The Miraculous Man

Text: Acts 28:1-10

Central Idea of the Text: Paul’s miraculous works display the glory of God and

Proposition: When Christians are stuck in perilous situations, Christ shines thru them all the brighter.

Purpose: All hearers should prepare for the storms they may face, to bring God’s peace, and to help the lost see the hope of Christ.

An all time favorite movie of mine is “The Prestige”, directed by Christopher Nolan. The movie stars Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale. In the movie, two stage magicians who are initially friends, become bitter rivals, with each going to deeper and darker extremes to uncover the secrets of the other and best him in audience and notoriety. They are always watching each other’s illusions and trying to figure out how the other did the incredible feat that made their audiences’ jaws drop and their legs stand and their hands clap with raucous cheers. By the end of the movie, they are stumped by one another’s methods, and wondering “Are these mere illusions? Or is there some other deeper secret in play?”

Today’s text displays many wonders and no illusions on the part of Paul, and it will leave the people in awe, and wondering “Is this man a god?” Let’s take a closer look at today’s text, found in Acts 28:1-10:

Acts 28:1–10 ESV

1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 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. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 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 has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 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. 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

This is the Word of the Lord for us this morning.

Would you pray with me? Father, we thank you for sparing Paul, so that many more would be served and be saved. We thank you for Paul’s tireless example in doing what is right, and in displaying the apostolic works that he was given from Christ himself. Lord, please help us to examine today’s text carefully, and receive the truths that would help us to serve in an effective and fulfilling way for the spread of the Gospel and the growth of your kingdom. We pray this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Picking up on the coat tails of last week’s message, we remember that Paul, Luke and Aristarchus are among the prisoners that are headed to Rome. They went up the coast from Caesarea to Myra, before changing ships to a larger transport ship from Alexandria. As they pushed toward Rome, the fall weather was not in their favor, and even while trying to find a place to spend the winter, they were pushed out to the midst of the Mediterranean for more than two weeks. Though they had given themselves up for lost, Paul projected the hope of the message that he had been given: He would see Rome. And then God provided a miracle. The winds would drive them toward the small island of Malta. They would eat as land approached, throw the remaining cargo overboard, abandon ship as it came apart on the reef of the bay, and ALL 276 people on board would survive. If you’ve read or seen any encounters of sea disasters, you know that this is absolutely a miracle that every person on board survived. But now, you can visit that Island of Malta, maybe even vacation during the summer months on St. Paul’s Bay.

And that brings us to today’s text. Another text that is full of miracles, but has no direct commands for any of us. Again, we are encountering a narrative that has some amazing happenings that leave everyone impressed. But that doesn’t mean its just another story for us to toss in the “Cool Story Bro” file that we’ve been filling up throughout our encounters in Acts. There are some ways that we should think critically about this story, to understand what was in it for the people of Malta, and what’s in it for the followers of Jesus in 2025.

I believe that the truth that will stand out to us this morning is this: “There are some works that God only intends certain people would do, AND there are some works of God that we can ALL participate in.” We are going to do that this morning by examining these 10 verses about Paul and Company on Malta by first looking at the works of “he”, that is, the Works of God through Paul, then crossing a contextual bridge to ask if these works are our works, before finally exploring the works of “we”, that is, the works that God intends to do through all of us.

The Works of He (God through Paul)

