To Rome at Last
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To Rome at Last
Acts 27:1-28:13
Big idea: God is in control so trust him because the journey matters.
1. Introduction
i’m sure you’ve all heard the saying all roads lead to Rome. these days it means what? there are lots of ways to get to the same location. and it’s usually used about religion. all religions leads to the same God. I remember at one of these Uni Christian training conferences called NTE, one bloke, my cousin was chatting to him. there’s like hundreds of christians in the room we were having lunch. dont know why, he was sitting there too having lunch. anyways he drew a dot on the piece of paper. of course what do they do? they’re talking about God. He wasn’t a christian. but what i remember from that encounter was his drawing. he goes all religions lead to this dot. buddhism, hindus, christians, muslims all lead here. to this dot. all roads lead to Rome. what do we say? NO of course. there’s only one way to God. one way through the work of Jesus. his death and resurrection. now, in ancient world, it had a literal meaning. All roads lead to Rome. because it was the centre of the largest empire the world had ever seen. if you got on a ship, on a road, wherever you got on eventually you get to Rome. More than that if you had an idea, something to take to the world. you had to go to Rome. From Rome, it can go to the world. From the very beginning of Acts. we’ve been on a journey to Rome. You would remember i hope you know by heart Jesus says you will be my witness from Jerusalem, to Judea, to Samaria to the ends of the earth Acts 1:8. and we know Paul’s going to Rome. we heard it heaps of times. He said it. God’s told him. Festus has said it.
2. Why does Luke put this narrative here?
so then, if all roads lead to Rome, we know Paul’s going there, then why does the author Luke put this passage here? that’s my question. It’s has been nagging at me all week. This narrative is really long. 6% of the book of Acts. 4 times longer than any other narrative in Acts. Why such detail? Why all this detail about shipwrecks and healings and snakebites. Why doesn’t chapter 27 verse one read “And when it was decided that we should sailed for Italy, and after many difficulties we made it to Rome? nice and simple. aren’t we heading to Rome anyway?
Why? Well I reckon, it’s not just that it’s a great story. It is. And Luke would know. He’s there. He experienced the crashing waves. The fierce storms. Verse 1 did you see we should set sail. Verse 2 we put to sea. He was there. But, more than that. Luke slows the narrative down completely. he give us time; 14 days, phrases like a long time. Why? To show us the how matters. How God gets them to Rome matters. it creates suspense. It’s a historical account right. It really happened. he gives so much details so you can verify it. And, like any good novel. Luke builds the anticipation. What will happen next? The tension has been building and building. This trial, that trial. God’s seen him through. Now, at he is getting closer to Rome, natural elements. How will God get them to Rome?
Two lessons this morning. Two lessons I want to draw out from today’s part of the story. As we think about how God gets Paul to Rome, God shows us he is in complete control. he will fulfil his promises. He’s in control. And, second, the journey matters. How we live really matters. Godliness. Trust God, living it out matters.
The first lesson is this; No matter how things look
3. God is complete control (27:1-32; 28:3-9)
God is completely control.
Come to the beginning of our passage. Chapter 27 verse 1:
acts 27:1
And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius.
Paul was going to Rome in chains. He's a prisoner. He was in Caesarea, the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. You can see on the map. He's going all the way to Italy – see the boot there. So Festus sends Paul to Julius the centurion. He’s going to deliver Paul and the other prisoners. Now remember this is the ancient world. You’re on a boat. It’s not a luxury cruise. And it’s a dangerous sea journey. Takes months to get to Italy.
Notice, the first part of the trip is uneventful. They go across the top here called Cyprus. Still called Cyprus today. It’s a real place. Then they get Myra in verse five. Here, they jump on another boat to Crete. This little island. They get to a place called Fairhaven’s. Sounds a retirement village.
Now the next part of their journey is filled with danger. The thing is, when you’re going out to sea, the weather matters. You can’t just go whenever if you want to make it in one piece. These are dangerous seas. It’s gonna take the months to get there. You don’t sail in November, December because it’s just too dangerous. This is what they wanted to do. So Verse 10 Paul says he speaks up.
saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.”
