A Storm and a Story of a Sustaining Faith

Bible Book: Acts 27 : 1-38

Subject: Faith

Series: Storm Stories

Introduction

As our Bibles are open tonight to Acts chapter 27, let me just mention that since Acts chapter 21, and for a period of over two years, Paul has been a prisoner, first of the Jewish authorities and then of the Roman government, and because he ultimately appealed to Caesar’s authority in the matter, he is now waiting for his case to be heard before Caesar himself. Finally, as we come to Acts 27, Paul finds himself in the custody of a centurion named Julius, and along with Paul’s companions Dr. Luke and Aristarchus, they are on board a ship headed towards Italy. But along the way (wouldn’t you know it?) they encounter some stormy weather. The 27th chapter of Acts is the story of this long storm experience in Paul’s life. As we read Acts chapter 27 and on into chapter 28, it seems like the storm and adversity will never end.

I found a news clipping that was in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette years ago that reminded me of how long and drawn out Paul’s storm experience seemed. The news clipping read…

A new storm added another ten inches of snow to what Pittsburgh already had. Buses and trains were running hours late, cars were stalled and abandoned, and people had to find shelter wherever possible. One storm refugee sent this telegram to his office: “WILL NOT BE AT WORK TODAY—NOT HOME YESTERDAY YET.”

(Paul Lee Tan’s Encyclopedia of 15,000 Illustrations #12274)

Though it seemed at times that they would not survive and that this storm would never end and that Paul would never reach his destination, through it all, Paul seems to have exhibited a faith that sustained him through the ordeal of being a prisoner and through the ordeal of going through several weeks of stormy weather. In fact, in the midst of their darkest hour, Paul rose up and said clearly and confidently in verse 25, “I believe God.” Our subject tonight then is “A Storm And A Story Of A Sustaining Faith.”

As we consider this storm story in Acts chapter 27 …

I. Let’s Notice The Repetition Of Problems vs. 1-20

(There Seems To Be A Trying Of Faith In This Section)

Notice how frequently the winds are mentioned in the first part of this chapter:

(Acts 27:4) And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

(Acts 27:7) And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;

(Acts 27:13-15) And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. {14} 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.

A preacher friend of mine used to say that we are either in a storm, or we are getting ready to go into a storm, or we are coming out of a storm. He now says that view doesn’t leave much room for the sun to shine. But there are seasons when it seems like the storms just come one right after the other and that they will never end.

A. We Find The Contrary Winds That Bring Disturbances And Detours vs. 1-8

1. We Feel Like Things Are Hindered In These Contrary Winds

(Acts 27:7) And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;

suffering – Greek 4330. proseao, pros-eh-ah'-o; from G4314 and G1439; to permit further progress.

2. We Feel Like Things Are Hard In These Contrary Winds

(Acts 27:8) And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.

hardly – Greek 3433. molis, mol'-is; with difficulty:-- with much work.

B. We Find The Calm Winds That Bring Deception And Wrong Decisions vs. 9-13

1. It’s Dangerous To Make Decisions When Spiritual Discernment Is Ignored

(Acts 27:9-11) Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, {10} And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. {11} Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.

perceive – means to discern

12272. Epigram On Storms

A woman was seated next to a minister on an airplane during a storm.

She said, “Can’t you do something about this awful storm?”

He said, “Ma’am, I’m in sales, not management.”

—Gospel Herald

2. It’s Dangerous To Make Decisions When Selfish Desires Are Involved

(Acts 27:12-13) And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. {13} And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.

The “fair havens” (Good Harbors) mentioned in verse 8 were not “commodious” (they were inconvenient).

They headed towards Phenice (literally Phoenix, which means palm tree). They wanted to go to a resort town for the winter instead of doing what God’s man said. Take what seems to be the easy way out.

C. We Find The Catastrophic Winds That Bring Destruction And Despair vs. 14-20

(Acts 27:14) But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.

Euroclydon – this is a compound Greek word that literally means wind and waves.

It is called a “tempestuous wind,” meaning a stormy wind as if it were smoky (perhaps indicating a fog or rain that hampered visibility); it suggests “typhonic wind.”

1. This Became An Increasingly Hard Situation

(Acts 27:15-17) And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. {16} And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: {17} Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, struck sail, and so were driven.

2. This Became An Increasingly Hopeless Situation

(Acts 27:18-20) And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; {19} And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. {20} And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away.

Though we bemoan the repetition of storms in our lives, I read something that was of interest to me…

Without an occasional hurricane, the world’s weather might be even worse. Fierce tropical storms play a vital part in maintaining the heat balance between the tropics and Polar Regions. The tropics and subtropics receive more heat from the sun than they lose by radiation; other to prevent gradual cooling of the poles and scorching of the equatorial regions. Hurricanes help keep the balance.

“If hurricane control were successful and none were allowed to go through their full life cycle,” says Gordon E. Dunn, former director of the National Hurricane Center at Miami, “nature would undoubtedly find some other method of maintaining the heat balance, and who can say that this new method might not be even more disastrous than the hurricane?”

(Paul Lee Tan #12267)

Similarly, the storms of life keep things balanced in our spiritual experience. They keep us depending upon God.

