Back to our text that we looked
at this morning, Acts chapter 27, and we got down to verse
26. We looked at that. A promise that these men, these
sellers and soldiers, the Apostle Paul and the whole group of men
selling here had been given these two things. They had been given
first the assurance of life. Their life had been spared. Their
life had been given to them. And you would have had to have
been there to appreciate the word that the Apostle Paul said
to them, and them knowing where this came from, that not a one
of you are going to perish. What a wonderful message that
was. And then we came here and he said this to them, that we
must be cast upon a certain island. Now, that was their hope. That
was the promise that was given to these men. And you'll notice
here the word that the Holy Spirit was pleased to use, He said,
we must be cast upon a certain island. Now that was a promise
that was as sure as God was. If God is true and cannot lie,
then their deliverance was final and it was sure. They would be
cast upon a certain island. And I like not only that this
promise was given to them, but when it was given. No sooner
had He said, your life is spared, in other words, no sooner had
they been brought to believe that He gives them this promise
of their final deliverance, final perseverance. You will not perish,
your life's been spared, and here is your end. You will reach
dry land. You will not go down upon this
troubled sea. Now, brothers and sisters, I
am for taking a young convert, if you can find one who truly
believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you teach him God's Word.
Don't withhold any truth from that man. Because, well, he just
shouldn't have that. That's too deep for him. Or he
might take advantage of that. He's just not old enough for
that. If it's God's Word, then teach
it. Teach it. I want to know, don't
you? I want to know what the Lord
Jesus said I want to know it for myself. I don't care if I've
just believed five minutes ago. Somebody tell me what the Master
said. I give unto you eternal life,
and you shall never perish. Tell a young believer that. He
needs to know that. He needs to know that. Faithful
is he who hath begun a good work in you, who also will perform
it unto the dead Jesus Christ. He'll never stop his work that
he's begun in you. Grace begun is heaven won. There
are some people who have said that there are things that we
shouldn't teach young believers. Well, maybe there is. I don't
know. But this is not one of them, is it? This is not one
of them. And I don't know who we are anyway
to think we know more than God knows. There are certain things
that we can teach and certain things we shouldn't teach. Well,
teach a child of God the Word of God. Teach it. I lack the
example that Paul has set before us here. No sooner had he said,
your life is spared, your end is certain. You fellows are going
to dry land. You're going to dry land. The
Master taught his young converts that. He said, I go to prepare
a place for you and I'll come again and receive you unto myself. I'll do it. And he's faithful
and true. And why did Paul give them this
precious promise? Well, they need to know it. They
need to know it. They weren't completely out of
danger yet. And we see this beginning here in verse 27. The trials
themselves, brothers and sisters, that they're going to face was
difficult enough. They were still out on this troubled
sea. They were still in this storm.
That was going to be difficult enough to face in itself. But
what was going to make it easier if they knew the outcome? Now,
every child of God is still in this world. They're still subject
to trials, subject to fall, subject to temptation, subject to fears
and doubts. But if they know their outcome
is fixed, that heaven is theirs, That will help them in the time
of their struggles and trials in this world. We need to know. We need to know. If God has fixed
the outcome, those He foreknew, He glorified. Now, if you can
get that in your heart, I tell you that will help you through
some struggles. That will help you through some trials in this
world. I think a man could endure a severe storm if he knew he
wasn't going down, if he knew he wasn't going to sink, that
after all he was going to dry land. And we find some principles
here taught us in this passage just beginning here in verse
27 through verse 32. There are some wonderful principles
taught us here in this passage. The promises of God are not given
to make us slothful. That's the first principle we
see. God gave them this promise that you fellows are going to
be saved at last. You'll land on dry land. But
He didn't give that promise to them to be slothful and negligent,
and neither were they slothful. In verse 27 it says, About midnight
the shipmen deemed that they drew near unto some country. We can be off in our thinking
sometimes as Christians. I agree with that. I believe
that. We're still in the flesh. Brother Larry told us this morning.
