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As always, Jesus fulfilled his promise! After a long and dangerous journey, Paul finally made it to his destination: Home Sweet Rome! Luke concludes his story by recapping a few of the major theological themes throughout the whole Book of Acts. I call them the Four Pillars of the Church! Let’s take a look at them!

1.) Providence: The Way God Guides His Church (11-15, 21, 31)
Throughout the Book of Acts, particularly in the last few chapters, Luke has highlighted God’s providence as the guiding force behind the movement of his church. God’s providence worked in many unexpected ways and grew God’s church from a fragile 120 people in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost to countless thousands all over the world. Paul’s arrival at Rome represents the gospel reaching the “ends of the earth.”

Think back through the book for a minute: God’s providence used persecution as the catalyst for the church’s expansion. God’s providence led Paul, a zealous Jew and murderer of Christians, to become a missionary to the Gentiles for the rest of his life. After Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, God’s providence compelled the Romans to protect him from the Jewish religious leaders. Then, unpredictably, God provided a horrendous storm to blow them off course so that they could evangelize the island of Malta before they arrived at Rome. Ironic and unexpected indeed!

Do you see how God was working behind the scenes? Do you see how he orchestrated all of these events exactly the way he wanted them? He was in complete control of all of their individual lives and the whole church.

So, as Luke brings his book to an end, he highlights this theme of providence one more time. After the shipwreck on Malta, Paul and his companions, as well as the other passengers, stayed on the island for the three winter months before they sailed on toward Rome. Now their ship had been completely destroyed by the pounding of the surf, but isn’t it providential that another Alexandrian ship, just like the one they were on before was in the harbor and was bound for Rome. It just happened to have enough room on board to accommodate all 276 castaways.

Luke also highlights God’s providence by including the ironic detail that this ship had the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. These gods, sons of Zeus and Leda, were believed to be protectors of good fortune on the seas, being said to rid the seas of pirates. Whereas most of the passengers believed this superstition, Paul, Luke, and the other Christians knew that the whole journey was guided by the providence of the one true God. Ironically, this time they sailed across smooth waters.

There is divine irony in the south wind they encountered off the coast of Rhegium. Since Rhegium was located in the Straight of Messina, passage through the straight required a strong south wind to push ships through so they could go on to Puteali. It just happened that the very day they left Rhegium the south wind was perfect for sailing through the straight. God blew the wind which moved them at the time and direction he wanted them to go. Once again, God shows his power over the wind and the waves.

Also, don’t you think it is a little ironic that when Paul finally got to Rome, his case hadn’t been transferred from Jerusalem and they hadn’t heard anything negative regarding Paul? Then, my favorite piece of irony in this whole passage is the term “without hindrance” in verse 31. Paul was on house arrest, chained to a Roman soldier, and awaiting trial before the emperor, but Paul was preaching and teaching without hindrance. Now that is humorous?

Just as it was for Paul and the whole church throughout the Book of Acts, God’s providence guides our individual lives and our whole church community today. This is why we have so many unexpected, ironic, and apparently coincidental events happen to us. God cares about every detail of our lives and they all factor into his plan somehow. God’s providence orchestrates every event of our lives, both good and bad, and he uses all of them for his glory.

Take a second and think about just this past year of your life. Have you experienced any life-changing events? Maybe you lost a job or started a new job? Maybe you broke up with a boyfriend or a girlfriend, or maybe you got married or met someone special? Maybe you got pregnant and had a baby? Maybe you lost a loved one? Maybe you were diagnosed with a disease or you have been healed from an ailment? Maybe a relationship with one of your children has been strained or maybe your relationship with your spouse has been repaired. You see, nothing in God’s kingdom happens without a purpose. He is in control of all of these things. His providence is guiding us!

Likewise, God’s providence is guiding our church. Look around! Do you see everyone’s faces here today? What a wonderful group of people God has woven together. Somehow God led you to this community. If I asked each of you to stand up and share how you became a part of this church ,we would hear some pretty amazing stories—none of them coincidences, all of them miraculous! I believe God has big plans for this little church, and we are just at the beginning. His providence is guiding us!

2.) Fellowship: The Way God Strengthens His Church
Just like providence, fellowship is another theme we have repeatedly seen throughout the book of Acts. Christianity is a community faith. It must be lived out with others. When the church was just beginning back in Acts 2:42-46, Luke says, “they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.” This is the way God strengthens his church.

As we have studied Acts over the past two years, you will notice that no one ever did anything by themselves. During all of his missionary journeys Paul was always accompanied by Barnabas or Silas and a host of others. After he started churches in various cities and towns he went back to visit and have fellowship with them. And he took every opportunity he could to meet, stay with, eat with, and have fellowship with other believers. It was always a mutually and spiritually strengthening experience.

This is exactly what happens here at the end of the Book of Acts. Look at the picture of fellowship that Luke paints in verses 14-16. When their ship came to port in Puteoli, they met some other Christians who invited them to spend a week with them. After fellowshipping and being mutually edified for a full week, they begin their five day march to Rome on two well-traveled roads, the Companion Way and the Appian Way. When Christians in Rome found out that Paul and his friends were on their way they came down to the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet them. What does this mean for us? Well, if you want some fellowship, meet some Christians at three local taverns. Just kidding, Three Taverns is obviously the name of a city. Notice how Paul responds! “At the sight of these men Paul thanked God and was encouraged.”

That is what fellowship is all about—being spiritually, emotionally, and physically strengthened by other believers. This modern notion that you can be a Christian and not belong to a local church body is ridiculous. It is completely foreign to New Testament Christianity. Spiritual growth cannot happen apart from the community of Christ. This is why church membership is so important. Just like our wedding vows, we commit to this group of Christians for better or worse. When one of us celebrates, we all celebrate together. When one of us mourns, we all mourn together. When one of us is in need, we all provide encouragement and support.

Fellowship includes hospitality, sharing meals together, encouraging, and supporting. This can happen in so many ways. Are you willing to invite someone to your home? Are you sharing meals with people in your church? When was the last time you went out of your way to encourage another believer? Are you willing to share your income to help someone out? These are all ways that we can embrace fellowship. This is how God strengthens his church!

3.) Evangelism: The Way God Expands His Church (17-28, 31)
When reading the book of Acts, it is impossible top miss Luke’s emphasis on evangelism. The whole book is about how God established and expanded his church. In Acts 1:8, right before Jesus’ ascension, he declares to his disciples: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The first part of the book focuses on how Peter and the other apostles proclaimed the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. The rest of the book focuses on Paul and his missionary journeys all over the world. He preached in Jewish synagogues and pagan temples. He preached from prison cells and cargo ships. He preached to military commanders and commoners, nobility and nobodies, scholars and scabs. God’s method of expanding his church is evangelism.

As Luke concludes his book he gives us one more glimpse of how God expands his church through evangelism. When Paul finally reached Rome he met with the Jewish leaders and found out that his case had not been transferred yet. But these Jews were curious about Paul’s views, for people everywhere were bad-mouthing Christianity.

So, they set a time and place to meet and the Jews showed up in large numbers to listen to him. From morning until evening, verse 23 says that he “explained and declared to them the kingdom of God and tried to convince them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the prophets.” Some of them were convinced and the church expanded.

Just like the apostles of old, we are all called to expand God’s church through evangelism. These few verses answer all of our questions about evangelism. What is the content of evangelism? Verses 23 & 31 – the Kingdom of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Who should we evangelize? Verses 17 & 28 – Jews and Gentiles, which represents all people. How should we evangelize? Verses 23 & 31 – explaining declaring, preaching, and teaching—all of this with great boldness! Why should we evangelize? Verse 28—this is the only way God’s salvation can come to sinful souls. And finally, what is the result of evangelism? Verses 23 & 24—Some will believe and some won’t! We shouldn’t be surprised by this!

Are you willing to do your part in expanding God’s church? Are you willing to take the opportunities God gives you to boldly tell somebody about Jesus? Think about it! You wouldn’t know Jesus if someone didn’t tell you about him. You wouldn’t be part of this church if someone hadn’t invited you. Will you do it for someone else?

4.) Faithfulness: The Way God Sustains His Church (30-31)
The final pillar of the church that Luke emphasizes throughout the Book of Acts and recaps in this last section is faithfulness. Individual Christians and the whole church faced insurmountable obstacles and horrendous persecution right from the start. Peter and Paul were both kicked out of towns, suffered death threats, and were imprisoned for their faith, but they remained faithful to the Lord. In chapter 7, Stephen was murdered for preaching about Jesus; the religious leaders crushed his head with stones, but he was faithful to the end. When Paul and his missionary companions traveled all over Asia Minor, many more people rejected their message than accepted it, but in spite of their apparent failure, they pressed on.

Now as Luke concludes his story he pictures Paul on house arrest, chained to a Roman soldier, awaiting his trial. He was in that condition for two “whole” years. He had already been imprisoned for two years in Caesarea; now he had to go through it all again. What did he do for these two long years? Verses 30-31 clearly declares that Paul was faithful to the end and used every opportunity to welcome everyone who came to see him and he continued to preach the Kingdom of God and teach about the Lord Jesus Christ. During this time he also wrote his prison epistles to encourage some of the churches he started. These are the Books of Philippians, Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon. Our final image of Paul is one of complete faithfulness, sustaining the church of Jesus Christ.

This image of Paul’s faithfulness is an important one for us today. Despite opposition, hardship, failure, persecution, and pain, he persevered to the end! Does anyone here this morning think the Christian life is hard? Do you ever feel like giving up? Isn’t it easier to live for ourselves than to live for Jesus? Wouldn’t it be easier to sleep in on Sunday morning, sip our coffee, and read the newspaper than getting up, going to church, hugging a bunch of germ infested people, and listening to another boring sermon? Isn’t it easier to just give in to temptation than to make a stand against sin? Isn’t it easier to keep our money for our own pleasures than to give it to the Lord’s work?