First off, I have to say that (from my childhood) this is one of my favorite Bible stories out the gate, and it was one that always transported Paul from a really skilled preacher and missionary, to a total rockstar for Jesus, who could do all kinds of supernatural stuff by the power of God. It starts as soon as they get off the ship and out of the water. Nearly 300 people, coming from the sea. The text says that the native people welcomed them and went to build a fire for them. Now as we think of these “native people” we should not think as much primitive as we think foreign. The word here is “barbarros”, the same word we use for barbarian. But the word is simply referring to people who do not speak Greek or Hebrew, one of the common languages. But they are human, and they want to show kindness through hospitality to their fellow man. Building a fire is a high priority in the approaching wind and cold … coming out of the sea … it’s definitely time to get dry. So some of the soaked crew sets to help them, including Paul. But as they gather wood and brush, Paul’s piece of brush has a Viper in it. He does not appreciate Paul messing with his stick home for his winter hibernation, so he tells Paul “Welcome to Malta” by lashing out and digging his fangs into Paul’s hand. By the use of the word “echidna” for viper here, the indication is that this was a venomous snake. The Islanders know it, and Luke would have known it as a doctor who was trained in healing practices. Everyone looks at Paul and goes: “well, that is the most ironic thing we’ve ever seen. A guy that survived that storm and shipwreck, being bit by a viper? He must be a murderer to deserve it.” But Paul, who we have no narrative from here, can be imagined to have said: “Oh no. Not today Satan. The Holy Spirit says I’m going to Rome. Jesus says I’m going to Rome. And angel told me I’m going to Rome. You ain’t stopping me from going to Rome.” He shakes it off into the Fire, and all the snake haters said “Thank you Paul.” He suffered no ill effects, and the Natives knew there was something supernatural about Paul, thinking that he was a god.

Now, I believe that Paul clears that up to them in what follows in verse 7. There we read that as they were in the village for 3 days, there was a man named Publius who played host to several of the men, especially the three who are the focus of our text. But it happens that as they are staying at the house, they find out that Publius’ father is in the process of a severe illness and is dying of dysentery. It’s not just something you die of in the old computer game Oregon Trail; it was an illness that would prove fatal because of your lack of proper digestion and blood loss. When Paul hears of it, he sits with him, prays for him, places his hands on him, and heals him. Word spreads from there, and many others come to be healed. Now, this is not a new occurence in Acts, but we simply note that it happens once again here, by the power of God at the hands of Paul.

Now if that is all there is to the text, then it is an open and shut case what we ought to be doing this morning, right? Let’s get a box of snakes out and pass them around so we can display the same power of God that Paul was exhibiting! (Strangely enough, there are small branches of Christianity that have decided to operate in this way, passing around rattlesnakes and other vipers … basing their belief and application on this passage and on Mark 16:18. But they have done so to often deadly, tragic and predictable results, because they were taking the wrong lessons from the text.) Maybe we can just start a healing service and get a line out the door for me to “lay hands on your illness” for a certain cure! (We also know there are those who will try to offer such services in exchange for your money in the offering plate; though it seems like they rarely take these “healing crusades” to the places where they are needed most. So these questions should lead us to ask a question as we cross the bridge from Malta to Nemaha County and from 60 AD to 2025 AD ...

Crossing the Bridge: Are these powers mine?

Every good student of the Bible needs to ask questions which we have been learning to ask in Acts: Is this text descriptive or prescriptive? Meaning … Is this text simply describing something that happened, or is it describing what I should be doing, the power that we should be accessing and what all of us should be expecting on a daily basis among God’s people. Acts makes us ask these questions alot. The more succinct way to ask the question for this text is: Are these powers for just for Paul, or these powers mine as well?

I am going to answer the question directly: No, this specific power and authority is not for you, or me. And I want to give you three points of evidence that will come hard and fast from the word. So please relisten or take really quick notes if I go too fast for you.

As we have noted from the beginning of this book, there are many miracles in Acts. But all of those miracles come at specific times through specific people for specific purposes. Many of the Miracles are connected to three specific people: Peter, Paul and Philip. We know that two of these three were specifically called, rescued and appointed by Jesus Christ himself as the leaders of his church. Philip is the exception, and we do know he was appointed as a deacon (servant) and was later (after Stephen died) a significant evangelist. It was these three who we see specifically:

Healing a lame man as with Peter in Acts 3

Doing signs and wonders through the Apostles hands in Acts 4-5.

