How tedious and tasteless the
hours When Jesus no longer I see Sweet prospects, sweet birds,
and sweet flowers Have all lost their sweetness to me The midsummer shines, but damn,
the fields drive in vain to look gay. But when I am happy in him,
December's as pleasant as May. decreeing God's covenant for
Saul, Christ Jesus, the end of the law. All done for his people
to buy, the Lord Jesus Christ came to die. By Christ were God's law satisfied,
Unto me His life is applied, Redeeming me from sin and death,
So by Christ I'm placed in His rest. content with beholding
his face my all is his pleasure reside no changes of season or
place would make any change in my mind While blessed with a
sense of his love A palace a toy would appear All prisons would
palaces prove If Jesus would dwell with me there Dear Lord,
if indeed I am thine ? Thou art my sun and my song ? ? Say, why
do I languish and pine, and ? ? Why are my winters so long? ? ? Oh, drive these dark clouds
from the sky ? ? Thy soul-cheering presence restore ? Or take me
to the up on high Where winter and clouds are no more Thank you, man. Love that hymn. It's even better now. Jim, thank
you for... Jim wrote a... Jim Racente wrote a stanza for
that hymn that brought the gospel more clearly into it, and I'm
thankful for that. Let's open our Bibles together
to Acts chapter 27. I appreciated what Jeff said
about us being already heaven. In John chapter 6, the scriptures
shows the disciples in a boat with the Lord Jesus Christ in
a storm and and he spoke to the wind and to the sea and the disciples
were amazed they said what manner of man is this that even the
wind and the seas obey his voice And the storm was calmed. And
then the Bible says, and immediately they were on the other side. If you're in the same boat that
the Lord Jesus Christ is in, you're already on the other side. Already there. That's what scripture
says. Those that he foreknew, he did
predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son. And
all they which he predestinated, he called. And all they which
he called, he justified. And all they which he justified,
he glorified. Past tense, already there, all
the blessings of God in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus. God's elect
are in Christ. heaven on the other side of the
sea where there is no sea right now. The story that we have before
us in Acts chapter 27 is a story of salvation. Matter of
fact, I've titled this message saved. Saved. I don't know a word that is more
sweet to the ears of a sinner than the word saved. Had a man tell me one time, he
said, you're just trying to save the world. I said, no, no, I'm
but the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sins of the world. You shall
call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
Sinners loved to hear about the Savior and about the hope that
they have of being saved. Saved from your sin, saved from
Satan, Saved from yourself. Saved from the wrath that is
to come. Saved from this world. Has God put into your heart a
need to be saved? That's what we have here. The
world doesn't know anything about this. You see, Salvation is for
sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. Sinners. You have to be a sinner
to have an interest in being saved. And the world doesn't
really know what a sinner is. Sinners do. Sinners know that
they are sinners by nature. They're troubled by the acts
of sin that break out in their flesh, but they know that they
commit sins because they are sinners. They don't become sinners
because they commit sins. The manifestation of sin is just
the evidence of our sinful nature. And the world doesn't know anything
about that. I'm sure you do like me. talk
into your phone and write things. I do a lot of articles in your
bulletin. I speak them into my phone and
then I send them to Tricia and she puts them in the bulletin.
And I suppose it's happened a couple hundred times over the past several
years. where I have spoken into my phone
the word sinner. Now I know I have a Southern
accent, but without exception, without exception, every single
time that I have spoken into my phone the word sinner, it
has translated it C-E-N-T-E-R. It's like the word's not even
in the dictionary of my phone. It's not in its vocabulary. It
can't type it out. Now, I would think, you know,
well, your phone's supposed to learn things from you, and when
you correct something enough times, it figures it out and
it gets it right. It's never figured it out. It's
never corrected it. It's still typed C-E-N-T-E-R. The word sinner is not in my
phone's vocabulary. And it's not in the world's vocabulary. The word center is, they see
themselves as the center of attention, don't they? And they believe
themselves to be the center of their salvation. But the word
sinner is only familiar to those whom God has made to be a sinner. And sinners need a savior. 276 souls are on this ship, and every single one of them
are going to be saved. Not a single one's going to be
lost. If you're on the ship that the Lord Jesus Christ is on,
you'll be saved. You're already on the other side.
