 I just want you to know how God is real man when you pray you seek him sometimes he answers quickly sometimes It takes a little bit longer, but he always answers a man We just have to be patient and wait and trust that he's gonna come through a man So let's go ahead and open our Bibles to Acts chapter 27 and we're gonna be looking at verses 9 through 31 I'm not gonna read all the verses, but I will encourage you guys to go and read them at at home You know and just kind of get a feel of the story But I will give you guys certain things from this passages from these verses just so I can develop with you this This this this study on storms, you know the book of Acts is an amazing book Isn't it isn't it? I mean think about it for with me the book of Acts in the book of Acts We have the birth of the church, right? We also see how the early church began to multiply it up But it also tells us some some awesome and amazing stories, right? I mean sometimes when I'm reading to the book of Acts I'm just blessed to how God poured out his spirit and began to work amongst these people How people were getting healed people were getting saved I mean God was doing a great work and then you come to this one character by the name of the apostle Paul I don't know about about you, but I have two Characters in the book of Acts that I really love one of them is Stephen, right because he's down for Christ He loses his life literally he goes out in the blaze of glory, right? And then the apostle Paul another guy man one of the things that encouraged me about Paul is that not only was he down for the Lord What I mean by that this guy was willing to give everything for God But I love that fact remember when when he's preaching the gospel they take him out They beat him down and they leave him almost dead, right? And and the apostles are like, oh man he died right and and then Paul gets up does himself up out And then he starts going forward preaching the gospel when I read stuff like that it motivates me I said to myself man Lord help me not to use excuses like my leg hurts, right? You know, I got a sore throat to you know using excuses from from sharing the gospel to be willing to go all out Just to tell people about the love of God and how in Christ there is hope well today, I want to look into a story about the Regarding the apostle Paul in fact in the book of Acts, you know We're told of his missionary journeys, right and acts 27 in this book that we have before us We're told that Paul went on a ship which sailed into a very strong and dangerous Storm now this story of Paul riding out this storm gives us some insight into how we are to write out storms in our lives Now the question that I want to put out there for you guys is very simple Why would God use almost the entire chapter here in this book in the book of Acts to talk about a Storm and a ship that goes into this storm Well, the reason why I believe is because this chapter is more than just history is His story and how great God is and how he protects how he saves and how he uses his people To do great works and we're gonna look into that today Now I want you to know it another thing this chapter illustrates every person in the world sailing through through storms in their lives You know some things that I've also noted that that sometimes the storms are different in every one of our lives Some are strong some are soft, right, but through those storms. We learn a lot We learn a lot now as a Christian as believers We have someone that's gonna carry us through the storms, right? His name is Christ Jesus Christ He helps us through the storms in life, but through those storms God matures us, right? He develops us. He but not only that he also corrects us I mean, there's various reasons why God allows us through storm So so when we're going through storms, we know that God is with us But for the unbeliever, it's kind of sad when you think about it when when when they don't have a relationship with God They pretty much go through a storm on their own and we see the aftermath of that And today we're gonna see how how unbelievers go through how they handle storms and how Christians handle their storms But in this story Paul has been taken to prison for preaching the gospel And they are taking him to Rome to stand trial before Caesar now when Paul started out his journey We saw him as a prisoner on this ship But at the at the end of the story you're gonna see how he's no longer a prisoner But the captain of that ship as the Lord would turn things around for his glory and and and honor now Paul was one who saw opportunity in every difficulty listen Paul was one who saw opportunity in every Difficulty not like us though, huh? Sometimes we see difficulty in every opportunity, but Paul was the opposite Paul was always because he was a man that was in love with God and and that's what he did He talked about God talked about Christ His heart was to win souls which would be every every believer's desires to see people get saved So whenever an opportunity rose up Paul will take it and use it for the glory of God So he used every opportunity every difficulty as an opportunity to share God In fact, he will later writing later writing second Corinthians 2 14 He wrote now thanks be to God who always leaves