Acts 28:1-10


Sermon preached on February 11, 2007 by Laurence W. Veinott. © Copyright 2007. All rights reserved. Other sermons can be found at http://www.newlifeop.org/.

Last week Devin Hester got the Chicago Bears off to a great start in the Super Bowl when he returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. It was a great runback—to see him dodging and weaving, speeding up and avoiding tackles was very exciting. It was a wonderful run. It was interesting that from then on the Colts wouldn't kick it to Hester. They would kick it short to make sure that someone else got the ball. For the rest of the game they gave the Bears good field position to avoid giving Hester the ball. It was like they viewed him as unstoppable.

God's purposes are like that. They are unstoppable. They cannot be thwarted. When God determined to send Paul to Rome—nothing could prevent him from arriving there—not the storm, not the shipwreck, not the sailor's plans to abandon the passengers, not the soldiers intention to kill all the prisoners, not the deadly snakebite. Paul was certain to arrive at Rome. He was unstoppable.

The great truth we see from our text is that

God will accomplish His purposes in spite of great opposition.

God had plans for Paul to testify about Him in Rome. In Acts 23:11 we are told that the Lord appeared to Paul while he was in custody in Caesarea and said to him,

"Take courage!
As you have testified about me in Jerusalem,
so you must also testify in Rome."

And during the storm, in Acts 27:24 the angel told Paul,

"Do not be afraid, Paul.
You must stand trial before Caesar;"

God had plans for Paul to testify in Rome and those plans could not be derailed—Satan try as he might. To see this clearly let's first

consider Satan's opposition to Paul.

I believe there's some symbolism in the incident of the viper biting Paul. You'll remember that Satan presented himself as a snake when he tempted Eve. Serpents are often used on the Bible as symbols of cunning and dangerous spiritual enemies. (Geldenhuys, Luke, p. 305) In Luke 10 Jesus referred to evil spirits under the terms 'snakes and scorpions'. The seventy-two returned to Jesus and told him that even the demons submit to them in His name. Jesus replied, (verses 17-20)

"I saw Satan
fall like lightning from heaven.
I have given you authority
to trample on snakes and scorpions
and to overcome all the power of the enemy;
nothing will harm you."

So it's quite possible that that snake was symbolic of the power of Satan that was against Paul. Satan hated Paul and what he was doing for Jesus and often tried to stop him. You'll remember that in 1 Thessalonians 2:18 Paul wrote to the Thessalonian Christians and said,

"For we wanted to come to you—
certainly I, Paul, did,
again and again—
but Satan stopped us."

In 2 Timothy 4 Paul also referred to Satan's opposition to his work. Paul told Timothy how he had been through some great trials and how Alexander the metalworker did him much harm and how at first no one came to his support. He put it this way, (verses 17-18)

"But the Lord stood at my side
and gave me strength,
so that through me the message
might be fully proclaimed
and all the Gentiles might hear it.
And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack
and will bring me safely
to his heavenly kingdom.
To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Paul said that he was rescued from the lion's mouth. That reminds me of how Peter referred to Satan in 1 Peter 5:8. He said,

"Be self-controlled and alert.
Your enemy the devil prowls around
like a roaring lion
looking for someone to devour."

So it's quite possible that Satan used this viper in an attempt to kill Paul. Perhaps Satan was behind the storm as well, seeking with all his might to have the ship break apart. A two week storm of such ferocity is certainly unusual. Perhaps Satan was behind the sailors trying to leave the soldiers and passengers on the ship to perish. Perhaps he was behind the soldiers wanting to kill the prisoners to prevent them from escaping. All those things were attacks on Paul. It was very likely that Satan was trying to prevent him from getting to Rome—from proclaiming Jesus there.

Now what this means for you is that

you should recognize the great power that is arrayed against all who seek to spread the gospel.

This power of evil is arrayed against churches, against pastors, against you. Be aware of it and be in prayer against it. In Ephesians 6:10f Paul wrote,

"Finally, be strong in the Lord
and in his mighty power.
Put on the full armor of God
so that you can take your stand
against the devil's schemes.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers,
against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world
and against the spiritual forces of evil
in the heavenly realms.
Therefore put on the full armor of God,
so that when the day of evil comes,
you may be able to stand your ground,
and after you have done everything,
to stand."

We must never underestimate Satan's power and hatred for the gospel of Jesus Christ. A great monster opposes you. He wants to destroy you and your witness. He wants you to be a disgrace to Jesus Christ. He wants to destroy this church and its witness. He wants to tear us apart. He wants to fill us with hate, jealously, and spite toward one another and other Christians. He wants to tear apart the bond of peace that exists between us. That's what he wants for every church. He wants to harm, ravage and destroy the progress of the gospel.

This means that you must give no opportunity to the evil one.

You dare not dabble with sin, with temptation, with anything of the like. We must not harbor bitterness or anger or a lack of forgiveness. As the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:26-28,

"Do not let the sun go down
while you are still angry,
and do not give the devil a foothold."

