May I please Almighty God to
bless us together this evening as we meditate in His Holy Word. Let us turn to the Acts of the
Apostles chapter 27 and we'll read from verse 22 to verse 25.
The Acts of the Apostles chapter 27 reading from verse 22 to 25. 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 as it was told me. It's good that we have a testimony
like this recorded and the Apostle Paul spoke to the ship's company,
all those 200 odd souls that were aboard that ship. He told them what God had spoken
to him and how God had appeared to him. And it was, of course,
a time of great need. They'd been 14 days facing this great storm referred
to here as Yurokudan. We would call it a typhoon or
a hurricane. But there was of course in those
days no warnings like we have with satellite navigation that
tells us when things are occurring. But here they would have suddenly
come into this terrible storm And they were obviously in peril
of their lives. It was no easy matter. But we find that the Apostle
Paul was able to pray unto God. And what a blessing that is.
And we're told, and after long abstinence, Paul stood forth
in the midst of them. Clearly there had been that time
of abstinence, that time of earnest prayer that God would appear
for them. We might be tempted to think,
well of course it was the Apostle Paul and the Lord would appear
anyway. Well we should never forget that
the Lord has said, I will be inquired of by the House of Israel
to do these things. And it is always an encouragement
when Almighty God hears our prayers and sends answers to our prayers. And then indeed we can rejoice
and praise Him for hearing and answering prayer. And so we are
told here, as the Apostle says, for there stood by me this night
the angel of God. Well, we don't know whether it
was a physical angel or whether it was a vision, whatever it
was. But in one sense, it's not important. The great truth was that to the
Apostle Paul, there was this appearance and this appearance
was wonderful because it had a message for him. And that was,
indeed, a very wonderful and a very glorious message, saying,
fear not, Paul. Well, our lives, I'm sure, are
such that there are times, situations, which develop, perhaps which
appear to be on the horizon, which we fear. And what a mercy
it is to hear a word from God like this. Fear not. And it was
addressed to Paul personally. Fear not, Paul. Thou must be
brought before Caesar. And lo, God hath given thee all
them that sail with thee. So there we have, you see, a
clear statement of God's goodness and mercy, not only to the Apostle
Paul, but to all that was sailing with him. It was indeed an amazing
answer to his prayer. We should not think, though,
that of course such prayers are not answered today. Our God still
rules and reigns. He is exactly the same. And our
God does still hear But we mustn't forget what we were told, which
I referred to, that it was after a long abstinence that the Apostle
found the answer. It wasn't just a casual prayer. It wasn't just a few words. It would seem that it was a substantial
time. that he was taken up, was seeking
for God's mercy and for God's favour. And of course we have
here a very physical instance, don't we? But as we know, the
Word of God is written for our spiritual understanding. And
as the true believer journeys along on the voyage of life,
There are times of tempests. There are times when it's very
tempestuous. And there are times when perhaps
these tempests don't just come and go, they remain. And it seems
as though there's going to be no let up. And we face them day
after day. Well, if that is so, in our lives,
and you know whether it's so in your life, whether you're
in a state of a tempest, and it may be really fierce, because
this was a very fierce storm that the Apostle was caught up
in. And yet, what had occurred previously? Well, it seemed all nice and
calm. When the south wind blew softly,
sometimes in our lives, the scene seems very smooth, nice and soft,
nice and easy. And yet you see here, we're told,
but not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous wind
called Euryophyllodon. The Lord knows what is needful
in our lives. We are told that our life will
never be, the Christian's life, will never be one of ease and
one of comfort and one of, we might say, sailing with a smooth
south wind blowing pleasantly. Oh no, there will be these times.
of difficulty and storms, tempestuous wind, which threatens to cause
shipwreck. You may say, what relevance has
that in my spiritual life? Well, if the storms sometimes
are very fierce, we may be tempted almost to give
up. to throw overboard our religion,
thinking it's of no value. The storm gets very fierce. And we're told when the ship
was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her
drive. See, they had a plan. They had
a journey. The ship was on that course.
