The Consistent Christian Life

Now we are all lured in by the promise of quick fixes, aren't we?

So we live in a world that wants things immediately and without much effort.

So maybe you're like me and you're lured in by the promise of six pack abs in 60 days

from someone who looks very athletic in the video.

I'm pretty sure it's just the lighting.

Maybe you want to lose weight and so you're pulled in by those adverts

that speak about the next superfood or that fruit that basically burns fat as you chew.

Maybe it's that cleaning product that promises to get away that stain

that you've had on the carpet for 30 odd years.

Or maybe it's that new kitchen appliance that the person on TV says you cannot live without.

Or it's that face cream that promises to keep wrinkles at bay until your dying day.

We all love a quick fix.

But in reality, these kind of overnight success ideas,

whilst they feed or desire for things to be done quickly,

with minimal effort and with so-called guaranteed outcomes,

they don't or they very rarely actually work.

Because people achieve goals not by going with the newest quick fix fad or trend,

but we achieve things by consistency.

The key to getting better at something or achieving a certain goal that you have

is not a quick dash, it's not a sprint,

but the consistent, dedicated discipline of hard work that will get you there.

Ask any doctor, any bricklayer, any plasterer, any muscly person,

they will tell you that the key to their achievements and the place they are in their careers or their appearance,

whatever it may be, the key is consistency.

And the same is true for the Christian life.

Because if we want to grow spiritually as a whole church family,

if we want to become a church family that is rooted in the Bible,

that has a desire to see the kingdom of God grow,

if we want our faith as individuals to grow into maturity,

then we need to be consistent.

This morning, as we conclude our series in Acts,

I want us to think about what that looks like.

What is the consistent Christian life?

In our short passage for today,

we see three things that make up a consistent Christian life.

And all of these things have come up in the book of Acts before,

but now we see them all in one place.

And so this morning we sit with Paul, who is still a prisoner,

and we can learn that even now, right at the end,

he has remained consistent in his walk with Jesus.

What a wonderful thing to be considering today,

as Jack has publicly declared his faith in Jesus.

Now he's not here.

Oh no, there he is.

Jack, as you know, the Christian life will not be easy.

Many bumps and obstacles will come in your way,

and many people in this room can attest to that.

But out of your love for Jesus,

and out of your desire to serve him,

live the consistent life until Jesus returns,

or you are called home.

And my prayer is that each of us would do the same

as we go through this life.

So here are three things that will help us consistently live

the Christian life from the end of Acts chapter 28.

Acts 28 · chapter mention

The first thing that we see is that like Paul,

we should make the most of every opportunity

in verses 17 to 23.

So we need to remember that Paul has been in chains

since chapter 21.

He's been a prisoner.

And as we saw last week with Ian,

he eventually did travel all the way to Rome.

Now whilst in prison,

Paul wrote some of his letters to different churches,

and we get a glimpse of how he was doing,

what his priority was as he was imprisoned.

Now I know that if I was wrongly imprisoned,

on false charges that had no basis,

I would be pleading my innocence non-stop,

trying to convince my captors that they had the wrong guy,

that I should be released.

That's probably everyone's natural response, right?

But what does Paul do?

Well, we get a glimpse in Colossians chapter 4, verse 2,

Colossians 4:2

where Paul's writing to a church,

and this is what he says.

Devote yourselves to prayer,

being watchful and thankful,

and pray for us too,

that God may open a door for our message,

so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ

for which I am in chains.

Pray that I may proclaim it clearly,

as I should.

So as Paul is sitting in chains in Rome,

most likely chained to a soldier,

his prayer request isn't that these chains would be gone,

isn't that he'd be found innocent,

but he asks that the church would pray,

that he would publicly and correctly

make Jesus known to all those around him.

Paul is living consistently,

whether in chains or a free man,

he always made the most of every opportunity

to share Jesus.

And he does the same in Acts chapter 28.

Acts 28 · chapter mention

Look at verse 17 with me that we read earlier.

Three days later,

he, that's Paul,

called together the local Jewish leaders.

So not only was Paul under house arrest,

as verse 16 says,

which would probably mean a rotation of gods

who were quite literally a captive audience

to the message of Jesus.

Verse 30 also says that he had visitors

who came to the house who wanted to see him.

And then in verse 17,

he gathers local Jews to talk to them.

So even in Rome,

where he is in chains on false accusations

from some Jews,

even here he's trying to reach them

with the message of Jesus.

So Paul meets the Jews first in verse 17

at his own request.

And then again,

a second time in verse 23 at their request.

