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At first glance, this week’s passage might seem like a collection of information telling a story about Paul, but it is so much more than that.
It is a reminder that God faithfully provides for his children and because God faithfully provides, we can faithfully complete our mission, we can Go! because God will always be with us, even to the ends of the earth!
Most people say Paul had three missionary journeys, but we could really consider Paul’s voyage to Rome a fourth missionary journey!
Think about it, God caused Paul to take the Gospel to an island that had not heard about Christ and that Paul would not have intentionally gone to.
When we think about Paul’s life and all the incredible human heroes, they heroically took the Gospel wherever they went.
Paul’s life was no different: his whole purpose was to proclaim Christ everywhere.
He pointed to God all the time.
He didn’t stop being a missionary because he was in chains.
That had not stopped him before, that does not stop him here.
I want to act like that, we need to act like that!
Please turn to Acts 28.
If I am going to convince you to “GO!” and if Luke is going to convince us to “GO!” we have to appreciate God’s provision and we have to fully rely on God to provide when we faithfully obey.
These last verses should inspire us to stop being afraid because God always provides!
God provided a way to Rome.
(v11-13)
Acts 28:11–12 (ESV) 11 After three months (Feb/ March of AD 60) we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead.
12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days.
13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium.
And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli.
(SLIDE: MAP 1 - Malta to Rome)
Luke didn’t name the twin Gods because at the time his readers would have instantly known what he referring to.
The figurehead was the front part of the ship which often had an ornate carving or statue.
This ship had the twin gods Castor and Pollux on the bow, guiding the ship, if you will.
We know Castor and Pollux by a different name.
They are called the Gemini, twin sons of Zeus and a constellation is named after them.
When ancient mariners saw the Gemini constellation during a storm they believed they would be lucky and survive.
Perhaps Luke and Paul had a good laugh as they boarded “the good luck ship” after the last one had been torn to pieces in that violent storm.
We need to know God always does exactly what He promises.
God came through for his people once again.
They had a ship, a south wind blew pushing them rapidly northward.
This has been a recurring theme all through Acts and it is a recurring theme through the whole Bible.
Why? because we often forget.
We often think of God as merely human who fails and forgets.
Paul and Luke say God as high and lifted up, seated on his throne, arrayed in all glory and splendor and power.
When we see God as he is our thinking will be transformed and we will act like God our God is full of power and glory and splendor who has our best interest at heart every moment of every day.
It is no surprise then that...
God provided Christian companions.
(vv14-15)
Remember, for at least three months, Paul and Luke (maybe a couple of others) had been travel companions.
We know that where two or three gather, God is there, but they hadn’t been to church with many believers in a long time.
Some of us can remember what it was like to be away from church because of sickness, or surgery, or maybe we just didn’t want to go to church at all!
Jay (Bush), how does it feel to be in church again?
Archie and Colleen, how does it feel to be back in church again?
We can relate to these verses 14-15!
(SLIDE: MAP 2 - Appian Way)
14 There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days.
And so we came to Rome. 15 And the brothers there, when they heard about us, came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us.
On seeing them, Paul thanked God and took courage.
God provided for Paul in many wonderful ways.
When Paul arrived in Puteoli, Christians were there!
Those Christians sent word all the way to Rome.
“Paul has finally arrived!
God has blessed us!”
So when those Christians heard the great news, they traveled from Rome down the Appian Way to greet him.
The Appian Way was a main Roman road marked by the green line on the slide.
Those Christians met him at these various points along the way and traveled with him.
They had church for many days as they were traveling along, some 130 miles, some 40 miles, some 30 miles.
They had church not in a building, but in the party bus.
They didn’t go to church on Sunday but had church every day of the week!
They didn’t talk about how God continued to answer their prayers and about his abundant mercies just for one hour one day of the week, they talked about Him constantly!
God had changed Jewish and Gentile hearts all over the known world, and it was no surprise that Christians were there!
Paul knew a church existed there and wrote the book of Romans in AD 56, four years earlier.
In that letter, he mentioned how he hoped to visit them.
So they had been awaiting his arrival for four years and it is quite apparent that they had been very eagerly waiting for him!
God provided for Paul in many wonderful ways, in Acts 18 but no blessing impacted him as significantly as this.
We need to know that Christian companions are perhaps the most significant blessing on earth.
(v15)
Can someone shout out Paul’s two responses at the end of verse 15? (Thanked God and took courage!)
Christian companions effect the very inner parts of our being and stir up deep emotional responses.
We carry many burdens.
Life is hard, right?
Christian companions lighten the load on our hearts even thought the weight of the chains may be heavy.
Some of us are closer to the end of our journey and you younger ones might have a long journey left.
Paul still had a 130 mile walk and even then his journey was not over.
Christian companions keep our feet moving we have a LONG way to walk.
We cannot make it through life without our brothers and sisters.
Our bond is incredibly important for the journey ahead.
A famous Spanish Poet by the name of Miguel Cervantes wrote this:
“He who loses wealth loses much; he who loses a friend loses more; but he who loses his courage loses all.” - Cervantes
We don’t know if Paul lost all courage, but Christian fellowship was like an iced glass of water in the middle of summer.
Fellowship removed his road-weariness and nourished him for the other big tasks ahead of him.
Paul had no idea when he might stand before one of the most powerful persons alive.
He might stand trial immediately, or he might need to wait several years, but he would certainly need courage for that task.
God provided something else for Paul.
Verse 16 says, “And when we came into Rome.”
God provided safety to Rome.
(vv15-16)
These are very important words!
God said He would do it, but it took some time.
It wasn’t so much about the destination as it was about the journey.
Paul had certainly learned incredible truths about God along the way and all those people on the island and the ship needed to hear who God is.
Luke needed to remember who God is.
He had his doubts when Paul said he needed to go to Jerusalem.
He had his doubts when the storm intensified.
Luke, in verses 14 and verse 16 wrote, “we came to Rome.”
He repeated himself!
When they finally stepped into Rome, Luke must have thought, “God did it!”
“I didn’t think it was possible, but God did it!”
“I should have known.
I wasted time being afraid instead of trusting God.
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