CENTURION JULIUS’ EXPERIENCE WITH PAUL
Acts 27:1-28:16
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: GETTING OLDER
1. Have you ever felt like everybody around you is getting older faster than you?
2. A woman was sitting in the waiting room for her first appointment with her new dentist. She noticed his diploma hanging on the wall and thought she recognized his name.
3. She remembered that a tall, dark-haired boy with the same name had been in her high school class many years ago. Could it be the same guy she had a big crush on back in the fifties?
4. Surely not! She quickly discarded the thought when she met the balding, grey-haired dentist. After he examined her teeth, she asked, “Did you happen to attend Morgan Park High School?”
5. He said, “Yes, I did!” She asked, “When did you graduate?” He replied, “In 1957.” She could not believe it.
She said to him, “You were in my class!”
6. “Really?” he asked. Then, looking at her closely, he added, “What class did you teach?”
B. TEXT
27 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. 2 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. 3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee….of Crete, …8 and came to a place called Fair Havens. 9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, 10 “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.” 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot…13 When a gentle south wind began to blow… they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and [was] driven along. 16…Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together….18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 After they 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. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 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.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”… 30 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. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away. 33 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. 34 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.” 35 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. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some
food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board….42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. 28:1 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand….6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but [saw] nothing unusual happen to him….7 There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. 8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. 9 When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured….11 After three months we put out to sea in a ship. 13 [Five days later] we reached Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged. 16 When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.
C. THESIS
There are some unique pictures in Chap. 27 & 28. One is the:
1. The Practice of Seamanship. Acts 27 describes one of the three shipwrecks that the apostle Paul endured (2 Cor. 11:25). Historians and archaeologists have studied this passage for its valuable description of ancient seamanship.
2. The Providence of God. Throughout this passage it's clear who was really in control of the events and elements. As easily as Jesus Christ could calm the winds and waves (Matt. 8:23-27), so God could stir them up for His own ends. And when it pleased Him to calm the seas to make Himself known, He did.
3. The Personality of Paul. Paul, the dominant personality of this particular drama in Acts 27, experienced many trials in his life and this journey was no different. The true metal of a person shines forth in the fires of testing. Crises reveal character.
4. The Centurion Julius, whose custody Paul was put into, belonged to the Augustan cohort. This cohort has been identified as a corps of officer-couriers between the Emperor and his provincial armies. They also conducted prisoners back to the Emperor.
5. Timing. The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, the Jewish fast) is mentioned in verse 9 at Fair Havens, which was Oct. 5, A.D. 59. They had probably already been 3 weeks at sea. They were 2 weeks in storm, 3 months on Island, & 12-13 days more to reach Rome. Grand total: almost 5 months start to finish!
6. What would it have been like to be the Roman officer who sailed in close quarters with the Apostle Paul during the harrowing trip from Caesarea to Rome? How did God’s bond-slave, Paul, affect this man?
7. We’re going to look at some of the 4 key occurrences which undoubtedly impacted this tough Roman soldier and probably made a believer out of him.
8. Title “Centurion Julius’ Experience with the Apostle Paul.”
I. THE WARMTH OF CHRISTIAN LOVE
A. PAUL’S TRAVELING COMPANIONS
1. Julius must have been touched that men of such high caliber as Luke and Aristarchus traveled with Paul, indicating their love for him.
2. They were not taking a pleasure cruise, but were headed to Rome possibly facing the same fate as Paul.
Luke and Aristarchus were willing to sacrifice their own lives because of their love for Paul.
B. BELIEVER’S HOSPITALITY ALONG THE WAY
1. AT SIDON.
a. The church at Sidon probably originated from the martyrdom of Stephen, when all the church was scattered throughout the area of Judea and Samaria, including the areas of Sidon and Tyre (Acts 8:1; 11:19).
b. Paul had visited that church on his way to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4-14) and now was visiting it again on the way from Jerusalem.
c. Julius allowed Paul (parole by honor) to stay with the believers at Sidon. He must have been impressed by their love for one another. (A soldier must have accompanied Paul & stayed at the believer’s homes & reported back to Julius).
d. Paul was allowed to "refresh himself." The Greek word translated "refresh" (epimel[ma]eias) is a medical term, which indicates that Paul was sick.
2. AT PUTEOLI & FORUM OF APPIUS. The same thing happened in 28:14-15 when Paul & co. arrived at Puteoli. The believers there put them up for a week. Next the Christians of Rome came out and met them at the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged.
3. The large population of the believers, found in almost every city in the Empire must have impressed Julius. Also, how much they loved Paul. Wow!
II. SUPERNATURAL GIFTS OF INSIGHT
A. THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE OF FUTURE
1. Paul warned them at Fair Havens not to set sail, prophesying grave peril – loss of the ship and cargo and possibly human lives (Acts 27:10).
