Acts 27

Acts 27:1

Early in his ministry, the apostle Paul knew that if he could impact Rome with the gospel, it would have ramifications throughout the known world. And at last, here he wason his way to Rome, traveling all-expenses-paid as a prisoner of the Empire. In command of the soldiers and the prisoners on the ship was a centurion named Julius.

Acts 27:2

Setting sail from Caesarea, the ship made its way north. Throughout Scripture, centurionsthe backbone of the Roman armyare always seen in a favorable light (Matthew 8; Luke 7; Acts 10). And Julius was no exception. He showed kindness to Paul by granting him liberty for refreshment and fellowship. I find this intriguing, for although Paul could only have known Julius for perhaps a day at the most, there must have been something in Paul’s character that gave Julius absolute confidence that he would not try to escape.

Acts 27:4

These are the various stops Paul and his company made as they worked their way up the coast, eventually crossing the Mediterranean Sea, and on to the island of Crete.

Acts 27:8

“The fast” referred to here was the Day of Atonement, which would have been during the first part of Octobera dangerous time to be at sea, with winter storms soon approaching. Paul spoke to the captain, saying, “This is a bad time to be sailing.” Now, although Paul was a tentmaker by trade, a rabbi by profession, and a prisoner by decree, the fact that he had been shipwrecked three times and had spent an entire day and night in the open ocean (2Co_11:25) qualified him to be able to give advice concerning the dangers of the sea.

Acts 27:11

The centurion listened first to Paul and then to the owner of the ship, with the rest of the crew no doubt chiming in. “We’ll go with the majority,” he said. “Let’s set sail.”

Acts 27:12

At first the wind blew softly, and in a favorable direction. That’s always the way it is. When you don’t listen to the Word of the Lord, when you go your own way, when you do your own thing, at first you’re just blown along softly. But when the fierce winds comewhich they always doyou’re blown away totally. Please note four reasons that make this a perfect example of how not to know God’s will as you sail through life and journey towards heaven: The sailors were impatient. Although it was not the season for sailing, these guys wanted to get on with their journey. The Word says, “He that believeth in the Lord must not make haste” (see Isa_28:16). Are you impatient? Slow down. When you don’t know what to dodon’t do anything. When you’re not sure which way to go, stay where you are. Wait on the Lord. It’s so hard to do, but so important. The sailors took a vote. The centurion said, “Okay Paul, I hear what you’re saying, but I also hear the owner, the captain, and the crew,” and Paul was outvoted. God is not an American, folks, and if we make decisions relating to the kingdom on a democratic basis, we’re in a heap of trouble. Ask Moses. If the Israelites had voted during their journey through the wilderness, he would have been ousted the first week. We need to know what the heart of God isnot what the majority says. The sailors tested the winds. “The answer is blowing in the wind,” may be true for Bob Dylan, but it’s not true for you and me as believers. We’re not to say, “The way the wind is blowing and circumstances are pointing will determine my course.” No, there needs to be a solid inner conviction, a Holy Spirit direction. The sailors sought ease. They wanted to get to Phoenix. Why? Phoenix was where all of the sailors wintered. There were lots of restaurants, movie theatres, golf courses. No doubt these guys thought, Why should we stay here? We’re only sixty-eight miles from Phoenix. That’s the place to bewe can even pick up a Suns game. Sometimes we, like these sailors, ask, “Where is it most comfortable? Where is it easiest?” instead of “What does the Lord know will be best for me?”

Acts 27:15

Following the stress and strain of the storm, the crew wrapped the hull of the ship with cables and ropes in an attempt to hold it together. They took the sail down to avoid being grounded on a sandbar.

Acts 27:18

All hope was lost. These veteran seamen knew they were going down.

Acts 27:21

Notice it wasn’t until “after long abstinence” that Paul spoke. He waited to say, “You should have listened to me,” until he could also say, “Be of good cheer; we’re going to make it.” Mom and Dad, this is a good word for you as well. Hold your tongue until, like Paul, you can give your kids words of encouragement, instruction, and practical application along with your words of correction.

