The God Ordained Storm (Journey to Rome pt 1)

We're starting a new series here at Cross Connection called "Journey to Rome," following Paul the Apostle as he went from Caesarea to Rome and all the events that happened, including his shipwreck in the Mediterranean Sea. There are many great things that God can speak to us through this journey.

So, open your Bible, if you have it, to Acts chapter 27 and join us as we follow Paul to Rome. We're going to start today a new series in the Book of Acts called "Journey to Rome," focusing on Acts chapters 27 and 28. We have moved away from Paul's trials in this passage, and now we are entering this section of Scripture where Paul is on his way to the city of Rome.

We are zeroing in on the very end of the Book of Acts. If you've been here for a while, you know we started the Book of Acts in November of 2008. That's a long time ago! We are moving somewhat slowly, but we are almost done. The end is in sight—no more detours.

Acts chapter 27 is where we're going to be, but to give context, would you turn just a little bit back to Acts chapter 26, starting at verse 28? In Acts 26, Paul is standing trial before the king of the region, named Agrippa. It says, "Then Agrippa said to him, 'You almost persuaded me to become a Christian.' Paul replied, 'I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.'"

When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice, and those who sat with them. When they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, "This man has done nothing deserving of death or chains." Then Agrippa said to Festus, "This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."

When it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan regiment. So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

The next day, we landed in the city of Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends to receive care. When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. After sailing over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. There, the centurion found an Alexandrian ship to sail to Italy, and he put us on board.

Lord, as we look at this passage today, we pray that You would give us insight and application. We believe that You will because Your Word is living and powerful; it is sharper than any two-edged sword. Lord, You've given us Your words so that we would be instructed, that we may be reproved and corrected. More than anything, Lord, that we would be Your people who are ready for good works. So ready us today as we look at this passage. Give us insight as we follow with Paul on this journey to Rome. We ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." You can be seated.

Have you ever been in a storm? When I say that, I'm not necessarily talking about a weather pattern; I'm actually talking about one of life's storms. How many of you have been in one of life's storms before? All of you basically have. Have you ever found yourself in a situation that seems hopeless and helpless? I know from seeing some people nodding their heads that you've been in that place before. Just about everyone here knows what I'm talking about—going through one of those storms of life, one of those situations where it seems like you're headed into a storm that is unavoidable.

Maybe you've been carried along into a situation like that by others, and along the way, you were pointing out the potential dangers, saying, "I don't think this is a good plan. I don't think we should go in this direction." Yet, you didn't have much of a choice; people didn't listen to what you had to say. If you can identify with that this morning, then you can identify with Paul's situation here in Acts chapters 27 and 28. Paul is in a situation that he can't keep himself from moving in this direction, and there's nothing that is stopping this.

Even though, as we're going to see in this passage today, he tries to put up the arms and say, "Hey, I don't think this is the best plan." There in chapter 27, verse 1, the first opening words that start the chapter say, "And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy." The drama that is going to unfold in these next 44 verses and on into chapter 28 is a drama that was decided and planned by others.

So, point number one on your sermon guide, if you have it handy this morning: sometimes our path is planned for us.

Sometimes our path is planned for us, and sometimes that path leads toward an unavoidable storm. When you begin to look at the Bible and study what it has to say, you start to understand that the word "sometimes" in point number one could actually be crossed out. So, would you just cross out that word "sometimes"? As you delve into the Scriptures and examine what they reveal about God, you begin to see that our path is indeed planned for us.

Although the path described in Acts chapter 27 seemed to be orchestrated by Festus or Julius, the Roman centurion, ultimately, what we see behind the scenes are the hands of God. His fingers are on it; His fingerprints are left upon it because God is at work. Later on, the Apostle Paul would write in one of his letters to a church in the city of Ephesus, "For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God ordained beforehand that we should walk in."

God has created us in Christ for good works, which He ordained beforehand that we should walk in. So, God has a plan; He has a path that He has prepared for us. Not just the Apostle Paul recognized this, but a thousand years before him, King David wrote in Psalm 37:23, "The steps of a good man are ordered of the Lord; they are ordained by God."

