Through The Bible - Acts 27:1-37 - Part 2

Brett Meador: Paul knew more than the experts because was he super smart? No. I think it's largely because he was tapped into the Lord. The Lord gave Paul a sense c that we should stick out right here and be safe.
Kurt: Pastor Brett Mether noting how trust in God is our shelter in the midst of the storm.
Brett Meador: Proverbs 3 5 and 6 trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. This is the way Paul is operating.
Kurt: As Paul set sail for Rome, his journey took a dramatic and frightening turn when a violent storm threatened to destroy the ship and all that were aboard. As the story unfolds in Acts chapter 27, Pastor Brett Mether notes from today's word that who we listen to matters when navigating our own storms and the benefits of having an infectious faith that brings hope to others.
Brett Meador: Have you ever noticed that every day we face decisions? Everybody makes thousands of decisions every day. Some are more than important than others, but some you don't think they're important, but they can shake out to be really important decisions that you made. Uh but God in his omnipotence and omniscience, he knows that we are people that don't really know what to do and we're pretty clueless as it turns out. And I think that the Lord does that not to be mean to you, but he wants you to rely on him and depend on him. You're so much better off on the things that we can really lean in and say, Lord, we're going to trust you. People don't know what they're doing in this story and it's going to show pretty radically and it just reminds me of that. This is something we're going to see sort of demonstrated here with Paul. He's not a meteorologist. He's not a soothsayer or a psychic, but he has a connection to God that is so powerful and so real. It's going to affect the whole everybody that's around him. It's going to greatly affect him and I think it's worth noting. So a little recap on Paul where he is now. Paul's been a prisoner, if you recall, for now over two years in Caesarea. We've kind of seen that drama unfolding, the trial of Paul. Well, Paul already was told by the Lord talking about knowing what to do. Paul was already told by the Lord that he could in fact know what was going to happen. Paul knows he's going to Rome. He's got a job to do, but it's going to be a perilous voyage nonetheless. That's where we really pick it up here in Acts chapter 27 verse 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's band. And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched meaning to sail by the coast of Asia. One Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. We meet some new characters here. One is the centurion whose name is Julius, but something I just want to note for you Bible students, every time we read about centurions in the Bible, they always tend to be good guys, which is interesting. They're Romans, which should technically mean they're bad guys. But there's something about centurions that they always kind of turn out to be good guys. There's good centurions, even the one that would stand by the cross and say, surely this is the son of God. This is another example of a centurion who's showing Paul kindness and giving Paul somewhat liberty that's not normal. In fact, he releases Paul to his friends before they leave to Rome. This would be a huge risk. If Paul, you know, bolted, that could cost Julius as a centurion his life. Like that's quite a liberty that he gave Paul. But um so the favor Paul enjoys from Julius meant he was allowed to take these companions with them, which is pretty cool. Verse 4. It says, and when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus because the winds were contrary. But it says there in verse 5, and when we sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra and the city of Lycia. And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy and he put us therein. So they're transferring from one ship to another. Then verse 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. And hardly passing it came unto a place which is called the Fair Havens nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. Now you're like, Brett, what's this like a nautical lesson of the GNC? Uh maybe, but one thing you should know, there's a dangerous time where nobody sails and it's basically from September 14th to November 11th, even to this day. Uh they don't like to have smaller vessels in some of these waters and we see that come into the story now in verse 9. Now when much time was spent and when sailing was now dangerous because the fast was now already past, which by the way, when we're talking about the fast, we're talking about the Day of Atonement for you Bible students, you know, the fast was on the 10th day of the seventh month according to Leviticus 23 27. So because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them and said unto them, sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading of the ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and owner of the ship more than the things which were spoken of by Paul. And because the haven uh was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also if by any means that they might attain to Phenice and there to winter, which is in a haven of Crete and lieth toward the southwest and northwest. