I please God to come and bless
us together as we continue our meditation in the Acts of the
Apostles and chapter 28 and tonight we'll read from verses 7 to 10. The Acts of the Apostles chapter
28 and reading from verse 7 down to verse 10. In the same quarters
were possessions of the chief man of the island whose name
was Publius who received us and lodged us three days courteously. It came to pass that the father
of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux, to whom
Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed
him. So when this was done, others
also which had diseases in the island came and were healed.
who also honoured us with many honours. And when we departed,
they laden us with such things as were necessary." Well, we continue our thoughts
as the Apostle Paul and the company, as we know, had landed on that
island of Malta. and it was obviously a place
they hadn't anticipated coming upon and yet we see in God's
great providence it was ordained that it should come to pass and
the Lord graciously does still today do things which perhaps
we haven't looked for and haven't expected but it is so that his
purposes may come to pass and very clearly the purposes of
God came to pass in this island of Malta as the Lord was gracious
to come and as we mentioned last week these people were barbarous
by nature and yet we see how well they received the Apostle
and the other prisoners and the soldiers all together and we've
realized that there was that viper that came out of the fire
and went round the wrist of the apostle and then he shook it
off into the fire and the view had been of course that He must
have been a very wicked man that the snake had come out to bite
him with that poisonous venom. He'd escaped perhaps the seas,
but he wasn't going to escape. And then, when the viper fell
in the fire, they changed their view. And then he said, he must
be a god. Well, we find here in these verses,
that we read tonight. Quite clearly, Paul was not a
god, but he believed in the true God. And what an amazing opportunity
it was that this might be demonstrated. And we're told, therefore, in
the place that they landed, and again all ordained by God, of
course, in an island like Malta, which is perhaps something like
the size of the Isle of Wight, There were many, no doubt, many
little inlets. I know it's basically a very
rocky coastal mortar, but no doubt there were certain inlets,
but there was this particular inlet which God ordained that
the prisoners should manage to get to, and it was at this place
that in these same quarters were possessions of the chief man
of the island. Now we should realise there were
many places on this island, but here, the place of the chief
man. He owned a lot of the land, no
doubt, and the buildings, and had possession in this quarter. And so his name was Pubrius,
and he received us and lodged us three days courteously. Again, they had nothing to offer,
naturally, to these barbarous people. They'd just come as they
were. They'd thrown all their goods
overboard. They'd just got the clothes that they stood up in.
And yet here they were, received and lodged three days courteously. Did we not observe the great
work of God in touching this man's heart and those that were
with him to join together in receiving these people and to
lodge them three days courteously." Well, we're thankful to know
that the same God today rules and reigns, so that we may perhaps
think, well, there's not going to be any receiving of us in
this particular place, and there may be much opposition and much
difficulty. God has the hearts of all men
in his hands. Let us never forget that. And
the things which are impossible with men are possible with God. And so here we see this most
amazing situation developing, that here's Paul and his prisoners
and soldiers, courteously received in this place by none other than
the chief man of the island. But there was a purpose in this. And it came to pass that the
father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux. He had a problem, didn't he?
He was very ill. And no doubt Publius had directed
Paul, told him about his father, perhaps by sign language because
they wouldn't have spoken the Maltese language. But yet, there
was his direction. And Paul comes, willingly, and
enters in to this man and what does he do? He prays. He prays. Now what a very clear indication
was that he wasn't the God that they thought he was. He was praying
to his God who was the true God. He made no effort to do anything
other than to pray. How informative that is for us,
isn't it? In the many situations we may
come into, the first thing to do is to pray. How can we expect
any success without prayer? How can we expect the gods to
be with us without prayer? The Lord tells us, I will be
inquired of by the House of Israel to do these things for them.
Sometimes, perhaps, we come into situations and continue in them
and suddenly realise we haven't prayed, or how condemning it
is. And yet, what a favour it is
to be blessed with that prevailing prayer which clearly the Apostle
Paul was granted here. And he entered in and prayed,
and he laid his hands on him, placed his hands on him, specifically
indicating that this was the person that he was praying for. The Lord will look upon him and
have mercy upon him. And in whose name was he praying?
