Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Turn to Acts, chapter 28, verses 17 to 31. And I believe, again, as I've mentioned before, that this whole book is a very important book, and by the time that it had been concluded by the pen of the Holy Spirit of God, the act of the Holy Spirit of God still continue on through His servants, even up till this day. And so we read, beloved brothers and sisters of the Apostle Paul now in the city of Rome, finally have arrived there. And now we see as the topic for today's message is Paul's appeal to his Jewish brethren in the city of Rome to accept the message of the gospel.

And so we read in verse 17, and it came to pass, that after three days, Paul called the chief of the Jews together. And when they were come together, he said unto them, men and brethren, though I have committed, though I have committed nothing against the people or custom of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined me, would have let me go because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spoke against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar, not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.

For this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you and to speak with you, because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. And they said unto him, We neither receive letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee. But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest. For as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. 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 Yeshua, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening.

And some believed the things which were spoken of and some believed not. And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed. After that, Paul had spoken one word. Well, spake the Holy Spirit by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers, saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand. And seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For the heart of these people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing. And their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart. And should be converted, and I should heal them.

Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. With all confidence, no man forbidding him. And that's how, beloved brothers and sisters, the book of Acts have ended with these specific last words here. The appeal of Paul Shaul to his Jewish brethren, from the bottom of his heart, concerning the person of our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah.

I would like to remind you, beloved brothers and sisters, that Paul, though he was used by God to establish local assemblies, local churches, among the Gentiles, among the Gentile world, yet he had always a burden in his heart to minister to his own brethren, the people of Israel. And you can see it here, in these last verses of the book of Acts, how this man, the first thing he does here, where finally he arrived to the city of Rome, he practiced what he had taught in the letter to the Romans. He had said, if you remember in Romans chapter 1 and verse 16, he says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of the Messiah, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth.

And then he said to the Jew first, and also unto the Greek. And here the apostle Paul, being a prisoner, bound in his hands, have gone through all this ordeal of the trip from Caesarea all the way to the city of Rome. He had finally have arrived to the city of Rome, and the first thing that he does, he practices what he preached. And he says, I'm going to share the message of the gospel with my Jewish brothers and sisters. And he could not go to the synagogue, as he had done that previously in many other cities where he preached the message of the gospel.

But this time, instead of going to the synagogue, he had invited the Jewish leaders to come to the very place where he had been living. On and on throughout his ministry, in the Gentile world, he always went to the Jewish people first. He had gone to the synagogue, spoke to his brethren, the Jewish people, and then turned to the nations and presented the Messiahship of Yeshua to the nations of the world. And what here he does in Acts chapter 28 in the city of Rome, the first thing he does, he presents the Messiah to the Jewish brethren. While he could not go to the synagogue, so he is inviting them into the place where he was staying.

Now, look at this, brothers and sisters, there are four points that we have here in Acts chapter 28, verses 17 to 31. The first portion that we have, verses 17 to 20, the appeal of the Apostle Paul to the Jewish leaders. In verses 21 and 22 of this chapter is the response or the answer of the Jewish leaders to Paul's appeal. Then in verses 23 to 29, Paul appeals again to the Jewish community, but this time not only to the leaders, but to the many who came to see and to hear what he had to say. And finally, in verses 30 and 31, Paul ongoing preaching the kingdom of God while he was still chained for two years in the city of Rome.

So let's go over this, beloved brothers and sisters, in this ministry meeting. The first thing is verses 17 to 20, the appeal to the Jewish leaders. Look at it. First of all, he's inviting them in verse 17a. It says here, and it came to pass that after three days, Paul called the chief of the Jewish people together. He's inviting the Jewish leaders to come to where he stayed. Now, you notice that the previous verse 16, that he was in Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to prison. But when it's come to Paul, he allowed him to dwell by himself when a soldier kept him. So Paul, Shaul, was remaining alone.

He did not go to that prison where all the prisoners who came from Qasariah that arrived to Rome, he was not taken to a prison, but he was left alone. But he was always in chain to a soldier. And the rest went to prison. And who knows, many, many of them may have died. Maybe they took them into the stadiums where they were playing there with animals in Rome. And many of those prisoners perhaps have been killed while they were watched by the multitude, how the prisoners were fighting with animals in the Roman arenas. But Paul, at this time, was alone, chained to a Roman soldier.

And the first thing he does, he doesn't wait too long. Three days pass by, and he's calling the Jewish leaders to come to see him. And so in verse 17b to verse 20, we see that he shared his heart with the Jewish leaders of the city of Rome. And he began, of course, in verse 17b. And look at this, what he does. He said unto them, men and brethren. The Hebrew word here is Anashim Achim. He's calling them, these brethren. They were not brethren in the Messiah, but they were his brethren in the flesh. They were Achim, they were brethren in accordance to the national link that they have had.

