Acts 27:1-28:10 - God's Sovereign Provision

Introduction

The online Cambridge dictionary says the phrase “ride out the storm” is an idiom or expression that means “to manage not to be destroyed, harmed, or permanently affected by the difficult situation you experience.”[i]But I want to know, “How is such a thing to be ‘managed’?” I mean, how does one decide to not be destroyed or harmed? Have you ever felt in much control when you’re in the middle of a storm? …either an actual storm or a metaphorical one?

As some of you will recall, in the last several chapters of the book of Acts, Luke has been telling us about Paul’s journey from the mission field to a Roman prison in Judea and about Paul’s long stay there. Luke described how Paul came back to Jerusalem (despite being warned about the affliction he would face there), how Paul was opposed and arrested in Jerusalem (because of his tenacity in preaching the gospel of God’s salvation to anyone who repents and believes in the Savior, Jesus Christ), and about how Paul used at least some of his most important opportunities to defend himself as occasions to point sinners (both great and small) to the reality that Jesus of Nazareth was/is the Messiah or the Christ.

Now we’ve come to that last stretch, where Luke tells us about how Paul traveled from Judea all the way to Rome (his final destination, and the fulfillment of his own commission (Acts 26:15-18) as well as the immediate fulfillment of Christ’s commission to all His disciples at the beginning of Acts (Acts 1:8).

It’s interesting that this whole episode we’re reading today might almost be described as Paul’s fourth missionary journey. One commentator described the pattern: (1) Paul is “accompanied by… fellow Christians (Aristarchus and Luke at least) – and is encouraged by believers along the way;” (2) though Paul does not begin in the role of leader or preacher, he ends up there “as the crisis develops;” and (3) Paul does deliver God’s word to unbelievers, and Luke explicitly tells us that God saved the lives of unbelievers, though there is good reason to think that God also saved at least some souls as well.[ii]

As we read and study this passage together, I’d like you to look out for two key emphases: (1) God, and especially His word, is true and trustworthy; and (2) Paul, and especially his message, speaks with divine authority. In short, (1) God is sovereign, and (2) Paul is His Apostle.

In an effort to apply this well in our own lives, let’s also pay close attention to the interplay between God’s temporary or momentary kindness and His eternal or saving kindness. What I mean is: God does show Himself gracious and kind even to unbelievers in our passage, and while this should “lead” sinners “to repentance” (Rom. 2:4), it often exposes “hard and impenitent” hearts in those who will face “God’s righteous judgment” on the “day of wrath” (Rom. 2:5). I think we will see this repeatedly in our passage.

One final note of introduction before I read the text… I’m going to read a long portion of Scripture (54 verses), from Acts 27:1 through 28:10. And I’m going to ask you all to stand with me as I read in just a moment. I think you’ll see that the story flows along, but it will take me about 8-9 minutes to read the whole thing. Just remember: (1) the truest and most profound words I will say today are those I read aloud from the text of the Bible; and (2) standing for the primary reading of Scripture is a tradition we have, but it is not a requirement… no one is going to be disappointed in you if you need to sit.

Well, now that I’ve talked long enough for you to get comfortable in your seats, let me ask you to stand with me as I read our passage for today, beginning with Acts 27, verse 1…

Scripture Reading

Acts 27:1–28:10 (ESV)

27:1 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. 2 And embarking in a ship of [or “from”] Adramyttium [a seaport of Mysia], which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

3 The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for.

4 And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia.

6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”

11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.

16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along.

18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”

27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. 29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.

30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.

33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.”

35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

39 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40 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. 41 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.

42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, 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, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.

28:1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.

3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”

5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.

Main Idea:

God sovereignly ordains everything that happens for His good purposes, which are especially on display in faithful Christian living and witnessing.

Sermon

1. God’s Gracious Supply (27:1-3)

Throughout this whole passage, we see God delight in showing kindness to Paul and his companions. The first notable kindness is that Paul had any companions at all on this trip from Judea to Rome. Paul was a Roman prisoner sailing away from a region where Paul was a societal pariah. To be friends with Paul in Judea was to make yourself a certain target of Jewish leaders and a possible target of Roman inquiry. Nevertheless, Luke says that a man named “Aristarchus” went along “with” Paul or “accompanied” him (Acts 27:2).

