Good morning. Our pastor is in
Crow, West Virginia this morning. So he's preaching for Brother
Walter Pendleton. So we'll look forward to having
him back Wednesday night. He did send me a text yesterday,
wanted everybody to know Novi Sparks had been released from
the hospital and is home. So thankful to hear that. Open your Bibles with me to Acts. chapter 27. We'll be looking at this chapter this
morning, Acts chapter 27. Before we begin, let's go to our Lord
in prayer. Our God and Father in heaven,
we thank you for this day. Lord, we thank you for this opportunity
to gather together as a people. Lord, we pray that you would
be pleased to meet with us here this morning. Lord, as we've
gathered here together, Lord, as you brought us to this place,
Lord, bless us with your presence. Bless us with this thy word. Lord, teach us from thy scriptures.
Teach us more of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord,
for all those who gathered together this morning, Lord, and where
your sheep are gathered, Lord, pray you bless the preaching
and hearing of your gospel. Now again, we thank you for this
day. Thank you for your many blessings.
Above all, we thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his
name we pray and give thee thanks. Amen. All right. The title of the message
this morning is taken from verse 31 of Acts chapter 27. Here we read, except ye abide
in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Abide in the ship. Let's read this passage of scripture
together, beginning in verse 1. And when it was determined that
we should sail into Italy, They delivered Paul and certain other
prisoners under one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band,
and entering into a ship of Adramidium, we launched, meaning to sail
by the coast of Asia, one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica,
being with us. And the next day we touched at
Sidon, and Julius courteously entreated Paul and gave him liberty
to go unto his friends and refresh himself. And when we had launched
from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were
contrary. And when we had sailed over the
city of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, the city of
Lycia, And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing
into Italy, and he put us therein. And when we had sailed slowly
many days and scarce were come over against Sinaitis, the wind
not suffering us, we sailed under Crete over against Salmoni. And hardly passing, it came into
a place which is called the Fair Havens, nigh whereunto was the
city of Lycia. Now when much time was spent
and when sailing was now dangerous because the fast was now already
past, Paul admonished them. And he said unto them, sirs,
I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage,
not only of the lady 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, the more part advised to depart
thence also if by any means they might attain to Phenicia and
there to winter, which is a haven of Crete and lie toward the southwest
and northwest. And when the south wind blew
softly, supposing they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence,
they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, there arose
against it a tempestuous wind called Eurycleidon. 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 come by the boat. And when they had taken up, They
used helps undergirding the ship, fearing lest they should fall
into the quicksands. Straight sail, and so we're 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 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, you should have hearkened unto me, and not loosed from
Crete, 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. Howbeit, we must be cast upon
a certain island. But when the 14th 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
they sounded and found it 20 fathoms. When they'd 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 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 collar as though they had cast anchors out of
the foreship, Paul said unto the centurion and to the soldiers,
except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. And the
soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off.
And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them. He besought
them all to take meat, saying, this day is the 14th day that
you've tarried and continued fasting, haven't 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 thus spoke and he
took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all,
and when he'd broken it, he began to eat. And then were they all
good cheer, and they also took some meat, and we were all on
the ship, 200 threescore and 16 souls, 276 of them. When they'd eaten enough, they
lightened the ship and cast out the weed into the sea, And when
it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain
creek with a shore into which they were minded if it were possible
to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the
anchors, they committed themselves under the sea and loosed the
rudder bands and hoist up the main sail to the wind and made
towards shore. And falling into a place where
two seas met, they ran the ship aground and the four parts struck
fast and remained unmovable. But the hinder part was broken
with the violence of the waves. And the soldier's counsel was
to kill the prisoners lest any of them should swim out and escape.
But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their
purpose and commanded that they should swim. They that could
swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get the land
and the rest, some on boards, some on broken pieces of the
ship. And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to
land. Now I have six or seven things
I'd like for us to see from this scripture this morning. Look
beginning first at verse 13. Here we read, it says, when the
south wind blew softly, Supposing we'd obtained their purpose,
loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after,
there rose against us a tempestuous wind called Euryclidae. That word means a violent agitation. Is there anything more striking
to represent the voyage of God's people than what we read here?
as we pass through this world. Have you experienced that in
your voyage? Times of, listen, times of ease. We enjoy those, don't we, when
they come. But also times of trouble and
times of difficulty. And we often, we do enjoy those
times of ease, You know, we must be brought. We must be brought
to those times of trouble. We must be brought to those,
listen, to see something of, listen, our desperate condition,
our own helplessness, our depravity. We have to see that before we'll
cry unto Him. In Psalm 107, David wrote this. He said, they that go down to
the sea and the ship, they do business in great waters. These
see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep, for
he commandeth and raiseth. Who does that? He commanded,
and he raiseth the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves thereof,
and they mount up to the heaven. They go down again to the depths,
and their soul melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro like a drunken man and are at their Can we relate to that? Then, not until then, but then,
cry unto the Lord and their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their
distress. Storms and tempests all around, but the Lord Jesus
Christ is our hiding place. He's the hiding place for his
people. Let's read on here in our text.
