Acts 27:27-44

My sin not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, I bear it no more. We come this morning with complete freedom, knowing that our price has been paid, our sins have been paid, and what freedom and joy the Lord gives to us to come together in worship of His holy name. We welcome you to our church, so grateful for everyone that is here this morning, especially those of you worshiping with us for the first time. We welcome you, so good to have you here, and we’ll introduce the guests towards the end of our service. We’re missing a lot of our family, church family today, either by vacation or by graduations or out of town, different things going on, Memorial Day weekend, but we are grateful that all of you are here, thankful for this time the Lord has given to us. We are going through this book of Acts, Church on the Move, and we are coming towards the final few sermons from this book. This morning we are in Acts 27:27-44. The apostle Paul, along with 275 other sailors, are on this ship that is being battered by storms on the sea, aimlessly wandering, but as we talked about last week, still God who is controlling it every step of the way. We ended last week with a promise of God that was given to the servant of God through an angel of the Lord that appeared to him at night, reminding him and promising him that even though the ship would be lost, all the cargo would be lost, not one of them will be perished in the sea, that God will show His hand of mercy upon the lives of every single person on that ship. In the context of that, we come to Acts 27:27.

On the 14th night, we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight, the sailors sensed they were approaching land. Oftentimes we read these passages and we just kind of go by them without understanding the depth of the suffering that these sailors have already gone through. The 14th night, that’s more than 320 hours of being battered by hurricane force winds without any engine, any motor, any modern navigation, no sun, no moon, no stars could be seen at night, wandering off in aimless sea. They have no idea where they are. They have no idea where they’re going. In fact, Luke is writing later on in Acts 27, they were driven across the Adriatic Sea. When he’s on that ship, he has no idea where they are. Later on, he will realize that he was in the Adriatic Sea. By the way, this term, Adriatic Sea, in some of your translations, it says Sea of Adria. It’s probably more accurate. Adriatic Sea today is located between Italy and Yugoslavia. That is not what this passage is talking about. In modern day, this particular body of water is known as the Ionian Sea in the modern geography. This was probably the Sea of Adria. At that time, it was known as the Adriatic Sea, and Luke writes accurately in Acts 27:27, they’re drifting across the sea. When about midnight, middle of the night, the sailors sensed they were approaching land, and they probably did that by hearing the waves, the battery of the waves that were now battering against the ship, maybe against the rocks that were very prominent during that time.

They realized this. If you remember this passage, more than 300 hours of not seeing light, not knowing where they are, they’re being battered in the open sea. Verse 28, they took soundings and found that the water was 120 feet deep. What does it mean by they took soundings? This is the way in which they would lower a very heavy object into the ground, into the sea to measure the depth of how much the sea is. In fact, some of your Bible says it was about 20 fathoms, each fathom is about six feet, and so NIV translation says it was 120 feet deep. A short time later, they took soundings. It is a way to measure the depth of the sea. Again, they found that it was 90 feet deep. So they are now traveling and they measured it first, they realized it was 120 feet depth to the water, they measured a little bit later and they found that the depth of the water is 90 feet. What is that telling them? They’re nearing land with every passing minute, passing hour, they’re getting closer and closer to the land as the depth of the sea is getting less and less. Verse 29, fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. As they’re being kind of dragged on the sea, and they realized they’re nearing the land, the immediate fear of their life is being shattered up against the rocks, up against the bay. Not only that, because of that, in order to control the ship a little bit better, the anchors on the stern, which obviously would have been lifted up as they were being tossed around in the waters, are now being lowered into the night, and the Bible says they started praying for daylight.

Most of the men, in fact, I would dare to say about 273 of them are pagans, they do not know the Lord. Only three men, Aristarchus, Luke, and Paul are praying to the right God. But all of these men are crying out and they’re crying out for one thing and one thing alone, let daylight come so they can at least see where they are and what is happening all around them. There was a tremendous amount of superstition associated with sea voyage during this time. In fact, they believed that if you died in the sea, your soul, your spirit does not really go to the realm of the dead. Many times the pagans believed that if you died in the sea, your soul and your spirit would just hover over the water aimlessly, restlessly, and will never find any resting place. So being killed at sea, drowning at sea, was considered to be one of the worst ways you can die in the ancient times. Not only that, they also believed that guards were so important in ensuring safe passage through the sea. Remember the story of Jonah in the Old Testament. They prayed and they asked the question, who among us is causing us to do this? So there were a lot of superstition associated with sea voyage at that time. Anytime the voyage went well, they were considered to be lucky and God was on their side. Many times something like this happened, they always thought that something wrong had happened and demonic spirits or guards were angry with them. They also wanted to make sure that somehow they survived the sea and got to land. Even if they died on the land, it was considered to be much better than drowning in the sea. So they prayed for daylight. Obviously, the only persons who were praying earnestly in the rightful way were Luke, Aristarchus and Paul, as they also prayed to the Lord probably that night as well.

