The End of the Beginning
Introduction: My sermon title today is not original. I saw it first in a mimeographed book by Ray Stedman. Then I found the same title in Charles Swindoll’s study guide on the book of Acts. I don’t know which one of them borrowed from the other or whether both of them borrowed from someone else. Or maybe it’s just a fact that great minds run in similar channels. I do know that I like the title and have borrowed it this morning. I trust you understand why as we read Acts 28:
When they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The natives showed us extraordinary kindness, for they kindled a fire and took us all in because of the rain that had started and because of the cold. 3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they began saying to one another, “Undoubtedly this man is a murderer, and though he has been saved from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 However, Paul shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 Now they were expecting that he was going to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time and had seen nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and began to say that he was a god.
7 Now in the neighboring parts of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us warmly for three days. 8 And it happened that the father of Publius was lying in bed afflicted with a recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after he prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him. 9 After this happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and being cured. 10 They also showed us many honors, and when we were about to set sail, they supplied us with everything we needed.
11 After three months we set sail on an Alexandrian ship which had wintered at the island, and which had the Twin Brothers for its figurehead. 12 After we put in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. 13 From there we sailed around and arrived at Rhegium, and a day later a south wind came up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers and sisters, and were invited to stay with them for seven days; and that is how we came to Rome. 15 And from there the brothers and sisters, when they heard about us, came as far as the Market of Appius and the Three Inns to meet us; and when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.
16 When we entered Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.
17 After three days Paul called together those who were the leading men of the Jews, and when they came together, he began saying to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, yet I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem. 18 And when they had examined me, they were willing to release me because there were no grounds for putting me to death. 19 But when the Jews objected, I was forced to appeal to Caesar, not that I had any accusation against my nation. 20 For this reason, therefore, I requested to see you and to speak with you, since I am wearing this chain for the sake of the hope of Israel.” 21 They said to him, “We have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor has any of the brothers come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. 22 But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for regarding this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere.”
23 When they had set a day for Paul, people came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening. 24 Some were being persuaded by the things said by Paul, but others would not believe. 25 And when they disagreed with one another, they began leaving after Paul said one parting statement: “The Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, 26 saying,
‘Go to this people and say,
“You will keep on hearing, and will not understand;
And you will keep on seeing, and will not perceive;
27 For the hearts of this people have become insensitive,
And with their ears they hardly hear,
And they have closed their eyes;
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.”’
28 Therefore, let it be known to you that this salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will also listen.”
30 Now Paul stayed two full years in his own rented lodging and welcomed all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching things about the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.
The great ocean liner, the Queen Mary, is today a museum in the Long Beach harbor. When she completed her last voyage around the world on October 31, 1967, she was attached tightly to the dock, her gigantic and powerful engines were removed, souvenir shops were opened on her decks, and her cabins were refurbished as hotel rooms for conventions. Actors were hired to act out the parts of officers and crew with carefully studied British accents.
If you visit the Queen you can review a documentary movie about how she was built and the way she served as a luxury pleasure vessel and later as a troop ship carefully evading German submarines. The movie ends with a triumphant but somehow tragic statement, supported by an upsweep of dramatic music: “The greatest ship that ever went to sea is now the greatest ship to come and see.”
Is it possible that those words also describe the Church of Jesus Christ? Is the Church, like the Queen Mary, little more than a grand monument to past glory? Are our Christian bookstores really just souvenir shops selling crosses, candles, pictures, and other religious relics to keep alive a memory? Are we but actors pretending to be sailors, dressed to the hilt but completely unable to wield a sword for battle? Have we lost the power to do or say anything significant?
Friends, the Church was meant for adventure on the high seas. It was designed to sail in the turbulent waters of our own time, not to be anchored to the dock. Her decks need to be cleared of anything that would hinder her mission. We are supposed to be experienced, well-trained seamen with a clear-cut goal and single-minded courage. The last chapter in the Book of Acts thunders out to us the challenge that we are to keep writing the unfinished work that should probably be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit.
