May it please God to bless us
again this evening as we continue our meditation on the Acts of
the Apostles, chapter 27. And we'll read tonight from verse
27 and the 27th chapter to verse 38. So that's Acts of the Apostles,
chapter 27 and from verse 27 to 38. 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 it 20 fathoms.
And when they had gone a little further, they sounded again and
found it 15 fathoms. Then fearing lest we should have
fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern
and wished for the day. And as the shipmen were about
to flee out of the ship, When they had let down the boat into
the sea under colour, as though they would have cast anchors
out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers,
except these abide in the ship, he cannot be saved. Then the
soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off. And while the day was coming
on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is
the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting
here, having taken nothing. 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. And when he had thus
spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence
of them all. And when he had broken it, he
began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer,
and they also took some meat. And we were in all in the ship
two hundred, three score, and sixteen souls. When they had
eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat
into the sea. Well, as we continue our meditations
in this chapter tonight, you remember that last time we considered
the case where the Apostle Paul was able to declare that God
had stood with him and had declared that all those who were on board
would indeed be saved. And so he told them, at the end,
howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. So that was
the word that the Apostle had spoken to them. And then we read,
but when the 14th night was come, as we were driven up and down
in Adria, about midnight, the shipment deemed that they drew
near to some country. And as I mentioned last time,
the direct distance as the crow flies was something like 550
miles. But you can imagine here, We're told that they were driven
up and down. So during these 14 days, they probably travelled
something like 1,000 miles under heavy storm conditions. It would
have been very uncomfortable and very difficult. And now they've
been told that they would all get safely to land. And so they
were journeying, not knowing where they were of course, it
was still darkness, and the storm was still raging, and they decided
to sound and find how deep the water was. First of all they
found it 20 fathoms, when they got a little further, they sounded
again and found it 15 fathoms. Just out of interest, when they
did that, they used to have what they called a sounder which was
usually a piece of lead or heavy material weighing approximately
18 pounds and often the bottom had been hollowed out and they
would then put either a tallow or grease there. You may think
what was the reason for that? Well, they then dropped it overboard
and down onto the ocean floor bed And when they drew it up,
they'd have some idea whether they were on rocks or whether
they were on sand and what kind of sand it was. So it gave them
quite a bit of information, dropping this sounder down. And while they'd done that and
they found they were now only 15 fathoms, and obviously the
shore was getting nearer. So then, fearing, lest we should
have fallen upon rocks, They cast four anchors out of the
stern and wished for the day." Well, how obvious it was. They longed to see the day, they
longed to see the land that they were going to hopefully land
on. And we might think, well, this
is very interesting, but what's the reference to our souls? Well, the reference is really
quite clear because what it shows us is that in our spiritual lives,
there will be those storms and here was a storm and it wasn't
just a brief one it lasted 14 days and there was no sun no
moon nothing no stars and there were 14 days and they were tossed
backwards and forwards and driven up and down and it was a very
fearsome situation and then to think that possibility that they
might have some hope of land And so it can be in a spiritual
way when we may have some hope the Lord's going to deliver us
out of the situation, the stormy tempest that we're in, and we
hope it might come and we look forward to it. And as it were,
we look forward to perhaps day when the sun may shine, when
the light might shine, and once again we'll come forth from the
darkness. So here was this situation. They wished for the day. And
as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they
had let down the boat into the sea under colour, as though they
would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the
centurion and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship,
ye cannot be saved. Now clearly here were the sailors. those who were directing the
ship and helping it sail, they were going now to escape. You
may remember, mounting this boat, they'd already taken aboard and
they'd girded it and tied it up so it was on board. And now,
obviously, they were moving it from on board, let it down in
the sea so that the sailors could make their getaway. But what
they had forgotten was what Paul had said. what Paul had told
them, the Lord had told them, that they would all escape Satan
but they must abide in the ship. Well we see that with the evil
heart of unbelief here surfacing and these sailors not prepared
to believe what Paul had said and take the matter into their
own hands and try and escape. But nonetheless they weren't
able to do it because The soldiers believed Paul clearly and they
cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off. So now
the sailors had to remain on the boat. There was no way of
escaping. But having got this far, we see
here the confidence of the Apostle Paul and what we see really is
the faith that he received. Now remember, here they were
still, in the midst of the tempest, and it was no light thing. And
yet, when the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to
take meat, saying, this day is the 14th day that ye have tarried
and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Well, of course,
that couldn't be physically taken nothing at all. No doubt they
were able to grab just a little food here and there, but they
weren't able to sit down actually and have a proper meal. And so
in effect they've been fasting for these 14 days. And so Paul
comes and says, 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. And again, we can bring a spiritual
analogy here because we may think perhaps we're starving, You may
think we're in a time of famine. And of course, what are we to
do? Well, it's quite clear what we are to do in those situations.
