Turn with me, if you would, to
the book of Acts chapter 27. Acts 27. We'll begin in verse 33. Lord willing, go through the end of
the chapter. I was thinking about that scripture
that Brother Scott just read. No person that ever calls upon
the Lord for mercy will ever be turned away. Never. Never. If they cried for mercy, He has
given them a heart to do so. And He said, All that come to
Me, I will in no wise cast them out. I pray the Lord be pleased to
bless this message to our hearts and truly cause us to see afresh. Let us truly eat of Him. It is only by the grace of God
that a man or woman can see past the history. Lord willing, I'm going to try
to finish this chapter, the 27th chapter. There's only 28 in the
book of Acts. And we've looked at the history
of the early church, the beginnings with the apostles going out. And we've said this many times,
it's not just history. These Scriptures are alive. A novel is just a book. book. You read it one time, you've
read it. I mean, you know. But not the Scriptures. You read
these Scriptures and in them we see and look for and behold
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been looking at Paul's
journey to Rome. And this portion of Scripture
is a continuance of that. But more than just the Apostle
Paul's journey to Rome, this is the account of God's love
to His people and salvation by grace through faith. of the power and will of Almighty
God. If we see Him, then we rejoice. If we don't see Him, we walk
away just empty. The ship. It's a picture of Christ. It's been a picture of Christ
as we've beheld the Father revealing to Paul concerning salvation,
all that's in the ship are going to be saved. The Apostle Paul here, a glorious
gift to all that be in the ship, all that's in the ship is here
just looking at, not historically now, I know that there are soldiers
and there are criminals and there are three believers that I know
of and some Jews. I know that. But look and see
the instruction in righteousness. See the glory of God as it is
set forth. It shows again the type of picture. Salvation. Paul had the assurance from God,
not one life is going to be lost to the storm, but everybody is
going to have to stay in the boat. The Lord said in John 6,
39, This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all
which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. Now we look tonight and we see
the setting forth of all that God loves. How does He deal with
them? How do they act? How do they
react? What's the effect when God Almighty
has set His affection everlastingly on a man, on a woman? What happens? Well, I'll tell you the first
thing that happens. Almighty God causes that object of His affection
to cross paths with a preacher. Romans 10. Turn back there just
a second. Romans 10, verse 13, 15. Romans
10. Verse 13, For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach except
they be sent as it is written? How beautiful, how timely are
the feet of them that preach the gospel peace and bring glad
tidings of good things. It's an amazing truth. God causes His people to cross
paths with the hearing of the gospel. You that believe, you
heard the gospel preached. God sent a preacher. Raised up
servants. Back in Acts 27, look at verse
33, And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to
take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have
carried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Now isn't
it amazing that men who need to eat, I'm talking about need
to eat of Christ, For a man to be saved, he must
eat of Christ. He must eat by faith. But isn't
it amazing that men must be told to eat spiritually? You would think that man would
figure out, you know what? I'm starving spiritually. I don't want to eat. Something's
wrong with me. But that's not the way it is.
Man by nature is blind. He thinks himself full. He has
no need in his own consciousness of anything. These men, Paul says 14th day,
you've tarried, you've continued fasting, you haven't taken nothing.
These men hadn't eaten a consistent meal in 14 days. But from the fall in the garden,
man left to himself in sin and unbelief, hadn't eaten of the
true and needful food the Lord Jesus Christ left to himself. He hadn't eaten since the fall. God Almighty is pleased to send
a preacher and to tell men, you need to eat. you need to eat. The Spirit of God blesses that
to the calling out of God's elect. That prodigal son, he ate of
the husk of the food that was given to the swine. He came to
himself. I'm hungry. My dad's house eat better than
I do. Paul besought them all to take
meat. This is God's way. A preacher
comes and he sets forth Christ. And this is what he is saying.
