Please take out your copy of God's Word and turn to the book of Acts chapter 28.
While you're getting there, let me just say a few unscripted things about music.
I appreciate Jordan kind of prompted this in my mind as he talked about how we don't come together to praise performance,
but to praise the living God.
Particularly if you're new to us, the way we do music on a Sunday morning
may feel strange to you.
And I just want it not to.
I think the way we do music on a Sunday morning,
and this is not me saying that we're more right than anybody else,
but I think it ought to feel familiar to Christian people.
When you go in amongst other Christian people to sing songs to God,
I think it ought to feel more the same.
And I don't mean lead from a guitar with a banjo and keys or any of that.
I'm not talking about style and preferences of style.
I'm talking about content.
So we have a criteria for the songs that we sing together on Sunday morning,
and that is as follows.
First, the songs are true.
So we want songs to be lined up with the truth of Scripture.
In your time singing with us, if the words are odd to you,
if the strangeness of it rings out,
you probably don't read your Bible enough.
Because the songs we sing are Scripture-saturated.
There's so many direct Bible references in the songs that we sing together.
So the songs need to be true.
The next criteria is that the songs need to be deep.
Now, I'm okay with a good repetitious chorus.
Please know that.
There may be a really great time for that.
But we have a limited amount of time together.
So how much depth of truth can we pack into our time?
So most of the songs, not all,
but most of the songs we sing together are wordy.
And they're wordy for that reason.
We want you to know the truth so that you can be changed by the truth.
Have it dwell deeply within you.
I'm really horrible at remembering song lyrics.
I hope you're not like me in that way.
But I will get a tune stuck in my head on a Sunday morning,
which will force me to go look up the lyrics so that I can sing it,
not just hum the same thing over and over and over again in my head,
which presses me to biblical truth.
And typically what I tend to do is go,
oh, that's a reference.
I know that's a reference.
I've read it somewhere.
And I begin to look up all the references that are found in this great hymn
that gets stuck in my head.
So songs should be true and they should be deep.
And then lastly, they should be singable, right?
Which is just really practical.
We want to be able to sing songs together.
And so I appreciate, if you've been here with us for a while,
you know Wes and Liz Shelnut led us for many years
and they've just recently moved to Utah.
But the guys that have stepped in are doing the same thing.
They're not trying to amaze us with their musical talent.
And they have musical talent.
But simply leading us to sing songs together.
So true, deep, and singable.
That's why we don't turn the music up too loud.
There's a time and a place for a rock concert.
I enjoy it as much as the next person.
But you need to hear your neighbor.
That's why we keep the lights on and we have windows.
I didn't build the building, but we didn't cover them up.
You'll note.
We left them that we might sing and rejoice together
and be God's people together, praising God in song.
So, brief and off script.
I want to encourage you though to join us and to sing well with us.
Our text for today is Acts chapter 28, verses 1 through 16.
We're getting very close to the end of our verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Acts.
This will be my last sermon in Acts next week.
Clay is going to finish it up for us.
And this morning, as I did the last little bit of note preparation,
I took this stack of commentaries that's been living for the last...
Anybody know off the top how long we've been in the book of Acts?
A year and a half?
Does it seem about?
Something like that?
I took it and I put them all up on my shelf.
There's this weird void on my desk right now that will soon get filled with other commentaries.
But I'm grieving it a little bit this morning to leave the book of Acts.
So, let's wring it out together.
Before we read the text, you need a sweeping summary to get us to where we are in Luke's second narrative.
So, beginning...
We'll go back to chapter 21.
We've observed Paul's arrest in Jerusalem, his various trials before various prominent men,
his exercise of his Roman right to appeal to Caesar.
So, he makes this appeal to go to the highest court as a Roman citizen.
They grant that to him.
So, his departure from Caesarea for Rome via a ship.
And then we saw last week in chapter 27 this storm that leads to this shipwreck.
On the island of Malta.
So, our text today picks that story up as Paul and the other 275 souls that were on the ship are washed up on the beach.
Before we read, beloved, this is God's word to us.
It was written for his glory and for our good.
Which means we would all do well to listen to it in order to believe its promises and obey its commands.
Acts chapter 28, beginning in verse 1.
After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.
The native people showed us unusual kindness for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all because it had begun to rain and was cold.
When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out and because of the heat and fastened on his hand.
When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another,
No doubt this man is a murderer.
Though he escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.
He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead.
