Well, it's my privilege to be
here with you, to speak to you this evening. I appreciate your,
Pastor Don, asking me to do so. And hadn't it been a good conference,
I enjoyed so much the messages. I believe the Lord's given me
some sense of the value of being able to sit and listen to able,
faithful, blessed of God men teach the gospel. I believe that's
the way God teach a man, a sinner, the gospel. Before or after conversion. It's about what we're doing right
now. And the preaching of His Word through His faithful servants. I appreciate them so much. Somebody
asked me where I went to seminary one time. I'm still going to
school and I'm studying under Professor Crabtree and Nybert
and Montgomery. These men, these faithful men.
Turn to Acts 27 with me tonight. Acts 27. We'll look at this whole
chapter, and of course we won't be able to see everything in
it, but we'll touch on some highlights here, about ten things I want
to try to bring out, and I think the best way that I can think
of to describe this chapter is the providence of God in saving
His elect. The providence. From the viewpoint
of the providence of God. Think of it that way as we go
through this. Look at the first couple of verses.
And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they
delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius,
a centurion of Augustus' band, and entering into a ship of Adramiteum,
we launched meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia, one Aristarchus,
a Macedonian, a Thessalonica being with us. Notice two words,
it was determined. And in verse two, meaning to
sail. Meaning to sail. We all set sail
on the sea of life the same way, don't we? Every one of us. And
the Word of God describes us pretty well when it says we've
turned everyone to what? Our own way. Our own way. They determined to go to a certain
place and to go a certain way. And this wasn't a pleasure cruise.
This was a godless mission. These men had God's preacher
on board as a prisoner under false accusations. They had set
themselves up in opposition to the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and so did you and so did I. When we set sail on our
self-determined, self-righteous, godless way, not only without a thought for
God, but opposed to God. Paul said you were enemies in
your minds. The natural man is enmity against
God. And we all begin our journey
in this life the same way. We launch on the life sea on
a godless mission against His gospel. And we are self-determined
in our way, aren't we? We determine, we've got big plans,
don't we? We're going to go do this and
here's how we're going to do it. James said, here's what you
say, go to now ye that say, Today or tomorrow we'll go into such
a city and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain.
Whereas you know not what shall be on tomorrow. Here's what we're
going to do. We're going to go to this place,
and here's when we're going to go, and here's how long we're
going to stay there, and here's what we're going to do while
we're there, and here's what's going to be the result of what
we do. We're going to get gain. James said, that's what you're
saying, but what you ought to be saying is this, if the Lord
will, We'll take another breath and do what we've decided to
do. You see, if the Lord will. They determined their way. They
meant to go a certain way. And so did we. So did we. If the Lord will. But God had
a contrary purpose to theirs. Look at verse 4. And when we
had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus because the
winds were contrary. And look at verse 7. And when
we had sailed slowly many days and scarce were come over against
Snidus, the wind not suffering us. The wind doesn't have any
will or purpose of its own. Who controls the wind? Who was
it that wouldn't suffer them to go the way that they wanted
to go? You remember when the disciples
were in that little ship and the storm came up and they began
to fear for their lives. The Lord was asleep at the bottom
of the ship. And they woke him up saying, Lord, don't you care
that we perish? And he said, how is it that you
have no faith? And he commanded the winds and
the waves and said, peace, be still. And then they got it,
didn't they? They said, what manner of man
is this? That even the winds and seas obey his will. The what was contrary to them?
The wind. But who controls the wind? Believer,
do you see God in all of the secondary causes in your life?
It's not circumstances that control you and things that happen in
your life. Those are all secondary things. It's God that controls
all of these secondary causes. The Word of God says that a man
in his heart deviseth his way. Proverbs 16, 9. A man's heart
deviseth his way, but The Lord directs his steps. Here's what
I'm going to do. Well, you may or may not. You're
going to do what God's directing you to do. One way or the other. Well, that makes me a... I don't
like the word puppet. Well, God's pulling your strings
whether you like it or not. The Lord directing your steps.
Well, I'm a free moral agent. No, strike three. You're not
free, you're not moral, and you're not an agent. Your agent is either
Adam or Christ. You're not an agent of your own.
The wind was contrary to them, but who does the wind obey? That's
the question. Do we see that in our lives?
