Acts 27:1-28:16 (Week 42 - Life in the Spirit)

Can you believe it? We have made it all the way to the second to last chapter in the book of Acts. For those of you who were with us about a year ago, we have gone verse by verse all the way through the book of Acts, and we will be finishing it up next week. So this is the second to last week of this verse by verse message series, it's been amazing, and and over the last several chapters, if you were here, you you know that they've really all been about the apostle Paul and and his trial, the way that he has has been defending the faith. He's on trial not because of anything that he's done wrong, because he's broken any Roman laws, but because of Jewish religious leaders who were basically out to get Paul, they were trying to stop the spread of the early church. They were trying to to stop all of this talk about Jesus, so-called rising from the dead and and being the Messiah and the Savior of the world, and so so they had had arrested him and put him on trial, and and Paul was trying to explain himself, and he has over the last couple of years to a number of different leaders, some Roman, some Jewish, and now finally, after two years and appealing to Caesar because he didn't feel like he was getting a fair trial, he's going to begin his journey to Rome. The Lord had said to take courage when he was imprisoned that he would testify and he would go to Rome to share the gospel. And today we're going to see what this journey to Rome was all about. Let's just dive right in. Acts 27 verse one says, "When it was decided that we should sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the imperial regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramidium, about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica was with us. The first thing I just want to highlight as we jump into this text today is for you and I to notice the "we" language. We've noticed this before the book of Acts. That there's times it's not there. There's times it is there, and this is an indication that Luke, who we know is the writer of the book of Acts, Luke, who is a doctor, who is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and who is part of the early church, is the one writing this, and this indicates to us that Luke is on this journey. He's been on other missionary journeys with Paul, although not all of them, and he's stepping back in for this one here or this journey, he also tells us that Aristarchus is with them. That may be familiar to you if you've been on this journey with us through the book of Acts. We met him back in Acts chapter 19 when there was a riot and some different things going on. And so this is the way that Luke starts this off as far as them putting out to sea. Now I need to tell you up front today. The rest of what we are going to see is all one big story. Luke is going to share so many details about the things that happen on this journey that it's going to help us feel almost like we were there to really be able to understand what it was like to be on this journey and to feel some of the things that they were feeling. It will almost appear to be like a great movie scene if you're paying attention and walking along with me as we read through it. Now, the things that I need to say as well is that when we read it, it's not probably going to appear at first glance as if there is much here for us in the way of application. Like, how is this really going to make that much difference in my life to know what all the details were and what happened to you guys on this journey?

Acts 19 · chapter mention

But I think if you'll hang with me, you'll feel what it is that Luke is meaning for us to feel and for us to know about what their experience was like. I think there's more here than we might realize at first glance, and we're going to highlight that at the end of the chapter. So hang in there with me as we work our way all the way through chapter 27 and the first 16 verses of chapter 28. Are we ready? Turn to your neighbor. Say, "Are you ready? Because I'm ready. All right, here we go. Verse three says, "The next day we landed at Sidon, and Julius, in his kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so that they might provide for his needs, from there we put out to sea again and past the lee of Cyprus, where the winds were against us. When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. There, the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put. Us on board. We made it. We made slow headway. He says for many days and had difficulty arriving off Snidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens near the town of Lacia. Now let me show you this map so you kind of get an idea of what Luke is describing and where they were and where they are headed. You may remember that Paul was all the way over here in Caesarea. This is where he was on trial and sharing with Festus and King Agrippa and defending himself there. And so it was from there that they set out. Here is Myra, where they ended up changing ships that Luke just told us happened. And this over here is the southeastern part of Italy, all the way up into this area. And so you can see that they're trying to make this journey all the way across here. But as he said, the winds began to blow them off course. They couldn't stay on course, and so they've ended up all the way down here in this area. They've lost some time, and they're probably already frustrated. They're off course, but things get even more complicated as Luke goes on. Verse nine says, "Much time had been lost and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. Now, if you're following along in a different translation in your own Bible, it may say the fast, but that's simply a reference to the Day of Atonement. So the New International Version just goes ahead and tells you what that is referring to, case we didn't know, and that also tells us what time of year it is. This is late September and October, and we'll see why that's important based on what Paul says next. So Paul warned them, verse 10, men. I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and will bring great loss to ship and cargo and to our own lives also. But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This is a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest. So obviously, Luke lets us know that that Phoenix here is not Phoenix, Arizona. That would be a nice place to winter in, I think, but that's not what we're talking about here. It's a little town right here on this complete west side of Crete, and so it's really not that far. I mean, they're right here, and they're only trying to get right there because that's going to be a better place for them to winter. But even that at this time of year is a difficult thing because sailing becomes a lot more dangerous in late September and October. A lot of people had already stopped sailing by November. Everyone stops sailing. I mean, you just don't do it, right?

