I'm quite certain that all of
us here that are of any age at all knows what it is to be in
some great storms, to be in some great storms. lived in the Midwest, I did for
a number of years, and I know something about tornadoes. I've
read a great deal about hurricanes. I've never experienced any. I
was never there first-handed to experience hurricanes. I know something about blizzards
and wind storms in the state of Montana. I know something
about storms, and I remember back in 1965 on Palm Sunday, It's a very, very warm day, a
very humid day. And before that day was over,
we had huddled together as a family. as tornadoes passed nearby and
there was over 150 some people that was killed that day by storms
that just ravaged the state of Indiana. These storms can strike
fear into the hearts of those that happen to be in the vicinity
where they're passing through. I know this, that if we are unprepared
for the storm, if we did not pay attention and have not prepared
ourselves for the storms that happen in this world, if we're
not able to ride out the storms, if we're not able to survive
the storms, then our danger is doubled. And so is our fear,
if we're not prepared to ride them out. Now, if you lose your
nerve in a storm, I've heard of people that became irrational
and panicked during terrible storms, and something happened
because they did not do what they should have done. They didn't
keep their senses about it. And if a person does this, they're
very likely to lose their life or be injured or maimed in some
terrible way. But here in Acts chapter 27,
we're given a detailed description of a terrible storm at sea. a detailed description of a fierce
storm at sea. Now, Paul had been a prisoner
for about two years, and he was about to be taken to Rome, where
he was to make a personal appearance and a personal appeal to Caesar
for his life. But while they were at sea, this
terrible storm arose from the northeast. It was a violent storm,
which placed the ship in great danger. and finally destroyed
the ship in which they were sailing it, putting the passengers in
great and serious danger. Now I hope this morning, and
I hope to give you something more than just a literal understanding
of what took place here in this chapel. I want to give you something
more than that. Now the story is very interesting.
It's very interesting and there are certain things about it that
are very appealing to me, but I want to give you something
practical. I want to give you something
spiritual, something, some gospel instruction this morning, if
I can, out of this chapter. Now, certainly for that we need
more than common sense and just a common, what we might say,
education. We need more than an atlas and
common sense. We need certainly the illumination
of the Spirit of God if we're going to be able to receive some
spiritual help. and some practical help for our
lives through the study of this particular chapter. We need the
anointing due in honor of God the Holy Spirit. And so we pray
this morning and my prayer and burden is that God the Holy Spirit
would anoint my lips and anoint your heart that you might be
able to profit from this time that we spend together. Now in
Paul's day the seed was a terrible thing. It was a terrible thing. The sailor had no compass, and
so when the sun and the stars were blotted out by thick clouds,
he had no idea as to where he was going or what direction the
ship was taking. Now he had no engine to propel
his vessel against the mighty winds when he faced it. The sails
and the oars that he had on board were useless instruments against
contrary winds. Now we see the imaginary of the
tear of the sea throughout the scriptures. In the book of Jonah,
you remember how Jonah was in the sea, and the storm arose
and the sailors cast Jonah into the troubled sea so as to appease
the wrath of the sea. And the disciples on one occasion
in Mark chapter 4 in verses 37 through 40 were on a ship where
the Lord Jesus Christ was asleep on the pillar in the high under
part of the ship. And there eroded this great storm
of wind. And they awoke the Lord Jesus
and said, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose,
as the scripture says, and he rebuked the wind, and he said
to the sea, Peace, be still, and the wind ceased, and there
was a great calm. And then in 2 Corinthians chapter
2 verses, or in 2 Corinthians chapter 11 it is, verse 25 and
26, the apostle Paul tells us that three times he was shipwrecked,
And a night and a day, he says, I have spent in the deep. He says in perils of water, he
says in perils of the sea, among other perils he had experienced
in his life. Now in literature, poetry, and
in scripture, our life in this world is frequently compared
to a voyage across a vast sea. Job says, my days are passed
away as swift ships pass in the night. And across this vast sea
of life, we all are sooner or later going to pass through many,
many storms. Now, not only are we going to
pass through the storms we talked about in the opening part of
our message, but I'm talking about many, many storms in life. when the world, as it were, were
tossing us like a ship upon the sea, like a ship upon the stormy
sea, and when we're having many real, hard, pressing trials in
this life. And we ought, as the children
of God, to be prepared for these various storms and these afflictions
that come from the hand of God in our lives. Now, it may be
that some of you here this morning are undergoing some of these
storms at this very time. You may be having some great
difficulties, some pressing circumstances in your life. Your life might
have been shaken to the foundation. You may this morning be experiencing
these things and you know firsthand about what I'm talking about.