You're already there. This is an accomplished salvation.
This is not a salvation that we've got to make some contribution
to in order to get to the other side. The Lord Jesus Christ is
already on the other side and he has taken those who are in
him with him. We cry with David in Psalm 80
verse 3, turn us again, oh God, and cause thy face to shine upon
us and we shall be saved. Lord, I've got no greater interest
than to be saved. And if I'm going to be saved,
you're gonna have to turn me and cause your face to shine
upon me. And that's our hope right now,
isn't it? That the Lord would turn us, turn us from our self-righteousness,
turn us from our worldly affairs and cause his face to shine upon
us. Romans chapter 11, verse 26,
the scripture says, and all Israel shall be saved. This is spiritual Israel. These
are the true children of Abraham. And every one of them are going
to be saved. Not one of his sheep are going to be lost. Not a single
one. If he has to leave the 99 to
go out into the wilderness to retrieve one sheep, he's going
to do it. He's not going to lose a single
one. None of his blood was shed in
vain. If the Lord Jesus Christ died
for anybody that's not with him already in glory, then there's
no hope for any of us to be saved. There's no hope. Because that,
you see, that gospel, that false gospel puts the responsibility
on you to be saved. You've got to do something in
order to make what he did work for you. If he died for everybody
and he loves everybody and he's trying to get everybody saved,
but most of the people he died for are gonna end up in hell,
you have no hope. I have no hope. It takes away
our gospel. It takes away all of our salvation.
276 souls on this ship. The ship's gonna wreck and it's
gonna sink and nothing on the ship's gonna be saved except
the souls of God's people. Every one of them will be saved. No sweeter word to a sinner's
ear than saved. Turn to me to Romans chapter
five. Let's look at one more passage
of scripture Romans chapter 5 and we'll begin reading at verse
6. For when we were yet without
strength. Now notice God doesn't say when
you were of little strength. When you were drowning and you
were floundering and you had one last breath to say, Lord,
save me. And you had one last contribution
to make in order to be saved. No, when you were on the bottom
of the ocean, already dead in your trespasses and sins, you
couldn't do anything to save yourself. You were without strength. Christ died for the ungodly. Who did he die for? He died for the ungodly. Now this word ungodly, we think of an ungodly person
as someone who's constantly engaged in all sorts of shameful lifestyle
behaviors and treating people horribly. Some people will think,
well, I'm not ungodly. God makes you to be a sinner,
you will be. You realize that everything about you is ungodly. Nothing in you that looks like
him. That's what holy means. He's
other than we are, and we are ungodly. But you know, the word
ungodly, you can look it up. The word ungodly really is the
word worship with the Greek alpha in front of it. That's the word
here. So ungodly, literally translated,
means one who is unable to worship God. That's what the A does in
front of the word. It reverses the meaning of the
word. One who is unable to worship God. One who's unable to come
into the presence of a holy God and be accepted in His presence. That's me, Lord. Unless Christ makes me acceptable,
unless I'm accepted in the beloved, I have no claim on God. I have
no, I have nothing I can, present to God for my acceptance before
him. I'm ungodly. I'm unable to enter
into the presence of a holy God unless the Lord Jesus Christ
as my substitute and as my advocate stands in my stead and presents
me on his behalf. That's who Christ died for. He
didn't die for everybody. Are you ungodly? Is everything
about you sinful? Are you unable to stand in the
presence of a holy God and worship him in a fashion that's acceptable
to him apart from being found in Christ? That's who he died
for. Look at verse seven. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet peradventure for a good
man, some would even dare to die. That word righteous is self-righteous. You know, people despise outward
self-righteousness. No one's going to sacrifice their
life for someone who's self-righteous. Maybe for a good man, someone
would scarcely die. But look at the next verse. But
God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners, not center, sinners, Christ died for us, much more
than being now justified by his blood. We shall be saved from
wrath through him. The roaring lion has been slain. God brings honey out of the evil. We've been saved already, already
