God’s Will Always Prevails

Sermon Text: Acts 27-28

Intro

Hook: Why do you need to listen to this sermon?

Close your eyes. I want you to imagine that you are on a boat. It is the year 60 AD. You are a prisoner, awaiting to be tried by a court. There are 250 others on the boat with you. You are on your way to Rome. Now, a south wind blows gently, the shipmates weigh their anchor and sailed along an island, close to the shore. But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, strikes down from the land. And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, you gave way to it and were driven along the ocean. Nearing an island, the shipmates manage with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run into hidden sand banks, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. Since you were violently storm-tossed, you began the next day to throw out 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.

Open your eyes. What’s going to save you?

Imagine that this is a symbol of your life. Where there will come a point in your life when all hope will be lost and you will try everything to make sense of life and pull yourself together, but you just reach the end of yourself. What are you going to do when the storms of life have overtaken you? Where will you go? To whom will you go?

Context: Acts 1-27

Thesis: God’s will always prevails.

Scripture Reading: Acts 27:39-44

Body

God’s Will is Unstoppable

Assertion

Paul’s voyage to Rome actualizes against all odds.

Evidence

Acts 27:1-28:10

Briefly explain

Commentary

The voyage is treacherous. Has anyone ever been on a boat before in the open sea (you are already feeling unstable - motion sickness - and then imagine a hurricane tears through your location) Or have you ever driven through a storm? Or have you ever experienced a hurricane? Or have you ever been on an airplane and experienced turbulence? That’s what’s Paul went through… explain the situation. 300 members in the boat.

The storm

Compared to the sea of Galilee where Jesus stills the storm

The will of men (pilot, owner, roman official)

The syrtis

The sailor’s escape attempt

The hunger

The hopelessness

Acts 27:20 “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.” You would be so hopeless, you would be saying “oh my days” over and over.

The shipwreck - explain

The plot to kill the prisoners

The swim to the unknown island

The serpent’s bite (significance)

Will storms or shipwrecks or serpents stop the will of God?

God’s Will is Fulfilled

Assertion

Paul’s arrival in Rome is the fulfillment of Christ’s (God’s) word in Acts 1:8.

Evidence

Acts 28:11-16

Briefly explain

Commentary

Acts 28:11–14 “11 After three months we set sail in a ship that had wintered in the island, a ship of Alexandria, with the twin gods as a figurehead. 12 Putting in at Syracuse, we stayed there for three days. 13 And from there we made a circuit and arrived at Rhegium. And after one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found brothers and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome.”

Repeat: “And so we came to Rome.” What was Rome? The center of the Roman empire. The ends of the earth. The fulfillment of Christ’s word / God’s will. The destination. The symbol of the heart of the world.

There’s no need to doubt the will of God. History proves that Yahweh is always faithful to his word. If God says he will do something, he will do it.

In Rome, Paul met with other Christians who encouraged him. He was still imprisoned, on trial, awaiting freedom. But that freedom would never come for him, at least not on Earth. Even while imprisoned, he was accomplishing the will of God. He set his will aside, to accomplish God’s.

Does God always give us what we want? Delight yourselves in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart (Psalm 37:4 “4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” But what if the desire of our heart is not granted? It was not God’s desire/will. When our hearts are conformed to God’s will, he gives us all we ask for. As long as what we ask is in God’s will, it will be given to us. But we must not ask him wrongly, to fulfill our purposes. We should ask great things of our God to glorify Him and receive blessings from Him. This was Paul’s heart. Paul longed to go to Rome, why? Was it to so that he could make a killing selling tents? Or to spend his life’s savings on all the world could offer him? Not to say that we can’t have good things. No, it was not his primary reason. He went for the will of God. His whole life was steered toward the goal of glorifying God- and he did that through spreading his message to the ends of the earth.

And so they came to Rome. And while there, Paul brings them the Gospel.

God’s Will Always Prevails

Assertion

Paul’s message in Rome demonstrates the prevailing will of God.

Evidence

Acts 28:17-31

Briefly explain

Commentary

Paul remains imprisoned for the rest of his life.

He brought the Gospel to the Jews there. Some believed in the message, that Jesus was their Messiah. But most rejected it. So Paul then leaves them with this message, quoted from Isaiah 6. In essence, the passage says that the word came to the Jews, but they rejected it. Because of this, God turns to the Gentiles to give them salvation. And then Paul stayed there in Rome under house arrest for two years, Acts 28:31 “31 proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.” Amazing. This was Paul’s goal. More than this, this was God’s goal: for the Jews to have an opportunity to repent, but then after rejecting it to bring it to the Gentiles. And who’s that? Us. God gave us an opportunity to be saved from his wrath for our sins. He has given the world the Lord Jesus Christ as a rescue for anyone who believes in Him.

So Paul proclaims Christ until his dying breath and is eventually beheaded in Rome under the emperor Nero. But that was not the end of the story. It continues with us. Paul was not the main point of the story. Jesus was and is. And we now have the opportunity to listen to the Gospel and repent from our sins and believe on Jesus for our salvation. This is how God’s will always prevails. In Paul’s day, 2000 years ago, God’s will prevailed. God is still saving Gentiles out of the earth to bring into his kingdom. In our day, God’s will prevails. Because of his past and present faithfulness, we can trust that he will remain the same for all of the future.

Conclusion

Restate

Review

Reflect / Apply

Trust that God’s will always prevails. So go to God. Don’t follow your own will anymore. Follow God’s will. His will is for you to do what he says. Insofar as we follow his will, he is pleased with us. And when we don’t follow his will, he mercifully redirects us toward his ways. Now you have a choice. If you are following God’s will, nothing can stop you, except for yourself. May God give us humility, so that we would depend on Him, trust in his will, believing in Jesus as our Lord, our Savior, and give up our own wills and pursue God’s instead. His will is perfect, even though it may come with storms, shipwrecks, and serpents. For nothing will stop the will of God. God’s will always prevails.