Look at verse 30. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea. Remember in the earlier verse and almost in verse 17-18, we read as they dragged the lifeboat and put it on the ship. Now you come to verse 30 and the sailors, the ones who know how to navigate the ship, are on the other side of the boat. They are on the other side of the boat and they’re doing something. They’re doing something very deceptive. They’re acting like they’re lowering the lifeboat onto the sea, but their immediate plan was what? Somehow they wanted to jump into the water and escape from the ship, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the boat. So on the stern side, you have the anchors. Now they’ve gone to the bow side and they’re trying to lower the anchors, but they’re actually, what they’re trying to do is escape in the lifeboat that is there. You know why? Because these sailors know that if they remain on the ship, their life is in danger. And remember the word that came to Paul. Not one of you will be killed, every one of you will be saved. But even in the midst of it, practical understanding and knowledge of what to do is very, very important. When you read through Acts 27 towards the end of it, you see this great tension in God’s word between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. God has sovereignly ordained that none of them should die, but that does not mean that Paul is sitting in the back and just waiting for that to happen.

Look at verse 31. Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved. So he told in the earlier verse, all of you will be saved. Now he comes and says, do what I’m telling you to do, unless that not one of them will be saved. What is happening here? Just because you trust the promise of God does not allow you to just lay back and just life take you the way it wants to be. You still have to be responsible for the decisions of your life, even in the midst of believing in a God who is sovereign and God who is in control. Paul is absolutely in charge of the moment completely. He tells them, these sailors on the ship are so important. If they escape, there is no one left on the ship other than soldiers and prisoners. None of these people know how to navigate a ship or how to make sure the ship somehow reaches the shore. He says, unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved. So look what they do, verse 32. The soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away, probably saying, if we’re not going to be saved, none of you are going to be saved. We are either are all going to be saved or we’re all going to perish, because they knew that it was a death sentence to allow just the sailors to escape on the lifeboat. So the last hope that they had, somehow get on the lifeboat and make it to shore, at least some of them, they cut it all away and they let it drift away.

Verse 33, just before dawn, Paul urged them all to eat. For the last 14 days, he said, you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food. You have not eaten anything. I mentioned to you last week it is not only the suspense of being in the midst of a hurricane, all the fear and apprehension that goes along with it, but probably the persistent nausea, seasickness of being tossed around in the open seas probably took away all of their appetite. They have not eaten anything for 14 nights, 14 days, by the time you come to verse 33. Look what the man of God does, verse 34. I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head. I mean, what courage, what confidence in the living God, what determination, what faith to be able to stand and say, eat. You need the strength because you’re about to swim. You need the strength to survive. Eat. There’s no more point in not eating. And here’s the promise. Not even a hair of your head will be lost in what is about to happen. Only people of God have this kind of courage in the midst of the storms of their life. Only people of faith are able to stand and make proclamations that are so dramatic as this. I love the way he said it. It’s not that you will be battered and you will somehow make it over there. Not even a single hair of your head will be lost, because I believe in the God who made a promise to me and He is watching over you as well.

The same God who makes sure that not a single hair of Paul’s head falls to the ground without His heavenly knowledge also makes sure that the 270 plus people on that ship were also protected by a divine God who is absolutely in control. Look at verse 35. And he said this. He took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. Now, thanks in the middle of a storm, praises, worship in the middle of nowhere, not knowing what is about to happen, still there’s a calmness that the Spirit of God is able to bring into the heart of the man of God, so much so that he stands before other pagans and he worships his God and he gives thanks to Him. When you and I are faced with the storms of our life, what are the words that come out of our lips? What are the words, songs that come from your life and my life? What are the words of faith that the world gets to hear when you are faced with the terrible storms of your life? Anyone can preach messages of prosperity and wonderful news about God’s greatness when things are going well, but it is only the true believer who is able to stand in the midst of the difficulties of life and say, my God is still a good God. My God is still a faithful God and I will give thanks to God who has brought me thus far.

Amal kind of talked about it this morning. In the middle of the waiting, you know what God is doing? He’s renewing us. In the middle of the storm, you know what God is doing? He is still rescuing us. Paul is reminding himself of the fact, others, that you have survived the last 14 days, not because you were in control. You have survived the last 14 days of storms because my God has been in control. In fact, you have been drifting for more than 470 miles and you have not perished because my God has absolutely been in control. By the way, the accuracy of God’s word is remarkable. Early on in the 20th century, a very experienced Navy man by the name of James Smith wanted to find out if this account in the book of Acts could be true from a point of view of a Navy ship. So he asked experienced salesmen, if you have a ship of this size containing wheat and containing about 270 people and it was allowed to drift in an open sea in the middle of a hurricane, how many days would it take to reach the island of Malta from the island of Crete? You know what their measurements showed? 14 days and 14 nights, 36 miles each day. God’s word, remarkably precise and accurate in the description. In fact, when they did the study, they found out they will come within three miles of what is known as Paul’s Bay today, the place thought to be where the ship wrecked and they reached the island of Malta, even present today, within three miles. That is how accurate and precise God’s word is.