I think we all feel like giving up at times! I’m sure Paul did! But he was compelled to be faithful to the end. He knew that there was joy in the journey and a crown of righteousness waiting at the finish line, and the same is true for us. So, with all my heart, I encourage you to hang in there! Fight the good fight! Endure the obstacles! Persevere through the pain! Finish the race! I promise that you will not regret it!

Wow! What a way to end the story? Four pillars of the church—providence, fellowship, evangelism, and faithfulness! May God continue to guide, strengthen, expand, and sustain us for his glory and our benefit!

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Crash! Boom! Crack! Everyone loses their balance and falls to the deck as their ship runs aground on a sand bar. Swoosh! Splash! Shouts! People everywhere are screaming as the stern is breaking up by the pounding of the surf. Now people are running all around wondering how to preserve their lives. The centurion is barking out orders: “If you know how to swim, go for it! If not, grab a plank or a piece of the ship and make your way to land!”

All of the sudden passengers and prisoners alike throw themselves overboard. The cold autumn water almost knocks their breath out and all of their muscles tighten as their bodies are baptized by the Mediterranean. They emerge, orient themselves and do the best they can to make it to shore.

When their feet could finally touch the sand on the bottom of the sea, despite their wet and weary bodies, they ran ashore with all the gusto of an Olympic sprinter. And just as if they crossed the finish line in first place, they dropped to their knees in triumph. They made it! They were still alive! They had awoken from their two week nightmare at sea and they kissed the sand in appreciation of dry land.

 The Maltese Viper
As the others made it ashore and began to congregate together, they were shocked to find out that all 276 passengers made it safely. As they turned around and watched what was left of their ship being destroyed by the waves, they remembered Paul’s prophecy that not one of them would be lost and they were thankful!

Some of the natives saw their ship and all that had happened to them and came out to greet them. They found out that they were on the tiny island of Malta. It is 58 miles south of Sicily and 180 miles north of the African coast, with a length of only 18 mile sand width of 8 miles.

These natives were of Phoenician descent and spoke mostly a Punic tongue although some of them would have spoken Greek. They showed these vagabond sailors wonderful kindness and hospitality over the three winter months they stayed on the island. Seeing that they were cold and wet, and the fact that it was raining, the natives immediately built a large bonfire to warm their bodies and dry their clothes.

Paul, having a servant’s heart, wanted to show his appreciation and lead by example, so he went to gather some brushwood to throw on the fire. Little did he know that among the bundle of sticks that twigs lurked a venomous viper. As he approached the fire the snake became even more agitated and struck his hand.

Some of the natives saw the serpent sink its fangs into Paul’s flesh and immediately concluded that Paul must be a murderer. According to their superstition a snakebite was a bad omen that revealed divine justice from the gods as punishment for murder. They murmur to themselves about the irony of the situation, “for though he escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” Notice that the word “justice” is capitalized. This is a personification of justice as a goddess, a reference to fate directing events. She was seen as the daughter of Zeus and Themis in Greek and Roman pantheism.

But Paul very calmly shakes the snake off his hand and into the fire where it is consumed by the flames. God had already told him that he would make it to Rome, so he had nothing to fear. The Maltese people had witnessed the results of snakebites in the past, and they knew it wouldn’t be long until the wound would swell, the victim would go into shock, and the venom would stop the heart from beating. That is why, after waiting a considerable time and seeing nothing unusual happen, they were amazed. They quickly changed their minds from believing he was a murderer to believing he was a god. for they had never seen anything like this before.

In the meantime, Publius, the chief official of Malta, hosted all 276 survivors in his home. Could you imagine throwing a dinner party for all of those people for three days straight? Obviously, he was a man of considerable wealth! After everything they had been through, I’m sure the passengers were grateful for good food and a warm place to stay.

During their stay, they found out that Pbulius’ father, who lived with him, was suffering fever and dysentery. This was probably a condition called Malta Fever which was common at the time. It was caused by a certain bacteria in goat’s milk and lasted anywhere from 4 months to 3 years.

Upon finding out about the man’s condition, Paul takes the opportunity to minister to him. The man is lying in bed when Paul comes in to pray for him. He lays his hands on him and prays that God would deliver his body from this condition. Just like Jesus did in the gospels and as Paul had done before, the man is immediately and miraculously cured.

When news of this event got out, many of the sick on the island came to Paul for healing. For the next three months, presumably Paul spent the next three months healing the sick and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Maltese expressed their gratitude by furnishing them with enough supplies for all 276 passengers when they had secured another ship and were ready to sail to Rome in the spring.

Divine Irony
Now a dangerous shipwreck, a vicious Maltese snakebite and a whole Mediterranean island miraculously being cured of disease makes for a great story, but why does Luke write about it? This story is filled with enough drama to make the New York Times Bestseller Novel List or to make a Hollywood Blockbuster, but why is it in the Bible? Sure, this story gives us the history of Paul’s journey to Rome, but so what! Why would Luke give us such a detailed description of their stay on Malta? What theological purpose does this passage serve? What does it tell us about God? How does it apply to our lives today?

To answer these questions we have to examine the text more closely. We may not be able to see it on the surface, but when Luke wrote this story, his pen was dripping with divine irony. Everything that we would expect to happen does not happen and everything we would not expect to happen happens. God’s plan for Paul’s life included many unexpected twists and turns. Let me show you!

Malta – “A Place of Refuge” (1)
Right at the beginning of the story Luke tells us that the passengers on the ship found out that the island they were stranded on was called Malta. Ironically, the name “Malta” literally means “a place of refuge”. How amazing is it to think that a ship that got caught in a catastrophic storm and was in desperate need of rescue and refuge for the winter would find it in a place called “a place of refuge”? that is pretty ironic, isn’t it?

 Barbarian Kindness (2)
The second place we see divine irony is in the word “islanders” in verse 2. The native islanders showed the passengers unusual kindness; that is, kindness we would not expect to see. They show kindness by making a fire, providing them with a place to stay, and by furnishing them with the supplies they needed when left in the spring.

Now you ma ask, “What is so ironic about this?” Well, especially in the ancient world we would not expect natives to show kindness toward unexpected guests. Typically, outsiders would be treated with suspicion and hostility. This is especially true when we realize that the Greek word translated here as islanders is “barbaroi” from which we get our English word “barbarians”. this referred to non-Greek and non-Latin speaking people and carried the connotation of ignorant, uncivilized, uncultured, and hostile people. No wonder Luke says their kindness was unusual.

What incredible irony! What an oxymoronic term “Barbarian kindness!” To find out just how ironic this term is, go up to someone this week and say, “I would like to show you some good old-fashioned barbarian kindness.” Let me know how they react!

Divine Justice (4-6)
We also see divine irony in the fact that when Paul was bitten by the snake the natives conclude that he was a murderer. What a fascinating and ironic conclusion—Paul was in fact a murderer! It was also ironic in their minds that Paul would escape the mouth of the sea only to be killed by the mouth of a viper.

But we see further irony when Paul suffers no ill effects and the natives so quickly change their minds and conclude that he is a god. One minute they think he was judged by a god and the next minute they think he is a god. One minute Paul was a degenerate, the next minute he is divine. Now that is ironic!

Healed Hand/Healing Hand (7-9)
Another place we see divine irony is in Paul’s hand. The hand that was bitten by the viper and filled with venom was the same hand that God used to heal Publius’ father and the rest of the island of fever and dysentery. The harmed hand became a healing hand—very unexpected indeed!

Do you see why Luke includes all of these little details? He wants his readers to see that God was in complete control of Paul’s life and ministry. His providence guided every last detail.

Malta Today
There is one more ironic detail that I want to share with you about this story, but it is not found in the text. It has been almost 2,000 years since Paul was shipwrecked and stranded on the island of Malta. Today Malta has a population of 335,000 and is listed in the World Christian Encyclopedia as 100 percent Christian, of which 97 percent is Roman Catholic and 3 percent other forms of Christianity. Every year on February 10th, the island celebrates the shipwreck of the Apostle Paul. Wow! What a legacy for the gospel. I wonder if this had anything to do with God’s plan.

So, what is Luke trying to teach us in this passage today? Get ready, here it is: God’s plan for our lives includes many unexpected twists and turns! Just like Paul, our lives are filled with divine irony. God’s plan for our lives is determined before we are even conceived and it is perfect, but to us it seems so mysterious and uncertain. That is why I believe that every once in awhile God gives us a little glimpse of this divine irony. It reminds us of who is really in control.

Can you think of any occasions in your life where you have experienced divine irony? Has something ever happened to you that you didn’t expect and it altered the course of your life? Has something ever not happened that you expected to happen and that changed the course of your life?

Let me give you a few examples of how this happens today. For instance, how many of you have heard stories where a young person has said, “Are you kidding me, I would never marry that person!” And then a few years later you see them walking down the aisle together. God has a plan for everyone.

Or think about the young couple that gets pregnant on their honeymoon in spite of contraception that is supposedly 99% effective, while another couple has been trying to have kids for years and yet is unsuccessful. Life doesn’t always happened the way we expect it, but God is always in control.

Here is one of my favorites! Think about the person sitting in church on Sunday morning listening to the preacher say that God could call anyone into the ministry, and they sit there thinking to themselves, “Yeah, right, God won’t call me!” Is anyone thinking that right now? Be careful, God often does things we don’t expect. Wouldn’t it be ironic if God called you into the ministry?

Here is one more! I love the person who just retires and says, “Now I can finally have a little rest and relaxation.” Well, if I were you I wouldn’t bet on it. God’s plan for your retirement is often quite different from your plan for your retirement.

