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Acts 28:30-31 PAULS MINISTRY AT ROME

Introduction:

	In this text Luke tells us about Paul’s ministry while he waits for his 
trial before the Roman Caesar.  

I.  Paul in our previous text meeting with the Jewish leaders at Rome

	In our previous text the Apostle Paul sent a message to the leaders of the 
Jewish synagogue, or perhaps synagogues plural.  There may have been more than 
one synagogue in such a large city as Rome.  He asked the Jewish leaders at Rome  
to come and visit him at the rented house in which the Romans allowed him to 
live.  He was, of course, under guard and could not go to the synagogue to meet 
with them.  But that previous meeting --- or actually two meetings --- which 
Paul held with the Jewish people at Rome was a part of his ministry at Rome.  It 
was a big part of his ministry there.  
	We have already studied about those two meetings with Jewish leaders.  We 
need to briefly review those meetings so that we can see how they played an 
important part in the rest of his ministry there at Rome.  
	When the Jewish leaders arrived to meet with Paul he explained to them his 
circumstances that certain Jewish leaders back at Jerusalem had tried to kill 
him.  When that failed they brought false charges against him before the Roman 
governor of Judea and asked that Paul be put to death.  The governor concluded 
that Paul was innocent but in order to please the Jewish leaders failed to 
render a verdict.  Instead he proposed to send Paul back before the Jewish 
Sanhedrin Council for trial.  In order to save his life, Paul had appealed his 
case to the Roman Caesar and that is why he had been brought to Rome for trial.    
	It was not that he had committed a crime against the Roman government.  
Nor had he committed a crime against any of the Jewish people.  He further 
explained that he had committed any kind of wrong against any Jewish person.  
Nor had he done anything nor spoke anything against Jewish law, Jewish religion 
or Jewish custom.  Paul explained that it was actually because he believed what 
the Jewish prophets had written about the coming Christ that he was in prison.  
Virtually all Jews of that day believed the prophets of old that God would some 
day send the Christ.  It was only because Paul believed that the prophecies of 
the coming of the Christ had already taken place that the Jews at Jerusalem had 
opposed him.  He, along with a lot of other people, believed that the Christ had 
already come and that Jesus, whom the Jewish leaders had caused to be crucified 
is the Christ.  Paul believed and the rest of the followers of Jesus believed 
that after Jesus was crucified, God had raised Him from the dead.  It was 
because Paul preached that Jesus is the Christ that the Jewish leaders at 
Jerusalem wanted the Caesar to put him to death.  
	Paul knew that the Jewish leaders at Jerusalem would eventually make 
contact with the Jewish leaders at Rome and ask them to use their influence with 
the Caesar and ask him to put Paul to death.  Therefore, before the Jewish 
leaders at Rome could persuade the Jews at Rome to work against him, Paul wanted 
to win their friendship and prevent them from working against him whenever he 
would go before the Caesar.  
	I am sure that it must have been to Paul’s delight to learn that they Jews 
at Rome had not yet heard anything about him from the Jews at Jerusalem.  It 
must have also been to his delight for them to ask him to explain to them about 
Jesus.  They wanted to know if Jesus really is the Christ or not.  They asked 
Paul to set a day and allow them to bring all of the other Jews at Rome to hear 
him.  They would come early in the morning and listen to Paul all day if it 
should take that long and let him tell them about Jesus and about the Christian 
movement	
	On that day when Paul did tell them about Jesus and show evidence from Old 
Testament Scripture that Jesus is the Christ a large number of the Roman Jews 
believed and got saved.  However, a large number did not believe and many of 
those who did not believe spoke out strongly against the idea that Jesus is the 
Christ.
	That gives the setting for the things that Luke tells us in today’s text.  

II.  The two years which Paul had to minister there at Rome

	V. 30, “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and 
received all that came in unto him.”  Paul remained a prisoner in Rome for two 
long years before his trial ever took place.  We see in this the slowness of 
justice before the Roman court system.  Back in Judea the Roman Governor Felix 
had already kept Paul in prison for two years thinking that if he left Paul in 
prison long enough Paul would offer him a bribe to let him out.  Then after 
Festus, the new governor took the place of Felix, Paul remained in prison until 
the new governor, Festus,  got around to hearing his case and so that made over 
two years that Paul has been in prison.  Then after Paul appealed his case to 
Rome, it took several months to get him to Rome for trial.  That made 
considerably longer than two year before Paul reached Rome.  Now we add two more 
years of prison before his trial before the Caesar.  That adds up to four, four 
and a half, or near five years that Paul was a prisoner.  
	But during the two whole years that Paul remained a prisoner at Rome God 
gave him great liberty.  Instead of being shut up in a prison cell Paul was 
allowed to rent a house and to live in that house.  I am sure that Paul’s house 
was not elaborately furnished with all of the physical and material comforts 
that the rich people of that day enjoyed.  But compared with the prison cell, it 
must have seemed like the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel.  
	Furthermore, Paul was not limited as to who could visit him.  Most 
prisoners are allowed only a small number of people on their visitation list and 
only those who are on the list can get in.  Those who do get in are allowed but 
a limited amount of time that they can stay.  But anyone could get in to visit 
Paul.  And as many as could get into the house were welcomed.  On that day when 
the Jewish leaders came and brought with them a large number of other Jews they 
were all allowed to crowd in and visit with Paul.  They were even allowed to 
stay all day.     
	Let me tell you that even though Paul was physically a prisoner, God 
arranged for him to have a great deal of liberty.  Being a prisoner of the Roman 
government was in some ways a great advantage to Paul.  When he was out on the 
mission field and he preached the truths of God he made enemies.  He made 
enemies among his fellow Jews and he made enemies among the Gentiles.  They 
tried on numerous occasions they ran him out of town and on other occasions they 
tried to kill him.  On at least one occasion they stoned him and left him for 
dead.  But at Rome Paul had Roman soldiers guarding him and none of his enemies 
dared to touch him.     