There are things that we need to lay aside. And one thing that
we need to be careful of is our thinking. One of the biggest
problems we've got is the way we think. We need to learn to
think rightly and properly. And we can err in our thinking.
All of us have done it. That we've got this promised.
that we're saved at last, that heaven is ours, we've got the
assurance of that, so we can just sit down now, we've got
it made. But we shouldn't be that way.
If we've been thinking that way, we need to change our thinking.
These fellows didn't think that way. They were thinking properly.
God has promised us that we're going to land safely at last. But here at midnight, Here at
midnight, they were still up, watching, being careful. And
they were exercising their senses. Did you notice that? They sensed
that they were nearing some land. Well, if they knew that they
were going to get to dry land after a while anyway, why were
they watching for it? Why did they keep their ears
open to hear the waves rushing against the shore? Why were they
looking out to see some silhouetted island? Why were they smelling
to smell the land or the flowers? They were exercising their senses.
Just because God had promised them that they'd see dry land
was no sign they could just sit down and be slothful and say,
well, when it comes, it'll come. Brothers and sisters, if the
Lord has promised us heaven, then let's be looking for heaven.
Let's keep our eyes open for it. Let's use our senses. I think
we can discern as we're getting closer, don't you? We're closer
now than we were when we first believed. Thirty-six years ago
when I first believed, I just sensed. I sensed from the Word.
I sensed in my experience that I'm closer now. Keep your ear
to the ground. Listen. See where you're at. See where you're at. God promised
you heaven, look for heaven. Look for heaven. In verses 28 and verse 29 is
something else about this. They used every means that they
had available to them to avoid a shipwreck. See what they did? In verses 28 and verse 29 they
sounded and found it 20 phantoms. There was a procedure that they
used back then to see how close they were to the shore and how
deep the water was. They had this rope, and on the end of
the rope was a piece of lead tied. And every phantom, every
six foot, they had a mark. And they would let that rope
down and they'd see where it hit at, sort of like a measuring
stick. And they'd see how deep the water was. They lowered it,
and the Scripture says here it was 20 phantoms, about 120 feet
deep. Then it was 15 phantoms, about
90 feet deep. And they sounded again, and they
sounded again, and they sounded again. Why did they do that?
And especially since they had the promise that they was going
to get on dry land. Well, I'll tell you one of the
reasons they did that. They didn't want to wreck that ship. If my
ship is going to wreck, I don't want to be the cause of it. If
my ship's going to wreck, I don't want it to wreck on those rocks.
And if it's going to wreck on those rocks, I don't want it
to be out of my neglect. See why they did that? See what
effect it had upon them? I want to find a safe place to
land. That's what they... And brothers and sisters, you
and I have been assured of heaven. We're assured of heaven. But
I tell you, I don't want to land on the rocks before I get there,
do you? I don't want to be taken under the waves and half drowned
and go to shore with a crippled body. I don't want to lay on
my deathbed with a guilty conscience that I'm dying, not as I'd like
to die, with a clear conscience. I want to be watchful. I want
to be careful. That's what we want. If the Lord
has promised us heaven, Let's use every means we can to get
there. If he says it's going to be alright at death, let's
make sure of it. Let's not go there with our conscience
wounded because we've been negligent and we have our hearts bruised
upon the rocks. Always be sound in Don't let
the ship go aground too far out into the sea. See what I'm saying?
Get as close to shore as you can and look for a good place
to land. Be not slothful, but followers
of them who through faith and patience inherit the promise. So what did they do? Boy, they
kept their eyes open. They kept listening. They kept
smelling. How close are we? We're looking
for it, looking for it. They kept sounding, kept checking.
How deep is it? Where's the rocks at? Keep your
eyes open. And thirdly, look at this principle
that's taught us in verses 30 and 31. As the shipmen were about
to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat, they
had a lifeboat on there. They led it down into the sea
under pretense. That word color means pretense.