Then, David's son Solomon, considered by some to be the wisest man who ever lived, was given great wisdom. He could literally be called a wise guy. In Proverbs 16:9, he states, "The Lord directs the steps of man; a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Not just in Proverbs 16, but several proverbs later, in Proverbs 20:24, Solomon again says, "A man's steps are of the Lord; how then can a man understand his own way?" A man's steps are indeed of the Lord.

Paul recognizes this truth and writes about it in Ephesians, having experienced it throughout his life. David wrote of it as well, no doubt seeing God working things out in his life. Solomon could see the truth in it, and we need to recognize that our steps are planned; our path is planned.

Now, there is an aspect of our nature, and I would conclude that it is our sinful nature, that does not like this. We live in a culture, in a nation, that really doesn't like this. In just a few days, we will be celebrating a holiday that is only celebrated here: the Fourth of July. It is the celebration of independence. Some 230-plus years after that first declaration of independence was signed, we have changed what independence means to be so individual that every single one of us is individually independent and self-determined.

I say that this is a part of our sin nature because we see it at the youngest ages. When children are little toddlers, you may remember a few months ago I played a video here at the church that we had taken of our two-year-old daughter, Evangeline. It was a series of videos of her telling us, "I do it all by myself." That is still, to this day, a perpetual saying from Evangeline. Just about every single day, when I go to get her out of her bed, she says, "I do it all by myself." When I try to put her up in her car seat, she insists, "I do it all by myself." Whatever it is, she claims, "I do it by myself," until she can't do it by herself. Then she realizes she needs help. Sometimes she'll tell me that, but rarely, because most of the time, she insists, "I do it all by myself."

As a result of the fall of humanity, we live in this place of wanting to be by ourselves, to do it by ourselves, to be the captain of our own ship and the determiner of our destiny. We don't want anyone over us directing what we are going to do. The idea, especially for the modern American mind, that God directs the affairs of humanity really bothers a lot of people. There is actually a huge debate that goes on in the church regarding this as well, with two different theological camps. Maybe you find yourself on one side or the other. I try to maintain a balanced position in the middle.

On one side, there are those who consider themselves Calvinists. They hold a strong view of the sovereignty of God in His directing of all things. On the other side, both groups are Christians, is a group called Arminians. One follows John Calvin, while the other...

Follows Jacob Arminius, a man who lived hundreds of years ago. Arminius believed more in man's responsibility and man's will. As a result, you find people who are good, well-meaning Christians on either side, fighting with each other. The reality is that both perspectives are revealed in the Scriptures. We have to recognize that there is a way, although it may be a mystery to us, that makes sense to God, where these things go together: the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man.

However, there is a place in us that does not like to think about being directed. So much so that in our day, it has become a forefront debate in our nation—the self-determination of humanity. This extends to something that only God could determine, to the point where people say, "I don't want to be identified as male or female; I will determine for myself what my sexual identity and gender is." Do you see what that is? That is man saying, "You will not rule over me; I will determine who I am and how I live." It's phenomenal how far we've taken this in our culture today.

As we look at the Scriptures, whether we consider Paul's words in Ephesians, David's words in the Psalms, or Solomon's words in the Proverbs, we find that our path is planned for us. Sometimes, in God's way of determining things and planning, He directs us right into a storm—the perfect storm. I don't know about you, but when I think about that, the first thing that comes to my mind is, "Why? Why would you direct me to go into something that is a crisis, a traumatic situation, a difficulty, a hard thing?"

Yet many of us have experienced that. Looking back on it, hindsight is 20/20; we can see how God directed things. Still, there is a part of us that just says, "Why? Why would you do that?" We recognize that it's hard to answer questions of why, especially in that area.

I love that passage in Proverbs 20:24. In another English translation, the New Living Translation renders it this way: "The Lord directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way?" Is there anyone here today, like me, who wants to try to figure out everything along the way? I'm one of those inquisitive people who always asks questions. My dad told me that when I was little.

As a kid, the question I always asked was, "Why? Why? Why?" I questioned everything. Why is the world this way? Why do we do things this way? I'm still asking that question. It probably drove my dad crazy, and I think it probably drives my Father in Heaven crazy sometimes when I ask, "Why? Why? Why?"

