Stay Aboard the Ship
Notes
Transcript
30 But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea, on the pretext of putting 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 boat and set it adrift.
33 Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive; for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.” 35 After he had said this, he took bread; and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves. 37 (We were in all two hundred seventy-six persons in the ship.) 38 After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.
39 In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. 41 But striking a reef, they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves. 42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might 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 to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
STAY ABOARD THE SHIP
AS WE LOOK AROUND IN OUR COUNTRY TODAY, AS WE WATCH THE SIX O’CLOCK NEWS, OR THE CNN NETWORK, OR READ THE NEWSPAPER AT HOME, WE CAN SEE THAT THIS NATION IS IN A STORM. WE ARE IN A STORM BECAUSE OF THE COVID 19 DELTA VARIANT IS RAMPING UP…..HOSPITALS ARE OVERWHELMED WITH PATIENTS…..AND MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE DYING FROM THE VIRUS…….WE ARE IN A STORM BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE UNEMPLOYED SEEKING JOBS THAT WILL ALLOW THEM TO SUPPORT THEIR FAMILIES BUT THE WAGES WON’T CUT IT. WE ARE IN A STORM BECAUSE PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO FIND AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND HEALTH CARE. WE ARE IN A STORM BECAUSE THE ECONOMIC INEQUALITIES AND RACISM THAT IS STILL AN ISSUE IN OUR NATION.
BUT YET IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM THAT WE ARE IN, THERE IS STILL HOPE FOR US THE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY HOPE IN OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
PSALM 31:24: SAYS, “BE OF GOOD COURAGE. AND HE SHALL STRENGTHEN YOUR HEART, ALL YE THAT HOPE IN THE LORD.”
PSALM 71:5 SAYS, FOR THOU ART MY HOPE, O LORD GOD; THOU ARE MY TRUST FROM THE YOUTH.”
JEREMIAH 17: 7 SAYS, “BLESSED IS THE MAN THAT TRUSTETH IN THE LORD, AND WHOSE HOPE THE LORD IS.”
IT IS A SWEET RELIEF IN KNOWING THAT NO MATTER WHAT YOU ARE GOING THROUGH, NO MATTER WHAT STORM YOU ARE FACING, THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU IN THE LORD FOR THE PRESENT AND THERE IS HOPE FOR YOU IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE OF GOD IS ABLE TO BLESS YOU AND SUSTAIN YOU EVEN IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM
PSALM 37:25-26 SAYS, I HAVE BEEN YOUNG AND NOW AM OLD; YET HAVE I NOT SEEN THE RIGHTEOUS FORSAKEN, NOR HIS SEED BEGGING BREAD. HE IS EVER MERCIFUL AND LENDETH, AND HIS SEED HIS BLESSED.”
YES, GOD IS ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF US IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM THAT WE ARE.
BUT IF YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO SURVIVE THE STORM THAT WE ARE NOW IN, WE NEED TO STAY ON BOARD THE SHIP.
NOW, IN THESE PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURES, WE READ ABOUT HOW PAUL THE APOSTLE WAS A CALMING INFLUENCE TO HIS SHIPMATES WHILE THEY WERE TRYING SAIL AND NAVIGATE THEMSELVES THROUGH A DANGEROUS SEA STORM.
PAUL WAS ON THIS SHIP AS AN PRISONER BEING TRANSPORTED TO ROME TO APPEAR BEFORE CEASAR BECAUSE OF HIS FAITH AND BECAUSE PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS IN PLACES WHERE HE WAS NOT RECEIVED WELL.
IN ACTS 27:9-10, PAUL HAD TRIED TO PERSUADE THE CENTURION AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP TO WAIT FOR BETTER WEATHER TO COME BEFORE SETTING OUT TO SAIL BECAUSE AT THAT DAY AND TIME, THE WEATHER WAS BECOMING SOMEWHAT DANGEROUS FOR SAILING.
BUT THE CENTURION AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP HAD DECIDED TO TAKE A GAMBLE, AND TAKE THEIR CHANCES AND THEY DECIDED TO SAIL OUT INTO THE SEA DESPITE OF THE BAD WEATHER CONDITIONS BECAUSE THEY HAD SOME CARGO THAT NEEDED TO BE TRANSPORTED ALONG WITH SOME PRISONERS THAT NEEDED TO BE BROUGHT TO ROME FOR IMPRISONMENT.
AND BECAUSE THE CENTURION AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP DECIDED TO GO AGAINST PAUL’S ADVICE
THE SCRIPTURE TELLS US THAT THEY FOUND THEMSELVES SAILING RIGHT INTO A DANGEROUS SEA STORM.
HAS THERE BEEN A TIME IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOU FOUND YOURSELF IN A STORM SIMPLE BECAUSE YOU DID NOT WANT TO LISTEN?