Peter speaking to Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, and Paul speaking to Elymas in Acts 13 divine miraculous judgement on these individuals.

Demons cast out by Peter and Paul in Acts 5 & 19.

Peter and Paul both raising the dead in Acts 9 and Acts 20.

Outside of the works of those three, there is the speaking in tongues of the 3000 on Pentecost in Jerusalem, again, happening to both fulfil prophecy and so that the message of the Gospel could be clearly understood. All of it is God’s power, God’s timing, God’s purpose. Why? For the Gospel to be preached and for souls to be saved. But I understand this may not be enough evidence for some with regard to our own possession or wielding of these healing powers, so I would simply like you to consider this same Paul we are hearing of today. He did these miracles, and he also wrote much of the New Testament. Wouldn’t he have instructed someone like his young pastor protégé Timothy no perform these signs and wonders if the pastors were meant to do them? If you review both letters to Timothy, you will find scant evidence mandating miracles from the appointed pastor. But what is the faithful pastor supposed to do?

He is supposed to “preach the Word.” (2 Tim 4:2)

He is supposed to “correct false teaching.” (2 Tim 1:3)

He is supposed to “handle scripture rightly.” (1 Tim 4:13)

He is supposed to “set an example for the believers.” (1 Tim 4:12)

He is supposed to “flee vice and pursue virtue.” (2 Tim 2:22)

He must appoint elders, treat others appropriately, discipline fairly, avoid partiality, endure hardship … etc. etc. etc.

Ok, so there’s no miracle mandate for individuals like Timothy. But what about the church? Surely Paul gave instructions to the church and admonitions to the church to do miracles like we see on Malta in Acts 28? Again, the answer is no.

When addressing the movement of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians 5:18–21, he says nothing of miracles, resurrections, exorcisms, etc. What does he say?“18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Sing. Give thanks. Submit to each other. Then he surrounds those commands with ...

Wives submit to your husbands. (Eph 5:22)

Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. (Eph 5:25)

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. (Eph 5:11)

Walk in love. (Eph 5:2)

Put on the full armor of God. (Eph 6:11)

The list could continue, but does the church receive the point? Miraculous things can happen because God is involved, but it is not the ministry or call of every believer to do those things. I am not an apostle. You are not an apostle. We do not have apostolic authority. But what can we ALL do? What work can we then participate in? The text has clues.

The Works of We (God through Us)

When we look back over this week’s text, there are clues of the working of God’s people that we are all called into.

Our Words: Note that the reason that we are reading this account is because of Luke. Because Luke sets down to write the history of the church that he has both heard and experienced, we are able to hear it too. Now, the scripture is written. We don’t need to add to scripture. But there are stories from God’s work in the early church and God’s work here and now that need to be retold. You may not be able to write, but can you tell a story? Then using your words is a work that you can do: both to tell the stories of Jesus that others might follow him, and to tell of God’s words and work so that disciples might be built up in faith.

Our Skills & Service: Note what else Luke does in this account. It’s given away by the Greek words used for healing in the text. When Paul heals Publius’ father, it uses the Greek “iaomai”. When all the people of the Island come to see Paul and his companions, the text says that they were cured (“therepeuo”). These who words are used for healing interchangably throughout Acts, but the two being used in close proximity to each other? Many scholars infer that both Luke and Paul were involved in the curing work. Do not forget that Luke is a doctor. He is learned in medicine. He knows the best practices for many curable ailments and physical impairments. I believe that God not only used Paul’s hands here, but Luke’s skills and the practice of those skills to make a real difference in meeting the needs and accordingly proclaiming Jesus to those who have yet to know him.

Our Presence & Prayers: The text today ends in verse 10 with “we”: Acts 28:10 “10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.” We don’t know everything that Luke and Aristarchus were doing to be an aid to Paul, but we know they they were doing it together. The people of Malta honored not just Paul but all of them. They were together as a team, and they were supporting each other. And one underrated thing that not just these believers but all the believers in all of the churches were doing, is that they were still faithfully gathering, and they were still praying for Paul and his safe passage to Rome. Friends, let us never underestimate the power of the gathered and praying church around the globe. Because when we gather and when we pray, incredible … even miraculous things can happen.

