Sunday Morning Service

Acts 27:21-44 (No Audio Available)

"Time To Talk"  •  2.12.12  •  Sunday Morning Service, Calvary Christian Fellowship

Intro.

- We have been looking at the story of Paul's fourth missionary journey, unique in the fact that he was a prisoner of Rome, traveling the Mediteranean Sea at an ill-advised season.

- The grand story is God's power and ability to bring His man or woman to whatever destination that He desires, in spite of or by the means of any circumstance.

- From an earthly standpoint, we recognized last week that there are principles that speak to us about lives headed for shipwreck.

- Men and women who make decisions ignoring the clear counsel of God, impatient and impetuous, consulting worldly experts and the majority, are asking for trouble.

- But what about the godly that are affected by the poor decisions of others? You're in their boat as well, forced to face the consequences of their bad decisions! How are the godly to respond?

- From this narrative, I believe that we find three enduring principles to a godly response.

I.  Realize God's Sovereign Hand (v.21-26)

II.  Remain Where God Has Called You (v.27-32)

III.  Recognize The Needs Of Others (v.33-44)

Text

I.  Realize God's Sovereign Hand (v.21-26)

•  Acts 27:21,22  :  "But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, 'Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship."  : These men on the ship had lost hope and their appetites! These men were at their lowest ebb.

- To this point, Paul has been observing the crew while he has been lending a hand in the operation of this vessel. In the time of their greatest distress, Paul stood to encourage them.

- Paul had been waiting for the right opportunity. He had spoken before and been rebuffed by the Centurion's choice to listen to the Helmsman and the owner's opinions.

- Paul chooses to speak now because in their state, they are more apt to listen to him and to heed his words.

- Having the right information is great when we combine it with a sensitivity to the right time! Paul had waited for the perfect time and here it was.

- He stands there and says, "Men, you should have listened to me!"

- Paul pulls an "I told you so!" Imagine the scene. It's dark and gloomy. The waves are crashing against the boat. There is terror in every heart. Now Paul kicks them when their down!

- This isn't a snide remark on Paul's part. This is a moment of credibility.

- Paul had been right to warn the captain and centurion and the current conditions proved his wisdom. Now, he is about to speak into their lives and he wants them to know he is credible.

- These are his words: "I urge you to take heart." Take courage. Be of good cheer. All the cargo is lost, they haven't seen the sky for days and Paul says to take courage!?

- I have found that a spirit filled man can say this exact thing in any circumstance.

- Look at how Paul says this. "There will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship."

- Men and women in the world often get to a point in their struggle, where they would resign everything for the sake of saving their sanity or even their very lives!

- They would give everything for the confidence of knowing that they were going to be alright!

- The crew is at this point. Who cares about the ship, the money, the cargo! I just want to know that I am going to live! Paul speaks these things confidently. How can he do that? Look at verse 23.

•  Acts 27:23-26  :  "For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island.'" : In the Bible, there are many instances where God's messengers came to minister to God's people.

- Abraham, Jacob, Joshua and Daniel all had visitors from the Lord.

- This angel or messenger came to Paul with a word from the Lord regarding his present condition. Understand this: The storm in your life is not an indication of the lack of God's presence!

- God was with Paul there in the storm in the same way that He had been with him on dry land!

- It's been said that when things are good in our lives, we are all Calvinists, but when we suffer, we are all Arminians!

- When things are good we proclaim God's goodness and His control of things. When things go bad, we look around for the nearest person to blame!

- You have to recognize God's hand in your suffering if you will be useful to Him! "Paul, I still have a plan. You're still going to Caesar." This storm would change nothing.

- Paul identifies this as an angel of the God to whom he "belonged." Literally, the "God of whose I am." You belong to the Lord. Paul could speak with confidence on account of this fact.

- What a comfort! In the middle of this literal storm, Paul was anchored to whom He belonged.

- Here is practical sovereignty illustrated for us. When you know that you belong to God, you can stand in a storm, knowing that He is the Author of your storm!