III.  Paul using those two years for the glory of God

	V. 31, “Preaching the kingdom of God...,”  Paul was faithful to the 
ministry to which God had called him.  Luke said that he preached the kingdom of 
God.  This reminds me of what Mark said about the ministry of John the Baptist.  
Mark said that John preached saying , “...the kingdom of God is at hand,”  Mark 
1:15.  To put it another way Mark preached, “...the King which God the Father 
has promised to send is at hand.”  Paul preached saying , “...the King which God 
has promised to send has already come and that King is Jesus.”    
	(V. 31),   “...and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus 
Christ...,”  
Every unsaved person who came within earshot of Paul was a prospective 
Christian.  Paul preached Jesus unto him.  He used the Old Testament Scriptures 
to show that Jesus is the Christ and that Jesus was sent to be the Savior of 
men.  He surely must have pointed out that every person is a sinner, including 
the person to whom he spoke.  He must have explained that every sinner needs to 
be saved and cleansed from his sin.  He surely must have pointed out that every 
sinner who will repent of his sin and trust Jesus Christ to save his soul, will 
be saved.  He will be forgiven of every sin.  He will go to heaven when he dies 
and he will live forever in glory with God.  He must have pointed out that if 
one refuses or neglects to trust Jesus to save his soul will die and go into 
everlasting torment.  
	He got to witness to the soldiers to whom he was chained.  He got to 
witness to slaves of the Roman government who came into his rented home.  As 
already mentioned, he got to witness to most of the Jews who lived at Rome at 
that time.  Perhaps he witnessed to all of them.  He no doubt got to witness to 
others Jews who either moved to Rome or at least visited at Rome during the two 
year period.  He probably got to witness to many Gentiles who heard about him 
and who wanted to hear about the Christian movement and who came to see him to 
find out.  I am confident he got to witness to many unsaved people who had 
Christian friends who were concerned about their soul and who brought them to 
Paul so that he could tell them how to get saved.  
	I have pointed out to you that Paul considered every unsaved person a 
prospect and he would present the gospel of Jesus Christ to them.  I would point 
out to you that Paul upon every Christian who came to visit him as a student and 
he became the teacher, the personal tutor, of that Christian.  He taught them 
the things that pertain the Lord Jesus Christ.  He must have taught them many of 
the prophecies which foretold the coming of Jesus.  He must have taught them 
concerning the virgin birth of Jesus so that they would understand that Jesus is 
One of The Holy Trinity.  Jesus is human.  He is just as human as any other 
human being.  But He is more than human.  He is also Deity God born into human 
flesh.  He lived a sinless life.  He had to live a sinless life in order to be 
sinless sacrifice who could suffer in the stead of guilty sinners.  He must have 
explained that Jesus arose from the grave after His crucifixion and death.  He 
must have pointed out that no human being can earn his right to enter heaven by 
his own works of righteousness.  He probably pointed out that some day Jesus 
will return to earth and that He will give new bodies to all of the saved.  He 
will give new bodies to the saved who are dead and he will give new bodies to 
the saved who are still alive when He returns.  
	(V. 310, “...with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”  Listen Paul 
always had confidence that the gospel message was true.  He always had 
confidence that the things he taught were true because God had called him up to 
heaven and had personally taught him the truths of God.  But Paul had not always 
had confidence that he could preach the gospel message and teach the truths of 
God related to the gospel without interference from somebody.  In every place 
where Paul had ever preached there had always been somebody to object and seek 
to interfere with his preaching.  They would stop him if they could.  They would 
try to stone him to death or run him out of town if they could.  If they could 
not stop him, if they could not stone him, if they could not run him out of 
town, they would howl to high heaven in objection to what he said.  They would 
seek to persuade people not to listen to him and not to believe what he said.  
But at Rome God gave Paul two whole years of preaching and teaching the things 
of God without any interference of any kind.  
	Paul surely must have been having a good time.  He was preaching the 
gospel to the lost and may lost souls were turning to Jesus for salvation.  He 
was teaching the truths of God to the saved.  He taught a two year Bible course 
that must have equivalent to eight or more years of intensive training in a 
seminary of our day.  In addition all of that he was writing books of the Bible.  
He wrote the epistles to Philemon, the Colossians, the Ephesians and the 
Philippians.  Paul was living it up.  He was having himself a good time.  He was 
not an unhappy man.  I suspect that this was the happiest time of Paul’s life.  
	Yet his future was uncertain.   Actually all that Paul knew about the time 
of his trial was that it was in the future.  He may have learned from his guards 
that it would likely be a long time coming, but he had no way of knowing for 
sure when it would be unless God revealed it to him.  Neither did he have any 
way of knowing what the outcome of his trial would be unless God revealed that 
to him.  It is very likely that if God had revealed the outcome of his trial to 
Paul, that he would have mentioned it to his Christian friends and Luke would 
have mentioned it.  So we can be almost certain that Paul did not know but what 
the Caesar would order his execution.  
	But Paul did know one thing.  He knew that the outcome of his trial was 
not altogether in the hands of the Roman Caesar.  He knew that in the final 
analysis, his fate lay in the hands of God and not altogether in the hands of 
Caesar.  He knew that only if God considered it time for his ministry to come to 
a close would the Caesar order him to be put to death.  God had taken care of 
him when he was stoned and left for dead.  God had taken care of him in 
Jerusalem when he was almost torn limb from limb by and angry mob.  God had 
taken care of him in the storm and in the shipwreck that put him out in the 
wines and the waves at the height of the storm.
	Paul trusted God.  He had trusted the Lord Jesus Christ to save his soul, 
which he knew that he did not deserve.  He had trusted the Lord when the rocks 
were being thrown at him and hitting him on the head and other places.  He had 
trusted the Lord when he stood before Governor Felix and Governor Festus and 
King Agrippa.  He would trust the Lord to take care of him no matter what the 
outcome of his trial before Caesar might be.  If Caesar set him free, he would 
continue to serve the Lord preaching and teaching.  If he would be put to death, 
he would see Jesus again in just a matter of moments.  He had it made either 
way.  

