Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP180039A
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00:30 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel today.
00:34 What a privilege it is to share this Sabbath with you, 00:37 and this study in the great Book of Acts. 00:40 Absolutely an incredible book, 00:42 one of my favorites in all the Bible. 00:44 But we have today some special, I'm gonna just call them 00:47 my brothers and sisters here with us today, 00:50 that we're going to be doing this study and we want you 00:52 to study with us at home. 00:53 Now, if you would like to get the study guides, 00:56 you can go to the internet: ABSG.Adventist.org 01:04 If you do that, you can get these study guides 01:06 absolutely free - we suggest that you go to your nearest 01:10 Seventh-day Adventist Church, they'll be happy to give you 01:13 the guides as well as study with you and you can meet 01:16 new brothers and sisters in the faith this way. 01:18 But today I would like to introduce our guest 01:21 starting with... our panel I should say, not guest, 01:24 but starting with Sister Mollie and Ms. Mollie, 01:26 you look really nice today. Oh thank you! 01:28 How am I doing so far? Very good. 01:30 Ms. Yvonne Shelton, you also are looking very 01:32 spiffy and pretty today. Thank you. 01:35 And Sister Shelley, I won't even say, 01:39 "We saved the best for last," so I'll just say, 01:40 "All you women look beautiful today." 01:43 How am I doing C.A.? You got it perfectly. Alright. 01:45 And Pastor C.A. Murray, he even looks pretty good today. 01:48 Yes he does! 01:49 We're here to have a good time in the Lord, 01:52 but we really are needing to ask God's blessings, 01:56 this study is an amazing study, the Book of Acts, 01:59 and so what I'd like to do is ask Yvonne, 02:01 would you pray for us? Surely. 02:03 Father God, We just thank You so very much 02:06 for the privilege of opening Your word 02:08 and studying and sharing. 02:09 It is such a great blessing to be able to do this, 02:12 and so we pray that Your Holy Spirit will just be 02:15 with us, guide us and direct us, and that every word 02:17 that's spoken, Lord, have Your approval. 02:20 We thank You and praise You. In Jesus name... Amen, Amen! 02:24 Well, we're going to start today, my part, of course, is 02:27 the "Journey to Rome," but we have a memory verse, 02:31 and if ya'll want to look at it. 02:32 The memory text today is in Acts 27:24. 02:36 It's Acts 27:24, it's a pretty short one, 02:40 so we can kinda read it here together... 02:42 "Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar." 02:47 Alright, "Do not be afraid, Paul, 02:49 you must stand before Caesar." 02:50 So somewhere, we're actually looking over 02:53 Acts 27 and 28. 02:55 We're gonna find out that this is very important 02:58 to Paul to find out he doesn't need to be afraid 03:01 because if anybody ever could have maybe intrepidation 03:05 and be a little afraid, it's Paul. 03:07 He's been in a lot of jams. Yes. Right! 03:09 When I look at his life compared to mine, 03:10 sometimes I think... Paul had went through 03:13 a whole lot more than I went through. 03:14 But, he also - you remember, was a great persecutor; 03:17 now, he's on the other end being persecuted, 03:20 but he's much happier being on this end, than on the other end, 03:24 and that's what happens when you accept the Lord Jesus 03:27 Christ and understand His will for fallen man. 03:30 Paul had long wished to go to Rome, 03:33 but I don't think he wished that he would go 03:36 as a prisoner aboard a ship and especially when we find 03:39 out all that we are going through. 03:41 So I'm going to kind of give you some history 03:43 unlike those of you who know me very well, 03:45 I just speak from the heart, I talk - today I have so much 03:49 information and I've made so many notes, I figured 03:52 if I had stayed up till 3:30 making notes this morning, 03:55 that I probably should read what I did to make sure I 03:58 get it all in because our time is short. 04:01 But I'm going to give you some facts and build up to this... 04:04 While being held in custody in Caesarea, Paul appealed 04:08 to the court to have his case heard as a Roman citizen 04:12 to Caesar, but what's interesting - if you go back to 04:15 chapter 26, King Agrippa listened to him, 04:18 remember he said, "Almost thou persuadest me," but then 04:22 he says when Paul leaves, "This man should have left 04:25 well enough alone, because actually he's done nothing 04:28 to be bound or for death, he actually could be set free," 04:33 but Paul, listening to others, said, "I'm going to go 04:36 to Caesar and plead my case." 04:39 So instead of being set free, Paul then ends up 04:43 as a prisoner and he is taken on a ship and in the hands of 04:48 Julius - this man is important. 04:50 He's a centurion of Augustus. 04:54 He actually took a liking to Paul and showed him 04:57 a number of favors such as visiting with Luke 04:59 and Aristarchus. 05:01 Now, some of these words I hope I'm pronouncing 05:03 them right, but if you don't know, that's okay, 05:06 you may not know how to pronounce them either. 05:09 So here's where we end up, on his way to Rome 05:12 when an angel said to Paul, which was our memory verse, 05:16 well this one is and it says, "Do not be afraid; 05:19 you must stand before Caesar and behold, God has 05:22 granted you all those who sail with you," 05:24 so during the trip, we're going to find out 05:26 when things are really happening, that Paul brings 05:30 some security, some peace to the group because 05:33 at first they don't listen to him, but I'm gonna let 05:35 you all describe that, so I want to get to the actual 05:39 trip and what happened. 05:41 It says here, "Later when writing to the Philippians, 05:46 from Rome, Paul wrote, "All saints greet you 05:48 especially those of Caesar's household." 05:50 So what happened, it was prophesied that he would be 05:54 before the Gentiles and before the kings and his appearance 05:58 before Caesar was a fulfillment of this prophecy. 06:01 So later, he wrote about it, "All saints greet you 06:03 especially those of Caesar's household," he says in 06:06 Philippians 4:22. 06:08 So it seems that he made friends with the household 06:10 of Caesar when he got there waiting for 06:13 his case to be tried - he was under what we would call 06:16 "house arrest." 06:17 So, now the emperor at the time was the tyrannical Nero, 06:22 although he was actually relatively sane at this 06:25 stage of his life, so I'm going to leave it to there 06:27 cause later we know what happened, but he was the 06:30 emperor then. 06:32 Now setting the stage again, Empress Pompeia may have 06:35 influenced him as according to Josephus, 06:37 she was a worshiper of the true God and probably 06:41 favorably disposed to Christians. 