if you would turn to Acts 27,
Acts 27. I'm going to be mainly in Acts 27 and I
may, I will go into 28 some, but right now I just want to
read verses 21 through 25. But after a 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. 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. We see in this chapter a decree
from God. It was God's purpose that Paul
go before Caesar. So who was going to stop that
from happening? The last few weeks, I've been on God's purpose,
God's will, and God's choice. We can hardly read anywhere in
the scripture that we do not see that it is God's choice,
which comes from His will, and His will purposing all things
to come to pass. We read that especially in the
New Testament where we read words like this, and it came to pass. What God has chosen by His will,
He will also purpose it to come to pass. There's nothing that
will stop it. You try to get in God's way,
that is you try to make your own choice, you might be destroyed. have seen in the scripture when
a child of God tries to have their own way instead of bowing
down to God's way, and I'm talking about children of God here, Mark
8, 31 through 33. And he began to teach them that
the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected of the
elders and of the chief priests and scribes and be killed and
after three days rise again. And he spake that saying openly
and Peter took him and began to rebuke him. But when he had
turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter,
saying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou savourest not the things
that be of God, but the things that be of men. You try to put forth your opinion,
your way, your choices, then you could be demon possessed.
Christ will be in the forefront. What he wills, what he purposes
will be done, whether we like it or not. Did Paul stand before
Caesar? He did. I just want to go through
this and see how even in the midst of bad choices by man,
God still has his way. And my title today is Be of Good
Cheer. So let's first look at some of
the details here that transpired on this trip to go before Caesar.
First of all, from the very beginning of this trip, it was not a pleasant
journey, you might say, verse 4. Verse 4 of 27. And when we
had launched from Vence, we sailed under Cyprus because the winds
were contrary. This is nothing new this morning.
A lot of what I'm going to say has been said, these very same
things have been said before. And I mean from this very same
passage, they've said these very same things. But when God starts
you out on your journey to be sent before the judge, here Paul
was being sent before Caesar, but I'm talking about being sent
before the judge. But when he starts you on this
journey, the way will be filled with contrary winds. When it
says contrary wind here, what does that mean? It means the
winds were blowing in the opposite direction of where they needed
to go. You will be met with winds, those things which are contrary
to God's way. But we must stay on course. Wait
for God, because it is his purpose which will stand. I know we want
things to go smoothly, But most of the time, it's not meant for
us to have a smooth way. Acts 14, 21 and 22 we read, and
when they had preached the gospel to that city and had taught many,
they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch, confirming
the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in
the faith, and that we must, through much tribulation, enter
into the kingdom of God. Now understand what this is saying. This is not saying while in the
kingdom you will have tribulation, although that is certainly true.
This is saying that even just to enter the kingdom, God's people
must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God.
Coming to Christ is not a walk in the park. It's not party time. It is a time when we read in
scripture of His gospel, God's word to us and what it does to
us. Here's what you will see happen
when you first come to Christ and from then on. The word of
God never changes in its purpose. So this is from the start and
it's ongoing. Hebrews 4.12, the word of God
is quick. and powerful, and sharper than
any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit, and of the joints and morrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart." I'm not sure what
thoughts you have when you read this, when you see this, but
what I see here is something being ripped apart by His Word.
It will expose you. There will be nowhere to go.
There will be no trees to hide behind with your fig aprons.
He will come to you and cause you to admit to him you're naked
before him. I often wonder when it comes
to doing this or that, whether we should do this or that. We
pray, God help me to know if this is what you would have me
to do. What we must be careful about
is to think about outward circumstances and how they are working and
make that our guide as to what we should do. What do we read
here in this passage about this? Verse seven through 14. Seven
through 14. And when we had sailed slowly
many days, and scarce were come over against Nidus, excuse me
for my pronunciation of some of these words, but against Nidus,
the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against
Samone, and hardly passing it, came into a place which is called
the Fair Havens, nigh wherein too was the city of Lysia. Now
when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous,
because the fast was now already passed, Paul admonished them,
and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with
hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and the 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 enter in, the more part advised to depart thence
also." That means the majority of them agreed. Let's go on.
If by any means they might attain to Phineas and there to winter,
which is an haven of Crete and life toward the southwest and
northwest. 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 Euryclodon. Again, we
see the trip is dangerous. God puts us in a place where
it might not be a commodious place to winter in. In other
words, it will not be a comfortable place. It might be an inconvenient
place where he places us. But we must take from God's hand
and where he guides us to winter and not go about for our own
way because we don't like where we are. What happened here? They did not like the accommodations
here in the Fair Havens near La Silla. So they want to go
to some other place where it's more convenient. Folks, I'm going to tell you,
I don't like it when things get uncomfortable or the thoughts
of going into a situation that might cause me some anguish or
hardships. I don't like the thoughts of
that. I don't look forward to that kind of thing, and I don't
think any of us do. I would like things to go smoothly,
but to have my way is to go against God's way. What happened here? They listened to men rather than
God. They were warned that their way,
what they wanted to do, was going to put them in peril. What happened
that caused them to think they gained their purpose? The winds
began to blow smoothly. The winds were not contrary anymore.