As though they would have cast anchors out of the ship. They
went down like they were going to put the anchors out. What
they were doing, they were getting this lifeboat. They were going
to lay down the lifeboat, and some of these sailors were going
to get into it, and they were going to high-pillow it to shore.
And Paul saw them. He saw what they were doing.
And he turned to the centurion and the soldiers and said in
verse 31, except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. And the Armenians will come here
and say, aha, I told you salvation was on probation. I told you
the children of God could go down and perish, and here it
is. And here it is. I found it. I
found it. Well, that's all right, I guess.
But let me ask them this question. Did any of them perish? Did they stay in the ship? There's a vast difference in
warning men and saying, if you don't stay in the ship, you'll
perish. And then them leaving the ship and perishing. Ain't
there? The Lord already ordained the end. You fellows are going
to dry land. You're going to another country.
You're going to step your feet off on solid ground. God had
decreed that. And now we see something else
He decreed. The means to get them there. Stay in the ship. Stay in the ship. We've been looking at Hebrews
chapter 6 for the last couple of weeks. Terrence and I have.
Where the writer makes this statement. It's impossible. for those who
were once enlightened and have tasted the heavenly gift and
the powers of the world to come. And I think he's saying there
it's impossible for those who have once been saved, those who
are in Christ, if they shall fall away. If they do, it's impossible
for them to be saved again. You cannot renew them again until
repentance. If a man can get out of Christ,
then he's lost forever. Because there ain't no salvation
any place else. If being in Christ never worked
to start with, why try it again? If the blood cannot wash a man
clean to begin with, why try it again? If the power of God
cannot keep a man, nothing can. If a man is in Christ and he
can get out of it, he's gone forever. He's gone forever. But
I don't read anywhere where anybody ever got out of him, do you?
I read where we're warned to abide in him. I never read where anybody ever
got out of him. If you can get out of the ship, you're going
to drown. You're going to drown. But we come here and that's one
of the means he uses to keep us in the ship. If these guys
get out, we're goners. You guys get back in this ship.
You get back in the ship. I tell you, I'm afraid to leave
Christ, aren't you? And you know one of the reasons I'm afraid
to leave Him? If I can, I'm lost forever. That's not contradictory,
is it? Them staying in the ship and
the promise that they would be on dry land, those things don't
contradict each other. It's just the means that God
uses to gain His end. That's all it is. I'm afraid to leave Christ. I'm
afraid to leave Him. If I can leave Him, then I'm
gone forever. I'm gone forever. Look here in verse 32 again.
And the soldiers cut off the ropes from the lifeboat and let
her fall off. I call this lifeboat, just-in-case
boat. Just-in-case boat. Because really
that's what it was. They probably didn't even realize
themselves why they kept this lifeboat hanging on to this ship.
I think it was just-in-case. Just-in-case. Well, we're promised. We're promised. We have this
promise that we're going to land on dry land. But we got this
lifeboat just in case. Why else would they have camped
it? They'd already thrown over a bunch of more stuff. Why did
they keep this old boat hanging on the side, bouncing around?
I imagine in their subconscious it was just in case. I had a
friend of mine, and he learned better after a while, bless his
heart, but I heard him say two or three different times, I believe
we're saved by grace, but just in case, you better do the best
you can. That stuff doesn't work, does
it? We don't need just in case, brothers
and sisters. We need to settle this in our
hearts. Christ is our complete Savior. Christ hasn't married
enough. Christ's promises will save us.
