I invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the book of Acts for the last time. Acts 28:17-31 will be our text together this morning. And I don't know if you remember when we began the book of Acts, but we began with a king ascending into heaven, up into the clouds. And maybe you remember the disciples asked him, Is now the time you're going to restore the kingdom? Is this it? And he went up into heaven. And the angel said, he's going to come down the same way. But before Jesus went up, he said in Acts 1:8, “you will be my witnesses.” And he said, you're going to be my witnesses in the city of Jerusalem, you're going to be my witnesses there in the country, making up Judea and Samaria, and you're going to be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. And we have now studied how that worked out. And how Luke regularly gave us updates. Like the word of the Lord, the word of God was like one of the characters in the book of Acts, and it was on the move, it was increasing, and prevailing mightily, and yeah, the word it filled the city of Jerusalem, the word, it spread throughout the country, even to the Gentiles. And then we went with Barnabas and Paul, from city to city, all over the known world. The gospel is preached, souls are saved, churches are built up.
And now we come to Paul in Rome, where he is a prisoner. And we come to this last picture that Luke wants to leave in our minds, you know. If you add up the Gospel of Luke, and the book of Acts, that means Luke wrote more of the New Testament than anyone else, just based on how many words you have in those two books. And this is the last image he wants to leave us all with. So out of respect for God's word, I'm going to ask if we would all stand for the public reading of Scripture. If you're watching this online, I invite you to stand with us. This is Acts 28:17-31. This is the end of the story of the church beginning. Please follow along as I read, let's give this our full and undivided attention.
“After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews, and when they had gathered, he said to them, ‘Brothers, 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. When they had examined me, they wished to set me at liberty, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But because the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to Caesar—though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason, therefore, I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is because of the hope of Israel that I am wearing this chain.’ And they said to him, ‘We have received no letters from Judea about you, and none of the brothers coming here has reported or spoken any evil about you. But we desire to hear from you what your views are, for with regard to this sect we know that everywhere it is spoken against.’ When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers. From morning till evening he expounded to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus both from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets. And some were convinced by what he said, but others disbelieved. And disagreeing among themselves, they departed after Paul had made one statement: “The Holy Spirit was right in saying to your fathers through Isaiah the prophet: ‘Go to this people, and say, “You will indeed hear but never understand, and you will indeed see but never perceive.” For this people's heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed; lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them.’ Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.” He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”
That's the reading of God's word. Please have your seat. And I’ve got to tell you when we start here in verse 17, and when it says this here, “After three days he called together the local leaders of the Jews.” Now I’ve got to tell you that just doesn't sit well with me. I have a hard time with that because we have been studying for a long time here together at the church how many different times the Jews have persecuted Paul. I mean, I understand Paul was one of the Jews, and he started out as a persecutor. But he met Jesus on the road. And he started preaching that gospel. And we have seen him get chased out of this city, chased out of that city, left for dead outside of this city. We've seen them mob him in the temple, tried to kill him falsely, accused him. They had a plot to ambush him, like the Jews have done so much evil against this man. And now we come to the last scene. He's in Rome where God promised he was going to get. Well, the promises come true. He made it, praise the Lord. And after three days of being in the city, what does he do? He says, hey, I want to talk to the Jews around here. I’ve got to tell you, I'm not sure that's what I would want to do when I got to Rome. And we know that some of us who've gone through this book together, when Paul went into a new city, where was the first place he went in that city, everybody? He went to the synagogue to go teach to the Jews. And he knew they'd be reading that Hebrew Bible. And whatever they were reading, he was going to start right there, and he was going to take them straight to Jesus. Do you realize how much trouble that caused this man, just doing that over and over and over? How angry it made the Jews, how they rose up against him time after time? And here he is a prisoner, literally wearing a chain in Rome. And the first thing, or three days into being there, which is not a long recovery time based on all that he's been through to get there. Within three days, he's like, Hey, I can't go to the synagogue because I got this chain. So can you let the Jews know I want to talk to them. Now, the picture that Acts ends with… if you look at verses 30 and 31… And if you pull out the handout there, you've got those two verses printed up there on your handout.
