but hasn't this been an incredible study as we've seen the unfolding of God's sovereignty in the life of Paul and the life of other believers and how he controls things and it sure helps us in everyday life, doesn't it? Acts chapter 28, Acts chapter 28, the name of the message is a preacher sent, a preacher sent.

Oftentimes people ask, This question, if there's a bunch of God's sheep on an island who never heard the gospel, how are they going to be saved? Right? Well, we have an answer today from the scriptures. So this will be a great passage for us to take people and say, God will send a preacher. God will send a preacher to those lost sheep. And the preacher won't know who they are, he'll just go there and preach to everyone, and the Lord will save his sheep. And his will will be done. Okay.

Acts chapter 28. Come to this last chapter of this wonderful book. My, last week we saw a great shipwreck occur. We centered on God's sovereign control over every detail of life, which was illustrated through that storm that Paul went through, and to his voyage all of a sudden to an island that they were never planning on going to, called Milta, which is now called Malta. All by the sovereign will, decree, and purpose of God. So let's stand up together and read verses one to five together. of Acts chapter 28. We'll be going to verse 10 in our study, but let's stand up and read verses 1 to 5. Acts 28.

And I'm just going to call Malta Malta, because that's what it is. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Malta, and the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received us, everyone, because of the present rain and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer, whom the Yet vengeance suffered not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm.

Oh my. My oh my. Now I wouldn't advise you to go stick your hand in a bunch of sticks and have a viper bite you. We're not into that stuff. Nope. Nope. My oh my. Well, despite human decisions and natural disasters, in desperate attempts to survive, remember last week we saw him throw over the tackle, they threw over all the supplies. Man did everything he could do to deliver himself, didn't he? That was a picture of that. That was a picture of natural man trying to deliver himself. Trying to save himself. But you know what?

Scripture says salvation's of the Lord, right? And the angel of the Lord had sat beside Paul and told him, if everyone stays on the ship, no one will perish. They're all going to be safe. So Paul relayed that to the centurion, and he listened. And remember, the sailors were trying to escape the ship in the lifeboats, and the soldiers chopped the ropes off so they couldn't? Because if they had left, there's no one to pilot the ship, is there? Nope. No one there to pilot the ship.

So despite human decisions, natural disasters, and despite attempts to survive, God's providence orchestrates every event, guiding the ship, preserving all lives, both saved and lost, and ensuring that Paul reaches the destination that God told him he would reach.

Remember, God told him, you must go to Rome. When God says you must do that, it's going to happen. Right? It's not going to be maybe happen, it's going to happen. It's going to happen. My, oh my, because our God's sovereign. And so here we see that God, by God's sovereign decree and by God's sovereign will, they had not even planned to go to Malta. They were sailing to Italy, weren't they? They were sailing to Rome. That's where they were going. But God's got some lost sheep. over here on an island.

They don't know it's their time of love. They don't know it's their time they're gonna hear the gospel, but God does, he knows. And he knows the only way they're gonna know the truth is by the preaching of the word, the preaching of the gospel of full salvation in and through Christ alone, not by any works of man.

And he's got some sheep over there, that Ephesians 1.4 says he chose in Christ before the foundational world that they should be holy and blameless before him in love. So he's going to send a preacher there. You know what he did? He sent a preacher there. And not just one. He sent Paul with his companions. Luke was with him. Trichisarus was with him. And there was others, I'm sure, with Paul. You didn't just send them one preacher, you sent them three or four. Oh my, it's wonderful, I'll tell you what.

We looked at how the storms of our lives, whether physical or spiritual, are not random. They're not random. No. No. They're sent by God and their purpose is designed to test our faith, or to draw believers closer to Christ, and to reveal God's unwavering faithfulness to His born-again, blood-washed children.

My daughter has been, as you guys know, reading the Bible, and she says she gave her life to God. And this week I was talking to her and she was having some pretty rough time. And I said, just keep your eyes on Christ, sweetie. She said, all these things that you're going through are all part of the things, your newfound faith. And we always like to tell believers, new believers, it's not easy. It's not gonna be roses and peaches. There's gonna be storms of life, isn't there? Which there is.

But I said, Christ is ever with us. He said, he promised to never leave nor forsake his people. And she calls me back later this week, and she goes, praise God, you told me. My daughter said, praise God, I was just thrilled. She said, praise God, you were right. I just need to keep my eyes on Christ, and those things did draw me closer to Christ. I'm like, well, isn't that wonderful?