But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island named Publius,
who received and entertained us hospitably for three days.
It happened that the father of Publius lay sick for fever and dysentery.
And Paul visited him and prayed and putting his hands on him, healed him.
And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
They also honored us greatly.
And when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
After three months, we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island,
a ship of Alexandria with the twin gods as a figurehead.
Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.
And from there, we made a circuit and arrived at Regium.
And after one day, a south wind sprang up.
And on the second day, we came to Pute...
Excuse me.
I practiced this one.
Puteoli.
There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.
And so we came to Rome.
And the brothers there, when they heard about us,
came as far as the Forum of Appius and three taverns to meet us.
On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.
And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded him.
So for many chapters now, we've been waiting for this fulfilled promise that Jesus spoke to Paul and said,
you will arrive at Rome.
You must speak the gospel in Rome.
And so we see that promise fulfilled here.
But before we get into any part of this text, which I find meaningful for us this morning,
we must first address the incident with the snake and then the healings that are happening on the island as well.
We must ask about such implications of these kinds of events for our day.
So what's the deal, right, with Paul gets bit by this venomous snake?
Interestingly, there are no venomous snakes on the island of Malta today,
but that doesn't mean that there weren't in that day.
The people there seem to be convinced that he's going to die as a result of this particular snake bite.
Nothing happens to him.
He shakes it off into the fire.
And then he goes and heals Publius' father.
And the record is the rest of the people on the island who had diseases.
So it would seem that at least for a period of time that the island of Malta was entirely disease-free.
How does that apply to us today?
Are there a whole spectrum of beliefs concerning the present nature of spiritual gifts?
Are the gifts of prophecy and healing and tongues still active today?
And I'll tell you honestly,
that's a question I thought that I was going to have to answer definitively as we preach through Acts.
And if you've been with us, you'll know that I have not.
So I'm going to get into it a little bit more this morning to clear the field for you.
But to simplify the matter, let's just consider healing, right?
Which is what we see happen in our text today.
Just consider healing this morning.
Now, in the spectrum of beliefs,
there are two most commonly held beliefs with some variations of them in between.
They range from what are called continuationists.
I think all of these gifts are still active today, right?
Continuationists, the gifts have continued.
To cessationists, which means they've ceased.
Those gifts have ceased.
So cessationists all the way to continuationists.
And then just about every little variance you can think of in between
someone has held at some point in history.
Cessationists will say that the gifts of prophecy and healing in tongues ceased when the apostolic age ceased.
As they were used, those gifts were used to validate the message that the apostles taught.
You remember that the early church did not have the New Testament scriptures.
They had the Old Testament.
They had the text that attested to Christ's coming, right?
But they did not have the New Testament that gave the full expression of his coming,
told the story of his coming,
and walked out for us the way we're meant to live in light of his coming.
And so the apostles, these gifts accompanied them.
We know for sure they accompanied them to give affirmation to the words that they taught.
But did they stop when the apostolic age ceased to exist?
Cessationists base their belief on a couple of texts.
For me, the ones that are most convincing begin in 2 Corinthians 12.12.
Well, Paul writes,
The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with utmost patience,
with signs and wonders and mighty works.
So Paul is saying,
Paul, as an apostle, is saying,
The signs of an apostle, a true apostle, were performed amongst you.
Now, an apostle is someone who had walked with Jesus,
had seen him after his resurrection,
and were personally charged by Jesus to be an apostle.
So, not just anybody that lived around Jesus and saw him after his resurrection.
There's others in the scripture who are called disciples.
Acts chapter 1, we see a group of disciples gathered.
The apostles were a very specific group of men who met these criteria,
walked with Jesus, seen him after his resurrection,
and they were commissioned.
Jesus said to them,
You are an apostle.
So, these gifts accompany these men to give affirmation to them and to their teaching.
We can also look at Hebrews chapter 2, verses 1 through 4.
The writer of Hebrews says,
Therefore, we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard,
lest we drift away from it.
For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable,
and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution,
how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
It was declared at first by the Lord,
and it was attested to us by those who heard, apostles,
while God also bore witness by signs and wonders and various miracles,
and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.
So, the writer of Hebrews says the same thing.
This message of salvation declared first by Christ,
attested to us by those who heard,
he's referring specifically to the apostles there,
God gave witness to their witness in accompanying it with signs.
Now, here's the challenge of cessationism.
