Island of Refuge

Trust was placed in God during the storm here. Trust was placed in God after being bitten by a snake. And maybe it was at this moment that he discovered the reality of one of these special protections for those in the apostolic community. But he had every reason perhaps to wonder as everybody just immediately started staring at him, waiting for him to swell up and fall over and die. I don't think he had a doubt.

Why? Because God had told him that he would make it where? To Rome! That he would stand and speak before whom?

Caesar! Sometimes things happen to us that we don't quite understand. We don't always see, at least at first, why God allowed that particular event to transpire. But as we seek God, and as we continue to serve him despite our circumstances, a couple of things usually happen. God brings us encouragement, and he brings us opportunities to serve. Paul experienced that after being shipwrecked.

And we're going to explore that together today. This is wisdom for the heart. Stephen Davey continues through his series from the book of Acts with this message called, Island of Refuge.

Here's Stephen. When we last left the Apostle Paul, he was swimming for shore in the midst of a hurricane. 276 passengers, the text tells us, now shipwrecked, are swimming for their lives while others are clinging to pieces of wood, allowing these crashing, thunderous waves to drive them to shore. It's an unfamiliar shore, by the way.

In fact, they won't know until some moments later. Acts chapter 28 informs us that they have washed up on the island of Malta. I found it interesting to discover that the word Malta means place of refuge. You could jot that into the margin of your Bible, or you could amplify it to read safe haven. Now, although Paul and the others survived the hurricane and they're now huddled on the beach, they're exhausted and they are dripping wet and they're cold from these wintry winds.

The word of the Lord had come true. Not one of them had died at sea. Not one of them had drowned in that terrific storm.

All of them have made it safely to the island of refuge. You might also like to know that in 1964, this little island barely 17 miles long gained its independence from Great Britain. However, long before that day, many of Malta's citizens were about to be liberated from the kingdom of darkness by the gospel of Jesus Christ as delivered by Paul. Now, this island will hold some rather fascinating adventure for Paul and and some surprising things for us as well as we observe this this drama taking place.

So I invite you to rejoin me if you haven't turned already. Let's rejoin these castaways in Acts chapter 28, verse one. And when they had been brought safely through, then we found out that the island was called Malta. And the natives showed us extraordinary kindness for because of the rain that had set in. And because of the cold, they kindled a fire and received us all. I have to stop here because I think one of the most surprising revelations to Paul and the others was the hospitality of these natives.

Your text may even read barbarians. They simply were not cultured Greeks, exhausted and still dripping wet from their swim to shore. Paul and these survivors were still in danger because of those November winds that were still hurricane force. They could have died by exposure to these these wintry winds. Now they are the enemies of these survivors. But it seems that Luke was especially moved by their kindness because he he penned in his journal that phrase that you just read.

Go back to verse two. They showed us extraordinary kindness. That's another way of Luke saying, I couldn't believe the way they treated us. And we were perfect strangers to them and they cared for us. Don't forget, by the way, that that among these castaways, there are federal prisoners. There are criminals who've been washed up. There's every reason to fear.

There's every reason to not care. And yet they are cared for by these islanders, whether they are prisoner or captain. I couldn't help but think that they illustrate for us the illustration of what the church should be. For Paul would write to the Romans that he's trying to see personally. In Romans Chapter 12, verse 13, he says to them, practice hospitality. He says practice because none of us are any good at it. Some may be better than others, but we all can get better. And so he says practice hospitality, caring for others. Now, that practice is really an unlovely word, isn't it? I've taken a survey both hours.

They're all in the same shape. We're probably in here. But how many of you at some point in your life took piano lessons? Nearly 100 percent. How many of you are still taking piano lessons? And why is that? We hated to practice.

Nobody likes to. And he said here to practice, the word could be rendered hunt down, pursue, initiate, caring, hospitality. And you can't help but be amazed, as I'm sure many others were here by what happened. The latter part of verse two again says they kindled a fire and received the prominent ones. They received the captain, prisoner, commander, soldier, sailor alike. This wasn't a caste system, nor should the church be.

