 Acts 27 beginning at verse 1, and when it was decided that we should sail to Italy They delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius a centurion of the Augustine Regiment so entering a ship of Adrimidium we put to sea Meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia Aristarchus a Macedonia a Macedonian of Thessalonica was with us and the next day we landed at Sidon Julius treated Paul kindly gave him liberty to go to his friends receive care When we had put to sea from there we sailed into the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary and When we had sailed over the sea, which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra as city of Lycia There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy. He put us on board When we had sailed slowly Many days and arrived with difficulty off Newport Beach. Oh, excuse me off Snedus The wind not permitting us to proceed. We sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmonee Passing it with difficulty. We came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lycia And so let's begin this and this you're going to see is basically a travel log Paul is traveling from Caesarea Which is in Israel to the north on the Western on the Western coast? He's traveling from Caesarea to to Rome and He's going to be having a trial that would be held in what is called the imperial court He's in custody of a centurion a Man by the name of Julius and you may not know him at this time, but later on he invented a drink called orange Julius He became very famous Okay, I'll stop. I'm sorry his name was Julius who Was part of the imperial cohort and they sailed 70 miles north they stopped in Sidon They made their way up and then off they went to the west and so this is what is called a stop-by-stop narrative as We look at this. Let's look at those who are with Paul you have Paul But you also have Luke and notice we have a man there who has been mentioned his name is Aristarchus Now Aristarchus is found several times in scripture and we find that he is a faithful friend And he's also a minister from northern Greece a place that is called Macedonia He's mentioned fairly often you see him in Acts chapter 19 verse 29 you see him again in chapter 20 Verse 4 he's mentioned in the book of Philemon verse 24 Colossians chapter 4 verse 10 says Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you and So he's somebody that is mentioned fairly often in scripture and again He's a faithful friend and he's a minister from northern Greece As a close friend Aristarchus was willing to undergo hardship and long travel with the Apostle Paul We first saw him when he was taken by angry rioters in the city of Ephesus Again in chapter 19 of Acts verse 29 it had said the whole city was filled with confusion and rushed into the theater with one accord Having seized Gaius and Aristarchus Macedonians Paul's travel companions So the fact that he was willing to accompany Paul through so much hardship Reveals to us his love for the Lord as well as his love for Paul Now tradition not scripture tradition holds that he suffered martyrdom in Rome under Caesar Nero and so that's what you're seeing here. You're seeing a travel log It says in verse 3 the next day we landed at Sidon and Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care So the church that he's going to to receive care from May have been founded after the persecution following Stephen's death But notice he went there to receive care in other words. They provided provisions for his journey They took care of him because he was a minister You see in the New Testament the church is often reported as caring for those who are ministers of the word And so that's what we're saying take place here We're seeing take place when it says they gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care So the church actually Would work together to care for the needs of those who are taking the gospel out and Paul was being cared for because He was a missionary as well as an apostle when you look in 3rd John in verses 5 through 8 John said this and this gives us insight into what's taking place. He said Beloved you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren and for strangers who have born witness of your love before the church If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God You will do well Because they went forth for his namesake taking nothing from the Gentiles We therefore ought to receive such that we may become fellow workers for the truth They went forth for the Lord's sake and what stands out to me when John was writing is this when he said taking Nothing from the Gentiles the church really isn't supposed to rely on those who are not part of the body of Christ The church is really supposed to rely on brothers and sisters within the confines of the body of Christ for their needs and One of the one of the dangers and one of the problems that we have seen in the church Especially in these latter days has occurred when the church began to receive funds from the government So that they could perform spiritual duties Because whenever the church takes funds from the government the government of the United States will always have certain restrictions on the use of the funds Years ago. I had opportunity to go to Washington DC and there was a meeting that was being held concerning the What it was what would it have been called it was concerning a a It wasn't a ministry, but it was It was some kind of program that would wanted to get the church involved Doing good things under government funding and I went to