They couldn't keep to it. Maybe so in our lives. We may
have a cause. It may be before us. We find
the storm comes. We can't keep to it. We have
to give up. And here we're told we let her
drive. In spiritual language, that really
means casting all our care upon the Lord. resting in his will and purpose
for us, giving up our plans, giving up our direction. And so here was the apostle on
aboard this ship, no land in sight, couldn't see anything,
no sun, no moon, darkness. darkness, and a storm, and a
tempestuous storm. So naturally, it wasn't a very
pleasant time, was it? And sometimes, in our spiritual
life, it might be like that. It looks all pleasant, everything
seems to be going smoothly. And then the storm clouds come.
And darkness develops. And we can't see the way. Day
nor night. And it continues. And it gets
worse. And the waves are tempestuous.
And we wonder where the scene will end. Well, what did the
Apostle do? We're thankful we have such a
case, such an example, because They did everything naturally. And we perhaps in our lives may
do everything naturally, and we find it's not successful.
Because we're told here they did much work to come by the
boat. When they had taken up, they
used helps and undergirding the ship and fearing lest they should
fall into the quicksand, strike sail, and so were driven. and were exceedingly tossed with
a tempest. The next day they lightened the ship, and the third
day they cast out with their own hands the tackling of the
ship. Naturally speaking, they did
everything, but it wasn't successful. And again, in our spiritual life
sometimes, we may try this and we may try that. We think, what
if I get rid of that and get rid of the other? things will
surely ease and surely be better. Well, they weren't in this case. Maybe so in our spiritual lives. Things may not get better. They
may get worse. And in that worse condition,
then you see, like they said, when neither sun nor stars or
many days appeared and no small tempest lay on us, All hope that
we should be saved was then taken away. Yes, there seemed to be
no hope. Well, that was a pretty scrim
condition, wasn't it? It was a very serious place.
Sometimes it might be like that in our spiritual life. All hope
that we should be saved was then taken away. But we see in the
life here of the Apostle Paul, he was blessed with prevailing
prayer. And it wasn't just an instant
answer. Sometimes we might think we're
going to get an instant answer. Well, that's why we have such
an example like this. After long abstinence, Paul stood
forth and was able to tell the people on the ship that God had
appeared to him in a very singular way. And it wasn't perhaps in
the way that he wanted, perhaps not the way he expected, because
we're told After long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst
of them and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not
of Lucifer and Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. You see, Paul gave good wisdom.
But no, the centurion and the captain didn't want to take the
advice. And therefore they found themselves
now in this great storm. If they'd stayed where they were,
they would have been all right. But no, they'd venture forward. And there was this terrible condition. And so we're told the apostle
reminds them and he says, Sir, she should have hearkened unto
me. It wasn't said with a harsh voice. It was just a kindly statement. Sir, she should have hearkened
unto me. and not have loosed from creed, and to have gained
this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of
good cheer." How could they be of good cheer? They were in the
midst of this great storm. They'd lightened the boat, they'd
lost much of it. How could they be of good cheer?
where the apostle's confidence was in his God. And that's a great blessing, to have our confidence in our
God. And so he says, I exhort you,
a real concern. But they would now listen to
what he was going to tell them. And exhort you to be of good
cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among
you, but the ship. There would be loss, there would
be serious loss, but their lives would be spared. And that's a great blessing,
isn't it? We may lose, perhaps, something which may appear to
be Essential? How are they going to carry on?
Are they going to lose the ship? How are they going to be saved?
How are they not going to be lost? Well, just remember God's
ways are higher than our ways. They were in the occasion here
with the Apostle Paul. There was no doubt about it.
God had had appeared to the apostle,
and therefore he was able to speak to them with a humble confidence
and say, There shall be no loss of any man's life among you,
but of the ship. Well, in one sense, the ship
was only just that vehicle to transport them. The great blessing
was their life would be spared. and in a spiritual way how important
that is that our spiritual life the life of our soul is spared
we don't lose our spiritual life we may lose other things but
not our spiritual life and so he tells them for they
are stood by me this night The angel of God, whose I am and
whom I serve. You know, it was good to have
a good religion, a religion that he was blessed with a humble
confidence and he was able to tell these people, I serve the
Lord God. My hope is based on him. I believe
in what he has said and what he will do. Whose I am. and whom I serve. Well, the apostle was serving
Almighty God. The apostle Paul had prayed to
Almighty God. Almighty God had heard his prayers
and had appeared to him through this angel and told him what
would happen. And now he was able to tell the
people of the message that he'd received. And what was the message?