And it seems that Aristarchus was no ordinary friend. For one, he was “a Macedonian from Thessalonica” (Acts 27:2). Aristarchus was probably a Gentile convert under Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-8). Like several towns where Paul preached the gospel, he was violently opposed and barely escaped with his life. And yet, Aristarchus decided that the gospel was worth suffering for.

And it's a good thing that Aristarchus signed up to suffer for the gospel along with Paul, because he was “dragged” into a mob court in Ephesus simply for being Paul’s “traveling companion” (Acts 19:28-29). And, a few months later, Aristarchus was still a committed friend, deciding to personally travel alongside Paul in an escape from a murderous plot made against him in Greece (Acts 20:1-5).

Aristarchus was a faithful friend indeed. Paul mentioned him in two NT letters (Colossians and Philemon), even referring to him as a “fellow prisoner” in Colossians 4:10. But not only was he a faithful friend, he also seems to have been a wealthy one. Though Paul called Aristarchus his “fellow prisoner” at one point, Paul was the only one who couldn’t leave.

Aristarchus was there beside Paul on his own account. He was there because he wanted to be, and this means that he was living on his own dime (probably also helping to pay for some of Paul’s needs) for more than two years in a Roman prison. And back in those days, there was no such thing as “three hots and a cot” (three meals and bed to sleep on). Prisoners ate and wore and used what their friends and family could afford to bring them.

Such was God’s kind and gracious supply to Paul… a friend like Aristarchus. Oh, that God would grant us friends like that! Oh, that God would make us to be just such friends to our brothers and sisters in Christ!

I could go on about God’s gracious supply to Paul here. Luke was another friend God granted to Paul on his trip. Luke uses first-person pronoun “we” throughout the passage. So too, Julius, the centurion, “treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends” in Sidon (Acts 27:3). And there was also the “unusual kindness” shown to Paul by the islanders on Malta and their chief, a man named Publius (Acts 28:1). At every turn, God graciously supplied Paul with kindness (through friends, enemies, and miracles), even though God did not deliver Paul from all his troubles.

Friends, I wonder how often you have looked back on God’s gracious supply of kindness to you. When was the last time you really considered all the ways God graciously supplies you with so much undeserved kindness? When was the last time counted your blessings? Some of you will know the old song:

Verse one says, “When upon life’s billows [or “waves”] you are tempest tossed [or “storm tossed”]; When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost; Count your many blessings, name them one by one; And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.”

And the song goes on, “Are you ever burdened with a load of care? Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear? Count your many blessings, ev’ry doubt will fly; And you will be singing as the days go by.”

And the last verse says, “So, amid the conflict, whether great or small; Do not be discouraged, God is over all; Count your many blessings, angels will attend; Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.”

Friends, our passage today teaches us that God is not just sovereign over storms and seas and snakes… He is sovereign over every little thing. And the God who rules the universe, is the gracious and kind heavenly Father of those who love and trust Him… and He delights in being kind to His children.

2. Hopeless in the Storm (27:4-20)

After “it was decided” that “a centurion of the Augustan Cohort” should “sail for Italy” with Paul and a number of other prisoners (Acts 27:1), Julius (the centurion) organized passage on what was probably a cargo ship. There was a quick stop at “Sidon” (Acts 27:3), and then they sailed further along “to Myra in Lycia” (Acts 27:5). So far, so good… but Luke gives us a signal that things are about to get bad when he says, in v4, “the winds were against us.”

Some Bible students have read Luke’s account here and perceived similarities between Luke’s story and other storm-on-the-sea type stories, like Homer’s Odyssey. To be clear, I don’t think any part of Acts is merely a fable or parable! Luke is telling this story from a first-person account, and he is saying that all this stuff really happened. And I believe it did!

I also believe that Luke is trying to do more than report the bald facts to his reader. He’s been including certain stories and particular details all along way because he is trying to teach and to persuade his reader. Luke wants to teach his reader how Jesus actually empowered His disciples to fulfill His commission to bring the gospel to the known world. And Luke wants to persuade his reader to believe the gospel message and to join in the effort to live as faithful witnesses… despite all that it will cost (affliction, trouble, and persecution) to do so.

Since Luke is writing with this purpose and in this way, its not surprising that Luke would organize this episode of Paul’s life and ministry in a format familiar to his reader. And I think the plot structure here is easy to recognize. In the first section (Acts 27:1-3), we met the characters and started the voyage. But in this second section (Acts 27:4-20), we see the rise of terrible conflict.