Or maybe you're soon to come into some stormy time and some
difficult and adverse situations in your life. But I want this
morning to be prepared for whatever God sends into my life, and I
want you to be prepared for these various storms that come into
our life, and the storms of life are many and they're varied.
And I would press that upon you this morning. The storms of life
are many and they're varied. Now I want to give you this morning
seven statements that I draw from this chapter here, which
are statements, I believe, of comfort and encouragement and
instruction and edification. Now these statements, I believe,
will give us some spiritual meaning to this chapter, and it will
help us, I believe, in dealing and being prepared to face whatever
it is that God sends into our lives. Now the first statement
that I want to make, and I kind of looked together the first
eight verses, and I believe that the meaning of what these verses
say to me is this. And if we take these verses together,
they tell us this, that things very seldom happen according
to our desires, our plans, and our expectations in this world. now here in person uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... uh...
uh... uh... to Rome, but divine providence interfered, as providence
often does. Now, we take note here that these
winds were contrary, and that things just simply did not go
as they had planned for them to go. Now, providence often
turns the plans of men upside down. It spoiled their expectation. It kept them from carrying out
their desires. A storm arose here, as we said,
in verse 4, and we're told here that these winds, that they were
contrary to them. They were contrary to their plans,
to their desires, and their expectations, and their interests. And very
often in life, beloved, we have contrary winds. We have those
things that unexpectedly come up and they just simply change
our plans. They interfere with our desires
and with our intentions. And now to those of you this
morning that are young, and certainly to those of us that are getting
up a little bit in years, I speak these words. When you make your
plans, you would be very wise if you took into consideration
that there are going to be certain storms, that there are going
to be certain adverse situations, certain contrary winds that are
going to arise, and these things will interfere with your plans
in this life. And we must remember the words
of James in James 4 and verse 15, for that he ought to say,
if the Lord will, we shall live and do this or that. If the Lord
will, we will sail by the coast of Asia and we will arrive safely
at Rome. If the Lord will, if the Lord
will. Now, if the Lord will, I'll get
my education. If the Lord will, I'll get some
training. If the Lord will, I'll get a
good job. If the Lord will, I'll have a
good family. If the Lord will, I'll live long
and prosperous and be happy in this world, if the Lord will. Now, what I'm saying is this.
that all things are dependent entirely on the will of God in
this world. And you can have the smartest
sailors, you can have those that have the ability to handle all
matters skillfully, but when the providence of God, whoever
you've got on board in your life, when the providence of God interferes
and crosses your path and disturbs the circumstances, when God makes
the way crooked, therein anybody can make it straight. You have
to learn that there's contrary winds that are going to blow
in your life. And it is certainly your life
and the way it's lived and the outcome of it is all dependent
upon the will of God. The old proverb says, the best
laid plans of mice and men are soon dissolved and rent entwined. Now, though this is true, life
is full of storms and these contrary winds that are mentioned here
in Acts chapter 27, they usually arise suddenly without warning. When you least expect them, there's
something that comes up immediately and it bothers us a great deal
and disturbs us and interferes with our plan. Job says, man
who is born of a woman is a few days, and those few days are
full of trouble. Life in this world, beloved,
cannot be compared to a beautiful blue, a calm body of water. No, that's not the way that it
is. Because life really is like the
twisting, curving, muddy, topsy-turvy rapids of the Mississippi or
Missouri River in the springtime. That's a true picture of life. Life is not just smooth sailing
on calm seas. Life is full of storms and and
contrary winds, winds that are contrary to our hopes, our plans,
our desires. At every turn of the road, expect
it to be there. It's going to be there. My friend
and your family, you may say, well, I love my wife, and my
wife loves me, and we have this beautiful family. But I'll tell
you, my friend, there can be some contrary winds that can
blow and affect family relationships. until there is such pressure
and stress in the home that you're hardly able to deal with it from
day to day. Contrary winds can blow, and
we need to expect it and to be wise in our hearts and recognize
that these family situations appear so calm that they may
not always be that way. And we can understand something
