ACTS CHAPTER 27:22-44,
“Shipwrecked On The
By
1.
INTRO
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at Paul as he now was being transferred to Rome to have his appeal heard before
Caesar Nero
1.1.1.
Paul and his company began
to sail from port to port in order to reach Rome
1.1.1.1.They sailed north from Caesaria, which is just a little bit northwest
of
1.1.1.1.1.North to
1.1.1.1.2.West from
1.1.1.1.3.West from
1.1.1.1.4.SW from
1.1.1.1.5.West from Fair Havens into the midst of a huge storm brewing where the
1.1.1.1.5.1.Knowing that to try to resist the wind with their sails would destroy
the ship, the brought down the sails and mast and continued west letting the
storm push them along until they shipwrecked on the island of Malta (as we will
see today)
1.1.2.
We saw in this story how
that for Paul everything in his life was out of his control. He was at the mercy of a Roman centurion who
is charged with taking him to
1.1.2.1.We also saw though that in spite of everything being out of his control
that the Lord brought everyone safely to land
1.1.2.2.The Lord had told Paul that he was to go to
1.1.3.
We saw also that as they
were in the storm for many days and the ship was breaking up that eventually
they begin to take drastic measures to save the ship and their very lives
1.1.4.
Finally, we saw that when
everyone had lost all hope of their being saved they resorted to prayer, and
the Lord answered Paul’s prayer and (as we see in this study) saved every
person’s life on the ship
1.2.
In our study today we are going to see how the Lord rescues Paul and
all onboard as they suffer shipwreck on
the island of Malta in the Mediterranean just south of the peninsula of Italy
1.2.1. The angel of the Lord
appears to Paul in the night and tells him not to fear for he would appear
before Caesar Nero and that God had granted him everyone aboard the ship
1.2.2. Paul told the men on the ship
about the Lord’s appearing to him, and they were encouraged to hold together
and not fear
1.2.3. The Lord does not answer
their prayer for many days however as they continue in the midst of the huge
storm
1.2.4. Finally, they are
shipwrecked on the island of Malta and everyone is saved alive, just as the
Lord had told Paul
2.
VS
27:22-26 - “22 “And
yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there shall be no loss of life
among you, but only of the ship. 23 “For this very night an angel of the God to
whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid,
Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those
who are sailing with you.’ 25 “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I
believe God, that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 “But we must
run aground on a certain island.””
- Paul tells the crew of the vision he
had the night before of an angel of God
2.1.
We ended up our
last study with the section where Paul rebuked the people on the ship and told
them that they ought to have listened to his advice and not sailed in the first
place, saying in essence, “I told you so.”
2.1.1. I mentioned also that I 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.
2.2.
Paul had a vision
in the night where ‘an angel’ appeared to him and told him, ‘Do not be
afraid’. In the Bible we see that man
has a habit of becoming fearful, and that God has a habit of appearing to His
people and telling them not to fear.
2.2.1. A couple of months ago I was down at the national
Calvary Chapel Pastor’s Conference, and I happened to be walking by a couple of
Calvary Chapel pastors who were talking, one of
whom is a friend of mine and lives and pastors very near where the
Columbine shootings occurred in Colorado.
This pastor friend of mine was talking to the other pastor, and the
other pastor asked him if now he was safe where he lived. This pastor friend of mine then asked me
walking by, “Jim, are we safe?” I was
half asleep and not very astute at the time and didn’t really give a very good
answer. I basically said, “No, not in
this world.” But, after that time I
began to think about whether a Christian could ever feel safe in this
world. I came to the conclusion that in
this world there are many things which could happen to us which are out of our
control, and though we may be safer in one part of the country or another,
there are many forces outside of our control which will make this world a place
that will always be unsafe. You could
get in a car accident, have a plane crash into your house, have an escaped
convict break into your house and shoot you, catch some horrible disease, etc.,
etc. However, we as Christians pray to
the Lord often for protection for ourselves and others, and many times we see
our prayers answered as we are protected from or delivered from harm. However, the only time that we shall ever be
safe upon this earth is when we know that our lives are in God’s hands. We have submitted our lives to Christ in faith
and are walking according to His promises, and now we know that whatever comes
into our lives that it has come from the hand of God. Though we may go through difficult times,
trials, and dangerous situations, we know that if we have gone through those times
that the Lord has led us there and that there is a very important reason for us
to go through them. We will never be
safe in this world without the safety that comes from faith in Christ and the
hope that extends beyond this life and world.