us and triumph in Christ and through us Diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place Well, that was Paul as he wrote those words. So before we begin listening closely I want to kind of take you quickly to verse 20 through 25 So right there in chapter 27 look with being verse 20 we'll be together to verse 25 and I want you to know a couple things now notice it says now when neither son nor stars acts 27 20 Appeared for many days and no saw tempest beat on us I hope that we would be saved was finally given up But after long abstinence from food then Paul stood in the midst of them and said men You should have listened to me and not have self from creed and and incurred this disaster and loss And now I urge you to take heart for there will be no loss of life among you But only of the ship for there stood by me this night an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve Speaking about the Lord saying do not be afraid Paul You must be brought before Caesar and indeed God has granted you all those who sell with you Therefore he says take heart men for I believe God that it will be just as it was told Mean and notice that so again We look here in this particular passage as Paul describes this big storm in verse 20 We hear we have here four weeks for reasons for these kinds of storms that happens to believers and to Unbelievers now the first thing I want you to notice this there is the norm storms that come to everyone Simply because they they are part of this fallen world Storms come to everyone right believers and unbelievers in fact Jesus said in Matthew 5 45 He said for he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust Listen as humans We all live in a world that has the sun and rain and all humans will experience some storms Simply because we're here living in this fallen world, right? Then there's number two then there is the storms that we produce ourselves because of our foolish Decisions, right or our disobedience to God because of foolish decisions and disobedience to God We produce these storms in our lives We inflicts, you know pain in our lives regret in our lives because we don't obey God's word Or we just simply make foolish decisions and and a good example is the man Jonah Remember Jonah Jonah is the perfect illustration of a band who bailed on God, right? And and put himself outside all over of the will of the Lord in fact Running from the Lord led him to a storm and finally he found himself in a well of trouble Amen Jonah chapter 1 verse 2 you can read the story and how many of us have done that, right? God tells us to do certain things we do the opposite and then we find ourselves in a mess in a hole And we're wondering why God why did you do this and God said not challenge? You don't say me it was you you made that decision, right? so we end up do making these foolish decisions, right and Simply because we disobey God So there's these storms that we produce ourselves and then number three There's also the storms that God sends down our way to mature us these type of storms by God make good for our Development it makes good for our development Remember when Jesus sent his disciples into a storm at the sea because he was trying to teach them a lesson to help them grow in Discipleship you can read about it in Matthew chapter 14 verses 22 to 33 I want you to know that these are the storms There are times we get into a storm not because we're outside of God's will like Jonah But because we are in God's will like the disciples you hear me There's some right that that are in the will of God and storms come and God uses those things To build us up. You know, we always pray. Oh Lord. We want to be just like you Well, watch what you pray for because Jesus say I got you I got you You know, I'm forgiving right and and you say yeah, well, guess what? I'm gonna bring your enemy to your life So I want to backstab you and talk about you and do you wrong and guess what I want you to forgive him I want you to forgive her but Lord no, no, no, no, but You pray for it now here he goes So he uses trust on storms in our lives to develop us to make us like into the image of his son Which we have been predestined to be Christ likeness. Amen Then there's number four Then there are those storms that were just simply dragged into you know, and this is where we find the Apostle Paul You see Paul was a seasoned traveler who had been, you know through many shipwrecks He knew that this ship shouldn't have sailed and tried to warn the people But they didn't listen to him as a prisoner who was being Guarded, you know by a Roman centurion Paul knew he had you know He had to go simply because you know He was bond and bond and he was instructed to follow and there were times that we find ourselves in storms that are not Our making we simply are born into them, right? Kind of like children, right? They're a dragon to a storm because because of an uncle because ungolly parents, you know Who probably made some unwise decisions and now they have to live it out, you know It wasn't their fault someone else made those decisions, but they were brought into it Or what about us like adults were dragged into a storm because of the authorities that are over us, you know As Americans listen closely we get thrown into a storm