“Stay in the Ship”
Acts 27:9-11, ,31,-44
Introduction:
A few months ago my brother-in law invited me on a deep sea fishing trip along with some of his co- workers. At 4 o’clock that morning we met with his co-workers for breakfast at a local Mexican restaurant before meeting the boat that would take us 4 hours out into the ocean. People started ordering their breakfast, steak, sausage, refried beans, tortillas, egg omelets, etc. I thought to myself these people are crazy, in a few hours I expected to see this entire Mexican restaurant menu on board our ship. Needless to say I was right, a few hours out we ran into turbulence and the ship was tossed from side to side. People ( myself included ) got sick and began to regurgitate. There was only one restroom on board so you can imagine what took place. Several men in our fishing party became so sick that they voiced a need to go back to shore or just be thrown overboard.
SOME BIBILICAL CHARACTERS WHO JUMPED SHIP:
PRODIGAL SON- JOHN MARK – LOT’S WIFE – PETER –ORPAH -
1.Storms will come
BEING A CHILD OF GOD DOES NOT EXEMPT US FROM TROULBE, STORMS WILL COME IN OUR LIVES…THERE ARE TWO KINDS OF STORMS, STORMS OF PERFECTION AND STORMS OF CORRECTIONS. JONAH’S STORM WAS ONE OF CORRECTION..JONAH HAD A BAD ATTITUDE..HE DID NOT WANT THE PEOPLE OF NIVEH TO BE SAVED………………..
JOB’S STORM WAS ONE OF PERFECTION…JOB HAD A PROBLEM WITH SELF RIGHTEOUNESS…..GOD FINALLY TOLD HIM….”WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I PLACE THE MON, SUN, STARS IN THE GALAXY?
‘TRIALS COME TO MAKE US STRONG………..TRIALS COME TO INCREASE OUR FAITH…TRIALS WILL BUILD OUR CHARACTER…..TRIALS BUILDS OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD……TRIALS WILL CAUSE US TO HATE SIN…..
PEOPLE LOOK FOR REASONS TO JUMP SHIP..WAYS TO ELIMINATE ACCOUNTABILTY. THE MINUTE TROUBLE COMES, OR THINGS DON’T GO OUR WAY..WE WANT TO PICK UP OUR MARBLES AND GO HOME. THE REASON THERE ARE SO MANY DIVORCES, PEOPLE WANT TO LEAVE A MARRIAGE AT THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE.
IF WE ARE IN A LEADERSHIP ROLE IN CHURCH THE FIRST TIME WE RUN INTO OPPOSITION WE ARE READY TO GIVE UP.
THE CONDITIONS IN LIFE SOMETIMES BECOME OVERWHELMING AND IT SEEMS MORE THAN WE CAN ENDURE.
HAVE YOU EVER HAD TO WAIT ON A TRAIN…ALL YOU COULD SEE WAS ONE CABOOSE AT A TIME…YOU COULD NOT SEE THE ENGINE AND THE CABOOSE AT THE SAME TIME…GOD CAN SEE THE ENGINE AND THE CABOOSE ..HE KNOWS WHAT THE END WILL BE…WE CAN ONLY DEAL WITH THE “NOW”
PAUL IS ABOARD A SHIP THAT IS SAILING WEST WITH OTHER PRISONERS…THERE IS A TOTAL OF 276 SOULS ON THIS SHIP . .NORMALLY FROM SPETEMBER 14 THRU NOVBMBER 11 ALL SAILING IS DISCONTINUED BECAUSE OF THE DANGER INVOLED IN THESE WATERS…THERE ARE MEN WHO HAVE NAUTICAL EXPERIENCE, THEY CAN LOOK AT THE SKY, THE ELEMENTS OF THE WEATHER AND THE WATER TO DETERMINE SAILING CONDITIONS…..ALTHOUGH PAUL TOLD THEM IN VERSE 10 “ SIRS, I PRECEIVE THAT THIS VOYAGE WILL BE WITH HURT AND MUCH DAMAGE, NOT ONLY OF THE LADING AND SHIP, BUT ALSO OUR LIVES”. REMBER PAUL HAD ALREADY BEEN SHIP WRECKED 3 DIFFERENT TIMES….DON’T IGNORE THE WARNING FROM GOD’S ANNOITED… HEBREWS 13 TELL US “OBEY THEM THAT HAVE RULE OVER YOU AND SUBMIT YOURSELVES; FOR THEY WATCH FOR YOUR SOUL”
YET THEY SET OUT TO SAIL…..AND ONE OF THE MOST VICIOUS STORMS EVER RECORED IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN…THE SHIP IS BLOWN FAR OUT TO SEA, COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL/…JUST WHEN MAN THINKS HE IS IN CONTROL…GOD STEPS IN,,,,
,WHEN THE TITANTIC WAS BUILT, THERE WAS ONE MAN WHO HAD A HAND IN BUILDING THIS GREAT SHIP …A FOOL WHO STOOD ON THE WALL…LOOKED UP TOWARD HEAVEN AND SAID “EVEN GOD CANNOT SINK THIS SHIP…YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY…MAN EXTREMERITY IS GOD’S OPPORTUNITY.
