Acts  Sermon Series

Wheelersburg Baptist Church 11/9/03 Brad Brandt

Acts 27 "Seeing God in the Storms of Life"**

What’s the worst storm you’ve ever experienced? I think of June 1998. Sherry, the girls, and I were spending the night near Sioux Falls, on the east side of South Dakota, the second night of a three week cross country camping trip. I don’t even remember the name of the campground. We all remember what happened that night.

The air was quiet when we turned the light out and dozed off. It wasn’t long, however, before we were awakened by the elements. The rain came first, and that livened things up but at least we stayed dry. Then came the wind. I mean wind. Our pop-up camper shifted violently back and forth.

The next thing I knew Sherry and the girls were preparing to leave. "Where are you going?" I asked. "To the van," my wife returned. To which I said words I have lived to regret, "You can’t leave. We need all of our weight in the camper so it doesn’t blow over." Needless to say, I alone stayed in the camper! The next day we heard the radio report that a killer tornado had passed through the area.

Storms can terrify us. Storms can also teach us. Many of our hymns use storm imagery to communicate biblical truth. Haldor Lillenas wrote:

This morning we’re going to experience a storm vicariously by pondering the description given by Luke of the tempest that Paul endured in Acts 27. I’ve never experienced a storm at sea, but some say that no storm is more petrifying.

Acts 27 reads like a journal with a story-line that will grip your imagination.

A Scotsman by the name of James Smith lived in various parts of the Mediterranean world and investigated its weather patterns and geography. He recorded his findings in The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul. He concluded that the person who wrote Acts 27 was an eyewitness but not a sailor: "No sailor would have written in a style so little like that of a sailor; no man not a sailor could have written a narrative of a sea voyage so consistent in all its parts, unless from actual observation."

The author of Acts, Luke, certainly fits the bill. He was with Paul on this trip, but was a doctor, not a sailor.

I want to tell you right up front what we’re looking for in this study. This won’t be merely a study in meteorology, but in theology. We’re going to look at this storm in order to learn about God. That’s what we should do with any storm that moves into our lives. We can discover three important lessons about God in the storms of life, as demonstrated in Acts 27.

No one is exempt from difficulties in life, including (I should say especially) Christians. Paul certainly wasn’t. In Acts 21 he was arrested for a crime he didn’t commit and forced to go to prison. He made four court appearances—before the Jewish Sanhedrin, Roman governors Felix and Festus, and finally before King Agrippa—but none of these leaders used their power to set him free. After more than two years of incarceration, he appealed to Caesar in the summer of A.D. 59. It’s here our story begins.

A. Paul headed for Rome (1-2). "When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us."

Who accompanied Paul en route to Rome? There was a centurion named Julius. There were other unnamed prisoners. There was the ship’s crew.

Note the term "we" again. We haven’t seen "we" in the Acts narrative since 21:18, but apparently Luke has rejoined Paul. Some feel he was with Paul in Caesarea during the two year imprisonment.

Aristarchus also made the trip. This friend of Luke was part of Paul’s team that took the benevolent offering to Jerusalem two years prior (20:4).

And so the journey began. The ship left Caesarea and headed for Asia Minor where it would land and where the passengers would board another vessel heading for Rome.

B. Paul headed into trouble (3-12). Luke mentions two dilemmas in verses 3-12.

1. There was stubborn wind (3-8). "The next day we landed at Sidon [the ship made 70 miles that first day; the smooth sailing didn’t last for long]; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs [This says something about Julius—he was a decent man; And about Paul—he had a winsome reputation—is that true of you? What kind of first impression do you make on people?] . From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us [there’s the first indication of trouble, but it won’t be the last; note all the terms Luke uses to emphasize hardship in this chapter; instead of heading west the ship is forced to follow the coastline northward—note the map]. When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia."

Apparently, that was the final destination for the first ship, so the travelers departed and searched for alternate travel westward. Let’s continue at verse 6, "There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus [note it took "many" days to make the 130 mile jaunt from Myra to Cnidus; remember they made it 70 miles the first day alone]. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea."

Notice Luke’s emphasis in that final statement. "We moved along with difficulty." Some extrabiblical information can help us appreciate just how difficult it was.