He is Jewish, they are Jewish. He is an Israeli, they are an Israeli. He is a Hebrew, they are Hebrews. They are part of the nation of Israel. And we, today, do the very same thing. There is a national brotherhood that all the Jewish communities around the world have one towards another. We belong to one nation called the nation of Israel, and we call each other Achim. That is a biblical way in which we find it in the Old Testament. You find it in the New Testament. You remember Psalm 133, where the psalmist said, behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren, for Achim, to dwell together in unity.

This is the way in which we, who are Jewish, communicate with each other, even until today. And then he is telling them, men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or the custom of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. He is saying to them, brethren, Achim, listen, I haven't done anything. I didn't commit anything wrong to the people, meaning to the Jewish community of Jerusalem, when he was there in the temple. You remember earlier in the book of Acts, where they have captured him, and then they delivered him to the Romans. He says, I didn't do anything against our custom.

And notice, he says, the custom of our fathers. Now again, I want you to see, though the Jewish leaders were not believers in Yeshua, Paul was a believer in Yeshua. As far as he is concerned, what the fathers, what the prophets of all have spoken, it is our fathers. Paul's father and the Jewish leaders who did not yet believe the fathers. It was the fathers of our nation. I haven't committed anything wrong against, not the people, not the customs of our fathers, yet I was delivered a prisoner from Jerusalem to the hands of the Romans. And you remember how previously, beloved brothers and sisters, he was delivered by the Jewish leaders to the Romans.

And the Roman soldiers have taken him, and the centurion have protected him, and all that ordeal that he had experienced in arriving finally to the city of Rome. And he says, I'm guiltless. I haven't done anything wrong. There was no reason in the world that I will be here. I didn't do anything wrong. But here I am, in the city of Rome, bound with chain to a Roman soldier, a prisoner, because there was no guilt in me at all. And again, I want to emphasize, he's calling them brethren, and he's calling them our fathers. And this is the expression that you find Peter mentioning this already earlier in the book of Acts.

Peter mentioning in Acts chapter 2 and verse 29 and verse 37. And throughout the whole book of Acts, when even Stephen was calling the brethren, the people of Israel, his brethren, he longed to share with them the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua. So here's the Apostle Paul now, beginning to share with the leaders, the Jewish leaders, what he's on his heart. And so we continue on, and now notice that in verse 18 he says, listen, the Romans, they have examined me. They would have even let me go because there was no cause of death in me. Even the Roman soldiers, and the commander, the centurion, and the Roman leaders, if you remember Felix and Agrippa, and all those that were there, Festus, they could not find any fault in Paul in Shaul.

There was nothing wrong that he had done. And yet, the Jewish leaders ended up letting him be taken by the Roman soldiers. So there was nothing that was wrong that he had done, the Apostle Paul. Verse 19, he spake, but when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar, not that I had anything to accuse my nation. He says, the reason that I'm here is not because I want to accuse my nation. Again, he used the word my nation. He always considered himself as part of the nation of Israel. And he says, listen, I'm not here to accuse my nation. I'm here because the leaders of Jerusalem have led me to the Romans and accused me of something that I haven't done.

And here I am in your presence today. He's mentioning in verse 19. So he is now in verse 20, and that is a beautiful verse. And I really enjoy so much to read verse 20. He says, the reason that I'm in this chain, and probably he lifted up his hand and he showed them his chain. The reason for this cause, therefore, have I called for you to see you and to speak with you because that for the hope of Israel, I'm bound with this chain. You know why I have this chain in my hand? Do you know why I'm here, beloved Jewish brothers of the leadership of the city of Rome?

I'm here because of the hope of Israel. And what is the hope of Israel? Tikvat Yisrael. The hope of Israel is nothing else but the blessed Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, Israel's glorious Messiah. Who is the hope of Israel? In other words, the God of Israel, in a person of the Messiah of Israel, is the hope of the nation of Israel. And Paul is saying to them, in this verse 20, he says, I am here because of the hope of Israel. I am bound with this chain. And you know, there's a few times that the Old Testament speak about the hope of Israel, and one of them we read already earlier in our reading.

But I want you to turn back with me to the prophet Yirmiah, or Jeremiah. One more time for a moment, please. There are two passages that speak about the hope of Israel in Jeremiah. Chapter 14 is the first time. And look what Jeremiah is writing by inspiration. We read in verse 8. O hope of Israel, the Savior thereof, in a time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turnest aside to tarry for a night? God is speaking to the nation, and the cry it is, O the hope of Israel, mikveh Yisrael, it is found here in Jeremiah chapter 14 and verse 8.

The Savior thereof, in a time of trouble, why is it that you would be as a stranger in the land? And you know, prophetically, when the Messiah Yeshua came, he became as a stranger to the nation. We read in the prophets, in the Psalms, I became as a stranger to my brethren. The Messiah Yeshua, in his first coming, became as a stranger to the nation. And yet he was the hope of Israel. Mikveh Yisrael, Tikvat Yisrael. You know, when Israel became a state in 1948, do you know what is the name of the national anthem? It is called Hatikvah, the hope. And if you read the national anthem, and he will sing it, and you will notice that it is the hope of the Jewish people is to come back to the land.