If you give Satan a foothold, he will soon hurt you.

Consider what happened to astronaut Lisa Nowak this past week. Last July she was in space aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery as a Mission Specialist. She was looked upon as a great role model and inspiration to young people. But all that changed earlier this week. It became know that she drove from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers in order to confront a romantic rival. She's been charged with attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. What a horrendous, disgraceful, dramatic fall. People all over the world know about it.

What you need to realize is that if you give the devil a foothold—you can fall just like that. Don't let Satan near you.

If you as individuals are to stand, you need to be move close to God and draw upon His mighty power. As we are told in James 4:7-8,

"Resist the devil,
and he will flee from you.
Come near to God
and he will come near to you."

This also means that

you Christians must be prayer warriors.

If Christians workers are to stand, you need to be much in prayer for them. If churches are to stand, you need to be praying for them. Paul continued in Ephesians 6:18-20,

"With this in mind,
be alert and always keep on praying
for all the saints.
Pray also for me,
that whenever I open my mouth,
words may be given me
so that I will fearlessly make known
the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains.
Pray that I may declare it fearlessly,
as I should."

Having such a powerful and hatful enemy means that we need to draw upon God's power. Only His strength can enable Christians to stand.

But thanks be to God,

God's care of Paul was such that he reached Rome unharmed.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd and He protected His servant Paul. The great truth we should be assured of in this regard is 1 John 4:4. The apostle John wrote,

"the one who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world."

Jesus' power is greater than Satan's. Consider the ways and circumstances in which God kept Paul safe. Paul was kept safe during the shipwreck. He kept him safe from the negligence of the sailors and the venom of the soldiers" he kind of wreck they experienced was very dangerous. I read a story of a similar wreck on Newfoundland in 1918. The ship Florizel made a navigational error and in the darkness steered toward the land just north of Cape Race. They thought they were south of Cape Race and if they were it would have been safe to turn toward the west. But they were still 12 miles north of Cape Race. The ship hit a reef 250 yards offshore. The ship stuck fast on the rocks and the waves pounded the rear of the ship. Of the 138 persons on board, 94 perished. If my memory is correct, the vast majority, if not all, of those who survived did so because they were rescued by seamen who came and got them in small boats.

Thus it's remarkable that there was not a huge loss of life during Paul's shipwreck. It is astounding that not one life was lost. It was only because God gave Paul the lives of everyone that they survived. God's power protected them from Satan's fury.

Then Paul was bitten by the viper. Everyone expected him to swell up or keel over dead. But he had no ill effects.

God protected Paul. God had a purpose for Paul to testify about Him in Rome and nothing could thwart that plan of God's. Dennis E. Johnson writes, (Acts, p. 229)

"This is the point that Luke leaves with us: The bearers of God's word may be afflicted and restricted, but the message itself goes forward unchained, unrestrained, and without hinderance, even through their sufferings."



In Isaiah 14:27 the prophet declared,

"For the LORD Almighty has purposed,
and who can thwart him?
His hand is stretched out,
and who can turn it back?"

Then in Isaiah 46:10 God said,

"My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please."

In Psalm 135:5-6 the psalmist said,

"I know that the LORD is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.
The LORD does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths."

This means that you should trust God. Your faith in Him should be great.

God will accomplish His purposes. Jesus will extend His kingdom. There may be setbacks. There may be delays. There may be tragedies, like Stephen being stoned to death—but God is in control of all things. As the elder said to John in Revelation 5:5,

"Do not weep!
See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David,
has triumphed.
He is able to open the scroll
and its seven seals."

Jesus is unfolding His glorious plan. He is opening the seals. Trust in Him. Be patient. Be faithful. That's our job. We are to have the faith of Latimer as faced death. God's faithful ministers Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were burned at the stake in Oxford, England on October 16, 1555 during the reign of bloody Mary. As they faced the flames, Latimer shouted to Ridley, (Quoted from J. C. Ryle, Light From Old Times, p. 33)

"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day, by God's grace, light such a candle in England as I trust shall never be put out."



Jesus can even use the death of His people to great purpose and He certainly used Latimer and Ridley's deaths that way.

God takes care of His people and enables them to do all the work that He has for them. Storms, trials, difficulties, opposition may come your way—yet none of them can keep you from the work that God has for you.

For years Paul had a great desire to preach the gospel in Rome. He told the Roman Christians about it in Romans 1:11-13. He wrote,

"I long to see you
so that I may impart to you
some spiritual gift to make you strong—
that is, that you and I may be
mutually encouraged by each other's faith.
I do not want you to be unaware,
brothers, that I planned many times
to come to you
(but have been prevented
from doing so until now)
in order that
I might have a harvest among you,
just as I have had among the other Gentiles."

For awhile he had been prevented from carrying out his desire. But once God told him that he was going to go to Rome, Paul knew that nothing could stop him. A two week storm, a shipwreck, the fear of the soldiers, a bite from a poisonous snake—none of those things could keep Paul from Rome.

