Acts 28: Will You Preach To The End?
Verse of the Day: (V31) “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”
1. Prayed (V1-16)
V3 “And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.”
All in the shipwreck including Paul managed to swim to shore on an island called Melita. There they were well treated by the natives. However, while Paul was gathering sticks and putting them on the fire, he was bitten by a viper. But God saved his life, and they thought that he was a god. So when the father of their leader was sick, they called Paul to heal him. Paul prayed to God, and God indeed healed the leader’s father. Paul then prayed and healed many who were sick before he departed with the rest of them to Rome.
V8 “And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him, and healed him.
2. Persuading (V17-29)
V23 “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.”
When Paul was in Rome, though he was under house arrest, he managed to speak to the chief of the Jews as well as the Jewish community. Paul persuaded them in great length that the Way or the Christians were truly Christ’s followers who believed that Christ is the Son of God. However, some chose to believe in Christ, while others rejected Christ.
V24 “And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.”
3. Preaching (V30-31)
V30 “And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,”
Before God allowed the Roman emperor to behead Paul because he was a Christian (though he was innocent), yet Paul did not waver but kept preaching God’s kingdom and gospel during his house arrest as well as in the Roman prison to the very end of his life.
V31 “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”
Prayer of the Day:
Dearest God, please help me to preach Your kingdom and gospel to the end.
