Acts Part 48 | Wisdom Amidst Adversity | Acts 27

In Acts 27, Paul faces a violent storm while being transported to Rome, yet he responds with wisdom instead of panic. While others chase comfort, follow the crowd, or lose hope, Paul demonstrates what it means to walk with God in adversity. He earns trust through character, stands against the majority when necessary, anchors himself in hope through faith in God, and takes decisive action. The passage teaches that storms are inevitable, but for believers, panic is not—because in Christ we have peace, purpose, and the ability to lead others to safety through wise, faith-filled living.

Acts 27:1-44
 
See the sermon Study Guide: https://myrealchurch.org/teaching/acts/acts-part-48-wisdom-amidst-adversity-acts-27/

Transcript

Opening And Acts 27 Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you have your Bible, go with me to Acts chapter 27. Folks, we are almost done. You're not supposed to be happy about that. Acts is a wonderful book. That was a test of your faith and love for God this morning, how you responded. Acts chapter 27. If you have it, say amen. Well, when people are faced with crises, they usually go in one of two directions. They're calm or the crazy. Come on, somebody. Who's the calm? Who are my calm people in here? Who's my crazy people? All right. One evening when I was around uh middle school age, I go into our den to find my dad. It's pretty late at night, staring out the back door. And so I look out to see my our tree line about 30 yards from the home up in flames. So as I watch, fascinated by the roaring fire, I turn to my dad and say, Hey, if that's going to get any closer, it's going to burn down the house. To which my dad replies, he turns to me and says, Yep. About that time we hear a loud banging on our door. So we go to the front door, and as soon as we open it, my neighbor runs in screaming in his underwear, waking my mother and my brother up and kind of freaking them out. So my dad and I were possibly too calm. My neighbor, a little bit crazy. In today's text, the Apostle Paul experiences yet another crisis. He's been on trial, remember the last few weeks, for bogus charges. He's had all these accusations come against him. He's been imprisoned for a couple of years now. So he finally appeals to Caesar, to the emperor, and Festus the governor sends him to Rome. So now Paul is being transferred with others by ship to Rome. And while traveling, they face a tumultuous storm that threatens not only the cargo, but the very life on the larger ship of 276 passengers. Like this is the Titanic, right? There are a lot more on there, I know. But Paul, through all this, amazingly responds not with inaction like my dad and me, and not like my crazy neighbor, who I hope is not listening, but with remarkable wisdom. And you know, perhaps now more than ever, you and I need wisdom when encountering the metaphorical storms of life. I mean, just think about some of the storms that we are now facing, wars and rumors of wars that span the globe, an unstable economy, political division and polarization, moral decline, not to mention your own personal storms that you're facing this morning. I'd encourage you to listen this morning because if we don't walk by wisdom in these perilous times, we will be overcome with anxiety and our hearts will melt with fear, which is not what God wants for us. I've got good news for Christians who are living in this mess of a world. Jesus said in John 16, 33, he says, In me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, Jesus says, for I have overcome the world. Now listen to this. Here's what that tells me. In this world, storms are inevitable. But for those who are in Christ, panic is not. Can I say it again? In this world, storms are inevitable, but for those in Christ, panic is not. So through the lens of our text to today, we're going to look at how the wise respond to life's storm. So go with me to chapter 27, beginning in verse 1. And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. And embarking in a ship of Adramieton. Anybody want my job this morning? Which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia. We put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. Repeat that back to me. The journey begins in a regional cargo ship. This ship was smaller, it did not go long distances, and it wasn't meant for deep water. So the ship would kind of hug the coast. And so, along with the Paul and the crew, there are others aboard the ship. Did you notice the word we in verse 1? And when it was decided that we should sail, what does that tell us? That Luke, Dr. Luke, the author of Acts, is with Paul at this time. There are other prisoners on board. And then there's this Roman centurion, this commander named Julius. And then there's another believer that was dear to Paul named Aristarchus. Now look at verse 3. The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly. So that's the Roman centurion, and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. So number one, the wise prove themselves to be kind, respectful, and trustworthy. Julius is a centurion. That means that he was a Roman official with 100 soldiers under his command. This dude is no joke. And he is and his men are responsible for all of these prisoners. And here's the thing: if these prisoners get away, do you know who's held responsible? Julius and his men. And you know what would happen to them? They'd be executed. Off with the head, right? So, with that in mind, I find it so intriguing that when the cargo ships ports inside on, did you see what happens? Julius tells Paul to just go off with the other believers, see the