i. PRAYER
ii. Introduction
a. This week, as I studied the passage, I though about just how independent of weather and conditions that we have become as a society, as opposed to how much more observant we were, and dependent on weather before the invention of cars and freeways.
b. Today, even if there is bad weather, unless it is severe, you can still get where you are going, whether by car, bus, train, plane, boat, whatever. I drove to work on Tuesday in a heavy downpour that would have halted travel years ago.
c. Today, when we can get on a plane in Houston, and travel to Los Angeles or to New York in a matter of hours, it is hard to imagine a day in which travelling similar distances took months. People traveled out of necessity, not out of a desire to see some place new.
d. This week, we will see as Paul boards a ship there in Caesarea, and makes sail for Rome. This will be a long, painful, arduous, perilous journey, marked by trials and tribulations. This would not be a “Love Boat” cruise for Paul, by any stretch of the imagination.
e. Storms are most often representative of tribulation in the Bible. The Great Flood in Genesis was brought about, in part, by an intense storm that lasted forty days and nights.
f. The Bible tells us in Matthew chapter 5; verse 45, that God makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
g. Many people ask why bad things happen to good people. Or, they wonder why good things happen to bad people. In this verse, we find out answer, and that is that it has everything to do with God, and not very much to do with us.
h. Bad things happen to us, and everybody else, because we live in a fallen world. Good things happen to us, and everybody else, because we serve a good God, and He is gracious.
iii. Background
a. Last week, if you recall, Paul had appealed to Caesar, in his legal wrangling with the Jews. The Jews had accused him of several crimes, but had no proof to back them up.
b. The governor, Festus had to try and find something to charge Paul with. As the charges the Jews had did not stick and it was usually required to have some formal charges sent along with a man who had appealed to Caesar.
c. So, to this end, Festus and King Agrippa have a hearing in order to ascertain what charges to send Paul with. The hearing winds up as a persuasive defense of the Christian faith, in which Agrippa even says that he was almost convinced by Paul to believe.
d. The hearing ends with no formal charges against Paul, but still he had appealed to Caesar. Festus told Paul, “To Caesar you shall go!”, and he isn’t going to let us down.
e. We have a rather lengthy chapter to cover today, forty four verses in all. So, in the interests of finishing up in a reasonable amount of time, let’s get into our study today.
iv. Study
a. Intro
i. Turn with me if you would to Acts chapter 27. I have broken our passage down into seven parts – Setting Sail, Slow Progress, A Sinking Feeling, A Stormy Ride, The Servant’s Assurance, Sustenance Taken, and last Safety in Sight, as we will wrap up all of Acts chapter 27 today, in our continuing journey through the Book of Acts.
ii. We’ve provided a place to take notes in your bulletin, if you choose to do so, and we encourage you to, so that you can go back and study the passage at a later time.
iii. We’re going to spend a lot of time on the water today. This passage is one of the best accounts that we have today of ancient sailing, no matter what kind of literature, sacred or secular.
iv. Acts chapter 27, verse 1 -
b. Setting Sail (Acts 27:1 – 3)
i. 1 And 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. 2 So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us.
ii. So, Paul is there in Caesarea, and all is made ready for the journey to Rome. Paul’s transfer orders were together. The ship was located, the fare was paid, the ship was loaded with supplies, and finally, the day came that Paul and some other prisoners were given into the care of a man named Julius.
iii. Luke, our writer and narrator, introduces us to four people here in the first two verses of chapter 27. First, the Apostle Paul. Second, Aristarchus, who was a Christian and traveling companion of Paul from Macedonia. The third person we meet here is a little more subtle to notice.
iv. Look closely at verse 1. - And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy. Luke was there himself, so he writes to us in the first person.
v. He had left Paul back in chapter 21, with the uprising of the mob in Jerusalem. But now, he was back, to accompany Paul along the way to Rome.
vi. The fourth and last person we are introduced to is Julius. Julius was a centurion, and as we see here, he was in the Augustan Regiment; this made him no regular centurion.
