Well, a lot of water in our message
as of late. We're crossing seas. You've got
to cross three seas on your way to heaven. You've had to have
crossed the sea with Noah. You've got to cross the Red Sea. You've got to be led by a sovereign,
omnipotent hand of God out of the bondage. The question that Jeremiah asks
is, how shall it be with you at the swelling of the Jordan? Moses is not allowed into the
promised land. No law gets into the promised
land. No works, no obedience of men gets into the promised land.
Joshua, Jesus, leads his people into the promised land. How do
they cross the Jordan? very well. After 40 years of wandering,
after 400, nearly 500 years of promise, they come to the Jordan
at flood time. They could have known the Jordan
was a trickle, couldn't they? They came to the Jordan at flood
time. They say that the Jordan at that place is about 1.6 kilometres
wide at flood time, but not only is it in its little valley, but
it floods other land around it. Do you remember the story of
how you get across the Jordan? How did they get across the Jordan?
They walked across the Jordan on dry ground just as they came
out of the Red City on dry ground. What happened? The priests carry
the Ark of God. And as they put their foot into
the Jordan River, And the priest stayed in the
middle with the ark, and all the people went over. That's
how you cross into the promised land. That's how you cross. So, with that in our minds, let's
turn to Acts chapter 27, and we are crossing the sea here. And the topic and the title of our
My message is in verse 31, and it just simply says, abide in
the ship. We've looked at the ship that
took the Lord Jesus Christ and the disciples across the Sea
of Galilee a few weeks ago, and now we're back with our friend
Paul in this ship. And don't forget there are three
believers in this ship, Paul and Luke and Aristarchus. So
let's start in verse 8. As you saw earlier, as you could
read earlier at your leisure, the winds directed them and pushed
them. But hardly passing by, it came
under a place that is called Fairhavens. Fairhavens means
a beautiful or a good harbour. Nowhere unto it was a city of
glacier. Now when much time was spent,
and when sailing was now dangerous, because the past was now already
past, Paul admonished them, and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive
that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only
to the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless, the
centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more
than those things which were spoken by Paul. And because the
haven was not commodious to winter in, not convenient, The Moorpard
advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain
to Phenecy, and there to Winter, which is a haven of Crete, and
lies towards the south-west and the north-west. And when the
south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained their purpose,
loosing thence, They say are close by Crete. But not long
after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Eurocliden. And when the ship was caught
and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running
under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much
work to come by the boat. which when they had taken up,
they used helps undergirding the ship, and fearing lest they
should fall into the quicksand, strait the sails, and were so
driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with the tempest, the
next day they lightened the ship, and the third day we cast out
with our own hands the tackling of the ship, when neither sun
nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us.
All hope that we should be saved was then taken away. But, after
a long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and
said, Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed
from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I
exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of
any man's life among you. But of the ship, For there stood
by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar,
and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore,
sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even we must be cast upon a certain
island. And when the fourteenth night
was come, and 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 it twenty fathoms, and when they had gone a little
further they sounded again and found it fifteen fathoms. Then,
fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors
out of the stern, and wished for the day. As the shipmen were
about to flee out of the ship when they had let down the boat
into the sea under colour, under pretense, as though they would
have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion
and the soldiers, accept these, abide in the ship. You cannot
be saved. Let's pray. Heavenly Father,
Praise you for your word and we praise you Heavenly Father
that your word speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified
and we pray Heavenly Father that your words which have been so
faithfully recorded to us would be words that shine care and abounding love that
you bestow upon your people. May your son be honoured and
exalted, Heavenly Father. For we pray in his name. Amen. What a glorious gospel we have.
