Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 4 Lesson 4
This week in Sunday school, we finish our study of the book of Acts by looking at Paul’s journey to Rome. From one perspective, Paul’s imprisonment and journey looked like one tragic setback after another, but from another perspective, the journey was full of golden opportunities. What happened during this journey? How was God using it all for Paul’s good and God’s glory? And how might God be doing the same with the difficulties in our lives?
Our main text will be Acts 27:1-44, but we will also overview Paul’s whole imprisonment and journey to Rome in Acts 21:18-28:31.
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right well let’s get started welcome to Sunday school thank you for being here we’re continuing on in our study of the Bible they’ve gone to the Old Testament or in the New Testament and today we finished with the book of Acts today is our last lesson going through the book of Acts and as we’ve gone to this book I’ve tried to point out to you that we see in this book abundant illustrations of God’s promises and God’s truth coming to pass we see Christ building his church he proclaimed in the Gospels I will build my church and we see that happen in the book of Acts and we see how that happens we see in the book of Acts the power of the gospel to save not just Jews but Gentiles also and we also see that God is completely in control of all things and works out everything for good I know that’s a promise that we’re pretty familiar with the right from Romans 8:28 but if we’re honest we know that we often questioned that promise when we encountered times of difficulty perhaps you’re struck with a grave illness and you say why God how could this possibly be good or your relationship with a certain other person turns sour there’s a broken friendship or a great strain in the family and you ask yourself why how could this possibly be good maybe it’s some other set of overwhelming circumstances that suddenly come upon you and you say God don’t you know it I can’t handle this how could this possibly be good frequently when we encounter big trials we are tempted to just totally resign ourselves we basically give up on being joyful being an encouragement to others or even being a witness for Christ in the world and essentially we we say to ourselves we won’t say these words but and our attitudes and actions we say that I’m gonna go back to being a Christian when this is all over because this is just too much but the fact is and I know you know this the fact is that through our difficulties God is both aware and he’s actually providing for us opportunity to rejoice in him and to serve Him but in a different way perhaps even a greater way to say that another way our trials our difficulties are the problems that we experience in life they are sent to us by God not to prevent us from glorifying him but precisely so that we might glorify Him through those difficulties now when they happen yes it’s true we might not be able to do everything that we used to do for the Lord but God provides us new ways to glorify Him and to shine the light of Jesus to the world we’re going to see that truth illustrated in our lesson today as we look at Paul’s journey to Rome our agenda is pretty simple just two main things we want to accomplish today we’re going to overview what happened to Paul what was the journey that brought him to Rome and then we’re gonna zero in on just one aspect of that journey Paul’s very interesting ordeal at sea as he tries to travel to Rome let’s pray before we go on i lured in God we come to you and ask that you would continue to build up your church today oh god help me to be able to explain this word well and God I pray that you would move the move and work in the hearts of those who are listening so this wouldn’t be mere information they take in but something that changes them a Holy Spirit be pleased to convict and courage rebuke empower that we might be your witnesses we might glorify you in every situation and we would take advantage of the great opportunities by faith that come through trials in Jesus name Amen who’s open your Bibles to Acts chapter 21 and we’re gonna begin to overview Paul’s journey to Rome recall that last time last time we left off with Paul he was just finishing up his third missionary journey and had ended up in Jerusalem he was just there a couple reminders he was called by the spirit of Christ to go there and to be a testimony despite prophecies foretelling that he was going to suffer he brought an offering from the Macedonian in Greek churches to Jerusalem and when he arrived he immediately began to enjoy fellowship with the other believers there but then something terrible happened Paul was put in prison and before that he was seized by a Jewish mob and almost killed chapter 21 verses 18 to 40 Paul had gone to the temple as part of helping some other Jewish believers to Susilo Bambang strum Asia remember Asia we’re talking about that western province of Anatolia where Paul had just been on his third missionary journey especially in Ephesus some hostile Jews from Asia saw pas in the temple and they suppose that Paul had brought some of his Gentile converts into the temple and had therefore just defiled the holy space they called out to the crowd the crowd seized Paul and they tried to kill him by beating him to death and they started their work Paul endured a beating but then was rescued by a Roman commander who put Paul in Chains and tried to figure out what was the cause of this great riot and disorder in Jerusalem Paul was able to persuade the commander however to let him address the people and we hear about Paul’s defense or speech before the people in chapter 22 Paul gives a defense and which he proves that the charges against him by the Asian Jews are false but he also gives testimony about Christ and about why he preaches Christ even to the Gentiles when in his speech he mentions that God had called him to to the Gentiles because the Jews were going to reject God’s message well the Jews started to reject Paul’s message