Picking Up the Pieces After the Storm

Acts chapter 28, verses 1 through 10. Paul and 275 other people have been on board this vessel.

They've been tossed in the storm, and now they are delivered on shore. And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Malta. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled a fire and received us, every one, because of the present rain and because of the cold.

And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat and fastened on his hands. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer, whom though he hath escaped the sea, yet justice alloweth not to live. And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm.

However, they looked when he should have swollen or fallen down dead suddenly. But after they had looked a great while and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and lodged us three days courteously.

It came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and a bloody flux, to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him and healed him. So when this was done, others also in the island who had diseases came and were healed, who also honored us with many honors. And when we departed, they placed on board such things as were necessary.

After three months, we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle whose sign was Castor and Pollock. It tells how finally they came to Rome. And verse 16, and when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard, but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.

And so God keeps his promise and delivers his servant where he said he would be. Go back with me 100 years, and let's travel to the great city of Edinburgh, Scotland. We're going to visit a hospital.

Lying on a cot in this hospital is a young man about 25. He is spending almost two years in the hospital, 20 operations on his leg. He has tuberculosis of the bone.

In his childhood, he already lost one foot. And now the great Lord Lister is trying to keep from having him lose the other foot. He's in the midst of pain and poverty, darkness.

And he's writing a poem. Most of the other things that this man wrote have pretty well been forgotten, but this one poem is still with us. Out of the night that covers me black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have not winced or cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed. It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. And thus, with a burst of ego, Mr. William Ernest Hindley wrote Invictus.

Now, I appreciate the fact that he had self-control and courage. I don't appreciate the fact that he failed to give God the glory for what he had. Now, go back with me several thousand years to a corn ship, that is being tossed in a storm.

And everybody's about to give up. For some 14 days, they have been tossed. They've lost the luggage of the ship.

They're throwing the tackling overboard. They've lost the cargo. They're afraid of losing their lives.

A little Jewish man stands up and says, Sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God. Now, this raises the interesting question today. In what or in whom are you trusting? This 25-year-old young man lying on a cot in a hospital in Edinburgh says to the whole world, I'm trusting myself.

My head is bloody, but unbowed. I am the master of my faith. I am the captain of my soul.

I wonder what he would have done on board that ship. He wasn't the master of the winds. He wasn't the master of the waves.

He wasn't the captain of the boat. He couldn't control the elements. And there stands up this little Jewish man who says, I know the God of the universe and my faith is in him.

And I hope that's where your faith is. I hope that not a one of us looks into the mirror with that egotistical halo around the head and says, I can manage my own life. Let come what may.

I'm the master. I am the captain. About that time, the storm is going to blow.

And then we're going to find out just how much we can do. Let's think of this whole matter of living by faith. Paul is saying, I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me.

I believe that God is going to see us through the storm. I believe that God is going to take us to a certain island. He's spoken to me.

I know. I believe God. Let's suppose that somebody here today at Moody church says, all right, I want to start believing God.

I want to come and put my faith in Jesus Christ. I believe he died for me in the cross. I know I'm a sinner.

I know that without him, I can't make it through life. I certainly can't make it through death. I certainly can't make it through eternity.

I need him today to be my savior. I'm going to put my faith in him. If you want to start to live by faith in Jesus Christ, what kind of a life is God going to give you? What is this life of faith? I'd like to use the verses that we read from Acts 28 to answer that question.

Because in these verses, the Lord tells us the characteristics of the life of faith. You say, I'll put my faith in Christ. I can't trust myself.

I can't trust the elements. I will put my faith in Jesus Christ. I want to live this life of faith.

What kind of a life is it? Well, the first characteristic is pretty obvious as you read chapters 27 and 28. The life of faith is a life of excitement. Now, the next statement I'm going to make is going to shock some of you, but I think the longer you consider it, the more you'll agree with me.

A life of unbelief and sin is boring. I repeat it. A life of unbelief and sin is boring.

You stand on the top floor of one of these gorgeous high-rises in Chicago. Do it at night. Get to one down at the end of Lakeshore Drive or get to the top of Sears or Hancock and watch those red lights and white lights and that tremendous panorama down beneath.

Multitudes of people running here and there, spending money, indulging, being indulged. You say, my, that's an exciting kind of a life. Is it? You ever talk to them? They're bored.

They're bored stiff. This explains why more rich people commit suicide than poor people. Walk through some of the slum districts of Chicago.

