrupt, it was a very wicked town. But this is what Paul said, when I came to Corinth, I determined, and a preacher has to determine this so easy to get sidetracked, to deal with the issues of the day. to get involved in politics, the Republic, or the Democrats. It's so easy for a preacher to get sidetracked. Paul said, I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now when you break that down, what are you saying? I determined to preach Jesus Christ. Jesus, and that's what we read here in our text this morning. Verse 24. When they had appointed him a day, there came many to him and to his lodging, to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus,

Jesus. That's the title that was given to him as a man when he was born. It means Jehovah saves. The angel told Joseph, Mary's husband, this is what you're going to name Mary's baby. People worship Mary. Listen, she didn't even have the right to name her baby. And they're expecting Mary is going to do something to help them, to save them. Mary rejoiced in God, her Savior. That's what the scripture says. But the angel told Joseph, you name that baby Jesus. And here's the reason why. For he shall save his people from their sins.

And did you know before you were ever conceived, before your parents even ever knew each other, that in eternity past, God already knew your name. He did. Let me tell you something else. If you're one of his children, he wrote your name down in the Lamb's Book of Life, from before the foundation of the world. Yeah.

He preached unto them, Jesus Christ, told about his person. Who is he? The preacher said, believe on Jesus, believe on Jesus, believe on Jesus. Absolutely, but which Jesus? Which Jesus? Are you talking about some Jesus that is a figment of man's imagination? That he, man has just imagined Jesus as he would like for him to be. Are you talking about that Jesus is revealed in the word of God, who is God manifest in the flesh, who does his will in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth? Is it Jesus that you tell people to believe in? Is he the one that God Almighty said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well delighted? Is that the Jesus? Yes. And him crucified? Yes. Crucified.

Now, Paul did this all from the Old Testament. He didn't have the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, or any of the epistles. All he had was the Old Testament. That's all he needed. 39 books there. And I cannot help but wonder that if he didn't take them, first of all, to Genesis chapter three. Let's begin in the beginning. That's what the word Genesis means, beginning. Well, there he is, chapter three, just as soon as man sinned, just as soon as he disobeyed God and as our representative, he caused all of us also to be born sinners. And yet there is the Lord Jesus coming in the cool of the day. Adam, Adam, where art thou? Who was that? That was the Lord. That was the Lord Jesus there. And then he told Satan, he said, listen, the seed of the woman is going to bruise your head. It's going to destroy you. The Lord Jesus in 1 John the Apostle tells us he came into this world to destroy the works of the devil. And he did.

And then, where do you think he went? Maybe he went to Isaiah chapter 9. For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. How is that? A child born, a son given. How is that? Because he's the son of God who was born of a virgin. Yes, he's a man. He had to be a kinsman. He had to have a body that he might bleed and die. God cannot bleed, but yet man cannot satisfy. He had to be the God-man. Under us a child is born, under us a son is given, and the government He said, government of what? Of all things. The government of this world. Yes, his church, but of the world also. The government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name, his name, his name, shall be called Wonderful. Is that what you call it? Wonderful? Counselor, eyes of wisdom of God. Wonderful. Counselor. The mighty God. The everlasting Father. You say, well, how can he be the everlasting Father? He's the son of the Father. Because as a God-man, he has received those who were given unto him in that everlasting covenant of grace.

And from the Old Testament, Paul expounded not only his person, who he is, but his work, his saving work. Maybe he went to Daniel chapter nine and showed them the prophecy was that after three score and two weeks, after 70 weeks, and each one of those weeks represented seven years, Messiah would come, and he would be cut off. What? This Messiah that they've been promised from the very beginning, he's going to come at a certain time? Yes. And when he does come, he's going to be cut off. In other words, he's going to be slain. But at the same time that he's cut off, he's going to bring in an everlasting righteousness. Doesn't that thrill you? Doesn't that make your heart rejoice? That he brought in a righteousness that God accepts, and because God accepts, his righteousness imputed to us if we believe. And we are righteous in his sight.

Not only would he bring in an everlasting righteousness, but he would make an end of sin. he would pay the sin debt of his people. Maybe he went to Isaiah chapter 53 and said, look here. It wasn't divided into chapters and verses, I know that, but somewhere in the scroll he found that part where it is written that the Lord would cause the Lord would lay the iniquity of us all upon Him. Christ would be a sin bearer and He would take the sins of His chosen people and bear them, as Peter says, in His own body on the tree. The guilt of our sins He bore.

