Open your Bibles this morning to Acts chapter 27. We are told in scripture to love the Lord with all our hearts, our souls, with our minds. And so when we come to the word of God to study it together, we're loving God with our minds. God wants us to think his thoughts after him and to process the word of God in our minds and in our hearts. And so we come today in our Bible study on excellence in New Testament missions to a fourth journey. We've looked at Paul's first missionary journey, his second missionary journey, his third missionary journey, but there's actually one more recorded in scripture. There may have been even more after Acts 28, but this we have recorded in scripture and this was his journey to Rome. The Book of Acts is an inspired historical account. It records accurately with detail the cities, provinces, countries where the Apostle Paul traveled and the gospel expanded into the world of that time. And here we come to this fourth journey. It's his voyage to Rome, but there's something different about this journey. And this is what is different. Paul is traveling as a prisoner. He is in chains, he's in bonds. He's a prisoner, and often he would say he was a prisoner of the Lord Jesus Christ. But here, he has been imprisoned, arrested, at a Jewish mob by the Romans, kept under guard. He appealed to Caesar. He exercised his governmental right as a Roman citizen, and he appealed his case to Caesar, and so he is traveling to Rome, but God is going to use him even here on this journey. According to the Moody Bible Atlas, this journey was 2,250 miles. It is absolutely amazing in the ancient world how the Apostle Paul traveled. And this was 20-some years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. The fast that's mentioned in Acts 27 is dated at A.D. 59. If Jesus died A.D. 33, here we have 26 years later, Paul is on this journey to Rome. we're going to see his passion his desire to be in Rome but let's pray father thank you for the privilege to study your word and lord we thank you that your word does more than entertain us it nourishes us and it convicts us and it points us to the savior And Lord, we pray for grace to love you with our minds and with all our hearts. And if there's anyone who doesn't know you, Lord, show them their need of the Savior this day. We pray in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Go back with me a few chapters to Acts 19. And I want you to notice something that was in the heart of the Apostle Paul. Acts chapter 19, on his third missionary journey, look at verse 21. When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, after I have been there, I must also see Rome. His purpose, his desire in his heart was prophetic. I don't know that he knew at this point that the way he would see Rome would be as a prisoner. But this was his heart passion to go to Rome for the sake of the gospel. Now notice the book of Romans chapter 1. Here he's writing a letter to the church at Rome having never been there. It is understood that on that third missionary journey from the city of Corinth he wrote the epistle to the Romans. And so he's writing this letter to the Christians in Rome and notice what he shows to us here Romans chapter 1 verse 10. He's saying about them, making request, if by some means, now at last, I may find a way in the will of God, by the will of God, to come to you. Paul's prayer request was, Lord, open up a way that I could go to Rome. That was his passion, his desire. A powerful city. and there the Caesars were in Rome so notice also Romans chapter 1 verse 11 he says of the believers for I long to see you that I may impart to you some spiritual gift so that you may be established That is, that I may be encouraged together with you by the mutual faith, both of you and me. He says, folks, we have something in common. It's our mutual faith in Jesus Christ. Here is this Jewish man writing to the church at Rome and saying, we have something in common. It's our faith in Christ. This is a bind, we've just been singing about it, that's much greater than anything else. Our faith in Christ being redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Notice here in verse 13, Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you, but was hindered until now, that I might have some fruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. So as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also. I'm a debtor I'm ready and in verse 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So here is the passion of the apostle Paul I want to come to you Romans we share faith in Christ together I'm a debtor to preach the gospel to the Gentiles I want the nations the ethnic groups to come to know Christ. What a driving passion. Now go to Romans chapter 15. We're coming back to Acts but look at Romans chapter 15 and verse 20. This is just amazing here. You see how Paul's pulse just throbbed with getting the gospel to the nations to Jew and Gentile alike. Romans chapter 15 and verse 20 and he says here and so I have made it my aim to preach the gospel not where Christ was named lest I should build on another man's foundation. Paul said, I have a passion to preach where no one else has preached. Verse 22, for this reason I also have been much hindered from coming to you, but now no longer having a place in these parts and having a great desire these many years to come to you whenever I journey to Spain. I shall come to you for I hope to see you on my journey and to be helped on my way there by you. He said my passion I want to go even past Rome all the way to Spain but en route I'm going to stop with you