You won't find people contemplating suicide, but you'll find them contemplating suicide in the Gold Coast or along Michigan Avenue or down in Miami Beach or over in Honolulu. It's a strange thing that people who contemplate suicide and who commit suicide are often not those who are lying in the throes of pain and sorrow and despair. It's often those who seem to have everything to live for.

They can buy anything they want. I say it to you again, a life of sin is a life of boredom. And I'll tell you why.

When you first begin to sin, regardless of what it may be, regardless of what sin may be the thing that you indulge in, there's excitement. There's that first drink or that first date or that first bit of gambling or whatever it may be. Once a person begins, there's an excitement and then something happens.

You reach a point of saturation beyond which there can't be any more excitement. And so there has to be a little more alcohol or a little more dope in the needle or a little more sex in the party or a little more money on the gaming table. And it just begins to get saturated, a point of diminishing returns.

This is why when you look into the faces of people who can do anything they want to do, and they do it, there's an emptiness and a blankness and a boredom. One of America's leading publishers, whose publications I disagree with, was interviewed on television this past week. He has an empire that merchandises sex.

And the question was asked him by the interviewer, and I applauded the interviewer. He said, you know, as this thing goes on, doesn't it get just a little bit jaded? And the publisher was somewhat embarrassed and finally had to admit, yes, I suppose someday it will get jaded. That's the difference between a life of faith and a life of sin.

The life of sin gets darker and darker and less and less exciting and more and more boring. But the path of the justice is the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. And I say to you, the life of faith is a life of excitement.

Now, you say, are you suggesting I'm going to be in some storms? Yes, but I'll tell you this much. When you get into a storm, the Lord will see you through. It's interesting to note the contrast between the land of Canaan and the land of Egypt.

When Moses prepared the Jews to go into Canaan, he said, now, the land that the Lord has given you is not like the land of Egypt. The land of Egypt was flat and monotonous and dry. And every once in a while, the Nile River would vomit up its silt and then they'd plant their crops.

He said, oh, the land of Canaan is not flat and dry and monotonous. It's a land of hills and valleys. It's a land that the rain comes down upon.

It's a land of storms. It's a land of blessing. That's the Christian life.

The Christian life is a life of excitement. You say, well, if I live this life of faith, I can understand why it's exciting because you never know what's going to happen next. No, it's just the opposite.

It's exciting because you aren't afraid of what's going to happen next. Paul knew what was going to happen next. On board that ship, he said, we're going to lose the ship.

We're going to save our lives. We're going to land on a certain island. He had the whole thing.

Heavenly Travel Bureau handed him the entire itinerary. You see, Paul was excited, not because he didn't know what was going to happen, but because he did know what was going to happen. That's why we're excited.

We know what's going to happen. You see, we know that Jesus is coming back. We know that until he does come back, we're going to go through some storms, but he's going to go with us.

When you go through the waters, I'll be with you. When you walk through the fire, I'm there. I feel so sorry for unsaved people who constantly have to be looking for some new exciting thing.

Paul arrives in Athens, and they're always looking for some new thing. The city of Chicago is filled with people looking for some new thing. We are not looking for some new thing as believers.

We have found him who is everything we ever will need. And the life of faith is a life of excitement. When I read my Bible and see the exciting things that God did for ordinary people, Peter would have spent the rest of his life fixing nets and fixing boats and catching fish.

One day he followed Jesus, and oh, what a difference it made. Paul would have been just another rabbi teaching his students and getting old and wise, and then that was the end of it. Oh, one day he saw Jesus Christ.

What a difference it made. What a difference it'll make in your life. The life of faith is a life of excitement, because my Father in heaven, as someone has well said, is the God of great surprises.

He always has some new thing around the corner, and we never have to be afraid. My Heavenly Father is a God of infinite originality. Little children say, there's nothing to do.

You've got a house full of toys. I've played with them. There's nothing to do.

This never happens to a Christian. A Christian never has to say there's nothing to do. Usually we say, oh, there's so much to do.

And there's so much to enjoy, and so much to be excited about. If I could today just plead with one person who thinks he's finding the excitement he's looking for in the sins of this world. My friend, let me plead with you.

You won't find it. Hell is a place of eternal suffering and boredom. Heaven is going to be a place of eternal excitement, and it starts right now.

The life of faith is a life of excitement. There's a second characteristic to it. It's a life of involvement.

No sooner do they land on that shore, some on boards, and some on pieces of the ships, and some swimming. I trust that they had released the prisoners from their chains. I'm sure they had.