If the Lord allows something to happen to us that ends up bringing this
life to an end, we know that the scripture promises that ‘to be absent in the
body is to be face to face with the Lord’.
So, in reality no one and nothing can bring us true lasting harm when our
lives are in the hands of the everlasting God.
2.2.1.1.Psalm 91
talks about how the Lord promises to protect His people who have placed their
lives entirely in His hand, “Security of the One Who Trusts in the
Lord. He who dwells in the shelter of
the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my
fortress, My God, in whom I trust!” 3
For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper, And from the
deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you
with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. 5
You will not be afraid of the terror by night, Or of the arrow that flies by
day; 6 Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, Or of the destruction that
lays waste at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at
your right hand; But it shall not approach you. 8 You will only look on with
your eyes, And see the recompense of the wicked. 9 For you have made the Lord,
my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place. 10 No evil will befall you, Nor will any
plague come near your tent. 11 For He
will give His angels charge concerning you, To guard you in all your ways. 12 They will bear you up in their hands, Lest
you strike your foot against a stone. 13
You will tread upon the lion and cobra, The young lion and the serpent you will
trample down. 14 “Because he has loved
Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will
set him securely on high, because he has known My name. 15 “He will call upon Me, and I will answer
him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him, and honor him. 16 “With a long life I will satisfy him, And
let him behold My salvation.””
2.2.2. We saw in our last study that this huge storm had
continued for many days as day and night in the dark their ship had been beaten
by the wind and waves. It had been
completely dark day and night due to the ferociousness of the storm. We can understand why Paul and company would
have been afraid for their lives and even because they are made of mere flesh,
lose even their hope that God would rescue them.
2.2.3. God’s encouragement in the lives of His children is so
awesome, for He never loses hope for us and never ceases to believe in us as
His children. When the rest of the world
has given up on us, God never gives up on us.
2.2.3.1.Quoting from Isaiah 42, Matthew in Matt. 12:20
reveals that Jesus fulfilled the Messianic promise that He would be One who
would not break off the battered reed nor put out the smoldering wick, “20 “A
battered reed He will not break off, And a smoldering wick He will not put out,
Until He leads justice to victory.””
2.2.3.1.1.If there is any spiritual life or zeal at all in a
believer Jesus will encourage that and fan it to flame for He never gives up on
His children nor ceases to encourage them.
2.2.3.1.2.In Hebrews 7:25 we learn that even today Jesus
is constantly lifting each of His children up in prayer before God the Father,
making intercession for them in the midst of their struggles, “25 Hence,
also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since
He always lives to make intercession for them.”
2.2.3.2.In that great chapter on love in 1 Cor. 13, we read
that ‘love believes all things’ and ‘love hopes all things’, and
we must realize that God who is love is the One who perfectly models all of
those characteristics of love. Thus, we
can trust Him with all of our life.
2.2.3.3.In 1 John 4:18, we read about God having
‘perfect love’ for us, “18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not
perfected in love.”
2.2.3.3.1.God encourages us in this way because His love is not
tainted by anything that is impure, unjust, or selfish. He is perfect in all of His ways, and thus He
loves us with a love that is perfect in every way
2.2.4. Encouraging others is an incredible ministry for us as
Christians as well, and it is really so readily available for us as so many
people all around us need encouraging in their faith, encouragement in
Christ.
2.2.4.1.In the church we need more people like Barnabas who
was known as, ‘the son of encouragement’.
2.3.
The angel gave Paul three promises, all of which we
know came true:
2.3.1. Paul would ‘stand before Caesar’ and witness to him
2.3.2. All of those who were sailing with Paul would also be
spared their lives
2.3.3. They would ‘run aground on a certain island’.
2.4.
The angel
exhorted Paul that as a result of the promises which he was giving him, that he
should keep up his courage since it was assured to him that everything would
turn out just as the angel had told him.
2.5.
As a result of
the promises and exhortation given by Paul from the angel that appeared to him,
he encouraged everyone in the boat to have ‘courage’ because they should also
trust in this Word of God that they would not lose their lives. It appears that they did this for awhile.
3.
