Sermon Tone Analysis

Paul begins his journey from Caesarea to Rome where he would appeal to and stand trial before Caesar.

Right away they begin to have problems along their journey.

To avoid sailing directly into a west wind the men sail along the shoreline up and around Cyprus until they get to Crete.

We can see from the pronouns and the detail that Luke took part in this journey to Rome and provides for us an eye-witness account of the events that occured.

The voyage to Rome is made in three ships: a coaster form Caesarea to Myra, on the south coast of Turkey; a cargo vessel (carrying grain on the regular run from Alexandria in Egypt to Rome in Italy) from Myrna to Malta; and another from Malta to Puteoli in the Bay of Naples.

Luke gives a superb account of the eventful passage.

They start late in the season (sailing ceased for winter in mid-November) and by the time they reach Crete it would have been towards the end of October after the Day of Atonement.

As they seek a safe winter harbor, the favorable south wind changes to a dreaded “northeaster”.

For two weeks they run before the storm, with no means of knowing where they are.

Paul, the prisoner, commands extraordinary authority, giving hope and courage to all 267 people aboard.

God has promised them safety: Paul will appear before Caesar.

When the ship runs aground, all make it safely to shore on an island they discover to be Malta.

The ship Paul was sailing on would not have been a tremendously large ship.

It was not a big freighter and would have been susceptible to strong winds.

The Lord is Faithful.

Paul lost at sea for over fourteen days without food.

Put yourself in this situation.

What would you have done?

The sailors and officers in charge of Paul ignored his pleas to stay in Crete for the winter.

Instead they pushed on into disaster.

Sometimes for us it is easy for us to feel like we have everything under control.

We can be a lot like these sailors.

We feel like we know what is best for our own lives and that other people don’t know as much as we do.

It is easy to forget that God knows more about what we need than we could ever hope to know about ourselves.

Sometimes trusting in Him means saying no to what we think will make us happy, and saying yes to what God has called us to.

When our life seems out of control it is important to remember that God is the master of the seas.

Matthew 8:23-27

God was faithful to Paul, and despite the danger he faced, Paul knew that he would make it to Rome in one piece.

God provides opportunity so we can share the Gospel.

In the midst of all the chaos Paul continues to have a platform to share his faith

You’re a Missionary wherever you go.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

As Christians we have a new way of seeing the world

We have been transformed

We have been reconciled

We have been made ambassadors

Our God is concerned about “The Least of These”.

Even insignificant Malta was reached for the Kingdom

Matthew 25:31-46

A heart that follows Jesus longs to serve in the way Jesus served.

This passage does not tell us we have to earn our salvation.

What it tells us is that people that have been transformed by the Gospel live a life of gratitude and service to Jesus.

Because of Jesus’ victory we can have confidence!

After everything Paul had gone through (an arrest, a phony trial, being hungry, being beaten, being shipwrecked) he is bitten by a snake.

Any normal person might have called it quits.

Even the pagan islanders watched and waited to see what would happen to Paul.

Genesis 3:15

Genesis 3:15 “15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.””

As Paul approaches the heart of darkness he is reminded that their is an enemy doing everything he can to stop him.

The serpent is a reminder to Paul that this world is broken because of Adam and Eve’s sin, but Christ has become a new Adam, and has taken our place of judgement by His death on the cross.

Satan, the serpent that once deceived Adam and Eve now is powerless against Christ and His Kingdom.

Paul shakes the snake off into the fire and there will come a day when Satan is bound and sent to the lake of fire forever for all eternity.

Revelation 20:10-21:27

Paul would soon enter into the gates of Rome.

He would be surrounded by darkness.

He knew that there was a city greater than Rome that awaited him.

He knew that the darkness would one day be replaced with the light of being in the presence of God.

He needed only to shine that light until he was called home.

A story of confidence

There’s a story told in history in the ninth century, I believe, of a young man that came up with a little handful of men to attack a king who had a great army of three thousand men.

The young man had only five hundred, and the king sent a messenger to the young man, saying that he need not fear to surrender, for he would treat him mercifully.

The young man called up one of his soldiers and said: “Take this dagger and drive it to your heart;” and the soldier took the dagger and drove it to his heart.

And calling up another, he said to him, “Leap into yonder chasm,” and the man leaped into the chasm.

The young man then said to the messenger, “Go back and tell your King I have got five hundred men like these.

We will die, but we will never surrender.

And tell your King another thing; that I will have him chained with my dog inside of half an hour.”

And when the King heard that he did not dare to meet them, and his army fled before them like chaff before the wind, and within twenty-four hours he had that King chained with his dog.

That is the kind of zeal we want.

“We will die, but we will never surrender.”

We will work until Jesus comes, and then we will rise with Him.