Church, we need to continue in unity. When we are in unity together, we reflect God and the heavenly kingdom. We’re not some cookie cutter mold, but we are strong, and we are vital to the kingdom of God.

What a witness it is for our church when others, see how we accept each other, include each other, and love each other! This is how we learn to live faithfully with the differences that come when people get together.

Healthy relationships are characteristics of holy people. The holy Spirit wants unity

How do we get unity? By loving each other. John 13:35 says by this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

Let’s read Acts 28:23 – 31

23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

26 

“‘Go to this people and say,
“You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
    you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

27 

For this people’s heart has become calloused;
    they hardly hear with their ears,
    and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
    hear with their ears,
    understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’[a]

28 “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” [29] [b]

30 For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. 31 He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

In Acts 28:23-30, Paul is under house arrest in Rome and arranges for people to meet him at his lodging. On the appointed day, a large group gathers and Paul witnesses to them from morning until evening. He explains the kingdom of God and uses the Law of Moses and the Prophets to persuade them about Jesus. Some believe and accept Jesus as their Messiah, while others do not. Paul is frustrated by this split, knowing that God interacts with the Jewish nation as a group, and that individual Jews will join the church but the nation will not be the driving force in bringing Gentiles to Christ.

In these last few verses, Paul is making the final and perhaps painful transition from his Jewish ministry to Gentile. and he is doing so because God has made it clear.

Paul is a servant of God, as we are.

and as a servant, he goes where God is taking him.

Paul may have had a strategy, but ultimately it is God’s purpose that His servants fulfill.

Leader that he was, celebrity that he was, Paul maintained a servant’s attitude. What did it look like?

I. He Was Compelled by Love (the very best work of the church is that which is compelled by love.)

2. hospitals, orphanages, clinics, all sorts of ministries fueled by the love of God.

why does our church send $ every month to missionaries who minister far away to people we might never meet? Love!

we have found in Scripture that God is a giver, compelled by love to act with love towards His enemies.

John 3:16

so it is no surprise that Paul, in chains at the provoking of the Jews,

would quickly send for the Jews so he could share the gospel with them.

Romans 9:1-4 “I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it through the Holy Spirit— I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race, the people of Israel.

and so here he is, engaging them all day long in enthusiastic ministry!

but they listened, and some believed, but most did not.

and so at the end, Paul used the “big stick.”

quoted from Isaiah and promised to go to the Gentiles. Why?

he understood how God’s love for the Jews would now be demonstrated.

Romans 11:13-14

Romans 11:13-14New International Version

^“13 I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I take pride in my ministry ¹⁴ in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them.”

it sounds like Paul is writing them off in Acts 28, but actually he is compelled by love to encourage them to open their eyes and ears!

1each of us have people in our lives that we love, but who remain outside the family of God.

God’s servants continue to proclaim God’s wonderful truth motivated by love.

when we love others, we reflect the core character of God.

He Recognized the Terrible Power of Unbelief

we tend to have a list of sins; from the worst to the not-so-bad.

Galatians 5:19-21

Galatians 5:19-21New International Version

¹⁹ The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

all of those sins can be forgiven, and history is full of the stories of people who were mired in that lifestyle, and were saved out of it.

but the worst sin, the root sin, the unforgivable sin, is persistent unbelief in the face of the evidence God provides.

Mark 3:28-29

Mark 3:28-29New International Version

²⁸ Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, ²⁹ but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

my friends, the conviction in my heart is becoming overwhelming at this point.

throughout Scripture this truth is clear: Our infinitely righteous God is satisfying Himself that the truth has been made abundantly clear, and will continue to be so.

in v27, God lays the blame for the refusal to hear and see squarely on the shoulders of mankind.

“they hardly hear, they have closed their eyes.”

God is perfectly righteous, and if His revelation was flawed, He would say so.

Hebrews 1:1-2

“1 In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.”

and man’s response to this gracious sending, this crystal-clear revelation?

with fingers in their ears and blindfolds tied on, unbelievers nailed Him to the cross.

brothers and sisters, I wonder if the church is putting it’s time and energy and resources into the wrong part of the war.

we fight against the sins of the flesh in the unbelievers, seeking to convince the homosexual to be straight and the drunk to be sober.

but if they remain mired in unbelief, their life here might be more pleasant, and we might be more comfortable, but they will still suffer the righteous wrath of God.

the servant of God recognizes that the real enemy is unbelief, and continuously proclaims God’s truth in her life and with her words.

and becomes the clear communication of God’s truth.

Here in this scripture Paul demonstrated his love and Believed That the Gospel Cannot be Stopped.

Yet he saw the unbelief of the Jews, Paul carried on. So, we see the unbelief today, but yet we continue because there is hope.

Rome was where God had placed him, and each day he had an evangelistic prospect chained to his arm.

and the word spread. The church people came, unbelievers came, and he was hospitable to all of them.

This is a perfect example of what we are supposed to be and what our church is supposed to be today.

while he was there, he wrote what are called “the prison epistles”, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians.

and notice his ministry was “without hindrance”, and he did it “boldly.”

he was in chains, sure. He was under house arrest.

Perhaps, he was let go after this, only to be rearrested later and executed under Nero.

Today, we pout. We pout because we’re doing all we can, but we don’t see the fruit of our labor. However, there is no pouting, and no frustration from Paul. He literally takes what he is given and disperses it to the multitude.

Oh what an example!

He and we are apart of the unstoppable spread of the gospel, content to do our part, as small as it might seem.

You see, the gospel cannot be stopped because it is God’s plan to tell the world and to save the world through that proclamation.

Romans 1:16-17

“16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel,because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[a] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Brothers and sisters, our task is clear.

With love as our motivation, we proclaim the gospel wherever God puts us; be it Guam or Russia or here in Charleston WV. Today, Be a servant!