06:43 But, about 200 years later, Eusebias recorded that 06:48 after defending himself successfully, 06:50 it is currently reported that the apostle again went forth 06:53 to proclaim the gospel and afterwards came to Rome 06:56 a second time, but this time he was martyred, 06:59 I think, 67 A.D. or so under Nero. 07:03 Now, on the ship Paul was a prisoner - we talked about, 07:07 and it seems interesting to me, I started to say 07:10 "funny," but "interesting to me that he was accompanied 07:12 by Luke, he's a prisoner and another Christian Aristarchus. 07:17 Okay, now how does a guy that's a prisoner 07:20 take friends with him on a ship? 07:22 So I said, "I better look that up, there's gotta be 07:25 more to this than just - well, Julius liked him." 07:28 We know the centurion liked him, there has to be more to it. 07:31 But what I found out in my little study was that Paul's 07:33 ship was a public conveyance and that other passengers 07:37 were allowed on board. 07:38 So there was a total - you know how many - what 276 07:42 passengers on board. 07:44 So let's quickly go over this, we're going to put some 07:46 graphics up because I can't do like Jill and do a map 07:49 on my - she's always doing her maps on her hand... 07:51 so I actually have to have a graphic and we're going 07:54 to try to cover, quickly as I can, I may not 07:57 get through all of it, but will hand it 07:58 over to the rest of them. Okay. 08:00 The account in the "Acts of the Apostles" of Paul's voyage 08:03 to Rome and his shipwreck en route is supported by 08:06 a wealth of historical detail. 08:07 No other passage in the Testament has such a 08:10 striking evidential confirmation of historical accuracy. 08:15 Not only are the political, social and legal details 08:18 of the voyage and the shipwreck striking in their accuracy, 08:22 but also in their meteorological and nautical details. 08:26 Okay, leaving Caesarea, the ship arrives in Sidon... 08:29 is it Sidon? Alright Sidon... and it's 08:33 67 miles to land and to travel that distance in a single day, 08:38 requires a leading wind. 08:40 The prevailing wind at that time of the year in Acts 27:9 08:43 says - reveals that it was early fall, was from the west. 08:46 This would have allowed them to cover the distance 08:48 in the time stated. 08:50 Luke records that the prevailing wind forced the ship 08:53 to pass east and north of the islands of Cypress. 08:57 Now, landing at Myra, the centurion transfers 09:01 Paul and the other prisoners to an Alexandrian grain ship 09:05 bound for Rome, so Myra was a major port, 09:08 and what happened - it was a shipping port in the 09:11 eastern empire - it lay directly north of Alexandria; 09:14 Egypt on the far side of the Mediterranean. 09:16 An Egyptian ship sailing for Rome would have to sail 09:19 north to Myra at this time of year because it was 09:22 impossible to sail directly northwest to Rome. 09:26 The prevailing wind from the west forced ships 09:28 sailing from Egypt to Rome to follow this indirect route. 09:32 So Luke, in Acts 27:1, states that the ship they boarded 09:36 in Caesarea was sailing for ports along the coast 09:39 of the province of Asia. 09:40 In other words, the ship was not really bound for Rome, 09:43 but was making ports of call along the southern coast 09:47 of what today is Turkey, as you can see from the maps. 09:51 The harbor at Myra was one of the great transshipping 09:53 ports of the ancient Mediterranean; thus, it makes 09:57 sense that Paul and the others would leave the coastal 10:00 vessel there and board a larger grain ship 10:03 for the final leg of the trip. 10:04 Now, from Myra to Crete - the Egyptian grain ship leaves 10:09 Myra, then sails westward for several days; 10:11 finally they stand off the town of Cnidus 10:15 having reached that point only with the greatest 10:17 difficulty - Paul talks about that and some of you 10:20 will a little bit later on here. 10:21 Because the wind is against them, the ship's captain 10:24 decides to sail southwest in order to pass the 10:27 south island of Crete. 10:28 After passing Cape Salmone on the eastern end of the island, 10:33 they make their way along the southern coast. 10:37 It is with difficulty, again, that they reached a harbor 10:40 called "Fair Havens," we'll hear more about that today also. 10:44 The distance from Myra to Cnidus is only 130 land miles. 10:49 The ship could have covered that distance in a single day 10:51 with a favoring wind. 10:53 But Luke says it took several days which again confirms 10:56 that the prevailing wind was against them. 10:59 Okay, there's another interesting piece 11:01 of nautical evidence, had Paul's ship turned to the southwest 11:05 at any point, Myra and Cnidus, 11:07 they would have never reached Crete. 11:09 The islands in their path would have prevented them 11:12 from turning to get behind Crete until the angle 11:15 of descent such as that from the northwest wind 11:19 would have made the maneuver impossible. 11:21 Southern Crete could not be reached by ancient sailing 11:24 ship from any point along their route except by 11:27 turning southwest to Cnidus. 11:30 After Paul's ship reached Cape Salome on the eastern 11:34 edge of Crete, they ran along the southern coast 11:37 and used the island as a shelter from the wind. 11:40 Luke records that it was with difficulty several times 11:44 that they reached the harbor of 11:45 Fair Havens and then he states that they halted there 11:48 but he doesn't say why. 11:50 But meteorological and nautical evidence tells us why... 11:54 Looking at the map of southern Crete, you will see that 11:57 Cape Matala lies just 4 miles west of Fair Havens' harbor. 12:02 At Cape, the coast curves to the north. 12:05 Had their ship sailed past Cape Matala, 12:08 they would have been exposed to the northwest wind 12:11 and would have found it impossible to continue westward. 12:14 Now the reason for their halt at Fair Havens was to wait for 12:18 a change of wind. 12:19 So Luke's statement that they made the harbor at Fair Havens 12:23 only with difficulty also fits into this evidence. 12:27 A sailing ship working its way westward against a northwest 12:30 wind, even under the shelter of Crete, would have had 12:33 problems reaching Fair Havens. 12:35 Now to me - I hope it's not too boring to you, 12:38 but we're substantiating what Paul has said... 12:40 what Luke has said actually about this trip. 12:43 Now Luke 27:10... Paul warned them not to go 12:47 to Phoenix because he told them there would be much damage 12:49 to the ship and their lives and the centurion believed 12:52 the master of the ship, which you can understand that 12:55 since Paul wasn't a seaman. 12:57 But now, so we're going to talk about sailing in a minute here 13:01 to Phoenix - it was past the Jewish Day of Atonement 13:03 mid October when the wind finally changed. 