 I could go on with more examples, but you get the drift. God’s plan for our lives includes many unexpected twists and turns. Paul didn’t expect to be shipwrecked in Malta, bitten by a snake, or have the opportunity to heal a whole island from sickness, but God did! Likewise, we will experience many things that we never expected, some good and some bad, but they are all a part of God’s plan. So, whatever happens to us, I hope that we will be faithful like Paul and realize that God is in control. And always remember that God’s plan for our lives includes many twists and turns!

Good morning! My name is Aristarchus! Don’t worry if you don’t know how to spell it; most people can’t even pronounce it. I am of Jewish descent, but I did not grow up in the streets of Jerusalem. I am from the Greco-Roman city of Thessalonica in the region of Macedonia. I was converted to Christianity under the ministry of the Apostle Paul when he came through my hometown on his second missionary journey, and I have been a part of his missionary team ever since.

I went with him to preach the gospel in Berea and Athens, and after the persecution and riot in Ephesus I accompanied him on his third missionary journey back to Jerusalem. I was with him when he was falsely accused by the Jewish leaders and was taken into custody by the Romans, and I helped to take care of his needs for two years while he was a prisoner in Caesarea under the reigns of Felix and Festus.

After waiting two long years, Paul finally realized he was not going to get a fair trial in Caesarea so he appealed to Caesar and hoped to be transferred to Rome. The governor granted him his wish and I was one of the members of the missionary team to accompany him on the long voyage across the Mediterranean Sea to Italy. And, wow, what a trip that was! Being with Paul was always adventurous and had more than its share of danger, but that sea voyage was enough to make any common sensible person never leave the security of soil again.

Despite the ever present peril and paralyzing panic, I learned a lot about God’s providence on that journey. I also learned a lot about what it takes to be a Christian leadership from watching Paul in action. I learned about the virtues of Christian leadership!

Well, that is why I am here today! I am here to tell you the story about our voyage and shipwreck and what I learned from it. Your pastor asked me to come here and share my story with you this morning. He mentioned something about a “stories of faith” series your church has been doing. He said that you haven’t had one for a while (which is his fault), so he asked me if I would fill in today. I told him that I would be delighted. So, here is my story!

The Voyage
Our ship’s captain, owner, and Julius, the Roman centurion who was in charge of all of the prisoners on board decided to sail on to Phoenix on the western tip of Crete instead of heeding Paul’s advice to board the ship in the harbor and wait out the winter in Fair Havens. We all knew that Fair Havens wasn’t an ideal location to stay the winter, but Paul thought it was wiser to stay rather than chance it on the treacherous autumn seas. He told us stories about how he had barely survived three other shipwrecks in the past, and he didn’t want to undertake it a fourth time. Regardless of Paul’s pleas, their stubborn determination led them to test the tides one more time.

So, as the sun dawned over the eastern horizon early in the morning, we set sail from Fair Havens. The air was cool but not cold and there was a gentle sea breeze to our backs, and I remember thinking to myself, “This may not be so dangerous after all” although I wouldn’t have told Paul that! And I sure am glad I didn’t, because when we entered the Gulf of Messara, just six miles east of out point of departure, the winds of change began to blow. The most terrible storm you could ever imagine, a dreaded Mediterranean nor’easter, swept down from the island of Crete and almost devoured us. The waves crashed against us with vehemence and the fury of the typhoon forced us off course. There was no way for us to sail against it and we were forced to trim the sails and let it waft us to wherever it pleased.

For many days the dark clouds closed us in and the pelting rains drenched our battered bodies. We barely secured the lifeboat and took a few emergency precautions before the day turned so black that we could no longer see the sun or stars. When we couldn’t tell where we were or which direction we were going, we really began to fear for our lives, wondering what would become of us. In our frantic desperation everyone was throwing cargo and equipment overboard, but nothing seemed to help. It seemed certain that it was just a matter of time before our ship would be dashed against the rocks and we would all sink into the great abyss. Now I had witnessed God delivering us from some pretty difficult situations in the past, but I have to admit that I had some serious doubts about this one!

At the pinnacle of our panic, most of the crew and passengers gathered under the deck as we awaited our doom. There was nothing else that could be done. Everyone huddled together on the floor in silent trepidation, reaching the point of utter hopelessness. Well, almost everyone! In the midst of the depths of despair, I’ll never forget how Paul stood up among the crowd and took charge. Looking at those who make this perilous mistake to sail on to Phoenix, he addressed everyone on board when he said, “Men, keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.” Then he told us about how just the night before an angel of the Lord appeared to him and told him not to fear because God would graciously save the lives of every person on the ship and that he would make it to Rome to testify before Caesar.

I heard a few skeptical murmurs from the crew, but for the most part, the passengers believed Paul’s message. As they thought about how his predictions came true in the past, they pondered the possibility of his prediction coming to pass in the future. For the first time on this horrific journey, we heard a word of hope. Paul’s undaunted faith in the sovereignty and grace of the one true God breathed hope into the hopeless! Even I felt convicted when I thought about the many stories I had heard about the Lord Jesus chastising his disciples with the words “O, you, of little faith!” I am so glad that Paul had courage when no one else did!

The Shipwreck
Yes, we finally had some hope, but there was still this uncertain matter in his message of our ship running aground somewhere. There was still some apprehension about a possible shipwreck as we were driven across the Adriatic Sea. Even with this newfound hope, voices stayed soft while we waited for whatever would happen next.

It was on our fourteenth night at sea, somewhere around midnight, that some of the sailors who remained above the deck heard some breakers and sensed that we were approaching land. They threw attached a lead weight to a line and threw it overboard to test the depth. They discovered that the water was only 120 feet deep. A little while later they tried again and found that it was only 90 feet deep. Although the storm had weakened, the current was rapidly pushing us toward land. Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, the captain ordered everyone back on deck and we four anchors from the stern to slow our down as we prayed for daylight to come quickly so that we could see exactly what was ahead of us.

A few of the crewmen tried to sneak away in the life boat by pretending to let down some more anchors from the bow, but Paul somehow sensed that they were up to no good and alerted Julius and wisely warned him that unless these crewmen stayed with the ship they would not survive. By now Paul had won Julius’ respect and so he ordered his soldiers to cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall into the sea.

By the time the whole crew was assembled again, for the first time in two weeks the clouds began to break up. Even though it was still dark, we could see that dawn was on the horizon. As our confidence grew, Paul showed the wisdom of his leadership again by urging us all to eat. The whole time the storm raged our ship tossed and turned so much that our stomachs could hardly hold down any food. There had been so much suspense that we had almost completely forgot to eat anything. Paul knew that we would need all of our strength to endure whatever lied ahead of us, so he persuaded us to take some food.

He took a loaf of bread, gave thanks to God, broke it, and began to eat. When I saw Paul break that bread, I realized how hungry I was. All 276 of us on board must have been thinking the same thing, so we followed his lead. We all ate so much that by the time we were finished we could hardly look at another piece of bread—good thing too, because just then Paul commanded us to start dumping some of the grain into the sea. The ship needed to be lightened so that we could get closer to the shore. We worked hard until we could feel the warmth of the sun on the back of our necks. We turned around to see the orange glow of the sun emerge from the sea. We all yelled and cheered at the sight of the gleaming rays shimmering across the water.

Just then I heard one of the crewmen yell, “Land ahoy!” and we turned around again to a bay with a sandy beach. No one recognized the land but we didn’t really care—there was sand, plants, and trees! We were overjoyed at the sight of land! Then I heard someone yell, “Cut the anchors! Loosen the ropes! Set the foresail! Let’s steer this thing right onto the beach!

We though we would coast the whole way in, but all of the sudden we heard a loud crash and felt the ship come to an awkward halt. We all knew that the bow had run aground on a sandbar. The captain tried to steer us out of it, but it was stuck deep in the sand. We didn’t have much time to decide what to do next—the waves were beating against the stern and it was being dashed to pieces. The ship would not last long like this, so we knew we would have to swim for it.

Just then I looked over and saw some of the soldiers take hold of their weapons and start marching toward us. Right then it dawned on me that they were going to kill us because they could not want to be held liable if any of us escaped. I thought to myself, “You have got to be kidding! After all of this, we are going to be killed by the Romans!” As I was trying to decide whether to defend myself or make a run for it, Julius jumped in front of them and kept them from carrying out their plan. He declared that he wanted to spare Paul’s life and the lives of the other prisoners. He told them not to worry about the prisoners and that he would take full responsibility for any escapees. Then he ordered everyone who could swim to jump overboard and swim to shore first. Everyone else could float there on planks or other pieces of the crackling ship. And sure enough, everyone reached land safely!

Providence
Well, that’s my story! Like I said before, the whole voyage taught me a lot about God’s providence. The events certainly didn’t go the way I wanted them to, but now that I look back on them I know that God was in control the whole time. Even though it appeared to us that we were in great danger, we were never really in danger. He delivered us from this difficulty just as he always had before. He protected us during the storm and from the soldiers plot to kill us. It was his plan for us to go to Rome and nothing was going to stop it! No storm, soldier, or anything else can thwart God’s plan for our lives!

How about you? Has God’s providence ever protected you from some danger or delivered you from some difficulty? It is true for you just as it was true for me—you can be encouraged because nothing can thwart God’s plan for your life!

Christian Leadership
Likewise, this journey taught me a lot about Christian leadership. Watching how Paul handled himself on that ship was absolutely amazing. As I observed him over those two weeks, I saw how necessary the virtues of courage and wisdom are for Christian leadership.

Courage
Paul showed tremendous courage throughout the whole ordeal. When everyone else was panicking he maintained a calm and quiet courage that was rooted in his faith in the Lord. When everyone else lost hope, his hope was anchored in the Lord. When everyone else feared for their lives, he feared the Lord. Because of this, he was able to rise to the occasion and give us hope in a desperate situation. Because of his courage, he could urge everyone else to keep up their courage. Courage is a necessary virtue for Christian leadership.