The hope of the Jewish people is to restore as a nation. And it is always linked with the land, and with the word of God, and with the God of the nation of Israel, the God of our fathers. That is the hope of Israel. But when he came, the Messiah, at his first coming, he was rejected. He was misunderstood. He was not accepted by the vast majority of the nation, specifically led by the spiritual leaders of Israel, who did not acknowledge him. You notice that it says here in chapter 17 of the prophet Jeremiah, where we read the passage today. Now, you know, many Bible teachers use this verse to remind us of what Yeshua, the Messiah, did in John chapter 8, where that sinning woman came.

Now, you know, many Bible teachers use this verse to remind us of what Yeshua, the Messiah, did in John chapter 8, where that sinning woman came to him. And the Pharisees wanted to stone the woman. And remember, they asked him about this woman. He says, what does the Lord say about her? And of course, they expected from him to say that she should be stoned and die. But he said to them, who is without sin, cast the first stone. And then he laid on the ground and he began to write on the earth. And he may have wrote the name of every one of them that have been there present.

And so it says here, the hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed. And they that depart from me shall be written in the earth. Because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of the living water. And some have applied this to what the Messiah, Yeshua, have done in John 8, when he was writing on the earth with his finger. And beloved brothers and sisters, he is the hope of Israel. The hope of Israel is the coming of the Mashiach. The hope of Israel is the restoration of the nation. The hope of Israel is the Messianic kingdom. The hope of Israel is that which God had promised in the word of God.

And Paul is speaking to the leaders of the Jewish community and of Rome. And he says, listen, for this cause, therefore, have I called you to see and to speak with you. Because for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain. The hope of Israel. Now, it is also very interesting because the word mikvah is mentioned here. Tikvah, mikvah, is what we usually use to speak of baptism. It's where the mikvah is the gathering of water into one pit. That's called mikvah, mikvah. And one time it speaks of mikvah, speaks of gathering of water into one location. And other time it speaks of the word for hope.

That which is something that you look forward. And it is interesting because the gathering of the water into one pit, which we call mikvah, where we do tevila, baptism. It's really a gathering of the nation in type into a one pit, a one location, where it is in the land of the Bible, in the promised land, where God will be the one who will gather the nation into one place and he will reign and rule through the Messiah, Yeshua, over the nation of Israel. So, this interesting expression that Paul is mentioning, for the hope of Israel, I am bound with this chain. One more time, it's mentioned in Jeremiah chapter 50, in the same prophet, in verse 6.

My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherd have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountain. They have gone from the mountain to a hill. They have forgotten their resting place. All that found them has devoured them. And their adversary said, We offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord, the habitation of justice, even the Lord. Listen, the end of verse 7. The hope of their fathers. The hope of Israel is none else but the Messiah himself. The hope of the fathers of Israel is the restored nation, the kingdom that will come one day to fruition when Israel, the nation, will accept the Messiah.

And Paul, sitting there, bound in chain, telling the Jewish leaders who came in Rome to visit him, he says, listen, the reason that I am here with this chain, it is because I stood and I spoke and I believe of the one that is the hope of our people Israel. And that's why I am here with this chain. So, they responded now to him. Beloved, I am back in Acts chapter 28, verse 21 and 22. The Jewish leaders answered him and they said, Look, two things they said. Verse 21, they said to him, Well, apparently, those that accused him in Jerusalem did not send any information to the Jewish community of Rome about Paul, Shaul.

Those that have accused him and put him in the hands of the Roman leaders, they did not come to Rome, neither send any letter to inform the Jewish community of Rome about this man by the name of Paul. So, they didn't even come, they didn't even send anything. So, the Jewish community of Rome didn't hear about Paul's actions and condition. But then, in verse 22, they said to him, We desire to hear of thee. What you think? For as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against. Paul, we didn't hear anything about you, but you know what, Paul? We heard a lot about this sect.

We heard a lot about this sect, and everywhere when we hear about this sect, we hear things that are against the sect that is called the sect of the Nutzrim, or the Meshichim, the Messianic believers. We hear everywhere things against this sect. Now, the word sect comes from the Greek word heresies. You know, we hear of a heresy. We hear of somebody speaking false doctrine, or false teaching. From the Greek, the word sect means heresy, false teaching. Something that these people are a sect of this, a sect of that, and the word sect is really giving us a red light. It's warning us, Hey, listen, don't get involved with this sect.

But I want you to understand that when it comes to the book of Acts, and the Jewish people speaking to the Apostle Paul, the Jews of Rome speaking to the Apostle Paul about this sect, it is the sect within the Jewish community. There was a sect of the Pharisees. There was a sect of the Sadducees. There was a sect of the Nazarene, of the Nutzrim, of the Meshichim. It is a section from among the Jewish community, the worldwide Jewish community. In Acts chapter 5, we have the sect of the Sadducees mentioned. It's called Kat Hatzdukim. In Acts chapter 15 and verse 5, we have the sect of the Pharisees mentioned.