about that. And then there is the business,
our business and our jobs. How often we feel some sense
of security in our jobs and in our businesses, but then suddenly
there's a recession in the land, and the business goes kaput,
and there we're at, and the bills are still coming in, and the
months get shorter as it appears, and we have not the ability,
and poverty is real. These are contrary winds. And
you can talk to people who have these pressing financial problems,
and they're hardly able to deal with them, and they don't know
how to deal with them. And they come upon them, and
seize them as it were, as a thief in the night would seize a man,
and rob him. And, beloved, these things are
real, and we must expect these contrary winds. And then there's
health. Maybe for years we've lived in with a good state of physical
health. We were strong and able to do
whatever we wanted to do, whatever the challenge was. We could meet
it. And then suddenly one day we
got up and there was a weakness about us. We just didn't know
what it was. And then we went to the doctor
and we find out. We find out that we have cancer. We find out that there's some
terminal disease that we have that's going to snuff out our
lives. And we wonder where our lives went. And we wonder where
our health went. It's all gone. And all we have
left is this failing body and this failing health. And then
we wonder, what happened? Well, my friend, this is indeed
a wind that is contrary. It's a wind that snuffs out our
hopes and desires of the things of the flesh, and we need to
be mindful of it. These are indeed real storms
that we must face. Now then, number two, the second
statement that I want to make is this, and this will sting
a little bit, this will hurt a little bit, but I want you
to face it with me, I want you to look at it. And very often
these storms, here's the statement, very often these storms are the
results of disobedience unto God. Now look in verses 9 through
11. Verses 9 through 11. Now when
much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous because
the past was now already past, Paul admonished them and said
unto them, Sirs, I precede that this voyage will be with hurt
and much damage, not only of the lading 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 they said, now wait a minute,
let me make something clear here. I certainly know better than
to say that all of the storms of life all of the afflictive
circumstances in life, all those things that are contrary in our
lives, that they're results of disobedience to God. I know better
than that. I know that's not the case. And
I hope you know that. But many, many of the trials
in this life that we have, many of the difficulties that we have
in this life, they could be avoided if we were obedient to what is
revealed in this Word in this book to be the will of God. It could be a more if we just
listen to to what God said, many of these afflictions. Now then,
we see what God would have us to do many times, and we know,
basically, we don't live up to everything we know. There's not
anybody here that can say, I live up to all the life that I've
got. Everything God showed me, I'm doing it. No, we don't do
that, do we? No, we know what God would have
us to do. But somehow or other, we feel
that we can circumvent it, We feel that we can go around it
somewhere or another. We feel that we can take another
path and that we can do something a little bit different. We don't
have to do things just like God says do them. We can do them
a little bit different. We can take the easy road and
go around it. Now these men would have avoided
the storm, they would have saved the ship and the cargo if they
had listened to the word from God. Now usually, and not always,
the will of God is contrary to majority opinion. The will of
God is contrary to the majority. Who is this Paul anyway? Who is this man that is speaking
up? He's no sailor. I mean, where's
his credentials? Has he been on the sea that much?
Does he know that much about sailing? Don't he know what time
of year it is? Don't he know something about
our background? And so nevertheless did St. Karen
believe the master of the owner of the ship more than those things
which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not
commodious to wintering, the more part the more are advised
to depart then also. And so the majority opinion was,
let's go for it. This is not a good place to winter. And who is this Paul anyway? I mean, is he God's spokesman? I mean, is he the man that speaks
for God? Does he know everything? Well,
listen to me, my friend. This morning, Paul was God's
spokesman. on board that ship. God owned Paul. He was God's
servant. He belonged to God. He had been
saved by the grace of God and called out of the world, and
he was put on this ship by the providence of God, and he said,
if you just listen to what I tell you, we're going to have an awful
storm, and you're going to have to, you better listen, because
there's going to be much damage And he says, not only are we
the lady of the ship, but also of our lives. We can all be killed
in this thing. And they wouldn't listen to him.
