The speaker introduces Acts Chapter 28 and sets the stage for the final chapter of the book of Acts.

Introduction to Acts Chapter 28 - The speaker introduces Acts Chapter 28 and sets the stage for the final chapter of the book of Acts.

Paul and the survivors land on the island of Malta, where Paul is bitten by a viper. Despite the circumstances, God protects Paul and continues to work through him.

Vignette: Malta - Paul and the survivors land on the island of Malta, where Paul is bitten by a viper. Despite the circumstances, God protects Paul and continues to work through him.

Paul and his companions continue their journey to Rome, encountering Christian brothers and sisters along the way. The fellowship with believers serves as a source of encouragement for Paul.

Vignette: Journey to Rome - Paul and his companions continue their journey to Rome, encountering Christian brothers and sisters along the way. The fellowship with believers serves as a source of encouragement for Paul.

Paul addresses the Jewish leaders in Rome, pleading his innocence and expounding scripture to proclaim Christ as king. Some are convinced, while others do not believe.

Vignette: Paul's Encounter with the Jews in Rome - Paul addresses the Jewish leaders in Rome, pleading his innocence and expounding scripture to proclaim Christ as king. Some are convinced, while others do not believe.

The epilogue summarizes Paul's two years of prison ministry, including writing epistles to churches, personal discipleship, practicing hospitality, and boldly witnessing to those who came to him.

Epilogue: Paul's Prison Ministry - The epilogue summarizes Paul's two years of prison ministry, including writing epistles to churches, personal discipleship, practicing hospitality, and boldly witnessing to those who came to him.

Paul boldly proclaims the gospel and advances it despite his restrictions and imprisonment.

Ministry Despite Imprisonment - Paul boldly proclaims the gospel and advances it despite his restrictions and imprisonment.

Hints about what happens after Paul's imprisonment, with insights from extra-biblical sources and Paul's letters.

After Paul's Imprisonment - Hints about what happens after Paul's imprisonment, with insights from extra-biblical sources and Paul's letters.

Paul's release from imprisonment, his ministry, and the writing of the prison epistles.

Paul's Release and Ministry - Paul's release from imprisonment, his ministry, and the writing of the prison epistles.

Perspectives of Christians, Jews, and Romans on Christianity and its impact.

Perceptions of Christianity - Perspectives of Christians, Jews, and Romans on Christianity and its impact.

The persecution faced by the early church under Roman emperors, including the story of Polycarp.

Persecution of Early Church - The persecution faced by the early church under Roman emperors, including the story of Polycarp.

God's preservation of the church and the enduring faithfulness throughout generations.

God's Faithfulness to the Church - God's preservation of the church and the enduring faithfulness throughout generations.

Key points from the book of Acts to be reminded of for effective and faithful gospel advancement.

Advancing the Gospel - Key points from the book of Acts to be reminded of for effective and faithful gospel advancement.

- The speaker reads from Acts chapter 28, discussing Paul's experiences on the island of Malta and his journey to Rome
- The passage ends with Paul's arrival in Rome and his preaching to the local leaders of the Jews
- The speaker compares the ending of Acts to the conclusion of a story, but emphasizes that it is actually the beginning of a new chapter for the church
- The message is that the story of the church continues beyond the book of Acts, and believers are called to continue the mission of Jesus

- The speaker discusses the continuation of the mission given by Jesus in Acts chapter 1
- The focus is on the climax of Luke's story as he goes on to Rome, the continuation of the church story, and the complete story which includes the audience
- The first vignette is about Paul's time in Malta, where he experiences God's protection and continues his ministry
- The second vignette describes Paul's sea voyage to Puteoli, where he meets with other Christians and experiences their hospitality
- The speaker emphasizes the importance of fellowship with other believers as a source of encouragement and blessing

- Paul's journey to Rome was filled with fellowship and encouragement from fellow believers
- Upon arriving in Rome, Paul encountered Jewish leaders who were familiar with Christianity and had been expelled from Rome due to riots about Christianity
- Paul pleaded his innocence and ministered to the Jews, proclaiming Christ as the hope of Israel and the nations
- Paul spent two years under house arrest in Rome, during which he ministered, wrote epistles, discipled others, and boldly shared the gospel with those around him

- Paul's imprisonment was for Christ and he continued to minister boldly despite his circumstances
- After his release, Paul continued his ministry and wrote several letters, including the prison epistles
- The early church faced persecution from both Jews and Romans, with Nero blaming Christians for a fire in Rome and initiating widespread persecution
- Polycarp, a disciple of Apostle John, was martyred for his steadfast faith in Christ during the reign of Marcus Aurelius

- Polycarp was sentenced to death for refusing to compromise his beliefs
- His martyrdom serves as an inspiration for Christians to remain faithful to Christ
- The early church faced persecution for hundreds of years and continues in some places today
- The main idea is to advance the gospel faithfully and effectively
- This includes proclaiming the gospel to oneself, to the lost, and to fellow believers
- The book of Acts provides practical themes for believers today, including dependence on the Holy Spirit, seeking unity, boldly proclaiming the gospel, and taking courage in the face of persecution
- The promise of Jesus' presence is a source of encouragement for believers to continue advancing the gospel.

