I invite you to turn this morning in your Bibles to the book of Acts, chapter 28, and next week we will complete the book, Lord willing, next week we have finished this study. This morning we will read the first 16 verses of Acts 28, 1192, in your Bibles, again, Acts chapter 28 will begin at verse 1. After we were brought safely through, we learned that the island was called Malta. The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live. He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune came to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitality for three days. It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery, and Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. After three months, we set sail on a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. And from there, we made a circuit and arrived at Regium. And after one day, a south wind sprang up, and on the second day, we came to Puteoli. There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. And the brothers there, when they had heard about us, came as far as the forum of Apius and three taverns to meet us. And seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him. And there ends this morning the reading of God's Word. Well, today we come to the last chapter in our study of the book of Acts. And we really do have an encouraging section that the book leaves us with. you always want to note the end of books and what the authors are doing and how they leave a great impression on us about something and usually it's the main theme of the book that is being pressed down on us to so that we leave with a right and proper understanding of what everything has been about and you're going to see that come together hopefully today and next week its purpose here particularly is to show us how the power of jesus and his kingdom has prevailed against all the darkness of satan's power it challenges us in that regard as the kingdom is breaking through and jesus power is being shown in surprising ways and ways that we don't usually expect it challenges us as to whether we are carrying forward the ministry in this confidence and in the intention of our savior who desired as he said to leave us here so that the nations would hear the truth of the gospel that's why we exist that's why we're here that the gospel would indeed go to the ends of the earth as i've said in the course of this study the church today has struggled uh i think in in so many sad ways with its mission and mandate in light of a changing culture and the particular reason that we're struggling today i believe if we can put it in different categories a little bit it is actually due to the intense darkness of satan's activity in our present time that the dark opposition of satan himself is really rising up right now against the church and against the witness at this late hour of history and as stuff is happening that we don't understand as stuff is happening that is different than even years ago as we experienced it as there's progression in wickedness as the scriptures talk about things become very confusing and we don't quite know what to do we don't quite know what to handle it so we're grasping for answers we're hoping that we can come to answers by plotting out new answers and and and giving new ways to to solve all of the darkness that is invading us but the end of acts is telling us something very important. It's telling us to be careful. It's telling us to look carefully at Paul's response to all of this and to go forward as the apostles went forward, passing on to us the deposit and the baton of faith so that we would be confident in the Lord's work and that no matter what's happening, his purposes are being fulfilled. And that's what we're going to see today as we begin to close out this study. We're looking at this particular passage this morning through the lens of what the Lord said it is through much tribulation through much opposition that we enter the kingdom of God and we see this when everything is against us we see this in Satan's rage against the church and the Lord's purpose to destroy the devil's power and I think that should have a profound effect on us as we go forward and move on from the book of Acts. In the last section, we studied the great shipwreck. Remember, there's nothing recorded in ancient literature that is this detailed about the ship and then, of course, a shipwreck. So this was a remarkable section to study, making the point as I looked at that particular passage that the apostles were not even exempt from the struggles of creation that raged against them which you would think if god is in control of all creation they would be exempt and they would have a peace peaceful path ahead in the ministry well that wasn't the case how many natural disasters have taken out churches and how many natural disasters have stopped mission work we can we can talk about that but as i opened up chapter 28 i i realized that luke is pressing upon the church something that i i believe we should never forget and to help us understand again as we lead this study what we are involved with in the church and in the ministry as we do this work in the Lord's name. What we read here as we open up chapter 28 is that after Paul had been brought safely to land, they landed at this place and the island was called Malta. I'm sure some of you have been there and some of you have seen this place. The native people of the land, of course, of the island, we read, were very kind to Paul and Luke and his crew. They gave them a warm welcome, seeing them having to swim in after the shipwreck. Imagine that, some of them holding on to planks from the boat, boards from the boat, into the island. Verse 3 says that Paul wanted to help as these natives, seeing that they were cold and seeing that they were shivering from the waters, decided to make them a fire, showing kindness to them. And Paul decided to help out with this project. Paul wanted to be a help to them, so there he is gathering up sticks to help build the fire. As he did