In Acts 28 we have an illustration of Paul’s description of his relationship to God — “the God to whom I belong and whom I serve.” In the first half of the chapter we see the Lord’s commitment to His servants and in the second half we see the servant’s commitment to His Lord.
The Lord And His Servant
Acts 28:1-31
In Acts 27:23 the apostle Paul gives a sweet and precious description of his relationship to God in 10 brief words – “the God to whom I belong and whom I serve”. In these 10 words Paul unwittingly has supplied us with the Lord’s responsibility to us, His servants, and our responsibility toward Him, our Master. Now, what do the words, “The God to whom I belong” infer? They clearly imply that He is responsible to take care of us. Just as a child belongs to his parents; a wife belongs to her husband, and a slave belongs to his Master, so we belong to God. It is the husband’s responsibility to take care of his wife. It is the father’s responsibility to take care of his child. It is the Master’s responsibility to take care of his slave. So too, it is God’s responsibility to take care of us, His willing, joyful slaves.
On the other hand, what does the phrase “whom I serve” imply? Surely, that Paul saw Himself as the bond-slave of God. Now, what is the responsibility of a bond-slave? To serve His Master! The Master takes care of His slave, and the slave serves his Master.
So, as we approach chapter 28, I’d like you to read it with me with that as our background. The first half of the chapter is an illustration of “The God to whom I belong” – vs. 1-16. The 2nd half is an illustration of “The God whom I serve” – vs.17-31. The first half teaches us how God takes care of His bond-slave. The 2nd half teaches us how Paul, the bond-slave, serves his Lord.
Remember, that Paul has been traveling to Rome to bear witness before Caesar. He has been traveling with 275 other crew and passengers on a large grain ship from Alexandria. On their journey they encountered a violent hurricane that drove them off course for 14 straight days. During that time, they couldn’t see the sun or stars, being covered by the stormy clouds. No one ate or drank for 2 weeks as they desperately tried to save themselves. However, gradually all of their hope of ever being saved was abandoned… until the Lord sent an angel to Paul to deliver a message. The message was that the ship would run aground on an island and be destroyed, but no one would die. Of course, God was true to His Word. Though the sailors tried to desert the ship, and though the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners, God did not allow any of these designs to take place. We left our story last week, with everyone jumping overboard and either swimming or using planks to get safely to shore.
Now, as we jump back into this fascinating story, I want you to put yourself in Paul’s position. As you see how God relates to him, and how he relates to God, let that be a teaching tool to instruct you how to relate to God and how to confidently expect Him to relate to you.
First of all, let’s observe:
1. The Lord’s Commitment to Paul: “The God To Whom I Belong”. 28:1-16. The Lord’s Commitment to Paul is seen in Him taking care of Paul:
A. Through The Strangers: 28:1-2.
Vs. 1: Paul and his fellow passengers discovered that they had landed on a tiny little island called “Malta.” The island is about 18 miles long, and 8 miles wide.
Verse 2: The word “natives” is literally barbarians. The Romans labeled anyone who didn’t speak Greek as a barbarian. Evidently, when they listened to them it just sounded like “bar-bar-bar” – in other words, gibberish. Now, this doesn’t mean that they were fierce, cruel, savages. On the contrary, these “barbarians” behaved themselves very courteously and kindly to all on the ship. They just spoke a different language. These natives showed them extraordinary kindness. You bet it was extraordinary kindness! Imagine taking a walk on the island where you live one morning and finding 276 shipwrecked and stranded people! On top of everything else, it was raining and cold. These stranded people had nothing to care for themselves with. Everything had been destroyed in the shipwreck. So, what do the natives do? Even though they can’t communicate with them verbally, they kindle a fire and welcomed them, trying to do whatever they could to relieve their sufferings. Now, in that situation, the natives could take advantage of them. After all, the shipwrecked passengers can’t understand a word they say. However, far from taking advantage of them, they have compassion towards them, and do whatever is in their power to make them feel warm and welcomed! I see this as the Lord taking care of His servant.