The prevailing wind at this time of the year was the west wind, which made a trip to the west quite challenging. Consequently, a sailing vessel had to employ a zigzag course. To complicate matters worse, consider these characteristics about the ship. At Myra they switched boats and boarded a vessel from Alexandria, Egypt which was bound for Rome. Barclay comments, "She would be a corn ship, for Egypt was the granary of Italy. If we look at the map we can see what a long way round she had to take; but the strong west winds made the direct journey impossible."

This was no small bass boat, either. A corn ship could be as large as 140 feet long and 36 feet wide. It was ideal for moving grain. It wasn’t ideal for enduring storms, however. It had no rudder like modern ships, but was steered with two great paddles coming out from the stern on each side—that meant this ship was hard to maneuver. Furthermore, there was only one mast and on that mast a large, square sail, sometimes made of linen and at other times of stitched hides. And don’t miss this. With that kind of sail the ship couldn’t sail into the wind.

Now we can appreciate more fully Luke’s observation, "We moved along with difficulty." The stubborn wind was certainly problematic. There was a second dilemma.

2. There were stubborn people (9-12). Verse 9—"Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast."

The danger zone for sea travel on the Mediterranean runs from mid-September through mid-November. After that, travel on the open sea ceased until winter was over. Luke makes it clear is was already after "the Fast," referring to the Day of Atonement, which in A.D. 59 fell on October 5.

Luke continues in verse 9, "So Paul warned them, ‘Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.’ But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest."

You may wonder why the centurion would even include a prisoner like Paul in this discussion. Paul was more than a prisoner. He was an experienced sea traveler. In fact, he’d been through severe storms prior to the one in Acts 27. 2 Corinthians 11:25 says he was shipwrecked, not once, not twice, but three times—and on one of these spent 24 hours clinging to a plank in the open sea until he was picked up or washed ashore.

Whether from direct revelation or from his previous sailing experience, we’re not told, but Paul made it clear that the ship would face great danger if it continued. His was a lone voice.

Fair Havens is a misnomer, for it wasn’t a "fair" place. James Boice suggests, "It must have been named by the Chamber of Commerce to try to get people to visit it." The crew said ‘no way’ to spending the winter in Fair Havens (not enough action in this town to suit the sailors). They proposed going another 40 miles to the port of Phoenix on the southern coast of Crete.

The centurion ignored Paul’s advice, choosing to follow the opinions of the pilot and ship owner. Time lost is money lost.

So ends the first scene, a scene marked by difficulties. You may be thinking, "I thought you said God uses difficulties. I don’t see God working in this story." Just wait.

And disaster is what the ship sailed into in scene 2.

Keep this thought in mind as we read the following account. Times of crisis expose us. They reveal the truth about us. There’s a marked contrast demonstrated in scene 2. We see two very different responses to crisis.

A. Here’s how the world responds to crisis. The sailors’ response to the storm illustrates the world’s response. This is how the person who doesn’t know Christ reacts when a storm hits his life. This is what you will do if the Lord is not real in your life. You’ll exhibit nine reactions.

1. Ignore the warning signs (11). That’s what they did in scene 1 when Paul cautioned them against further travel. "Ah, we can make it!" they said. Motivated by their greed and self-gratification, they denied the warning. The second reaction is related.

2. Convince yourself you can handle it (12). Who’s afraid of a little bad weather? We’re experienced sailors! We’re not afraid. We can handle it!

3. Try to make the best of a bad situation (13-17). "When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete."

I can just hear the pilot and crew with their smug, "We told you so, Paul." Their tune soon changed.

Verse 14—"Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along."

Meteorologists call this a perfect storm. Violent fronts collided and caused hurricane-force winds and gigantic waves. The crew did all it could to keep the boat afloat. They wrapped ropes around the hull so the vessel wouldn’t tear apart. They couldn’t fight the wind, so they gave way to it and launched out of control into the open sea.

You’ll notice Luke uses the term "we" in verse 16 in reference to who made the lifeboat secure. F. F. Bruce writes, "There were certain jobs which only trained members of the crew could carry out, but any landlubber could haul on a rope, and some of the passengers were pressed into service. ‘With difficulty,’ Luke says, probably remembering his blisters!"

4. Take drastic measures (18-19). "We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands."

Now those are drastic measures. When sailors of their own free will pick up their cargo and throw it into the sea, it’s bad—that’s their source of income. But when they toss their tackle overboard, it’s an act of desperation. But if you don’t know the Lord, that’s the best you can do, namely, do the best you can do. People of the world have no one to turn to but themselves. After that reaction comes this…

5. Lose hope (20). "When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved." Luke says the clouds were so thick that for day after day after day neither the sun nor the night stars could penetrate the darkness.

