Back to the Bible Canada with Dr. John Neufeld - Jesus Goes Global: A Prisoner of Christ: The Roman Mission Begins

Hi, this is Ben Lowell and welcome to Back to the Bible Canada with Dr. John Newfell.

We're continuing our series today, Jesus Goes Global, A Prisoner of Christ.

So turning your Bible to Acts 28, verses 10 to 22, is Dr. Newfell brings us a message titled,

The Roman Mission Begins.

If you know the story of Paul Well, you're going to know that Paul had dreamt of going to Rome for a long time.

And the book of Romans, which is the lengthiest treaties of what Paul taught everywhere he went,

well, that letter that Paul wrote to a church he had never visited in a city where he had never been.

Indeed, at the very beginning of that letter, Paul states something very much like that.

Romans 113, I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you,

but thus far have been prevented in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles.

And it's that phrase, have thus been prevented that catches my attention.

You know, sometimes little phrases like that, we really get an insight into Paul's thinking.

See, many of us might say, well, something always came up, one unforeseen situation after another,

or stuff always came in the way.

And that would get to what had occurred, but in Paul's thinking God opens doors, God closes doors,

God directs often in the middle of what we think are irritants and disappointments and things that we

have to do that get in the way of the things that we want to do.

When Paul's under no illusions, he has wanted to bring the gospel into the heart of the Roman Empire.

He has wanted to strengthen the church there and give them the keys to becoming overwhelmingly fruitful in that city,

winning ever more people to Christ and establishing the Christian faith so that it can never be uprooted.

He wants the church there to move from being a small, often intimidated church under the might of Rome

to being a church that's willing to make sacrifices for the sake of the gospel.

Listen again, how he expresses himself to the Roman Christians in Romans 11 and 12.

For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,

that is that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

See, Paul has been dreaming about Rome for some time, but in this is where he gets really interesting.

He wants the Roman church to get involved in worldwide evangelization, but then something happened,

the very hindrances that Paul has been mentioning.

I'm now reading Romans 15, 24 to 25.

I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you,

once I have enjoyed your company for a while.

At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints.

And well, that's where the drama of Acts comes about.

Paul wants to evangelize Spain and he knows that the Roman church has some of the resources he needs

to get that done. He's going to show up spend some time with them, strengthen them,

and they're going to strengthen him, and then they will financially give and raise up

missionaries, and they will become the leading church in bringing the gospel west.

But there are things that he had to do, which Paul understood as God saying,

not now. You have to go to Jerusalem, and as we've seen, it was there that all the trouble began.

That's where the riot happened, the arrest, the two years of illegal imprisonment.

And Paul appeals to Caesar to get relief, and he's bound on a ship, and he's taken

how as a prisoner, and he's shipwrecked on the island of Malta, and he spends the entire winter

there. Has he ever been hindered from going to Rome? But now the time has come.

But it has not been how he had anticipated it would be.

He's going to Rome in chains, but he's going nonetheless.

And he's not going as a victim of bad circumstances.

He is a prisoner of Christ Jesus. Jesus himself has sent his apostle there in the most effective

means possible as a prisoner. And doesn't it strike you how often it is that the gospel

goes forward, not by the power of the sword, or by laws that protect and advance it,

or by governments that work for it, but the gospel goes forward in weakness.

This is the power of God, our Savior, conquered from the cross after all.

And he demands his servants conquer with him in the same weakness whereby he conquered.

And if you miss this, you're going to be confused for entire lifetime.

You'll wait for the right government to come in power for the gospel to go forward.

You'll look for worldly strength rather than looking for the strength that comes from the cross.

Well, let's get to our text, Acts 28, verse 10-16.