So the Lord's teaching her some things, isn't he? So let us not get bitter and angry when we go through things in life. Let us say, well, what can I learn here, Lord? What can I learn here? And you know what these things are doing? They're weaning us from the world. These trials and things we go through.

Vicki said today, she goes, I just want to go home. I just want to be with Christ. After we were listening to Ephesians chapter one to three, she goes, I just want to go home so bad. I just want to be, isn't that true, Abraham? You just want to go home, just be with the Lord, but he's got us here for a time, doesn't he? And for a reason. And when it's our time, when the day that he's determined for us to breathe our last breath, we'll be gone just like that. And you know where we'll be? To be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord. The moment they chop Paul's head off, right? Instantly with the Lord. Can you imagine that? Oh, it's beautiful, isn't it? It's just beautiful.

So these storms in our lives, they're for a reason. So let we who are the redeemed of the Lord, the born-again, blood-washed saints of the Lord, marvel over the fact that not one believer, not one who puts their trust in Christ, will ever be lost. Not one. There's some out there who say, well, they say, God saved me, but I can lose my salvation. Now, number one, let's look at that, okay? Let's look at that. So they're saying it starts with grace, right? But they're saying it finishes with them. Christ says, I'm the author and the finisher of your faith. Those he saves will be going home to be with him forever.

That's good news, isn't it? Why? Because he redeemed us with his blood, because he's God incarnate in the flesh. This isn't no mere man saying this. This is the Word of God, the second person of the Trinity, who's become a man Right? To save his people from their sins. And what, he did it, right? He caught, what'd he say on the cross? It is finished. It's perfect. Salvation's complete. So I preach a salvation that's already finished.

We just look to Christ by God-given faith, right, when we're born again, and we run to Christ, don't we? Oh, it's wonderful. Why do we run to Christ? Because Christ redeemed us on Calvary's cross. Isn't that beautiful? Why are we born again? Because we're sons of God. Before we even believe. Oh yeah. Scripture says in Galatians 4, because you're sons, God has sent the spirit of his Son into your heart whereby you now cry, Abba, Father. We now cry something that we never cried before.

The Lord didn't save me until I was 33 years old, about 33, 34. And I lived a reckless life like everyone else. And when it was the time for the Lord to save me, I was born again by His power and by His might, and was given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and now I just try to rest in Him. I know I'm saved, I know I'm redeemed, or I wouldn't be preaching. I can't tell you about somebody or somewhere, if you've been somewhere and I haven't, I can't tell you what that place is like, right? But if I've been somewhere, I can tell you what that's like, right?

The Lord saved my soul. He did it all, from beginning to end. And I'm gonna tell you about it. Oh my, isn't that wonderful? Christ saves sinners. The question is, are you a sinner? For that part of my life, for 30 years of my life, I didn't even think I was a sinner. No, everybody else was sinners. I was a good person.

So I thought, until a man sent by God, I went over to his house, and I was a diehard Catholic. Oh, I was a diehard Catholic. You know, I was such a diehard Catholic, I only went to church twice a year. Right? Whole rest, I just lived my own flesh. Oh, but I was a proud Catholic. Someone asked me, saying, well, what do you believe? I'm a Catholic. I didn't even tell him what I believe. I just told him I'm a Catholic.

And then this man opened the Bible up. and asked me if I'd ever read the Bible, and I said no. And he took me to 2 Timothy 2, verse 9, it says, he goes, do you go to that priest and ask, tell the priest all your, I said yeah, nah, maybe once every 10 years.

And he goes, why? And I said, because that's what you're supposed to do. And he goes, no, it's not. Look at this verse. It says, there's one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all. You know what happened to my faith, my false faith?

It started crumbling. And he gave me a Bible, and he said, take this home and read it. Gave me a box of tracts, said, take these home and read it. And I was in the privacy of my own home reading these things, and I was getting so convicted. Oh, my. I had a religious experience. Then I got into religion, and you know what happened?

Then the Lord saved me. Then he saved me. Isn't that amazing? By his grace and his mercy. And I found out it wasn't because of that prayer I prayed back there. When I was opening up them tracts, it wasn't because of that prayer. I was saved because Christ regenerated me. Because I was born again and I was given faith to believe. Isn't that amazing? Do we cry out to God? Absolutely. As we saw, the bride says, draw me and I'll run after you. We saw that in Sunday school. Oh yeah.