and you can help me on the rest of my journey. You can help supply my needs. verse 25 but now I am going to Jerusalem to minister to saints and down to verse 28 therefore when I have performed this and have sealed to them this fruit I shall go by way of you to Spain let me draw a map here in the air okay can you look up here here's a little sliver of land here is Israel and on the coast here we find Caesarea This is the Mediterranean Sea. Up here is Turkey. Next is Greece. Next is Italy. And over here is Spain. So the passion of the Apostle Paul was to go from Israel here and to travel all the way west to Spain. But in between he was in What is modern-day Turkey or ancient Asia Minor? Between Turkey and Greece, there was the Aegean Sea. The Macedonian vision was, come over and help us. After Turkey, then Greece, and then we have the Adriatic Sea, and we have Italy. And if you've seen a map of Italy, it's like a big boot. It looks like a boot. And then there's a football at the bottom of the boot, which is the island of Sicily. And out in the Mediterranean Sea here, we have Crete and we have Cyprus, two islands out in the sea. All of these details are mentioned in Paul's travelogue, an amazing travelogue. Now I want you to think about something with me. We go to Acts chapter 1, just think in your mind. Jesus said, you will be witnesses unto me when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You'll be my witnesses, where? In Jerusalem. Look up here at the map, Judea, the state, the next state, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth. And by the end of Acts, Paul was headed to the uttermost parts of the earth. Absolutely amazing, the expanse of the gospel in the first century world. All right, now, Acts chapter 27, and let's see this travel log of Paul the apostle, and here, Paul the prisoner of Jesus Christ. When you go to chapter 27, verse 1, I want you to back up three verses to chapter 26, verse 30, because we need to see what happened at the end of the third missionary journey. Paul was in Jerusalem testifying there. That's in chapter 21. But something happened after that. Paul was arrested. There was a mob, took him into the fortress. and there he was sent to Caesarea. He testified before Felix, he testified before Festus, he testified before King Agrippa. So from chapter 21 verse 19, when he had greeted them, that is the church in Jerusalem, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. That's Acts chapter 21 verse 19. There, the third missionary journey, we could say, ends. But in a way, that was the beginning of the journey to Rome. He's not yet arrested, but in the chapters that follow, Paul is going to be arrested. He's going to be transported to Caesarea from Jerusalem. So we have chapter 21 verse 17 to chapter 23 verse 30. Paul in Jerusalem, and then they take him as a prisoner very carefully and transport him. Look at chapter 23, for example, verse 23, And he called for two centurions, saying, prepare 200 soldiers, 70 horsemen, and 200 spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night. They wanted to protect this prisoner. Can you imagine that? Look at all the horsemen and the soldiers. They wanted this prisoner to be delivered safely from Jerusalem to Caesarea. And so a letter was written here. Notice verse 29. I found that he was accused concerning questions of the law, but had nothing charged against him worthy of death or chains." Keep that in mind. Paul was innocent. Nothing worthy of death or chains. Verse 31, the soldiers, they did as they were commanded. They took Paul by night to Antipatris, a city along the way. The next day, they left the horsemen to go on with him and return to the barracks when they came to Caesarea. So Paul is now delivered to Caesarea. And the governor read this letter that was given here. And then Paul went through trials, giving his testimony. But in the midst of all this, he got to testify before Felix. He got to testify before Jewish leaders. He got to testify before Festus, the governor. and then King Agrippa and his wife slash sister or sister slash wife he was accused of an incestuous relationship with Bernice he got to testify to them as well so here Paul is under custody he remains in Caesarea but he has an amazing opportunity for the gospel look at chapter 25 in verses 10 through 12. Then Paul said, For if I am an offender or have committed anything worthy of death, I do not object to dying. But if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. I appeal to Caesar, and Paul used his full rights as a Roman citizen. Let me just insert this. I believe Christians in the United States of America should use their rights to vote. It's a privilege that we have in a democratic republic to exercise godly influence and not just say, well, this is evil. I'm not going to be participating in it. Paul exercises governmental rights and duties, and I think we should do the same. That's another subject, but it fits in here, so here it is. All right, look at what he says here. So I appeal to Caesar, verse 12, then Festus when he had conferred with a council, answered, You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go." So this is the Roman journey, because Caesar is in Rome, and Paul appealed there, and God was going to use all of this for his honor and glory. Well, then in chapter 27, After making his testimony before Agrippa and Bernice, in chapter 27, notice verse 1, and when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan regiment. We didn't notice another testimony about Paul, Acts 26 verse 30, when he had said these things, the king, that's King Agrippa, stood