Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Let us turn, please, to the book of Acts today. We are going to read the last chapter of Acts chapter 28. We want to see if we can cover this chapter today. I'm not sure how much we're going to cover, but by the grace of God, we'll see if we cover much of this chapter. And this is, of course, the last portion in the book of Acts, the journey of the Apostle Paul from Kesaria, Israel, into Rome, where he finally has arrived to the place where the angel of God and Yeshua himself said to him, Paul, just as you have testified of me in Jerusalem, in the temple, among your brethren, the people of Israel, you will also testify of me in the city of Rome.

So please follow with me as we read Acts chapter 28. And we read from verse 1, And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people showed us no little kindness, for they kindled the fire and received us, everyone, 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 hand. And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hanged on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer. Whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

And it shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm. How bit 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 mind and said that he was a god. In the same quarters were possessions of the chief men of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of 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 which had diseases in the island came and were healed, who also honored us with many honors. And when we departed, they laided us with such things as were necessary. And after three months, we departed in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isles, whose sign was Castor and Pollux. And landing in Syracuse, we tarried there three days. And from thence we fetched a compass and came to Regium, and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli, where we found brethren and were desired to tarry with them seven days, and so we went toward Rome.

And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Api, Foam, and the three taverns, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage. and when we came to Rome the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him and I'll stop here this is the last chapter brothers and sisters of the book of Acts and it is a fascinating book it is a very important book in the scriptures because the book of acts in hebrew we call it the acts of the apostle through the holy spirit of god is a very important book because it places us it shows us the transition between the time when the messiah came for our nation israel and when israel as a nation our own people as a nation haven't accepted him and some early jewish believers have accepted the Messiahship of Yeshua, preached the message of the gospel to the world, and were the foundation of the building of the assembly of the church of our Lord Jesus the Messiah.

And it is such an important book because when you understand the book of Acts, you understand the rest of the epistles, Romans, Corinthian, Galatian, Ephesian, and Philippian, Colossian, and all these epistles that God had given to us in the scripture. So we are in the conclusion of the book of Acts and it is the journey now that the Apostle Paul, as a prisoner, being taken, of course, captured in Jerusalem, taken to Caesarea, Caesarea, held there in Caesarea for two years as a prisoner, and now he's taken to Rome because he said, I am going to appeal unto Caesar. And into Caesar, I want to appear because I haven't done anything wrong.

And therefore, they took him now to the city of Rome. And on the journey that he had to Rome, in those chapters that we have read, in chapter 27, this whole chapter is devoted to the journey from Caesarea to Rome. And how we have learned from our last ministry meeting together, how there was a shipwreck where the ship had totally been broken into pieces and the apostle and 276 along with him together, 276 souls have been delivered and had survived this shipwreck and they ended up finding themselves on an island that we know from chapter 28 and verse 1 that the name of this island is called Melita or present-day Malta.

They have about 14 days, the ship have been allowed to go on its own to the mercy of God About 500 miles, day and night and day and night, tossed to and fro with the waves and the storm and the sea and the wind, all the way until finally they find themselves near an island, and they did not even know the name of the island, and yet, beloved brothers and sisters, they were safe and sound on that island. and some of them took boards from the broken pieces of the ship, some of them were swimming, and some of them got there one way or another, help each other, and ultimately, notice that the last verse of chapter 27, they escaped all safe to land, and I made application in the past few meetings together on chapter 27, and I just want to mention this one more time, the ship ride, The boat ride of the Apostle Paul and the 275 others with him, it's a type of picture of the church of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, who is going through challenges and experiences in life and broken to pieces during the journey, but eventually everyone that was on the ship came safe to shore.

It is a picture of the assembly of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, who will arrive eventually safe to the presence of the Lord, even though the church is divided and broken today as we know it in the world which we live in today. Every one of us who is truly a child of God, we will arrive safely to the presence of the Lord because of the promise that God had given His own people. and we can trust in it and have confidence in it, because the Lord has spoken this to us through his word. Well, they have arrived to this island that they found out here in chapter 28, that the name of this island is Melita.

