May I please God to bless us
together this evening as we continue our meditation in the Acts of
the Apostles chapter 27. And this evening we'll consider
from verse 12 down to verse 26. Verse 12 down to verse 26. We'll just read it through quickly.
And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the
more part advised to depart thence, also, if by any means they might
attain to Phanesi, and there to Winter, which is an haven
of Crete, and lieth toward the south-west and north-west. And
when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained
their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete, but
not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called
Euryclidon, 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,
straight sailed, and so were driven. And we being exceedingly
tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship,
and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling
of the ship and 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 long abstinence Paul stood forth
in the midst of them and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened
unto me, and not on loose 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 though God
hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs,
be of good cheer, for I believe God, and it shall be even as
it was told me, howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. And so we continue with Paul's
journey from Caesarea to Rome. And we observe how there was
this disagreement as to the way that they should proceed. And
we know that this haven wasn't very commodious to winter in.
But most of them advised to depart thence. They didn't want to stay
there. and if by any means they might
attain to Phanesi, and there to Winter, which is in the haven
of Crete, and lieth toward the south, west, and north-west. And so they were there, waiting
to see which way to go. But there was a south wind which
blew softly, and they supposed that they had obtained their
purpose. Loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. Now you see here initially everything
seemed to be good and smooth and sometimes it may be so in
our lives but of course we don't know what the future holds. And these people didn't know
what the future held. And therefore they disregarded
the Apostle Paul, and they followed the advice of the others on the
ship, the master, no doubt the centurion, and those that were
with him. And so they sailed close by Crete. But it wasn't long. There arose
against it a tempestuous wind called Well, in the Greek, this
is really referred to as a tornado. And we know, of course, what
a tornado is in our present language. And we know it is an exceedingly
powerful wind and an exceedingly powerful storm. Of course, today
we can track these storms and know where they start and where
they're going more or less and follow their course. But here,
of course, they would have had no knowledge until it suddenly
came upon them. And indeed, if we didn't have
knowledge today, these great tornadoes or hurricanes very
suddenly come, and there's not really hardly any warning, and
they suddenly come. And so here were these people
on this boat travelling, and this tremendous tempest came
upon them. And the ship was caught and could
not bear up into the wind. We let her drive. We don't know,
of course, exactly what force it was, but we can assume it
was a very powerful source. And running under a certain island,
which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat. It would seem therefore they
were probably towing a boat, another boat which they would
be able to get into to perhaps row to the shore. But they were
told they had much work to get this boat on board. And so we're
told which, when they had taken up, they used helps. And again, that would seem that
perhaps they used the soldiers, perhaps they used the prisoners,
who were also on board to help them to get this boat on board. And then they were, we read,
they were undergirding the ship. And we understand that they used
ropes to really go underneath the boat, get the ropes underneath
the boat, and to then tie it across and to hold the boat together.
Because in those days, of course, they were timber boats, and they
could quite easily be broken up in a great storm. And so that
is really the reason why we read this, they got their little boat
on board and now they'd undergo to the ship and fear unless they
should fall into the quicksands they straight the sail and so
were driven. And it's interesting to know
that from Crete to Malta, which is where they ended up in a direct
line with some 530 odd miles. So we can imagine that they wouldn't
have gone in direct line. But they would have made some
significant progress each day. as they were blown on that course,
not to Rome, but at least not too far away. And it must have
been a very frightening position which they were in. And so we're
told, and we being seemingly tossed with a tempest, the next
day they lighten the ship, and the third day we cast out with
our own hands the tackling of the ship. So they did really,
naturally, all they could to save the ship. And I suppose
very often in our little lives, sometimes we do all we can to
save ourselves, to get ourselves out of a difficult situation.
We do everything that we can think of, but sometimes it's
not successful. And this wasn't successful with
these people in the boat at this time. And then they're told,
and we're told, and when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared. Now they were so reliant, weren't
they, in those days of the sun and the moon and the stars to
be able to arrive at a right course. So they had no idea really
where they were being blown. No sun, no moon, no stars. They
were really in a desperate situation. It's hard perhaps for us to realise,
but we can think that day after day, with this great storm tossed
about, and here was no idea where they were travelling to. And
so there was no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should
be saved was then taken away. Well, they were in what appeared
to be a hopeless condition. And again we can think of that
surely in a spiritual situation. Sometimes we may appear and seem
to be in a great tempest, everything upside down. Don't seem to be
making any progress. Can't see the way. Seems dark. And we're not sure where we're
really going. And we're tempted to give up. Give up hope the Lord will ever
turn upon us. The Lord will ever have mercy
upon us. And so we may recognise the similarity
of this natural position in our spiritual scene and have to say,
yes, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. Well, desperate scene, but they
weren't lost. They weren't lost. They were
still aboard the ship and God was with them still. And God
knew what he would do with them. And so it is in our spiritual
lives. God knows what he would do with us. Surely sometimes
it's to bring us down so that we have absolutely no hope in
ourselves. We've done everything we could
to save ourselves and we've made no progress. All hope that we
should be saved was taken away. Then we see the Apostle Paul.
