Unveiling the Mystery - The Book of Acts

42 Fulfilling God's Plan; Pt. 6 - At Rome! (Acts 28:11-31)

* This is the final message in this series on the book of Acts. As we have considered "The Acts of the Apostles," we have seen that it is more aptly titled "The Acts of the Holy Spirit." From the beginning, we have seen how the Holy Spirit empowered and filled the servants of God to distribute the message of redemption through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. * It is appropriate then, that the book should close with a testimony of Paul's evangelistic ministry in Rome. * Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen how God sovereignly oversaw Paul's travel to the city of Rome. * Today, that journey is finalized. This is Luke's final statement regarding the pattern of Paul's ministry and the faithfulness of God to truly send the gospel message to the "ends of the earth." * This message was presented on August 13, 2023 by Bob Corbin.

41 Fulfilling God's Plan; Pt. 5 - Malta (Acts 27:39-28:10)

* This the 41st message in this series on the book of Acts. It is, as well, the penultimate of the series. * Over the past couple of weeks, we have seen the sovereignty of God guiding Paul to the city of Rome in order that he might have an audience with Caesar. * This has been accomplished, first of all, through Paul being imprisoned by Rome on account of false charges brought against him by the Jews, and the unwillingness of several Roman officials to perform the justice on his behalf that they clearly saw. * Within the judicial process at Caesarea, YHWH afforded Paul several opportunities to share Jesus with "important" Roman officials, and King Agrippa. * Last week we saw how God revealed His sovereignty as well on the journey to Rome by re-directing the ship twice in order to bring them to an unplanned stop on the journey - the island of Malta! * Today, we will examine some of the details of this stop at Malta - specifically, how YHWH delivered Paul twice during this episode and the impacts of these deliverances. * This message was presented on August 6, 2023 by Bob Corbin.

40 Fulfilling God's Plan; Pt. 4 - Shipwrecked (Acts 27:1-44)

* Over the past couple of weeks, we have been considering the transition of Paul's ministry from proclaiming the gospel in a traveling ministry to the ultimate fulfillment of God's prophetic proclamation to him that Paul would bear His name before kings (cf. Acts 9:15-16) We have seen how God used Paul's wrongful imprisonment to begin the process of moving him along to Rome, just as Jesus had promised him (cf. Acts 23:11). * In the spring of 2020, we studied Paul's second letter to the church of Corinth. The title of the series was "Embracing Affliction" because that is the theme of Paul's letter. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul provides a list of the afflictions and trials which he had endured up to the point of writing that letter. In the list, he states that he had been shipwrecked three times, and that he had spent a day and a night in the deep! What is truly amazing about that statement is that he wrote that letter to them prior to this voyage we will be considering today! * As we began that series, we considered from 2 Corinthians 1 the purpose of afflictions - the reason that we should "embrace" them. It is through these situations that "press us" we experience the encouragement of the Father of all encouragements ... in order that WE might be able to put courage into (encouragement) others who are going through pressing situations, and that we might reveal the presence and power of God to those who do not know Him! * Today, we will see how God - in His Sovereignty - orchestrated events in order to provide Paul an ideal opportunity to share His power and presence with a large group of prisoners, soldiers and sailors! * This message was presented on July 30, 2023 by Bob Corbin.

39 Fulfilling God's Plan; Pt. 3 - Before Agrippa (Acts 25:13-26:32)

* Over the past couple of weeks, we have been considering the transition of Paul's ministry from proclaiming the gospel in a traveling ministry to the ultimate fulfillment of God's prophetic proclamation to him that Paul would bear His name before kings (cf. Acts 9:15-16) We have seen how God used Paul's wrongful imprisonment to begin the process of moving him along to Rome. * Last week, Paul appealed his case to Caesar. * Today, we see that while waiting at Caesarea to be transported to Rome, Paul has the opportunity to begin the final fulfillment of this prophecy - as he is afforded the opportunity to present the Gospel to King Agrippa. * Sadly, we also see today the two primary responses to the presentation of the Good News of Christ's death, burial and resurrection. * This message was presented on July 23, 2023 by Bob Corbin.

38 Fulfilling God's Plan; Pt. 2 - Appealing to Caesar (Acts 24:1-25:12)

* Over the past couple of weeks, we have been considering the transition of Paul's ministry from proclaiming the gospel in a traveling ministry to the ultimate fulfillment of God's prophetic proclamation to him that Paul would bear His name before kings (cf. Acts 9:15-16) We have seen how God used Paul's innocent attendance at the Temple to fulfill a vow to begin the process of moving him along to Rome. * Last week, we began the final six week segment of our study of the book of Acts by beginning to look specifically at the Sovereignty of God being reveal in the transition of Paul to Rome. Specifically, we saw how God unveiled a plot by the Jews to kill Paul and moved the Roman commander to protect Paul with a force of 470 Roman soldiers in order to convey him to Caesarea. * Today, we continue this account with Paul being able to present his case before the secular authority. * This message was presented on July 16, 2023 by Bob Corbin.