because of bad leadership We find ourselves sailing into judgment due to laws and rules Listen that have passed in Congress that our president have has passed or the judges Sometimes we just get dragged into these storms. Amen We sometimes wish we can do something but in reality there's not much we can do because we're limited So like Paul who didn't want to sell we're just on board as prisoners riding into the storms with others But here's a good thing Jesus was with Paul Just like he's with us and we're gonna see that as we get further into our study And I noticed what it says in verses 9 through 11 it says now when much had a much time had been spent And selling was now dangerous because the fast was already over Paul advised him he's saying man I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss not only of the cargo and ship But also our lives Nevertheless the Centurion was more persuaded by the Hemsman and the owner of the ship than by the thing spoken by Paul and Because the the harbor was not suitable to enter in the majority advice to set sail from their also If by any means they could reach phoenix a harbor of creed opening toward the southwest and northwest and Winter there again. We know it here that Paul didn't want to sell but he did he didn't have a choice He was at the mercy hear me of others making that decision on one side You have the Hemsman the captain of the ship the owner who were both worldly men Businessmen that was that that were simply motivated by motivated by profit and led by worldly wisdom And on the other hand you have the Apostle Paul a man of God a man who had a spiritual raider Not raider Rams. No, I'm just looking a spiritual radar. All right. He didn't tell you no may listen This is not gonna end good Right, so here you have him with the spiritual radar Between them was the Centurion who was who was decision-maker? He chose not to listen listen to this religious prisoner But foolishly and ignorant he chose to listen to the worldly men and we see that in verse 11 the decision to sell was a big and Deadly mistake right it was a big and deadly mistake just like many today are in danger of making the same bad Decision which can lead to a deadly storm listen closely Are you going to sell into a storm out of disobedience or ignorance and not? Into the storms that would mature us in the things of God I want to give you five ways and how you can make bad decisions Number one here's I'm gonna be giving you number one number two around the message You jot them down number one you can make a bad decision when you rush a decision When you rush the decision notice verse 9 it says now when much time has been spent notice that They said they probably said something like this. This is going too fast man. We better do something real quick Have you ever find yourself doing that making quick quick decisions? A lot of people make life decisions listen without waiting on the Lord for Guidance they'll say something like this. Let's just decide already even if it's wrong They'll quit school right they'll quit their job. They'll leave the church right or maybe live the city They move to another town or etc They make these quick decisions not realizing man that that you what you should have done is wait on God Sheep the Lord. What if the Lord wants to do something there? What if the Lord wants to work something in your life there? But because you see the storm coming you freak out you panic and you bell on God rather than waiting on God Have you done that? Have you bailed on a relationship? You know, have you quit a job? You know, have you have you left the church? You know, have you ever pay at your power when people leave our church, you know They live number one there is some of them are in sin and then they say well the Lord is calling me So I can't be calling my you're a sin. I know what you're doing And Then I'll ask him something a question like this. Well, why would the Lord tell you to leave someone when he just brought you here? Interesting and and why would you go to another church? When man, they're fully staffed. I mean, they got all these servants and here We're asking for people to come and serve in the inner city. Why would God do that? Find out later that a lot of these people that left were not really seeking the Lord They were seeking comfort. Oh, they were in sin and they got exposed and they just wanted to go hide Or for very reason now don't get me wrong I'm not saying that God is not gonna tell you to leave the church or or anything like that But I'm saying it is make sure it's God and not you because you might be missing out and what God has for you Where he has you you with me? So sometimes we make bad decisions because we rush those decisions again Listen, there is no real guidance from God from God When it when you don't seek God and there's no real guidance from the Lord you can find yourself in a deli storm So again, if you're in the middle of a decision, I beg with I beg you I plead with you wait on the Lord and he will come and show you what to do Amen. Now God's spirit will guide you God's spirit Will lead you he will never shove you into that anything man. That's the enemy You let the Lord put you where he needs to and you just got to wait on him and he'll he'll make sure he