6 Pictures Of God’s Provision (Part 1) Series

To the Ends of the Earth, Part 39

6 Pictures of God’s Provision (Part 1)

Acts 27:1-26

Introduction

- Welcome to Seasons Church & 2024 sermon series, “To the Ends of the Earth”

-- Last week: Will (TY) encouraged us with a challenge around complete faith

-- “Almost Faith” is not enough when it comes to a life in Christ; it is a denial

-- We must either be committed to Him, or we refuse the grace that He brings

- Sad to say, today we are in the final stretch; down to the last 4 messages of Acts

-- Acts 27; we will break this message up unto two parts – 6 “portraits” to discuss

-- My hope is: it’ll give us time to consider and to see God’s faithfulness to us

- Read Acts 27:1-26 / Pray

Point 1 – A picture of the journey to Rome

- Want us to realize that this will be the final journey for Paul; his last hurrah

-- Going to appeal to Ceasar had problems of its own for citizens during this time

- Even with an acquaintance formed between Paul and his jailor (Julius)

-- Going to Rome like this (with an escort) could only mean 1 of 2 things ahead:

1. People appealed to Ceasar as a last-ditch effort to prolong their life, or,

2. They had been condemned to serve as entertainment in the gladiator games

- RE. These games were the “mortal combat” of the day

-- They were held to feed the bloodthirst desire of a violent society

-- APP: It was a true indication of the times they lived in (sinful, self-fulfilling)

- In these games, men were paired off to fight for the pleasure of a stadium

-- After the fight, the final outcome was determined by the crowd

-- If the losing gladiator fought well, the crowd might spare his life

-- Otherwise, the gladiator would be killed – again, for the crowd’s pleasure

- Knowing this was ahead, Paul and these others still choose to go to Rome

-- RE: Paul of course, is proceeding under the promise that Jesus had given him

-- Acts 23:11, “That night the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.”

- They traveled on a ship from Caesarea along the coastline (IMAGE)

-- We also know that Luke and Aristarchus accompanied him on this journey

-- Note the language in (v2) … “with us” is used; indicates Paul was not alone

- Notes:

• Luke had not been with Paul since his arrest in Acts 21, but is back now

• Aristarchus is a disciple in the early Thessalonian church

- APP: When we face great trials, not being alone is a key to remember

- LESSON: Is someone in your life going through something? Check on them!

- We also see that since Paul had developed a bit of a friendship with Julius (v3)

-- He was even allowed to go & visit believers, who were able to comfort him

- Original language states Julius gave Paul favor:

-- Greek: epitrepó; to allow or permit

-- Greek: epimeleia; to receive care or attention

- TR: Honestly, this would not be a great trip – but at least Paul had assistance

-- Perhaps Julius knew what was ahead (pity), either way, Paul was on his way

Point 2 – A picture of greed and Godly counsel

- To be frank, this would be the worst time for sailing the Mediterranean

-- The timeframe we know: it is late fall, just before the winter months begin

-- Storms / rough seas make this the worst time to take a voyage on the open sea

Show the IMAGE of the journey

- During this voyage, the winds would be against them; strong and forceful

-- They are headed North with a severe wind blowing directly at them

-- Even using the mainland to break the force of the wind was not much help

-- As you can see, they went to the inner passage to try to find some relief

-- Until finally, they landed in Myra where they boarded a larger ship (v6)

- These ships usually carried grain and supplies routinely to Italy

-- Leaving Myra, they would encounter the same horrible weather as before

-- However, note the image – they would be without land to slow the winds

- We are even told (v9) that sailing during this time was dangerous

-- They were past the Day of Atonement, also known as Yom Kippur (mid-Oct)

-- So, Paul tries a one last ditch attempt to insert some wisdom: (re-read v10)