God makes his people willing to come to Christ, they run to him. My, so let us trust in God's perfect plan to cast all our cares upon him because he cares for us. He cares for us. And let we who are the redeemed of the Lord see the fulfillment of our Lord's purpose in bringing the ship that Paul was in and all the 275 other men who were on that ship safely. to Malta, just as God had told Paul. Just as God had, and you can read about that in Acts chapter 27.

It's amazing. And so here's that ship being guided to be shipwrecked on Malta. And you know, it even says the ones that couldn't swim, they grabbed ahold of boards and not one of them drowned. That's a miracle in itself, isn't it? And they all reached the, they all reached the, Island of Malta. Let's read verses 1 and 2 again. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Malta, which again is Malta nowadays.

And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received everyone because of this present rain and because of this cold. So none of the prisoners escaped. No one aboard that ship died. They were all alive and safe on the island of Malta.

And then we see the people there were barbarous, which just means the Romans and the Jews considered themselves civilized and everybody else was uncivilized, the Romans especially. Anyone who was in their empire was considered a civilized people. Like the Gauls for a long time, they were looked at as second class citizens and barbarians until they were granted Roman citizenship for fighting with the Roman legions. And they were just called, they were uncivilized.

So these folks are uncivilized, but you know what, they got morals. They got morals, we're gonna see that. They got morals. And marvel at how the Lord moved those people to show kindness. Here's a bunch of people, here's 275 men coming up onto the shores. And some of them are armed soldiers. And these supposedly uncivilized people, because again, they weren't Romans, all of a sudden started showing them kindness. And note what it says in the text, too. It says that. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness. No, they showed great kindness. For they kindled a fire and received us, everyone, because of the present rain and because of the cold.

Again, the barbarous people are people who are either non-Greek or non-Roman or non-Jew, Jewish. They're foreigners. They were not under the Roman laws or the Jewish laws. or the Greek laws, and they did not conform to the customs of those three dominant societies. They did not speak their language.

But we see through, see though, that they were civilized people with morals. Luke says, they showed us no little kindness. Now there may have been some who, on that island, who spoke, spoke Latin, or who spoke Greek, or who spoke in the Hebrew language, we don't know, but there might have been some.

And so here they are, they're wet, they're shivering, and the natives of that island build them a fire. Now think about this. See, when I first read that, I thought, oh, they build them a fire, okay? So I picture in my mind them all standing around a little fire. There's 270 of them. That was no little fire. Right, Brother Jim? That was a huge fire. It was a fire that 270 men could stand around.

So just one person here all the way to 101 end, maybe 50 around the curve, 100 again, and 50 more around the other curve. Or 25, you say. I don't know. My mouth's off. That's a lot of folks, isn't it? So this fire was huge. And that's why Luke says they showed us great kindness. Because they're shivering. They're all soaking wet. It's cold.

And remember the same storm they went through, several commentators said, hit that island as well. So they may have lost family and friends through that storm, and here they are showing kindness. Do you see how God's moving even these unsaved people to show kindness to Paul and his messengers? And everybody else receives the benefits of that on that ship.

Saved and lost. Marvel. Marvel the fact that the rain falls on the just and the unjust. That food that this world that our God controls produces food for the just and the unjust. Isn't it amazing? Even the people who curse God, he gives them the food to live, the shelters to stay in, right? The breath to breathe. My, how merciful is God. How merciful is our great God.

Let's read verses three to six now. When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, now look at this. So here's Paul. He's one of the chief apostles, isn't he? This is what I love about Paul. And this is what I love that we found out in our studies through his epistles. Paul doesn't lord himself over anybody, does he, Sister Caroline? The Apostle Paul's out there collecting sticks, just like everybody else.

I remember when I first got here, the first fellowship meal we had. And I was out there cleaning tables with you guys and picking up dishes and all that. And somebody came up to me and said, Wayne, pastor, you shouldn't be doing that. And I said, what? And they said, you shouldn't be done. You need to go talk to the folks. I said, I will never make them do something that I won't do myself.

I'm a fellow soldier. Paul is showing us that he's a fellow soldier. He's in a position of authority, yes, but he's a fellow soldier. He's out there collecting sticks. He's not out there delegating. Okay, Luke, you go get 50 sticks. Trichisaurus, you go get 80 sticks. He's out there collecting sticks himself. Isn't that a blessing, Chris? That shows us leadership involves just being with everybody else.

