Euroclydon

Acts 27:14-15 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. 15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.

To begin with brothers and sisters In wake of the devastation of hurricane Ida, I’m compelled to preach from this premise.

“Going through a storm is really hard to deal with, it’s a lot to process while it’s happening, and even more so with the aftermath and destruction.”

The tempestuous winds of hurricane Ida made me afraid. And even though we know that Theos Pas Paraklesis The God of All Comfort is there with you, and that God is our source,

and even knowing that Jehovah Shammah , the Lord is there, is right there with us,It’s still scary.

And even though we know that Jehovah Raah The Lord is my Shepherd , is there,

and even though we know that Immanuel, God is with Us, is there

and even though we know that Jehovah Uzzi, The Lord my Strength is there in the storm, but while it’s happening we still get scared.

and even though we know that Jehovah Ezrah, My Helper is there, In thee midst of the storm still in all the human side of us has a tendency to be afraid. And the men in the text were afraid too .

They were afraid of a storm called Euroclydon. It was a Northeaster Storm in the Southern region around the Mediterranean Sea.

It all started when Pastor Paul was a prisoner and had to before Caesar in Rome.He could have been set free but he said that he had to go before Caesar in Rome. For it is in Acts 26:26 is where the famous quote by King Agrippa was made. King Agrippa said Paul almost thou persuaded me to be a Christian, but brothers and sisters Ninety nine and 1/2 won’t do.

In Acts 26:24 King Agrippa said Paul you study too much and that’s driving you stone crazy. Paul is charged with Madness And Paul said no King Agrippa I’m not crazy haven’t gone mad I’m in my right mind. And the bible says that they had a little meeting. Acts 26 Verse 30 says “Then King Agrippa, Governor Festus, Bernice, and all the people sitting with them stood up 31. and left the room. Talking to each other, they said, “There is no reason why this man should die or be put in jail.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “We could let this man go free, but he has asked Caesar to hear his case.”

Paul is sent to Rome on a ship sailing to Italy

Acts 27:1 “And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band.” It was decided that we would sail for Italy. An officer named Julius, who served in the emperor’s army, guarded Paul and some other prisoners. 2 We got on a ship that was from the city of Adramyttium and was about to sail to different ports in Asia. Aristarchus, a man from the city of Thessalonica in Macedonia, went with us. 3 The next day we came to Sidon. Julius was very good to Paul and gave him freedom to go visit his friends, who took care of his needs.

Acts 27:4 begin to tell us about the dilemmas Paul was about to face 4 We left Sidon and sailed close to the island of Cyprus, because the wind was blowing against us. 5 We went across the sea by Cilicia and Pamphylia and landed at the city of Myra, in Lycia. 6 There the officer found a ship from Alexandria that was going to Italy, so he put us on it.

Every solution they had gave way to more in tensed problems. And it gets worse. And anytime any of us are outside of the will of God things will go wrong. Because it gets worse.

Let’s look at the Boisterous voyage

Look at verse 7

7 We sailed slowly for many days. We had a hard time reaching Cnidus because the wind was blowing against us, and we could not go any farther. So we sailed by the south side of the island of Crete near Salmone. 8 Sailing past it was hard. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

Brothers and sisters In Chapter 27 the dynamics of Paul’s story is that he had to endure storm after storm, obstacle after obstacle, problem after problem, set back after set back and here we are in Acts 27 and Paul is having a conversation with the leading men on the voyage, namely the captain of the ship.

The Holy Bible says in verse 9. We had lost much time, and it was now dangerous to sail, because it was already after the Day of Cleansing. So Paul warned them, 10. “Men, I can see there will be a lot of trouble on this trip. The ship, the cargo, and even our lives may be lost.”

Paul has advised on waiting for better weather But they won’t listen!!!

11 But the captain and the owner of the ship did not agree with Paul, and the officer believed what the captain and owner of the ship said. 12 Since that harbor was not a good place for the ship to stay for the winter, most of the men decided that the ship should leave. They hoped we could go to Phoenix and stay there for the winter. Phoenix, a city on the island of Crete, had a harbor which faced southwest and northwest.

In Acts 27 and Paul is having a conversation with the leading men on the voyage, namely the captain of the ship.but they won’t listen.....