on the other side. much more than being now justified
by his blood. We're not going to justify ourselves
before God. Not going to be able to atone
for our sins, not going to be able to make any excuses, not going
to be able to do enough good to justify us. We're justified
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And his blood was
shed before the foundation of the world. You see, this is an
eternal salvation. When we speak of being in heaven
already, what we're saying is that salvation is eternal. Eternal
never had a beginning. Eternal never has an end. Salvation
is of the Lord. He accomplished it in eternity
past, and it extends to eternity future. And there's nothing in time that
you and I can do. to add to it or take away from
it. Much more than verse nine, being
now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him. For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by
the death of his son, much more being reconciled, we shall be
saved by his life. shall be saved." Not might be
saved. Not, you know, do your part,
you know, maybe you'll be saved. No, shall. Shall be saved. Now in our text, if you'll turn
back with me to Roman Acts chapter 27, we have to look at this verse
one more time. Verse 23 in Acts chapter 27,
for there stood by me this night an angel of God, whose I am and
whom I serve, saying, fear not, Paul, for thou must be brought
before Caesar, and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail
with thee. Here's God's promise made to
his son. God has given thee all that sail
with thee. If you're in the boat that the
Lord Jesus Christ is in, God has given to him all that sail
with him. This story is gonna tell us exactly
how many men were in this boat. And it was 276. And that number
is significant. The number two in the Bible has
to do with union. And the two shall be made one
flesh. As he is, so are we. The husband and the bride, the
head and the body. This is the two. Seven, you know what that is?
That's a number of perfection. It's a number of rest. The Lord
Jesus Christ rested because his work was finished. And we have
perfect union with Christ. as a result of his accomplished
work of redemption. You know what the number six
is? It's a number for sinners. It's a number for man. We were
created on the sixth day. And six might be the closest
number to seven that there is, but salvation is not by close.
You gotta be a seven. 276 souls. Isn't that glorious? They're
in a horrible storm. And this isn't a passing storm.
This is a storm they've been in for two weeks now. The sun
does not shine. This is an Alexandria grain ship,
grain ship that's going to Rome, taking its cargo to Rome. It
stopped over in Fairhaven and should have spent the winter
there, but because Fairhaven was not commodious, because it
was not large enough and spread out enough to please them, which
is where this Fairhaven is a picture of Christ. We've saw that already.
And men won't have Christ because it's too narrow, too narrow. I remember, sadly, a man, when
I learned Calvinism, we left an Armenian church and started
a Reformed Baptist church, and he followed. He was convinced
that Calvinistic doctrine was taught in the Bible and that
that was the way to go. And then when the Lord taught
me the gospel and I started trying to preach Christ, This man came
to me and he said, you know, Greg, he said five years ago,
you narrowed the way, but I followed you because I saw that it was
in the scriptures. He said, but you've made it too
narrow now. I can't, can't, can't go where
you're going. It's too narrow. Straight is
the gate and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life. It
is a narrow way. These men wouldn't stay in Fairhaven. They wouldn't look to Christ
because it was too narrow. And they had profit to be made
from their cargo, didn't they? And they thought, well, let's
go on to Phenicia. And Paul told them to stay right
here, don't leave. This is where you need to stay.
This is gonna be a great loss if you leave. Well, they didn't
pay attention. They didn't believe God and they left. And now they're
out in the middle of the ocean. God sends a storm. And they're all afraid they're
gonna die. And God gives the Apostle Paul a word of hope.
He said, tell them to stay on the ship and they'll be saved. These ships, this is a picture
of our life and salvation. The Bible says, there shall be
no more sea in heaven. And so the sea in the earth,
the way of the Lord is through the seas. We saw that in the
previous hour where God brings his people to Christ through
their sin, through the turbulence and trouble and separation. What
does sea represent? It represents our separation
from God. It represents the trouble that sin brings into our lives.
