The Acts of the Apostles- 95
Pastor Marty Monday, March 10, 2025 at 8:29PM Subtitle: The Kingdom of God
Acts 28:23-31. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on March 9, 2025.
We are going to finish this series today as we come to the end of the book of Acts. It ends with Paul meeting the Jewish leaders in Rome.
They are representatives of the Jews of Rome, but they seem to symbolize the Jews who were dispersed throughout the nations. A group as a whole may make a decision, but that doesn’t control the decision of each individual within the group. In the beginning of the book, we saw how the Judean leaders in Jerusalem led the people to reject Jesus as Messiah. Still, a significant remnant of people were not misled by this, and instead, put their full trust in Jesus. The book now ends with the same dynamic occurring among the dispersed Jews among the nations. This is the pattern. The majority reject it while a remnant believes and enters into the blessings that God has for them.
I have entitled this sermon, “The Kingdom of God.” The book of Acts began with the question of the kingdom. In chapter 1, verse 3, Luke talks about how Jesus “also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of things concerning the kingdom of God.” Just a few verses later (v. 8), the disciples ask Jesus, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus then tells them that they are not to worry themselves about God’s timing. Instead, they are to focus on waiting for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When they are baptized in the Spirit, they will be enabled to take the Gospel of Jesus to the ends of the earth.
Similarly, we now have two mentions of the kingdom of God in the last chapter of the book. There are also 4 places in between these bookend occurrences of the “Kingdom of God.” Clearly, this is an important theme in the book.
Let’s look at our passage.
Paul explains what the followers of Jesus believe (v. 23-31)
The Jewish leaders of Rome want to understand what it is that Paul and the other followers of Jesus are teaching. So, a day was set for them to come by his lodging place. It says that many came to him to hear what he was teaching.
Luke uses two verbs to describe Paul’s talk with them. First, he explained about the Kingdom of God. It requires an explanation because it was not what they were expecting. They expected Messiah to come and kick out Herod, defeat the Romans, and begin the Kingdom of God. Why was he killed? If he really was resurrected, then why isn’t he here now? For what purpose would he be seated at the right hand of the Father? Isn’t that a likely story to cover for his failure?
Notice that the point is not about the existence of Jesus, or whether he was crucified or not. All of them agreed on that. It was about why they think Jesus was fulfilling what Messiah was supposed to do. Back in Acts 1:6, even the disciples were expecting or hoping that Jesus would now establish the kingdom. Yet, Jesus told them that it wasn’t for them to know the times and the seasons. What was for them (for us) was to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that they would be empowered to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
The second verb that Luke uses has to do with testifying. Paul testified of the Kingdom of God. This is the presentation of the evidence that backs up their beliefs in these things that are not what they expected. None of those present saw the resurrected Jesus. In fact, not everyone in Jerusalem saw Jesus after the resurrection. However, he did present himself to over 500 people. Even Paul, had a power encounter with the resurrected Jesus that he couldn’t deny.
You can already hear the protests that this isn’t fair. “If Jesus wants everyone to believe that he is the Messiah and Savior of the world, then why doesn’t he present himself to everyone?” Why doesn’t Jesus use the social media of his day, call up Hollywood and have them create a PR campaign, perhaps even a movie? This is a typical protest of those who cling to atheism. If God wanted me to believe, then He should step out on the clouds and call my name and tell me that He is Jesus, and I should believe in Him. The argument is always, if God would do X, then I would believe. That is easier said than done. If God did do those things, most of these atheists would be checking themselves into a psychological ward.
Paul can give them all kinds of evidence: the miracles of Jesus, the miracles of the apostles, the amazing death of Stephen, his own confrontation outside of Damascus, ad infinitum. How did a man like Saul of Tarsus change his mind and turn his heart towards this Jesus that he was trying to stamp out? This is the testifying that Paul was doing.
Of course, it is one thing to talk about Messiah in general, hoping that he would come. It is quite another to point to a particular man (i.e., Jesus) and say, “There’s the man! He is the One!” Thus, we are told that Paul persuaded them about Jesus from the Law and the Prophets.