VS
27:27-29 - “27 But
when the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven about in the
Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that they were
approaching some land. 28 And they took soundings, and found it to be twenty
fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be
fifteen fathoms. 29 And fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the
rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak.” - On the
fourteenth night after Paul had encouraged everyone the crew threw out anchors
as they discovered they appeared to be running aground
3.1.
Paul’s Word from
the Lord which promised that everyone on the ship would be saved alive was
received by the ship’s crew, however the ship continued to be storm-tossed for
several long days. It appears that the
crew was encouraged through the last several days as a result of the Word from
the Lord which Paul had shared with them , however as time went on their
encouragement was tested.
3.2.
Finally the crew
began to think that though it was still dark and they could not see much, that
they were approaching land. So, they
took soundings and found that the bottom of the sea was getting shallower under
them. Then, in an act of desperation,
they threw 4 anchors over the stern of the ship so that their speed would be
greatly diminished.
3.3.
People of this
world are always looking at our lives as Christians, and if we are being
storm-tossed and losing our own courage and hope in the Lord, then we cannot
expect to be an effective witness for Christ to them. However, if we will weather these storms,
trusting by faith in His promises, then we can be an encouragement to them to
also trust in the Lord with their lives, and even that they should trust in Him
for the salvation of their souls.
3.4.
We see here
in our story that Paul had prayed and that an angel had come and stood beside
him and told him that everything would be ok and that everyone would be
saved. However, the fulfillment of that
answer did not come for several days. I
want us to then think about what we should do when our prayers are not answered
right away?
3.4.1. There are a number of examples in the scripture where
people prayed to the Lord, however God’s answer to their prayer didn’t
materialize for many years:
3.4.1.1.Abraham and Sarah prayed for many scores of years for
a son and it wasn’t until they were over a hundred years old that the Lord
answered their prayer.
3.4.1.1.1.Isaac was definitely worth the wait though for he was
the son of promise through whom the Messiah would come.
3.4.1.2.Zecharias and Elizabeth prayed for a son for many
years before the birth of John the Baptist.
3.4.1.2.1.John was worth the wait for Jesus said of him that of
all who were under the old covenant there were none greater than John the
Baptist, plus he came in the spirit and power of Elijah as the forerunner of
the Messiah.
3.4.1.2.2.Remember also that because of Zecharias’ unbelief when
the angel appeared to him and told him that God had finally answered his
prayers and that he would have a son, that he was made unable to speak until
after the child was born.
3.4.1.3.Simeon and Anna were in the temple and praying for
many years that they would be able to see the Lord’s Messiah and it wasn’t
until their very old age that Jesus was brought to them.
3.4.1.3.1.We read in Luke chapter 2 of what a blessing it was
for them when Jesus was finally brought to them to be blessed.
3.4.1.4.Jacob did not get the blessing from the angel with
whom he wrestled in the night until daybreak.
3.4.2. We shouldn’t panic in desperation in those times as
the people in the boat did in throwing out the 4 anchors to the stern... We mustn’t grow impatient in our waiting upon
the Lord.
3.4.3. When we as Christians pray to the Lord the Lord
answers our prayers according to His perfect will, however we don’t always see
the results of those prayer for quite awhile.
During those times, we must hang in there and trust that the Lord will
either answer our prayer as we prayed, or that He knows a better way and has a
greater purpose in mind for us than that for which we prayed.
3.4.4. Spurgeon
once wrote about why God at times delays answering our prayers, “If thou
hast been knocking at the gate of mercy, and hast received no answer, shall I
tell thee why the mighty Maker hath not opened the door and let thee in? Our Father
has reasons peculiar to himself for thus keeping us waiting. Sometimes it is to
show his power and his sovereignty, that men may know that Jehovah has a right
to give or to withhold. More frequently the delay is for our profit. Thou art
perhaps kept waiting in order that thy desires may be more fervent. God knows
that delay will quicken and increase desire, and that if he keeps thee waiting
thou wilt see thy necessity more clearly, and wilt seek more earnestly; and
that thou wilt prize the mercy all the more for its long tarrying. There may
also be something wrong in thee which has need to be removed, before the joy of
the Lord is given. Perhaps thy views of the Gospel plan are confused, or thou
mayest be placing some little reliance on thyself, instead of trusting simply
and entirely to the Lord Jesus. Or, God makes thee tarry awhile that he may the
more fully display the riches of his grace to thee at last. Thy prayers are all
filed in heaven, and if not immediately answered they are certainly not forgotten,
but in a little while shall be fulfilled to thy delight and satisfaction. Let
not despair make thee silent, but continue instant in earnest supplication.”