What a glorious God we have. Here we have this remarkable
picture of Paul and these other believers and the 276 souls that
are on board this ship. And it's a ship of promise. It's
a ship of grace. It's a ship of providence. It's
a ship that carries people across the stormy sea. And if we didn't
get to read it, but down in verse 44, it says, all the state. That is the glory of our God,
isn't it? That all His will abide in the
ship. All His escape safe to land. This is a picture of salvation,
isn't it? And except you abide in the ship,
you cannot be saved. So I wanted to have a look at
this ship. that this ship, like all the
ships of all mankind, they pass through stormy waters. Every
child of Adam born into this world is going to suffer the
trials that all the rest of the world took. They were common
trials and common tribulations. And on this journey across this
sea, which represents sin and death, and death is so close
to them as it was to Noah and all of the others of that day,
They are. We travel in this world through
stormy seas. Verse 27 says, and then the sailing
was now dangerous. The sailing was now dangerous. The sailing is dangerous, isn't
it? This is a journey for the majority
of the people of this world, and for the believers who share
so much of it, is a journey that's perilous, isn't it? The waves
are a tempest against us. The winds are contrary to us. So this trip, this ship, travels
on a path that's ordained by our God. The winds continually,
which speak of the Spirit of God and the hand of the Sovereign
God, the winds are contrary in verse 4, and the wind's not suffering
us in verse 7. And the south wind blew softly
in verse 13. It's a tempestuous wind in verse
14. We were exceedingly tossed with
the tempest, verse 18. Verse 20, no small tempest lay
upon us. and they were driven up and down. What a picture of man. What a
picture of man. The path of all of us is a path
through the sea, as it were. This is a ship of promise. You might recall that Paul was
promised that he was going to testify before Caesar. The great
gospel comes, you can read it there in verse 24. Paul, verse
24, the angel said, fear not Paul, thou must be brought before
Caesar. Verse 26, how be it we must be
cast So this ship, this ship, if in
which you abide, you will be saved. And this ship, in which
you abide, you'll be saved, and you'll be all saved to land,
is a ship which pictures, like Noah's Ark, it pictures the salvation
of God's people. There is only one ship that's
sailing across that say to land. There's only one
ship in which if in which you abide you will be saved. I want to know about that ship.
I want to be in that ship. I want to be in it because only
those in it will be told to abide in it. It's a great word from
our God isn't it? So how do you get in the ship?
Paul was in this ship, the ship of grace, the ship of salvation
by a sovereign hand of God. Verse 13, I saw in the way a
light from heaven. God's people are in this ship
by revelation of God to his people, a revelation which is particular
to his people, a revelation which speaks of the glory and the holiness
that our God is. It's above the brightness of
the sun. It's a heavenly light that shines. Paul's put in this ship because
he has a humbling experience. That's the end of the debate.
That's the end of the discussion. You, like Paul, will hear a voice
speaking to you, but you'll hear a voice, verse 14 of Acts 26,
when you're all fallen to the ground. You meet God. That's the end of the debates.
You meet God as a humbled sinner with a revelation from God. You'll
hear a voice, how God speaks, and he speaks particularly, do
you listen to what it says? I heard a voice speaking unto
me. You will hear God speaking particularly
and personally to you. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Everything that you've done in
all of your self-righteous religion has been against me. You think
that you've been doing God's service, and in reality, you've
been an enemy of God. You must be taken out. You must
be taken across that sea, which is typified by the Red Sea, that
sea of bondage and law and obedience and works under those hard taskmasters. It's hard for them to kick against
the breeze. And then said I, you'll profess
ignorance. You'll profess that all of your
religion have only ever brought you into an ignorance. All of your knowledge of the
scriptures, all of your knowledge of doctrine, all of your knowledge
of all of these things of religion has just made you an ignorant
person. When you meet him, you'll throw it all away. That's what
Paul says in Philippians 3, it was done. It was done. Who art thou, Lord? I didn't have a clue who you
were. Now that I've met you, I realize I didn't have a clue
who you were. And he said, I am Jesus, whom
thou persecuted. You're in this ship because he
says, but rise and stand upon my feet. For I have appeared
unto thee for this purpose, you'll meet a God who is purposeful,
to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou
hast seen and those things in which I will appear unto thee.
