Before We Even Ask — Acts 28:1–16

Name: Before We Even Ask — Acts 28:1–16
Uploaded: 2026-08-10T21:00:36+00:00
Duration: 32 min 35 s
Channel: Medical Lake Community Church

00:00God is omniscient.

00:02And you say, well, I probably didn't use that word in a sentence this week.

00:06What exactly do you mean, Pastor Mark?

00:08It simply means that God knows everything.

00:11God knows the past.

00:13He knows what's going on in the present.

00:14He knows what's going to happen tomorrow.

00:16He knows into the future.

00:18He knows everything.

00:20He's not like some giant AI computer or something that just puts the facts together and can

00:25know just what has been.

00:28He knows all things.

00:30He knows yesterday, and He knows today, and He knows what's coming tomorrow.

00:38In fact, He can even meet us today and give us what we need for something that's going

00:44to come into our life next week.

00:46He has that ability because He knows all things.

00:49And not only is He all-knowing, He is omnipotent.

00:54Another big word simply means He's all-powerful.

00:57So, since He knows all things, He can work all things according to His will that everything

01:03gets to the end exactly like He wants it.

01:05So, not as He all-knowing and can work all things, He's all-powerful to make sure that

01:10it happens, that His will is accomplished in this world.

01:13So, Jesus said this in Matthew, He said,

01:18And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they

01:23will be heard for their many words.

01:26Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.

01:34Before you enter into prayer and say, God, I need this into my life, He already knows what

01:39we need before we even ask Him.

01:41Because He can look down.

01:42I would even say that God knows what could have been in any decision you would have made

01:48that you didn't make.

01:49I think He knows all things.

01:50He knows everything.

01:52And He has all power to move everything towards His will.

01:55And He knows what we need before we even ask Him.

01:59Later on in Matthew, at the end of that chapter 6, or toward the end of chapter 6, He says

02:03this,

02:04Because your Father knows what you need before you ask Him, therefore, do not be anxious,

02:10saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?

02:15For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

02:23He knows exactly what we need, and He's able to work into our life right now to prepare us

02:29for what's coming for us in the future.

02:32He's good like that.

02:34It's encouraging to us to know that He knows everything.

02:39Everything.

02:40All my thoughts, all my decisions, all your thoughts, and your decisions, and everything

02:46that's in this world.

02:47He can—we can't even describe a being that has the ability to do that.

02:51He is so other than we are.

02:54He knows all things and has all power to work things according to His will.

02:58He can act before we even know that we have a need.

03:02He can act.

03:05That's what we actually see in the text today, that He is acting on behalf of His servant,

03:11Paul, even before he even recognizes the need that he has.

03:17Paul is about to arrive in the belly of the beast, the very seat of Roman power, Rome.

03:27If you remember the book of Daniel, chapter 10 in the book of Daniel, you can look at it later

03:30when you get home.

03:31Chapter 10 in the book of Daniel tells us that there are principalities and powers over nations.

03:36The angel Gabriel was talking with Daniel, and they explained that there's a prince of Persia.

03:40There's this principality over the realm, over the region of Persia.

03:44And I can imagine over the city of Rome that there were probably demonic forces running the city of Rome

03:50as well.

03:51Principalities and powers, because that is the seat of the power of the world at this time.

03:55And he's about ready to enter into some intense spiritual warfare as he gets to Rome.

04:01But here in the text today, we see God providing for His servant, strengthening His servant for ministry,

04:09and encouraging His servant to keep on going, being fruitful,

04:13even though things aren't exactly like he may want them in his life.

04:18So the first part of chapter 28, we're not going to finish all today.

04:20We're just going to look at the first part of chapter 28 of Acts.

04:23As we're going through, we're almost done.

04:25Next week, we should finish this book up.

04:27Here we're going to see is, in His omniscience, in other words, God knows all things.

04:32In His omniscience, God provides for His people, strengthens His people, and encourages His people.

04:38And I think you'll see that really clear in the text today.

04:41You may say, well, how does God provide for His people?

04:44How does God do that?

04:46I think you're going to see that answered in the text today.

04:48How does God provide for His people?

04:51So we ended up last week with a shipwreck.

04:54Remember, if you look on the left-hand side of the map, the little Malta over there,

04:58that's where the ship is going.

04:59So they, for two weeks, they've seen neither stars nor sun.

05:04They've lost track.

05:05They're being driven by the wind.

05:07They don't have a clue where they're at.

