Book of Acts, chapter 28. The
Apostle Paul, with all of the men that were on the ship, they had been delivered from
harm just exactly the way that the Lord said they would. He
is the true and faithful witness. That which He says He will do,
He will do. Oh, that He would give us faith
to believe that. That we might truly rest in His
Word. The Lord had kept Paul from a
snake bite. He had caused the Apostle Heal
the father of a man named Publius. But this place where he was,
Malta, this wasn't where God was sending him. He had been
there for three months. And we pick up in verse 11 and
it says, After three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria
which had wintered in the isle whose sign was Castor and Pollux. Three months, during the winter,
sheltered in this place called Malta. It's amazing that the Lord would
put any of His people anywhere to
keep them. But this is what the Lord did,
not only for Paul and for those, but for Malta. The Lord sent
the Gospel there. Paul had preached the Lord Jesus
Christ. He had said, I am determined
not to preach anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. So the Gospel was preached. in that place. But it's the Lord that knows how our steps are to be ordered.
Why did Paul stay there three months? That's how long the Lord
ordered that he'd be there. We know that. Why have any of
us been here as long as we have? This is where God raised us up.
This is where He sustained us. The Scripture said after three
months we departed in a ship of Alexandria. Now, you know, when you first
read that, you'd think, well, that almost seems like an insignificant
detail. But now you know that there's
not one thing in the Word of God that's just placed there
just as an insignificant tidbit of information. There was a ship. A ship of Alexandria. I'm sure Alexandria, Egypt, that's
the only one that I would know of that would be theirs. A ship. It was a trade ship. Acts 27.6 says there was a centurion
found a ship of Alexandria sailing unto Italy, and he put us therein. There was another ship from Alexandria. Two ships from Alexandria in
this island. Now one of them was wrecked and
the other one wasn't. Two trade ships from a city that
obviously Scripture never records any kind of indication that there
was any gospel there. But the providence of God dictated
that one of those ships would be the means by which Paul and
the rest of the men that were there would be delivered to Malta. Ship was destroyed. They were
saved. A picture, obviously, of redemption. by the shed blood and broken
body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's another ship, Alexandria,
that'll take them from Malta to Rome. Well, here's one thing
that I do know. The events of this world, the
tearing up, the raising up of all types of
industry, Countries that were raised up are countries that
were torn down. Almighty God does all that He
does in this world, in commerce, all of it. Some cities fail. Countries fail. Businesses fail. Some of them prosper for the
good of God's sheep. Amos 3.6 says, Shall a trumpet
be blown in the city, and the people not be afraid, shall there
be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it." Now you take
that Scripture right there. If there's a catastrophe in a
city, has not the Lord done it? He
said, I work all things after the counsel of His own will. All things work together for
good. All things, all things. I've said this before. There's
businesses in this community right here. There's mines. Almighty God will bless Consul
for your good. He'll prosper that coal company
for the good of his people. An oil company, gas company. Electric? Almighty God does all
that He does for His glory and His people's good. This world
has no other purpose. Two ships, both of them from
Alexandria. One of them destroyed, the other
one wasn't. Both of them for God's glory
and His people's good. And it says that that ship had
a sign, Castor and Pollux. Well, I found out that those
were Greek pagan dignities that were supposed to be protectors
of the ships. They put those things out on
the front, you know, guardians, the gods watching over the ships. Man by nature will trust in anything
but the Lord God of heaven. Psalm 20, verse 7 says, Some
trust in chariots, some in horses, but we will remember the name
of the Lord our God. They sailed under Castor and
Pollux. They're good luck charms. You
know, they're St. Christopher, Mark, you know,
up on the dash of their boat. That was their cross around the
neck. graven image. Exodus 20 verse 4 says, Thou