As William Dean Howells and Mark Twain were coming out of church one morning, it commenced to rain heavily. “Do you think it will stop?” asked Howells. “It always has,” answered Twain.

(Paul Lee Tan #12273)

Did you know that an eagle knows when the storm is approaching long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it high above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring high above it, gliding with ease. The eagle does not escape the storm; it just simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm into its world. When the storms of life come upon us – and all of us will experience them – we can rise above them by setting our minds and belief toward God! The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God to lift us above them. God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that brings sickness, pain, tragedy, failure, and disappointments in our lives, and make something good come from it. We can soar above the storm. Remember, it is not the burdens of life, which weigh us down, but it is how we handle them that counts.

This reminds me of how Paul handled the storm in his life.

II. Let’s Notice The Remarks Of Paul vs. 21-26

(There Seems To Be A Trueness Of Faith In This Section)

Paul would later write about three vital elements in our spiritual lives…

(1 Corinthians 13:13) And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Paul exhibits these three qualities in his remarks in Acts 27, but in this case I think the greatest of these was his faith.

A. Paul Stood Up In His Faith In An Exemplary Way vs. 21-22

(Acts 27:21-22) But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. {22} And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship.

B. Paul Shared His Faith In An Experiential Way vs. 23-24

(Acts 27:23-24) For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, {24} Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

C. Paul Stated His Faith In An Explicit Way vs. 25

(Acts 27:25) Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.

be of good cheer – Greek 2114. euthumeo, yoo-thoo-meh'-o; from G2115; to cheer up, i.e. (intrans.) be cheerful; neut. comp. (adv.) more cheerfully:--be of good cheer (merry).

III. Let’s Notice The Reaching Of People vs. 27-38-44

(There Seems To Be A Teaching Of Faith In This Section)

A. We Learn To Trust God And Leave The Wishing And Crutches Behind vs. 27-32

1. The Sailors Had Fearing / Fright On Their Minds

(Acts 27:27-29) But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; {28} And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. {29} Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.

wished – Greek 2172. euchomai, yoo'-khom-ahee; mid. of a prim. verb; to wish; by impl. to pray to God:--pray, will, wish.

day – 2250. hemera, hay-mer'-ah; means tame, i.e. gentle; day, i.e. (lit.) the time space between dawn and dark, or the whole 24 hours. They were wishing for a tamer, gentler day.

2. The Sailors Had Fleeing / Flight On Their Minds

(Acts 27:30-32) And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, {31} Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. {32} Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat (the skiff or the landing vessel), and let her fall off.

Paul said that they shouldn’t “jump ship.”

B. We Learn To Trust God And Leave The Worry And Concerns Behind vs. 33-36

(Acts 27:33-36) And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. {34} Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. {35} And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. {36} Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

1. Paul Encouraged Them With His Guarantee

(Acts 27:34) Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.

2. Paul Encouraged Them With His Gratitude

(Acts 27:35-36) And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. {36} Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

God help us to stop worrying and start worshipping. We can begin by making up our minds that we’re going to worship God. If you can’t seem to worship with delight, then begin by worshipping with deliberation. If you can’t seem to worship with victory, then begin by worshipping with volition (decision).

C. We Learn To Trust God And Leave The Wheat And Cargo Behind vs. 37-38

(Acts 27:37-38) And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. {38} And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea.

1. This Wheat Represented A Possession

Craig S. Keener said…

They need to lighten the ship further (27:18), in order to run aground as close to land as possible. They had so far retained some of the cargo as ballast (heavy material kept in the hold of a ship to steady it). An Alexandrian ship's cargo would be wheat. (From the IVP Bible Background Commentary)

2. This Wheat Represented A Provision

Matthew Henry said…

‎They had before thrown the wares and the tackle overboard, and now the wheat, the victuals and provisions they had; better they should sink the food than that it should sink them. See what good reason our Savior had to call our bodily food meat that perishes. We may ourselves be under a necessity of throwing that away to save our lives which we had gathered and laid up for the support of our lives. It is probable that the ship was overloaded with the multitude of the passengers (for this comes in just after the account of the number of them) and that this obliged them so often to lighten the ship.

The wheat represents the “stuff” that we want to hang on to. But when it comes right down to it, we realize how insignificant the “stuff” is compared to the value of life.

Conclusion

Over fifty years ago, Mosie Lister wrote a song that I’ve though a lot about this week. But 19 centuries before Mosie wrote his version, I figure Paul was singing his own version of this song. Mosie’s version says…

Verse 1

In the dark of the midnight have I oft hid my face,

While the storm howls above me, and there’s no hiding place.

‘Mid the crash of the thunder, Precious Lord, hear my cry,

Keep me safe till the storm passes by.

Verse 2

Many times Satan whispered, “There is no need to try,

For there’s no end of sorrow, there’s no hope by and by”

But I know Thou art with me, and tomorrow I’ll rise

Where the storms never darken the skies.

Verse 3

When the long night has ended and the storms come no more,

Let me stand in Thy presence on the bright peaceful shore;

In that land where the tempest, never comes, Lord, may I

Dwell with Thee when the storm passes by.

Chorus

Till the storm passes over,

Till the thunder sounds no more,

Till the clouds roll forever from the sky;

Hold me fast; let me stand in the hollow of Thy hand,