The Bible nowhere definitively says that the gift of healing or tongues or prophecy will cease.
This definitively suggests, but doesn't definitively say that anywhere.
However, we do only ever observe the apostles' healing.
Consider that in the book of Acts.
We don't see a record as it concerns healing of anybody other than an apostle healing.
And because of these things, right, the evidences of this,
and because throughout church history,
the largely held view of the church has been that of cessationism.
In fact, continuationism has really been on the rise in the past hundred years,
but prior to that, at least most Baptist confessions were cessationist.
But because it doesn't definitively say that the gifts stop,
this is where I'm at.
So, you ready?
I'm priming you to know where I stand on the matter,
at least for right now.
I like to call myself a cautiously open cessationist.
How about that?
It's kind of like saying I'm a cessationist.
Sort of that way.
Which means I hold the cessationist view generally,
but I'm willing to be wrong,
and I'm willing to be shown that I'm wrong.
But I'm going to do so with a great deal of skepticism and care
in hearing about the telling of things that have happened,
supposedly in the name of our Lord.
Now, wherever you may be on the matter,
possibly just confused,
and there's a really brief presentation of those things,
here's what I think becomes more important for us.
Two things that I believe that we can know.
With a confidence, we can know.
Number one,
the apostles did not go about seeking to heal people.
This wasn't the thrust of their ministry.
They seized opportunities when they were presented to them,
but they didn't have, quote-unquote, healing ministries.
They didn't hold, quote-unquote, healing services.
This was not the thrust of what they were doing.
What was the thrust of what they were doing?
Preaching the good news of Jesus Christ, right?
That's what they did, right?
Their mission statement for their organization,
I don't think would have even included healing.
They would have been all about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let me show you some places,
just to Acts chapter 3, verses 1 through 8.
This is the first healing that we see in the book of Acts.
Now, Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer.
Instead of going up to pray, the ninth hour.
And a man lame from birth was being carried,
whom they had laid daily at the gate of the temple,
that is called the beautiful gate,
to ask alms of those entering the temple.
Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he asked to receive alms.
So he just simply says,
Can I have some money?
And Peter directed his gaze at him,
as did John, and said,
Look at us.
And he fixed his attention on them,
expecting to receive something from them.
But Peter said,
I have no silver and gold,
but what I do have I give to you
in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Rise up and walk.
So he seizes this opportunity,
verse 7,
and he took him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong.
And leaping up,
and he stood and began to walk and entered the temple with him,
walking and leaping and praising God.
And we'll talk about what happens next in just a moment.
So again,
seizes an opportunity,
but doesn't go out seeking to do this activity.
And then in our text today,
Acts 28,
verse 8,
Luke says,
It happened that the father,
right?
So they're invited to stay with this man named Publius,
and his father is sick.
And after he heals him,
what happens?
People keep showing up
and want to be healed.
And Paul obliges.
So,
they didn't go about seeking it.
Secondly,
when someone was healed,
the gospel was always preached.
When someone was healed,
the gospel was always preached.
Remember,
healings were just meant to give credibility
to the message that was being preached.
And so you'll find today,
if you want to fall into the black hole,
people of YouTube,
type in miracle healings,
and start paying attention to what's happening,
recorded,
many,
now I'm not,
I haven't gotten too deep into that black hole,
but many of those things
are not accompanied by gospel proclamation at all.
Not at all.
When someone was healed,
the gospel was always preached.
Now,
Luke doesn't make record of that reality in this passage,
which could trouble you.
But there's a really clear pattern of this
throughout the book of Acts.
And we've seen this pattern together.
I've talked about it on multiple occasions.
Let me give you a few examples
in case you've forgotten that
or you just haven't been with us
for the entirety of our study.
So,
going on in Acts chapter 3,
the story we just read about the lame beggar.
Peter heals the lame beggar,
and a crowd gathers,
verses 11 through 26,
and because of this,
right,
this man is leaping,
everybody recognizes him,
says he was laid daily
at this gate called beautiful.
Everyone recognizes this man who was lame,
who's now miraculously jumping around.
And what does Peter do?
He preaches the gospel.
He gathers a crowd,
and he preaches the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Acts chapter 5,
verses 12 through 14,
Luke records this for us.
Now many signs and wonders
were regularly done among the people
by the hands of the apostles.
And they were all together
in Solomon's portico.
None of the rest dared join them,
but the people held them in high esteem.
And then verse 14 says,
And more than ever,
believers were added to the Lord
multitudes of both men and women.