05:09And they just happen to land on Malta.

05:14Now, actually, we're going to see in the text that it was not a coincidence.

05:17It was not an accident that they landed on Malta.

05:20So in two weeks, the storm pushed them 600 miles west of Fair Havens,

05:26right there by Crete, right there at Crete, to the island of Malta.

05:30And that's where our story picks up today on the island of Malta.

05:34If you're in Acts chapter 28, open your Bibles or turn on your phone for your Bible,

05:38whichever the case is, and look at verse number one.

05:43After we were brought safely through, okay, remember that the ship gets lodged in the reef,

05:47the back end is torn apart, all everybody jumps overboard, swims to shore,

05:51and all 276 people survive exactly like God said is going to happen.

05:56They all survive.

05:57So you can imagine, they're on the beach, clothing that they were wearing at the time of the shipwreck.

06:02I'm sure they're wet.

06:03They have nothing else around.

06:05Pieces of ships all over the place.

06:06The ship is all over the place.

06:08And there they are on the island of Malta.

06:11The native people showed us unusual kindness.

06:15Glad they weren't cannibals.

06:20They showed us unusual kindness for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all.

06:25Very kind people in Malta because it had begun to rain and it was cold.

06:30So not only are they wet because of the water in the ocean,

06:33they're perhaps just starting to dry off and now it starts raining and it's cold.

06:38When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire,

06:42a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.

06:47And when the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand,

06:50they said to one another, no doubt this man is a murderer.

06:54Though he has escaped from the sea, justice has not allowed him to live.

06:59He, however, Paul, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

07:04What's this?

07:04Get off me.

07:06It's like, can you imagine?

07:07I don't like snakes, number one.

07:09I see a snake, I kind of go in the other direction.

07:11But he kind of looks at his hand, the snake's attached to his hand,

07:13and he just shakes him off into the fire.

07:14He just goes on like nothing happened.

07:19They were waiting for him to swell up or to suddenly fall down dead.

07:23This obviously was a poisonous snake.

07:24They recognized it as natives of the land.

07:27But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him,

07:31they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

07:34They kind of shifted his opinion of him a little bit here.

07:39So, what we have to understand is when they're being driven, as we saw on that map,

07:43they're being driven 600 miles from Fairhaven, and they have no clue where they're at.

07:47It is not a coincidence that they land on Malta.

07:51It's not a coincidence.

07:52It's not like, oh, I just happened to land there.

07:54No, God actually directed that ship to Malta.

07:57How do you know that, Pastor Mark?

07:58Because the text says, when we were brought.

08:01It's a passive verb, which means they didn't do any of the bringing.

08:05Somebody else brought them to this location.

08:08And obviously, the implication of the text is that God directed them to Malta.

08:12It was God who brought them to this.

08:14It wasn't a coincidence that they landed on Malta.

08:16God directed that ship to land right there on the island for a particular purpose.

08:20Yes, he's acting out his will.

08:23He brought them safely through.

08:24God brought them to Malta.

08:26And the natives that were kind, and they helped him.

08:28They showed kindness to these strangers.

08:31These guys that were shipwrecked and devastated, they helped them.

08:36You know, kindness is a universal language.

08:38It doesn't matter what language you speak.

08:40When you're kind to somebody, you recognize that.

08:41It's a universal language.

08:43You know, maybe they had this attitude of William Penn.

08:48Again, he had this attitude.

08:50This is what he wrote.

08:52I expect to pass through this world but once.

08:54Any good, therefore, that I can do, or any kindness or abilities that I can show to any

08:59fellow creature, let me do it now.

09:01Let me not defer it or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.

09:06Maybe that's the attitude they had.

09:07All I know is that they were kind, and they helped out these people who were in great need

09:11of help.

09:12They needed something.

09:13They weren't barbarians.

09:14Some of your translations may say barbarians, the native people, barbarians.

09:17The word is barbaoi, and it sounds like they're babbling, barba, barbarians.

09:21So, any non-Greek-speaking person was considered a barbarian.

09:25They're not barbarians, as we understand it.

09:27They're just non-Greek-speaking people.

09:29Very advanced.

09:30They're not barbarians.

09:31They're just native-speaking people.

09:34So, Paul was willing to help.

09:35Do you notice that?

09:37He's not an apostle Paul saying that, hey, I'm the apostle Paul.

09:40You go gather the sticks.

09:42I'm too important to go pick up sticks.