Look at verse 20. Here's the place we're often
brought to. It said, when neither sun nor
stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us. No sun, no stars, darkness. A time of darkness, no light. And he says this, All hope, all
hope that we should be saved was taken away. Left to ourselves, listen, in
darkness, we're hopeless. And left to ourselves in darkness,
that's where we desire, often that's where we desire to be
until God's pleased to reveal his light to us. Paul, in writing
under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the church at
Ephesus, he said, at that time, ye were without Christ, being
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the
covenant of promise, having no hope, and without God in this
world. And that's where we'll remain
until God in mercy is pleased to breathe life into us, to reveal
his light to us. God commendeth the light to shine
out of darkness. He has shined in our hearts to
give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. It's God, it's almighty God that
calls us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Here we see a message of good
news. Aren't we thankful? Aren't we
thankful that He's not left us in darkness? Look here at verse
21. A message of good news and a
promise of deliverance. You see that? Look at verse 21.
After long abstinence, it says, Paul stood forth in the midst
of them and he said, Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me.
and not have loosed from Crete, to have gained this harm and
loss. Now I exhort you, 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. Is there any doubt this is anyone
but the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul would have never said that
about any man or anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Whose
I am and whom I serve. And what was he told? Fear not. That's the same message to the
children of Israel. when they were fleeing from Egypt. Remember, they held up against
the Red Sea. What were they told? Stand still. Fear not. Fear not, Paul. Thou must be brought before Caesar,
and though God hath given thee all them that sail with thee,
there's going to be no loss among you, no loss of life among you. The ship's going to be destroyed,
but the people are going to be set free. Does that sound a little
bit familiar? Huh? That's reason for good cheer,
isn't it? Consider this, the Lord Jesus Christ, He was crucified,
He's going to be destroyed, but His people set free. There in the garden, remember
that our Lord was with His disciples and a band of men and officers
from the chief priests and from the Pharisees They came with
lanterns and torches and weapons. They came after our Lord. And
our Lord said, he said, whom seek ye? And they said, Jesus
of Nazareth. And he said, I'm he. And when
he spoke that, they fell backwards. Can you imagine the power in
which our Lord spoke? And they asked again. Our Lord
asked them again. He said, whom seek ye? They said,
Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I'm he. I'm he. If you seek me, then let these
go. Let my people go. Our substitute. The substitutionary work of the
Lord Jesus Christ is he stands in the place of his people. They
take him. The Lord's taken, but His people
are set free. The ship, this ship, that old
ship's going to be destroyed. But He made that promise. All
those people, they're going to go free. There on the cross,
after our Lord had been scourged and beaten and stripped of His
raiment, on the cross where He bore our sins, in His body on
that tree, There where he was, the scriptures declare that he
was made sin. That we might be made the very
righteousness of God in him. There where he cried out, my
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? There on the cross where
our Lord said, it's finished. And he gave up the ghost. It
was there on the cross The Lord Jesus Christ died, and his people
set free. That death that we deserve, that
death that he took it upon him, that punishment for sin, that
he took upon himself. He suffered and died and gave
up the ghost that his people might be set free. A sinful people
deserving of death and condemnation set free. Fourth point, true
faith lays hold and settles upon God's word and promises. And
when I say settle, I don't mean like sometimes we settle for
something because there's nothing better. No, they're settled.
They're secure in this. We're secure in this. Paul said
there in verse 25, he said, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer,
for I believe God that it shall be even as he spoke it." What
he said he's going to do, you rest in it. It's going to happen. It shall be even as it was told
me. Whatever God has told his people,
that which he has promised his people, he'll perform it. He will perform it. Consider
some of these things found in God's word. He said this, I'll
be their God, and they shall be my people. We're promised
in his word that he'll never leave nor forsake his people, that he'll guide and protect,
that he'll supply every need. Concerning Christ, listen, we're
justified by his righteousness. We're pardoned through his blood. He saved us, the scriptures declare
this, that he has saved us with an everlasting salvation. And concerning his spirit, scriptures say that he that hath
begun a good work in you He'll finish it. He'll complete it. He'll be our comforter and our
guide. Can we speak with the confidence
of Paul and say, sirs, I believe God. It shall be even as it was
told me. Fifth point, there's but one
way of deliverance, just one. Don't go thinking anything else. And this flesh is prone to do
that. We have a backup plan for everything,
don't we? Well, if this happens, I'll do
this. If this don't happen, I'll do... Don't go thinking that
way. Look at verse 30 of Acts 27. We read here that these shipmen,
they were... They had an idea they were going
to flee out of the ship. They were going to let down that
lifeboat into the sea, one of the kind of everyman for himself.
We'll take the lifeboat, and we'll go. Again, isn't that the way man
always looks, this nature? And that's not just true about
things around the house. Man's always looking for his
own way of salvation. That's evident in what's said,
not just in our day and time, but in all times. Let me ask
you, would you look to your own way? Would you look to your own
works? That's what self-righteousness
is. Look to your works, look to what you're doing. Would you
look to the things of this world? how easy it is to be taken up
with the things of this world. No, my friends, this is the command.