This is the image that we get left with at the end of the book of Acts. And maybe you're thinking well, I thought he was going to go talk to Cesar. Where's that story? I heard Paul died as a martyr. Where's that story? Well, that's not the picture that Luke wants to leave you with at the end of Acts. He doesn't want to see what happens with Caesar. He doesn't want to end with the future life and tell the full story all the way till the death of Paul. No, he wants you to see this, that Paul was under house arrest. And he welcomed everybody who came to him for two years. Verse 31, he was proclaiming to them the kingdom. He was teaching them about the Lord, and you want to know what he was doing? He was speaking freely; nothing was hindering him. No, to the very end, after all of the persecution, after all of the suffering, after all that the Jews had done against them, Yeah, he went down to preach. And that's what Luke wants you to know. And see if we're going to be honest here today with ourselves, with one another, and before God, one of the things that we don't like is we don't like being rejected. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Have you ever had somebody reject you before? Maybe they just rejected you as a friend, or in love, they rejected you. But maybe you've been rejected because you tried to present Jesus to someone, and you tried to share your faith with someone and that brought enmity between you, there was hostility that that arose, a tension came up, and they rejected you because of your faith. Let me ask you, Do you keep going back and still trying to preach Jesus? Because that's what this guy does. And that's the last picture that we're left with.
If you want to take notes, get this down for point number one: Don't let rejection keep you from reaching. Don't let rejection keep you from reaching. Here's Paul still reaching out to the Jews, even though they have rejected him to the point of trying to kill him on several occasions. He's still reaching out to them. That to me is inspiring for all of us who believe in the gospel. And we want to share the gospel with friends or with coworkers, with neighbors… have you done that? Have you shared the gospel with your extended family? Have you found that ruined a few Thanksgivings? Anybody ever been in one of those, right? To some of your neighbors? Now take a walk further away from your house on the other side of the street? Do some of your coworkers like go the other way when they're coming past where you work, right? And see there's a rejection that happens when you share the gospel, and a lot of us, when we find out the good news that all of our sins can be forgiven, and we can live forever with God and heaven, and we can have a brand-new abundant Eternal life in Jesus Christ. We get pretty pumped up about the gospel around here. We want to go share that gospel. And then what happens is we get rejected time and time again. And some of us, if we're going to be honest here today, we tone down our sharing of the good news, because we don't like to get rejected.
And you’ve got to see here in Acts 28, it's not how Paul went out. And I'll go back to verse 17, because after three days, he calls the Jews, and look what he even says to them. When he kind of like they haven't received any letters against him, no one's come ahead to make a case against him. Like they don't even know that the Jews in Jerusalem and Asia were so against him. They don't even know that here in Rome, but he wants to talk to them. He wants to say, Hey, I did nothing against the Jews. And if you study everything that Paul has said in the book of Acts, he's not gone after them in any way, even though they've come after him. Time and time again, he still identifies as one of them. He still prays for them and wants them to be saved. Like he has not retaliated in any way against the Jews, even though they've treated him like an enemy. He has shown them love and he says, I've done nothing yet. I was delivered as a prisoner. like Paul has now been in prison for years because of the Jews rising up against him. In fact, he says in verse 18 that the Romans were ready to set him free. The Romans knew he had done nothing deserving of death. But verse 19, because the Jews objected. That's why he appealed to Caesar. That's why he's there in Rome. It is because of the Jews that he is wearing a chain and is housebound there in Rome. And, and so he's, he's saying, Hey, look at all that's done, but I still want to talk to you. In fact, it's the hope of Israel that I'm wearing this chain. And they don't know about the case. They don't know about the accusations. But they've heard about – if you look at verse 22 – they've heard about the sect. That's what they were referring to, what we would call Christianity Today, what they called “the way.” Hey, we're hearing this teaching about Jesus, the Christ, the one from Nazareth, we've heard about that, we want to hear more about it. And so they come. And they gather together in verse 23. But before we get to the gathering where he preaches the gospel, I just want us to see in verses 17-22 how he is continuing to reach out to the Jews, even though he has been rejected by them.
And I know that if you want to be a witness of Jesus, if you want to live out the Gospel, and practice righteousness, and if you want to share the gospel, and preach how people can be made right with God, by grace through faith, based on the finished work that Jesus did when he died as our righteous sacrifice, if you want to share that with people, people are going to reject you. And I'm here to ask you today, are you going to then tone it down because of the rejection that you experience? I don't like getting rejected, I sometimes get hesitant about wanting to preach boldly, and wanting to speak up in the name of Jesus, because I don't like people getting upset and rejecting me. And we need to see that this guy, he got rejected maybe more than any of us, and he kept reaching out.