He said, no, we're going to go on because this is not, listen,
this is not a good place to winter. I mean, we want to get someplace
where it's warm. We don't want to be, we don't
want to have to be holed up here in this place. And so for the
greater part, the more part they advise, let's go, let's depart,
regardless of what God says, let's go. Now, the one thing
I know, and I think you probably agree with me on this, that there's
one way that I know what I'm not going to do, and that is
when somebody tells me, well, everybody else is doing it. Everybody's
doing it. I mean, this is the popular thing
to do. Just do this. Everybody's doing it. Well, my
friend, that's one way I know, but that's exactly what I'm not
going to do. I'm not going to do what everybody
else wants to do because normally the majority are not right. Normally the majority opinion
is wrong. in submission to the will of
God. You see, it was not commodious
to winter in the harbor. It wasn't comfortable. And so
we got to go. Whatever God says, we got to
go. Let God say what he will. I already
made up my mind. I don't intend to stay here.
I'm going. And I'm going to leave. And this
is the last word on the subject. But now, wait a minute. There's
something more to be said. God will yet have a word in the
matter. God's hand will yet come into
the matter. Now anytime, and this is something
that I've learned as I've been along, and I've been trying to
work with God now for over 40 years, trying to do what I thought
was right. having many, many failures and
many, many times when things just simply, I was not satisfied
with them. As I look back, I'm not satisfied.
I'm kind of like David said. He said, it was not so with my
house. Not everything ordered and all things ensured. Not everything
just like it ought to be. But I've been trying to walk
with God for over 40 years. At any time, this is what I learned,
Anytime that my pleasure, my comfort, my reason, the comfort
or the pleasure of my family has determined my decisions in
life, in any matter, it doesn't make any difference what it was,
it always turned out to be a mess. It always turned out to be a
mess. It always got us off the track. It always run us as if
we're in the ditch. You cannot make decisions based
upon your personal comfort and upon your own reasons, following
your flesh and your fleshly mind. You can't do it. I'll tell you
something. You better listen to what God
says. You better listen to His Word. You better read His Word.
You better study His Word. And if you have neglected this
book, If you have neglected this book, you better get into it,
and you better begin to read it, and you better begin to study
it. The will of God is always, and I say that without qualification,
contrary to the flesh. And the closer you get to doing
things like God would have them to be done, the closer you get
to doing what God wills in God's way, in God's time, the more
you will see that the will of God is contrary to your flesh.
Your flesh will have a fit. It'll have an effect. And you
say, well I don't know so much about it, I don't have an effect.
Well you get close to doing God's will, and God's way, and God's
time, and the flesh is being denied and crucified, and your
flesh will have an effect. And you'll have trouble keeping
it calmed down. You'll have trouble not making
a scene. You think I'm just funnying you? My friend, I know what I'm
talking about. I fought some battles on this
ground. And I've been around some other people and they were
fighting these battles. And I've seen what happened. And I've seen how it worked out. And I'll tell you what, my beloved,
when it comes to doing God's will, we just have difficulty
with that. I guarantee it. The path of easiest
resistance is always appealing to the flesh. The path of easiest
resistance. It's just so much easier if I
go that way. Well, sure it is. Absolutely. And then God must be in this.
It's going so good. Look at verse 13. And when the
south winds blew softly, Supposing that they had obtained
their purpose, losing this, they sailed close by freedom. Why,
they said, just look at this creature. You tell us that things
are going to turn bad and that we're going to have all this
trouble if we do this. And look at these soft winds. And look at how things are. And
our purpose is big. We're going to get our purpose.
Why, we're going to obtain it. Everything's going to be alright.
