Acts 27:27

All right, with that, would you stand with me and open your Bibles to Acts chapter 27? If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. Open your Bibles or turn on your mobile device, whatever it is—Acts 27. Get your YouVersion Bible app out. We're going to begin at verse 21. We read this and studied this last week, but it gives context to where we're at.

Acts chapter 27, verse 21 says, "But after a long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of all those that were on this ship. And he 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 the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and to 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 that God, that it will be just as it was told to me. However, we must run aground on a certain island."

Now, when the fourteenth night had come, as we had been driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight, the sailors sensed that they were drawing near to some land. They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms. 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 anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.

Lord, as we look at this passage, we recognize that Your Word is living and powerful. You gave it to us, Lord, to teach us, to reprove, rebuke, and correct us, to instruct us in what is the right way. As we rightly divide Your Word today, would You give us insight? Lord,

Help us to understand the context and the things that were happening at this time, but also help us to see the application to our lives, living some 20 centuries after this point. Lord, it is certain that there are some here standing at this moment who are in the midst of a very similar emotional or spiritual situation where they feel like they're tossed in a storm and they're praying for day to come. They're praying for a reprieve. We ask, God, that you would meet those individuals where they're at, that you would speak to them, and that you'd speak to all of us. God, may we be strengthened in our faith in you, in our confidence in who you are and how you work. So speak to us, we ask, for we ask it in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, Amen. You can be seated.

As we finished our study last time in Acts chapter 27, we concluded with a very simple point: sometimes a crash is inevitable. We all know this all too well. It was back in 2005 and 2006, at the crowning point of the U.S. housing market, when it seemed like things were just continuing to go up and up. People were cashing out and cashing in on all the things that were happening in the housing market. It was at that time, especially as we moved into 2006, that economists started to be concerned and began to talk about things like an adjustment.

As we moved into 2007, events began to unfold in the economic world, both in the United States and overseas, especially in Europe. More and more economists started to speak about an adjustment. However, as 2007 wore on into 2008, it shifted from just a mere adjustment to people expressing concern about the bubble bursting and a crash. We all know too well that on October 1st, 2008, there was a major crash. I don't think there's a single person sitting here today who wasn't affected by that in some way. The crash that happened primarily in the housing markets, involving subprime loans and various other factors, affected everything in our economic world, not just here in the United States, but throughout the entire world. There were ripples as a result of that.

So there are times when we recognize that a crash is inevitable. Economists were raising flags, saying we need to do something because a crash is coming. As we see here in this passage, as we finished our study last week, Paul stood before a group of 275 other individuals, other men who were aboard this boat.

In the middle of the Mediterranean, Paul stood before them and said those exact same words: a crash is inevitable. Before they left the island of Crete, you can see all of this on the map that's again on the back of your sermon guide and bulletin. The island of Crete is right there in the middle. Paul had been placed on a ship there in about the middle of August, we believe, in the year 60 AD in the area of Caesarea, which is the easternmost port of the Mediterranean Sea. Now, he was traveling, being taken to Rome.

Ultimately, in about the month of September, they were in the southern part of Crete in a region called Fair Havens. Although it sounds nice, it was not a good place to spend the winter. They were trying to get out of there, but the winds were contrary. The winds were coming from the west while they were trying to go to the west. They were hoping for a change. As the month wore on, they reached the end of September and were coming into the beginning of October. Historians and those who research weather patterns in the Mediterranean tell us that this is not a good time to be sailing in that area.

They were waiting for some sort of change because they did not want to stay in Fair Havens. One morning, they woke up, and the winds had changed. Now, they were coming from the south, a soft breeze that created perfect conditions. Everyone was ready to move. All hands on deck! They needed to travel about 35 nautical miles to a different port that faced a different direction on the same island of Crete.

However, as they were in the middle of that journey, about midday, everything changed again. The winds shifted and began coming from the northeast, a wind known as Eurocliden, which literally means nor'easter. They were pushed in a way that made it impossible to enter the port called Phoenix. Since they were in a huge vessel carrying many people and a large cargo of grain, there was no real way to maneuver it. They had to let things go.

They started to do everything in their own strength and practical understanding to deal with the situation. They pulled the skiff, the small boat they dragged behind the larger vessel, aboard. Then, they undergirded the ship with cables, dropped the mainsail, and hoped they would not be pushed by the weather pattern into shallow waters in the south.

