I clearly remember a conversation with a Christian in Uganda.  She was a member of a very small and struggling church, which was trying to survive in the midst of constant persecution from the predominantly Muslim tribe around them.  When she came up for prayer after I had preached, a translator went with me just outside of the church so that ministry could continue with others up front.  The woman said she believed in the truth of the gospel.  When I asked her about the problem, she showed me a calf muscle which was very swollen and hot, so probably infected.  She had gone to the church leaders, but they didn’t know what to do, so she went to the witch doctor to see if that might work, which created all kinds of other demonic manifestations in her life.  At the time, medical care wasn’t a viable option for most villagers because of the distance to the only clinic and costs which they could not afford.  The issue for this woman was not truth– she proclaimed that she believed that Jesus had died for her sins– but power– what works in my day to day life.  We see the power of the gospel demonstrated in our text this morning, but I believe it needs to be demonstrated in Florence, SC in 2007.  Yes people must hear the truth of the gospel before they will come to faith in Christ; but they also need to see and experience the truth of the gospel and the wonderful things God does as we seek and ask Him, so they know the gospel is true by the evidence they see in healing and other miracles God will do.

We are ending an excellent study in the book of Acts.  I hope you have gleaned even half as much as I have as we have preached through it these last several months.  We have seen the central role of the Spirit of God in the work on earth in applying the truth of the gospel to peoples’ lives.  The Spirit of God works in and then through believers in Jesus Christ to spread the gospel and grow the church to the ends of the earth.  This morning, we will see some of these main ideas re-emphasized as we look at the power of the Spirit which accompanied the preaching of the gospel, so that the church was established to the ends of the earth.

I. Miracles which happen as we live the supernatural life of faith.
Paul is shipwrecked on the island of Malta, along with 275 others.  Last week, we looked at the amazing journey the Lord took them on and how the Lord, for Paul’s sake, spared all the people, though not the ship, when they disobeyed His warning through Paul.  We saw how God worked in and through these events to bring glory to His Name through His servant Paul. 

Imagine what is taking place– you have just been through an incredible ordeal over the last 2 weeks that you thought would end your life.  You have swum from the shipwreck to the shore and dragged yourself out of the water in a land you do not know, and are faced with many uncertainties.  You are soaking wet, having nothing but the clothes on your back, and it is cold and raining.  Some nationals are nice enough to light you a fire and provide some food.  You are as close as you can get to the fire to try to dry off and get warm.  Paul sees that the fire needs more wood, so gathers some and throws it into the fire.  In the process, a poisonous snake, who was hiding in the wood he just gathered, strikes and attaches itself to Paul’s hand.  The nationals hear from the captain that he was a prisoner, as are others who were on the ship.  When they see the poisonous snake attached to his hand, they know he must be really evil, because he has endured a shipwreck, and is now being condemned to death by the gods through a poisonous snake.
I am not certain how much Paul knew of the nationals beliefs at this point.  He simply shakes the snake off into the fire, and I am sure he prayed and asked for God’s protection from the poison.  Then he goes about his work of stoking the fire and helping other people.  The nationals can’t believe it.  Pretty soon, they are sure Paul will begin to feel the effects of the poison, so they keep watching him.  At some point, Paul becomes aware of their interest in him, and I am sure used this as an opportunity to speak about Christ to those who had been on the ship.  More than likely, he does not speak the language of the nationals, so cannot witness to them.  They attribute the miracle of Paul not feeling the effects of the poisonous snake to him being a god of some sort, because they have no other explanation.

Paul continues to interact and serve.  When he finds out that the father of the governor of the island is sick in bed, Paul asks permission to pray over him.  When Paul prays in Jesus’ Name, the sick man is completely healed.  There are probably servants in the house who witness this miracle.  They tell others and news spreads like wildfire that there is one who can pray for healing and it happens!  People bring all their sick friends and family members to Paul for him to pray over for their healing and God does extraordinary miracles of healing through Paul.  This led to strengthening the faith of people who have come to Christ on board the ship, and an open door for the gospel among the people on this island.  They are so appreciative of what the Lord did through Paul, that they supply all their needs for the next leg of their journey. 