3.4.4.1.In Luke 18:1-8, Jesus gave us the promise that
the Lord will not delay to answer our prayers if we will persevere in them, “18:1
Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to
pray and not to lose heart, 2 saying, “There was in a certain city a judge who
did not fear God, and did not respect man. 3 “And there was a widow in that
city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my
opponent.’ 4 “And for a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to
himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this
widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, lest by continually coming
she wear me out.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge *said;
7 now shall not God bring about justice for His elect, who cry to Him day and
night, and will He delay long over them? 8 “I tell you that He will bring about
justice for them speedily. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find
faith on the earth?””
3.4.5. We must always realize that God has infinite knowledge
and that He knows what is best for us, and what His plans are for all mankind,
and thus we must trust our lives into His hands to do what is best for us. That is what He promises to do in the first
place according to Rom. 8:28, “28 And we know that God causes all things
to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called
according to His purpose”.
3.4.6. We
Christians must learn to wait upon the Lord, and, we must always realize that
we must wait upon the Lord’s perfect timing in all aspects of our lives.
3.5.
Non-believers can
only be encouraged by the faith of a Christian for a period of time. If they do not come to faith in Christ as
their own Lord and Savior they will eventually lose all hope as they go through
the storms of life.
4.
VS
27:32-32 - “30 And as
the sailors were trying to escape from the ship, and had let down the ship’s
boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the
bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men
remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut
away the ropes of the ship’s boat, and let it fall away.” - Paul
exhorts the centurion to have his men cut the ropes to the ship’s boat so that
the sailors could not escape on the boat
4.1.
When the ship
appeared to be headed for the rocks, the crew of the ship began to think only
of themselves, and decided to leave the ship via the ship’s boat, and act which
would have left everyone else on the ship doomed to die with no one to
commandeer the ship.
4.2.
Again we see Paul
as being the one who is in control of the situation... I mentioned in the last study that 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.
4.2.1. Now in this situation, Paul tells the Roman centurion
holding him prisoner that he must not let the soldiers escape the ship if they
are to be saved..
4.3.
Paul recognized
that the sailors were planning to leave the ship on the ship’s boat under the
pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, and he told the Roman centurion
about it, and the fact that unless the men remained in the ship that everyone
else would be doomed, and therefore, at the centurion’s command the soldiers
‘cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat, and let it fall away’.
4.3.1. This may have been a rash act, since the ship’s boat
could have been used for a rescue landing, however it ended up saving
everyone’s life.
4.4.
We could ask
the question of how it could be that the Lord promised to Paul that all upon
the ship would be saved, and yet that now Paul told the Roman centurion that
unless the sailors stayed in the ship that everyone could not be saved?
4.4.1. Though we may be walking in faith and trusting God to
answer our prayers, we are not called to be impractical, or foolish. Paul knew that the ship could not be guided
without the soldiers who were planning an escape, therefore if the soldiers
left the ship everyone else would be totally helpless.
4.4.1.1.God’s people can sometimes do some foolish things
because they think that trusting in God is inconsistent with using discernment
and wisdom.
4.4.1.1.1.For instance, in the last several years I have seen
some Christian groups swallow some pretty unbelievable things that they have
been taught were the moving of God’s Spirit, the latest wave of the
Spirit.
4.4.2. God used Paul’s wisdom and intervention to keep the
men from leaving the ship, and God fulfilled His word to keep everyone alive
and intact through the ordeal.
4.5.
We must
make the choice to trust God during the storms of our life. If we remember
anything from a message like this it is that when we are in the midst of our
storms, and though it may not seem like it, we always have the choice of
whether or not we will place our trust in God’s Word and promises to us, or
not.
4.5.1. Jesus often rebuked the disciples for their lack of
faith, and He did so because God expects us to make the choice to trust Him in
the midst of our trials and struggles.
4.6.
If a
non-Christian does not act upon the Word of God and trust Christ to be his
personal Lord and Savior, then he or she shall suffer shipwreck of the soul and
spend eternity away from the presence of the Lord.
5.