town, have some lunch, and come back. It's like, you know, when you when you port a cruise ship, you know, you you go out in the town for or on the beach a little while and you come meet back at a at a time. Now, could you imagine a prison transport bus? Anybody work corrections in here before? Imagine a prison transport bus going to you know, transporting a prisoner to an let's say another state, and the van breaks down, and they're able to kind of pull into a repair shop, and the guard likes this particular inmate and says, Hey, you know what? You're pretty cool. Just go out, see the town. You've been locked up for so long and come back. I mean, really, how crazy is this? Why does Julius do this with Paul? Because of this, though Paul has made plenty of enemies, that's only been because he's preached the truth of the gospel. But Paul knows, quote unquote, how to win friends and influence people. He serves people, doesn't he? Isn't this what his life is about? He speaks the truth in love and he treats others, especially authorities, with great respect. Consider how he addressed King Agrippa, went on trial for bogus charges. Listen to this, just back a chapter, Acts 26, verse 2. He says to the king, I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, that I'm going to make my defense. Throughout the long and drawn-out trial process, Paul has proven himself to be compliant, to be trustworthy, and respectful. Now, Julius, you know what he's doing? He's reciprocating that trust and respect and honor. It's Paul who said, remember, outdo one another in showing honor. I know, listen, there are some corrupt police officers, that is sure. And there's been some horrible things that has happened that have happened because of those men and women. But overwhelmingly, those in the force are good men and women who risk their lives every day to protect and serve. And so it is so disheartening to me to see the disrespect that people have for the police. My son right now is going through the process, hopefully going to be going to the academy to be a police officer. And it's dangerous. And here's what I believe. If, generally speaking, if you treat an officer with respect, how will he or she treat you? Respectfully. Respectfully. I would just say to you, watch how you treat people, not just authorities, because when a storm comes, it's kind of good not to be alone because you've ticked everybody off. But that's not the main reason that we're to be kind and all of that. We're to be kind and we're to be trustworthy because in those moments we reflect the kindness and trustworthy trustworthiness of our great God. We're to be his image bearers. So after leaving Sidon, the ship, Paul does show back up, and the ship makes a couple more stops. They finally port in a place called Myrah. And from there, that's as far as this ship is going. So they board another Alexandrian ship, and it's a massive vessel. And again, it's going to host 276 people on this trip. Now it's this ship comes, it's a constant route. It goes from Egypt. That's where Rome gets its grain. And then it goes from Egypt to Rome, back and forth, and back and forth. And so this is the last ship they'll have to board before making it to Rome. So after many days, after boarding the ship, because of strong winds, the crew makes a detour and ports in a place called Fairhaven. It kind of sounds like a suburb, doesn't it? Now pick up in verse 9. Since much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because of, because even the fast, by the way, that's the day of atonement. That's how we know what time of year this is. Paul advised them, saying, Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and of the ship, but also our very lives. But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority, notice that word, the majority decided to put out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix. Because Phoenix, Arizona, is a great place to spend the winter. Not the same Phoenix. A harbor of Crete facing both southwest and northwest and spend the winter there. Second thing I want to point out about the wise is this the wise are willing to stand against the majority. Winters brought with them storms across the Mediterranean with tumultuous winds, making it very dangerous to travel by sea. Like you did not want to take a boat in the winter. And because of this, the ship has to port somewhere and they have to ride out this season. Now they're in this place called Fairhaven. And it would make sense to stay there. Like they've arrived safely. They can spend it there and then go on with their trip after the season. But here's the deal. In other words, there's no nightlife. Nothing to do. We're going to be bored, right? It also faces a direction that makes it subject to the heavy winds, meaning it's not going to be the most comfortable stay. Consequently, the 275 other passengers aboard the ship do not want to stay. They want to risk their lives and risk the ship so that they'll be a little more comfortable. Paul disagrees. The Lord impresses upon Paul. It's heavenly implied that Paul prays. The Lord leads him and says, You guys, you've got to stay put, or you're going to lose the cargo and your very lives will be at risk. And so Paul, a prisoner on the boat, tells the captain and the crew and the centurion, don't leave. I'm telling you, it isn't easy to stand against the majority, is it? There's a famous study that was done in the 1950s called the Ash Conformity Experience Experiment. Subjects, this is so interesting. Subjects were put in into a group and asked a very easy and obvious question. The catch was this, though. Everyone else in the group was