In Hebrew, we call it Kat Haprushim. And in Acts chapter 24 and verse 5, we have the sect of the Nutzrim, or Meshichim. We call it Kat Hanotsrim in Hebrew. So we have the three sects within the Jewish community. The Prushim, the Tzedukim, the Meshichim, the Nutzrim. And each one of them is distinct from the other. And what happened is that here these Jewish leaders of Rome said to the Apostle Paul, to Shaul, Paul, listen, we want to hear what you have to say about this, but we hear everywhere the people saying that this sect is something that is spoken against. The Jewish community have resisted the faith in Yeshua, the Messiah.

And that's why verse 22 is the conclusion of their statement. They say, everywhere it is spoken against. And by the way, Paul said in Acts chapter 26 and verse 5, I was part of the strictest sect of our religion. He said to them, Hakat HaMakpida Beyoter. He said when he was speaking to the Jewish leaders in the city of Yerushalayim. So he himself, before he became a believer in Yeshua, he was a parush, he was a Pharisee. And he was part of the strictest sect that was part of the Jewish community. So, Paul appealed to the Jewish leaders, verses 17 to 20. The respond of the Jewish leaders of Rome in verses 21 and verse 22.

And now, brothers and sisters, here is the second appeal of the Apostle Paul. But this time, it's not only to the Jewish leaders. This time, he gathered many, many of the Jewish community who came to where he dwelt. So, verse 23 to verse 29, he appealed to the many of the Jewish people who came to where he dwelt. Here it is in verse 23 to 29. And I trust that you will grasp this. And I think it's very precious. First of all, the first part of verse 23, it says, And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging. So, they have appointed a day.

They say there will be a time, okay, you get many of the Jewish community to come to where I lodge, where I live, where I stay. And they have set up a day. And they have set up a day, they had an appointment. And what an opportunity the Apostle Paul had to minister to the many who came to where he stayed. He may have had a large area in which he could speak to the many who came to him. And what an opportunity he have had to share with them concerning the person of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah. And so, in the second half of this verse, Paul is now testifying to the many who came to him in this house.

Notice that, beloved brothers and sisters, he testified to them. Notice it, and I'm reading the second half of verse 23. To whom, this is the many who came, he expounded and he testified the kingdom of God. And he persuading them concerning Yeshua, both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning till evening. Apparently, they came to him, many of them from the city of Rome came to his house where he logged. And from the morning to the evening, can you imagine, for a long day, they spent together, gathered there in that home, and notice what it says, that he expounded and he testified the kingdom of God.

The word here, the kingdom of God, simply in Hebrew, it means Malchut Ha'elohim, the kingdom of God, he expounded to them and he persuaded them concerning Yeshua, both out of the Torah Moshe, the law of Moses, and the Nevi'im, the prophets. Now, what did he do? You see, remember, beloved brothers and sisters, he does not have the book of the New Testament, the Brit HaChadasha, in his head because it didn't exist. There were letters that had been already written, some of them, but he didn't have all the Brit HaChadasha, the new covenant, in his hand. The only thing that he could speak from is the Tanakh, the Old Testament, the Hebrew scriptures.

So what did he do? He took the scripture, just like you and I are doing today, with our Bible in our hands, with the Tanakh and Brit HaChadasha in our hands. He didn't have the new covenant in his hand, but he opened the word of God and he began to speak to them about Malchut HaElohim, the kingdom of God. Now, what does that mean, the kingdom of God? You know that God is a king. God is a king, he is sovereign, he has authority over all those who are subject to him. And because God is the creator, he created all men and all men is ought to be subject to him.

And since the world have gone astray since the fall of Adam and then since the time that the new world have begun through Noah and his family and they've gone astray again, he had chosen a nation, namely the nation of Israel, out of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob Abraham, Yitzchak and Jacob to be a nation through whom his kingdom will be displayed. That is the kingdom of God. And his rights will be submitted to and he will receive the place that he deserves. But Israel as a nation had not fulfilled the place that God had in mind for them. and therefore the kingdom of God, the Malchut Elohim had been postponed to a later day.

And today in which, the present day in which you and I live in today in the church age, we have what is called to the kingdom in a mystery form. What does that mean? That we have a king but the king is absent, is not here. The king is absent meaning our Lord Jesus the Messiah who is the king of the Jews, the king of Israel. He is absent today in the present day dispensation and the people who submit to his authority are believers, both Jews and Gentiles who are part of the ecclesia, the church. But there is coming a day when the king will come back and he will restore his nation Israel and through them the kingdom will be established upon the face of this earth.

