The Will of the Lord, Our Sure and Steady Anchor
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· 1 viewThe will of Lord is certain and will come to pass.
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The Will of the Lord, Our Sure and Steady Anchor
Main Idea: The Lord’s Will is Certain
Introduction
Have you ever had a near death encounter?
Story: Ethan’s car almost t-boned at Bob Wade intersection.
Domestic flight landing back in KTM.
Paul, his brothers in Christ, and all on board walked through a situation where imminent death was ever before them. They were certainly at the will of the storm, but more importantly the will of our Lord was not shaken by these unfortunate circumstances. Our great Creator was not surprised by this event, but in His sovereign control of all things was using such a time to glorify His name through the life of Paul.
Things in this life can lead to disaster, but the will of the one true God will ultimately come to pass. It is as certain as the sun rising in the morning and falling in the evening.
It is sure and steady, unshakable by the evils of this world and the powers of darkness. The Will of Our Lord is trustworthy for the follower of Christ yesterday, today, tomorrow, and forever.
Last Week: Acts 27.1-12
Paul is on his way to Rome! This narrative at the beginning of Acts 27 showed us where Paul began a long, hard journey to Rome because of his appeal to Caesar.
Last week together, we discussed the topic of “Dealing With Life”. Life on earth is certainly not easy, and the Lord revealed some practical applications for us in the modern day church when we are dealing with the things of life.
1. God gives us brothers and sisters in Christ (v.1-4)
The Lord had provided Paul with great friends and companions throughout his ministry and in this case on his way to Rome.
To live our lives together and care for one another (CGs, Family Groups, Accountability)
Paul and Timothy relationship (Philippians 2.19-24)
Love one another and bear fruit through the gospel together (Jn 15.12-17)
2. God gives us discernment to perceive danger (v.5-8)
Evil in this world is at work to keep the souls of the lost and unreached away from the truth of the gospel. As God’s instrument for gospel advancement to the nations, we must be careful to discern truth from falsehood.
3. God gives us wisdom to make decisions (v.9-12)
Wisdom begins with fear and reverence of the Lord.
Wisdom Found in the Lord
9 Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;
whoever is discerning, let him know them;
for the ways of the Lord are right,
and the upright walk in them,
but transgressors stumble in them.
The Storm at Sea
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.
1. Is there Hope in the storm? (v.13-20)
1. Is there Hope in the storm? (v.13-20)
Against Paul’s warning back in v.10 and because the harbor was “not suitable to spend the winter in” (v.11), they put back out to sea away from the city of Lasea and headed towards Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, planning to spend the winter there.
Things appear to initially go smoothly, as a “south wind blew gently” that gave the crew confidence in their decision. The weighed anchor and sailed along the coast of Crete.
CRETE: A large island in the Mediterranean Sea approximately 100 miles (160 km) southeast of the Greek mainland; marks the southern border of the Aegean Sea. Crete is also known as the location for the ministry of Titus (Titus 1:5).
Soon after, a hurricane-like wind called the “Northeaster” fell upon them. The wording Luke used here is interesting to describe the wind and the outcome.
The Storm Begins
15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
They were helpless! The might of such a storm had them in its grasp and the boat was not match for such a storm.
Regardless of the mode of transportation, each kind of transportation is designed with controls to power, steer, and effect the operation of the system for safety, efficiency, and performance purposes.
Luke said they gave way to fighting the wind and could not remain in the protection of Crete, but instead drifted out into open sea.
Short Lived Relief and Action
They drift about 25 miles south near the island of Cauda, where they caught the lee (a portion of the island shielding them from the prevailing wind).
The sailors haul in the ships life boat which was likely full of water. They also try to “undergird” the ship, meaning they tried to reinforce the ship with ropes wrapping underneath the hull and tied together above deck to keep as much water out as possible.
Still Adrift and More Helpless Provisions
In fear of hitting the sandbars of Syrtis of the cost of North Africa (modern-day Libya), they cast out the sea anchor for some hopeful stability, but were again driven along.
Luke says they continued to be violently stormed tossed. The crew tried to make the ship lighter by throwing over the deck cargo (v.18) and the ship’s tackle (v.19).
This was a common technique, somewhat of a last ditch effort, for the ship to float higher on the water.
