Shipwrecked, Rome at Last

Intro

to be empowered to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, what a mandate. No matter what happens in our lives, no matter the trials we go through our goal is to bring the glory to God in all that we do. And in bringing the glory to God we share the message of Jesus to the world around us. What a Task we have! to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. But to share the gospel and be content in the will of God in spite of all that is happening.

To share the gospel when the going is good is one thing but when the going is tough, will we still have the trust in God we need continue to do what God has called us to do? We sometimes think that God works on our terms, that our faith means that He will do whatever we want, but in this passage we will be reminded again that

It is easy to trust in the Lord when the times are good but when the storms assail us what then do we do with the promises God has given us? can we still trust? When God promises that all things work together for Good for those that trust in God, whose Good do you think that is? It is what God decides is good for us because He knows what is best for us. The promise that He will always give us the strength to endure any temptation that comes our way, any trial. But we sometimes forget that the strength does not come from within us but form God. The promise that we will one day be in glory, that this world is just temporary and any healing that happens in this life is to point to the ultimate healing that will happen when we go see Jesus. Can we still trust in God through the storms when we see these promises?

In the Movie Evan Almighty, Steve Carrel plays a character who is asked by God to build a big boat without telling him the whole plan, just that it is necessary and He needs to trust in God. eventually he starts and all things seem to be going wrong, His family leaves (they do come back) and when all seems to be going wrong Evan cries out to God “I know, I know. Everything you do, you do because you love me. (A sprinkler blasts him in the face) Do me a favor; love me less!”

It seems that way sometimes, that even though God loves us and allows things to happen to draw us closer to Him it would be better for us if He did not allow these things to happen. But we need to trust in God and the fact that He is in control and this is what we learn from the life of Paul again. In Acts 27, after more than two years of waiting, Paul was finally sailing for Rome. His whole life had led up to this moment. All of his training and experience had prepared him to preach the gospel before Caesar himself. But on the journey from Jerusalem to Rome, Paul faced one of the fiercest storms of his life. And the strength he needed did not come from a new promise, but an old one — a promise God had given to him years before. We read of this In Acts 23

What we see in this last bit of the book of Acts is that God is sovereign over all things that go on in the World. He can allow His good to happen in spite of all that is going on. He will be glorified in all things. And because we are under the Sovereignty of the Lord we can have confidence to evangelize knowing this and that all things will work for His good and for His Glory.

This shapes the theme of the book of Acts, Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”” We will be empowered to take the gospel to the ends of the earth but all under the sovereignty of the Lord. Though storms may assail us Our God is in control and His will will come to pass. Trust in Him and use the circumstances we face to share the gospel

HBI - As we take the gospel to the ends of the earth we can trust that God is in control and all things will work out as He has planned.

27-28:15 - God is in Control

To know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are the Lords, to have all fears wiped away and know that as children of God our savior loves us and His plans will always come to pass! What a feeling to be empowered by the HS in such a way. We keep this in mind as we go through the last bit of the book of Acts.

No matter what happens God’s plans will always come to pass, He is in control.

This next part plays out like an action movie, Luke must have been on the boat headed to Rome with Paul to have the detail that he put in here. It starts out normally enough. Some prisoners along with Paul and likely Luke board a ship on the sea port of Adramyttium under the control of a Roman Centurion. At the firsat port Paul is even given the liberty to go visit some friends. They must not have been to concerned that He would go to far. Acts 27:3

Acts 27:3 (CSB)

The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care.

Now I am not a sailor but I will try to help you understand the rest of what happened on their journey, where it started to go south for them.

Acts 27:4 CSB

When we had put out to sea from there, we sailed along the northern coast of Cyprus because the winds were against us.

Acts 27:7 (CSB)

Sailing slowly for many days, with difficulty we arrived off Cnidus. Since the wind did not allow us to approach it, we sailed along the south side of Crete off Salmone.

Acts 27:9 (CSB)

By now much time had passed, and the voyage was already dangerous. Since the Day of Atonement was already over, Paul gave his advice

They could have sailed straight west to fair havens on the island of Crete but their was a strong west wind blowing so they had to go north to try and find some shelter from the wind by going close to land and taking advantage of the western current that flowed along there. but still it was hard sailing and people where starting to get worried.

you have to remember that Paul was told back in Acts 23:11

Acts 23:11 (CSB)

The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, “Have courage! For as you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so it is necessary for you to testify in Rome.”