Remember, the ground at the foot of the cross is level, right? Is there a deacon hump? Is there a preacher hump at the foot of the cross? Nope, there isn't. There's a sister in. It's all level. I stand on the same ground as you guys do. and I'm washed in the same blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what I love about Paul. I just love the fact that he was right in there with everybody else.

He never vaulted himself up. Even if you read his epistles and the way he greets people, he says, Timothy and me, and he just lumps them right in there with him. You see, man has made a hierarchy where the preacher's up here and he can do no wrong. But I'll tell you what, you know what the preacher is? He's just like you and I. He's a sinner. Right? I stand before you, a saved sinner, preaching to sinners. Some who are saved, some who are lost. I don't know. But I preach the gospel to all of you. And as it goes out on the internet, right? We just let it fly. Remember last week we saw they let her go. They let the ship go.

Do you know the gospel message can't be chained? You know, they killed William Tyndale, the one who gave us the English Bible, and he said, Lord, open the eyes of the king. Open the eyes of the king. You know what happened? A few years later, the King James Bible came out, and they used 80% of Tyndale's writings. Isn't that something? Oh my. That's what we read too, doesn't it? Yeah. My. So look at this.

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, so he's working like everybody else, There came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer. Although he escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

They're superstitious people, aren't they? You know, I was superstitious when I was a Catholic. I was really superstitious. I had crosses and stuff hanging on the walls and pictures of Wild Bill Hickok. Right? That's what we call, that's what Donny Bell and I call that picture, supposedly picture of Jesus with the long hair. That's not how Jesus looked. That's closer looking like Wild Bill Hickok. It's just awful. My oh my. Look at this though.

Shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm. Halibut, they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down dead, suddenly. So this was a highly poisonous snake. But after they looked a great while, they saw no harm come to him, and they changed their minds. So they go from saying, well, he must be a murderer. Because these are very superstitious people, right? He must be a murderer. And now, all of a sudden, they notice a little g. He's a god. They're superstitious folks, aren't they? That tells us they were religious in the pagan religion, but they were still religious, and they were lost. My, oh, my. You know, we have to be lost before we can be saved. And God shows us our lost estate, doesn't he?

And then he saves us. Isn't that wonderful? It's wonderful. And we see here, and we must never lose sight of this precious truth in Ephesians 1-11, that our great triune God works all things after the counsel of his own will. That's scripture. He works things after the counsel of his own will. See, man, we like to talk about free will. Well, our will is bound to our nature. And if our nature is dead, all we're gonna do is sin. When we're born again, now, now we actually, now that we're born again, we have a civil war within us, right? The spirit's fighting against the flesh now. Oh my. But let us always remember, That God, our great God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, works all things after the counsel of His own will.

And if you want to look up Ephesians 1.11. So Paul was God's ordained and anointed apostle to go to the Gentiles. Again, he held the highest office in the church and every church since. He was, he had all things that were applied to the twelve were applied to him. He had the high office of authority.

And I'm going to tell you this right now. The office of apostles ceased when the last apostle died. There's a bunch of folks out there claiming they're apostles, and I'll tell you what they are. They're a bunch of liars. There's no more apostles. None. None at all.

But praise God, he sends preachers, doesn't he? To preach the gospel of Christ, that salvation is through Christ alone, and by Christ alone, through his blood and righteousness alone. It's wonderful. And according to his will alone. I just marvel at that. Hmm. Paul was... obeying the command of his new master, the Lord Jesus Christ. He counted it all joy to suffer persecution for the preaching of the gospel, the true gospel that glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. Not the gospel of a Jesus who's up there wringing his hands and he can't save anyone unless you let him. That's not the God of the Bible. That is not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible is sovereign. He rules. He reigns over all things. And the whole reason we're saved is because it's according to the good pleasure of his will. Now that sure makes salvation an absolutely incredible thing, doesn't it?

Because the Bible says there's none that seeketh after God, right? There's none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands the things of God. And that's why Christ said you must be born again. You must be born again. And when you're born again, you're given faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you're also given repentance before God, a change of mind of who God is.