So in this chapter that we are studying today, chapter 28, there are really two major thoughts that we want to occupy ourselves in this ministry meeting. The first ten verses of this chapter is the experience of Paul on that island that is called Melita or Malta. The first ten verses we find out his experience on this island. In Hebrew the word island is E. E simply means island. On this island the Apostle Paul have experienced certain things that the Lord even used him for the blessing of people around him on the island of Melita. Notice the first 10 verses. Really, even those 10 verses divide itself into two sections.

The first six verses, we have the reactions of the people on that island of Melita to the viper that beat the apostle Paul. This is the first six verses. And from verse 7 to 10, we have the miraculous healing of Pablius' father and others who lived on that island. That Paul was used by God for the healing of the people on that island. Let's look over those 10 verses together. First of all, we find out in verse 1 that the island's name called Melita. Notice that? When they were escaped. And they knew that the island was called Melita. Now, remember, brothers and sisters, that we just talked together about the whole ordeal of the challenge of the ship experience, the trials, the wind, the storm.

And finally, we read that word here in this first verse, that they have escaped. In other words, if you remember in the Psalms where David in Psalm 107 say, They that go down to the sea in ships, that they do business in the great waters, these are the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep.

In other words, the Psalmist David says, you know, all the experiences that the people who go down to the sea and they are being preserved and protected it is really the wonders of the lord who preserve them at sea it says here in that same verse that i'm reading in psalm 107 says there in verse 28 then they cry unto the lord in trouble and he brings them out of their distress he maketh the storm come so that the waves thereof are still then they are glad because they be quiet so he brings them unto their desired haven in other words the psalmist is really saying that even those that go to sea they are

being preserved by the lord and protected ultimately and being brought into their desired haven in other words god is in control he allowed things to happen to paul and to luke and to the others that were with him but ultimately he have helped them to escape all this ordeal and to be protected on that island that is called melita now we learn certain things about this island of melita because in verse 2 we find out the kindness of the people who lived on that island it says here and the barbarous people showed us no little kindness for they kindle a fire and they received us everyone because of the present rain and because of the

cord apparently the people of malta melita have treated paul luke the rest of the 276 people who weren't bored and came safe and sound to the island they have treated them very kind you see it says here that they received us they kindled for us fire because of the rain and because of the cold apparently they were shivering it was cold there was still raining as part of the storm and they have landed on this island and the people of this island received them kindly now it is interesting because the bible called them barbarous people you know in hebrew sometimes when somebody is speaking foolish or speaking things that we don't like to hear we

say lama atah medaber k'mo barbari we call it barbari in hebrew barbari simply means to us we look at that we see somebody who talk nonsense but really in the greek world to be a barbarous was simply a person who did not speak the greek language and who have a different culture there was not necessarily being bad person or evil person it is simply a person who did not have a part of the culture of the day meaning in this case in the time of the romans they still spoke greek and he did not speak the greek language it was not part of his culture and they call them here barbarous people so the barbarians

were one who was a foreigner a person who did not speak the greek language and that's why sometime in the scripture when the apostle paul was writing to the romans or to the corinthians or colossians he used these words barbarian to distinguish between the cultured person or the one who was not part of this culture he used the very same expression barbarous the word barbarous here is in greek is barbaros it's mentioned five times in the in the new covenant and every time is in connection with those who did not speak the language or were not part of the culture so these people of melita were called the barbarous people The foreigners, the people who

did not have part in the culture, the different kind of people, they called the barbarians.

But apparently, they were kind people. They had a conscience, and it shows that they really cared for people who had been in trouble. Can you imagine? 276 souls, that their ship was just broken a little bit ahead out at sea. all coming freezing cold wet and soaked with water the rain is coming down the cold is coming upon them and here we see 276 souls arriving to the island and what the barbarous people do?

