The Word of God Unhindered

Do Not Grow Dull to God’s Kingdom and His King

(Acts 28:23-31; Sunday, September 29; Preaching: Associate Pastor Nathan Snyder)

We come now to the end of the book of Acts.  Our congregation has spent three years going through Acts.  The book itself covers a period of thirty years from the ascension of Jesus in the early 30s AD to the apostle Paul’s time of house arrest in Rome in the early 60s AD.  Luke, the friend and travelling companion of Paul, wrote Acts as a sequel to his gospel (1:1-3).  When Jesus was exalted to the right hand of God, he poured out the Holy Spirit upon his people and he empowered them to be his witnesses “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (1:8).  Luke has deliberately structured Acts to follow the expansion of the kingdom of God, beginning in Jerusalem.  Through the proclamation of God’s word in the power of God’s Spirit, Christ’s kingdom expanded throughout Judea and Samaria, to the Gentiles, and through the ministry of Paul and others it began to reach the various parts of the Roman empire.  Acts concludes with Paul freely proclaiming the gospel while under house arrest in Rome, the very capital city of the Roman empire.  Of course, it wouldn’t stop there.  The last word of Acts in Greek is akōlútōs, which means “unhindered.”  Paul was proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ…unhindered.  Throughout Acts, Luke shows that the word God, the gospel of Christ and his kingdom, has been going forward and changing lives.  See, for example, 2:41-47; 4:31; 5:14; 6:7; 8:4; 9:31; 11:1; 12:23-24; 13:47-49; 19:10; 19:18-20; etc.  Nothing and no one can stop the spread of the gospel.  If God has purposed that his word will go forth, can anyone oppose God?  And can anyone stop his word in the power of the Holy Spirit, who is God himself, from rescuing those who are lost, granting faith and repentance, forgiving sins, and giving power for joyful obedience?  We see in Acts many who believe, who receive Christ as King and Savior, and are forever changed.  We also see that there were those who rejected the word and the One proclaimed in that word to their own destruction.  This continues when Paul preaches in Rome.  Some believed and some did not (28:24).  And today some believe and some do not.  But know this: even when there are those who will not believe, God’s word will prevail, his purposes will stand, Jesus will be exalted as King, he will build his kingdom, and he will save all those appointed to eternal life (13:48).  His kingdom will endure because Jesus, the King, will endure.  God’s word is not hindered from fulfilling every purpose for which God has sent it (Isaiah 55:10-11).

It is a sad reality that while the first Christians and all the apostles were Jews, many Jews rejected Jesus as the Christ and therefore shut themselves out of God’s kingdom.  This is especially tragic because God had taken the people of Israel to himself, making his covenants with them, giving them his law, and sending them his prophets.  He had been faithful to them over many centuries.  All his dealings with Israel were meant to prepare the way for the coming of his kingdom through the Christ.  Now he had sent his Son to be this Christ, and his own people did not receive him.  Paul himself was in this camp until Jesus mercifully revealed himself to Paul and brought him to faith.  Jesus then called Paul to carry this gospel throughout the Roman empire.  His practice was always to go first to the Jews, and then to bring the message also to the Gentiles.  This is what he does in Rome.  He sends word to the local leaders of the Jews (28:17) and calls them to come and hear what he has to say.  So they set a date and come to him on that day, and he testifies to them about the kingdom of God, attempting to convince them that Jesus is the fulfillment of what was written in the Law of Moses and in the prophets (28:23).  We can infer from other places in Acts that Paul showed them that according to the Scriptures, the Christ had to suffer and be killed and then rise from the dead, and Jesus is that Christ.  Salvation and forgiveness of sins is only found in trusting in him as the King who brings God’s kingdom.

