148 Acts 28:10-15 THE LAST LEG OF PAULS JOURNEY TO ROME Introduction: In our text today the Apostle Paul, after a long and troublesome trip, finally makes the last leg of his journey to Rome. I. A brief look backward The Apostle Paul had been attacked by a mob of Jews at Jerusalem who tried to beat him to death. He was rescued by soldiers of the Roman army, who placed him under arrest partly for his own protection and partly on suspicion of committing some great crime. When the Roman captain learned that the Jews at Jerusalem intended to murder his prisoner he had Paul carried to Governor Festus at Caesarea. Governor Festus held a hearing on Paul’s case in which he concluded that Paul was not guilty of any crime and the Jews were angry at him because of religious differences. Yet Festus did not dismiss the case and release Paul from prison because he hoped Paul would try to buy his release with money. He wanted Paul to try to bribe him. He wanted bribe money. So he kept Paul in prison for two years hoping to get bribe money from Paul. When Festus was replaced as the Roman governor of Judea, Felix, the new governor, called for a new hearing of Paul’s case. Jews from Jerusalem hired an attorney to speak against Paul and to argue that he was not worthy to live --- that he ought to be put to death. Felix, the new governor, like Festus, the former governor, concluded that Paul was not guilty of any crime and that the Jews wanted him dead because of their religious differences. He should have released Paul, but in order to please the Jews, he agreed for Paul to be sent back to Jerusalem to stand trial before the Sanhedrin knowing that Paul could not get a fair trial there. Paul, refused to go. As a Roman citizen he had the right to appeal his case to the Roman Caesar and this is what Paul chose to do. It was only after Paul had officially appealed his case to Roman that Governor Felix brought Paul before King Agrippa for an unofficial hearing. Like Festus and Felix King Agrippa concluded that Paul was not guilty of any crime and that had he not already appealed his case to Caesar he should be released. However, since Paul had appealed his case to Caesar, then to Caesar he must go. This was right down Paul’s alley. For a long time Paul had longed to go to Rome to visit with the Christian church which he had heard about there. In fact he had already written the church a letter promising that he would come to visit with them. So when he was placed in charge of Julius, a Roman centurion with 100 soldiers, and placed on board a ship that would carry him part toward Rome, Paul was well pleased. However, the ship which they boarded was not going all the way to Italy. So at the city of Myra, on the southwest coast of what now is Turkey, they transferred to a ship that was headed to Italy. From there progress was slow because of unfavorable winds. They finally reached a place on the Island of Crete where Paul urged the centurion and the ship’s captain and the ship’s owner to spend the winter. Paul warned that there would be great danger if they should continue on. But the centurion, the captain and the owner would not heed his advice and determined to go on to the next harbor where they would have better accommodations for spending the winter. So they left the safe harbor where Paul wanted to stay and tried to make it on to the next port. The result was that they were caught in a severe storm and after battling for survival for fourteen days they were shipwrecked and cast on the Island of Melita which is just south of the larger Island of Sicily just south of Italy. Paul and all aboard the ship survived the wreck and were treated kindly by the natives of the island. Paul healed the father of the governor of the island and this resulted in the people of the island bring many sick people to him to be healed. In our text Luke tells us about the time when winter was over and it was time for the ships to start sailing again and it was time for the centurion to take Paul and his other prisoners on to Rome. II. The time of departure from Melita V. 10. “Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they laded [us] with such things as were necessary.” Paul and all of the those who had been shipwrecked had been well cared for during the winter months by the people of Melita. Now that winter was over and it was time for them to leave, the people of Melita again showed their special kindness. They very generously supplied all of the things which would be needed for the trip ahead. V. 11, “And after three months we departed in a ship of Alexandria , which had wintered in the isle...” They had arrived at Melita right at the onset of winter and after a stay of three months they left at the onset of spring when the ships of the Mediterranean Sea once again began to sail. Luke does not tell us whether or not the Apostle Paul organized a church while he was there, but it is reasonable to think that he did. He organized some churches in cities where he stayed less time than that. Also, he had the admiration and confidence of the people of the island, including the governor of the island. For the life of me, I cannot imagine Paul staying there that long and under such favorable conditions and not winning souls to Jesus and starting a church. Of course, he would have to leave, but he could either leave Aristarchus or some other Christian to care for this young church or arrange for some Christian leader to come there and teach and train those people. Even Paul, himself, could teach them a lot in three months time. There was a ship from Alexandria Egypt anchored within one of the harbors of the island which was making preparations to leave and go on to Italy. Julius, the Roman centurion, made arrangements for himself, his soldiers and his prisoners to leave on that ship. It is probable that a sizable number of the others who had been in the shipwreck also desired to go to Italy and also secured passage on that