See Paul does not think “I trust in God, I’ll leave my mind behind.” No. He is an experienced traveller. He’s sailed to Crete before. He’s sailed to Cyprus. He knows you don’t sail at this time of the year. It’s dangerous. Deadly even. But the centurion, well he listens to the pilot and the owner of the ship. Not Paul.
This really is like that movie Perfect storm. George Clooney. Mark Wahlberg. Remember that movie? The winds and the waves just smashed the boat. These are just intense, desperate times. What happened was as they tried to creep along the coast try to get to Phoenix – spend the winter on the harbor there. But a crazy wind – see the word there in verse 14 temptuous wind called the norteaster took them.
And there’s a point when the whole crew is in total despair. Picture this. They past the ropes under the ship to hold the ship together. it’s life and death here. Can you imagine that? 276 lives on board. Rope under the ship to hold the wooden frame together. verse 27
After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 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.
Desperate times here. throwing everything overboard to lighten the load. but then, all hope of being saved was lost. When have you been in desperate times? Not 14 days hanging onto a ship with storms battering it. But crisis. Difficulty. A time when we have been at breaking point. What did you do? How do you respond?
In this context, Paul gets a vision from God. He knows who’s in control. He goes men you should’ve listened to me. But take heart. Verse 23
acts 27:23-24
For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’
God has a plan. He is working out his plan. Take heart. Trust Him. He will save us. God will do it. Even during the storm. When the waves are crashing down. When all hope of being saved is abandoned. In the ups and downs. Risks of winter, 14 days out in the Adriatic sea, severe storm. God is in control. 276 lives hanging on a knife edge. We got to run the aground on some island. Trust God. He is in control.
Friends, we’ve never been shipwrecked. At least I don’t think so. I’ve never been in danger on a boat. But haven’t we all been filled with anxiety not knowing how something will pan out. How will this cancer diagnosis will pan out? How will this mental struggle get better?
But hear the word of God today. God is in control. He is. He fulfils his purposes. He does what he says he will. So trust him. Jesus is the one who said to the storm Mark 4:30 “Quiet! Be Still”. Jesus is our loving shepherd who says in John 14:3
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
God is in control.
Trust him. he has our lives in his hands.
But it’s interesting this thought isn’t it? we might say God is in control. But many people would look at this and say. Hey it would have happened anyway? Couldn’t it have just happened? It’s not God in control. It’s just luck. You ever get that? Things happen in your life. It would’ve happened anyway. Why do you see a bigger purpose to anything? i remember a cousin said this to me, always sat with me, look at your suffering and think. What is God teaching you? how is he growing you?
Do you look at things happening and think. God’s in control. what is God teaching me in this time? Pray and ask him. what’s he teaching me? line it up with the Scriptures.
Now, Luke leaves us in no doubt God is in control.
You see it in the passage. Two other incidences. he shows us. How? I’ll just show you briefy.
Paul heals a man.
It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
This is God’s power at work. He heals the sick. God’s in control. He’s powerful over the waters. Over the sick. It’s not a coincidence.
And just to confirm God is in control. There’s a snake bite - this is probably my worst nightmare after a dog bite verse 3 chapter 28,
When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
God is in control. He is working in all of this. Storm, shipwreck, healings, snake bites. It’s not a coincidence. God is in control. He says Paul is going to Rome. He said it. he does it. God is in control. Paul is going to preach the Gospel in Rome. Testify about him.
Friends we don’t just learn that God is in control. We can all go to Bible study and say God is in control. We get it up here (point to brain), but do we get it in here and live it out. God’s man, Paul, is pushed to the edge, but he lives faithfully. He lives it out. It’s not just theology for him. That’s our second lesson. It’s not just the endpoint Rome. Getting there. How you get there matters. How you live.
4. Trusting God through the storm (27:21-26, 32-38)
Paul trusts that God’s in control. He lives it out. The first thing we see is he speaks the word of God. See what he says to all these stress heads.
acts 27:21-26
Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on some island.”