The speaker discusses Paul's experiences in Acts 28, including his time in Malta and journey to Rome. The passage emphasizes the continuation of the church's story beyond Acts and the importance of fellowship with other believers. Paul's ministry in Rome, his imprisonment, and the early church's persecution are also discussed, highlighting the need to advance the gospel faithfully and effectively. The book of Acts provides practical themes for believers today, including dependence on the Holy Spirit and boldly proclaiming the gospel.

We've reached the end of the book of Acts.

It'll be up on the screen or you can follow on in your Bibles.

After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.

The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.

When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to 1 another, no doubt this man is a murderer.

Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.

He however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead.

But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island named Publius who received us and entertained us hospitably for 3 days.

It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery.

And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him.

And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.

They also honored us greatly and when we were about to sail they put on board whatever we needed.

After 3 months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria with the twin gods as a figurehead.

Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for 3 days, and from there we made a circuit and arrived at Regium.

After 1 day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Putioli.

There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for 7 days.

And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the form of Apius and 3 taverns to meet us.

On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.

And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with a soldier who guarded him.

After 3 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 with forward 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 great 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 1 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 hearts 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.

He lived there 2 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.

Father in heaven, this morning we ask you that you would open our eyes, that our ears would hear, and that our hearts would understand what you have to teach us.

I pray that through your Spirit, you would work in our hearts and transform us more and more into the likeness of Christ, and that as we meditate on your passage this morning, you would be at work in our hearts.

Others end abruptly and without full explanation about how things finish.

In French, we have an expression for that.

It's called Terminer un queue de poisson.

Now for myself, 1 of the cultural milestones as a young teen growing up were the books and the movies of The Lord of the Rings.

The story and the world created by J.R.R.

Tolkien is intricately developed and the director, Peter Jackson, who made the films, crafted these films that allow us to enter into that universe.

And so when I was 14, I had the opportunity to see the final film, The Return of the King, in theaters.

And this is a massive piece of cinematography.

The runtime of the theater version is just over 3 hours, 20 minutes.

Now, if you nowadays want to see an even longer version, you can see an edition that's over 4 hours long but 1 of the reasons that this that this film is so long is that it needs a proper conclusion.

It needs to bring together the plot points to complete the storyline of all these different characters and things happening.

Sometimes we expect it to have a proper conclusion to a grand story and other times we're left hanging and wanting some more.

As an example of this last bit, if you've seen the movie Inception, you'll maybe remember that the very end of the film ends with this top spinning and it leaves viewers on this cliffhanger.

Now over the last year we've been going through the book of Acts and in today's passage we finally reached the end of Luke's story about the early church.

Now the end of this book doesn't complete the story of Paul perhaps in the way that we would expect it to or want it to.

It may seem to be an unfitting end to the story.

We've been following the life of Paul, his adventures, his voyages, and now at the climax of the story, we're left wondering what happens next.

We want to know, does Paul eventually meet the emperor?

The whole thrust of Paul's story, since his imprisonment in the barracks of Jerusalem back in chapter 23, has been this journey towards Rome.

In Acts 23 verse 11, the Lord reveals to himself to Paul, he says, The following night the Lord stood by him and said, take courage for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem so you must testify also in Rome." I think we need to look at the end of the book of Acts not as the conclusion of an epic story, but rather as the end of an introduction.

Yes, this is the conclusion of the final narrative book of the Bible.

However, the story of the church does not end there.

We get to participate in the next chapters and continue the mission that Jesus gave back in Acts chapter 1 when he said, you will receive power by the Holy Spirit that has come upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.

What I'd like to do with you this morning is to look at the following 3 things.

The climax of Luke's story as he goes on to Rome.

Then I'd like to look at the continuation of the church story.

What happens to the rest of the church as it continues after this narrative?

And finally, the complete story, which includes you.

The main idea that I'd like to to land on this morning is that we are called to faithfully and effectively advance the gospel regardless of our circumstances.

We have 3 vignettes and an epilogue, like a conclusion that Luke gives us.

Now if you were here last week, you'll remember Nick shared with us the account of the incredible storm and the shipwreck where God preserved all 276 people on board.

And now we see that Paul and the rest of the survivors have landed on the island of Malta.