09:44No, he's right there helping, just like everybody else.

09:47He's not this elitist.

09:48Ever since the road to Damascus, when Jesus saved him and converted him, he no longer

09:52thinks like an elitist.

09:54If you go to Philippians chapter 3, you can see before he met Christ, he was an elitist.

09:58Now, he's humble.

10:00He's willing to go pick up sticks, just like anyone else.

10:02I appreciate that with the apostle Paul.

10:05So, since it was cold, this cold-blooded viper was warmed by the heat, and of course, and it

10:10reacted, and it bit him, and then the native said, well, this guy escaped from the sea.

10:18He must be a murderer.

10:18He escaped from the sea, but justice, and if you notice in the ESV, it's capitalized.

10:23I don't know if in the other translation it is, and the reason why it comes from this

10:26Greek word, dike, which is the goddess, it is the goddess of justice.

10:33So, no, whether they understood her or not, I'm not sure, but they acted like that.

10:37In other words, you escaped this, but justice can't let it go because you must be a really

10:42bad person, is what they were thinking along.

10:44So, whether they knew her or not, I'm not sure.

10:47They obviously believed in some supreme, resistless, avenging eye and hand, even though they didn't

10:52know where it came from.

10:54So, justice will get him.

10:57But see, God is taking care of Paul right here.

11:00He's providing for Paul exactly everything he needs right here.

11:04He provided for Paul's need, and do you notice how he provided for Paul's needs?

11:07He used other people to do it.

11:10Did you notice that?

11:11You know, sometimes God directly supplies our need, but often, most often, he uses other

11:16people to supply our needs.

11:18We have a need, and as we prayed about today and talked about today and we heard about today

11:23is we had a need, and God used somebody else to help fulfill that need in our life.

11:29For your father knows what you need before you ask him.

11:34Sometimes he asks directly.

11:35Sometimes he doesn't act directly.

11:38Some people call these coincidences.

11:41It's just a coincidence he landed on Malta.

11:43It's just a coincidence that people met his needs.

11:46It's just all a coincidence.

11:48All this.

11:48It's just a coincidence that somebody showed up to help me.

11:50It didn't even just to know.

11:52It is being directed by God himself.

11:55It is God at work moving to complete his will in our lives.

12:01Stuff that we would have never expected.

12:06Stephanie Burt was talking about years ago, and I know this is years ago because what's

12:10in the story, but years ago, she said that her church took their youth group every year

12:14to the Bahamas.

12:15And they would go and they had this old church bus.

12:19You know, you've seen the old church buses before.

12:21So, they would go from village to village, and they would do puppet shows, giving the

12:26gospel message while they were doing a puppet show.

12:30So, the bus wasn't really reliable.

12:33And at least twice a day, it seemed the old school bus broke down.

12:37So, they're constantly working on the school bus.

12:39Well, one hot afternoon, they were going along, and all of a sudden, it goes, and stops.

12:44Stop right in the middle of the road.

12:46And they go, not again.

12:47And people are getting frustrated with this stupid old bus.

12:50Not again.

12:53So, the youth leaders, Bill and Daryl, stepped out to see what's wrong.

12:57So, up until then, they had maintained a good attitude about the bus.

13:00Now, it's getting a little bit sketchy.

13:01They're not too happy with this bus.

13:03They're stuck on a deserted side street in a sweltering heat and not even a phone booth

13:09nearby.

13:09That's why I know this is a long time ago.

13:11No one has a cell phone.

13:12Not even a phone booth nearby.

13:15Guys, Daryl reported, this is serious.

13:18Our clutch is broken, and the bolt that holds it together has fallen off somewhere back

13:22on the road.

13:23We had a big bucket of spare bolts and nuts, but not one of them fits.

13:27Pray.

13:28So, they gathered around Joy Hands, and they started praying really hard to ask God for

13:32help.

13:33And when they looked up, they saw an old sight, an odd sight, excuse me.

13:38Bill was kneeling down on the pavement with his pocket knife, digging at something on the

13:43pavement.

13:45And he leaned under the hood of the bus with the object and then came to us with a big

13:50smile

13:50on his face.

13:51He said,

13:52And as you were praying, I looked down, and there beside the road and tire, embedded in

13:56the pavement, was an old bolt.

13:59I dug it up, and it fit.

14:03Now, look at, how long had that bolt been in that asphalt?

14:07Years?