Washington DC for the meeting and in the meeting It was pointed out that anything that the government wanted to help But later on it was pointed out that anything we received from the government would be under government guidelines and restrictions So anytime you take money from the government for anything, especially as a nonprofit corporation They will put guidelines and restrictions on how you use that money So if you have a ministry that's going to feed the poor clothes those who are naked Help those who are without a home and you receive money from the government The government will monitor who they give that money to and how that money will be spent And so if we were to see a need and we were to receive a government grant They will have people monitoring how that's being spent and they will put restrictions on us And they will also evaluate whether or not what we are doing Meets government guidelines and thus if they want to put if they if they if we want to have some money to do Something they will say you have to make sure that you are doing it in a non-discriminatory fashion And then at that point they begin to tell you who can work for you How they're going to do that and the government begins to intrude It's always been better for the church to take care of its own people from the very beginning That's how it was. We saw that already in Acts chapter 2. We saw that in Acts chapter 4 We've seen that in various New Testament books That the body of Christ Would put together funds and they would use those funds to disperse them amongst those in need Paul is now on his way to trial and As he has stopped in one of the places to be sheltered He went to his friends It would be a church that has been planted and the friends are giving to him Support so that he can continue his ministry in Galatians chapter 6 verse 6 He said let him who has taught the word Share in all good things with him who teaches and that's how it takes place The ones who are receiving are supporting the one who was teaching And so these believers minister to his needs because that's what Christians do in Titus 3 verse 14 Paul said it like this He said let our people also learn to maintain good works to meet urgent needs That they may not be unfruitful in Romans 12 verse 13 He speaks of distributing to the needs of the saints And so he went to his friends and he received care in verse 3 verse 4 When we had put to see from there we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia we came to Myra A city of Lycia There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy He put us on board When we had sailed slowly many days and arrived with difficulty off Sinaitis The wind not permitting us to proceed We sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmoni Outright yeah Salmoni passing it with difficulty We came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lycia So all of these geographic locations are familiar to all of you in this room Well, obviously not. I don't know where these are either It's difficult enough to read the words let alone know what he's talking about It's just given to us a geographic location in his direction that he's traveling And so traveling against headwinds. They're sailing slowly They arrive in a bay a bay in Crete They give the name of that bay. It's called Fair Havens And it's called Fair Havens simply because it has a good harbor So continuing now verse nine When much time had been spent and sailing was now dangerous because the fast Was already over Paul advised them saying men I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss Not only for the cargo and ship But also our lives Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship then by the thing spoken by Paul And because the harbor was not suitable to enter in The majority advised to set sail from there also If by any means they could reach phoenix a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest And winter there and so continuing the the description. I'll give you a couple of things here He speaks here concerning in verse nine. He said it's dangerous because the fast was already over That's simply a timetable the fast speaks of the day of atonement So that helps us to know what season this is that would fall in september or early october And he's simply saying travel at this time is dangerous And travel is dangerous from mid september to mid november And it would become easier to travel from Or actually it would cease travel would cease from november to february So his point is is they're moving into a dangerous season For sailing and so notice what happens in verse 10 Paul stands up and he says i perceive that this voyage is going to end in disaster Now interestingly enough the apostle paul when he was writing in second Corinthians in chapter 11 He spoke concerning the fact that he was experienced With shipwrecks he mentions that he had been in three of them So this is an individual with some experience And he's saying i perceive that this voyage is going to end with disaster So his travel experience as well as sensitivity to the holy spirit moves him to warn them So as he does so he says look this is going to end with disaster and much loss And so we need to be concerned he said not only the cargo and ship but also our lives This is going to be a dangerous thing. So they're looking at him and they're ignoring him And so the centurion is more open to listen to the experience of the sailors Now he's aware of the fact that the port that they're at wasn't suitable to winter in There were no comforts there for them So they decide to follow the