directs you that path number two So, you know first one is rushing a decision number two How about this one leaning on worldly wisdom and not on the wisdom of God's word? Leaning on worldly wisdom and not on the wisdom from God's word, which is Christ notice verse 11 It says nevertheless a centurion was more persuaded by the Helmets man and the owner of the ship Then by the things spoken by Paul Paul was a man of God Think about it. We're talking about the man who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament was on that ship with them and God has spoken to him already. He had insight and He's talking to them and he's saying man. Listen, not only that not only these gods You know has spoken to me, but I also have experience. You know, I know the weather I know how the storm is work and he's giving them wisdom and they reject him They reject him and they listen to the wisdom of the others the worldly Individuals again church do not get your counsel from the world get your counsel from the word of God Forsake any advice from the world, please. I beg you it trips me out how sometimes, you know Christians will go to worldly counselors rather than golly counselors You know, I I read about a man who this one man who went to a to a psychiatrist You know to help him in their marriage, but this guy has been divorced four times remarried four times. Think about it What do you think he's gonna tell him? See, we need to be wise the world is gonna tell you man Bell on her right or bell on him man, you know, if you don't love them Then you know you deserve to be loved you deserve to be accepted you deserve to be praised or whatever, right? Take off on them and it's okay. You need to be happy That's what the world will tell you but the word was saying nah, man You fight for your marriage. You love her like Christ loved the church if you're a wife You'll tell you respect your husband. You see that you submit to him as unto the Lord You see I'm saying you go to they go to the world and they're getting bad counsel What about this they go to their Nana or their Tia, right or their grandma and they're not even Christians But it's my family they love me God loves you more You should be turning to the word of God Well, you're gonna receive the counsel that you need to make that merit succeed man. I'm turning into a rapper up here But we need to not seek the counsel of the world But we need to see this you need to seek the counsel of the word of God Listen, if you do Psalms chapter 1 verse 1 tells us you're gonna be blessed And I've said this before but if you don't you'll be a mess See I'm rapping all right Number three How about this one trying to get the trying to take the easy way out notice verse 12 Because the harbor was not suitable to winter in or to spend the winter They weren't comfortable so they made their decision based on of what would be the easiest for them listen We'll all almost always get into trouble if we make decisions based on what is easiest Do you know that Jesus we're told in scripture in second Timothy 2 3 that we are to endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ and Not to take the we easy way out Some of us don't want to to endure that hardship But little do you realize that in doing that hardship? Hear me as I mentioned earlier man. God is working in you to eventually work through you You what if this what if what if God has allowed you to go through that hardship? Because through your faithfulness and your commitment and love for God God's gonna use it to to bring someone to the Lord Maybe there's someone in your family who's questioning God who's wondering with it whether this is real or not But they're taking note of you. They're observing you there. They got their eye on you man And and as you're being faithful God, you know, you know opens their eyes to see listen Christianity is real It's not fake There are people that do love me and do trust me and guess what look at their life. They'll be blessed So here's the thing God has called you and I to endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ Not to take the easy way out like many have They bail on their marriages as you know, why go through all the trouble man, but I'm glad me and my wife didn't do that Man, I'm glad we didn't listen to the world But that we listen to the word of God because if we would have bailed out We would have never experienced what we're experiencing today Being used by God man, it blesses my heart when I see my wife teach the word She's anointed woman man and to see her bring the word the way she does. I'm like, oh man. Thank God I stuck around And vice versa. I hope she says the same to me when she goes to the women's conference So you guys let me know if she doesn't but anyways Number four, how about this one? You can make bad decisions when you listen to the majority Notice verse 12 It says that the majority of vice to set sell There was a crowd of 270 5276 with Paul included and when they took a vote according to to verse 37 And there was 276 they outvoted Paul here. You see Following the crowd listening closely can cause you to make bad decisions You hear me? They can cause you to make bad decisions Know that the majority is always almost always Wrong remember in numbers chapter 12 to chapter 13 