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon. So what they're doing is they're setting sail during a dangerous season. Paul is going to warn them. Now note that Paul is not necessarily speaking as a prophet of God, but I would suggest Paul speaking as an experienced traveler on the Mediterranean. He also knew the seasons, the conditions and and then maybe with supernatural wisdom. I I wouldn't totally uh cancel that possibility, but Paul advises that they don't go on, but they make a decision to go and blow off Paul. We're going to see where things are going to get bad here. But before we move in here and see how bad it gets, did you notice that Julius the centurion had a choice to make? In verse 11, nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more than those things which were spoken of by Paul. Uh even though the centurion seems to give favor to Paul, he doesn't listen to Paul. Um he listens to the captain and the owner of the ship and he 's going to This is a bad choice by the way. Two things that I want you to note that the centurion Julius decided to keep on sailing. The first thing I want you to note is Julius went with the experts. Sometimes I think you should be really careful and especially today. What about all the so-called uh climate change science? The experts. Wow. It's amazing how bad they are and how off none of that came to pass and 20 years this, 20 years that. Well, it's been 20 years and none of that's happened. Now don't get me wrong. Christians should love science because science really if if you think about it, it's only proven the Bible. Everything the Bible says that touches on It's not a scientific book, but everything that touches science, it's amazingly accurate. It's shocking that this book written over 1,500 year period uh by 40 different authors, three different continents, three different languages, Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, and yet there's no like, oh, that was just a really dumb thing to say, like the earth is flat. Oh, but Brett, uh the Bible talks about the four corners of the earth. Everybody still talks about that, north, south, east, and west. It's an idiom. But when it comes to the shape of the earth, Isaiah talked about how it's a sphere hung upon nothing, which is kind of way ahead of its time when the Bible wrote about that. Watch out for the experts. Don't just take it hook, line, and sinker. And global warming, they call that science. When I was a kid, it started with global cooling. Do you guys remember that if you're old? Uh the earth was going to go through another ice age. Uh wrong. And then they said, oh, it's global warming, global warming. Wrong. And they said, well, it 's going Oh, it's it's going up and down. So we'll call it climate change. I call that weather. So be careful on the so-called expert. Well, Julius, he lines up with the experts on this one. Verse 11 it says, nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more than the things which Paul said. So sometimes the experts are wrong. By the way, one thing about human nature is also Have you ever noticed people make some of their biggest mistakes in the things they're strongest in? Like in some of the things that they're the expert on, that's where in their own personal life they blow it. Have you guys noticed that? I mean, consider a few Bible characters like Moses. What was one of Moses's greatest personal characteristics? Anybody know? Meekness. Uh can you imagine Moses writing us the Holy Spirit whispering in his ear, write this. Okay, write it. Write it. Write it. The Pentateuch, you know, write it. Write it. And then all of a sudden, now Moses write this. Moses is the meekest man on the face of the earth. You want me to write that? Write it. It's Holy Spirit inspired. Okay. Moses, yours truly is the meekest man on the face of the earth. Don't you love that? What a weird thing for him to write, but he had to write it. But what was Moses's greatest fail? Well, if you remember, it was when he failed in the area of meekness. By the way, Numbers 12 3 is where it says now Moses was very meek above all men which were upon the face of the earth. But in Numbers chapter 20 verse 10, do you remember when when uh Moses goes and the people are saying, where there's we need water. And this is the second time the rock was going to have water, but this time the Lord said, speak to the rock and not strike it. He did that already years earlier, but speak to the rock and water will come out. And Moses marches up to the people, you rebels. He yells at them. And the word rebel, if you look at it in the Latin, it's moron. Literally. He says, you morons, must we fetch water for you? Who's the we there, Moses? Are you fetching water or is it just the Lord actually? But he misrepresents God and smashes the rod on the rock and by the grace of God, this is just God being super nice. Water comes gushing out and then God says, Moses, come over here. You misrepresented me. You were acting like I was angry at the people, but I wasn't. And because of that, you're not going to go into the Promised Land. Like that that was a big goof on Moses's part and it was in that area of his greatest strength. Be careful, Christian. The thing that you're best at that might just be one of your biggest downfalls. I think it's because we get overconfident or we think I would never do that and then we set ourselves up for failure. I hope you get to a place where you you really are an expert at some things and then you realize because I'm an expert, the one thing I really know is what I don't know. Be really careful because sometimes we think we know stuff, but we actually really don't. So Julius I I just see this is a good reminder. Sometimes you shouldn't just go with what the experts are saying. Number two, two things I said to note why Julius decided to keep sailing and and move on when Paul said, we should stay right here. One was because he went with the experts. Number two, he also noticed went with the majority. Another mistake you and I can make is going with the majority. Uh majority rules, right, Brett? But in verse 12, you know, it says there, the more part advised to depart thence also. That's just King James saying the majority of this other sailors agreed that they should keep going as well. In Acts 27 12 it says, you know, because the haven was not commodious in to winter in, the more part, that's the majority, advised to depart thence also. So it's interesting because this is funny. I think there's maybe a motivation that the majority is being nudged by. What's that? Well, it's where they are compared to where they're going to go. You see, if they stop where Paul is saying, they're going to be stuck there for months