vii. A centurion is the leader of 100 Roman soldiers. He was a centurion in the Augustan Regiment, or some of your Bibles may say the Augustan cohort.
viii. A cohort or regiment in the Roman Army was made up of about six hundred soldiers. So, there would be six centurions in a regiment or cohort.
ix. Since this was the Augustan Regiment, presumably these six centurions would be under the command of the August One, the One which was to be worshipped, which as we know from last week, was a title of Caesar himself, which at this point, would be Caesar Nero.
x. Centurions are always presented in a favorable light in scripture. They are always spoken well of. Certainly this was the case with Cornelius, the centurion from Caesarea that Peter visited with, and shared the gospel with.
xi. Remember the centurion that approached Jesus to heal his servant? The story is found in ********* He told Jesus that he wasn’t worthy to have Jesus come under his roof. But, if Jesus would just say the word, he knew that his servant would be healed. Jesus said the word, and the servant was healed. Jesus also said that he had not seen such great faith in all of Israel.
xii. There was another centurion at the foot of the cross, that remarked, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”, talking about Jesus. So, centurions are always good guys in the Bible, and Julius would be no exception.
xiii. So, now that we know more than we ever wanted to know about centurions and Roman military organization, let’s move along. The ship they boarded was from Adramyttium, which was a city near Troas, in Asia Minor. They were in Caesarea, and presumably, going back to Adramyttium. In verse 3 we read -
xiv. 3 And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care.
xv. After a night of sailing, the ship lands there in Sidon, which is along the coast in modern day Lebanon. It was the sister city to Tyre, and there was a booming timber trade going on there.
xvi. Julius treats Paul kindly here as were are told, and gave Paul liberty to go and see his friends, and receive care. Maybe Paul’s thorn in the flesh had started acting up, we aren’t told.
xvii. Well, one thing that we do know is that Paul is set at liberty by Julius, and this was a very rare thing for a Roman prisoner. They didn’t just let Roman prisoners run around as they needed, but that is what happens here.
xviii. This has given rise to speculation over the years that Julius was a Christian, but we aren’t told. What we do see is God’s grace at work in the life of Paul, through the hands of Julius. A few days passed, and once again, they loaded the ship, and took off, as we see in verse 4 -
c. Slow Progress (Acts 27:4 – 8 )
i. 4 When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
ii. So, they let out from Sidon there on the Far Eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and they made their way northwest, heading for the coast of Asia Minor. The prevailing winds in the Med in later summer and early fall were out of the northwest or west as well, making travel difficult, since they would have been going into a headwind.
iii. So, in light of the contrary headwinds, the best thing for them to do would be to sail past the island of Cyprus on the eastern side, or the lee side, using the island as a windbreak for their journey. They would use the night breezes coming off the island to make their way, and this is what they did. They used the island as a windbreak and a shelter as they made their way north.
iv. 5 And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.
v. Having come around Cyprus, the ship could use the prevailing westerly current, and the night breezes to make their way west across the coast of Asia Minor. They first passed the Cilician coast, which is where Paul was from; the city of Tarsus was there.
vi. They next came to Pamphylia as they continued to head west down the coast to the area of Lycia, and to the city of Myra. Some Bibles add that this journey took fifteen days to verse 5.
vii. Scholars have debated as to whether Luke actually wrote that, or if it was a scribe later helping him out, but fifteen days would be a fair estimate nonetheless.
viii. The ship docked there in Myra, and it was here the Julius looked for another ship to take them on to Rome. Since we are told that the ship was from Adramyttium in verse 2, it is assumed that this was where the ship they were on was going to, which was further along the coast.
ix. But, Myra was a large seaport in the empire. It was a stopping point for ships heading to Rome from Egypt, which was where Alexandria was. It was the capital of Egypt at that point.