I used to think God was this way. I found out, no, he's not. I used to hear in religion, love, love, love, oh God of love. Never told me about how he's a God of wrath and a God of justice and a God who has his law must be fulfilled. And then I learned because of his great love, everlasting love, he sent his son to die in the ruined place of his people, which manifested his great love. Now I understood that the love of God is incredible.

Right? But it still honors the justice of God and the law of God when Christ died in the room and place of his people and the wrath that was due us fell upon our King. And by his blood, by his blood, we are redeemed from all our sins. And how many of our sins were future when Christ died on Calvary's cross?

All of them. All of them. Blackest sin I can think that I've done, and even blacker ones that I can't even remember. And all the sins I'll ever commit in my life. Now that does not, we are not antinomians, that doesn't give us a license to run out that door and do whatever we want, because you know why? You know what happens? The love of Christ constrains us from sin. Do you desire sin like you used to, Brother Travis? No. Do you loathe it in yourself? Me too, Brother. Are you thankful it's all forgiven? Amen. Me too. Me too, Brother. Oh my. Thankful it's cleansed by the blood and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ.

So here's Paul. He's sent to Malta. He sent them off to, and why was he sent there? Well, it's because the folks in Jerusalem, they hated him. And remember what our Lord said? He said, if the world hate you, know that it hated me before it hated you. Don't be surprised. Don't be surprised if you get persecuted for your faith.

Now, Paul is a prisoner of Rome and under the authority of the Roman centurion, who had, by God, been placed in authority over him. He went out and he helped gathering sticks. Here's one of the chief apostles out gathering sticks. The servant is never above the master, are we? And do you know what a preacher is? Do you know what deacons are? We're servants of the church. That's truly what we are. First and foremost, we're servants of Christ, just like everyone else, but we're actually here to serve the church, not the Lord over it, to serve it. My, it's wonderful.

So even though those Jews didn't recognize God's authority, who wanted Paul dead, even though those Gentiles who wanted Paul dead didn't recognize God's authority. Even those Roman soldiers who, without a cause, cursed our Savior and mocked Him, spit in His face and scourged Him and finally crucified Him. It was all according to the will and purpose of God.

Christ must die, right? Why must Christ die to save us from our sins? Because we can't save ourselves. We have no ability to save ourselves. I can't save you, I can't save myself, but I can tell you about one who can save all who come to him. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. And they come to him by faith, don't they? By God-given faith. And we never stop seeking Him, do we? We just keep coming and coming and coming because He keeps us. You ever think why trials and storms don't destroy us? Because God keeps us. Because He keeps us. It's amazing. Let's read verses, verse three again.

And when Paul had gathered a bunch of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, fastened on his hands. Now a lot of times that'll happen, pick up sticks and stuff, and there'd be some kind of critter inside there, right? You never know. So he threw it in the fire, and that thing wanted to come out of there awful fast, didn't it? Was this ordained by God?

Absolutely. Absolutely. Threw him in a fire and a viper came out and fastened on his hand. I picture like grabbing him right there. I don't know if that's where it was, but right where your main vein is too and all that and just. And it says it fastened on, right? So he's fastened on. What's he doing? He's pumping venom into him. Right? Paul's breathing and that venom is just going right into his bloodstream. My. Well, here's another miracle by God. Didn't harm Paul at all. Didn't harm.

That snake's poison was so deadly that when a person was bitten, he would fall down dead in just minutes. It sounds like those two steps in Vietnam. So if you get bit by them, you take two steps and you drop dead. Donnie told me about those things. My oh my.

But here it sinks its fangs into his hand and wouldn't let go. Just keep shooting poison into Paul's veins. Now when the barbarians saw this, saw this venomous beast, because they know it was a poisonous snake. It's probably native to the island. And they said among themselves, look at verse 4, no doubt this man's a murderer. Whom?

Though he escaped the sea, vengeance suffereth not to live. So they're saying, well, he escaped the sea in the storm, in the shipwreck, but he must have killed someone. Well, Paul consented to the death of hundreds of saints, didn't he? See, Paul was a persecutor of the church before the Lord saved him. And he wasted the church, which in the Greek means he destroyed the church.

Tried to. Tried to, like many others have in the past. But he was a chosen vessel of the Lord. And he didn't even have any idea. Here this man he hated, in the sect of his followers, He was soon gonna be loved, in love with that man, right? Because he's a savior. And then the saints are going, he who persecuted, they're gonna say, he who persecuted the faith now preaches it. Wonder of wonders. Do you know every believer is a miracle of God's grace? You know that? We're trophies of the grace of God. We don't feel like it, but we are. Trophies of the grace of God. That's absolutely incredible. My.