Paul speaks the word of God. How would it have been that day? 276 people on the ship. Everyone stressed. Tense. Mostly unbelievers. You know what it’s like when someone is stressed. Walking on eggshells. I get it, school drop off. So stressful. But in that context, would you have the courage to say I got a word from God? Would you say it in the office? In the nursing home? At uni? I’ve got God’s word. can I tell you about it? The whole place is in crisis. Paul says I’ve got a word from God. I’ve got to tell you. That’s scary. That’s hard. It is my job. I’m a pastor. The temptation is not to say anything. There’s a spiritual battle on. Will I say what God says? Paul says what God does.
Paul speaks the word of God. Encourages the dispirited. He says keep your courage up. Don’t be afraid. We will all make it to Rome.
More than that, he models compassion. He puts his faith to work. He models the fact that God is in control.
acts 27:33-38
As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
Paul says eat. it’s not a miracle. he brings food. Eat. It’s a long journey. You haven’t eaten for 14 days. You won’t survive. You need to eat. It’s compassion. And he says this in the middle of a storm. Everyone’s freaking out. Notice verse 33 it’s before dawn. It’s dark. 276 people. Almost 3 times of the room here. But the big point here is; Paul is modelling trust in God. He gives thanks to God in sight of them all. He models trust in God. He’s godly.
We’ve seen how Paul takes every opportunity to preach about Jesus. In front of the Jews – I just want to share my testimony. In front of the governor Felix – i want to share Jesus. Here, he says grace. He knows God gives everything. He models thankfulness to God despite the situation.
Friends, I hope you can see. Paul knows God is in total control. And knowing this, he lives it out even in the hardest of times. He trusts God to fulfil his promises.
Two things for you to take home today.
5. Implication 1: Believe in Jesus
Believe in Jesus. Friends one way or another, you will be hit by a storm. not literally. The reason why Paul can be so confident, so … i know I’m heading to Rome is because God told him yes, he’s an Apostle yes, but he knows the living God. He knows God’s got his life in his hands. he knows forgiven of his sins. he know she is right with God. he can’t lose in life even if it looks like it. you know the song Amazing grace John Newton. 10 May 1748, he captained the slave ship and it was struck by a storm off the coast of Africa. he gets it right. the storms smash his boat but somehow he survives. he wasn’t a Christian before it. But afterwards, he came to know Christ. He says“I began to pray and thank that Jesus that i so often derided; i recollect his death, a death for sins not his own, but as I remembered, for the sake of those who should put their trust in him.” he came to believe in Jesus.
What an awesome story. It’s where we get amazing grace from. If you don’t know Jesus today, Believe in Jesus. be confident that no matter what happens you are right with God.
5. Implication 2: God is in control so trust him
the second take home point. God is in control, so trust him. Church, I know for so many of us. life is so very hard right now. Relationships, deaths, mental health, struggle, raising children, loneliness, frustration, and work, and transitions, life is hard in this season of your life.
But can you see in this passage?
God is in control. So if there’s plot twist in your life you weren’t expecting. God’s in control. He’s in control. How should you handle it? How should you act? Well, there’s no licence for having a big whinge. There’s an expectation that you trust him. Don’t be a grumbly whinger but be a godly witness of Jesus through the storms.
Paul, in the turbulent seas, shipwreck, snakebites, illnesses trusts God. God promised to take Paul to Rome. He fulfils his promises. God’s in control. And in Paul, we see a godly example. He lives out his faith. He trusts God in each and every storm.
- Guys we shouldn’t go out to sea. It’s dangerous – he speaks the truth
- We won’t die. I have a word from the Lord. I have faith in God so take heart
- Come on now, you got to eat it will give you strength. He gives thanks to God.
The whole time. Paul trusts God. He knows God’s in control. He’s going to get him to Rome to preach the Gospel. That’s what drives Paul. The Gospel. So do you know God is in control? How are you living that out?
Friends, let’s trust God who’s in control. Live to pleases him. Let your life be a testimony of the glory of God despite the storms. Let’s pray.