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Day 315, or November the 11th. You are free to

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choose or refuse. Our thoughts today come from

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Acts chapter 28, verse 24. Some were convinced

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by what he said, but others would not believe.

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And now the big picture surrounding this verse.

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The last two chapters are part of the 'we sections'

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of Acts. So called because the writer, Luke,

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includes himself in the narrative that proves

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he was there with Paul and the others. He tells

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us that on their way to Rome for Paul's trial

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before Caesar, they are shipwrecked off the coast

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of Malta, where Paul makes quite an impression

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for Christ before the crew, his captors, and

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the local Maltese people. They continue their

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journey to Rome with a few days on the island

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of Sicily, and a brief stop on the southern tip

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of Italy, before sailing north and on to Rome.

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Luke's record closes abruptly with Paul under

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house arrest in Rome. The fact he fails to record

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Paul's trial and subsequent death indicates Acts

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was written as early as AD 62. And now for our

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action step for today. As we reach the end of

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this record of the expansion of the early church

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and the acts of some of the apostles, especially

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Peter and Paul, there is real sadness in our

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verse today. Luke records the visit of a group

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of leading Jews to debate with Paul from his

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house prison in Rome. Luke tells us that some

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were convinced and believed, but that others

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would not believe. Not that they were not convinced,

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but that they would not believe. Whichever you

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look at, it's tinged with the tragedy that these

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men came so close, but missed out. Back in 1973,

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I was in London for a business meeting, the day

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before the FA Cup final, between First Division

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high -flyers Leeds United and my struggling Second

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Division team, Sunderland. A colleague suggested

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staying in London and trying to get tickets.

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I didn't think Sunderland would win, so I refused.

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Lack of faith. Amazingly, Sunderland won 1 -0,

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but I wasn't there. I missed out. Don't miss

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out on the far more important prize of salvation,

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like Paul's Jewish hearers did. Why not listen

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to day 21 again?