they get fire ready for them they take care of them they provide for them as it says here in verse 2 they receive every one of them graciously they were kind to them and they took care of them these are the barbarous people the people who are not part of the culture of the day please turn with me to romans chapter 1 in verse 14 for a moment and notice paul is writing he says i'm a debtor to the greeks and to the barbarians both unto the wise and to the unwise another one Paul Shaul is saying listen I am a debtor to share the message of the gospel with the Gentile people of the

world both with the people that are Greeks cultured but also with people who are barbarian who are not part of the Greek culture I believe that I am a debtor to share with them the message of the messiahship of yeshua and he felt this when he wrote that to the people of rome so beautiful to see how we find this in roman chapter one if you turn with your pages also to first corinthians chapter 14 for a moment and there the apostle paul says the same thing he made a distinction between the greeks and the barbarian first corinthians chapter 14 and look at this he's speaking about the local assembly at corinth and there were

so many problems there was so much confusion at corinth and he says to them in verse 11 therefore if i know not the meaning of the voice if somebody speak in a local assembly and he doesn't know what he says he says i shall be unto him as one that speaks a barbarian and he that speaks shall be a barbarian unto me You see what he's saying?

If I speak, you see, in the case of the Corinthian, some of them were claiming that they speak a special gift of tongue, a special language that God had given them the ability to speak. And he says, okay, if God had given you the supernatural word to speak in a language that is unique to enable you to share the message of the gospel, well, if you don't speak it in a way that the people can understand it, what is the benefit in that? You become like a barbarian unto me. In other words, a foreigner, a person who does not know the language and does not understand the words that you are speaking.

One more verse we read in Colossians chapter 3. Just turn to Colossians for a moment. Just one more verse there, chapter 3. And our pastor Paul again speaking there concerning the distinction between the Greeks and the barbarian. And so listen to verse 11. where there is neither Greek nor Jew, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian or Scythians, bound or free, but the Messiah is all and in all. In other words, what he's saying in Colossians, when we became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, a Jewish person and a Gentile are united in Messiah, in Christ. A circumcised Jewish person or an uncircumcised Gentile united in the body of Messiah, part of the body.

Whether it is barbarian, a person who doesn't know the language from another land, from another country, another culture, or Scythians, they are coming on the same ground, they are part of the body of Messiah. Whether you are bound or free, whether you are a slave in the Roman Empire or a free man in the Roman Empire, You are united together in the body of Messiah. I'm mentioning all these verses in connection with the word barbarian mentioned to us here in Acts chapter 28 and verse 2. So the kindness of the barbarian people to the 276 souls that escaped the storm at sea and have ended up on the island of Melita of Malta.

what a kindness beautiful to see their behavior you know sometimes brothers and sisters we talk about what about those people who live far away in the island and how would they know about god and about the truth of the word of god look apparently this barbarian they had a conscience they understood the care for people they understood that there is someone whom they are accountable to, they may believe in other idols and so on, but God is able to reach them as well. And you can see how the Apostle Paul is assisting them in this island of Melitus. Well, look at this, verse 3, now something has happened.

In verse 3, we find out that when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and he laid them on the fire there came a viper or snake out of the heat and fastened on his hand we learned something interesting here first of all about Paul about Shaul that even though he was the apostle even though he was the one that God had spoken to him and have commended him and used him in so many ways when the time came and everybody is cold and shivering and everybody is trying to find a place of safety and they need to be taking care of the apostle Paul was like everybody else he went to find sticks he picked up stick put them in the fire just like everybody else he participated in the service that is needed at that time he didn't say hey listen, I'm the Apostle Paul, and I'm going to sit around.

Don't forget that on the ship I told you that the angel of God spoke to me, and I cannot do anything. Notice that he's used by God even by picking up sticks, bringing them to the fire. But here's something happened. A viper came from the midst of the fire and fastened to his hand. Now that was something dangerous. I mean, If somebody's been bitten by a snake, by a serpent, by a viper, that person is liable to lose his life. How many people have played with serpents and snakes and end up bitten and lost their lives? But here's the Apostle Paul, it just happened he didn't look for serpents, he didn't search for vipers, it just happened to be as he's helping everybody that a viper bit him and was hanging on his hand.

So, the people, of course, look at this in verse 4, 5, and 6. The reaction of the barbarians, of the people of the island of Milta, they had two kinds of reactions. The first reaction, it's found in verse 4.

