SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 13, 2026 "That's Why I Trust Him" Acts 27:1-12

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Acts chapter 27 is where we will be looking today.

Acts 27 · chapter mention

In this chapter, Paul is going to begin his journey to Rome.

We've talked about how he has appealed to Caesar and how Festus is going to send him to Caesar in Rome.

And today in Acts 27, he begins that journey.

And you know, while we may not be about to take a journey on a ship through perils like Paul is, we're on a journey.

Back in the 90s, Stephen Curtis Chapman, he sang a song called This Is the Great Adventure.

And the song was about life.

Our life, we are on a great adventure.

We are on a journey together.

As believers, we are on this journey together.

And while we may not be, again, taking a trip like Paul or a journey as Paul's, we are on a journey together.

And what we see Paul doing, where we see him going in his journey, is where we need to be.

On our journey, we must trust God.

We must trust him.

So if you're able this morning, I'm going to invite you to stand as we give honor to the reading of God's word.

We're going to begin in Acts chapter 27.

Acts 27 · chapter mention

I'm going to read from verses 1 down through verse 12.

And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius.

And embarking in a ship of the Adramatium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea and accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us, and we had sailed across the open sea along the coasts of Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra in Lycia.

There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board.

We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Nidas, and was and as the wind did allow us to go further, we sailed under the Lee of Crete off Salmon, coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fairhavens, near which was the city of Lycia.

Since much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because even the fast was already over, Paul advised them, saying, Sirs, I perceive that the voyage voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.

But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to Paul, to what Paul said.

And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

Let's pray together.

God, we thank you for your word.

Thank you for the opportunity that we have now to engage with your word.

God, you have revealed yourself to us through your word.

You have promised us that.

So we pray that this morning we will see you.

Jesus, it's in your name that we pray.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So we know as Paul was on his journey, and throughout Paul's life and throughout the book of Acts, we've seen Paul, while he's been on this journey, we've seen him face a lot of misfortunes.

We've seen a lot of things happen to fall.

It has not all been nice sunshine and roses.

There's been difficulties that he's faced and things that he's been challenged with.

He summarizes it best in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 in verses 23 through 28.

2 Corinthians 11 · chapter mention

Here's how Paul summarizes the things that he has seen and the misfortunes that he's faced.

In 2 Corinthians 11, 23, he writes, Are they servants of Christ?

I'm a better one.

I'm talking like a madman with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.

Five times I received at the hands of Jews the forty lashes, lest one.

Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned.

Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I was adrift at sea, on frequent journeys in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers, in toil and hardship through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, and cold and exposure.

And apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.

Listen, Paul has faced hardship.

He's faced physical hardships.

I mean, beaten, when it says he was beaten 40 times less than one, it was believed that if you struck a man flogging him, if you struck him 40 times, it would kill him.

So they struck him for 39, right up to the mark.

He faced physical peril and physical danger and physical misfortunes.

But not only that, you saw the last verse that we read.

There was mental too.

The anxiety, the pressure from the churches who were depending upon him and the things that he listen, this man faced a lot of things.

But here's what we see in his life.

He continued to trust in God.

And hear me, church, that's our challenge this morning.

We're going to face hardship.

We're going to face hard times.

Life is not going to go the way we want it to go all the time.

And just when we think we got it going the way we want it to, guess what's going to happen?

The bottom's going to fall out from under us.

We're going to face hard times.

But just as Paul continued to trust God, the challenge for us today is this.

We must trust God.

So this morning, there's just a couple of things that I want us to see.

This is not the only reasons that Paul continued to trust God, but there's a couple of things that I think we can see in our passage, a couple of reasons that he continued to trust in God.

The first of those is the people around him.

I think the people around him helped Paul continue to walk in his faith and to continue to trust in God.

There's a few of these we see.

The first of these is Luke.

Now, Luke is not specifically mentioned in this passage.

So you may be asking, Grant, how do you get Luke there?

Well, some things to remember about Luke.

Remember, Luke wrote, we believe Luke wrote this book.

He wrote the gospel of Luke, came right out of that, wrote the book of Acts.

We believe this was Luke that did this.

And we didn't spend much time back in Acts chapter 16 talking about this, but the narrative in Acts chapter 16 changed because Luke had been writing, they did this.

Acts 16 · chapter mention Acts 16 · chapter mention

Paul and Barnabas did this, they went here, they did these things.

But all of a sudden in Acts 16, something changes.

He says, We.

We went here.

We did this.

We were there.

The scholars call it the we narrative of Acts, when Luke and it's believed that at those moments Luke was traveling with Paul.

And what we see here in Luke 27 is again, he says, we should sail for Italy.

John MacArthur, he says this about it.

He says, from absent from the narrative since Acts 21, 18, he, that's Luke, had probably been in Caesarea or nearby during the two years of Paul's imprisonment there.