and they would not listen to him further and they called out for his death what ensues from chapters 23 to 26 we see that Paul remains imprisoned but he undergoes a series of trials first there’s a sham trial before the Sanhedrin in chapter 23 remember the Sanhedrin that’s that council of elders and religious leaders that is basically the governing body of Israel outside of room his first trial is before them but it’s it’s not going to be a fair trial he’s able to escape that tribe then afterwards a plot forms against Paul to kill him to ambush and kill him but wouldn’t you know it Paul finds out about this plot he informed the commander and the commander sends Paul away from Jerusalem to Caesarea by the coast into the capital city of the province under the Roman George jurisdiction in Caesarea Paul experiences his second trial under the Roman governor Felix this trial however is inconclusive Felix is not willing to pronounce him guilty or not guilty and Paul remains in prison for two years two years in prison now Paul been in prison before but it was not for a long period of time but now two years in Caesarea a third trial for Paul begins in chapter 25 when the governor switches over to a new man named Festus he has another trial before this man but like with Felix it’s inconclusive Festus wants to have Paul tried again in Jerusalem and seeing that this is going nowhere and that the Jews are likely going to find it another way to ambush Paul Paul invoked his right as a Roman citizen to have his case tried by the Emperor Caesar himself in Rome at this time would be Emperor Nero but before he went really crazy now he invokes this right and Festus affirms this right and he says all right I’m gonna send you to Caesar in Rome but before he goes has one more trial his fourth trial before another room in dignitary King Agrippa now this is another one of the descendants of Herod the Great this is a Herod Agrippa he’s a client king of Rome he rules part of Palestine the trial before Agrippa happens in chapter 26 and at the end of this trial Agrippa agrees with Festus that Paul is actually innocent but Paul had already appealed to Caesar and so they couldn’t release him they had to send him on to Rome bummer right I mean he just missed it Paul and God why did you let that happen in chapter 27 we see Paul’s trip to Rome or at least an attempted trip to Rome this journey by sea turned out to be quite harrowing it’s pretty much a disaster but God preserved Paul’s life through it and Paul ends up moving from Caesarea so if you look on the map over here in Palestine Paul ends up moving from Caesarea past the Turkey Coast past treat and all the way to the island of Malta which is an island right below Sicily in chapter 28 paul resumes his journey and he finally reaches rome once it gets there and he’s waiting for his trial paul is able to meet with some of the jews of the city and preach the gospel of christ to them now the book ends not with Paul’s final trial it doesn’t take place the book ends with Paul awaiting his trial before Caesar in a kind of house arrest in Rome so in total this last journey sometimes people call Paul’s fourth missionary journey but it’s not really a missionary journey it’s kind of different so we’ll just call it Paul’s journey to Rome in total about three years went by from Paul’s being seized and imprisoned in Jerusalem – Paul’s arrival in Rome and then the end of book of Acts tells us that Paul stayed in Rome for another two years so if Paul’s imprisonment began around 80 57 that means he would not be released because he’s really soon after this book ends he has his trial in his release he won’t be released until about AD 62 so five years five years of imprisonment now this is sure a pretty different and difficult turn of circumstances in Paul’s life he’s never experienced something like this before why what did he ever do to deserve this wasn’t he a faithful witness to God how are these things a manifestation of God working out all things together for good for Paul well we should note a few aspects in the narrative as we overview it I’m gonna go to another slide here just three general observations I want to make about Paul’s journey to Rome first and you might be thinking this this is there’s a specific promise that undergirds the whole narrative remember I made reference this verse but look in your Bibles acts 23 verse 11 because we see a promise that’s given to Paul soon after he’s first seized in Jerusalem Jesus himself comes to speak to Paul notice what it says in acts 23 verse 11 it says but on the night immediately following the Lord stood at his side and said take courage for as you have solemnly witnessed to my cause at Jerusalem so you must witness at Rome also so Christ actually told Paul while he was still in prison in Jerusalem that God would bring Paul to Rome and why so that Paul might be a witness of Christ in Rome as well and you may remember this was actually Paul’s desire even on his third missionary journey when he was still in Ephesus Acts chapter 19 verse remember we heard this now after these things were finished Paul purposed in the spirit to go to Jerusalem after he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia saying after I’ve been there I must also see Rome how is Paul’s desire he wanted go to Jerusalem in that in Rome and Jesus himself affirmed that desire as God’s will he said you solemnly testified here in Jerusalem now I’m going to bring you to Rome so that promise is undergirding this whole journey from Paul while he’s imprisoned to get to Rome second thing to remember is that throughout this whole ordeal Paul has given many unique opportunities to witness Christ for instance right when he is seized in Jerusalem he suddenly has an opportunity to address an entire crowd of his brethren of his of his fellow Jews in Jerusalem and speak to them about Christ also when he has his various trials Paul is able to again testify about Christ and what God has done for Paul acts 23 to 26 each one of these trials is an opportunity for Paul now you do you think how would he have