The Lord has taken us where He will. And we're talking about
the elect now, aren't we? This is the providence of God
in saving His elect. Especially you believers. Aren't
you grateful for the contrary wind? of God's great, where would
you be right now? If you had gone where you meant
to go, where you had determined to go, where would you be? But
the Lord blows His wind and brings us into the harbor of His love
against our will. That's right. That's right. Against our will. And we praise
Him for it. We praise Him for it, won't we?
And He'll make us willing in the day of His power. We'll rejoice.
Now, we didn't go where we wanted to go. We went where He took
us. Now, look at verse 9. This is number 3. Verse 9. Now, when much time was spent
and when sailing was now dangerous because the fast was now already
passed, Paul admonished them. They heard a preacher. They set
sail on their own self-determined, self-righteous, godless way But
even when they were doing that, God was in control. God was taking
them. The king's heart is in the Lord's
hand. He turns it whithersoever he will. And that's the king. Now that's the one on this earth
that has more authority than anybody else. God turns him. Uses him. And does what he wants
to do with him. And me too. Paul admonished him. Verse 10. And said unto them,
Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage,
not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. A preacher
by God's direction, design, and providence, a preacher told them
they were headed for shipwreck. They were headed for shipwreck.
There's a preacher telling you tonight, and you've heard it
from these other men, if you're going your own way, the way that
seems right to you, without a thought for God except to blaspheme His
name and to rebel against His will, you're headed for shipwreck.
You've been warned. The Lord said in Ezekiel 3.18,
When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die, and thou givest
him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his way
to save his life. The same wicked man shall die
in his iniquity, but his blood will I require at thine hand."
Paul said, I'm free from the blood of all men. I've told you
the whole counsel of God. You've been warned. Brother Crabtree
warned you. Brother Nybert warned you. All
these men that have preached, they've warned you. Come to Christ. Brother Crabtree told you how
urgent it was that you do that. Urgent. You've got to get to
Christ. You don't really need to do anything
else but that. You just think you do. A preacher
told them they were headed for shipwreck. And then, number four,
they came up with three excuses not to listen to the Apostle
Paul. Look at them with me. Verse 11 first. Nevertheless,
the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more
than those things which were spoken Now, Paul, this is human
reasoning. Well, Paul, I know you mean well,
but the master and owner of the ship, he spent a lot more time
on the seas than you have. Leaning to human reasoning. Is
that what that is? We know better than that. I know
the preacher means well, but he doesn't know my case. There's people smarter than he
is, you know, that are saying other things. I'm sure Paul's
opinion is valid, But there are other opinions that we need to
consider as well, aren't there? Somebody debating the Word of
God said one time, well, we don't agree, but I respect your opinion.
Those that hate the Gospel, I don't respect their opinion. I don't
have any use for it. I don't want to hear it. And
the Word of God is not up for debate. The gospel is, thus saith
the Lord. And if they're not saying that,
it's because there's no light in them, the prophet said. If
they're not saying what God said. There's no debate and there's
no respect. Do you respect an error? Do you
have respect to a lie on God? I don't think so. So first, they
lean to human reason. That master and owner of the
ship, he knows more than Paul. He's the one that owns the ship.
And then secondly, look at verse 12. They came up with another
reason not to listen to the preacher. 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 Phenice, and there to winter,
which is in haven of Crete, and life toward the southwest and
northwest." That word commodious there literally means convenient.
It's not convenient for me to do what the preacher said. Have
you heard that before? In Acts 24 and verse 25, in a
more convenient season, I'll call for you. What an insult
to God Almighty. God says, bow to my Son. And
you say, well, I'll take that under consideration. You're spitting
in God's face. There's not but one thing to
do in response to the Gospel, and that's obey it. The Gospel
is a command. Obey the Gospel. Well, it's not
convenient for me to do that. Thirdly, look at verse 13. When
the south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained their purpose,
loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. Well, that preacher
didn't know what he was talking about after all. Look, Lord sent
us a favorable wind, that we're going south and the wind's blowing
us south. Well, you see, I told you, he means well, but he doesn't
understand my In that case, me and God got a good thing going.
I just got a promotion on my job. Things are going well. The
Lord's blessing me. Is that right? These temporal
things that we call blessings sometimes when we're not in our
right mind. Those things can be a curse.