this, we read that a viper sprung out of the sticks and lashed on to his arm and hand, everyone knowing it is a venomous snake and that Paul is certainly doomed. And that's immediately what the natives of the island thought. You'll notice that there, that the native people showed us this kindness, but when this viper had come out, they saw the creature hanging from his hand, and they said to one another, no doubt, this man is a murderer. It shows the superstition. It shows everything that they believed. But it's quite a remarkable moment. It's quite a perspective change, isn't it? That something happens here, this viper leaps onto Paul and springs onto Paul, and then when they see nothing happens, of course, they then switch and so quickly believe that he is a god, from a murderer to a god. It's a fascinating section that you wrestle a little bit as a pastor to know what to do with. What do you make of this? How do you preach this? What is the point here? Isn't it something, though, that when an event happens that we consider as evil, notice how people's perspectives so quickly change. How quickly people will view the things that happen in the worst possible light. It may not be as primitive as the natives of the island thinking all of a sudden in superstition that Paul, of course, is now a murderer. But I want you to think about the shift of perspective that comes so quickly here of how they're viewing Paul. How many times have we looked at somebody and something happens to them and the way the event that happens to them frames how we think about them, what we think that is happening to them. And we all kind of raise our eyes and stand back from a series of bad events and things that happen and we have questions. We have questions. What in the world is this? Is God judging them? Maybe this bad thing has happened in the course of their lives and it shows that something is wrong, we think. When something bad happens to someone, this is exactly how we think. We think that the Lord has somehow turned against them or something is a fault in their ministry. Putting this in ministry terms, something has gone wrong in ministry. You'll see where I'm going with this, but I want you to think for a moment of how we respond to things that happened. Noticing the native's response. And particularly taken by what God allowed Satan to do to Job. Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only do not stretch out your hand against him, right? So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and in one day what happened? Every evil under the sun that could happen to the man. He lost his children through disaster. He lost his money. He lost his livestock. He lost his health. What a thing to process. And then came the responses. Eliphaz, who that was innocent has ever perished? Those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same. Not helpful, is it? Bildad, see, God will not reject a blameless person nor take the hand of evildoers. Zophar, if iniquity is in your hand, put it far away, Job. Don't let wickedness reside in your tents. Surely then you will lift up your face without blemish. You will be secure and will not fear. Your life will be brighter than the noonday. Everyone has an answer, don't they? In the midst of hardship. Everyone has an answer. Everyone has a perspective. Now I think this ties to the thought here. I think it ties to the thought. He got bit. That just doesn't happen. he's a murderer he's a murderer he will die and as you look at this and you start thinking about what god is showing us here they're all waiting for the death to happen and of course the remarkable thing in this particular section is nothing indeed does happen to him we read that for a long time they waited there was no swelling up there was no dropping dead and they had no other conclusion than to say, this guy is a god in the opposite end of the spectrum. Now, I don't believe that's meant to be separated from chapter 27 and the shipwreck. You have the shipwreck of all shipwrecks described in the Bible with fascinating detail. It was so bad that the ship broke up and these guys had to swim in in the winter waters into Malta. And then a snake comes out and bites Paul. Which in any other circumstance would have indeed killed him. Both should have killed him. And the first conclusion is, is that everything and every circumstance Paul has faced and the apostles have faced, Luke along with them, everything that they have faced has made the trip to Rome impossible. that's what we should be reading everything that he has faced has made the trip to rome impossible everything is working against the god appointed destination and i think the first inclination in ministry is to say that when opposition comes or when something like these things happen the first inclination is to say we've done something wrong and so we think that god is against this how many times have we been frustrated things go badly and you can apply this right to life things go poorly and we have hardship and we have pain and we have suffering and we have opposition and we think what in the world is this how could this not show that if god were a god to me and loved me he would not allow these things to happen. And my question is, did Paul look at things this way? Did he ever look at things this way? That's not where Luke ends up, is it? Everything is most certainly under his providential care and control. But let me ask you this, what would the Jews have thought about the storm and the snake? The sea and the storm all throughout the Old Testament was constantly associated with chaos and evil powers in opposition to God. So has the Leviathan. In that day, the Lord with his hand and great and strong, notice that say, what it says here, the great and strong sword he will punish. The Leviathan, the fleeing serpent, Leviathan, the twisting serpent, he will slay the dragon that is in the sea. They didn't read that as any other way other than great opposition was against the kingdom of God. John Stott, when he was evaluating this