opportunities to preach if he’s a prisoner but actually that’s exactly why he had that opportunity to preach and Paul realized this and he tried to make the most of it turn over to acts 26 verses 29 to her acts 26 verses 24 to 29 here’s what Paul says when he’s before it Festus in Agrippa in his fourth trial Paul was just basically come to the end of his speech and then verse 24 we hear Festus is reaction it says while Paul was saying this in his defense Festus said in a loud voice Paul you were out of your mind your great learning is driving you mad the Paul said I am NOT out of my mind most excellent Festus but I utter words of sober truth for the king that’s King Agrippa knows about these matters and I speak to him also with confidence since I am persuaded that none of these things escaped his notice but this has not been done in a corner King Agrippa do you believe the prophets I know that you do a gripper replied to Paul in a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian Paul said I would wish to God that whether in a short or a long time not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am except for these chains now that’s a very telling statement from Paul Paul saw each one of his defenses as an opportunity to share the good news of Christ not only with these great Roman dignitaries but to everyone who is listening so that any and all of them might become saved by faith indeed through his imprisonment Paul was becoming a witness before kings and governors for the Lord’s sake and by the way where have we heard nearly those same words before someone being a witness before kings and governors for the Lord’s sake where have we heard that before oh that’s true I think there is a there are some statements about along those lines when Paul is saved and God reveals that he’s going to be a chosen instrument but I’m thinking back even even earlier where else have we heard this idea of being a witness before kings and governors for Christ’s sake yeah Roy that’s right when Jesus was instructing his original twelve disciples he was saying look you’re going to be seized you’re going to be imprisoned and you’re going to be brought before kings and governors for my sake as a testimony them to a testimony to them and to the Gentiles and that’s exactly what we see being fulfilled in Paul’s lives but again unless Paul was imprisoned he wouldn’t have had these opportunities he had to be seized he had to be put in prison for these things to come about now so Paul had many great opportunities while being in prison in Caesarea but he also gained more opportunities more unique opportunities once he arrived in Rome as I mentioned when Paul arrives in Rome in chapter 28 he’s soon able to preach to the Jews there they gathered to where Paul is and then notice the last two verses of the book of Acts Acts chapter 28 verses 30 and 31 a kind of surprising ending to this book it says acts 28 verses 30 or 31 and he that’s Paul stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered so despite being a prisoner despite being under house arrest in Rome Paul continues to preach the kingdom and notice those words all openness unhindered that’s not what you expect from somebody who’s in prison but that’s exactly the case Paul’s imprisonment did not prevent Paul from preaching Christ it gave him new opportunities to do so that he did not have before fact it’s not just that Paul was able to speak the gospel of those who never heard it we should also note that because of Paul’s imprisonment because of his time waiting in Rome Paul writes his prison epistles those books Ephesians Colossians Philippians and Philemon these were not only a great benefit to churches in those days but they are Scripture and they have instructed and edified believers throughout history and still do today they are the word that we ourselves study and want to apply into our lives so far from preventing Paul from glorifying Christ or giving him the ability to minister Paul’s imprisonment actually magnified Paul’s ability to serve his Lord so that’s the second thing we should note about Paul’s journey to Rome and one other thing another thing to note is that through it all God protected Paul God protected and provided for him really when we look at this last journey of Paul in acts Paul should have died and he nearly did die multiple times in chapters 22 to 28 he was almost beat to death in Jerusalem the Jews plotted to ambush and kill him multiple times he ends up being caught in a terrible storm at sea he’s almost executed by his jailers he gets shipwrecked and he’s bit by a venomous snake but God providentially and miraculously protects Paul in order to keep his promise to Paul that Paul would be a witness of the Lord Christ in Rome actually Paul’s imprisonment in a way was part of that protection because being given a Roman guard constantly Paul was in some measure protected from the incessant plotting of the Jews which before this point was a constant problem in Paul’s life in ministry they’re always trying to kill him but now he has some Roman guards but anyways from these three observations and from our general look at Paul’s journey to Rome we can already see how an apparent tragedy an unfortunate turn in circumstances a senseless series of trials what’s actually being carefully fashioned by God for God’s own glory and Paul’s personal good but now let’s see this truth played out more specifically turn back to Acts chapter 27 and we’re gonna examine Paul’s voyage to Rome itself as the main part of our Sunday School lesson today we’re gonna follow Paul’s journey from Caesarea in Palestine to Rome or near Rome we’re gonna go paragraph by paragraph through the text we’re gonna make observations after each paragraph and we’ll work our way through the entire chapter this is a somewhat famous section of Scripture it’s a very gripping story let’s pay close attention acts 27 verse 1 we’ll start with just verses 1 to 8 so this is after Paul’s appeal to Caesar he’s spoken before Agrippa and Festus and they’re about to send him off to Rome first one when it was decided that