experience of the sailors and they set sail By way of application This is very typical of the world when it comes to listening to warnings from believers Very typical When the church stands up and says i'm warning you if you go in this direction, it's going to end in disaster Those who aren't Christians very often Don't listen And that happens all the time That happens all the time and and it's interesting because we see we see it happen Regularly it's pretty much the culture that we're growing up in that we're living in at this moment If the church stands up and says If you're not careful these things will follow because you're doing a certain thing It's a slippery slope if you do this it's going to move to that The world doesn't listen Because the world listens to its own experts and doesn't listen to the spirit of god I was sharing years ago now how When columbine occurred I it was in this hall right here. It was on a sunday morning as I recall. It's been a number of years Some of you perhaps were there But I said this I said And I asked the question to the congregation. I said this to the church. I said With the columbine shootings the killings of those children so many years ago now I said How many of you believe that a classroom Should be the safest place for a child That's a reasonable question, right? How many so let me ask you this and and raise your hand How many think that a classroom should be the safest place for a child? Do you think that's true? And I and and I don't do this to embarrass you now. I didn't do it to embarrass them then I said you're wrong And of course that causes people to think well, why would I be wrong? Well, I'm always right. No But I said you're wrong and I'll say you know why Because the safest place for a child should be the mother's womb And if you take the life from a womb You will take the life in a classroom That's the slippery slope When you begin to say life has no value unless somebody determines it does Then at what point do you stop killing? Because if you can take the life of a child in the womb Then what is to keep you from taking the life of a child anywhere? And see that's the kind of slippery slope thinking That people have to date even to this day The church has stood up and said these things Are are right before the Lord we need to hold fast to these things Of course, let me let me hasten to say this That is not a word of condemnation to any in this room who have made poor choices And have made the decision for abortion. I'm not preaching about that at the moment I I hope that you don't think that I'm Trying to harm some who are dealing with with memories of those things that have happened I'm not doing that's what I'm saying is I'm saying that when the church has said but no don't do that there are other ways The experts get involved And the experts of the world are saying oh, no, you're wrong. We will listen Somebody will say we will listen to these experts. It happens all the time the church very often Is is shouted down and that's what paul's doing. He's saying sirs. I perceive that if we continue on This is going to create a place of great harm not only for the ship, but also for our own lives And so the centurion does what he does he gets He gets information from an expert and the experts say no, it's no problem at all. And again That's what happens People will listen to the experts of the world before they hear the cries of the church The world sometimes cannot hear what we're saying when we cry out warnings And so their decision is well, we will sail 40 miles west On the southern coast of crete The port in this area would not have have the wind blowing so fiercely and and couldn't provide better shelter as their reasoning And so that's what they choose to do verse 13 When the south wind blew softly supposing That they had obtained their desire putting out to sea they sailed close by crete But not long after not long after a tempestuous headwind arose called urocladon So when the ship was caught and could not head into the wind we let her drive And running under the shelter of an island called clauda We secured the skiff with difficulty when they had taken it on board They used cables to undergird the ship and fury unless they should Run aground on the certisans they struck sail and so we're driven And because we were exceedingly tempestossed the next day they lightened the ship On the third day we threw the ship's tackle overboard with our own hands Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest beat on us All hope that we would be saved was finally given up And so he's basically just giving blow-by-blow description of what took place Just briefly in verse 14 when it says Not long after a tempestuous headwind arose called urocladon Um urocladon just speaking of a strong wind that comes from all directions Um, it's a very strong wind that that causes great problems So what are they doing verse 17 says they try to secure the ship from breaking up hoping to avoid the shoals The certisans another way of referring to the shoals And notice again It says in verse 21 after long abstinence from food Paul stood in the midst of them and said men Nani, nani, nani you should have listened to me And not many and and not have sailed from creed 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 of the god to whom I belong and whom I serve saying Do not be afraid paul You must be brought before Caesar and indeed god has granted you all those who sail with you therefore Take heart men for I believe that I believe god That uh, it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island