Being courageous means remaining calm when everyone else panics. It means acting fearlessly when everyone else is too afraid to do anything. It means anchoring your hope in the Lord when you go through a hopeless situation. It means doing the right thing even when it is easier or more popular to do the wrong thing. This is the virtue of courage!

How about you? When everything around you falls apart and you don’t know what is going to happen, how do you react? Where is your trust? Do you have the virtue of courage?

Wisdom
Paul also showed remarkable wisdom on this voyage. It is revealed in everything from his warning not to leave Fair Havens to his alerting Julius about the crewmen escaping on the lifeboat to urging them to eat to keep up their strength. His wonderful blend of conventional and spiritual wisdom allowed him to be a good Christian leader in troubled times.

Conventional wisdom is the ability to see a situation clearly, understand the variables, calculate the possible outcomes, and make the best decision accordingly. Godly wisdom is knowing God’s character and ways well and acting according to them. Paul had both types of wisdom.

How about you? Do you have the virtue of wisdom? Do you make decisions based on God’s word and conventional system? Wisdom is essential for Christian leadership!

Do you see why these two virtues are necessary for Christian leadership? Wisdom is knowing what to do! Courage is having the guts to do it? If either one of these virtues are lacking, good leadership cannot happen! Do have the virtues of Christian leadership? If not, let me pray that God would give them to you!

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A strong disturbance associated with a cold front moved along the U.S.-Canadian border on October 27, 1991 and passed through New England pretty much without incident. At the same time, a large high-pressure system was forecast to build over southeast Canada. When a low pressure system along the front moved into the Maritimes southeast of Nova Scotia, it began to intensify due to the cold dry air introduced from the north. These circumstances alone, could have created a strong storm, but then, like throwing gasoline on a fire, a dying Hurricane Grace delivered immeasurable tropical energy to create a powerful nor’easter. Boston Meteorologist Robert Case dubbed this tempest “the perfect storm.”

A few years later author Sebastian Junger wrote a book and used Case’s term “The Perfect Storm” as its title. The book is about that 1991 Halloween Nor’easter and features the tragic story of the fishing boat Andrea Gail, based out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, which was lost 575 miles at sea during the severe conditions while fishing for swordfish. The follows the lives of the swordfishing crew and their family members before and during the storm. Much of the early book gives detailed descriptions of the daily lives of the fishermen and their jobs, and is centered around activities at the Crow’s Nest, a tavern in Gloucester popular with the fishermen. Sometime during the perfect storm, the Andrea Gail was ripped to pieces and all six crew members perished at sea.

Many of you no doubt saw the movie version of “The Perfect Storm” staring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Sandra Bullock that was released in 2000. The scenes in the film were chilling. Watching a 210 foot fishing boat being tossed back and forth by 30 foot waves leaves you feeling sea sick in the comfort of your own living room.

Long before the Halloween Nor’easter of 1991 there was another perfect storm. In the autumn of the year 60 A.D. the apostle Paul and his fellow companions were sailing along the southern coast of the island of Crete when a viscious nor’easter blew in and carried their ship off course into the treacherous open waters of the Mediteranian Sea. Like the Andrea Gail, this Alexandrian grain ship experienced a hurricane-like wind and man-eating waves threatened to swallow the lives of everyone on board. As we listen to Luke’s dramatic account of the perfect storm, I hope that we will all learn something about God and ourselves!

Disastrous Decisions (13-20)
Paul tried to warn them to stay, but they refused to listen to him! After an already difficult and dangerous voyage, they were safely harbored at Fair Havens on the south central coast of the island of Crete. The ships’ owner, captain, and Julius the centurion all wanted to sail sixty miles further to Phoenix on the western tip of the island. They arrogantly ignored Paul’s advice, raised the anchor, and set sail again.

When they first set off there was a gentle south wind that was ideal for cruising. Can you imagine how the crew would have mocked and laughed at Paul as this bay breeze blew through their hair as they stood on the deck? They probably poked, “Hey Paul, help! The wind is blowing me overboard! Save me!” as they glided along the waters.

Little did they know then, but just a few hours later their cocky grins would turn to frightful grimaces! When they passed by the Cape of Matala in the Gulf of Messara just six miles west of Fair Havens, the winds began to change. They grew more powerful and the waves kept swelling higher and higher. Before they knew it or could do anything about it, they coasted into the middle of a powerful storm. It was one of those dreaded autumn “Nor’easters”, which was well documented in the literature of the day. The actual Greek word that Luke uses for this is “Typhonikos” from which we get our English word “typhoon”. It was a horrendous storm with whirlwinds that swept down from the northeast and caused the waves to crash so hard that most ships were torn to pieces and most sailors were overwhelmed by the abyss.

Their ship was caught by the tempestuous wind and turned to the south western open seas away from the island and its protection. They lost total control of the ship and were forced to go wherever the wind blew. It appeared that they were completely at the mercy of the sea!

In the wake of immanent disaster, they finally passed by the little island of Cauda which gave them a temporary reprieve from the gale, and they were able to take some emergency measures in an attempt to preserve the ship and their lives. The lifeboat that was towed behind the ship was towed in and secured, and the crew passed ropes under the ship to hold together and reinforce the hull against the battering of the waves.

Their reprieve was short-lived before a new danger stood in their path. They had ventured so far south that they entered the dreaded “Syrtis”, a malicious maze of shallows and quicksands off the coast of Cyrene in North Africa. This place was known as a graveyard for ships. Fearing that the ship would be run aground on the sandbars, they took a few more desperate measures: they lowered the sea anchor as a drag to slow them down and they began tossing their cargo and equipment into the sea in hopes of lightening the ship and thus increasing their chances of survival. Everyone on board, all 276 passengers and prisoners were required to do their part.

Despite these measures, most of them had still given up hope of being saved. The sun and stars had been under thick cloud cover for many days without the stars and sun, they had no way of determining their location or direction—no gear, no sun, no stars all adds up to no hope.

All of those cocky and arrogant sailors who would have mocked and made fun of Paul when they left Fair Havens weren’t laughing anymore. I’m sure the captain, owner, and centurion regretted not taking Paul’s advice. Now they were suffering the consequences of their poor decision.

Isn’t that the way it is for us today too? So often we ignore conventional wisdom, God’s Word, and the warnings and advice of others and then have to suffer the consequences of our arrogance and poor decisions. Think about it! How many people ignore the conventional wisdom of motor vehicle laws—they travel at ridiculous speeds or get behind the wheel after they have been drinking—they arrogantly convince themselves that they are in control, wrap their car around a tree or crashing into another car—then they have to suffer the guilt and consequences of hurting themselves or someone else.

How many times do people ignore the plain teachings of God’s Word and have to endure the consequences. I think about the young people who grow up in church and know the truth—yet they still arrogantly engage in illicit sexual activity, say to themselves, “I know what I am doing,” and then wake up the next morning with an unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease. Then they have to suffer the consequences of their poor decisions! Think about it!

How often do people ignore godly advice from others who warn them about spending money that they don’t have—yet they run up thousands of dollars of credit card debt and don’t have the means to dig out of it—then they have to suffer the consequences of broken relationships, bad credit scores, or even bankruptcy? This sort of thing happens all the time and it destroys peoples’ lives. But like the captain and owner of the ship, they arrogantly say, “I know what I am doing!”

Earlier this week I finished a fascinating book—Into the Wild, by John Krakauer. It is a tragic story about a young man named Chris McCandless who died in the wilderness of Alaska. McCandless grew up in Annandale, Virginia. After graduating in 1990 from Emory University, McCandless ceased communicating with his family, gave away his savings of approximately $24,000 to Oxfam (ironically Oxfam is a charity that works to feed the hungry) and began traveling, later abandoning his car and burning all the money in his wallet. After paddling down the Colorado River, living with a band of gypsies in Arizona, and working odd jobs in Minnasota, he finally made his way to Alaska to live off the land.

In April 1992, Jim Gallien gave McCandless a ride to the Stampede Trail in Alaska. There, McCandless headed down the snow-covered trail to begin an odyssey with only 25 pounds of rice (which he later abandoned), a .22 calibre rifle, a camera, several boxes of rifle rounds, and a small selection of reading material — including a field guide to the region’s edible plants. He had no road map or compass, having left his tattered map with Gallien. He died sometime in August and his body was found, in early September, by a couple and a group of moose hunters. McCandless made many poor decisions and he suffered the consequences!

How about us? I hope that we will pay attention to conventional wisdom, be obedient to God’s Word, and listen to godly advice. This humility will protect us from bad decisions and from having to endure their consequences!

Divine Deliverances (21-26)
As a result of the storm, most of the people on board would have become seasick and not have eaten for several days. In this hopeless situation Paul came with a word of encouragement, having himself been encouraged by the Lord through his angel. When he said that they should have taken his advice, he was not making an “I told you so” statement but affirming his credibility before he told them about the appearance of the angel.

He hoped that this time they would take him seriously. Twice he asked them to keep up their courage, basing that appeal on the angel’s words of assurance. God had destined him for Rome, and because of that everyone on the ship would be delivered from death. After expressing his faith in God, he predicted that the ship would run aground on an island and be destroyed, but every life on board would be spared.

It is difficult to know how the crew and passengers responded to Paul’s message. On one hand they would have had a difficult time believing that an actual angel appeared to him and gave him this message. On the other hand they had ignored his prophetic words in the past and they got themselves into a lot of trouble. Either way, this text shows God’s sovereignty over Paul’s life and the forces of nature. A storm of this magnitude would typically capsize such a ship and everyone would drown, but God was in control of everything. Nothing was going to stop his plan for Paul’s life!

