Shipwrecked but not destroyed
Acts 27:27-44
We listen to what happen to Paul and all of us at one time in our lives understand what he went through. Some may be sitting here right now , and they are saying to themselves- pastor, you don’t get it, I’m floating on a plank right now as you speak.
Maybe your here:
you punch your time card in the morning, and it is a battle until you go home.
Someone you love has died, and the house is empty.
Parents, waiting late at night for their kids to come home, fearing that they are doing something they should not be doing.
Everyone faces storms:
Some are physical, like earthquakes, floods, tornadoes.
Some are personal: death, family, set backs.
Unfortunately they are a part of everyday life.
The question is not if the storms will come, the right question is how you handle them when they come.
Let me set this up:
Paul is imprisoned and is on his way to Rome to stand trial with Caesar.
Has centurion guard Julius watching every move. They bounce around on a couple of corn ships sailing for Italy.
Paul warns them that the weather will be a factor as they are sailing close to the winter months.
They hit a Noreaster and the ship is getting the beating of their life. (Weatherman thinks they invented the Noreaster)
They threw their cargo off.
they threw the tackle overboard.
27:20 “when neither sun or stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”
Anybody know what I’m talking about?
Paul was walking with God- “stuff” happens. He was facing a storm of life.
Courage is not the absence of fear, it is the ability to go on in spite of it. Wednesday night Bible study, great time, go into my office afterwards and find on my cell phone that our daughter is on her way to the hospital with fluid on her heart. She is 31 years old, that shouldn’t be.
Noreaster’s blow in, they blow in on everybody at different times. If I was to ask you , a lot would be able to share their Noreaster’s. 14 days the storm raged, Paul did what he knew to do. The crew panicked, he put his trust in the Lord. The Bible is full of examples of people not panicking. Goliath was David’s Noreaster, the lions were Daniels Noreaster. Job had several Noreaster’s.
Noreaster’s are the situations that we have to trust our God because we have done all that we know to do and the battle is still raging. Paul by losing sight of the sun and the stars, could no longer navigate. He lost all direction. They did not have GPS systems then.
Jesus says John 16:33
“In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”
God is our refuse and strength, a very present help in trouble.
(V30)- “In a attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors left 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 sailors, 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.”
You get that
Sometimes those that are in charge, the ones who we put our trust in, let us down. They bail out. They think only of themselves.
Jesus is looking for a few good believers to let people know that, stuff will only take you so far. Bailing out in the midst of a storm without the hand of God being with you is more dangerous than the storm itself. Unless you stay with the ship, as beat up as it might get, bow stuck in the sandbar and destroyed. The stern was broken and destroyed by the surf. But in the middle where they were, just like the Angel of the Lord said to Paul: not one life will be lost. If they stay with the ship.
The swimmers swam and those hurt in battle floated, but they all got out alive
The world is putting their anchor in stuff.
The Christians put theirs in Jesus
A widow may face a empty bed, but Jesus will fill the house if you let Him.
Paul is a man of God. He understood that nothing happens to him unless it first goes past the desk of Jesus Christ. His confidence is strong in the anchor of his soul.
Song:
I serve a risen Savior
He’s in the world today
I know that he is living
whatever man may say
I see the hand of mercy
I hear his voice of cheer
and just the time
I need him, he’s always near
Jesus may still the storm or he may just give you the courage to face it. He will hold your hand through it.
Romans 8:28
“And we know that all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose.”
That doesn’t say that we will not have any problems, it says that he can turn bad things around.
Through the storm- God works it out. Amen
I believe God hurts with the things that he sees today.
It is not enough to believe in God. You have to believe and put your trust in His son Jesus Christ.
Closing:
when storms hit:
Praise God if it’s not now...They will come
Hold onto Jesus if it is
allow him to be your sail, when the wind is blowing you in the wrong direction and you can’t get back on course.
Hebrews 13:5
I will never leave you nor forsake you- that is a promise from God
Psalm 23:4-
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for thou art with me.
What he promises- he will do
all 7,847 promises that are in the Bible.
(V40)- “cutting loose the anchor”- that’s man’s anchor and holding onto Jesus
Pastor Wright is quoted-
If God had the power to cause an ax to float
cause a donkey to talk
power to split the red sea
cause the dead to rise
he has the power to keep us safe through our storms.
Listen how this ends:
(v43)- 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 safely.
Illustration-
Sir Humphrey Gilbert , a English navigator, the crew of his ship terrified. They felt they were sailing right out of the world in the midst of the storm and the unknown seas. They asked him to turn back. He would not do it. I am as near to God by sea, he said, as ever I was by land.
The men and women of God are the one whose courage stands when terror invades our heart. We may get shipwrecked, but we will never be destroyed if we keep our eyes and hearts toward Jesus. What am I saying? What has Paul taught us?
When we are going through trials,(1) keep your eyes on God...not yourself. That is not the time to be selfish and center on yourself(2) Refuse to blame God. As long as we are in this world, there will be storms.(3) focus on the eternal. This is not the end. Storms do not last forever. The rainbow comes after the storm. He teaches us to move beyond our storms by seeing us through our storms.
Altar Time
