Paul / Shipwreck
Summer in the sand • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
Jerusalem: 80K / Rome: 1Mill
Jewish leaders wanted Paul killed. But he was a Roman citizen by birth right. He needed to be brought before a Roman council. He was in prison for 2 yrs.
10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!” 12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”
Paul shares his story of conversion to King Agrippa
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”
Witness to whomever God has put you in front of.
32 Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
Could have easily be set free but knew he had a call from God to go to Rome.
1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.
6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board.
Large cargo ship of that time.
9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, 10 “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”
Paul had made this trip before and knew the sea’s would be rough that time of year. Paul states in 2 Cor. 11:25 that he had been shipwrecked 3 times. So he was certainly speaking from experience.
11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.
Paul you are a prisoner, what do you know about sailing? The Captain and owner only make money if they get the goods to where they needed to go.
14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along.
The Perfect Storm staring - Mark Wahlberg
18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.
Tried to lighten the ship by throwing the wheat overboard. There goes our money. There goes our furnishings.
20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
It was impossible to determine their position. The situation seemed hopeless, and it all happened because one man would not listen to God’s messenger.
Sometimes we get ourselves into storms for the same reasons: impatience, accepting expert advice that is contrary to God’s will, following the majority.
21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.
22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.
“Paul began as a prisoner,” he ended up as the captain.” Paul “took over” the situation when it was obvious that nobody else knew what to do. A crisis does not make a person; a crisis shows what a person is made of, and it tends to bring true leadership to the front.
23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’
Paul shares God word with them.
Oikos moment: When all seems hopeless, we can intervein with hope from God’s word.
25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”
27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.
During the two weeks they had been at sea, the ship had been driven over 500 miles off course and was now adrift.
29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.
30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.
For the men to abandon ship was to take their lives in their own hands and threaten the lives of others.
31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.
Whether the soldiers acted wisely in cutting the boat free, it is difficult to determine; but in an emergency, you take emergency measures.
33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”
Rough seas can cause nausea. I have only been sea sick once. It is awful.
35 After 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. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.
Paul took the bread and openly prayed and gave thanks to God. (This is a good example for us to follow when we are eating in public places.) - On a date with a girl. Pray in here?
His example encouraged the others to join him, and before long, everybody felt better. There are times when one dedicated believer can change the whole atmosphere of a situation simply by trusting God and making that faith visible.
37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.
All 276 lives matter to God. Not Just Paul’s.
39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.
41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.
42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.
The Roman soldiers could face punishment or death if their prisoners escaped.
44 The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.
1 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.
Malta, an island, seventeen miles long and nine miles wide, about sixty miles south of Sicily. None of the sailors had previously been to the bay (known today as St. Paul’s Bay) where they were shipwrecked.
3 Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand.
Paul’s leadership is to be commended here. Like everyone else, Paul was tired and weary. But he took it upon himself to be a servant leader.
It was a venomous snake that is now extinct on Malta.
God, I am tired and weak and serving these people. And you allow me to get bit? Really?
Sometimes while helping others we can get bit. Sometimes it is from the person you are trying to help.
4 When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.”
Poseidon Greek god of the sea, brother of Zeus. The Romans adopted Poseidon into their own mythology as the god Neptune.
Justice was a Greek goddess. She is famously depicted holding the Scales of Justice (to weigh the facts) and is often shown blindfolded to represent impartiality. America uses Lady justice as a symbol.
Paul got away from the god of the sea but Lady Justice won’t let him get away.
5 But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
Have you ever been bitten by a snake?
7 There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days.
Okay things are getting better. But God, why would you let this happen?
There is work on Malta that needs to be done.
8 His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him.
On our journey of doing God’s will, we might have to endure life threating storms, and while serving others be bitten on the way to God’s ultimate purpose.
9 When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured.
Salvation came to the Island.
10 They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.
The large bay on the northern coast of Malta is named St. Paul's Bay
A prominent statue of the Apostle Paul, erected in 1845, stands on the island, commemorating the event.
St. Paul's Grotto
Collegiate Parish Church of St. Paul's Shipwreck in Valletta - Located in Malta's capital city, Valletta, this is one of the oldest and most important churches on the island.
St. Paul's Cathedral in Mdina
The Feast of St. Paul's Shipwreck - The shipwreck is so important that it is a national public holiday in Malta, celebrated every year on February 10th.