How were they added?
By believing in the gospel preached.
Right?
They were believing the gospel
that was being preached
as they're also performing
signs and miracles.
Another example,
Acts chapter 14,
beginning in verse 8 and following.
Now at Lystra,
there was a man sitting
who could not use his feet.
He was crippled from birth
and had never walked.
He listened to Paul speaking.
He's already preaching the gospel.
And Paul,
looking intently at him
and seeing that he had faith
to be made well,
said in a loud voice,
Stand upright on your feet.
And he sprang up
and began walking.
And when the crowd saw
what Paul had done,
they lifted up their voices,
saying in Lithuanian,
The gods have come down to us
in the likeness of men.
Barnabas they called Zeus
and Paul Hermes
because he was the chief speaker.
And the priest of Zeus,
whose temple was at the entrance
to the city,
brought oxen and garlands
to the gates
and wanted to offer sacrifices
with the crowds.
But when the apostles
Barnabas and Paul
heard of it,
they tore their garments
and rushed out into the crowd,
crying out,
Men, why are you doing
these things?
We also are men
of like nature with you.
And we bring you,
what?
Good news.
The gospel.
That you should turn
from these vain things
to a living God
who made the heaven
and the earth
and the sea
and all that is in them.
So at Lystra,
they healed a man
and they preached
the gospel.
So we should not go about
seeking to heal people,
but we should go about
preaching the good news
of Jesus Christ.
And I'm really comfortable
with that,
whether cessationism
or continuationism
or something in between
and it's the proper view.
Whether I've got it right
or not,
I'm really comfortable
seeing clearly
that what we ought
to be focusing
our attention on
is going about
preaching the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
We ought to seek
to see the most
miraculous of things
that has ever happened.
Dead people,
brought to life,
cold hearts,
warmed to God
through His preached word.
Don't neglect that.
When somebody places
believing faith
in Jesus Christ,
it is more miraculous
than a lame man
from birth
being able to walk
because God has changed
their heart.
It's an incredible thing
that people gather
to hear God's word preached.
All of you,
little miracles
this morning,
here,
using your Sunday morning
for this rather
than something else.
So,
these are the things
that we can know
about this type
of stuff happening.
Someday,
maybe one of you
will prove me wrong
and I'll be glad
to hear your story.
Now,
Luke has been so careful
to record
gospel proclamation
as the point of healing.
Why doesn't he do so
in today's text?
It bothered me
a little bit.
Why did he not
do it in today's text?
Now,
I contend
that the gospel
did get proclaimed,
that it did,
in fact,
happen,
not only because
we've seen it patterned,
but church tradition
also holds
that a church
began on Malta
while Paul
and his companions
were there.
Traditions say
that a church
began when
he was there
and the wonderful
fruit of the gospel
being preached
is that churches
begin.
So,
why does Luke
not make that
the big deal?
That's what he does
all throughout
the book of Acts,
right?
He's all about
telling us the story,
right?
The second account
of his,
of the risen Christ
working by the power
of his spirit
in the lives
of the apostles,
primarily Peter
at the beginning,
now Paul
is the main character,
right?
Proclaiming the gospel
of Jesus Christ,
people coming to faith,
churches beginning.
Why does he not
make that the big deal
of this three months
spent on Malta?
Believing that Luke
wrote this account
under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit,
we must believe
that there is
something else
that our attention
is meant to be
drawn to.
And I believe,
at least today,
at least in part,
it's meant to be
drawn to two things
from this text.
Number one,
hospitality,
and number two,
justice.
Number one,
hospitality,
number two,
justice.
So let's take a brief
look at these two
things this morning.
First,
hospitality.
Note the hospitality
of unbelievers.
Verse two,
the native people
showed us unusual kindness
for they kindled the fire
and welcomed us all
because it began to rain
and was cold.
And then verse seven,
now in the neighborhood
of that place,
the general area
of that place
where lands belong
to the chief man
of the island
named Publius
who received us
and entertained us
hospitably
for three days.
And then verse 10,
so notice the theme
working through
Luke's narrative.
Verse 10,
they also honored us
greatly and when
we were about to sail,
this is three months later,
they put on board
whatever we needed
for that journey.
So the 276 castaways
were shown
unusual kindness
as they were cared for
immediately
with a fire.
Think about the time
that they're traveling in.
It's past the fast.
We saw that last week.
This is going to be
late September.
