Have you ever seen an advertisement for a destination and it tells you some of the features of that destination? It may be something like, “Welcome to Bartow! Bartow has beautiful sunsets over the bright Florida sky. Bartow has majestic oak trees. Bartow has warm and friendly people. Bartow has a great First Baptist Church.”
Well, today we’re going to read about the time that Paul spent on the island of Malta, along with the others who were on the ship on which he sailed.
We’re going to learn about Malta and some of the things that were experienced on that island.
Today’s sermon is called “Welcome to Malta!”
Let’s read our passage and then learn what some of the things were that Malta had. Before we do, let’s go to God in prayer.
(prayer)
Ok, let’s look at Acts 28:1-10:
1 Once safely ashore, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold. 3 As Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the local people saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7 Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. 10 So they heaped many honors on us, and when we sailed, they gave us what we needed.
Ok, as a reminder, here is the map that shows all the noteworthy places on the journey of Paul on this ship. The big pink star is Malta.
So, our passage has us in Malta today.
Let’s discover three characteristics of Malta from Paul’s time on the island.
First, . . .
I. Malta has kindness.
Luke (the author of Acts) makes this very clear in verse 2. He says, “The local people showed us extraordinary kindness. They lit a fire and took us all in, since it was raining and cold.”
Notice, also, what Luke says in verse 7: “Now in the area around that place was an estate belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed us and entertained us hospitably for three days.”
We’re not sure exactly how big Publius’ estate was, but it was apparently large enough to entertain at least some, if not all, of the 276 sailors from the ship that wrecked off the shore of Malta.
That’s a lot of kindness, isn’t it? It shows kindness when you welcome anyone into your home. Well, Publius welcomed these shipwrecked strangers into his home.
So, it seems that the ordinary people on the island were kind and that this man, Publius, was kind.
Paul has been through some stuff in his lifetime, right?
If anyone could have used a little kindness, it was Paul.
Paul had been through imprisonment, attempted murder, slander, false charges against him, and most recently a shipwreck.
He needed some kindness.
The reality is that we all need kindness. Listen, folks: Don’t be mean. Just stop it. We need to be kind to others and we need others to be kind to us.
Paul said elsewhere, in Galatians 5:22–23, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
When we have the Holy Spirit of God in us, one of the characteristics that will result from us is kindness.
Kindness is a good thing, and Paul and the others received kindness on the island of Malta.
Second, we see that . . .
II. Malta has confusion.
In the ancient world there was a thought that when bad things happened to people, it was a direct result of their sin.
You may recall that when Jesus encountered a blind man, he was asked in John 9:2,“Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
However, as Jesus indicated then, bad things don’t always happen to someone as a result of their sin. Sometimes they do, but not always.
(return to “Malta has confusion” slide)
Yet, something serious happened to Paul, didn’t it? He was bit by a viper!
My son, Levi, asked me this week if I’ve ever been bitten by snakes; I told him that I had several times, but none venomous. So, for the record, I’ve never been bitten by a viper.
Just so you know, if you ever get bit by a viper, that’s a bad day.
So, the islanders on Malta assumed that because Paul was bitten by this viper, he surely must have committed some major sin.
In fact, they said in verse 4, “This man, no doubt, is a murderer. Even though he has escaped the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
However, notice what happened to Paul. Look at verse 5. It says, “But he shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no harm.”
Anytime you can shake a viper off your hand and carry on as normal after it bit you, something special is happening to you.
So, confusion #1 was when they thought Paul was being punished as a sinner.
Confusion #2 is revealed in verse 6. It says, “They expected that he would begin to swell up or suddenly drop dead. After they waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.”
Of course, Paul has already been confused as being a god before, and he corrected them. That was in Acts 14. You recall that those in Lystra thought Paul was Hermes and Barnabas was Zeus.
Though Luke doesn’t record every detail of every encounter with Paul, it’s likely that Paul corrected these men on Malta as well.
So, we see confusion here in Malta. They were confused that Paul was a sinner, then they totally changed their minds and were confused that he was a god.
Church, our world has lots of confusion. Our neighbors have lots of confusion. Your family may have lots of confusion. Our leaders have lots of confusion.
Followers of Jesus must be people of clarity. As Paul did time and time again, we must point people to the clarity of God’s design for our world and the clarity that Jesus makes all things new.
In the midst of confusion, may we bring the clarity of Jesus.
Finally, we see that . . .
III. Malta has miracles.
There are lots of miracles throughout the Book of Acts.
Of course, the Lord is not done working miracles in His world.
Look at verses 8-9 again:
8 Publius’s father was in bed suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, and praying and laying his hands on him, he healed him. 9 After this, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed.
We see that Publius’s father was healed, and then others came to Paul for healing.
We must remember, as we see all throughout the Book of Acts, that God has the power to heal. Not only that, God has given power to His people to heal in the name of Jesus.
We also see that the Spirit of God works as He desires. Sometimes He heals physically and instantaneously and sometimes He does not.
In the Book of Acts, we seem to see a concentration of God’s great power on display. We must remember that God is not done working through His people.
What an incredible story this was in Malta. The people were kind to Paul and others on that ship, the people were confused about who Paul was, and the people experienced true power through God’s healing of many of them.
What an amazing stop this was for Paul and those with him.
That takes us nicely to our bottom line:
Bottom Line: Malta was another amazing stop on Paul’s amazing journey.
Think for a moment about all that Paul had been through. Perhaps there is a special encounter that comes to mind.
I love the story in Ephesians 19 of Paul in Ephesus when the people are shouting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians,” and Paul wanted to go speak to them.
I like how Paul said to King Agrippa in Acts 26 that he wished that all those listening were as he was except for his chains.
Here in Malta, we see another amazing stop on Paul’s amazing journey.
Here’s the reality: Paul’s journey was not amazing because of who Paul was; it was amazing because of what God was doing through Him.
To that end, challenge yourself in this one way:
Weekly Challenge #1 – Ask God to help you prepare for your amazing journey.
God has something amazing for you. It may not involve you going to the island of Malta, but perhaps it may.
However, Malta or not, God has something amazing for you.
So, pray to God and ask Him to show you your journey, prepare your heart for your journey, give you the courage to stay on your journey, and give you the strength to finish your journey faithfully.
Paul said this near the end of his time on the earth: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” (2 Timothy 4:7)
May that be true for all of us at First Baptist Church Bartow.
(Gospel presentation)
(closing prayer)
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