And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hanging on his hand, they said among themselves, no doubt this man is a murderer who though he has escaped the sea yet vengeance suffered not to live so the first reaction was there is a reason why he is the one that got bitten by the serpent he must be a murderer he had been successful in fleeing the sea and the storm but he did not succeed totally to escape it because here we can see that ultimately vengeance did not allow him he deserved to die because if he's a murderer vengeance caught him and now he's going to die because of the biting of the viper that's the

first reaction well look at this because immediately what paul does paul is shaking the beast from his hand into the fire and he felt no harm now paul is shaking that viper out of his hands putting him down back into the fire and he's standing there continue to do what he have to do no harm the bible tells us nothing happened to the apostle paul also then the barbarian these people of melita who were very apparently had a conscience you see that when they saw somebody like paul have a viper biting him and they thought here he deserved it.

There was a reason why it happened to him. In other words, they have been sensitive to maybe have done something wrong and that's why this thing has happened to him. But immediately, in verse 6, after he shook off this serpent, it says, they looked and they said maybe he would be swollen or fallen down dead. Suddenly, they thought it was going to happen to him. And believe me, they have an experience with this kind of thing. In fact, in some of my reading and listening, apparently in Malta, Melita, there is known to be a viper that is dangerous for a human being. And if somebody is beaten by that viper, they lose their lives.

And they are waiting to see if that's what's going to happen to the Apostle Paul.

And since it didn't happen, in verse 6, after they had looked down and they looked a great while and they saw no harm come to him they changed their mind and now they said he was a god see they changed their mind now okay if that viper beat the apostle Paul this man and he did not die well if he died he may have deserved it because they have escaped the sea as a murderer but now they changed their mind because really it was abnormal for a person to receive such a bite from a viper and to remain alive so they said it's not possible well then if he's not a murderer and he didn't

die then he must be a god and you can see beloved brothers and sisters that around the gentile world in contrast to the jewish world the people of israel believe in the true and living god of abraham isaac and jacob but the gentile world the nations of the world they go in did not believe in the god of abraham isaac and jacob and they have introduced all sort of idols and gods that have been introduced by the nations of the world and here these barbarians the local people who belong to the island of melita have come and acknowledged now the apostle paul because nothing happened to him through the biting of the viper that he

is a god with a small g and obviously they have now assumed that he was some divine person or some kind of idol that they ought to worship and that's the way that they were looking at things and you know from history we know many nations have had all sorts of gods small g that is and they claim that this one was God and that Zeus is God and all those names that they have given to various gods of their own and Paul by the way it was not the first time that Paul was acknowledged as God if you remember in chapter 14 In verse 11 and 12, we read that when the people saw

that Paul, what he has done, they lifted up their voices and they said in the speech of Likanoia, the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.

That was when the Apostle Paul was in Iconium and Lystra. They also were assuming that he was divine, that God came down to us in the likeness of men. In fact, they call him Mercurius in chapter 14 and verse 12 of the book of Acts. So Paul already had these experiences of people taking him as being God because of certain things that he has done through the help of the Holy Spirit of God. Now, just to elaborate on this a little bit, do you remember before Yeshua left this scene and went back to heaven, at the end of the Gospel of Mark, he gave a command to the early apostles, to the disciples.

And he said to them in Mark chapter 16, he said those words to them. In verse 15 he says, Go ye into all the worlds. Preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe. In my name shall they cast out demons. They shall speak in new languages, new tongues. They shall take up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them. They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Before Yeshua, the Messiah, after his death, his burial, and resurrection, before his ascension, he spoke to his disciples, and he gave them instruction concerning the future day.

He says, go to all the world. You preach the message of the gospel, the love of God through the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. And alongside of your preaching, there will be a special gift that you will receive to the signs that you will be able to do during the time of your preaching in order to validate the truth of the message of the gospel. Now we have to be careful today that not every Jew go and say, listen, don't start to look now for serpents to play with them and to drink all kind of poison and to do all kind of things and to say, well, the Lord told me to do that.

