Robert Woodyard
Acts 29, To Be Continued
Passage: Acts 28:30-31
This morning we come to the end of the final chapter of Acts. Finally. For those who are curious about such things this is sermon number 87. What a journey we have had through this great book of the Bible, The Acts of the Apostles.
If you were going to sit down and write your life story, there is a real sense in which you could copy, cut and paste this entire book as chapter one of your story if you are a Christian. We can all trace our Christian heritage all the way back to Acts. This is the beginning of our spiritual genealogy.
God knows our spiritual lineage, our faith family tree all the way back to Paul’s preaching the Gospel to the Gentiles. God knows the name of the Gentile who became a born-again believer and is your spiritual great grandfather and great grandmother.
The last word of the book of Acts is unhindered. Let’s see three things that are unhindered.
Huldah the Prophetess
Passage: 2 Kings 22:11-20
We come this evening to Huldah, the final of the three good, named prophetesses in the OT. Next week Pastor Mike will preach on Anna, the prophetess in the temple when Jesus is born.
As with Deborah, we will need to consider the background and context of II Kings 22 and Huldah’s place in it.
By the time we get to II Kings 22 we are almost to the end of the monarchical period in Israel, nearly 500 years after David and Solomon. King Josiah is the 16th of 20 kings in Judah, so the end of Judah and its fall to Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar is quickly approaching.
There have been more bad kings than good. In fact only 7 of the 20 were called good, and only three of them were compared with David, Asa, Hezekiah and Josiah, who turns out to be the last of the good kings.
Paul in Rome
Passage: Acts 28:11-28
Finally, we are heading to Rome. Luke begins by telling us they set sail on a ship of Alexandria. What an interesting providence of God, a picture of how life is in our fallen world.
Two ships, both of Alexandria in Egypt, both bound for Italy, both ending up on the island of Malta, one wrecked and one safe. Such are the twists and turns of life in this fallen world. Sometimes all is well and sometimes all is stormy. We are taught by Paul to learn from both.
Deborah the Prophetess
Passage: Judges 4:1-10
If you have been paying attention over the past thirty or forty years you have noticed a trend in how women are depicted in movies and TV and video games.
From animated and Disney movies to drama and crime mysteries to superhero themes, women are cast less frequently as the damsel in distress, and more often as the physically powerful rescuer come to save the day with guns blazing.
Ex. Terminator, Mad Max, Wonder Woman, Black Widow, Mulan, She-Ra, Captain Marvel.
It is harder and harder to find a good show where men are men and women are women, where there is an honest reflection of the realistic differences between men and women, where the feminist agenda of men and women as totally interchangeable isn’t being promoted.
Think about what models and examples are being portrayed in movies today and how much better it would be for young women to see less empowered warrior women acting like men, who could kill a dozen bad guys and jujitsu their way out of any danger, and didn’t need any man to protect them.
Movies today mostly lie to us about how God has created women and who He has created them to be, life-givers, nurturers, helpers, wives and mothers. They reverse the roles of men created with bodies and minds crafted for war, to be peacekeepers, protectors and if necessary bloodshedders, faithful husbands and father.
Movies today deaden our spiritual and Biblical sensitivities and sensibilities about the differences between men and women. “Feminism is the new normal, which is to say abnormal is the new normal” (Nathan Alberson).
Colossians 2:8-9 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.
Stories from the Bible give us a far truer picture of women in real life. Some are godly, some are not. There are women worthy to be imitated, like Abraham’s wife, Sarah, Ruth, Esther, Abigail, and Mary. And there are women not to be imitated, like Ahab’s wife, Jezebel.
Of all the judges God gave to Israel, he gave one who was a woman, and she wasn’t only a judge, but also a prophetess. Her name was Deborah.
Paul on Malta
Passage: Acts 28:1-10
On September 11, 2001, at 9:45 am, Ben Sliney, in his first day as the National Operations Manager of the FAA, ordered American airspace closed for the first time in history. There were 500 international flights inbound that were turned back or redirected to other countries.