It's starting to get cold.
It's starting to get windy.
They've just been
in the ocean.
They're all sputtering
up onto the beach
and the native people,
the people of the area,
build a fire for them.
And then they were hosted
for three days,
hospitably,
Luke says,
so probably very generously,
by Publius,
who was the Roman governor
of Malta.
And let us not miss
that they wintered
on the island.
So we see that they were there
for three months,
so they must have been
hosted further.
And so they stay
at Publius' house
for three days.
He hosts 276 people.
I imagine at some point
he said,
okay, that's a lot of people
to be at my house.
But then they had to go
somewhere for the following
three months, right?
They're wintering there.
It's getting very cold
and very harsh.
And so people of the island
must have put them up
for that time.
Now, I believe that many
of the people of Malta
were saved in this time, right?
Because church history holds
a church was started there.
Healing was happening.
Paul must have been preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
So the line between
unbelieving hospitality
and believing hospitality
may be a bit blurry, right?
Maybe a mixture of the two.
But all the same,
the people of Malta
just may put you and I
to shame in keeping
the command to hospitality.
Here's a few of those commands.
We're to show hospitality
to one another.
Romans chapter 12,
verse 13.
Paul says,
contribute to the needs
of the saints
and seek to show hospitality.
Peter writes in 1 Peter 4, 9,
show hospitality
to one another
without grumbling.
So what is hospitality?
What are we talking about
when we say that?
It's the making someone
feel welcome.
So we could do that
on a Sunday morning here
in our gathering together
for people to feel welcome.
We have a hospitality team
which predominantly makes coffee.
But I feel very welcome
when there's coffee
ready to go for me
when I meet with someone.
They're the crew that scrambles
and tries to help you with seats.
Everyone in the back.
Somebody, I hope,
helped you with seats
this morning.
We can show hospitality
to our neighbors, right?
Inviting them over for dinner.
Somebody knocks on your door
unexpectedly.
You don't slam the door
back in their face
and go clean the house up
real quick.
You invite them in
and you make them feel welcome.
Sam and I are always
very tempted
to clean up our tiny house
before somebody
steps inside.
Showing hospitality
means giving of ourselves
to make others feel
like they are important.
That they belong
in the place
that we are.
And we're commanded
to it.
Not only are we to show
hospitality to one another,
those inside the church,
but we're to show
hospitality to others.
Those outside.
Hebrews 13.2.
The writer of Hebrews says,
Do not neglect
to show hospitality
to strangers,
for thereby some
have entertained
angels unawares.
Which is such a great word
that I feel like
doesn't belong in my Bible,
but it's there
all the same.
They have entertained
angels unaware.
So do not neglect
to show hospitality
to strangers.
But we are not always
to be hospitable.
Did you know that?
We are not to show
hospitality to those
who claim to be Christians,
but do not teach
what is orthodox
or practice righteousness.
How about that?
John writes in 2 John
verse 10 and 11.
If anyone comes to you
and does not bring
this teaching,
the gospel of Jesus Christ,
do not receive him
into your house
or give him any greeting.
For whoever greets him
takes part
in his wicked works.
Paul writes in
1 Corinthians 5.11,
But now I am writing
to you not to associate
with anyone who bears
the name of brother
if he is guilty
of sexual immorality
or greed
or is an idolater,
reviler,
drunkard,
or swindler,
not even to eat
with such a one.
And what Paul is saying
is if somebody professes
to know Jesus Christ
and then their life
lives in direct opposition
to that,
don't greet them
as a brother.
Don't show them
the hospitality
that you would show
to those who are
inside the faith.
So we're to show
hospitality.
And we see that
expressed even
by unbelievers,
which should be
an astounding thing
to us,
the way they're greeted
on the shore
of that island.
Second,
note the hospitality
of believers.
And in this case,
we can say
definitely believers.
We know that these
people are believers.
Verse 14
in Pudioli.
I got it right
the first time
that time.
we found brothers
and were invited
to stay with him
for seven days.
And so we came
to Rome.
So Paul
and his companions,
we have to assume
the Roman centurion
Julius,
who's been accompanying
Paul all along,
upon arriving
on the Italian shore,
drop in
for a seven-day stay
upon being invited
to stay
for such a time.
And likely
for such a time
because they
needed to gain strength
for their further
journeying on
to Rome.
So we have this
gracious extension
of the brothers.
And then verse 15.