Does God still do miracles like these?  If you were to ask me that question as a boy growing up in the church, I would have quickly said “no”, simply because I had never seen anything like this– not even prayer for people to be healed like this.  My theology as a boy in the church would have been– Jesus died for my sins, so they are forgiven, but leaves us down here to struggle and fend for ourselves.  That is what I experienced from the churches, at least this was my perception of those experiences.  What do you do when your life experience does not match up with God’s Word?  Do you assume God’s Word must be wrong and so try to reinterpret it so it fits your experience; or do you think there something in your life which does not line up with God’s Word and will for you?  I believe the latter is true, which should lead us to seek the Lord and ask Him to line our lives up with His will for us.

When most of you read this passage, you think to yourself, God chose Paul and used him in these ways, but he could never do this through me, because God just can’t use me like He used Paul.  But think clearly about this with me– is it Paul or God who is really doing the work?  If Paul were standing here this morning, he would quickly declare that it was all what God did through him, and had little to do with him!  Does the same Holy Spirit who resided inside Paul and fell upon Paul for power, reside in you and is this same Holy Spirit available to work through you in power?  Yes! Absolutely!  God chose you just as much as God chose Paul.  God loves you just as much as He loved Paul.  The Lord is the same in character and purpose as He was in Paul’s day.  The problem is that we have not taken His Word seriously, for the most part.  We take the Bible at face value when it talks about salvation, but not when it talks about miracles and those works of power which God does to validate the truth of the gospel.

You might be thinking to yourself– “I haven’t seen much if any of these kinds of miracles in my life”– why not?  The simple answer is that the church of Jesus Christ in America does not know the Word of God nor the mind of God– you understand I am speaking in generalities and not about every person.  Please don’t receive this as condemnation, but as a wake-up call that God has something more for you.  One of the reasons we don’t see more miracles, is because we see miracles as an end– I’ve been healed by the Lord!  It is fantastic that God has healed you, but He has done this so that you might tell others, and have a chance to share the gospel with them.  God does these things as a means to bring Him greater glory.  That is what life as a Christian is all about.  It isn’t about how I feel or what I want, but it is about walking with God in a dynamic relationship with Him, so that you might know Him, experience His blessings and life, and then pass this on to others so they too might come to worship Him. 

God is sovereign.  But this sovereign God still works miracles in and through His people as they listen to and discern what it is that He wants to do to reveal Himself to the nations through His people.  We experienced this last Sunday evening– I thought it was fantastic, that before the service started, Perry had it in his heart to be relieved of pain he was experiencing before he prayed over others for healing.  Perry asked Terry Beckom to pray over him before the service and God completely took that pain away from Perry’s back.  I will tell you that my tendinitis instantly improved 75% as I was prayed over by elders.  Others also experienced the power of God.  How about you?  Do you believe in the power of God?  I know some of you do, because you have experienced it recently; but how about the rest of you?  Look at Paul’s life and testimony– is this just for Paul, or is it for you also?  Believe God and His Word!

II. Paul’s continued intent on proclaiming the gospel.
In verse 17, Paul is in prison in Rome, but under house arrest rather than in a bad prison cell.  Apparently the centurion who brought him to Rome helped him secure a minimum security arrangement.  People in the church in Rome, or perhaps some of his traveling companions who were blessed through his ministry, paid for his rented house, because Paul had no income and no ability to make anything while in chains.  At the first opportunity, Paul sends for the Jewish leaders in Rome.  He wants to find out what they know of his case, but more importantly, he is looking for a way to proclaim the gospel to them.  The Jewish leaders arrive and Paul explains to them why he is in prison, because he has the hope of Israel– meaning he believes in the Messiah who had come to redeem His people.  The Jewish leaders haven’t heard anything from Jerusalem yet– perhaps the Jews there gave up pursuing Paul and were glad that he was gone from Israel at least.  The Jews in Rome have heard many reports against Christians– “this sect”.  So, they want to hear what he has to say about Israel, Jesus and Christianity.