Let’s trace it through the passage together. As we already noted, in v4, Luke says “the winds were against us.” After arriving safely at “Myra in Lycia” (v5), the centurion “found” another “ship” (v6), this one “of” or “from” “Alexandria” (v6). The next stretch of sailing was “slowly” and “with difficulty” (v7), and they were even stopped by the “wind” which “did not allow [them] to go farther” (v7). They set sail again, and again sailed “with difficulty” to a place called “Fair Havens” (v8)… and the name of that town is both irony and foreshadowing.

Verses 9 and 10 are crucial to the rising conflict. I’m not exactly sure what “Fast” Luke is referring to in v9, but what he is saying is that a lot of time has gone by, and the season for sailing easily is over. He says it clearly there in v9, “the voyage was now dangerous.” Additionally, Paul gave a clear and ominous warning. He said, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives” (v10).

Now this does not come as a “Thus says the Lord” type statement, but for the reader, we know that Paul is an Apostle of Christ, and his words rightfully carry a good deal of weight. In point of fact, no person on that ship will lose his life, but Paul’s warning is true so far as it goes… “Apart from a miracle from God, we are all going to die if we sail right now.”

However, the centurion does not know or believe Paul as we do, so he “paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said” (v11). Practically speaking, this was the right and wise thing to do. Paul is not a captain, and he’s not even an experienced sailor. These guys know what they are doing, and they should make the call.

But we know that Luke’s record of Paul’s words here are cited for good reason, and now we have even more conflict rising than what this story alone provides. We know that the risen Lord Jesus Christ has “stood by” Paul and told him to “Take courage, for you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome” (Acts 23:11). But how is Paul going to get to Rome if he and everyone else on the ship are going to die when they sail?

With this hanging question, we continue on… Luke says, “soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land” (v14), and from there it just got worse and worse. The sailors tried every trick in the book to keep the ship afloat as they were “driven along” by the storm (v15, 17), including throwing nearly everything overboard “with their own hands” (v19). And this is a picture of their desperation. Luke concludes this section by saying, “When neither the sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned” (Acts 27:20).

What an awful situation! The storm was so terrible and the ship so helpless upon the waves that experienced and hardened sailors had abandoned all hope. There seems to be nothing here to give them anything to hold on to. They didn’t know where they were, they had no way of navigating in any particular direction, and the storm was still raging all around them.

Now, Luke is here recounting a literal ship, with an actual crew, with passengers and soldiers and prisoners on board (276 persons in all), in a real storm. But the parallel to other experiences of life is obvious. Many of us have found ourselves in some kind of storm… the surprising loss of a job, a terrible report from the doctor, an awful fight with our spouse, a child in self-destruct mode for months or years, the death of someone we love and depend on, or some other terrifying and overwhelming storm of life. And many of us have tried all we knew to do to get ourselves out of the storm… we’ve looked high and low for other employment, we’ve committed to everything the doctor said to do, we’ve tried and tried to make amends with our spouse, we’ve cried and prayed and pleaded with our child, and we’ve made every effort to calm the storm. But the storm is still there, and our ship is empty, and we’re ready to abandon all hope.

What do we do? Where do we turn? How do we hold on and keep going?

3. God’s Word on the Sea (27:21-37)

In our case today, what we need is to hear and to believe and to obey God’s word. In those times of deepest anguish and despair, we need to be reminded of what God has actually promised, what He has commanded, and what He has revealed about Himself. Of course, we find all of this in Scripture… and I’ve learned that the Psalms are a wonderful place to turn in those times when even reading Scripture seems to be a grueling chore. I’ve also learned that singing songs that focus on God’s love in Christ and those that focus on the hope of glory are a wonderful balm to a wounded and ailing soul.

But most of the men on that ship with Paul knew nothing of the Psalms, they knew nothing of God’s promises in the gospel, and they had never heard a Christian sing a song about the hope of glory. What they did have, however, was an Apostle of Christ on board with them… and when all hope was lost, Paul stood up to speak a divine word to them.

Verse 23 says that Paul got an angelic message from God about what was going to happen to the ship and the men aboard. Paul was clear that the message he spoke was from “the God to whom I belong and whom I worship” (v23). Paul’s God was with him, and this was no regional or elemental god of pagan mythology. This was the God who rules in every place on the map, and the God who is sovereign on both land and sea!

Paul’s message from God was pretty straightforward: “there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship” (v22). And this word was intended to give them hope, since Paul said twice that the men should “take heart” (v22, 25) or “be of good cheer” (KJV) or “keep up your courage” (NASB, NIV84).