Fourteen days, they will reach that place and Paul knew that God was the one. So what did he do? He gave thanks to God in front of these people who are probably thinking, we have never seen anything like this. We have seen storms, but we have never seen courage like this. We have been in maybe many storms, maybe not like this, but we are experienced salesmen. We’re about to jump off the board and get on a lifeboat and escape. And look at this man, eating bread, giving thanks to his God, and he is showing an example to others. Look what happened when you yourself are an encourager, others get encouraged. Look at verses 36-38. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Do you know that encouragement is contagious? Encouragement is contagious, but so is the opposite. Encouragement is contagious. When you are a person who is encouraged by the Lord, when others are in the company of you, guess what? Encouragement happens in their life as well. Look at Philippians 1:14, where the apostle Paul showed tremendous courage in prison and look what happened to the people around him. He says, Philippians 1:14, Because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear. His courage in prison is causing others to become courageous. His faith in prison is allowing and making other people to be confident and not having fear in their own life. What kind of an effect are you having on the people around you?

Are you an encourager? Are you strengthening the faith of others? Do people love to come and talk to you when they are in trouble? Or are you the person they avoid when they’re in trouble, because you will just add more misery to them? No, let the words that come out of us be words of faith, words of hope, words of love, words that are given to us by the Lord by much prayer. These words are not empty words. They’re able to encourage others as well. Then God’s word tells us that on that ship, all together there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. They eat all they wanted. First time in 14 days, they’re eating all the grain that was on that ship they were supposed to carry from Alexandria all the way to Italy and get the money for bringing the grain. Finally, they throw it overboard. It’s kind of interesting that the last thing they throw overboard is that wheat. Man, even at the point of his death, is hanging on to his money. Finally, when they saw the ship is going to be lost, there’s no point in hanging on to this. They throw all the grain overboard.

Verse 39, when daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach. Again, God’s word, so accurate. You know why they don’t recognize the land? When you come into the sea in this side of Malta, there are no heavy mountains, tall mountains in this side of where they shipwrecked. That’s why it says they did not recognize the land because there were no specific landmarks that recognize with their knowledge of where they were. In fact, there’s a giant mountain in Malta, but it’s on the other side of the shore. They could have never seen that as they came to this side of the sea, and that’s why the Bible says they did not recognize what land they were in. But they saw something. They saw a bay with a sandy beach, but they decided to run the ship aground. If they could have said, we see a beach, somehow if we get there, even though we do not know what kind of island this is, they will be able to make it to ground. Verse 40, cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Why did they untie the ropes that held the rudders? A rudder is supposed to give them direction, is able to guide the ship the right way. They untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.

Verse 41, but the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move. The ship basically gets stuck in the sand and the waves are still battering on the other side of the ship, and the stern, because of that, was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. Verse 42, the soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. For the soldiers, these prisoners meant life. The Romans didn’t really care how you got the prisoners to Rome, alive or dead. But if any of them are missing, your life is in danger as well. The soldiers knew that if any of these prisoners, they swim to the shore and they run into the island, they’re never to be found. Guess what? All this escaping from the sea does not mean anything. I can never go back to Rome because I will be killed myself. So what do they want to do? We need to kill all the prisoners, and guess who is part of the prisoner as well? Paul is part of a prisoner, Luke will be considered to be a prisoner, at least traveling with Paul, Aristarchus. They planned to kill all of them. Look at verse 43, the way God works. The centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life. All the prisoners are saved on that day only because of one man, the apostle Paul, because the heart of the centurion already knew that there was something special about this man who had navigated them so beautifully through these treacherous seas.

He kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. Anyone who knows how to swim, jump overboard, only land is right there, get over there. Verse 44, the rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. All the ship is broken out, all the wooden pieces everywhere, grab on to any wooden pieces and make it to land. In this way, look what happened, everyone reached land safely. Just as God had promised, either by swimming, hanging on to a piece of wood, but one of them perished in the sea on that day. All 276 people made it on board because of the divine hand of God who not only guided them to the Sea of Malta, but also ensured that they reached the shore safely.