Fear not. Fear not. That's good, isn't
it? What a good word that is. And
of course, I'm sure we know there are many wonderful fear nots
in the word of God for our encouragement, for the strengthening of our
faith. And Isaiah speaks to us, and
he says in the 43rd chapter of Isaiah, But now, thus saith the
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God. That's a secret really,
isn't it? Yes, to go in the strength of
Almighty God, to cast all our care upon Him. And so he says this, For I am
the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. What a blessing! What a favour!
What a mercy! And he goes on, I gave Egypt
for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee, since thou wast
precious in my sight. The apostle Paul was precious
in the sight of his God and all the saints. are precious in the
Lord's sight. Thou hast been honourable, and
I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. Well, there we have a wonderful
statement of the Lord's goodness and mercy to the prophet and
also to the apostle Paul, which we should be very thankful for. And then in a slightly earlier
chapter, the 41st chapter, And the 10th verse we read, Fear
thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed. It's easy to
be dismayed. I'm sure the apostle Paul was
dismayed on that ship. And yet you see the Lord encouraged
him with a fear not. And it's good, isn't it? The
Lord comes. We might be dismayed. The situation may be very desperate. The way may be very rough. The
storm may be very great. And yet, you see, if God before
us, who can be against us? Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Yea,
I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee. with
the right hand of my righteousness. It's good, isn't it, to have
such a God? It's good, isn't it, to have
such wonderful promises as this to encourage us and so many faithful
and positive fear nots. We travel through the wilderness
many times of temptation. There are many times of opposition
as we journey on. And when the storm appears to
be very severe, and it all seems to be against us, nothing seems
to be in our favour, because everything seems to be in opposition. And yet to receive such an encouraging
word like the Apostle received here from God via the angel. Fear not, Paul. Fear not. And there was a reason. Thou must be brought before Caesar.
And God has given thee all them that sail with thee. That was
a great promise, wasn't it? They'd lose the ship. They didn't
know how that would happen. They didn't know how that would
be, how they would be saved. But God had told them they would
be. And he therefore says, as we
began in this earlier 22nd verse, And
now I exhort you to be of good cheer. Good cheer? There's no evidence of any relief. There's no evidence. of any escape
from this storm. It looks as though we're going
to be shipwrecked. Be of good cheer. Yes, be a good
cheer, because God had spoken to the apostle. Because God had
promised the apostle. And therefore the apostle was
able to make a statement like that, and then having told them
what was going to happen, he again repeats this. Wherefore,
sirs, be of good cheer. In the midst of the storm, it's
a mercy, isn't it? In the midst of difficult situations,
with the appearance of a certain shipwreck, appears to be no hope
of deliverance, yet to be of good cheer. Wherefore, so as being good chair. And he had reason to be able
to make this statement, for I believe God. Yes, his faith was in God. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that
glorious? To have faith in God and to believe in God and to
believe the God Almighty God would appear and grant deliverance. It seemed impossible, but no,
God was with the apostle and therefore he was able to make
this declaration. For I believe in God that it
shall be even as it was told me. He had a humble confidence
in his God. My friends today, may you and
I have a humble confidence in our God. when everything appears
to be against us. Remember, we might be very fearful. Remember the fear nots in the
Word of God. We've just referred to two. There
are many, many fear nots in the Word of God to encourage the
Church of God as they journey on. But you see, in order for
those fear nots to be fulfilled, There was the calling upon the
name of the Lord. There wasn't just a carrying
on in a blind way, as it were. No, there was a carrying on with
a confirmation that God was with them and that God would save
them, although they would lose the ship. And that's a mercy,
isn't it? You see, our souls are so valuable. What a blessing it is when God
comes and encourages us that we shall be safe and we shall
be saved and we will not be lost. We may have done everything we
can to try and sort things out and make the journey a bit easier,
but no. The Lord has a way, a law as
a way of deliverance. And the Lord's way is the best
way, because the best way brings honor and glory to God. You know, as you and I think
of this account, it's a very wonderful account, isn't it,
really? Because first of all, that which was fulfilled, they
all came safe to land. They all came safe to land. And of course it wasn't any old
island that God directed that boat to come towards. It was
an island where God would appear And God would do great things. You see, it wasn't only a deliverance
which was going to be achieved. It was a conversion of souls. And it was the evidence that
God indeed was with them and following them. You can read
the details in the 28th chapter. And it's wonderful really to
read how these things worked out for good. As the Apostle
was able to speak when he wrote to the Romans and tell the church
at Rome from personal experience, and we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God and to those who are
called according to his purpose. What? Paul to endure such a terrible
storm and such a terrible shipwreck? Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. The Lord was with them. The Lord
didn't leave the apostle. The Lord was with him, although
all those people didn't take any notice of what he said. God
was with him and God brought about a wonderful deliverance. So think of that. If God before
us, who can be against us? Now, you see, the devil no doubt
thought that he'd gotten a victory. He was causing this great shipwreck,
which he thought would occur. And no doubt all of those would
be lost. But the Lord had better and greater
plans. And my friends, today we have
the same God, the same God who has better plans for us. He takes
us in hand and directs us safely through the storm of life. The
storms, the plural, the storms, but sometimes there comes perhaps
an especially acute storm which really threatens shipwreck. No, fear not. God will bring
about deliverance. God will bring about safety. God will bring about a wonderful
blessing. And so what a mercy it is if
we are able to have that confidence in our God. I believe the Apostle
Paul had that confidence in his God. And yet, you see, it didn't
mean that he wouldn't need to pray It didn't mean that he only
had to pray a casual prayer. And it's spoken here, isn't it?