In fact, go back to Acts chapter 7, and let's remember Stephen, the first martyr of the church. Maybe you remember this speech that Steven gave, and how we discovered when we went through – the sermon was called “When They Start Killing Christians.” And Steven was the first one who got killed for his faith. And he gave this message about how the Jews had always been hardening their heart and they had always rejected the prophets of God. And he went through the history of the Hebrew Bible showing their rejection again and again. In fact, he summarized his whole speech here in Acts 7, when he said, and Act 7:51, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you.” What an intense thing to say. Hey, one thing that is true about our people, Steven is saying, the Jewish people is we continue to reject God when He speaks to us by the power of his Spirit through his prophets. Now through his apostles, they continue to reject it, but then God's messengers still keep delivering the message. And this is not like a sermon that it's going to be like, will you go home and apply this sermon? No, I guarantee you every single one of us who go out of here In the Name of Jesus, we're going to get rejected in the name of Jesus. And what are you going to do about that? What is going to be your response? Are you still going to gather together the rejecters? One more time, so that you can tell it to him again. That's what Paul does. That's a really intense thing to think about. Because we want to, and we're being told to avoid rejection at all costs. If anybody is negative in your life, if anybody is toxic, if anybody's given you a bad vibe, be done with that person. That's what the world is saying today. But the example that we have is that God keeps sending His messengers, right to the people, even those who reject them.
And go with me to the book of Romans, which we're going to now dive fully into after we finish the book of acts. And we're going to go through all of Romans, line by line. Look at Romans 1:16, because there's a unique transition happening that we've seen in the book of Acts that Paul's going to explain in the book of Romans. How the transition is going from God speaking to His people primarily as the Jews. And now the gospel is ringing out to the Gentiles. And so, this rejection of the Jews actually leads to the spreading of the gospel to the Gentiles. In fact, remember when they killed Stephen for him calling out their rejection, they laid their garments at Saul's feet, who became Paul, and they started persecuting the church. And what happens when people reject the gospel, when they persecute Christians, what have we seen throughout the book of Acts, when you try to stop the gospel, what happens? You actually just end up spreading the gospel. They start killing Christians in Jerusalem. That's how they filled the whole country. Or you go after Paul in this city. That's how he went to this city. That's how he came over here. So, people are always trying to stop the gospel, but you can't stop the gospel. You can't stop Jesus from building his church. And so, the gospel just keeps spreading.
And look what he says here in Romans 1:16-17. This is like the thesis statement for the book of Romans. He says, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” Now that's bold when he says that. Because we've seen what has happened from him reaching out to the Jews. And he's the apostle to the Gentiles. Like if I was Paul, I'd probably drop “to the Jew first” part. I'd probably just go to the Gentiles, who generally have been more accepting, not always – sometimes there's been rejection there as well. But I if you're the apostle to the Gentiles, maybe you stopped going to the Jew first and then you go straight to the Gentiles. But notice here, he is going to the Jew first. Go over to chapter 9, and look at the heart that he has for his people. See, the great thing about Paul is, he never forgot that he was one of the sinners, he never forgot that he was one of his fellow countrymen. He never forgot how he was when he met Jesus, who he was, that by the grace of God, he had been saved from being, he still knew who he was. And he still had compassion on those who were just like how he was – on his fellow Jews. But what he says here in Romans chapter 9, this is an amazing statement that gives us a glimpse into why Paul keeps reaching out to the Jews when they keep rejecting him. He says here in Romans 9:1, “I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit.” That's three ways to say Truly, truly I say to you, he's about to say something that's going to be hard to believe, but he wants you to know you should listen to him. “I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed, and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh,” They are Israelites. So, here's what's true about Paul, even though he's so bold for the gospel, even though he writes letters from prison about having joy in Jesus Christ. He says, If you really know me, there's a heartbreak within me, there's a sorrow within me, and the sorrow is that I wish I could go to hell basically, in place of my fellow Jews. That is, I wish that I was the one who was cut off, that I was a curse so that they could now come and know salvation in Jesus Christ. Can you imagine wanting to switch places with someone who's not saved so that they could be saved, and you would take their punishment? That's what he just said. That's the level of love and compassion that he has for his fellow Jews. Even though they reject Him, He will keep reaching out to them.