we would sail for Italy they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a Centurion of the in Gaston cohort named Julius and embarking in an agile Midian ship which is about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia we put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus Macedonian of Thessalonica the next day we put in at Sidon and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care from there we put out the sea and sailed under the shelter Cyprus because the winds were contrary when we had sail through the sea sea along the coast of Silesia and Pamphylia were landed at Myra and lasya there the Centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and he put us aboard it when we had sailed slowly for a good many days and with difficulty had arrived off Colitis since the wind did not permit us to go farther we sailed under the show to have Crete off saleman and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a place called fair havens near which was the city of lesya okay let’s note a few things about these verses first notice the we personal pronoun we in the text what does that indicate who’s there with Paul Luke Luke our author he’s back with Paul remember how Luke joined up with Paul on his second missionary journey he detaches but then links up with Paul again near the end of Paul’s third missionary journey as Paul’s passing through Phillip I appears to accompany Paul to Jerusalem he’s there with Paul as Paul is arrested and imprisoned and goes through his various trials Luke has been with Paul and now he travels with Paul on his way to Rome now it’s something else notice the favor that’s granted to the prisoner Paul by the Centurion Julius he’s able Paul is able to visit his Christian friends and receive care it’s also that they’re put on an Alexandrian ship that’s not an idle detail that tells us something Alexandria and Egypt as a whole was famous for one main export wheat Egypt was the breadbasket of the Roman Empire its grain was very important for feeding the hungry masses in Rome there was a grain fleet that was just committed to transporting grain from Egypt to Rome through the port of Alexandria one of those ships happens to be in the port where Paul and the others are docked and so the Centurion puts the group on this cargo ship this merchant ship headed for Italy notice though as they travel we can already see that there’s some difficult weather verse 4 says the winds were contrary verse 7 with difficulty they arrived off can itis and there’s another reference to the wind in that verse and verse 8 with difficulty we sailed past this certain place it’s a little ominous right all these details about difficult weather and that explains their travel route the route they take is basically they hug the southern coast of Asia Minor until they come near the end of that Peninsula and they travel down towards the island of Crete and pass by the southern side of it until they get near the middle of the island to a port called fair havens this is where we arrive at the end of verse eight let’s see what happens next verses 9 to 13 when considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous since even the fast was already over Paul began to admonish them and said to them men I perceived that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives but the Centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul because the harbor was not suitable for wintering the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there if somehow they could reach Phoenix a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest and spend the winter there when a moderate south wind came up supposing that they had attained their purpose they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete close inshore okay now we see a timing detail that explains a little bit of the difficult weather we’ve seen notice it says in verse 9 that the fast was already over that’s a reference to the Day of Atonement which means we’re around October of the year at this point and also tells us that sailing is becoming more and more dangerous at this time in the ancient world it was a it was a big risk to go out sailing in the months of September and October and certainly it was unthinkable to go sailing in the winter and why is that remember what kind of ships we’re dealing with these are wooden wind wind driven ships and they can’t handle some of the heavy weather at sea that modern ships can as I said these difficult periods of weather in October and following most sailors we’re now Unova 10th would not even attempt to go out on this weather the instead would just hang out the harbor and that certain city where they were until the winter was over and just resumed the voyage in the spring we’re already seeing some of that contrary weather and then this decision about whether they should keep going now the group does decide to keep going and why is that so I say that little bit more loudly okay so that maybe maybe a desire to move a little bit more quickly so they can get their cargo there though it’s interesting they’re not really trying to make it your own that’s that’s out of the question they just want to get a little bit further along they want to get to another harbour in Crete one that’s a little bit more suitable to winter it they figured that fair havens this is not a good enough Harbor for us to spend the next couple of months we need to go to this better Harbor in Phoenix which was a little bit further west on the Isle of Crete just want to go a little bit farther before they call it quits for the year notice Paul’s warning verse 10 he says if we keep sailing there’s gonna be lost with the property and life I’m pretty sure look at the circumstances but the Centurion the Centurion who’s in charge does not listen to Paul so they do leave fair havens when they see this mild wind up here this moderate wind oh great this will get us just a little bit further along and we’ll hug the coast just in case well things turn out a little a little different than people expect verses 14 to 20 next verse 14 but