Now he was on hand to sail with Paul to Italy.

Now we see Luke.

He's traveling with Paul.

He's going to Rome with Paul.

He is traveling with him.

He has surrounded himself to encourage Paul and help him.

Second person we see who is mentioned here is Aristarchus.

Now, Aristarchus, we've met him before in this story as well.

In Acts chapter 19, verse 29, we see him specifically mentioned.

Acts 19:29

It says this in Acts 19, 29, so the city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed together into the theater, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, who were Paul's companions in travel.

Remember what was happening in Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

There was a silversmith who was very angry with Paul and the believers because they were preaching Jesus.

People were coming to Jesus and believing in Jesus, throwing out their idols, stopping, they weren't buying idols, which was affecting the pocketbook of this silversmith who was making idols.

And he didn't like it.

So he stirred the people up and stirred them up so much that they began to riot in Ephesus.

And when they couldn't find Paul, they found some of his companions, Gaius and Aristarchus, and they drugged them into the theater to beat them, to persecute them.

This is that Aristarchus.

We find him again in Colossians chapter 4, verse 10, when Paul is in Rome and he's writing this book to the church at Colossae, and he says, Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you.

Colossians 4:10

Listen, this was a man who stood by Paul.

Thick, thin, persecution, good times, he was there for it.

Many scholars even believe that the way he got on the ship to travel with Paul to Rome is because he pretended to be Paul's slave.

Now, do you love anybody enough to pretend to be their slave so you can travel with them?

God has surrounded Paul with good people to encourage him, to help him.

We see another kind of obscure person here, though, too.

His name is Julius.

We write there, we right there in verse 1.

And some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius.

Now, it is believed that they're not exactly sure his position, but but many some scholars believe that this was Julius' job.

That he would travel through the Roman Empire when the Caesar, when he had something, somebody that they needed to be brought back to Rome, whether it be a prisoner or just a special transport, that was Julius's job.

That he would travel with a company of people.

He was a centurion, so a hundred soldiers, and they would move this person to Rome, and they would ensure safe passage there.

So this is a Roman.

No connection with Paul other than that this was his job to get him there.

But I love what we see about Julius in verse 3.

Verse 3 it says, The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly.

Treated Paul kindly.

Now, why would a Roman soldier do this?

I'm convinced.

It was no coincidence that it was Julius who was taking Paul to Rome.

I'm convinced that this is God's providential action, that God placed Julius there for such a time as this to move to take Paul to Rome.

It was Julius who was supposed to be there, and Julius was there.

And he treated Paul kindly.

So we see Luke, we see Aristarchus, we see Julius, but we also see this morning the church.

Hear what Julius did.

He treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

Now when we hear the word friends, it could mean lots of things.

But there are places in the New Testament where friends refers to the church.

In 3 John, John's third letter, at the very end of the letter in verses 13 through 15, here's what John writes.

I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink.

I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

Peace be to you.

The friends greet you.

Greet the friends.

Each by name.

Listen, Julius allowed Paul to go meet with the church on his journey.

And hear what the church did.

They cared for him.

Listen, this is part of the reason that I think Paul is able to continue on, to face hard times, to face misfortunes, to face when times things are not going his way.

He has been surrounded by people who cared for him, who encouraged him, who treated him kindly, who did things for him, who were loyal to him.

Surrounded himself with it.

God surrounded him with those people and they helped him carry on.

The second reason I think another reason that I think Paul was able to carry on is because of the call on his life.

Now we've seen this a lot.

Way back in Acts chapter 9, verses 15 through 16.

Acts 9:15–16

This is, remember, we've talked about this.

This is right after Paul had seen the vision of Jesus, and he was blinded and he was waiting for somebody to come, and God sent a guy named Ananias to Paul.

And Ananias was hesitant to go, but here's what God said to Ananias in verse 15.

But the Lord said to him, Go, for he that's Paul, is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and the kings and the children of Israel, for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

God had called Paul.

We see it again in Acts chapter 23, verse 11, when Paul was been beaten and he had stood before the Jews, and they wanted to all kill him right after this.

Acts 23:11

We see that there's a plot against his life.

But right in the middle of this, God comes to Paul in Acts 23, 11 and says, This, the following night the Lord stood by him, again, that's Paul, and said, Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.

There was a call on Paul's life to go to Rome.

He knew it needed to happen.

He knew it was going to happen because God had said it.

God said you're going to Rome.

Paul knew it was going to happen.

Now he's on the way there.

But they're facing hardship.

Listen, there's a lot of information here about the way they sailed and the way how they navigated through and facing winds and all this kind of thing.

There's those.

Hey, go look at your map and your back of your Bible.

It's pretty interesting.