2. None of them had ever been in a continuous storm at sea for 14 straight days, with little food or sleep. Luke says the entire ship’s company lost all hope that they would live through the ordeal.
3. ILLUS. There was a huge storm and a father remembered his little girl was upstairs alone. Thinking that she might be frightened by the thunder and lightning, he raced up to her room and found her with her face pressed against the window. "I think God's trying to take my picture!" she said.
B. THE ANGELIC VISION
1. Finally an angel appeared to Paul and told him that God would spare all their lives, for Paul must stand trial before Caesar in Rome (Acts 27:23-24).
2. The ship however must run aground on some island and be destroyed.
3. It happened just as God revealed it to Paul.
III. HIGH IN THE ESTEEM OF JULIUS
A. HIS EARLIER PERCEPTION
1. Undoubtedly Julius saw Paul as perceptive, intelligent,of huge influence and as having many followers as well as opponents. This was no insignificant man.
2. 470 soldiers were required just to protect Paul from the 40 determined assassins plus their accomplices who laid in wait on the road to Jerusalem (Acts 23:23).
B. PAUL IN CHARGE
1. Earlier, Paul was allowed to do some things. His advice at Fair Havens was ignored, but after the word of Knowledge and angel visitation, his counsel was gold to all on the ship.
2. Paul took charge, encouraged everyone to eat a good meal before they would run aground, since they didn’t know when their next meal would be and they would need strength and courage.
3. Julius’ unprecedented belief in Paul became evident when some of the ship’s crew tried to escape in the life boat and Paul told Julius that none of them would survive unless everyone stayed in the ship. Julius ordered the men out of the lifeboats and ordered his soldiers to cut them adrift (27:31-32).
4. This was a drastic & illogical action, based solely on the word of the Apostle Paul and shows how strongly Julius had come to trust him.
5. Julius also refused to let his soldiers kill the prisoners to thwart their escape in such an uncontrollable situation (27:42-43).
6. The loss of a prisoner would have cost their own lives. So Julius put his life and those of his men on the line to save Paul. Not one of the 276 ship occupants was lost.
7. ILLUS. If your problems are looking big, and your God is looking small, then you're looking at God through the wrong end of the binoculars. When you use a magnifying glass, it doesn't change the size of what you look at. It changes your perception.
IV. MIRACLES ON THE ISLAND OF MALTA
A. THE VIPER
1. On the island, Paul, as a prisoner, must have been accompanied by a soldier as he gathered firewood.
2. The soldier must have been an eye-witness of the viper biting Paul, its non-effect on Paul, and the natives’ astonishment that Paul suffered no ill effects.
3. Julius must have been thinking, “This guy is 6 foot tall and pullet-proof!”
B. HEALINGS
1. Then Paul was allowed to go and pray for Publius’ father. Julius had to have approved of this and probably accompanied Paul, as the ranking Roman military man.
2. If the man hadn’t been healed, Julius might have been made a laughing-stock by the Governor of the island for allowing his prisoners such lee-way in their chicanery.
3. Paul then prayed for many of the islanders who were ill and healed them. They were on the island 3 months.
CONCLUSION
A. THE ARRIVAL
1. At Rome, Julius delivered all prisoners to the captain of the guard. Sextus Afranius Burrus was the commander of the praetorian guards. He was known to be fair in his treatment of prisoners brought to Rome for confinement.
2. Commander Burrus had the final say on where Paul would be confined while he waited trial before Nero’s court.
3. Governor Festus’ weak judicial case against Paul in combination with Centurion Julius report of Paul’s behavior during their trip to Rome led Burros to place Paul under house arrest rather than imprison him.
4. There is no tradition of Julius’ conversion to Christianity, but the faith he placed in Paul goes a long way to stating where his true priorities lay.
5. I have little doubt we will see Julius in heaven.
B. ILLUSTRATION
1. Harvey MacKay tells the story of a professor who stood before his class of 30 senior molecular biology students.
2. Before passing out the final exam he said, "…Because I am confident that you know this material, I am prepared to offer an automatic B to anyone who opts to skip taking the final exam."
3. The relief was audible. A number of students jumped up from their desks, thanking the professor for the lifeline he had thrown them. "Any other takers?" he asked. "This is your last opportunity." One more student decided to go.
4. The instructor then handed out the final exam, which consisted of two sentences. It read: "Congratulations, you have just received an A in this class. Keep believing in yourself."
5. It was a just reward for the students who had worked hard and believed in themselves. Word for Today 17-4-08.
6. Paul DID preach to Emperor Nero at Rome and was acquitted. He believed, obeyed, and saw a great victory!
C. THE CALL
1. Are you having a storm in your life?
2. Let’s be open to God working through some crazy experiences in our lives!
3. Prayer.
[There was some input from John MacArthur in the introduction; some from F.F. Bruce, The Book of Acts; and some from obscurecharacters.com]