And Paul starts to help them build a fire. Now, Paul didn't have to do this. Paul was the kind of a person who was not a spectator.

He was a participant. He constantly got involved. This is why the Christian life is so exciting.

The excitement comes from involvement. We're surrounded here at Moody Church by beautiful high-rise apartments. Multitudes of people in these apartments don't want to be involved.

And they're very happy that they're protected from the people at the front door by a doorman and several layers of glass and several hundreds of feet of concrete. Paul was not that kind of a person. Paul begins to pick up some of the brush and put it on the fire.

He didn't have to do this. If I had been Paul, I would have said, folks, go to work. I saved you.

I was the one who rescued you. Now, it's up to you to do the rest. Paul didn't do this.

The same apostle Paul who gets up and says, an angel spoke to me, is humble enough to reach down and pick up some firewood and put it on the fire. Christians get involved. You know why? Well, I think there are two reasons for it.

If you live by faith, it has to lead to works. Living by faith doesn't mean being a spectator. It means being a sharer.

Faith without works is dead. And secondly, when you live by faith, you love people. And Paul lands on this island with 275 other wet, hungry people.

And the natives begin to build a fire. And Paul begins to add to the fire. By the way, I wonder what fire you are adding fuel to.

Is there an argument going on in your home, and you can hardly wait to get home to add some more fuel to that fire? Is there a fight in your family adding fuel to the fire? Paul was the kind of a person who had a love for other people. And he said, it's not enough to rescue these people from danger. Now I want to take care of them.

I don't want them to get pneumonia. Dr. Luke is busy enough. I don't want them to get pneumonia.

Now, when you get involved, you pay a price. I speak to some people right now who want to be isolated, insulated Christians. I'm not saying separated.

I believe in being separated from sin, but not isolated from people. And there are Christians today who want to be spectators. And they'll watch other people build the fire and tell them how hot it should be and how big it should be.

There are always people who want to work in an executive capacity, but not when it comes to actually doing the job. Paul wasn't like this. When you get involved, you pay a price.

As Paul begins to put this fuel in the fire, a snake that had been in there got warmed up and bit him. Now, Luke is a doctor. Luke writes this and the verbs that he uses in the Greek language, and Luke knows medicine and Luke knows Greek, indicate that this viper actually bit Paul.

Some of our liberal friends who do all they can to get rid of the miracles in the Bible say that the snake was just awakened from its stupor and somehow gummed him a little bit. Now, the natives knew better. These natives had seen these snakes before.

And when they saw this snake come up, by the way, did you ever try to do a good job and the devil come and bite you? How many, many times you and I are trying to serve the Lord. And while we're in the process of serving him, the old serpent comes and tries to bite us. What did you do about that poison? I meet people week in and week out who are filled with poison.

Paul could have said, oh, what kind of a God do I serve? First, I rescue these people from danger and now I'm trying to do my job and somebody comes after me. I've seen this happen in churches. Nobody appreciated what you did and you got poisoned.

The old snake bit you. Somebody criticized you a little bit and said, well, if they're going to be like that, I'll just go home. There are more Christians walking around with the poison of the serpent in their bloodstream and it makes them sick and super sensitive and hard to get along with.

Oh, I know some professing Christians who have been staying away from the house of the Lord, nurturing their wounds, pampering their poison, and they're miserable. You know what Paul did? Paul said, I'm not going to allow anything like that to happen to me. He just flicked the snake in the fire.

That's where snakes belong, in the fire. That's where the old serpent is going to end up one of these days, in the fire. You see, Paul was an apostle.

Apostles did miracles. And one of the miracles that he did was to flick the snake in the fire and instantly all of these unsaved natives focused their attention on Paul. That's exactly what God wanted.

Miracles never saved anybody. These natives did not get saved because Paul threw the snake in the fire. Oh, no, you get saved through the gospel.

But that little miracle focused attention on Paul. You see, Paul's life was a life of faith and the life of faith is a life of involvement. You say, I don't want to get involved.

I might get bitten. Yes, you might. But it's worth it.

Because this leads us to our third characteristic. The life of faith is a life of excitement. And the life of faith is a life of involvement.

That's what makes it exciting. Getting involved in the lives of other people. Oh, you'll be misunderstood.

He must be a murderer. No, he must be a God. They were wrong on both counts.

You'll be misunderstood. But that's all right. Involvement leads to the third characteristic, fulfillment.