And we have these stories in the Bible. We have the story
of Noah's Ark, when God sent a great deluge and killed every
living thing that was upon the earth. And eight souls were saved. They were on the ship. They were
in the Ark. They were safe. We had the picture
of Jonah. the whale, and Jonah was down
in the belly of the ship, and God sent a great storm, and these
sailors thought they were all going to die. And Jonah said,
throw me over. And they threw Jonah over. Picture
of Christ being thrown into the sea of our own sin, and the calm,
the sea was calm. I already mentioned John chapter
6. where the Lord speaks and the wind and the rain stops and
immediately they were on the other side. Here we have another
story of that. Believers in God's church, in
Christ, in a storm, afraid for their lives, but the Lord saves
all 276 of them. What a glorious picture of salvation. Sinners love this story. Sinners
love to know that there is a Savior whom God has given everyone that
sails with Him. Every single one. They cannot
die. Verse 25. Wherefore, sirs, be
of good cheer for I believe God that it shall be even as it was
told me. Now, here's another thing about
sinners. Sinners are believers. They believe
God. They do. They believe everything
that God has said. Someone said, well, how much
of the Bible do you have to believe to be a believer? Every word of
it. Every single word of it. That's the definition of a believer.
And if God has made you a believer, you don't call into question
what he said. You just bow to it. It doesn't mean you understand
it. It doesn't mean that you, it means you believe God. And yet our sin is born out of
unbelief, isn't it? We believe God. Like we ought,
we'd never sin. That's the distinction that the
Lord Jesus Christ has. He had perfect faith. Paul said,
I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. The life that I now live, I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and died for me.
The faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where our
faith is. So Paul, speaking again as a type of Christ, is saying
to these people on this ship, be of good cheer. I believe God. And because I believe God, you're
gonna be saved. How be it, we must be cast upon
a certain island, verse 26. But when the 14th night was come,
As we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight, the
shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country and sounded and found 20 fathoms. And when they had gone a little
further, they sounded again and found 15 fathoms. So the water's
getting shallower. Fathoms about six feet. So we
go 120 feet to 90 feet. The waters were getting close
to land. Then feared, lest they should
have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the
stern and wished for the day. Now they've already strapped
the ship together, they've already thrown out the tackling, and
the storm continues, and they've tried works, and they've tried
helps, and they've tried letting the ship just go to the wind.
We saw that a couple of Sundays ago. They tried fatalism, they
tried works, they tried helps, and now they're throwing four
anchors out of the stern. Now we have an anchor for our
soul that is sure and steadfast. These anchors didn't hold. They're
doing everything they can to try to save themselves. You see
that? That's what men do. They do everything
they can to try to save themselves and it's all in vain. They've
thrown four anchors out of the stern. Surely, this'll help,
we'll be saved. Men attempting to save themselves
with every worldly means possible. The number four. In the Bible,
the four seasons and the four corners of the earth and the
fourth day of creation, when God completed the earth and the
moon, the sun, the stars, what do we see here? Men using every
means that they can find in this world to try to save themselves. And it's all in vain. It's all
in vain. These anchors aren't holding.
And they won't hold your ship either. They won't hold mine. Notice, they wished for day. You see that? They threw the
anchors out and they wished for day. Our salvation is not a wish. We have a sure hope based on
the promises of God. We're not wishing to be saved.
We've got an anchor. It's gone in as our forerunner
into the holies of holies. And he's put his blood on the
mercy seat. And God said, here, I will meet
with you. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass by you. We're not desperately attempting
to save ourselves by throwing four anchors out of the stern
of the ship. Wishing for day. No, we watching and waiting. longing for that day when the
trump of God shall sound and the dead in Christ shall be raised
and those of us which are alive shall be caught up together with
them in the air so shall we ever be with the Lord it doth not
yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear
we should be made like him what we're not wishing for the day
oh our hearts are settled we have a We have a sure hope based
on the promises of God's word. He's faithfully cannot lie. The
Lord Jesus Christ has already gone to the other side and he's
taking with him all those that are on his ship. And we see these
sailors desperately trying. Look at verse 30. And as the
shipment were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let
down the boat into the sea under color as though they were casting
anchors out of the four ship. So they were pretending to put
down anchors when in fact, what they were doing is letting out
the lifeboats and they were going to escape the ship on a lifeboat.