- Please notice though that Paul belonged to God, which anchored him in the storm, but he also served that God, meaning that he would be active for him in the storm!

- Even here in the storm, God reminds Paul that His sovereignty still mattered in service! Your greatest service to the Lord will often take place in your deepest pain!

- What a witness Paul was in saying this to these men! He was willing to be identified with God and testify of His presence even there on that dark and foreboding ocean.

- Believing in God's mighty hand of sovereign control however, does not insulate you from moments of fear or insecurity. The angel told Paul not to be afraid. Paul had been afraid!

- This is a command from the Lord to Paul and to us: We are not to be afraid or to live in a place of fear. When fear rises, it is ours to allow trust in the Lord to rise against it!

- We must tell ourselves to trust in Him. Paul having conquered his fear in wake of the sovereignty of God, now comes and calls these sailors and soldiers, not to give into their fears either!

- He could stand and say, "Do not be afraid" because his status with the Lord was secure. Do you have this confidence and comfort when the storm rises? Storms reveal authentic security!

- By God's response through the angel, one can deduce the substance of Paul's intercession. During his time of fasting he had prayed for the lives of these heathens, that they might not be lost.

- He stayed there before the Lord pleading for them. Here is a great insight on why God allows Christians to face the storms.

- Being secure in Jesus lets you see the insecurity that surrounds you and the anxiety that that creates. You are in the storm to pray for those around you, that you might have their lives as well!

- God had told them that they would all survive, but the boat would be grounded on an island that he would come to known as Malta.

II.  Remain Where God Has Called You (v.27-32)

•  Acts 27:27-29  :  "Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms. Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come." :  Fourteen nights! Two whole weeks! And this was a FULL two weeks, as here the time was about midnight on a moonless, starless night.

- They were driven, literally carried up and down in the Adriatic Sea. Tossed on the waves. Beaten back and forth. This storm too two weeks of their lives!

- Just when they thought that nothing was going to change, the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land.

- The sailors had constantly been listening for and looking out for land. Paul had told them that there was an island that they would be ground upon. They were attentive to that.

- Finally, it happened. The sound of the ocean was different. It's likely that they heard waves beating along the shore, so they took some depth charges.

- This was done with a weighted line and they found that they were at 120 feet depth, then they found a short time later, that they were at 90 feet. It was time to drop anchors in order to hold them.

- They dropped four anchors to the ground and note that they prayed for day to come. These salty sea men, like the soldier in the field, like the person in a storm, have no problem calling on God!

•  Acts 27:30-32  :  "And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, 'Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.' Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off."  : Paul has assured the men of this voyage of the safety of their lives. You can see here that not all were convinced. 

- Several of the sailors sought to use the lifeboat to escape from the boat. They were willing to take their chances off of the boat in the little dingy.

- They were close enough in their minds and all they could think was escape! I could not help but consider how simple it is for us to want to jump ship.

- God calls us to hang in and go with Him the whole way. Hang in that marriage. Hang in that job and with that person that you are called to witness to.

- Unfortunately, I have seen many get close, but then seek to jump out before God's full deliverance. They think that it's close enough and they can take it from there, but that's an illusion!

- These men felt that they were close enough and wanted to run for it, but if the ship was in danger or hitting the rocks, how much more danger would the skiff be in?

- The boat, being achored, was still in danger of being totally lost by moving too close to the rocks. The sailors, pretending to drop anchor, sought to take off instead.

- Paul's promise regarding their safety included the involvement of all hands on deck, doing the work of the crew. Principally, helping ourselves out of a jam puts others in spiritual danger!

- Where would you and I be today if Jesus had walked away from the Garden of Gethsemene?

- The Lord's will is for us to finish and stay until His work is finished.

- Julius and his men would not survive without the help of these sailors so they made sure that the sailors did not skip out on the fun!

- The soldiers then cut away the ropes of the lifeboat and let it go. Now, there was only one option before the crew. To endure together until morning.