Now the people of Malta were religious and superstitious. They worshipped false idols. They were full of superstition. They had tribal laws that kept the villages in check. So they had moral laws, didn't they? They had moral laws. The law of God's written on our hearts. This man sears our conscience, don't we?

We know what's right and wrong. Even before the Lord saved us, we knew what was right and wrong. He didn't have to tell us it was wrong to murder or to kill or to steal, and yet we still did it. My. My oh my, because we're sinners. And these laws are written on the conscience of every person. It was old enough to reason. Laws that harmonize with God's biblical laws. Again, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery. And we can just keep going on. These things are written in our hearts. We know it's wrong to do these things.

And these natives of Malta believed that those who committed murder should be punished. And they escaped being punished by leaders of the tribe, that they believed that whatever God they worship, their vengeance would be set upon them and they would die. You know, that's why Paul was bitten by the viper. So that they could say, no doubt, this man is a murderer.

Though he hath escaped the sea, vengeance suffereth on him. And then read verse six. And he, Paul, shook off the beast in the fire and felt no harm. How abate they looked when he should have swollen, like puffed right up from the poison, or fallen down dead right away.

But after they had looked a great while, they examined him, didn't they? He ain't falling down. They'd probably be pretty perplexed, wouldn't they? He's not dropping dead. We've seen other people get bit by that snake and they just fall over dead. Oh my. But after they looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. Oh, how superstitious is man in our natural state. And I could say that. I had crosses hanging on the wall I used to pray to and little statues I used to pray to. that were useless. They got ears, but they can't hear. Eyes, but they can't see. Idols.

Now, let us remember why Paul was brought to this island. It's because our Lord, Jesus Christ, he's got some lost sheep there, doesn't he? And it's their appointed time of love. It's their time to be delivered from their sins. From the darkness that they're in, they needed someone to preach the gospel to them. My. And Paul's that chosen preacher. To go and preach Christ to them. Because they, we're going to see, it ended up, they were on this island for a few months. You know what Paul was doing? He was preaching the gospel.

My. And look, he just shook off the beast in the fire and felt no harm. My. It appears from the text that Paul didn't even really feel the bite of the snake. Just shook it off. I always imagined Paul as a pretty tough fella. The snake just latches ahold of him and just, shakes it off like it was nothing.

And what is this? This is a manifestation of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we don't believe in handling snakes and vipers like some people do. I think that's just foolishness. But what we have here is a picture of God's sovereign power. Why did no harm come to Paul? Because of God's sovereign power.

I had a friend of mine, Joe, you guys knew Joe Terrell. He said one of the folks that was in his congregation was in the Vietnam War, and he carried survivor's guilt for years. And he said before he went to Joe's church and learned about the sovereignty of God, he was always just filled with this guilt. And supposedly he was standing with someone right beside him, and they were just standing there talking, and the fellow beside him got shot right between the eyes and dropped dead. Sniper. And so he carried that guilt, that survivor's guilt for years. And then when he went to Joe's church and he started hearing about the sovereignty of God and the grace of God, he goes, God protected me. It wasn't my time to go. So that I could be here and have my family here, to have the gospel preached to them.

So, marvel, we don't know what God's purpose is in things. We don't know. We have no... But we know, as that Scripture talks about, that... Brother Zane wrote the article that we know that for those who are the called, for those who are the people of God, that all things do work together for our good and for God's glory, for those who love Christ Jesus. Not for the whole world, but for those who love Christ. And we don't understand, it's not until later on when we can look back on things in our life and go, oh my Lord, you protected me from this situation. I wanted it to go one way and you had it go the other and now I'm praising your name because I could have been a wreck. Or I didn't understand the purpose of that, but it actually drew me closer to Christ. Marge Lozinski. What is it? Solinsky. I love her. She's in glory now. But she called me on the phone all the time. Every week she called me. Brother Wayne, I thank God for my cancer. It's drawn me closer to Christ. And I just marveled at that. And you guys, Nancy, right? What was her name, Nancy? Or... Sylvia! You guys have all told me about Sylvia and how she was such a blessing going through the cancer she was going through, but just clinging to Christ.