Cut the old lifeboat off and depend upon the promises. And it's easy to depend upon
these just-in-case boats. The Galatians depended upon circumcision
just in case Christ is not enough. We had a fellow come here. I
remind you of this guy all the time. He had a little lifeboat. The Baptist boat. He told me
one time, I'll never forget this, he said, you know, I believe
you're going to heaven, but I'm going to be closer there. I've
got some added assurance. Why is that? I'm a Baptist. I'm
a Baptist. You reckon that boat's going
to help him out when his ship goes down? You think that'll
get him to shore? I mean, if the ship's going down,
if the ship's going to be broken up, what's going to happen to
these little boats? These just-in-case boats? Cut
them loose. And I'm telling you, you can
have them without even knowing it. We can have them, just-in-case
boats. Just cut them loose, let them
go ahead and fall off. It's just a wait. It's just a
wait. We need to be brought to the
place as believers. that we've got nothing to depend
upon but the promise of God. That's all they had. All they
had was this, we must be cast upon a certain island. That was
the promise of God. And to interject our wisdom and
human gimmicks, oh, I'm going to secure myself. I've got something
here nobody else has. I've got a little trick up my
sleeve. I've got this figured out. I've got a just-in-case
vote. Well, cut it loose. Cut it loose. And depend upon nothing but God's
promise. I'd like to have seen that little
old boat falling off. I'd like to have been there and
seen that, wouldn't you? Hell, there goes our last, just
in case. Boy, we ain't got nothing now
but the promise of God. Boy, if He don't deliver us now, if
God's promised us, well, you should have thought that to start
with. I like that old song about all
my plans, all my ambitions, all my wishes, at my feet in ashes
lay. I've got nothing. I've got nothing
but His promises. How do you feel about that? How
do you feel when everything that you could possibly trust in and
that would comfort you apart from the promises has been cut
loose and fell into the ocean? How do you feel about that? Here's
what the writer said when he said, I saw it lay at my feet
in ashes. I will praise Him. I will praise
Him. Praise the Lamb for sinners slain. Nothing to trust in but the promises
of God. Cut them off. Cut them off. And
notice what happened in verse 33 and verse 34. And the reason
I said I like this passage is because these things are really
happening. I mean, you could just study this without trying
to spiritualize it, and there it is. This is literally what
it teaches. As soon as they cut the ropes
on that boat and it fell off into the ocean, in verses 33
and verse 34, they received another promise. And this is amazing.
And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to
take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that you have
tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. I pray
you to take some meat, for this is for your health. And I better
not comment on that, I had it. Jackman better stop and say something
about that. This is for your health. Better not have it. For there shall not an hair fall
from the head of any of you." Ain't that an amazing statement?
That's an amazing statement. Our Master Himself used that
and said, the Father has your hairs numbered on your head.
But this told me three things as I looked at this, and one
is this. And I think this is the reason
why the Apostle told them this. These sailors and soldiers were
worried about big things. What about those rocks? I can't
swim. What in the world am I going
to do? Look at those giant waves. They were worried about the big
things. But here Paul tells them about the minutest things. He
goes from the large things to the minute things and he says,
The Lord knows everything about you. You're worried about the
big things. Well, let me tell you something.
The Lord knows how many hairs are on your head. That's amazing. That's amazing. Could you imagine trying to count
the hair on Larry Baker's head? You can't even count the hair
on my head. What does that tell us when we think about such a
thing? Don't that tell us the Lord knows the intimate details
about us? I mean, if He knows how many
hair you've got on your head, what else does He know? What
else can He know? He knows us within and without.
He knows our emotions. He knows our affections, our
will, our intellect, everything without us. He knows our body.
He understands us. There's not a thing about you,
brothers and sisters, right down to the mightiest detail of whatever
you're going through. But He understands it perfectly.
Everything about you is naked and open in the eyes of Him with
whom we have to do it. He knows us thoroughly, thoroughly. And I'll tell you something else
about it. If you ask me to go count the
hair on somebody's head, You know what I'd say? Who cares?
Who cares? Why would I want to do that?
I took the time and labor to start cutting hair off somebody's
head. I don't care! But He does. He does. If He cares how many hairs are
on your head, if your Father in Heaven, the Sovereign, Eternal
God, the ruler of heaven and earth, knows how many hairs are on your
head, and He cares about that, then I don't think we have to
be too concerned about the big things, do you? If He's faithful
over that which is least, how much more faithful is He over
the large things, the big things? Casting all your care upon Him
because He cares for you. How do we know that? If He's
taken time to number your hair, He must care about you. And here's the amazing thing
about it too. He has the power and the will and the wisdom to
keep you and uphold you and protect you. Not a hair shall fall from
your heads. Now wait a minute. We're headed
for a shipwreck. There's going to be blood. There's
going to be boards flying. There's going to be heads bumping.
