Paul’s trip to Rome beginning in Acts 27 is the story of a stormy trip and shipwreck.
Few things are as awesome to experience as a big storm. This past year, Florida saw four hurricanes plow through and wreak a path of destruction. We can begin to think we are large and in charge when God allows us to be humbled again by some force of nature that reminds us of our true size and strength.
It is one thing to endure a storm from within a building on land, it is quite another to be on a boat in the midst of the Mediterranean Sea. And not for one or two hours or even one or two days, but two weeks (fourteen days!) they were blown across the sea in that storm!
Verse 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.
You can’t get much lower than hopelessness. These seasoned sailors knew the chances of survival at this point. They calculated the possibilities of getting out of this alive and came up with zero. They had reached the end of the rope of hope. Verse 20 doesn’t tell us, but perhaps even Paul and his company were counted among those who lost all hope of rescue. We don’t know. What we do know is that God sent a word of hope in the midst of this hopelessness. He sent an angel to Paul to let him in on God’s plan. Now just imagine this with me. Here are 276 people on this ship and they are all filled with dread and hopelessness, thinking that any moment now this ship will break up and sink to the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea taking them all with it. Right when all seems darkest, after ALL HOPE WAS FINALLY GIVEN UP, God sent an angel to Paul to tell him that they will all live through this. The boat and cargo will go down, but every person aboard will be saved. Paul has a divine appointment to keep and God will see that he keeps it. Not only this, God has graciously allowed that all those there will be spared as well.
Now, would you call that good news? Of course! But who will believe it? No one else saw the angel that we know of. No one else heard this message of hope from God. Why should they believe this prisoner Paul?
Notice that when Paul tells them, he first reminds them that they should have listened to him earlier. He’s been right before when the majority were wrong. Three interventions of Paul follow in verses 21-38. He instills hope, courage, and dependence on God’s provision in these.
21 And when they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete, and incurred this damage and loss.
22 "And yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
23 "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,
24 saying, ’Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’
25 "Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God, that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.
26 "But we must run aground on a certain island."
Courage! In order to have courage a person needs to have some kind of hope. Even the suicide bombers have a hope of taking out as many others with them as possible for a cause. But God’s call to hope is a call of life! It is a call for courage. Listen to the positive message of Paul here.
22 "And yet now I URGE YOU TO KEEP UP YOUR COURAGE, for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
23 "For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me,
24 saying, ’Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’
25 "Therefore, KEEP UP YOUR COURAGE MEN, FOR I BELIEVE GOD, THAT IT WILL TURN OUT EXACTLY AS I HAVE BEEN TOLD.
How important is it that we receive messages of hope to encourage us when we face the storms of life? How necessary to our success is it for us to have positive support when we face negative circumstances?
Isn’t it great that God knows how much we need encouragement? And he supplies it! In fact, he supplies it at just the critical times of life when we not only need it most but benefit from it best.
At this point let’s look at a parallel situation in another passage of God’s word and notice the similarities to this situation in Acts 27.
Psalm 107: 23 Those who go down to the sea in ships, Who do business on great waters;
24 They have seen the works of the LORD, And His wonders in the deep.
25 For He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, Which lifted up the waves of the sea.
26 They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; Their soul melted away in their misery.
27 They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, And were at their wits’ end.
Listen to what this Psalm says. Who spoke and raised up a stormy wind? What did it do to those sailors? The end of verse 27 is very expressive… they were at their wit’s end.
They had come to the end of their ability to figure out an escape. They had come to the end of their strength and hope. As far as they are concerned, they are helpless, powerless and out of options. There was nothing else they could even imagine doing to save themselves. Does that sound familiar?
Now, remember, God is the one who has brought them to this point. He has done this for some of us too. You see, he knows that we need to get to this place at the end of our wits from time to time. He uses this as a reminder of who we are and who he is. We forget sometimes, don’t we. But listen to me… out there at the end of your wits is a great and teachable moment. It’s a place everyone of us will go eventually. The question is, what will we do when we get there? Look at what these sailors did and learn.