You know, that's what religion is. Men pretending to be something
that they're not. Men pretending to love God, and
yet you tell them about the God who is, and they will hate you
and him. Men pretending to love you, I
went into a religious organization just the other day and, you know,
I thought it was Stepford Wives, you know, they were all just
so sweet and so, you know, they were like robots, you know, they
were all acting so nice and friendly and I was reminded what religion's
like. I wasn't there for any reason
to leave me there for any period of time, so I didn't get a chance
to talk to anybody, but it was just amazing how sweet and kind
and lovely, but I know, Had I gone into the pulpit of that church
and preached what I'm preaching right now? That sweet kindness,
that friendliness that religious people put on as a facade, were
done just like they did to the Lord Jesus Christ in Nazareth,
when they wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his
mouth until he told them about the sovereignty of God. And then
they hated him and took him to the brow of the hill to murder
him. Men by nature hate God, but they pretend to be something
they're not. They pretend to be righteous. They're not righteous. Verse 31, Paul said to the centurion
and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, you cannot
be saved. If one of these shipmen, one
of them escapes out of the ship, everybody's gonna be lost. That's
what he said. Except every single one of them
abide in the ship, no one's gonna be saved. If one single person
for whom Jesus Christ died ends up in hell, none of us have any
hope of being saved. All we can do is wish for the
day. cast out our anchors from the stern, let down our lifeboats,
pretend to be something that we're not. If one person for
whom Christ died is lost, we're all lost. Then the soldiers cut off the
ropes of the boat and let her fall off. Notice that was the
soldiers. The centurion believed Paul. The soldiers believed Paul. Now these soldiers in Centurion
were Romans. They were irreligious pagans. These shipmen were experienced
sailors. And what do we see here? We see
a picture of the religious and the irreligious. It's the religious
that often object to the gospel. When the irreligious hear and
they say, well, Wow, that's wonderful. I mean, I don't have to pretend
to be something I'm not, like my religious friends are doing.
I don't have to be a hypocrite. I can be saved without, based
on someone else's work. Yes, yes. The soldiers believed
God. And Paul uses that analogy often
in the Bible, doesn't he? When he talks about the Ephesians
chapter five, putting on the whole armor of God, a helmet
of salvation, a breastplate of righteousness, and a belt of
truth, and feet shod with the preparation of the gospel, and
the sword of the spirit, and the shield of faith. Can you
see Paul in prison, in Rome, looking at his guard and writing
these words? And when he writes to Timothy,
he tells him to be a good soldier and don't be entangled with the
things of this world. The soldiers, those whom God
has enlisted into his army, they just believe God. Cut off all the ropes. That's a good place to be. You
know, previously it says that the stars and the sun was so
dark for so long that they had no more hope of being saved. It says they gave up hope. They
had no means of navigation and they gave up hope of being saved.