Acts 27:23

The centurion believed the master of the ship (verse Act_27:11). Paul believed Godand what a difference it made.

Acts 27:26

Perhaps hearing the crashing of waves in the distance, the sailors took a sounding and discovered the water was getting shallower.

Acts 27:29

Fearing the ship would be dashed on the rocks, the sailors put the lifeboat over the side, ready to take their chances in a small, more navigable boat.

Acts 27:30

Don’t jump ship. I know the storms get to be tough, and instincts tell you to bail out, give up, turn back. But Paul’s word of admonition to his shipmates is a very important one for you and me as well. Don’t Jump Ship! A Topical Study of Act_27:31-32 After jumping through legal hoops in Caesarea, Paul was finally sailing toward Rome to plead his case before Caesar. On the way, a storm arose that threatened the lives of the two hundred seventy-six soldiers, sailors, and prisoners on board with Paul. After the crew readied a lifeboat to avoid the inevitable dashing of the ship against the rocks, Paul, the little rabbi who was a tentmaker by trade and a prisoner by decree, said, “Except ye abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” I believe Paul’s words are the heart of the Lord for us today. There are timesmaybe you’re in one right nowwhen the wind is howling, the waves are rising, and you find yourself saying, “I’m out of here. I’m jumping ship. I cannot take this marriage one more day,” or"I can’t take my parents one more minute. Adios." Storms come, and the temptation arises within all of us to bail out when we think we’ve been tricked or cheated. I share with you the story of a man who truly had reason to feel this way. His name was Jacob; and his story begins in Genesis 29. Jacob was young, single, footloose, and looking for a wife. Arriving in Pandanaram, he found a group of shepherds milling around a well. Industrious by nature, Jacob couldn’t understand thisuntil he saw a beautiful shepherdess approaching, bringing her flock with her. Immediately, Jacob flexed his muscles, single-handedly removed the stone that covered the well, and gallantly said, “Come and water your flock.” She did, he kissed her, and then cried aloud, for she had smitten his heart. When Jacob discovered that this beautiful maiden was the daughter of his uncle, he went to her father and told him he wanted to marry his daughter. “Okay,” said Laban. “Work for me seven years, and I’ll give her to you.” Jacob agreed, and the Bible says it seemed to him but a few days because of the great love he had for her. The big night finally came. Jacob took his beloved brideveiled from head to toe according to Jewish traditionback to his tent where they consummated the marriage. The next morning, when Jacob opened his eyes, he couldn’t believe what he saw. It wasn’t Rachel he had marriedit was her older sister, Leahwhose name meant “tender-eyed” or “one who makes your eyes hurt.” Jacob stormed out of the tent, found Laban, and said, “You tricked me.” “I’m sorry, Jacob,” his uncle said, “but we have a tradition that the older daughter must marry before the younger daughter. Therefore, it was necessary that Leah, Rachel’s older sister, marry first. But I’ll tell you what I’ll do. Work seven more years, and I’ll throw in Rachel.” Now, if anyone ever had a right to say, “I got tricked. I want out,” it was Jacob. “Listen, Leah,” he could have said, “I realize we went through the ceremony, but I was tricked. I didn’t know who you were. I’m in love with Rachel. She’s the one who captured my heart. So I’m out of here.” But that’s not what Jacob said. He agreed to Laban’s proposal, and thereby ended up with both Leah and Rachel as his wives. Time passed, and after a while, Leah began to have children. Rachel, who had none, said to Jacob, “Give me children, or I die.” Having had three sons with Leah, Jacob knew it wasn’t his fault and said to her, “Am I in the place of God? I can’t do anything about this situation.” “Then take my servant girl, have relations with her, and the kids will count as ours,” said Rachel. And Jacob did just that. Not to be outdone, Leahwho had stopped bearing childrensaid, “Here, Jacob, take my servant girl, and the children she bears will count as ours.” The end result from these four women were the twelve sons who became, of course, the twelve tribes of Israel. Interestingly, Rachel, the one who had said, “Give me children or I’ll die,” did indeed die when she gave birth to Benjamin. Jacob buried this one, about whom he was so passionate, in Canaan. Years later, Leah died, and Jacob buried her in the Promised Land, at a place called Machpelah. When, as an old man in Genesis 49, Jacob himself was about to die, he called his sons