B. Through The Supernatural: 28:3-6.
Vs.3-4: Notice what Paul was doing – he’s gathering a bundle of sticks! Now, he could have said, “I was the one that told everyone we shouldn’t sail. I told you that the ship was going to go down. I told you that everyone would be saved. I told you we would end up on an island. Look, it all happened exactly as I said. I’m the Big Man on Campus around here. I think I’ll just sit on my little throne, and let you guys do all the work.” But instead we find him bustling around picking up sticks to make others more comfortable. This just shows us his servant’s heart!
Evidently a viper – a poisonous snake – was lying in the midst of the sticks that Paul had picked up. When he started feeling the heat of the fire, he darted out of the sticks and fastened on Paul’s hand and was hanging there. At this point, one of the islanders figured that Paul must be a murderer. You see, the barbarians had a superstition that if something bad happened to someone, it was because the Greek goddess for justice, was bringing revenge and justice upon the individual. So they figured that the reason Paul had been shipwrecked must have been because he was a great criminal, and even though he had escaped death in the shipwreck the goddess was going to bring justice upon him now.
Vs.5: Notice how calmly, and nonchalantly Paul responded to the situation. The natives are freaking out, but Paul just flings the snake into the fire. At that point, they are utterly shocked because they know full well how deadly these vipers are.
Vs.6: When Paul didn’t swell up or fall over dead, they changed their tune, and now claimed that Paul must be a god instead! How fickle people can be. One minute you are a murderer, the next you are a god. That just teaches us not to put much stock in what people think of us. The only One whose opinion really matters is the Lord!
Now, what is going on here? Why didn’t Paul swell up or fall over dead? Because the Lord is fulfilling a promise he had made to His disciples in Mark 16:17-18. “These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Now, as with any genuine promise of God, man can twist it into something the Lord never intended, and this is exactly what has happened with this one. In the early 1900s a string of Pentecostal Holiness churches in the rural southeast U.S. emerged that believed that they should deliberate take up deadly snakes in their worship services. It was believed this would provide signs and wonders of God’s power to believers. However, there are many accounts of worshippers who took up deadly snakes, were bitten and died. In fact, so much so, that many of these states illegalized the practice. You might think that this is just some outdated crazy practice, but snake handling is still going on today. In fact, there is a new generation that has taken up the practice. In USA Today, there is an article on June 3, 2012 of a young 21 year old, Andrew Hamblin, who handles copperhead rattlesnakes in his church services. He’s already been bitten at least 3 times. And, what’s crazy is that he’s not in some Appalachian backwoods church. He’s less than 40 miles away from Knoxville, Tennessee! Now, what are we to say about all this? Just this – Jesus didn’t command his discples to take up serpents. He simply told them that if in the process of carrying out the Great Commission, they accidentally picked up a serpent, like Paul did on Malta, it would not hurt them. To deliberately pick up poisonous snakes is not a mark of great faith. It is rash and foolish, and it is testing the Lord. But, if we are bringing the gospel somewhere in obedience to Christ, and are bitten by a deadly snake in the process, the Lord will bring supernatural protection. That’s what is happening in Acts 28, and the Lord is acting true to His promise by supernaturally protecting Paul from harm.
C. Through The Senior Leader: 28:7-10
Vs. 7: Here we discover that it wasn’t just the native islanders, but the senior leader of Malta, Publius, who also welcomed them and entertained them courteously for 3 days. Now, if this fellow is welcoming all 276 people, that was one big party he threw for 3 straight days! Luke is being careful to show that God is being very kind and good to His servant. Instead of living like castaways, they are living like kings at the expense of the Governor himself!
Vs. 8: This fever and dysentery was known as Malta Fever. It is believed to result from a micro-organism which came from the milk of the Maltese goats. The fever would last about 4 months, and in some cases could persist for 2 or 3 years! Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine that results in severe diarrhea containing blood, and abdominal pain. If left untreated, it can be fatal. So, Publius’ father was in a world of hurt, and probably desperate for some relief. I find it very interesting that it was after he had prayed that he laid his hands on him and healed him. We usually lay our hands on someone and then pray. This was very similar to Peter when he first knelt down and prayed, and then spoke to Tabitha to rise from the dead. My hunch is that both Peter and Paul were praying that the Lord would reveal to them whether it was His will to do a miracle. When they were assured it was, they confidently laid hands on the individual, knowing that a healing would take place.