Preacher, you're just an old fogey. You know what you're talking
about. Talking about these storms going to come in our lives. Well... Paul, you're wrong, we
know best, and we know what's best, and so away we go. Well,
beloved, it's not over yet. It's not over yet. Like we said,
the last word is not in. Well, the third thing is this,
the third statement. If when the storm comes, the
only thing for us to do is to surrender. That's the only thing
we can do is just simply surrender. Look at verse 15. But of course,
after this soft wind and blue and all of that, it says in verse
14, but not long after there arose this tempestuous wind,
this strong and powerful wind. And when the ship was caught,
look at verse 15, when the ship was caught and could not bear
up, could not be navigated, it could not be controlled into
the wind. We let her drive. We just let
her drive. What else could they do? Was
there anything else they could do? I mean, was they in a position
to change the circumstances? No! They were out there and they
were in the storm. No place to go, they couldn't
run from the storm, and so they just, the scripture said, they
just let her drive. They let her drive. Now, my friend,
what we must do when the storms of life hit, when they come upon
us, Unexpectedly, ferociously, and we don't have any way. There's nothing we can do. Now,
you just get a good grip. I mean, get you a good place
to just anchor yourself down and get a good grip, and just
let it rise, surrender. Now, these men, it was not that
they didn't put out a lot of effort, because they did. And
you can read that from verse 15 through 20. all of the effort
they put out to get this ship under control. But hear me, child
of God, there is nothing, there is nothing that happens under
the heavens that God did not order. And here you are out here
in this storm of life, and the wind is blowing ferociously,
and you're in this awful situation. But you say, well, how did I
get here? How did this happen? Well, if
you've been trying to walk the best you know how, and if you've
been trying to do what you thought God would have you to do, then,
brother, sister, all you can do is submit yourself in the
sovereign hand and good pleasure of the Lord. Look back in Psalm
107. Chapter 107 and verse 25 through
29. Just listen to these words. Psalm 107, verse 25-29, For he
commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves
thereof. Who does this? God does it. They
mount up to the heaven. They go down again to the depths.
Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and
fro. That's exactly what was happening
here in Acts chapter 27. They reel to and fro, stagger
like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end. That's exactly
where they came. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble, and He bringeth them out of their distresses.
He maketh the storm a calmer. so that the waves thereof are
still. And my friend, don't you ever
forget that. That it's the Lord that raises
up the stormy sea. It's the Lord that causes the
winds to blow in our lives. And can there be, shall there
be evil in the city? And God has not done it. I mean,
the sooner that we realize that God has sent these storms, the
sooner that we're on grounds to have some peace. in our souls
in the midst of these storms of life that come our way. This
is God's doing. Let it fly. Who can say his hand
or say it to him? What do us now? The best thing
for you to do is submit yourself. Submit yourself unto the hand
of God, and He will lift you up in due time. God will deliver
you. The steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord, and He will yet make you delight in your way,
but you must submit yourself. Submit yourself unto God's hand,
and leave yourself into His hands, because these storms are real,
and you cannot get yourself out of them. And so let her drop
just let her drop now the whole statement is this when the storm
comes We ought to seek a word from God to comfort and to guide
us through the storm look at verses 21 through 25 Paul after
long abstinence and all this was going on and When all hope
was gone that they would be saved, and was all taken away, verse
20 says, but after long obscene, Paul stood forth in the midst
of them and said, You should have hearkened unto me, and not
have loosed from creed. Not the kind of felt tells you,
I told you so, but I did. I told you so. I told you you
shouldn't have loosed from creed, 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, the angel of the covenant,
Jesus Christ himself, 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 got each of you even as it
was told me." Now then, as you read these words, you see that
Paul had heard from God. He had got a word from the Lord
in the midst of the storm, and when it looked like it all, hope
was gone. And when they would surely perish
at sea, there was a word came from God. God spoke, and he said,
Fear not, fear not, Paul, you must see brought before Caesar,
and lo, he says, God hath given thee all them that sail with
thee. What a word! It was a word that
came from God. And then Paul said, serves be
of good cheer, I believe God, I believe God, that it shall
be even as it was told. Even if God spoke this word of
comfort to my soul, I believe that I Believe God now look the
tendency to play And everyone of you here will agree with me
All of this, the tendency of the flesh is to neglect the Word
of God, is to neglect the worship of God and the ministry of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ when storms come into our lives. I don't
know how many times I have witnessed this in my life. Yeah, here comes
a great trial in the person's life. What do they do? Close
the Bible? Put the Bible up on the shelf?