Acts ends abruptly, like an unfinished symphony. And without a doubt that’s exactly what the Spirit intended. He did not want Luke to give the impression that the Apostolic age was closing but rather that a new era was beginning. As Paul’s ministry draws to a close, the ministry of those he has won to Christ begins. And the beat goes on.
I want us to examine this final chapter in Acts by means of four themes:
1. Predicted destination realized
2. Personal mission accomplished
3. Ministry pattern established
4. Ultimate task unfinished
Predicted destination realized
Back in Acts 19 the Apostle Paul concluded a vigorous and effective ministry in Ephesus by purposing in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. Then he said, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” Later, in chapter 23, while he was under arrest in Jerusalem, the Lord Himself stood at his side during the night and said, “Take courage; for as you have solemnly witnessed to My cause at Jerusalem, so you must witness at Rome also.” Now, some three years later, the destination of Rome is about to be realized.
Sojourn at Malta. A sojourn is a delay in a journey. This particular delay was caused by an incredible shipwreck, Paul’s fourth such experience, which we described as we studied chapter 27 last Sunday. By God’s grace and power, and in response to Paul’s faith and prayers, all 276 men on board his ship made it safely to land following what must certainly have been one of the worst storms ever on the Mediterranean. They discovered shortly that they were on the island of Malta, about 100 miles south of Sicily.
The ship’s passengers and crew were all received with extraordinary kindness by the natives of the island, who demonstrated the very common mistake of attributing every misfortune to sin. When Paul was bitten by a deadly viper, they immediately assumed he was a murderer and that the gods had allowed him to escape from the shipwreck only to take his life now.
But when Paul survived without ill effects they went to the opposite extreme, assuming he was a god. While we are not specifically so informed, Paul undoubtedly protested that he was a mere mortal who had a personal relationship with the God of the universe, as he did on other occasions when others attempted to deify him. But he did not stop using the miraculous power of God that was available to him as an Apostle. In fact, he healed the father of Publius, the leading official on the island.
It’s important to note, however, that in verse 9, where we are told that the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured, a different Greek word for healing is used. The word in verse 8 implies instantaneous, miraculous healing, while the word in verse 9 implies a more gradual kind of healing. I believe this indicates a unique combination of medical skill and divine healing and that Luke was involved as a physician in many of these cures. There is no contradiction between these gifts of God—the gift of medical healing and the divine power of direct healing—rather there is a beautiful blend.
This is particularly evident on the mission field. I have had the privilege of participating in that blend in a way I will never forget. I was part of a missionary team of 15 from our church in Wichita that spent two weeks in the little village of Naranjos in the Chol Indian territory of southern Mexico, just north of Guatemala. This village was accessible only by light plane to a jungle airstrip followed by a five-hour mule ride up into the mountains. There were times when it was so steep that we had to pull the mules with ropes.
There were Indians in that village who had seen only one white person before we arrived—a young missionary from the Circle Free Church in Chicago. They had no electricity, no phones, no plumbing—they didn’t even have outhouses; the woods were their facilities. Disease was rampant and infant mortality was extremely high because the chickens regularly walked through the stagnant creek from which their drinking water came.
We were there to build a reservoir for this village to prevent further contamination of the water supply, but we were also concerned about the disease that was already there. One mother brought her two-year-old to us in desperation asking if there was anything we might do for him. His ear was almost obliterated by a massive infection that had apparently started with an insect bite. We prayed for the child and we gave him one-half of a penicillin pill that we had with us. Within two days the infection was completely gone—I’ve never seen anything like it.
We were told later that since those Indians had never been exposed to penicillin, they had no immunity to it and it could literally perform miracles for them, whereas here in the States our systems have built up such immunity that it takes massive doses to do the same job. In fact, some of our diseases are no longer even affected by it. But what healed that little boy? Was it our prayers, or was it penicillin? Neither! And both! God healed Him and used both our prayers and our pill. “Every good and perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights.” (James 1:17)
As a reward for the healing, the natives heaped many honors on Paul and his fellow-travelers, and they supplied them with complete provisions for the final leg of their journey.
