Voyage To Rome (Part 1)

Review

Turn to Acts 27.

In Acts 26, Paul had the strange experience of standing on trial so that the judges could figure out why he should be on trial in the first place. Paul gave a lengthy defence and talked about his life in Judaism. He was zealous for God, but he was trying to please God in his own way. As a result, he ended up fighting against God. That all changed when he realized that pleasing God was possible through Jesus Christ alone. That is what he preached to Festus and Agrippa during the trial.

Message

Read Acts 27:1-13.

I am by no means an experienced boater, but I’ve had some opportunities to be out on the water in my lifetime and I’ve come to enjoy it more and more. My earliest childhood memory of being on a boat was at Lake Meade, about 45 minutes south of here in Adams County.

For several years, my family took a day trip down there and spent the day with our pastor and his family, whom we were good friends with. I loved the water, but as a little boy, I was there for the fishing.

Next slide here: picture of me fishing

However, our friends had a boat with an outboard motor on it and I’ll never forget that first time I climbed aboard that boat and hung on as we began to fly across that water. It was an amazing experience! I learned that being out on the water was a world of difference from being on land.

While I’ve had some great memories going boating through the years, I’m certain that nothing I’ve experienced can be compared to what Paul endured during his Voyage To Rome.

Next slide here:

Setting sail on the voyage - Acts 27:1-13.

In verses 1-13, we are given a detailed travel itinerary as Paul, Aristarchus, and at least one other Christian set sail. Notice verse two. Do you see who the other person is? Luke - “we” and “us.”

Let’s take a look at where they go.

Next slide here: From Caesarea to Crete

Orange: a ship from Adramyttium, a seaport on the northwest coast of modern Turkey

Green: a freight liner from Alexandria, Egypt. It was carrying a load of grain to Italy.

Paul, Aristarchus, and Luke were taken along with “certain other prisoners.” Now there’s an important little detail here.

ἄλλος: others of the same kind

ἕτερος: others of a different kind

Paul was a political prisoner, but the other prisoners that were on board were probably violent criminals who were being shipped to Rome for execution. Rome was known for publicly executing criminals for sport - sometimes by wild animals, sometimes by combat.

Paul was different from those other prisoners, so he received some special privileges from Julius, the centurion and was allowed to visit some friends in Sidon. The other prisoners didn’t get this privilege, but Paul did. That was no accident. That was not luck! That was God at work in Paul’s life!

Application: Isn’t it amazing the little blessings that God drops along the way as we go through life? He does it all the time, but I fear that most of the time we don’t notice because we’re too busy complaining about something else. Christian, practice the presence of God. In other words, as you go through your day, talk with God, walk with God, listen for His Spirit speaking in your heart to do right, and pay attention to what He does throughout your day. Why? Because that’s how real He is. He is always there, but I fear that mostly we don’t take notice.

Who were these friends that Paul met? The Bible doesn’t say, but we can be confident that there was a local church in that city. Imagine the encouragement those Christians must have been to Paul as they spent time with him, knowing that he was on his way to Rome for his ultimate trial.

Application: God knew that Paul needed to be with these friends before setting out for Rome.

Christian, do you have godly friends? I’m not asking if you have friends, I’m asking if you have godly friends. If you’re a Christian, you must have some Godly friends in your life. Paul couldn’t do it alone. He had two close friends with him on the voyage. He went and saw some more in Sidon. If an apostle needed some godly friends, then Christian, so do you.

If you don’t have any, why not? If you don’t have a Christian friend that you can talk to about the Bible and the things of God, why not? You’re sitting in a room that is predominately other Christians! Pick one! Go find someone that you can talk to about spiritual things. Get to know someone that will encourage you and you encourage them!

“Pastor, that’s what you’re for!”

Hear me: the local church is not a one-man operation! That is not God’s design.

Yes, God has graciously given you a shepherd to be a godly friend and to do each of those things, but His design is that a church family do that for each other! That’s what these friends did for Paul!

Galatians 6:2 KJV 1900

Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

It’s far more efficient if we have godly friendships with each other rather than if one person tries to do that with everybody. Paul surrounded himself with Godly friends wherever he could and he mentions them often in his letters. Christian, be like Paul: build up Godly friendships and be a Godly friend.

Now concerning this voyage, according to historians, this chapter is one of the most detailed accounts of Roman-era seamanship that has survived to the present day. One person wrote “that in all classical literature there is no passage which gives us so much information about the working of an ancient ship.” - Witness to Christ: A Commentary on Acts, Ac 27:1–8, p 372.

