Last Word of Acts
“…proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.”
— Acts 28:31 (ESV)
When I was a young man, I sang in a youth choir under the direction of an old-fashioned West Virginia choir director. She was full of life, loved music, and understood something about people.
After nearly every rehearsal she would remind us,
“If you miss a note somewhere in the song… if you get off key… just make sure you sing that last note and the last word with everything you’ve got. That’s what people will remember.”
I’ve never forgotten her words. Over the years, I’ve realized she wasn’t just teaching us how to sing. She was teaching us something about endings. Last words matter.
The final note of a song…
The closing scene of a movie…
The last chapter of a book…
The final words of a dying man…
They linger with us long after everything else has faded.
And that is one reason I find the ending of the book of Acts so powerful.
The apostle Paul has finally arrived in Rome after years of persecution, false accusations, imprisonment, a violent storm at sea, and even a shipwreck. Now he lives under house arrest while awaiting trial before Emperor Nero. By every human measure, the greatest missionary in history appears to be nearing the end of his earthly ministry.
If you were writing the final chapter of Paul’s life, how would you end it?
Would you end it with his imprisonment?
His chains?
His trial?
His execution?
The Holy Spirit didn’t.
Instead, the Holy Spirit ends the book with one remarkable Greek word.
ἀκωλύτως (akōlytōs).
Unhindered.
The Holy Spirit chose His final word carefully.
If you were writing the final chapter of Paul’s life, how would you end it?
ἀκωλύτως (akōlytōs).
Unhindered.
The Holy Spirit chose His final word carefully.
Paul may have been confined, but the gospel was not.
He may have been bound with chains, but the Word of God was not.
As Paul wrote,
“…for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!”
— 2 Timothy 2:9 (ESV)
The book of Acts does not end with the fate of the messenger.
It ends with the triumph of the message.
That is still the story today.
Governments have tried to silence it.
Empires have tried to crush it.
Critics have tried to discredit it.
Persecution has tried to stop it.
Yet the gospel continues to advance.
Unhindered.
Luke never tells us how Paul’s trial ended. He never tells us how Paul died.
Perhaps that is because, in one sense, the story was never meant to end.
The book of Acts is not simply the story of what God did through Peter and Paul. It is the story of what the risen Christ continues to do through His Church.
Every time the gospel is preached…
Every time a sinner turns toward God…
Every time a missionary crosses a border…
Every time a believer refuses to be silent…
Another line is being written in the continuing story of Acts.
As the band Unspoken sings:
“You can bury the workmen, but the work will go on.”
How true that is.
They buried Stephen. They buried Peter. They buried Paul. They buried countless unnamed saints who faithfully carried the gospel in their generation. Yet the work goes on.
Unhindered.
As C. T. Studd wrote,
“Only one life, ’twill soon be past;
Only what’s done for Christ will last.”
That truth has become increasingly near to my heart.
In recent days, I have found myself praying one simple word. “Lord, let your people be unhindered.”
Let the prophets be unhindered.
Let the preachers be unhindered.
Let the evangelists be unhindered.
Let the missionaries be unhindered.
Let the worshipers be unhindered.
Let every David who refuses to wear Saul’s armor cast it aside and run toward the battle…
Unhindered.
In these last days, when the army of God has never been more needed, may God raise up a remnant of men and women who love Christ more than comfort…
Truth more than popularity…
Obedience more than acceptance…
May they fight the good fight of faith.
May they finish their course.
May they keep the faith.
One day, we too will sing our last song.
The last chapter of our lives will be written.
The last page will be turned.
The last word will be spoken.
ἀκωλύτως.
Unhindered.
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