x. As we covered earlier, it was difficult for ships in these days to go into a headwind. It was far easier for these ships coming out of Egypt to head straight north, across the Mediterranean to Myra, and from there follow the coast east to get to Rome. This was the plan of this ship, and Julius hops on board.
xi. The Alexandrian ships were huge. We are told this by Roman historians, and we will see later on in our test. They were primarily grain ships. They carried corn and wheat to the huge city of Rome, which could not support itself agriculturally. As we will see though, this large ship would have its problems -
xii. 7 When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. 8 Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
xiii. It was slow going into a headwind, and they reached Cnidus with great difficulty. They wanted to go west, but the wind was steady blowing from the northwest, right in their faces. Now, Cnidus is the far southwest tip of Asia Minor, and their plan was to go to the south of the island of Crete, and use it as a natural windbreak, like the smaller ship had done sailing around Cyprus earlier. This was a common practice in those days.
xiv. This was no easy feat. Their hope was to get a favorable wind to make it to Rome before the winter storms came, making travel impossible. Once they reached Crete, they passed the Eastern tip of Crete, a point of land called Cape Salmone.
xv. The first harbor past Salmone was a place called Fair Havens. The ship pulls in here, in this small port near the Cretan city of Lasea. Fair Havens was a small, open harbor, which gave it no protection from the storms. So, it was a poor harbor in bad weather. Here we pick un in verse 9 -
d. A Sinking Feeling (Acts 27: 9 - 12 )
i. 9 Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, "Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives."
ii. So, by the time we get to verses nine and ten, a lot of time had already passed form the difficult sailing. Luke tells us that sailing was now dangerous.
iii. What he meant by that was exactly what it says - sailing was dangerous. A Roman military historian named Vegetius tells us that sailing was considered dangerous after September 15 (the Ides of September to a Roman) and ceased completely November 11.
iv. The sea was considered unnavigable between November 11th and March 10th. Everybody took the winter off from sailing, because of the fierce storms.
v. We see here also that the Fast was already over. There were seven feasts in Judaism, and one fast, the Day of Atonement. In Leviticus chapter 23, we are told that this falls on the tenth day of the seventh month. Their calendar is different than ours, and based on a lunar cycle. Most scholars think that this was the year 59, and the Day of Atonement fell on October 5th that year. So, what does all that mean? Not much. Only that it was late in the year and sailing was dangerous.
vi. Paul addressed them at this time, and told them that if they continued, things would be bad. They were all cramped together on this boat, so it wouldn’t be hard for Paul to address them all at once.
vii. Now, I don’t think that this was not a direct word from the Lord, but more of a feeling that Paul got. He said, “Hey, don’t go guys; it’s going to be dangerous.” We will see later, through God’s grace, no one died, but indeed they did lose the ship and the cargo.
viii. Many times though, God does use our feelings and inclinations to talk to us. I wish that God would speak to us in an audible voice, like - “Hey, Jeff! Stop doing that!”, “Or, go do this!”
ix. He does speak to me through His Word though, and through inclinations or feelings - that “still small voice” that Elijah heard. But,
x. 11 Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul.
xi. The idea here is that they had a kind of a meeting between Paul, the captain of the ship, the owner, which could have been his representative, and Julius, the centurion. Everybody was looking to the centurion for the decision, because he was the highest ranking official around.
xii. Julius was more persuaded by the crowd than by Paul. I think that we have that problem sometimes too. At times in my life, I have been known listen to those around me more than to God, or to godly counsel, especially when that counsel comes from my wife. I can pick on here since she is in here today. But. I find that when I do that, and I listen to the majority, when I listen to what makes sense to me, I do so at my own peril, and this is exactly what was going on here. Look at verse 12 -
xiii. 12 (And) because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.
xiv. They were going to try to make it to Phoenix, which was a larger city and a favorable harbor to winter in. Today, the bay is largely silted in, by the modern city of Phineka is there today.
xv. This was the majority’s idea. You’ve heard the old saying “Go with the flow!” That’s what these guys did. The problem with that is that it wasn’t godly counsel. It wasn’t godly advice. Paul had advised to winter in Fair Havens, and he was ignored.