Paul’s persuasion is not on the personality and charisma of Jesus, but on the way that Jesus fulfilled Scripture. How can I say this? There were many people who did not like Jesus in day. Wasn’t Jesus a likeable person? Well, yes and no. It depended upon who was looking at him.
We can have this idea that goes like this. If you are more like Jesus, then everyone will be more inclined to like you. This is ludicrous since Jesus was hung on a cross by people who hated him. Yes, certain people may like you. However, others will hate you for being so much like Jesus. In Matthew 10:34, Jesus warned that he had not come to bring peace, but to bring a sword between intimate relationships. This is because faith is a personal matter. One spouse believing cannot guarantee the change of the other. Of course, if both believe, then there will not be a sword between them. It is not that his purpose is to break up relationships. Rather, it is because not all will like it when another person embraces Jesus. Following Jesus will make a lot of people uncomfortable in your life, so ready yourself. You don’t know who those people will be so you humbly and lovingly walk forward in faith. Essentially, this is exactly what the Law and the Prophets would be saying about Messiah (read Psalm 2; 22 and Isaiah 53). He would be rejected and misunderstood. Yet, he would be the salvation of all.
Verses 24-25 tell us that they were divided over his testimony. They go from receiving Paul’s testimony to arguing among themselves over it. This prompts Paul to quote Isaiah 6:9-10 (Acts 28:26-27).
The verses quoted are a message from God to Isaiah the prophet. This is the event that begins his ministry. It is clearly his initial calling from God to speak to Israel. Isaiah has a vision of the Lord on His throne and in His majesty. He immediately senses his own sinfulness and falls on his face. Yet, a coal is brought from the altar and it is placed against his lips. Isaiah is told that this has taken away his iniquity and his sin is purged. It is then that God asks for someone to be a messenger for him. Isaiah volunteers.
The verses that Paul is quoting are the message that God wants Isaiah to give to the people of Israel. Notice that the message clearly shows that Israel is blind, deaf and dull of mind. Why would God send them a message about their blindness, deafness, and dullness of mind, if they won’t be able to receive it? He does so because He is faithful, and His faithfulness is able to do the impossible. Only the Spirit of God can break through the fog and insensitivity of spiritual deafness, blindness, and slowness of mind.
This division among the Jews over Jesus serves to highlight a particular issue. We should contemplate Israel as a nation versus those individuals who believed upon Jesus. These are called the remnant.
We tend to think of this dynamic as a corporate versus individual issue. The group as a whole rejects Jesus, but there are individuals who believe. The group as a whole will face the results of rejecting Messiah, but the individuals who believed receive a blessing of God even in the midst of those results. Jeremiah is a good example of such an picture. The kingdom of Judah was destroyed by Babylon. Jeremiah had to go through that, but God blessed him in the midst of it.
This serves us well to a certain point, but it is missing one aspect that you may have seen already. These individuals who believed on Jesus are not simply isolated people. They too are a subset of the larger group. The remnant is a term that recognizes that these individuals are a part of a smaller group. The remnant community serves as a witness that it is not enough for Israel (or the Church) to do God’s things alone. In the end, we must be a people believing Him, doing His things out of faith in Him and responding to His corrections along the way. This is what it means to be a part of the remnant.
All of this begs the question, “If some are believing, then why is Paul being so hard on the group?” If missionaries today were to speak to a group of 100 and have 10 believe in Jesus, they would be happy and speak of it as a move of God. Of course, Luke shows us that God is moving here. However, these Jews of Rome represent the Hellenized (Greek-influenced) wing of the nation of Israel. Paul sees their overall rejection as a part of the larger corporate rejection of Messiah by Israel. As the Judean leaders had rejected Jesus by crucifying him, now the leaders of the Diaspora (the dispersed ones) are rejecting him.
