ACTS CHAPTER 27:1-21, “Paul
Sails Towards
By
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at the second part of Paul’s testimony before King Agrippa
1.1.1.
Paul told King Agrippa about
how that the Lord had appointed him a minister and a witness and sent him out
1.1.2.
Paul then told King Agrippa
about his calling to go to the Gentiles with the gospel message
1.1.3.
Paul told King Agrippa that
the gospel message turns people from darkness to light and from the dominion of
Satan to God
1.1.4.
Paul told King Agrippa that
he was to preach repentence towards God
1.1.5.
Paul told King Agrippa that
he has been called to preached to all, both the small and the great
1.1.6.
Paul then made it personal
and asked King Agrippa if he believed the Old Testament prophets
1.2.
In our study today we are
going to look at Paul as he now is being transferred to Rome to have his appeal
heard before Caesar Nero
1.2.1.
Paul and his company begin
to sail from port to port in order to reach Rome, however their trip ends up
eventually taking them into the midst of a huge storm at sea and they are
ship-wrecked
1.2.2.
We see in this story how
that Paul is really at the mercy of a Roman centurion who is charged with
taking him to Rome and a ship captain who takes an unnecessary risk and against
Paul’s advice sails right into a huge storm
1.2.3.
We see here that as they are
in the storm for many days and the ship is breaking up that eventually they
begin to take drastic measures to save the ship and their very lives
1.2.4.
Finally, we see that
everyone has lost all hope of their being saved, and they resort to prayer
2.
VS 27:1 - “27:1 And when it was decided
that we should sail for
2.1.
We notice in
this very first verse of chapter 27 that we again see the ‘we’ word begin to be
used, and this is because Luke, the author of this book, now rejoins Paul and
along with Aristarchus, accompanies him to
2.1.1.
The Lord must
have worked in the life of the Roman officials in order for them to allow Paul
the accompaniment of these men who desired to personally minister to Paul
during his journey and imprisonment.
2.2.
Julius, the
centurion of the Augustan cohort, was responsible to transport Paul to
2.3.
In chapter 27
of Acts, we as Christians are faced with looking at many things which parallel
the struggles in our lives. This chapter
deals with Paul during his journey by sea to
2.4.
As we look at
chapter 27, we do not want to get too caught up in the details of maritime ship
routes, how to sail a ship, or seasonal weather patterns in the middle east. Rather,
we want to see what lessons we can apply to our life from this chapter. We are going to concentrate on looking at the
many parallels in our life to the lessons learned by Paul at sea in this
chapter.
2.5.
As we look at
Paul’s journey at sea, we are reminded of the many analogies with which our
culture relates maritime events to real events in one’s life as a Christian.
2.5.1.
There are
many terms that we use referring to things that go on in our life that have
their roots in mariner’s terms. For instance we talk about:
2.5.1.1.‘sailing’ or ‘cruising’ through a test
at school
2.5.1.2.‘not rocking the boat‘ at work
2.5.1.3.‘keeping afloat’ financially
2.5.1.4.deciding whether or not to ‘bail out‘ of the PTA
committee
2.5.1.5.not letting your special project ‘suffer shipwreck’
2.5.1.6.the ‘storms and
seas of life’
2.5.1.7.Etc.
2.5.2.
All of these
terms apply to lessons we might learn from this trial at sea for Paul and his
company.
2.5.3. There are times in our life as Christians where as the
Lord is directing us our own boat ends up going into incredible storms.
2.5.3.1.Sometimes our own choices that we make when not
trusting in Christ bring these things on us, and other times God just allows us
to go through them in order to teach us lessons and mold us more into the image
of Christ.
2.5.4.
God allows us to go into the stormy seas and we try to
handle the situation in our own strength, and just sail through them, but God
designs these storms in such a way that they test what our very being (ship) is
made of. We begin to realize that we are
in a huge predicament and that drastic measures are called for and we begin to
cut down the mast and sails which we erected to direct us the way ‘we’ wanted
to go, and we begin to jettison them and the excess baggage and furniture that
we have been carrying around which is causing our ship to list badly. All this only serves to lessen the problem,
not remove it. Next, we try to fix our
own boat and we do like the crew on Paul’s ship, we try to put undergirding
cables around our boat to hold it together, but that fails. We can’t fix ourselves or our problems or
lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps, for humanism is flawed not taking into
account the sinfulness of a fallen race.
Finally, when all else has failed we cry out to the Lord in prayer to
rescue us, but the Lord cannot rescue us until we are (our ship is) broken. We have to be broken before we are rescued,
and yet this is hard to do because for so many years we have held on so tightly
to our ship. After we have finally
brought everything to prayer, we find God answers every prayer of faith that
His children pray, and none perish, no not one, for the Lord has made an oath
to be with us and never to leave. He
answers our prayers prayed in faith.