But we need to recognize, and I think we'll see as we begin to go through the drama of Acts chapters 27 and 28, that point number two on your outline is that God uses storms to bring salvation. God uses storms to bring salvation.

Now, there are some of you sitting here today who find this point applies to you in a very unique way. You would not be here today, and you know this to be true, had it not been for a storm. Had it not been for a crisis, a difficult diagnosis, a separation, a loss, or some sort of dramatic, traumatic crisis that brought you to the point where you decided, "You know what? I don't know where else to turn, so I'm going to go to church." I see some of you nodding because you know that’s the case.

You see, God uses storms oftentimes to bring salvation, and I would even say to bring His salvation or further revelation of who He is. We see this in the Gospels, don't we? There is a story where Jesus was with His disciples after a hard day of ministry. At the end of the day, He says, "All right, guys, get in the boats." Remember, at least four of His disciples were fishermen, so they got in the boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus, being tired, went and slept in the back of the boat.

In the midst of this, a great storm came up. His disciples, in the midst of this storm, did everything in their own power to deal with the problem. Isn't that like us? We try to do everything in our own power to take care of it, to fix the situation. They were fighting and fighting to get the water out of the boat and to keep the boat afloat as they crossed the sea. Finally, when they were at their wits' end, they came to Jesus and woke Him up, saying, "Don't you care? I'm dying here!"

Have you ever prayed that prayer? "Don't you care? I'm dying here!" He stood up and said, "Peace, be still," and everything became calm. Just like that, they were at their desired destination. What happened? They experienced a greater revelation of who He was. They looked at each other and said, "Who is this guy? Even the winds and the waves obey His voice."

So, God uses storms to bring about salvation or greater revelation of who He is.

He is, and we will see that here in this passage. There are those of you here today who are saying, "I would not be where I am today had it not been for that storm." It was not an enjoyable experience; it was not a good thing, but ultimately it brought about salvation.

In verse 1, when it was decided that Paul had appealed to Caesar, Festus had no other option but to send him to Rome. At the beginning of Festus's rule in Judea, he decided, "All right, I've heard your testimony. Now King Agrippa has heard your testimony. It's time to send you along. I have other business to deal with, and I don't want to be dealing with this." So, you're out of here. They were going to put Paul on a boat. Festus decided to set him up with a centurion named Julius, who was part of the Augustan regiment. Julius was going to take a group of prisoners to Rome because they all had to appear before Caesar. Paul was one of those prisoners, and he was going now.

Historians tell us that Festus came to power in the summer of AD 60. This is actual history; this isn't just a story. Festus became the governor of Judea in the summer of AD 60, at the beginning of July, so right about this time of year, in fact. We know that one of the first orders of business was to hear the Apostle Paul. A couple of weeks after he came to power, a group of Jews came down from Jerusalem to hear the Apostle Paul, and not long after that, King Agrippa heard him. Acts 26 is happening during the month of July, AD 60.

Now, some time passes, and many Bible scholars believe that this journey to Rome began in about the middle of August in the year 60 AD, when Paul was set on a boat headed for Rome. It wasn't just Paul. Notice what we see in verse 1 and verse 2; there is a repeated word that is used. It says, "When it was decided that we should sail to Italy." Then, in verse 2, it says, "So entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea."

The author of this book, a man named Luke, also wrote the Gospel of Luke. He was a doctor and a close friend of Paul. We believe that he was the pastor of a church called the Church at Philippi, a close associate of the Apostle Paul, and a smart man. He was with Paul while he was in Caesarea, and now he gets on board the boat with Paul, which is heading to Rome. But it wasn't just Luke. Notice it says, "We were meaning to sail along the coast of Asia," and Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.

Aristarchus was one of the individuals who came to faith under Paul's ministry when he was a missionary in a city called Thessalonica. He was a disciple under Paul's guidance. Now, Paul, along with two close friends—Luke and Aristarchus—was set on a boat to go to Rome. This journey took place in the middle of August in 60 A.D. While this may seem like an inconsequential detail, it is important and will become significant as we proceed.