There aren't people who are in and people who are outside. It is for us all. What incredible hospitality. I want you to notice the second revelation here. It's a revelation of Paul's character in verse three. 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 on his hand. The word indicates he just sunk his fangs into Paul's hand and hung on. Rather startling event here. And I want you to understand that the revelation of Paul's character, by the way, is not found in the fact that he was bitten by a snake and he didn't scream or faint or panic and rush into the ocean or any of those other options.

I would have probably chosen no. The revelation of his character is in the first few words of verse three, that it's that's so easy to miss. But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks. What in the world is Paul doing gathering a bundle of sticks in the rain, in the wintry wind of November, in the middle of a hurricane? He was, if you remember from our last discussion, the man of the hour. He was, in practical terms, the captain of the ship. He should have been on the front row of that bonfire with a marshmallow on a hanger and hot chocolate.

And everybody slapping him on the back saying, you're the greatest. Where's Paul? Anybody see Paul? Where is that man?

He's over there in the rain gathering sticks. What character he had. No task was too small. Someone once wrote, it is only the little man who will refuse the little task. And Paul reveals great humility, by the way, in this act of service. Everyone else is there. And with great humility, the great apostle Paul, the man of the hour.

Is picking up sticks. Humility is a problem, isn't it? And all of us would have to agree none of us have arrived for to say that you've arrived is only to prove that you haven't.

To say that you have it means you don't. H.A. Ironside, who pastored Moody Church a generation or two ago, had a man come up to him.

I believe it was Ironside. And this man told his pastor a story. He had tried to develop a little more humility in his life.

And so he thought to himself, what could I do that would be very humbling in service to the Lord? And the thing that came to his mind was to to make up a sandwich board. You know, you've got a board on the front. You've got a board on the back and you've got this message.

Of course, the cartoons always caricature. These people are saying something like repent. The end of the world is at hand or whatever. But he wrote out verses telling the gospel on the front and on the back. He said, I figured this would really develop humility in me in the face of other people. And so he said to Ironside, he said, I put that sandwich board on and I went downtown Chicago during the rush hour.

Everybody's in their carriages and they're walking on the streets. And he said, I walked back and forth in Chicago, downtown Chicago. And he said, I endured the jeers and I heard them sneering and laughing at me and the mocking. And he said, as I was walking back and forth, the thought came to me.

Lord, there aren't many people willing to do this for you. Oops. Any admission of humility proves the absence of humility. That's why the Bible doesn't tell you to arrive at humility. It says to act with humility. In fact, First Peter five is the classic passage where he says to the church.

But you all know one is exempt. But you all clothe yourselves with humility. And the word clothe is the key word is the word of the slave who's tying about his waist, the apron as he begins his duties of serving his master. So you all in the church tie about your waist, the apron of service.

And whether you think you have it or not, you act with humility. You serve one another as you serve the Lord. So here's the great apostle, in effect, with an apron tied around his waist. And if you missed it in the midst of serving the Lord in the midst of serving the Lord with humility, he's bitten by a snake. Look at verse four. And when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, can you imagine this sight? Oh, boy, they began saying to one another, undoubtedly, this man is a murderer. And though he has been saved from the sea, justice could be it could be the title for one of their goddesses. Justice has not allowed him to live. However, he shook the creature off into the fire and suffered no harm.

Now, somewhere between verse five and verse six, I think Dr. Luke, who is a medical doctor, probably rushed to Paul's side and said, Paul, good night. Are you OK? Let me see that hand. Odd. There's no swelling. There's no discoloration. Paul, how are you feeling?

No fever. He just shook his hand and the creature off and into the fire. Here's the third revelation, by the way. It's the revelation of power. And it's a revelation of power predicted by Christ years earlier for his apostles. According to Mark 16, they could be bitten by serpents and nothing would happen to them. As one of those unique signs of the apostolic community that they were indeed following the true God.

We are talking a little bit about this after the first or second hour. Kevin and I, we were saying we wondered if Paul knew that verse in Mark. He probably didn't. Maybe this was the revelation to him of this unique power where he was saved certain death. You say, well, man, I want that today.