After being on the boat for three days, before they even left Crete, Paul had warned them, saying, "Let's not do this. This is going to end in disaster and great loss." But they did not listen. Now, three days into this big storm, the word for these winds or this storm in the original language is "typhunikos," from which we get our word "typhoon." The conditions were horrendous and terrible. Paul stood up and could not help himself from saying, "I told you so."

Some of us can relate to this situation. The Apostle Paul says, "Guys, you should have listened to me. We wouldn't be in this mess if you'd listened to me." Yet, now they find themselves in the midst of this mess. Somewhere during this journey, Paul shares that God appeared to him last night, an angel of the God to whom he belongs and whom he serves. The angel said, "Listen, you're going to get to Rome because you're going to appear before Caesar. All the people that are with you are going to be saved." This is a pretty phenomenal promise that God gives to the Apostle Paul.

He encourages those with him to take heart because no loss of life is going to come. There is a small silver lining in everything happening in this great storm. Paul acknowledges that they are going to run aground on a certain island. If you look at the map, you'll notice that between the island of Crete, going west, there aren't many islands. In fact, there is just one. It is phenomenal how, in God's providence and sovereign direction, they would end up unable to navigate or do anything under their own strength. The weather pattern would push them right into this place on the island of Malta, which is ultimately where we are going to focus in our study today.

So, there is the silver lining: the ship, the cargo, and everything else will be a total loss, but their lives will be spared if they stay aboard the ship. We don't know exactly at what point this was spoken by Paul during the voyage, but this journey only took about 14 days. Interestingly, a great book was written on this journey and the shipwreck of the Apostle Paul in the 19th century by a Scotsman named James Smith. He studied this and wrote a substantial scholarly work on the whole experience in the Mediterranean Sea.

Smith charts that in weather conditions like this, with a vessel of this size being pushed by the winds, they would have traveled roughly 35 to 36 miles a day. If you chart the distance from the island of Crete to the island of Malta, it matches the exact distance covered in those 14 days. It is pretty phenomenal how well Luke, the author of this account, captures these events. He is a very fact-based historian, and he explains everything in a way that we can look at today and say, "Yes, that's exactly how it would have happened."

In the midst of this, all hope for being saved was completely given up. In verse 20, it states that all hope was given up that they would be saved. Unfortunately, many people live their lives like that. They walk about this world with a rather hopeless and depressed demeanor, looking at the things around them and simply saying, "Well, all hope is lost."

Is all lost? I will submit to you that if you watch the world news today, there’s a good reason to think like that. But the sad fact is that there are a lot of people who sit in churches like this, many who call themselves Christians, who also have that kind of depressed, down demeanor that all hope is lost. It’s unfortunate that we look like that because the reality is, for Christians—if you’re a Christian today, that is, if you’ve put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ—the reality is, point number one on your outline: though all be lost of this life, all is not lost.

Though all be lost of this world, all is not lost. Though you lose everything that you have in this world, all is not actually lost if you’re a Christian. I would submit to you that the world, people who don’t believe in Jesus and don’t believe that these things are true, need to see that kind of truth lived out in the life of the Christian. I realize that those words may seem strange at first—that though all be lost in this life, not all is actually lost—but it is true. We who are following Jesus have hope that extends beyond this world. Amen? We have a hope that extends beyond the trappings and the trinkets of this life.

It’s vitally important that we live like that—not just that we believe it, but that it affects the way we live our lives and that other people see this. Therefore, I think it’s very important that we take to heart the teaching of Jesus in the Gospels and the pattern of Paul that we see in one of his letters. First, let’s consider the teaching of Jesus. You might want to note this down in your notes.

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus is giving what is considered by many to be one of his greatest sermons, called the Sermon on the Mount, which spans Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7. There in Matthew chapter 6, he says some words that even people who don’t necessarily study the Bible or read the Bible have heard somewhere before. Sometimes they’re even thrown around in pop culture; people use them from time to time. He says this in Matthew chapter 6, verse 20: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

See, you’re not even reading it, but you know what it says. You’ve heard it before: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroy, nor do thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” Jesus says. Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Not just the teaching of Jesus, but the pattern of the Apostle Paul. I want you to turn to a book called Philippians. It's near the back of your Bible, right after the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians, then comes Galatians, Ephesians, and Philippians.