and so They haven't eaten And in the midst of all of this paul is about to stand up Notice with me how it says in verse 21 It says all hope that we should be saved was finally given up After all their efforts and all their experience there was no way they were going to be saved After three days they're fatigued They haven't been able to eat because of nausea and the impossibility of preparing meals in a fierce storm What you have is a picture of the sea it's tossing Salt spray is stinging their faces their backs are strained their arms legs are cramping The wind makes the boat rock violently They can hardly stand let alone walk They're seasick They've had it and all that awaits them is drowning And so in the midst of all of this paul stands up and he says you should have listened to me Now notice they are no longer professionals and amateurs there They're all in the same boat literally They're all going to drown And I know only men fighting for their lives so they're equal So he says you should have listened to me yet even though you didn't listen Do not fear because god is taking care of me and he'll take care of you too. Let me give you a principle God is taking care of me And he's taking care of you also When the lord blesses someone Others may partake because they happen to be there As the lord is blessing that one All the way back in the book of genesis in chapter 39 There's a story there About joseph Joseph who had been sold into slavery And in genesis 39 verses one through five We read joseph had been taken down to egypt And potiphar an officer of ferro captain of the guard in egyptian bought him from the ishmaelites Who had taken him down there The lord was with joseph And he was a successful man And he was in the house of his master the egyptian and his master saw that the lord was with him And that the lord made all he did to prosper in his hand So joseph found favor in his sight and served him Then he made him overseer of his house and all that he had put under his authority So it was from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had That the lord blessed the egyptian's house for joseph's sake And the blessing of the lord was on all that he had In the house and in the field there are those Those who do not want the church to exist You say oh you know that's with you pastors are all the same you exaggerate you You you guys are paranoid No, I got a letter from a guy in the neighborhood And he said that he wrote to me here at this church and he said I can hardly wait until the that church is gone That's what he wrote So I wrote him back and I said the day is coming when the church is going to be gone And then that which restrains evil The holy spirit in the church will be gone too and all hell will break loose For those who don't like the church They don't understand that this nation has been blessed because of the church You need to understand that this nation has been blessed because of the church Because god blesses his people And from its very foundation to this day There have been influential believers who prayed and sought the lord and god blessed them and others were blessed alongside of that That's what you find in scripture all the way back in egypt When joseph who had been sold into slavery by jealous brothers because they didn't like the idea that this was a man with A coat of many colors and his father showed him preference And they were so jealous that they sold them to the ishmaelites who intend in turn sold him to the egyptians He ends up in the household of potifer And god is blessing his life and potifer is smart enough to see that he's got blessings taking place in his home because joseph is there in homes When you have a believing husband or a believing wife That home can be blessed and the unbeliever can partake in the blessings Simply because god is blessing the believer that happens and so Paul is simply saying god is preserving my life. And by the way, you're on the same boat. I'm on That means you're going to be taken care of too So he's bringing them a word Of comfort. I was on a plane And a guy seated next to me Asked me, what do I do for a living and we're in flight What do you do for a living? I said i'm a pastor And after a while he turns to me and says, you know, I feel much more comfortable now knowing that you're on this plane with me We're flying in from A trip to israel. We're flying into new york We entered into storm conditions severe storm conditions We had never been in a storm like that off the coast of new york. We had never been in a storm like that It was so severe That the oxygen masks were dropping from the little specialized containers that they have they were dropping Because the plane was depressurizing And people were screaming and there were people crying And now we were on all airlines and jewish people were coming up to us as christians saying come into the back and pray with us I mean it was that serious And as this was all taking place and i'm telling you if you've never been in a plane that drops and comes back up and drops and come It's quite an experience And as that's happening. I had the newspaper and I was reading it I just was I was just talking to my daughter about this because my daughter karin was on that trip and she was 15 And she was seated two seats behind me with her seatmate and they were singing christian songs Which was not her at that time There she is singing and she said I talked to her just about this the other day and she said yeah daddy I wanted I wanted to go to heaven singing. I wanted to make sure I got in So and i'm