Acts 28:1-10 - Homilies By W. Clarkson

A picture of the human.

In these few verses we have a graphic picture of some of the experiences of our life and of the instincts or intuitions of our nature.

I. A PICTURE OF THE HUMAN .

1. Human suffering.

2. Unspoiled human nature. Such is the dire effect of long-continued, sin upon the soul, that it often happens that nearly every vestige of the goodness with which our Creator first endowed us disappears. As God made us, it was natural that we should compassionate our fellows in misery, and that we should be grateful to them for their help. Only too often, however, man is found pitiless and thankless. The shipwrecked mariner is murdered as he strikes the shore; the benefactor reaps no blessing, no honor for his kindness. Not so, however, here. Here was

3. An ineradicable human conviction. Underlying the conclusion to which these natives of Malta came ( Acts 28:4 ), was the conviction, common to our kind, that sin merits punishment and will be overtaken by it. This is a fundamental and ultimate principle; we need not try to account for it or to "get behind it." It is sufficient in itself; it is a conviction that comes from the Author of our spiritual nature, which will not be dislodged, which itself accounts for much that we think, say, and do—that sin deserves penalty, and sooner or later must bear it.

4. A human error, common to the unenlightened. A narrow mind and one unillumined by the teaching of God makes a great mistake in applying the truth just stated; it infers that any particular misfortune is referable to some special sin ( Acts 28:4 ; see John 9:3 ; John 7:24 ). It also falls into error of a similar kind, though conducting to an opposite conclusion—it infers that a man who has an extraordinary escape is a special favorite of Heaven ( Acts 28:6 ). Taught of God, we know that, while sin brings penalty, inward and circumstantial, and while righteousness brings Divine regard and honor, God often permits or sends suffering and sorrow in fatherly love for the promotion of the highest well-being ( Hebrews 12:5-11 ). We have also here—

II. THE MANIFEST PRESENCE OF THE DIVINE . Christ was present:

1. In the person of his apostle. That teacher of truth who had been so influential a passenger on board ship ( Acts 27:1-44 .), and who makes himself so useful now ( Acts 28:3 , Acts 28:8 , Acts 28:9 ), is there in his Master's Name, and on his Master's work.

2. In the exercise of benignant power:

(a) That true dignity is never above usefulness, even of the humblest kind; a Paul may gather sticks in time of emergency without losing honor.

(b) That Christian generosity must not be behind native kindness.

(c) That bodily benefit is an admirable introduction to spiritual help. Who can doubt that Paul used the gratitude and honor which he reaped ( Acts 28:10 ) to find a way for the truth of Christ to the minds and hearts of the Maltese?—C.