I get really concerned the way that some Christians in our church or in this area, talk about their fellow Americans, like they are so looking down on them, like they are judging them, like, oh, America is rejecting God, America is rejecting Jesus. And so, we become against them, and maybe even in pride, think we're above them. Let's just learn a lesson from Paul here today. Paul, he always was ready to reach out to the rejecters to the very end. And he knew that he was one of them. And the only difference was between him and his fellow-Jews was there was the grace of God; otherwise, they're going to die. And so, I think the fact that the last thing he had, the last scene we've got is him reaching out to the Jews, once again. We really need to think about that. Are we going to keep reaching out when we experience rejection?
Go back to the end of Acts, chapter 28 and there's a day they want to come and hear about “The Way, which they call a sect, which has a negative connotation. And anytime you're out there preaching the gospel, people are also going to be hearing other things. And they're going to be believing other things. And so, they're always going to have kind of this view about you out there preaching the gospel. And so, they call it a sect, but they gather together anyways, because it's “The Way” is developing a reputation all over the world. And Paul is one of those out there spreading the gospel. And the Holy Spirit is speaking through people in powerful ways. Jesus is building his church. So, they've heard about it, they want to know more. Look at this, verse 23,” When they had appointed a day for him, they came to him at his lodging in greater numbers.” So, this is a full house of people here. And from morning till evening, he expounded to them, or explained to them, testifying to them, the kingdom of God, and trying to convince them about Jesus from the law of Moses and from the prophets. Can you imagine this? They come over, and they get there in the house, and maybe they came over at breakfast time, at sunrise, sometime in the morning, maybe it was a nine o'clock start time there. And they went all the way to the evening, talking about the Kingdom of God and Jesus the Christ. You thought my sermons were long, you know what I mean? Like, can you imagine if we were here all day, going through – Let's start with Moses, let's go through the law. Look at all these different prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. Now let's get to the prophets. Let's see what they said about Jesus and how he fulfilled it. He's showing them from the scriptures. And do you see what Luke is doing? Luke here, he's bringing us right back to where he ended the Gospel of Luke. The gospel of Luke ends with Jesus walking on this road with two disciples who can't tell that it's the resurrected Lord. And He opens up the Scriptures. He opens up the law of Moses and the prophets, and he shows them all the prophecies about himself. This is Jesus, giving a Bible study on the road to Emmaus, showing people, Look at all these prophecies about me. Those two disciples are like our hearts burned within us when we saw Jesus in the scriptures. Now here, at the end of Acts, Luke is painting the same picture for us. He wants us to see Paul even though he's arrested, even though he's got a chain there in the house, what is he doing all day long? Going through Moses and the prophets, showing them Jesus in the Hebrew Bible. And it says here that some of them – verse 24, some of them are persuaded, some of them are convinced, some of them when they see the prophecies, they see what he's saying, their eyes are open to believe in the gospel. What a great day that was to hear the good news and actually see it, actually get it, to understand who Jesus is, to believe in Him. What a great day. But then right away, it says, others disbelieved. And they have this disagreement, it says among themselves. See, it's like the idea here in the Greek of atheism, like those who don't believe in God. Atheists there means they don't believe in a God, right? So, this is a faith, like, they don't have faith and they don't have agreement, like they are not in symphony with one another. Now there's a division, like, now some of these Jews are like, Hey, I think Paul's right, I think this is true. I think Jesus was the Christ. And other Jews are, like, there's no way he could be the Christ. He's not a king, the Romans are still reigning over us. He can't be the Christ. And there's this whole debate now breaking out among them. Maybe they're breaking out in a debate about repentance and what that means about faith. But there's a disagreement now. See, when you really preach Jesus, it's amazing because some people believe in him and it's terrible because other people divide and stir it up. And that's what happens when you preach Jesus, you see a split decision, where some repent and believe, and others, they divide and they cause enmity. That's what happens here. And, and that's what Paul has seen time and time. Again, he has seen some people have new hearts and some people harden their hearts. And yet he keeps on teaching.