Delivering thee from the people and from the Gentiles unto whom
I now send thee, to open their eyes to turn them from darkness
to light, and from the power of Satan under God, that they
may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith that is in me. That was Paul's commission. That's
the commission of all of God's servants. That's how Paul was
in this ship. When he comes to describe it
in Galatians chapter 1, it's a beautiful description, isn't
it? He speaks of his time in religion when he was advancing
above all the equals. He was the best there was. He
was the brightest and the best and the most obedient and the
most zealous and the most moral and the most law-obedient. He
was spotless in his own eyes, thoughtless before the law of
God, so he claimed. I was exceedingly zealous for
the tradition of my father's Galatians 1.14. This is how God
saves sinners. This is how you get him a ship.
But when it pleased God, when it pleased God, who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal
his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen. He didn't
need to go Paul was in the ship. See, the
ship that is the ship of salvation, the ship in which if you abide
you'll be saved, the ship which delivers all of its people safe
to land, is the ship that has a banner over it, doesn't it?
The ship that has a name, the ship that has a description. Paul was put in before the foundation
of the world, and even in his enmity and his rebellion against
God, God was still exactly the same towards him, loving him,
caring for him, and setting a limit to his wickedness. in this ship, you're going to
be in this ship the same way as the others. I repeat that verse in 1 Timothy
1.15, often regarding Paul and this journey. God says Paul's
a pattern. Paul's a pattern. You're going
to be in this ship. You're going to get there the
way Paul did, and if you're in this ship, you'll be in the same
ship as Paul. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am chief. First, howbeit for this cause
I obtain mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth
all longsuffering for a pattern to them which should afterwise
believe on him to life everlasting. Here's a pattern. We'll see how
Aristarchus got to be in the ship. Paul went on a journey,
didn't he? Directed by the Spirit of God. And Paul As you see,
if you go and read those chapters in Acts 16 and 17, Paul, by the
direction of God, the Holy Spirit, was directed not to go into Bithynia
and not to go to Mysia, but was directed by a man from Macedonia
to go over to Macedonia. That's how Paul got there. And
he met Luke on the way. Paul says that God says to him,
you can't go and evangelize there, and you can't go and evangelize
there, but you're going here. God is a God of purpose. We've
just been reading about it. And he went to Philippi, and
you remember he got hounded out of Philippi, and he went to Thessalonica.
He was only in Thessalonica for a few days, and he was hounded
out of Thessalonica. But he was there long enough
to This is part of the banner of
this ship, isn't it? We give thanks to God always
for you making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without
ceasing your work of faith, labour of love, and patience of hope
in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father,
knowing brethren beloved. How did he know that Aristarchus
and the other Thessalonian believers were the elect of God? Over the
banner of this ship is the word election and predestination.
I was in the library with a man the other day and as soon as
he heard about predestination he said that's an objectionable
word and he gave it all sorts of labels so that he could dismiss
it. I said it's a Bible word. It's
a Bible word. Being in this ship is to be a
believer. Paul says, I believe God. Who believes God? How do you
know? For our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and
in much assurance. Much assurance. Not assurance
of them and their abilities, but assurance of who the Lord
Jesus Christ is. That's the assurance, isn't it?
The full assurance of hope. Verse 9, it says, you turn to
God. You turn to God. That's salvation. That's to be
the ship. You turn to God from idols to
serve the living and true God. To serve is to worship Him and
to wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead.
See, verse 13 of the next chapter, chapter 2, for this cause we
also thank God because when you received the Word of God, to
be in the ship is to receive the Word of God. That's how Aristotle
got there, isn't it? You received the Word of God,
which you heard of us. You heard just a man, a weak,
frail, simple man, speaking the Word of God. You received the
Word of God, but you received it not as the Word of men, but
as it is in truth, the Word of God. which effectually worketh
in you, also in you that believe. Aristarchus had gone all the
way from what is modern day Greek, all the way across the Mediterranean,
down to Caesarea, to be there to comfort and to refresh his
friend Paul. Aristarchus was in there because
the gospel had come See, we're not in there by free
will. It's extraordinary, isn't it? People think, I hear it so
often, it's just extraordinary. I cannot believe, except that
it came straight out of the garden. God gave man free will, have
you ever heard that? God gave man free will. No, he didn't. Satan deceived
Eve to believe that she had it. And Adam took the same bait,
and all of us are born. With that notion, free will began
in the garden. It's a message of Satan. Sinners have no will to save
themselves. Sinners have as much will to
save themselves as Paul did on the Damascus Road. Salvation
is a sovereign work of our God. See, we're fellows in the shame
ship. Let's turn to 1 John and read these. apostles and all the believers
throughout the last 2,000 years and all the believers in the
previous thousands of years before Noah was in the same ship. Noah
believed exactly the same thing. David believed exactly the same
thing. The gospel is an everlasting gospel, as Revelation 14 says.