The Present Despair
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.
Don’t miss the use of “OUR” in verse 20, meaning at some level Luke had lost hope of being physically saved from this trial.
Their gear had failed them, navigation by the stars was pointless, and at last all hope was abandoned.
Was their hope to be found?
YES, but we will answer this together in a minute.
APPLICATION
As disciples of Jesus Christ, who has all authority in heaven and on earth, we need to prayerfully seek the impenetrable security and peace found only in the Word and Will of God.
We sometimes become impatient in waiting on the Lord’s timing in things. Such impatience can soon give way to disobedience.
Abraham and Sarai
In their old age, God made a covenant with Abraham and Sarai. The Lord said that he would bring from him a great nation (Genesis 12.2) and through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed (v.3).
This covenant is recounted in Genesis 15 and Abraham complains that he is still childless. Our Lord responds, emphasizing the promise He made.
Abraham Believes
5 And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” 6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Genesis 16, Abraham and Sarai’s patience ran out waiting on the Lord’s will to occur. They sought other alternatives in having a son, and succeeded in doing so. But this was not the heir the Lord had promised.
Genesis 21, Isaac is born.
The Lord’s will took 25 years to come to pass.
What can we learn from all of this?
APPLICATION: THIS IS US
The Lord’s promises are certain and will come to fruition in His perfect timing.
We too often seek other solutions apart from seeking Him and His kingdom first because those results are often more tangible and enjoyable to us in our flesh.
We get anxious because we do not quickly see the fruit the Lord has promised so we end up acting abruptly in the storm and in uncertain times to try and find solid ground.
The reality is that we are just called to be obedient, trusting in His good and perfect will
Do Not Be Anxious
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Is there Hope in the storm?
Amidst life’s circumstances, hardships, difficulties, and even disasters…Our Lord is working through it all!
There is Hope in the Storm because each storm is permitted by His ultimate providence.
2. Can we trust in His Word? (v.21-26)
2. Can we trust in His Word? (v.21-26)
They have been without food for a long period of time, so they were likely very physically weak as well. In this time of great despair, Paul rises before them to speak.
Paul opens with somewhat of a “I told you so” direction, looking back at Acts 27.10 when he warned of the dangers ahead of them.
Paul reminds them all of this so that they would perceive him as trust worthy and possibly even one that spoke with authority.
Take Heart
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.’
Take Heart
Greek phrasing here means to be encouraged or cheerful.
When all hope had been lost and death seems imminent, Paul tells them all to be encouraged….? WHY?
The Lord has spoken and His will has been made known!
They need not fear because an angel of God (“to whom I belong and I worship” - IDENTIFICATION) had appeared to Paul and provided 1 Affirmation and 1 Revelation.
1 Affirmation from the Lord
Paul was to stand before Caesar as the Lord had promised Him. This was nothing new to Paul, but only a reaffirmation of what the Lord had already revealed.
The Lord’s Encouragement
11 The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”
This also was not a new idea in Paul’s mind, but was present when writing to the Roman church while in Corinth.
Paul Longs to Go to Rome
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God’s will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine.
But why was Paul so focused on Rome? Paul’s greatest ambition was to fulfill Christ’s command to preach the gospel where Christ had not been named, where Christ was not known. Rome would be a launching point to Spain.
Paul longs to be with the Roman Church
20 and thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else’s foundation, 21 but as it is written,
“Those who have never been told of him will see,
and those who have never heard will understand.”
22 This is the reason why I have so often been hindered from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any room for work in these regions, and since I have longed for many years to come to you, 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain, and to be helped on my journey there by you, once I have enjoyed your company for a while.
1 Revelation Given
God has granted safety and security to all of those that sail with Paul. What a blessing!
In this situation, safety was found in being with Paul and trsuting the Lord’s will through His word.
Again Paul encourages them to “Take heart” . They will run aground on some island and be shipwrecked (v.26), but Paul had faith their lives would be spared just as the angel of the Lord declared.
APPLICATION - Questions To Consider
Could they trust Paul?
This is a fair question for the people onboard to consider. But this consideration is somewhat flawed in its view. Paul, in no way, appealed to himself but only to the God that he belonged to and worshipped (v.23).