And you're telling me not to lose a hair? Now wait a minute. Not a hair. Not a hair. You look at those boards, you
find every one that you can find, you look at the nails if that's
what was put together with, and you won't find a hair squeezed
in there anywhere. Not from these men. They lost
not a hair. Now that's pretty detailed, ain't it? And I bet it's going to be
the same way with you and I. We're not going to be hurt by
death, brothers and sisters. We're not. Christ has tasted
it for us. And when we finally get to heaven,
sure, we're not going to be hurt. Not hurt. And then verse 35. When he had thus spoken, he took
bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all.
And when they had broken it, they began to eat. Then were
they all of good cheer. And they all took some meat.
How wonderful the Christian life is. He lives upon the promises
of God. And he's thankful. That's when
it's good to be a Christian. When you're living upon the promises
and you're thankful. You want to be a happy Christian?
Then live upon the promises and be thankful. In everything, be
thankful. And in everything, give thanks.
And you'll be a happy man. And that's one of the problems
with the world now, as it looks upon Christianity. You don't
see many happy Christians. We've got all bogged down in
politics, all bogged down in our retirements, all bogged down
with cares, and we're just almost to the point where we're like
everybody else, aren't we? Are we happy? It's amazing, ain't
it? If you could have been maybe
an eighth of a mile from these fellows, and the ship out there,
and the thing looked like it was ready to sink, a bunch of
rag-tag people, and you hear the songs and the praises and
the thanksgiving coming off that ship, you wonder what in the
world is going on. I know the real world with them guys is
on my ship. That's what the world needs to
think sometimes, ain't it? Boy, there's not many of those
Christians on earth. But I tell you, they seem to be such a happy,
confident, thankful people. They don't have much, but it
don't take much. They're so thankful. They're so thankful. In verse 37, And we were in all
in the ship, all of us together, was about two hundred and seventy-six
souls. Seventy-six people. I wonder
why they numbered these people, why they went around and took
the time to go around and count them. I don't know why they did
it, but I bet the Lord didn't mind them doing it. He said, there's 276 of you
fellows, and I've said to you, not a one of you is going to
lose your life. That may have been why they took
count. Not a one of you fellows is going
to lose your life. Well, how many guys on this ship? Let's go count
them. But you know the Lord doesn't care if you're putting Him to
the test, if you're honest about it. When He makes a promise,
try Him. Try Him and see if He cares. He doesn't make a promise that
He's not able to keep. He's sure of His purposes. They'll
ripen. He'll bring it to pass. If He
says not a one of you fellows are going to perish, then go
around and count them. He done made some tremendous
promises. You're going to have your lives.
You'll never lose your lives. You're going to land over there
on dry shore. Not a hair of your head will perish. There's 276
of you. And He said there in verse 44,
when they got out, when they escaped for their lives, they
must have took another count. Because, he said, we all escaped.
You reckon all of God's children are going to heaven? You reckon
the Lord Jesus Christ will lose just one of them? If you and
I had some way to count them, He wouldn't care if we did so.
Because I tell you, brothers and sisters, He's not going to
lose one of them. All the Father gives to me, He
said, this is the will of my Father, that I lose none of them,
not one of them, not the weakest one of them. Will I ever lose?