We're not to continue in that state, but we are to seek for
God's blessing. We are to seek for God's mercy.
We are to turn to the word of God that we might indeed receive
some spiritual food which will strengthen our soul and enable
us to continue, even though the storm is continuing. The storm
hasn't stopped. the storm was continuing. But
all the same they were told to take some food and to eat. And so when he had thus spoken,
he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them
all. Now there's a good example, isn't
it? There's the apostle on this ship
with these 276 people. And we don't know whether any
of them are Christians. There may be a few, but we don't
know any of the details. And yet here is the Apostle Paul
moved by the Spirit of God to be faithful and stand up and
to ask the Lord's blessing upon the food. And that's a good example
for all of us today, isn't it? Because, you know, we come into
situations, don't we, where sometimes Especially perhaps when we were
younger, when I was younger, I was often too embarrassed to
really say grace and I would really almost pretend not to
do so. Well, you see, it's a good thing
if you and I can be faithful that when we are given food to
eat and whether it's in the midst of a difficult situation, nonetheless
to seek God's favor and give thanks for that which he has
provided. We should never forget that it's
God that provides food. And here God had provided food
for these men. And after all these days, having
only had a very little, now Paul's encouraging them to come and
take bread and also to give thanks to God, which he did in the presence
of them all. He would have clearly made it
very clear that he was praying to God and giving thanks to his
God. Well, let us not hide our light.
But may we indeed display it. Again, not for any self-righteousness,
but because we desire to honour the Lord who has indeed given
us food. And again, we can think of that,
can't we, in a spiritual way. The Lord blesses us with spiritual
food. We are to give thanks. We're not to just ignore it and
pass on and forget about it. But we should give thanks for
those things which he has provided for us. And so we read, and when
he had thus spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the
presence of them all. And when he had broken it, he
began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer.
And they also took some meat. Well, there'd been a change,
hadn't there? They'd seen now how good it was to be able to
eat, and we might believe that some of them now were blessed
with perhaps a little true faith, just like the apostle was. We read in that 11th chapter
of the Gospel of Mark where the Lord said, those great and important
works have faith in God. and how Paul here had faith in
God, and how you and I in our lives today, we need to have
faith in God, even when the storm is all around us, even when everything
seems to be going against us, to come and to realise that if
God is with us, who can be against us? And so they were all a good
cheer, the change there was, and they also took some meat
And we were in the ship 200, three score and 16 souls. And
when they had eaten enough, they'd lighten the ship and cast out
the wheat into the sea. Well, here you see clearly had
that increase of faith because they partaken of food and now
they were throwing overboard the little food that was left
there, casting into the sea. And what were they effectively
doing? They were casting all their care upon God. Now, that's a good example for
us, isn't it? Not to rely on natural things. They were only here relying upon
the words which the Apostle Paul had spoken. And Paul was relying
upon the words that God had spoken to him. But what a good thing
it was to know that they would not be disappointed. God is faithful. So is today. He does not leave
us. He does not forsake us. But he
is gracious to us. And he deals with us in love
to our souls. And what a mercy it is to realize,
therefore, that in the same way that the Lord looked upon these
people, so today he looks upon his people to guide and direct
them and to bring them at last unto their desired haven. Amen.