They can take us further and further away. Give us an excuse
not to bow to Christ. Fifthly, the preacher warned
of trouble, and trouble came. When the preacher warns you not to go your own way, not to
go the way that seems right to a man, because the end thereof
is the way of destruction, he's just telling you what God told
him to tell you. Warning you about your own way. But when trouble came to these,
it was merciful trouble. Merciful trouble. You want God to shipwreck you
on your way to hell. You don't know it yet if you
don't know him, but that's exactly what you want him to do. If you're
going your own way, you need for God to stop you in your way,
like he did the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. Stop
you dead in your tracks on your way to hell and cause you to
come to himself. When God causes you to abandon
all hope, and cast yourself upon His mercy. You're blessed of
God. Look at verse 14. But not long
after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Uruk-Hladin. And when the ship was caught
and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. What
else are you going to do when God... Job said, the hand of the Lord
hath touched me. What are you going to do about
that? You're going to let her drive? Just see what the Lord
is going to do. And running under a certain island
which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat. They did everything they could
do to patch it up, didn't they? To keep it from coming to what
the preacher said it would come to. That woman spent everything
she had. And then when she didn't have
anything left, she went to the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they
had taken up which they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding
the ship and fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands. They straked sail 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." That's
when there's hope for you right there. When all your hope is
taken away. Then hope has come your way when
that happens. And that's where they were. You've
got to come to the place where all hope of salvation and any
other is abandoned utterly and forthwith. You've got to come
to the place that that woman had who had spent everything
she had. And then number six, it's then that the good news
of the gospel will mean something to you. What that preacher said
didn't mean a whole lot to him before, but listen to it now.
Look at verse 21. But after long absence, Paul
stood forth in the midst of them and said, Sirs, you should have
hearkened unto me and not have loosed from Crete, and to have
gained this harm and loss." The truth is still the truth, isn't
it? It was when He told it, and it is now. Verse 22, and now I exhort you
to be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. No hope! Be of good cheer. For there shall
be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. The preacher's got good news
for you when you don't have any hope. That's when you're ready
to hear the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ, the only hope
for a sinner like you. How can you tell a sinner to
be of good cheer when the ship is going down in treacherous
waters and there's no hope? How can a sinner be of good cheer
in the face of the truth that God is holy and I'm a wretched,
vile worm in His sight and He must do right? He's got to throw
me in hell if He's going to be God. How can you be of good cheer
in the face of that? Well, that's what we're going
to find out. What is the Gospel? How could He say to all these
men, be of good cheer? There won't be any hurt come
to you. Because God told Him there wouldn't be any hurt come
to Him. Has He told us that? God hasn't guaranteed that everybody
we preach to will be safe and blessed. But He has promised
that everybody that He gave to His Son in the eternal covenant
of grace will be safe and blessed. And what is the gospel anyway?
It's good news to God's elect. When we're preaching the gospel,
we're preaching to every creature. But good news is only good news
to God's people. This gospel is not good news
to the reprobate. If the gospel can truly be called
good news, then it's to the people of God, isn't it? That's who
it's sent to. And that's who he's talking to.
He said, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer. When Peter
preached there and told those men, you've killed the Prince
of life, you've murdered the Son of God with your wicked hands.
And they said, men and brethren, what shall we do? Be of good
cheer. Unto you is preached through
this man, through this Christ, through this innocent victim,
through the blood of the Son of God, the remission of sins. Number seven, upon what basis
can we preach this good news? Look at verse 23. 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, on that basis,
be of good cheer. Why, Paul, how? I believe God. I believe, God, that it shall
be just exactly like He told me it would. It shall be even
as He said. Do you believe God? Then be of
good cheer. Because He said there'll be no
loss of life among you. It's not just about having a
positive attitude. There's not much reason, basis
for having a positive attitude unless God said it shall be well. And it shall be well with the
righteous. It shall be well with all those whom the Father gave
to His Son." Did you notice the wording there? Paul said, God
gave you to me. He told me He gave you to me.
You won't find that kind of language anywhere else in the Word of
God except concerning that covenant of grace wherein the Father gave
to His Son a people. Lord, I pray not, Father, I pray
not for the world but to those that You've given. It'll be well
with them. With every one of them. If God said it shall be well,
then it shall be well. Be of good cheer. I believe God. How is a sinner saved? Well,
the Word says Abraham believed God. Abraham believed God and
God said, you're righteous. It was counted to him for righteousness. Be of good cheer. I believe God. Faith doesn't just say, well,
I just don't believe God will let anything bad happen to me.