13:06 A fair wind from the south began to blow and the captain 13:09 decided to make for a better harbor at Phoenix 13:12 on the western end of Crete. 13:14 Because of the lateness of the season, 13:17 his decision was somewhat controversial. 13:20 During the winter months, no ship sailed on the 13:22 Mediterranean - as Luke records they could either 13:25 winter at Fair Havens or use the temporary southern wind 13:29 to make for Phoenix, so what did they do? 13:31 Luke maintains that Fair Havens was not a good 13:33 winter harbor and that the captain and the sailors 13:36 wanted to try for Phoenix. 13:38 The argument against sailing for Phoenix was the 13:40 lateness of the season with the real possibility of 13:45 sudden and adverse wind that could 13:48 literally cause a shipwreck. 13:50 Now we're going to go quickly, 13:51 I've got just a few more minutes... 13:52 In verse 13 of Acts 27, Luke says that after 13:55 leaving Fair Havens, the ship sailed close to shore. 13:58 Cape Matala lies 4 miles south, get this - south by west 14:03 to Fair Havens with the wind now coming from the south 14:06 from Cape Matala - it was 34 miles to Phoenix 14:09 with the southern wind now favoring their course. 14:13 They should have reached the harbor in a few hours... 14:16 Instead, there was a violent change in the weather; 14:19 a gale suddenly roared down on them from Crete's 7,000 foot 14:23 tall mountains forcing them to turn and run before the wind. 14:28 Luke records that the sailors called this wind "Euraquilo," 14:31 it's says an unusual name, it has been found in one 14:34 ancient inscription and it's a slang compound 14:37 of Greek and Latin. 14:38 The Greek "euros" means east and Latin "aquilo" means north. 14:42 So it translates as a nor'easter or a strong winter wind. 14:47 Meteorological evidence reveals that a sudden change 14:51 from a mild southerly to a violent north easterly wind 14:55 often occurs late in the eastern Mediterranean. 15:00 So according to Luke, they ran before the wind 15:02 to avoid capsizing; they found temporary 15:04 shelter in the small island of Cauda - southwest of 15:08 Cape Matala. 15:09 Now, they drift for 14 days, Mollie is going to have 15:13 a different word for that, but they call it drifting 15:15 for 14 days and so then they end up in a shipwreck 15:19 and so what we're doing is just setting up the stage 15:23 and so, hopefully, on the map again as I mentioned, 15:26 I'm not like Jill, so I have to give you the map 15:29 and let you follow, but what we're finding out 15:31 historically that it's been proven that 15:34 Luke's account of this story, even though he's not a seaman, 15:39 is very accurate, according to the seamen of our days 15:42 because you know what... if they did what he said, 15:45 this is exactly what would have happened and they 15:48 probably would have ended up where Mollie 15:50 is going to take us to the shipwreck. 15:51 Okay, what a wonderful foundation you've laid here. 15:55 You know, Danny used the word "drift" and I take 15:57 objection to that word... I knew you would! 16:00 Because when you think of "drifting," you think of 16:03 drifting along... they weren't drifting along. 16:05 They were being driven by the wind. Okay 16:08 At one point it says, "They just left the ship 16:11 drive" because there was nothing they could do about it. 16:14 Well I want to look at this from maybe a little bit 16:17 different perspective. 16:18 I want to look at prophetic interventions that Paul 16:22 brought to bear and we're going to see some 16:25 were unheeded - the first one was unheeded, 16:28 but at some point, you know what they started 16:30 doing? They started listening to Paul. 16:32 So I want to lay this very quickly. 16:34 Let's look at Acts 27, we'll be in 27 now for this 16:40 portion for Monday - Monday we look at "The Shipwreck," 16:43 and we're going to start in verse 9 and go through 12. 16:46 "Now when much time had been spent and sailing was now 16:50 dangerous as Danny so firmly established, 16:53 because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them 16:58 saying, "Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with 17:01 disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, 17:05 but also our lives. 17:07 Nevertheless, the centurion was more persuaded by the 17:10 helmsman and the owner of the ship - than by the 17:13 things spoken by Paul and because the harbor was not 17:17 suitable to winter in... look at these next 3 words... 17:21 "The majority advised..." 17:23 Do you know what the King James says? 17:24 "The more part advised..." 17:27 Do you know what that means Danny? 17:28 They took a vote - that's what they did and the 17:31 majority said, "Let's go forward." 17:34 The more part advised, the majority advised 17:36 to set sail from there also. 17:39 If by any means they could reach Phoenix or 17:42 harbor of Crete upon opening toward the southwest 17:45 and northwest and winter there. 17:48 In the beginning of the journey, 17:50 the centurion, Julius, treated Paul well, but had no reason 17:56 to trust his nautical judgment. 17:59 After two weeks, things changed - because for 18:04 two weeks they were drifting, they were driving in the wind. 18:09 Now Paul had already gained the centurion's respect 18:13 with his prophetic intervention about the shipwreck. 18:17 What happened to that ship? 18:19 Was it exactly what Paul told them 18:21 that it was going to happen? 18:23 So Paul's first prophetic intervention - was it heeded? 18:27 No, it wasn't heeded - they rejected the word of the Lord. 18:31 They listened to a vote taken by the people. 18:36 Oh, that ought to tell us something, okay. 18:38 Now Paul has a second prophetic intervention and that's 18:42 Acts 27:21-26... "But after long abstinence 18:47 from food..." (now what's happening in the meantime? 18:50 ... and the word that I remember is "Euroclydon" 18:54 which is a huge storm - is that not the correct word? 18:57 A huge storm raging at sea. 19:02 Paul stood in the midst of them and said, "Men, you should 19:05 have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete." 19:09 (he said, "I told you so) and incurred this disaster 19:12 and loss and now I urge you to take heart for there will be 19:17 no loss of life among you, but only the ship." 19:20 Now what he's saying is, "None of you men are going 19:22 to die, but this ship is going to be lost." 19:25 Verse 23... "For there stood by me this 19:28 night an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 19:32 saying, "Do not be afraid Paul, you must be brought before 19:36 Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who 19:40 sail with you. Therefore take heart, men, 19:43 (Paul tells them) for I believe God that it 19:46 will be just as it was told me. 19:49 However, we must run aground on a certain island." 