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

After three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria

with the twin gods as figurehead. Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days,

and from there we made a circuit and arrived in Regium. After one day, a south wind sprang up,

and on the second day, we came to Puthioli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay

with them for seven days, and so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they heard about us,

came as far as the Forum of Apius and three 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. Now, verse 10 ends Paul's ministry in Malta. Remember that through God's grace and his

apostolic ministry, Paul is being used by God to cure and heal the sick on Malta, and the word of God

is growing. Now, in gratefulness for his ministry, the people of that island, realizing Paul's time

with them is now over-asked what needs he might have. Not only his, but they're also concerned

with both Luke and Aristarchus, Paul's fellow ministers and traveling companions. These two men are

not prisoners, but they care for Paul along the way. And the island people realize this, and they make

sure that they are well-supplied and cared for. Having arrived as a prisoner, Paul leaves as a

prisoner, but as so much more than that, he's leaving the island as a man who had come to them

representing Jesus. And that's the thing about Paul's imprisonment. Already Paul is seeing how

advantageous his imprisonment is. It's opening doors that would never have come to him,

were it not for his chains, he truly is a prisoner of Christ. Now, then they've been on the island

of Malta for three months, and they've waited for the storm season to end. It would now be the

beginning of February, and they can sail. Their ship has been wrecked, but there's another ship

that's there that, like so many other ships, would have wintered there. It's also a ship from

Alexandria in Egypt, and Luke mentions that there were twin gods as a figurehead, and well,

most probably those were carved images into the prow of the ship. The Greek word used makes it clear

that they were twin gods. These were the sons of Zeus, the head of the Greek Pantheon, his sons were

Castor and Pollux. Now, I mentioned that, not only because Luke does, but I think Luke mentions

them, because he wants to draw our attention to a very different worldview on board that ship.

Those twin gods were patron deities. They were thought to protect the ship from the dangers of

the sea. You want to put them there so that Zeus and the gods would be pleased and let you pass

the sea without incident. But on board that ship were Paul and his two friends, and they had no

trust in pagan deities. They would get to Rome because Paul's Lord Jesus had determined that

they should go there. They didn't need to knock on wood or look for a good sign or have lucky

numbers going for them or the right pagan deities on their ship. The idols Paul had taught or

absolutely nothing, but the Lord made the heavens in the earth, and he is certainly, certainly the

Lord of the sea. And then Luke describes the journey from Malta to Italy. The first stop is Syracuse,

which is the eastern end of the island of Sicily. They could by now have traveled by land,

but they stay there for three days, and even though Luke doesn't tell us why, we have to assume

that there is a weather problem again, so they're waiting because it's still the shoulder season.

The weather has to clear before they can go, and they do so. Now the ESV says that they made a circuit,

but in the Greek, the word used is a nautical term. It refers to lifting anchor and making one's

way forward. At any rate, they finally arrive in a place called Regium on the very southern tip of

Italy, and finally Paul is arrived in Italy, and then in the favorable winds they make their way

north up the Italian peninsula, and come to a place called Putooli, which is a Roman port. Luke

doesn't tell us why, but Julius, the Roman centurion, stays there for seven days. Now I know we're

tempted to skip by the geographical details, but I see something very exciting here. Luke says when

they got to Putioli, given that they are there for a full week, as before Julius gives Paul freedom,

and they find brothers there. They're Christians there. It's the year 80s, 60, less than 30 years

after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and not only were there Christians in Rome, but the gospel

was spreading throughout all of Italy. There were over 200 kilometers from Rome, and there's a

Christian church there. We're given no details as to how that came to be. I mean, who had gone there,

who had evangelized there, how large was the church, what we don't know, but I can only imagine

how heartening that would have been. Paul had a calling to take the gospel where it had never been

before, but apparently he's not the only person who had that kind of a calling. Had the people who

brought the gospel there suffered as Paul had suffered to bring the gospel forward again,

Luke provides us with no details, but we can only imagine how wonderful is the story of the

advancement of the gospel to places we might never have imagined it could be. Luke says, Paul, thank

God, and he took great courage for this. The gospel is just unstoppable. And then, of course,

finally they come to Rome. The prisoner of Christ Jesus is about to find out what great things the

Lord Jesus Christ has for him there. What Paul had long for for so many years was now finally,

finally coming to fruition.

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It's been established that even as a prisoner, Paul was to be trusted.

He was not about to bolt or make a run for it. He was after all, Christ, prisoner,

and he had as a prisoner in ministry to undertake. And yeah, as we have seen, it's a ministry that

was conducted in weakness, but only in weakness as worldly people think of weakness. Paul was in

spiritual terms arriving in Rome with great spiritual power. How I wish that all gods people

had the eyes to see that. If we are in the center of God's will, if we trust him and his power,

why are we in a lather about the power of Caesar? We need to examine the lessons.