Remember the 12 spies That told joshua not to invade the land But there was two that said come on. Let's go take it 10 of them were wrong The majority was wrong The two were right. What about what about in first samu chapter 8 verse 10? We read of the story of of um Of song the people wanted saw to be king of israel god didn't but god gave them what they wanted And later on they turned out they didn't want what they got right the reality is the majority was wrong Or what about in matthew 27 2022? The people wanted bravas released And they wanted jesus crucified Which led to the most heinous crime ever committed by mankind You hear me? You can make some bad decisions when you listen to the majority Don't listen to the majority Listen to god Pray that god would open your ears so that you can be sensitive to when the spirit speaks to you And even when it doesn't make sense Do it anyway Because afterwards it will make sense You hear me? I mean when does god ever make sense when he asks us to do some things, right? But he knows what he's doing He's god his ways are not our ways man All right, so so we need to learn to listen to the spirit. It's been said listen quote Do you know that the majority? Uh, do you know let me read this again. Do you know what the majority generally generally is? A lot of people pulling their ignorance unquote All I have to say is yep Number five You can make bad decisions when you trust on circumstances and not on god notice verse 13 When the south wind blew softly supposing that they had obtained their desire it says they sell clothes by creek Seeing the sunshine the sea the sea was calm The wind was blowing softly They said oh, it must be god's will Let's sell man Let's sell listen Many are led by circumstances saying well, I I I prayed and I asked god and things are looking good. So it must be his will for me These don't realize that making these decisions based on good some good circumstances can lead To your ship being sank So again These are five things that can lead to bad decisions To a life that can be miserable And for us it's 14 to 21. I want you to notice here I want you to know that we have the reactions to the storms of life here verse 14. It reads this notice But not a little but not long after a termissuous A head wind arose called Let me see if I can pronounce that all right. Um, here we go. You're you're a You're rockly done. That sounds good Verse 15 So when the ship was caught and could not head into the wind We let her drive notice that And running under the shelter of an island called cloud cloud We we we we secure the skiff with difficulty or the lifeboat When they are taking it on board they use cables to to undergird the ship and faring less They should run aground on the citrus of sands They struck sail so where they were driven notice verse 18 and because we were exceedingly Tempest toss the next day they lined the ship Under third day we threw the ship's tackle overboard with our own hands Now when neither sun or stars appeared check this out for many days and those small tempests beat on us Our hope that we would be saved was was finally given up But after long abstinence from food Then pause stood in the midst of them and said man You should have listened to me and I have self-increed and incurred this disaster And loss so here we see the reactions to these storms or to the storms of life First I want you to know what happens when the unbeliever gets into a storm I want you to know what happens. First of all, I want you to know this their dream their dreams disintegrate Their dreams disintegrate they dissolve notice verse 15 it says we let her drive You see the captain the owner the guard of the ship weren't strong enough They weren't strong as they thought they were so they found themselves on the ship being driven by the winds They couldn't control it pretty much and this happens a lot, doesn't it people who think they can handle A storm only to realize they're not in control But they have lost full control of their dreams and now their dreams are dissolving are vanishing away Here's the second thing notice their work multiplies their work multiplied as they began to work In desperation we see that in verses 16 through 19 they began to do things out of desperation They work hard trying to desperately Get everything back together. They wanted to survive. They wanted to make sure that they make it to the other side And we see that today how many are making desperate efforts trying to put their lives back together That's what an unbeliever does. They'll spend money. They'll do whatever it takes just to get back everything that they've lost Or before they lose it. They're in desperate modes, man Listen, what they should do is come to christ, right? They should come to christ to work So that god may work in their lives Listen, jesus jesus doesn't want you to work out things in your life. He wants you to come to him Because when you come to him, it's when you find rest When you come to him, it's where you know god gives you his peace Matthew chapter 11 verses 28 to 31 jesus made that intention to come to me all you who are heavy lading Later and he says that i will give you rest not only that he will restore your life Don't try to fix things listen turn to the one who can