MOMMA WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING, DADDY WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING, GRANDMA AND GRANDDADDY WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING,
THE PREACHER OR THE DEACON WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING.
HAS THERE BEEN ANYBODY IN YOUR LIFE THAT WAS TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING WHAT WAS GOING TO BE HELPFUL FOR YOU.
BUT BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO DO YOUR OWN THING, AND YOU DID NOT WANT TO LISTEN TO NOBODY, YOU HAVE FOUND YOURSELF IN A STORM THAT IT WAS GOING TO BE HARD TO GET OUT OF.
IF THE TRUTH BE TOLD, THE REASON WHY THE CENTURION AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP DIDN’T LISTEN TO PAUL BECAUSE THEY THOUGHT PAUL DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT SAILING A SHIP.
THEY THOUGHT THE ONLY THING PAUL KNEW HOW TO DO IS PREACH AND TEACH ABOUT THE LORD. BUT THEY DIDN’T REALIZE THAT PAUL HAD BEEN SAILING BEFORE……. HE HAD BEEN SHIPWRECKED BEFORE.
AND SINCE HE HAD BEEN SAILING BEFORE, AND HAD BEEN SHIPWRECKED BEFORE, PAUL KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT WHEN HE TOLD THE CENTURION AND THE CAPTAIN TO HOLD OFF FROM SAILING UNTIL BETTER WEATHER COME ALONG.
AND NOT ONLY DID THEY SEE PAUL JUST A PREACHER, BUT THEY ALSO SAW PAUL JUST A PRISONER WHO NEEDED TO BE TRANSPORTED TO ROME.
AND THAT IS A LESSON FOR US TO LEARN.
AND THE LESSON IS BE CAREFUL HOW YOU LOOK AT PEOPLE. WE SHOULDN’T BE SO QUICK TOO PASS JUDGEMENT ON PEOPLE.
JUST BECAUSE THEY MAY NOT HAVE A COLLEGE DEGREE OR THEY DON’T LIVE IN A NICE NEIGHBORHOOD, BECAUSE THEY MAY BE TOO OLD, OR TOO YOUNG.
GOD CAN USE ANYONE TO GIVE YOU SOME COMMON SENSE.
AND THAT WHAT PAUL WAS TRYING TO DO WITH THE CENTURION AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP; GIVE THEM SOME COMMON SENSE, THAT IS, SOME WISDOM IN GOING ABOUT SAILING IN THE SEA.
BUT BECAUSE THEY REJECTED PAUL’S ADVICE, THEY NOW FIND THEMSELVES STUCK IN A STORM.
BUT YET NO MATTER HOW BAD THE STORM THAT YOU MAY BE IN, JUST KNOW THAT GOD IS ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF YOU IN THE MIDST OF IT.
IN ACTS 27:21-26, PAUL TELLS HIS SHIP MATES SOME WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE MIDST OF THE SEA STORM.
AND IT IS A GOOD THING TO HEAR SOME WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT WHEN YOU ARE GOING THROUGH SOME STORMS IN THIS LIFE.
PSALMS 27: 14 SAYS, “WAIT ON THE LORD, BE OF GOOD COURAGE, AND HE SHALL STRENGTHEN THINE HEART”.
NOW, PAUL FIRST TELLS THE CENTURION AND THE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP THAT THEY SHOULD HAVE LISTENED TO HIM WHEN HE TOLD THEM TO WAIT UNTIL GOOD WEATHER HAD COME TO SET OUT TO SAIL.
BUT BECAUSE THEY DID NOT LISTEN TO PAUL’S ADVICE, THEY WERE NOW STUCK IN THIS BAD SEA STORM.
AND BECAUSE THEY ARE NOW STUCK IN A BAD, AND DANGEROUS SEA STORM, THEY HAVE NOW RISKED THEMSELVES AND THE SHIP FOR A SHIPWRECK.
BUT YET IN THE MIDST OF TELLING THEM THAT THEY ARE GOING TO BE SHIPWRECKED, PAUL ALSO TELLS THEM TO BE OF GOOD CHEER BECAUSE THERE WILL BE NO LOSS OF LIFE IN THE SHIPWRECK.
YES, THE SHIP WILL BE TORN APART, BUT NO ONE WILL DIE IN THE SHIPWRECK.
AND THAT IS A BLESSING TO KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT I GO THROUGH, NO MATTER WHAT STORM I MAY FIND MYSELF IN, IT IS A BLESSING TO KNOW THAT I AM STILL IN THE HANDS OF GOD.
I MAY LOSE MY JOB, BUT I AM STILL IN THE HANDS OF GOD. I MAY GO BANKRUPT FROM MY MEDICAL BILLS, BUT I AM STILL IN THE HANDS OF GOD.
