Having departed from Ephesus with a sad farewell to the elders there who will never see him again, Paul makes his way to Rome with a visit first to Jerusalem. Paul is well-received there by the leadership of the Christian church but not by the religious leaders of Judaism, who insist that Paul be arrested. Before being hauled off to jail, Paul is given an audience with the Jews, where he offers an explanation and defense of his call to preach the gospel. Paul proves his legitimacy as a preacher in four ways: his cultivation for the ministry, his conversion to Christianity, his call from Christ to be a gospel minister, and his commission to preach the gospel not to the Jews only but also to the Gentile world.
All goes well until Paul declares to the Jews that he is taking the good news of salvation to the Gentiles. With that stunning revelation, the angry Jewish leaders demand blood, insisting that Paul be killed! This sermon teaches us that God equips us and provides the way for serving him in whatever role he has determined for us.