19:53 Now the first time Paul had a prophetic word for them, 19:57 he said, "Men I perceive," now that isn't nearly as strong, 20:04 in my thinking, as "An angel of the Lord stood by me 20:07 and told me." Right. That's right! 20:09 Although that perception was accurate perception, 20:12 this time he said, "An angel of the Lord stood by me." 20:17 And what we see here is, "The men heeded," 20:21 they listened to this one, didn't they? 20:23 Alright, Acts 27:27... 20:25 "Now when the 14th night had come, (how long had they 20:28 been drifting on the sea... being in this horrendous 20:32 storm at sea?) "Fourteen nights had come 20:36 as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, 20:40 about midnight, the sailors sensed that they 20:43 were drawing near to some land." 20:45 Now this is midnight, pitch black, on a sea 20:48 that's in total turmoil, but the sailors perceived 20:51 that they were drawing near land." 20:53 How could that be? They were probably hearing 20:55 the waves crashing against the rocks. 20:58 Now that would give you a good sense of security... 21:01 in a ship, and you're sensing... in a storm and you're getting... 21:07 They started taking soundings and knew that they were 21:10 nearing land; however, the storm was still raging. 21:14 Now verses 30-38... "And the sailors were seeking 21:18 to escape... (well yeah - they thought 21:20 the ship was going to drive into the rocks any minute) 21:22 ...from the ship, when they had let down the skiff 21:25 into the sea, under the pretense of putting out 21:28 anchors from the prow." 21:29 Now what were they doing? 21:31 They took the boat, like the lifeboat and they 21:36 were going to drop it down and they were going to 21:38 get in it and escape - while they were pretending to 21:43 be doing putting the anchor down. 21:44 Now Paul speaks up the third time... 21:47 And that's in verse 31... "Paul said to the centurion 21:51 and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, 21:54 they cannot be saved." 21:58 And you know what they did? 21:59 They let that lifeboat go. 22:02 Listen to this, verse 32... "Then the soldiers 22:05 cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off." 22:08 (They listened to Paul. 22:10 Paul said, "You get in that boat - you're not going to 22:12 make it - you stay with the ship and you're going to live.) 22:16 And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take 22:22 food saying, "Today is the fourteenth day you have 22:25 waited and continued without food and eaten nothing. 22:29 Therefore I urge you to take nourishment 22:32 for this is for your survival." 22:34 Paul knew what was ahead of them, he knew that the 22:38 ship was going to run aground and he knew 22:42 that these soldiers were going to have to swim to shore, 22:46 so they hadn't eaten in 14 days, so they had to have 22:49 nourishment to give them strength, 22:51 it was for their survival. 22:53 He goes on to say, "since not a hair will fall from the head 22:57 of any one of you." 22:58 And when he had said these things, he took bread 23:01 and gave thanks to God and in the presence of them all 23:03 and when he had broken bread, he began to eat. 23:06 Then they were all encouraged, 23:08 and also took food for themselves. 23:10 And in all we were (as we said earlier 276 people). 23:15 So when they had eaten enough, they lightened 23:18 the ship... (once again, they had already thrown off 23:20 all of the strappings of the ship - what they did this 23:24 time was they threw off the cargo. Remember this was 23:27 a grain ship) "It says they threw out 23:30 the wheat into the sea." 23:31 Now let's look at the shipwreck itself. Verse 39... 23:35 "When it was day, they did not recognize the land, 23:39 but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which 23:42 they planned to run the ship if possible. 23:44 And they let go of the anchors and left them in the sea, 23:47 meanwhile, losing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted 23:49 the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. 23:52 But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship 23:56 aground (just like Paul said they would) and the prow 23:59 stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern 24:04 was being broken up by the violence of the waves. 24:06 And the soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, 24:10 lest any of them should swim away and escape. 24:13 But the centurion (thank God for Julius) wanting Paul 24:20 to be saved, kept them from their purpose and commanded 24:23 that those who could swim (remember why Paul 24:25 had them eat - so they would have strength to swim to jump 24:29 overboard first and get to land) and the rest, 24:32 some on boards and some on parts of the ship. 24:35 And so it was that they all did what? 24:38 safely escaped to land. 24:40 Just like the word of the Lord came to Paul and Paul 24:44 spoke it to those on the ship. 24:46 Now just as Paul had told them the ship and all the cargo 24:51 were lost, but not a soul was lost - the ship went down 24:56 and I think of this... 24:59 We all go through raging storms, 25:02 any of you ever been through a raging storm? 25:04 We all go through raging storms in our life, 25:07 and just like Paul, as long as we have the Lord 25:11 with us, we will get to the other side. Amen! 25:14 The ship might go down, but God will be with us. 25:17 God doesn't always deliver us from the storm, 25:20 but we can rest in this assurance - He always 25:23 goes through those storms with us. Amen! Amen! 25:27 Thank you Mollie! 25:28 Well I have Tuesday's lesson, Paul's ministry on Malta, 25:35 and it's taken from Acts 28, and I'm going to start with 25:41 the first verse and kind of go through these 10 verses 25:45 and talk about what was going on with Paul. 25:48 So it says here in verse 1 of chapter 28... 25:53 "Now when they had escaped, they then found out 25:56 that the island was called "Malta." 25:58 Prior to their escape, they didn't know where they were 26:02 because they watched the sky, they watched the stars, 26:07 and they got a lot of their nautical information 26:12 basically from the sky. 26:13 Well the sky was all dark, 26:15 so they didn't know where they were. 26:17 They found out once they landed on Malta... 26:20 And it's interesting to me that Paul had said that they were 26:24 going to be on a certain island, 26:26 so if you go back to chapter 27, and verse 26, he said, 26:31 "However, we must run aground on a certain island." 26:35 This is part of that prophetic movement that Paul 26:39 has his impetus here from God saying that they were going 26:45 to be on a certain island. 