in a place that's kind of interesting. Right now they're in a port called Fair Haven. Should we stay in Fair Haven for the winter or should we sail to Phenice? And they said, let's sail to Phenice. The reason this isn't kind of funny to me is because it's like modern day. It'd be like, do you want to spend three months in Dundee if you're a sailor, or do you want to spend three months in Las Vegas? That's the equivalent. You see Phenice was this kind of secular, worldly, but all kinds of stuff to do and things to get you into big trouble. That was Phenice. But Fair Haven, there's nothing to do. Uh so they said, we're sailing. We're getting out of here because we don't want to spend a all winter in this dumb place called Fair Haven. So even the majority chimes in and it really seems that the, you know, centurion goes with the majority, but also with the experts. Be careful, Christians, especially when you have a word from the Lord. So all that said And by the way, um when it comes to the majority, one of the things that can happen it as a Christian, especially in a day Maybe you saw the article that uh Portland's the first city in America that has more non-religious people than religious people. Did you guys see that? First city in America, more non-religious people than there are religious people. Interesting study. But one of the things that happens with big cities is you have a thing that you know psychology might call group numbing. It has to do with when you get a big pile of people in a big city, you pile up people and people are sinful and when you pile it up, it's like manure. It stinks. Spread out manure. Well, that's fertilizer and it does a lot of good. I think that 's why small farming communities, while there's still sinners there, have you noticed it's not such a big pile of sin in farming communities? There's a reason for that. But this idea of when you're in a big city and everybody's saying, hey, it's cool, whatever, uh harmless visual stimulation to go and see girls dancing or whatever. It's just what people do. But in other communities, oh, that's horrible and sinful. Of course the Bible talks about how sinful that is and that's something we should watch out for. Paul knew more than the experts and knew more than the majority because was he super smart? No. Maybe uh maybe he had some experience, but I think it's largely because he was tapped into the Lord. He had a sense and that's the way the Lord works. The Lord gave Paul a sense, man, we should stick out right here and be safe. The Bible says this all over the place. I I the reason I 'm harping on this is because it's so key in the Bible and such a great You don't see beautiful illustrations in the New Testament in kind of like an Old Testament way. But Matthew 6 33, you guys know this one, but seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Proverbs 3 5 and 6 famous scriptures, you know these. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your paths. This is the way Paul is operating. Isaiah 30 verse 1 the Lord spoke to the Jews, oh, woe to the rebellious children of Israel, saith the Lord, that take counsel but not of me with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin. And then later in that same chapter, it says in Isaiah 30 21, in thine ears This is the Lord speaking now will hear a word behind thee saying, this is the way. Walk ye in it when to turn to the right hand and when to turn to the left. Paul was operating in that way. He was getting a sense of what he was supposed to do. Remember one of the promises we read earlier in Acts, Paul was definitely going to go where? Rome. God promised that. Remember when Jesus showed up and stood next to him and said, you're going to make it to Rome. Be of good cheer, Paul. Remember that? Paul knows he's going to make it to Rome, but he knows that this is going to be a perilous journey uh and I think this is where Paul gets his direction. Could God speak audibly and directly to us? I believe so. This is where Philippians 4 7, be careful or anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Uh so when you seek God for direction, you have this peace in your heart, whether you should go right or left. This is a a great thing to hone in on as a Christian. How are you at discerning the peace of God? This used to drive me nuts with my parents cuz when I was a little kid, uh could I go over to the neighbor's house and play? My dad would say, you know, Brett, I just don't have a peace about that. When I was a little kid, I thought, what do peas have to do with anything? I hate peas. Then I go, oh, peas. Oh, okay. But what what was this whole thing? And then I remember, you know, uh going out with friends when I was in high school, I was going to go do something and my parents would say, yeah, we just don't have a peace about you going with those guys tonight. And after a while, I finally realized what that is. It's all this stuff we're reading about where the Bible tells us God will give you a peace or not a peace. Something will have more strife and contention in your heart and something will feel more peaceful. So when my parents and I said, can I go out with these guys and have a, you know, for Friday night and hang out with those dudes? And there was there was either strife or contention and after they're like, no, Brett, you can't do that. Why? We just don't have a peace about that. I thought it was a cop out. But actually I think my parents were As I look back back retrospectively, wisdom galore. They made the right choices. I look back on stuff that uh you know I want to do or my sisters want to do that my parents didn't have peace about and oh, our lives would have been ruined had they not let the peace of God rule their hearts. So how are you at that? Do you have a good sense of God's peace versus things that are not peace? I think that's an important skill set to have. You do that by seeking the Lord. Brett, I like to just follow my heart. It's all about following my heart. Um Jeremiah 17 9, the heart is deceitful above