The essence of the angel’s message was personally for Paul: “Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar” (v24). In other words, “Paul, you’re going to make it to Rome, and you’re going to fulfill your commission. Don’t fear; you’re going to survive.”

But that wasn’t all! The angel continued, “And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you” (v24) or “God has graciously given you the lives [or “the safety” (NET)] of all who sail with you” (NIV84). Apparently, Paul had been praying for the safety of his shipmates! And God had granted Paul’s prayer!

Here we have an example of a Christian praying for God’s help, and even unbelieving pagans receive God’s temporary or momentary kindness. God did actually save their lives (as we shall see)! But this is not to be confused with God’s eternal or saving kindness. It’s one thing to observe God’s grace toward us in saving us from the storm, but it’s another thing entirely to know God’s grace toward us in Christ, which saves us from our sin and from God’s wrath.

Friends, I hope you don’t think that God’s eternal grace and kindness in saving your soul means that God will absolutely save you from every storm of life as well. He probably will not! In fact, every Christian will likely face soul-threatening and heart-pounding storms in this life… and all of us will one day die. The Christian hope (as I’ve said many times) is not that God will keep us from life’s storms, but that He will always go through them with us, and that He will bring us safely to Himself in glory in the end.

But I want to say an opposite word to those people who presume upon the kindness of God. In our passage, we can see an example of God saving the lives of almost 300 men, nearly all of whom are unbelievers and suffer eternally under God’s wrath in the end. We have no indication that any of the men on this ship repented and believed (except maybe Julius).

Friends, just because you can point to a time when God showed you grace or kindness does not mean that you’re “all good” with the “big man upstairs.” The holy God of the universe may have graciously preserved your life for a time in order that you might turn from your sin and trust in and follow Christ, but unless you do, you will suffer the eternal punishment you and your sin deserve.

Well, there’s more detail in our story than we have time to talk about, but the rest of this section (ending at v38) tells us how the sailors started looking to Paul (and to Paul’s God) as the one who was truly in charge of the remainder of their journey. This section began with a word from the Lord in the midst of a hopeless situation, and it ends with everyone looking to God’s man for direction and hope.

4. A Harmless Snake (27:39-28:10)

For more than 2 weeks, Paul and his shipmates had been bobbing around in the sea on a ship with no course, no sails in the air, and no earthly reason for hope. By the time we get to Acts 27:39, all the men aboard that ship were clinging to Paul’s word from Paul’s God that they would all somehow live.

Finally, in the last 5 verses of the chapter, Luke tells us how “it was that all were brought safely to land” (Acts 27:44). Basically, they aimed to beach the ship in a bay, but they got stuck on a shallow reef instead. With some water still ahead, and much of the sea behind them, the waves crashed and broke the ship to pieces.

Even in this last moment, however, there was still a threat to human life in the form of desperate soldiers. Some of them intended to “kill the prisoners” so that they would not “escape” by swimming away (Acts 27:42). But here too, God preserved life, and He did it through the sympathy and leadership of the centurion.

Through the storm and through the sea, God had shown Himself a kind and gracious sovereign. As I said earlier, God’s control over every detail of creation (including clouds, waves, wind, and men) is a major theme of this episode. So too, through all of this, God had shown that Paul was His man, His Apostle.

And in Acts 28:1-10, we see God sovereignly bring His Apostle to a “native people” (v2) or a “barbarous people” (KJV) so that they might come to know God (the true God!) through Paul’s ministry to them.

When Paul and the rest of the men “were brought safely” to shore by God’s kind and sovereign hand (v1), they were greeted by “islanders” (v2, NIV84) who “showed… unusual kindness” to them (v2). And whatever else the sailors, the soldiers, and the other prisoners did on the island is completely unknown, because something happened right away that turned all the attention again to Paul.

Luke says that Paul was helping gather sticks for the fire, and “a viper came out… and fastened on his hand” (v3). When it did, the islanders thought this was a sign of “Justice” having her revenge (v4). We might hear someone say in our own day, “Karma got him!” But Paul “shook off the creature… and suffered no harm” (v5), and this was only the beginning of what God did among the islanders to signal that Paul was not only no criminal, he was an Apostle sent from God.