Luke uses this storm story to again highlight God’s sovereignty and providence, one of his main sub themes throughout the book of Acts. When we read this story and imagine ourselves on that boat, it reaffirms the reality of God’s control over the circumstances of our lives today. How many times has he stepped in and divinely delivered us from dumb and disastrous decisions? How many times has given us the exact amount of grace we needed to get through a problem? How many times has he allowed us to experience difficulty to remind us that we are not in control of our lives, but he is?

Could God have prevented this storm from appearing? Sure! Could he have calmed it immediately? Absolutely! Remember the story of Jesus calming the storm when he was on a boat with his terrified disciples! Indeed, Jesus can still every storm, but he does not immunize Christians from problems that others in the world face. Sometimes he miraculously delivers Christians from such situations, while at other times he gives Christians courage to endure disasters.

Listen to how commentator Ajith Fernando applies this passage:
Some Christians will testify how God saved them from investing in a venture that went bankrupt while others ponder the mysterious providence that permitted them to invest in the same venture after taking all of the necessary precautions and praying about the decision to invest. One Christian will testify how a traffic jam caused him to miss an ill-fated flight, while the godly mother of three children will face an uncertain future because her husband died on that same fight. We should never say that the one who was saved was godlier than the one who wasn’t. In fact, the one who suffered perhaps had a stronger faith, so that God felt that he or she was able to go through the circumstances…What use is it to refer to God’s sovereignty [and providence] in view of the Christian who was not spared the experience of disaster? Though Christ can still the storm, we can have the courage to face it when he does not, for we know that through the crisis God’s sovereignty will work out something good.

Which one are you? Are you the one God divinely delivered, or are you the one he allowed to experience the disaster? Either way, he is completely sovereign! His providence is always working for good, even when we don’t understand it. Do you trust him?

Yes, there are consequences for the poor decisions we make, but thank God he is even sovereign over them. God wants us to make good decisions, but I’m glad that he works for our good even when we don’t!

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Do you remember The Odyssey? You know, the ancient Greek epic poem written by the blind poet Homer sometime in the eighth century B.C. You know, the one some of you had to read for high school english class. That’s right, the one you were supposed to read but you never got around to it. O yeah, that one!

The Odyssey is the sequel to the Iliad, the other work traditionally ascribed to Homer. Throughout the ages these peoms have become foundational classics for all subsequent Western Literature. In the poem, Homer mainly centers on the Greek hero Odysseus (or Ulysses, as he was known in Roman myths) and his long journey home following the fall of Troy. It takes Odysseus ten years to reach Ithaca after the ten-year Trojan War. In his absence, it is assumed he has died, and his wife Penelope and son Telemachus must deal with a group of unruly suitors competing for Penelope’s hand in marriage.

The epic tale traces Odysseus’ travels from Calypso’s island to battling an evil cyclopse, encountering a witch-goddess named Circe, sailing by the tempuious singing Sirens, and many more episodes before he returns home to Ithaca. His fate was always disputed and manipulated by the gods on Mt. Olympus. It is an incredible tale of adventure and intrigue. In fact, the word “odyssey” which we use to refer to a long epic adventure, comes from the main character in the story.

The final two chapters of the book of Acts reads like The Odyssey. It is Luke’s epic tale of Paul’s journey to Rome. As we will discover, it is also filled with adventure and intrigue. The key difference though, is that Paul’s fate is not determines by the false gods Greek mythology, but Paul’s life is guided by the providence of the one true God who created the heavens and the earth. Let’s see what we can learn about God’s providence in our own lives, as we encounter the beginning of Paul’s Odyssey!

Providence & Provision (3, 5-6)
Paul’s odyssey would have begun early in the morning as he and his companions boarded the small coasting vessel from Adramyttium. The crew would have set the sails and they would have felt the sun warm the back of their necks as their boat drifted away from the dock and they headed northwest along the coast in search of a larger ship that could transport them across the vast blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea. Their current vessel wasn’t made for sailing long distances.

Everything went well that first day—the winds were calm and the surface of the water was placid and still. They made good time throughout the day and night and the next day they anchored in the double harbor at Sidon, an ancient Phoenician city. On voyages of this sort, it was every man’s responsibility to go into the city and secure their own supplies before venturing back to sea. This posed somewhat of a problem for Paul and his companions. Surely, Julius would not permit a prisoner or his friends to leave the cruiser for fear of escape, but here is where we start to see God’s providence at work. Surprisingly, Julius was a kindhearted man and he trusted Paul enough to allow them to enter the city to secure supplies.

Also, God’s providence is seen in the fact that Paul just happened to have a number of Christian friends in that city. The Christian community in Sidon welcomed Paul and his companions with open arms and abundantly supplied their needs for the rest of their odyssey. In their situation, they were most likely worried (or at least concerned) about how they were going to be able to get what they needed, but God had it all under control. It wasn’t an accident that they landed in Sidon or that Paul had Christian friends there—nor was it a coincidence that Julius allowed Paul to enter the city. God’s providence was guiding all of these events.

Likewise, God’s providence eventually led them to an Alexandrian grain ship bound for Italy when they reached the port of Myra in the region of Lycia. This ship was large and was designed to carry cargo across the open seas, and it was heading to the very place they wanted to go. Sometimes God providentially works through his people to provide our needs and sometimes he providentially works through non-believers and sometimes his providence doesn’t work through any people at all!

Jennifer and I had a similar experience about 8 years ago. No, we weren’t sailing across the Mediterranean, but we were driving a U-Haul truck from Chicago to Boston with all of our earthly possessions. We had just graduated college, had gotten married, and were moving to our new home at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. We didn’t stop in any ports, but we were out of money and were concerned about how we were going to eat that first week until my final paycheck from Chicago arrived in the mail. After I filled the gas tank of the rental truck and returned it, we were literally out of money and we didn’t know what we ere going to do. We didn’t have any credit cards and we couldn’t even scrounge for some change under the couch cushions—we didn’t own a couch!

We were really worried! I couldn’t understand why God would want us to move the whole way across the country, to a theological seminary of all places, if we were just going to starve to death. O we of little faith, God had it all under control. It was our turn to see God provide through his providence. Later that same day the resident directors of our apartment building stopped by to let us know that it was their policy to buy pizza for couples on the day they moved in. For most couples this was a provision of convenience; for us it was a provision of life and death!

The next morning I started my first day as youth pastor at People’s Evangelical Congregational Church. After worship that Sunday morning, the church put on a potluck dinner to welcome us into the family. We were happy to meet everyone at the church; we were even happier that there was food! Later on, the church presented us with three large boxes of mismatched groceries. They said, “We figured you could use some things in your cupboards!” Wow, what a coincidence? Just kidding! God’s providence provided for us through his people!

How about you? Has God ever providentially provided for you? Has he ever used other Christians to meet your needs? Has he ever used non-believers to take care of your needs? How has God’s providence worked in your life?

I wonder if there is anyone here this morning that is concerned or worried about something. Maybe you have a pressing need and you have no idea what you are going to do about it. Remember that God provides for his people through his providence. Trust him! He is in control! He knows what he is doing! Look for his providence!

Providence & Peril (4, 7-9)
So far, so good! Paul’s odyssey had been relatively uneventful thus far. Their small vessel ran into a little difficulty on their way from Sidon to Myra. They winds became quite strong and became tricky to navigate the vessel, but as long as they stayed to the lee of Cyprus, they were protected from the worst of it and were able to maintain their course.

Later, once they were on the Alexandrian grain ship, they ran into problems with the wind again. The gale forces slowed their progress considerably. A ship this large and loaded down with heavy grain could have slowed to a pace of one mile and hour. What should have taken a few days was quickly turning into a few weeks. By the time they passed by Cnidus the winds beast against them so fiercely and the currents became so dangerous that they could not come to port and they were forced to veer off their course and make their way south toward the southern end of Crete, hoping that the island would offer them protection.

The question this text raises is: If Paul and his friends were really in the center of God’s will, why would God allow them to experience such peril? Isn’t that the question that we always ask God? Many people believe that if you are in the center of God’s will, we will never experience difficulty or danger. Also, they believe that if someone is experiencing difficulty or danger, they must not be in God’s will. Neither of these beliefs is true. There are many times when God providentially uses peril in people’s lives to teach them something he wants them to know or to motivate them to do something he wants them to do. God’s providence uses difficulty and danger all the time!

For instance, John Wesley’s father, Samuel, was a dedicated pastor, but there were those in his parish who did not like him. On February 9, 1709, a fire broke out in the rectory at Epworth, possibly set by one of the rector’s enemies. Young John, not yet six years old, was stranded on an upper floor of the building. Two neighbors rescued the lad just seconds before the roof crashed in. One neighbor stood on the other’s shoulders and pulled young John through the window.

Samuel Wesley said, “Come, neighbors, let us kneel down. Let us give thanks to God. He has given me all my eight children. Let the house go. I am rich enough.” John Wesley often referred to himself as a “brand plucked out of the fire” (Zech 3:2; Amos 4:11). In later years he often noted February 9 in his journal and gave thanks to God for His mercy. Samuel Wesley labored for 40 years at Epworth and saw very little fruit; but consider what his family accomplished!

Has God ever used some peril to change the course of your life? Has he ever allowed you to experience a difficulty to alter the route of one of your relationships? Has he ever brought danger into your life to motivate you to follow a different path?

Now we should not go looking for difficulty or danger, nor should we purposely put ourselves in harms way, but when some kind of peril comes, I hope we will realize that it is part of God’s providence for our lives. He knows exactly what he is doing, even when it doesn’t seem like it. Even in the midst of peril, trust in God’s providence!