And so it's getting closer and closer to that point, and even traveling from here over to here, as we're going to see in the next description, is no easy task. Verse 13: When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity. So they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. Before very long, a wind of hurricane force called the Northeaster swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind. So we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cotta, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. So the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself just to hold it together, because they were afraid that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis. They lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. We took such a violent battering, Luke says from the storm that the next day they began to throw cargo overboard. On the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved. Now I mean, this is turning into a perilous situation. I mean, these guys. There's, there's no sun. There's no stars that appear. Why is that a big deal during this time? Well, because of course, there's no GPS because they really didn't even have compasses at this time, and these were their navigation tools. You relied on the sun and the stars, and so they're experiencing all of this weather, and everything's moving them uncontrollably all along. And now they can't even figure out where they're at. I mean, and Luke says that because of all these things going on, I mean, he's just so authentic and so real about the thing that was. Going on, I mean, he says we finally just gave up all hope of being saved. Many of us in this room have maybe experienced things in our life, situations, circumstances where things are going really badly. I mean, and sometimes they're going badly, and then they take a turn for even the worse. And so, whatever the term above badly is, and so you know, you many of you probably know what it's like in some points to just kind of give up all hope in some situations. Sometimes that can be in a physical situation like this that we're in. Sometimes it can just be our our mental health and the way that we're feeling-I mean, we're so down and we're so low that that we just feel all hope is lost. And this is the point that they're in. But I love that as soon as Luke is honest about what they're feeling, what they're experiencing in this moment, he begins to turn his attention to what the Lord began to do in and through the Apostle Paul. Look at verse 21. He says, "After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said, 'Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss, but now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. How does he know this? Look at verse 23. Last night, an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, "Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you. So keep up your courage, men. For I have faith in God that it will happen just as He told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island, and and so so this is the second time that the Lord either appeared to Paul or sent someone to appear to Paul to speak to him in situations where he was feeling discouraged or he was feeling a lack of hope because both times he speaks to him about courage, and the the other time he appeared to him personally and told him to take courage.

And what I love about this is, you may have noticed all the things that Luke was describing about the weather and the winds and the situations and circumstances that are that are all kind of going on that seemed impossible for them to overcome, right? I mean, it's like like we've given up all hope. It just seems impossible because of the situations and the circumstances that we're facing. But he sends an angel to remind Paul, who is ultimately really in control here, right? I mean, you must stand trial before Caesar. Don't be afraid; he's graciously given you all of the lives. So, just in that moment where all hope is lost, Paul is reminded that God is the one who's ultimately in control, and yes, even the wind and the waves obey him. Do you remember that moment when Jesus was on the sea with him, and he calmed the wind and the waves and the storm with just his his voice, and then I mean, they just bow down, and they're like, "Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him. Well, he's the God of creation, the one who holds all things together in his hands. And so, then Paul, hearing this from the angel, the Lord sending him, says, "Okay, guys, here's the deal. Take courage. Don't be afraid. If my God says this is going to happen, then you can take it to the bank, right? Because he is the sovereign Lord. So don't let fear take hold of you. Verse 27. On the 14th night, we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea when about midnight the sailors sensed that they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was 120 feet deep. A short time later, they took soundings again and found it was only 90 feet deep. And so, fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved. So the soldiers cut the ropes and hailed the lifeboat and let it drift away. Just before dawn, Paul urged them all to eat. For the last 14 days, he said, "You have been." In constant suspense and have gone without food. You haven't eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head. After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food for themselves. And all together, there were 276 of us on board. Luke says, "When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. Once again, Luke Luke shows us how the Lord used the Apostle Paul in this situation. I mean, Paul Paul's the one starting to step up and take charge here. Do you notice that? And and let's be reminded of the situation that Paul was in. We're used to reading about the Apostle Paul in church situations where he's speaking with authority, and this is the Apostle Paul, and he's the leader, and he's taking charge, and that's who he is. But right here, he's just a prisoner among prisoners. There are Roman soldiers on this ship who are ultimately in charge. There are sailors and a pilot, a captain who are in charge here. Paul is this low on the rank down here, just a prisoner among prisoners. And yet, what do we see? He is the one that the Lord is at work in and through to take charge and to be able to speak encouragement and bring hope to them, and even just some some common sense wisdom. You guys need to eat something. I mean, somebody had to step up in a crisis situation and begin to take charge because everyone else was fearing for their lives.