together, and, after blessing each one, said, “I am going the way of my fathers. When I die, bury me at” Now, I would have thought he would have said, “Bury me by the love of my life. Bury me by Rachel.” But that’s not what he said. He said, “Bury me at Machpelahby Leah.” Why would he say that? Because at the end of his life, Jacob realized Leah was where the blessing was all along. What he thought was an unfair trick was in reality the biggest blessing in his life because from Leahnot Rachel, not Bilhah, not Zilpahfrom Leah came Judah. And from the tribe of Judah came the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Jesus was birthed through Leah, the one Jacob thought he had every right to bail out on. And at the end of his life, Jacob said, “Leah was it all along. I want to be buried by her.” Wife, you might look at the man next to you and say, “I was tricked. He’s not the man I thought he would be.” Husband, you might look at the woman you married and say, “She’s not the passion of my life. I didn’t know she would turn out this way.” But if you jump ship, know this: You will miss the blessing of the birthing of Jesus in a supernatural, incredible, wonderful way because there are no tricks in the life of a child of God. Employee, you might look at your boss and say, “When I signed that contract, I didn’t know he would be such a jerk. I don’t care what I signed. I’m going to find a legal loophole. I’m jumping ship.” But when you put pen to paper and signed your name, your Father was there. And to the child of God, there are no tricks. Teenager, you might look at your parents and say, “I was tricked. I must have been switched at birth. God couldn’t have chosen these people to raise me.” But know this: You are not only their childyou are a child of the King. He, in His wisdom, hand-picked them for you. And He makes no mistakes. Paul said, “If you jump ship, you’ll lose your life.” And the centurion, knowing how tempting it would be for the sailors to bail out, to jump ship, to give up, ordered the soldiers to cut the lines so there would be no possibility of escape. I know there are some who are saying, “I haven’t jumped ship. I’ve only lowered a lifeboat over the side. I’ll give it three more months, or two more weeks, or one more year.” But if you keep an escape option open in your mind, I guarantee you will end up using it. Think about divorceand you will end up divorced. Think about other men or other women you wish you had because you’re feeling tricked by the one you’re withand inevitably, you’ll bail out. Think about changing jobs, even though you gave your wordand you’ll miss out on what could have been. Think about leaving home, even though that’s where God has youand you’ll never see His reality. Get rid of the lifeboats. Cut the lines. “It’s easy for you to pontificate,” you say. “You don’t know the storm I’m in. You don’t know how vehemently the wind is blowing, how violently the waves are pounding. You just don’t understand.” You’re right. I don’t. But there is One who does. In 1902 a fire broke out, which flared up rapidly in the home of an elderly woman. Asleep in the upstairs bedroom was her grandson, whom she tried to rescue before she died in the process. Someone outside heard the screams of the five-year-old boy, however, and found a way to climb hand-over-hand up a drainpipe, until he made it to the roof, broke through a window, and pulled the boy out to safety. This story, which appeared in the St. Louis Globe Herald, generated quite a bit of interest in the orphaned boy. During the hearings that followed, a schoolteacher came forward and gave reasons why he felt he should be appointed the boy’s guardian. So did a wealthy businessman, a minister, and several other upstanding people in the community. The little boy, however, looked down and never raised his eyesuntil a man came through the back doors of the courtroom, walked up to him, and opened his hands. The boy looked at the charred and badly blistered hands of the stranger and jumped into his arms, saying, “This is my dad.” And the judge pounded the gavel and said, “So be it.” So, too, I’m asking you to look at the hands of One who loves you so much He absorbed the heat of hell to pull you out of eternal destruction. I’m asking you to listen to this One who says, “Trust Me. Don’t jump ship, or all will be lost.” Precious people, Jesus will come in a way that will blow your mind if you don’t jump ship. I don’t care what the sailors of society are saying about breaking commitments, bailing out, and giving up. Cut the ropes. Let the lifeboat crash in the sea below. Stay on board and, like Jacob, you’ll look back and say, “Bury me by Leah. That’s where the blessing was all along.”