Remember, this is what miracles like prophecy and healing do in the book of Acts. These special signs of God’s miraculous power validate the preacher of the gospel and the message he is preaching. The miracles themselves are open to misinterpretation… These islanders eventually decided that Paul must be “a god” (v6), and this wasn’t the first time Paul’s miracles had been misunderstood. Remember when the people of Lystra tried to worship Barnabas and Paul as “Zeus” and “Hermes” (Acts 14:8-12).

However, the message preached is what explains the purpose of the miracles or signs. Paul didn’t want to be worshipped as a god, he wanted people to know the true God – who not only saves sailors’ lives and heals various ailments and diseases, but also (and more importantly) justifies guilty sinners so that they may finally enter into a world where there is no disease and no death.

The miracles here (in Acts 27-28) point to the validity and trustworthiness of the message, just like the miracles elsewhere in Acts have done. And though Luke does not record it here, it is impossible to think that Paul did not preach the gospel during his stay (at least “three days” v7) on the island. And what gospel did Paul preach? Well, the same one he’d been preaching everywhere else!

Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God and God the Son… Jesus came to live and to die and to conquer death in the place of sinners… It is because of Jesus’s obedient life and on the basis of Jesus’s sacrificial death that sinners can be forgiven… God demands righteousness, and Jesus has earned it… God demands justice, and Jesus has suffered under it… And anyone who turns from their sin and trusts or believes in Jesus can be assured of the forgiveness of sins, eternal peace with God, and resurrection from the dead in the end.

And how can we know that all this is true?! Well, because Jesus Himself has died and risen again! Because Jesus Himself has sent His Apostles out into the world to preach the good news of salvation in full, and Jesus sent His Spirit along with them to perform miracles of healing and deliverance to give a visible demonstration of salvation in part!

Conclusion

Friends, we’ve read and considered a lot today. But I’d like to offer this word of summary and encouragement and invitation to you.

First, God has not promised, nor is He obligated to rescue any of us (including Christians) from the storms of life. God did preserve Paul’s life and the lives of many unbelievers, but God did not prevent them from going through a whole bunch of terrible stuff along the way. And God’s preservation of Paul was a special act for a specific purpose – to get Paul to Rome, as Christ had promised. God has given you and me no such promise of living so long, or traveling so far, or experiencing so much.

Second, God is sovereign over all of our storms (whether we are Christians or not). And God uses the storms of our lives to invite us to trust Him over ourselves… to trust His word over our own wisdom, or experience, or ingenuity. God has not only told us how to be justified in Christ (to repent and believe), but He has also told us how to follow Christ… how to persevere in Christ (to continue in repentance and belief, to do works in keeping with repentance, to believe as a way of life). May God help us to trust Him… to trust that He’s good and that He’s sovereign and that He loves His children… even as we may endure the storm.

Third, and finally, God’s purpose for the lives of His people is that they be faithful witnesses in whatever context or circumstance they find themselves. Yet again, the Apostle Paul offers us a wonderful example of faithful Christian witness. He was shipwrecked, starved, exhausted, cold, and snake-bitten! And Paul (along with Luke and Aristarchus) were the only Christians we know of who ever visited the people on that island. What if Paul had decided that his Christianity needed to take a few days off? What if Paul had given in to the temptation to think about his own wants and interests and comforts?

Oh, brothers and sisters, let’s not view our hard circumstances or our failures or our sorrows as the sort of stuff that needs to be hidden or avoided. Instead, let’s show our neighbors and our friends and our family members that Christians know how to suffer well… Christians are at home in humiliation… Christians are able to ache with sorrow and grief, but we do not grieve as those who have no hope.

“For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have [died]… the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command… And the dead in Christ will rise… [and] we who are alive… will be caught up together with them… and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:14-17).

Endnotes

[i]See the dictionary here: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/ride-out-the-storm [ii] These three features of this narrative are drawn from Peterson, page 680.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Aland, Kurt, Barbara Aland, Johannes Karavidopoulos, Carlo M. Martini, and Bruce M. Metzger. Novum Testamentum Graece. 28th Edition. Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 2012.

Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press, 2005.

Calvin, John. Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles. Edited by Henry Beveridge. Translated by Christopher Fetherstone. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2010.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.

Peterson, David. The Acts of the Apostles. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Nottingham, England: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company; Apollos, 2009.

Polhill, John B. Acts. Vol. 26. The New American Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992.

Sproul, R. C., ed. The Reformation Study Bible: English Standard Version. 2015 Edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2015.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016.

The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic Edition of the 1900 Authorized Version. Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 2009.

The Holy Bible: New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1984.