You know why Paul was maroon, so to speak, on the island of Malta? Because God had a work for him to do. Every once in a while, emergency situations arise among the people of Moody Church. Automobile accidents, surgeries, jobs are lost.

Seeming tragedies. This was a seeming tragedy. Paul had been illegally arrested.

Now he was being taken to Rome. And bad enough, he had to sit for two years as a prisoner in Caesarea. But now he has shipwreck.

And when they were about to leave the ship before it fell apart, some of the soldiers wanted to kill Paul and the rest of the prisoners. God stopped them. And then they land on board on this island.

And the serpent comes and gets... What's going to happen next? Well, fulfillment. You see, God had a purpose for Paul. You go to the doctor this next week.

And the doctor says, you know, you need surgery. Oh, Lord, why? There's a purpose to fulfill. Now, the unsaved person, the unbeliever, lives to no purpose.

He suffers for nothing. He goes through difficulty for nothing. But the believer who lived by faith, he suffers for someone.

And he goes through difficulty to fulfill a purpose. The life of faith is a life of fulfillment. And God whispered in Paul's ear, these people need to be saved.

Now, I want to carry on this point for just a moment. Let's just pick ourselves up in our imaginations and go to Malta. And the rain is coming down.

And it's cold. And these natives come out and they welcome 276 strangers. Now, some of us get apoplexy if two strangers show up.

Now, put some more water in the soup. We've got visitors tonight. 276 strangers show up, some of whom are prisoners of Rome and murderers.

When was the last time you had a murderer as a guest at your house? Now, they show up and the natives come down and they greet them in a friendly way. Luke says they showed us the most wonderful kindness. They lit the fire.

And they took care of them for three months. At this point, someone says to me, you see, preacher, these heathen, they aren't so lost after all. See how kind they were? And when Paul was bitten by that viper, these heathen, quote unquote, had sense enough to say, oh, justice has caught up with him.

These people were kind. They had a sense of righteousness, a sense of justice. But you know what, my friend? They were lost.

Now, there are two extremes that people go to when it comes to the, quote unquote, the heathen. One extreme is to talk about the noble savage. Oh, these people don't need to be saved.

They already have salvation. That's one view. And it's wrong.

The other extreme is that they are so wicked they can't do anything good at all. That's wrong. Here were unsaved people doing kind deeds to God's servants.

But that's not what saved them. You know what saved them? Paul shared the gospel with them. And God saw to it that Paul stayed on Malta for three months.

They could not get rid of the preacher. And the headman of the island honored Paul by inviting him into his home. And that right away put the seal of approval on Paul's ministry.

Between the miracle of the serpent and visiting in the man's home, Paul had the seal of approval. And for three months, you know what Paul did? He told people how to get saved. He'd be going down the path and some national there, some native would say, hey, aren't you the fellow who was bitten by the snake? Yeah.

That's amazing. No. Let me tell you a story about some people who were bitten by snakes.

And Paul would go all the way back to the book of Numbers and tell them about how the Jews rebelled against God. And they were bitten by fiery serpents. It's a picture of sin.

We've all sinned and rebelled against God. And sin has bitten us. And then he'd say, and as Moses lifted up that serpent in the wilderness, even so was the Lord Jesus Christ lifted up.

And my friend, you don't have to be lost. You can be saved. And one by one, Paul led people to Jesus Christ.

The life of faith is a life of fulfillment. And so the next time you're sharing a hospital room with some other patient, isn't there a purpose for you to fulfill? The next time we have that terrible flat tire out in the highway, isn't there a purpose for us to fulfill? In fact, the next time we get a wrong number, there might be a purpose to fulfill. I have a pastor friend who got a wrong number one day.

A man called him and thought he was a pastor of another church. And he said, are you Pastor Johnson? And my friend said, yes. And he said, may I borrow some of your equipment? And he mentioned the kind of equipment we don't usually have in evangelical churches.

And my friend said, well, no, I don't have that kind of equipment. And the man said, well, I must have the wrong number. And my pastor friend said, oh, no, you've got the right number.

And he told him how to get saved. Now, whether or not the man believed or not, I don't know. All I'm saying is this, the Christian life, the life of faith is a life of fulfillment.

God has a purpose for us to fulfill. Which leads us finally to the fourth characteristic. The life of faith is a life of excitement.

You're never bored. Sin is boring. The life of faith is a life of involvement.

You're never lonely because you're just a part of other people. The life of faith is a life of fulfillment. There's always something to do every day to glorify God and help others.