Luke also indicates the time of year and the conditions of the weather. By the time they made it to Crete, which wasn’t quite the halfway mark, the sailing season was already over for the year.

Read Acts 27:9.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 27:9–12

The Fast referred to here was probably the Day of Atonement which occurred in late September to early October. After that time of year the unsettled weather patterns over the Mediterranean Sea made sailing hazardous. In those days sea traffic ceased by early November.

The weather had already worsened, so Paul began to caution against further travel. He had sailed many times by this point, but the centurion decided to trust the captain rather than the prisoner. From a human standpoint, I can’t say I fault him for that, but he’s going to regret that decision before too long. The majority desired to proceed to a more comfortable port to stay for the winter and the majority ruled against Paul and his counsel.

Application: Church family, when you don’t get your way, trust God, and keep moving forward.

That’s what Paul did here.

He said, “I don’t think this is a good idea. If we keep going now, we’re going to jeopardize not just the ship, but also our lives. Let’s not do this.”

When the centurion decided to do it anyway, Paul didn’t get angry. He didn’t despair. He trusted God and moved forward.

Next slide here:

The storm during the voyage - Acts 27:14-20.

Read Acts 27:14-20.

I’m not sure how many of you have been on a ship in the middle of a storm, but if you have, it’s not likely you were in a storm for two weeks. That’s what happens here.

Read Acts 27:27, 33.

For two weeks, they were in a raging storm. For two weeks, they didn’t eat - it was that bad.

When they had begun the voyage west, the wind was contrary - it was blowing from the west or southwest, which is why they had such a difficult time making progress. However, the greek word εὐρ-ακύλων means a “northeast wind.” This was a northeaster. The wind had changed direction and now it was blowing down on them from the east/north east.

Next slide here: in danger of being blown towards Africa.

There were 276 people on board the ship, verse 36 tells us. They did everything they could to survive.

Initially, they tried coming below an island called Clauda to use it as a windbreak, but that didn’t last long.

They tried to loop cables under the hull of the ship and winch them tight so as to hold it together.

Paul, Luke, and Aristarchus worked with their own hands to throw out the rigging, sails, and spars of the ship - everything that was used in normal weather conditions.

Finally, they began throwing out the grain to lighten the ship and cause it to ride higher in the water. The situation was so desperate that the purpose of the voyage was secondary at this point. They tried everything they could. Survival was all that mattered!

Notice verse 20.

Read Acts 27:20.

“we should be saved” - passive voice, indicating that their only hope was to be saved by another - by someone else.

“was taken away” - to remove, to take away altogether or entirely. It’s in the imperfect tense, indicating that this happened slowly over time.

It was so bad for so long that their only hope was for divine intervention, but slowly, all hope for survival faded away.

I don’t know to what degree this was true of Paul, Aristarchus, and Luke, but I do know that they were tempted to fear and to see the situation as hopeless. They had the same feelings, passions, and weaknesses that we do. They were not superhuman. We’ll see this more tonight in verse 24, but church family listen to what I’m about to say:

Application: When all hope is lost, God is still sovereign in the storm. Maybe Paul and his two friends couldn’t see it at the time, but God was still in control even after two weeks of hurricane-like conditions out on the open sea. How can we be sure of this? Because the Lord Jesus had told Paul - you will bear witness also at Rome.

Acts 23:11 KJV 1900

And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

That was going to happen, but Paul didn’t know how. Even if he somehow survived and made it to Rome, what if Aristarchus or Luke didn’t make it? What if they both died in the storm? What if he was the lone survivor? This voyage had many unknowns, but one thing was certain: God was still sovereign in the storm.

Conclusion

Christian, just like Paul trusted God on his voyage to Rome, you must embrace the voyage of life that God has planned for you. You will occasionally enjoy some calm winds. You will surely weather some storms. You may even experience a shipwreck of some kind, but if you are a child of the King, you can be certain that God’s voyage - His plan for your life - is not worth trading for any other!

Submit to the will of God, when it includes calm seas!

Submit to the will of God, when you make plans to reach a safe port but God allows you to be blown far away from it!

Submit to the will of God, when it includes fierce winds!

Submit to the will of God, whatever it may be!

Surrender yourself to God’s voyage, get on board the ship, and trust God as you set sail across whatever waters He may have charted for your life.

That is what Paul did on the Voyage To Rome.