See, that's God giving grace, isn't it? That's God giving mercy and giving dying grace. Someone says, well, I don't know if I have dying grace. I like what Jim said before he left. He said, well, you aren't dying, so you don't need dying grace, do you? But when you're dying, God gives his people dying grace, doesn't he?

You know, how did Paul go through all these different things? The grace of God in Christ. God gave him grace. So look in the trials of our lives and see how God gave us grace in our great times of need. And he carried us through these things. My, it's amazing.

So these folks, they didn't know about Jesus Christ. They didn't know about him. They hadn't called upon the name of the Lord for salvation. Turn, if you would, to Romans chapter 10. They hadn't called on the Lord. They were dead in trespasses and sins, and they had no hope. They didn't even know they needed the Lord, did they? I didn't know I needed the Lord before I was saved. I thought I was fine until the Lord showed me I wasn't fine. I was a lost sinner. And praise God, he saved me by his grace.

Oh, it's wonderful. Look at this in Romans 10. And think of this. Here are these folks. There's some lost sheep on that island who must hear the gospel. So what's God do? He sends them a preacher. Look at this. This is wonderful. Romans 10, 13 to 15. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall... Look at that little word again. Oh, we love that little word, shall. There's no ifs or buts. Shall be saved.

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not heard, believed? So these folks in Malta, they'd not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. They didn't even know who he was. And how shall they believe in him of whom they've not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?

God sends a preacher, right? This is why it's so important when I stand in this pulpit to preach Christ to you, because he's the only hope. Anything else I preach, like I will never, Lord will, I'll never preach how to be a better Christian. Anybody come up with that? These guys writing these books, how to be a better Christian, are a bunch of sinners just like us. You know how I tell you to have more joy and peace in your life? Look to Christ in every situation. Keep your eyes fastened upon Him. Keep your eyes fastened upon Him. Look at this. And how shall they preach except they be sent? Remember? Preachers got to be sent.

As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things. The gospel of peace is peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ and by his perfect sinatonic work on Calvary's cross, when he shed his blood, and when he lived that perfect life for us in our room and place, he shed his blood to redeem our eternal souls. The only way we can have peace with God is not by anything we do, but in and through the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Right? Romans tells us that. We now have peace with God. We're now justified by faith. Faith in who? Christ. He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life.

That takes out Buddha. That takes out Mohammed. Right? That takes out religion like Catholicism, Seventh-day Adventism. Jehovah Witness. It's not through a church. It's through Christ. The gospel's about a man. The gospel's about the God-man. The fact that the Word of God became a man and dwelt among us. God, you know, I can honestly say God saved my soul.

Can you? Yeah. God did it. That's glorious. That's absolutely wonderful. God is my Savior. The Word of God. His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the sent one. He's the Messiah. He's the second person of the Trinity. He's the Son of God. He's God manifest in the flesh. And He's the one who I have all my trust and my soul in. Isn't it wonderful? Oh my. Hmm. Look at verse 28 of Acts chapter. Or look at verse 7 of Acts chapter 28. Now, do you remember how we've been reading through the book of Acts and Paul's been appearing before kings and governors and high-ranking officers? Well, here he is again. He's with the governor, the chief, of Malta. Chief of Malta.

What's Paul going to tell them about? Christ. Amen. We know that. He's going to proclaim Christ to them. Oh, and look at this. God showed grace in this man's eyes towards Paul and them because he says he lodged us three days courteously. They got to sleep in a bed. My. So in the same quarters where they had landed, where they had built the fire, this man lived nearby, who was the chief, the governor of the island, very rich, lots of possessions. And he was a gracious man, we see, he's very generous.

He lodged and fed 276 men for three days. for three days, some of them prisoners, including Paul. My, he opened their door. He opened the door, not knowing, he opened the door to them, but not knowing that he opened the door to Paul preaching the gospel to them. Because what would Paul have done? He'd have done the same thing he did in front of Felix and Agrippa. Right, Brother Chris? He got Prince Christ.

Oh, my. My, oh, my. It's absolutely wonderful. Look at verse 28 again. And it came to pass, the father of... Now, here we go. The father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux. So he had blood issuing from him. To whom Paul entered in and prayed, and laid hands upon him and healed him. Oh, so now we see, now we see the Lord had opened the door by Paul getting bitten by the viper for him to preach the gospel. Now the Lord had opened the door with Pubiat, whatever his name is, to be able to preach the gospel. Now his father's sick, and Paul, we see, heals him. He heals him.

