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That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get started with today's message from Pastor Skip Heitzig. If you've ever been in a storm on the sea you know this reality. It's up high and down low and you think with each one it's going to break the boat and capsize. Their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man. And are at their wits end. Then they cry out to the Lord in their trouble. And he brings them out of their distress as he calms the storm so that the waves are still.
Then they are glad because they are quiet. And so he guides them to their desired haven. Oh that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. Now God is in this storm of Acts 27 and 28. At the very least what he is doing is getting the attention of the 276 passengers on board or 275 other ones to at least now listen to Paul and respect him because he was right the first time and right the second time. And now they're going to at least listen to this crazy preacher, this man of God. God has their attention.
God is in this storm. So back to our text in chapter 27 of Acts. I want you to just notice what we read just a little bit. Notice it says in verse 40 that they let go the anchors and left them in the sea.
Do you see where it reads that? Now go back a few verses to something we read last week. Verse 28 and they took soundings and they found it to be 20 fathoms and when they had gone a little farther they took soundings again and found it to be 15 fathoms. And then fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for a day to come.
So they took soundings. That is they put up weight on a rope. The rope was marked.
They threw it overboard. When it hit the bottom they could read the rope. They knew how far from the bottom they were so they were 120 feet. Then they were 90 feet and they put the anchors down at 90 feet. In the next section they just let the anchors go.
They just cut the anchors. The boat was being disintegrated and they came to the land. If you were to go to the city or the island of Malta today there's a couple of famous churches built in homage of the shipwreck of Paul. One is called Shipwreck Cathedral.
It's in the main port of Valletta but there's another smaller one in what's called St. Paul's Bay which what most people believe to be the area where the ship ran aground. In the 1960s an old sailor and an old diver along with the team was diving off the coast of Malta and they found from the Roman era four anchors. Now who knows what they are but it's interesting because somebody was snooping around Malta and asking about the biblical account and this guy Ray Ciancio I think was his name said, Oh I was part of the team that found those four anchors or at least found four anchors and he said he described the place as a place where two seas meet where there is a sandy beach and at the precise depth of 90 feet.
And then he showed them, they dove down to show them where they found the anchors. Now the anchors have been exhumed and they are presently the ones that are found. The four Roman anchors, very basic anchors, probably would fit the description being off of an Alexandrian grain ship. They're currently in the National Maritime Museum in Malta with no special sign on them just sort of in the corner and the sign reads four Roman anchors. Now we don't know if those are the four anchors but it's interesting that people day after day in this museum walk past these four anchors completely oblivious to the tale that those four anchors might have told. So some believe that these are the anchors from the shipwreck that Paul was on.
They certainly fit the date archaeologically, they fit where they were found and it's just interesting next time you're in Malta check it out. Now we're in chapter 28 verse 1. Now when they had escaped they then found out that the island was called Malta.
Now I'm going to guess something. I'm going to believe, it's my conviction, that when Luke wrote verse 1 of chapter 28 he was giving us a play on words. The word Malta is a Phoenician term. The Phoenicians were the sea-going group off of the northern coast of the Mediterranean north of Israel, the area of Lebanon, and they conquered that area and they settled Malta. And their word for escape is Malta. The word Malta means escape or refuge. So it's as if he's saying and when we had escaped then we found out that the island was called escape. Or when we found refuge we discovered the island we were on was called refuge.
That's what the Phoenicians called it. So all 276 passengers escaped to this little island of Malta and the natives showed us unusual kindness for they kindled the fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. I really like this. You know to be hospitable to one or two people, that's nice, but being hospitable to 276 and a bunch of them are prisoners on their way perhaps to be executed to show kindness. Not just kindness but an unusual kindness. The old King James, no little kindness, which means a big kindness, a whole lot of kindness.
Did you know, and by the way these are unbelievers, these are pagans, they have a pagan worldview, you'll see it. Did you know that the Bible places a high value on a character trait all Christians should exhibit and that is the trait of hospitality. We should be given to hospitality. It's required in church leadership to be hospitable but it should be exemplary in all Christians' lives. The writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 13 says that we are to show hospitality or show love to one another. And to entertain strangers for some by doing that have actually entertained angels without knowing it.
Let me drill down just a little bit. Not only are we called to be hospitable, but did you know that unbelievers, unsaved, unchristian people, that God will often treat them based on how hospitable or not they are to God's people. No, that's a principle all the way through Scripture.
It's an interesting principle. It goes all the way back to Genesis 12. I will bless those who bless you, God said to Abraham, and I will curse those who curse you. You are my people. You're going to be the progenitor of my people, the Jewish people. I'm going to bless those who bless you, curse those who curse you.