So what Apostle Paul does he takes from the Hebrew scripture passages and he is speaking concerning the kingdom of God Malchut Ha'elohim the kingdom of God where God is going to have his rights in this world. He is the one who created heaven and earth and created men and women and he is the one who has the right to be ruling over his affairs here in this world. But men rejected the king. They despised him, rejected him and now we have the kingdom of God in a mystery form. And let me just show you beloved brothers and sisters just from the scripture how the development of the kingdom of God because he wants to establish a kingdom and the kingdom will come to pass.

here is Paul already has preached in many many of the Gentile cities and areas of Asia Minor and provinces and now he is arriving finally to Rome and he is gathering the Jewish community to himself and he speaks about the kingdom of God and that Yeshua is the one that is related to the kingdom. He is the king Messiah and he is using both Torah Moshe the law of Moses and the Nevi'im and the prophets of the nation of Israel. I want you for a moment please to turn in your Bible to Exodus chapter 19. Israel, our people of old have come out of Egypt out of the land of Egypt they have arrived to Mount Sinai Har Sinai and there God gave them an instruction notice that and look what he intended for the nation of Israel to participate in.

Look at this Exodus chapter 19 verse 6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation these are the words which you shall speak unto the children of Israel.

Israel God is speaking to them through Moshe through Moses you Israel are going to be to me a kingdom of priests a priest of course is one who represents the Kohen the priest is representing God before the people but he doesn't speak only the priest who represent God before Israel but he speaks about the whole nation of Israel that God had planned for the nation of Israel to be a whole nation that will be part of the kingdom of God and they will represent God before the world you're going to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation that's what God have intended for Israel but you know what happened Israel did not submit

to the authority of God and Israel instead of submitting to the God of our fathers disobeyed God and you remember what happened in 1st Samuel chapter 8 Israel came to Samuel and to say to Samuel Samuel you know make for us a king raise for us a king so we're going to be like the other nations of the world give us a king 1st Samuel chapter 8 and if you remember in verses 4 and 5 and 7 God said to Samuel they did not reject you Samuel because Samuel wept before the Lord Samuel Israel did not reject you from being a king over them Israel rejected me God for being a king from reigning over

them so he says give them a king and if you remember what happened Israel received a king like the other nations instead of allowing God to establish his kingdom upon the face of this earth instead of doing this they have chosen a man after their own hearts and they chose King Saul and King Saul instead of being an obedient king to God he ended up being a king that rejected the will of the Lord and if you remember God had to set him aside and to raise another man after his own heart by the name of David and David became the king of Israel and then God said to David through the prophet Natan in

2nd Samuel chapter 7 he says you tell David that I will build him a house and I will build him a kingdom and through his seed through David's seed one will be established as a king of Israel forever and ever 2nd Samuel chapter 7 you need to read the whole chapter there very interesting chapter and really prophetically God said to David through Natan the prophet he says Israel one day will have a king and the king will be the one that will rule over my nation Israel and over all the world forever in the future day and so time passes by and if you remember what happened the northern tribe and the southern tribe have

been divided and the northern tribe have been taken to Assyria the southern tribe have been taken to Babylon and there they wept before the Lord and they said we hung up our harps on the willow and there we wept and the people of Babylon said to them sing unto us one of the songs of Zion and they said how shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land and there God have said I will restore you and if you remember brothers and sisters there was a man by the name of Nebuchadnezzar and Nebuchadnezzar has seen that vision and the vision of those image this great image and that's where Daniel tells us in Daniel

chapter 2 they were speaking about the future day when there will be a king that will be established here upon the face of this earth Daniel chapter 2 verse 44 and in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed and the kingdom shall not be left to other people but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever it will no longer be given to other peoples it will be given back to the very same nation of Israel whom God have intended to use in his kingdom as a kingdom of priesthood to the nations of the world

and I can just imagine beloved brothers and sisters the apostle Paul is opening the scriptures to these Jewish people who came to him from Rome and the house where he stayed and he looked at scripture after scripture after scripture and he pointing out to the kingdom and the king the kingdom and the messiah and he's pointing out that there is a kingdom that is coming but we have blown it we have sinned against the lord and there is a kingdom that one day will be established when Israel the nation is going to be restored and Jesus and Yeshua is the one that is linked to this kingdom and you notice that and I'm back now

in Acts chapter 28 and verse 23b he does the same thing beloved brothers and sisters what Yeshua the messiah did when he was on earth and he shared from the scriptures concerning himself and so verse 23b once again I'm repeating that he expounded and he testified the kingdom of God and he persuaded them concerning Jesus concerning Yeshua both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets from morning till the evening I would have loved to be there to sit there and to see how the apostle Paul how Shaul could expound the scripture open the word of God and by the help of the spirit of God seeking to open their understanding concerning