The gospel is an unchanging gospel. The gospel that saved He says in verse 3, that which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you. See, we declare
a person. The ship of the Lord Jesus Christ
describes the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Every issue of
doctrine and every issue of faith relates to the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The reality of people who don't
believe the things that we are saying from the word of God about
the Lord Jesus, have another Jesus. And if that's revealed
to you now, good! Because that's the reality of
it. He promised there were going to be other Jesuses. He promised
that there were going to be other Christs. The New Testament is
full of the warnings. But that which we have seen and
heard declare we unto you that you also may have fellowship
with us. That's what it is to be fellows
in the same ship, isn't it? We're all fellows in the same
ship. All the believers have always believed the same things.
They believe the same things about themselves, they believe
the same things about God, and they believe the same things
about how God saved sinners. fellows in the same ship. You
might have fellowship, and truly our fellowship is with the Father.
So if you don't fellowship apostolically, you don't fellowship with God.
If you don't fellowship with the truth that the apostles declared
of who the Lord Jesus Christ is, you don't fellowship. That's
what John says, you don't fellowship with God. They're not my words,
they're God's words, isn't it? And with his Son, Jesus Christ. These things we write unto you
that your joy may be full. Paul twice says to this boat,
be of good cheer. God's on the throne. God's in
control. God's made a promise. This ship
is traveling through the most tempestuous seas and in the midst
of those enormous waves that were threatening to drown them
at any moment or break that boat up, God says, be of good cheer.
Be of good cheer. is joyful. This then is the message
which we have heard of him and declare unto you. God is light,
and in him is no darkness. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, walking in darkness is to walk
in works religion. To walk in darkness is to walk
in free will, works, religion. To walk in darkness is to walk
in a religion where you look to your works in some way as
the beginning, the cause, or the sustenance, or the assurance
of your salvation. To walk in darkness is not to
walk in the light. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not do the truth.
But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another. I want to be in this ship. I
want to abide in this ship. Lord, put me in this ship. We
have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanses us from all sin. Let that sink in. The fellows
in the ship have no sin. The fellows in the ship have
all their sins taken away perfectly and completely, not by anything
that they did, but because of what the Lord Jesus Christ did.
If we say we have no sin... See, sin is a noun. Sin is a
description of what we are. If we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just. Don't you love the fact that
God is faithful? God said to those disciples in that ship,
in that storm, He says, let's go out the other side, before
they'd even set off. They're going over the other
side. God said to Paul, you're going to Caesar. You're going
over there. What about the storms? You're
going over there. What about the wicked council
of men? You're going over there. God
makes promises. Faithful. I just love it. I love
the fact that he declares again and again, and that's what these
storms are about, and that's what these stories are about, aren't
they? Is that in the midst of the storms and in the midst of
the trial, God has a particular opportunity that he doesn't have
in other situations to declare his faithfulness. That his people
might see that he's faithful, but also we might see that he's
just. God is just. God must be just. He must be righteous. which is
why all that abide in the ship are safe. He's faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned,
and sin there is a doing word, it's a verb, for if we say we
have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in
us. So if fellows in the ship Verse 20, look at it in Acts
27, verse 23 with me. There stood by me this night
an angel of God. This is a lovely description,
isn't it? God, whose I am. God, whose I am. Acts 27, verse 23. Whose I am.