Eat of him. John 6.54, Whoso eateth my flesh
and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life. He that eats of my life
and my death, you have life. This meat was sufficient for
all of them, the Gentiles, the criminals, the soldiers. This
meat, the meat of Christ, is the need of every sinner. Eat. Verse 34, Wherefore, I pray you
to take some meat. This is for your health. There
shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. Here, this
is the exhortation of God's preachers. Takes meat. This is for your
salvation, your health. Eat of him. You will surely, Paul, I don't
doubt for a second, told them to be in the sea. I don't doubt
that you'll be wet. I don't doubt that you're going
to suffer weariness, but there shall not in hair fall from the
head of any of you. All that eat of him are going
to be saved. The Lord said in Mark 16, 16,
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Baptism is a confession of faith. Water doesn't save anyone. God
saves. Salvation is of the Lord. A baptism,
we confess salvation. to be of Christ, to be of God
alone, God the Father who chose, Christ the Son who redeemed,
and the Spirit of God who quickens all that were chosen in electing
grace. The objects of God's mercy are going to be delivered. God
is going to send a preacher. And when He had thus spoken,
verse 35, He took bread He gave thanks to God in presence of
them all. And when he had broken it, he began to eat. God, in His providential mercy,
in perfect type, perfect picture, sent this preacher to preach
to these people, to set forth the true need that they had.
They were starving. Eat something. Eat of this meat. You're not going to perish. This
is for your health. This is for your good. Listen.
Eat of Christ. You'll never perish. Do you know
it's going to take the Spirit of God to teach you that? Teach
me that. To eat of Him. To feast on Him. When He spoke, He took some bread. Gave thanks to it, concerning
it. You know, we're very careful. I know we are. Believers are.
When we're in mixed company, to not draw attention to ourselves
as we pray. Often you go places or restaurants
and stuff like this and men will They'll hold hands. They'll bow
their heads. I was in a restaurant one day.
The guy had his Bible out. And I thought of this scripture. When thou prayest in Matthew
6, 5, and 6, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are. They love to pray standing in
the synagogues and in the corners of the streets. Listen to this,
that they might be seen of men. Now, don't tell me that in mixed
company that you don't think that people
look and they observe and you're aware of it. Now, we'll pray
together here. But this is a very closed audience. The Lord Himself said, when you
pray, don't be as the hypocrites are. They love to be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward, but thou when thou prayest, enter into thy closet
into privacy. And when thou hast shut the door
to the eyes of all that would look upon you, pray to thy Father
which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly." You say, well, why? did Paul pray in the presence
of them all. Remember the picture of which
we are looking. Paul is God's preacher. He set forth in type the meat of
life. It is Christ Himself. And he gave thanks unto the Lord,
showing this, He was not ashamed of the meat that He set forth.
Don't use Paul the Apostle, Moses, crossing the Red Sea. Don't use
men that we find in Scripture. Whenever the Lord gives exact
instruction on praying, take the Lord's Word When you pray,
when you pray, don't be as the hypocrites are. They love to
be seen of men. Take the Lord's Word on it and
say whatever God Almighty was pleased to set forth concerning
the Apostle Paul in this spot is not an example for me to take
when God Almighty has spoken on it. Take God's Word on it. Paul the Apostle gave thanks
to God in presence of them all, and when he had broken it, he
began to eat. What are we to do? John 21, the
Gospel of John, chapter 21. Now, the reason I said that is
because it is very easy. for us to read in Scripture something
that the Lord did concerning someone in Scripture, and we
can say that is our example of what we are to do, not when God
has spoken on it, not when He has given us exact instructions
on it. John 21, verse 20, Then Peter,
turning about, seeth a disciple whom Jesus loved following, which
also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Which is he
that betrayeth thee? Peter, seeing him, saith to Jesus,
Lord, and what shall this man do? And Jesus saith unto him,
If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou me." What do we do? Don't do as the hypocrites are.