26:48 And so, in verse 2 it says... "And the natives showed 26:53 us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made 26:57 us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling 27:01 and because of the cold." 27:03 Now the New King James Version says - uses the word "natives," 27:08 but the original Greek says, "barbaros" from which 27:11 we get "barbarians," but these people weren't 27:14 barbarians, they were foreigners - they were people 27:16 with whom communication was not that easy because 27:21 they spoke another language. 27:24 So it's interesting that Paul 27:26 and Luke were able to communicate with them. 27:28 We don't know whether that was because of God's gift 27:32 to them that they could communicate or if somebody 27:35 was there interpreting, but we know that they were 27:39 able to communicate with them. 27:41 So these people showed kindness, some of these were prisoners 27:48 that had landed on their shores and yet the natives 27:52 there showed them kindness and kindled the fire for them. 27:56 So that was really an amazing thing because some of these 28:02 folks were prisoners, they didn't know how 28:03 dangerous they were going to be or whatever. 28:05 But they kindled a fire for them and these people 28:11 they had been threatened with drowning; 28:13 they had swam from the ship to the shore, 28:18 so they were all bedraggled and just weak probably 28:24 and tired, overwhelmed from the 14 days of being on the ship. 28:29 So Paul in verse 3, it says... "But when Paul had 28:34 gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, 28:37 (now notice the natives kindled the fire, 28:41 but Paul wasn't just letting them do everything, 28:45 Paul was a servant - Paul had a servant's heart, 28:48 so he was taking sticks as well to the fire) 28:52 And he had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the 28:55 fire and when he did that, a viper came out 28:58 because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 29:02 A viper is like a rattlesnake or a copperhead. 29:06 It fastened on his hand, so when the natives 29:09 saw (verse 4) the creature hanging from his hand, 29:13 they said to one another, "No doubt, this man is a 29:15 murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, 29:19 yet justice does not allow to live." 29:21 In other words, "This guy did something really bad, 29:24 because he didn't drown, but justice is making 29:27 sure that something happens to him." 29:29 Well justice actually was the personification of one of 29:35 their gods - the Maltese people worshiped goddesses. 29:39 They were into goddess worship, and the justice 29:43 that they're saying was not allowing him to live, 29:46 they might have been referring to "Dike," 29:48 who, in their mythology, was the daughter of Jupiter, 29:54 and she was the goddess of justice. 29:56 So here, they are applying their own mythology 29:59 to what Paul did. 30:01 "But Paul shook off the creature into the fire 30:05 and suffered no harm." 30:07 And then this kind of goes along with Mark 16:17-18 30:13 where Jesus said, "And these signs will follow those 30:16 who believe; in My name they will cast out demons; 30:19 they will speak with new tongues; 30:21 they will take up serpents and if they drink anything 30:24 deadly, it will by no means hurt them; 30:27 they will lay hands on the sick and they will recover." 30:30 And this is what happened to Paul - this snake jumped 30:34 on him and there were no symptoms. 30:39 What could some of the symptoms be if you get 30:42 bitten by a viper? 30:44 #1... Bruising of skin. 30:46 #2... Severe immediate pain and swelling. 30:50 #3... Changes in heart rhythm. 30:52 #4... Signs of shock and even death. 30:55 So nothing happened to Paul. 30:59 When he got bitten by that snake, I guess it hurt, 31:03 but he shook it off and there were no symptoms. 31:07 Verse 6... "However they were expecting 31:10 that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. 31:13 But after they had looked for a long time and saw no 31:16 harm come to him, they changed their minds 31:19 and said that he was a god." 31:21 Now this must have been like dejà vu for Paul 31:24 because in Lystra, the people there also 31:29 kind of thought that he and Barnabas were gods, 31:32 and so he had to let them know there that he wasn't. 31:37 In verse 7 it says... "In that region, there was 31:40 an estate of the leading citizen of the island 31:43 whose name was Publius who received us and 31:47 entertained us courteously for three days." 31:50 Now, we know that there were 276 people who were on that 31:55 ship - we don't know whether the "us" that Luke is 31:58 referring to would be all the people on the ship 32:02 or just Luke and Aristarchus and Paul. 32:05 We do know that Publius whose name means 32:08 "popular," he was a very kind man, he was hospitable 32:14 and he hosted them for three days. 32:17 So they stayed with them for three days and while 32:19 they were there, Publius' dad was very sick. 32:22 He had dysentery and fever. 32:25 And so Paul prayed for him, he laid hands on him. 32:31 Verse 8 says... "Paul went in to him and prayed, 32:34 and he laid his hands on him and healed him." 32:37 And in James 5:14-15, we see that that is what we should do. 32:44 In James 5:14-15, it says... "If anyone among you 32:48 is sick, let him call for the elders of the church 32:51 and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil 32:54 in the name of the Lord. 32:55 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, 32:57 and the Lord will raise him up. 32:59 And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven." 33:03 So, Paul laid hands on Publius' father and he was healed. 33:08 Now this is a small island and so word gets around fast. 33:12 So once they found out that Publius' father was healed, 33:17 then all these people came with their sick, 33:21 and it says in verse 9... "The rest of those on the 33:24 island who had diseases, also came and were healed." 33:29 Now, Luke was a physician, but he doesn't say 33:32 that he was involved in this necessarily. 33:34 But Paul who was the prophet of God - Luke was too, 33:40 but Paul was, I think, doing the primary one 33:43 involved in this healing and it says here in verse 10... 33:47 "They also honored us in many ways and when we departed, 33:51 they provided such things as were necessary." 33:54 And Malta, it seems, is one of the oldest Christian 33:59 communities in Europe. 34:02 After Paul left, the people obviously had received 34:07 the Lord Jesus Christ and so that was a place 34:13 of ministry for Paul. 34:16 There are a few take-aways that I have from this... 34:19 First of all, sometimes our plans 34:23 and God's plans don't match up. 34:25 So God knows what's going to happen - we don't, 34:29 and we all, as my Sister Mollie said, we all have 34:33 shipwrecks in our lives. 34:35 We all have a "Malta" experience where something unexpected 34:40 happens and we have to know that God is in control 34:44 that God will bring us through. 