Whose I am. So those in the ship are owned
by God as his personal possession. Paul belonged to God. He didn't
belong to anyone else. Paul wasn't going to be swayed
by the opinions of men or anything else. He was going to be in a
ship and the ship will take you through tempestuous times. But
he owns his people. He is, like all those in this
ship that arrive safe to land, all those that abide in the ship,
they are God's personal possession by predestination, by the purchase
of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the power of our God to bring
them to himself. I love the Song of Solomon. And
what does she say? What does the church say? All
of those in the ship say, my beloved is mine. This is my friend. This is my
friend. You know when she says that in
Solomon chapter five, after she has been wickedly disobedient
to God, wickedly disobedient, and turns him away for a new
soft and kind entrance to her. And then she's asked an amazing
question. You can read about it in Solomon
chapter five, and then on into chapter six. She says, who is
he? Who's your beloved? And in her
sin, and in her rebellion, and in his absence from her, she
describes him from head to foot in the most glorious terms that
describe all of his character and his covenant purposes. Then
he comes to speak to her in chapter six, and immediately says the
most glorious words about her. He speaks of her delight, he
doesn't mention her sin. He doesn't mention her sins gone. That's our God. That's to be in this ship. My
beloved is mine. This is my beloved. He's my friend.
I am my beloved, she says at the end of Song of Solomon 7
verse 10. I am my beloved. I belong to him. He bought me.
He owns me. His desire is toward me. Who's I am? You're owned of God. to have this saviour as your
saviour, to have this glorious, holy, just and faithful God call
you his friend. What an amazing gospel we have. Who's I am? Now the two great
comforts of God's people, aren't they, is the absolute sovereignty
of God and the eternal union of all of God's children with
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're bone of His bones and flesh
of His flesh. We're not just close to Him,
we are one. He is eternally and infinitely
united to us. We are the Father's gift to His
Son. The Father gives good gifts to
those who ask Him. out seeds in his own body on
the tree. And whom I serve. People often
talk about guidance. Well, here's guidance, isn't
it? Whom, whose I am. I belong to him. He owns me. He directs me. His word is my
guide. But whom I We read it in Philippians chapter
3. I can read it again to you. You should know it. I trust it
might be a delightful verse for you. For we are the circumcision,
he says, which worship God in spirit. We worship God spiritually. We come here and we worship God
as he gathers his people together. We worship him physically, but
we worship him in spirit. And rejoice in Christ Jesus. God and rejoice in Christ Jesus
and have no confidence in the flesh. No confidence in anything
I do. No confidence in anything about
me. My confidence is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. to be fellows in this ship is to be in this particular
ship, isn't it? And not in all the other ships.
There are many, many ships sailing this sea. You can meet them all
the time. You can go to their statements
of faith, and you can go to the things that they say and the
things that they preach, and you'll find, as we have all found,
I can't be in that ship. Paul says, I serve and worship
God. We just follow Him. And we don't have to look anywhere
else other than Him. You might recall when the Lord
Jesus met with those disciples on the Sea of Galilee in John
21 and made a fire for them. And Peter was taken aside and
he was rebuked in the most extraordinary terms and loved in the most extraordinary
terms. And then they go for a walk on
the beach, the Lord Jesus and Peter. And Peter turns around
and says, what about Him? What about John? Don't worry about what other
people are doing. When John the Baptist finished preaching, they'd
heard John and they followed Jesus. Whom I serve. You see, if you
really serve in God, you'll be in this particular ship. If you
go back to Acts 24 verse 14, Confession of the accusations
is made against him, but this I confess, he says, this I confess
unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, the way
which they call a choosing, the way which they call a cult, so
worship, that's the same word as serve in this verse, so worship
I the God of my fathers, believe him. What does he believe? Believing all things which are
written in the Law and the Prophets. What do you believe? To be in
this ship, you believe all things that are written in the Law and
the Prophets. If you've met God, you'll believe all things that
are written in the Law and the Prophets. He doesn't say I understand all
things that are written in the Law and the Prophets. He says
I just believe them. There is a very big difference I love what he goes on to say
in our passage here, verse 25, to be in this ship. He says,
Acts 27, verse 25, where it says, be of good cheer, for I believe
God. I believe God. I believe God. That's the banner over this ship,
isn't it? I remember in the very early days of this church's existence,
it's one of the phrases that we like to use often. I believe
God. I believe God. I don't believe
what religious people tell me, I believe God. I don't believe
what theologians tell me, I believe God. I don't believe what other
churches say, I believe God. That's what it is to be in the
ship. This is the banner over this ship, isn't it? He takes
his bride in the Song of Solomon, Chapter 2, His chambers and the
banner over her is love. The banner over her is the Lord
Jesus Christ. I believe God. I believe God. See, faith. A faithful God put
these people in the ship. And a faithful God keeps them
in this ship. You abide in this ship. You abide
in this ship. See, salvation is only in one
ship. Stay in the ship and you'll be
saved. All safe to land, as you read
at the end of the passage. Verse 34 is remarkable about
the details. We often think that God looks
after the big pictures of life, and all the little things are
out of His control in some way, or just at some random event.