Paul was promised that He was going to go to Rome and share the gospel, He was going to have the opportunity to share the gospel with the most powerful man in the Roman Empire. So even though the storms where coming Paul trusted that what God promised would come to pass. Have you ever felt this way. You know God has called you to a certain area, maybe called you to your job or whatever the case may be then you wonder why he allows the storms to go by. We have to remember that

God is in control and sometimes He brings the storms and allows the storms so we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that His promises will always come to pass.

They where going without food for they did not know how long this was going to last, Paul told them that God had told him that everyone was going to be safe but everything else was going be lost. They ate the food, starting tossing things overboard and ended up shipwrecked and everyone was stranded at Malta. Now what. It is easy enough to hear that God’s promises will always come to pass but shipwrecked on an island with no food or supplies, how hard would have been to believe?

28:16-31 - So Then Share the Gospel

So Paul and the prisoners are shipwrecked on the island of Malta and the locals their where helping them out. They where not there yet but I want to put a few things into perspective. The trip they where planning on taking would have been about 2400 km by sea and roughly double that by land. It took them just over a month to do. Today to travel that distance by sea is vastly different, and all depends on conditions. Ancient Roman Merchant ships could go about 4-5 knots which I believe is about 6 mph. while modern sailing vessels like that can reach up to 15 knots which is close to 18 mph. Or just fly there.

so great was Paul’s trust in the promise of the Lord that when he got bit by a poisonous snake he just shook it off and kept up with what he was doing. God told him that he would make it to Rome and he trusted God completely. everything They had was stripped away from then, all they had where the promises of God that came through a prisoner.

when all else is stripped away we need to come to the point of trusting in Jesus and His promises.

He eventually made it to Rome, finally had the chance to share the gospel there. And it is what he did in Rome that I want o focus on next. Acts 28:23-24

Acts 28:23–24 (CSB)

After arranging a day with him, many came to him at his lodging. From dawn to dusk he expounded and testified about the kingdom of God. He tried to persuade them about Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Some were persuaded by what he said, but others did not believe.

Paul was shipwrecked but continued to trust in the Lord. Eventually Paul was thrown in prison and treated like a criminal but still He continued to do what he always did. Anyone who had questions and wanted to know more he welcomed them and taught them.

no matter what is going on in our lives our job remains the same. To take the gospel to whoever God brings into our lives.

When all is stripped away and it seems like there is nothing left. Cling to God for all that you need. Give the glory to God and be a testimony to the Glory of God. What a testimony that will be. Maybe it will be that the only promise you have left to trust in is the hope of heaven, cling to that and know that God promises will always come to pass and as long as you are hear on earth the glory must go to God.

So What?

Two things that we must take from this as we go from here. From the great commission that Jesus left us before He went back to heaven to the main idea running through the book of Acts that was given to the Apostles and to us. We have been empowered by the HS so therefor we need to take the gospel to the ends of the earth. As usual as we finish the book of Acts there are two things I want to leave you with.

God is always in control and His promises will always come to pass.

Do you know what it means for God to be sovereign and in control? This means that the Lord is at work continually within His creation. The Lord God has not created the world and then left it alone to run like a windup toy. But rather God is actively at work in His creation to achieve His purposes and nothing can stop God from achieving His will for the world. God directly acts in such a way that He causes His creation to act in the purpose for which He created them. Did you hear that? God’s promises will always come to pass. What promise does He have for us though?

I do not know what God has promised you, but there are a few promises that we can grab hold of, that we can know for sure. God will always provide the strength needed to go through any trial we face. Though this means that we cannot go through the trials on our own. we do not have the strength and sometimes it is going to feel like we cant go through it anymore. That is okay because our strength alone is not good enough.

and the second is the promise of heaven for those that trust in Jesus. Glory is promised to those that trust in Him. Have faith, find joy for this life is but temporary and you have the promise of being with Jesus if you live your life for Him.

In all situations, whether good or difficult live and speak the gospel

No matter the situations that we face our goal remains the same. God is always faithful and we need to be faithful to His calling in our lives. Our lives our temporary and God expects us to use the temporary time we have to tell all that God has done in our lives. We have been empowered and indwelt by the HS and therefore we need to share with others all that God has done in our lives.

The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Twenty-Four: Paul Arrives in Rome (Acts 27–28)

“What was begun with so much heroism ought to be continued with ardent zeal,” said Charles Spurgeon, “since we are assured that the same Lord is mighty still to carry on His heavenly designs.”

“Lo, I am with you always!”