reading the newspaper and i'm seriously when I do this this is how it was And we finally made a turn went to montreal. I believe we landed Later on my daughter approaches me karina approaches me and she says to me dad Why Were you so calm? Why were you not afraid? and I said I said because I knew that the lord was not through with our church I know that god isn't through with our church and she looks at me all 15 years of her wisdom and she says Has it ever occurred to you that he doesn't need you to finish the work? I said i'm glad I didn't think of it at that moment Also, I'd have been sitting next to you singing The lord has a way you know, I'll be honest with you there have been many times I was traveling with pastor Chuck Smith and I always felt a little more secure But you know, that's the whole thing he's saying God is going to take care of you because my god Will take care of me notice verse 25 therefore take heart men For I believe god That it will be just as it was told me however We must run aground on a certain island And so he's saying my god Is is is going to come through it will be just as he told me In other words, I trust the lord's word and I believe that god is faithful and I believe that god is true Numbers 23 19 says God is not a man that he should lie Nor a son of man that he should repent Has he said And will he not do Has he spoken And will he not Make it good In first Samuel 15 29 He who is the glory of israel does not lie or change his mind For he is not a man that he should change his mind So paul knew that god's word was true and that he could trust the lord So that includes the words of comfort that we find in scripture A lot of us go through our bibles and we discover beautiful promises God's word is true and we claim them that includes words of comfort But it also includes his words of warning We love to claim his promises of good, but we also need to heed his warnings In verse 27 when the 14th night had come And we were driven up and down in the adriatic sea about midnight the sailors since that they were drawing near some land and They took soundings and found it to be 20 fathoms and When they'd gone a little farther They took soundings again found it to be 15 fathoms then fear unless we should Run aground on the rocks they dropped four anchors from the stern And prayed for day to come So they're in the adriatic. That's if you looked at a map, it's it's a it's a Mediterranean it's in the center of the Mediterranean off to the the west of israel And they can sense that they're now coming near near shore They're approaching if you were looking at a map they're approaching south of sicily The isle of malta is only three miles south of the bay And there they are as this is taking place and notice what it says here What they're doing and they prayed for day to come. Have you ever done that? Oh god may the sun shine for some reason we feel safer when the sun is shining And they were just praying for the day to come verse 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship When they had let down the skiff into the sea under pretense of putting out anchors from the prowl Paul said To the centurion the soldiers Unless these men stay in the ship you cannot be saved Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off And as day was about to dawn paul implored them all to take food saying today's the 14th day you have waited and continued without food and eaten nothing But therefore I I urge you to take nourishment For this is for your survival since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you And when he had said these things he took bread and gave thanks to god in the presence of them all And when he had broken it He began to eat Then they were all encouraged and also took food themselves And in all we were 276 persons on the ship So when they had eaten enough they lightened the ship and throughout the wheat into the sea And so as the sailors are seeking to escape Paul Says don't allow that to take place Notice he's become a respected man. He earned their respect And incidentally that is how you generally become respected You become respected over time And the accuracy of the things that you say you'll become respected over time And and the way that you live and so they saw this and they realized That he was right and it's funny how people will listen to a person who seems to be right And they did so now according to verses 33 through 38 He's encouraging them to eat because they haven't eaten for several days So because they won't he leads by example. He takes some food. He prays he eats So that gives me insight into leadership and i'll just make a Brief comment about that because he's leading now. He's earned the respect and he's leading So leadership is demonstrated very often by example When people see that god is working in somebody they have a tendency of wanting to learn why And when they begin to speak to that person who's a leader very often They will ask questions pertaining to how they got to where they are And what can they do to help us to be there too? I've said this to you before but it bears repetition When you read your bibles when you read the gospels matthew mark luke john when you read those I would encourage you to do this as you read through the gospels Look for a time look for a time When the apostles say something like this to jesus look for a time when they say to jesus lord Teach us to preach You will never find an instance where they say teach us to communicate. They don't you never find it He sends them out to preach, but you never see him Giving them preaching 