It breaks Paul’s heart to see this happening. In Romans 9:3, Paul describes the idea that he wished he could be cursed and cutoff from Christ for the sake of saving his own race, but that cannot be. Only Jesus could bear our curse, be cutoff, and through resurrection overcome our fate. Paul is not an arrogant and angry man lashing out at people who reject his arguments. His heart hurts for them like that of a brother, or a father. He tells them the truth in love. [Note: In the sermon, I wrongly cited the book of Galatians as the source of Paul’s cry in Romans 9:3.]
Yet, Paul also knows that the corporate rejection of Messiah by Israel affects the present experience of the Kingdom of God. Do you remember Peter’s sermon in Acts 3:19? “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” If you pay close attention to these three emphases, then you will notice that Peter is teaching something about the Kingdom. If the nation of Israel believed, then God would send Jesus back and all things would be restored. This is not just about all things in relation to Israel, but all things back to the Tower of Babel, even further back, to Adam and Eve. If Israel had believed after seeing these twenty years of signs that they were wrong about Jesus, then this time of waiting for his second coming would be much shorter.
I think about our united States of America. We have been flooded with the Word of God from the beginning. That is good, and yet, it is also bad. This is similar to Israel’s experience. It is good for those who take hold of God’s Word and believe it. I mean put their trust in it and live a life loyal to it. However, it is bad for those who cast God’s Word aside and ignore it. It is also bad for those who pretend to believe it, but only wear God’s Word as a righteous cloak for their unbelief. It seems that many in our culture are not interested in putting their faith in Jesus. The longer we have had the light, while not embracing it, the more spiritually damage we do to ourselves. Yet, God is faithful and able to do the impossible. His mercy continues to give spiritually damaged people opportunity for a miracle!
Luke’s concluding remarks tell us that Paul stayed in Rome under house-arrest for two full years. He was able to welcome anyone who would come to him. Yet, Luke does not focus this conclusion on what happened to Paul. Was he executed at the end of that two years? Was he released? Does it matter if Luke didn’t think it was worthy of being recorded? Rather, Luke focuses upon what was happening with the Gospel.
Paul continued preaching, proclaiming, the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. We should pay attention to all that those three words entail. The man Jesus is the Christ, the one who was Anointed of God to save Israel and the nations. He is also Lord, the sovereign who has all power and authority, in heaven and on the earth.
We are also told that Paul preached with all confidence. Some versions translate this as openness. He was also unhindered. Paul had both freedom to speak and frankness of speech to those who came to him. Of course, this does not mean that the Gospel would never be hindered. In fact, those who hear the truth of the Kingdom of God have a choice to make. Will they embrace the kingdom or will they hinder what the Spirit is doing in their life? It also doesn’t mean that Christians would always be free to speak. This was a special time of grace for the city of Rome. Not only had Christians come to the city, but God had sent the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, to their city. This was a time of the Holy Spirit graciously moving in Rome.
We are in a day where the nations of the world and its republics are making choices about Jesus. We must be careful of looking too strongly to the governments of these. We can lose sight that the Bible has always presented a remnant in the midst of corrupt corporate heads. Regardless of what power structures in our land may choose, believers must beware being led by them. We are to be following Jesus. As we follow him, he will speak to us about what we need to be doing that is beyond what his word has already directed us.
We may be like Isaiah speaking to a people who don’t want to hear it. “Who has believed our report?” (Isaiah 53:1). Choosing to be a part of the remnant is not an easy thing physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
As we finish the book of Acts, Israel was about to go through a tragic judgment where they would cease to be a nation, and the majority of them would be dispersed among the nations. Have you ever been a part of a situation that fell apart? Perhaps, dad and mom divorced and upset your world. Perhaps, a job that had been going well came to an unfair firing? It is heart-breaking in such times, but you have a choice to make. Am I going to serve God through this or not? It is always a hard choice for our flesh.
I would like to challenge us with this. Jesus went through hard and difficult times for us. We have been quite blessed in this land. Yet, we are being challenged on a new level. Will you continue to stand with Jesus or will you follow the ill winds of our age? May God give us the grace to remain as a faithful remnant that speaks the truth in love to a larger group that isn’t interested in embracing Jesus as Lord.