I MAY NOT HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY MY BILLS, BUT I AM STILL IN THE HANDS OF GOD.
MY FRIENDS MAY BE FEW, BUT I AM STILL IN THE HANDS OF GOD.
NOTICE THAT PAUL SAID THE SHIP IS GOING TO BE TORN APART, BUT THEIR LIFE IS GOING TO BE SPARED.
YOU SEE, GOD WASN’T INTERESTED IN SAVING THE SHIP AS HE WAS INTERESTED IN SAVING THEIR LIVES BECAUSE THE SHIP DIDN’T HAVE A SOUL TO BE SAVED, BUT THEIR LIVES DID.
YOU SEE THE SHIP CAN BE REPLACED, BUT IF YOU LOSE YOUR SOUL, THAT CAN’T BE REPLACED.
THAT IS WHY WE OUGHT NOT PUT TOO MUCH STOCK ON MATERIAL THINGS BECAUSE MATERIAL THINGS COME AND GO, AND THEY CAN BE REPLACED.
BUT YOUR SOUL, IF YOU LOSE IT, IT IS GONE FOREVER. SO THEREFORE GOD IS INTERESTED IN SAVING YOUR SOUL, AND YOUR SOUL IS SAVED WHEN YOU ENTER INTO A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD.
NOT ONLY DOES PAUL SAY BE OF GOOD CHEER, BUT HE ALSO TELLS HIS SHIPMATES NOT TO FEAR BECAUSE AN ANGEL HAD STOOD BESIDE HIM THAT NIGHT AND TOLD HIM THAT HE WOULD BE BROUGHT BEFORE CAESAR, AND GOD HAS GIVEN HIM ALL THAT WAS SAILING WITH HIM TO HIS CHARGE.
IN OTHER WORDS, WHAT PAUL WAS SAYING TO HIS SHIPMATES, THEY WERE GOING TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE STORM BECAUSE PAUL ALSO SAYS IN ACTS 27:25, “TO TAKE HEART” BECAUSE PAUL DID SAY THIS:
“FOR I BELIEVE GOD THAT IT WILL BE JUST AS IT WAS TOLD ME”.
IF GOD SAYS YOU ARE GOING TO SURVIVE, YOU ARE GOING TO SURVIVE THE STORM.
JUST KNOW THAT WHATEVER STORM THAT YOU MAY BE IN RIGHT NOW, GOD IS GOING TO BE RIGHT THERE BY YOUR SIDE, AND YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE IT.
NOW WHILE THEY WERE TRYING TO SURVIVE THE SEA STORM, THERE WERE SOME SHIPMATES THAT WANTED TO JUMP THE SHIP AND TRY TO SWIM TO THE NEAREST SHORE.
BUT PAUL TOLD THEM THAT EXCEPT THEY ABIDE IN THE SHIP, THEY CANNOT BE SAVED.
YOU SEE, THERE ARE SOME STORMS IN LIFE WE HAVE TO RIDE OUT. BUT KNOW THIS ONE THING FOR SURE, STORMS AREN’T MEANT TO LAST, NOR ARE THEY MEANT TO STAY.
FOR EXAMPLE, HURRICANE IDA SHOWED UP IN NEW ORLEANS LAST WEEK, BUT SHE DIDN’T STAY.
HURRICANE ELSA SHOWED UP IN FLORIDA, BUT SHE DIDN’T STAY.
TROPICAL STORM DANNY WAS SHORT LIVED ….AND RELATIVELY WEAK STORM THAT SHOWED UP OFF THE COAST OF HILTON HEAD, SOUTH CAROLINA THIS SUMMER….. BUT HE DIDN’T STAY.
TROPICAL STORM CLAUDETTE SHOWED UP EARLIER IN THE HURRICANE SEASON….SOME TIME IN JUNE.....BUT SHE DID NOT STAY.
AND RIGHT NOW…THE STORMS WE ARE FACING IN OUR NATION….TOO SHALL PASS.
BUT WHILE WE ARE IN A STORM IN OUR COUNTRY, THERE ARE AT LEAST FOUR SHIPS THAT WE NEED TO STAY IN WHILE WE ARE RIDING OUT THIS STORM:
1.WE NEED TO STAY IN THE SHIP OF PRAYER.
JESUS SAYS IN ST. LUKE 18:1 THAT “MEN SHOULD ALWAYS PRAY, AND NOT FAINT.”
THE APOSTLE PAUL TELLS US IN PHILLIPIANS 4:6 SAYS, “BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING; BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITH THANKSGIVING, LET YOUR REQUEST BE MADE KNOWN UNTO GOD.”
2ND CHRONICLES 7:14 SAYS, IF MY PEOPLE WHICH ARE CALLED BY MY NAME, SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS, THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND
2.WE NEED TO STAY IN THE SHIP OF THE WORD OF GOD.