Acts 27:33

The crew had been fasting for fourteen daysnot because they were seeking God, but because they were sick to their stomachs. Filled with fear, they lost their appetites.

Acts 27:34

As de facto commander, Paul said, “It’s time to eat.”

Acts 27:35

Paul had hope in his heart. He believed in God. And he thanked the Lord in the sight of everyone on deck.

Acts 27:36

I believe one of the best things we can do when people around us are discouraged is break bread with them in Communion. And just like the crew on this ship, they will experience good cheer.

Acts 27:37

The two hundred seventy-six men on board didn’t know where they werebut they could see a creek running into the ocean, which they thought might be a possible point of entry for them.

Acts 27:40

Here they were, close to shore, trying to navigate their ship into the river. But as they did, it fell apart.

Acts 27:42

Just as the Lord promised, everyone on board survived the storm. Please note four types of storms that blow into our lives: Storms of correction. Ask brother Jonah about these. When a storm arose and he was tossed overboard and swallowed by a great fish, it was because he was rebelling against the Lord (Jon_1:10). So, too, sometimes when I’m in a place of disobedience or rebellion, the Lord will allow a storm to get me on track again. Storms of perfection. After Jesus fed the five thousand, He sent His disciples across the Sea of Galilee (Matthew 14). Midway through their journey, a storm arose around them for their perfection. You see, Jesus knew it wouldn’t be too many months before these same disciples would see another multitude of five thousandnot fed, but saved (Act_4:4)followed by another stormnot on the sea, but of persecution within the church (Act_8:1). Thus, Jesus was training His boys to endure the storms of persecution that inevitably follow the seasons of blessing. Faith is not a pill we take, folks. It’s a muscle we work. Therefore, the Lord will send me into a storm from time to time not for correction, but for perfection because the way I react to storms internally will tell me where I’m at spiritually. Storms provide unique opportunity for me to see where I’m at and to grow in my understanding that the Lord will come through at the right time, saying, “Be of good cheer. We’re going to make it.” Storms of protection. Because “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Gen_6:8), God sent a storm to drown out all of the carnality, sin, and iniquity that surrounded him. The storm raged for forty days and nights, but Noah and his family were not only protected in the stormthey were protected by the storm. “Oh no!” we cry. “My TV blew up,” or, “My stereo doesn’t work. What a storm I’m in.” But, as in Noah’s case, it might be a storm of protectionprotecting us from the carnality and iniquity that surround us continually. Storms of direction. Knowing there was a group of people on the island of Malta in need of ministry, the Lord said, “Before you go to Rome, Paul, I’m going to allow you to be blown off course because there is something I want you to do for Mesomething you never would have thought of on your own, something that wasn’t part of your agenda. I have some people to whom I want to minister, so I’ll allow a storm to arise, which, although it looks like it’s blowing you off course, will put you in the very place I want to use you.” “How come I got canned?” “Why did she dump me?” “How come it’s not working out?” you ask. Don’t be blown away. Realize that the Lord is changing your direction because there’s something He wants to do that will ultimately be a blessing. Storms of correction and perfection, storms of protection and directionhow can you know which one you might be in? Talk to the Father. “Why am I in this storm, Lord? Is it correctionor are You perfecting me for what You see is coming my way? Is there a new direction for my lifeor are You protecting me from something that would be very damaging?” How long has it been since you got away to spend time with the Lord? Clear your schedule, seek Him, and you’ll be blown away by His goodness rather than by the storm.