Vs. 9-10: When news got out about the healing of Publius’ father, this caused quite a stir, and others began streaming to Paul, hoping for a cure for their diseases. Paul, functioning in the gift of healing in the power of the Spirit wrought many healings. As a result, the natives granted them many marks of respect, and gave them everything they needed as they set sail from the island. Again, we find God caring for Paul in unusual and wonderful ways.
D. Through The Saints: 28:11-16
Vs. 11-16. These verses chronicle the voyage from Malta to Syracuse, to Rhegium, to Puteoli. And what does the Lord do for Paul there? He brings him into contact with some brethren who invited him to stay with them for 7 days. A little R and R! Here is one of those sweet, wonderful little times of rest and fellowship that the Lord provides for us every once in a while. At the end of this week long time of refreshment, Paul and his team journey on towards Rome, and low and behold they find that brothers in Rome who had heard about them, had taken the trouble to journey the 43 and 33 miles to meet Paul at the Market of Appius and Three Inns. These believers had been instructed and thrilled with Paul’s exposition of the Gospel in the Book of Romans which he had sent to them 3 years earlier from Corinth. This was such a blessing to Paul that he took the opportunity to publicly thank God. Again we see the Lord showing special kindness to His servant, by refreshing him with the fellowship and encouragement of the saints.
Application: Brothers and Sisters, have you not found your Lord to be faithful, just as He was to Paul? Hasn’t He taken care of you very well? I can testify that He is a good and kind Master! I have served Him for 33 years, and He has never failed to take care of me. We’ve gone through some hard times financially. There were times when we barely able to scrape by, and had no money for anything extra at all, even lunch at McDonalds, but He always provided our necessary food and shelter. When our oldest son, Josiah, died in 2004, God took care of us. He put it in the hearts of our church family, to come over that morning, and just sit with us for hours. They hardly said a word. They were just there. And they continued to be there for the next week, bringing us food, stopping by to do odd jobs around the house. It was amazing! We had another example of God’s loving care for us recently. Recently we were looking for a place to meet as a church on Sunday mornings. We thought we were going to be able to meet at Riverview Community Center, but that didn’t work out. We were outgrowing our living room, and needing a more visible and public place to meet. One day I was just out driving around in Rancho Cordova, praying and asking the Lord to direct us. Suddenly it just popped into my mind to stop in at the Way of Life Church on Folsom Blvd., and see if it would be possible to rent out their sanctuary on a time when they don’t meet. I hadn’t talked to any other pastors about this. I believe now that the idea didn’t come from me, but from the Holy Spirit. Well, it just so happened that the pastor was there working on a little chapel just down from the sanctuary, getting it ready to rent out! It was absolutely perfect for our little church. It was in the perfect location, was the perfect size, and had all the necessary rooms we needed for our children’s ministries. We moved in within 10 days! And I’m sure that all of us could tell stories of how God miraculously provided for us time and time again if we had the time. Oh, God is good! He is faithful to His servants. He keeps His commitments to His children. Trust Him! Depend on Him! He will never let you down.
2. Paul’s Commitment To His Lord – “The God whom I serve” – 28:17-31. Paul served the Lord:
We’ve seen the Lord’s wonderful commitment and care for Paul, His servant. Well, what about Paul’s relationship to His Lord? How did He respond? The Lord had been such a good and kind Master. Paul responds as a faithful and obedient servant. How did he respond in service to the Lord? In 2 ways – by seeking out the unsaved Jews, and by striving with the unsaved Jews.
A. He Sought Out the Unsaved Jews: 28:17-22. Early on the Lord had told Ananias to go and lay hands on Paul so that he would regain his sight. He also told him that he was a chosen instrument of His to bear His name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel (Acts 9:15). It was Paul’s habit to go to the synagogue to preach to the Jew first in whatever city he entered. If the Jews rejected the gospel, Paul would then go to the Gentiles. When Paul gets to Rome, he continues to follow this plan. 3 days after he arrives in Rome, he calls to himself the leading men of the Jews. Paul can’t go to them, because he is under house arrest, so he calls them to come to him.