the person Yeshua and the coming kingdom promised to our forefathers to the nation of Israel well like everywhere beloved brothers and sisters whenever you preach the message of the gospel whenever you preach about the Lord Jesus about the coming kingdom there are always those who have to make a decision there are always decision has to be made right because you are offering the person of the Messiah by the way when he spoke about Jesus he didn't only speak about Yeshua about the future but what would lead to the future if Yeshua would not first of all die on the tree on the cross for the sin of this world for the sin of the nation

of Israel he could never establish the kingdom first his suffering then his glory first his rejection then his acceptance and so there were decisions had to be made and notice that beloved brothers and sisters verse 24 tells us some believed the things which he had spoken unto them and some believe not it's like this everywhere wherever we mention and we share the message of the gospel a decision has to be made a conscience has to be pricked and a decision to say what would I do does that apply to me how do I react to the message that had been presented before me concerning Yeshua the Messiah and the coming kingdom in a future day

some believed praise God for that but apparently there were those who did not believe the message and we can look at verses you remember John John 3 16 is the most known verse today for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life the same chapter says he that believeth on the son has life he that believeth not the son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him there is a choice that everyone has to make you either believe or you believe not you either accept the message of the gospel or you reject and the Jewish

community of Rome had to make a decision either they accept the message or they reject the message well apparently some believed but some believe not it remind me of what happened in Acts chapter 17 where he preached in Athens you remember in Athens he was preaching there in chapter 17 and even there in verse 32 33 and 34 there was a decision that had to be made it says here when they heard of the resurrection of the dead some mocked and others said we will hear you again on this matter and Paul departed from them then he says however certain men clave unto him and believed among the which was and he gives us the

name some of the women and so on this was on Mars hill in Athens in Greece some believe some don't some even mock and others said I will talk to you about this some other time and I tell you today if I would have been standing today on the streets and preaching the message of the gospel there would be those who might say I want to hear some more let me know about the Messiah others might say don't give me this nonsense I don't believe what you say and others might even say you know what we'll talk about it some other time I don't have time for you today I have to deal with business

I have some pleasure to attend I have some things that I'm occupied with I will not talk about this today some other time and this some other times may never come to them because when God in judgment going to have to deal with a person rejecting the Messiah he will have to be ushered to eternity of separation because of the rejection of the message of the gospel some believed but some did not believe and so beloved brothers and sisters look at this the same text act chapter 28 in the next verse we find out in verse 25 to 28 look what Paul is saying to the Jewish community of the city of Rome now he's

speaking to them and his words to those who did not believe look what he's telling them in verse 25 to 28 it says and when they agreed not among themselves they departed after that Paul had spoken one word so now they left but just before they left here's the last message of the apostle Paul Shaul to the Jewish community of Rome he said to them well spake the Holy spirit by Isaiah by Isaiah the prophet unto our fathers you know what he does he says ah what Isaiah prophesied to our fathers what Isaiah guided by the Holy Spirit of God spoke to our fathers surely come to pass while he spoke to our forefathers in

the past about 750 years before the Messiah came he says this really is fulfilled even now as I'm speaking to you and you notice he says well spake the Holy Spirit by Isaiah the author of the Bible is not Isaiah is not Jeremiah is not Paul it's not Peter it is the Holy Spirit of God in Hebrew we call him the Ruach Hakodesh holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit this book that we have in our hands is not humanly developed it's not a man that thought about it by himself these are the words of God divinely inspired 2 Peter 1 tells us holy men of God spake as

they were moved by the Ruach Hakodesh by the Holy Spirit and so he's saying to them in verse 25 well what Isaiah said is truly correct as he was guided by the Holy Spirit and he's quoting beloved brothers and sisters Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 and again he does not have the New Testament he only have the Old Testament and he's opening to Isaiah chapter 6 verses 9 and 10 and there look what he says go unto these people and say hearing ye shall hear and ye shall not understand seeing ye shall see and ye will not perceive for the heart of these people is wax gross and their ears are dull of

hearing and their eyes have they closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and should be converted and I should heal them what he's really saying there is what is called judicial blindness what Isaiah prophesied partial national judicial judgment blindness on the nation on our own people the nation of Israel it is what we call there is a natural blindness there is a willful blindness and there is a judicial judgment blindness here we see a self will blindness and rejection of the message of the Messiahship of Yeshua will lead into a judgment that come by God and really what God is saying you go tell

their people hearing they shall hear but they will not understand seeing they shall see but they will not perceive in other words he is saying to them their hearts of these people is what's gross deceitful do not accept what we offer them and while Paul was speaking about the nation of Israel in this context we can say that it's applied to the nations of the world to the people around the world where people reject the Lord and God appealed to them says come to me I will forgive your sins I paid for every sin that you have committed I love you I want you to have eternity with me don't follow the wrong way turn

around repent and turn to me and he's appealing and yet men reject it and despise it and says no I don't want to hear about it and they harden their hearts like Pharaoh of old let my people go I will not let your people go let my people go I will not let your people go so God said that there will be a time that I will harden the heart of Pharaoh that even if he want to let the people go I will not allow him to let the people go so I will judge him what what what is called judicial blindness the ninth and tenth verses of Isaiah chapter six are referred to in