If you study weather patterns, particularly for the Mediterranean Sea, you will find that there are certain times of the year when it is safe to sail and other times when it is not. Those who study such things will tell us that from about April until August, it is generally safe to sail on the Mediterranean. However, from August until the middle of November, conditions become borderline, and you cannot be sure what to expect. From November until the end of March, no one would sail on the Mediterranean Sea. Therefore, they were under a time crunch, already in that borderline period. Festus, not wanting to deal with the situation any longer, decided to put Paul on a boat, stating that he had other problems to address in Judea.

The next day, they landed at Sidon, which was about 70 miles north of Caesarea—a short, single-day journey on one of the sailing vessels. Julius, the centurion overseeing a group of prisoners, treated Paul kindly. The Greek word used here implies that he treated Paul with a sense of philanthropy. He even granted Paul the liberty to go to his friends to receive care. This is remarkable, as it is incredible that Julius would allow this.

One of the first things we should recognize, and many Bible commentators point this out, is that the phrase "to receive care" seems to imply that Paul was sick. Julius allowed him this freedom, treating him kindly so he could visit his friends. However, it is important to note that Paul was a prisoner of Rome, and a Roman centurion would typically never have done this. The centurion's life would be on the line if he lost one of the prisoners. It must have been communicated to him by Festus that Paul was innocent.

This is kind of just a necessary task, but we should treat him kindly. He's an old man who has been beaten up quite a bit, so we need to take care of him. Paul is given liberty for a time to go and be taken care of by his friends.

When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. On your sermon guide, there is a map, and I hope you'll take a look at it because it's really helpful in understanding what's going on in this passage. You might have a map like this in the back of your Bible. If you look in the lower right-hand corner, you'll see Jerusalem and then Caesarea. They take this trip up to Sidon, and then they go north of Cyprus, passing by Cilicia and Pamphylia, which are in the upper right-hand corner. We are seeing the route that Paul is taking as they head to Rome.

They put to sea from there and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. Another way of saying it is that the wind was antagonistic. Has anyone ever sailed before? Lift up your hand high if you have. When I was a kid, I really wanted a jet ski. Can anyone relate? I tried to talk my dad into getting a jet ski, but he bought a sailboat instead. He said that jet skis require gas, while wind is free. So, we got a Hobie Cat. My dad had sailed when he was younger and wanted to get another Hobie Cat, so we went sailing. I learned a little bit about sailing, and while it can be fun, there are times when you just want to hit your head against the mast.

There are times when the wind is contrary. In a small boat, you can turn into the wind and tack in certain ways, making it manageable. However, as we unfold this passage, we see that the wind is coming from the left on your map; it is a westerly wind. What direction are they trying to go? West. So, they are having some issues here. They sail under the cover of Cyprus, using the island to mitigate the wind a little bit so they can skirt around it. They pass Cilicia, which was Paul's home region, and they pass Pamphylia.

In verse five, it says, "When we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Mira." You can see Mira right there underneath Pamphylia.

We came to Myra, to a city of Lycia, and the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy. He put us on board. Notice that they put us on board; Paul doesn't have a choice, and Luke doesn't have a choice. He has to do what he's told here; he's under the authority of this centurion.

Now, in the first century on the Mediterranean Sea, there were no commuter ships. There was no option to buy a ticket from Caesarea to Rome with a short layover in Syria and then another layover somewhere else. It didn't work like that. The only ships on the Mediterranean were trade ships, merchant ships, and working vessels. This Roman centurion had authority from the Roman government because of his position; he could commandeer a portion of any boat that he wanted for his business. This is exactly what he does.

They arrive at the trade port in Myra, which was one of the ports where all kinds of ships would come to offload their wares, change ships, and move around. The centurion begins to look for a ship that is going to Italy because they need to get to Rome. They find one, and Paul gets put on this boat. From everything we can tell in this passage, this boat originated in Alexandria, which was the main port of Egypt. Egypt was the granary of the Roman Empire, where all the grain was grown. It would be shipped down the Nile River to Alexandria, put on boats, and then dispersed throughout the Roman Empire.

The grain would go north to a place like Myra, which was right there in Asia Minor. It would be offloaded, and grain would be taken to Asia Minor and other parts of the Roman Empire, or it would be transferred to other ships to go to Rome, the capital city. Paul arrives there with Luke, Aristarchus, Julius, and all of his Roman soldiers, along with the other prisoners on board the ship. They change ships, saying, "Okay, we're commandeering a portion of this grain vessel that had come from Alexandria and was headed to Rome."