ship. Luke makes mention of the emblems which were on the bow of the ship. (V. 11), “...whose sign was Castor and Pollux.” One cannot help but wonder why Luke would mention the two emblems that were there. He said that one emblem was and image of Castor and the other was an image of Pollux. This was Luke’s way of calling to our attention that the worship of false gods was still common practice by most of the people of that day. Both Castor and Pollux were the names of two of the idol gods whom most of the people in that part of the world worshipped in that day. By placing those images on the bow of the ship they let it be known that they were depending on those two gods to protect this ship along with its crew, its passengers and its cargo. I cannot but help but wonder if Luke, Aristarcus and even the Roman centurion and soldiers must have thought within themselves, “They may trust in Castor and Pollux, but we will be trusting in the true God, the God of Paul. He has already demonstrated to us that He is able to protect us in the storm. We will trust the God whom we know is able to keep us safe.” III. The trip to Italy V. 12, “And landing at Syracuse, we tarried [there] three days.” Now that was not Syracuse, New York. It was Syracuse on the Island of Sicily just south of Italy. Luke says that they stayed in this port for three days. This would be sufficient time for the ship to unload cargo such as wheat from Alexandria and, perhaps, take on some new cargo which would be carried to other lands. Judging by what is shipped from the island of Sicily today they may have loaded cargo of wine, asphalt, sulfur or salt. There may have also been items that today’s market would not reveal. V. 13, “And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium...” Rhegium was a seaport city on the mainland of Italy. The expression, “...we fetched a compass...” is thought to mean that there was not a favorable wind and that the ship had to zigzag back and forth from Syracuse to reach the port of Rhegium. This would be much slower much more laborious for the sailors than sailing with a favorable wind. Never-the-less they reached Rhegium and in doing so they reached Italy. To sail into this port must have been a thrilling experience for Paul, Luke, Aristarchus and other Christian who might have been with them. They have not yet reached the place where they would depart from the ship. They still have one more port to go, but they were getting close. They were at least now on the mainland. Christians today can have a similar experience. Jesus has not yet returned, but we can see the signs happening and we can know that His return to earth is getting near. It can be a thrilling experience to watch the coming of our Lord and Savior approach. (V. 13), “...and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli.” They did not have a three day stay at Rhegium. They only one day. whatever business they had to attend to they got it over with rather quickly and as soon as they got a south wind they moved on. They were going in a northerly direction and a south wind was just what they needed. They Puteoli was about 180 miles north of Rhegium, but they reached it quickly with the south wind blowing. They left one day and arrived in Puteoli the very next day. This was making good time. Puteoli was their port of destination. Here they would leave the ship and make their way to Rome by land. However, Luke indicates that they did not leave immediately for Rome. He says that they found Christian brethren at Puteoli. V. 14, “Where we found brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days...” That is, they found out that there was a church there and somehow they made contact with the brethren of that church. Luke does not say how they found out. It is possible that there was someone working at the harbor who found out that some Christians were among the passengers on board the ship and that he informed them that Christians were there. It could have been that Julius, the centurion used his influence to inquire for Paul if there were Christians in Puteoli. It could be that they attended services at a Jewish synagogue and that they found out there. But we can be sure that it was the Lord who put Paul in touch with the Christians who lived there in that city. Luke does tell us that the brethren pled with Paul and the Christians with him to stay over there in the city of Puteoli for a period of a week. This, of course, would not be Paul’s decision to make. He was a prisoner of the Roman army. If the Roman centurion said, “Go” he would have to go. Only if the centurion permitted would he be able to stay. Luke does not say whether or not the centurion permitted Paul to stay the seven days, but he seems to imply that he did and he seems to take it for granted that we would know that Paul was permitted to stay. But whether or not Paul was permitted to stay, it must have been a grand experience for him to get to see these Christian brethren and to fellowship with them for a little while. (V. 14), “...and so we went toward Rome.” But whether or not Paul was permitted to stay the seven day which the brethren requested when they left Puteoli they traveled by land on toward Rome which lay in a northwesterly direction up the coast of Italy. IV. The overland trip on to Rome V. 15, “And from thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The three taverns...” Paul and all his group, including the Roman soldiers, their prisoners and Luke and other Christians who may have accompanied them at this point of time, started afoot toward Rome. In the meanwhile, one or more of the brethren of Puteoli must have rushed on to Rome to inform the brethren there that the Apostle Paul was being brought as a prisoner to Rome. Immediately a sizable number of the brethren from Rome set out to meet Paul. Luke says that some of them went as far as Appi Forum. Appi Forum was a small place about 56 miles south of Rome. It was located