Go over back to Acts 14, and let me let me remind you what happened in Acts 14 when they went to Iconium. And they went into this city. This is just an example of one of the many cities that we went to with Paul and Acts 14:1 says, “at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue.” So here they go. Let's go share about Jesus being the Christ with the Jews. Let's show them how he's the son of David. Let's show them how he’s the Son of God, let's make sure they know who he is. And they spoke… and I love this line here. “They spoke in such a way.” Such a way. I would imagine just a boldness of speaking freely by the power of the Spirit. They spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed praise the Lord. People are believing! What a great report. What a great day it is at church when people believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And, but notice, there's always in these reports, but since we can't just Oh, and they rolled off into the sunset praise in Jesus. No, that's not how it is. Not yet, but the unbelieving Jews stirred it up everybody, stirring up that pot, stirred up the Gentiles and poise in their minds against the brothers. So, they remained for a long time. So how did it feel for Paul there and the crew in Iconium, it felt like the best of times and the worst of times. Look at these people getting saved. Oh, look at these other people. They don't like us very much. And I stayed there for a long time speaking boldly. See, this is what we need to learn about Paul is he never let the division of some people believing and some people rejecting he never let that stop him from speaking up in the name of Jesus. See, they were speaking boldly for the Lord who bore witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. And when an attempt was made by both Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers to mistreat them, and to stone them, that's kill them, they learned of it and fled to Lycaonia, cities of Iconium, and to the surrounding country. And there they continue to… what everybody? what did they continue to do? Preaching all the way to, that's 14 that's only halfway through the book. And here he is, all the way now in prison. And he keeps on preaching.
Point number two, let's get it down like this: Don't let division keep you from teaching Jesus. Don't let division keep you from teaching Jesus. There is no more polarizing figure in human history than Jesus Christ, our Lord. He is either everything to you, or the world hates him and is against him. And when you open your mouth, and you do it at some place where there's people around gathered, and you speak up in the name of Jesus, you're going to see division, you're going to see a split decision, you're going to see some of those people become your best friends, maybe for the rest of your life. And some of those people may be decide that they want to be your enemy and be against you for the rest of your life. And that's a very difficult thing to experience. But Paul is clearly not holding back. He is going for it. Go back to Acts 28. And he is going – I mean, just think about that – from morning till evening. And these people they must have been firing back. And you can see even as they're leaving, there's this disagreement that now that it's like now it gets tense, you know what that feeling when, Oh, that person just said that? Oh, here comes so and so firing back. Oh, wow. Here we go, everybody. Shots fire take cover. That's what it's like. And see, Paul, he's right there in the middle of it. And he has a statement. He actually here as he sees the division breakout once again, a division he's now become very familiar with and I'm only taking you to one passage … so many examples we could take you to of how Paul preached Jesus and it led to division where he was. He has a thought about it. And he's like, Yeah, you know what? Oh, that I should expect this, I should know this is going to happen. This is what God said to the Prophet Isaiah. And then he quotes here, Isaiah 5:9-10. And it describes here that Isaiah is going to go to the people, to the Jews, and he's going to give them a message from God that Heaven has sent out a messenger. And he's going to tell them what God said, and the people are going to hear it, but they're not really going to hear it. They're going to see Isaiah saying it, but they're not really going to see what he's saying. And if they just took it to heart, if they just opened up to the message, if they just received the word that comes from God, then they could really see Jesus, and then they could really hear some good news, then they could really turn, and God would heal them, God would save them. God would do amazing work in their lives. But so many people, oh, they see it, oh, they hear it, but it doesn't really get to their heart. So, we should realize, if we're signing up to be messengers of Jesus, if we're going to hear Jesus say, you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth, if we're going to hear Jesus say, make disciples of all nations, and we're going to hear Jesus say, Go and preach repentance and forgiveness in my name to every single living soul on the planet.
If you're going to be about what Jesus sent you to be about, you're going to get rejected, and you're going to cause division. And you know what? You should keep doing it anyways. That's what Paul did. That's the picture that the book of Acts wants to leave you with a picture. It’s almost like in perpetuity we can see Paul there in that house, and he just went down preaching Jesus. Is that how you and I are going to go down? Is that what we're going to be doing till the end of our story? So you may be, you're asking yourself, Well, why would I want to do that? And let's just make it clear. Not everybody does want to do that. Not everybody who goes to church these days, wants to be a witness for Jesus Christ in the world around us. Which is amazing because many of us have never experienced what Paul went through. We live in a day, we live in a place where you have freedom of speech, and people are talking about it all the time. You have freedom to say whatever you want; it is your right. That's what the government says you are able to do. And here in this day and time where we have freedom of speech, why do so few Christians speak freely in the name of Jesus? Because we've let the rejection in the division get to us. And we want to hold back. Because we don't like getting rejected, we don't like stirring up the pot and causing division.