That's a good place to be. Lord, where should we go? You
alone have the words of eternal life. And we know and are sure
that thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. We've
got no other option. The anchors haven't helped. The
works haven't helped. The helps haven't helped. Religion
hasn't helped. Casting everything to the wind
hasn't helped. We've lost all hope. That's where God brings sinners. No place else to go. There's
no other name given among men whereby we must be saved. God has given him a name that
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee
shall bow and every tongue confess. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man can come to the Father
except by me. Cut off all your ropes, all your
lifeboats, All your works, all your pretended religion, all
the things that you thought you did that are going to earn you
favor with God, cut those ropes loose. Let the light boats go. They won't save you. They won't
save you. Verse 33, and while the day was
coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat. And when the
Bible speaks of meat and bread, it's not speaking of just a piece
of meat or a loaf of bread, it's speaking of food. And when the
Lord Jesus Christ says, my body is your meat indeed. And when
it speaks of him as being the bread of life, he's talking about
just as food sustains our physical body, so meat and bread sustains
our Christ, as our meat and bread sustains our souls. And so now
they're going to, they've cut off all the ropes. God has made
a promise, they're all gonna be saved. And Paul says to them,
take meat. This day is the 14th day that
you have tarried and continued fasting and having taken nothing. They haven't eaten for two weeks. I guess probably a best way not
to be seasick is not to have anything in your stomach. I mean,
don't you know, they would have all gone through that. Wherefore, I pray you to take
some meat, for this is for your health. For there shall not a
hair fall from the head of any of you." I love that. God, not a hair's gonna fall
from your head. You're gonna be saved. What do
you have on your body that you need less of than any other part
of your body? Hair, right? When you pluck out
a hair, don't lose it, don't miss it. Maybe somebody like
me or Michael might, but you know, not a hair is gonna fall from
your head. Verse 36. Verse 35, and when
he had spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the
presence of the ball. And when he had broken it, he
began to eat. The breaking of bread is gonna cause them to
be revived. They're gonna have hope. Then were they all of good cheer.
And they took some meat. And they're still in the middle
of the storm. They don't have any anchors or light boats or tackling or
cargo. The ship's falling apart. They're
coming up on rocks they've already tested. And yet they have good
cheer. Why? Because they've eaten meat. And they've had the promise given
to them of God. You see, in a lot of ways, you
and I are still in the midst of the sea, aren't we? There's
still some turbulence, there's still, you know, and it comes
and goes, and sometimes the storm gets really bad. But be of good
cheer. The Lord Jesus Christ says, I
believe God, and it shall be, even as he has spoken unto me,
that not one person on this ship's gonna be lost. Not one hair is
gonna fall from your head. And they ate, and they were glad. And we were all in the ship,
200, three score, 60, and 16, 276 souls. And when they had eaten enough,
they'd lighten the ship, cast out the weed unto the sea, and
when it was day, they knew not the land, But they discovered
a certain creek with a shore into which they were minded,
if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. And when they had
taken up the anchors, they committed themselves onto the sea and loosed
the rudder bands and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind and
made toward shore. And falling into a place where
the two seas met together, they ran the ship aground And the
foreground stuck fast and remained unmovable. But the hinder part
was broken, the hinder part was broken with the violence of the
waves. And the soldier's counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest
any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, he's
the one to believe God, the soldier, willing to save Paul, kept them
from their purpose and commanded that they which could swim, should
cast themselves first into the sea and get to the land, and
the rest, some on boards, some on broken pieces of the ship.
And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land." You know where the place where
the two seas meet together is? It's where mercy and truth have
met together and righteousness and peace have kissed each other. That happened on Calvary's cross when God showed mercy by satisfying
the demands of his truth and making a sacrifice that was acceptable
to his holiness. establishing righteousness and
mercy, being just and justifying his people. It's where the two
C's met together. God cannot sacrifice his justice
to save us. They can't just show mercy. Mercy
and truth have to meet together. Righteousness and peace have
to kiss each other. That's what happened when the
Lord Jesus Christ bore the sins of his people on Calvary's cross. Two seas met together. The ship
was driven to a safe place. Oh, they had to swim on broken pieces
of the ship. You know, I think about our little
congregation here is just sort of a broken piece of the ship,
isn't it? But they all made it to land on the other side. What a Savior. Salvation is for
sinners who have no hope. Anywhere but Christ. The ungodly. Is that you? Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. Give us the grace to cut off
our lifeboats. Give us the grace to believe
you. Give us the grace to rest our hope in thy dear son. Where the two seas met together. Where justification, satisfaction
and mercy and truth all came together. for the salvation of
your people. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. 53, let's stand together, number
53.