Joe Terrell said something one time that I'll never forget. is not believing that God will
do what you want Him to do. Faith is believing that God will
do what He said He would do. And most people's version or
idea of faith is, well, I just believe things are going to work
out, that God just wouldn't let... Based on what? Based on what? God's going to do what He said
He would do. And if He sent His good news to His people saying,
It shall be well with the righteous. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved." On that basis, I can be of good
cheer because I believe Him. I believe what He said. I believe
the record that God hath given concerning His Son to you. Then
be of good cheer. It'll be well with you. There'll
be no loss of life among you. Job said, though He slay me,
yet will I trust in Him. Faith is not saying, well, God
won't kill me. He wouldn't do that. Faith is
saying whether He kills me or don't kill me, I'm going to trust
Him. That's faith right there. It lays hold of the Son of God
and won't let go. Spurgeon said, if I go to hell,
I'll go there clinging to Christ. I've got nowhere else to go.
That's the faith that God gives. You recall that man in Mark chapter
5. In verse 35 it says, While Christ yet spake, there came
from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Your
daughter is dead. That man, his daughter lay grievously
sick, and he ran to the master, knowing that if he'd just say
the word, if he'd just come, that she'd be healed. But a servant
comes and says, Don't trouble him anymore. It's too late. It's too late. Your daughter
is dead. Why troublest thou the Master
any further?" As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken,
as soon as He heard that, He hastened to comfort His child. He said to Him, unto the ruler
of the synagogue, Be not afraid, two words, only believe. I wish I could obey that command,
don't you? I wish I could obey that. Well,
preacher, I believe that's not what he said. Only believe that's
comfort right there. That's rest. That's peace. Well,
I believe, but, but she's dead now. Only, only, only, only believe. for the grace of
God to obey that command. God has guaranteed everybody
on that boat, everybody in the ship is going to be safe. Number eight, what is our message
to sinners? What is our message to God's
people? The gospel is given. The good news. Look at verse
29. 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 color 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, you can't be saved. You've got
to stay in this ship. How many times would you have
abandoned ship if the Lord hadn't kept you? If the Lord hadn't
kept you. Prone to wander. Prone to wander. But we are kept. 1 Peter 1 verse 3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. which according
to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for you." Can you be of good cheer based on that?
It's reserved for you in heaven. Undefiled, that fadeth not...
who are kept by the power of God through faith. Do you believe
God? Then be of good cheer. Through
faith unto salvation. Ready to be revealed in the light.
So what's our message? Abide in the ship. Abide in the
ship. Now what if they had said to
Paul, Paul, you've already said there won't be any loss of life
among us. So we're just going to let this
boat down here and go for a spin. Paul said, except you abide in
the ship, you can't be saved. You can't be saved. Colossians
1.21, And you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled in the body
of His flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in His sight, if... All that sounds very certain,
doesn't it? And it is. You hath He reconciled. You were enemies in your mind.
He's in the body of His flesh through death. He will present
you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in His sight if
you continue in the faith. Is that saying that our salvation
depends upon us continuing in the faith? No. What it's saying
is this. Those who continue in the faith
are the ones that God has saved. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel, you're going to have to stay in the ship, aren't you?
You're going to have to stay in the ship. They made like they
were going to let down the boat, you know, and leave the ship.
Don't do that. And that's our message, isn't
it? Stay in the ship, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone
to leave the God I love. Stay in the ship. Continue in
the faith. grounded and settled and don't
be moved away from the hope of the gospel which ye have heard
and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven,
which whereof I, Paul, have made a minister." Well, are you saying,
Chris, that there's a possibility that one of the elect could fall
away, could leave the ship? What do you think about that?
You think that's what I'm saying? Is that what Paul said here?