Well, let's go to church. Well, I don't want to go to church.
I don't feel like going to church. Well, don't you think we ought
to worship God? I don't feel like worshiping the God that's
let all these things happen to me and let these things come
into my life and in my circumstances. Well, I can't worship God when
I'm going through all these trials and all these I'll be in this
mess. Poor me. Poor me. Pity me. And we just keep on with that.
Poor me. Oh, how awful things are with
me. And look what's happened. Well,
I don't feel like going to church. And beloved, listen, if there
ever was a time, When you need the word of God, if there ever
was a time when you ought to get the Bible read, if there
ever was a time when you ought to go hear a man preach the gospel
of God's grace and exalt the victory that the people of God
have in Jesus Christ and come to hear a man expound the truth
of the gospel as to our acceptance in the beloved and our beloved
of God, in spite of the worst about us and with no regard to
the best there is about us. It's at that very time. whenever
we're in the midst of storm and trial and whenever the pressure
is upon us, then's when we need the word of God and need the
word from the Lord. That's when we need it to guide
us through in these desperate times. Now then, this is the
thing that I want to impress upon you. God will give you a
word. Avail yourself to the word and
God will most surely Speak a word to your heart in the midst of
these trials. I've heard from the Lord myself
many times, and sometimes whenever I was so desperately low and
so desperately depressed, I didn't think I'd ever be able to look
up again. And God would come and tell me,
seek me while I will be found. And then I was able to go into
the place of prayer, find the Lord, and find strength. He was
right there. And I could speak with Him, pour
out my heart to Him, and be strengthened by Him and enabled by Him. And then He would come when we
were greatly depressed over the work of the Lord. And He would
say to us, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor is not in
vain in the Lord. And you would think, oh, what
a wasted ministry, what a wasted life. But God would speak the
Word. And you say, well prove it. I
can't prove it, but I know it to be a fact. And I don't have
to prove it. I got the comfort of it. And
I was able to go on and I'm here today because of those times
when God spoke the word. And I believe God. And I believe
the word of God. And because of that, been able
to weather some devastating storms. in my own life. And this church
is here today because we've been able to weather the storms by
the grace of God, having received a word from God that sustained
us in the day and in the hour of our conflict and trouble and
affliction and trial. And that's exactly what happened
to Paul here. He said he could stand up again.
They shut him up one time. You remember, they said, well,
we'll just listen to the fellow who owns his ship. We listen
to the sailors. Well, if they don't pay attention
to you, who are you? But I'll tell you what, Paul
had the word from God. He had the word from God. Remember
old Jeremiah the prophet? He'd speak a word from God. They'd
put him in the dungeon. And then, after a while, things
got to going bad, and everybody said, is there any word from
the Lord? And you know where they went to find out? They went
to the dungeon, lifted up the lid, and looked down there. Jeremiah,
is there any word from the Lord? Isn't that something? How do
the people really need a word from the Lord? They just go to
God's servant. And here's old Paul. He's got
the word. God spoke to him. And told him,
well now the fifth statement is this, that no matter how severe
the storm is, stay in the ship. Stay in the ship. Verses 31 and 32, look at this.
Verses 31 and 32, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldier,
except these abide in the ship, yet cannot be saved. Then the
soldiers, you see they put the lifeboat down over the side,
and they were getting ready to abandon the ship. And Paul said,
except you abandon the ship, you cannot be saved. Then the
soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat. They listened to what
Paul said, and this was their only way, humanly speaking, to
escape. They cut the ropes of the boat,
and they let her fall off. Listen to what Paul said. Paul
said you gotta stay in the ship or you cannot be saved. Now that
the storms of life, these storms of life, and this is what I want
to impress upon you, that if you're in the ship, You trust God alone, knowing
that God will be as good as His word. You trust God alone. Now, this is, as it were, a picture
of our Staying on the Lord in the midst of our trials. Staying
on the Lord. You know, we're always looking
for counsel someplace when we've got trouble. We're always looking
for a new doctor if we've got a problem. And there's nothing
wrong with that. But don't you see the point I'm
making is that we've got to stay on the Lord. And trust in God
alone. Now look at verse 38. And when
they had eaten enough, they believed what Paul told them. They cut
the boat off, the lifeboat off, let her fall off. And Paul finally
persuaded them to eat something. And when they'd eaten enough,
they lightened the ship and they cast out the wheat into the sea. They unloaded the ship. There
were 276 men on that ship and they cast out the wheat, their
cargo, out into the sea to try to help their situation. But
now there's something here that that I think is very interesting.