in on the study except the subject. And they were told to give the wrong answer one by one to that question. Do you know? About one-third of the time the subjects went along with the wrong answer, and around 75% of the participants conformed at least once to the majority's consistent. They knew the group was wrong, but did not want to stand out nor be ridiculed. Standing against the majority is not easy. You will be disliked and looked at with a suspicious eye if you go against the majority. Often the desire to be liked is stronger than the desire to be right when it comes to the majority. So the crew, they do not listen to Paul and they set a sail, and now it gets crazy. Can you check that uh thermostat? I'm dying up here. Some of you are like, oh great, the first time I've been decently warm in the sanctuary. Make sure it's on air. Because I feel like heat's blowing down on me. The devil's coming after me. He don't want me preaching the word. All right, look at verse 13. Now, when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and set sail to Crete, close to the shore. But soon a temptuous, tempestuous wind called the northeastern. This is such a crazy wind, it's named. It struck down from the land, and when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and we were driven along. Running under the lee of a small island called Kata, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the surdice, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. Now, listen, since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison or to throw over the cargo. And on the third day, listen, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. Now, Paul had the courage to stand out from the crowd. They did not listen to his wisdom, and now they have egg on their face. And they lose their car their cargo. They wanted comfort, but they traded comfort for their cargo, and they ended up not even getting comfort. And eventually, spoiler alert, they'll lose the ship itself. Here's what I want you to see: the majority is not always wrong, but often it is. Have you noticed? Mark Twain said this. He said, whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect. That's good advice. See, to serve Jesus, friends, listen to me. You are undoubtedly going to have to stand eventually against the majority, especially in this culture. In Galatians 1:10, Paul writes this, for am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? It's a good question to ask yourself. Or am I trying to please man? Listen, he says, if I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. You know what that tells me? Think about this. You've got to decide today, am I going to stand with the majority and please man? Or am I going to stand with Christ? Because here's the thing, friends, you can't do both. There is no middle ground. There is a cost to not standing with the crowd. At best, you're going to be disliked. At worst, if if we stand up for God's truth, you might be imprisoned, you might lose a job. Eventually, if we stay on this trajectory, you might lose your life. But here's what I would say to you: the cost of standing with the majority is infinitely greater than the cost of standing alone. Because to stand with the crowd is to stand against Jesus. To stand with the crowd when they're not following God's word, I should say, is to stand, to stand with them is to stand against Jesus Christ. Pick up in verse 20. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us. Listen, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up again and he said to the men, you should have listened to me. How many just couldn't resist to say that? Even Paul's a little bit snarky. You should have listened to me and not set self from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you, watch this, to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong. Oh, I love that. He doesn't just say the God whom I know, the God who I've learned about, or even the God whom I serve, he says, the God to whom I belong. Isn't it good today if we're in Christ that we belong to God? He says to the God whom I belong and to whom I worship, and said, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. That means Paul's getting to Rome. God has granted you, he says, and behold, God has granted you all those who sell with you. So Paul says to them again, a second time, so take heart, men, for I have faith in God, that it will be exactly as I've been told. Thirdly, the wise proclaim hope. After losing the cargo and now still facing this unrelenting storm, the other 275 people on board, and it seems even Luke himself, they become frantic and they give up hope. We know that there are four physiological responses to danger, right? There is fight, flight, but there's two more. You know them? Freeze, fawn. So fight is where you're in danger and you stand up and you pump out your chest and you try to take it head on, often aggressively. Flight is where people panic and they try to escape. I did that once in uh middle school, the only fight I've ever been in. The guy came up, a little bit bigger than me, I punched him in the face and took off. I'm not condoning that, I'm just telling you what happened. Then there's freeze where people become paralyzed and can do nothing. Like you can't move your body, and then there's fawn, F-A-W-N, where people try to give in and people please to make the situation better. So, fight, flight, freeze, fawn. But for Paul, his natural response, watch this. It's not fight, it's not flight, it's not freeze, it's not fawn, it is faith. Verse 20 again tells us the people have lost hope. Boy, that's a miserable place to be, isn't it? And