the scripture at least about six times and every time it is mentioned at least in the four gospel Matthew Mark Luke and John all refer to Isaiah chapter six when Yeshua was speaking to our own leaders the leaders of Israel concerning himself I want you please turn to John 12 and verse 38 and look how Yeshua the Messiah quoting Isaiah chapter six in reference to himself and the message that he has proclaimed to the nation and I read verse 37 first but though he have done so many miracles before them this is the Pharisees the Sadducees the leaders of Israel they believe not on him that the saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled

which he spake Lord who has believed our report and to whom has the arm of the Lord had been revealed this is Isaiah 53 in verse 1 and then he continued therefore they could not believe verse 39 because Isaiah said again and now he's quoting chapter 6 he has blinded their eyes and he hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes nor understand with their heart and be converted and I should heal them he's quoting now Isaiah 6 verse 9 and 10 specifically verse 10 in other words here's a point of no return there's a point when a person is exposed to the message hardening his heart and often being reproved by

the Lord challenging him and he hardened and hardened his heart and then what God does he's turning around and he says okay you harden your heart now I'm going to judicially harden your heart that you will not be able to turn to me and come to accept that what we called partial blindness judicial judgment we will see that that is something we read in 2nd Thessalonian in the tribulation period where people because they receive not the love of the truth God would give them strong delusion that they would believe a lie 2nd Thessalonian chapter 2 during the tribulation period here we see in the earlier part of the church age in the city of Rome

the apostle Paul is speaking to his own Jewish community of Rome and he is speaking to them and we see it throughout the 2000 years of the church age that a message has been proclaimed the Messiah sure has been presented and men willfully rejected which lead into the judicial judgment of God by blinding that person and so again he is telling them in chapter 28 and he says that the saying of Isaiah the prophet to our fathers it was right what he said saying go to these people and hearing they shall hear and shall not understand seeing they shall see but they shall not perceive for the heart of these people is wax gross and

their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and should be converted that I should heal them you notice that he using the three avenues we see with our eyes we hear with our ears and we understand with our hearts the heart the eyes the ears this is the avenue in which God reached us he wants us to see things he wants us to hear the message but he wants us to receive it in our heart the eye the ear the heart God had given men these members of our bodies not to only use it

for ourselves but also to use it for him to accept what he has to say to us so in the Bible we have many times at least six times Matthew 13 Mark 4 Luke 8 John 12 where these verses are referred to by the Messiah himself in Acts chapter 28 we have Paul mentioning it and he had a reference to Isaiah 6 in Romans chapter 11 and verses 8 9 and 10 all in connection with Isaiah chapter 6 in connection with the nation of Israel and so no wonder brothers and sisters today when we ask why so few of our Jewish people believe only a few really in comparison to the rest of the nation

well here's a reason they have ears but they are dull of hearing they have eyes but they are closed they have heart but they simply are not understanding the message so you can be a rabbi Jewish man who have a lot of reading and understanding of rabbinical truths you can even read the Bible the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God 1 22 14 because it only can be discerned as we allow the Spirit of God to open the Scriptures unto us the natural man cannot receive it and you know brothers and sisters unless the Holy Spirit of God has showed this to you and I we ourselves will never turn

to Yeshua he opened our eyes and our hearts and had he not opened our eyes and our hearts we would reject him just like others are to be broken before the Lord and say Lord thank you for your mercy and for your grace in touching our hearts and our eyes and our ears and allowing us to accept that message of the Messiah of Yeshua and the coming glorious kingdom of God in the last verses here beloved brothers and sisters verse 28 Paul pointed out to the fact that salvation will be going now to the nations to the Gentiles he said in verse 28 be it known therefore unto you that the salvation of God Yeshua

Elohim is sent unto the Gentile and they will also hear it in other words Paul is saying now to the Romans Jewish community now I'm done it to the Jew first now I'm turning to the Gentiles to the nations of the world now he doesn't mean that he's not going to have preaching in the Jewish community again and again throughout the church age of course he does apply here but he's saying I've acted upon the principle of the world you notice it says at the end that they will hear it now there are quite a few other translations that use the word they will hear it also I know in the King James it doesn't

say also it only said they will hear it but really it's not correct it should be they will hear it also in other word some Jewish people believe because we just read in verse 24 some believe so it's not that all the Jewish people around the world did not believe and all the Gentiles we believe well we know it's not true we live now 2,000 years of church history the vast majority of the Gentile world reject the Messiah it's not that all the Gentiles will believe and all the Jewish people will not believe no what he's really saying that for among the Gentiles some will also believe just the same as some of the Jewish