up as well as the governor, and Bernice and those who sat with them. And when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, This man is doing nothing worthy of death or chains. Then Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar, but it had already been set. It was in the will and plan of God, and this is how God was going to get Paul to Rome. So he is given over to the care of a centurion, named Julius, and God gave special favor to Paul from Julius. It's amazing the providence of God to work this all out. This man gave aid to Paul. So they begin to travel. Acts 27 3. The next day we landed at Sidon. So they're just going up the coast here from Caesarea going up to Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. So they go to Sidon, and Paul finds friends there, probably believers, and they helped him on his journey. They helped care for him. Now, remember, the ancient imprisonment system was not like ours in America. Three meals a day, exercise, and all kinds of benefits. One time with the Air National Guard, we had a deployment to an old base in Weatherford, Texas. And it had been a helicopter training base back in the Vietnam era, and it went all the way back to, I think, World War II. And we were staying in these old Vietnam era barracks, and they were fine. They were better than being in a tent. But they had taken a part of this old base and made a prison. And the prison was across from these barracks, and there was a fence and barbed wire and all of that. And we look out there, and the prisoners are playing basketball. And we find out where they stay is air conditioned. And we're in these old barracks with a big fan. This is Texas. I'm thinking, something's wrong with this picture. The prisoners are in air conditioning, and the Air Force guys just have a fan. Now, it wasn't that bad, actually. Ancient prison system wasn't like that. It was rugged, and people depended on friends and others to help take care of their needs. So here, Paul was ministered to on his journey. Luke, the historian, is so careful here with his details. Look next. verse 4 when we had put to sea from there we sailed under the shelter of cypress so here's one of those islands here is cypress we sailed under the shelter of cypress because the winds were contrary And when we had sailed over the sea, which is off Cilicia, so they're just hugging the coast here. They're going along what is today modern-day Turkey, Cilicia, above Cyprus. They're going along. Cyprus is one of those islands I mentioned. And they were going along there near Cyprus, near Cilicia and Pamphylia. And it says, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. and the centurion found another ship. So Paul changes ships here at Myra of Lycia, a place in modern-day Turkey. And so he found a ship from Egypt, Alexandria. A ship was headed to Italy, to the land that looks like a boot. And so he put Paul on board. Notice it says he put us on board. Who's the us? Luke is a travel companion of Paul in the book of Acts and sections that are known as the we passages, W-E, we passages. Luke is the travelogue writer. And so he's accompanying Paul here. was on board. It said, We sailed many days with difficulty off Snydus. There was a little island there in the Aegean Sea and the wind was not permitting us to proceed. We sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmoni. There's another island. And we passed it with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens. So they came to Fair Havens on the island of Crete. Interesting. Paul advised him to stay here. He was an experienced traveler. And the weather was difficult. Notice it says in verse nine, now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the fast was already over, this fast is the day of atonement, so it was the fall time, the weather was changing, and it was not good sailing weather. And so verse 10, Paul said, men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster." It was prophetic. These are some very dramatic two chapters in Scripture. I just love it. He said, we're going to have a loss here, not only in the cargo, but the potential of even losing lives. But notice verse 11. The centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by what Paul said. So he felt obligated to listen to the ship owner and to the pilot, so he listened to him. There's a problem with Fair Havens, it's this, it wasn't so fair. Verse 12, the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete. So the majority said let's put the sails up and the majority was wrong. One of the places here where the majority was wrong but it was in the will and plan of God even here. So they prevailed And they begin to sail, and look what happened, verse 13. When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, oh, it's a great breeze today, perfect sailing weather. Okay, let's go. They put out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. So they're going out into the Mediterranean Sea, but verse 14, something happened. But not long after a tempestuous headwind arose called Eurocliden, a nor'easter came in. There was going to be a big storm. And so they faced this storm, and look at verse 16, running under the shelter of an island called Clauda. We secured the skiff with difficulty, one of the little boats that was with the ship. And they were afraid in verse 17 that they were gonna run aground in the Sirtus sands. They struck sail, the last part of verse 17, and so were driven. Now they're at the mercy of the wind. Question, who controls the winds? Absolutely. And because, verse 18, they