There is absolutely nothing random in this world, anywhere, at any
time. Our God controls everything,
from the tiniest speck of dust to the tiniest little quark revolving
around the tiniest little atom at the farthest reaches of the
universe. God controls it all and upholds it all. Look at what
he says in verse 34. He says, Not there shall not
a hair The most insignificant thing
about us is that we get it chopped off as regularly as we can. It's
the glory of women and the pain in the neck to men, but it's
insignificant. If you lose a few, you don't
notice it. Simon and I have lost heaps. We're losing more all
the time. God numbers them. He says, I number them. You can
read it in Luke 12 and Matthew 10. He says, I've numbered them.
It's not that he says in that same passage, it's a little sparrow.
Somewhere in this world at the moment, there's a little sparrow
falling to the ground. An insignificant, worthless, useless, pesky sparrow
is falling to the ground. God controls the insignificant
things that we don't notice. It's a good thing to remember,
brothers and sisters in Christ. This is what it is to be in the
ship. All the lives, you go back to verse 24, Paul says, the angel
says to Paul, fear not, thou must be brought before Caesar.
There must be divine sovereignty or the banner over this ship.
And lo, God hath given thee particular care. They number
them at the end of it, don't they? How many sailors on this
ship? The ship is a huge ship, don't forget. This is a grain
ship from Egypt taking grain to Rome to feed the Italians. The 276 that are on board are
numbered. The 276 are the passengers on
a grain ship. These aren't little ships, brothers.
They're huge, huge ship. This ship This ship must pass
through a tumultuous journey. So often we think that the journey
of Christians in this world is going to be a journey free of
trial, but somehow we think that when we come to the Lord Jesus
Christ and he comes to us, that our troubles are going to be
diminished. Let me promise you that's not the case. Anyone that
wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
Paul is going to be, according to the promise of God in Mark
chapter 13, he's going to be brought before kings as a witness
unto him. It's not an easy journey. But
in this tumultuous journey, this tumultuous journey is under God's
plan and purpose. If you go back to verse 21, No, verse 20, sorry. These people
had ignored the word of God from Paul until a tempestuous storm
had come. A tempestuous storm had come. And they hear a word from God,
verse 20, that all hope that we should be saved was taken
away from us. God saves his people when all
hope of salvation, like anything that you do, anything that you
might do in the future, anything that you have done is taken away
from you. Taken away. All creature hope is lost this tumultuous storm, took these
people away from that convenient harbour that they thought they
were in, and they left. They disobeyed, or they just
ignored the word of God, because they thought it was just, Paul's
opinion was just the opinion of one man. They saw that there
was a convenient and a commodious place just nearby, and they saw
that there were soft providences. a tumultuous storm to come upon
you. It comes upon Paul on the Damascus
road, it comes upon believers when they meet the Lord Jesus
Christ. And all creature hope is taken away and you're left,
you're left in this tumultuous storm. And when all other hope
is gone, you hear a word from God. Be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. He says it
twice to them. Verse 25 says, wherefore it says,
be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as
it was told me. You could write that phrase over
everything that ever happens in this universe. The only reason
we are in distress in our flesh our ignorance of
the character of God. Everything shall be even as it
was told me." Everything, in the political
world, in the religious world, in the personal world, is as
God has said. God does nothing without revealing
it first. to his servants. Surely God,
the Lord God, will do nothing. But he revealeth his secret unto
his servants, the prophets, as Amos 3 verse 7. Amos was around
in tumultuous times. Everything shall be, even as
it was told me. What's happening with the world?