Listen, he doesn't say that they're going to search for those things. He said that those kind of things will accompany the preaching of the early disciples when they would go to preach the message of the gospel. And you can see these beloved brothers and sisters that Pastor Paul didn't look for any viper and play in the den of some vipers and serpents it was something that happened to him and in a supernatural way God had preserved him that nothing would happen unto the apostle Paul this is not for everyone to do that was for the first century early believers the apostles and their legates whom they have before the canon of scripture was completed that the Lord use signs and wonders in the first century, in the early century of the church age.

We don't limit God. God can do miracles at any time when he wants. He can use whosoever he will, but it is not something that we play with. This is something that if should something like that happen and the Lord would wish to preserve a person, here is an example how this thing have happened. Let me make another application here that i believe it's appropriate there are two verses in the bible that speak to us about satan who is number one first peter 5 8 he is as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour first peter 5 in verse 8 in second corinthian chapter 11 he's called the angel of light in other words he's called as one that coming to appear he's appearing as an angel of light he's a deceitful as a serpent beguiling the people of god in these two chapters chapter 27 we see satan as a roaring lion seeking to destroy the apostle paul testimony and his arrival to Rome to give a testimony concerning Yeshua the Messiah.

In chapter 28, we see Satan seeking to destroy the testimony of the Apostle Paul by coming as a serpent, seeking to kill Paul and stop him from having his testimony to Yeshua the Messiah in the city of Rome. In the storm, he is as the roaring lion. In the serpent, he's, as we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he's appearing as an angel of light, beguiling as a serpent, sneaky, seeking to appear as an angel of light. And we are, you and I today, as believers, you know there are two areas, avenues that Satan wants to hurt our testimony.

He's coming to us sometime as an angel of light, in a sneaky way, and tell you, you know what, it's not going to happen, you carry on, go this way, or carry on, you know, everything is going to be fine, he's ultimately seeking to sneakily draw us away from our testimony to Yeshua the Messiah, and if this doesn't work, he's acting as a roaring lion, he's bringing problems and storms, and all kind of things into our life, in order for us to be discouraged in our life in following Yeshua the Messiah and so you see beloved brothers and sisters the way that the enemy work and yet God in his goodness in his grace preserving

his servant to give a testimony to Yeshua the Messiah in the city of Rome and how precious it is here they call him first of all a murderer and when he shook the serpent and nothing happened to him they call him a god and if paul would have not been a true servant of the living god he would expect some worship for himself but paul was not that kind of a man he was a true humble servant of our lord jesus the messiah and instead of expecting some honor and glory to himself, he ends up bringing blessing on the people of Melita.

And so in the next verses, verse 7, 8, 9, and 10, there is the miraculous healing of Publius' father and others that have been healed by God who had used the apostle Paul in his service. And so two things. First of all, we find in verses seven and eight in the same quarters in another word in the same island the same area there were possessions of the chief men of the island in other words there was a man who was one of the chief men of the island and he was living in this area his name was pablus who received us and he lodged us for three days courteously now he used the word us and us is including luke and it's including all the 276 people who came from the sea and escaped the storm and landed in melita so can you imagine here's a gracious man i don't know when was the last time you have hosted 276 people who were wet soaking wet and the rain coming upon them there much fear and he destitute 276 people he hosted and you can see the graciousness of this man he hosted them he brought them into the homes tents huts that they have had he have hosted them and he provided for them and he took care of them what an amazing thing to experience here by this man by the name of Publius.

He received, he lodged them for three days, courteously, graciously, he hosted them. You know, when we go sometime to visit our homeland in Israel and we take groups of tourists to visit the land of Israel, sometime we go to visit the Bedouins. And, you know, we sit in Sinai or the Negev, wherever we are in the desert area, they're inviting us into their tents And we sit for a cup of coffee and we drink and they are hosting us the gracious hospitality that you have, the Middle Eastern hospitality. Now, of course, that is not in the Middle East. This is in Milita. But the gracious hospitality, beloved brothers and sisters, is something to emulate, something to desire to have a heart for hospitality.