were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship, they threw the tackle overboard. And notice the depressing situation here, as they are in the sea, Driven by wind, verse 20, now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days. Think about that. You're in a boat in the sea and you don't see anything for many days. No sun, no stars. And notice what he says, no small tempest beat on us. You know what that means? It was a huge tempest. No small tempest. It was huge. You know the storm we had Wednesday night? Sunday school party compared to this, nothing. And look at how desperate they were. Last part of verse 20, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up, hopeless. We're at the mercy of the wind, but who controls the wind? God does. Paul knew that. So they were fasting. They weren't eating food. And then Paul says in verse 21, I love this, men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete. But he said in verse 22, I urge you to take heart. There will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. And look at this. in the midst of this storm verse 23 there stood by me this night an angel of the god to whom i belong and whom i serve isn't that great man i want you to be encouraged because god appeared to me in this storm his angel appeared to me in what did he say verse 24 don't be afraid you must be brought before Caesar it was God's plan that Paul would reach Rome and be before Caesar and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you now verse 25 has one of the best definitions of faith in the Bible Hebrews 11 has another one but look at this therefore take heart men for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. What is faith? Taking God at His word. Believe what God has said. That's faith. It's not a feeling, it's believing objective truth. What God has said, what God has revealed. Biblical saving faith is taking God as at word. The Bible says that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. It says believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. That's what you must do to be saved. Come to Jesus, believe in him, trust in him, accept him as savior, the one who can forgive your sins, plant your feet on the promises of God's word. And through the Christian life, what do we need? The same thing, the promises of God's word and faith is believing that God will do what he has promised. So look what Paul says to them though in verse 26, however, we must run aground on a certain island. We're gonna run aground, but we're all going to be saved. Verse 27, 14 knights had come and we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea. This is off the coast of Italy, up and down, driven. Have any of you ever been seasick? Have you ever been on a boat and your stomach starts to turn upside down and you go up and down, up and down with the waves and pretty soon other things go up and down and it's not very pleasant at all. Well imagine this situation, just unbelievable. 14 days Well then something happened. Verse 29, then fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, back of the boat, and prayed for the day to come. They just hoped for sunlight. And look what happened here, verse 30, the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship. So they let down this little skiff boat, and Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, these men have to stay on board, we gotta all stay together. And so the soldiers did this, they cut the ropes, the little boat went away, and no hope for the sailors to escape. Verse 33, it was about dawn, Paul said, folks, you need to eat. it's the fourteenth day you fasted you need to eat so verse 34 I urge you to take nourishment for this is for your survival since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you and don't you just love this in verse 35 when he had said these things he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all I want to say that it is a testimony when Christians are not ashamed to pray before their food in public places. If Paul can pray on a boat in the middle of a storm among all of these people, many, maybe most, lost, pagan, without Christ, and he can give thanks, we need to be able to give thanks. and to be able to pray and thank God for his goodness so Paul did that and then they begin to eat and notice what happened verse 36 they were encouraged and they took food verse 37 276 people on this ship Luke careful historian he knew about the roster the ship's log 276 people well What happens on this ship? Verse 39 gives a glimmer of hope. Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they observed a bay with a beach. I love that. A bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship, if possible. Let's just run the ship ashore, and maybe we can be saved that way. So they cut the anchors, and loosed the rudder ropes, hoisted the sail and headed there. But verse 41 said they struck a place where two seas came together so the ship is being destroyed by the violence of the waves. and so the soldiers are thinking we have a responsibility we got prisoners on here we got other people that are supposed to be delivered to Rome if they escape it's going to be our next so we're just going to kill them all because of the storm came up the ship was wrecked so let's just kill them all Wait a minute. The Apostle Paul was one of those. And God had said, Paul, you're gonna go stand before Caesar. Where is Caesar? Caesar over here. He's in Rome. Caesar's in Rome. Well, then Paul can't be killed. So God moves on the centurion's heart. Look at this verse 43. But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose. Isn't