Acts 28: Keep On
Oddly for some, I want to start our last chapter in the book of the Acts of the Holy Spirit with the last
two verses (some may be of the opinion that I should have started there in the first place, but then the
lesson of vv. 30 & 31 would have been totally lost on us):
He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and
without hindrance.
Paul continued the work of the Lord knowing he was facing death in the end. It was all going to collapse
for him. There was no looking forward to retirement…or playing with the grandchildren…not even to
collecting a pension so he didn’t have to keep fixing fishing nets. There was no expectation of a megachurch…no book deals (although, little did he know!)… in fact by the time Paul is executed the known
world had a right many followers of Christ – none of whom helped Paul in the end. No, Paul was a
prisoner in Rome. A prisoner who had significant sway with his captors and the community, but a
prisoner nonetheless.
And this begs the question right from the start – was it worth it? Well, by the definition of success in
that culture and ours – no. By definition of doing what the Lord commanded and dying satisfied with
that – yes. Paul testifies to this in Philippians 1:21: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain”
And this is tough for all of us today. Surrounded by ministries bigger than our own, one wonders. Yet
on the one hand a church with a phenomenal attendance in a very short time in our own area has to
make the ‘experience’ bigger and better than the week before to keep the interest of the crowd. I’m
wondering when they are going to run out of celebrities to invite. When is entertainment converted
into worship? In fact, where are the converts? It all reminds me of Steve Perry’s lines in the song
“Faithfully”:
Circus life under the big top world
We all need the clowns to make us smile
Through space and time, always another show
Wondering where I am lost without you
And I drive by these larger charismatic churches yet I wouldn’t want to deal with a people as
undisciplined and, frankly, worldly as they. No…Paul had no thoughts of whose ministry was doing what
or who was setting the standard. No, he just taught about Jesus, fixed his nets and added to the rolls of
Heaven. And this should be our guide as well.
When we left Paul last, he landed on Melita – an island about 60 miles South of Sicily, placed under the
province of Sicily by Rome. The natives were called Barbarians as they were neither of Greek or Roman
blood which was the definition of a barbarian at the time. As we know from the story, very nice
1
accommodating people these barbarians. The island was relatively unimportant in the trade of the
world yet this was where God had Paul and crew land.
Now recall the storm and the Shipwreck:






The Storm – terrifying for 14 days
Paul had his life threatened by Roman soldiers who feared he might escape
Paul was comforted by an angel in the storm (Acts 27:22-25)
They were shipwrecked and stranded on this island, but all alive
He is soaked by the bitterly cold rain and he is c-o-l-d, gathering wood for the fire which
had just been built.
They were met by kind natives but there was immediately more trouble
Paul had not even had a chance to get warm when the snake leapt out from near the fire and latched
onto Paul’s hand. I mean, seriously? Paul is not even going to mumble, ”What else could happen” for
fear something else would happen! Have you had day like this?? A couple of lessons come to mind:




Times of trouble make us vulnerable. The challenge is to stay focused upon the Lord.
Vipers often appear out of the fires of life. The Kingdom of Darkness looks for openings.
God has a promise for fiery times (Isaiah 43:2b: when you walk through fire you shall not be
burned, and the flame shall not consume you.)
Paul shook off the viper when attacked and so should we. Now I’m not necessarily talking about
a live snake, but we all know the type of attacks as outlined here. So:
I. Shake off the Viper of DISCOURAGEMENT (v.5: He, however, shook off the creature into the fire
and suffered no harm.)
How often believers ask, “Why? O God, Why do I have to keep on suffering so much pain, so many
trials?” God took care of Paul through the trial, healing him instantaneously. In fact, God used the trial
to reach many for Christ – the natives and the soldiers. Think about this short narrative:
a. Paul was attacked while helping…while doing good
i. He was gathering a bundle of sticks for the fire
ii. Vipers often appear when we are doing right
iii. Aren’t we supposed to keep doing good? In fact it was Paul who wrote to the
Galatians (6:9): “And let us not grow weary of doing good….”
b. Paul could have allowed his attack to make him doubt
c. Instead, he shook off the viper, remembering God’s promise of safety
d. Let God’s promises deliver you; shake off discouragement. Paul understood the test of faith
comes in the harder times.
2
II. Shake off the Viper of CRITCISM (v. 4: When the native people saw the creature hanging from his
hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the
sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.)
a. The reaction of the critics: “No doubt this man is a murderer” has no basis in truth
b. Many are quick to judge and falsely accuse
i. Are you being wrongly judged, falsely accused?
ii. You are not the first to endure this kind of trial
c. Jesus was constantly criticized
i. He was called a blasphemer (Matthew 9:3: And behold, some of the scribes said to
themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” )
ii. He was accused of being in league with Satan (Matthew 9:34: But the Pharisees said,
“He casts out demons by the prince of demons.” )
d. Remember how Jesus responded to His critics (I Peter 2:23: When he was reviled, he did not
revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to
him who judges justly.)
e. Shake off the viper of criticism by looking to Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2: Therefore, since we are
surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which
clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to
Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.)
III. Shake off the Viper of LOW EXPECTATIONS (v. 6: They were waiting for him to swell up or
suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to
him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. )
a. The natives expected Paul to swell up and die
b. Some have low expectations of you as a Christian
i. They think you’ll stumble and fall
ii. They’re waiting for you to backslide
iii. They think you won’t endure through life’s challenges
c. Paul literally shook off the faithless conclusions of others
d. He proved them wrong by being faithful to Christ
e. And he went about his business with the right attitude – not looking to shame or prove
another wrong, but looking to live a life to which even doubters and enemies must admit is
admirable. This is what Paul did – look again at the last two verses of this chapter:
He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, 31
proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness
and without hindrance.
3
Now Paul would be the first to tell you his victory wasn’t his, but that of the Holy Ghost. The abundant
life of John 10:10 is a promise that in the midst of our daily lives we can have daily victory in spite of
the daily opposition…and we’ve all got daily opposition. The Spirit has been given to us to lead, guide,
direct and comfort. It is the Holy Spirit who equips us to WIN. So…shake OFF those vipers and
experience the Joy of the Lord. That’s my take on the opening of Acts 28. What about the closing of
Acts 28?
Conclusion
In the very first message from the Book of Acts, we summarized the whole message of the Book itself.
Here it is in a nutshell:
The Savior Went Up
The Spirit Came Down
The Church Went Out
The Lost Came In
In Acts 28, we finally see Paul arrive in Rome; but strangely enough, we have no Biblical account of his
appeal to Caesar. What we come to realize is that appealing to Caesar was not the real motive of Paul’s
heart. He had already been told by the Lord (Acts 23:11) that he would bear witness for Him in Rome.
He writes in his letter to the Romans in chapter one, verses 15 and 16, these words:
“So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth;
to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
His appeal to Caesar was simply the means of getting him to Rome. Now that he is there, he simply
begins to share the gospel with anyone and everyone that he can. So what do we make of the last of
Chapter 28?
I. THE GOSPEL MUST BE SHARED
-This was the absolute truth stated by Jesus way back in Acts 1:8: “But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
-Acts started with the gospel being shared and it ends with the gospel being shared with “all confidence,
no man forbidding” Paul.
-Paul states with all authority in verse 28: Therefore let it be known to you that this salvation of God
has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen.”
-The Jews may be both blind and deaf to the gospel but we have full assurance that the Gentiles will
hear it.
4
-That being the case, in our daily trek through life…what are we supposed to do? Share the gospel.
I. THE GOSPEL MUST BE SHARED
II. THE GOSPEL CANNOT BE STOPPED
A. By chains and bonds
B. By persecution (Acts 8:4)
C. By storms and struggles
D. By unbelief and opposition
The book of Acts began with a few believers being commissioned to preach the glorious gospel at
Jerusalem, then in all Judea, then in Samaria, and then to the uttermost part of the earth. Now, as Acts
closes, the gospel has reached the center of the known world and is being proclaimed by thousands
throughout the whole world.





Sometimes the message has flowed freely without opposition as here in America;
At other times it has been threatened with a violent attempt to silence it like in Iraq, North
Korea, China.
At still other times it has been silently counterfeited by false ministers and teachers who have
infiltrated the church, empowered by the devil.
Sometimes it has been added to and at other times it has been subtracted from
But is has never been stamped out. The Word of the glorious God and our Savior, Jesus Christ,
marches on triumphantly, and will continue to march on in power and victory until He returns.
Now here is a thought: The acts of God are not done yet. If you’re still breathin’ you’re still
commissioned. Your work isn’t done. If it were, you wouldn’t still be breathin’. This was Paul’s
view. Another view of Paul was…
I. THE GOSPEL MUST BE SHARED
II. THE GOSPEL CANNOT BE STOPPED
III. ONLY THE GOSPEL CAN SAVE
In so many places just in the book of Acts has this assertion been made:




Acts 4:12: And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men[a] by which we must be saved.
Acts 8:35: Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the
good news about Jesus.
9:20: And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”
14:7: and there they continued to preach the gospel
5



16:10: And when Paul[a] had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into
Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
16: 31: And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your
household.”
18:28: for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ
was Jesus.
-The saints of the Book of Acts believed it
-We must not only believe it, we must also proclaim it! Live it. Share it…each and every day. THIS is our
one, true calling. May God not find us unfocused, frustrated or forlorn…but faithful.
6