before very long they’re rushed down from the land a violent wind called Urich willow and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along running under the shelter of a small island called cloud we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control after they hoisted it up the you supporting cables and undergirding the ship and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of sere T’s they let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along the next day as we were being violently storm-tossed they began to jettison the cargo and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands since neither Sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small storm was assailing us from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned well what did you what a dramatic turn this mild south wind turned out to be anything but it’s a year Aquila that is a northeaster a nor’easter now we’re familiar with that term right you Jerseyans we’re familiar with that term because of the heavy and violent storms that come down to that state from the Northeast it’s the same idea for this for this group in the Mediterranean but your Aquila was a violent storm and they’ve sailed right into it but by the way who controls the wind of course our God does so who sent it he did why well glad to keep reading so the group the ship they’ve been caught in the storm and they have no choice but to let themselves be driven by the wind and secure the ship as best they can they do their best but notice the toll the storm takes in the passengers the violent wind and the waves they don’t stop the clouds and darkness mean that no Sun or stars appear for many days and the effect is everyone starts giving up hope it’s no use they think to themselves we’re all going to die I mean imagine being there yourself on this boat day after day in the dark getting continually knocked around by the pounding storm nothing is changing nothing is getting better it’s hopeless but let’s keep reading first 21 to 26 when they had gone a long time without food then Paul stood up in their midst and said men you want to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from creep and incurred this damage and loss it now I urge you to keep up your courage so there will be no loss of life among you but only of the ship for this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me saying do not be afraid Paul you must stand before Caesar and behold God has granted you all those who are sailing with you therefore keep up your courage men for I believe I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told but we must run aground on a certain Island let’s observe a few things here notice that the passengers have pretty much stopped eating it’s not immediately clear why it could be due to seasickness due to the extreme waves that boat is being tossed so much that people don’t feel like eating it could be that it’s just too difficult to prepare that too many things to worry about that they don’t even have time to make food or they just their lack of hope is preventing them from you if you’ve ever been severely depressed it often leads to just a desire not to eat that’s actually one of the reasons why people fast in the scriptures so they’re not eating but notice Paul stands up in their mist and he has this unexpected message it says that you should have listened but then take courage he says no one will die how do you know that Paul well the god to whom I belong and to whom I serve and whom I serve I’m sent an angel – now that’s a really interesting description right that’s a very personal identification of Paul with God the God to whom I belong and it says this God sent an angel and told me that I must stand before Caesar which of course is precisely what Jesus had promised Paul in Acts chapter 23 and then this angel also said that God has granted me everyone sailing with me that’s another interesting phase right granted you in verse 24 in reference to Paul God granted them our God granted him the lives of the other people on board we’ll come back to the significance of that statement and Paul reassures everyone I believe that my God will make it turn out exactly as he said so let’s take courage but we must run aground on a certain Island we’re gonna have to run this ship aground let’s see what happens next verses 27 to 32 but when the fourteenth night came as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea let’s reference to the central Mediterranean in ancient times about midnight the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land they took soundings and found it to be 20 fathoms and a little further on they took another sounding it’s not at three fifteen fathoms fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak but as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea on the pretense of laying out anchors from the bow Paul said to the Centurion ax to the soldiers unless these men and remain in the ship you yourselves cannot be saved then the soldiers cut away the ropes to the ship’s boat and let it fall away interesting now we see that they’ve been two weeks in the storm by this point but they now realize that they’re approaching land they try to slow down the ship however because it’s still night and it’ll be very difficult to successfully run the ship aground when you hardly can see anything but then we hear about something strange some sailors attempt to take the ship’s boat the little skiff and escape to row to land the Paul warns the Centurion and soldiers unless these sailors stay you soldiers won’t be saved now they heed this warning and they cut the boat away themselves and everyone stays on board now why this strange requirement again we’ll come back to it we’re just making observations right now let’s keep going verses 33 to 38 until the day was about to dawn Paul was encouraging them all to take some food saying today is the 14th day that you’ve been constantly watching and going without eating having taken nothing therefore I encourage you to take some food so this is for your preservation