A SAVING REVELATION

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said:

“Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep.

Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Altogether there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

Acts 27:21-38

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

All hope was lost onboard the doomed Alexandrian ship headed to Italy. Caught in the midst of a storm with hurricane force winds raging around them, no one thought they could or would be saved.

Maybe you have been in a situation like this. I’m not necessarily talking about a matter that was life threatening as there are a lot of other circumstances that can impact a person in life and leave them in a place where hope fades.

So what do you do in those times?

Do you find yourself completely relating to the people on the ship we read of in Acts 27, feeling an overwhelming sense of doom?

Or are you like God’s faithful apostle Paul who instead of concentrating on how big the danger was, remembered that his God was bigger?

I think Paul’s way is much easier and the way the Lord wants us to go.

Let’s now turn to our scripture passage for today and see how a divine, saving revelation received by Paul changed the whole outlook for the 276 people who were onboard.

First, we read where everyone was just down and depressed over the dangerous situation they were in. People wouldn’t even eat, going a “long time without food”, an act of starvation just as perilous as the wicked storm they found themselves in. Paul felt the urge to address the people and provide them hope but not before he shared a rebuke, saying:

“Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss.”

In other words, Paul was simply saying, “I told you so.” He had cautioned the centurion, pilot, and ship’s owner and suggested they might want to consider remaining in port to avoid the harsh weather but he was outvoted 3 to 1 and so the ship ventured off into sea and into the predicament they found themselves in. All they had to do is listen and none of this would have happened but they didn’t and as much as the “would have, could have, should have” was played, nothing could change what was happening. The ship and the people onboard were in big trouble.

And yet, Paul urged everyone to “keep up” their courage.

Why?

Because he knew that only the ship would be destroyed. Everyone onboard would live.

I can almost see the people thinking to themselves, “Yeah, right Paul. Thanks for the pep talk but how do you know what is going to happen?”

Well, Paul answers that question and then some. For he testifies about a visit from “an angel of the God to whom” he belonged to and served the night before. Paul shares that the angel “stood beside” him and spoke comfort into his heart with the following words:

“Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.”

God had spoken to Paul while he was held captive by the Romans in Jerusalem, telling him that he would need to go to Rome and testify (Acts 23:11). That mission had not changed. It was a part of God’s plan and so was everyone else surviving as well. This is why Paul added:

“Keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.”

The God of Israel and all mankind was with the people onboard the ship. All they needed to do was heed Paul’s sage wisdom to have faith as he did and keep up their courage in the midst of adversity which would include the ship soon running “aground on some island”.

Two weeks later, the ship was still afloat and being “driven across the Adriatic Sea” when the sailors onboard sensed the ship was getting near land. To check this out, we read where the crew took sounding readings and the depths progressively decreasing let them know they were most probably headed to shore. Afraid that this would cause the ship to “be dashed against the rocks”, the sailors “dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight” but we see that their faith was very weak because they decided to “escape from the ship” by letting the “lifeboat down into the sea” while “pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.” They would then make a getaway and leave everyone else behind and the plan would have probably worked had Paul not intervened, telling the “centurion and the soldiers”:

“Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”

And with that, the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. The scriptures tells us that the “soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away”, leaving all onboard the ship in the hands of the God that Paul asked them to trust.

So what did Paul do next after making sure everyone stayed aboard and were encouraged to show courage?

We read where he exhorted the people to eat saying:

“For the last fourteen days, you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”

Not one person would lose their life. Paul reassured the people understood that. But he also wanted them to realize that they could lose their strength, strength that they were going to need once the ship wrecked. And so we see Paul leading by example, taking bread, giving thanks to God in front of everyone gathered, and then broke it before eating in plain sight of all who were there with him.

The scriptures tell us that Paul inspired and encouraged the people greatly and everyone ate food themselves, all 276 souls. There was plenty to go around for the moment and everyone had their fill but there came a time when the grain needed tossed overboard so to lighten the ship’s load and so it was.

Friends, in a time of calamity and fear of destruction and death, God showed up, stepped in, and intervened in a big way as only He can. A saving revelation was given that allowed hope through faith to displace despair through fear.

Today, our Heavenly Father still intervenes in big ways in the lives of His people who are all destined to die.

How does He do this?

Through a divine, saving revelation that goes like this:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Yes, worldly life will end. This is a certainty. Ditto for times of difficulty and hardship. But God has made a way to bring us confidence and courage and eternal hope through His Son He willingly allowed to die so we might life forever.

All we need to do to gain this blessed assurance is to walk by faith and trust in a God who rescues and saves through Jesus, His Son.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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