Who Will Listen?
by Rev. Kirby Williams
Monitoring the response to the Gospel.
Text: Acts 28:23-28
Date: 03/04/2012, the Traditional service.
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In the closing verses of the "Acts of the Apostles", we find Paul (near the end of his life) engaged in the same activity Jesus has defined to His apostles in our study of Matthew. In short, Paul is "apostling" as he proclaims the message of the Kingdom to the Jewish leaders of Rome. But he is frustrated in his efforts because the ears of his people no longer hear, their eyes are closed and their hearts have become dull. They are obstinant and will not listen to the Gospel. So Paul warns them that the message of the Kingdom will be proclaimed elsewhere-- to the Gentiles, because "they will listen". During our mission trip to Haiti in 2012, we had the opportunity to go "apostling" in a modern sense. No miracles of course! But rather we proclaimed the message of the Kingdom while ministering to the physical needs of the desperately poor. We were blessed by a profound acceptance of the Gospel. But here in our homeland among our own people, we see the opposite response-- a deadness to the Gospel both within and without the church. As we consider the spiritual impact of this blatant disbelief, we ponder the modern-day application of Paul's warning and wonder about the future of the church and ultimately, "who will listen"?
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I. Introduction
II. Exposition of the text, Acts 28:23-28.
A. Context
1. Paul's twilight years.
2. Consumed with "apostling".
3. Focus on the Jews, Matt. 10:5-6, Rom. 9:1-3.
B. A frustrating encounter, vs. 23-25a.
1. An impassioned appeal, vs. 23b, Acts 2:22-36, 7:2-53, 10:34-43, 13:17-41, 26:1-32.
2. Grounded in the Old Testament, vs 23c, Luke 24:27.
3. Frustrating results, vs. 24-25a.
a. The rejection of the Gospel, vs. 24.
b. Religious bickering, vs. 25a.
C. A profound warning, vs. 25b-28, Rom. 9:4-5.
III. Application
A. Noticing the warm hearts in Haiti and other developing countries.
B. Noticing the dull hearts of our culture.
C. Who will listen?
IV. Conclusion