We know from archaeologists that these grain vessels were huge wooden ships, single-masted, filled with grain, and sitting low in the water. This was a large ship; we know this because verse 37 tells us there were 276 men on this boat—276 people, including Paul, Luke, Aristarchus, the Roman centurion Julius, his soldiers, and the other prisoners.

Committed to Julius to get to Rome, they were all put on board a boat in Mira. Continuing on, verse 7 says, "When we had sailed slowly many days, we arrived with difficulty off Snydis, the wind not permitting us to proceed. We sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone."

Look again at your map; from Mira to Snydis, it's not a very long distance. In fact, you're looking at a distance of about 60 miles, but it took them many days to cover that distance. They had gone one day from Caesarea up to Sidon, which was 70 miles, and then spent many days moving this short distance. You can tell the winds were against them. The winds were moving from the west, and historians tell us that these big grain vessels, with one large square sail, were giant ships sitting low in the water, making them unwieldy and very hard to maneuver.

Finally, they reached Snydis, but then they were pushed down below Crete. The most direct route would have gone north of the island of Crete, but because the winds were contrary and the ship was hard to maneuver, they found themselves being pushed down below Crete. They passed off the eastern side of Crete.

Verse 8 states, "Passing with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of La Si." That sounds good, doesn't it? Fair Havens! Yes, finally, we get to Fair Havens. No, not so much. Fair Havens had a nice name but was a bad place. It's like Bishop, California. Sorry if you're from Bishop; I apologize. I've been there once for the Mule Days parade when I was in eighth grade.

Continuing on, they arrived at Fair Havens. Verse 9 says, "Now when much time had been spent and sailing was now dangerous," because notice this: the fast was already over. This gives us what we call a temporal marker, a time identifier. The fast refers to a Jewish holiday known as Yom Kippur. How many of you have heard of Yom Kippur before? Yom Kippur occurs in our calendar year sometime in September or October. If this is indeed the year 60 A.D., as many historians suggest, then we can determine the exact date.

On Wednesday, September 22nd, in the year 60 A.D., Paul, Luke, Aristarchus, Julius, the Roman soldiers, and all the other prisoners—276 of them—were on a boat in port at Fair Havens. The fast had passed, and now, between their departure in mid-August and the end of September, we know from historians and those who study weather patterns of the Mediterranean that it is not a good time to sail. The wind had already been against them, and there they were in Fair Havens, a south-facing port in the Mediterranean Sea. It was not a good place to winter; the waves, tides, and winds created difficult conditions for the boat to remain in port.

Paul advised them, and I find it amazing that this man, with no wealth, no power, and no position—being a prisoner—was given the opportunity to counsel the helmsman of the ship, the owner of the ship, and the Roman centurion. God had given him favor. His counsel was clear: "Men, I perceive that this voyage will end in disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship but also of our lives." That was quite an optimistic outlook.

We need to remember who Paul is. In a letter he had written prior to this event, called Second Corinthians, he mentioned that he had already experienced being shipwrecked three times. This man had some post-traumatic stress disorder; he had been through this before. So, this older man stood up and said, "Listen, guys, I beg you, let's just stay here. It's okay; we don't need to get on that boat. I've been through this before, and it doesn't end well. It's bad. Let's just stay here."

Nevertheless, the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman, the captain of the ship, and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. Because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised setting sail from there, hoping to reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, where they could winter. It was a better harbor. If you look on your map, you will see that from Fair Havens to Phoenix, we are talking about only 35 nautical miles—not a big distance at all.

Thirty-five nautical miles is no big deal. The problem is that the winds have been out of the west the entire time. Contrary to their expectations, they are in a big, unwieldy vessel that cannot maneuver well, so they are stuck in Fair Havens. The captain insists they must get out of there; if they remain stuck for the winter, they are done. They just need to cover thirty-five nautical miles, which is not a big deal. On a clear day, they can practically see their destination. If they can reach it, they will be okay and can stay there for the winter—October, November, December, January, February, March—and then in April, they can go again. This was the practice in those days.