This is abide in the ship. One place, one place of safety. And it's been that way throughout
scriptures. In the day of Noah, we read that there in the ark,
eight souls were saved. Our pastor mentioned this, I
believe it was Wednesday night. Death and destruction, God's
wrath was put out upon the whole earth. But Noah and his family were
in that ark. And that death and destruction
that hit everything else, it hit that ark. They were safe
in the ark, one place of safety. When Jericho was destroyed, Remember
that Rahab the harlot and all that was with her in that house? There's that scarlet thread hanging
out the window. One place of safety. The children
of Israel, when God passed through Egypt, He passed through in judgment,
killing the firstborn. Where was the place of safety?
Under the blood. That lamb was slain, and that
blood was put upon that door in the side post under the blood. The manslayer, there was one
place to go. Flee to the city of refuge. It didn't do you any good to
have a bunch of facts and figures about the city of refuge, did
it? You had to be in the city. That was the place of safety,
and these prisoners These prisoners, here in our text, there was but
one place. And it wasn't in that lifeboat.
It was in the ship where they were commanded to stay. And these
all point to the Lord Jesus Christ, one place of safety. The believer
rests in nothing else but the Lord Jesus Christ, no one else
but the Lord Jesus Christ, resting in him in him alone. Paul, he said, right into the
Philippians, that I may win Christ and be found where? In him. One place, all one place. Sixth, we read that every false
refuge has to be removed. What did they do with that boat? He said, they cut the ropes and
let it fall off. We're not going to keep it just
in case. No, get rid of that thing. Cut it off. It fell into
the sea. Listen, they even cast out what
food they had left into the sea. They were committed, committed
to him, committed to his promise. No turning back, but resting
in his word, resting in his promise. Paul said, there shall not Listen
to this promise. There shall not a hair fall from
any of you. If I figure that out, there's
276 men on that ship. He said not one hair. Now that's
a promise, isn't it? Not one hair is going to fall
from any of you. Over in Matthew 10 verse 30,
I won't have you turn there, but we read that even, listen,
even the hairs of our head, are numbered. How intimately does
he know each one of us? Not talking about when you comb
your hair and one's out of place. Listen, he says, you're not going
to lose it. You've got not one hair. I think
I read somewhere that we have around a, and I'm sure this varies
from person to person. Some have more and some have
less, but about 100,000 hairs on our head. He knows each one. They're numbered. They're numbered. And Paul said,
you're not going to lose not one of them. And then seven,
we see this, my final point. Complete deliverance, just as
it was promised. The ship, that ship's going to
be destroyed. But the prisoners are going to
be free. The Lord Jesus Christ crucified,
but his people delivered. Look there at verse 44. Came to pass, they escaped. All, all 276, safe
to land. Not one. Not one was lost. And listen,
so it is. So it is with every one of his
sheep. Those chosen in Christ, those
ordained to eternal life, called by the Spirit of God, all those
in his care, purchased, redeemed by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, For takers of His blessing and of His grace, not one will
be lost. This is the Father's will, which
hath sent me, that of all which He hath given me, I should lose
nothing, but raise it up again in the last day. the command,
abide, abide in the ship, abide in the Lord Jesus Christ. And
quickly, look with me again here in Acts 27. Look at verse 42. It says the soldier's counsel was
to kill the prisoners lest any of them should swim out and escape. And that word escape, right there
where it's at, you look this up this afternoon, get in your
concord. It means to flee. Like if a man breaks out of prison,
he escapes. Under his own strength, he flees. That's our thinking about things,
isn't it? We do things our own way. Look
at verse 43, but the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them
from their purpose and commanded that they which swim cast themselves
first in the sea and get the land. And listen, that centurion,
if you look back at verse 11 of this same chapter, we read earlier on that centurion
It said he believed the master and the owner of the ship more
than those things which were spoken of by Paul. Something
changed there, didn't it? At one time, he didn't have an
ear. Paul didn't really have anything to say he wanted to
hear about. But that's been overruled here. You see that? All the other soldiers' counsel
was to kill the prisoners to keep them from escaping. But
something, this centurion, his will was overruled. Boy, aren't
we thankful? Aren't we thankful our will has
been overruled? But then he told him to cast
himself, swim out there and escape. Cast himself first into the sea
and get the thing. And look here, verse 44. It says, the rest,
some on boards, some on broken pieces of ship, so it came to
pass. What came to pass? Just what
had been promised. They escaped, all safe to land. Now, this word escape means something
completely different. This word escape means this.
It can mean rescued. It can mean preserved, healed,
made perfectly whole, saved Thoroughly saved completely And isn't that
what isn't that what? He's done for us. Isn't that
what Almighty God has done for his people in Christ. I rescued
us Preserved us healed us Made us perfectly whole in his son Abide in the ship Abide in the
Lord Jesus Christ. God be pleased to bless his word.