1) We are so close to the end of the book of Acts, you can almost taste it. We are in Acts chapter 28, verse 17. After this, there may be three more lessons, and then we will have completed the book of Acts. Yes, I know this is not a typical expository, nor is it a typical topical. It is a practical "how do we use this stuff in our lives" approach.

2) Verse 17 mentions that Paul, after three days, calls together the local Jewish leaders and tells them exactly what happened to him. Paul doesn’t hold back anything. He tells them exactly what happened, good, bad, or indifferent. The reason this is important is that I’ve had people tell me not to share the bad things in my past because it makes me seem like less of an angel on the radio. Well, guess what? That’s the truth.

3) Paul goes on to say the Romans tried him and wanted to let him go, but the Jewish leaders were opposed to that. At that point, he felt it necessary to appeal to Caesar. Let’s be straightforward: Paul took advantage of the system and did what he did in order to keep preaching the gospel and share the things he wanted to share. Sometimes you have to carve out a path from what you have to deal with in front of you.

4) Finally, Paul tells the Jewish believers, "I’ve asked you to come here today so we can get acquainted and so I can tell you that I am bound to this chain because I believe in the hope of Israel, the Messiah, that He has already come.

5) I’m deeply aware of my own Jewish faith, and I know that many of my Jewish cohorts do not believe that the Messiah has come. They are wrong and didn’t know Him the first time He came around, and they won’t know Him the second time unless they accept Him and acknowledge Him as Gods’ Messiah. Jesus is the answer to the hope of Israel. In spite of the fact that everybody’s thinking it will be nuclear bombs or the dome shield, they’re wrong. The solution for Israel is the same solution for everybody else: Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God."