But when you put your faith and trust in a sovereign God, and He's visited you and told you things are going to be okay, then you can stay calm, and you can lead other people and help them with their physical strength and mental strength and all of the things. And that is what we see Paul stepping up to do. Ultimately, guided and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Verse 39 says, "When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. When they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach, but the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping, but the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get on their on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way, everyone reached land safely. And once safely on the shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. Now here's a little bit of a different map that shows you the entire journey. Again, starting all the way over here in Caesarea, and then getting a different ship here, being blown off course, coming over around to the bottom or the south side of Crete. They were trying to make it to Phoenix. This is where they began to experience the hurricane. You know winds. They're they're tying ropes under the ship, and they're they're losing all hope. I mean, they're in the middle of nowhere out here. God appears through the angel to Paul. Says everything's going to be fine. He's speaking encouragement. He's talking to them. They begin to get closer and closer. I don't even know if you can see it very well, but this is Malta. It's just a tiny little island that the Lord finally leads them up to here, but you can obviously see that there's still a pretty good distance all the way from Rome. This is still where they're trying to get to, and how far they've been blown all the way off course from coming all the way up through here. And so this is the situation that they find themselves in, the Lord's provided. He's allowed them to all be safe. He's followed through with what he said he was going to do. But now we've got to figure out how the Lord gets them there, and that's what Luke gets into next. Verse two of chapter 28 says the islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. Paul gathered a pile of brushwood, and as he put it on the fire, a viper driven out by the heat fastened itself on his hand. When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, "This man must be a murderer. For though he escaped from the sea, the god of. Justice has not allowed him to live, but Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead, but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. Boy, these people just one to the other really quickly, right? Paul certainly was was not a god, but he had the God of the universe dwelling in him, the one who could bring healing, and it was him that healed him and cured him immediately. It's him that can do miraculous things and keep him from suffering these ill effects. That's this language that's used here. But the God of the universe that dwells in Paul doesn't just dwell in him to be at work in him to do those kind of things.