They were willing to throw this cargo overboard. And I believe
this was certainly the only way they were going to pay for that
voyage was through this cargo. And it was a very, very, what
we might say, valuable cargo. But they threw it overboard.
Now, to me, when a man stays on the Lord, cuts the ropes and
let the only way out that is God fall and be gone. The storms of life, they have
a way of changing our values and making the things of this
world to be meaningless and to mean less to us than what they
ordinarily do. You know, we look on our possessions
and things that we have, and there are many, many things we
say, well, we just got to have it. We just got to have it. We
look at something uptown, and we say, boy, that's nice, and
I just got to have that. I just got to have it. Somewhere
or another, I got to get it. I'm going to have to get it.
I got to get it if I got to go in debt. I got to get it if I
got to pay for payments for so many years. I got to have it. I just got to have it. But you
know when the storms of life come, it's kind of like that
movie that I saw years ago that these fellas robbed this stagecoach
and they stole this treasure chest full of gold. And they started out across the
desert and they had their horses and they got out and they had
this gold. Oh, we're wealthy. And they're fabulously wealthy
and are going to be forever, I mean, ever after. All our problems
are solved. And they got out in the desert,
and first thing you know, they ran out of water. Next thing
that happened to the horses, they just died. And the next
thing that happened was the tongues swole up so bad they couldn't
hardly get their breath. And first thing you know, they
just gradually relinquished their grip on that treasure chest.
and let the thing sit. And they'd give it all instantly
for just a drink of water. Just a drink of what? If I could
just get a drink of water, that's all I want. I mean, you can have
it all. And you know that's the way we are in storms of life.
And we need to think about that a little bit. When the health
goes, and when a man's health is fatal, and he's facing death,
staring death right in the face, These things are going to look
different to us. And I'll tell you what you do.
Stay in the ship. Stay on the Lord. Trust God.
Let the boat go. Let everything go. I mean, look
at things like you ought to look at. And trust God. Stay in the ship. Stay on the
Lord. Things change. Except you abide
in the ship, you cannot be saved. If your storms, now listen to
me, if your storms make you leave the ship, if they make you leave
Christ, Man, you never knew Christ. You never were really anchored
in the Lord Jesus Christ. You never felt the power of forgiving
love and redeeming grace. You never, you never experienced
this washing in that fountain that's filled with blood that's
drawn from Emmanuel's veins. If your storms make you leave
the ship, leave the Lord. Just cut it off and get in any
boat you can find and take off. Stay in the ship. Stay on the
water. Now, these things will mean more
to you one day down the road. Maybe I'll visit you. And we'll
talk about this a little bit. And you say, Preacher, I'm staying
in the ship. And I'll say amen. I've stayed
in it a number of times myself. Whenever I thought I'd just jump
overboard and take off. But I stayed in the ship. And
that's what you've got to do. Stay on the Lord. Stay on the
Lord. And don't give it up. Number
six. Listen to this. Set your heart in this world,
in this pilgrimage, upon Christ. Only Christ, and seek Christ,
and nothing else. Now I get this, now this, you
may say, well, Preacher, you, listen, it's kind of like the
old, he said, I don't see Christ in these verses. Well, it's like
what this Persian said, he said, if you, he told this young preacher,
he said, he told this young preacher, he said, now, you, you, you,
you look for Christ in every verse in the Bible. Look for
Christ. And the preacher said, well,
I don't see Christ in the verses. He said, well, you look till
you do. And so here in verses 39 and 40, let me read these
verses to you. And when it was day, they knew
not the land, but they discovered a certain creek with a shore.