Philippians chapter 3. We're going to look at verse 7. Paul is describing here the same man who was on this shipwreck a few years later and wrote this letter to a church in a city called Philippi, which became the book we call Philippians. In Philippians chapter 3, verse 7, he describes the way he sought to live his life. He says, "But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss."

Now, it's interesting that the word "loss" in the original Greek language, in which this letter was written, is the very same word that the Apostle Paul used when he was on the island of Crete. He said, "Guys, I don't think we should take this journey because much loss is going to come." It's the same word.

So, he continues, "The things that were gained to me, I have reckoned them. I've counted them as loss for Christ." He adds, "Yet indeed, I count all things as loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and I count them as rubbish, as trash, so that I might gain Christ."

He expresses that he has willingly chosen to give up everything that was gained to him so that he might lay hold of Christ. In this singular action of leaving behind those things and laying hold of Jesus, he is expressing that what he is gaining in Christ is far more valuable than the things he is giving up. Even though to the people of this world, the things that Paul gave up might seem important, he said, "No, I count those as trash that I might win Christ, that I might lay hold of him."

Maybe not the best example, but a number of years ago, a movie came out with Harrison Ford called "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade." Did any of you see that movie? In it, he is seeking the Holy Grail. You have to love movies where guys are on a quest for the Holy Grail.

At the end of the movie, they finally find it and enter a room filled with different cups. They have to choose the right one—"Choose wisely." You might remember that whole scene. Of course, Indiana Jones chooses wisely and gets the right one, while the other character chooses unwisely. The knight standing there then says, "You have chosen unwisely." It's not a good thing.

But Harrison Ford saves the day; he gets the right thing. Then, all hell breaks loose, and the place where they are starts to collapse. Now, this cup, this Holy Grail, has fallen out of his hands and is just within reach. He can barely touch it, but he is about to fall into a pit.

He's holding onto the hand of his dad, Sean Connery. I love Sean Connery. It's just the voice; I wish I could talk like that. But there he is, holding onto his hand and reaching for it. I can just get it. I can just get it. And his dad, Sean Connery, says, "Indiana, let it go." I can't talk like that, and he lets it go. Let it go. He's risked everything to get this cup, to gain this thing. And I said, "Just let it go. It's not worth it. Let it go."

There's such wisdom in that. Sometimes we recognize truth in very interesting places. There's wisdom in another movie that came out recently too, another Disney princess movie. A great song won a whole bunch of awards: "Let It Go," right? My daughters sing it constantly. There are a lot of great parodies about it too. But let it go. The recognition in this life is important.

Jesus said another thing that's so very important. If you're not a Christian today, it's really important that you pay attention to these words that Jesus spoke. In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9, verses 24 and 25, He said, "He who desires to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake will save it." You see, if we're trying to hang on to the things of this life, we're going to lose it.

There is a reality that we find revealed in Scripture: this is all going to one day be gone. Some people like to say it like this: it's all going to burn anyway. The Christian understands this if they study the Bible—that there's coming a day when all that is seen here will go away, and God will remake things. We have a hope that He is going to do something better than this.

But for the person who is completely invested here, whose treasure is here, their heart is here, that's not a good plan. It's like investing—well, I won't go there. It's investing in something that's not a good investment. You can talk with Randy about that; he will tell you all about those things that are not a good investment to put your money in. There are certain things that are not a good investment.

There's way too much risk involved in investing in this world. There may be short-term gains, but there's way too much risk in investing in this world. So if you're not a Christian, take heart to those words that Jesus speaks in Luke chapter 9, because "he who desires to save his life will lose it, but he who loses his life for my sake and the gospel, the same shall save it."

This world, again, is in desperate need of seeing people live with that recognition. We need to see Christians who say they believe in God and the hope that He brings for eternity, living in such a way that they have a lighter grasp on the things of this world. The awesome result of living like that is that if you, like Paul, reckon all things...

Lost, none of this stuff is mine. God has given it to me to just manage or oversee, but it's not mine. I don't possess it. I don't hoard it. If you live like that, if you lose those things, it's not that big a deal. You say, well, it's not mine. It's God's. It wasn't mine to begin with.

The world is really big into this saying that's been going around for a while. In fact, you see it if you follow along with Instagram or Twitter or these other platforms. People use the little number sign, the hashtag, and they say, hashtag YOLO, Y-O-L-O. Some of you know what that means, but probably most of you don't. It means you only live once. That's the banner that people are putting over their lives today: you only live once. You've got to go for it.