14:08God knew that on that day that that bus would stop right there, right by the tire of the

14:14bus, and he looked down while they were praying and found that bolt.

14:17And you say, oh, that's just a coincidence.

14:18No, it's not.

14:20God is able to meet our needs ahead of time.

14:23He worked this out year, perhaps years ago that this bolt was in the asphalt.

14:28I find that amazing.

14:31Since our God knows all things, I'd say omniscient, he can provide for our needs even before we

14:35ask him.

14:36Doesn't mean we don't ask him.

14:38We should ask him.

14:38He wants us to ask him.

14:40However, he can act before we even ask him.

14:42That's the kind of father that we have.

14:45So, because we have this father like this, there's no reason for us to be anxious about

14:49things.

14:50We don't have to worry any longer.

14:52He provides for his people.

14:54He will provide for all of our needs.

14:56Now, I kind of think about Proverbs 3.

15:00We are told, trust in the Lord with all your heart.

15:03Do not lean on your own understanding.

15:06In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.

15:11God is a God who provides for his people, and he does it sometimes ahead of time before

15:15we even have a need.

15:16He comes and provides.

15:19So, these islanders are calling Paul a fugitive from justice.

15:22He's a murderer, and now justice is going to take their revenge.

15:26And then after he didn't die, after he didn't die, they said, well, he must be a God.

15:32And I'm thinking, that's a big jump from a murderer to a God.

15:35That's a pretty big jump.

15:36But you notice, when they called him a God, Luke doesn't record anything like what happened

15:43the last time somebody called him a God.

15:45He doesn't record it, perhaps because we already know the heart of Paul, and it wasn't needed

15:50to be written down.

15:51But earlier, when the same thing happened to Paul, he had a very strong reaction again.

15:55Actually, it's in Acts chapter 14.

15:59So, perhaps Luke just knows that we know Paul well enough that he probably said something

16:03like this.

16:04It's just not recorded for us.

16:05And when the crowd saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lyconian,

16:11the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.

16:14Barnabas, they called Zeus, and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.

16:18And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in the entrance to the city, brought oxen and

16:22garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice to the crowds.

16:26But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out

16:31into the crowd, crying out, man, why are you doing these things?

16:34We also are men of like nature with you, and we bring you good news that you should turn

16:39from these vain things to a living God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and

16:44all that is in them.

16:44He doesn't record that, but that's probably the same reaction he had here.

16:47He never would allow someone to call him a God.

16:50Paul would never allow that.

16:51So they went from murderer to God, this huge major jump.

16:57From this snake bite or lack of death of the snake bite, it got people's attention.

17:02And so now things begin happening around this idea of miracles, and we're going to see some

17:08healings take place.

17:09Look at verse number seven.

17:11Verse number seven.

17:14Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island

17:18named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.

17:23I don't know if he just took the Christians in or if he took all 276 of the people in.

17:28Not sure.

17:28The text doesn't say.

17:29It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery, and Paul visited

17:35him and prayed and putting his hands on him healed him.

17:38And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases

17:42also came and were cured.

17:43So it's not a small island.

17:45It's not super large, but it's not really small.

17:47They also honored us greatly.

17:50And when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

17:54Remember how God provides for his people?

17:56He uses other people.

17:57That's exactly what he's doing right here for Paul.

17:59He's using other people.

18:00This man Publius, he was the highest ranking Roman official on the island.

18:04So he was the big dog, the top dog of the island.

18:06He was the guy that if something happened to him, everybody would find out about.

18:12So the miracle of this viper bite got people's attention.

18:15What?

18:15Who is this guy?

18:17Who is this man?

18:19And Publius' father had this recurring fever.

18:22And we're told that there's a disease, a fever that comes, a dysentery that comes from drinking

18:28impure goat's milk, and it's actually called Malta fever.

18:31And so it's known.

18:33I mean, this is what he had.

18:34He had recurring fevers and dysentery.

18:36It happened all the time to him.

18:37It was very unpleasant, I'm sure.

18:41For Paul, his whole life, since the road on Damascus, ever, remember on the road to Damascus,

18:46he gets saved, goes into Damascus, and immediately he's preaching Christ, and they want to kill

18:51him, so they had to lower him down.

18:53Immediately when Paul came to faith in Christ, he wanted to be part of ministry.

18:57That was his life.

18:58He lived and breathed ministry.

19:00He wanted to tell people about Jesus.

19:02He wanted them to know the gospel message.

19:04He wanted to minister to people's needs.