Paul Desires To Clear Himself: Now, what is Paul’s purpose in calling them to him? First, he figures that they have received messages from the hostile Jews in Jerusalem, and are already prejudiced against him and his ministry. So, the first thing he needs to do is clear himself of the false charges that the Jews are spreading against him. Once, he has removed any hostility and prejudice against himself, he will then proclaim Jesus Christ and His gospel. Paul’s main points were, 1) he had done nothing against the Jewish people or their customs; 2) in spite of that, he was arrested and delivered into the hands of the Romans; 3) the Romans determined that Paul hadn’t done anything worthy of death, and so were willing to set him free; 4) the Jews objected to his being set free, and so Paul’s only option was to appeal to Caesar, and that’s why he was in Rome. He finishes by holding up his arms and rattling his chains, saying that the reason he wears those chains is for the sake of the hope of Israel. Israel’s hope was that their Messiah would come and deliver them. Paul is chained because he is preaching that very thing!
The Jews Desire To Hear Paul: The first thing they told Paul is that they hadn’t received any letters from the Jews in Jerusalem about Paul, nor had they heard any negative reports from other Jews in Rome. Now this is very curious. You would have thought that the Jews in Jerusalem would have reported to the Jews in Rome about Paul. They were trying to kill him! Certainly they must have written a scathing letter about Paul, warning the Jews in Rome about his heresy, and perhaps even asking them to make sure they did away with him. So, why didn’t they receive any letters? I wonder if it was because their letters were sent on board the ship that went down at sea and were lost forever. If so, we can see a blessing from God tucked away in that terrible trial! So too, so often we can see wonderful blessings from the Lord that are tucked away in the midst of deep and painful trials.
The Jews final word to Paul is that they desire to hear his views. Oh, how encouraging that must have been to Paul! Here are some Jews who actually want to hear him speak of his views of Jesus Christ!
B. He Strove With The Unsaved Jews: 28:23-31. A date was set, and the Jews came to hear Paul in large numbers! Paul took the entire day from morning to evening proclaiming the gospel. Wow – what a day that must have been! How I would love to have been a fly on the wall, listening to that Bible Seminar! Wouldn’t you love to be able to download that sermon from the Internet! Now, as Paul strove with the Jews to bring them to faith, he had both a Subject and a Strategy.
Paul’s Subject: 28:23,31. There were 2 subjects: the kingdom of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1) The Kingdom of God: The Kingdom of God is the rule and reign of God. The Jews expected that when their Messiah appeared, He would inaugurate a military and temporal deliverance of Israel. They expected the Messiah to set them free from the yoke of their Roman oppressors, and that they again would be the greatest nation on earth, as they were in the days of King David. However, they had missed God’s intent in the Law and the Prophets. The kingdom of God was to be of a spiritual nature. God was not going to set them free from earthly conquerors. He was going to set them free from their sins. This is what Paul strove with the Jews to persuade them of.
2) The Lord Jesus Christ: Not only did Paul speak to them of the spiritual nature of the rule and reign of God through the Messiah, but he also spoke of Jesus Christ as being that Messiah. Paul told them that Jesus was the coming Deliver, that God had sent to save His people from their sins. And notice, that Paul proved these things from the Law of Moses and the Prophets (a phrase that means all the OT Scriptures). No doubt Paul would have spoke of Genesis 22 (Abraham offering up his son Isaac), Exodus 12 (the Passover Lamb), Leviticus 16 (the Day of Atonement), Psalm 16 (the Resurrection of the Messiah) and 22 (the Crucifixion of the Messiah), and Isaiah 53 (the Suffering Servant). Basically Paul was doing the exact same thing that Jesus did after He rose from the dead when He began with Moses and all the prophets, explaining to the disciples the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures (Luke 24:27). So, bottom line, what did Paul speak to these Jews about? Jesus as the King! That’s a great theme to preach on anytime! Jesus is Lord! He is the Lord who can save all who come to Him in repentance and faith. He’s also the Lord who will take vengeance on those who don’t know God or obey His gospel.