When God send us a fair warning and uses a wise man to tell us we ought to listen. And here’s my thing, In 2021 if we are unable or unwilling to make some meaningful righteous changes then we can expect reasonable portions of ill fate to come our way.

Let me say it another way if you want to be hard headed and not pay attention to the admonitory warnings from God, then when God starts whipping the hell out us we can’t act like we’re innocent and didn’t do anything wrong.

When we were warns a head of time.

Everything they tried to do was met with opposition. And If you’re dead set on doing wrong even if,,, things that look like they are going to go right for you ,,,,, It ain’t going to go right!!!

Let me prove it look at verse

13 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.

Everything looks good it looks gravy it looks cool and it seems that Paul was wrong. They said, The preacher was wrong. Rev Allen was wrong!!!! but verse 14 says But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.

The Ship in the Storm

Euroclydon is a serious storm and sometimes , God allow a storm to come in our lives to make us pray. And here we are, now in the midst of stormy weather.

The Storm in this text Euroclydon With winds over 150 mph, winds that would topple over any seafaring vessel in biblical times and well as in modern times. In other words what ever time span in history or the present Euroclydon would make it a struggle to survive in.

And when you’ve got a storm like that all you can do it let her drive.

Look at verse 15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.

When a storm is raging there is nothing you can do to calm that storm down.. Hurricane Ida was ripping trees up pulling power lines down destroying property all over south Louisiana and there was nothing we could do but let her drive.

I heard the wind howling and screaming so I decided to try to go outside, big mistake!!! The wind and rain and debris hit me so hard and then it was very hard to close the door.

I learned a new lesson you can’t mess with a storm.... and whatever damage it causes you’re going to have to see that after the storm is over.

It was the same way for the 276 passengers on board the ship with Paul

16 When we went below a small island named Cauda, we were barely able to bring in the lifeboat. 17 After the men took the lifeboat in, they tied ropes around the ship to hold it together. The men were afraid that the ship would hit the sandbanks of Syrtis, so they lowered the sail and let the wind carry the ship.

18 The next day the storm was blowing us so hard that the men threw out some of the cargo.

These precious commodities that was a great source of commerce and trade and worth a lot of money. They threw overboard..

Sometimes we throw valuable cargo over board. And sometimes we forget the bridges that have crossed us over.

And desperate times causes for desperate measures. look at verse

19 A day later with their own hands they threw out the ship’s equipment.

When it comes to survival we will throw away stuff that at normal times, under normal conditions, and under pleasant circumstances would be quintessential to our survival

And we would have a natural born fit in normal times if somebody even touch our stuff. But it’s a storm now and what used to be precious to us now has become worthless.

And here comes the hopelessness of the text.

Look at verse 20 When we could not see the sun or the stars for many days, and the storm was very bad, we lost all hope of being saved.

We now see widespread panic at gas stations people fighting and shooting grocery stores, tripping at hardware stores, and flashing out at fast food places etc. But I notice that nobody is trying to fight you to get in the church, or prayer meeting, or bible study, or Sunday school. Nobody’s fighting you to get in a clothing store, a jewelry store, a knick nack patty wack store.

Nobody ain’t running to that insignificant stuff.A storm will show you some stuff that you don’t even need like you thought you needed.

21 After the men had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood up before them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me. You should not have sailed from Crete. Then you would not have all this trouble and loss.

Brothers and sisters when God uses the Pastor Preacher Teacher Leader to send you a message, you ought to listen, you are admonished , and fully Warned to listen, in other words you better listen, while the blood still runs warm in your veins.

Paul says you should have listened but you didn’t and you’ll should have died but the angel of the Lord came to me and encouraged me to be strong and unafraid because you are going to stand before Caesar and God has promised to save your life and the lives of all 276 passengers

Paul said in verse 25 I trust God that everything that the angel told me is going to happen just like He told me it would happen.

Paul said we’re going to crash on a island but we will survive.

In other words things are going to be rough but we are going to make. Listen everybody Hurricane Ida was devastating to many of our fellow citizens and they are going to need help. Because it might be my trouble today but your trouble is right around the corner. So let’s have compassion and benevolence and concern for the unfortunate ., For the least of these. Amen were you blessed by the message. Give God a hand of Praise.

Part II another day.