Malta is a very small island, about 18 miles long and 8 miles wide, about 58 miles south of Sicily.

The people who lived there in Paul's day spoke a Punic dialect.

And the island was was first named by the Phoenicians and in their language Melita meant a place of refuge.

And we see how this is quite a fitting name in this story.

Now, when they land on Malta, they start building a fire, and Paul is bitten by this viper.

Now, The islanders, or the natives, concluded that he must be a murderer, whom the goddess Dyke, or also translated, Justice, had caught up to him since he hadn't died at sea.

Luke gives such a vividly detailed account of the incident because he wants his readers to appreciate how God is protecting Paul and he's preserving him for his purpose.

The Lord is greater than false ideas of justice, and God set Paul towards Rome with the purpose that he would be his witness there, and that no incident along the way would change that.

During their stay in Malta, we also read the accounts of the healing of Publius, Publius' father.

We see how, we see that it is much like the narrative of Peter and the crippled beggar in chapter 3 of the book of Acts.

And so we see how Paul's ministry continued to those who he met, and consisted in both of proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and healing them physically.

It illustrates the continuing power of Paul's ministry, despite his being on Malta as a prisoner, destined for a hearing before Caesar.

No matter what the circumstances are, a true servant of Christ is never off duty.

From what Luke tells us, it seems that Paul may have looked on his stay on the island of Malta as a high point in his ministry, a time of blessing.

When God worked in marvelous ways despite the shipwreck and his still being a prisoner.

We see how the native people showed this unusual kindness, the welcoming of the governor there, how they were honored greatly.

Through the experiences at Malta, God seems to have been refreshing Paul's spirit.

After the last 2 relatively bleak years, It seems as though God was preparing him for his witness at Rome.

Now if ever you've seen the the anatomy of a hurricane, You know that this is a massive swirling storm with winds that are incredibly powerful.

But in the center of the hurricane, there's something called the eye of the storm.

And There's no winds, there's no rain in this center.

It's a, there's peace to be found in the middle of this storm.

Now, the thing is, when you find yourself in the eye of the storm, the storm is far from over because the storm will move over you and the most powerful winds of a hurricane are found in the walls of the eye of the storm.

And this is the most devastating winds of the hurricane.

But God is offering this time, it seems to Paul, as a time of blessing, of peace in the middle of the storm and refuge before Paul sets sail to Rome for his last leg of the journey.

The main idea of this first vignette that I'd like to highlight is that God takes care of us, and in his goodness, he blesses us even when our circumstances are bleak.

This prepares us for the climax of the book, which is the next vignette as Paul continues his journey to Rome.

Luke describes the continuation of the sea voyage with great detail as a good physician.

The twin gods as the figurehead of the ship, the where the ship was from, Alexandria, the timing, the route they take, and even the direction of the wind, he doesn't miss a detail.

And finally, Paul and his companions make landfall at Puteoli, which is modern-day Pudzuoli.

Puteoli was a resort city on the Bay of Naples.

It acted as the port city for Naples and was the principal port of Southern Italy.

And here we see that some Christians meet with Paul and invite him and his companions to spend a week with them.

Now it's not surprising that there were believers in Puteoli.

It was a large cosmopolitan city with a colony of Jews living there already.

Paul's letter to the Roman Church was written in approximately 57 AD and we can imagine the contents being shared and disseminated to nearby cities.

Now it's interesting that the centurion Julius allows Paul to have this freedom to seek the believers at Puteoli and to enjoy their hospitality.

Julius must have had a level of respect and trust in Paul at this point.

Having seen how his purpose was not to escape but to go to Rome.

Again we see the goodness and blessing from God in allowing Paul to meet with Christian brothers and sisters.

Imagine what it would have been like for these Christians to finally meet Paul.

There's great encouragement to be had in fellowship with brothers and sisters from in Christ from from across the world, from across nations.

This past October, Marie and I had the opportunity to go to the Netherlands for the International General Assembly of Youth for Christ.

This was an opportunity for Youth for Christ youth workers who are ministering in every part of the world to gather together to be encouraged and equipped, worship Jesus together, and to listen to some great messages by Dave Brereton And some other speakers as well, but mainly Dave.

And 1 of the highlights for me, besides Dave's messages of course, was meal time.

Because everyone would grab their food from the buffet line and find a table to sit and would sit down with strangers from across the world.

And conversations around the table would often begin with something like this.

And what do you do with Youth for Christ?

And what an amazing opportunity to be blessed, to hear what fellow brothers and sisters are doing around the world, ministering to youth, to hear what their challenges are, and the similarities and yet the differences with what we face here in Montreal.

There's amazing stories about how God is at work in places where there's outright persecution against Christians.