III.  Some wonderful lessons for us

	If you happen to be one of those persons who is still unprepared to meet 
God in judgment, there is a great lesson in this passage for you.  Even though 
you know yourself to be a sinner unworthy of going to heaven, there is good news 
for you.  Jesus Christ is the Savior that God the Father has sent to the cross 
to die so that lost sinners like you can be saved.   It is good news to you that 
Jesus died and prepared a way whereby you can be forgiven of all your sin and 
made ready for heaven.  
	If the Apostle Paul were here today he would warn you that it is dangerous 
for you to fail to trust Jesus Christ to be your Savior.  He would warn you that 
it is dangerous for you to delay and put off trusting Jesus until some later 
time.  Paul would tell you that if you keep putting off trusting Jesus until 
some other time that eventually it will be too late for you to ever get saved.  
He would advise you to trust Jesus today and get saved.  He would advise you to 
call on Jesus right now and ask Him to save your soul.  Trust Him with your 
destiny.  Put yourself in His care and trust Him to take care of your soul.  
	If you happen to be one of those people who has already trusted Jesus to 
be your Savior, there is a great lesson in this passage for you.  Trust the Lord 
to take care of you in all situations.  Trust Him to see that you have food and 
clothing.  Trust Him to take care of you in times of peace and prosperity.  
Trust Him to take care of you in times of war.  Trust the Lord to take care of 
you in times of poverty.  Trust the Lord to take care of you when you know that 
trouble is ahead and you do not know the outcome of the trouble.  Trust the Lord 
to take care of you even when you know that death is certain.  
	Trust Him at all times.  Rejoice in Him at all times.  Be faithful to 
serve Him at all times.  

Conclusion:

	If you are unsaved you can trust Jesus and be saved right where you are.  
I appeal to you to call on Him to silently call on Him right now and ask Him to 
save you.  You do not have to walk an aisle to get saved.  You do not even bow 
your head to silently talk to Jesus and trust Him to be your Savior.  
	But if you do trust Jesus to save you I am going to ask that you give some 
thought to coming forward in this service or in the near future and publicly 
acknowledge that Jesus is your Savior.  You can get saved without publicly 
announcing your faith in Jesus.  But after you are saved, you cannot be all that 
the Lord wants you to be without publicly acknowledging that Jesus is your 
Savior and joining a good Biblical church.  
	If you are saved I call upon you to do two things.  First of all I appeal 
to you to be faithful to serve the Lord at all times and under all 
circumstances.  Serve the Lord in the good times and serve the Lord in hard 
times.  You can Secondly, I appeal to you to trust the Lord.  Trust the Lord at 
all times and under all circumstances.  Trust Him to take care of you in the 
good times and trust Him to take care of you in the hard times.  I want to 
assure you that you can never go wrong by trusting the Lord.