But then at the same time, he promised that Messiah, this one who would be cut off, this one upon whom God would lay the sins of his people, that he would prolong his days. Yes, he would die, but he wouldn't stay dead. He didn't stay dead, did he? He died, no doubt about it. That was the penalty for sin, the soul that sinned, it shall surely die. Yes, he died. But sin couldn't, death couldn't hold him, rather. Why? Because he's the prince of life. And on that third day, he came out of that grave. And when he did, if you're a child of God, I hope you see this and know this, when he came out of that grave, he left your sins there. They're gone. As far as God and His justice is concerned, your sins are gone. They left them there. All the sins of His people. And when He came out of that grave, you came out of that grave in Him. And when He ascended on high and sat down at the Father's right hand, so did you. That we are sitting with Him today in the heavens. Christ and his people.

Well, I see I've taken more time than I should have. He expounded, he didn't confound. Some preachers, I believe that's what they do, they confound the people. No, he expounded. But he testified too. What does that mean? I believe he showed them how all these tithes, maybe he took them and showed them how that brazen serpent that was lifted up there in the wilderness and all those who were bitten with those poisonous snakes, if they looked to that serpent of grass, they were immediately healed. That was just a picture of Christ being lifted up on the cross. Look and live. Look and believe. Maybe he took them to the various sacrifices and showed them, for instance, a sin offering, how it had to be burned outside the camp. Here you've got the camp of Israel, the tabernacle, and later the temple all in there. But this sin offering, because it pictured him bearing the sins of his people, It had to be burned outside the camp. It was no accident that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered outside the gate of Jerusalem. No, in fact, in Hebrews, the apostle wrote this about his death being outside, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

And do you know, maybe went over there to Psalm 22, and showed how the one who starts out in that psalm saying, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? That later in the psalm it shows, they pierced my hands and my feet. Well, the Jews, when they executed capital punishment, it wasn't by piercing someone's hands and their feet. It was by stoning them. This pictured how he would die.

And the Romans, they're the ones who invented crucifixion, the cruelest, some say the cruelest form of death that man has ever come up with, crucifixion. Yes, he testified. And then he persuaded. He wasn't just talking to hear himself talk. No, his desire, he persuaded men. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust in him. Don't leave that door. Don't go outside this building today. If you're not committed to the Lord Jesus Christ, do so now. Today is the day of salvation.

He said, well, I'll think about this. I'll give it some consideration. You may not have another day. When old Felix said, Paul, you almost out-persuaded me to be a Christian. Paul said, I wish that all of you that are listening to me were like me, except not having these chains. But you were not almost, but altogether persuaded. Yeah, he persuaded me.

Let me take just a few minutes, and I promise, just a few. Look at this second thing. The next verse. And some believe the things which were spoken, and some believe not. Some believe the gospel, and some believe not. They all listen to the same message. Many would say Paul was maybe the greatest other than the Lord Jesus Christ, the greatest preacher who ever lived. They all heard this great preacher. All heard the same message. All heard the same text. And if he had any illustrations, they all heard the same illustrations, but some believed and some believed not. That's always the case when the gospel is preached.

Paul says the gospel is a saver of life unto some and a saver of death. It makes me think of the verse, the question that Paul put to the Corinthians, who maketh thee to differ from another? And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? If you believe this morning, if you're like these, some of them believe, some of them didn't believe. If you're one who believes, who makes you to differ? Surely you're not going, well I was better than them. No, no, we're all sinners before God. There is no difference. What maketh thee to differ? Faith is a gift. For by grace it is saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Yes.

Paul, in Titus, wrote of the faith of God's elect. I want to give you three marks, and I'll be finished. Three marks of the faith of God's elect. Number one, the faith of God's elect causes a person to know his sinfulness, his emptiness, and his need. What about you? Do you know your sinfulness? Do you know how empty you are? Do you know your need? That's one of the marks of the faith of God's elect.

Number two, the faith of God's elect has God for its object, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but he looks especially Him especially. Our Lord told his disciples, you believe in God, believe also in me. And the last thing about the faith of God's elect, it centers in the cross of Christ. Because it sees there in the cross how it is. how the only way, the only way, a sinner can be saved. And that is through Christ dying in our state. That's not true. There is no salvation, folks. There isn't. If he didn't die in our place, then we're gonna die. And if he did die in our place, we're saved. Yeah, we're saved.

You know he died for sinners, didn't he? People say, well, I don't know if Christ died for me. Let me ask you this, are you a sinner? Are you a needy person? Are you an empty person? Oh, no, no, no. I take care of myself. I'm a self-saved, self-made man, you know. Yeah. I tell you, God saves sinners. He saves those who have no hope but in Him. If God's brought you to that place, rejoice. Rejoice.

We're going to sing a hymn.