See God’s Hand of Favor

See God’s Hand of Favor
Acts 28:1-24
Aug 6, 2023

As we get to Acts 28, we see that Paul had now been on a ship that ended up being shipwrecked, yet God miraculously kept all of the ship’s people from drowning. God had promised that they would all be safe and confirmed to Paul that he would still be a witness in Rome.

We pick up the story just after they made it safely to shore. They found themselves on the island of Malta; cold, wet, beaten down, weak from exhaustion, and being seasick for two weeks. But then we see the favor of God on Paul and therefore on all of them.

What do you do when your ship is broken, and you’ve come to the end of yourself?

First, thank God for what you have (they were saved!), and then, begin to rebuild your life on the foundation of God’s heart for you. God is not finished with you. Press on knowing that His favor is still on your life, even if there are shipwrecks and storms. He is the one who brings beauty out of ashes; He will rebuild your life on this sure foundation.

I. Hold on to God’s Love

• The natives were exceptionally kind to them and because of the cold, they kindled a fire. Paul was also gathering sticks.
• I love Paul’s helpful, servant’s heart here.
• But while he was gathering sticks and laying them on the fire, a viper fastened on his hand.

A. Respond with faith when troubles come

• How you respond to trouble has a lot to do with your faith. There are a lot of people that would respond with exasperation to yet another peril.
• “All right, Lord, I’ve had just about enough. I’ve had all I can take. Here I am, serving You, and I get attacked by a crowd, there’s a plot to kill me, I sat in prison for two years in Caesarea, I have to go through a raging storm for two weeks, I get shipwrecked on this island, and now this, bitten by a viper? How much can a man take?”
• That’s not Paul’s response. He gets bitten by the viper and then just calmly shakes it off into the fire. When you’ve been through as many storms as Paul, it begins to change your perspective.

Illus – I think a lot of people would have panicked; snakes and vipers tend to do that. I hate snakes. I have been in the presence of many snakes. We had mambas, tree snakes, vine snakes, puff adders, and many others where we lived… I think I would freak out if a snake bit me like that.

• Not Paul. The reason he was not afraid was that he was told he was to stand before Caesar, and he trusted God to keep His word. So, if God allowed this, He would keep him safe and use it for His glory. He knew that God saved him from the shipwreck and would not allow a viper to now kill him before God’s purpose was accomplished.
• There is a perspective of faith that strengthens the soul.

Psalm 138:3, 7-8, You made me bold with strength in my soul… Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; and Your right hand will save me. The Lord will accomplish what concerns me; your loving kindness, O Lord, is everlasting.

Deuteronomy 31:6, Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.”

B. Be anchored in God’s love

• He knew that God loved Him, so circumstances did not shake his faith in the love of God. This is why he wrote to the church of Ephesus:

Ephesians 3:17, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Illus – When you fill a bucket with sand, there is no space for anything else.

• When you are filled with the love of God, there is no space for fear, anxiety, insecurity, and all the other lies of the enemy.
• That is the foundation of Paul’s faith, he knows that God’s love is everlasting and that nothing can separate him from God’s love. He desires that everyone should KNOW this personally.

Romans 8:35, 37-39, Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? …In all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

• What a powerful perspective; no matter what tribulation, or distress or peril Paul is going through, he has every assurance that he is in God’s love.
• There’s beauty out of ashes; the favor of God is seen even as he’s going through these storms and troubles.

C. The curse of sin is broken

• It’s interesting that it was a viper that latched itself onto Paul’s hand. The viper, or serpent, has represented the enemy since the beginning. The enemy wanted to poison Paul’s soul with doubt and discontentment.
• The enemy of our souls has his grip on many people’s lives and many people have been destroyed by it.

Jeremiah 17:9, The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?

Illus – We just have to look around us at the fruit of sin in the lives of many. People say ‘My will be done’, thinking it brings fulfillment, but after a while the stark reality dawns that it brings brokenness and hurt. Sin wants to kill and destroy.