I just think that's interesting and I want to show you that in the text. In Matthew chapter 10 of your New Testament, and again you don't have to turn to these, I can just tell you where they are and you can write it down and go back later. This is Matthew chapter 10 in verse 40. Jesus, talking to the 12 disciples whom He sends out on a mission, says, And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. Isn't that interesting? Furthermore, Luke tells us in the same chronology of Jesus sending out the 12 disciples, He just expands on it and includes the detail, Matthew does it. Jesus said, Kind of a radical thought, isn't it?
So be nice to Christians, right? So they showed us an unusual kindness. They kindled a fire. That's a big fire to warm 276 p.m. That's quite a fire. That's a bonfire. It made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out of the heat and fastened on his hand.
And this is getting good. So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, No doubt this man is a murderer whom though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live. But he shook the creature off into the fire and he suffered no harm. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we get back to Skip's teaching, God desires to work in and through your life as a believer. And he does this through the Holy Spirit, who lives in everyone who places their trust in Jesus. We want to help you better understand the Holy Spirit by sending you The Holy Spirit Then and Now, a resource featuring two books by Chuck Smith. The Book of Acts commentary, Empower a Biblical Balance on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit with an introduction by Skip Heitzig. This resource is our thanks for your gift of at least 50 dollars today to help share biblical teaching with more people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give at least 50 dollars today to reach people around the world through Connect with Skip Heitzig. Let's continue with today's teaching with Pastor Skip.
Now I have a simple question. What's Paul doing gathering sticks? He's an apostle. Not only that, but I mean you have a huge bonfire to warm 276 cold, wet souls. And Paul gets up and just starts gathering sticks. Now there's an obvious reason for this, and that is any fire that is burning needs to be replenished with more fuel, more wood. And there was a brushwood on Malta that it was famous for, so he's gathering a brushwood, putting it into the fire.
That makes sense. But why Paul? Man, Paul made incredible promises because an angel of the Lord appeared to him.
He's the guy that got them to land safely without getting killed. They kind of owe Paul their lives. Paul could have just barked out orders and said, I'd like room service, please. I'd like you, you, and you to go get me more wood.
In fact, the centurion I saved here, why don't you go get wood? But he didn't do that. And here's just an insight into Paul's character. Paul, the apostle, the great leader, is picking up sticks. It's what leaders do. No job is too small for a true leader of God. A leader doesn't say, well, you know, it's not really in my job description. I'm the anointed of the Lord.
I don't pick up sticks. I preach to Caesar. For Paul the apostle, little things like picking up sticks were just as important for him to do as preaching salvation to Caesar in Rome.
That's a leader. Jesus washed the disciples' feet. Paul said, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. He emptied himself.
Let that mind be in you. Jesus said, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. So any leader who says, I'm too important to pick up sticks, is really not all that important at all. I just love this about Paul. He's so practical. He sees that something needs to be done. He just doesn't. He sees trash that needs to be picked up. He picks it up. Something needs to be straightened up. He straightens it up.
That's what I love about Paul. I'm amazed. So he's putting these sticks, the bundle of sticks, putting them on the fire.
The only problem is one of the sticks is alive. It happens to be a viper. Interesting. History shows us that there are no more poisonous snakes on the island of Malta. They've eradicated them all.
Isn't that interesting? But back then it was a problem. I tend to think, and I'll show you in a minute why, it was a problem around the Mediterranean world in general. So the snake grabs a hold of Paul, and all of the Maltese people, and it probably spreads throughout the 276 others on board, well, we know what this means.
This means that this guy's a bad guy. This will give you insight into their theology. And it's a very important insight for you to see, because it's still an insight in many people's theology today. And notice that it says in verse 4, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet... What's the next word? Justice. Justice does not allow to live. There's a problem in my Bible. Justice is not capitalized.
It should be. Because justice, when used here, is the word decay, and decay was the goddess of justice, lady justice, the daughter of Zeus, one that they worshipped on Malta. So though it says just a small j, as if to describe the attribute of justice, they were actually saying a description of the deity, the goddess decay, the daughter of Zeus, whom they call lady justice.
Now, we're not that astonished. We have in our country somebody called lady justice, depicted in American art as a blindfold woman holding the scale. She's blindfold, so she can't be partial to one party or the other. That's lady justice. That's a throwback to paganism. And this belief in decay. So they say justice. They mean a capital J.