19:06He was all about ministering.

19:08And God gives him now an opportunity to minister to the people on Malta.

19:15For your father knows what you need before you ask him.

19:20God was strengthening Paul for ministry.

19:23This was a great encouragement to Paul.

19:25He lived and breathed ministry.

19:26He wanted to be part of the gospel ministry.

19:28He loved it.

19:30So for God to allow him to minister to the people on the island, he was really encouraged.

19:36Thank you, God.

19:39He was a blessing, especially to himself and to all those who needed to be healed.

19:43He was a blessing to them.

19:47Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy at the end of his life, at the last letter he wrote,

19:51he said,

19:52But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me so that through me the message might be fully

19:57proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.

19:59So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

20:02God was strengthening for ministry and protecting him in this ministry.

20:07As you and I, as we are moving out here in Medical Lake to try to get the gospel to

20:13every house in

20:13Medical Lake, rest assured, God will strengthen us in this endeavor.

20:18We're not doing it for ourselves.

20:20We're not even doing it for Medical Lake Community Church.

20:22We're doing it for the gospel's sake, for the Lord Jesus Christ to exalt his name among the nations.

20:27Be assured, God will strengthen us.

20:30It will be difficult.

20:31There'll be tough questions, I'm sure people will ask, but God will strengthen us as we're going along.

20:37He's faithful like that.

20:39He will give us wisdom.

20:40He will give us the energy that we need.

20:43He will get his gospel message out there, and he'll use us to do it.

20:50Now, when he heals, he did two things.

20:53He prayed and he laid hands on them.

20:54And this is the only time in the book of Acts where both of those, prayer and laying on of

20:57hands,

20:58are used together in a healing.

20:59Sometimes it's just prayer.

21:01Sometimes it's laying on the hands.

21:02But this is the first time of laying on of hands and praying are used in the healing.

21:06First time ever.

21:08And it says they came and were cured.

21:12Again, I'm a grammar Greek, you know that.

21:14I'm a grammar geek, you know that.

21:15It's an imperfect, which means they kept coming to him.

21:18Remember, he's there for three months.

21:20Three months, people keep coming to him.

21:22Someone gets healed, they go tell their friend in the next village over,

21:25hey, this guy healed me.

21:27Bring all the people who were sick, he can heal you too.

21:29And so for three months, he's how these people are coming and God heals them through Paul.

21:38The laying on of hands and prayer.

21:42If you think about it, if Paul was a small g God, he wouldn't need to pray to anybody, would

21:47he?

21:48But he's praying to God and asking God to heal.

21:51That just shows that he knows he's not a God.

21:53He's not a God.

21:55And here we see the fulfillment of two things here.

21:57This taking up of servants, serpents, and laying on of hands for healing.

22:02That's recorded in Mark's gospel.

22:04At the end of Mark's gospel, these two events are listed.

22:06Mark 16.

22:08And these signs will accompany those who believe.

22:11In my name, they will cast out demons.

22:13They will speak in new tongues.

22:14They will pick up serpents with their hands.

22:17And if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them.

22:19And they will lay their hands on the sick and they will recover.

22:22So two of those are listed here in Mark's gospel right here.

22:25So the word of healing spreads and the people just keep coming and they're coming.

22:29Think about it.

22:30Paul is imprisoned in chains, but he's setting people free.

22:34Or God is setting people free through Paul from their diseases.

22:39Inchained, but God is setting people free.

22:41And the gratitude of the islanders was shown.

22:44They took all of these provisions and put it on board.

22:47The ship, the gratitude that was shown them.

22:50And they honored Paul.

22:54Such hospitality.

22:55This unusual kindness that they showed to the people.

22:59And God used them to meet God's need.

23:03If you remember, on those days, it wasn't like you take a cruise ship to Alaska and they've

23:09got food that's out.

23:11I mean, you could eat whenever you want.

23:13I know my son, if you're listening to Taylor, I'll give you five bucks.

23:17All night long, you know what he went to do?

23:19He went to any place you could get food and he went and ate Jell-O all night long.

23:23I thought, why would you eat Jell-O?

23:24I mean, that's a goofy thing.

23:26There's tons of food, but he loved Jell-O.

23:28And he ate Jell-O all night long.

23:30It's not that kind of a ship.

23:32When you get on a ship, you have to bring your own provisions.

23:35They're not going to provide for you.