He also dwells in Paul to work through him to do those kinds of things, which is what we see next, verse seven. There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him, and after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. They honored us in many ways, and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies that we needed. And after three months, we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island, it was an Alexandrian ship. Luke says, with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. From there, we set sail and arrived at Regium. The next day, the south wind came up, and on the following day, we reached Petuli. There, we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them, and so we came to Rome. Finally, the brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the three taverns to meet us. And at the sight of these people, Paul thanked God and was encouraged. And when we got to Rome, Luke says that Paul was allowed to live by himself with a soldier to guard him. And that's where we'll pick up next week and see what really happens. But what an incredible journey, right? I mean, you see the great detail that Luke describes all of the things that happen. And again, if you were paying attention and following along, you could clearly begin to picture what it was that was happening, and maybe even feel some of the things that were going on. It would make an incredibly great movie scene, but other than just a description of the things that happened, there's things here that we kind of highlighted a little bit along the way. But I want to make sure that we don't miss now that we have read the text. And once again, as we do each and every week, we ask, "How does this apply to me? How does this make a difference in my life? What are you trying to do in and through what we've shown me today that impacts the way that I live? And I want to point out two things. The very first one is this: what we saw in the text today is that God is sovereign over Our circumstances-that God is the one who is ultimately in control. It didn't seem like that at first, right? I mean, when you look at the events that Luke was describing, that Paul and everyone on the ship were going through, it appears at first glance that what the weather's in control. I mean, all this language that Luke described-the the hurricane force winds that we were driven along by the wind. We were off course due to weather. We were forced off course. There was a violent beating that the ship was taking from the storm and things that were happening, and so over and over again, the way that Luke describes this is that we're we're led to believe that that nature nature is in control. But what we see is that again, God appeared to Paul, reminds him, Paul, you may not see it in the situations and circumstances that you guys are facing, but make no mistake about it. I am the sovereign Lord. I hold all things together in my hand, and you will make it. And every single person on this ship will be spared. So we see that God is sovereign over their situation. Over their circumstances, and that is what we learn about ourselves as well, guys. God is at work in your situations, in your circumstances, for your good, for your glory. To do something in you, the way that He did something in Paul, but also to do something through you, the way that He did things in and through Paul, and I want us to notice this on two different levels.

There were two different things that we saw in the way that God was sovereign over situations, the way that He He controlled the situations and circumstances that Paul was in. The first one, well, I'll kind of do it in backwards order. The second one that we saw was that God's sovereignty and power was at work in Paul's life to make sure that he avoided suffering. You see that, right? I mean, there was a snake that came out of the fire and bit his hand, and in the sovereignty of God to control the situations and circumstances, he produced a number of things that happened to keep him from suffering in that way. So God's sovereignty prevented Paul from experiencing suffering in one moment, but what did we say the majority of the trip? God's sovereignty, the way that he controlled and allowed things to go on-was through suffering. Through his sovereignty, he leads Paul to avoid suffering at one moment, and then through his sovereignty at another, when he allows him to go through the suffering. But it was to accomplish his plans. He was moving Paul to Rome. He was in control of that through his sovereignty, but he did it through suffering, through allowing him to suffer, and so we need to be of that aware of that as well in our own lives, guys. Sometimes God is going to step in in His sovereignty and prevent you, prevent us from suffering. Maybe even you begin to, and you begin to get sick, and then he he heals you before it really even kind of gets going, or at some point. And why does he do that? To speak of him and his power, and to receive the glory and honor. You can go. God healed me, and you can tell other people, and use that situation and circumstance to tell everyone that God was the one at work in your life to avoid the suffering and not have to go through all of those things to provide healing in those moments. And to God be the glory whenever He manages situations and circumstances in those ways. At other times, he's going to allow you. He's going to allow me. He's going to allow us to suffer. Many of those times are the times that you and I go, "What did I do wrong? Why are you punishing me, God? Where did you go, God? Why don't I feel you, God? Why is nothing changing, God? But what we saw here is even though there were all kinds of other things that were that were that were seeming to control Paul, the storm, all the things that were controlling their situation, it was really God at work, even in that for His purposes and the promise that He had made, and so the same thing is true in our lives when we're in the suffering as well. We talked about this on Wednesday night some at our our churchwide discipleship class that we've been talking about the last couple of weeks, and still plenty of room for you guys to join us. But we we one of the things that we talked about is first and foremost that God is omniscient that He's all knowing, like there is nothing that the God of the universe does not know. He knows every piece of information that there is to know about everything. Right? He's the expert on it all. The other thing that we know about Him is that He's all wise, and so He knows how to take all of the knowledge that he possesses about everything, and then use all of the wisdom to take all of that knowledge to make the wisest plans possible for you, for me, for this universe. Now, you and I don't always see that that is what's going on, but you and I are not all don't have all the knowledge. You and I are not all wise, and so we trust that someone who is all knowing and knows how to use all wisdom to put the best plans possible, and by the way, whose nature is goodness, who can't act in any other way but to do good, and so we've got to trust that this is what he is up to, even when we couldn't see it. They had lost all hope; they couldn't see it.