We do not, as Paul would say in Ephesians 6, fight with the flesh. The arm of the flesh will not

prevail over the power of the Spirit. And so Paul's in Rome. So let's continue to read Acts 28,

17 to 22. 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 custom

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.

See, it's not possible for us to understand this section without fully comprehending the previous

verse. Paul is at this point in time a high status prisoner. And as such, he is at least at this

point in time allowed to provide his own quarters. Now, how does he afford that? Well, we're not told,

but I strongly suspect that the Roman Church might have been aware of his arrival. And would have

already either had an offering or perhaps some wealthy benefactor in this church would have put

up the money in the place. Luke doesn't tell us. Nevertheless, it's not exactly the Hilton,

I mean, after all, Paul is guarded since Luke by a soldier. And we know from the book of

Philippians that it's not just an ordinary soldier, this is rather a member of the Praetorium.

This is the elite guard from the very same unit that was charged with overseeing the safety of

the emperor. Indeed, that tells me that Paul's entrance into Rome was noticed by the very elite

of Roman power. And we also know that the guard didn't stand outside the door, but that the guard

was actually chained to Paul. Now, that would seem like a horrible intrusion. But again, please

remember, he's a prisoner, not a diplomat or a royal official. Rather, he is being charged with

a very serious crime. If found guilty, he will be found guilty of causing a serious threat to the

empire, and as such, he will receive the death penalty. He may be given some freedom, but we should

not think of him as having had an easy time. But we also know that once he's been chained to a

member of the Praetorium, that man would hear everything that Paul is saying and the meetings he

would have. And as we find from the book of Philippians, what happens in this prison is now being

reported in Caesar's household so that everyone is talking not just about Paul, but the fact that

this man thinks he is a prisoner of Jesus whom Jesus has sent there. Okay, well, let's move on.

Paul has only been in Rome for three days, and his first order of business is to call the local

leaders of the Jews in Rome and ask them to come to meet with them. I suspect that Luke has gone

out and met with the synagogue leaders of the city and relayed the invitation, and they come.

And according to Josephus and other historians, that were during this time about 40,000 Jews living

in Rome. That's a considerable number. And because it had been Paul's practice to preach the gospel

first to the Jew, and then to the Gentile, he follows his normal pattern. Because he is in chains,

he can't go and preach in the synagogue, but he can meet with the leaders. And of course, Paul

doesn't know what they might have heard about why he's in prison. Had they heard about the

riot in Jerusalem, and why it is that he'd been arrested in the first place? Well, if they'd heard

about that, they would no doubt have heard the untrue and unfounded rumor that he had tried to

bring a Greek man into the temple, which was forbidden. But Paul had not done that. The lies about

him were abounding in Jerusalem so that what did these men hear? And furthermore, what did these

men believe? And so Paul begins in the only way he can. He will have said, look, you can clearly

see that I'm a prisoner. I've been brought here from Caesarea where I was held in a prison for two

years. That came about because of a riot in Jerusalem. And so you might wonder what I am doing by

disturbing the Jewish faith, just how dangerous am I? And what does my presence in Jerusalem mean to

you and to the Jewish population in Rome? Will my presence upset the synagogue and beyond that,

you might wonder what you as leaders need to do now? And so I have invited you here so that we

can talk, something like that. And so Paul then goes on to reassure them. I've not militated against

the Jewish people. I've done nothing against the customs of our fathers, the rabbis who have

preceded me. I was falsely accused, and this false accusation has resulted in my arrest. Indeed,

I was examined by the Roman authorities, and after some length of time, they would have pronounced

innocent of all charges, set me free. And that should have been the outcome. But the Jerusalem

leadership objected and refused to let this matter go. And the entire process just dragged on and

I appealed to Caesar, but no this. I'm here in chains to be sure. But in my trial, which I now

anticipate will bring no charges of wrongdoing against my nation or against the Jewish people.

And Paul's telling the synagogue leaders in Rome that he is no threat to them. And then we assume

that he's allowing them to ask questions or raise concerns that they might have had.