Paul’s Strategy: We’ve seen Paul’s subject, but what was his strategy? How was he going to strive with these Jews? 4 ways – explaining, persuading, reproving, welcoming.
1) Explaining:The way Paul strove with these Jews to bring them to faith was verbal. He explained, testified, persuaded and reproved. Explaining has to do with teaching (31). This is where we begin in the ministry of the Word. We must teach our people and explain to them the doctrines of the Word of God.
2) Persuading: Paul went on from explaining to persuading. He was not content to just impart good solid Biblical information. He wanted to see these people persuaded it was the truth. So Paul exerted all his energy and effort to produce true believers. This was what Paul sought to do with King Herod Agrippa II in Acts 26:27-28. He was seeking to convert him! This ought to be our goal as well. We are not OK with just imparting Biblical knowledge. We want to see converts, people completely persuaded and obedient to the truth they have received. This part of the ministry of the Word would come under the heading of Preaching (31) or Exhorting.
3) Reproving:28:25-29. When some would not believe, Paul quoted the 700 year old prophecy of Isaiah 6:9-10. God had prophesied that Israel would harden their hearts against God’s truth, and that God would respond with judicial blindness and deafness of spirit. When Israel “closed their eyes” God made it so that they would keep on seeing and not perceive. God had been so patient and longsuffering, warning Israel of His judgment, but waiting and waiting to actually bring it to pass. After 700 years, He finally brought the Romans into Jerusalem to destroy the temple and burn the city. The ministry of the Word requires not just teaching and preaching, but reproving – 2Tim.4:1-2.
4) Welcoming: After these Jews had rejected Jesus as their Messiah, Paul declared that he would take the gospel to the Gentiles and they would listen. So, after reproving the Jews of their willful blindness and hardness of heart, Paul welcomed the Gentiles, and brought them the life-giving message of salvation to them. As a result Paul welcomed all who came to him, Jew or Gentile, and brought them God’s glorious gospel.
Application: Do You Serve God In Ministering the Gospel? That’s how Paul served the Lord. Rom.1:9. Are you active in seeking out the lost and striving to bring them to faith? When is the last time you spoke to a lost person about their soul? May God enable all of us to speak to someone this week about Christ!
Conclusion: The Book of Acts ends very abruptly at vs.31, almost as though Luke doesn’t give it an ending. And truly, he doesn’t. We are left wondering what happened to Paul. Is he executed or released from prison? All the evidence suggests that Paul was released from prison about 62 A.D. For the next four years he continued to travel doing missionary work, perhaps even making it to Spain. He wrote 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy and Titus during these years, and then around 66 A.D. was imprisoned and martyred under Caesar Nero.
Luke’s purpose in writing the Book of Acts has been completed. In Acts 1:8 Jesus had told his disciples that they were to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the remotest part of the earth. Well, for a Jew, Rome was the remotest part of the earth. The gospel has gone from Jerusalem (the Jewish center of the world) to Rome (the Gentile center of the world). Along the way, countless thousands have been converted, and hundreds of churches have been planted. The Gospel has triumphed in every kind of situation.
The Book of Acts doesn’t really have an ending, because it is still being written today. Remember that Luke began this book by saying that the Gospel of Luke describes “all that Jesus began to do and teach” clearly implying that the Book of Acts records “all that Jesus continued to do and teach”. And guess what? Jesus has continued to do and teach through history! In every age and generation He has had His servants who have done His works and taught His truth. And He is still doing it today! God is still writing more chapters to the Book of Acts as His church rises up and brings His gospel to all the earth. We at The Bridge are part of a Church Planting Network called Acts 29. I love that name. You say, “wait a minute, there are only 28 chapters in the Book of Acts!” That’s the point! Acts 29 speaks of what God is doing throughout the world today, in our own generation. I want to invite you to join us at The Bridge to be part of God’s ongoing work in the world today. We are absolutely committed to preaching His gospel, making disciples, and planting churches wherever He will lead us. Will you throw in your lot with us? Will you commit to this local church for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission in the greater Sacramento Area. May the Lord put that on your heart for Jesus’ sake!
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