Final Leg of the journey (11-15). The final leg began on an Alexandrian ship that had wintered on Malta. The twin sons of Zeus, Castor and Pollux, were patron saints of navigation, and their images were often carved on ships. Luke notes for us in verse 11 that that was the case with this ship. This note of local color may actually be mentioned as a kind of subtle irony. God had miraculously protected their lives throughout their journey, demonstrating His sovereignty over weather and circumstances, and now He humorously employs a ship allegedly protected by two mythical gods to accomplish His purpose of bringing Paul to Rome.
The captain of this ship, in his reliance on the Twin Sons of Zeus, is not very different from the millions who used to trust an image of St. Christopher for journeying mercies. Eventually Christopher was demoted from sainthood, indicating that all the accidents that were avoided must have been attributable to something other than his statue.
A three-day stop at Syracuse, a port on Sicily, was followed by a brief journey to Rhegium, on the toe of the boot that is Italy. A south wind took them in one day all the way to Puteoli, the principal port of Rome. There Luke notes they found some Christians, and during the week they remained in Puteoli, Paul and his traveling companions had the great privilege of staying with strangers who seemed like old friends.
One of the great experiences of being a Christian is to find that no matter where you go, other believers are like “brothers and sisters.” I have been on four continents, and everywhere there is instantaneous fellowship with God’s people. I have visited with South American Indians who didn’t have much else, but they did have a little church, and they had services every night and twice on Sunday, which they broadcast to the whole village with a loudspeaker hooked up to a 12-volt battery. Not one of those Indians could speak English and none of us could speak their language. But we had deep fellowship in the Gospel with these people who were clearly our brothers and sisters in Christ. You could spot a Christian in that village from fifty feet away just by the look of joy and peace on his face.
When the Christians in Rome heard that Paul was on his way, they couldn’t wait, and they went out to meet him at the Forum of Appius, some 40 miles from Rome, and again at the Three Inns, just a little over 30 miles from the city. Seeing these believers, to whom he had written his Roman Epistle some three years before, stimulated great gratitude to God in the Apostle’s heart and brought him great courage. His arrival in Rome is recorded in verse 16.
Arrival at Rome (16). How simply Luke describes Paul’s entrance into the great city he had longed to see for years. There is no description of the beauty of the city or the magnificence of its Coliseum, for Paul was not there as a sightseer, but rather as an ambassador.
Well, with the predicted destination realized, it’s time for his personal mission to accomplished.
Personal mission accomplished (17-28)
In Romans 1:16 this same Apostle wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” It is significant that though Paul had visited many of the great cities of civilization, and though he was persecuted by the Jews in every one of them, still when he entered the capital city of the Roman Empire as a prisoner his first thought was for his own people, the Jews. It was not his job to convert them, nor was it even his principal task to evangelize them (since he had been singled out as Apostle to the Gentiles), but he could never stop being concerned about the eternal destiny of the Jews.
“To the Jew first” (17-27). Paul hadn’t been in Rome more than three days when he called together the leading Jews of the city. He could do this because he was allowed to live in his own quarters, the only restriction being that he was assigned one of the Emperor’s own guards at all times. The Jews responded by accepting his invitation, perhaps because he had been a member of the Sanhedrin, though it is clear from the story that they knew relatively little about him.
Paul took this opportunity to explain his predicament, pointing out that he was an innocent victim of an undeserved hostility from the Jews. Even though the Romans had wanted to release him, his fellow-countrymen had forced him to appeal to Caesar. He explained that the reason he wanted to see them was to explain that his prisoner’s chains were really for the sake of the hope of Israel. By “the hope of Israel” I believe he meant Messiah Jesus.