for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish having said this he took bread and gave thanks to God and the presence of all and he broke it and began to eat all of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food all of us in the ship work 276 persons when they had eaten enough that began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea some more details emerge realize there are a lot of people on board this ship 276 people this would have included sailors soldiers prisoners other passengers and Paul’s companions including Luke and Paul encourages them he tells them you guys need to eat you need to gain some sustenance you’re gonna need this food for your preservation and he promises them again that none of them will perish it uses that Hebrew ism not a hair of your head will perish which is a great guarantee of protection and he himself Paul himself thanks God and he eats before them and the rest on seeing this and hearing this they do take courage and they eat notice though they throw out the rest of the Egyptian wheat as they prepare to run aground that day this is it no more no point hanging on to this food it’s time to run this ship aground let’s see what happens as we approach the end of the chapter and the climax of this narrative verses 39 to 44 when day came they could not recognize the land but they did observe a bay with a beach and they resolved to dry the ship onto it if they could and casting off the anchors they left them in the sea well at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders and hoisting the for sail to the wind they were heading for the beach but striking a reef where two seas met they ran the vessel aground and the prow that is the front of the ship stuck fast and remained immovable but the stern as the back of the ship began to be broken up by the force of the waves the soldiers plan was to kill the prisoners so that none of them would swim away and escape but the Centurion wanting to bring Paul safely through kept them from their intention and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land and the rest should follow some one planks I know there’s on various things from the ship and so it happened but they were all brought safely to land that’s absurd this last bit of text note that they try to take the ship onto the bays Beach but they cannot the front of the ship gets stuck in a reef or a sandbar some distance away from the shore and meanwhile the back of the ship is being broken apart by the pounding waves so it’s time to abandon ship but there’s a problem what about the prisoners notice the soldiers want to kill the prisoners so that none of them could escape why would preventing the escape of the printers that are prisoners be so important to the soldiers that’s right ma’am we’ve already seen this concept in the scriptures that Roman soldiers they had a high degree of responsibility they would be punished if they lost a prisoner and oftentimes that punishment was death we even see that happen to some guards and another point in the book of Acts so it’s to their advantage to just kill the prisoners but would that be just or unjust clearly that would be unjust you don’t just kill prisoners for no reason that would be evil yet they would want to do it for their own self-interest but their plan is not carried out because the Centurion we’re told wants to save Paul’s life so he prevented any of the prisoners from being killed instead commands that everyone swim to shore or grab something that floats and do their best to drift ashore now what was the outcome verse 44 they were all brought safely to land all 276 people were saved notice though the verb it says they were brought and that’s a passive construction the one doing the bringing is not specified so who did it or what did it was it the water was it the people themselves but was it God certainly keeping in mind God’s sovereignty we know that it really was God so coming to the end of this passage did God keep his promise to preserve Paul and even to spare the lives of the 276 people on board he did the Lord protected them all and he want to know something crazy this is just a side note but this actually is not the first time that Paul has been shipwrecked because we read in 2nd Corinthians 11:25 Sankranti ins 11:20 SOT 25 Paul’s recounting all the sufferings he’s experienced for Christ and he says there three times I was beaten with rods once I was stoned three times I was shipwrecked a night in a day I have spent in the deep now if you remember what I said last time on which journey did rights did Paul write 2nd Corinthians it was on his third missionary journey before this shipwreck has even taken place so before what we see in acts 27 Paul has already been shipwrecked three times this might be his fourth and regardless each time God preserved Paul since God had an important mission for Paul to fulfill not only did it get to Rome but to be a witness in various places in the world God was going to make these things happen before God took Paul to be home with him in heaven now chapter 28 verses 1 to 10 goes on to mention where the people arrived and what happened next we won’t read it bout to summarize it real quick they arrive in the island of Malta like I said island below Sicily God gave the beleaguered passengers those that had escaped from the ship aid from the local people and Paul actually did many miracles on the island undoubtedly though it’s not mentioned explicitly also testifying about Christ to the people of Malta he was there for three months basically for the rest of the winter before they could resume the journey to Rome by the way there’s still a st. paul’s bay in malta today it’s not only a geographical feature but it is a town on the island of malta and if you look on google maps at st. paul’s bay you can also see in the water in the water is something called st. paul’s shoal so and probably likely the very spot where Paul’s ship crashed into the reef and they all were able to jump into the water and escape so having made these observations let’s now consider some interpretation questions all