passage, drew this conclusion. We need to remember that the sea was reminiscent of from evil chaos, was a regular Old Testament symbol of evil powers in opposition to God. It was not the forces of nature water wind and snake which were arrayed against paul but the demonic forces at work through them paul's been saying it the whole time paul told the thessalonians that he longed to visit them that he wanted to visit them and that he couldn't visit them why remember what he said satan hindered us satan himself in the last chapter uh you'll remember what uh paul says jesus sent him in the gospel ministry to break people from the power of satan to god that's chapter 26 actually when he was speaking to agrippa it was satan who had filled simon the sorcerer's heart remember he says less satan 2nd corinthians 11 should get an advantage of us for we're not ignorant of his devices and paul said in the ministry in the church as there are different vessels that there are times that people are taken captive by the power of satan to do his will now how do you think you should be reading this satan and his demonic realm is doing everything in his power to stop the apostle's witness in coming to rome everything these things are are meant to be read as great oppositions to the ministry great oppositions to the witness of taking the gospel to the ends of the earth that's the intention of this and and what is his point satan's power is very great in this present age there are demonic forces at work and i in places and things that you have no idea and that that that things are happening behind the scenes that we just we just don't even think about that are very much directly tied to the satanic realm and i think the message here is very clear for the church at times at times that rage will rise up against us in its worst forms in its worst forms you remember revelation 12 this is exactly what it was all about that after the ascension of jesus came and after he was seated on the throne remember what revelation described there and the great dragon was thrown down that ancient serpent who is called the devil and satan the deceiver of the whole world he was thrown down to the earth and his angels were thrown down with him but woe to you oh earth and sea for the devil has come down to you in great wrath because he knows his time is short and that serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman the church to sweep her away with the flood but the earth came to help to the help of the woman and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured forth from his mouth. Revelation 12. So you need to understand that in times of terrible opposition, in times of great opposition, there is no other explanation than that. Than that. That what has happened is the direct satanic assault of the devil. He's trying everything he can to stop our testimony and he's good at it we should never look at the evil things that happen to people and just assume that they failed or they sinned i think it's it's important to say be careful what you read in our day be really careful i have to say that pastorally everyone has an answer to the things that happen whenever there's some event whenever there's some tragedy whenever there's something that's all over the news, placed all over the news, be careful of the news reports the next day and everyone who's the first one to speak out on it and have the answers. The ignorance is just as bad as Job's friends. Just as bad. What is the message here? It's not that God was somehow causing the evil to come upon them or that Paul's ministry was faulty. Look what he's going through. It was that through all this evil, he's overruling it. Through all this stuff happening, he's overcoming it. Through all of it, he is showing in remarkable wisdom his power to destroy it. That's what you should see. The end of the shipwreck, after a long section of an impossibility of getting out of the ocean. You remember what happened. It ends in chapter 27 with, and they arrive safely to the land. After the end of the snake bite, that should have killed him. The outcome was they changed their minds because of him. Why? Because he didn't die. And this man named Publius now becomes this great open door, and you could read about him in history, this great open door for the gospel on the island as Paul is now able to minister there and preach the gospel through the power of Jesus as many are healed. What does it tell you? What it tells you is that God is destroying the power of the devil on the earth, that God is helping the woman and the church, and no matter what the opposition is, no matter how bad it looks, no matter how discouraging it all is, He will prevail. That's the message. And we have to believe that. We have to believe that. we have to trust that even though you may never see that in the midst of a shipwreck you never see that when the viper is hanging on the arm the first great encouragement is Jesus is indeed in control of it all and Jesus is directing it to his great purpose and if you don't understand this you're going to be completely perplexed in the ministry always searching for answers always judging wrongly and never coming to a good understanding of what your mission is. He's on the throne and He's given us a call. Now what does that mean for us? I think it says that what we should be doing in the times where we see great rising up of things that are unexplainable to us, things that we don't understand, we shouldn't be the first ones writing in the Washington Post or commenting. Here's what we should be doing. Remember what the Heidelberg says we should be praying about when you say your kingdom come, O Lord? Preserve and increase your church. Destroy the works of the devil and every power that raises itself against you and every conspiracy against your word. Do this until the fullness of your kingdom comes when you shall be all in all. You know what you should do is that. Bow the knee in silence and pray. That God would tear this down and undermine it all. Maybe that's