So a day was set and large numbers of Jewish leaders came to Paul’s house for a Bible study. Ray Stedman says that he would gladly exchange his theological diploma in order to have been there that day. From morning until evening Paul took them through the Scriptures. Beginning in the Pentateuch and moving on through the prophets, he testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade them that Jesus was indeed the Messiah predicted in their own Scriptures.
Nothing is more fascinating than to see how the amazing predictions of the OT focus upon one person in all of history and upon the events of his brief life. We can guess concerning some of the passages Paul must have used on this occasion. How vivid and clear they are!
The result was that some were persuaded by his message, but others would not believe. When dissension broke out and they began to leave, Paul concluded with the words of the prophet Isaiah, which he quoted from Isaiah 6:9-10:
“Go to this people, and say
You shall indeed hear but never understand,
and you shall indeed see but never perceive.
For this people’s heart has grown dull,
and their ears are heavy of hearing,
and their eyes they have closed;
lest they should perceive with their eyes,
and hear with their ears,
and understand with their heart,
and turn for me to heal them.”
What a dreadful picture of religious people who have missed the point and the glory! They had come to the place, through religious activity, where they heard words but did not understand; they saw truth but refused to perceive; their emotions were dull and their ears were weary of the repetition of great things. They no longer wanted or needed God.
One of the great mysteries of all time is Jewish unbelief. How could this people miss such clear-cut prophecies about their Messiah in their own Scriptures? Part of the explanation surely is that they had worked out a comfortable theological explanation of who the Messiah would be. When God moved in ways different from what they expected, they refused to accept it.
Yet even as we marvel about the unbelief of Abraham’s descendants, let us not refuse to recognize that the same unbelief affects so many in the Church today. They are comfortable with God so long as He stays in the box of their own making and doesn’t disturb them or make demands on their selfish lives. But when the Spirit moves in fresh and vital ways, they do not want to change and will not follow. They resist anything that disturbs the tranquility of an accepted and commonly practiced tradition. That can even happen to us evangelicals.
Paul’s personal mission was to the Jew first but also to the Greeks.
“And also to the Greeks” (28). Verse 28 reads, “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” And they did listen. Indications are that while Paul was under arrest in Rome, the Gospel succeeded in penetrating every social level of the city, from the slaves, of which there were hundreds of thousands, to the very household of Caesar Himself.
Ministry pattern established (30-31)
“And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters, and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered.” I see in these two verses a pattern for ministry that, if followed, will almost guarantee the Church will sail the seas with power and victory, rather than be tied up in drydock.
Universal acceptance (30). It says that for two years Paul welcomed all who came to him. Almost every church and every ministry have “acceptance” as part of their official philosophy, but few practice it. Years ago I attended a church which had printed right on its bulletin, “We are Fundamental, not Liberal; Premillennial, not Postmillennial or Amillennial; Pre-tribulational, not Mid- or Post-Tribulational; Baptistic, not Covenantal; Evangelical, not Charismatic; Total Abstainers, not Social Drinkers.” Now, I guess it’s good to know who you are and what you believe, but when a church exhibits that kind of exclusive attitude, it’s like putting a sign out on the lawn: “Exclusive club; sinners, heretics, and non-traditionalists get lost!”
Healthy spiritual diet (31). Verse 31 says that Paul not only welcomed everyone, but he also was “preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.” The tragedy of the modern church is that millions are being given junk food that would make Jack in the Box blush. People are coming to hear a word from the Lord, but instead they hear someone called a pastor talk about political or social issues or give book reviews. Even in supposedly evangelical churches the Bible is frequently used just as a springboard to support the viewpoints of the preacher.
Paul preached the Kingdom of God and his teaching focused upon the Lord Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God is a subject concerning which there have been two extremes in theological teaching. I attended a very conservative seminary and the education I received there I value highly. But in my estimation, there was one serious deficiency in the doctrine I was taught. My professors unanimously taught that the Kingdom of God is future, that it is a reference to a thousand-year reign of Christ on this earth following the Second Coming. The Sermon on the Mount was viewed as Kingdom truth that had no direct application to us today. The social demands of the Minor Prophets that we must deal generously with the poor and downtrodden were also taken to be future Kingdom truth.