Fellowship with brothers and sisters is a deep source of encouragement for 1 another.

And we can see this and we can see this and imagine the encouragement Paul felt as he met with Christians on his way to Rome.

So back in Naples, in Neapolis, Julius and his Caesars and the group of prisoners head out, turn northwest to travel to Rome on the Via Appia, the oldest and straightest and most perfectly made of all the Roman roads.

It was named after the censor Apius Claudius, who started his construction in 312 BC.

Now, during the stopover in Puteoli, news of Paul's arrival in Italy must have reached Christians even all the way in Rome, and a number of them set out to escort him back to Rome.

Now some of them came from these halting stations along the way, built every 10 to 15 miles along the entire length of the Roman road system.

The Forum of Api was about 43 miles outside of Rome, while the Inn of the 3 Taverns was another halting station about 33 miles outside of Rome, and we see Christians coming from these halting stations to meet Paul.

And as the story brings us closer and closer to Rome, we can sense Luke's eagerness to get to the climax.

It's as though he's anticipating the actual arrival of Paul and his companions to Rome as he's nearing it.

Think about Jesus's command to go to the ends of the earth.

Luke is showing how this is being fulfilled in Paul's arrival to Rome and it is in a sense the climax of the book of Acts.

Now remember how the driving idea behind the last chapters is Paul's mission to come to Rome.

It began with an encouragement from the Lord to take courage.

And now as Paul is arriving in Rome in fellowship with believers, Paul thanked God and took courage.

Courage is doing hard things in the face of fear.

And we see Paul take courage even as he's pursuing the will of God in these difficult circumstances.

I think a takeaway that we can have from this vignette, this journey to Rome, is that we can take courage in doing the will of God as well.

And the Lord gives us an amazing means of encouragement through the fellowship that we have with fellow believers.

The third vignette is Paul's encounter with the Jews in Rome.

Now, Paul's address to the Jewish leaders is quite personal.

He's making a defense by insisting that he had not done 2 things.

He had not committed any crimes against the Jewish people and he had not transgressed any Jewish customs.

Paul identifies the main point of contention between himself and his accusers around the messianic hope of Israel and the person of Jesus.

Now, the immediate response of the Jewish leaders is somewhat surprising.

They disclaimed having any news or letters from the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem and they said they hadn't heard nothing against him from any Jew or anyone from Judea.

Yet Christianity had been known within the Jewish community at Rome for some time.

Going back to Act 2 at Pentecost, there are many nations that are listed as being present when the disciples emerge and they are filled with the Spirit and they're speaking the languages of all these nations.

1 of the groups present that's listed is visitors from Rome, both Jews and converts to Judaism.

We see even early on in Luke's account that he's interested in highlighting that the gospel reached out even to Rome.

Now it may be that some of these visitors from Rome returned and formed the nucleus of the church in the city.

Now the Jews in Rome knew a great deal about Christianity.

These same Jewish leaders who were speaking with Paul had most certainly been expelled from the city by the Emperor Claudius in 49 or 50 AD because of riots about Christianity in their community.

It had only recently returned to Rome after the death of the Emperor in 54 AD.

You may remember when Paul went to Corinth in Acts 18.

He met with Priscilla and Aquila and this couple had recently come there because they had been expelled from Rome.

The Jewish leaders may not have been prepared to become involved in Paul's case in 1 way or another, potentially stirring up controversy that would draw the attention of the new emperor, and they likely knew something, at least something, about Paul, and were trying to be diplomatic about it.

But Paul takes this opportunity nonetheless to minister to the Jews.

And so on this first occasion, we see Paul pleading his innocence, and he mentions that the cause of his change is because of the hope of Israel.

On the second occasion, Paul expounds scripture and proclaims Christ as king.

And he takes us into the direction of the hope, not just of Israel, but of the nations.

In the second meeting, Luke tells us that Paul combined proclamation with persuasion.

Some were convinced, while others would not believe.

The points with which many of the Jewish leaders disagreed with Paul were that the Jewish rejection of the Messiah being prophesied in Isaiah and the result of Israel's hardening of hearts being the extension of God's salvation to the Gentiles.

There's a similar language used in Paul's discourse to the parable of the sower found in the synoptic gospels.

Note the the senses that are highlighted in the Isaiah 6 passage that Paul quotes.

This reminds us of Jesus's teaching about the proper hearing of God's Word.

That we would hear, that we would see, and that we would understand with our hearts.

In Matthew 12 verses 18 to 21, we're reminded of Jesus being both the hope of Israel and the hope of nations.

It says this, behold my servant whom I have chosen, my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.

I will put my spirit upon him and he will proclaim justice to the Gentiles.

He will not quarrel or cry aloud, nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.

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