This morning’s island encounter has reminded us that there were things that Paul could do … in overcoming snakebites without injury and healing a terminal man. And there are things that we can do … in using our words to tell the stories of Jesus and of his people, in using our skills in action to do the tasks God has at hand for us, and in using our presence and prayers to be of one mind and spirit … asking God to do incredible things.

Some people would hear what I am preaching this morning and say that I do not believe in miracles. That could not be further from the case. I DO believe in miracles. And I do believe there is a God that can do incredible, wonderous things. But his people must ask Him, and we must use every effort in asking for healing to give glory to God and point people to Jesus. They are his works by his power and not our own efforts to bring glory to us.

I was reminded of this during the week, when I came back across the stories of Dr. Garland Bare. A few of you know Dr. Bare, but many of you don’t. He was born as the son of missionaries in Tibet, and he later went in his missionary life to Thailand and served as a missionary and doctor. Two years before he passed at the age of 87 in 2017, this frail old man, at 85 years old, sat at a table a gave a series of lectures “Where are the miracles?” He spoke from his perspective as a Doctor of first hand experience from his mission work, and his experiences of discerning true miracles from falsehoods. [I posted the links to these videos on my Facebook this last week, and I will post the link to them again under the videos of today’s service for those who want to hear more.] I want to simply tell you two of his stories that illustrate what God did because he did or did not grant a miracle.

Story 1:

“Have you ever been Angry with the Lord. I mean, have you ever thought the Lord made a mistake at the way he answered your prayers? Anybody here ever been angry with the Lord? Thinking ... Lord, you goofed … That's the wrong answer … That's not the way I wanted it. I had an experience like that one time. We were working [in Thailand] with the White Hmong tribe, and there were the Blue Hmong in the Nong Province, and the Blue Hmong were quite responsive to the gospel. But the White Hmong were not and part of the problem was this young witch doctor who opposed the gospel so much and so strongly, and he had a strong influence on the people. He was very young, and very bright.

And he prevented a lot of people from coming to the Lord. And. Culture is. It's a patriarchal culture, which means that men are important [and are the leaders. Their sons are especially important to them.]. The Heritage of everything was passed down through the sons, and the witch doctor had a young son, his first, who about just a few months old.

That young boy became all clogged up and and couldn't breathe, and the witch doctor tried it all these charms, and his son died. And the Second Son [was born to him], and at a few months of age, he got all stopped up. The witch doctor tried many charms again, and yet this child died, just literally smothered to death. The Witch doctor in desperation, when the third son came along [and became sick as well], He brought him to the hospital where I was serving. He said: “All my charms have not worked, and this, this is my third son and he needs to live.” And we didn't have that testing equipment to prove it, but I was quite sure that the boy had cystic fibrosis.

Well, I sat with the father and son and I dripped antibiotic, very slowly because you don't want to flood the lungs, very, very slowly into the veins and monitored him. And prayed and prayed. Lord, I said, I told the Lord, you please heal this little boy. Because, think what a Triumph it would be if the boy lived. And I was really thinking that my prayer would be answered because towards dawn, the fever went down and the body started breathing a little easier. I thought he's going to make it. My prayers are being answered.

And then suddenly he died. And I said, Lord, you goofed. You had such a wonderful opportunity to to heal this boy. And to maybe convert the witch doctor. But the young witch doctor, turned to me and said after the baby died: “I don't know whether I will ever become a Christian. But I will never forget who sat beside me the saddest night of my life.” [After he said this, and had gone away] persecution stopped. And people started coming to the Lord [among the White Hmong trip from that point forward], but it wasn't the way I planned it.