2.5.5.
We see here that after everyone has lost all hope of
being saved, but it is the prayers of the apostle Paul that end up saving
everyone’s life
3.
VS 27:2 - “2 And embarking
in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to
the regions along the coast of
3.1.
In this
verse, Luke introduces Aristarchus, who would personally minister to Paul
during his imprisonment. He was from the
city of
4.
VS 27:3 - “3 And the
next day we put in at
4.1.
They moored
the ship at the city of
5.
VS 27:4-6 - “4 And
from there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of
5.1.
Many years
ago a society of Scottish free-thinkers decided that they wanted to disprove
the Bible, and they thought that careful study of the accounts in the book of
Acts concerning Paul’s journeys at sea would be a good place to find
inaccuracies of detail that would help disprove it. So, they asked a man named Sir Wm Ramsey to
study the ancient shipping routes that Paul took, as well as the descriptions
of the accounts at sea recorded by Luke, author of the book of Acts. What Mr Ramsey
discovered however was that everything which Luke described was completely
accurate concerning what occurred in the shipping routes and manner of sailing
in Paul’s day. Furthermore, Mr. Ramsey
became a Christian as a result and later went on to write some Christian
apologetic books.
5.2.
Again, for my
purposes I am not going to get too involved in the maritime details of this
chapter except where they relate to the things that lend themselves to seeing
the testimony and character of Paul during this journey.
6.
VS 27:7-8 - “7 And
when we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived
off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the
shelter of Crete, off Salmone; 8 and with difficulty
sailing past it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near which was
the city of Lasea.” - Paul and
company sail from place to place and end up at a place called Fair Havens
6.1.
Paul’s ship
sailed ‘a good many days, and with difficulty’, and they found themselves off
of ‘Cnidus’, and since the wind wouldn’t allow them to continue any further in
their present course, they began to sail on the other side of ‘Crete’ away from
the wind. They finally ended up at a
place called ‘Fair Havens’, near the city of ‘Lasea’.
6.2.
We Christians
need to realize that sometimes we do not seem to be making very much progress
in any direction, yet we are still just where the Lord wants us to be, and
therefore we should just learn to rest in the Lord and wait for Him to lead us
to where He wants to take us next. We
ought to do as the Psalmist said in Ps. 46:10, “Cease
striving and know that I am God“.
6.3.
We Christians
must also learn the lesson that Paul had learned, and that is to be content in
whatever situation we are in, as we rest in the Lord and wait upon Him.
7.
VS
27:9-13 - “9 And
when considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even
the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, 10 and said to them,
“Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be attended with damage and
great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the
captain of the ship, than by what was being said by Paul. 12 And because the
harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to put
out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach
7.1.
Some have
suggested that the ‘considerable time’ of harboring at Fair Havens mentioned
here might have been a week to two weeks in duration.
7.2.
The ‘fast’
mentioned here is the fast associated with the Day of Atonement, which the Jews
celebrated. They would do no work during
this period of time.
7.3.
I personally
believe that the reason that Paul spoke up and was so vocal during this journey
at sea was that he had considerable experience upon the seas. Some have speculated that the chronology of
events of Paul’s life, from Acts as well as his letters, would suggest that he
would have been ship wrecked twice prior to the events of chapter 27. Knowing the personality of Paul, I would
think that he probably had learned a great deal about the art of sailing from
his past journeys, and therefore he spoke up at this point as somewhat of a
maritime expert of his own right.
7.4.
I think that
we have to come to the conclusion that Paul used his own wisdom in warning
these people of the impending danger if they were to continue to try to
sail. This is because he said that if
they sailed they would lose their own lives, and we know that they in fact did
sail yet not a single life was lost. If
Paul had spoken by divine revelation in warning them, then they would have all
died after sailing out.
7.5.
The centurion
who was in charge of bringing Paul and the other prisoners on the boat to Rome,
was more persuaded as to what to do by listening to the captain and pilot of
the ship, than by listening to Paul.
7.6.
Because Fair
Havens was not really set up to be a place to put into for the winter, ‘the
majority’ came to a decision to try to sail and reach the
7.6.1.
This decision
brings to my mind Prov. 3:5-6 which teaches that we need to not lean on
our own understanding but in all of our ways acknowledge the Lord, “5Trust
in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. ”
7.6.1.1.Leaning on our own understanding instead of looking to
the Lord in all things gets us into lots of difficulties in life.
7.7.
This little
trip to Fair Havens would have been achieved in a short duration under
favorable circumstances.
7.8.
When it
looked like they had a favorable south wind that was moderate, they set sail
for
7.9.