But they say justice does not allow him to live, but he shakes it off. Now, here's what I want you to see. These are unbelievers. They are pagan. They have a pagan worldview, but they have an interesting belief in right and wrong. They're not Christian, they're not Jewish, but they believe in right and wrong. They have a sense of morality.
And I'm bringing this up because I'm questioning you. Where did they get this sense of morality from? This right and wrong. This saying, well, this is wrong, and wrong gets punished, and this is right, and right gets rewarded. Because that's what they believe. That's their worldview, that wrong will get punished either right now or eventually.
We Christians believe that as well, that eventually wrong will all be dealt with by a loving, holy, just God, and right will be rewarded eventually. They had this belief system. Where did they get it from? God put it in their hearts. That's where they got it from.
He puts it in the hearts of all men. It's called a conscience. It's that stamp of God and of sovereign, eternal God in the lives of every single human being. Started way back in the garden when they took of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And just a few chapters ahead in the book of Romans, it tells us this. This is Romans chapter 1.
I told you it's a different study. We're turning a lot tonight. Romans 1. That's easy to turn to.
You have no excuse for not turning there. Romans chapter 1, verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That presupposes they know the truth or they at least hold at one time to the truth. It was given to them. They had it.
They held it, but they suppressed it. And they did it in unrighteousness because what may be known of God is manifest in them for God has shown it to them. So God places that innate knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil. And even the pagans of Malta had that. They're in error because they think that the gods immediately punish and immediately reward rather than the God, the only true God, Yahweh, will ultimately and eventually judge all mankind based on their faith in Jesus Christ or not.
But at least they have that. And that was placed there by God. So Paul reaches in a viper, a poisonous viper, that's the word that is used, a deadly poisonous viper, not a little garter snake, just like this.
Think a rattlesnake. They're thinking, he's going to die. They're kind of waiting for him to keel over. But it's funny, verse 5, he just sort of shakes it off. You know, he just glances it off. He just throws it away.
He's calm. He didn't go, ah, just shook it off and suffered no harm. However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. Why would they believe that? Because they knew those snakes.
They knew their island. That's what has happened before. But after they looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
So something interesting about their theology was very fickle. First of all, he's going to die. He's angered Lady Justice.
Not now. He's a god himself. He didn't swell up. He didn't die. Now Paul, flicking off this little serpent, is a fulfillment of prophecy.
That's probably why he was so calm. He's fulfilling a prophecy made by Jesus Christ. I'm going to share with you out of the Gospel of Luke. In Luke chapter 10, now I pre-marked my Bible, so I'm not expecting you to turn there as quickly as I can. I have a little cheater tab.
See that little yellow tab? So Jesus sent out not just 12 around the Sea of Galilee, but 70 disciples, and they returned. They were all psyched because of their success. And the 70 returned, verse 17, Luke chapter 10, returned with joy saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
Of course they're subject to my name. I was there when Satan fell out of heaven. Behold, now watch this, I give you authority to trample on serpents and the scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing by any means shall hurt you. So evidently serpents were a common problem in that era because Jesus made that part of his promise package to his 12 and to his 70, expanded it to others. Not only that, but in Mark chapter 16, Jesus said to them, Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned, and these signs will follow those who believe. In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues, they will take up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them, and they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. So Paul has a viper grab his arm and go, Oh yeah, I remember what Jesus said. Didn't think anything of it, because he knew this promise. Now this promise does not mean that you can have a church service and bring snakes and pass them around, and if it bites you and you die that it shows that you had no faith.
That is ludicrous, but it happens in the southern states in some churches. Jesus was making a promise that as the gospel is being spread, there will also come with the spreading of the gospel protection, and Paul knew that. Paul knows, look, it'd be stupid for me to die here, because I was just aboard a ship, and God preserved me on that boat, plus He told me I'm going to make it to Caesar, and I don't see Caesar walking toward me right now as this snake is holding onto my arm, so I'm guessing I'm not going to die from this.
So he shook it off. He knew the promise of the Lord. Thanks for listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We hope you've been strengthened in your walk with Jesus by today's program. Before we let you go, we want to remind you about this month's resource that will help you understand the person and work of the Holy Spirit.
Our two-book bundle, The Holy Spirit Then and Now, with two books by Chuck Smith, is our thanks for your support of Connect with Skip Heitzig today. Request your copy when you give $50 or more. Call 800-922-1888.
That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. And did you know that you can find full message series and libraries of content from Skip Heitzig on YouTube? Simply visit the Connect with Skip Heitzig channel on YouTube and be sure to subscribe to the channel so you never miss any new content. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's Word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection At the foot of the crossing Cast all burdens on His Word Make a connection, connection Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