After long abstinence in our spiritual lives sometimes, it
may be like that. And we perhaps foolishly think,
well, it's going to be easy. This is everything's going to
come to pass. I didn't really worry because
the captain and the And the centurion said, this is the best way and
therefore everything is going to work out well. No, the Apostle
Paul was moved by the Spirit of God to tell them that this
wouldn't work out well. But you see, they ignored that
advice. What a mercy it is that we see
the Lord here, not only having mercy upon Paul, which the Lord
could have done, could have just saved Paul and all the others
could have been lost. But the Lord, in his great mercy,
saved the whole crew and all the prisoners. And as we read
in that last verse, and it's a beautiful verse, isn't it?
And the rest, some on boards, some on broken pieces of the
ship, all different ways as they got to land. And so it came to
pass that they escaped all safe to land. And so it came to pass
that which God had revealed to the apostle came to pass. What a mercy in our little lives.
The things which God has spoken to us and encouraged us in and
blessed us with faith to believe that those things which he has
spoken would come to pass for our good, for our eternal good
and for his honour and for his glory. A blessing to think that
we worship this same God today. in our spiritual life, we may
have much to oppose. The devil will oppose. The devil
will say, there's no hope for you. This storm is going to wreck
your faith. This storm is going to wreck
your religion. You won't come through it. It
doesn't matter what you do, how you try and relieve yourself,
it won't happen. But don't forget, If God is on
our side, as God was on Paul's side, there was a wonderful deliverance. So the devil tries, he tries
to cause havoc, he tries to cause distress,
he tries to cause shipwreck. But what a mercy if our confidence
is in God. that he would indeed come and
deliver us and bring us out into perhaps a wealthy place. We can't
claim and say, well, I deserve that. We don't at all, especially
here, all of these people on the boat. They didn't deserve
any mercy. And yet God was gracious. God
was compassionate. Isn't it wonderful to think of
that in our little lives, in our spiritual lives? It may be
that we're tossed about. Maybe the storm is getting worse. How is it going to be any difference?
Well, first of all, long abstinence, prayer to God, Don't expect just
something to suddenly appear. Long abstinence. The apostle
was able to say, and it's really good to be able to read these
words, that he's able to come and testify, for there stood
by me this night. Yes, in the middle of the darkest
time, The Lord came and the Lord spoke to the apostle
at night, the darkest time. The Lord chooses to often come
at the darkest time to bring spiritual relief to our souls
when there seems perhaps to be no hope. No possibility of deliverance. Remember such an occasion as
this. The Lord knew what he would do. Wonderful that, isn't it? God
knows what he would do. You and I don't know, do we?
We just see the present. We just see the storm. We just
have to face the storm. We have to endure the storm.