2. Safety in the SHIP
Sometimes we carry to much baggage
AFTER 14 DAYS OF BEING IN THE STORM..LUKE TELLS US IN VERSE 20 SUDDENDLY, THE FEARLESS APOSTLE OF GOD APPEARS..( ITS AMAZING WHAT CAN HAPPEN IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD’S ANNOINTED..THERE IS SAFETY IN THE SHIP WHEN THE MAN OF GOD IS ON BOARD…EVEN THOUGH THE BUILDING, THIS SANCTUARY IS SACRED…SET ASIDE AS THE PLACE WHERE GOD PROMISED TO MEET US, STOORMS WILL COME TO THIS CHURCH ……….YET THE PASTOR’S PRESENCE MAKES IT A PLACE OF REFUGE….WHEN PASTOR SHEPHERD WALKS IN THE ROOM..THE ANGELS IN HEAVEN TAKE NOTE…THERE IS A PROTECTIVE SHEILD THAT GOES UP AROUND THIS PLACE…SATAN AND HIS ENIMES CAN ATTACK, BUT THE MAN OF GOD KNOWS HOW TO GET GOD’S ATTENTION THE MEN ON THE SHIP DIDN’T KNOW WHO PAUL WAS….SOME OF YOU LOOKING AT ME RIGHT NOW DON’T KNOW WHO PASTOR SHEPHERD IS……SATAN CAN BRING ABOUT CONFUSION, SATAN CAN CREATE HAVOC IN THE CHURCH, SATAN CAN CAUSE FOLK TO LIE, BACK BITE SATAN CAN CAUSE PEOPLE FROM TITHING AND SUPPORTING THE CHURCH..SATAN…TRY TO RUN THE PASTOR DOWN ..TRY TO DESTROY CONFIDENCE IN THE MEMBERS…TRY TO BREAK UP FAMILIES AND HOMES NOT ONLY THAT BUT SATAN CAN BRING STORMS IN YOUR LIFE AND MAKE YOU THINK YOU ARE NOTHINGH NOW AND YOU WERE NEVER NOTHING …BUT I STOPPED BY THIS MORNING TO TELL YOU LIKE JESUS TOLD PETER UP ON THIS ROCK OUR WILL BUILD MY CHURCH AND THE GATES OF HELL CANNOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT…
JUST ASK AARON…WHEN MIRAM WAS GIVEN LEOPRSY FOR COMPLAING ABOUT WHO MOSES MARRIED, AARON PRAYED TO GOD AND ASK HIM TO HEAL HER…NOTHING HAPPENED UNTIL MOSES PRAYED.
THE ANNOINTED MAN OF GOD CAN PUT OUT ANY FIRE SATAN CREATE S WITH JUST A WATER PISTOL
.JUST ASK DAVID..HE KNOWS WHAT IT IS TO BE IN A STORM…WHEN THE WOMEN WERE SINGING THE SON…SAUL HAS SLAIN A THOUSAND BUT
DAVID HAS KILLED TEN THOUSAND…SAUL BECAME JEALOUS AND WAS DETERMINED TO KILL DAVID….
JUST WHEN WE THINK WE HAVE WEATHERED THE STORM, WE THINGS SEEM TO BE GOING OUR WAY…HERE COMES A STORM THAT WAS LEAST EXPECTED….AS SOON AS THET SET SAIL….THE TEXT SAYS THERE ROSE AGAINST IT A TEMPESTOUS WIND, CALLED EUROCLYDON…THEY WERE TOSSED TO AND FRO FROM SIDE TO SIDE….ANYBODY HERE EVER BEEN TOSSED FROM SIDE TO SIDE….I KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE TO BE IN A STORM…..SOMETIMES WE HAVE TO MUCH BAGGAGE That holds us down, friends we need to break from that holds US BACK…THE THIRD DAY THEY BEGAN TO THROW THE BAGGAGE OVER BOARD..THE ESSENTIALS THAT YOU THOUGHT WAS NECESSARY ALL OF A SUDDEN BECAME A MAJOR STUMBLING BLOCK…….