Now, for the Christian, that should only be the mindset as it relates to living for Jesus and the gospel. One great missionary who was actually killed by those he was trying to reach in the 1950s, Jim Elliott, said, "Only one life will soon be passed. Only what is done for Christ will truly last." That's a powerful statement, and it challenged an entire generation to live for Jesus. It's an awesome reality as you look at those things. If you desire to save this life, you will lose it. Paul had already reckoned himself dead. He speaks about that in Romans. He said, "I've reckoned myself dead. I've laid down my rights to my life."

Well, Paul continues, or actually Luke continues in Acts chapter 27, back to verse 27. Luke says, "Now when the 14th night had come," after being tossed and driven in the Adriatic Sea for 14 nights. For those of you who understand geography, the Adriatic Sea is between Italy and Croatia. In ancient times, the Adria or the Adriatic Sea encompassed the whole middle section of the Mediterranean.

So, now when the 14th night had come, as they were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight, the sailors sensed that they were drawing near to some land. They took soundings, which means they took a rope with a weight on it. A fathom is six feet, about the tip from end to end of a man's hands. They would count the measures of the rope going down into the water. They took soundings and found that they were at a depth of 20 fathoms, roughly 120 feet. When they had gone a little further, they took soundings again and found that they were at 15 fathoms.

So, what's happening? It's getting shallower, right? They were getting closer to land. They recognized and sensed that they were close to land. Now, they were confirming that they were.

Close to land, the sailors, fearing they might run aground on the rocks, dropped four anchors from the stern, which is the back of the boat, and prayed for day to come. As I have reflected on this passage—not just this last week, but for a number of weeks—I often found myself pondering the verse that mentions they sensed they were drawing near to land. I wondered how they sensed that.

When I encounter passages like this, where I have a question I can't quite figure out, I consult various commentators. Almost every commentator I read suggested that they must have heard the water breaking on the rocks, which is plausible. James Smith, a 19th-century author, noted that at about a quarter mile in storm conditions, you can hear the water breaking on the rocks. That could certainly be the reality.

However, I decided to ask one of our resident experts, someone who has spent a lot of time out on the water. Yesterday, I spoke with Mick Maggiore, a member of our church. I presented the scenario to him and asked how they sensed they were nearing land. He explained that the surf got steeper. This made great sense to me. When you're out in open waters, the swell is much longer and not as steep or close together. But as it approaches land and begins to hit the ground in shallow waters, it compresses, causing the surf to become steeper and closer together. The swell becomes tighter and bigger, indicating they were getting closer to land—a precarious situation.

This leads to point number two on your outline: when the surf gets steep, there are rocks ahead. If you remember the wonderful movie, "The Princess Bride," Inigo says, "What if there are rocks ahead?" and Fezzik replies, "If there are, we'll all be dead."

Now, moving on to point number three: make sure you're anchored correctly. When the surf gets steep, there are rocks ahead, so ensure your anchor is secure. For those of you who have spent any time on boats—some of our members are quite passionate about boating—you may have noticed that most boats today have a pointed bow and a flat stern. In conditions like these, where the swell drives you toward land, you should not anchor from the stern. Doing so would face your stern toward the incoming waves, which can lead to dangerous situations.

Battered by the waves on the flat end of the boat, water comes into the vessel. Interestingly, these ancient grain vessels came to a point at both the bow and the stern. James Smith, in his book The Journey and Shipwreck of Paul, points out something very important. They know they are a very short distance from the shore, maybe a quarter of a mile away. They are in a huge boat that is difficult to maneuver.

So, they anchored it with four anchors from the stern, facing directly into the beach. Their plan is that at first light, they will hoist the mainsail, cut the anchors, drop the rudders into the water, and beach the boat. They intend to go straight for land, as they do not have time to turn it around for better direction. They are positioning themselves for the best outcome, and they are anchored correctly.

This has application for the believer in Jesus as well. Whether you are a Christian or not, we all experience storms in life. We recognize that everyone, regardless of faith, receives bad diagnoses from doctors, hears from employers that they no longer have a job, or learns from banks that they are foreclosing on their homes. We all encounter storms, whether due to our own mistakes or the realities of life in a fallen world.