and here's a man not a christian not a messiah follower yet hospitable and you know we are exalted in the book of hebrews to have hospitality it is important for hospitality for the people of god that we are exalted to be hospitable what an example we have here by this man by the name of Publius who hosted those who came from sea to the island and so but he had a problem according to verse 8 that his father the father of Publius was laying sick of fever and of bloody flux apparently he was in a poor state he had fever bloody flux and so what does Paul do Paul enter in to the house or

to the place of the tent wherever to the hut where he was and he prayed he prayed number two laid hand on him number three he healed him look at apostle Paul the apostle Paul the first thing he does he committed the need of the father of Publius to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah in prayer we learned about it earlier on ship you remember before the ship broke and apostle Paul took the bread and he prayed and he gave thanks and then he gave it to the disciples and then he all ate together and the lord met they need here we can see that there is sickness in the place in the island of melita

they needed help and here the apostle paul does the thing that is natural to a believer he committed the need to our lord yeshua the messiah in prayer and so remember the very command that Yeshua the Messiah gave to the early disciples Hebrew disciples when he sent them away he said to them those that will be preaching the message of the gospel not only that they're going to take up serpents and nothing will harm them but he said they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover this is in Mark chapter 16 and verse 18 well look at the reality of the promise that had been given to the early apostles and disciples

of our lord yeshua the messiah here what does he do he pray and as he mentioned here in mark 16 18 he laid his hand on him by the way it's not the hand of the apostle paul that does anything it's not the hand it's simply identifying with a person the hand itself has no value the hand is a jewish biblical expression of identification the way it had been done in the history of Israel by the laying of the hand we identify with the person and the laying of the hand is the care for that individual who was sick praying to God, laying his hand in identification with the need and God in his mercy,

as it says here, have healed him now again, that might give a reason to the people of Melita to say, wow, here is a God, again the apostle paul does not take glory for himself he's a servant he's a minister of the gospel and he's simply doing the ministry that yeshua his messiah gave him to do and so after doing that in verses 9 and 10 other people in the island of melita came as it says in verse 9 so when this was done others also which had diseases in the island came and were healed again Paul prayed laid his hand on them and the Lord the God of creation have healed them by the

way God may choose to heal one and he may choose not to heal others by the way Paul himself the very fact that he didn't see the serpent the viper there could very well suggest because of his eye problem that he didn't see it and you know beloved brothers and sisters he besought three times the lord to take this thorn that he had in his flesh and the lord said to paul my grace is sufficient in other words i don't have to answer your prayer in the way that you want i'll answer your prayer in the way that i want i may heal you and i may not we don't commend god to heal if

he wishes he allow us to be the way we are if he wishes he totally restores it is his will that will ultimately come to pass in this case he chose to heal the father of and to heal those that were on that island of melita and so we read about these people that they have been healed many of them in verse 10 he says who also honored us with many honors and when we departed they laid at us with such things as were necessary i want to one more time emphasize the word the barbarians don't ever for a moment think that when we say barbarian or when the bible say barbarian that it speaks

about people who are evil and bad well they have behaved so kind so gracious to people that they never knew so hospitable long before pablo's father was healed long before the many were healed they were gracious enough to host those that had a need and so barbarians simply mean that they were not part of the culture of the day they were foreigners to the greek culture they did not speak the language and therefore they are called barbarians and they need the messiah just the same like the cultured individual who knows the language and who are pretty decent you might say cultured individual so brothers and sisters with those 10 verses we really covered the experience

of the apostle paul on the island of melita and in two ways the reaction of the militians to the viper bite and the miraculous healing of many in the island of melita let's move on now to the next verses in the next verses i think it is very interesting a very important verses 11 to 15 there is a sailing now from melita to italy and the final arrival to the city of rome these verses we can just look at them in that way first of all you notice verse 11 after three months we departed in a ship of alexandria which had wintered in the island whose sign was castle and polux now notice that they

stayed in melitus for three months and now they're taking a third ship this is the third ship that they have now go into and sail towards the city of rome the first ship was in chapter 27 and verse 2 the second ship was in chapter 27 verse 6 that was the ship that experienced shipwreck and now it is the third ship that they are taking notice it's an alexandria that means it must have been an egyptian ship from alexandria that wintered there on this island and they had a sign on that ship and it's called castor and pulos and they are called the twin brothers those are the sons of zeus many looked at them