shalt not make unto thee any graven image or any likeness
of anything that is in heaven above or that is in the earth
beneath or what is in the water under the earth. Why? It is a carnal form of creation
worship. Somehow, This is going to give
me an edge. And anyone that says it doesn't,
say that to them. It's not being completely honest. Got a picture, got a cross around
your neck. Don't do that. Don't do that. I was listening to a message
that you preached the other day in 1990. And you said this. You said that when Noah came
out of the ship, he built an altar unto the Lord. And then,
brothers, God said, you know what man by nature, religious
man by nature, would do? He'd worship the ark. We don't worship the ark. We
worship Christ who was pictured in the ark. We don't worship
the cross. God Almighty, the man Christ
Jesus, God Almighty in human flesh who gave His life upon
the tree. They sailed and they had their
good luck charms on it. And it says in verse 12, in landing
at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. You know the thing that's striking
about that verse? Let me read the 13th verse along
with it. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried
there three days, and from thence we fetched a compass and came
to Regium. And after one day the south wind
blew, and we came the next day to Pteli. Let me tell you what struck me
in verse 12 and verse 13, first part of verse 13. It's what was not said. No mention whatsoever of any
believers there for Paul to visit or to minister to. Landed at Syracuse, tarried there
three days, and we fetched a coppice. That is, we veered. That's what it means. Not the
thing you look at that's got the needle. It means they veered. They fetched a compass. But they
went to a place called Syracuse, stayed there three days, veered,
fetched a compass, came to Regium. After one day, the south wind
blew. No mention of any church, any believers
in Regium either. They stayed there one day and
the Lord obviously had no sheep there. God Almighty is sovereign in
salvation, sovereign in providence, sovereign in creation. There
were no believers there for Paul to visit. There had been some. The Scripture had talked about
him in places like Sidon. He came and he visited and he
was glad. But then it says in the latter
part of verse 13, And we came the next day to Pechielah. Verse 14 says where we found
brethren. And we desired Terry with them seven days, and so
we went toward Rome. Some places they went and the
Lord had raised up some believers. Some places they went and He
hadn't. How far often do you have to
drive? How many places, Daryl, between
here and Crossville? Few if you get off the beaten
path. But just to drive? Get on the interstate, just come
to city after city after city. Leave Crossville and we came
to Knoxville. We came to Bristol. We come to
Wytheville. We come to Beckley. We come to
Somersville. And finally, we get to Fairmont. God's raised up a church. Almighty God does as He will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one stays His hand. He said, We found some brethren
there and were desired to tarry with them seven days. You know, what was the difference
between all those cities when Paul left until he ended up in
Rome. What was the difference? All
of those places, Sidon, Malta, Syracuse, Regium, Bethueli, what
was the difference in those cities? But the good pleasure of God. Why are you here tonight? But
by the good pleasure of God. Now you stop and think. What's
the difference between you and someone that has no heart for
Christ? What's the difference? It's not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but it's according to His mercy that He saved us.
Lord, why would You give me a heart? Scripture says, because it pleased
Him to do so. Lord, thank You for the mercy
and grace that You've shown this sinner. What can I do but thank Him? What have I done? What have I
done in myself? Nothing. He said, without me,
you can do nothing. These people right here in this
place, it says they desired Paul to tarry with them. Seven days. Stay with us, Paul. I can tell
you this, there was one day in there that they had the day of
worship. I don't know what day he got there, but in seven days
he was going to come across a time when they'd have their usual
time of meeting together. There's joy for believers to
be able to worship together. We're a family. We're tonight
come together to worship the Lord, to hear the Gospel. As we said last Sunday, tell
us one more time what Almighty God for Christ's sake has done
for me. God's counsel is going to stand.