Well, go ahead and try. Grab that rattler by the tail and it'll be a different story for you. You've forgotten you're not an apostle. And there are people, by the way, sincere people in snakehandling movements who die every year in the state of North Carolina, who forgotten the unique relationship between this sign and being an apostle. You see, prior to the completion of this book, the revelation of power validated the apostle as the messenger from God. They didn't have this as the litmus test for that man's authenticity. And so God gave certain unique signs through those men to prove.

Now we have the litmus test of doctrine, John writes, whereby we test those who say they speak for God. Well, on this island, after he shakes that snake off into the fire, the people are still confused. They think he is God.

Look at verse six. But they were expecting that he was about to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited a long time, makes you wonder if they wanted to see it happen.

Just the way it's worded and had seen nothing unusual happened to him. They changed their minds and began to say he is a god. Now, they're they're still confused.

He isn't a murderer and he isn't deity. They haven't got the picture yet. They'll get it a little later. But for now, did you notice here that Paul was called to suffer just a little bit more?

If you've been with us in these previous weeks and in our last discussion, I found myself saying, you know, why? Why additional suffering here? Oh, I know he he didn't swell up or die. But imagine the initial fright and and perhaps even the pain of that initial bite. And you have a snake hanging from your hand.

Nothing we would volunteer for. I found myself thinking, hasn't Paul gone through enough? He's just spent 14 days on the seas with high winds and hunger surrounded by terror stricken people. He's then been shipwrecked now for the fourth time in his ministry career. And he makes it to shore and he's exhausted and he's he's tying the apron on and he is going to serve them.

And he goes out and he's bitten by a snake to top it all off. Why more? Well, one of my commentary friends by the name of James Montgomery Boyce refresh my thinking as I read his work on this passage. Let me refresh yours. I've pulled right from his text for reasons that believers are surprised by suffering, even though we probably shouldn't be surprised.

Let me give them to you. If you're following your notes, the first of of reasons is, isn't this there is simply common suffering. This is simply the result of our fallenness. Those aches and those pains, those sicknesses, those reversals, those funerals, those trips to the hospital are all reminders that we are part of a fallen race.

We are all on our way to keep an appointment with death. And that is why we look to the new heaven and the new earth and a glorified body where there will no longer be common suffering. Second, there is corrective suffering. This is the discipline of the believer for disobedience. Taught in Hebrews Chapter 12, when the believer gets off the path and and strays, rebels and refuses to repent, there is the discipline of God in his life. There are times when God gets our attention best when we're flat on our backs.

We have nowhere else to look. But up third, there is constructive suffering. This is the suffering that James refers to as suffering that invades your life. And if you respond with wisdom that only God can give, that is able then to produce a new maturity, perseverance, endurance. So God has designed this constructive course, this curriculum and all of our lives that develops that kind of maturity.

And it is the curriculum of suffering. Like this interesting according to the book of Hebrews, Chapter five, verse eight, as it talks about Jesus Christ, the man, the God man. But as man, it said that he learned obedience through the things that he suffered, right? Fourth, finally, there is Christ glorifying suffering.

This is suffering that allows God's power to be revealed in and through your life. And that's what Paul has just become involved in here. And I want you to get ready for another revelation of apostolic power.

Look at look at verse seven, Christ glorifying power. Now, in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the leading man of the island named Publius, leading man. That means he was the chief. He was the liaison of the Roman government to this little island people. But he was on this island, the man.

No doubt about it. He had the chief seat named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us courteously three days. Verse eight.

And it came about that the father of Publius was lying in bed, afflicted with recurrent fever and dysentery. And Paul went in to see him. And after he had prayed, he laid his hands on him and healed him. The healing power, by the way, was also another validation of the apostle. According to Hebrews Chapter two and Mark Chapter 16, that he was indeed from God. Verse nine. And after this had happened, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases were coming to him and getting cured. In other words, men and women, do you realize that when when Paul left the island of Malta, the hospital was empty? For the moment, disease and affliction physically had been exiled from the island as a proof that this God was the God overall. And the message that Paul was delivering was the truth. Verse 10.

This is no surprise. And they also honored us with many marks of respect. And when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all we needed. Now, let me make some application for us further, especially for those here this morning who have found themselves shipwrecked on strange islands under unforeseen and unprepared events in life. Number one, sometimes God sends encouragement in the most unlikely environment.