fix it Don't waste don't get in this desperation move and put all your effort to trying to better yourself if you're a non-believer Come to the lord and let him do it and then watch him watch him give you life But here's the thing life more abundantly as he as is recorded in john 10 10 thirdly The resources are all wasted notice verse 18 it says and because we were exceedingly Tempest tossed the next day they're lying the ship that threw everything overboard In verse 21 it says but after long abstinence from food Then posture in the midst of them and said men you should have listened to me and not have self-uncreed and incurred this disaster and lost and lost again The resources are all wasted Everything they thought was precious. They are not throwing it overboard And today we see how unbelievers will spend the first half of their lives gathering wealth But then they spend the second part of their life using their wealth trying to get health right And they end up miserable First half and then the second half of their lives is just miserable and listen listen closely I'm there might be some here today that Will give all their possessions To have their friends back To have their children's back To have their families back To have their wives back They would do whatever it takes they'll they'll get rid of all that they that they've wasted All that they obtained just to get that back. That's what the world does Fourthly The unbelievers hope Eventually is gone in verse 29 read and they and prayed they were praying for the day to come But I find it interesting in verse 20 that it says now when neither sun nor stars appear for many days They're out there in the sea listen and no small tempest beat on us All hope that we will be saved was finally given up now. I want you to picture that for a moment They're in that storm Right, they look up and they don't see the light They don't see the sun or the moon or the stars all they see is darkness The waves are are beating on the ship and they say finally man, you know what? It's over Hope is gone. Hope is gone. See listen the sun the moon the stars And land disappears so they couldn't navigate So their hopes vanished away Even paul's voice was silenced in such distraction See the reality is they rejected god's light Not only the stars and the stuff but they rejected paul The one who had given them instruction And now they find themselves in total darkness and how many non-believers do that, right? They reject god's light And because of it they find themselves without hope I mean I live I administer in south los angeles And we see many people That are just giving up There's no hope me homelessness has just man plague our city And I'm telling you man, but but we go out there and we give them the light and you know What's a blessing the last couple weeks we've seen some homeless people come And we love them them and you can see their joy man. They respond to the gospel But at the same time, there's those that just don't want god They don't see the we they don't see the reason why Some of them you talk to them and you can see in their face. They lost our hope Listen, we have that hope and that hope is in Christ. So we give them Christ. Amen But notice the fifth thing Now since they wasted their First of all, they they they wasted their the resources, right? They the hope is gone and now they do what they start doing foolish things notice verse 30 and 31 And as the soldiers were seeking to escape from the ship When they had let down the skiff into the sea the lifeboat Under preaches of putting out anchors from the prow notice Passed to the centurion and the soldiers unless these men stay in the ship. You cannot be saved Be got to make some foolish decisions There's the storm. They're thinking, you know, we'll get these lifeboats over boy. We'll jump on it and we'll make an escape But literally they realized man, they could have died in that storm The storm was too big They it was it was just overpowering the whole ship. There was no doubt. They were gonna make it alive Listen, sometimes the unbelievers most unbelievers would do foolish things after they see there's no hope after they wasted their materials After they tried everything in their in their desperation They began to do some foolish things some bad decisions So again, they started making plans because they don't have the lights to guide them They start leaning on their own understanding and ultimately Their understanding will lead to death I mean the bible says in proverbs three five not to lean on our own understanding, right? But to trust in the lord with all our hearts With all our hearts and then we read in proverbs 14 12 and 16 25. There's a way that seems right to a man But his end is death And we see the unbelievers doing that the unsaved are lost Just doing things not realizing that is leading to their death Some of the soldiers were trying to sneak off the ship trying to escape So what did they do? They tried selfishly to use lifeboats that wouldn't last And today we see how unbelievers try to escape storms. They could have avoided They turned to alcohol, right? They turned to drugs They believe divorce is the answer or teens think you know, what if I run away that will help Some even think just taking their own lives Is