And this time it's a bigger crowd.

Every opportunity Paul gets,

he uses to share the gospel.

Now, so often we wait for the so-called

perfect conditions to share Jesus with people,

don't we?

We almost want people to come up to us

and ask us,

well, why do you believe in Jesus?

But realistically,

that won't happen all that often.

Instead, we should be living

the consistent Christian life

and making the most of every opportunity.

Telling people that we were at church

on the weekend

and what we were thinking about.

Opening up about your struggles

and how Jesus has helped you

or is helping you

through the storms of life.

Explaining to people

why you won't participate

in certain activities or behaviors.

explaining why you hold certain viewpoints

on political or cultural issues.

These are simple ways

that we can make the most

of every opportunity

to share Jesus.

But it also means standing up

for our faith

and taking opportunities

to speak about Jesus,

even in difficult circumstances.

In verse 22,

the Jews say that they hear

people everywhere

talking against this sect,

meaning Christianity.

And yet Paul continues to speak,

as verse 31 says,

with boldness

and without hindrance.

Now we've seen that before.

Remember in Acts chapter 21,

Acts 21 · chapter mention

after a big crowd

started trying to beat Paul to death,

what did he do?

When he was saved

by the Roman soldiers,

he stopped and said,

can I please speak to the crowd?

And he started to teach them

about Jesus.

What does he do

whilst he's a prisoner

time and time again,

as Paul has his back up against it?

Threats coming at him

from every side.

He consistently lived

the Christian life,

made the most of every opportunity

to share Jesus.

And we should do the same.

Make the most of every opportunity.

And the second thing we see

to help us consistently

live the Christian life

that we see in Paul here

is that we should teach

everyone about Jesus.

Verses 23 to 31.

As has happened before

in Acts 13,

the second time the Jews come

to see Paul,

a larger crowd appears.

We see that in verse 23.

So it's the Jews

who arranged this second meeting

because they're intrigued

by what Paul thinks

and want to hear him speak.

So what does he do?

Well, he talks to them

in verse 20.

He said in verse 23,

it says,

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.

Now notice two key things

about Paul's witnessing

to these people in that verse.

He spoke to them

from morning till night

and from cover to cover.

This week at weekend

at the holiday club

that we've already heard about,

Jack and I were leading

a discussion group together.

And one of the questions

we asked the children was,

if someone came to you

and asked you to tell them

about Jesus,

what would you say?

Now they gave some

really good answers,

most of them really helpful.

But it probably took

about three or four minutes

and they were done.

Often people are taught today

to be able to share their story

of how they came to know Jesus

in three minutes.

That is a good thing to do.

But that's not what Paul does here.

See, he doesn't give

a short gospel presentation.

He doesn't give his listeners

a quick two ways to live booklet.

Instead, he spends hours

talking to these people

about Jesus,

explaining about the kingdom of God.

Paul takes his time

to explain God's great plan.

Now we will most likely

never be in a context to do this.

I don't know anyone

who will sit and have

an engaged conversation

about one topic

or about something

from morning until evening.

But we can spend time

with our non-Christian friends

and family members

and teach them about God.

Invest in them.

Talk about why we believe

what we do,

why we hold certain positions.

Because witnessing to someone

isn't a parachute situation

where you mention Jesus,

you maybe even quote John 3.16

and then you're out the door again.

Paul is investing time

in these people

and telling them about Jesus

from morning till evening.

But notice the second thing

is that he does it

from cover to cover.

Paul doesn't just mention

one little thing

or one aspect of the gospel

that is maybe bite-sized

or easy to handle.

But instead he sits them down

for a very long Bible study.

So often I hear people say

that we only need to tell people

that God is love.

And that is right.

God is love.

And we do need to tell people that.

But if we are to faithfully

witness about God

and teach everyone about Jesus,

then we need to be holistic

in our witnessing.

So yes, we share that God is love.

We also share that God is just,

that God is good,

and that God is judge.

We need to share with people

from Genesis to Revelation,

the whole counsel of God.

And that means

that we need to know our Bibles.

One of the most encouraging things

when I do house visits

is sitting with someone

who's elderly

and they pull out their Bible

that has clearly been used

and it is in bits.

So encouraging.

We have the immense privilege

of having God's word

in so many accessible ways today.

We should use all of them

for our own spiritual benefit,

but also so that we can faithfully

point people to Jesus

from the beginning of the Bible

to the end of God's big story.

It is an absolute joy

to be used by God

to share the good news of Jesus.

We sit here as a result

of that this morning.