And finally, it's a life of encouragement. I noticed when Paul got to Rome, his friends came to meet him. And this encourages me.

They found some brethren in verse 14 as they were traveling. They got to the three taverns. And notice what it says in verse 15.

Whom when Paul saw the brethren, he thanked God and took courage. And so we came to Rome. There's a blight on the city of Chicago.

It's the blight of discouragement. You can see it in people's faces. Oh, they're earning money and playing with their toys and having their escape.

But oh, the discouragement. Where is the economy going? Where is the nation going? Where am I going? If I keep living the way I'm living, where am I going to end up? That's a good question. I noticed that wherever the apostle Paul went, he was an encouragement.

I've asked God to help me to have a ministry of encouragement. On board that ship, all but three of those people were unbelievers. Paul and Erisarchus and Dr. Luke were believers.

And they were encouraged and they were encouraging other people. And these sailors and prisoners were discouraged and they couldn't see the stars and didn't know what was going to happen. Paul said, be of good courage, be of good cheer.

I believe God. When they ended up on the island of Malta, Paul was an encouragement to them as he went from house to house. And then Paul comes to Rome and somebody is an encouragement to him.

Now, hear me. The Christian life is a life of encouragement. I'll tell you why.

Unbelievers walk by sight. They get up in the morning and polish their glasses and put them on and walk by sight. They believe what they see.

We Christians don't believe what we see. To the unbeliever, seeing is believing. But Jesus said, if thou shalt believe, thou shalt see.

And to the Christian, believing is seeing. In fact, Paul says a very interesting thing when he writes to the Corinthians. He says this.

We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are unseen. For the things which are seen are temporal. They aren't going to last.

But the things which are unseen are eternal. If you were like Moses, Moses endured as seeing him who was invisible. And so the life of faith is a life of encouragement because we're living by that which is invisible.

You say, how do you live on the invisible? Through the word of God. We don't go by what the stock market says. We don't go by what the TV newscaster says.

We get all the facts we can get. We use our brains. But our ultimate faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And this we get from the word of God. Oh, some of you today are discouraged. You say, I had a bad week.

Physically, I'm not feeling good. The business is not going too well. I've been pounding on doors, but I can't find a job.

Kids are sick. Lots of discouragement. But not for the believer.

I can understand why an unsaved person would be discouraged because he has nothing to live for. He has to depend upon what you can see. And what you can see won't last.

Those of us who walk by faith have a life of encouragement. No matter how dark the day, the stars of God's promises are shining. No matter how severe the storm, the hand of God's providence is at work.

And God had an island waiting for Paul. And God had friendly natives waiting for Paul. And God had a fire for Paul.

And God had homes for Paul. And when he went to Rome, there were Christian friends that met Paul at every stage in the road. That's the providence of God.

And I'll tell you, my friend, when you live by the promises of God, and when you depend on the providence of God, you don't get discouraged. Because you know that God's going to see you through. Now, my suggestion today is that you start living by faith.

You who have never trusted Christ as your Savior, start living by faith today. Trust him. He died for you.

He bore your sins in his body on the tree. If you continue in sin, there won't be any excitement. It'll be boredom.

If you continue in sin, there won't be any involvement. There'll be isolation and separation. Sin doesn't bind people together.

Sin destroys. If you continue in sin, there won't be any fulfillment. Quite the contrary, you won't fulfill the purpose God has for you.

And if you live in sin, there won't be any encouragement. The most discouraged people I know are people with a guilty conscience and a burdened heart. But oh, when you trust Christ and you live by faith in him, then you really live.

It's a life of excitement. It's a life of involvement. It's a life of fulfillment.

It's a life of encouragement. And you don't say, I am the master of my faith. I am the captain of my soul.

No, you look up to him who is the author and the finisher of our faith, even Jesus Christ. And you say, he is the master of my faith. He is the captain of my soul.

And I have yielded everything to him. And he's going to see me through. Would you today begin that life of faith? Gracious Father, who are we that we should know the gospel? Who are we that we should have a Bible? A hymnal? Who are we that we should have experienced the eternal life? Oh, how gracious you have been to save us.

Now, for those who have never entered into this life of faith, we pray. I ask, oh, God, that today they might see how foolish and miserable and poor and blind and naked they are. And, oh, Lord, that they might trust Christ in his face. For that believer who is walking by sight and not by faith, I pray, that he too would begin to walk by faith and experience this fullness of life in Christ. Hear us, Father, as we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.