In verse 13, we see that when the south wind blew softly, the conditions changed for the better. Supposing they had obtained their desire, they put out to sea and sailed close by Crete. Here’s the picture: they had been stuck for many days, even weeks, in Fair Havens. The winds were blowing unfavorably from the west, preventing them from reaching their destination. They did not want to stay there, and then one morning, they woke up to find the winds softly blowing from the south. Perfect conditions! They were on the southern tip of Crete and could easily sail over there in a one-day journey. Everything would be good, right? Wrong.

Look at the next verse, verse 14. You might want to underline that in your neighbor's Bible: "But not long after," which would probably be in the middle of the day, a tempestuous headwind arose. The word "tempestuous" in Greek is "typhunicos," meaning hurricane-force winds. This wind was well-known among the seamen who navigated the Mediterranean; they had a name for it. You know it’s bad when the sailors have a name for the wind. This was a Euroclydon. Doesn’t that just sound bad? Euroclydon, like a strong nor'easter—a northeast, typhoon-class wind coming straight down at them from Asia Minor.

The wind had been blowing from the west for a long time, but then it suddenly shifted to the south and quickly changed to a fierce wind from the northeast. In one day, they found themselves in trouble because now the wind was blowing against them.

Into Phoenix, they could not maneuver this big ship to get into port. Point number three on your outline: if there is one thing that we can be certain of in this life, it is that winds change and storms come. But remember, God has purpose even in storms.

When the ship was caught, as stated in verse 15, and could not head into the wind, they let her drive. Running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, or Cauda, they secured the skiff with difficulty. On your map, you cannot see it because it's not on this map, but directly south, 21 and a half nautical miles from the city of Phoenix, is a small six-mile-wide island called Cauda. They were caught by the wind, a northeasterly wind coming down from Asia Minor, blowing against them. They could not go into the port in Phoenix, so they just let it go; they let her drive and allowed the wind to carry them.

Then, they ran under the shelter of this island. The wind was coming from the northeast, and they hoped to use the island as a windbreak to try and secure their things. If you are on a large sailing vessel, you pull behind you a little boat called a skiff or dinghy; it is your last hope if things start to go bad. You do not want that small skiff to take on water because it creates drag, which can actually become a huge problem for you.

The first order of business is to secure the skiff and get it on deck. So, that is what they did; they pulled it in and secured the skiff with difficulty. It was not easy. Once they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship. Not only did they secure the skiff, but the next order of business was to address the stress on the body of the boat. In windy conditions like this, a large wooden vessel with a single mast can break apart.

What they did, apparently in ancient times, was cable the boat. They would put strong ropes underneath the boat and cinch them up to try and bind things together. Here they were, doing everything they possibly could. They used cables to undergird the ship, fearing, as stated in verse 17, lest they should run aground on the Cirtus sands. They struck sail, and so they were driven.

Now, look down on your map in region B4; you see that it says Great Certais.

There are huge sandbanks, even to this day, sandbars kind of like a reef, if you will, of sand that many Roman vessels would be blown into by this Euroclydon. There have been archaeological finds there of many Roman ships that have been destroyed. What would happen is a ship would get stuck in the sand and then be beaten upon by the water and destroyed. The crewmen of this boat would say, "We don't want to end up down there," so they did everything they could. One translation says that they put out a sea anchor to give drag. Here they are, trying to make sure that they don't end up down in the Cirtus sands; it was not a good place to be.

In verse 18, because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. They started getting rid of everything they could. Notice it says they lightened the ship, but then look at this: on the third day, we threw the ship's tackle overboard with our hands. What does this mean? All hands on deck! With 276 men on board the boat, everybody was on deck, getting everything they could that was not necessary off the boat. They ditched it all to try and make it ride higher in the water and lighten the ship.

Now, when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest beat upon us, all hope—notice this—all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. Point number four on your outline: if our hope is in ourselves, God will allow us to become hopeless. Sometimes He allows storms to come for that very purpose. My hope is built on nothing less than Miles Elliott, the Benedictus. If that's the case, storms will come.

There is a great passage of Scripture in the Old Testament that applies to this perfectly. It's found in the Psalms. If you turn to about the middle of your Bible, you'll find the Psalms. There are 150 of them. Turn to the 107th Psalm.