They stayed there seven days, That wasn't where God was sending
Paul. He was going to Rome. So it says,
So we went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren
heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii for them in
the three taverns, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and
took courage. This is Paul's first visit to
Rome. Romans 1.13, his letter that
he wrote It said that he had not been there. He wrote him
a letter. It is the book of Romans that
we read. Now how these brethren knew about
Paul or heard about him would be all speculation. Maybe someone
from the little city that he had visited, Petuali, maybe they
told him. But they knew. Verse 15, from
Pence, when the brethren heard of us. They came to meet us in
two cities, Appii Forum and the three taverns. Two towns. That's all we know
of. But a special note is made concerning the effect upon the
Apostle Paul when he saw the brethren coming from Rome. It says that he thanked God and
he took courage. He thanked the God of all mercy
that would bring him to this place. How many times had he
been delivered from beatings, being in the deep? How many times
had the Lord delivered him to bring him to this point? What
encouragement! He thanked Almighty God that
God Almighty's Word stands. Thank you, Lord. But you know, for a believer,
we never cease to be thankful. We are. We realize how unthankful
we are. But we are thankful for the thankfulness
that the Lord has given us. 2 Thessalonians 5.18, "...in everything
give thanks. For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you." What is? That you be thankful. That's the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Be thankful that Almighty God
has revealed Himself unto you. Be thankful that God's kept you
to this point. Be thankful that the Lord will
not leave you, won't forsake you. Be thankful that He's raised
you up. Be thankful that He's put you
where you're at. Be thankful. If you're here still
right now, it's because God Almighty has not done. When He's done,
He'll receive you unto Himself. Paul was going to Rome. The Lord
had kept him. And all through all those trials
and the harassment that he had gone through with the Jews and
with the beatings, he saw those that God Almighty had sent him
to and he was thankful. But then it says, and he took
courage. Now it doesn't say that he was
comforted. That's not the word. The word
there is bold. He thanked God and he was bold. I don't doubt that he was comforted,
but that's not the word that the Holy Spirit used. It says
he took courage. He was bold in that which God
Almighty had done and would do. Courage. Courage set forth in
Romans 4, 20 and 21. Listen to this. Concerning God's
promise to Abraham, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God and being
fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able also
to perform. I was thinking just a moment
ago when Brother Scott was talking about, we all know that we're
going to die. Unless the Lord comes back and we're here and remaining
and not preventing those that have died in the faith, if that be the case, we'll be
here. If not, we're going to die. But
this is courage. Paul was thankful and he took
courage. This very thing that the Lord
had told Abraham, he staggered not at the promise of God through
unbelief. Now you think of all these things
that we read concerning God's promise to His people. This is
courage. They believe God. He was strong in faith, giving
glory to God, being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he
was able also to perform. Let me ask you this. Has God Almighty given you faith
to believe that the way God Almighty has said it shall be, that that's
the way it's going to be? That in that day when we leave
this world, I think about Stephen. Stephen was being stoned. This is what Stephen said. He
said, I see the Son of God standing at the right hand of God the
Father. I see Him. Now let me ask you this. How
much courage do you think that man had by the grace of God.
How much boldness! That the way that Almighty God
said it was going to be, I will not leave you, Stephen. I will
not forsake you. Paul saw these brethren coming
from Rome and he was thankful and he took courage. And that's
the way God's people are. Thankful. for the mercy of God
that has been shown them. And they take courage that the
way that Almighty God has said that things shall be for them,
it shall be. Let me read you this last verse
of Scripture out of Job. Courage, boldness, faith. Job said in Job 19, 26-27, And
though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God, whom I shall see for myself. And mine eyes shall behold
in not another, though my veins, my vital organs, be consumed
within me." This is courage, thankfulness,
Thankful. Lord, thank You that You have
revealed Yourself to me. Courage. Boldness. Boldness in believing God's Word. Believe in God. Doesn't that
just settle your heart? Just say, Lord, with everything
that's uncertain, This world is fearful of the
unknown. But for a believer, the Apostle Paul says, I know
whom I have believed. And I'm persuaded. Now boy, there's grace right
there. I'm persuaded. I'm persuaded that He's able
to keep that which I've committed unto Him against that day. You know, if Almighty God settles
a man's heart, a woman's heart, He just settles you. Settles
you. The fleetingness of this world
has no sting to it. There's no victory in the grave. He was thankful. He took courage. Oh, that God Almighty would settle
our hearts that we might behold Him by faith, who by the grace of God we shall
see very soon.