34:45 And then, we need to stay centered in God. 34:49 People are fickle; on one hand, you know the people 34:52 were saying... "Oh he has to be a murderer," 34:55 and then the other... they made Paul a hero. 34:58 So we have to... don't worry about what other people 35:00 are saying - you stay centered and focused on God. Amen! 35:05 And then God can use YOUR shipwreck to bless others. 35:10 So no matter what you're going through, 35:12 you can build a testimony and share how God 35:17 has brought you through your own personal Malta experience. 35:22 AMEN! Very good and I'm so glad you had that lesson 35:25 and not me - talking about the snake being 35:28 fastened on to him, it was... oh. 35:30 Oh I'm sorry Shelley, I forgot one! 35:33 If you have a bad experience, shake it off! 35:39 My lesson is Wednesday's and it's called, 35:43 "Paul in Rome Finally" 35:45 So after three months on Malta, 35:47 they spent a full three months there, 35:48 Paul and his companions finally continued their journey, 35:53 they arrived at Puteoli and this is where they would 35:57 travel to Rome by road. 35:59 So Paul had visited with those brothers in Puteoli 36:04 for a full week, so no doubt, I believe they are the ones 36:09 who sent ahead a little note ahead to Rome saying, 36:13 "He's here," you know, so Acts 28:15, it says... 36:18 "And from there (from Puteoli) when the brethren 36:21 heard about us, they came (these are the brethren 36:24 in Rome), they came to meet us as far as 36:28 Appii Forum and Three Inns and when Paul saw them, 36:32 he thanked God and took courage." 36:36 Now first of all, these were probably people 36:39 of the home churches, I would imagine. 36:41 Paul had lots of friends though, in Rome, 36:44 even though he had never been there, 36:45 but the Three Inns was 33 miles from Rome and then 36:51 the Market of Appii was 43 miles, so it could have been 36:55 two different groups that came out. 36:57 But the interesting thing is that all of these people 37:02 were excited... Paul had written to them several years 37:06 earlier saying of his intentions to come to Rome. 37:09 Nobody expected him to show up in the manner 37:13 in which he did - in chains, chained to a soldier. 37:17 But Paul probably was feeling a little apprehensive 37:22 ... "Are the brethren going to be ashamed of me because 37:25 here I am showing up in chains," and they walked all these 37:29 distances to meet him and it says that as these 37:35 faithful brethren came on to cheer him on and welcome him, 37:39 he thanked God and took courage. 37:42 So verse 16... "Now when we came to Rome, 37:45 the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain 37:48 of the guard, but Paul was permitted to 37:51 dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him." 37:59 Obviously since he did not have to go into a prison, 38:04 he got to have his own private dwelling. 38:07 When Festus wrote his official report to Caesar, 38:12 he probably said, "according to Roman law, this guy 38:15 has not done anything, he's not guilty of any 38:18 significant crime, this is just some religious matter," 38:23 so instead of being sent to the regular prison, 38:27 he's allowed to have his own house and this is 38:32 really cool... BUT, it wasn't as much freedom 38:35 as you and I might think. 38:37 According to Roman custom, he would be chained 38:39 to a soldier 24/7... unless they gave him a little 38:44 break in the evening, we don't know, 38:46 I mean, to sleep. 38:47 But, now let me tell you, that was such a bad... 38:51 as they chained him, the soldiers were changed out 38:55 every 3 hours, but Paul would have been in those chains 38:59 constantly. 39:01 So it says in Acts 28:17... "And it came to pass, 39:06 after three days (so he's got to his new little place, 39:10 he's getting settled in, maybe he got to see some of 39:13 his friends and everything) Paul called the leaders 39:16 of the Jews together. 39:18 You know, as his practice was, he always ministered to the 39:24 Jews first and the thought that occurred to me is - he couldn't 39:27 go to the synagogue, but the synagogue could come to him. 39:31 So he says, "Men and brethren, though I've done 39:34 nothing against our people or the customs of our fathers, 39:38 yet I was delivered as a prisoner to Jerusalem 39:42 into the hands of the Romans, who, when they had examined 39:46 me, wanted to let me go because there was no cause 39:49 for putting me to death. 39:50 But when the Jews spoke against it, I was compelled 39:55 to appeal to Caesar, not that I had done anything 39:59 of which to accuse my nation. (and I think what he's saying 40:02 there is, you know, by appealing to Caesar, they could have 40:05 thought that - you know, those Jews maybe thought that 40:09 he was appealing against the Jews when it was just 40:15 in the opposite, he was appealing against the 40:18 Roman courts to which the Jews had delivered him, 40:21 but because of their protest, he hadn't been acquitted, right? 40:27 Because we know that both Felix and Festus would have 40:30 released him if it hadn't been for them) Right. 40:32 But he says, "For this reason therefore I have called for you 40:36 to see you and speak with you because (watch these words) 40:42 for the hope of Israel, I am bound." (and we'll come 40:48 back to that in a minute) 40:49 So here, he gets settled in, he brings the local Jewish 40:54 leaders before him to explain his innocence and what he's 40:58 doing is - he's trying to create an atmosphere of trust 41:02 because Paul wants to make sure that these people know 41:07 he is a trustworthy person because 41:10 he wants to preach the gospel and the hope of Israel, 41:14 the coming of the Messiah and 41:22 how Jesus' resurrection was the fulfillment 41:25 of Israel's ancestral hope. 41:27 So now verse 21... "Then they said to him, 41:31 "We neither received letters from Judea concerning you, 41:35 nor have any of the brethren who came reported 41:40 or spoken anything evil of you." (they're surprised, 41:43 and he was surprised) 41:46 You know, he'd been in Malta for three months - shipwrecked. 41:51 There was plenty of time for Jerusalem to send a report 41:55 down for the church leaders, the synagogue leaders 41:58 to get that report to Rome. 42:00 They could have crawled there in three months, you know. 42:02 But the thing is, is that what I believe is that since 42:06 the Jewish leaders had him, he was outside of their 42:10 jurisdiction now. 42:11 They were beginning to lose interest in his case 42:14 because they weren't worried about him causing 42:16 them anymore trouble and it was kind of out of sight, 42:19 out of mind. 42:21 So but then they say, "But we desire to hear from 42:27 you - what you think for concerning this sect, 42:32 (speaking of The Way that followed Jesus) 42:35 we know that it is spoken against everywhere." 