The next day, a large group of Jews show up to Paul’s house where he is under arrest, and Paul talked with them all day, seeking to convince them from the Scriptures that Jesus was the focus of the writings of Moses and the prophets.  Anyone who can debate these things all day long knows the Scriptures and is able to clearly articulate what is in them.  This shows me the importance of study– more of our free time needs to be spent reading, studying and thinking about the Word of God rather than watching things on the idiot box as we call the TV at our house.  I am amazed at how little effort Christians want to put into studying the Scriptures.  They want to hear the Christian celebrity tell them what the celebrity has learned through their study, rather than digging truth out for themselves.  I have mixed emotions about people at Trinity going to Bible studies with celebrities teaching because it often– not always– but too often leads to a lack of study on our own.  This is the way you really grow in Christ– you read Scriptures and think about it and journal about it and read a commentary which has some insight, and chew on it some more.  This is the way you become mature in Christ.  Those of you who don’t feel mature in Christ, this is the primary way you become mature.

Paul ends his discussion with them by declaring that the Gentiles will believe the truth of the gospel, even when the Jews reject it, because God will open their eyes to see the truth of it.  Some Jews believed and became followers of Christ, but most did not.  What continues to impress me about Paul is his insistence on speaking the gospel.  We are not compelled to share the gospel as Paul was.  He looked for every opportunity to do so.  I just don’t see that in most people in the church today.  I am preaching to myself this morning as much as any of you. The way the gospel will spread will be through your mouth, as your heart has been gripped by the truth of the gospel and as you pray and ask God to give His heart to you.  God’s heart is that the nations would hear the gospel.  Certainly others must see the gospel lived out in our lives, but they also must hear it from our lips.  I am praying for the day when it will be very difficult to go to hell if you live in Florence, because you will have the love of Christ shared with you every day by a believer in Christ.  This is the church triumphant– a people who have powerfully experienced the love of Christ, and so they can do nothing else but speak with those around them who are not showing forth the fruit of salvation.

The reason I said it this way is because many people will give lip service to the gospel, and I don’t know their heart; but the Scriptures tell us you know a tree by its fruit.  When people experience the love of Christ in our midst, see the power of the gospel in the powerful works God is doing through His people, they will come up to you and beg you to share the gospel with them.  They shouldn’t have to– we should be looking for every opportunity to speak about Christ with others.

Recently I went to the chiropractor.  I go to him when my back pain gets fairly high, and have found that exercise, combined with an occasional visit keeps me feeling very good.  I took my small Bible, because I wanted to use my time well when I was lying on the table with a back massager working on me.  One of the new workers commented– “I’ve never seen someone read their Bible in here before.”  I was surprised by the comment, so I asked if it was okay to her if I read my Bible.  She said it was probably a good thing, and wished she had more time to read her Bible.  I simply asked her about her church, and she said she didn’t have time for church, but she was still a Christian.  Another patient came in and she had to help that patient and began to speak with her, but those are the kinds of opportunities we have all the time if we look for them and step into the door which is cracked open for us.  I don’t know what the Lord will do with that conversation.  I was simply seeking to be myself– I have no problem reading the Word or praying anywhere, because it is who I am.  I will see her again sooner or later, and look to see if there is another open door for the gospel.  This should be the every day events for most of us as Christians.  I don’t seek to offend, but at the same time, the way to love people the most is to tell them about what gives you life!  And as the Spirit of God works through you, the life of Christ will flow through your lips to others.

III. Lessons from the Book of Acts:
Let me end this sermon with a couple of clear lessons from the book of Acts, which we all need to take to heart.

1. It is the work of God the Father, sending Jesus Christ, the Son, to redeem us by His work on the cross, and the work of the Spirit of God within us that marks us as His.
2.  This message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is to be preached to anyone who is near us for more than 5 minutes.  As the gospel is faithfully preached, the Spirit of God does a work of regeneration in some hearts, and they are saved.
3. It is the working of the Spirit within us to sanctify us, and the work of the Spirit upon us to empower us which really sets us apart from the world