And yet, you see, there was to be a wonderful deliverance, a
wonderful deliverance. Fear not. There will be a good
end. Fear not. I've told you there
will be deliverance. Fear not. And so the apostle
was able to have his confidence in his God and to declare what
God would do. Yes, God came to the apostle
and the apostle was able, therefore, to come and to declare what God
would do. He said he he stood forth in
the midst of them, in the midst of that crew can imagine it on
deck probably with the waves crashing over the ship. And yet,
you see, there he stood, stood firm in the belief that his God
would indeed appear. And so he 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. What a blessing, no loss of our
spiritual life. Not cast out, not cast overboard. No, no loss, no loss of any man's
life among you, but of the ship. Well, that wasn't of any Real
value. It had a natural value, but it
wasn't of any eternal value. It was just that which was a
useful instrument in taking them from one place to another. But
their life was very valuable. My friend, so it is with our
spiritual life. It's very valuable. It's very
valuable. What a mercy, therefore, if God
is dealing with us, remembering us in our lowest state, for his
mercy endureth forever. The apostle was blessed with
that visit from the Lord. And my friends, in our spiritual
life, in the midst of darkness, in the midst of night, what a
blessing it will be If the Lord comes and speaks to our soul
with such glorious words, I am thy salvation. So we can come
and say, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness. We may have to go down into the
depths to come to such a realisation, to come to such an acknowledgement, to be able to come and testify.
The Lord was mindful of me. The Lord was gracious to me.
The Lord didn't cast me off as I deserved. No, his love was
to award me. And so the apostle says, and
now I exhort you to be of good cheer. There was the evidence
of deliverance. There was the promise of deliverance. The deliverance didn't come straight
away. Faith is to be tried and faith
is to be tested. We only have to read the word
of God for the evidence of that. Some extreme cases like Abraham
in having to offer up Isaac, extreme places. But faith was
given and faith was given to the apostle Paul here to declare
how deliverance would come. They would be safe. They would be safe. And he was
able to tell them that the angel of the Lord had come to him at
night and told them and told him saying very simply, fear
not Paul, fear not Paul. Isn't that wonderful? If you
and I perhaps are very fearful, of the storm which we're passing
through. And we think perhaps we'll make
shipwreck. We'll never get safe to land. Fear not, says the word
of God. Hell must be brought before Caesar. There was work for Paul still
to do. There was a testimony that he
still had to give. And therefore, although this
was a very trying and testing journey, The Lord would bring
them safely through. Fear not, Paul. Thou must be
brought before Caesar, and though God hath given thee all them
that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer,
for I believe God. Well, I hope you and I believe
God. We may perhaps have been tempted
not to believe God. We may be tempted to throw up
our faith, to throw it overboard. Well, let us have our confidence
in our God. I believe, God, that it shall
be even as it was told me. He was recalling what God had
told him. He wasn't making up a story.
He wasn't pretending something was going to happen. They didn't
know about God had spoken to him and he was confident in the
result. And so he then just goes on to
tell them, albeit we must be cast upon a certain island. He
didn't know what the island was. God did. But when the 14th night
was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria about midnight,
the shipmen deemed they drew near to some country. Well, again, it was the middle
of the night, midnight, the darkest time, when there was an apparent
hope. An apparent hope. They seemed
to be getting nearer to land. Some little hope. You see they
had the evidence. They found it and found it 20
fathoms and then 15 fathoms. Yes, there was the evidence now.
They were getting towards land. And yet there was still the unknown. They still didn't know what would
happen. And of course, as we read through
this account, we know what happened. They ran aground. The ship broke
in two. Surely there's going to be loss
of life now. No. They all got safe to land. The Lord appeared. The Lord fulfilled
his promise. My friends, to us today, what
a blessing in our spiritual life. If we have a hope in his mercy
toward us, and He will not deal with us as our sins deserve,
but He may reveal Himself unto us as our glorious Saviour, and
our hope is centred not what we've done, but on what Jesus
Christ has done in His great salvation, in that glorious death
upon the cross at Calvary, that we are found then not looking
to ourself, not looking to a natural deliverance, but looking unto
Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. Yes, what a blessing
it is to have such a good hope and to be able to trust in the
Lord. And we have those wonderful words
in the second verse in the twelfth chapter of the Hebrews, looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross. Yes, there will be
crosses, there will be storms, which will be called for to endure,
despising the shame And it's set down at the right hand of
the throne of God for consider him. That's the that's the place
of rest. Consider him the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, when we think of such an
account as this, let us consider the Lord Jesus Christ, what he
endured in order that we might be eternally saved. May our hope
be built on nothing less but Jesus' blood and righteousness. So, 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 though
God hath given thee all them that say