In the midst of the storm, we want to ensure that our mooring, our anchor, is in the right place. Only the Christian has the right place to be anchored. If you consider this passage, I will read it from a different version. Hebrews chapter 6 speaks about this, and I will read from the J.B. Phillips translation because I love how he expresses it.

Hebrews 6:17 states, "In this matter, God, wishing to show beyond doubt that His plan was unchangeable..." If God makes a promise to you, you want to be sure that He does not go back on His word, right? God, wanting to prove to us that He is not like us—because we often go back on our word—confirms His promise with an oath. He steps into a covenant with us, making an oath that He will fulfill His promise. Essentially, He swears by Himself.

So, by two unchangeable things—the word of God and the oath of God, who cannot lie—we, who are refugees, recognize that we are all fleeing from the storm of sin and death.

This dying world might have a source of strength. How do we have a source of strength? Well, by God's word and the oath of God, we have a source of strength that we might grasp the hope that holds onto us.

Now notice this: this hope we hold is an utterly reliable anchor for our souls, fixed in the very certainty of God Himself in heaven, where Jesus has already entered on our behalf, having become, as we have seen, the high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. The author of the book of Hebrews says that if you're a Christian, you have a place where your hope is anchored, where your soul is anchored.

Whatever storm we face, as refugees fleeing from the craziness of this world, only the person who has put their trust in God in the midst of the steep swells, when there are rocks ahead, has the right mooring because it is in God who cannot lie. Our hope is built in Him, nothing else. We don't say, "Well, I really hope that this works out because I'm a really smart person and I hope I can figure it out and get there on my own." No, that's not our hope.

A lot of people who don't know Jesus base their hope on their religious efforts, their own way of thinking, their own ideology, whatever it may be. But we have a hope that is fixed firmly in heaven, in God, and it is an anchor for our souls. So when the surf gets steep and there are rocks ahead, make sure, Christian, that you are anchored correctly.

In Acts chapter 27, verse 30, it says, "As the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea under the pretense of putting out anchors from the prow or the bow, 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.

Now, I don't want to cause contention between the army and the navy here, but you've got some navy men, the sailors, and you've got some army guys, the soldiers. In the midst of this storm, the sailors say, "We're out of here. We're done with this." They come up with a plan: "Let's put down the lifeboat, the skiff, into the water. We'll pretend like we're going to anchor the boat. These soldiers don't have a clue what we're doing. We'll anchor the boat from the bow at the front of it. That'll give us enough time to get going, and we're going to save ourselves."

So these navy guys say, "We'll save ourselves." No, no, I'm not saying anything about the navy here, just pointing out those guys, okay? Then Paul says to the centurion and the army guys, the soldiers...

Listen, these guys are trying to escape. If they leave, you die. I love how Paul pushes the button of their self-preservation instinct. Paul knows he's going to live; God already told him. But he says, "Listen, I know I'm okay. I'm not sure about you guys. If these guys leave, you're done. So you might want to do something about it."

The soldiers respond, "All right, we got a plan for this." They go over and cut the skiff loose. They don't just bring it on board and say, "No, you're not doing that." They cut it loose. Now, all hope of using that as a lifeboat is gone. The centurion and the soldiers, by this act of cutting loose the skiff, are completely revealing that they're heeding the word of Paul and trusting that his God will save them. They are trusting what he has to say in this situation. So they cut it loose and let it go.

As day was about to dawn, verse 30 states that at midnight, they had anchored the ship. Now, day is about to dawn, sometime around six in the morning. Paul implored them. He stands up and speaks to all 275 men on board the boat. He says, "Take food, for today is the 14th day that you have waited and continued without food and eaten nothing." These guys hadn't eaten anything for 14 days. They are weak and tired; they've been tossed constantly. When you're tossed like that, you don't want to eat. But now he says, "Listen, now is the time to eat."

Therefore, in verse 34, he urges them to take nourishment for their survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you. Some people take the Bible overly literally and say that when Paul mentions not a hair falling from their heads, none of these guys lost a hair. That's a bit of a stretch. This is a Jewish euphemism found in the Old Testament that means you're going to be safe. You will be safe, but you've got to listen to me. God is going to protect us, but you need to eat.