Paul expected to be encouraged by his arrival to Rome, not shipwrecked on the island of Malta. And if you were Paul, you and I would have been saying as we dried out beside that roaring fire, getting over the initial shock of that snakebite. OK, Lord, we have probably had this quiet conversation. It's time for you to spell it out. Fourteen days over there, I'm here on this island, two years now waiting to get to Rome. It's time for some clouds in the sky to sort of write it out.

I'm going to watch. No message from heaven, no explanation in the book of Acts. Other than it isn't long as we see that Paul is warming up to this Phoenician hospitality and he discovers the people who are ready to hear the gospel of Christ. You know, if you look over Paul's ministry shoulder, as we have been studying his life, it occurred to me that nearly every town that Paul went in, he got booted out. He was stoned. He was beaten several times. He was chased out. He escaped in the night twice. Every every town Paul went in.

He must have known. Well, here's another one that I'm going to have to leave in a hurry. Except this island. A surprising turn of events.

Yes. And yet this island. Go back with me and drink in this rare moment for the apostle and change. Look at verse 10 again. And they honored us with many marks of respect. And when we were setting sail, they supplied us with all we needed.

That's encouraging. And it is sent by God to Paul in the most unlikely place and from the most surprising source. Second, sometimes God requires availability and trust at the most unprepared of times. Trust was placed in God during the storm here. Trust was placed in God after being bitten by a snake. I don't know if he knew Mark 16, 15.

Obviously, he didn't have a copy in his in his pocket. And maybe it was at this moment that he discovered the reality of one of these special protections for those in the apostolic community. But he had every reason perhaps to wonder as everybody just immediately started staring at him, waiting for him to swell up and fall over and die. Maybe. No, I don't think he had a doubt.

Why? Because God had told them that he would make it where? To Rome, that he would stand and speak before whom?

Caesar. But he was still unprepared for this. The question remains, ladies and gentlemen, where is it in your life and mine? That it is the greatest challenge to place faith and trust in God's care and providence.

Where is it that you feel most unprepared? If Paul had crawled up in a corner somewhere and hung a sign out on the door that said, do not disturb. Leave me alone. I don't want to be here on this island.

I want to be in Rome. That's all I'm going to think about. None of us would have blamed them. But yet he would have missed the moment.

He would have not been in the position to serve others. And in the final analysis, richly served by others. That leads me to the final lesson.

Third, sometimes God produces fruit in the most unusual of places or harvest fields. Ministering to people occurred at a time when Paul could have curled up and waited for the next book to come along. Well, I just sit it out here. I'm on my way to Rome. God has already promised me I'm going to speak to Caesar.

Did you hear that? I'm going to speak to Caesar. How many men do you know who are going to speak to Caesar would stop and talk and minister and care for peasants? And yet, because Paul was willing, what fruit? Frankly, Malta wasn't on Paul's ministry map. And there wasn't any telling had Paul remained silent how long it would be before these people would ever hear the truth, the liberating, freeing truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And he could have easily justified his silence. This wasn't on my plan. This isn't part of my missionary journey.

You know, one day when they write it in the concordance of your Bibles, you know, Malta could be off it for all I care. They won't be interested. These are Phoenicians, superstitious people.

They believe in the goddess of justice and the God of the sea. They won't care. They won't listen.

So I'll just wait for the next grain ship to come by. Maybe it's like that relative or coworker or child or neighbor. You assume they'd never be interested. But Paul was willing to get involved with people in a place he'd never even considered before. And according to church history, ladies and gentlemen, an evangelical church on Malta began at the time of Paul's brief stay.

That's right. In fact, even to this day, the place where Paul and his companions swam to shore is called St. Paul's Bay. And by the way, the first pastor of the church on Malta church historians record was a man named Publius. So an island where he found himself shipwrecked and life turned upside down once again, became an island of refuge and encouragement and ministry and fruit. May God do that with us on whatever island we find ourselves for his glory. Thanks for being with us today here on Wisdom for the Heart. I hope this message from God's word has helped and encouraged you. Our Bible teacher, Stephen Davey, is the pastor of the Shepherd's Church in Cary, North Carolina.

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