And the brothers there,
the brothers in Rome,
when they heard
about us,
came as far
as the forum
of Appius
and three taverns
to meet us.
On seeing them,
Paul thanked God
and took courage.
The forum of Appius
was a marketplace.
It's sometimes called
the Market of Appius
and it was 43 miles
south of Rome.
So these believers
heard that this Paul,
he had written his letter
to the Romans already,
had sent that on
ahead of himself.
But the believer Paul,
the apostle Paul,
was coming to Rome
and they traveled
43 miles
by foot
or by some kind
of equestrian means
to go and to meet him.
And the three taverns
was a location
just 10 miles closer.
So it's 33 miles
south of Rome.
Perhaps these brothers
heard the news later
or they just got
a later start.
They had to wait
for somebody else
to show up
and meet them
in the parking lot
before they could
take off.
Right?
What a picture
of Christian love
this is.
Roman brothers
hearing that Paul
was arriving,
extend this great hand
of hospitality
in accompanying him
which we see
made Paul thankful
and encouraged him.
The end of verse 15
Luke records,
On seeing them,
Paul thanked God.
What did he thank God for?
For the brothers.
For the hospitality
of the brothers.
That they came
to meet him
and accompany him
to Rome.
Don't forget
what Paul was headed
to Rome for.
He was to stand trial
before Caesar.
That's what he was headed
to Rome to do.
And he's greeted by
a band of his family
that escorts him
back in to Rome.
So he thanks God
and he takes courage.
He took courage.
He was encouraged
by their hospitality.
Hospitality has distinguished
the Christian community
throughout the ages.
New Testament scholar
Abraham J. Moherbe
points out
that among early Christians
hospitality was not merely
a practical consideration.
It wasn't just about
providing for need.
But it was a theological one.
He wrote this.
The Christian practice
of hospitality
was not viewed simply
as a means of overcoming
practical problems.
Theological statements
by different authors
in the New Testament
show that it was
frequently viewed
as the concrete expression
of Christian love.
So if we love one another,
we'll be hospitable
toward one another.
Beloved,
let hospitality
distinguish
Christ Family Church
to Lonega.
Be hospitable
when we gather
on Sundays,
but not only on Sundays.
Open up your homes,
feed people meals.
College students,
you can pull this off too.
Mac and cheese
and hot dogs,
get it done.
Seek out ways
to show people
concretely
that you love them.
may we not be outclassed
by the unbelievers
of Malta.
So we see hospitality
in the first part
of chapter 28.
We also see
some expression
of justice.
Secondly,
justice.
Verse 4 says,
When the native people
saw the creature
hanging from his hand,
they said to one another,
No doubt this man
is a murderer.
Though he was escaped
from the sea,
justice has not allowed
him to live.
Now the assumption
of the Maltons
was that Paul
had done something
to deserve the bite
of the snake.
It is unclear
if Luke means
to tell us
that the Maltons
had a God
named Justice.
The ESV
capitalizes the word
for that very purpose.
Or merely that they
had a concept
of justice.
But either way,
they understood
vengeance
and believed
that Paul,
having escaped
from a shipwreck,
was still being
pursued unto death
by fate
or by a God
or whatever.
Why is this noteworthy?
It is worth our attention
because it is an example
of the law of God
being written
on men's hearts.
The native people
of Malta,
which, by the way,
only means
that they didn't
speak Greek or Latin,
not necessarily
that they were
uncivilized.
You don't need to see
on Malta
people in grass skirts.
It was being ruled
by Publius, right,
who was a Roman governor.
It just simply means
they didn't speak
Greek or Latin.
But these people
had an idea
of right and wrong.
They had no doubt
that Paul was a murderer.
Throughout history,
morality has taken
very similar shape,
hasn't it?
Why?
Because God's law
is on men's hearts.
In Romans chapter 2,
beginning in verse 14
and following,
Paul writes,
for when Gentiles
who do not have
the law
by nature
do what the law
requires,
they are a law
to themselves
even though
they do not
have the law.
So track what he's
saying there, right?
Gentiles,
those who are outside
of Israel,
who weren't given
the law,
still do things
that are consistent
with the law,
right?
Still live morally
to some degree,
right?
Still obey.
So here we see
the native people
of Malta
seeing that murder
is wrong.
They know this
to be true.
Verse 15 says,
they show that
the work of the law
is written on their hearts
while their conscience
also bears witness
and their conflicting
thoughts accuse
or even excuse them
on that day when,
according to my gospel,
God judges the secrets
of men
by Christ Jesus.