Often times,
as happened to Paul, we Christians end up in the situation of suffering because
of the decisions that someone who is in authority over us has made. However, as also happened to Paul, we need to
realize that God will work everything out for good and will fulfill His plan
for our lives in spite of the decisions made by others over our lives.
7.10.
My wife told
me of a quote that she had heard many years ago about the need for seeking the
Lord early rather than late. It went
like this, “It is too bad that many times prayer is our last recourse
when it should be our first resource”.
7.10.1.Paul and crew end up praying during the storm that
they end up in at sea, however it appears that the primary focus on prayer was
after they had lost all hope.
7.10.2.How needlessly we suffer many times because we don’t
go to the Lord early and often rather than when we are now in a huge crisis and
God is our only hope.
8.
VS
27:14 - “14 But before very long there rushed
down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo;” - As Paul and
company were at sea a violent wind rushed down upon them
8.1.
This wind was
what is known as a ‘northeaster’, and it was a very big storm by which they
were blown for many days, and, eventually they ended up about 500 miles off
course.
8.2.
A few weeks
ago I watched on television a documentary on storms on the
9.
VS 27:15-16 - “15 and
when the ship was caught in it, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it,
and let ourselves be driven along. 16 And running under the shelter of a small
island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get
the ship’s boat under control.”
- They could not resist the wind any
longer so they had to give in to it and let it drive them along
9.1.
Once the
northeaster wind hit the ship, they had no choice but to let the wind blow the
ship wherever it would. Luke records
that they sailed under the shelter of an island called ‘Clauda’,
and that by sailing on the other side of the island from the direction of the
wind they were barely able to keep the boat which was towed behind the ship
under control.
10.
VS
27:17 - “17 And after they had hoisted it up,
they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they
might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let
down the sea anchor, and so let themselves be driven along.” - They used
supporting cables to undergird the ship, then put down the anchor and let the
wind drive them along
10.1.
They ended up
hoisting the boat, which was normally towed behind the ship, up on top of the
ship.
10.2.
They took
some ‘supporting cables’ and wrapped them tightly around the underneath of the
ship in order to keep the planks of the ship from coming apart. Wrapping ropes around the bottom of ships in
order to give them this undergirding strength was a common practice in Paul’s
day.
10.3.
In order to
keep themselves from running aground somewhere around
‘Syrtis’, they threw the ship’s anchor over the stern
and let it drag behind the ship. This
slowed down their speed and helped them to get some control of the ship.
10.4. As was mentioned earlier, many times we Christians can
try to undergird ourselves as we try to fix our own problems, clean up our own
life, or turn to other sources for help other than the Lord. But it is always fruitless to not look to the
Lord for help.
11.
VS 27:18-19 - “18 The
next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the
cargo; 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with
their own hands.” - Being violently storm-tossed, they began to
jettison anything that wasn’t essential to lessen the weight in the ship
11.1.
Any extra
weight in the ship caused it to be top heavy and thus be blown over so much
more easily, and so the crew began to think of things that they could throw
overboard to lighten their load.
11.1.1.First, they threw ‘the cargo’ overboard, which might
have included the passengers’ personal belongings and baggage.
11.1.2.Then, three days later they began to throw ‘the ship’s
tackle’, or mast, sail, and furniture, overboard.
11.2.
One of the
things that the Lord uses the storms of life to reveal to us is that there is
excess baggage in our life that is hindering us in our relationship with Him,
keeping us from the peace and joy which He gives when we walk with Him. Thus, the Christian life often involves
periods of ‘jettisoning our cargo’, an action which can involve many different
things in different peoples’ lives.
11.2.1.Paul wrote about getting rid of excess baggage in our
Christian walk in Heb. 12:1-2, “12:1 Therefore, since we have so great a
cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and
the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race
that is set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God”.
11.2.2.Some of the things that the Lord wants us to
‘jettison’ from our lives are stuff that is not sinful in and of itself, it is just stuff that keeps us from having an
eternal prospective, and from fulfilling the things He wants us to do in our
life each day. Sometimes we can get
ourselves involved in many little projects or activities that the Lord has not
led us to be involved in. We need to
assess the day to day little projects and activities in our life and see
whether or not these are things that the Lord really is leading us to be
involved in, and whether or not these things are keeping us from being where
the Lord wants us to be.
11.2.3.God must be the number one priority in our lives as
Christians. We must also make it a
priority to be with the assembly of the body of Christ when they come together
to meet. Paul wrote in Heb. 10:23-25,
“23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who
promised is faithful; 24 and let us consider how to stimulate one another to
love and good deeds, 25 not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the
habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more, as you see the
day drawing near”.
11.2.4.We must also make it a priority to spend time with the
Lord every single day of our life.