Providence & Perception (10-12)
The winds never went away but at least they died down enough so that we could make port at the city of Fair Havens (which the locals called Good Harbor) on the south central coast of Crete. By the time they anchored, it was already mid-October and the fast for the Day of Atonement had passed. Sea travel was normally not undertaken after mid-September and only a fool would dare to sail from November to March. Paul wasn’t a sailor by trade, but was a seasoned enough traveler (he had already survived three shipwrecks and didn’t want it to happen again) and had enough common sense to perceive even greater danger. He tried to council the captain and the centurion to spend the winter in Fair Havens, even though this was not an ideal location to winter. He warned them that it wasn’t worth risking the ship, cargo, and especially their lives; this decision would surely be disastrous.

After considerable dispute, Julius sided with the captain, the owner of the ship, and the majority of the crew to sail another fifty miles to Phoenix, on the west side of the island. In spite of the great danger and Paul’s perception, they raised the anchor and set the sails again. There wasn’t anything Paul could do about it. The centurion made the decision for everyone in their company, so they complied by reboarding the ship.

This is like many situations we face in our own lives. Sometimes we are forced to go along with other people’s poor decisions. In spite of our own perception and wisdom, sometimes we are backed into circumstances and we can’t do anything about it. When this happens, we simply have to trust God’s providence.

The citizens of Feldkirch, Austria, didn’t know what to do. Napoleon’s massive army was preparing to attack. Soldiers had been spotted on the heights above the little town, which was situated on the Austrian border. A council of citizens was hastily summoned to decide whether they should try to defend themselves or display the white flag of surrender. It happened to be Easter Sunday, and the people had gathered in the local church.

The pastor rose and said, “Friends, we have been counting on our own strength, and apparently that has failed. As this is the day of our Lord’s resurrection, let us just ring the bells, have our services as usual, and leave the matter in His hands. We know only our weakness, and not the power of God to defend us.” The council accepted his plan and the church bells rang. The enemy, hearing the sudden peal, concluded that the Austrian army had arrived during the night to defend the town. Before the service ended, the enemy broke camp and left.

These folks were in a potentially disastrous situation. It wasn’t their fault they were in it and there wasn’t much they could do to get out of it, but they trusted in God’s providence. They had no idea how Napoleon’s army would react to the church bells, but God did. When we have some control over a situation, God wants us to act wisely, but when we have no control over a situation, he wants us to trust in his providence!

Well, as we watch the beginning of Paul’s odyssey to Rome, I hope you have been able to see God’s providence. Moreover, I hope that as you continue your odyssey through life, you will be more aware of God’s providence and you will trust him more!

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Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn’t able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector.

Kreisler made his way to the new owner’s home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Severely disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. “Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?” he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector’s emotions were deeply stirred. “I have no right to keep that to myself,” he exclaimed. “It’s yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it.”

According to the Book of Acts, this should be precisely our attitude toward evangelism. We have no right to keep the gospel of Jesus Christ to ourselves—we should take it into the world, and let the people hear it! Jesus calls all of us to share the message of forgiveness from sins and the hope of eternal life with everyone we know!

As we have studied the book of Acts over the past year and a half, you couldn’t help but notice how often Luke has highlighted the importance of evangelism. Remember back to the opening chapter—right before the resurrected Christ ascended into heaven, he said to his disciples, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” A few days later the Christian church was birthed with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the church immediately grew from 120 to 3,000 members.

In those early chapters we read about Peter and the other apostles sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem and Judea. Then in the middle chapters we learned about the conversion of the apostle Paul and watched him on three separate missionary journeys’ take the gospel all over Asia. In these last chapters, we are going to see Paul evangelize his way to Rome.

As we have walked through the story of the church’s expansion, we have experienced Luke’s attempts to motivate us to follow in the apostle’s footsteps by evangelizing the world around us. I suspect that most of us have gotten his message by now—we should be telling others about Jesus! And even though I believe that the majority of us are already convinced that we should be evangelizing, I suspect that few of us are actually doing it. I also suspect that one of the biggest reasons for us not evangelizing is that we don’t really know how to do it.

Well, if you have always wondered how to evangelize others, you have come to the right place today. In this morning’s passage, as Paul makes his defense to King Agrippa, he provides us with a wonderful biblical model of evangelism. There are four key components!

1.) Biblical Evangelism utilizes the Scriptures (6-7, 22-23, 27)
As Paul attempts to evangelize Agrippa, Bernice, Festus, and the other high ranking officials and leading men of Caesarea who had gathered at the audience hall, notice how he utilized the Holy Scriptures. In verses 6-8, Paul alludes to the fact that his hope in the promised Messiah was the same hope that God promised to their fathers! This was the promise that their twelve tribes were hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly served God. Where were these promises found? In the Holy Scriptures! The reason Paul was on trial was that he believed that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah who died and was resurrected from the dead. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies that were recorded in the Scriptures.

Likewise, in verses 22-23 he utilizes the Scriptures when he asserts that he is simply proclaiming what Moses and the prophets have already said—that the Messiah would suffer, rise from the dead, and be a light to both Israel and the Gentiles. The Scriptures prove that Paul’s assertions were in line with Jewish expectations, and he knew that this would add credibility and clarity to the gospel.

Biblical evangelism utilizes the Scriptures. When we share the gospel with others, it is very wise to utilize the Scriptures. It adds credibility and clarity to our message! It shows that our message is consistent with what other Christians have believed for over two thousand years. Now we don’t have to understand every verse of the Bible to utilize the Scriptures in evangelism, but we should be able to show people a few places where it affirms the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, forgiveness from our sins, and the hope of everlasting life.

Now it would be good if we could all open our Bible and show others some of these verses, but it would be even better if we had some of these verses memorized. At the very least, we should all have John 3:16 memorized. It is one of the most concise statements of the gospel in the whole Bible. On the back of your sermon outline you will notice a collection of verses entitled “The Romans Road”. These verses will help you lead someone through the whole message of the gospel. I would like to challenge all of us to memorize these verses. Know them so well that you will always be prepared to share the gospel when God gives us an opportunity.

Biblical evangelism utilizes the Scriptures! Are you willing to follow Paul’s example by knowing and utilizing the Scriptures. Are you willing to memorize some verses to prepare yourself to share the gospel?

2.) Biblical evangelism centers on Jesus Christ (8-9, 12-18)
Throughout Paul’s ministry, the person and work of Jesus Christ was always at the center of his message. It is no different in this passage. As Paul simultaneously defends himself and attempts to evangelize King Agrippa, he makes sure to proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. In verse 8, after alluding to the biblical prophecies about the Messiah he asks a provocative rhetorical question, “Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?” He is obviously referring to the death and resurrection of Jesus because in the very next verse he affirms that he too had been convinced that he should do everything possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. The same name he once opposed he now proclaimed with all of his heart.

After this, in verses 12-18, Paul recounts the story of how the resurrected Christ appeared to him on the road to Damascus, blinded him, and called him into the ministry. If it hadn’t been for this dramatic personal encounter with Jesus Christ, he would have continued to persecute Christians. From this point on, the message of salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ was the center of Paul’s life and ministry.

We always need to remember that the gospel message is about Jesus—who he is and what he has done. The gospel is not about following some ancient religious rituals. It is not about signing on to some moral code. It isn’t about pursuing some transcendental spiritual experience. It is about Jesus Christ! It is about God loving you and me so much that he allowed his only Son to die on a cross so that we can be saved from our sins. It is about Jesus rising on the third day to offer eternal life to anyone who would dare to trust in his name. This is why the Bible says that there is only one name under heaven whereby we must be saved—Jesus Christ. Many people today are convinced that there are many roads to heaven, but it just isn’t true. Jesus Christ is the only way! If he isn’t the only way, his death and resurrection is meaningless.

Is Jesus at the heart of your gospel? Is his death and resurrection the central message of your evangelism? Are you proclaiming that Jesus is the only way to heaven? Paul did! I hope we are!

3.) Biblical evangelism reflects personal transformation (4-5, 9-11)
As Paul continued to plead his case to King Agrippa and persuade him of the truth of the gospel, he knew that it would be important to reflect the personal transformation he experienced. So, he gives us a glimpse of his life before and after Christ. In verses 4-5 he shows us the “before” picture. He was raised in Jerusalem and followed the Old Testament Law in the strictest sense as a member of the Pharisees. In verses 10-11 he conveys how he opposed Jesus Christ and anyone who put their faith in him. He was personally responsible for the imprisonment and death of many Christians. He even went to foreign cities to persecute them. Then he had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ and everything changed.

In verses 19-20 we have the “after” picture. The persecutor became a preacher! The murderer became a minister! The opponent of Christ became a proponent of Christ! The adversary of the faith became an advocate of the faith! He now traveled all over the world sharing the grace and love of Jesus. He was completely transformed. This was a powerful testimony of how Jesus can transform lives, and Paul made sure to reflect this in his evangelism.

Not much has changed in two thousand years of evangelism. People love a human interest story. When we evangelize, yes we need to reference the Scriptures and center our message on the person and work of Jesus Christ, but people want to know what difference the gospel has made in our lives. This makes good sense! If Jesus hasn’t changed us in any way, why would anyone be interested in following him? Sharing our personal transformation stories are powerful forms of evangelism.

Now as soon as I say a story of “personal transformation” most people immediately assume I only mean a conversion story. Well, conversion stories certainly reflect personal transformation (Paul relayed his conversion story), but it is not the only way to reflect personal transformation. Some of us have compelling stories of how Jesus delivered us from destructive addictions. Some of us have stories of how Jesus has healed us from dreadful diseases. Some of us have stories of how Jesus saved our marriage from the brink of disaster. Some of us have stories of how Jesus rescued us from financial ruin. Some of us have stories of how Jesus restored us after some tragic loss. And the list goes on and on.

Personal transformation stories are powerful. Why do you think so many people watch Oprah, Dr. Phil, The Biggest Loser, and Extreme Home Makeover? Why do you think Paul shared his story with Agrippa? In Jesus, we have the most incredible transformation stories! Are we reflecting personal transformation when we evangelize? What does your “before and after” Jesus Christ picture look like?