On the other hand, the liberal denominations have largely jettisoned the notion of the return of Christ altogether, along with the concept of a future millennial kingdom, and instead teach they that it is our responsibility as the Church to bring in the Kingdom through social activism, nuclear disarmament, and the E.R.A.
But I believe both of these extremes are wrong. Jesus is indeed going to return to this earth and reign in righteousness. But the Kingdom of God is also among us, Jesus said, and it is our task to live out its implications today. The Kingdom of God refers to the reign of the Lord in our hearts, in our relationships, and in our society. Preaching the Kingdom is sounding the marching orders to spread God’s plan and purpose to restore damaged and perverted creatures to their original destiny. A truly great church lives under the mandate of the Kingdom of God.
But another aspect of healthy diet was that Paul taught concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. There are pastors who talk all the time about the Kingdom of God but who rarely, if ever, mention Jesus. The healthy diet includes not only the mandate of God’s rule over church and society but also the knowledge of how to have a personal relationship with that God and thus enter His Kingdom. Jesus Himself said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man comes unto the Father except by Me.” Paul focused on Christ, and the Church’s message today must focus on Him. If we do not, everything else we speak of becomes meaningless palaver and a religious exercise in spiritual lethargy.
Not only did the Apostle practice universal acceptance and deliver a healthy diet; he also had a …
Non-defensive style (31). The chapter and the book end with the observation that Paul “spoke with all openness, unhindered.” That kind of clear speech and unguarded delivery can occur when a person is speaking the truth and he knows it’s the truth. He doesn’t have to worry about whether he’s telling the same story this time as last, because he always speaks the truth.
I especially like the word “unhindered,” because that word uniquely describes the freedom of the Gospel. Paul couldn’t go about the city. He was still chained day and night to a Roman guard. But the Word of God was free. At the very end of his life Paul wrote these words: “I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained.” And even though Paul was physically imprisoned, he was spiritually free and his letters from Rome (Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, and Philemon) are filled with joy and rejoicing.
Ultimate task unfinished (29 . . .)
Turn to chapter 29 with me, will you? But don’t look down, for the 29th and following chapters of the book of Acts aren’t in your Bibles, but they are being written. They aren’t inspired or infallible like the first 28 chapters, but they are important. I’m particularly interested in the chapter being written today and the portion of that chapter being written by the Evangelical Free Church of St. Louis County. Every contemporary church must ask, “If an outsider, an onlooker, were to observe the life of our church, would he be compelled to want to find our Lord and become one with us in our spiritual adventure?” People should be able to see in our churches saints whose lives are so radiant with joy, so filled with the Holy Spirit, and so responsive to people’s needs, that they are irreversibly drawn into the fast-moving currents of life in the Spirit. Otherwise, we deserve to be dry-docked like the Queen Mary.
But if we will be obedient to what is set forth here in the Book of Acts in such clear language, God will supply all the power and vitality we need. The sweeping changes made possible by the life of Christ in His body can occur among us today, just as they occurred in that first century. May God grant that we will be men and women of faith, with vigor and vision, willing to move with the creative, innovative Spirit in our day and age, so that we might share in the triumphs of the Gospel.
Conclusion: There is an old favorite hymn of the church that has been parodied, unfortunately, not without reason: “Like a mighty tortoise moves the church of God, Brothers, we are treading where we’ve always trod. We are all divided, not one Body we,…” and I don’t remember the rest of it. How much better for it to read as it was written:
“Like a mighty army moves the Church of God;
Brothers, we are treading where the saints have trod;
We are not divided, all one body we,
One in hope and doctrine, One in charity.”
Tags:
Mission accomplished
Acceptance
Tolerance