My. Some commentators believe this man was delirious and throwing fits and also had dysentery. Dysentery. He didn't have any control over his bowels. Publis being a man of great wealth. He'd probably spent Thousands of dollars to try to have doctors heal him This is his dad And he was a man of great wealth But you know Sin kills us all doesn't it? The wages of sin is death right that's why we die because of sin And we're all born sinners. 100% of the people in this world are going to 100% die. Right?

Some will go to face Jesus as a judge, and some will go to face Jesus as Savior, Redeemer, my great God. And the only one that made them to differ is God. My. So here is Paul, he's God's ordained instrument in the healing of Publius' dad. And this was all purposed by God to move the people on the island to also come to Paul. To also come to Paul. To what? To be healed of their diseases. And then what did Paul, I know what Paul did with those folks that came to him. He told them about Christ. Look at the next verses. Look at this. Look at this. Verses 9 and 10.

So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the islands, came and were healed, who also honored us with many honors. And when we departed, look at this, they laid us up with such things as were necessary. They gave them all the supplies they needed to get to Rome. Do you see how God uses these folks to supply Paul and his little missionary group to go all the way to Rome with whatever they needed?

Who keeps this church going? God does. Right? And he uses means, doesn't he? He uses us. But it's his church. It's His work. He supplies what's needed. And we're in awe, aren't we? And here we are, we gather together every Sunday and pretty soon Wednesdays again, too, to hear the Word of God preached and proclaimed. And the Lord has to go out on the internet and just let it go. Oh, my.

You know, we see here that God always takes care of his people, doesn't he? Not always with what we want. You know, those false health, wealth, and prosperity preachers are just, all they want is money to put in their pockets and get jets and get big houses. But you know what?

They have their reward. They're gonna breathe their last breath and face the Lord Jesus Christ as a judge. Remember, I said every human being will either face Christ as a judge or a savior. My, oh my. So look at this again, let's read that again. Verse 10, they also honored us with many honors, and when we departed, they laden us with such things that were needed. The scripture says that God daily loads us down with benefits.

When you have a cup of coffee in the morning or tea, whatever one you like, any tea drinkers. So if you have a cup of coffee or a cup of tea, that comes from the Lord. Right? All the way from wherever it was growing to be processed, to be put on a truck, to be brought to your grocery store for you to go in and buy it. That's a benefit from the Lord. Isn't that amazing? Makes shopping a whole different experience. Doesn't it? So there's no doubt that our Lord used this miracle of Paul not being affected by the snake bite, and then the healing of Publius' dad. No doubt that that opened doors for Paul to be able to preach the gospel.

Because he's told us before, he says, I'm determined not to preach anything but Christ and Him crucified. That was his whole mission. You know, we have that on our bulletin, right? We preach Christ and Him crucified. That's what we do. That's what we do by the grace of God. He preached in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord told His disciples, go ye into the world and preach the gospel to every creature, every creature. my oh my so there's there's no doubt that that when they heard of this healing of of uh pubius's father that probably spread through the whole island too because then we see they bought a bunch of sick people and paul healed them all anyone they bought healed them who healed them christ paul's just an instrument he's like a scalpel in the hands of a doctor right Let us never forget that we are just instruments in the Lord's hands. Right? That's all we are. To do whatever He wills. And then we get the privilege and honor to spend eternity with Him. Which is absolutely amazing. All through the blood and righteousness of Christ.

Now we see that, again, when others heard of God's power, though, he just kept coming. Kept coming to Paul. And now all through this study in the book of Acts, we've seen that our Lord Jesus manifest his power that he'd given to his apostles. And his ordained preachers were to do the same as Paul did, were just to go out and preach the gospel.

I don't get caught up in what all these other preachers are doing. I don't care. I'm here to preach Christ to you and to this community. And then as the message goes out in the internet, I'm called to preach Christ right here. Right? Do I care for the souls of others? Absolutely. All around us. Do I care for the souls of those in false religion? Absolutely. I hope and pray they come and hear the gospel. But my calling as a preacher is to preach Christ to you. Isn't that wonderful? You won't hear no preaching on tithing or doing this or doing that, will you? Have you ever heard one? Nope. You heard about Christ though, haven't you? That's what's most important, isn't it? Preaching of Christ and Him crucified. Brother Neil, can you close us in prayer?