PSALM 119:11 SAYS, “THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MY HEART THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE.”
PSALM 119:105 SAYS, “THY WORD IS A LAMP UNTO MY FEET AND A LIGHT UNTO MY PATH.”
PSALM 119:133 SAYS TO “ORDER MY STEPS IN THY WORD”
3.WE NEED TO STAY IN THE SHIP OF THE CHURCH.
PSALM 122:1 SAYS, “I WAS GLAD WHEN THEY SAID UNTO ME, LET US GO TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.
HEBREWS 10:25 SAYS, NOT FORSAKING THE ASSEMBLING OF OURSELVES TOGETHER, AS THE MANNER OF SOME IS; BUT EXHORTING ONE ANOTHER; AND SO MUCH THE MORE, AS YE SEE THE DAY APPROACHING
4.LASTLY, BUT NOT LEAST, WE NEED TO STAY IN THE SHIP OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.
ROMANS 10: 9 SAYS, IF YOU CONFESS WITH YOUR MOUTH THE LORD JESUS, AND BELIEVE IN YOUR HEART THAT GOD HAS RASIED HIM FROM THE DEAD, THOU SHALT BE SAVED.“ ,
NOW, THE SHIP THAT PAUL AND HIS SHIPMATES WERE ON IN ACTS 27 DID GET SHIPWRECKED AND THE SHIP WAS TORN APART BY THE SEA STORM THAT THEY WERE IN.
BUT YET ALL THOSE THAT WERE ON THE SHIP, THEY ALL MADE IT SAFELY SWIMMING TO THE SHORE. BUT NOTICE WHAT VERSE 44 SAYS IN ACTS 27. IT SAYS “AND THE REST, SOME ON BOARDS, AND SOME ON BROKEN PIECES OF THE SHIP.
AND SO IT CAME TO PASS, THAT THEY ESCAPED ALL SAFE TO LAND.”
NOTICE IT SAID SOME MADE IT ON BOARDS, AND SOME MADE IT ON BROKEN PIECES OF THE SHIP.
CAN I GET A LITTLE THEOLOGICAL ON YOU THIS MORNING?
THE BOARDS IN THIS SCRIPTURE REPRESENT GRACE, WHILE THE LITTLE PIECES OF THE SHIP REPRESENT MERCY.
IN OTHER WORDS, PAUL AND HIS SHIPMATES WERE ABLE TO SURVIVE THE SHIPWRECK, AND WAS ABLE MAKE TO THE SHORE BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE AND MERCY.
BUT NOTICE WHERE THE BOARDS, AND THE LITTLE PIECES OF THE SHIP CAME FROM.
IT CAME FROM THE SAME SHIP.
BUT BEFORE THEY WERE ABLE TO SURVIVE THE SEA STORM AND THE SHIP WRECK, THEY FIRST OF ALL HAD TO STAY IN THE SHIP.
LIKEWISE, IF WE ARE GOING TO SURVIVE THIS STORM THAT WE ARE IN, WE NEED TO STAY IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST SO WE CAN RECEIVE HIS MERCY AND GRACE TO LIVE.
AND WHAT I LIKE ABOUT BEING IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT HIS SHIP ……..GETTING SHIPWRECKED…. BECAUSE AS THE CAPTAIN OF YOUR SOUL, HE KNOWS HOW TO NAVIGATE YOU THROUGH THE STORMS OF LIFE.
HE KNOWS HOW TO STRENGTHEN YOU WHEN YOU ARE WEAK IN THE STORM.
HE KNOWS HOW TO GIVE YOU JOY IN THE MIDST OF YOUR SORROW.
HE KNOWS HOW TO PROVIDE FOR YOUR NEEDS IN THE TIME OF YOUR LACK.
HE KNOWS HOW TO HELP YOU SURVIVE YOUR STORMS IN THIS LIFE, BUT YOU GOT TO STAY IN HIS SHIP.
BECAUSE IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS PEACE.
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS HEALING.
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS JOY.
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS BLESSINGS
STAY ABOARD THE SHIP..
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS DELIVERANCE
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS…..THERE IS COMPASSION
STAY ABOARD THE SHIP….
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS LOVE
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS ETERNAL LIFE
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS….THERE IS POWER
STAY ABOARD…
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS….THERE IS SAFETY….
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS…..THERE IS VICTORY
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS ABUNDANT LIFE
STAY ABOARD….
IN THE SHIP OF JESUS CHRIST, THERE IS SALVATION…… SAY YEAH……YEAH……YEAH…..
HE’S THE SAME YESTERDAY….TODAY AND TOMORROW….. HE CAN SUSTAIN YOU….. HE IS A EVER-PRESENT HELP….IN A TIME OF TROUBLE.