The story started with Paul as a prisoner. It ended with Paul as a free man. It started with Paul seeking refuge. It ended with Paul as guest of the chief of the island. It started with Paul carrying the disreputable name of a murderer, although none of them had any proof. It ended with his being proclaimed a god. He got there to earn a terrible reputation. He left with a glorious name. It started with a shipwreck in which all was lost. It ended with a new ship “laded... with such things as were necessary” (v.10). (I guess this also answers another question: whether preachers should receive gifts from those to whom they minister.) Paul got there very dishonoured - prisoner, murderer, all. He left “honoured... with many honours” (v.10). Not only Paul, but also all who were in his company, shared in the blessings that came because of him. (In the same way shall you be a blessing to your family and friends. Amen.) He had been arrested for the gospel’s sake. Now he was being honoured for the same gospel’s sake, with the added liberty to preach that same gospel and take the whole island for God.
In this way, the Lord disappointed the enemy, and Himself wrote this last chapter which the enemy had sought to write and fill with episodes of shame.
Your destiny is in God’s hand. As you let Him, He, not the viper, shall decide what happens to you. May He write the last chapter of your life - gloriously.
24 Now unto him that is ABLE TO KEEP YOU FROM FALLING, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen (Jude 24-25).
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My Prayer
Now I commend you unto “him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began” (Romans 16: 25); who is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephesians 3: 20), that He might “present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight” (Colossians 1: 22), in Jesus name, Amen.
YOU ARE READING
THE LAST CHAPTER of Your Life
SpiritualA book is remembered more often for how it ends than for how it starts. We are a book that God is writing. Often, the tricky devil, when he can no more stand the zeal of our early days, takes a break from the middle chapters of our life, waiting t...