Now, if you're a student,
you may have taken
or will take a class
that will suggest to you
that morality is subjective
and will cite
some obscure example
of a civilization
deep in a jungle
that does not find
anything wrong
with, say, murder.
Have any of you
been in that class
already?
Two of you.
All right.
Maybe that's good
that you're avoiding
such classes.
It will likely happen
to you at some point,
some small, obscure
example of a
little tribe
that doesn't find
anything wrong
with murder.
Be really careful
when those things
are presented to you
when people want to say
that morality
is entirely subjective.
Their evidence
for such claims
is extremely weak.
The interviewing process
for these people
is almost nil.
In most cases,
they don't even speak
their languages.
They make assumptions
that they think
murder is right.
And it's at very best
anecdotal.
So you've got
one small group
of people.
Show me a nation state
that has taken morality
and made it
an entirely subjective
thing.
Could be the U.S. soon.
We're kind of heading
in that direction,
aren't we?
But deep down,
people know.
People know
what is right.
They know
what is wrong.
Paul tells us
and in our text
we see
that people
without the law
still by nature
do what the law
requires.
And therefore,
having kept the law
imperfectly,
even with the law
written on our hearts,
we don't keep it
perfectly,
their condemnation
is just.
God will
dole out justice
and He will
be right
in doing so.
Paul wrote this.
If you back up
into Romans 1,
verse 18
and following,
For the wrath
of God
is revealed
from heaven
against all
ungodliness
and all
unrighteousness
of men
who by their
unrighteousness
suppress the truth.
So the wrath
of God
will be delivered
to unrighteous
men.
Those who aren't
found perfect,
the wrath
of God
is due them.
It's a weighty
thing.
Verse 19,
For what can be
known about God
is plain to them
because God
has shown it
to them.
For His invisible
attributes,
namely His eternal
power and divine
nature,
have been clearly
perceived ever
since the creation
of the world
and the things
that have been
made.
So they
are without
excuse.
The native
people of Malta,
God's word
on their heart,
they had evidences
in the creation
that a God
exists who
gave them
such instruction
and so they
were without
excuse.
The native
people of Malta
needed the
gospel of
Jesus Christ.
They needed to
believe in Jesus
Christ and to be
clothed in His
righteousness,
to be found
perfect in
Christ because
without Jesus'
righteousness,
they would one
day stand before
the God of
justice and receive
their due
punishment.
God,
but praise God
that by faith
in Christ,
they,
I believe,
they,
I hope many
of them,
and you and
I can stand
before God
and be seen
as keepers of
the law because
Jesus kept
the law for
us.
Praise God
that by faith
in Christ,
they and you
and I can
stand before God
having our sins
cleansed from
us because Jesus
bore God's
wrath on our
behalf.
And now,
as followers of
Jesus Christ,
we boldly
proclaim the
good news of
His saving
faith.
This is what it
means to believe
in Jesus,
to believe in
His person,
that He is in
fact the Son
of God,
God Himself,
incarnate,
sent to earth,
and that He did
this work on our
behalf.
He lived a
perfect life,
fulfilling righteousness,
that He might
give that to us,
and He died a
sinner's death,
taking our
punishment in
His flesh.
This is what it
means to believe
in Jesus.
Place your
faith in
that.
Recognize your
sinfulness,
your just
condemnation.
God will
bring justice,
and He will
bring it to
those who
haven't placed
faith in
Jesus Christ
by pouring
His wrath
out on them.
He will
bring it to
those who
have believed
in Jesus
Christ because
He poured
His wrath
out on Christ.
Christ.
We escape
His wrath
because Jesus
suffered in
our place.
Beloved,
this is the
gospel of
Jesus Christ,
and your soul
is in a
desperate state.
If you
couldn't stand
before God
now,
clothed in
Christ's
righteousness,
there's nothing
we can do
to earn our
way to
heaven.
How will
you be
justified
before God?
You stand
before Him,
what will
be your
answer?
The only
answer that
will be
sufficient is
I am
clothed in
Christ.
I have
placed my
faith in
His
person and
in His
work.
So for
those of us
who are in
Jesus,
we need to
join with
Paul,
Romans 1
16,
for I am
not ashamed
of the
gospel,
for it is
the power
of God
for salvation
to everyone
who believes.
Let's pray
together.