42:40 Now I want to back up and say one thing... 42:42 The Jews had been expelled when Claudius had made 42:46 decree 10 years earlier. 42:48 Obviously, it was temporary because 42:52 they began returning around AD 64. 42:56 But they felt insecure in Rome still and that may have 43:03 explained their lack of communication. 43:06 They weren't reaching out to Jerusalem 43:08 to find anything out. 43:11 Now, with the Romans, they looked at Christians 43:15 as just another Jewish sect, but they began to feel 43:21 that Christianity was against the Roman establishment 43:29 because Christians believed in one God; 43:31 the Romans believed in many gods including Caesar, 43:35 but the Christians were committed to a 43:37 higher authority, Caesar. 43:39 So they are surprised they had not received any information 43:43 from Jerusalem about Paul, but they decided to hear him, 43:46 and Paul's long-term desire to finally get to share 43:52 the gospel of God's grace and the truth about the 43:55 resurrection of our risen Savior. 43:59 He finally gets to do this, he came through shipwreck, 44:04 many trials, chains, but God worked all things together 44:10 for his good - did he not? 44:12 I mean, that's what I love about how God works this, 44:15 and He's going to allow him his heart's desire 44:20 to preach in Rome, not only to the Jews but to the Gentiles. 44:24 So we know he had many, many converts there. 44:27 And this actually, Acts 28:21... we don't see anymore 44:33 persecution of Paul while he was in Rome. 44:37 This led inevitably to his release from his first 44:42 imprisonment, but then I believe Danny, it was you 44:44 that mentioned in the open, that Paul would later 44:48 be again imprisoned in Rome 44:51 which would end in his martyrdom, 44:53 but God works in all things to go for good 44:58 for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. 45:01 For those He foreknew, He predestined to be conformed 45:05 to the image of His Son Jesus Christ. Amen! Amen. 45:08 He certainly did that for Paul. 45:09 So very well said. 45:11 So much here, I want to go immediately to Acts 28, 45:15 and I'll begin reading at verse 23... 45:17 The Bible says... "So when they had appointed 45:20 him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he 45:27 explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, 45:30 persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses 45:35 and the Prophets, from morning until evening. 45:39 A full day of preaching, what preacher 45:42 would not love that? All day preaching! 45:47 Ellen White says this... "Like the stars in the vast 45:52 circuit of their appointed path, God's purpose knows no 45:58 haste and no delay." 46:01 Paul, after the trauma and drama of his voyage - which also 46:07 allowed him to witness, by the way - to the power and might 46:08 of the Lord, now gets to fulfill lifelong dream. 46:14 He gets to preach in Rome, and as you well said, Shelley, 46:19 his practice was - when he went to a town, was to go to 46:22 the synagogue - he could not do that in Rome, 46:25 but he had the privilege of the synagogue coming to him. 46:30 It does not surprise me that he arrives in chains, 46:34 and I don't know if the brethren were upset 46:36 because at this time Christianity was still 46:39 religio-illicitate... it was an illegal religion. 46:41 It was still a house religion underground 46:44 which is why the Book of Hebrew was written 46:47 because so many of the Jews were thinking about 46:48 going back to Judaism since it was a legal religion. 46:52 And, of course, the book was written to get them to 46:54 understand that Jesus is - can I say - the real deal, 46:58 don't go back, keep going forward. 47:01 So now he is placed in the most heaven blessed of situations. 47:05 He is in his own condo for two years, you know, 47:09 he gets to stay in his own home for two years. 47:12 He is chained, but it's not like a little short chain. 47:14 This is a fairly lengthy chain. 47:15 He is not bound, like he's got to move like Siamese twins. 47:20 He's got some space. 47:22 It's not the best of situations, 47:24 but it is a situation that allows him to minister 47:27 to his guards - even to those in the home of the emperor, 47:32 and to really let his light shine in this 47:37 dark and foreboding situation. 47:40 You will recall that 13 weeks ago, we went to a text 47:45 Acts 1:8, do you remember that text? Yes! 47:49 And in that text - well let me just read it... 47:53 I've got it right here, I will just read it. 48:06 Jesus speaking... yes Acts 1:8... 48:11 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit 48:16 has come upon you and you shall be witnesses 48:19 to Me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria 48:24 and to the ends of the earth." 48:26 Everything that we have dealt with for the past 13 weeks 48:32 has been an outgrowth of that bequest of power. 48:37 We saw Stephen under the power of the Lord. 48:40 We saw Peter under the power of the Lord. 48:42 And then in chapters 14 and 15, we pivoted to Paul 48:46 under the power of the Lord. 48:47 Each of these recipients of this bequest of 48:51 dunamis power which is miracle working power, 48:54 but more than that, it's power that is sufficient 48:58 to get the job done. Amen! 49:00 This is physical power! Danny if you have a stump 49:04 in your yard, you can say to that stump "move," 49:07 because it's your yard, but that's not enough. 49:11 you gotta get the Kubota out. That's right. 49:14 So this is the Kubota - this is the physical ability 49:17 to get the job done and so now, we see in Paul's life 49:20 also - the reception of that power and how that power 49:23 works in the lives of those who yield themselves to the Lord. 49:28 So Paul's ministry is heightened, 49:32 Agrippa said to Festus "You know that of this guy 49:37 hadn't appealed to Rome, he'd be free by now." Right 49:40 But the truth is that if he hadn't appealed to Rome, 49:43 he'd be dead by now because there was a plot to kill him 49:47 on the way, so the truth is, God takes care of His own. 49:52 Amen! You know, God will protect you. 49:54 God will take care of you, God will guide you. 49:58 The sad thing is one chapter or two earlier, 50:02 we see Felix turn his back on the call of God; 50:05 we see Festus turn his back on the call of God; 50:08 we see Agrippa turn his back on the call of God. 50:11 All of these had a personal audience with Paul, 50:15 and decided - not now, not now, that's not what I 50:20 want in my life. 50:21 So Paul did not have universal success, 50:24 but he had great success and the Lord blessed his work 50:30 and he became a shining light 50:33 and a light to the people. 50:36 I got two things to read before my time slips away... 50:39 This is in the Friday's lesson that we don't often get to see, 50:44 and then I've got one more text in the Bible. 