TEXT SAYS AFTER MANY DAYS THEY NO LONGER SAW THE SUN AND THE STARS ALL THEY COULD SEE, HEAR, AND FEEL WAS A STORM….JUST WHEN ALL HOPE WAS GONE…HERE IS A WORD FROM THE LORD…PAUL SAID I TOLD YOU NOT TO LEAVE CRETE,….BUT YOU DIDN’T LISTEN..NEVERTHELESS BE OF GOOD CHEER FOR THERE SHALL BE NO LOSS OF ANY MAN’S LIFE AMONG YOU BUT THE SHIP.
“
SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL WHO SPENT 3 YEARS IN THE 8TH GRADE, AFTER HE BECAME SUCCEFUL AND POPULAR..HE WAS INVITED TO BE THE COMMENCMENT SPEAKER AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY…HE STOOD UP LOOKED AT THE AUDIENCE FOR A FEW MINUTES, THEN BLURTED OUT “NEVER GIVE UP”..PAUSED A FEW MINUTES AND REPEATED “ NEVER GIVE UP”..GOT HIS TOP HAT, CANE AND WALKED OFF THE STAGE!
JUST THIS WEEK THE CHAIRMAN OF THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE DICK GRASSO RESIGNED HIS POSITION….IN TODAY’S WORLD WE SEE PEOPLE GIVING UP EVERYDAY…CHIEF OF POLICE….PRINCIPAL’S OF SCHOOLS, POLITICAN’S FORCED TO LEAVE OFFICE BECAUSE OF SOME INDESCRTION….IT EASIER TO GIVE UP IN THE MIDST OF TRIALS AND TEMPATIONS..
STOPPED BY THIS MORNING TO TELL YOU IF YOU STAY IN THE SHIP..STORM WILL PASS OVER AFTERWHILE…WEEPING MAY ENDURE FOR A NIGHT BUT JOY COMES IN THE MORNING LIGHT.
3. Saved on Broken Pieces
JOB SAYS ..MAN BORN OF A WOMAN HAS A FEW DAYS AND IS FULL OF TROUBLE…THOU HE SLAY ME, YET WILL I TRUST
WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THE FACT THAT STORMS WILL COME…
Conclusion:
TALKED ABOUT SAFETY IN THE SHIP…LASTLY WE WANT TO TALK ABOUT SAVED ON BROKEN PIECES.
IN VERSE 31 PAUL TELLS THE CENTURION AND THE SOLDIERS..EXCEPT YOU ABIDE IN THE SHIP, YE CANNOT BE SAVED…I CAME BY THIS MORNING TO TELL SOMEBODY….STAY IN THE SHIP…YOU CAN MAKE IT ON BROKEN PIECES…THE SHIP MAY GO DOWN BUT YOU CAN STILL MAKE IT ON BROKEN PIECES…GOD SAID HEAVEN ANDEARTH MIGHT PASS AWAY BUT MY WORD WILL NOT FAIL…..GODS WORD IS TRUE..GODS WORD IS SURE…GODS WORD IS SAFE!…YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO SING LIKE ANGELS…YOU MAY NOT BE ABLE TO PREACH LIKE PAUL, BUT YOU CAN GRAB HOLD OF GOD’S WORD…….
40 PSALM I WAITED PAIENTLY FOR THE LORD AND HE INCLINED UNTO ME AND HEARD MY CRY. HE BROUGHT ME UP ALSO OUT OF AN HORRIBLE PIT, OUT OF THE MIRY CLAY AND SET MY FEET UPON A ROCK
37 PSALM..FRET NOT THYSELF BECAUSE OF EVIL DOERS, NEITHER BE THOU ENVIOUS AGAINST THE WORKERS OF INQUITY..FOR THEY SHALL SON BE CUT DOWN LIKE THE GRASS AND WITH AS THE GREEN HERB
23 PSALM THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD….
27 PSALM FOR IN THE TIME OF TROUBLE HE SHALL HIDE ME IN HIS PAVILLION…IN THE SECRET OF HIS TABERNICLE SHALL HE HIDE ME
46 PSALM GOD IS OUR REFUGE AND STRENGHT, A VERY PRESENT HELPIN THE TIME OF TROUBLE
91 PSALM HE THAT DWELLETH IN THE SECRET PLACE OF THE MOST HIGH SHALL ABIDE IN THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY..
I CAN VISULIZE PAUL HELPING A DROWNING SOILDER..AS HE PICKS HIM UP HE QUOTES JOHN 14…LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED YE BELIVE IN GOD, BELIEVE ALSO IN ME…STAY IN THE SHIP.