I'll raise Him up again at the last day. We can't count them,
but He can. And He counts them here, He counts
them there. And the same number here will
be the same number there. Verse 38, And when they had eaten enough,
they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat unto the sea. They lightened the ship and cast
out the wheat unto the sea. Boy, I tell you what, they had been brought now to
the very time that they were ready to leave this ocean. They
had used what God had given them. And they said the rest of it
now is no good to us. We can't take it with us. You
think they would have cast us out when they first started this
voyage? What if somebody had suggested to the owner of this
ship, let's throw this weed overboard. Get out, you're crazy man. You're
crazy. We ain't doing it. But he does
it now, don't he? Brothers and sisters, use what
God has granted you. Use it for His glory. Use it
wisely. But you're not going to take
anything with you. Job said, I came naked out of my mother's
womb, and that's the same way I'm going to leave. Naked. Carry
nothing with me. We brought nothing into this
world, and it's certain, it's certain we can carry nothing
with us. Everything we have, brothers
and sisters, we're going to leave behind. We're going to throw
it out in the waters. We have no idea what it's going
to become with it. Probably our children fight over
what little we leave them. Use it for His glory while you've
got it, and hold it with a loose hand, because you're not going
to take a bit of it with you. Our bank account, our retirements,
our cars, our houses, Everything we have is going to stay right
here in this life. Why wouldn't they throw it overboard?
They can't take it with them. Verse 39, And when the day, the
day, here's the day, 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. They knew not the land. They'd
never seen it before, never been there before. We don't recognize
this place. That's what they said. As far
as we know, they said, we've never been here before. And probably
haven't. Probably haven't. I've never been where I am right
now. Have you? Never been here before in my
walk of faith. Tomorrow, I'll be in a place
I've never been before. I'll bring the blind by the way
that they know not. Every step we take, brothers
and sisters, is a step on a new place that we've never taken
before. Every step is a step of faith. And when we come down
to die, It will be a place we won't even recognize. Never been
here before. What's this going to be like?
What does this look like? What's going to happen? But boy, here's the mercy of
God. I saw the mercy of God in this. They discovered a certain
creek. A little shore or something.
A little island had come out. or something, they discovered
this creek with a bay. You say, Bruce, why is that so
important? Well, what if they had looked through the mist and
all they saw was high mountains, flat rocks? And out a hundred yards from
those rocks were nothing but waves beating against the reef.
What in the world would they have thought then? Oh my soul,
how in the world can we land? What's going to happen to us?
We're going to be cut to pieces, beat to pieces upon these rocks.
If we do escape, what kind of condition are we going to be
in? But no, no, they were discerning, they were looking, they were
listening. And boy, they spotted it. Oh, they said, right there's
a place we can land our ship. Put it right in there. They pulled
up the anchors and brought up the runners and hoisted down
the sail and they led loose towards that place that they saw. Running into the sand and not
the rocks. What am I saying? I just think
this, and this is my hope for me and for you. That when we
come down, it's our last day. It's our day to leave this world,
this dangerous sea. It's time for us to dark our
boats that's going to be broken pieces, these bodies to leave
them behind. That the Lord will grant us a
place that we won't be dashed against the rocks. We'll find
a place and we can say, oh, right there's a sandbar. Let's land
on that. I've never faced death, and you
haven't either. I've seen some people face it for a while, but
I tell you what, it almost got them down. I don't know how I'm
going to feel, and you don't either, when you face it. Old William Cooper wrote a lot
of precious hymns. We sang some of them. All of
his Christian life, he lived without any assurance, hardly
whatsoever. Tried to kill himself. The poor man was just almost
mentally gone. So weak. And one of his problems
was he was plagued with these doubts that when I come down
to die, the Lord's going to reject me. He's going to shut me out. He never could shake that awful
fear. But they said someone was there around his deathbed when
he died, and they said his face just lit up. And he said, Oh,
I'm not shut out of heaven after all. I'm accepted. I'm accepted. What did he do? He found this place to land his
ship. Not on the rocks, but a place where he could land safely on
heaven's coast. And I just hope, brothers and
sisters, that when you and I, as children of God, laying on
death's bed, ready to lead this life into another, that we can
find that kind of place too. And this was where it was in
verse 40 and verse 41, where these two seas meet. And I don't
exactly know what in the world that would look like, but these
two seas met there. And I thought of life and death.