It would be only by His might and providence that they would persevere.
2. Could Paul trust the Lord’s Word and Will?
The will of God for Paul’s life at his conversion in Acts was made clear, and up to this point Paul had been through many hardships.
Through it all, the Lord has sustained Paul and used him mightily to speak the Truth to the lost and unreached.
Aren’t we thankful that our God’s faithfulness in keeping His promises is not dependent on our performance for Him?
Biblical Promises of His Will Through His Word
1. He has brought you from spiritual death to life in Christ!
This is a present reality for all those who are in Christ. We are no longer who we used to be, but we are made new!
New Creation in Christ
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
And true faith is not fruitless, but the work of the Spirit begins immediately! If we believe ourselves to be followers of Christ and yet our lives now look rather unchanged compared to our lives before our profession of faith, this should give us pause.
R.C. Sproul, Everyone a Theologian
“But if someone makes a profession of aith yet shows no fruit of it whatsovever, there was no real conversion. We are justified not by a profession of faith but by the possession of faith. Where faith is true, the fruit of that faith begins to appear immediately. It is impossible for a converted person to remain unchanged.”
GOSPEL
2. The Lord’s presence by His Spirit dwells in you!
The Spirit of God’s presence with His church is a present reality. He is our great Helper (the Paraclete) who convicts concerning sin, reveals truth through the Word, and works in perfect union with the Father and Son in carrying out our God’s divine will.
The Spirit Promised
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The Given Spirit Sustains
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
3. By His will, He will complete the work He began in us, His Church.
Paul’s Greeting to the Philippians Church
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
The Will of the Lord Accomplished Through the Word
11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;
it shall not return to me empty,
but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,
and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.
Can we trust in His Word?
The Word and will of the Lord is our only sure and steady anchor in a world broken by sin.
3. Will we walk in His Will? (v.27-32)
3. Will we walk in His Will? (v.27-32)
Two weeks had past while they were in this storm, being driven about without control.
The Hope of the Lord’s word had come through Paul, and now the sailors believe they are nearing land. They take two measurements of the depth of the waters, and land does appear to be close, but this could not be confirmed in the darkness of midnight.
In fearing the possibility of running upon the rocks, they let down four anchors and prayed for daylight.
Possible Panic Sets In
In v.30 we see that sailors were attempting to escape from the ship on the small lifeboat they had pulled in previously. After two weeks, they had likely had enough and were seeking the security of solid ground.
APPLICATION: Where was security found?
Like these sailors, we too as believers often wonder off into other endeavors and efforts seeking security and comfort in our lives.
In this situation, where was security found? It was found in remaining with Paul whom the Lord had revealed His will to. To vacate the ship was to reject the providential words of the Lord.
Paul told them all:
31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
The men listen to Paul’s warning in v.32 and cut the boat loose for good.
We too often make the mistake that the Lord’s will is to deliver us from our present hardship. He may certainly do so!
But if he has chosen not to do so, is His goodness or grace now in question? Certainly not!
A more biblical perspective is this: Hardships and difficulties in this life are ultimately a byproduct of sin, going back to the Fall in Genesis 3.
God allows such trials or tests to occur so that we may be refined in the Truth! Let us instead see our hardships, difficult, and struggles through the lens of scripture.
Testing of Faith
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.
When hardships, trials, persecutions, difficulties arise in our lives, namely when in comes to proclaiming Christ, how will we respond?
In such times, declare the truths of the scriptures. Be assured that your ultimate security is not found within, but your sure and steady anchor is found only in Christ.
He put on flesh, humbled himself, and came to us to do the Father’s will! And He has done just that to perfection. Something was accomplished at the cross! The salvation of His people, and not just the possibility of salvation.
The Father’s Will
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
The Father’s Will - The sovereign redemption of all those who repent and believe in Christ!
And His will continues today! If Christ has not returned, then the work is not done. As long as you still have breath, just like Paul, the Lord is sustaining you for the sake of you making disciples among the nations to the praise of His Glory.
Will we walk in His will?
His will for us is not a mystery but is anchored in the Truth, one we share with the global church: Make disciples through proclaiming Jesus and His gospel to one another, to our neighbors, and to the nations.
The task is known and is clear.
Are you seeking His will to be done through you?