Some believed Paul.  Some did not.  There was arguing amongst the Jews.  They left when Paul applied to them a pronouncement of judgment that God had made though the prophet Isaiah to their fathers.  Paul quotes from Isaiah 6.  These verses are part of the account of God’s calling Isaiah to be a prophet.  God sent him to Judah with his word, but told him to say to the people that they would not receive his word because their hearts had grown hard and dull with unbelief.  Paul is making the point that by and large the Jewish people continued to be dull and hardened to God’s word.  They did not believe.  Yet God’s word would not be hindered.  He already had been and would continue to bring it to the Gentile world.  They would listen.  God’s saving purposes for the world through Jesus would go forward.  If his people Israel rejected him, he would go to the nations.  I feel compelled to add here what Paul says in Romans 11, that the hardening of the Jewish people is only temporary.  When the full number of Gentiles has come in that God intends to save, then all Israel will also be saved, and then will come the final resurrection.  Somehow this is all part of the overarching purposes of God who had always intended to bring salvation and blessing to the nations.  The most important thing for us is to receive in faith God’s kingdom and his King.  May we not ourselves be dull and hardened in unbelief.

Why did so many Jews reject their own Messiah?  Many were offended by the idea of a crucified Christ.  This seemed shameful.  Also, they were put off by the inclusion of Gentiles as full members of God’s people.  This seems frequently in Acts to be the most offensive thing about the spread of Christianity to the Jews.  It felt to them like the Christian gospel was undermining their law, their identity, their whole way of life, and polluting the people of God.  They were indignant and they felt threatened.  “God has chosen us.  God has given us his laws.  We have worked so hard to keep our faith pure after many centuries of idolatry and the corresponding judgment of God.  And now these pagan Gentiles can just waltz right in, without circumcision, without observing all the religious rites and ceremonies, simply by faith in Jesus?  Perish the though!”  Ironically, the Jews would have looked at Isaiah 6 and believed that they had finally rejected the idolatry which had hardened their forefathers against God.  Yet by rejecting Christ, they were stuck in the same unbelief.  It just looked different on the surface.  A new idolatry had developed.  Idolatry of their Jewish heritage, their religious works, and their status as the exclusive people of God.  This idolatry blinded them from seeing the One who was the fulfillment of the very Law and Prophets to which they were so devoted.  And it blinded them from seeing the wonderful fulfillment of God’s purpose to spread grace to the nations.

If we are Gentiles who have received the gospel word, should we boast now over those Jews and others around us who have not?  If we do, we are in danger of falling into the same problem we see here.  Idolatry of our heritage, idolatry of our religion, idolatry of our status now in the people of God.  Paul warns against this in Romans 11:17-24.  We ought to stand in awe of the mercy of God.  Why would God extend his saving love to us?  Why would he include us in his kingdom?  Why would he give us his Son as our King, to die for our sins, rise from the dead, and lead us into his own resurrection life, to share in his own glorious reign?  It is all grace, pure grace!  If we are honest with ourselves, we realize that there is enough sin and unbelief in our hearts, even today, that if left to ourselves would drive us away into dullness and hardness of rebellion against Christ.  When you and I see unbelief in anyone, including in ourselves, we ought to grieve.  And look once again to Christ alone for our salvation.  We fail in so many ways and our faith is not as strong as we sometimes think it is.  But God has in his grace declared to us a word that will never fail, of a kingdom than will never fail, ruled by a King who will never fail.  His amazing grace is not hindered in saving a wretch like you and me.  He has “granted” to us Gentiles “repentance that leads to life” (11:18).  If there is any faith in us, it is a gift.  It is the work of God.  I pray that God will never let us grow dull to the word of his grace, hardened to his kingdom and his King, our only Savior.  May we never become so enamored with the world, or ourselves, or our works or tradition, or anything besides Christ on which we might try to base our life, that we reject the only One in whom we truly have life.  Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift, that we, even we, should be included in Christ to enjoy him and his kingdom forever!

Old Testament Passage: Psalm 36 – With God is love and abundance

Gospel Passage: Matthew 13:10-17 – The parables as judgment on God’s unbelieving people

Sermon Text: Acts 28:23-31 – Paul under house arrest in Rome testifies to the kingdom of God and teaches about the Lord Jesus Christ.  He confronts the Jews over their dullness to receive God’s kingdom and his King and declares that God has sent this salvation to the Gentiles who will receive it.

Sermon Point: God has brought us to his kingdom and his King through his word.  May we not be dull of heart to receive this salvation.