They were blowing the right way. They were blowing smoothly. The
seas were not rough. Everything was going smoothly.
When everything is going smoothly, get ready. The storm's about
to come. Smooth sailing does not in any
way tell us that this is the way we should go. If everything
seems to fall in place, we might better brace ourselves. the storm
might be coming. Now, some may never see a storm
in this life. Things may fall right into place
with every turn they make. But a storm will eventually come. And you will not be prepared
for it if you have made this journey on your own. I prefer
to go through the storm right now rather than later. Our choices
will always take us the wrong way and at the wrong time, but
God be thanked. We mean it for evil and he means
it for good. The journey he puts us on will
be to the saving of our soul. Now, just to be clear, were all
of these men that were on this ship a child of God? I don't
know, but that's not really the point. The point is this, you
bow down to God's way, although His way may be rough at times,
His way leads to salvation. Let me also say this, when we
are talking about everything being smooth, I'm not merely
talking about circumstances and those things that happen around
us. We do sometimes have smooth days and smooth times. They are not always smooth, but
we do have some smooth circumstances, and I'm thankful to God for that.
In fact, this coming week, I hope we have some things go smoothly. I hope we have sunshine and nice
weather, no rain. God willing, have a lot of us
coming there Thursday for Thanksgiving, and we're gonna have a big herd
of dogs there with us too. So I kind of would like them
outside playing and stuff. I hope there's no snow or something
like that to prevent us from coming together. But it might
happen. We might have something go in
such a way which is not smooth. But what I'm talking about, which
is not totally devoid of circumstances, but what I'm talking about is
the turmoil of soul that undoubtedly comes for a child of God. How
could there not be turmoil when an ungodly sinner meets a thrice
holy God? There are times when we were
brought into the storm ourselves that we will have thoughts just
like the Philippian jailer had. I'm going to die. I will surely
perish. So I might as well end it right
now. But God be thanked. He said someone
to us with this message. Be of good cheer. It is our own
fault that we are where we are, but be of good cheer. There will
be no loss of man's life, but of the ship. The ship will be
broken, but we will be saved. The ship will bear the brunt
of the storm for us and it will be broken, but we will be saved. Jesus Christ was broken for us
that he might deliver us to the shore. But his brokenness is
enough to get us to shore, to save our soul. But see this,
this is that fear when you come to know that what you have done
has put you in peril. Your choice and your way has
put you in peril, verses 27 through 29. 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 a stern
and wished for the day. They, being in this storm, thought
they were close to land. This can be a good thing or a
bad thing. In a ship during a storm, you have to know what's beneath
the storm, beneath the waves. Is it rocks or sand? They dropped
down their device. It was some kind of piece of
lead or brass or something like it on a chain. And they would
know how deep the sea was at that place when they dropped
it in. They could also, by the feeling I'm guessing, get an
idea if it was sand or rock. So they wondered as it was getting
more shallow, the next time they checked, they wondered if the
ship might be coming up on some rocks to tear the ship apart.
So they cast down the anchors. They were scared out of their
wits. It says they wished for the day. But then what do they
do again? They go about to try and do things
their own way, verse 30. and as the shipmen were about
to flee out of the ship when they had let down the boat into
the sea under color as though they would have cast anchors
out of the poor ship. They tried to hide what they
were doing. They tried to make it look like they were letting
down anchors into the water. There are those who may look
like they're with God's people, but they are deceiving. But what
they were doing is letting down a little dinghy or skiff, a little
boat that's on the side of the ship. They were gonna try to
escape the storm on their own. Was it not like that for us?
When we first come to know God, what is our first reaction a
lot of the time? What is our reaction in times
of storms for God's people I'm talking about? I have to do something. But me doing something is not
God's way. We do not do things of our own
selves. We do not take upon ourselves
to save ourselves. Verse 31, Paul said to the centurion,
to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, ye cannot
be saved. The ship is where salvation is
going to come. We must stay on the ship because
if we do, we will be saved. We dare not try to add anything
to our salvation at any time. The ship is enough to save us.
We will ultimately be on the shore, just as it was with Noah. The ship will bear the judgment
of the waves of God's wrath, but you will not be saved outside
of the ship. The ship must be broken first
before we will make it to shore. Jesus Christ was made a curse
and sin for his people. He was forsaken of the Father. He died the sinner's death in
their stead, all the while his people being in him. The ways
of God's judgment tore him apart so that those in him would be
saved forevermore. Do not try to get out of the
ship. It's your only way of salvation. Jesus Christ is the ship. We
must cut off all idols that we might think that would commend
us toward God. But that idol, when it boils
down to it, is the idol of self. I will make my way. I will do
this. I will do that. If you get out
of the ship, you will perish. It is he, our ship, that has
been broken for us. And although we may not see it
all the time because of this flesh, but the ship has already
been broken. He's already brought us to shore. But also our sustenance comes
from the ship for our journey, that journey that we'll have
to embark upon once we know the ship was broken for us. When
we eat on the ship, then we will be of good cheer. We will be
comforted, we'll be strengthened when we partake of the goods
of the ship, verses 33 through 36. And while the day was coming
on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, this day is
the 14th day that you have tarried and continued fasting, 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 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. He will fill us with his sustenance.