It'll be as it was told. What's happening with this religious
world in opposition to God? It shall be told. You read about
it in Psalm chapter Psalm 2 and many, many other places. The
ship, this ship is sailing through tumultuous seas. Paul is saying
these things with the waves crashing over the ship and the wind destroying
the ship. Can you imagine though, 276 people
if there were 276 buckets you'd be chucking water out all over
the place. You'd be anxious as anything and Paul says, This ship is going to be destroyed,
but be a good cheer. Abide in the ship. Abide in the
ship. God has put his people in a ship. The banner over this ship is
the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. The sovereign, reigning,
redeeming God. In the storm, in the storms of
life, A word of God comes and the storms of life are there
that all hope in creature confidence and creature abilities and creature
activities will be taken away from you. God speaks to his people. And just let me finish with verse
31. These shipmen were about to flee
out of the ship. This was a ship. the sovereign,
particular, electing, justifying, redeeming grace. Listen to what
Paul says. Listen to what God the Holy Spirit
has recorded. Paul said to the centurion and
to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship. There were
four men who had hopped over and they were pretending to do
some good work. for what they were going to do. There were
shipmen about the previous verse. They had let down the boat in
the sea under a collar as though they would cast hankers out of
the foreship. These men were about to hop out
of the ship. But Paul says to the centurion
and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, you cannot
be saved. Isn't that remarkable? He doesn't
say, be saved. He says you can't be
saved. What's the meaning? What's the
spiritual meaning of that? In the ship of the Lord Jesus
Christ, no one escapes. In the ship of sovereign grace,
no one If one can be lost for whom the
Lord Jesus Christ loved, for whom the Lord Jesus Christ died
for, then no one can be saved. People don't realise that when
they say that God loves everyone and the proof of it is that the
Lord Jesus Christ died for them and the Holy Spirit is wanting
to save someone, they're actually taking away the good cheer and they're denying the simple
words of our Saviour. Listen to what he says in John
6. He says in verse 37, All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. That's how you get in the ship.
He won't cast you out. No one can pluck them out of
the son's hand, and no one can pluck them out of the father's
hand. All that the father has given me shall come unto me,
and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came
down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him
that sent me. And this is the will of him.
You want to know what God's will is? This is the will. This is
the father's will that has sent me, that of all which he hath
given but should raise it up again
at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me, that everyone that seeth the sun, do you see the sun in
this picture of this ship sailing across this sea? Everyone that
seeth the sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life
and I will raise him up at the last day. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. As it is written in the Prophets,
they shall all be taught of God. You be taught of God and every
man therefore that hath heard and has learned of the Father
cometh unto me. He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. Are you in this ship? Are you in this ship? Tumultuous
cities are around you and before you. Tumultuous times are around
you and before you. that you might cause us to know
the good cheer of being in your ship, that we might hear the
wise words of your servant, that we just abide in the ship, we
remain in the ship. We praise you, Heavenly Father,
that this ship has come with purpose from heaven to take all
that you gave to your bore them, Heavenly Father, and
carried them in his own body, and he has committed himself
by his life's blood and his covenant promises to present all that
are in him, holy, spotless, unblameable, and unapprovable to his sight.
Oh, our Father, we thank you that you cause him and him alone
to be the delight of our souls and the hope of our souls. You
cause his blood to be precious for us. by the working of your spirit
in this world to be fellows in the same ship. And we drink a
cup of fellowship and we eat bread which represents the broken
body that has won fellowship for us. Fellowship with God. Fellowship with the Lord Jesus
Christ. world. O our Father, will you
magnify your Son in our midst. Will you cause him to be seen
as glorious. Will you make us, Heavenly Father,
to be people who simply believe, who simply abide, who trust that
you and you alone will take us all safe to land. Bless your
word, Heavenly Father, to the hearts of your people