all things. What is more deceitful than the heart? Nothing. The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it? This is Jeremiah the prophet who said that and he's right. So the idea is to seek the Lord. Don't go with your heart. Bad choice. Now by the way, when you become a Christian, your creddy sinful heart that's desperately wicked, it starts to be in line with the heart of the Lord. So you the peace of God then rules your heart. That's the transfer. You sort of get a heart transplant when you become a Christian, which is really important. So seeking the Lord. How do you seek the Lord? Read his word, pray, seek godly counsel from other people, seek and find. The Bible tells us that over and over again. How many times do we wish we would have made more of a attempt to find God's will rather than to just pull the trigger on those decisions? So anyway, you seek the Lord, he shows up, he always helps you, he always directs you. Very important. Well, after this big storm arises, what happens? Verse 15. It says, and when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running under a certain island uh which is called Clauda, we had much work come by the boat which when they had taken up, they used helps or ropes undergirding the ship and fearing lest they should fall into the quicksand, strike sail. And so we're driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lighted the ship. They dumped all their cargo because it was it was too dangerous. Verse 19. And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. Man, this You know they're desperate now. They got rid of all their cargo, so the profit is gone in this journey. And then they're they're tackle, all their block and tackle, the things that hoist and the sails and all that stuff. This is desperation. Verse 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. Do you get a sense of Paul maybe even lost a little bit of hope? I I I I hear that a little bit here. He says, all hope that we should be saved was taken away. He didn't say the crew lost all hope. I was totally confident cuz God told me we were going to make it, so he didn't say that. He said all hope was lost that we were going to make it. Now this is important. Um so they use rope or line as a mariner would call it uh to undergird the ship. They they were worried about the ship breaking up under the pressure of the waves and what have you. So it was an emergency measure to put ropes around the ship and keep it from hopefully not to break apart. Secondly, the fear of they struck sails, the fear of crashing into uh the island sands or they called it quicksand. And then thirdly, they lighten the ship by throwing ship's tackle and the cargo over. And now we know they've been out for many days and the storm's gone for a long time. Are you in a storm right now that's gone on for a long time? It's interesting how storms they just, you know, those bad days seem to run together. And you're like, man, am I still in this situation? You know, if you're in a storm, can I just say don't lose hope and who knows what the Lord's actually doing like he's going to do here with Paul something really great.
Kurt: Pastor Brett Mether pausing with the assurance that we can trust God when we can't see what's ahead, knowing that his plans for us remain sure in the same way Paul trusted the Lord through the devastating storm of Acts chapter 27. And for the conclusion of this verse by verse account, you're invited back next time here on today's word. And Pastor Brett is also standing by to join me with a special request before we conclude today's word. But first, let me tell you a little bit more about Brett Mether. He's the senior pastor of Athey Creek Church just outside of Portland, Oregon. Brett's been the pastor of Athey Creek for 30 years where he goes in depth in his study of the Bible. If you missed any portion of this message, you'll find all of his studies online at todayswordradio.com. That's todayswordradio.com. Okay, Pastor Brett is with me now. You know, with today's word radio being heard nationwide coast to coast including on SiriusXM, there might be some folks who would like to help support this radio program. Brett, if someone wanted to help, how can they do that?
Brett Meador: You know, Kurt, first of all, I want to say how grateful we are for every person who listens, prays, shares the program, and supports this ministry. Today's word radio exists for really one primary purpose to take the word of God to as many people as possible, to point them to Jesus Christ. And we're just so thankful that these Bible teachings are now reaching people across the country. But that outreach is funded by Christians who stood with us in support. So uh for anyone who feels led by the Lord to support today's word radio, you can visit our website, find information about giving there. And support isn't really just limited to finances. You can pray for the ministry, you can tell a friend about the program, you can maybe share an episode with someone who needs encouragement. All of those things help the word of God reach more ears. Paul spoke of believers who are partners with him in the gospel. That's how we view those who stand with us in today's word radio. Uh you greatly help us when we're sharing the hope of Jesus to our radio audience. So thank you. And we never take support for granted.
Kurt: That's very true, Pastor Brett. We do appreciate our radio listeners who help support today's word radio through prayer, financial support, and sharing this program with others. And friend, if you feel led to support today's word radio financially, you can do that by visiting our website at todayswordradio.com. Just click on the link that says give. Again, todayswordradio.com and click the link give. Well, that's all the time we have. Next time Pastor Brett will continue in the book of Acts and we'll see how confident we can be of the Lord's shelter in the storms of life. Today's word with Pastor Brett Mether is an outreach of Athey Creek Church in Westlin, Oregon.