50:46 "Christ has given to the church a sacred charge. 50:50 Every member should be a channel through which God 50:53 can communicate to the world, the treasures of His grace, 50:57 (we all ought to be Pauls) 50:58 the unsearchable riches of Christ. There is nothing 51:03 that the Savior desires so much as agents who 51:07 represent to the world His Spirit and His character. 51:11 There is nothing that the world needs so much as 51:14 a manifestation through humanity of the Savior's love. 51:19 All heaven is waiting for men and women through whom 51:25 God can reveal the power of His Christianity." 51:31 "Long has God waited for the Spirit of service to 51:34 take possession of the whole church so that everyone 51:38 shall be working for Him according to his ability." 51:42 And that's what we see in the life of Paul and that's what 51:45 Christ wants to see in the life of each and every servant 51:50 of the Most High God. 51:53 Acts is Luke's recitation of Paul's life, 51:58 but I want to read something that Paul wrote 52:01 himself in 2 Corinthians 2:14, and I will close with this... 52:07 Paul says, "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in 52:16 triumph in Christ." 52:18 I see this in the life that Paul had and the 52:21 things that we were saying, just was it last week... 52:23 we don't have fingers enough to count the times that 52:26 people were plotting to kill Paul. Right. 52:28 There were many, many, dozens of plots to kill him. 52:32 And, of course, they all failed, he did finally die in 52:36 Rome several years later, but he didn't die 52:40 one second before God had something for him to do. 52:43 He didn't cheat death, God gave him a long and successful life. 52:47 So I read again... "Now thanks be to God 52:49 who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through 52:54 us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge 53:01 in every place for we are to God the fragrance of Christ 53:05 among those who are being saved and among those 53:09 who are perishing." 53:10 So what do we smell like? Smell like Jesus. 53:14 We smell like Jesus. We are the fragrance of Jesus. 53:16 And triumph is guaranteed because God ALWAYS, 53:20 ALWAYS, leads His people to triumph. AMEN! Amen! 53:25 I love it, thank you so much. 53:27 Paul also says in Philippians 4:11... 53:29 That we should - that he, and of course we should too, 53:33 be content in all state, whatever state we're in. 53:37 Now if anybody could say that from experience - was Paul. 53:40 So Mollie told us that in the time of trouble, 53:44 "Don't jump ship." 53:46 She says, "Stay in the ship to be saved," right? 53:48 So I'm going to encourage you - there are many of you, 53:52 you get discouraged; sometimes you go to church 53:54 and you say, "Well that person didn't treat me right, 53:56 or this one didn't treat me right..." 53:57 Finally, "You know what, I think I'll just stay home, 54:00 I might even start my own church." 54:01 You know, we get discouraged, God has called us as a 54:05 movement together to take the Three Angels Messages 54:08 to a lost and dying world. 54:09 So even if somebody disappoints you, 54:12 even if it looks like things aren't going your way, 54:15 don't leave the ship, stay in the ship 54:17 if you want to be saved. 54:19 And that means stay in close to those who love Jesus, 54:22 and keep the commandments of God and be prepared 54:26 and awaiting the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. 54:29 You know Yvonne says that even in the worst of times 54:33 and when trouble really, really bites you just "shake it off." 54:38 Right? Gives us encouragement. 54:40 We were talking about Paul on the island. 54:42 So it's amazing that he went from - "Oh this man is a 54:45 murderer, he's getting what he deserves," 54:48 to "He must be a god." 54:50 Well what that did and God uses - see, He can use anything. 54:54 So if He can use a poisonous snake, I know he used 54:56 a donkey but now a poisonous snake in order to 54:59 show Himself, believe it or not, through - hey, Paul 55:03 has My blessings on him, so now these people 55:06 were willing to listen and look how many 55:08 were saved on this island. 55:10 So wherever Paul went, he was content. 55:12 I'm amazed that he was content and he continued to 55:16 witness no matter what. 55:18 Shelley says, "If you can't go to the synagogue, 55:20 bring it to you." Right? 55:22 So Paul finally got to share the gospel in Rome. 55:26 You said that was his dream, what he had to do. 55:28 Yes, he may have been bound to someone, but he got 55:31 to have an impact on Caesar's household, actually the guards, 55:35 everyone around him and we know the story of the jailer 55:38 earlier and so, no telling, they probably changed 55:41 guards every three hours because too many were 55:44 getting converted and they wanted to put in another 55:46 one who didn't believe. That's right! 55:48 Paul was busy... I'd be like, aww, this is terrible, 55:52 Paul was saying, "Man, this is great! I got another guy 55:55 I can witness to right here, they call this prison, 55:57 they call this house arrest, that's alright by me." 56:00 That's the way Paul does. 56:02 So C.A. says, "Even when you're bound - to his guard, 56:08 it says, you can witness to everyone and you said that 56:11 "God takes care of us no matter what." 56:14 And you also said that Paul and all of us 56:17 ... none of us will ever die prematurely to God's will. 56:21 Now, the Bible says, "Blessed in the sight of the Lord 56:24 are the death of His saints," so people say, 56:26 "Well, Paul still died," well yeah, that's been how many 56:30 years ago - you know, nearly 2,000 years ago. 56:32 Of course he died, but he died the physical death, 56:36 but he's going to raise, at the last trumpet he will be raised, 56:38 he will look up and say, "Lo, this is my God 56:42 whom I've waited for, He has come to save me." 56:45 And so today, that's our prayer for each and every one 56:48 of you that as we look at our own life, and we study 56:52 the life of all these great apostles, but we also 56:55 see their humanness, we also see where they made 56:58 a lot of mistakes... but God can take those 57:01 mistakes and turn them into triumph and to victory. 57:05 And I'm so thankful that we serve a God of love... 57:07 He cared enough to die on the cross of Calvary - to make 57:10 a plan of salvation for each and every one of us. 57:13 Today, if you're not a Christian, or even if you've 57:16 been and you feel like you're not as close to the Lord... 57:18 Say, "Lord, please come into my heart and my life. 57:21 I submit and commit my life to You, 57:23 God will bless you abundantly. 57:25 Our time is all gone for today, so we'll see you next week. 57:28 Join us for Sabbath School. |
Revised 2024-08-11