38 jets landed in the little town of Gander, Newfoundland. The town of 6,700 people took in 7,000 passengers for five days. The residents quickly mobilize every available resource to provide shelter, food and clothes. Cots were set up in school gyms and social centers. People opened their homes to provide showers and meals. Bakeries went into overdrive production, hospitals staffed up, school bus drivers who were on strike came off strike to transport the plane people. One woman took on the feeding all the animals on the flights. The passengers were overwhelmed with the outpouring of unusual kindness and generosity.
Acts 28:1-2, unusual kindness.
On a fall day 2,000 years ago a ship left Fair Havens, on the island of Crete to sail 42 miles west to Phoenix to spend the winter. They were diverted and two weeks and 500 miles later they shipwrecked on a beach in Malta.
I am trying to imagine this scene. 276 men soaking wet, chilled to the bone, filthy, shivering, shaking, hungry and thirsty, having just crawled out of the surf, sitting on a beach in a cold rain. Absolutely miserable.
God sends a must unusual kindness. On this island, we see more evidence of the providence of God. He directly carried every man out of the water to safety on the shore. And then He sends upon them the most unusual kindness.
Miriam the Prophetess
Passage: Exodus 15:19-21
Women have always played an important role in the Bible. This is true in the OT, in the life and ministry of Jesus, in the history of the early church in Acts, and to the present day. More than any other religion, women have been elevated and honored in the Christian faith from the beginning.
For the month of November we will spend our Sunday evenings considering the four named good prophetesses in Scripture. There are three in the OT and one in the NT.
The four named prophetesses we will consider are Miriam, the older sister of Moses; Deborah, the prophetess and judge when Israel was ruled by judges; Huldah, the prophetess in the time of the monarchy during the reign of King Josiah; and finally Anna the NT prophetess in the temple at the time of Jesus’ birth.
Let me begin by reminding you again when we are studying the people in the Bible, the Bible is not a history of what people did for God, but what God did through people.
There are no perfectly righteous people in Scripture. Many of them are deeply flawed and broken.
I Corinthians 1:26-31 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. … 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
Paul Shipwrecked on Malta
Passage: Acts 27:27-44
Over three weeks ago, Paul and his friends boarded this ill-fated ship. It has been a difficult journey the entire way, first contrary winds slowing them down and then a terrible storm blowing them 500 miles across the Mediterranean.
We can understand the storm that blew against Jonah. God was keeping a prodigal prophet from fleeing further from His presence. That storm was meant to bring Jonah back to his senses, to repentance and obedience. But Paul wasn’t fleeing, in fact Paul was totally obedient, he wanted to go to Rome to preach the Gospel. Why did Paul have to face all this suffering at the mercy of an unmerciful sea?
Why did it seem God opposed them the whole way? We are reminded of the reality of life, Christians are not promised a life spared from crises or traumatic events, even Christians of the highest standing like the apostle Paul. Paul was a godly, mature Christian, and yet God was still working in his life, testing, refining, increasing his faith, producing holiness.
Tests, trials, and suffering are all meant to refine us, to build our faith, to strengthen us. It is especially important we teach this to our children while they are young.
Remember the words written down by Moses in Deuteronomy 6.
Paul’s Mediterranean Cruise Nightmare
Passage: Acts 27:13-26
Acts 27 recounts in much detail one of the most famous shipwrecks in ancient history, and certainly one of the most spiritually profitable, as it is given to us by
We are about two weeks into Paul’s cruise from Israel to Italy. Ever since leaving the second port of Sidon the winds have been against them, it has been slow going up and along the coast of Asia Minor (Turkey). At the port of Myra they transferred to another grain freighter from Alexandria in Egypt bound for Italy.
The Nile River valley of Egypt was called the breadbasket of Italy in ancient times. Every year some 1700 ships bearing wheat and corn would sail from Egypt to Italy. These ships were from 140 to 180 feet long and from 35 to 50 feet wide. The hold was 40 feet deep and capable of carrying 1,000 tons. They were single masted sailing vessels. Having only one mast and one sail they were not easily maneuverable in contrary winds.
We are told later there were 276 passengers made up of at least three classes of people, the ship’s crew of sailors, the Roman centurion and a number of soldiers or guards, and prisoners including Paul. We know that Dr. Luke and a Thessalonian convert, Aristarchus were with him.