Have you ever lost hope? Crisis can do that to a person. And this…

6. Stop eating (21a). Verse 21 begins with this simple statement, "After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up…"

You say, "Why didn’t they eat?" Have you ever been seasick? Kent Hughes says he once heard of a woman who became seasick while on a day-long sport fishing boat. The lady staggered to the captain, held out the keys to her new car, and said he could have it if he would just turn around.

Multiply that by at least one hundred. These men had spent multiple days and nights in hazardous conditions, on a rocking boat, soaked by the rain. They had no time to stop and prepare food, and most of their supplies were no doubt drenched. Eating is the last thing on your mind when death stares at you.

Let’s skip Paul’s speech in verses 21-26 momentarily, and notice a seventh reaction.

7. Pray (27-29). "On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight."

Sailors are typically known for a different kind of vocabulary than prayer. You know the situation is severe when sin-hardened men pray. These sailors have survived 14 days of terror—and there’s no mention of prayer. But once they realized they were approaching land in darkness without means to steer clear of rocks that would take them to the bottom, they’d reached the limit. They dropped their anchors and prayed.

It’s interesting to see what it takes to get people to pray. The dreaded "C-word" from the doctor, a broken relationship, a wayward child—that brings the Lord’s name to some people’s lips for the first time in years. Our nation started praying after 9-11, but for most it didn’t last. Nor would it for these sailors.

Know this. Prayer in a crisis is no guarantee of true repentance. It often means simply, "I don’t like what’s happening in my life. I want it to be different. Please make it different, God." But they define what different means. They really don’t want what God wants for their lives. They still want what they want.

Beloved, God didn’t send His Son into the world merely to patch up our lives. Jesus died on the cross to save us both from our sins and ourselves. To be saved you must believe in Him and surrender the controls of your life to Him. That’s the prayer that will bring salvation to your life, not a "Give me what I want, God!" prayer, but a prayer of true repentance and faith. Here’s another common reaction to crisis by non-Christians.

8. If you can save yourself, do it (30-32). "In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away."

Apart from God’s grace, there’s one subject on our minds in crisis. It’s self. Think of yourself. Do whatever it takes to take care of yourself. If there’s only enough room in the lifeboat for ten out of 276, I’ll do whatever it takes to be one of them.

I see one final reaction illustrated in the story. Crisis can help us do this…

9. Begin to realize what’s really important (33-38). "Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Altogether there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea."

Note the progression of what the sailors have given up in this story: first their cargo (18), then their tackle (19), and now their lifeboat (32) and grain (38). In a few moments they’ll cut their anchors (40), and shortly after that they’ll even abandon their ship (43). And for the first time in a long time (if ever), they’re beginning to realize what’s important.

Beloved, life is more than things. We can’t take it with us. Indeed, we’ll leave it all behind. That’s something many people refuse to admit, until crisis strikes, and then they have to admit it.

There’s one response to crisis, the world’s response. Let’s look at another, one modeled by Paul in the same story.

B. Here’s how God’s kind of people respond to crisis. Notice six reactions.

1. Face life as it is (9-10). "If we travel, there will be great loss," Paul said. He wasn’t being negative or pessimistic. He was facing life as it was. It was the storm season. The threat was real. God’s kind of people look at life as it is, not as they wish it would be. In addition, they…

2. Feel hopeless at times (20). In verse 20 Luke says, "We gave up hope of being saved." We did. The sailors did. The Roman soldiers did. The other prisoners did. We did, too.

Let’s set the record straight. Christians struggle, too! Christians get down at times. Christians can even feel hopeless. It’s okay to struggle, brothers and sisters. We’re not robots. We are weak and vulnerable, just like the unregenerate person.

But there’s one huge difference. If we’re in Christ, we do not struggle (as Paul put it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13) "as those who have no hope." We have the ability, through Christ, to exhibit a third reaction.

3. Trust in God’s promises, not your feelings (21-26). I want you to see how Paul did this in the section we skipped earlier, verses 21-26, "After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ‘Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss [even Paul couldn’t resist an "I told you so"!]. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."