When you pray, You pray in privacy, not to be seen of men, to be
heard of your Father. Also, we learn that all that
God loves shall surely eat of Christ. The first thing we learned
was that God was going to send a preacher. The second thing
we know is this. that the Father has chosen, all
that God has everlastingly loved, they will eat. The preacher proclaims, eat,
take meat. Look at verse 36-37, Then were
they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. When we
were all in the ship, and we were in all Let me start over. And we were in, all in the ship,
200, 3 score and 16 souls. All that the Father loves, is
my point, shall surely eat. They were all of good cheer.
They took some meat. Everyone that providentially
was placed in that ship was cheerful as they ate. Two hundred and
seventy-six souls. An exact number. All that the Father has given
the Son. The exact number. All of them were going to be
delivered. As many as were chosen in Christ. How many? All that
the Father gives. They shall come to me." But not only will the objects
of God's mercy eat of him, they're going to trust him to lead them,
to guide them, to direct them, and to preserve them safely. They were all of good cheer.
They also took some meat, 276 of them. And when they had eaten enough, They
lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea when they
were satisfied, when they had eaten enough. Psalm 22, 26 says,
The meek shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that
seek Him. Your heart shall live forever being filled, being satisfied. You come this evening and you
ask yourself, do we not hear the message that
we basically heard last week? Do we not hear of Christ, our
substitute Christ, our representative Christ, our priest Christ, our
hope Christ, our salvation? With Him, we're satisfied. With
Him we have sufficiency. There is nothing else that we
desire but Him. There is nothing else that fills
us but Him. And when it was day, verse 39,
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 it was day, they knew
not the land." That little phrase right there,
they knew not, it means they had no appreciation for. They weren't from there. This
is not where they were raised. This was not where they were
brought up. They had no appreciation for. That's what it meant. They
knew not. Not that they just didn't. know
where they were, they had no appreciation for it. When it was day, when the day
of our understanding is brought into being, we have no appreciation
for this world in which we walk. We are not of this world. We
are in the world, not of the world. That is what the Lord
prayed in the In the book of John, chapter 17, his high priestly
prayer, John 17, verse 14 to 16. Here's the master. Praying
for his people, I have given them, verse 14, thy word. And
the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even
as I am not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them
from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of
this world. Now, this is the way that a believer thinks. You think, you that believe,
you know you're in this world. But your sights are not here. The farthest point of your sight
is not just tomorrow in this world. I can tell you, you that believe,
I can tell you what you're thinking right now. You're thinking of
glory. You're thinking of that day in
which all things will be new and there'll be no more pain,
there's no more suffering, there's no more tears. You don't have a heart for this
place. You have no heart for this. You have no heart for this
world. You're just a pilgrim here. You're
just a sojourner. But for the grace of God, God's
presence to you, save for those that God Almighty has raised
up around you. You go to work. You come home. You just think, I'll just put
in another day. One of these days I'll retire. Or one of these days
I retired and now I'm just I'm just getting older. You have
no appreciation. You're just not of this world.
It has nothing to offer you. And you think on Him and you
think, Lord, but that You would give me of Yourself to eat, that
You'd promise me that I'm not going to perish, that You would
keep me by Your grace Continue to feed me and I'm so thankful
that I've got a place to come and I can hear the Word of God
and this is life to me. No appreciation. When it was
day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain
creek with a shore into the which they were minded if it were possible
to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the
anchors, They committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the
rudder bands, and hoist up the mainsail to the wind, and made
toward shore, and falling into a certain place where two seas
met, they ran the ship aground, and the forepart stuck fast and
remained unmovable, but the hind part was broken with the violence
of the waves. They cut the anchors. They cut
the anchors and committed the anchors. Now I realize it says,
and when they had taken up the anchors and committed themselves
unto the sea themselves is in italics. Notice that? The margin,
if you have a marginal reading there, it says they cut the anchors
and left them in the sea. Seems to be. the right reading
of it. That's right. They cut the anchors. Remember we looked last week.