With a shore. into which they were mined 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 hoisted up the main sail to the
wind, and made toward shore. The shore is the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now ask for nothing. Here's the advice. You must in
essence throw everything else to the wind. and ask for nothing,
seek nothing in this world but Christ. They didn't ask for the
wheat back. They didn't care about the boat.
All they wanted was the shore. They wanted to get to the shore,
and just to the shore. Get me to that shore. That's
all I want. Now, beloved, I guarantee you
this, that if you care for nothing, if you seek nothing, if you ask
for nothing but Christ, You will have it. You will have it. If
you say, I don't care about that chip, I don't care about that
wheat, I don't care about that livestock, I don't care about
nothing but Christ! and I'm seeking him, and I'm
asking for him, I'm begging him to come to me and to deliver
me that you'll have him. You say, well, I don't know whether
I'll have anything else or not, Preacher. Well, you may not have
anything else, but if you've got Christ, you have heaven's
best. You have the best that God can
give to a sinner, and you've got all that God will give to
a sinner if you have Christ. If you have Him, and if you seek
Him, and if you ask for Him, if you will care for nothing
but Christ, then my friend, you'll have Him. And I'm afraid some
of you will never have Him until you come to that place in your
life, until you come to that place. I'll have Him, Preacher,
I'll have Him if I don't have anything else. My friend, we're
getting near then. We're getting close to experiencing
God's salvation when we come to that place. I'll have nothing
to fear. Sure, I'll get to that shore.
That's all that's going to make any difference about anything
else. I'm going to get on that shore. I'm going to get there.
I'm going to get to Christ. And if you can do that, my friend,
then you indeed have the victory. If you be risen with Christ,
Paul said in Colossians, set your affection on things above,
where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. And not on
these toys. Don't set your affection on these
things. Set your affection on Christ.
Seek Him. And listen to me, where your
treasure is, there is where your heart will be also. And we need
to discipline ourselves and come down to it to realize that the
day is coming. when we're going to face leaving
this world and everything in it. And if we have Him, if we
have Him, if we know Him, if we're in Him, then my friend,
we can depart these shores and we can depart them with a major
victory and joy in our hearts. But if you got everything else,
I mean, I don't care how deep you got it, I like it. have everything
else if you don't have a solid relationship with the Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, my friend, your departure
from this world is going to be a very, very scary departure. It's going to be a departure
where in your heart will give you many, many an anxious, anxious
thought. Now, number seven, one last thing,
and that is this. That remember this when you're
in the storm that God will He will gracious Bring you through
the storm to your desire. He will do it you can just mark
it down the Lord will do it look at verses 41 through 44 and Falling
into a place where two seas met they ran the ship around the
poor part struck fast and stuck fast and remained unmovable,
but the hind 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
which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea
and get to the land, and the rest, some on boards, and some
on broken pieces of the ship, and so it came to pass that they
all escaped. all saved to life. All 276 of
them escaped unto the land. Marvelous, marvelous deliverance. God uses broken pieces, even,
to accomplish His purpose. And you say, put your eye on
the storm and it's broke me. It just broke me up. It has just
literally almost torn me off the foundations. Remember that
God uses broken pieces and just boards off of the ship to accomplish
his purpose. He's going to bring you safely
to the desire of heaven. He's going to get you home victorious. He's going to get you out of
a storm. Now when they come, when these storms come, remember
this, they're designed to teach us Certain and specific things,
specific things, they're designed to teach us, number one, to trust
our God. To trust God. They increase our
faith, our patience, our hope. And now what God is actually
doing in these storms, brethren, you watch them. And you watch
God working in these storms, and you will see that what He's
actually doing is not in the props out in the middle. All
them props, you've got propping you up. And you've got a lot
of them, brother and sister, you don't even realize. Propping
you up. And when these storms come, God's
using them to knock them props out. Now then, teaching us to
trust Him. God is teaching us to measure,
I believe, everything in the light of eternity. May the Lord
teach us. Each one is to value nothing
more. While we live, then we will value
that plane when we come to die.