xvi. We need to learn to appreciate godly advice, godly counsel, because if you don’t you could wind up in the eye of the storm beating down on you. 13 says -
e. A Stormy Ride (Acts 27: 13 – 20)
i. 13 When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. 14 But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon.
ii. You see what happens to you when you don’t listen to that still small voice, when you choose to ignore godly counsel, and go along with the crowd - that tempest comes up in your life.
iii. The word translated tempestuous headwind here is the Greek word tuphonikos. We get our word typhoon from it today. It was a typhoon that came out of the east, called a Euroclydon. This was no small storm, and it was coming furiously.
iv. That’s what happens when we ignore godly counsel, when we ignore the Holy Spirit. Notice how it starts out, as a soft breeze. That’s how sin is. We think we can handle it at first.
v. We think, I can go here, where I’m not supposed to be. I’m away from home, nobody’s watching me. Or, I can look at this stuff on my computer, nobody will ever know. I can take this from my employer. They don’t even know I have it. Just a light breeze.
vi. But, look what it turns into - a raging storm! A Typhoon. You get caught up in it. That’s how sin is. Everybody’s doing it. It always ends violently, viciously. Look what happens when you get caught in it, beloved -
vii. 15 So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive.
viii. Literally, they let the ship be driven by the wind. That is what happens when sin gets loose in your life. It controls you, it drives you. You lose the power to fight against it, and you are tossed around by it. The ship was out of control. The sails didn’t work, the rudder didn’t work, they just had to buckle down and ride it out. Guys, sometimes, you have to ride it out because of the sin sown in your life. You have to wait for God to bring you through the storm. Let’s read on -
ix. 16 And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty.
x. They got a little break from an island called Clauda, and they secured the skiff. The skiff is the lifeboat. They were probably towing it, and now, they brought it up into the ship. They didn’t want to risk losing the lifeboat.
xi. Guys, if you are caught in sin, this is your lifeboat. Yep. Your Bible. This is God’s owner’s manual for your life, and when you get in a storm, because you’ve ignored that still small voice, and you’ve ignored godly counsel, go seek God. He will give you the comfort to make it through the storm. It may be difficult, but it is worth it.
xii. 17 When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven.
xiii. They used ropes and chains to strengthen the ship, because they were scared that they were going to run aground. This was the second worst thing to happen to a ship. First is sinking. Second, is running aground, because as we will see, if you run aground, the ship can be destroyed by the force of the waves.
xiv. They were far off course by this point. They were down near the Syrtis Sands, which were very near to Africa. I keep going back to this, but that’s how sin is as well, isn’t it? It blows us off course, way off course, far away from where we were originally headed, like Paul and his companions were here.
xv. 18 And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. 19 On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. 20 Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.
xvi. They had lost all hope. This tells us how extreme the situation was for these guys. They started throwing things overboard. They threw cargo, and finally, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard. This was the stuff they used to drive the ship, and run the sails.
xvii. All they saw for many days was the storm. I want us to look at this passage, and learn a lesson from it. These guys didn’t listen to the godly counsel, they listened to the majority, and this is where they wound up, hopeless.
xviii. Hebrews 10:23 tells us - Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful Guys, you can always rest your hope on Jesus, even when the typhoon, or the storm is all that you can see. Amen?
xix. So now, they had no hope. They had done everything in their power to save themselves, and they couldn’t. It is at this point, when people have lost all hope, that they call out to God, and that is the point that God can step in and intervene, we see this coming together in verse 21-
xx. You get the picture right? They have been drive way off course. This trip to Phoenix to winter is ending up like Gilligan’s three hour tour here. They’ve thrown a lot of stuff overboard, and the waves were crashing against the boat.