before Paul gives the passengers instructions on what to do, he tells them twice, take heart. In other words, there is hope. Why? Why does he say this? Why does he start here? Because without hope, their actions would be in vain. How many are happy it's March Madness season? Come on. So here's what I love about the tournament. In the first round this year, 12 seed High Point defeated 5 seed Wisconsin. Number 11 seed VCU beat the sixth seed Powerhouse, North Carolina. Sorry, my brother. And the number 16 seed, this would have like made me leap with joy, Sienna, almost beat number one Duke. I think they won what? Duke won by six points? Now, why in the world does this happen? Why every year there's upsets where very low-seeded teams beat the best teams in the nation. Why? It happens because those lower-seeded teams go into the game with hope and the confidence that they can actually win. I mean, that 16-seed team, the lowest seed, went in to face the overall number one team puke. I mean, Duke. Going, men, the coach, the players, we can do it. We made it this far, we can do it. And I love when it happens. The Cinderella teams, I mean, that's just the best. It is hope. Watch this. It is hope that keeps us fighting when others and even logic itself says to give up. And all I would encourage some of you today, Thomas, you're not a Duke fan. I didn't offend you, did I? Listen, let me read that again. It's hope that keeps us fighting when others and even logic itself says to give up. Some of you this morning might feel that life is so overwhelming, and you just feel like throwing in the towel. And I would say to you today, hold on to hope. My uncle said a couple of weeks ago, he said, If the tomb is empty, there is still hope. Look at verse 23. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong in the worship, and said, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar, and behold, God has granted all those who sail with you. Who? God has granted. So take heart, men, for I have faith in God. Though Paul is not a trained captain, this is interesting. He's had much experience on the water. Lots of jet skis, right? Now, you know, over his three-year missionary journey, Paul traveled between 10 to 12,000 miles as the crow flies. About a quarter of those were spent on the sea. Furthermore, when it comes to shipwrecks, you may not know this. This is not Paul's first rodeo. Let me just read you 2 Corinthians 11, 25. So if you're new to this, you ready to be a little bit taken back? Three times I was beaten with rods. And you thought following Jesus was going to be easy. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and day I was adrift at sea. Paul knows some stuff about the water and even shipwrecks. This is his fourth shipwreck he's about to encounter. And watch this. Though Paul is extremely knowledgeable, he doesn't say, Men, put your hope in me. I know what I'm doing. He says, I have faith not in myself, but in God. Put your hope in God. The great Prince of Preachers, as he's been called, Charles Spurgeon, said this. He said, Do not look to your hope, but to Christ, the source of your hope. You know, why do people in our culture today tend to be so angry and miserable? Like, have you noticed? Some of you today, by the way, just need to smile. I was noticing during the singing, some of you were like, why are they mad? They must hate this song. Listen, but people are miserable. Why? Because they're in this world that seems to be in disarray and they have no hope of anything getting back. They are hopeless. That friends will make you miserable. We have an obligation, like the Apostle Paul, to point people to the hope of Jesus Christ. Because even if the world itself is shipwrecked, and it eventually will be, and there'll be a new earth, new heavens, and new earth, God's people will finally be saved. That's what kept Paul going. Look at verse 25. So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I've been told. Now watch this. But we, everybody say we must run aground on some island. I want you to notice the balance here because the fourth thing I want to point out about the wise is that the wise take action. Notice the balance here. Paul doesn't say, have faith in God and just sit back and kind of twiddle your thumbs, right? He says, hope in God, and then immediately he says, What? We must take action. So they begin looking for an island to get to safety. Then the next several verses, the crew cuts away the ropes. They eat food to strengthen themselves. And then they lighten the ship up even more, throw them more overboard. We've got to be people of action. So um, brother Ken, where are you at? Are you in here? He's upstairs. Hey, so this is public knowledge, but uh, over a year ago, Ken, um, his job was what closing essentially? Yeah. So Ken, he'd worked at this place for many, many years, was out of work, and the job market wasn't too hot. So this was right after, or even maybe right before you came to church. And I'm glad you didn't blame us. But we prayed, and we've been praying, haven't we, relentlessly for a year, that God would provide him with a job that he was passionate about. So here's the thing, though. Back January a year ago, after we prayed for Ken, he didn't just sit back and sit on the couch and eat Cheetos. At least I don't think he did, Kathy, right? Okay. What did he do? He gussied up his resume, he sent it while he was on unemployment, he sent it to numerous places. Right? Then, when he didn't hear, and I so respect him for this, he just took a job that he wasn't passionate about to provide for his family. But he kept believing God for that job that he would be passionate