There is a beautiful connection here in the mind of Paul and the words of Paul between the sovereign power of God—"All of you will be safe"—and the responsibility—"Man, you need to eat." You see this going together? These concepts are constantly intertwined in the scriptures: God is sovereign, and He does have a plan. He is going to work this out, but you have a responsibility. You need to eat for your survival. You need to take some nourishment for your survival. So Paul stands up and says, "I urge you." This is the second time in this chapter that he says, "I urge you to do this."

Who's in control on this boat for all practical reasons? The prisoner, Paul. He's commanding the centurion and the soldiers what to do, and now he's telling everybody what to do. I love how God works; it's awesome.

So now he puts them in this place: "Take nourishment, for this is for your survival." Point four on your outline is to take nourishment for your survival. When you're in the storm, when the surf gets steep and there are rocks ahead, you want to make sure that you're anchored correctly, and you need to make sure that you take nourishment for your survival.

Now, I know contextually this is speaking very clearly about physical food, but that's not what I'm referring to. To take nourishment for your survival, those who study the Bible know that the Bible speaks often about spiritual sources of nourishment. Jesus said it like this in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter four. In that passage, he had been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights.

How many of you have ever fasted for more than a day? How many of you have ever fasted for 40 days? One person, two people. Not too many people have fasted for 40 days. Listen, I've fasted for a period of time before, but not 40 days. At the end of 40 days, I'm assuming you're really hungry, right? It's like hometown buffet hungry, and I don't even like hometown buffet.

So here Jesus is, hungry in his humanity, and the devil comes to him and says, "I see you're hungry. Command these stones to be turned into an In-N-Out double-double." That's my translation. He says, "Command these stones to be turned into bread so you can eat. You have the power to do that. Just do it. It's no big deal."

Jesus says something phenomenal. He quotes Deuteronomy, chapter eight. He says, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." When you're in a storm and the surf is steep and the rocks are ahead, make sure you're anchored correctly and take nourishment for your survival.

Now, this is for the Christian and the non-Christian alike. The only way to receive that kind of nourishment is in God's word. If you're not a Christian today, I would still say you need to seek God in His word. In there, you're going to find the true, satisfying nourishment that you actually need. You're going to find salvation.

But if you're a Christian today, you need to make sure that you are finding your nourishment for your soul in God in every circumstance. There are too many Christians who live a spiritually emaciated life because they never spend any time in the word of God.

Now, how many of you would try to live a thriving life by eating one meal a week? That would be stupid. That would be...

By this time, my daughters would say, "You can't say stupid." I'm sorry if I said that. Anyway, that would be foolish. But there are many Christians who live their lives by one meal a week, this one served up for them that they didn't prepare for themselves. You need to be in the Word continually. Whether you're in a storm or not, you need to be ready so that you have the strength when the storm comes, because the storm will come. When the surf gets steep, there are rocks ahead. Make sure you're anchored correctly and take nourishment for your survival.

In verse 38, Luke continues. When they had eaten enough, actually, I skipped some verses. Look at verse 34. I urge you to take nourishment. When he said these things, in verse 35, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all. When he had broken it and eaten it, they were all encouraged and also took for themselves. There were about 276 persons on board the boat. Paul takes bread and says, "You guys need to eat. I'm going to eat. Let me pray."

Now, the high likelihood is that there were only three Christians, three believers in Jesus, on board this boat: Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus. Maybe there were some others who had begun to put their faith in Jesus. But Paul says, "I don't care if you're a Christian or not. I'm going to pray." This is an encouragement today. When you're out to lunch with friends, family members, or coworkers who are not Christians, make it a point to just say, "Hey, guys, I'm a Christian. Can we pray?" I guarantee it's a witness and an encouragement to those around you.

"I'm a Christian. Before I eat, I pray. I'm just going to pray. Do you mind if I pray for a second?" They will not say no. None of them are going to say no, even if they're the staunchest atheists. I was with a friend one time, some of you know him, Victor Marks. We were out to lunch, and we're sitting down to eat. If you know Victor, he's often out to lunch. The waitress came over, and he said, calling her by her name, "Hey, Christy, listen, we're Christians. In a minute, we're going to pray. Can we pray for you?"

She looked at him first like, "What? What are you talking about?" Then she said, "Yeah, you can." She got a little tear in her eye and shared a bit of her story. He said, "We're going to pray for you." She responded, "You know, I used to go to church. Maybe I should find a church." It was awesome. They were all encouraged by this and took food for themselves.