The name of the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes that very clear in his
epistles. The only way to the Father is through the Lord Jesus
Christ, he'd been shown that, he'd been taught that, he would
have prayed in this way so that there would have been a very
clear evidence of who he was praying to and where his hope
was and how his prayers could only enter in through the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so in a few simple words
we can understand the wonderful depth that it contains and the
gracious instruction it gives to us to clearly indicate the
importance of our prayer and how we should pray and to believe
the Lord will hear and answer prayer. Well the Lord was wonderfully
gracious and wonderfully blessed this man and so he was healed.
We're not told anything more about him but we are told he
was healed. And of course, when this was
done, others also which had diseases in the island came and were healed. We can believe again, the Apostle
would have prayed over them, prayed to the Father through
the Son, His great and glorious Saviour, that One who intercedes. That one who rules and reigns
today, that one who is the same today, yesterday and forever,
the one who does not change, the one who still does intercede. What a blessing it is to have
such a God. And so others came and were healed. How wonderful wasn't it that
the Apostle in the providence of God had been cast upon this
island, this area, so that these things might be done. So no doubt,
the name of God was honoured and glorified. What was the effect
upon the people? Well, they honoured us with many
honours, and when we departed, they laded us with such things
as were necessary. Again, we're not told what they
were, but quite clearly They supplied their needs, and they
were in need, weren't they? They'd lost all, it was all left
in the sea and had all been destroyed, and they were clearly in want,
and these people's hearts were moved. They weren't gonna be
paid for it, but they were moved. Moved by the Spirit of God. Let us remember, God has all
men's hearts in his hand. Yes, those who may appear to
be perhaps enemies, those who may perhaps appear to be evil. God is a great God and God can
change hearts and minds. And so we read together in that
chapter in the Galatians as the apostle outlines to us a wonderful
direction. He tells us, be not deceived,
God is not mocked. For whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap. What was the apostle sowing?
He was sowing goodness. What was he sowing? He was sowing
the love of God. He was sowing the mercy of God.
And so he could do those things, desire that the Lord in would
be gracious to him. And then he comes on to say,
and let us not be weary in well-doing. for in due season we shall reap
if we faint not." We should always be ready to serve one another
and everyone in this world in which we live with this way,
well doing, and not to be weary of it. Sometimes we may worry,
perhaps when we don't see any signs or any acknowledgement
of it, what should be our concern. What should be our reaction?
Not to do it for honour and glory ourselves, but to do it as unto
the Lord. And so says the Apostle, as we
have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. We must note that, all men. especially
unto them who are of the household of faith." These words were written
to the Galatians, they're written to the Church of God, they're
written to us today, that we should always remember the gracious
words of the Apostle Paul. And to recognize the great truth
that he said in this chapter, But God forbid that I should
glory, not glory in what we're doing, not glory in it at all. How should we glory? The apostle
tells us. I should glory, save, in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world." Well, that's a wonderful testimony,
isn't it, of the Apostle Paul. And what a great and glorious
example it is for you and me today, to follow out the exhortation
that the Apostle gives to us. And it wasn't that he was just
saying these things and not doing them, because we have here in
this chapter the very clear evidence of what he did, how he worked
it out, He wasn't saying things and not doing them. He was saying
things and doing them. And he was proving the faithfulness
of his God. It's a wonderful thing to be
able to prove the faithfulness of our God. How comforting, how
encouraging it is as we may be able to, not be found pleasing
ourselves. The Apostle wasn't here, sat
down and arguing about this and that. No, he was going about
doing good. Going about doing good. Gracious
example, isn't it, for us today. You know, I remember Peter Al
telling me quite a few years ago, with regard to Crowborough
Chapel. And Crowborough Chapel, of course,
was greatly blessed. And he told me, he said, you
know, really, he said, it's been through the acts of one man who
really has gone about doing good, helping everybody, not asking
for any reward. And because of his gracious example
and the love he showed to people, They came to hear that what he
believed, they might understand. And through that example, many
were blessed. Well, we should always remember
these things for our encouragement. And so tonight, as we think of
these few verses, realize that the relevance of them and to
be privileged to be able to set forth in our little lives the
great gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ because
it was evident through these words that it was so and that
God had the honour and the glory and God changed men's hearts
and minds. Well may we be encouraged by
such passages in the word of God. Amen.