After long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and
said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed
from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. Now, I suppose
we might think Paul could have been very justified in speaking
very angrily to them. But what we see here is speaking
very kindly to them. There's no anger in these words,
is there? As you know, surely it's the
same, is it not, in our spiritual life, as we may have turned our
back upon God, and have brought the situation upon our own selves,
and may realize that we deserve the anger of God to be upon us,
and yet to realize the Lord comes and speaks to us so kindly and
gently, pointing out perhaps our errors, pointing out the
wrong way we've gone, pointing out we've been looking to ourselves
instead of looking to himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. So Paul now comes and says, and
now I exhort you to be of good cheer. Well, why should I be
of good cheer? Why should they? Hadn't been
any change. The storm was still there. But
the Apostle, you see, exhorts them to be of good cheer. And so that should be an encouragement
to us sometimes. If perhaps we feel desolate and
no hope yet to be able to receive that faith from God, to believe
the Word of God as the truth of God, and to look to the Lord
Jesus Christ, and to have that hope in what He has done, and
therefore to be of good cheer. Be of good cheer, for there shall
be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. Well,
the ship was of no real value, when we consider the aspect of
eternity and life, what little value it had. And so the great
important thing was that their lives should be saved. And how
important that is for us spiritually, that our lives should be saved,
our souls should be saved. We may lose many things in this
life, but in any event they will perish one day. But then he tells
us this great truth. But for there stood by me this
night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve. What a blessing it is if we're
able to come and to convey this truth Paul knew whom he had believed. Paul had been blessed with being
brought from that terrible place of darkness and enmity to God
for the glorious light of the everlasting gospel. and therefore
he was able to declare, because of the faith given to him, that
he was able to say, whose I am. He didn't deny it. Whose I am and also whom I serve. The apostle from that day on
that Damascus road, the Lord had met with him He was found,
instead of serving the devil, which he had been now, he was
serving his Lord and Master, the Lord Jesus Christ. And what
a privilege it was, and what a privilege it is today, to be
found serving our great and glorious Master. And then the words spoken
to him, he tells them, fear not. Everything to fear. No, says
Paul, fear not. Fear not, because of what the
Lord hath told him. Fear not, Paul, thou must be
brought before Caesar, and though God hath given thee all them
that shall with thee. Well, that was a tremendous statement,
wasn't it? To think that there they were, facing this situation,
And yet, here's Paul speaking to them in these words and encouraging
them, therefore, in this work and saying to them, no, Paul,
thou must be brought before Caesar. He knew, he's told us before
in this chapter that he was to be brought to Rome He was to
go to Rome. God had told him so, so therefore
he was confident with his confirmation that what God had said would
come to pass. And it is true today. What God
has said will come to pass. In our lives, what God has said
will come to pass. Let us be encouraged by it. And he then reiterates this statement. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer. Why should they be of good cheer?
Because of the promises of God. Why should you and I be of good
cheer? Because of the promises of God. Wherefore, sirs, be of
good cheer, for I believe God. There must a foundation. he believed
God and may you and I believe God so that when things appear
black when the tempest rages may we have that faith to believe
God and to believe as the apostle tells us when he wrote to the
Romans 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
for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me well
what a testimony and what confidence the apostle had he was blessed
with that living faith in his savior and my friends today may
we indeed be blessed with living faith in the savior to believe
that what God has promised will come to pass. But then he says,
how be it? We must be cast upon a certain
island. It wasn't going to be plain sailing.
He wasn't going to have a safe journey directly to Rome. They
were going to get safe to land, but it wasn't going to be in
the way they'd planned. But it was in accordance with
God's plan. and how good that is for us today
to realise the Lord God omnipotent reigneth and those things which
he has ordained for our spiritual and eternal good, if we are indeed
amongst his loved ones, will come to pass. Amen.