Is that the teaching of the... No. He didn't say that, and I'm
not saying that. Here's what He said, and here's
what I'm saying. Abide in the ship. It's that simple. Abide in the ship. And all those
whom the Father hath given to the Son, and hath sent this good
news, be of good cheer, because I believe God, they're going
to do what He said, aren't they? Here's the proof of it right
here. What did they do? What's the believer's attitude
about this? Is your attitude, well, I'm eternally
secure in Christ, so I'll do what I want? Yeah, but what I
want to do is abide in the ship. What do you want to do? Oh, and now look at it. Look
at verse 32 again. Then the soldiers cut off the
ropes of the boat. When Paul said, except you, they'd
already Put the colors up. They're going. They're leaving.
Didn't Paul just get through saying the ship's going to be
broken up? We've got to get off of this ship. No. Abide in the
ship. Except you abide in the ship,
you can't be saved. Then, the soldiers cut off the
ropes of the boat and let her fall off. What are the elect
going to do in response to the gospel? They're going to abide
in the ship. And they didn't just crank the
boat back up, you know, and say, well, we won't go now, but we'll
crank her up. We might need that boat later. They cut the ropes. Cut the rope. Do you have any
other hope but cry? Are you looking back? You're
not worthy of Him, He said. You're not worthy of Him. He
that will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow Me. What does that mean, take up
your cross and follow Him? There's not but one thing a cross
is for. People die on them. Are you dead to everything and
everybody and every other hope besides the Lord Jesus Christ?
Then you're one of these. You're one of His people. Cut
the ropes and let her fall. We're not going to need that
boat. God's gospel, God's truth, God's command And His loving,
gracious command is abide in this ship. We're not going to
be needing that boat anymore, are we? Don't need it. Don't need it. Number 10. Look
at verse 31 again. Paul said, abide in the ship. But Paul, he just got through
saying that. Didn't you say, Paul, the ship's
going to be lost? The ship's going to be broken
up. It's going to be destroyed. Why are you saying, now stay
on the ship? What do you suppose that thief
saw on that cross next to him as he hung there that day? A
broken, bloody, by all human accounts, defeated, shamed, ridiculed and mocked
and they spit on him. They stripped him naked and hung
him on a cross and spit on him while he hung there. And his
blood flowed down to the earth. And that thief looked at that
person hanging on that cross and what did he say? Lord, remember
me when thou comest into thy kingdom. A broken, bloody, defeated,
condemned, ridiculed failure. That's my king. That's my king
right there. This ship is broken and going
down. Why would I want to stay on board
that ship? Because I see by the grace of
God that unless I'm found on board that ship and abide right
there, I can't be saved. There's none other name under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Lord, remember
me." Look at verse 33. 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. Wherefore, I pray you to take
some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not inherit
fall from the head of any of you. Not only are you not going
to lose your life, not a hair of your head is going to fall
without your Heavenly Father. If that's not the elect, I don't
know who it is. 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 all in the ship, and three score, and sixteen
sold." There were 276 of them. Why are we told that? No man
can number God's elect, John said. He said, I saw a multitude
that no man can number. But God knows exactly how many
there are. Exactly. You remember the time
the Lord had the disciples, they'd been fishing all night, and He
said, launch out into the deep. And cast the net on the other
side. of the boat. John chapter 21. How many fish
did they catch that day? That night? Do you remember?
I looked it up. They caught 153 of them. The Lord Jesus had already established
in Luke chapter 5 that that is a picture of God gathering in
His elect of every type, every kindred, nation, and tongue Because
he told them in Luke 5 to cast the net again after they had
fished all night. And they caught so many fish
that they couldn't even deal with them. And then the Lord
Jesus said, from henceforth, you're going to catch men. So he illustrates by fishing. When we go fishing, we're throwing
a line out into the water, you know, at a venture and hope a
fish comes along. That's not God's fishing. God
told them where to fish, how to fish, and said, when you do
it, you're going to catch a specific number of fish every time. That's God's fishing. And when
we do what God said, by His grace and by His enabling power and
providence and mercy, all of His elect are gathered in. I'm glad Moose is going down
to the islands. I got to thinking today, he might find that last
sheep down there somewhere on one of those islands and preach
to it and baptize it and then we can all go home. God, they're all numbered. They're
all numbered. Christ said, all that he has
given me, I won't lose a single one of them. Paul said in Romans 4 16 therefore
it is a faith that it might be by grace to this end That the
promise might be sure to all the seed To every single one
of them to Christ the seed and all those in him David said my
God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, and it's ordered in
all things And it's sure it's sure there were 276 of them weren't
there Look at verse 38 We'll be through. When they had
eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the weed
into the sea. Once we know the Lord Jesus Christ,
there's a lot of ship lightening in there. There's a lot of things
that seemed necessary to us before we don't have much use for anymore.