VS
27:33-36 - “33 And
until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some
food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching
and going without eating, having taken nothing. 34 “Therefore I encourage you
to take some food, for this is for your preservation; for not a hair from the
head of any of you shall perish.” 35 And having said this, he took bread and
gave thanks to God in the presence of all; and he broke it and began to eat. 36
And all of them were encouraged, and they themselves also took food.” - Paul
encouraged the men to take some food so that they would not faint
5.1.
The ship’s crew
was constantly ‘watching’ for land and reefs, and doing everything physically
that they could do to keep the ship afloat.
It is not that they did not eat anything for fourteen days, for they
would have been too ill to work and may have died if this were the case,
rather, they just had not really concentrated upon trying to eat any kind of a
decent meal through these days. Paul
encouraged them to take their minds off of the ship and its condition and eat a
good meal.
5.2.
Paul told them
that the reason that they could relax, take their minds off of the task at
hand, and eat was that ‘not a hair from the head of any of you shall perish’.
5.3.
Paul publicly
demonstrated his trust and faith in God by taking the bread and giving thanks
to God, and then eating it. As a result
of Paul’s example, everyone else was encouraged to eat a good meal as well.
5.4.
We Christians
must be careful to take good care of our bodies. We must not neglect our health for the sake
of our ministries, for this will only end up in the long run shortening our
ability to minister.
5.5.
When
we Christians are being storm-tossed, it is a great help to us to get our minds
off of ourselves and our situation, and think about others and find ways to
help and minister to them. Ministering
to others is always effective also in performing our own healing from our past
sufferings, grief, and failures.
5.6.
In Paul telling
the people of the ship that not a hair from their head would perish, I am
reminded of Jesus’ words to the disciples in Luke 12:7, “7 “Indeed, the
very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are of more value
than many sparrows””.
5.6.1. In saying this to the disciples, Jesus was telling
them that they did not need to worry about how that the Lord would meet any of
their needs because He is completely in control of everything that occurs in
life, since that He is omniscient.
Therefore we need to realize that nothing is too hard for the Lord to
do.
6.
VS
27:37-38 - “37 And
all of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six persons. 38 And when
they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat
into the sea.” - Everyone began to lighten the ship by
throwing everything that the could out of it
6.1.
In keeping with
his meticulous account in the book of Acts, Luke records exactly the number of
persons there were in the boat, 276.
6.2.
After eating the
meal, they began to throw the ‘wheat’, which was their real cargo, into the
sea.
7.
VS
27:39-41 - “39 And
when day came, they could not recognize the land; but they did observe a
certain bay with a beach, and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they
could. 40 And casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the
same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders, and hoisting the
foresail to the wind, they were heading for the beach. 41 But striking a reef
where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the prow stuck fast and
remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the
waves.” - The ship is run aground and begins to break
up
7.1.
The crew resolved
to try to run the ship into a bay which they spotted on the land that they
could see as the sun came up. They cast
the 4 anchors dragging behind into the sea, loosened the ropes holding the
rudders straight, hoisted up the one foresail, and tried to steer the ship just
enough to enter the bay where they could possibly save the ship. However, the ship struck a reef and ran
aground. Then, the stern of the ship
began to come apart because of the ‘force of the waves’.
8.
VS
27:42-44 - “42 And
the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, that none of them should swim
away and escape; 43 but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through,
kept them from their intention, and commanded that those who could swim should
jump overboard first and get to land, 44 and the rest should follow, some on
planks, and others on various things from the ship. And thus it happened that
they all were brought safely to land.” - The soldiers thought they
should just kill the prisoners rather than let them escape, but the centurion
was determined to get Paul safe to
8.1.
If a Roman
prisoner escaped, the soldiers in their charge would suffer the death sentence,
so the soldiers planned to kill all of the prisoners, however the Lord used the
Roman centurion to uncover their plan and kept them from carrying it out.
8.2.
Everyone jumped
overboard, but first those ones who
could swim jumped over and swam to the shore.
Then the rest jumped overboard and floated on planks and whatever they
could find until they reached the shore.
Thus, everyone’s’ live was saved just as the angel of the Lord had
promised to Paul.
8.3.
This
story shows us that God always comes through for His people. When we trust in Him, though we may go
through the storms of life and they may be huge and terrifying, God reveals to
us that He is greater than those storms.
He uses those storms to perfect the work that He is doing in our lives
and to build us up in our lives so that we in turn can then go and encourage
others in their storms with the encouragement that He encouraged us