that great? God can work through people to accomplish his will and his purpose. So they commanded that if you can swim, jump and head for land. If you can't swim, grab a piece of the ship, a board, and try to get there. And the last part of verse 44 says, and so it was that they all escaped to land. A bay with a beach. It worked out. They're all on land. Where are they? Where are they? They're headed to Rome. Remember, Italy is a boot. And by that boot, there's a ball. That's Sicily. But then there's another little place called Malta. Chapter 28 now, verse 1. And when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. When we lived in a suburb just outside Detroit, Melvindale, Michigan, some years ago, there was a brother at Detroit Seminary who was Maltese. His ancestors go back to this island and there seemed to be a Maltese population there in the Detroit area. And there are Christians from the island of Malta and it surely goes back to this time when Paul was there. So I was in school with a brother trained to be a pastor whose ancestors were from Malta and his brother at that time was a pastor I think in Connecticut. So Paul is now on the island of Malta by shipwreck. But wait a minute, who controls the winds and the waves? Who can even guide them to get people where he wants them to be? Paul is on the island of Malta, the bay with the beach, and I love this. It says here in verse 2, the natives showed us unusual kindness. You know what the word translated native here is? It's the Greek word where we get the word barbarian. uncivilized but God moved upon them they were uncivilized as far as the Greek culture would go and they were moved upon and showed kindness to them and look at this verse two they kindled a fire by the way the word for unusual kindness is where we get the word philanthropy a love of man a love of mankind they showed philanthropic deeds to us They kindled a fire and made us all welcome because of the rain that was falling. I was privileged to be as a young boy in Christian Service Brigade. It was like a Christian version of Boy Scouts. And I remember, I think it was our first camping trip. We didn't have a tent. And this is in Florida, and we're camping, but we rigged up a tarp, you know. So we were inside this thing, but the problem was it rained that night. And our plastic or whatever we had gave way to puddles of rain. And we got soaked. And the whole camp out was wet and soggy. Another way to spell misery. But what I remember is when we got home, and we had our little camping food things that we would eat there. And we got home, my mom had fresh homemade bread. And oh, was that delicious, that hot bread out of the oven. And as I recall, there was a big pot of beans. That was what she would do on Saturdays. She would often prepare that. Absolutely delicious. There's ham and beans and there's homemade bread, butter on it. Delicious. I think this fire here made Paul feel welcomed the way we felt welcomed when we got back from that soggy camp. They'd come out of the rain and these people made this fire and welcomed them. An army guy told me once that in survival training they were taught if you get totally disoriented in the woods or somewhere and you begin to panic, one thing that can help is to build a little fire. and it helps give composure. I think that's very interesting. One time I was with my son and another father and his son and we were backpacking on the Appalachian Trail and in the night this brother got panicked. He heard noise and movement in the mountain here and he was afraid. And so I thought of that and we made a little fire and made some hot chocolate and everything gets better, you know, with the fire and hot chocolate. So here there was a fire to welcome Paul on the island of Malta, and something happened though that was very dramatic. Paul is adding sticks to the fire, and then there was this snake. A viper came out and fastened onto his hand. Imagine that. The snake takes hold. and so the natives then saw it and they thought well he escaped the shipwreck but he must be a bad dude because the snake got him and so he must be a murderer and now justice is coming to him justice does not allow him to live but Paul did this shook it off in the fire a snake was in the fire He doesn't swell up. He doesn't puff up. He doesn't fall over dead. So then, they change their minds. You're a god! from being a murderer, you're a god. What's with this guy? Well, look at verse 7. Now in that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously. So the head of the island of Malta, or at least a leader there, welcomed them and entertained them, but his father was sick. Publius' father, it says in verse 8, he lay sick of a fever and dysentery. So Paul went in, he prayed, he healed him. probably his father was healed there was ministry to people here so when this was done verse nine the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed they also honored us in many ways and when we departed they provided such things as were necessary did Paul have a mission from God on the island of Malta? Did God want Paul to do something on the island of Malta to share a foundational ministry for the truth of the gospel? Absolutely. He showed his power, that he was more powerful than the snake, healed Publius' father, and then they helped Paul on his journey, Paul and company. So what a dramatic trip that was to the island of Malta. Well then notice verse 11. After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship. This is ship number three on this journey. One ship, two ship, three ship. And it had a figurehead on it, Castor