on the famous Appian Way or Appian Highway. This was a road constructed by orders of the Roman Caesar named Appius Claudius and was given the name Appian Way in his honor. The word, forum, means “market place” and the well describes the little town which was built to sell merchandise to the people who traveled the Appian Way. Luke also says that some of the brethren from Rome went only to The Three Taverns. This place was located about 8 or 10 miles closer to Rome. Its name was taken from three taverns which were built there. Their purpose was not to sell merchandise, as was the purpose of Appil Forum. Rather the purpose of The Three Taverns was to sell food, drink and to provide entertainment for travelers on the highway. It may not have provided a moral atmosphere for Paul and the other Christians who met there, but it did provide them with a place for rest and nourishment. Luke says that some of the Christians from Rome stopped here to meet with Paul. It would appear that it was the more aged and more frail who stopped here while the more able bodied and more stouthearted and, thus, more determined of the brethren from Rome traveled on the additional 8 or ten miles to Appi Forum to meet Paul. These brethren may not have ever met Paul personally, but they had all heard about him and about the work that he was doing preaching the gospel among the Gentiles and they had come to dearly love him for what he was doing in the Lord’s cause. They could have just stayed at Rome and waited and they would have soon seen Paul. But they were so anxious that they could not wait. They left whatever they were doing and walked all that distance to get to see Paul and talk with him as soon as possible and, no doubt, to accompany Paul as he traveled on to Rome. (V. 15), “...whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage.” The effort that they had made to see Paul as quickly as possible paid off. It was very uplifting and very encouraging to the Apostle Paul. I think that Luke could have added that it was likewise very encouraging to himself and to Aristarchus. Paul was a man who demonstrated great courage all through the 15 days of the storm and through the shipwreck which resulted. But it appears that the physical strain of the long walk and the mental and emotional strain that he had been under had begun to tell on Paul. The visit from these brethren was just what Paul needed to encourage him and fill his heart with joy and thanksgiving to God. I want us to read the next verse so that our reading will carry us all the way to Paul’s arrival at Rome. However, I want to reserve my comments about that verse until the last and closing message in this series of studies. Rather, I want to spend what time I have left in this message to point out some important lessons which we should take to heart. V. Important lessons I think that the most outstanding lesson in this text is that God can be depended on to keep His promises. God had promised the Apostle Paul that he would get to Rome. God had told Paul back when he was standing before the courts and his life seemed to be hanging in the balances that he should not be afraid. God promised that He would see to it that he would get to Rome. When Paul learned that the Jewish leaders had plotted to ambush the soldiers who would carry him to the next court hearing and to murder him even before he would get to the court hearing God gave him reassurance that he need not fear. God would keep him alive to get to Rome. When Governor Felix threatened to send Paul from Caesarea back to Jerusalem to stand trial before the Sanhedrin, God reassured him that he had no need to fear. When the storm beat down upon the ship that Paul was in for fourteen days and beat so fiercely upon them that even the most experienced sailors on that ship and lost all hope, yet Paul had the blessed promise from God that he would not lose his life in that storm. Even when the time came that the ship was stuck on the sandbar and was being beat apart by the winds and waves and it was time for him to leave the ship and go into the stormy sea, yet Paul had that blessed assurance that he would live to see Rome. When Paul gathered sticks and put them in the fire and a very poisonous viper bit him on the hand and all who looked on expected him to fall over dead, yet the Apostle Paul had that blessed assurance that all was well. He just shook the snake off in the fire. He knew that he would live to see Jerusalem. I cannot begin to imagine how his emotions must have swelled in him and cause his chest to pound with excitement as he finally takes those last few steps into the city of Rome. Brethren, Let me tell you that I believe our emotions will be running at a high pitch when we step out into eternity and we take those first few steps in heaven. May our hearts race even now with anticipation to that time when we step into glory and bow at the feet of our Lord. There are so many good lessons in this text that I won’t have time to mention them all. But let me just briefly mention two more great lessons. One is that the strongest of Christians sometimes need to be cheered up and to be encouraged in the work of the Lord. In our text we see that the Apostle Paul got that way. Even Paul needed to be encouraged. And when the saw his Christian brethren go to so much trouble as to walk nearly sixty miles to meet him as he journeyed toward Rome, Paul’s heart was encouraged. He was lifted up. He was strengthened. That brings me to the last lesson that I will mention. Our Christian brethren mean so very much to us here in this world. We live in a world that hates the cause of God. We live in a world that hates the word of God. We live in a world that despises the true churches of God. We live in world that dispises those who uphold the Biblical truths of God. It is so good to be with brethren who love God, who love the word of God, who love the churches of God, who love the truths of God and who love us.