4.) Biblical Evangelism requires a response (20-29)
After Paul utilizes the Scriptures, centers on the person and work of Jesus Christ, and reflects personal transformation, there is one more thing he does that is essential to our biblical model of evangelism. He requires a response! Biblical evangelism requires a response!

In verse 20 Paul says that he preached with the purpose of producing repentance from sins and helping people turn to God. Every time he preached he hoped that his listeners would respond to the gospel positively, even though he was usually met with a negative response. He was also mindful of the importance of people proving their repentance by their deeds. This is another response to the gospel!

In verse 27 Paul brings King Agrippa to the point of decision. His question as to whether or not he believed the prophets required Agrippa to respond to Paul’s whole gospel presentation. Festus had already given a negative response when he accused Paul of being out of his mind in verse 24, and Agrippa responds negatively in verse 28 when he asks Paul if he thought he could be persuaded to be a Christian in such a short period of time. Paul says he doesn’t care whether it is a short time or long time as long as he and the others respond positively. He would be praying for this response. Regardless of the final decision, Paul’s evangelism required a response!

Indeed, biblical evangelism requires a response! Anything less would be irresponsible! Now by requiring a response to the gospel I am not advocating any attempts to manipulate or coerce people into following Jesus. Paul didn’t do that and neither should we! He simply shared the gospel and brought people to the point of decision and left it there.

Here is where many modern evangelistic strategies fail. I remember walking down Wells St. in Chicago one Friday night about ten years ago. I came by a Pakistani restaurant where many cabbies hung out. I saw a well-dressed young man standing on top of the hood of a car holding a twenty-five pound Bible in his hand shouting at the top of his lungs, “If you don’t turn to Jesus right now, you are all going to burn in hell!” Half of the cabbies were laughing at him and the other half were furious with him. I don’t think that either of these responses is what the young man desired, but I believe that it was his own fault. Instead of just proclaiming the gospel and bringing them to the point of decision, he was trying to manipulate them. This wasn’t biblical evangelism!

Like Paul, when we evangelize, we need to be ready for a negative response. When this happens, we should not argue or coerce, but simply pray for their response to change. We should be very careful how we dot it, but I hope that when we evangelize we will remember that biblical evangelism always requires a response!

Well, there you have it, a biblical model for evangelism. Biblical evangelism utilizes the Scriptures, centers of Jesus Christ, reflects personal transformation, and requires a response. After today, you will never again be able to say that you are afraid to evangelize because you don’t know how! So, let’s get to it!

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Now that Festus had taken over the governorship of Caesarea, Agrippa, King of Northern Israel, and his sister Bernice showed up to welcome him to Caesarea. They were both the great-grandchildren of Herod the Great who ruled over Israel during Jesus’ life. Although there were numerous rumors that Agrippa and Bernice were in an incestuous relationship, Agrippa had a reputation for being very pious in religious matters and an expert in Jewish issues. Therefore, Festus takes the opportunity to enlist Agrippa’s help in figuring out Paul’s case.

There is thick irony in the fact that a couple who was involved I such morally degenerate behavior sits in judgment on Paul, who was morally innocent in this case, but isn’t that so often the way it is! There is also irony in the fact that Festus, an unbelieving Roman outsider, is the one who actually presents the gospel of Jesus Christ to Agrippa and Bernice, when he explains Paul’s case to them. This clearly shows God’s evangelistic sense of humor.

As Festus recounted Paul’s story, he shows that he had a clear understanding of why Paul was on trial. It wasn’t for the reasons he supposed, but it was because of Paul’s insistence on the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The resurrection was central to Paul’s message, and it was the central reason he was on trial. In this passage Luke highlights the proclamation of the resurrection and two common reactions too it. Let’s take a look at these aspects of the resurrection!

Proclamation of the Resurrection (19)

Up until this point in the story there has been a lot of confusion over why Paul was on trial. The Jews had accused him of desecrating the Temple and disturbing the peace in Jerusalem and all over the world. As Paul stood trial before the Sanhedrin, Felix, and Festus, he vehemently denied these charges and insisted that he was on trial because of his belief in Jesus’ resurrection, which wasn’t a crime at all. In verse 19, Festus makes it abundantly clear that Paul was innocent of the charges and that in fact he was on trial because of differences in religious beliefs and a dispute about a certain Jesus, who was dead but who Paul claimed was alive.

This verse shows that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was always central to Paul’s proclamation of the gospel. For Paul, if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, there is no hope of new or eternal life. When Paul encountered the resurrected Christ on the road to Damascus years earlier, it completely transformed his life. From this point on Paul took every opportunity he could to tell people about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Just as it was for Paul almost 2,000 years ago, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of our hope as Christians. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we have no hope of eternal life: death would be the final end. But if he was resurrected from the dead, then not only do we have this hope for ourselves, but we should feel compelled to share it with others. If we really believed there was a way to overcome death, wouldn’t we want others to know about it?

John of Damascus, venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches, was a monk, theologian, and hymn-writer who lived during the first half of the eighth century. He composed a beautiful hymn underscoring the importance of all of God’s people proclaiming the resurrection.

 The day of resurrection?
Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness,
The Passover of God.
From death to life eternal,
From this world to the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over
With hymns of victory.

Now let the heavens be joyful,
Let earth her song begin;
Let the round world keep triumph,
And all that is therein;
Let all things seen and unseen
Their notes in gladness blend,
For Christ the Lord hath risen,
Our Joy that hath no end.

 Do we really believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Do we really have the hope of eternal life? Are we willing to share this with our family and friends? The proclamation of the resurrection was central for Paul’s life and ministry! How about us?

Now when we proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we should expect at least two different reactions to the resurrection: persecution or curiosity. We see both of these reactions in our text, and they are both still very real today. Let’s look at persecution first!

Reactions to the Resurrection: Persecution (13-18)
As Festus explained Paul’s case to Agrippa, he conveyed that the Jews wanted Paul to be charged and condemned to death. They had already brutally assaulted him, falsely accused him, and plotted to murder him on a number of occasions. Why were they so hostile toward Paul? They persecuted him because of his belief in resurrection. He insisted that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead.

These Jews wanted Paul dead and they didn’t care how it happened. They kept going back and forth between murdering him on their own and manipulating the Romans into executing him. So far, their efforts were frustrated. The Romans wouldn’t totally cave into their pressure and they couldn’t get their hands on him. Even though they had not succeeded in killing him, the Jews reacted to Paul’s message of resurrection with persecution.

Now very few people in America today would try to murder someone because they believe that Jesus rose from the dead, but don’t be surprised if many people react with milder forms of persecution. When you tell someone that you really believe that Jesus rose from the dead, they might laugh at you. If you tell someone that you really believe that the Bible is true, they might argue with you. If you tell someone that you are a Christian, they might sneer and walk away from you. If you tell someone that you love Jesus, there is a good chance that they will make fun of you. If you tell someone that you can’t do anything with them on Sunday morning because you want to go to church, they will probably get mad at you.

During Easter Week 1996, an amazing thing happened in the secular press. All three major news magazines—Time, Newsweek, and U.S. and World Report—depicted Jesus on the front cover. The occasion was not just a Christian holiday that comes around every year. In 1996, the Christian celebration of resurrection followed hard on the heels of criticism leveled against the historicity of that central biblical event. Kenneth Woodward’s article in Newsweek (April 8, 1996) entitled “Rethinking the Resurrection” detailed the problem along with quotes from modern critics: In their relentless search for the historical Jesus, various Biblical scholars argue that the Gospel stories of the empty tomb and Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances are fictions devised long after his death to justify claims of his divinity. To hear them tell it, the Resurrection is an embarrassment to the modern mind. They laugh and make fun of anyone who would actually believe that Jesus rose from the dead! (Gangel 385)

We must realize that many people all over the world have reacted to the resurrection of Jesus Christ with persecution for two-thousand years. This is nothing new: Paul faced it! The other apostles faced it! And we still see it today. Despite the persecution that you may face, will you still believe in the resurrection? Will you continue to proclaim it?

Reactions to the Resurrection: Curiosity (22)
Before the prospect of persecution totally discourages you from proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus, let me tell you about another possible reaction to the resurrection. As Agrippa listened to Festus’ story about Paul, he became curious about this man and his message of resurrection from the dead. He was happy to oblige Festus’ request and expressed a desire to meet Paul and hear him for himself. No doubt Agrippa had heard about Jesus of Nazareth and he took the opportunity to learn more about him from Christianity’s chief representative.

Just as in this text, some people react to the resurrection with persecution, while others react with curiosity. I think a lot of Americans today are like King Agrippa—they have heard a little bit about Jesus and the resurrection from other people but they have never reckoned with Christianity. They have never really looked into it for themselves. I believe that there are a lot of curious people out there just waiting for someone to come along, sit down with them, and explain who Jesus really is and what he has really done for us.

Maybe you have come to church this morning because you are curious about Jesus and the Christian faith. If so, you have come to the right place! We are glad you are here. I, or a number of other people here, would be happy to sit down with you and answer your questions and satisfy your curiosity.

Others may have already had your curiosity satisfied and like Paul, it is now our duty to proclaim the resurrection and satisfy the curiosity of other people. You never know when God might give you an opportunity to satisfy someone’s hungry soul with the Bread of Life that has come down from heaven. When you meet someone who is curious, will you be ready?

Yes, when we proclaim the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there will always be some kind of reaction. Whether it is persecution or curiosity, we need to be prepared.

Is two years a long time? Well, that depends on your perspective! If you are ninety years old and are reflecting back over your life, two years seems like a tiny blip in time. If you are fourteen years old and eagerly anticipating the day when you can get your driver’s license, two years seems like an eternity. How about if you had to spend two years in prison for a crime you did not commit? I suspect that two years would seem like a long time.

