Subscription Lists
Word from Scotland
by Sandy Shaw
In Acts 28:3, having been shipwrecked on the island of Malta, Paul helps gather sticks for the fire and a viper which had been attaches itself to Paul’s arm. The local people observe this incident and consider this to be an omen about what type of prisoner he really was, but Paul shook off the snake into the fire, and felt no harm.
The onlookers expected him to swell up suddenly and fall down dead - but as they closely observed and watched and waited - they witnessed no ill effects - and they began to say he was a god! Paul pays no attention to that comment either. O, to what extremes some people will go. One moment they regard him as a murderer, and within a few minutes they change their minds and think of him as a god! Beware of what people say. It can be totally irrelevant and meaningless. Paul is neither. He is an ordinary man in the hands of an extraordinary God - a man who is being used by Jesus Christ - and there can be such a variety of reactions from men and women.
Jesus said that Paul would arrive and testify to the Gospel in Rome, and Jesus will permit nothing to prevent Paul from reaching his final destination.
We have seen so many things happen to him - attempts to kill him - from the very beginning - rigged trials with false charges - that violent tempest and soldiers who wanted to slay him - and now a venomous poisonous viper.
We are not wrestling against flesh and blood. We are not fighting against people, but frequently we are fighting against demonically motivated people.
v 7 The father of the chief man of the island is lying sick with a fever. Paul was invited to stay there along with some others, and Paul went in to pray with the sick man. He laid his hands on him, and healed him. The hands that could shake off a snake could shake off disease too. As soon as Paul laid his hands upon this sick fevered body, Jesus heard his prayer and the sickness was healed immediately. Then, a whole crowd of needy people on the island came for healing.
Paul is invited into this landowner's home, and he is ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit. Officially, he is a prisoner. Realistically, he is on active duty in the kingdom of God, and people are healed and cured as the power of God touches their lives.
The Spirit of God is flowing through Paul. This is only a few days following the shipwreck, and many needy people are experiencing healing and miracles. Paul rose above the circumstances he was in. He wasn't angry, at being shipwrecked, at being a prisoner. He didn't hold any resentments against the sailors or soldiers who had rejected his advice. He just got on with the job to which Jesus had called him. Never once do we read of Paul making any negative comment – there is no hint of any negative reaction.
Gathering sticks and healing the sick. What a beautiful picture. These words could almost be set to music.
It didn't matter how people treated him, or mistreated him. Here were two things which he could do - serving the immediate needs of that shipwrecked crew - and afterwards, healing the sick in the big house. Paul does not say - 'I can't do that.' Anybody can gather sticks - anyone who is in the right frame of mind can serve - and as disciples of Jesus we are called to heal the sick, and pray for those in need.
Look at the gifts and presents they received. They were laden with gifts as a consequence of their ministry in the Name of Jesus Christ. They received so much because they had ministered in the Power of the Holy Spirit.
It needed human injustice - unfairness - threats - a tempest - and shipwreck. Humanly speaking, what has happened over these past years in the life of Paul appeared total disaster, but it is as if it needed all that to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to these men and women in their need and suffering and sickness and pain and darkness.
The people on the island of Malta had shown kindness to Paul and the accompanying team - these shipwrecked sailors and Roman soldiers - and God honours this - and through Paul he rewards these islanders, and healed their sick ones.
Paul is on Malta for some three months. They spent the winter months on Malta, and another trade ship is ready to take them on the final lap to Italy. Luke gives us this little descriptive picture of the ship, with its images of false gods, and Paul boards the ship without too much concern. Off they sail so that they might reach Rome and fulfil the plan and purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ. Make that your goal – to fulfil the plan and purpose which Jesus Christ has for your life and ministry.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
Receive the newest devotional each week in your inbox by joining the "Word from Scotland" subscription list. Enter your email address below, click "Go!" and we will send you a confirmation email. Follow the instructions in the email to confirm your addition to this list.