28 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, And He brought them out of their distresses.
29 He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 Then they were glad because they were quiet; So He guided them to their desired haven.
They were so low they had no place to go but up. In their distress they cried out to the Lord. Now sailors aren’t known for crying out to God. They are known for other noises. But God knows how to put us where we will cry out to him. That’s just what these sailors did. They relied on the one who brings storms as well as calm. Then notice what happened. God heard their cry and answered them with the blessing of deliverance and guidance. Now what do you suppose they will do?
31 Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, And for His wonders to the sons of men!
32 Let them extol Him also in the congregation of the people, And praise Him at the seat of the elders.
They will be talking about this for a while. Listen, if they had just made the trip uneventfully, do you think they would have worshipped and praised God the same way? Our God wants us to recognize him and learn to lean on him. He cares very deeply about our relationship with him, deeply enough to let our path go through some deep waters and stormy trials.
Getting back to Acts 27. Do you think that after this experience, these 276 people might just listen a little more respectfully and carefully to this man Paul? I know I would, wouldn’t you?
The next intervention by Paul shows that he has gained the respect of at least some of the Romans.
27 But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land.
28 And they took soundings, and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.
29 And fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak.
30 And as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship, and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow,
31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved."
32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat, and let it fall away.
Did you see that? Paul’s words are golden at this point. Think about it! They just cut loose the LIFE BOAT!!! How much trust does that demonstrate?
It was right after this that we read the third intervention of Paul.
33 And until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing.
34 "Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your preservation; for not a hair from the head of any of you shall perish."
35 And having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all; and he broke it and began to eat.
36 And all of them were encouraged, and they themselves also took food.
37 And all of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six persons.
38 And when they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea.
Here he is encouraging them further and demonstrating his faith with prayer and action. His courage and example became contagious. Everyone was encouraged and ate. We ought to take a lesson from this. Our public prayers can also serve the purposes of God. Jesus tells us not to pray for a show, and this prayer is not for personal attention, but a public display of confidence in God. Paul isn’t looking for their praise of himself but their personal welfare. I don’t know what he said in his prayer beyond thanks for the food, but his example to them had a great effect.
As you know, Jenny and I lived in New Hampshire for about 17 years before coming here. In the Northeast it is a very rare thing to see anyone offer thanks for food at a restaurant. At least that was my experience. But we always did and I can remember times when afterward someone would actually come over to our table and thank us or share with us that they were encouraged to see a family or church gruop offer prayer. We weren’t doing it for a show. It was simply an act of faith and thankfulness. But the effect on at least some was encouragement.
I can tell you this, if you don’t do it, no one around you will be encouraged by you NOT offering thanks for your food. Don’t use Jesus admonition to pray in private as an excuse to avoid doing what Paul plainly did here, and publicly return thanks for God’s blessings.
It’s ok to let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Certainly, if you do it for personal applause, you will lose your heavenly reward, but if you demonstrate your faith publicly for the purpose of glorifying God, he will know the difference and reward you accordingly.
Paul not only publicly prayed, but he took action and demonstrated his faith by his works and attitude. This action melted the icy fears of the crew and encouraged them to eat and strengthen themselves for what lay before them. Sometimes it just takes one person to tip the scales toward faith. God may have a plan in mind for you so that YOU ARE THAT ONE PERSON that will make the difference for many others. Are you ready to be God’s person in the crisis who turns all attention heavenward?
How often in scripture has the outcome for the many rested in the hands of just a few? Remember Sodom? If there had just been ten… Remember Esther? How many Jewish lives were in the balance when she was called to stand up during a crisis? What about today? How about you kids in public school, how can you demonstrate your faith in the darkness of that place? God can make a difference through you. Think of this nation today. I believe we are surviving right now because of the faithful in the land that still stand in the gap and pray. Your prayers and public confession of faith may be just what stands between heaven and hell for who knows how many.
Thank God for the faith and example of Paul. May we walk in his steps as he walked in the steps of our Savior and Lord.