what the church needs more than ever. It's prayer right now. Are we praying that? Are we praying in the midst of this chaos? Are we praying in the midst of the most evil manifestations of things that are happening around us? and it reminds us not to be so baffled by the pure evil that satan throws against us but to realize the lord will indeed overthrow that we have an important responsibility to see that often what is happening is satan's work of overthrowing the holy witness of god's word and then we have the responsibility to pray that through it an open door would happen and that's exactly what happened here it's exactly what happened on the island of malta they got there through the shipwreck they got there through the bite and look at this now that's the first point i only have one more point this morning first point is he will prevail over all opposition and the second point is this He will prevail in sending us to where He wants us to go. Isn't it beautiful? I want you to notice this here, that none of this stops at all anything that had been planned in Acts. None of it. What did Jesus say to Paul back in chapter 23? Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, you must testify also in rome about me that's your job what did jesus say to paul in the midst of the shipwreck chapter 27 verse 34 do not be afraid paul you must stand before caesar that is meant to be an encouragement to the church i believe that jesus's words here late in the book of acts the red letters that you find so rarely in the end of the book of acts are meant to be the greatest encouragement to you that where where he sends us we will go and that's what's described here you'll notice there they had wintered on the island a ship of alexandria with the twin gods as a figurehead they they have all of this described here putting in at syracuse we stayed there for three days and we made a circuit arrived at regium and and one day a south wind sprang up and on the second day we came to putoli putoli there we found brothers, where we were invited to stay with them for several days, and so we came to Rome. Luke says it as if that is just something that, how could anyone take that for granted, that they would get there? And so we came to Rome. And so we came to Rome. We got there. You know, we have studied for almost a few years now, I think, this book. All the persecution, all the suffering, all the hardship, all the opposition, the most important statement in the book really might be right there. You will be my witnesses, and you will go to Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, and here in chapter 28. And so we came to Rome. He did it. Jesus did it. It was never in doubt. We came to Rome, as he said we would. As the Lord had said at the beginning of the book, this is where you will go, here we are. And he says, and you will stand before Caesar. We don't have it recorded, but I think in my mind, what a day it must have been. And I believe that's exactly what happened. Paul actually stood before Nero, the most wicked Caesar of all. And from the lips of the Apostle Paul, those ears heard the gospel. Nero heard the Gospel from Paul. It's remarkable. Jesus is doing it. Think about this. The Gospel started in a little room in Jerusalem. Good news for salvation to all who believe. If you turn from your sins, you'll be forgiven. Forgiveness of sins announced to the nation. It started in a little room in Jerusalem, and today, where has it come? To Escondido. If it made it to Escondido, it was a remarkable thing. and it's made it to to china it's covered the earth you guys look at the victory it's happened nobody ever said that it wouldn't come through much opposition of course it will come through jesus told us it's going to come through opposition it's going to come you're going to see intense forms of hatred but it's gone and it's still going until all the elect come in and then the end comes you see paul stood before near uh nero and jesus told us that this is exactly what would happen we will go where he wants we will do what he has mapped out for us those who hear will hear and they will be saved his project will not be a failure nothing will stop it and that should be the greatest encouragement to you in the world no matter what happens you're going to end up where he said you're going to end up and you know it's a little bit like personal salvation after all of this hardship after all of these pains after all this suffering after all the things that we've seen in our days of affliction under the sun and so we entered heaven so it's going to be you're going to be there because he's the one doing it you can write the end of your story right here and so we came to heaven that's how powerful this is but it's really about the mission of the church isn't it we're fulfilling exactly what jesus wants us to do today you're sitting here and you've come and you're hearing a testimony about jesus he's king he's lord he sits on a throne he's called you his servants he's called you friends he's announced forgiveness to you from this pulpit today. He's helped you in all of your weaknesses. He's loved you. He's encouraged you. He's shepherded you. He's fed you. He's provided for you on the valley, in the valley of the shadow of death in which you walk. And one day you'll be out of it. We read that the brothers, when they heard about us, they came as far as the forum of Apius and three taverns to meet us. On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage. When he had come to Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him. Paul was put on house arrest and a soldier was right there. But the book shows us, you know what happened? He got a pulpit right there in Nero's kingdom. And many people every day, all day long, would come up to Paul's house we're going to look at this next week and close on this note and paul would preach jesus to them what a remarkable thought in chains in his on-house arrest the multitudes are coming in rome to hear the gospel god gave him a pulpit there