These two seas are going to meet. Time and eternity, heaven and
hell, spiritual and physical, spirit and flesh. That's where
they meet. Here at death. But verse 42,
one or two more things and I'll let you go. In verse 42. And
this was awful. I thought how sad this is. What a plot. Here in verse 42,
the soldiers' council was. They had a plan to kill the prisoners. lest any of them just swim out
and escape. Ain't that an awful plot? Let's kill these fellows. But
wait a minute. Wait a minute. They're heirs
with you of the promise. You've been living upon the same
promise as they have. God promised them just like He
promised you, that you guys were going to the same country. And
now you're plotting to kill them? Ain't that sad? That's so sad. I've been reading a book about
the Civil War, a revival during the Civil War. And it's been
documenting some of the great revivals in the camps, especially
of the Confederates, the Southern soldiers, especially there in
Virginia. They had some great revivals in Georgia and Tennessee
and different places. All kinds of soldiers saved,
had good testimonies. The Lord's grace was working
them out. But the strangest thing happened to them. Even after
the next day or the next week when the Lord had saved them
and they were baptized, professed the Lord Jesus Christ, then they'd
have to go out and kill. Sometimes, and they've got it
documented, a Christian brother fought him on the other side.
Ain't that strange? But it's happened. It's happened. We have had one Christian brother
who was a master put in bondage another Christian brother who
was his slave. Ain't that amazing? They said
that Martin Luther and John Calvin could hardly endear to think
about each other. And we look upon them as Christian
brethren. And probably were. But they could
hardly stand each other. Paul and Barnabas had a pretty
good falling out, didn't they? Did you ever plot in your heart
against a Christian brother or sister? Did any Christian brother ever
do you wrong and you thought within your heart, oh, I'll get
even with him. Why don't they clean the chairs
like I clean? I'm so sorry. Do you ever think evil? Do you ever have any hateful
thoughts against me? Aren't we awful? There's a reason
Brother Larry read 1 Peter 2 this morning to us. Lay aside that
malice. Oh my goodness, how it can bubble
up in us. Kill those prisoners. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. The Lord loves those prisoners.
He gave them a promise just like He did you. You're going to hurt
them. You're going to kill them. 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. Some of them could swim. That's
what's going to happen at death, you just wait and see. We've
got too much history. You've got some dear saints that
face death, and boy, they're good swimmers. They just, right
across the river of death they go. No problem at all. But you've
got some that don't swim too good. For some reason or another, they're going to have a struggle.
The rest of them had to get on boards. or pieces of the ship. And boy, they were choking. Some
of them scared to death. Wave take them under. Wonder
if it's ever going to come back up. On pieces of boards. But notice verse 44. So it came
to pass, they escaped all safe to land. It came to pass. It came to pass. God has a purpose,
doesn't He? And He'll come to pass. He'll
bring it to pass. Just like He said, back up in
verse 26, we must all land on dry land. It came to pass. It came to pass. I just wonder,
and this is just my imagination, as those men got out and stood
there on the shore, maybe walked along the beach, They saw some
parts of other ships. Here's an old sail washing up
on the shore. Here's an old busted up ship.
Here's some personal items. A lot of people didn't make it
from other ships. A lot of wrecks. A lot of people drowned. A lot
of people perished. A lot of people didn't escape.
And here they stood. Here I stand. It'll be amazing,
brothers and sisters, when we land safely on heaven's coast.
The Scripture says something about going and beholding the
bodies of those who are tormented. I don't understand that completely.
But one thing I'm sure we'll know, when we're in glory, that
we'll know a lot of people didn't make it. that we know we escaped
something that drowned a whole lot of other people in perdition
and destruction. We escaped the wrath of God,
the wrath to come, judgment upon our sins. We escaped it. We escaped it. What is salvation? It's not escape. It's not escape. Who has warned you to flee? from
the wrath to come. But I'm certain of this, not
until we step off on heaven's coast will we fully realize just how much we owe and what a blessing it is to
have escaped. May God help us all tonight to
truly escape the wrath to come. Let's pray.