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 6 and let me give you a compelling reason why you should keep preaching Jesus, even if people are not going to like it, even if people are going to reject what you say, and divide the best case scenario, even if many people get saved. And in Huntington Beach, all we will end up doing is causing division in the city. Wow, why would I want to be a part of something like that? Well, and the reason is here in Isaiah 6:9-10. And you can see the quote here that Paul just shared that yeah, there is going to be rejection. And particularly that rejection of the Jews was prophesied because that's what opened the door so that the gospel would ring out to the Gentiles. And we'll dive into that in the book of Romans. But before we get this prophecy that people aren't really going to hear and they aren't really going to see, no, let's see the context here in Isaiah chapter 6. Go back with me to verse 1 and look at this scene that Isaiah finds himself in. This is Isaiah 6:1, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’ And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: ‘Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’ Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’ And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ Then I said, ‘Here I am! Send me.’”
The reason that you and I should keep preaching Jesus, when we get rejected, is because we're more afraid of the one who sent us than the people we've been sent to. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Like, I'm not here to please other people. I'm here to please the God of heaven, who sits on the throne. That's why, because he sent me, that's why I'm going to keep speaking. So, before the promise of rejection comes, before that prophecy that people will harden their hearts and not listen with their ears. Well, let's go to heaven. Let's see the one who's on the throne. And He's looking for who will speak for us, who's going to share the Good News of heaven here on earth, who's going to tell them that our King right now is at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty on high. And at any moment that King will come riding on the clouds, and every knee is going to bow, and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus, he's the Christ. He's the Lord. Who's going to go and send that message to the people? I wonder how many of us are ready to say here this morning, Send me Lord, I'll keep going? Well, they're going to reject you, do you understand? If you go and share with people that they're in sin before a holy God, if you go and say, Woe is all of us, because even the things that we say, are unclean. And so, Oh, there's a holy God on a throne. And we're sinners here on Earth. And we need one who can make atonement. And we need one who can make us right. And I've got good news that God sent His one and only Son to die in our place. And he rose from the dead, to give us new life. And if you believe in Jesus, by that faith, you will be declared right with God, and you will be able to boldly go before his throne in heaven. Who's going to go share that good news? I wonder who here at this service today can say, send me. And we'll keep going out all the way to the end, we'll keep bringing up Jesus, despite all the rejection and the division, because I know who sent me, and I'm more in love with him than people loving me. That's what it's got to be, we have to have a real relationship with God, that matters, so that even if we lose other relationships, we are going to hang on to Jesus and stand firm on his gospel.
Go back to Acts 28 with me, and that's as we're fading out, as the music starts to creep in, as you can realize the credits are about to roll, he says, Yeah, you guys are rejecting the message. That's why the message is going to the Gentiles. And that Gospel that Paul preaches here in Rome to these Jews on that day, that Jesus is the King, and you can read about him in the law and the prophets, that Jesus is the one who came to save us, that gospel is still ringing out. It's almost like he wants to end with Paul there and look at how it says in Acts 28:30-31, this picture here that he lived there two whole years. I got to think that two whole years is significant, because remember, he was forgotten for two years in prison at Caesarea. And now he's got two years of house arrest in Rome. And during those two years that he's there, he's preaching to all kinds of people. So yeah, he had two years of waiting. Well, now he's got two years of preaching, and many people it seems like are coming to him. And he's able to well, even though he's there under arrest, and he's got chains, he's able to speak to so many people. And so the word there in verse 31 is, he's preaching, he's proclaiming the kingdom. See, the king went up into the clouds, and until he returns on those clouds, his name is to be preached here on Earth. We are to be his witnesses. And here he is teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ, and look at how it describes it here “with all boldness and without hindrance.” See, I love that description there, “with all boldness.” Now we need to make sure we understand what that means. And that's something we've learned from the book of Acts. It's this Greek word parrésia. Let me tell you a couple of things that boldness does not mean. Number one, boldness is not a personality trait. All right? It's not just because Paul was kind of a bold guy. That's not what it means here. Some people, they're confident, they're bold, you might use that to describe them in their personality. That is not a description of the kind of person that Paul was. That's not what it means when it says parrésia. Another thing that it does not mean, when it says parrésia is it doesn't mean that person who's yelling at people on the street, who's telling people how bad they are that person that's like, I don't care what people think of me. Have you met that person? Have you ever been like, bro, maybe you