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Good morning friends,
Finally we have come to the last chapter of the remarkable book of Acts, in the Bible. We’ve been tracing the chronological story of what happened in the years after the resurrected Jesus Christ returned to heaven, as found in Acts 1. It’s been quite remarkable hasn’t it?
Acts 28 opens with Paul and the rest of the crew and passengers, floating ashore following their terrifying storm and shipwreck described in Acts 27. They soon discover they are on the Island of Malta…the very same island in the Mediterranean Sea, by that name today.
You’ll notice in verses 3, 8 and 9 the healing power of Jesus Christ protects Paul from the bite of a viper snake, raises up the sick father of the chief official of the Island, and then cures many sick people on Malta Island. How do you explain these events, my friends?
There is no evidence the Gospel of Jesus was known on Malta and Paul’s visit would only be three months, so God did there, what He has often done in the centuries since… miracles, which demonstrate the power of God, and the power of prayer in great faith, by followers of Jesus.
Luke doesn’t tell us, but I wonder what impact of the Gospel was left on Malta Island after those three months Paul and his companions were there? We presume they shared the story of Jesus just as boldly and frequently as they had every other place they had been, right? I’m sure it’s safe to say there were likely several groups of new Maltese Christians by the time Paul was again taken aboard ship by the Roman guards, escorting him to Rome.
Verses 14-16 are really quite amazing. I’m sure Paul had thought often about his someday arrival at Rome, the capital of the Roman Empire, but I doubt he would have imagined what we see in these verses. Word of his soon arrival had preceded him, and a group of Roman Christians had traveled many miles to intercept him on the road and welcome him!
What a scene, a parade,… prisoner Paul, walking we presume in chains, flanked by a few Roman soldiers, but met and soon surrounded by a celebrating group of people who had received his letter we know as the Bible book of Romans, and were nearly delirious with joy, that the Apostle Paul had finally come to visit them in Rome!
I imagine Paul presumed he would be incarcerated in a prison, but Luke tells us “When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.” (28:16) We don’t exactly know what type of place this was, but it provided Paul a safe and private place where he could receive the many people who had heard of him and longed for the chance to meet him, hear him speak of Jesus, and ask him questions. What do you see in this my friends?
I see once again this powerful truth which God has so impressed on my heart in the past few days. It’s found in Proverbs 19:21 “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD prevails.” Do you see that here, again? A Jewish murder plot had tried to kill Paul repeatedly, in Jerusalem. A legal court case against Paul had tried to silence him in Caesarea. A shipwreck had tried to drown Paul at sea. A snake bite had tried to kill him on the island of Malta. But God’s purpose would not be thwarted.
God wanted Paul in Rome, and specifically in a place which provided people access to him, so Paul could boldly, clearly, and with almost every breath, proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to Roman soldiers guarding him; normal folks, both Gentiles and Jews who lived and worked in Rome; officials in Roman government; Jewish leaders and possibly even Caesar’s court! Hold tightly to that powerful verse, Proverbs 19:21 my friends, and ask yourself… how is it working in my life? What is God’s purpose in my life that is prevailing over the plans of people, including my own plans?
You’ll notice Paul did not waste much time before he called for a meeting with local Jewish leaders in Rome, as Luke records in vs. 17-22, and that first meeting resulted in several subsequent ones. Luke writes “Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe.” (28:24). My friends, may I encourage you with that verse?
Many of you have tried to share the Gospel or the story of your relationship with Jesus, with friends and family and been frustrated that some refuse to believe. That was Paul’s experience also…in every place he went, he shared the good news of Jesus, and many believed, but many did not. It’s 2 Corinthians 4:4 remember? “The god of this age (Satan), has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” It’s also this, which Jesus Himself said “No one comes to Me unless My Father draws them.” (John 6:44)
Your privilege and mine, is to share what we have experienced with Jesus and what we know to be God’s truth. But it is God’s work to open people’s minds and hearts to understand God’s truth, and believe it, and trust in Jesus! So don’t be discouraged my friends… keep sharing with great joy, the truth of what Jesus is doing in your life, and leave the results to God! That’s what Paul was saying in his closing statement to the Jewish leaders “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen.” (vs.28).
Now, your translation of the Bible may not have a verse 29…look closely. And if not, there is probably a footnote which says “some early manuscripts of Acts have this statement: “After Paul said this, the Jews left, arguing vigorously among themselves.” It raises an important question. . . can the Bible be trusted? What do you think my friends?
We have none of the original writings of Luke or any other of the Bible authors, and we know that for centuries, the only way the originals were duplicated was by careful copying by hand word by word, paragraph by paragraph. We do, however, have thousands of parchments, fragments of those early copies. Old Testament copies, like the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating back to before the time of Jesus; and fragments of New Testament copies, dating to the first century.
When they are all compared to each other, they are miraculously identical. Once in a great while copies are found which have slight variations, and this is one of those. It should not shake our confidence in the reliability of the Bible. Rather, it should enhance our amazement at the miracles involved in the preservation of the Scriptures through the centuries, even the millennia!
Now the final two verses of Acts give us a remarkable picture: “For two whole years, Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” Just like in Caesarea, Roman officials could not decide what to do with Paul, and so they did nothing…but kept him under Roman guard, allowing him time, and access to those who came to see him, and even freedom to write! And oh my, did Paul write in those years!
That’s where we are going next in our continuing journey, following the chronology of the movement of the Gospel in the first century. From that Roman house, Paul wrote the letters we have in our Bible known as:
- Philemon…a personal letter to a man whose runaway slave had come to Paul and trusted Jesus
- Colossians…a wonderful letter to the church in the city of Colosse which Paul never visited
- Ephesians… a powerful letter to his friends in Ephesus where he had spent so much time
- Philippians… oh such a loving letter to his dear friends in Philippi
and then three final, personal, letters of pastoral instruction to two of his closest friends, Timothy and Titus.
The writings of Paul from that Roman house have been translated into thousands of languages and distributed to hundreds of millions of people over the ensuing years. Many of them are so powerful we will not rush, we may take two or three days per chapter. So I hope you’ll travel along with us my friends on our “walking with Jesus” journey. We have yet so many exciting, life changing things to learn, as we read together.
Paul was eventually executed in Rome. That is not recorded for us in Scripture, but we have it from many historians of the first century. Through the letters he wrote from that Roman house, we will trace the ongoing story of the remainder of Paul’s life. Now as I close today, may I ask us each to put ourselves in that house along with Paul and his Roman soldier guard. Imagine the daily flow of people coming to visit Paul, bringing him food, freshly washed clothes, words of encouragement…but mostly, they come to listen, can you imagine what it would be like to sit, day after day, and listen to Paul. . .that is what we’re going to do for the next weeks, as we read what Paul dictated to the scribes who then took his letters to the people his life had touched across the empire!
May I leave you with this thought my friends? None of us knows how much time we have left in life. Have you ever written or recorded your story, so after you are gone, those who loved you, would have a record of the highlights of your life as you remember it?
And if you asked Jesus to bring some special people to your mind, who were special in your life story, but time has passed and you’ve not had contact for a long time…what if you did as Paul, and reached out to them, telling them a little of what Jesus has been doing in your life and asking to hear an update from them? What might happen?
Thank you Jesus…
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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