it's the best answer for their lives? And literally they realized man that satan had lied to them had deceived them Man the the the the most selfishest act that someone can do is take their own life Take their own life And we've seen it man We see especially when we when we you know the through the you know movie industry the music industry We see how some of these people these people they end up taking their own life. They're not satisfied They thought that this was gonna bring them joy, but it didn't Instead We see them becoming alcoholics. We see them, you know doing drugs and ultimately some have taken their life Listen if you want if you're a non-believer here today, and you want an escape. Can I encourage you? Escape to christ Turn to him He will be the one who can save you. He will be the one who can restore you He's the one that can keep you from the storms of judgment, man You know, it's a good example. Noah No one was inside the ark While the storm was going out man was being judged. He was in the ark, which is a picture of christ As he was being comforted and provided for Right, he was he was being you know, he was saved in that ark And if you're a non-believer today, listen closely If you're hopeless right now You're struggling You're you're at a point where you're thinking man, maybe it's better if I just ended all Listen don't listen to the devil The bible says that he comes to kill to still and to destroy He wants to take your soul But jesus wants to give you life If you will come to him in faith If you will just surrender your all to him I promise you you will have life and life more abundantly like jesus prayed amen Now notice what happens in verses 20 through the 25 We see here what happens to our believers in storm But what about the believers well in verse 22 it says Paul says now I urge you to take heart notice that for there will be no loss of life among you But only the ship Now notice what it says in verse 25 Therefore take heart men for I believe god that I believe god that it will be just as it was told Me now notice how he says take heart or another translation reads take courage Listen and listen closely. It's a blessing to see how believers Go through storms, isn't it? Because here we see as perfectly illustrated in the life of paul how paul was encouraging others Why why will pa do that? Well, you got to remember Spock paul can go through the storm with a smile in his face because he just heard from god God told him listen don't worry about it. No souls will be lost Everything will be all right as long as you stay on that ship paul was confident in the lord's words god paul believed in the promises of his savior So therefore he can go and say listen. Don't worry about it. Don't freak out all it's gonna be okay Take courage see believers when they have jesus in their lives when we can bank on his truth And then we cannot only experience his promises, but also share him with others and give them hope See what i'm saying then give them hope that's why if you're a believer and you're going through a storm Don't tell god to get you out of the store ask god to help you go through the storm So that you can gain that experience and that confidence and be able to speak hope to people That don't have what you have But as believers listen, we can encourage people We can encourage people now If you turn your bible to psalms 107 I wonder if the apostle paul had this in mind when he was ministering to the people there as he was giving them these promises turn your bible to psalms right quickly And psalms 107 Because paul was someone that knew the word right? I wonder if this was going through his mind. This kind of blew my mind when i was reading it Check check this out in verse 23 and psalms 107 verse 23 it says Those who go down to the sea and ships Who do business on great waters? They see the works of the lord and his wonders in the deep for he commanded And raises the stormy wind which lifts up the waves of the sea they mount up to the heavens They go down again to the depths their soul melts because of trouble They reel to to and fro and stagger like a drunken man And are and are at their wits and then they cry out to the lord in their trouble And he brings them out of their distress He calms the storm so that it waves so that its waves are still then they are glad because they are quiet So he guides them to their desired haven Oh That men will give thanks to the lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men Notice that so we see I wonder if paul had that in mind God saying listen You trust me You're gonna make it to rome You just gotta believe me and there's paul with the promises of god Telling the men listen take heart Be be encouraged. It's gonna be okay It's gonna be okay. You know My brother went through a very severe trial of the storm in his life And I remember before um, he went through this storm Um, he was at my house and I was able to share with him about the lord But my brother because in the industry that he was he didn't want god in his life And he was literally at the verge of becoming an atheist and he left my house saying You know what man? This is what he told me. He said he said that when he left He made a decision that he will never go back to church But I remember I talked