xxi. I love this next verse. During all of this, Paul stands up after a long abstinence from food, and stands in the midst of them, and says “I told you so!” Really, that is what he says, look at verse 21-
f. The Servant’s Assurance (Acts 27: 21 – 26 )
i. 21 (But after long abstinence from food, then) Paul stood in the midst of them and said, "Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss.
ii. Paul sounds kind of like my wife at this point. Those are wonderful words when they come from your own mouth. Even though my wife is always right, and you young men will learn this sooner or later, she very seldom says this.
iii. Paul doesn’t stop there though. He begins to encourage them and assure them at this point, and we can learn from that as well. As Christians, we need to encourage those around us going through the storms of life. Look at his encouragement in 22 -
iv. 22 And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 24 saying, ’Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me.
v. Paul encourages them in verse 22 personally. He tells them to take heart, don’t be afraid. He then goes on to encourage them prophetically, he relates to them the word that God had given to him through the angel in verses 23 and 24.
vi. In verse 25, Paul encourages them with a promise. He says - “I believe God”. Why did he believe God? Because God is faithful. Isaiah 49:7 - the Lord is faithful. Deuteronomy 7:9 - the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God. 1st Corinthians 10:13 - God is faithful. Revelation 19:11 - He who sat upon the horse was called faithful and true.
vii. So, God is faithful. That is a fact that you can take to the bank. Paul knew that things would work out just like God had promised, but there was a cost associated with their disobedience, their ignoring godly counsel, their sin, and that was that they were going to lose the ship, look at verse 26 -
viii. 26 However, we must run aground on a certain island."
ix. Beloved, sin always has a price. Galatians chapter 6, verse 7 tells us - 7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.
x. Their sin would not cost them their lives, fortunately. It does for some, but they would escape death this time, by God’s grace. I don’t know what kind of storm or typhoon that you are facing this morning, but I do know this - that God’s grace is sufficient for you to carry you through it. His grace will carry you though it. These men with Paul were about to get through it, let’s read on. 27 says -
g. Sustenance Taken (Acts 27: 27 – 36 )
i. 27 Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land.
ii. They probably heard some seagulls, or heard some waves crashing against the shoreline. In the Pacific, the native islanders followed glowing patches of seaweed that could be seen on the bottom, when it got shallower, that’s how they crossed the Pacific. They somehow sensed that it was getting shallower -
iii. 28 And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms.
iv. It was getting shallower. They put a rope off the side of the boat with a weight, and let it down until they hit bottom. Then they pulled it up, and measured the distance. The first time, they were in 120 feet of water, then ninety. Then they got scared.
v. 29 Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come.
vi. They were afraid that the ship would be destroyed on the rocks. Well, duh! That’s what Paul told them. They dropped four anchors. This was a big ship to have four anchors, and they prayed for daylight.
vii. 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved." 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.
viii. When Cortez came to the New World, he burned his ships in the harbor, because he knew that unless he did that, his men would want to return to Spain.
ix. Don’t jump ship. Even though the storms are beating against the ship, and common sense tells you to make a run for it, we need to stand on God’s Word, and on godly counsel. These Roman soldiers realized that.
x. 33 And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you." 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. 36 Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves.
xi. They hadn’t eaten in fourteen days not because they were seeking God, but because they were sick to their stomachs. They were paralyzed with fear. They feared for their lives.
xii. Paul wasn’t afraid for his life. He knew where he would wind up if he died. That’s why he could write in Philippians chapter 1 - For me to live is Christ, and to die is surely gain!
xiii. He stands up in the midst of them, speaks more words of encouragement, and he begins to pray. He thanks God for the bread that God had provided him, even in the midst of this storm.
xiv. Are you listening? We need to thanks God for the little things in the middle of our storms. We need to thank Him for His provision and His grace, even when things seem bleak. That’s what Paul did here.
xv. The men around him were encouraged, and took food, seeing the example that Paul had set for them. This food was their livelihood. Paul knew that the needed the food for the trial that was ahead.
h. Safety in Sight (Acts 27: 37 – 44 )
i. 37 And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship. 38 So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.