They put all four anchors in one spot. A picture that they
cast all their confidence in Christ. They put them all in
one place. Now here they've committed their
confidence to the good pleasure of Almighty God and to His Spirit. Listen to the wording. When they
had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves under the
sea and loosed the rudder bands and hoisted up the mainstay to
the wind." To the wind. A picture of God's Spirit. The
believer has no anchor but Christ. They walk being led by God's
Spirit. Loose those rudder bands made
toward the shore. The place of stability. whenever we find these men in
the boat, the boat of their salvation, and they've got all their trust
in Him, stay in the boat. You won't be lost. The Scripture
says, falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship
aground and the forepart stuck fast and remained immovable. Now you think about this. This
ship is for the deliverance of all that was in it. And that
ship fell into a place where two seas met. The ship is broken,
but all that were in that ship survived. The Lord Jesus Christ
is our ark of safety. And He too fell into a place
where two immutable truths meet. God's truth and God's mercy. Listen to this. Psalm 85, 10. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. All of the divine attributes
for man's salvation meet in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is mercy and He is truth. He is our righteousness and He
is our peace. Almighty God will surely show
us mercy, but not at the expense of truth, justice, The soul that
sins is going to die. This boat came forth and stuck
fast, immovable according to God Almighty's everlasting covenant
of grace. The Lord Jesus Christ set His
face as a flint, immovable in His will to accomplish the redemption
of His people. I come to do Thy will, O Lord."
The thing I noticed right here was this. That ship stuck fast and remained unmovable. Hinderpark was broken, the violence
of the waves. But do you know not one of them
was lost? What a beautiful picture of salvation. Entrusted that ship to the good
providence of God. And Almighty God brought it to
the place that God was going to deliver it. And lastly, those
that God has everlastingly loved shall surely be saved. The soldiers, verse 32 counsel,
was to kill the prisoners lest any of them should swim out and
escape. But the centurion, 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 land and the rest,
some on boards, some on broken pieces of the ship. So it came to pass that they
escaped, all safe to land. I looked at that last verse right
there. Some on boards, some on broken
pieces of ship, some through the water, some
through the flood, some through the fire, all through the blood. Almighty God is going to save
His people. All that was on board that ship for Paul's sake. That's what he said. But the
centurion willing to save Paul. Isn't it amazing when we consider
that Almighty God has done what He's done for us for Christ's
sake? Not for mine. Not for yours. For His son's
sake. He who sent His Son into this
world to redeem His people. And the Son, immovable in His
purpose, set that face as a flint to the
cross and laid down His life. And He did it in the obedience to His Father
according to that everlasting covenant. And all that's in Him is going
to be saved. One of these days, I'm going
to understand that completely and see it, behold it, and rejoice
in it. I know the ship was broken. He
said, this is my body which is broken for you. But all in Him are saved. I don't want to think lightly
of Him. I don't want to dishonor Him. I don't want to be disrespectful. I want to take these Scriptures
and read and see these Scriptures. These Scriptures that based upon
the Word of our Lord to the two on the road to Emmaus, beginning
with Moses, He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures those
things concerning Himself. May I see Him. The Lord said in John 10, 27,
28, My sheep hear My voice, and I
know them, and they follow Me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand." May Almighty God bless this Word
to our hearts, and may we learn for the instruction or from the
instruction of His Scripture. Look for Him. Ask the Spirit of God to show
Christ to you. Eat of Him by faith. Eat of Christ. Taste of Him. It's for your health. It is for
your salvation. And those that the Lord has everlastingly
loved, they will be of good cheer and they will eat and be filled
and will commit themselves to the good providence of God, lead
and guide and direct. And they shall behold Him who
is immovable. He who never changes, who gave
Himself for His own, and they will see that broken body that
was given for them. They'll rejoice and be glad. And one day we will, as the Scripture
reveals in the book of Revelation, cast our crowns before Him and
say, Lord, You're worthy to receive all honor and glory and praise.
For Christ's sake, Amen.