But God was at work behind the scenes, being an all-knowing, all-wise God. That this was the best. Way that he could work in and through this and move them along for whatever reason, because only he is God, and so that's the first thing. The second thing that we saw from this text, and we highlighted it a little bit before, but specifically, guys, the Holy Spirit will use us to lead people, even in so-called secular, I'll explain that more in a minute. Secular situations. I want to relate this to what we saw in the Apostle Paul and why it applies to us today. And we mentioned it briefly, but remember, the Apostle Paul was a prisoner. He was not a leader on this ship. He was a prisoner. He was in chains with other prisoners and the Roman soldiers and the sailors and the captain. They were the ones in charge, and this is not a Christian gathering. None of these other people are brothers and sisters in Christ, and he's in no authority over them. He's in a so-called secular situation, not in church, not speaking in any authoritative way, and yet the Holy Spirit was at work in and through Paul to use him to speak up, to begin to lead when no one else was leading, to begin to offer hope in people's situations, just to provide wisdom and common sense in other situations. And if this is what we see the Holy Spirit doing in Paul and through Paul in crisis situations, I think we can expect that the same Holy Spirit living in you and I will also use us to lead, even in those situations that are out there in your work environment, in your school, in your neighborhoods, in any crisis-type situation that you find yourselves in, but it doesn't even have to be necessarily that. Now, I know when we talk about that, and you think about this, and you go, "You're basing that on the Apostle Paul, and most of us want to go, yeah, but I'm not Paul, and you're right, you're not. But the same Holy Spirit that lives in Him lives in you. You're in union with Jesus, and let me just quickly, as we get ready to close here, describe or remind you of what Paul, or how Paul, excuse me, describes Jesus in Colossians one and First Corinthians 124, in Colossians one he describes Jesus as the hope of glory. Everybody say Jesus is my hope. In one Corinthians 124 he describes Jesus as the power of God and the wisdom of God. Everybody say Jesus is my wisdom. So so if you put your faith and trust in Jesus, and He's come to dwell in you spiritually, then the one who is hope and the one who is wisdom is dwelling in you. He was the one dwelling in Paul, working through Him. He's the one that works in you and will bring wisdom into situations and circumstances that you find yourselves in, and he will bring hope to the people around you because the one who is hope dwells in you and expresses that hope through you when you're in those situations. And again, that could be in a crisis situation that you find yourself in, or that could be in any again so-called secular environment out there at school or work or your neighborhood or whatever, and I put "secular" in quotes there because I really don't believe that there's these secular spaces and then there's these sacred spaces. It's all God's creation and He's omnipresent and He dwells in us. And so wherever it is that we go, whatever those situations or places are, then the one who is holy is entering that space, and guess what? He was already there anyway because he's omnipresent. So there's no such thing as like okay, in here it's a sacred space, and when we go out those doors today, it's a secular space. It's all sacred because Jesus dwells in us and is at work in all areas and as the sovereign God in all situations and all circumstances. There is no such thing as a secular moment. It's all sacred because He's at work as the sovereign God in everything. Whether things are going well and He heals us and removes that and keeps us from suffering, or whether He does allow us to be in suffering.

He brings purpose to it, and so these are the things that we learn today. God is sovereign, and we trust Him, even when we don't necessarily see it. And then we allow Him to use us to bring wisdom and hope to other people. And if you're here today and you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus. Maybe that's the application for you today. Paul was traveling around. The whole reason he was arrested was for telling other people about Jesus-that Jesus died on the cross for their sins, that God raised him from the dead-and if you receive his free gift of salvation by putting your faith and trust in him, you could be forgiven and have eternal life. And if you've never made that decision, the same thing that Paul was preaching applies to you today, and maybe that's the step that he wants to lead you in during our response time as well. And so let's close our eyes, let's bow our heads as we just fix our eyes on Jesus and allow Him to lead us into this time of response.