fulfilling exactly what he wanted for him what an awesome thing one day you'll stand back from all of this it seemed like nothing was happening it seemed that little was being accomplished in the church it seemed that little was being accomplished in your family it seemed that nothing was happening except assault hardship pain and then you're gonna wake up one day and you're gonna look around in glory and you're gonna see a multitude no man could number what a thought huh you know i i want to close with two letters that i think i've shared before to prove this very point and remember that whatever we do on radio is an extension of this pulpit ministry here but i just want to prove this to you because i lose sight of this as a pastor and you guys encourage me endlessly uh by your faith and your love for god's word and your love for worship but it's so evident. But then I get some letters like this. I believe I was listening to you on Carrie Radio a few weeks ago talking about making your decision to turn your life to Jesus over and over and the emotional toll that took. I was looking for radio stations on the way to work and came upon this conversation totally by accident. I didn't even know this station existed. I've been fighting alcoholism my whole life and have made the decision to turn my life and will over to God so many times it hurts. Your conversation smacked me hard. That day I decided to study the Bible, listen to Carrie and start to pray to Jesus. Would He enter my heart? I've struggled with God my entire life. I've always wanted faith but couldn't believe. Couldn't. Every day since then I've been on my knees praying to Jesus, asking Him to forgive me. and to save me really not sure still want to know why we're here you said one day you'll find your will bent in your mind clear clear is the mind of christ every day i every time i pray tears pour from my eyes i've been fighting pornography for as long as booze being molested for years by friends of the family growing up i always shrugged it off in my heart i know that drinking takes away the pain of the pornography and the past and that i could never find god with the disgust of my behavior always wanting to be freed from it but always failing today is number three how happy he is free from this stuff after 40 years of daily immersion the will has been bent and my and my mind is clear with the mind of christ signed william pastor gordon i thought i'd send you a wee email letting you know how much i I've enjoyed listening to Abounding Grace. I spent my entire life in the Mormon church, but have drifted away these past years. I've also been on a leave of absence from a law firm. When on the holidays in December, a bus driver spoke with me about the real meaning of Christmas among several things, I listened to the radio program. I also started visiting a Christian church in my neighborhood and exploring what a real walk with God could entail. Yesterday, with two of the pastors of that church, I accepted Christ. I wanted to thank you for the role the program has played in me making the decision. I never before thought that one could be a Christian. Listen to this. I never before thought that one could be a Christian and receive salvation without first being well on the way to perfection. Mormons call it the perfecting of the saints. I had never before realized that one can come to Christ all messy and broken and that there's nothing that we can do to be worthy of God's grace. Want to know why you're here? Want to know why we're doing this through all the opposition? Because people need to be saved. And that's the heart of your God who cares to continue this to this day in this mess. What are we going to expect? It's going to be a mess. But He's going to fulfill His purpose. All of His sheep are going to come in. And he's not going to fail at all with one of his sheep. So as we're closing the book, next week we'll finish it, what an encouragement to the church the book is. Stay on the course. Remember who you are. Remember what we're called to do. Be a part of it. Don't be a sideliner. Don't be someone bitter on the side. Be a part of this wonderful mission work. Right here. Right now. You've got young ones running around who need you. To the older ones, bless the younger ones with your words. Encourage them. They're struggling. To the younger ones, look at these older ones who've walked in the faith. Listen to them. Grow from them. It's a body. We need each other, but we need every part involved and everyone understanding what this is. and when the hardships happen we're not so surprised we've been told that through much opposition and tribulation we'll enter but the lord is building his church and the gates of hell will not prevail that's his gospel promise that's what we're a part of let's praise him this morning gracious heavenly father we thank you that you're continuing this work so late in history and this morning as evidence to this particular church two brothers stood up and professed their faith austin and jared in the kingdom of light saying i believe that's why we're here and as we've seen this this morning as we've witnessed this we give you all praise and honor and glory we shouldn't be so baffled by living in the dark times we are we're baffled by the extent of evil but then if it weren't for your grace we can't even imagine where we might be so lord bless the work today around the world would you please tear down the opposition of satan would you please bring his kingdom to nothing would you please stop the hatred and division and every power and force that revolts against your word and the gospel? Would you undermine it? Would you show the wisdom of Christ to this sad world and bring to a knowledge that every thought would be brought into captivity to the obedience of Jesus, that his power would be shown and that we would fulfill what you've given us to fulfill? Thank you, O Lord, for blessing us in your word today and for encouraging us in your church. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.