Acts 28:30, 31 And Paul dwelled two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in to him,… I. IT WAS A FULFILLMENT OF A PROMISE. (Acts 9:15.) II. IT WAS A PROPHECY OF THE FUTURE. Long has the world been ruled from Rome; though often through corrupt forms, the Spirit of Christ has gone forth from her to heal and to civilize. Slowly the dominion of Rome must melt to give place to the idea which she has represented - the world-wide dominion of the kingdom of God. III. IT WAS THE REALIZATION OF THE PREACHER'S IDEAL. 1. There is a welcome for all. Nothing inaccessible, forbidding, hard to approach, should be in the preacher's manner. No "stand aside, for I am holier than thou!" He must make men feel that he has no reserves, no keeping back of anything they ought to know, no half-truths; that they are welcome fully to all the best of head and heart. He must not deal with people as sinners beneath him, but as his fellows, as man with men. 2. There is boldness of utterance. Parrhesia, the last word but one of the book. Without this, the preacher is nerveless and ineffective. If he fears his audience, fears public opinion, fears himself, he is undone. The pulpit is the post for a brave man, not less than the sentinel's in wartime. "The hour is regal when he mounts on guard." Cowardice may be fatal to himself and others. Self-surrender to God, like that of Paul, is the secret of the freedom of the preacher. 3. Unfettered external liberty. These were, perhaps, the happiest years of his life. "Unhindered" (akolutos) - this is the last word of the book. How shall the preacher excuse himself, if in a free country, with every encouragement to free speech, he fails to utter himself and his message, and declare, so far as he understands it, the whole counsel of God? When shall men feel that the Jesus Christ is the Friend of all men, and that his Church is their home? When, for one thing, his ministers rise to the ideal of their high calling as it is illustrated in this final scene of the book - Paul the teacher and preacher at Rome. - J. Parallel Verses KJV: And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,WEB: Paul stayed two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who were coming to him, |
    |