Remember way back

in the beginning of Acts chapter 1,

Acts 1 · chapter mention

the early church started

with a small group

in an upper room,

but through the power of God,

through a wonderful work

of the Holy Spirit,

through the efforts

of God's people

constantly sharing the gospel,

we sit here

having heard about Jesus.

We are here as a result

of what we see

in the book of Acts.

Now we can read Acts,

which is a historical account

of the beginning

of the church.

We can read the truth

that the gospel grows

as it is opposed

and we can see God

at work in wonderful ways,

but it didn't stop

in Acts chapter 28,

Acts 28:31

verse 31,

because the same thing

happens today.

The Lord continues to work

and the gospel continues

to go forth

as men and women,

through the power

of the Spirit,

share Jesus with the world.

And the responses

will be the same now

as they were back then.

Look with me at verse 24.

Some were convinced

by what he,

that's Paul,

said,

but others would not believe.

They disagreed

among themselves

and began to leave

after Paul made

his final statement.

Paul goes on to quote

from Isaiah,

highlighting that these people

had eyes to see the signs.

They had ears to hear

the message of Jesus

and yet their hearts

were hard.

They were unwilling

to see the work of God

that was happening

right in front of them.

They were unwilling

to listen to the truth

of Jesus

and repent

and put their trust in him.

Now as we go out

into this world

and we share the gospel

with people,

there will be those

who respond

with faith

and we greatly rejoice

at that new life.

There will also be those

who reject the gospel

and that is not on us.

God is the one

who brings about salvation.

We just have the privilege

of sharing Jesus

with others.

Living the consistent

Christian life

looks like making the most

of every opportunity.

It looks like teaching

everyone about Jesus.

And the third thing

that we see in these verses

is that to live

the consistent Christian life

we need to remember

that the gospel comes

with a house key.

Look at verses 30

to 31 with me.

For two whole years

Paul stayed there

in his own rented house

and welcomed all

who came to see him.

He proclaimed the kingdom

of God

and taught

about the Lord Jesus Christ

with all boldness

and without hindrance.

For two years

Paul was under house arrest

using the opportunity

to teach those

who visited him

but also using it

to write a lot.

While he was in Rome

he wrote the New Testament

letters of Ephesians,

Philippians,

Colossians and Philemon.

So even in the midst

of all of Paul's limitations

being under house arrest,

under constant supervision,

he wouldn't have been

in a big mansion

that would have allowed

tons of people

to come visit him

all at once.

But none of that stopped him.

Paul used to travel

from town to town,

from synagogue to synagogue.

He couldn't do that anymore.

He's stuck in one place.

Now he could have seen

all of that as a hindrance

to his ministry.

He could have given up.

He could have retreated

into isolation,

thrown down his tools,

but instead he embraced it

and used the circumstances

that he was in

to continue to share Jesus

through hospitality

for two years.

He welcomed

and he witnessed.

He used the means

that he had

to proclaim

the kingdom of God

and teach people

about Jesus.

Now maybe you live alone.

Maybe you think

that you can't cook

amazing food.

Maybe you have

a tiny dining room.

Maybe you don't even

have a dining room.

None of those things

are limitations

to stop you

inviting people

into your life

and sharing the gospel

with them.

Some of the best

conversations

I've had with people

are sitting on a couch

with a TV

in the background

with a takeaway

on my knees

or a cup of tea

in my hand

or a glass of water.

We don't need

to meet certain criteria

to share Jesus

in our homes.

We can use

what God has given us

to welcome

and witness.

Paul wasn't the only one

who did this.

Jesus,

most of Jesus'

conversations

about the kingdom of God

and his teachings

happened in hospitality

settings

around a dinner table

or over a meal.

See,

we can look at people

like Paul

and maybe some of the

well-known evangelists

today

and think that

there's something

special about them.

That they're doing

the work

so I can sit back

and relax

and do nothing.

The reality is

that every single Christian

has a unique

opportunity

to reach certain

groups of people.

You'll rob shoulders

with your friends

and family

and I'll rob shoulders

with mine.

I probably won't be able

to reach the wealthy

businessman

working in a law firm

down on Lothian Road

but you might.

I won't have the opportunity

to sit next to your

colleagues at work

in the lunch break

during a lunch break

but you do.

I won't have the chance

to speak to your friend

who is struggling

and looking for hope

in life

but you do.

Your life

and your home

provides you

with the perfect

opportunity

to live the Christian

life.

As you remember

the gospel

comes with a house key

and you boldly

without hindrance

proclaim the kingdom

of God

and teach people

about Jesus.