Let me leave you with three points. From this Acts 27, the ending passages that we have to remind ourselves in our lives when we face the storms of life. First is this, to the child of God, every storm is an appointed storm. You need to believe that in your life. A lot of times, we think that storms of life are not appointed by the Lord. They are. If you are a child of God, nothing good or bad happens in your life unless it is ordained and appointed by your heavenly Father. He is absolutely in control. Every storm is an appointed storm in your life. That’s hard for us to swallow. That’s hard for us to understand. That is hard for us to reconcile sometimes with a loving God, but God’s word still reminds you that what you think is bad may not be bad if the eternal perspective that God gives to us. We sang about the dream this morning. What the enemy meant for evil, He turns it for good. When Joseph was in the pit, there was no way he could have known that I am in the storm that God has appointed. Sold as a slave to Egypt, storm that God had appointed. Wrongly accused in Potiphar’s house, storm that God appointed. Prison, storm that God appointed. Forgotten for two plus years, storm that God appointed. Oh, what? To one day reach the place that God had ordained to him to remind yourself of your soul this morning that every storm is an appointed storm of the Lord.

Secondly, to the child of God, every storm is a storm of opportunity. Every storm is a storm of opportunity for specifically two things. One, experience the grace of God like never before. Experience the provisions of God like never before. There’s grace that you will experience in the middle of your storm that you will never experience unless and until you went through the storms of life. There’s also strength that you receive in the midst of your storm that you’re never able to experience in your life unless and until you went through the storm. But you know what else? It is also a storm of opportunity to proclaim the gospel more powerfully than anything else that you could do with your words. Every storm that you face is an opportunity to proclaim the goodness of God, the power of the gospel, the grace of the gospel that not only saves us, that sustains us in the middle of the storms of life. Oh, when you sing, they will ask you and they will wonder why. We’ll just tell them we are loving our King. You cannot do that unless and until you are given the opportunity to respond the right way in the middle of the storms of your life.

Finally, to the child of God, every storm leads to a shore designed by the heavenly Father. Every storm has a destination, but unlike the people of the world wandering out in aimless sea with no shore in mind, there’s a captain who is absolutely in control over every course that you’re taking, and He has a shore that He has designed for every single one of our lives. We can trust in that. If He is in control, my heavenly Father will make sure that I reach the shore that He wants me to get to. Let me end with this. Years ago, a ship met with disaster off of the shores of the island of White. In the confusion, a young woman was swept overboard. She found a piece of wreckage and clung to it, but soon she was drifting down the channel and out to sea. A few hours later, the captain of another vessel saw an object floating in the distance. He sent some sailors in a boat to investigate. Before they reached their object, they heard the woman’s voice singing on the wooden object. This is what she sang, this song written by Charles Wesley. Jesus, lover of my soul, let me to Thy bosom fly. While the nearer waters roll, while the tempest still is high, hide me, O my Savior, hide. Till the storm of life is past, safe into the haven guide, O receive my soul at last. The lover of my soul will make sure that I traverse through every storm, held by His divine grace, until I reach the haven and the shore He wants me to get to.

Here’s the reason why we lean on Him and not only on Him. The next stanza: Other refuge have I none, hangs my helpless soul on Thee. Love O leave me not alone, still support and comfort me. All my trust on Thee is stayed, all my help from Thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with the shadow of Thy wing. Do you know that today, in the storms of your life, there is no other refuge that you have other than the everlasting wings of a heavenly Father who delights to cover you even in the midst of the storms of your life. It is often said that every believer is either about to go into a storm, is in the middle of a storm, or coming out of a storm. Let me repeat that again. Every believer is about to go into a storm, is in the middle of the storm, or is just coming out of the storm. Whether you are about to go into a storm, whether you are in the middle of the storm, or you are coming out of a storm, the one constant in all of this is a God who is faithful, who has promised His deliverance, His covering in the midst of the storms of our life. So trust in Him, lean on Him. He is forever faithful, and He made sure that every one of them made it safely on board. May God’s peace rest in your hearts and my hearts in the midst of everything that we and I are facing even this morning.

Let’s look to the Lord in prayer. We Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for the way in which You navigate the courses of our life, O God, holding our hand, charting every mile, covering us with Your feathers, making sure that we reach the desired shore that You have planned for us. Even when life seems hopeless, aimless, full of dangers that we cannot even see in the middle of the night, we see a loving God who is watching over us, guiding us, strengthening us, ensuring that we reach our desired haven. Help us to lean on You. Help us to sing praises to You. Help us to give thanks to You even in the middle of the storms of our life. Build our faith, O God. Remove doubts from our hearts, O God. Thank You for this time. As we now go into a time of celebrating Your death on the cross for us, may our hearts be filled with gratitude for what the good Lord has done in our life. Thank You for hearing our prayer. In the name of the Lord Jesus that we pray, amen.