right first why did God say he granted Paul the lives of all the passengers this has got to indicate something was it tells it what does this tells us at about Paul’s attitude yeah Duane can you say that more loudly yeah this shows that Paul wanted these people to be saved and very likely was praying for them and so God grants Paul’s request for your sake Paul I will save these people so certainly we see that Paul cared about his fellow passengers another question why did Paul tell the soldiers that they had to keep the sailors on a ship if the soldiers wanted to live under strange requirement right we don’t know the exact answer there are some ideas perhaps if the sailors left the boat the sailors would die they would be lost in the storm and God said I don’t want that to happen so if you let them go I’m gonna hold you accountable you’re not gonna be saved it may also be that these sailors once they left the ship they would leave the other passengers vulnerable there wouldn’t be enough sailors to successfully guide the ship to shore and other passengers might be lost either way God was determined to save them all and so Paul had to give this important warning but there’s a kind of tricky follow-up question to this if God already promised to save everyone’s lives why worry about whether if any the sailors leave the boat we’re seeing an intersection between two concepts we often see in the Bible God sovereignty and man’s responsibility Paul and the soldiers still had a responsibility despite God’s promise we could ask this question could the soldiers have disobeyed Paul’s warning and let the sailors go theoretically yes they could have done that they could have used their free will to disobey but realistically no the soldiers couldn’t have disobeyed because God had already ordained that everyone would be saved through a specific set of circumstances nevertheless Paul’s warning to the soldiers was an important means through which God used her through through which God caused the soldiers to keep everyone on board and accomplish God’s ultimate well the salvation the rescue of all these persons so God is sovereign yet man is still responsible well we could even say it this way the fact that God is sovereign should motivate and encourage man to be responsible of course this is not a new concept we’ve been saying through this saying this throughout the course especially when it comes to evangelism right unless we evangelize people won’t get saved Romans 10:17 faith comes by hearing hearing by the word of Christ if we don’t talk if we don’t give people the gospel they won’t be saved but God has already elected all his own unto salvation so is it possible for God’s people then to not evangelize could that happen theoretically yes realistically no there will never be a situation in which God’s people will be so disobedient and so unable to give the gospel that it will not go out God’s means which he has chosen which is church preaching the gospel they will not fail because God will move his people to obedience but what’s our responsibility as individual members of the church it is to preach the gospel again though God is sovereign we have a responsibility and we because of God’s sovereign promises we are encouraged and motivated to fulfill our responsibility now Paul’s voice Jerome was a pretty traumatic affair it was carefully arranged by God think about it how did God glorify himself and do good to Paul and others through this voyage what’s one way right we see God keeps his promise to protect Paul and to protect the people that is a that is a great sign of God’s compassion there’s a great sign of God’s faithfulness this is a great sign of God’s care God was revealing himself through this ordeal what else do mean i hate’s know that’s a good point Wayne so do we mention that they weren’t listening to Paul in the beginning but they certainly were listening to Paul at the end and that would be important for what Paul had to say about God and say about Christ they were certainly listening to him when he said my God will protect us all the god to whom I belong to God whom I serve they were encountering this God through Paul and certainly Paul was giving testimony of Christ on the boat and on the shore once you reach Malta he was a testimony to the passengers who had escaped hence the people of Malta this was a great kindness from God to allow his word to go forth through Paul even through the circuit not even through but specifically through these circumstances Roy you were going to say something hmm yeah that’s a great point boy we can see more of the fact that the people were listening to Paul taking the message of Paul of the gospel of God seriously because we can see how the Centurion reacts the other soldiers want to kill the prisoners but he specifically wants to protect Paul I’m sure it’s not simply because Paul is such a nice guy but because he he believed what Paul was saying yeah so we can see already various aspects of good and God’s glory coming about through this voyage this very difficult voyage as we said God God shows his ability to care his ability to protect his ability to deliver not just to Paul and the other believers but to those that don’t belong to God God shows his faithfulness to his promises God showed his great power and being able to deliver to them to deliver them from even a violent terrible storm God showed the people the great frailty of their lives and their need for an eternal deliverance God gave Paul opportunity to witness Christ to others on board into the people of Malta opportunities he would not have had except for this storm in this voyage and God arranged all of this to be observed and recorded by Luke Paul’s companion so that believers across time men across time might hear and see who God is and that they might believe and be saved so this was actually a great great good that God was working even though it was difficult for those experiencing it we can consider the whole trip to Rome from acts 21 to 28 and we see that God is showing again just what kind of God he is he is sovereign and powerful