23:37So God is meeting Paul's need through the islanders of the provisions they need for

23:41the rest of the journey until they get to Rome.

23:45So shipping opened up again in late February.

23:48So they're leaving Malta now in the next section of scripture.

23:52They're leaving Malta.

23:52We're going to leave this up as I read through the text.

23:54And they're going to, Rome is up on your top left.

23:56So now they're moving from Malta up to arrival in the belly of the beast, Rome.

24:04Verses 11 through 16.

24:07After three months, that tells us how long they were there.

24:09Three months, we set sail on a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria

24:14with the twin gods as figurehead, two figure masks on the front of the ship, putting in

24:20at Syracuse.

24:21You see the left here at Sicily, Syracuse.

24:23Syracuse, putting in at Syracuse.

24:25We stayed there for three days.

24:26Maybe they had to get something for the ship.

24:28I don't know.

24:28They're there for three days.

24:29We're not told.

24:30And from there, we were made a circuit and arrived at Riflingum, Regium, right there,

24:36Regium.

24:37You see between the tip of the boot right there, Regium.

24:40And after one day, a south wind sprang up.

24:42And on the second day, we came to Petulia.

24:45Petulia up there on the top, just right up above Pompeii.

24:48Pompeii.

24:48There we found brothers.

24:50There were already Christians there and were invited to stay with them for seven days.

24:54So for whatever reason, again, there's seven days right there, seven days.

24:58And the brothers there, when they came, when they heard about it, came as far as the Forum

25:03of Appius, top up there, Forum of Appius, which is 43 miles away from Rome, and the three

25:09taverns, which is 33 miles away from Rome, respectively.

25:12So a little bit away, a good two days journey by foot, to meet us on seeing them.

25:19That's the Christians that came out.

25:20Paul thanked God and took courage.

25:23And when we came into Rome, Paul was allowed to stay by himself with the soldier who guarded

25:29him.

25:29So here he is.

25:31He makes it finally to his end destination, the end of the journey, exact place where Jesus

25:36said he's going to be.

25:37Exactly what Jesus said, Acts chapter 23, the following night, the Lord stood by him and

25:44said, take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you

25:48must testify also in Rome.

25:50Exactly like Jesus said, he's now arrived in Rome, a fulfillment of the promise Jesus made

25:55to him.

25:56So here they are.

25:58A Julius, again, allows Paul to visit other Christians.

26:02It seems to me through the whole account of Acts that the Romans were much friendlier to

26:06Paul than his own countrymen often.

26:08They took good care of him.

26:10He allowed him to go.

26:11Now, I'm sure a guard went with him.

26:12He couldn't go by himself.

26:13I'm sure there was a guard with him, but he allowed him to go visit the Christians for

26:16seven days.

26:17I thought that was very kind of him.

26:19And the presence of the believers caused a gratitude in Paul's heart towards God, and

26:23it encouraged him also.

26:26Encouraged him.

26:27Isn't it amazing how other people can be great sources of encouragement to us?

26:30They can be also good downers, too, but sources of encouragement as well, that they come alongside

26:35and they give us a word that we need in season that will help us to be encouraged.

26:41Bruce Larson, in his book, Wind and Fire, was pointing out some interesting facts about

26:45sand hill cranes, which I didn't know anything about.

26:48They sound very similar to geese in the way that they fly, but this is what he wrote.

26:52He said,

26:53These large birds, who fly great distances across continents, have three remarkable qualities.

26:59First, they rotate leadership.

27:01No one bird stays out in front all the time.

27:04Second, they choose leaders who can handle turbulence.

27:06I don't think birds choose, but I'm not quite sure how they do that.

27:09You got the point, okay?

27:10Who can handle turbulence.

27:11And then all during the time one bird is leaning, the rest are honking their affirmation.

27:16Again, I'm not sure if birds honk affirmation, but you get the point.

27:20Encouraging the leader to go on.

27:21Ah, ah, ah, ah, honking affirmation.

27:24And he goes on to say, that's not a bad model for a church.

27:29What do you mean?

27:30Certainly, we need leaders who can handle turbulence and who are aware that leadership

27:34ought to be shared.

27:35But most of all, we need a church where all are honking encouragement.

27:40Ah, ah, ah, ah, keep going.

27:42Ah, ah, ah, ah, you're doing great.

27:43Ah, ah, ah, we need encouragement.

27:46In fact, there's some of you here today that need a word of encouragement to speak to your

27:50heart.

27:50And I hope that God will use one of us to do just that today.