He will feed us the body and blood of Jesus Christ, and it
will suffice us. It will cheer our soul. We will
and we must feed on his sustenance. But then we also have this. When
God, by His mercy and grace, causes us to commit to His judgment
in the ship, then will salvation be realized by His people. You
look for salvation anywhere else, you will find nothing but condemnation
and death. But thank God that he, by his
grace, allows some to commit themselves to his judgment on
the ship, so that they might be safely conducted to shore.
It will not be easy, but we will be conducted safely to the shores
of his kingdom, where we will be with him, the one who was
broken for us. Now, I just added something in
here. I want to look at this, verses 43 through 44. And I know
there's some that says who could swim, and others couldn't. But
just look at this, 2743 through 44. 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
and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass
that they escaped all safe to land. And I just wanted to say
this about this part. If you see a part of Christ,
grab on for dear life. What does Paul tell us in Philippians
3.2? And I've got a turn of that.
Philippians 3.2. Does anybody know where Philippians
is? Philippians 3.2. Philippians 3, 12, sorry. He says, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I
had already attained, either were already perfect, but I follow
after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended
of Christ. He's saying I'm holding on to
Christ for dear life. Now verses back to verses 39
and 41. And 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 into the sea, and loosed the
rudder bands, and hoist up the mainsail to the wind, and made
toward shore. And falling into a place where
two seas met, they ran the ship aground, and the fore part stuck
fast, and remained unmovable. But the hinder part was broken
with the balance of the way. But as we started out, when God
says something will happen, then it will happen. Our outright
rebellion notwithstanding, his purpose will be accomplished.
We may make our choices and it might make the way rougher. But
if he intends to save someone, then they will be saved. Numbers
23 19 we read, God is not a man that he should lie. neither the
son of man that he should repent. Hath he said, and shall he not
do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? God's purpose will stand. I don't
care what it might look like around us. God is in absolute
sovereign control. I must cry out daily, God calls
me to wait on you. I want to follow your way, but
my God and my Father keep me in this ship. Now let's read
the rest of the chapter. I think I done read it. Verse 42 through 44. I've already, I've just got through
reading that, so let me just go on. Even though the storm
may be raging, we will be brought safely to the shore if we abide
in the ship. But we also had one other thing
that God said would happen, and it could not do anything but
happen, because God said it. But let's read this in chapter
28, verses 11 through 13. And after three months, we departed
in a ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the Isle, whose
sign was Castor and Pollux. And landing at Syracuse, we tarried
there three days, and from thence we fetched a compass and came
to regium, and after one day the south wind blew, and we came
the next day to Ptole." Now those who follow Christ,
when you rest in Christ, that's where you'll get the south wind
blowing. This is said in the sense that it was just what was
needed to push them, and I think I had the wrong verses there
or something, to push them forward in the sea to where they were
bound to arrive. But what was the purpose of God
for Paul? Verses 24 and 25 of 27, we already
read it. Saying, fear not, Paul, thou
must be brought before Caesar, and lo, God hath given thee all
them that sell with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer,
for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. Did he arrive where he was supposed
to go in 28, 14 through 16? where we found brethren and were
desired to tarry with them seven days, and so we went toward Rome. And from thence, when the brethren
heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appia Forum and
the three taverns, whom when Paul saw, he thanked God and
took courage. And when we came to Rome, the
centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard,
but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that
kept him. We do not read of Paul going
before Caesar here, but we know it did happen. But Caesar was
in Rome and they had made it to where they were going. How
many things happened in these two chapters? They went through
many things for many days, but God brought them all safely to
where he purposed for Paul to be. There's much more here that
could be said from these two chapters. But I pray God show
us Christ in this passage. If I am to stand before a judge,
before the judge, let it be Christ who has borne me thus. I know
Paul was to go before a heathen king, and he was one that didn't even
love God. But I pray when I stand before him, before the judge,
it will be in my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who was broken for
me. If I do, then I know He has already
borne the judgment of God and has delivered me from His sea
of wrath. Now I can do as Paul did, and
we can all do as Paul did. We can preach the kingdom of
God and teach those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ
with all confidence in Him and praise and thank Him for saving
our soul. And we can be of good cheer. because of what he has done.
Amen. Thank you, dear Lord, for allowing
us to be here, dear Lord. Everything comes from you, dear
Lord. Cause us to see this, to know
this, dear Lord, every day. Be with us all as we go out and
about all these things we ask in Christ's name. Amen.