Often. God's plans are not exactly what I look. I have prayed so intently for people who had brain injuries, such as I have. And very often, they're not healed. And God does things in his own way and his own terms. And we have to realize that what he does is best and we have to dedicate our Lives to him.

Story 2:

Every fall, in the area where we lived in Naan province, there's an outbreak of malaria. And there are three different kinds of malaria that take place. Now, there are three kinds of malaria, and the worst kind is Falciparum malaria. It's called malignant malaria, and it has a highest death rate. There was a 19 year old son of a witch doctor whose uncle had become a Believer, and his cousins had become Believers. And this young man, his name was Banjong. Banjong, was 19 years old at the time, and he became more and more interested in starting attending the services there.

And his which doctor, father saw that his son was getting interested in following the Lord, and he Exiled him to his field Hut high up in the mountains, so he couldn't come back down. And so he stayed up there for some time. It was there that he came down with malignant malaria, And they brought him down. I tried all the newer medications that we had for malaria. Fansadar. Tetracycline. Daraprim.

He didn't respond to any of them. It was a very resistant form. Finally, the last resort was the original drug, which is quinine. And we dripped quinine very slowly into the to the veins of a malaria patient when they had resistant malaria. And sometimes they survived. Well, the witch doctor was quite frantic for Banjong. He said, “if if he becomes a Christian, will God heal him?” I said: That's up to God, I said. If he becomes a Christian, he will be spiritually healed, and he will meet God in heaven. But I said there's no guarantee [of his physical healing].

So, Banjong was getting worse, and he hemorrhaged and his abdomen was distended with blood. And so. Because because the quinine can cause that. Chemically what I called G6PD deficiency and is found in a lot of the Asian people. And if they have that deficiency, the quinine can kill them. So he was obviously dying. So I said “Banjong, before you went up into the mountains. You said that you wanted to follow Jesus? Do you still want to follow Jesus? And, uh, he said. “It's too late, he said. I'm dying. And and I, I can't cannot be baptized. It’s too late.” Well, I said, we have a merciful god. Why don't you tell God how you feel if you really want to follow him, he said. I can't. He said I’ve got Spirit strings. And I can't pray when I've got these Spirit strings around my wrists and ankles. (These were charms dedicated to the spirits of the witch doctor.)

I turned to the nurse who was in charge of the of the board, who was a very devout Buddhist and very anti-christian. I said to her, I want you to bring your scissors, and I borrowed the scissors and cut the strings away. And I said to her, I want you to do his vital signs. And she said. “Blood pressure: 50 over zero.”

Heart rate, just quivering. Okay, I can't count the heart rate. Respirations very labored. And so, After the spirit strings were cut, I said, Banjong. Would you like to talk to God again? And then Banjong said: Lord, I’ve always wanted to follow you. And whether I live or die, I want to be yours. His eyes brightened. His hands had already turned, fingers already turned blue, his hands cold, and they warmed up. He just his appearance just changed immediately, so I called a nurse, and I said I want Vital Signs on him again. She said: Blood pressure 120 over 80. Pulse 80 regular. But what the most miraculous thing was and one that I cannot explain is that this distended abdomen with all this blood went down flat, and we never knew where the blood went. But we serve a God of miracles. We cannot dictate what he will do, but we can marvel when He chooses to perform his miracles.

Brothers and sisters, let us devote ourselves to God. Let us pray for one another. Let us pray for healing. And let us receive our daily portion from the Lord, in life and in death, because his ways are above our own. These testimonies we have shared this morning are true, and there is great faith gathered in this room who have seen both incredible triumphs and hard losses. In all of it, His grace is enough, and the good shepherd holds his people close. This morning, you may want the assurance that you are one of the sheep of his flock, that God has forgiven your sin, and you have the hope of heaven. The journey starts when you turn from your sin and receive Jesus as savior. As Peter put it in Acts 2:38: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Do not put Christ off. Receive him and be saved.