and Pollux in Greek mythology, sons of Zeus. And it says this ship had wintered at the island. So it had wintered there, and now it was ready to move during the springtime. So they landed at Syracuse. Now they're on the mainland of Italy. And from there, verse 13, we circle around, reach Regium. And after one day, the south wind blew. The next day we came to Puteoli. These are Italian cities. And I love verse 14. where we found brethren. Here there were saints, there were believers here in the city Puteoli, and they invited us to stay with him seven days, and so we went toward Rome. Rome was the goal, but God used the saints in Puteoli to encourage Paul along the way. And when they're heading on the journey toward Rome on one of the Roman roadways, verse 15, from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us. So Roman Christians came and advanced to meet Paul in these two towns, Api Forum and Three Taverns or Three Inns. These were two towns in Italy. And when Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage. Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard. No one had died. All survived the storm and the shipwreck, but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him. Paul is now in Rome. God saw him there. And what does he do? Well, look at verse 17. And it came to pass after three days that Paul called the leaders of the Jews together. And look at verse 23. So when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus. What was Paul doing? Preaching the Word of God. Notice, from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, the Old Testament Scriptures. How long? Morning till evening. Paul is now way over here in Rome. The Gospel has gone to the uttermost parts of the earth. He is there preaching the Gospel even though he's there as a prisoner. Notice verse 28. Therefore, let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles." And there he is in the capital, we might say, of the Gentile world, the city of Rome. Verse 30, Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God, teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. And look at this last line in the book of Acts. No one forbidding him. The sovereign hand of God saw Paul all the way to Rome. He started out here in Jerusalem. He was in prison. Went to Caesarea. Made this journey. Went into a terrible shipwreck. stranded on Malta, then found a ship, and the people there helped him get to Rome, and there believers came by foot and met him, and there he is in Rome with the gospel. Lord willing, in the afternoon we'll look at the personalities of this journey to Rome. But let me close with these applications of this dramatic and wonderful trip of Paul to Rome, though you look at it and much of it seems miserable. Being on a ship for days, being in a storm for days, how uncomfortable would that be? How miserable would that be? 276 people crowded on this ship, but notice this. Paul took the gospel to cities, to areas of strategic population, strategic cultural centers. He went first to the Jews, but when they rejected, he turned and went to the Gentiles. Romans 1 16 says, I am not ashamed of the gospel. That was the heartbeat of the Apostle Paul. He was not ashamed for one minute. Now think about this, my friends. God uses even the winds and the waves. to accomplish His will and to direct His servants to His, God's, desired destinations. We can get so frustrated at the storms of life, at the winds and waves of life. We need to look behind them and to see the hand of God and what it is that God has in mind. Maybe we should view it as a gospel opportunity. that God has an evangelistic purpose for that storm. And isn't this great? God can and does give favor with people in authority positions to protect his servants. I love this. They want to kill everybody. Centurion said, no, let's not kill everybody. You want to protect Paul. God's sovereign hand in providential care takes us to out of the way, uncomfortable places for the gospel. The next time your train is delayed, your bus is canceled, you have a layoff at work, look for the gospel opportunities. Look for God's purposes in and through that trial because God uses trials and sufferings to further the gospel of Jesus Christ and to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. And here Paul is in Rome by the hand of God, by the will of God. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you so much for your truth. We thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, for the storms and trials of life that come our way. And Lord, forgive us for the times that we have an initial reaction of frustration, even sometimes we get angry, we get upset, we want to blame you, we want to ask you why. Lord, help us instead to have gospel eyes, to be able to see the storm, the trial, the situation through gospel eyes, to see that there are people in need like people on the island of Malta. There are people who need Jesus and need what the Word of God can do in their lives. And Lord, I pray that we will continually have the vision, the burden of the New Testament missions. And Lord, give us some of that portion that was on the Apostle Paul. having a passion to reach the ethnic groups with the gospel. Lord, we need your power as a church. We need your help. We cannot do it in ourselves. Fill our hearts with Jesus' love. And Lord, if there's anyone here that's not yet believed the good news of the gospel, show them their need of Christ. Show them that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. And I pray they'll run to the cross and be saved today. In Jesus' wonderful name we pray. Amen.