Download Central Church of Christ Study guide for February 27, 20ll

Central Church of Christ Study guide for February 27, 20ll
February 27 we will complete our study of Acts as we cover chapter 28. March 6 we will
have a one time study of Paul’s final words in II Timothy. Beginning March 13 we will
begin a study of the gospel of Luke. Discussion questions for those classes who chose to
follow the sermon Feb. 27 are:
1. If you were in Paul’s shoes having just come through a 14-day storm and a
shipwreck only to be bitten by a viper as you gather firewood, how would you
react?
a. What was the reaction of the natives of Malta when Paul was bitten?
b. How would you feel if you were first thought to be a murderer then a god?
c. Why do you suppose there is no mention of Paul’s evangelistic work on
Malta?
2. What evidences of God’s protection do you see in 28:1-6?
3. What evidences of provision and empowerment do you see in 28:7-16?
4. How do you understand the Isaiah quote in 28:26-27?
a. Why would that passage be quoted in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts,
and Romans?
b. What is the message of the Isaiah passage for us?
5. Why does Acts end so abruptly?
a. Is the Holy Spirit telling us to finish the story by carrying out the great
commission ourselves?
b. What specific action can the average Christian take to be personally
carrying out the Great Commission?
Sermon: After The Storm
Last week we watched as God protected Paul through a fierce storm. In today’s text we
come to the other side of the storm. Most of us expect relief once the storm passes but
there are times when God does not take us through the storm to deliver us to a resort
paradise. Often we’re so busy licking our wounds and talking about the storm that we
miss the real opportunity to make a difference for God. What is predictable is that God
will always put us in a place where we can be a blessing to others. Where God places
Paul after the storm is significant. It was not by chance that they landed on Malta, an
island of pagans who had never heard of this man called Jesus.
Gicomo Puccini was a great composer whose operas number among the world’s
favorites. Even after he was stricken with cancer in 1922, he was determined to write a
final opera, “Turandot,” which some consider his best. As his illness grew worse, his
students implored him to rest and save his strength, but he persisted. At one point he
remarked, “If I do not finish my music, my students will finish it.” In 1924, Puccini went
to Brussels to be operated on, where he died two days after his surgery. His students did
finish “Turandot,” and in 1926 the premiere was held in Milan under the baton of
Puccini’s favorite student, Arturo Toscanini. All went brilliantly until they came to the
point in the score where the teacher had been forced to put down his pen. Toscanini, his
face wet with tears, stopped the production, put down his baton, turned to the audience
and cried out, “Thus far the master wrote, but he died!” After a few moments, his face
now wreathed in smiles, Toscanini picked up his baton and cried out to the audience,
“But his disciples finished his work!” They finished the opera.
Acts is the story of “all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day that He was taken
up to heaven” (1:1, 2). The work that He began was to be completed by His disciples,
who were to be His “witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even
to the remotest part of the earth” (1:8). When we come to the end of Acts, Luke leaves us
with the apostle Paul preaching the gospel in the capital of the empire, “with all
openness, unhindered.” So, in one sense, the mission was accomplished, with the gospel
going to the remotest part of the known world.
Yet in another sense, Luke leaves the story open and ongoing. Jesus’ followers have been
carrying on his mission for almost 2,000 years and it is not yet thoroughly accomplished.
According to the Joshua Project there are still 2.7 billion people that have not been
reached with the gospel of Christ. In that sense the book of Acts is still being written.
The text we look at today from Acts 28, gives us insights into how God accomplishes his
mission through our hands.
God accomplishes His Great Commission by protecting, providing for, and
empowering His servants.
Paul and his fellow shipmates discovered that they were shipwrecked on Malta, a small
island about 18 miles long and 8 miles wide, located about 60 miles south of Sicily. It
was cold and rainy, and the men were wet from swimming ashore. The natives showed
them extraordinary kindness by kindling a bonfire and eventually helping the men find
lodging for the winter. These events described in the first half of Acts 28 show us God’s
protection, provision, and power.
God’s Protection
Acts 28:1-6 - Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The
islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it
was raining and cold. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a
viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the islanders saw the
snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for
though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 But
Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected
him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing
unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
As Paul joins in with the mundane task of collecting firewood, a viper fastens itself onto
Paul’s hand. The superstitious natives conclude that Paul must be a murderer. When he
doesn’t swell up and die as they expected they change their minds and conclude he is a
god. For whatever reason Luke doesn’t tell us how Paul handled that situation nor does
he tell us about any of Paul’s evangelistic work on Malta. Perhaps it just wasn’t germane
to the story Luke was telling. It is clear that God was protecting Paul from shipwreck,
cold, poisonous snakes, and superstitious natives.
God’s Provision
Acts 28:7-16 - There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief
official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous
hospitality for three days. 8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and
dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and
healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and
were cured. 10 They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail,
they furnished us with the supplies we needed.