• But the curse of sin is broken, and the grip and power of the enemy has been defeated, so that we can confidently say…

1 Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

• Jesus took it all and what we deserved fell on Him and we are saved. The curse of sin is broken.
• Not only that but His blood is the antidote to the poison of sin and its effects in our lives.

John 8:36, So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

• When the viper took hold of Paul, they concluded he had to be a murderer and that justice had found him.
• As mentioned previously, many think that if something bad happens to you, it must be because you have done something wrong and now you are being punished. There is some truth to it in that there will come a day when God will settle all accounts, but this is not always the truth. It does work forward, but not backward.
• The great truth for believers is that we have been set free by the blood of Jesus.

Romans 8:1-2, There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law sin and death.

• When He didn’t die, their perspective swayed totally to the opposite opinion. Now he was not perceived as a murderer but as a god!

• Isn’t it incredible how people’s opinions can sway? That is why we cannot build our lives on others’ opinions. They never know the whole story of your life and as such people’s opinions are based on limited facts, being good or bad.

• God though, knows the whole you intimately, all the good and the bad; and the amazing thing is that He still loves you, is for you, and wants to see you succeed. Not only that, but even though He knew all of you, He still chose to die for you. That is why we thank the Lord, because He is amazing!

• This trouble, which seemed like a curse, became an opportunity for a testimony and a miracle. Not only did this miracle impact Paul, but became a pivotal point where he could minister to many who were healed and impacted by the gospel.

• We have said this so many times because it is a recurring theme in Acts. We need to be reminded constantly that God is at work in and through our lives, in the good and the bad and the ugly!

II. Faith Must be Personal

• From there they set off for Rome. When Paul arrived in Rome, he was allowed to stay by himself, with a soldier guarding him. He called together the leading men of the Jews.
• He wanted to persuade them; he wanted them to take hold of God’s word, God’s truth, and be changed.

A. God’s word is personal

• Three years earlier Paul had written what we call today the book of Romans. He mentions people by name and sends it with his heart for them.
• But Paul wrote that letter by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and today we call it the word of God.
• It was personal for them and it’s personal for us.

Illus – Before there were emails, people used to write many more letters. Many people here can attest to how much a personal letter meant if you were removed from your loved ones for an extended time, for example being away on a war front or studying far away. What makes it special is that it is personal. Written to you. The words impact you.

• Similarly, God wrote His word to us and it’s personal, God wants us to take hold of it and be transformed by understanding His love for us. When you start to understand that it is written to you, it becomes more than just a factual or historic document. It becomes alive.

Isaiah 43:1-5, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior… You are precious in My sight, you are honored and I love you… Do not fear, for I’m with you.”

Illus – About ten years ago, my wife and I were seeking guidance from God in a specific matter. So we decided to fast and wait on the Lord…

Illus – This week, we had the privilege to have lunch with missionaries and church planters from India. It was wonderful to hear what God is doing in India through their personal testimonies.

B. Have faith with full conviction

• Paul sat with this group of Jewish men all day explaining the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning until evening.
• That would be an amazing Bible study! Some were persuaded… But others would not believe. It doesn’t say that they could not believe, it says that they would not It was their choice. Even after they heard of all the miracles, signs, and wonders attesting to the message.
• By the way, many today think that if God will just do many signs, wonders, and miracles, people will repent. This is not necessarily so.

Matthew 12: 38-40, Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign; and yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet; for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

• In the end, this is an issue of the heart, not just the mind. A rebellious heart will always look for an excuse to not believe. One can choose to have a heart that wants to stay rebellious, or a heart that is looking for God and real life.

Luke 8:15, “The seed that fell on the good soil, these are the ones who have heard the word in an honest and good heart, and hold it fast, and bear fruit with perseverance.”

• To those who would not believe Paul quoted Isaiah…
• In other words, it’s about the heart. The heart makes a convert of the mind. Many people with great intellect do stupid things. It’s the heart that opens the ears to hear and the eyes to see.
• God open our eyes more and more so that we will see you, beholding your beauty, being changed from glory to glory into the image of your Son.

• Let me see your love, see your favor, see your heart for me.