ACTS: Bitten, but not beaten || Acts 28:1-6, 23-31 || February 15, 2026

Paul’s final journey unfolds as a study in faithful endurance, divine preservation, and the strange ways God advances the gospel. Shipwreck, imprisonment, and a venomous viper become stages where sin, death, and suffering meet the living power of Christ. Scripture scenes recur: the serpent’s bite recalls Genesis and Numbers, then points forward to the cross where the serpent’s head is crushed. The Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead remains active in mortal bodies, enabling healing, witness, and stubborn hope even when earthly circumstances look like failure.

A promise anchors the narrative: Paul will testify in Rome. That promise carries through storms, beatings, and house arrest, and yields letters that reshape the church’s understanding of sin, grace, and resurrection. The clash between worldly power and the power of Christ becomes plain—Paul forfeits earthly leverage yet gains authority through the Spirit. Where the world counts success by visibility and control, the gospel advances through preservation, patient witness, and the written word handed into many hands across centuries.

Disappointment and unanswered prayer receive careful attention. Human longing for immediate solutions collides with God’s redemptive timeline. The honest laments of grief, the temptation to bargain with God, and the deafness that sorrow can create get named as real spiritual conditions. Yet the text insists that spiritual power does not function as human force; it arrives through submission, attentiveness to Jesus, sustained prayer, and committed fellowship. Time set aside for God, shared intercession, and life together open channels for the Spirit’s resurrection work in everyday life.

The book’s abrupt ending invites mission. The unresolved sense that the gospel continues to unfold presses communities to become the next chapter of Acts. History’s preservation of Scripture, the labors of confessors and translators, and modern testimonies all testify that God’s movement withstands persecution and human fragility. The central claim remains both simple and demanding: the serpent still bites, but the conqueror reigns—therefore live as those who have been given the Spirit, who press on toward the prize even amid suffering.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Bitten, but not ultimately defeated Suffering and surprise setbacks do not cancel the victory already accomplished on the cross. Pain exposes finitude, but the cross reframes loss as participation in a defeated enemy and a coming restoration. This truth turns immediate despair into patient witness, calling for endurance without illusion. [49:30]
• 2. Power received through humble submission Spiritual power arrives as a gift to those who bend the knee rather than as an outcome of human striving. Submission aligns desire with God’s authority and turns dependence into the conduit for Christ’s life. Obedience therefore becomes both posture and practice that invites resurrection power into weak places. [50:33]
• 3. Presence of the Spirit brings life The same Spirit who raised Christ animates vulnerable bodies, enabling healing, proclamation, and endurance in captivity. Resurrection power works quietly through prayer, words, and hospitality rather than through spectacle alone. Attentiveness to that presence reorients expectations from immediate triumph to patient transformation. [40:23]
• 4. Community sustains prayer and obedience Faith matures in shared practices: intercession, accountability, and small-group life form the soil for spiritual perseverance. Honest lament alongside others prevents solitary fury from drowning out God’s voice and turns private grief into communal prayer. Consistent fellowship becomes a means by which the Spirit ministers when individual strength fails. [56:26]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [06:54] - Danville zebra and greetings
• [07:22] - Community greeting and worship
• [08:53] - Call to worship and praise
• [27:32] - Unanswered prayers and grief
• [31:47] - The serpent’s bite and Genesis echoes
• [36:14] - Malta: shipwreck, promise, preservation
• [40:23] - The Spirit who gives life
• [44:59] - Acts ends and the mission forward
• [50:33] - Submission as the source of power
• [53:21] - Take time to pay attention to Jesus
• [56:26] - Prayer meetings and life groups
• [62:36] - Learn to listen, wait, and rest

Bible reading
Acts 28:1–10 (ESV)
*1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.*

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Observation questions

1. What happened to Paul after he was bitten by the viper, and how did the people of Malta respond when he didn’t die?
2. How did God use Paul’s suffering and preservation to open doors for ministry on the island? [36:48]
3. What Old Testament stories does this event in Acts 28 recall, and why are those connections significant? [37:13]
4. In what ways did Paul continue serving others even after being shipwrecked and bitten? [36:14]

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Interpretation questions

1. Why do you think God allowed Paul to experience a shipwreck and a snakebite on his way to Rome, even though he had a clear promise from God?
2. How does Paul’s response to suffering demonstrate the difference between worldly power and spiritual power? [35:25]
3. In what ways does the preservation of Paul point to a larger biblical theme of God’s faithfulness in the midst of apparent failure?
4. Why does Luke include this story at the end of Acts, and how does it prepare readers for the ongoing mission of the church? [44:59]

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Application questions

1. When have you felt “bitten” by disappointment or suffering, and how can the truth that “you are not beaten” change your perspective in those moments? [49:30]
2. Spiritual power often comes through submission rather than control. Where in your life are you trying to force outcomes instead of surrendering to God’s authority? [50:33]
3. How can you create intentional space this week to “pay attention to Jesus” and listen for His voice above the noise of daily life? [53:21]
4. Who are the people in your life that help you hear God’s voice when your own pain or grief is too loud? How can you lean into community this season? [56:26]
5. In what practical ways can you participate in God’s mission right where you are, even if your circumstances feel limiting or off-course? [46:08]
6. How does the promise that “the serpent still bites, but the conqueror reigns” shape the way you face fear, loss, or unanswered prayer? [33:38]
7. What’s one step you can take to join or deepen your involvement in a group where prayer, accountability, and shared life can strengthen your faith? [58:06]