October 27- November 2
Unstoppable – Man as Provider
“He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” - Acts 28:30-31 ESV
Have you ever heard the term "snakebit?" It typically refers to someone who is on a bad run of terrible circumstances. Well, Paul was literally snakebit on the island of Malta after surviving a shipwreck. This episode at the beginning of chapter 28 with Paul being bitten by a viper while gathering wood and surviving is the basis for "snake handling" in some backwoods churches. Unless you're the Apostle Paul, don't try that…but I digress.
What was Paul doing in the wood pile to begin with? He was leading by serving. There were 275 other shipwreck survivors who could’ve pitched in, and maybe some did, but here is the great Apostle Paul doing manual labor. The message? God’s leaders are never too big to serve. Jesus said: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). So, Paul was simply modeling his Master. What a message to us as Providers of an example for others!
But back to the snake bite. Those island natives thought that the goddess of justice had caught up to poor Paul, that the viper venom would be fatal because of his guilt. But the God of justice had already cleared him because of his trust in Jesus Christ. Same goes for anyone who has had his or her sins paid for by the work of Jesus on the cross! Paul shook off that snake into the fire and kept on going!
Think about it. God didn’t preserve Paul from the shipwreck in Acts 27 just to let him perish by a snake bite. Paul was providentially protected by God because He had a continued purpose for Paul. God had promised he would go to Rome and share the Gospel. Remember, the Lord told him: “you must testify also in Rome” (Acts 23:11), but Paul had not made it to Rome yet. Don’t misunderstand the point here. It wasn’t so much that Paul was unstoppable as it was that God's promise was unstoppable. In other words, nothing could stop God’s promise from being fulfilled. Paul could take God’s word in the past as a promise of future protection until he had accomplished God’s purpose. We can too.
In the second half of the chapter, we see the fulfillment of that promise. Paul arrived safely in Rome, but was placed under house arrest, and waited for his hearing before Caesar. Yet, that did not stop him. We read that he entertained guests and began sharing the good news with Jew and Gentile alike. Every Roman guard chained to him heard about Jesus, and we read in Philippians that the Gospel penetrated Ceasar's household. Paul didn’t let anything stop him from sharing the Gospel. The final verse says that Paul was “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28:31). In the original Greek language, the book of Acts literally ends with an adverb: "unhinderedly,” so it concludes: “boldly and unhinderedly.” That may not be proper English, but it is exactly what the book of Acts is all about: the unstoppable progress of the Gospel. Every wall between ethnic groups was broken down and every obstacle put up by opposition was overcome. The Gospel is unstoppable!
Think about it. In only three decades, God took a small group of unknown believers in Jerusalem, filled them with His Spirit, and transformed them into an empire-wide movement, ending on a high note with Paul on the verge of taking the Gospel to the very Emperor of Rome. So, let's be unstoppable in doing what Paul did, serving the Lord by serving others and by sharing the Gospel with those who desperately need Jesus!
- How much does it take to stop you from serving the Lord and sharing the Gospel? Rate yourself on your persistence in the face of resistance on a scale to 1 to 10. How can you make that number better?
- How would those whom you love and lead answer those questions about you? How does that motivate you to provide a better example?
- Ask the Lord to strengthen your persistence in the face of resistance with it comes to serving others and sharing the Gospel.
Unstoppable – Man as Provider
“He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” - Acts 28:30-31 ESV
Have you ever heard the term "snakebit?" It typically refers to someone who is on a bad run of terrible circumstances. Well, Paul was literally snakebit on the island of Malta after surviving a shipwreck. This episode at the beginning of chapter 28 with Paul being bitten by a viper while gathering wood and surviving is the basis for "snake handling" in some backwoods churches. Unless you're the Apostle Paul, don't try that…but I digress.
What was Paul doing in the wood pile to begin with? He was leading by serving. There were 275 other shipwreck survivors who could’ve pitched in, and maybe some did, but here is the great Apostle Paul doing manual labor. The message? God’s leaders are never too big to serve. Jesus said: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). So, Paul was simply modeling his Master. What a message to us as Providers of an example for others!
But back to the snake bite. Those island natives thought that the goddess of justice had caught up to poor Paul, that the viper venom would be fatal because of his guilt. But the God of justice had already cleared him because of his trust in Jesus Christ. Same goes for anyone who has had his or her sins paid for by the work of Jesus on the cross! Paul shook off that snake into the fire and kept on going!
Think about it. God didn’t preserve Paul from the shipwreck in Acts 27 just to let him perish by a snake bite. Paul was providentially protected by God because He had a continued purpose for Paul. God had promised he would go to Rome and share the Gospel. Remember, the Lord told him: “you must testify also in Rome” (Acts 23:11), but Paul had not made it to Rome yet. Don’t misunderstand the point here. It wasn’t so much that Paul was unstoppable as it was that God's promise was unstoppable. In other words, nothing could stop God’s promise from being fulfilled. Paul could take God’s word in the past as a promise of future protection until he had accomplished God’s purpose. We can too.
In the second half of the chapter, we see the fulfillment of that promise. Paul arrived safely in Rome, but was placed under house arrest, and waited for his hearing before Caesar. Yet, that did not stop him. We read that he entertained guests and began sharing the good news with Jew and Gentile alike. Every Roman guard chained to him heard about Jesus, and we read in Philippians that the Gospel penetrated Ceasar's household. Paul didn’t let anything stop him from sharing the Gospel. The final verse says that Paul was “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance” (Acts 28:31). In the original Greek language, the book of Acts literally ends with an adverb: "unhinderedly,” so it concludes: “boldly and unhinderedly.” That may not be proper English, but it is exactly what the book of Acts is all about: the unstoppable progress of the Gospel. Every wall between ethnic groups was broken down and every obstacle put up by opposition was overcome. The Gospel is unstoppable!
Think about it. In only three decades, God took a small group of unknown believers in Jerusalem, filled them with His Spirit, and transformed them into an empire-wide movement, ending on a high note with Paul on the verge of taking the Gospel to the very Emperor of Rome. So, let's be unstoppable in doing what Paul did, serving the Lord by serving others and by sharing the Gospel with those who desperately need Jesus!
- How much does it take to stop you from serving the Lord and sharing the Gospel? Rate yourself on your persistence in the face of resistance on a scale to 1 to 10. How can you make that number better?
- How would those whom you love and lead answer those questions about you? How does that motivate you to provide a better example?
- Ask the Lord to strengthen your persistence in the face of resistance with it comes to serving others and sharing the Gospel.