11.2.4.1.We need to set as a priority over all else in our life
each day that we will give the Lord at least 20 minutes each day where we let
Him speak to us through His Word, and then we pray to Him for the things that He
brings to our mind concerning the people in our life and the needs and
activities of that day.
11.2.5.Inevitably, whenever someone shares with me that they
have lost their peace and are really struggling in their faith, I discover that
they have not been in the habit of spending time with the Lord each day.
12.
VS
27:19 - “20 And since neither sun nor stars
appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all
hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.” - Everyone
onboard the ship finally lost all hope of getting out of the storm alive
12.1.
Paul and
company now found themselves in a very dark place, and we can only imagine how
frightening it must have been, for we read that for many days the sun neither
shined nor did the stars appear.
12.1.1.Sometimes in our Christian walk as we are following
the Lord we end up walking into a very dark place. In that place we too can end up losing our
hope, but when we seek the Lord in those times He reminds us that “nothing
shall be impossible to the Lord.”
12.2.
The crew
eventually gave up any hope that they would ever make it out through the storm
alive. From the use of the word ‘we’, Paul and the entire
company had begun to doubt whether or not they would live through this
storm-tossed voyage.
12.2.1.The fact that the Lord appears to Paul in the latter
part of this chapter and tells him not to fear is evidence that he had begun to
entertain fear in his life.
12.2.2.If Paul were to have thought back to when the Lord
told him that He was sending him to Rome to be a witness there (Acts 23:11),
then he should not have been fearful or doubting as to whether or not he would
live through this boat ride.
12.2.3.Several years ago my wife found a plaque in a
Christian bookstore that had inscribed on it some words which I have often
thought of during the tumultuous times in my life and experience as a
Christian. The plaque read as follows, “When
the child of God finds himself in the storms of life and prays, sometimes the
Lord calms the storm around His child, and at other times He calms the storm
within His child”.
12.2.3.1.Sometimes we pray and yet the storm that is all around
us and engulfing us doesn’t go away, in fact it may get worse. However, the Lord can give us His peace and
calm to go through that storm if we will just look to Him in it.
12.3.
We Christians
all reach times where it seems hopeless for us in our life. We look at the circumstances in our lives,
and we cannot see a way that the Lord will be able to deliver us from our
difficulties, or fulfill the promises that He has made for our lives. It
appears to our senses sometimes that God has even abandoned us, and that our
lives are just going to be lived out in misery and vanity.
12.3.1.It often appears that there is no way that we are
going to
12.3.1.1.be able to get out of debt;
12.3.1.2.have our marriage problems get ironed out;
12.3.1.3.have our children turn out to be good and God-fearing
people;
12.3.1.4.have our ministries ever get off the ground;
12.3.1.5.that we are ever going to be able to break some of
those habits that we know that the Lord wants us to stop;
12.3.1.6.etc.
12.3.2.However, during those times of testing we must hold on
tightly to the promises of God which He has given us in His Word.
12.4.
We Christians
must learn to look to the Lord to sustain us, and not just in the day of
calamity, but everyday. We must go to
His Word and let Him speak to us through His promises. Then, in order that we remember what He has
shown to us in our quiet times, we should write down what He has spoken to us
about from His Word. We will need to
remember those things when we find ourselves getting “storm-tossed”.
13.
VS 27:21 - “21 And
when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst
and said, “Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail
from
13.1.
In the book
of Acts, we see that no matter who Paul appears before, or to whatever
circumstance he falls into, he ends up taking charge. When he appeared before Felix, Porcius Festus, and even King Herod Agrippa, it soon turned
out that Paul took command of the situation and that he was the one who ended
up placing them under trial. Now in this
situation, Paul takes command of the situation and tells the Roman centurion
and the ship’s pilot what they ought to be doing, and, they end up following
his advice.
13.2.
Paul first
rebukes them gently for not following his advice about not setting out on this
journey in the first place.
13.3.
Whenever we
have these times when our feelings and senses are causing us to feel hopeless,
we need to keep our eyes focused upon Jesus and the promises which He in His
Word has given to us.
13.4.
When the
people of this world lose hope, then we as Christians must take the initiative
to share with them that “hope”, or “confident expectation”, which we have
because of our salvation and the promises which He has given to us in His
Word. When the people that the Lord has
brought into our life lose their hope, then we have been given a “divine
appointment” with them, which we must take advantage of.
13.4.1. Often times I find that when those windows of
opportunity to witness to others open up, they must be taken advantage of right
away because they close up very fast. We
Christians must then be prayed up and prepared to take advantage of those
opportunities, and not let them slip through our hands. Many times when people have shared with me
their hopelessness, I have to confess that I have had my own eyes so much on
myself and my difficulties instead of the Lord that I have cracked a joke or
given the person some glib response that actually made their despair even
greater. We need to be always ready to
give a defense of the hope that is within us!