Verse 31

is the final thing

said about Paul

in Acts.

It's a summary sentence

of his last two years

the last two years

of his life.

He proclaimed

the kingdom of God

and taught about

the Lord Jesus Christ

with all boldness

and without hindrance.

Now I wonder

if you asked someone

to summarize

the last two years

of your life

in a sentence or two

what would they say?

Is the first thing

that would come to mind

that they would say

about you

that you proclaim

the kingdom of God

with all boldness?

Is that a determining

factor in your life?

Or would it be

that you're a nice person

who's managed

to perfect a new skill

over lockdown?

Or would it be

that you're a busy person

who still tries

to make time

to see other people?

I would love it

if all of our lives

could be summarized

by people saying

that we are men

and women

who love the Lord

who love his word

who love his church

who love the lost

and who spent

their time

proclaiming Jesus

to a world

that is dying

without him.

This might sound

like a really funny way

to end the book of Acts.

There's no mention

of Paul meeting

the church in Rome.

No mention

of his trial

before Caesar.

No mention

of his death either.

And I think Luke

has done that deliberately

to take the focus

off of Paul

and instead

to focus

on the continued work

of the spread

of God's word.

You know those

series you see

on television

or you watch online?

You get to that final episode

of the series

where everything's

been building up

to this point.

You're waiting

for the conclusion

and then it says

to be continued

and you scream

at the telly.

Verse 31

is basically

a big to be continued sign

because the focus

through our Acts

has been the spread

of God's word,

the spread of the gospel.

We see in Acts

Acts 6:7

chapter 6 verse 7

in chapter 9

verse 31

in chapter 12

verse 24

in chapter 16

verse 5

in chapter 19

verse 20

time and time again

the focus

has been

on the gospel

spreading

and it's always

been the consistent

same message

of Jesus Christ.

No frills,

no softening it,

no sugarcoating it

but simply presenting

the good news

of Jesus

to the world

and leaving the results

up to God.

Friends,

as we go into this world

and we try

to live the Christian life

we need to know

the gospel.

We never graduate

from the gospel

but we should

and we shouldn't be

promoting

any other messages

but consistently

telling people

the same message

that everyone

is born

into this life

in rebellion

against God.

Naturally

his enemies

and deserving

of his wrath

that nobody

can save themselves.

We can never

be good enough

or do enough

to be right

with God

on our own

but God

sent his son

Jesus

to take the

punishment

that we all

deserve

so that all

those who

believe in him

are forgiven

and made right

with God.

Jesus died

on the cross

dying the death

that we all

deserve.

He rose victorious

from the grave

defeating sin

defeating death

and has gone

to the Father

in heaven

where he is

preparing a place

for his people

and one day

when he returns

all the Lord's

people will gather

in his presence

for eternity

and all those

who reject

Jesus

will

in this life

will spend

eternity

under the just

wrath of God.

You see

the end of Acts

is just the end

of the beginning

of the story.

The story

of the spread

of God's word

continues today

as Christians

go out

and consistently

live the Christian

life.

As Jack

as we all

go into our work

our friend circles

our families

as we make

the most

of every opportunity

as we teach

everyone

about Jesus

and as we remember

that the gospel

comes with a house key.

See we're all

lured in

by the promise

of a quick fix.

We live in a world

that want things

that want things

immediately

without much effort

whether that's

getting six pack

abs

the newest

kitchen gadget

or a miracle

cleaning product

we love

a quick fix

but they rarely

work

because the key

is consistency.

That's how we

become better

at our jobs

that's how we

achieve the things

we want

and it's also

how we continue

to grow

and mature

in our faith

as we consistently

live the Christian

life.

That is how

God's word

spreads.

See the book of Acts

is a snapshot

of how the early church

grew and it should

encourage us

encourage us

to see how great

our God is

and encourage us

to continue that work

for him

and for his glory.

Let's pray together.

Heavenly Father

we thank you

for the immense

privilege it is

to be your

witnesses in this

world.

Father we thank you

for the book of Acts

and all the things

we've been learning

over the months

that we've been

in this series

but Lord we pray

that by your spirit

you would enable us

to remember

everything that we learn

not only to remember

it but also to put

it into practice

that we would be

your witnesses

in Edinburgh

in our workplaces

in our family circles

and in our friend circles

would we point people

to you

with that same

consistent message

of Jesus Christ.

Father would you

help us grow

in our love for you

our love for your church

our love for your word

and our love

for the lost people

of this world.

In Jesus name we pray

Amen.