The Most Dangerous Question in the Book of Acts | Acts 28:17-31

<p>Why does the book of Acts end without an ending? No trial before Caesar, no verdict, no word on how Paul died. Luke stops on one Greek word, and it answers a question a stranger asked back in Acts 8.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the final message in our verse-by-verse series through Acts: Acts 28:17-31, Paul under house arrest in Rome, chained to a soldier in a rented room, preaching the kingdom of God to everyone who comes up the stairs. Luke's last word is akōlytōs (akolutos): "unhindered." Take the "un" off and you have kōluō, the word hiding in three questions earlier in the book:</p><p><br /></p><p>"What is keeping me from being baptized?" (Acts 8:36)</p><p>"Can anyone forbid the water?" (Acts 10:47)</p><p>"Who was I, that I could withstand God?" (Acts 11:17)</p><p><br /></p><p>Stones and prisons never stopped the gospel. The harder question is the one Luke hands back to the church.</p><p><br /></p><p>CHAPTERS</p><p>0:00 Paul chained in Rome, the gospel unhindered</p><p>0:42 Forty sermons through Acts: how we got to Rome</p><p>1:43 Rome when Paul arrives: Nero, the synagogue, the chain</p><p>3:38 Inside the rented room</p><p>5:11 Scripture reading: Acts 28:23-28</p><p>6:36 Why this is just a Wednesday night Bible study</p><p>7:41 Some believed and some did not (Acts 28:24)</p><p>8:34 Why Paul quotes Isaiah 6</p><p>10:27 "Sent to the nations": the word that nearly got Paul killed</p><p>11:08 Why Luke never shows Paul's trial before Caesar</p><p>12:24 Persecution never stopped the word of God</p><p>13:28 The most dangerous question in Acts: the Ethiopian eunuch</p><p>14:13 Cornelius and Peter: "Who was I to withstand God?"</p><p>15:35 The last sentence of Acts (Acts 28:30-31)</p><p>16:08 Akōlytōs: what "unhindered" means in Greek</p><p>17:54 What "unhindered" does not mean</p><p>19:20 "You will be my witnesses" (Acts 1:8)</p><p>20:25 If you are the one in the chariot</p><p>21:28 Unhindered</p><p>22:02 Luke puts down the pen: benediction</p><p>23:17 Closing blessing</p><p><br /></p><p>Preached live at First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Cushing, Oklahoma. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Semi-Seminarian is a digital church bell for the exiles: live preaching for people who were told there was no room. No money asked here. Just tithe your subscribe.</p><p><br /></p><p>Acts 28 explained | Acts 28 sermon | Acts 28 Bible study | end of the book of Acts | what happened to Paul in Rome | Paul under house