Starting at the 23rd verse of Psalm 107: "Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, they see the works of the Lord and His wonders in the deep. For He commands and raises the stormy wind, which lifts up the waves of the sea. They mount up to the heavens; they go down again to the depths. Their soul melts because of trouble. These helmsmen, these crewmen, their soul melts because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like drunken men; they are at their wit's end.

When they are at their wit's end, then they cry to the Lord in their trouble, and He brings them out of their distress. He calms the storm so that its waves are still. They are glad because they are quiet; so He guides them to their desired haven. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the children of men. If our hope is in ourselves, God will allow us to become hopeless.

Luke continues in Acts 27:21: "But after a long abstinence from food..." Listen, if you're being tempest-tossed, you don't want to eat. After a long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them all. I love the Apostle Paul. He said, "Men, you should have listened to me." He cannot help but give a little "I told you so."

"You should have listened to me when we were in Crete. I said this would happen. You should have listened to me. You're all hungry; we had our wits in, all hope is gone. You should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. Now I urge you, so listen up. I told you before this would happen, so now listen to me."

He's got a little bit of credibility at this point. "Now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship." How could Paul speak with such earnestness? For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve. I love that: the God to whom I belong and whom I serve. This angel stood by me and said, "Do not be afraid."

Now, who do you say "don't be afraid" to those who are afraid? "Don't be afraid." Why? And now God, through an angel, reminds us.

Paul was reminded of something God had already told him in the past. In Acts chapter 23, God told Paul just after he was first arrested and almost killed by a group of angry men, "You have witnessed of Me here in Jerusalem; you will witness of Me in Rome." Now, God reminds him in verse 24, saying, "Do not be afraid, Paul. You must be brought before Caesar, and indeed God has granted all of those who sail with you."

So, Paul says, "Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that He will do just as He has been told to me."

Point number five of your outline: God makes His people beacons in the storm. God wants His people to be bright, shining lights in the storms of this life. Every person, whether they are a Christian or not, experiences storms. We all go through the same things. If you're not a Christian today and you ever hear a pastor or preacher say to you, "If you come to Christ, you won't have any storms," he is a liar. That is not true. Christians and non-Christians go through the same sort of storms and difficulties. The difference is that the Christian has hope in God.

God wants to make His people beacons in the storm, shining as bright lights. Jesus said He wanted His people to be like a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden—a bright light—so that people would see peace, steadfastness, and confidence in the midst of storms. They would see that in us. Paul says, "Take heart, men, for I believe that God will make it happen as He has said."

In verse 26, however, we must run aground on a certain island.

Point number six on your outline: In a storm, sometimes a crash is inevitable. But remember point number two: God uses storms to bring salvation. That is exactly what we are going to see in our study next time as we finish up Acts chapter 27 and go into Acts chapter 28. The very thing that God is going to bring from this storm is salvation.

Today, you may feel tempest-tossed. In fact, you might have come to church today for that very reason. You've never really been a Bible seeker.

I don't really know if you believe in the things of Jesus yet, but you came here today because you're tempest-tossed. You're going through a crisis or a trial, or perhaps you're a Christian and you're in the midst of that storm. Remember this important point: our paths are planned for us. For the Christian, it is true that all things work together for good to them that love God and are called according to His purpose.

Sometimes God directs us into storms, but He directs us Christians into those storms so that we can see His revelation of who He is and His salvation. He directs us into those storms so that if our hope is misplaced and in ourselves, it will be redirected to hope in Him. Through that, we can shine for Him in the storm. Would to God that He would encourage you today if that's the place you are in.

Read ahead in Acts chapter 27; I think you'll be blessed by what you see. We'll study it together next time.

Let's stand together and close in prayer and a song.

Father God, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the fact that these things written 2,000 years ago have application for us right now. There are people standing here who are going through the worst storm they've ever experienced in their lives. I pray, God, that You would help us to recognize and see that even in the midst of that, You have something that You're doing, even if we can't completely understand it or grasp it.

Lord, I pray that we would have a greater revelation of who You are and that we would see Your salvation and shine as lights for You in the midst of it. We ask for this in Jesus' name.

And all God's people said, "Amen."

Amen. Let's sing one last song of praise.