- Folks, it may be hard, but remain where God has called you! That life boat and your senses that you would trust in won't stand up in the storm! (Realize God's Sovereign Hand, Remain...)

III.  Recognize The Needs Of Others (v.33-44)

•  Acts 27:33-38  :  "And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, 'Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.' And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship. So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea." : Notice who is speaking here. It is not the captain or the centurion. It's the prisoner!

- These men are exhausted, most likely staying awake through the night, wondering whether they would live to see the next day.

- Paul is the only voice of leadership here. He's the only one with confidence and with a clear word toward these men. He had a vision. He had hope in the Lord and it propelled him to action.

- He implored or urged them repeatedly to take some food. They would need their strength.

- Imagine a gloomy crew of people, unwilling to eat, consigned to another day of trauma. I have talked with people who have endured great trauma, and sometimes, they just forget.

- This crew has been running on adrenaline. They are not aware of their own physical condition, apart from their survival instinct.

- He concerned himself with their physical condition as well as their mental condition. "Not a hair will fall from your head."

- Paul kept encouraging them, but when he took the bread and gave thanks to the Lord, doing that in full view of each of them, they were encouraged and they ate.

- Paul led by speaking to them and by acting out in front of them. He wanted them to see his confidence, not just hear about it!

- There were 276 people that God used Paul to encourage in a practical way. Look at what they believed. They took food and then threw all the rest of the wheat into the sea.

•  Acts 27:39-41  :  "When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves."  : For those of you with maps at the back of your bible, note the tiny little island that Malta is. With all that mileage and no way to navigate, God put them right on course!

- The sailors did not recognize this island. They had not been here before. In a way, one can say that Luke writes this to show how incredibly lost they were without God's providential hand!

- God knew about this island. God knows where He would allow the storms to drive them.

- In every storm there is an element of uncertainty. You don't know where you are going. It's likely you have never been! But God knows exactly where you are going! Don't ever forget that!

- Malta is actually a group of islands, called an "archipelago." Three land masses are inhabited and they cover about 120 miles, roughly twice the size of Washington D.C.

- As the sun came up, they saw a bay that they could run the ship onto the beach, so they dropped their 4 anchors into the Mediteranean Sea.

- Bob Cornuke of the Biblical Archeology Search and Exploration (BASE) institute, confirms that his organization has laid eyes on these 4 anchors that they left in the sea!

- Once they let the anchors go, the ship started to fall apart! It had held just long enough to get them there, but the waves were so violent, they literally began to tear the boat apart!

•  Acts 27:42-44  :  "And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.  But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land."  : They have hit the land. Who knows where they are and who knows how long it will take to get off.

- The natural plan for the soldiers was to kill the prisoners. The management of a prison colony while one was trying to survive themselves was not something that you wanted to do.

- Julius however, wanted to save Paul. I'm not sure that Julius wasn't thinking that they needed Paul to survive this next experience! Paul had proven himself very valuable on this journey.

- Many a believer, proving themselves under the greatest of pressures, find themselves valued in the eyes of their employers! "Let's not cut him or her!"

- Time to get off of the boat. Swimmers got into the water and those who were unable to swim discovered surfing! They got on boads and parts of the ship and came to land.

- Their lives, as Paul had said, were all spared and they came to safely to land.

- God's word to Paul had been fulfilled. God directed this boat and held it together long enough to deliver His man to this island.

Conclusion

- As God's representative on this voyage, Paul realized that God's hand was in this storm. He was with Him. He had a purpose. He would save their lives!

- Your storm is not outside of the realm of God's sovereignty. He knows where you are because He allowed you to be there!

- Once Paul settled that issue, Paul urged all to remain where they were. Stay on the ship. Don't be in a rush to get off or settle for "close enough!" Follow all the way.

- Finally, recognize that you are a gift to others. See how you can help meet their needs in Christ. It might be very practical, but it might be just the door that will open them to salvation!