should care a little bit more? You know what I mean? Like, yeah, I'm glad you're not afraid of people, but we're not here to blow people away. Can I get an Amen from anybody on that? Like, we're here to speak the truth. We're here to give a reason for the hope that we have in Jesus. But we're here to speak the truth in love, and to give a reason for the hope that we have with gentleness and respect. Now what boldness means is you can speak freely, it means you can say it without living in fear. It means you can stand up and know that when you go to say something, not everybody's going to like it, but you can say it anyways. How does that work? That is the power of God working in you to overcome the anxiety, the nervousness, the tension, that you might feel, but all of a sudden, you're remembering things to say, and you're able to express yourself, and you're speaking, there's like a hesitation, you're like, gosh, should I say it? Should I not say it, and then you're able to speak freely, nothing's holding you back. You're letting it go. You're telling people you love Jesus, and you don't really care who knows it because you love him. See, that's what it means. It means the rejection didn't get to you. Means the division didn't shut you up, it means you're still ready to speak up in his name. That's what it means to be bold. It means there is someone trying to shut you up. There is opposition against you. And you're speaking like there's not. That's what it means to be bold. We saw this in Acts chapter 4.
Go back to Acts chapter 4. Maybe you remember when Peter and John were on trial, because they were filling Jerusalem with the name of Jesus? Could you imagine if you lived in a big city like Jerusalem, and everywhere you went, people were talking about Jesus? What an experience that must have been. And so, the Jewish leaders and these were the same Jewish leaders that falsely accused and arrested and tried Jesus. Now they have Peter and John on trial in Acts chapter 4. Does anybody here remember what Peter was doing? When Jesus was on trial? He was doing it in the outer court. What did he do? He did it three times. What did Peter do, everybody? He denied Jesus three times. He wasn't even the guy on trial. He was out in the court and other servants of the religious leaders of the Jews were asking him, aren't you with Jesus? Were you one of the disciples and he's like, me? I don't know what you're talking about. He's not even on trial. And he's over here denying Jesus. Remember, Jesus came and restored him and asked him three times, do you love me? Well, now, once Peter gets the Holy Spirit, he's filling the whole city with the name of Jesus. And now here comes some opposition. Now it's causing some division. Now, the Jews, they don't like how Peter and John and the apostles are preaching Jesus in the temple every day. And everybody's now talking about Jesus, not what the religious leaders of the Jews want everybody talking about. And so, they put them on trial after they do this miracle to heal a crippled man. And they're like, in whose name, by what power, by what authority did you do that miracle to the crippled man? Look at Peter's response when he's now the one on trial in front of the same court that killed Jesus, that shouted, crucify him. This is what he says in verse 8, then Peter, this is Acts 4 is filled with the Holy Spirit. See, that's what empowers you to speak boldly. It's doesn't just come from you. That's why it's not a personality trait. It's the power of God speaking through you. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.’” Like that's exactly what he knows they don't want him to say and here he is, speaking freely to them, no longer afraid of what that might happen to him in response. He's like, and I love it because he doesn't just say, Well, we did it in the name of Jesus whom you killed, but God raised from the dead. No. And then he says in verse in verse 11, look what he says here. “This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which is become the cornerstone.” Peter, maybe you didn't need to quote that scripture. You know what I mean? Oh, and by the way, you guys are the ones who rejected him. In fact, “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men[c] by which we must be saved.” We did it in the name of Jesus that you rejected. In fact, the name of Jesus is the only way that anyone is getting to heaven, that anyone is going to be right with God. Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth. Jesus is the life. I’ll answer your question, and I'll take you up a couple of notches. That's what he does. And look what happens in verse 13, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, the boldness, they perceived that they were uneducated men, not very familiar with writing common idiot tests is the word, they're uneducated, common men, they were astonished and they recognize they had been with Jesus. Where does boldness comes from? It comes from people who've been with Jesus. It comes from people who have faith, it comes from people who believe that the message of salvation, the name of Jesus is so important that everybody needs to know about it. And even if some are going to reject us, and there's going to be division, and we might get persecuted, and we might suffer, it is so worth it for everyone to know the name of Jesus, that we're going to say it anyways. That's Peter and John. That's the story of the book of Acts. The story of the book of Acts is that nobody has the power on earth to stop the gospel, even though they're going to try to shut it down. No one can keep Jesus from building his church, even though there's so much rejection, people are still getting saved all the way till this very day 2022 to the ends of the earth, Huntington Beach people are professing faith, even this last week here at this church because you cannot stop the gospel of Jesus from ringing out. And if you believe that, then let me tell you, if no one can stop the gospel, then speak freely.