Life Under the Sun
Passage: Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
We learned in seminary that in preaching pastors are allow two finallys and three in conclusions. Tonight is our third of three in conclusions to the book of Ecclesiastes. We started in February and have heard 26 sermons on this remarkable and unique book. I am very grateful to Pastor Mike and Elder David Watson for their excellent contributions along the way.
The two of them convinced me to do this series, I am not sure I would have done so otherwise. It is one of the harder books to understand. It reminds me of the late, great Winston Churchill’s famous quote defining Russia as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” That’s Ecclesiastes.
The book of Ecclesiastes is a profoundly unsettling book. It is devastating to our pride concerning the meaning of our lives and our work. It is a devastating blow to all that we hold near and dear as Americans, our strong sense of independence, our strong sense of self-achievement, self-advancement.
Our grand emphasis of success and accomplishment. Success in our world is defined with setting goals and then achieving them. This is how we measure worth, value, importance. Our self-worth depends on what you have to show for ourselves.
It challenges everything we use to measure our self-worth in what we have, what we have done. In our world the most important thing is to do something. We are bound up in finding efficiency, effectiveness, the right methods. We are on a hamster wheel of ceaselessly striving for relevance and importance.
When we introduce ourselves to others, the first thing is always what do you do? Our worth is in our utility, in our usefulness. We have lost an understanding of what is worthwhile and useful, what truly promotes joy and peace.
Ecclesiastes blows up our whole world, especially our western American mindset and mentality. If Ecclesiastes hasn’t rattle you to the core of where you get your identity and self-worth, then you have missed it.
Paul’s Mediterranean Cruise
Passage: Acts 27:1-12
Acts 27 recounts in much detail one of the most famous shipwrecks in ancient history, and certainly one of the most spiritually profitable, as it is given to us by the Holy Spirit in Scripture for our spiritual benefit and training in righteousness.
Chapter 27 of Acts is a detailed travel diary of Paul’s all expenses paid Mediterranean cruise from Caesarea, Israel to Rome, Italy, with body guards, security detail and friends, including his personal physician Dr. Luke. We will spend three weeks at sea with the apostle Paul. During our voyage with him we will learn several lesson on how to cope with the difficult and unexpected providences of God we encounter all through our lives.
It is most providential that Dr. Luke is on board with Paul, so we have much more detail than we might otherwise. This is one of the most detailed ship log in ancient literature.
But this leaves us with a question. What is Luke’s purpose in giving us this detailed travel diary of Paul’s voyage? What does he want Theophilus and us to know?
First, it reveals the historicity of these events, all these geographical details can be traced on a map and confirmed.
There is a well known story of a British scholar and skeptic of the late 1800’s, Sir William Ramsey, who went to this part of the world to trace Paul’s steps with the intention of proving it was not true. By the time he finished his research he was a convinced believer and he wrote a well-known book “St. Paul the Traveler.”
But more importantly, Luke wants to show us, as with all his other journeys, how God was with Paul every step.
When the circumstances and storms of life come crashing in we learn from Paul how in the midst of seemingly hopeless situations, our hope is rooted in the trustworthiness of God.
Almost Persuaded
Passage: Acts 26:24-32
Acts 26:24-25, Governor Festus, this is completely crazy.
This is a pastor’s nightmare. You’re preaching along, really getting into the heart of your message when suddenly someone yells, “Pastor, you’re crazy. You’re out of your mind.”
Paul was just warming up to his defense of the Gospel. He was coming to the best part, the part he loved the most, the suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This was his passion, this is why he suffered all he suffered, this is what made all the suffering worth it. This was the light for a dark world.
One wonders if as he became more passionate he might also have become more animated, moving and gesturing, chains clanging.
It appears Paul had more to say, but he was interrupted. Festus had heard all he could stand. And even though this is King Agrippa’s trial, Festus interrupts it.
Festus was a pagan Roman politician. He was ignorant of Judaism and Christianity (25:19). He was an atheist Festus with no categories for the possibility of a god breaking into our world. This resurrection business was all a bunch of crazy talk, just religious superstition, not logical, not rational.
He was a materialist, this world is all there is, all you get. He worshiped the idols of this world, money, sex, and power. He was a hedonist who could not even begin to conceive of anyone choosing a life of suffering over a life of pleasure. That’s just plain crazy.