to him and I said, you know what bro? I love you and god loves you man, and I'm gonna pray that god will do whatever it takes To bring you back Whatever it takes Well that week he went home. He got some news that was very devastating My brother called me almost at two in the morning Standing on an over path getting wanting to kill himself Now everybody told him bro. Don't do it. I'll be there right now I jumped out of bed after I told my wife drove up where he was he's crying and he's going through this this Horrible storm And for the next two years All I can do is encourage him and point him to christ Now Man, he's in love with christ. He preaches the gospel. He's a I'm known. This is awesome You know why? Because I've been through those storms And god was faithful to his word See as christians We have christ Right who will help us through these storms and we can offer word of encouragement and hope to people And in verses 23 to 24. I want you to notice also another thing We see the results of the storms of life It says in 23 For they are stood by me this night an angel of Of the god to whom I belong whom I serve. I love that paul says listen There was this angel of the lord right to whom I belong and whom I serve He understood that he was a child of god and not only that but he was his servant That was his master verse 24 saying do not be afraid paul You must you must be brought before seizure and indeed god has granted you all those who will sell with you Here we find the results see god's plan was for paul to go to rome and to testify of god And guess what paul made it to rome paul made it to rome Again, this story is a perfect illustration of the sovereignty of god But also man's responsibility at the same time You see it wasn't god's plan for the ship to sail and then to hit the storm But I want you to know that his ultimate plan wasn't Prevented by the ship sailing You see the ship Carry god's means to minister to his people from generation to generation. You know what that was paul He had paul there paul will later go to write two-thirds of the new testament But not only that keep in mind The book of acts was on board You see God told paul Nothing's gonna happen See I god had plans for paul Paul had to make it to rome And and and we see that no matter what the enemy throws at us listen You can be assured that god has a specific plan for every single of our la everyone here in this in this room And god is gonna see those plans out as you submit to the will of god You just have to trust them You have to understand number one that you belong to the lord and the lord is not going to forsake you He's gonna be there with you and number two listen. You are to be his faithful servant Until god calls you home Later on paul will be called home, right? When when nero gives the command To kill paul paul will later later died being beheaded But right before he died. He said what I have fought the good fight I have finished the race You see he was untouchable right until god said now it's time for you to come home And listen you need to understand that the storms of life That the storm of lives might come but god will be with you You have to believe his word trust in his promises And use those things that god teaches you to bring hope and life to the world around us amen So now listen closely as I close I want you to know I want you to know that every bad decision that people people make Can't overrule the will of god You hear me cannot overrule the word of the will of god It's been said quote. We serve a mighty god and where god does not rule god over rules Unquote and it's so true. You know how many times the devil tried to get me To stop fulfilling my calling How many times he tried to disqualify me How many times I failed but I kept getting up and you know what's crazy that during that time I remember man just just just thinking of of roman's 520 Where sin abounds grace abounds much more and those were the scripture that I will cling to and I would always tell myself I can never out send the grace of god. Oh god. Help me. Help me god And here I am 29 years later You see guys, you got to understand something When you're truly a child of god Even though you fail, he will prevail. I'm rapping You hear me? We are on the winning side amen so There was a storm But bob but but not bob pa But pa believed the lord So he encouraged right and he made it to rome fulfilling his call The centurion believed the owner making a bad decision the wrong decision and he and sailed Into lots of trouble losing a lot But god used pa to save them so god is using Maybe me today To save you from a storm that can take the best out of you So with that I would as a messenger of god warned you If it's not a storm that's going to develop you that god is leading you to listen Take heed to the word of god Unless you end up wasting everything You hear me even losing your own life If you're a non-believer Maybe you're a believer And there's some storms that you went into god didn't lead you there Because of the decisions that you made listen. I can tell you right now repentance will get Your life back Well, maybe not the way you want it But the life that god has for you will blow your mind away if you would just trust him Obey him and repent Amen Let's pray