11
After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was
an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. 12 We put in
at Syracuse and stayed there three days. 13 From there we set sail and arrived at
Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached
Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with
them. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were
coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet
us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged. 16 When we got to
Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
God provided for His servants through the unusual hospitality of the natives on Malta.
Publius, the leading man of the island, entertained all 276 men for three days, and then he
apparently found them lodging for the winter. As the men departed, the islanders honored
them with many gifts and supplies.
God also provided for Paul through a week of fellowship with the believers in Puteoli,
about 140 miles south of Rome. The centurion was especially kind to allow Paul to visit
these saints. God further provided through the Christians who came out as far as the
Market of Appius (44 miles from Rome) and Three Taverns (33 miles) to escort Paul into
the city. Can you imagine what the rest of the travelers in Paul’s company thought when
they saw these people welcoming this prisoner as an important dignitary! When a new
prisoner arrives at McAlester or Lexington Prisons they are not greeted by a group of
well-wishers but as Paul arrives at his place of confinement he is greeted by a welcome
committee of encouraging people. He thanked God and took courage when he saw these
Christians whom he had longed to see for several years (Rom. 15:23). God also provided
for Paul by permitting him to stay by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him, in
rented quarters. Through the generous gifts of the Philippian church and others, Paul’s
financial needs were met (Phil. 4:10-18).
God’s Empowerment
Although Luke was the physician, the Lord used Paul to heal miraculously many of the
sick people on Malta. The first was the father of Publius, who was sick with fever and
dysentery. After this, many others also came for healing. Hopefully as you were reading
the text this week you became aware that when God gives a man a task He also
empowers him with the skills and the tools to accomplish that task. Faith comes into the
picture when you become convinced that God is calling you to a specific ministry and
now you have to rely on Him for the empowerment.
God accomplishes His Great Commission through His servants who obediently
proclaim the gospel to all people.
When Paul finally arrives in Rome he quickly summons the Jewish leaders to explain
why he is a prisoner there. He spends the entire day teaching about the kingdom of God.
Some were persuaded, but others would not believe. A dispute arose between the 2
groups. Paul’s final words are a recitation of Isaiah 6:9-10:
“Go to this people and say, ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.’ For this people’s heart has become
calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their
hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
This important text is quoted six times in the New Testament (Matt. 13:14; Mark 4:12;
Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Rom. 11:8; & here). Three of those times are in reference to the
parable of the sower in the gospels, where Jesus explained why He spoke in parables, to
conceal truth from scoffers, but to reveal truth to seekers. Another time John cited it and
then commented, “These things Isaiah said because he saw [Jesus’] glory, and he spoke
of Him.” The main idea of these verses is that if people close up their hearts to God’s
Word through His messengers, the Lord will confirm their rejection by hardening them
even further. Israel had a sad history of rejecting and even killing the prophets that God
sent to turn them back to Him. Finally, and most tragically, they killed God’s Son. God’s
judgment would shortly fall on Jerusalem and the nation of Israel in A.D. 70.
Paul uses the Isaiah quote to support his calling to take the gospel to the Gentiles, adding,
“they also will listen” (28:28). God’s purpose is to be glorified through the preaching of
the gospel to all peoples. He accomplishes that purpose through His servants’ willing
obedience to the Great Commission. Israel should have been a light to the nations, but
their idolatry and sin caused them to fail. Now it’s on our shoulders to be a light to the
nations by taking the gospel to them.
Though Paul was in chains in Rome, the gospel was not chained. Luke’s final word in the
Greek text is, “unhindered.” As he later wrote to Timothy, even though he was
imprisoned as a criminal, the word of God is not imprisoned. Luke never tells us the
final outcome of Paul’s trial or anything about his subsequent life. Many Bible scholars
believe Paul stayed in custody for about two years (until 62), during which time he wrote
Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. When his accusers did not show up, he
was released on default. Some think that he eventually made his way to Spain, as he
hoped (Rom. 15:24, 28). He probably visited again some of the churches, perhaps even
seeing the Ephesian elders once more, contrary to his earlier prediction. He sent Timothy
there to help correct some problems. He visited Crete and left Titus there to minister.
During these free years, he wrote 1 Timothy and Titus. Eventually he was arrested again
and taken to Rome, where he anticipated that things would not go well. From prison, he
wrote 2 Timothy. About 67 or 68, Nero executed the great apostle who had fought the
good fight, finished the course, and kept the faith (2 Tim. 4:7). Paul accomplished his
mission.
Winston Churchill said after the Battle of El Alamein in World War II: “This is not the
end, nor is it the beginning of the end, but it is perhaps the end of the beginning.” As we
come to the end of our study of Acts, you will have totally missed the point unless you
leave here today understanding that you are the main character in Acts 29. Don’t let our
study of Acts 28 be the end of the story. Don’t let it be the beginning of the end. Let it
be the end of the beginning as you take up the challenge of the great commission in your
own life and among your own friends and family. Each of us needs to ask, “What about
me? Am I as committed to the Great Commission of my Lord as I ought to be?