ii. There were a lot of people on board this ship. They ate wheat and bread from the cargo of the ship, remember it was carrying grain. When they had eaten their fill, they threw the rest of the cargo, the wheat into the sea.
iii. If the weight of sin is weighing you down this morning, toss it out, man. Lighten your ship, because there are more rough seas ahead. Day broke, and they saw their safety -
iv. 39 When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. 40 And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore.
v. They made a run for it. They wanted to try and save the ship by beaching it here in this little bay. That would have worked in Fair Havens, but not here. 41 says they struck
vi. 41 (But striking) a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.
vii. A place where two seas meet is a reef. They ran aground on the reef, and the prow, or the front of the boat was stuck, and the back of the boat was being battered by the waves. Paul told them that they would run aground, not beach it, and that is what happened.
viii. 42 And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape.
ix. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners, because if a prisoner escaped under your watch, you got the punishment that was reserved for that prisoner. These soldiers didn’t want to get locked up or die, so their plan was simple, kill the prisoners, including Paul.
x. 43 But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, 44 and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.
xi. Here we have the first mention of surfing in the Bible. See there in verse 44 - some were on boards. Hang ten, dude! They got a reef, some good waves, boards, they weren’t hungry…
xii. But, seriously though, the centurion wanted to save Paul, and he commanded everyone to swim for it. If you couldn’t swim, grab some wood from the ship, and float over. Everyone escaped the ship, and made it safely to land.
xiii. Wow. What an epic! You’ll have to come back next week, and find out where Paul is, and what happens next. Next week, if the Lord tarries, we will finish the Book of The Acts, and bring some closure to Paul’s journeys.
xiv. I’d like to leave you with something to think about this week. Storms came into the life of Paul, even though he was seeking God. Storms are going to come into your life, and the lives of everyone around you.
i. Conclusion
i. There are four types of storms in our lives - storms of correction, storms of perfection, storms of protection, and storms of direction.
ii. Sometimes God sends us a course correction via a storm. An example of this in the Bible is Jonah. God sent the fish to put him back on the track to Nineveh.
iii. After Jesus fed the five thousand in Matthew chapter 14, He sent His disciples across the Sea of Galilee. Midway through their journey, a storm arose around them. Why? For their perfection. You see, Jesus knew it wouldn’t be too many months before these same disciples would see another multitude of five thousand — not fed, but saved — followed by another storm — not on the sea, but of persecution within the Church. Thus, Jesus was training His disciples to endure the storms of persecution which inevitably follow the seasons of blessing.
iv. These are the types of storms that can grow us spiritually. They are a test to see how we react to the storm, and it gives us an idea of what’s going on on the inside.
v. God sent rain for forty days and night in Genesis to flood the earth, to wipe the face of the earth of sin and depravity. But, Noah and his family were protected through the storm, and the flood, so that they could start a new. That was a storm of protection. He protected Noah from a life of sin and carnality, by using a storm.
vi. Finally, God sometimes blows us off course so that we can do something that we never thought of doing. That’s what this storm was for Paul. You see, God wanted Paul to minister to the people of the island of Malta, and that is what we are going to see Paul doing next week.
vii. So, these are the four kinds of storms in our lives. How can you know which kind you’re in? That’s a good question. We saw the answer today. Seek God. Seek Godly counsel. Listen to that still small voice of the Holy Spirit that is inside you if you’re a Christian, and you will be able to weather the storms of life.
viii. Maybe you’re here this morning, and you’ve been getting beat up by the storms, and you’re not a Christian. If that’s you, I have good news for you. Jesus wants to help you weather that storm, and He’s reaching out to you, even now, in a minute, we’re going to pray, and you will get the opportunity to make a decision for Christ. I pray that you’ll make that decision today.
ix. Maybe you’re here this morning and you are a believer, but you need some prayer, and some godly counsel to help you through the storms. If that’s you this morning, come up and pray with me or Stacie after the service.
j. Let’s Pray.