as gods and they worship them they're supposed to be the gods of the sea to help the sailors and so on and so those two signs there that the names were of castor and pollux that they have placed on the side of the ship and they took that ship that had this sign and they began to sail towards the city of Rome well there we find out in the next verse verse 12 the landing in Syracuse and then they tarried for three days in Syracuse verse 13 from there we fetched and compass and he came to Regium and after one day the south wind blew and we came the next day into Puteoli so they

had this three days journey they have gone from Miltus to Syracuse from Syracuse to Regium and from Regium to Puteoli and there in Puteoli they found believers the gospel was spreading many have heard the message of the gospel and local assemblies local churches local congregation have been established and we find out that in puteoli their brethren were there we read that we found brethren the hebrew word for brethren is achim and they found achim they found brethren these are believers in the lord jesus the messiah and they would desire that we will tarry with them for seven days and so they stayed in puteoli for seven days that remind me of what they have already

have experienced in Sidon, in Sidon earlier, where he met believers who refreshed the Apostle Paul.

Here in this place of Puteoli, they were brethren. And they went to the brethren. They spent seven days with them. They had good fellowship. They probably did what we are doing today. They gathered together. They had special meetings.

Maybe the Apostle Paul, Shaul, who was a rabbi jewish rabbi but he was also a believer in yeshua the messiah and to these brethren he shared of the beauty of the lord of the grace of god of the need to follow yeshua the messiah seven days i can assure you beloved brothers and sisters that he sat with them under the sound of the word and they had fellowship together in a local assembly there in puteoli in italy and they had a wonderful time around the word of God the brethren wanted that he was tarried there for seven days and then he said and so verse 14 we went toward Rome now from here on from

Puteoli all the way to Rome is about 125 miles which the apostle Paul did not do this journey with a ship he did this journey by land him of course as a prisoner bound in chain the centurion and the soldiers are taking him and the others paul is going to stand before caesars and he's supposed to be judged if he's guilty he will be condemned if he's not guilty he will be acquitted and so now it's a land journey from puteoli to rome 125 mile journey they call it the appian way 125 miles from puteoli to the city of rome and they did it by land whether they rode animals or chariots some of them

by foot they have done this journey of 125 miles from puteoli to the city of rome notice it said at the end of verse 14 so we went towards rome they haven't arrived yet but they were heading towards the city of rome now in verse 15 we find out the brethren from rome these are not only jewish but jews and gentle believers in yeshua the messiah when they heard that now paul is arrived to put her all in on the way to rome they send groups to meet with him on the way so notice it says apparently they sent two groups because it says in verse 15 and from thence when the brethren heard of

us this is the brethren of the city of rome when they heard of us they came to meet us as far as api foam and the first place is api foam or the market of apius and the second name is the three taverns there were two names that i mentioned here some i don't remember exactly how many miles but i think they took about 40 something miles the brethren came while paul and the rest of the people who were going towards Rome took the rest of the maybe 60 or 70 or 80 miles, and they met in those two places.

The first one was Api Forum, the second one, the three taverns. Those are the names that we have here in the English language. Whom, notice, when Paul saw, he thanked God and took courage.

It was an encouragement to Paul to meet some of the brethren in rome apparently these brethren these believers in the city of rome have already received the letter the epistle that he wrote to the romans and they have heard about this servant of the lord the apostle and i wanted to see him and finally he arriving towards the city of Rome you remember he always wanted to get to Rome he said in the book of Romans in chapter 1 I am ready to preach the gospel unto you which are at Rome also I'm ready to come but I've been hindered there were many hindrances that have happened to me and I couldn't arrive to Rome

but now he's heading there 125 miles from Puteoli he's already on the way to api form and the three taverns and they meet him there and he gets encouraged and he's getting closer and closer to the time that he will arrive in the city of rome where all the caesars all the great ones supposedly of the roman empire and there he wanted to share the message of the gospel the truth concerning the word of god in this place that the caesars were considered to be the gods and so on where everyone was looking into the city of rome you know this expression every road lead to rome rome is the central place of the roman