27:54Honking their encouragement.

27:56For your father knows what you need before you ask him.

28:00God will encourage us.

28:01And often he does it before we even need the encouragement.

28:04He gets us prepared for what's coming.

28:06Remember, he's going into the belly of the beast.

28:08He needs encouragement to continue on being faithful when he has to stand before Nero eventually.

28:18The Christian community was a continual source of encouragement for Paul.

28:22They always encouraged him.

28:24He knew that he was not alone in this.

28:27He's out there doing God's will, but he's not alone in this.

28:31Now, three years earlier, he had wrote the book of Romans, but he had never been to Rome

28:35himself.

28:36Look at Romans 15.

28:37This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you.

28:40But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed

28:45for many years to come to you, I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and

28:49to be helped

28:49on my journey there by you.

28:51Once I've enjoyed your company for a while.

28:52So three years earlier, he wrote it.

28:53He still hasn't been to Rome.

28:54He doesn't know anyone in Rome.

28:55He's going to meet the Christians in Rome.

28:57And verse 16, at the end of that, verse 16 acts like a transition verse into verse number

29:0317, what we see is the long travel narrative comes to a close, and Paul's witness in Rome

29:09opens up now.

29:10So the narrative comes to a close, and now we're going to see Rome, Paul in Rome at the

29:14last part of chapter 28.

29:16And the presence of the guard reminds us that although Paul was at liberty to bear witness

29:21about Jesus, he was still a witness in chains, a witness in chains.

29:26God encouraged Paul's need by using other people to fulfill his will, for your father

29:32knows what you need before you ask him.

29:34So I say to all of us today who need these encouragements to understand that God will

29:39provide for us.

29:40God will strengthen us for ministry.

29:41God will encourage our hearts to continue on and being faithful to him.

29:45So I say to us, look to God and call on his name.

29:49He will provide for you, strengthen you for ministry, and encourage you to keep on going.

29:55The psalmist said, when he calls to me, God is speaking, I will answer him.

30:00I will be with him in trouble.

30:01I will rescue him and honor him.

30:06Let me send you away with just a couple of thoughts.

30:08And you're going to say, well, those are really simplistic, Pastor Mark.

30:11I mean, couldn't you have been a little more creative in your writing?

30:13I mean, these are just so, hello, self-evident.

30:17Here's the first thing.

30:19God provides all our needs.

30:22You say, well, duh.

30:24Well, you really, do we really believe that?

30:27If we really believe that, we would never get anxious.

30:29We would never worry.

30:32God provides all our needs.

30:35Trust him.

30:36Rest in him.

30:37Second, God strengthens us for ministry.

30:40Oh, that's self-evident.

30:41Yes, I understand that.

30:42But we need it.

30:44Hey, ministry's tough.

30:45People aren't always easy to work with.

30:48Sometimes you get discouraged.

30:49We need to be strengthened in our ministry.

30:52And third, God encourages us to keep on being faithful to him.

30:55Oh, Pastor Mark, that's so simplistic.

30:58But think about really how profound those three thoughts are.

31:02The God of all creation, the God of the universe, provides every need that you have

31:07and knows your need before you ask him.

31:10God will give you strength in the midst of your ministry to continue on.

31:14And he will encourage you to keep going when things get tough.

31:19He's that kind of God.

31:20Let's pray.

31:21Father, thank you.

31:22Thank you for your faithfulness.

31:25It was no coincidence that they ended up on Malta.

31:29You had planned that.

31:31You brought them there.

31:32You met their needs.

31:34Even before they knew it, you were providing for them.

31:37And I thank you for that.

31:38You do the same thing in our lives.

31:39Jesus said, you know what we need before we even ask.

31:43And so I thank you that you always provide for us, that you always strengthen us, and that

31:48you always encourage us.

31:49May we rest in these truths and not grow anxious or get worried or think that we're all alone

31:58in this.

31:59Oh, Father, thank you for your faithfulness.

32:02And as we sang that song, your goodness, your goodness is always running after us.

32:07We thank you in Jesus' name.

32:09Amen.

32:11Forever he is risen.

32:13Forever he is alive.

32:15That is the message.

32:17And he came to give us life.

32:19And that's the message we want to take to Medical Lake.

32:22And the church says, amen.

32:26I love it.

32:27Yes.

32:28I love it.

32:31That was great.

32:33I love it.

Before We Even Ask — Acts 28:1–16

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