Let's get that down for point number three: No one can stop the gospel. So speak freely when we are before our Lord, when we are talking to those who have gone before us in the faith in heaven. And they find out that you lived in America, in the year of our Lord 2022, where there was much ado about freedom of speech, when they find out that you lived here and you were ashamed to speak freely? That will be an awkward conversation. I want to strongly encourage you here today, to be inspired by the book of Acts, and to determine in your heart that no matter what people are going to do to you, you're going to keep speaking in the name of Jesus, can I get an amen from anybody here? Okay, that's what we're going to do here at this church. And if you're thinking, Well, I just don't think that's me. I just don't think I'm going to be like this bold person. Okay, I hear you. I might relate to you more than you might think. All right? Well, I hear what you're saying. But this boldness wasn't a natural thing that some people had, and others did not. Go to Acts 4:29. After they were told to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, they had to pray about it. “And now Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.” And after they pray that there's an earthquake where they pray that they get fired up, and they run out and they continue to fill the Jerusalem with the name of Jesus with all boldness. Of course, you're not going to have boldness unless God gives it to you. And you have not because you ask not. If you want to speak boldly in the name of Jesus, ask God to give you boldness to speak freely. Paul himself prays for this. He asked for prayer in Ephesians 6:18-20, will you pray for me? Because I'm a prisoner and I'm in chains. Will you pray that I will speak boldly as I ought to speak. So, you're not going to have boldness, this ability to speak freely, unless you ask God for it.
You know, when we started the book of Acts, we started with the sermon, The King is coming. I don't know if you can remember. We started it in November 2020. Just after this thing happened called the Presidential Election? Anybody remember the presidential election of 2020? Do you remember how bad life felt at that time? Do you remember how divided America felt? Do you remember when there were riots on the streets? Do you remember when there was fear, when there was fever spreading across the land, you remember 15 days to slow the spread! Anybody remember that? It's amazing to me that we've preached now starting on that, right after that election, the most contested, divisive election in our nation's history. We started preaching this book right here, we started preaching through the church, and the gospel and the word going forth, all the way from Peter in Jerusalem to Paul in Rome. And you know what all of those current events that we live through, they're now all in the past, and the gospel is still current right now, in the present. You want to attach to something that's going to matter, not just at one time in your life, but for the rest of your life and for all of eternity, be about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Go down, preach it, Jesus, let's pray.
Father in heaven, we have to confess to you here today, that many of us are more intimidated by the judgment of people's opinions than we are by your heavenly throne. So, Father, we just need to confess that there is a real temptation for us to fear men and what they're going to think and say, and do to us, then to fear you. So, Father, we come before you and we want to thank you for the book of Acts. We want to thank you for the men who were your witnesses, filled with your Spirit, speaking your words so freely, and we pray that they would inspire us that we would keep preaching the gospel, we pray that from the first day of this church, to this day of the church, till the last day of this church, that the gospel will always be ringing out. And that's because we will speak boldly, we will speak freely. So, Father, please give us that boldness. Now, we know what the rejection is felt like we've been hurt by the division. We felt that hesitation within us, we felt like maybe I'm going to hold back, maybe it's not worth the trouble. Maybe I don't want to stir up the pot this time. And Father, I pray that we would open our mouths, and that your Holy Spirit would speak through us. And then we would see you high and lifted up, that we would see you on your throne. And yes, we may know that the world is against us, but God, if you are for us, if you are the one who is wholly in heaven, if the whole earth is full of your glory, if you have said, Who will I send? Who will go for us God? let us be the people here today who say, here I am. Send me and let us all go down preaching Jesus, we pray this in his name. Amen.