empire and it's rome actually the apostle will ultimately will lose his life in the city of rome and he will die in the city of rome but in verse 15 they met him those two groups of believers from assembly that rome have met him in places there and he was encouraged by the visit of the brethren on the way i can imagine and you can agree with me on that when you are in prison when you are held by chain and when you experience this awful experience on the sea for 500 miles to be tossed to and fro and to be shipwrecked and find himself in Malta and so on what a refreshment it was

for his own heart to meet the brethren the brothers and sisters who came to visit him from the city of Rome and finally look at that in verse 16 finally he have arrived to the city of Rome in verse 16 it says and when we came to Rome the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard but paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him see what happened with paul it must be an amazing thing how they have treated him this centurion and the soldiers they're traveling with him for many many days they spent three months with him in Miltus much time in Caesarea 13 14 15 days

on the way from Caesarea with a shipwreck and so on to Miltus they have spent a lot of time with him and apparently look at the centurion he delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard but with Paul he did something different with Paul it says here in verse 16 he suffered Paul to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.

Now, can you imagine, brothers and sisters, what have happened to this man by the name Julius, the centurion? Can you imagine when he spent so much time with Paul? Paul shared with him, I'm sure, the message of the gospel. He had talked with him about the need to be right with God. You need your sins forgiven. And then the Messiah came and he died for the sin of this world and the way that this centurion he saw the different in Paul in Shaul he saw that he was not a criminal he saw that he was not an evil man he saw the messiah in the life of the apostle Paul his behavior his conduct his faithfulness His preaching of the person that is able to give salvation to one and he must have been so influenced by the message of the Apostle Paul that he treated him all along so well.

and i personally believe that this centurion became a believer in yeshua the messiah through the preaching of the apostle paul and i believe many soldiers who have took in the journey and speaking with him and hearing him they must have heard the message of the gospel throughout the journey as they spend time on a ship on the island and all the way to the journey to the city of rome They have heard again and again the message of the love of God through Yeshua, the Messiah. And here, by taking Paul, kept him separate aside, not the same with the rest of the prisoners. By the way, these prisoners may have been gone to an arena, to a stadium, where they're going to put them to the lions.

We're going to experience all kind of things. Many of them maybe have been condemned and crucified in the city of Rome. you never know what they would be doing to them but he himself was kept alone with a soldier in a separate place by himself now i want to make a reference if you may please turn back to chapter 24 and verse 23 where paul defended himself before felix it says here in chapter 24 verse 22 when Felix heard of these things having a more perfect knowledge of that way he deferred them and he said when Lysias the chief captain shall come down I will know the uttermost of your matter and he commanded the centurion to keep Paul and to let him have liberty and that he should forbid none of his acquaintance to minister or come unto him.

See, we find out that already then Felix and this centurion have given to Paul liberty to have visitors already then when he was kept in the city of Caesarea.

One more verse in chapter 27 and verse 3, we find another time that he gave him liberty the same centurion chapter 27 and the next day we lunch at Sidon or Sidon and Julius this is the centurion courteously entreated Paul and gave him liberty to go and to his friends to refresh himself you see they knew that there was no fault with Paul they knew that he was innocent but he was there because of the testimony that he had to the messiahship of yeshua doesn't it remind you of yohanan john the one who was taken to the island of patmos he himself said about himself finding himself in the island of patmos that he was

in the island of padmos because of the testimony that he gave to the person and the work of yeshua that's the only reason beloved brothers and sisters that john yohanan paul shaul found themselves in chain or outcast is because they had given testimony to yeshua the messiah we have no idea of these kind of experiences in our life sometimes we feel so offended because somebody speak against us or somebody says something bad to us or treat us not so nice can you imagine how these brethren must have felt when they were rejected by their own brethren they despised by the men of this world the rulers and the leaders cast them away put them in

prison and so on and ended up suffering for the name of Yeshua the Messiah can you imagine what kind of experience these men have gone through we have no idea whatsoever the only thing we can thank God for his mercy towards us who gives us what he allow us to enjoy today and he challenges us that we will seek to follow him even when things are well and things are comfortable for us he still wants us to stay close to him to follow after him to seek to minister to others and share with others the message of the love of God that is found through our Lord Yeshua the Messiah