But before he opens the floor, he wants to add one more item so that there should be no misunderstanding.

He says that he is there because of the hope of Israel. And of course, he means by that,

that he has been preaching that Jesus, the one who is crucified in Jerusalem, and then raised from

the dead. Yet that Jesus is Israel's long awaited Messiah. He is the fulfillment of the Jewish

scriptures. Yeah, they should know this is what he has been preaching everywhere. He's not hiding

his essential message from them. And this message is where all the trouble comes from. Do you see?

There is an honesty that he is giving them. I'm a Jesus man, says Paul, that's the nature of the

quarrel that I've been having. And so having stated his case clearly. And in fact, Paul is saying,

you are here now. And rather than hearing rumors about each other, let's all be in a room together

so that we can talk. And then oh my, I think what happens next would have been the last answer

that Paul would have expected. They say, no one from Judea has shown up with a letter about you.

And furthermore, we have heard of no charges in relation to you. And even though we know who you are

and what a major player you have become, we are not here to confront you on anything.

Now please notice, from the perspective of the emperor, he would have been very little

interested in the theological disputes among the Jews. What the emperor would have wanted was

peace among the Jews. No riots, no threats, no upheaval. He would get involved to protect his

realm. That's understandable. Any ruler wants the same. Riots in the streets are not to be

tolerated. And so from one perspective, Paul taking the initiative to meet with a Jewish

leadership in Rome, well, that's a brilliant masterstroke. Even the guard himself would have been

able to testify that Paul was seeking harmonious relationships among the Jews. If anything would speak

in his favor during his trial, well, surely that would speak on Paul's behalf. It was a kind of

defense. But Paul is not really a political animal. He's Christ prisoner. He also seeks the

salvation of his own people. You know, Romans 10 verse 1, he wrote that his heart's desire for his

own people is that they might be saved. And Romans 9 verses 2 and 3, he says he has great

sorrow and unceasing anguish in his heart for Israel and could even wish to be cut off himself

so that they might be saved. Paul has the Jewish leaders there not just to make his case,

but because he loves them. And they in turn tell him, look, we don't know what happened to you

and why you're a prisoner. But if you want to lay the matter aside for now, could we hear your views?

That is, tell us what you've been preaching. Tell us about Jesus and who you think he is and why

you think he's the hope of Israel. Can we use this time to talk about this Jesus? And because we

are aware that what you are teaching is spoken against among all of our synagogues, we want to know

not from the critics, but from you. And so Paul, what an opportunity. The Roman mission has just begun.

The man in chains is now being used by God to begin a ministry in this city,

beginning among the people whom he so dearly loves and a wide door is open for him. He can hardly

believe it. What do we learn from this? Well, we learned to trust in Jesus and not despair

because of inconveniences or because of sufferings or because somehow political leadership is

arraigned against us. We come in weakness knowing that the weakness of man is the power of God.

Learn that. Learn that when we are in prison, we are Christ's prisoner.

Thanks, John. You know, I think sometimes we're quick to limit ourselves in presenting the gospel

because we feel we're not gifted or prepared or it's not acceptable in our culture,

but should we not always be eager and prepared to share the good news?

Yeah, and I'm going to say something. I mean, I know there are great many people that one of the

greatest fears are doing evangelism. And I've heard a many people say, look, I mean, why should I

wreck my friendship by trying to figure out how to bring the gospel in? But I'm going to argue that

you can be far more natural in your presentation of the gospel than you would ever dreamt of being.

I mean, what's so wrong with asking when somebody, you know, has a need in their life, you know,

can I pray for you? And then to tell them what assurance you have that when you speak to God that

he hears you, I mean, tell them, you know, that, you know, the Bible tells me that, you know,

through Jesus, God has invited me to come into the Holy of Holies. And I think that God has

put us together. So I'd like to pray for you because God has provided access through the

blood of Christ. I mean, tell somebody that. And it's amazing that when you do that, that most

of the time they listen. That doesn't mean they necessarily come to Christ, but they will listen

and you'll open a door that you never knew was there before. Thanks so much, John. And remember

to join us again tomorrow as we continue our series, Jesus goes global, a prisoner of Christ right

here on Back to the Bible Canada, where we teach the Bible.

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