he is kind and loving his sovereignty over his people is always good he intimately knows about and cares about his own he’s determined to put his glory on display and he is faithful to his promises promises even when by sight or by man’s analysis of his circumstances there is no reason to hope there’s no reason to believe based on what I see God shows my word is true you can’t believe it even when things look the opposite so we can see that there’s definitely some application for us in this isn’t there when it comes to God’s sovereignty and viewing our difficult circumstances we can trust the Lord but two questions I want to leave you with as we come to the end here why is it that when we encounter life’s difficulties when we go through the storms in life we don’t believe in the Lord we lack faith we despair become depressed we lose hope why how do you think yeah we do focus on the storm instead of God and I think along with that we could say that there seems to be a more powerful more persuasive word than the very word of God it is the word that our feelings tell us now feelings themselves are not bad but feelings are they are very dependent on what you believe the flesh wants to use our feelings in such a way as to disbelieve God and so when you find yourself in a difficult circumstance you very easily can find your feelings saying oh this is this is terrible God has abandon you there is no hope in this situation but what we need to do is actually kind of recapture our feelings re inform our feelings we need to put off that unbelief that fleshly unbelief and the thinking that goes along with that and put on belief in God’s Word let that truth and form our feelings we say you know what if I look at my circumstances there is no hope but is God’s Word true or not we know that it is true so we we base our thinking we we consider our feelings and we act based on God’s truth now I’ve been listening to a number of counseling related resources as part of one of my classes at seminary and in one of them one of the counselors said when he was instructing another person he said we need to become principal oriented people rather than feeling oriented people what he means by that is that we need to base our thinking our beliefs on what the word says and not our experiences and the feelings that just come up based on our flesh because when we’re driven by our feelings that’s when we get into lots of trouble that’s when we lose hope and that’s when we’re no longer an effective witness for the Lord when we act based on God’s Word not only are we effective and displaying the lords of light but we don’t lose the joy of the Lord so I do think that’s part of it that’s part of why we often fail but we also see part of the solution we need to put off not just the actions but even the very thinking and beliefs that go against God’s Word and base everything we think and do on God’s Word one related hang on to that thought I think that’s that thought one related question just want to make sure we can get to this before we end here I also want you to consider your own life difficulties do you see them as an important opportunities for you to uniquely glorify Christ consider Paul and his voice Jerome it’s true that trials will change our ability to minister but that doesn’t mean that our ministry ends trials themselves our key avenues of ministry often magnifying our ability to glorify the Lord think of all the opportunities Paul would have missed if he had not been imprisoned and not even shipwrecked on his way to Rome so consider your own trials and ask yourself how can I glorify God through my trial and use it as my own special opportunity from God because that’s what God meant for us to do God indeed uses all our circumstances for our good and His glory okay there was a question or comment I want to get back to hmm hmm yeah that’s a good point Paul we along with our memory in the scriptures we should remember how the Scriptures have proven true in our lives in the past that God has delivered us when they’re always gonna be some risk in that your flesh gonna be like oh that’s risky I don’t know if we want to do that did you say but I can believe the Lord I will take on this risk because he has proven faithful in the past and His Word is true I think there was another hand hmm yeah often we do think we along with just doubting the Word of God we feel like God doesn’t care God’s Anna Abel he’s not he’s not gonna do anything and so we have to do it all ourselves it is true that God has given us responsibilities but he’s also said you do what you can do but then leave it to me because I’m the one who’s ultimately responsible for you and that’s what we’ve seen before in Matthew chapter 6 it says don’t worry about your life I know your needs I’ll take care of you you seek first my kingdom and my righteousness and all these things will be added to you Steve you had something real quick yeah yeah God was not only gracious to Paul but God was gracious to Luke as he pointed out gracious to us because we would never have heard about all these good things that God had done if Luke had perished in this storm so God was indeed glorifying himself and doing great good to his people and not just those who were there alright that’s it for this week if you have other questions or comments please email me next week we move on from acts we begin sampling Paul’s letters in the New Testament that’s right eye Lord God this is a great word another encouraging example of your faithfulness your sovereignty so god I pray that we would learn appropriately from this that we’ve considered your sovereign care over our lives and also how you are using difficulties in so many good ways yes to refine us but also God to give us more and different opportunities to glorify you so god I pray that each one would be examining in their lives today how they can take advantage of those opportunities and as difficult as they might be recognize that they are good and from you and say how can I glorify my Lord Christ through this in Jesus name Amen all right thank you all I will see you next week