Well, that is exactly the situation Paul found himself in! His trial before Governor Felix didn’t amount to anything. He neither committed a crime nor received a fair trial, and two of the best years of his life and ministry wasted away in a lonely prison cell in Herod’s Palace in Caesarea because the governor didn’t have enough guts to do the right thing. His life was still in jeopardy!

For just a minute, imagine yourself in Paul’s situation. You have dedicated yourself to serving the Lord as a missionary. You faithfully spread the gospel all over the world, but you barely survived a brutal beating at the hands of a mob who wanted to murder you and were accused of a crime you didn’t commit and. You can’t get a fair trial, you’re sitting in prison, and you have no idea what is going to happen to you. Are you picturing it?

Now I want you to answer me this: Would you feel like God was in control of your life? Honestly, if all of these things happened to you, would you feel like God was holding you in the palm of his hand? If this was your life, would you still believe in God’s sovereignty over all things? Would you still believe in God’s providence? I bet most of us like to believe we would, but these circumstances are pretty difficult. Some of us have had our confidence in God shaken by far less than this.

In this morning’s text, Luke is trying to reaffirm our confidence in God’s providence despite the difficulties we face in life. He does this by showing us how God was working in and through the difficulties in Paul’s life. As we work our way through this passage and see what God was doing in Paul’s life, I hope that we will be able to see God’s providence in action in and through the difficulties of our lives.

1.) God’s Providence & Protection (1-5)
Felix was eventually ousted from power and Festus succeeded him as governor over Palestine. Only three days after arriving at the Governor’s mansion in Caesarea, he met with the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem. He knew that if he was going to restore peace to the region, it would be important to get the Jewish religious leaders on his side. He hadn’t been in Caesarea long enough to even learn that Paul was a prisoner left over from Felix’s rule, but the chief priests and Jewish leaders did not forget that Paul was still in Roman custody. Their hostility toward him did not die down during the past two years.

The Jews tried to take advantage of this new and unsuspecting governor by requesting that Paul be brought back to Jerusalem to stand trial again. Now Festus had no idea that they were preparing to ambush and murder him along the road and it would have made complete sense for him to grant them this little favor and earn their cooperation, but Festus was a little more honorable than his predecessor and was unwilling to commit himself to any “favor” before he really knew what was going on. Instead, he mentioned that he was returning to Caesarea soon and he invited them to go with him to press charges against Paul there, if he had done anything wrong.

By requiring a trial in Caesarea, Festus unknowingly protected Paul. Here is where we see God’s providence providing protection for Paul. Festus went to Jerusalem to get the Jews on his side and he had the perfect opportunity to do so by granting them this little favor, but God’s providence was guiding Festus’ actions. He had no idea that God was using him to protect Paul’s life from danger. Paul himself had no idea that the Jews were plotting another ambush or that God was using Festus to protect him.

This is exactly the way God’s providence works. He uses all sorts of people and situations to protect us from dangers that we aren’t even aware of. So often we go through life totally unaware of the dangers that are all around us. Most days just seem like ordinary days and it is so easy to become frustrated or disappointed with God when things don’t turn out like we want them to, and yet we have no idea of how many times he has protected and delivered us from dangerous situations.

For instance, last Sunday after church I decided to go for a bicycle ride. It was a beautiful day and there had been a little restaurant I have been wanting to try in Phillipsburg, QC along Lake Champlain. I had to be back in time to get ready for our youth group BBQ, so I was in a little bit of a hurry. It was a beautiful ride over, but the restaurant was packed when I got there. When it took 25 minutes just to get a menu, I knew I wasn’t going to have enough time to eat, so I decided I would just go back home.

Already feeling frustrated because I wasted so much time waiting to eat and pressed for time, I was downright angry when it took another half hour to get through the Morse’s Line border crossing. I have been through that border crossing many times and it usually only takes one or two minutes to cross, but for some reason the guards decided to remove the passengers from the car ahead of me and take them in for finger-printing. When they told me that this would only take a few minutes, I said, “No problem!” But when a few minutes turned into a half hour I started to have a problem. Didn’t they know I was in a hurry? Didn’t they know I was almost starving to death? Didn’t they know I had to get back to do God’s work at our youth group BBQ?

Even though I was mostly frustrated with the United States Customs Service, I have to admit that I was a little frustrated with God too. It is amazing what thoughts can pass through your mind when you are standing with your bicycle in the middle of the road waiting to get back into your own country. I whispered, “God, why would you want me to just stand here and waste all of this time?”

Once I finally got through the border and realized that it was actually an hour earlier than I thought it was, I calmed down a little and began to enjoy my ride again. When I came off Morse’s Line Road and turned left onto Gore Road, it dawned on me that God may have held me up at the border to protect me from an accident with some driver who wasn’t paying attention. We all know that the worst drivers in Franklin live along the Gore Road. No, I’m just kidding. The worst drivers in Franklin live along Browns Corner Road.

In all seriousness, God’s providence may have been protecting me from some danger that I didn’t even know about. How about you? Has God’s providence ever protected you from a danger you didn’t know about? Next time you find yourself in a difficult situation, God just might be using it to protect us from danger. He did it for Paul; he does it for us!

2.) God’s Providence and Plan (6-12)
After spending a week or so in Jerusalem, Festus went back down to Caesarea and set up another trial for Paul. The religious leaders made the same bogus claims and false accusations that they did two years earlier and Paul presented the exact same defense. Again, there was not enough evidence to convict him of a crime against Jewish or Roman law, but Festus was in the same precarious position that Felix was in: there was strong political pressure to appease the Jews.

Festus asked Paul if he was willing to go back to Jerusalem and stand trial there. He knew there would be even greater risk by returning to Jerusalem and affirms that he was already standing before Caesar’s court. He declared his innocence, denied any wrong-doing, and challenged the governor to execute justice.

At this point Paul had said everything he could possibly say and he realized that he was not going to receive a fair trial in Caesarea. Therefore, he appealed to be transferred to Rome and have his case tried before the Emperor and the Roman Supreme Court. Every Roman citizen had the right to appeal to Caesar when they felt like they received an unfair trial in their local precincts. Paul knew his life was in grave danger because of the political pressure Festus was facing. He felt that his only chance of survival was to appeal to Caesar.

This is where God used providence to orchestrate his plan for Paul’s life again. Remember, back in Acts 23:11, Jesus personally appeared to Paul one night and told Paul that he would be a witness for the gospel in Rome. During the two years Paul was wasting away in prison, he had no idea how God was going to execute this plan, but now it was beginning to make sense. If he appealed to Caesar, his life would be spared and he would have the opportunity to share the gospel in the most influential city in the world. God’s plan for Paul to go to Rome happened through the providence of an appeal to Caesar.

Over the last three chapters of the book of Acts, Luke has highlighted this theme of God’s plan and providence—that is how he works through all the little details of our lives to fulfill his will. When I think about this, the image of a jigsaw puzzle come to mind. Now most of us have a hard enough time putting a one thousand piece puzzle together, but can you imagine trying to put together a one million piece puzzle? Impossible, right? For us, yes! For God, no!

So often it seems like the events of our lives are a million unrelated pieces. We instinctively believe that they somehow all fit together but we don’t see how. We have never seen the big picture, but God has! There is a big picture for all of us and every one of those little details and events is an intricate and indispensable piece. Every person we meet, every place we go, every conversation we have, every joy we experience, every frustration we face, and every pain we feel is a little piece of God’s plan for our lives.

Again, none of us has ever seen the big picture, but God has! He is the one who has created the picture. He is the master puzzle builder who is putting the picture of our lives together one piece at a time. Although we will never see the whole picture on this side of eternity, isn’t it interesting to look back through our lives and see how God has put some of the pieces together? This is God’s providence at work.

How has God used your experiences to shape who you have become? How has he used your relationships to form you? What joys has he given you to encourage you? What tragedies has he given you to mature you? What opportunities has he sent you to guide you? These are all providential puzzle pieces that form the beautiful picture of God’s plan. The providence of an appeal to Caesar was an intricate piece of God’s plan for Paul’s life and ministry in Rome. How is God using his providence to complete the picture of your life?

3.) God’s Providence and Life & Death (11)
Before I conclude this morning, notice Paul’s words in verse 11. He exhibits a willingness to die and a desire to live for Christ. If he was found deserving and it was God’s will for him to die, he was content to follow the path. He knew that even death is a piece of God’s providence. But he clearly displays a desire to live and carry on the work of the gospel in Rome. These words show that Paul had come to grips with God’s providence in life and death. Whatever happened to him, he knew that God would providentially use it to accomplish his larger plan.

Have we come to grips with God’s providence in life and death? Do we possess this same willingness to die yet desire to live? Are we willing to accept God’s providence of death if that is God’s plan for our lives?

Earlier this week I read a story about St. Francis of Assisi, a famous monk who lived in France about 800 years ago. One day he was outside hoeing his garden when someone walked up to him and asked him, “If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today?” That is a good question to ask ourselves. If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, what would you do today? Do you know what St. Francis said? He said, “I would keep hoeing my garden.” He believed that he was doing exactly what God wanted him to be doing. He believed that tilling the soil and growing vegetables for himself and the other monks was important work. He believed that God’s providence led him to tend the garden and the prospect of death wasn’t going to change that!

How would the prospect of immanent death change what we do? I hope that we are living in such a way that it wouldn’t change much! I hope that we are so aware of God’s providence in our lives that we would continue to do what we have been doing. Paul was willing to accept God’s providence of death, but he desired to keep doing what he was doing. How about us?

Well, if nothing else, this passage certainly shows us God’s providence in action. God orchestrated all of these events in Paul’s life—protected him from the plots of the Jews, kept him alive, and was about to take him to Rome. I truly hope that this text has boosted your confidence in God’s providence! I hope that it will help us become more aware of his providence in our lives!