We're not going to spend a lot of time there, but here's what we'll see there.

They reached this city called, this place called Fairhavens.

And in Fairhavens, it was a dangerous time for them to sail any further.

It was becoming on winter when the sea got bad.

They're not taking a cruise.

It's no Mediterranean cruise where you're sitting out and just enjoying it.

This is a small ship, and they are hoping just to get there.

And Paul goes to him because remember, we just read earlier, he had been shipwrecked not once.

This is not the first shipwreck Paul's going to experience.

And he's been stranded at sea before.

And while he knows he's going to get to Rome, if I were Paul, I would choose not to do it through shipwreck.

Just saying.

So he goes to him and he says, hey, I don't think we should go.

It's bad.

We probably ought to stay here.

Um we probably ought to stay here.

I'm afraid if we go, you're going to lose your ship, you're going to lose your cargo, and you're going to lose some lives.

We probably shouldn't go.

Now, they didn't listen to him.

They loaded up and tried to get to another city where it would be better to stay in the winter.

We're not going to get there this week, but just spoiler alert, next week, guess what happens?

Shipwreck.

They're stranded at sea.

It's going to happen.

But God continues to work, and even before they set sail, I love what happens down in verse 24 and 25 of this same chapter.

God is speaking to Paul again, and he said, Do not be afraid, Paul.

You must stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.

So now Paul is talking to the men.

So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.

And while tragedy might strike, and he might have to go through a shipwreck, and he may be stranded at sea, and they may have to go to this island where he is bit by a serpent.

Another spoiler alert, we're getting there.

He may have to face all these things that are going to happen to him, and it may not just be on a cruise, sipping drinks, and just trying to get there.

That may not be what's going to happen.

Eating all you can eat ice cream.

That's probably not going to happen.

But guess what?

He's going to get there because God has said it's going to happen, and it's going to happen.

So he trusts God.

Because there's a call on his life.

There's a call on his life that he must share Jesus.

Go back with me in chapter 26, verse 22 through 23, when Paul is standing before this group of men, here's what he says.

To this day, I've had the help that comes from God.

So I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass.

That Christ must suffer.

And that by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.

Paul had a call on his life.

A call to believe in Jesus.

And a call to tell people about Jesus.

So where does this leave us?

Real quickly, a couple of things.

One is when you as you're going through hard times to depend on the people around you.

God has put them in your lives for a reason.

It's not coincidence.

Lean on people.

Trust people.

Allow them to help you.

Not just Just that, but on the other side, be a person that people can depend on.

Be Aristicus.

Be Luke.

Be those people.

Church, we need to be a place, as it was just sung about, so people can come and come to us and bring their problems and we can walk with them through difficult times.

And those who are believers, we can remind them of what Christ has done.

And those who are not believers, we can share with them of the light that is within us.

We need to be those people.

Second, you have a call.

Trust in it.

And you say, Grant, I haven't received a call from God like Paul.

He's not come and stood to me and said, hey, you're going to Rome.

That hasn't happened.

Okay, granted, I get it.

But guess what?

We do have a call.

You say, Grant, what is it?

Right here.

God has spoken to us right here.

He has told us what we need to do right here.

We've talked about it all through Acts.

One of those things He's called us to do is this be witnesses to the kingdom of God.

When you don't know what your call is specifically, just start with generically.

What is He called us to do?

Just start there.

Do that.

See what He does.

We're going to pray for us.

We're going to sing a hymn of invitation.

As we sing that invitation, here's the invitation.

Since Jesus came, as Paul went and proclaimed, as we just read, Jesus came, he suffered, he died, he arose.

So you can have salvation.

If you have never trusted in him, there's the first call on your life.

There's God's first call to you.

Believe in Jesus.

Second, if you have, but maybe right now you're not walking with him and trusting in him.

This morning, maybe during our invitation, we're inviting you to repent and follow him.

That maybe that you have not been the kind of people that have surrounded, the kind of person that has surrounded your friends going through a hard time.

Maybe you need to repent of that.

Maybe you need to go find them.

Repent to them.

Church, maybe we need to work harder to be in a safe place for people to come and find refuge not just in us, but refuge in the Savior whom we serve.

Maybe this morning you need to come and repent of that.

Maybe this morning you need to come and unite with us so we can do this together.

However, God is leading you.

In just a moment, I'm going to pray for us.

We're going to stand and sing.

As we sing, we invite you to come.

Let's pray together.

God, thank you.

Thank you for today.

Thank you for how you love us.

God, thank you for meeting us here.

For working among us.

God, help us.

Give us the faith that we need this morning.

To trust you, to rely on you, to depend on you for our salvation.

To trust in you for our salvation, to believe in you.

But God help us also to believe in you so we can help others as we walk through this journey together.

Jesus is in your name we pray.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to this week's sermon.

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