people have believed that's what he's really saying there are various translations like the Darby translation the new American standard the American standard and the young translation have used the word also if you have it you'll notice that that they use the word also that means that they have others the Gentiles will believe just the same as some of the Jewish people have believed as well now verse 29 says and when he said these words the Jews departed and had great reasoning among themselves I can just imagine that they left and they had this conversation what do you think Paul meant why does he believe that Yeshua is the Messiah but Rabbi so-and-so does not believe

that Yeshua is the Messiah and why should we believe that Yeshua is the Messiah and what about the kingdom look at us the Jewish community we are scattered we in the world we are hated where is the Hebrew Tanakh and where is the kingdom and they were reasoning among themselves like today brothers and sisters when we have heard of Yeshua we reason we say wait a minute but my Rabbi he never accepted the Messiah why should I he knows better than I why he doesn't accept the Messiah and then our parents say but how can you do so believe that this Jesus is the Messiah look at all our nation we don't believe this is

for the Gentiles it's not for us Jewish people every one of us who is Jewish you know that in our own homes in our family we tell them yeah but we believe that Yeshua is Messiah look at the scripture nobody believed in him how can you believe in that and the struggles and the reasoning that we go through today and we Yeshua the Messiah so reasoning to discuss this is important but to subject ourselves to the written word of God is far more important in order to be on the right side and right with God well the concluding of the book of Acts is the two years of Paul being bound in his own home

in the city of Rome and you can see you might say Paul is now in jail or in prison or he's locked he cannot do anything you know you might say well now he's limited he cannot be preaching he cannot be active and therefore we're going to lose out well listen the spirit of God is not subject to men the spirit of God can use us at home at school on the job on the street in a meeting wherever we are if we are ready to be vessels for the Lord look at that but Paul verse 30 dwelt two whole years in his own hired house and he received all that came in unto him

apparently he was like a magnet people came to him and he received them yeah come hear what you want to hear I want to tell you and and people were coming to his own hired house and the spirit of God used Shaul Paul in ministering for two years actually beloved brothers and sisters the apostle Paul in those two years wrote the epistles of Ephesians Philippians Colossians and Philemon those epistles that you have in your hand in your Bible were written to the Ephesian believers to the Colossian believers to the Philippians and to Philemon from this house where he was bound for two years he was used by the Lord we have an inspiration of the

spirit of God the passages in the apostle Paul wrote when he was in Rome for two years and to show you that he was an impact I want you to turn to Philippians chapter there in Philippians chapter one we read this about the apostle it says in verse 12 but I would you should understand brethren that the things which have happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel so that my bones in the Messiah are manifest in all the palace and in all other places and many of the brethren in the Lord waxing confidence in my bonds are much more bold to speak the word without fear apparently when he

was in Rome he was so effective because even in Caesar's palace he was effective there when he was ministering the word in the city of Rome being in bond only helped the Lord use him for the furtherance of the message of the gospel in my bones in the Messiah it was manifest in the palace this is Caesar's court and in all other places so even though he was bound he did not lose on the presentation of the gospel he was used by and the Lord and he was preaching the kingdom of God and teaching those things which concern the Lord Yeshua the Messiah the Lord Jesus Christ Yeshua Hamashiach with all confidence no man forbidding

him here's a man that when he's free or when he's bound whether he's out there in the field or whether he's in jail he's able to minister the word and the person of the Lord to everyone that come in touch with him he was like a magnet he was not rude he was not hurting people but he was ministering to people and he was reaching out to people and sharing them the message of the gospel this is very precious and again notice concerning the Lord Yeshua the Messiah everything is linked with the person of our Lord Jesus the Messiah now just let's remark it had been said that the apostle Paul about 63 AD was

released from being two years in this hired house apparently from about 61 AD to 63 AD Paul was in this hired house affected but after two years because they found nothing against him they did not accuse him or in other words they did not find any fault in him he was released history teaches this you have to read it we don't have it here in scripture and apparently from about 63 AD he was free for about 4 5 years from 63 to about 68 AD and he was preaching he made various missionaries activities he went to Spain he went to other areas and apparently after about five years of ministry he was imprisoned again then

the apostle Paul was taken to prison this time in Rome he was no longer had the same privilege as he had now in this chapter and apparently there was such a hard time for him and it is in the second imprisonment that the apostle Paul wrote the epistle of second Timothy where he says I'm ready for my departure I have finished the course I fought the fight I finished my course and now he was ready to depart when he was writing to younger Timothy this letter was written about 67 68 AD from the second imprisonment where he was really heavy before his death and apparently in about 68 AD Nero the emperor had severed his

head and he died at about 68 AD when the apostle Paul have gone to be with his Messiah with our Lord Yeshua the Messiah what a servant he had been what a minister of the gospel he had been the suffering that he had suffered for our Lord Yeshua the Messiah and we can learn from him I know we think about his suffering we don't like so much to identify with his suffering but we can definitely learn from what the apostle Paul have gone through in his Messiah in his life and may the Lord help us as well brothers and sisters to glorify Yeshua the Messiah also in our life