about. And back in November, he got a call and he was able to get on at a great company. And then it took, for security clearance, it took another few months, and he just this what last week got a start date. Here's my point in saying that. He did not just sit back and twiddle his thumbs. Yes, Ken and I in our church believe God was going to provide, but that doesn't mean we just sit and do nothing. And I tell you that today because perhaps some of you have been praying for something. And maybe you've just sat back wanting God to drop something in your laugh. Generally, it doesn't happen. God says, Yes, have faith in me, and then we ought to seek the Lord and say, Lord, okay, now what do I do? The wise take action. So let's close this out. Look at verse 39. Now, when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach. Come on, somebody, on which they planned, if possible, to run the ship ashore and lay out and go swimming. No, that's not what it says. So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders, then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck, stuck, and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners lest they got away, that they should swim away and escape. But again, the centurion Julius, what's he say, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, and the rest on planks or pieces of the ship. Now, watch this. And so it was that all were brought to land safely. I love this. Paul, because of Paul's response to the storm in which he sought the Lord and walked in God's wisdom. It wasn't just Paul who was saved, but all 275 passengers who were on board. And I love this. See, if you are wise, O Christian, it's not only you who will be led by the Lord to safety, but all who are in your ship. Why? Because the Lord Jesus is in the boat with you. And if you'll listen to him and let him guide you, your family will be safe. Your friends will be safe. Those around you will be safe. Doesn't mean the storms won't come. But there's something different when you're in the boat with Jesus. And our presence around other people who are facing storms ought to have an effect to where, an impact to where they experience immeasurable peace. I mean, isn't it good when everybody's freaking out and you just have somebody that's just calm? Somebody who can say, trust in God, and who knows what that might do, perhaps that would point them to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you may say today, I'm not very wise. And I would say amen to that with some of you. I'm just joking. And here's the thing, in all seriousness, you may say I'm not very wise because maybe you don't have, you know, young people, a lot of life experience. Or maybe some of you don't have the highest IQ. But I would submit to you this morning for the Christian, those things do not matter. And here's why. Who was the wisest man ever to walk the earth? Okay, outside of Solomon. There's another man in the Bible I like a whole lot. His name is Jesus. Siri Suddenlum reminder for next week to tell people about Jesus here. I need to be serious here. This is so good. The wisest man to ever walk the face of this earth is the Lord Jesus Christ. So here's what I would submit to you. If you are in Christ, you have complete access to his wisdom. Remember that Pastor Dell said a couple of weeks ago that we have all we need in Christ. That includes wisdom. We just have to appropriate it. Because just because we all have it as Christians doesn't mean we all use it. I can say that in my life. I haven't always utilized God's wisdom. So you say, well, how do I appropriate God's wisdom? Very quickly, two things. Number one, you've got to feast on God's word. If you're not reading the Bible, how in the world are you going to have God's wisdom? Because the primary way in which God communicates his wisdom to us is through his word, which uh Paul says is God breathe. All scripture is breathed out by God. That's where God's wisdom is revealed. So if you're not making wise decisions, maybe read the Bible. And then you must seek, like Paul, the wisdom of the Lord through prayer. And here's what, when you combine prayer and Bible reading, here's what happens: the Lord gives you wisdom to apply the wisdom of his word in particular situations. Dina, could you come on to the keyboard? Thank you. Listen, some of you, just over the last couple weeks, you have shared heartbreaking situations that you're going through right now with me. Things that will that could melt your heart with fear. But I've been so encouraged by your faith. Many of you in here are facing frightening and dreadful storms right now. My hope for you today is that through this text, the Lord has stirred up hope and faith in your heart. And I would just say to you today, trust God's perfect plan. Remember, the Lord may not get you around every storm, but he'll get you through it. His promise to me, hear me, beloved, is that he'll never leave you or forsake you. So for when you're in the ship and you're on the dangerous waters against the tumultuous winds that are beating vehemently against your boat, and the ship of your life begins breaking apart. Remember, Christ is in you, Christ is with you. He's in the boat with you. And oh, I hope that brings you peace and joy and comfort today. See, Jesus Himself faced the most excruciating storm at Calvary's Cross, where he faced sin, death, the wrath of God and hell itself, and he came out victorious. And because of his willingness to face that storm, that means this, friends, we can face any storm if Christ is within us. Jesus is aboard the ship with you. May the Lord grant us today the grace to walk in his within us.