Have you found that to be the case? Lighten, lighten the ship. A lot of relationships. My favorite
things, you know, that I like to do to occupy my time. There's got to be some lightning
in the ship, doesn't there? The Lord said, if your right
eye offends you, get rid of it. Pluck it out. Pluck it out. It'd be better to be with Christ
and just have one eye than to go to hell with both of them
now. There's a lot of ship lightning that we have to do, isn't there?
And by His grace, we do that. Verse 39. 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. When they had taken up the anchors,
they committed themselves unto 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. We don't have time to
talk about everything that's in this. I hadn't begun to see
everything that's in it. The place where two seas met.
God said mercy and truth are met together in the person of
Christ. That's where the ship was broken
up. This is the place where God's elect are found to be safe, to
be blessed of God, and to be assured of His blessings. We're
mercy and truth. Mercy without truth won't do
me any good. That's what preachers are talking
about in our generation. Peace, peace when there is no
peace. Come on down the aisle and get your ticket to heaven.
I'll stamp it for you. But there's no truth in it. It
won't hold up. And truth without mercy won't
help me either. God can be true and right and
just and throw me in hell. There's no mercy in that. But
truth and mercy. Christ is the answer to that
question of questions. How can God be just? How can
He be right? How can He be true? And have
mercy on a wretch like me, the Lord Jesus Christ. But look at
the rest of it. Verse 42, The soldier's counsel
was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and
escape. Oh, here we go. The preacher said everything
is going to be okay. And I believe that doctrine.
Ah, but they're going to kill us after all. We're not going
to be safe. He said there'd be no loss of
life, but just look. We fret, don't we? I know what
God said. I know it's all going to be alright.
I know it's going to be well with the righteous. But look
at this and look at that. No, don't look at that. Look
at what God said and believe God. Do you believe God? Be of
good cheer. I believe God. By His grace,
I believe Him. They're going to kill them. No,
they're not either. The centurion willing to save Paul, verse 43,
kept them from their purpose and commanded that they which
could swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get to
land in the rest, some on boards and some on broken pieces of
the ship. And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe. That's the title of this message.
All safe. It is as God said it would be.
It shall be well with those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ. What a frightening experience
this must have been to be run aground and thrashed violently
while this huge ship, a ship big enough for 276 people to
be on, is broken up into boards and pieces. And then the soldier's
counsel is expressed. Those prisoners are thinking,
well, after all this, they're going to kill us anyway. Do you
worry very much? Are you like me in that? If I
don't have something to worry about, I'll make something up.
Worriers, worriers. All safe, all safe. This wasn't a pleasant experience,
you reckon? They say it's fun to be a Christian.
Have you found it to be so? The Apostle Paul didn't have
any trouble until he met Christ. He never had been beaten before.
He never had spent a night in prison. I don't imagine. Do you?
Never had been scourged or spent any time floating around in the
ocean. He said he spent a few nights floating around in the
ocean. He was living the high life before that. never had been
beaten with rods. But there are two words there
that stand out in this text that ought to be a comfort to us in
all of our troubles, in all of our fears, in all of our what
we call close calls. When you're sinned, do your sins
ever rise up before you? And does your conscience ever
tell you, there's no hope for you? Look at you. Remember these two words, all
safe. All safe. Does this world ever
get you in a corner? Probably by your own foolishness,
by your own fault and your enemies. You seem like they'll have their
way with you after all. Remember these two words, all
safe. This world revolves because of
God's sheep. For His glory and for the good
of His sheep. Fear not, little flock. It's
your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. All say,
be still, my soul. The hour is hastening on when
we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief,
and fear are gone. Can you think about that? Sorrow
forgot. Love's purest joy is restored. Be still, my soul, when change
and tears are past. All safe. All safe and blessed. We shall meet at last. You're
not guaranteed to float through this life on a bed of ease. But
you are guaranteed this, all safe, if you're in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Is His blood worth enough to
redeem your soul? All safe. Is His righteousness
sufficient wherein to stand before a holy God accepted and loved
and received? All safe. Thank you.