What did Paul do? He chose to trust in God’s promises rather than his feelings. Remember the storm is still raging, but Paul says, "I have faith in God that it will happen just as He said."

When in a storm we must believe what God has said rather than give way to our feelings. You ask, "That would be nice, if only God would speak to us in our storms." He has spoken. He has given us the Scriptures. We must saturate our minds with His Word, especially His promises, and claim them. Promises like 1 Corinthians 10:13, Proverbs 3:5-6, and Hebrews 13:5. God is sufficient!

And know this. If we truly trust in God’s promises, we’ll also do this.

4. Act on God’s promises (31). Paul believed God who promised that everyone would survive. That being the case, he took action. When he learned that some of the sailors were trying to steal the lifeboat, he objected to the centurion. "We’re going to make it!" he insisted, "All of us!"

And so the captain cut loose the lifeboat. What do you need a lifeboat for that holds only ten people if God says He’s going to save all 276 anyway?!

That’s what I call contagious faith. Paul has inspired the pilot!

By the way, remember, this emergency situation happened in the first place because one man refused to listen to God’s messenger. Likewise, the near catastrophe was averted because of what one man did. Paul believed God and stepped forward with a plan of action.

5. Think about the needs of others (33-34). In contrast with the sailors who thought only of saving themselves, look at Paul. "You need to eat," he told his fellow-shipmates. He thought of others—and remember, the storm is still howling.

That’s not easy to do, is it? To think of others when you’re in crisis, that’s not natural. That’s supernatural. As is this final reaction…

6. Look for opportunities to bring glory to God (35). I love verse 35, "After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all." What boldness! Paul called out to God out-loud in front of Roman soldiers, prisoners, and hardened sailors, indeed in front of 275 people. Luke makes it clear he prayed in front of them all. We’re often afraid to bow our heads and pray silently before eating in public.

Paul’s actions had quite an effect, too. Luke says, "They were all encouraged."

Joseph Parker observed, "Paul began as a prisoner. He ended as the captain." Wiersbe is right, "A crisis does not make a person; a crisis shows what a person is made of, and it tends to bring true leadership to the fore."

Never forget this, dear friend. God uses difficulties and even disaster. He uses it to teach us, but also to reveal Himself through us to others. When in crisis, we must have our eyes open for opportunities to bring glory to Him.

Here’s how He did it in this particular storm, verses 39-44, "When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety."

It was Roman law that if a criminal escaped, his guard must undergo the same penalty intended for the prisoner. That explains the soldiers’ intent. But what explains the centurion’s intervention? Paul’s example sure made a big impact.

Now, step back from the story, look at the end again, and what do you see? I see two results.

A. They lost everything. The ship went to the bottom. They lost it all. But…

B. They didn’t lose their lives. Let the facts sink in. It’s about 1,200 miles on a straight course from Caesarea to Malta, probably 1,500 miles by the route Paul’s ship took. The final leg, the one that included the storm, included a distance of nearly 500 miles and took 14 days. As they fell on the beach at Malta that day, it’s true they were miles off course from Rome. Their food supplies were at the bottom of the sea. They had lost everything except the clothes they wore. But they were alive.

I see God’s mercy here. The Lord spared 276 lives—including soldiers, prisoners, and hardened sailors—all because of Paul. God once told Abraham He would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah if but ten righteous persons could have been found. The world has no idea of how much it owes to the presence of Christians in their midst. Most are just like the passengers on this ship. God spared them and they went on with life, oblivious to the fact of God’s mercy.

There’s something we need to remember about storms. The storms of life that hit the world hit God’s people as well. Financial crises. Broken relationships. Diseases. We’re not exempt. The storm hits us all. The difference is the response. And the response indicates the condition of our heart.

You can claim to believe in the Lord, but your response while in the storm shows whether your faith is real or deficient. When life gets hard, how do you respond? We’ve seen two kinds of response today, how the world responds and how God’s kind of person responds. Look again at the two lists. Which represents you? Be honest.

My friend, know this. God brings deliverance. If you want to be delivered from your sin, you cannot save yourself. You must look to Him. You must believe Him. If you are in crisis right now, you don’t have the strength to make it. But He does. Trust Him.

Two simple truths.

1. God keeps His Word. What He says, He will do.

2. God keeps His own. Those He saves, He keeps to the end.

Acts  Sermon Series