You'll remember what Jesus said to His disciples after Peter made the great confession that He was the Christ, the Son of the Living God. He said, (Matthew 16:18-19)

"on this rock I will build my church,
and the gates of Hades
will not overcome it."

That's what we see in our text. Paul was kept safe. Through Paul Christ is extending His church and saving people. His purpose could not be thwarted.

The lesson is that in all those things we need to draw closer to God. As Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11,

"We do not want you to be uninformed,
brothers, about the hardships
we suffered in the province of Asia.
We were under great pressure,
far beyond our ability to endure,
so that we despaired even of life.
Indeed, in our hearts
we felt the sentence of death.
But this happened that
we might not rely on ourselves but on God,
who raises the dead.
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril,
and he will deliver us.
On him we have set our hope
that he will continue to deliver us,
as you help us by your prayers."

For you who are not Christians, there is a great lesson for you here as well.

You need to take advantage of God's kindness to you.

It's noteworthy from our text that God didn't easily give up on those on the ship who were not Christians and who kept disbelieving Paul. He continued to show kindness to them in spite of the fact that they repeatedly failed to honor Paul like they should have.

God greatly exalted Paul on the ship during the storm. As I mentioned before, there were three separate times when he spoke to everyone and what he said came to pass. First he warned them not to leave Fair Havens. Second, he told them that only the ship was going to be lost, that they would all be safe, but that they had to run aground on some island. Thirdly, Paul told them to take some food and again assured them that they would not suffer loss.

But a lot of people didn't get it at first. They closed their eyes to it. You'll remember what the sailors did. They tried to abandon the passengers and the soldiers by letting the lifeboat down pretending to put anchors at the bow. Even after Paul's prophecies they had no regard for Paul. They didn't get it. It was the same with the soldiers. In verse 42 Luke tells us that the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from escaping. It was only because the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life that he prevented them from carrying out their plan.

So even though Paul was greatly elevated by God on the ship—many did not get it. They missed the lessons that God was teaching them.

But did God give up on those people? No. He had plans to save them. So Paul was bitten by the poisonous snake.

Again they saw that they needed to listen to him. Then they saw him heal Publius' father and the rest of the sick on the island. God was being so patient with them. Again and again he was exalting the gospel in their eyes. John Calvin writes about Paul not getting sick from the snakebite,

"It was also a great confirmation of the oracles among the passengers and crew, for they had not reverenced them enough."



God was so patient with them. Over and over again He showed them His love. Isn't that what He's been doing with you? Hasn't He been showing you over and over again that you need to believe in Jesus?

If that is the case—

pay close attention to those lessons.

If you don't you could be in for great loss. When God teaches you a lesson, you should learn from it the first time. If He teaches the same lesson to you a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth time—you ought to realize that there's an urgency about it and that you can't put it off any longer.

Remember what happened to King Belshazzar. One night he gave a great banquet for his nobles. He called for the silver and gold goblets his father King Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. They drank wine from them and as they did so, (Daniel 5:4)

"they praised the gods of gold and silver,
of bronze, iron, wood and stone."

But then something terrifying happened. The fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the wall. King Belshazzar was overcome with fear when he saw it. We read that, (Daniel 5:6)

"His face turned pale
and he was so frightened
that his knees knocked together
and his legs gave way."

When Daniel was called in to read the words, Daniel said to him,

"O king, the Most High God
gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty
and greatness and glory and splendor.
Because of the high position he gave him,
all the peoples and nations
and men of every language
dreaded and feared him.
Those the king wanted to put to death,
he put to death;
those he wanted to spare, he spared;
those he wanted to promote, he promoted;
and those he wanted to humble, he humbled.
But when his heart became arrogant
and hardened with pride,
he was deposed from his royal throne
and stripped of his glory.
He was driven away from people
and given the mind of an animal;
he lived with the wild donkeys
and ate grass like cattle;
and his body was drenched
with the dew of heaven,
until he acknowledged that
the Most High God is sovereign
over the kingdoms of men
and sets over them anyone he wishes.
But you his son, O Belshazzar,
have not humbled yourself,
though you knew all this.
Instead, you have set yourself up
against the Lord of heaven.
You had the goblets from his temple
brought to you,
and you and your nobles,
your wives and your concubines
drank wine from them.
You praised the gods of silver and gold,
of bronze, iron, wood and stone,
which cannot see or hear or understand.
But you did not honor
the God who holds in his hand your life
and all your ways."

Belshazzar knew all that happened to his father, he knew the reason for it—yet he did not learn the lesson.

Are you like King Belshazzar? Are you like the sailors on the ship who didn't listen to Paul? Are you like the soldiers on the ship who didn't give heed to Paul? Don't be like the sailors. Don't be like the soldiers. God was teaching them yet they closed their eyes to it.

Did they finally learn the lesson when they saw Paul survive the snake bite, when they saw him heal all who were sick on Malta? We don't know.

But the great question is—have you learned that you need Jesus? God has been showing you over and over. Learn that lesson. Go to Jesus before it's too late.