Now, in verse 38, when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw the wheat into the sea. Up to this point, they had maintained the cargo that was going to make them some money. Now they said, "All right, let's ditch it," and they got rid of all the wheat.

Throwing it into the sea, they did not recognize the land when it was day. However, they observed a bay with a beach onto which they planned to run the ship, if possible. In the morning, they could see the land and thought, "We don't know this island, but it looks like right there we can angle the ship and get into that little area and beach it."

When they let go of the anchors and left them in the sea, they loosened the rudder ropes and dropped both rudders of the ship into the water. They hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. Simultaneously, they did everything they could: cut the anchors, raised the sail, dropped the rudders, and set off. However, they struck a place where two seas or two currents met, running the ship aground on a sandbar. The bow stuck fast and remained immovable, while the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

The soldiers had a plan. Their plan was to kill the prisoners lest any of them swim and escape. In the Roman world at that time, if a soldier lost a prisoner, his life was on the line; he would be killed. So they decided to kill the prisoners to save themselves. The sailors had previously wanted to save themselves, and now the soldiers were determined to do the same.

But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose. He commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, while the rest should use boards or parts of the ship. This is the first mention of surfing in the Bible.

It was noted that they all escaped safely to land. This is phenomenal. Point number five: trusting God brings salvation. I am sure that there is some math major, maybe in this room, who could calculate the statistical improbability of 276 men aboard a boat in a storm all surviving and reaching land safely. I imagine that the probability, although I am not that good at math, would be exceedingly low.

The reality is this: trusting God brings salvation. God is bigger than our statistics. He is bigger than those things. There are people who have calculated the statistical improbability, but the truth remains that trusting God leads to salvation.

Jesus came, died on a cross, and rose from the dead. There are people who say that doesn't happen, that it cannot happen, but God is bigger than that. Jesus rose from the dead, and there are witnesses of His resurrection. Trusting in God brings salvation, even in the midst of the storm.

In the Gospels, there was another storm where Jesus' disciples were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, being tossed around. Jesus wasn't with them, but in the middle of the night, when all their hope was gone, He came to them walking on the water. How many of you would recognize that a man walking on water has a very statistically high improbability? There have only been two guys in all of history that we know of who walked on water, other than surfers who think they walk on water, but they don't.

So, He came walking on the water, and now His disciples were freaked out because they saw a man walking on the water, which you would be freaked out too, because that doesn't normally happen. He said, "Guys, it's me." Peter replied, "All right, if it's you, tell me to come out on the water, and I'll walk too." Jesus said, "All right, come." So Peter stepped out and walked on water. The statistical probability of two guys walking on water is phenomenal, yet God is bigger than our statistics.

In the middle of that, those who know the story understand that Peter took his eyes off Jesus and focused on the wind and the waves, and he started to sink. In that moment, he cried out, "Lord, help me." Jesus, who was walking on the water, reached out, grabbed his hand, and saved him. Trusting in God brings salvation—for the Christian and the non-Christian alike.

When the surf is steep and there are rocks ahead, make sure you're anchored correctly. Take nourishment for your survival and recognize that trusting God brings salvation.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? God, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the reality that You are the Savior. Thank You, Jesus, that You are the one who is able to reach down into the storms of life that we face and to hoist us up, to lift us out. Lord, You have given us spiritual nourishment through Your truth in the Bible. You have given us a sure and steadfast anchor in Your promise that is unchangeable.

Your nature does not change. God, I pray for my brothers and sisters here today, those who know You, that they would be encouraged to be anchored in You again. I pray that they would trust in You in whatever circumstance they're going through.

I also pray for those who may be here today that don't know You. Lord, I ask that You would draw them by Your Spirit to put their trust in You for salvation. Jesus came and died on the cross 2,000 years ago to pay the payment for my sin and for your sin. He rose from the dead, revealing that this was an acceptable payment for our sin. He makes the offer for you to put your trust in Him, your confidence in Him, your faith in Jesus, so that that payment will apply to your account.

You can do that right where you're at right now. I pray that you would do that. Just simply confess to the Lord your sin. Ask Him to take it away based on what Jesus did on the cross. Put your trust in Him, willing to follow Him, and ask Him to forgive you and to come into your heart. He'll do that.

As we sing this last song, we're going to have some of our ushers, pastors, and prayer leaders come up here. They'll be available to pray with you. Anyone who has a need, please come and pray. Let's worship the Lord. God bless you.