101 You go to seminary. They call it homiletics It's a class teaching you how to preach jesus never taught them how to preach isn't that interesting or jesus teach us to heal You never see jesus saying do it this way never you can't find an instance in scripture Where he says put your hand here say these words look up in this way You don't see any of that, but you know what you do see You do see it when they approach him in luke chapter 11 verse 1 And they say to him lord Teach us to pray Now isn't that interesting The one thing that they saw about him that they knew they needed Was they saw he communed with the father Teach us to pray even as john also taught his disciples Teach us to pray Because that's the one thing they saw in jesus that he actually said I want you to teach me to do that So you'll observe and you'll see something significant And that's how leadership occurs in somebody's life You see mark 135 says In the morning having risen a long while before daylight he's speaking of jesus went out and departed to a solitary place There he prayed they were aware of these things Matthew 14 23 When he had sent the multitudes away he went up on a mountain by himself to pray When evening came he was alone there They saw this in their master and so they say to him I want to know because by example you have shown us that you pray but teach us how That we might have communion to Paul could point to himself As an example to follow in first chrithians 11 1 Imitate me in so far as I imitate christ So he could point to himself in philippians 4 verse 9 The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me these do And the god of peace will be with you So he's earned their respect because he's lived before him in such a way That now as he's speaking they are listening You see this reminds them of who it is who's in charge It isn't rome And it isn't paul The one who's in charge and they've come to see this is the lord And that's why they're respecting him. You see he's the god of creation And he's sovereign over all he's created In psalm 107 verses 25 through 29 it says he spoke and stirred up a tempest tempest that lifted high the waves They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths In their peril their courage melted away They reeled and staggered like drunken men. They were at their wit's end Then they cried out to the lord in their trouble and he brought them out of their distress He stilled the storm to a whisper the waves of the sea Were hushed They've experienced that they're experiencing god's hand in his control And they're trusting that this god whom promised paul That he would survive and the rest would they're now trusting him In verse 39 when it was day They did not recognize the land But they observed a bay with a beach onto which they planned to run the ship if possible And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea meanwhile losing the rudder ropes They hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for sure But strike in a place where two seas met They ran the ship aground And the prow stuck fast and remained immovable But the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves The soldier's plan was to kill the prisoners Lest any of them should swim away and escape but the centurion Wanting to save paul kept them from their purpose and commanded that those Who could swim should jump overboard first and get the land and the rest some on boards and some on parts of the ship And so it was that they all escaped safely to land This is the first surf ministry notice there were some on boards They wanted to kill the prisoners Because if any escaped they would be held responsible It's because paul had revealed his worth at the centurion spared him And because he had they make it to shore And so in this We see elements of leadership and i want to close with just a few things Elements of leadership that are revealed through this incident And these are things that if you want to lead you might want to take note of one paul took the initiative by giving counsel from the beginning He took initiative He saw and he spoke So that's one of the ways that you establish leadership you give counsel and you do so from the beginning to The counsel that he gave was sound. It was good advice So it's not just that you open your mouth and speak There has to be wisdom in it third He spoke with authority He wasn't kind of mincing words and suggesting he was speaking with an authoritative tone fourth He encouraged those who were afraid In the midst of all of this you will always have timid or weak fear-filled people And so when you're giving advice and when you're beginning to speak with this authority You also have to give a word of encouragement because many people are afraid and you saw that in this particular instance A fifth thing is he remained firm in his understanding of the leading of the lord. He didn't waffle or compromise God spoke to me and I know this is what we're to do and then finally he led by example They saw that what he was saying was what he was doing If there's anything that undermines your leadership or your Impact in somebody it's when you say but don't do now. Does that mean that every one of us is always 100 percent Totally doing exactly What we say no every one of us has weakness and there are times that we just don't live up to what we know But if you've got a good track record if If people can say that he is consistent she's consistent And though they have made mistakes and they have done things that were not proper at times They still have credibility Because you're moving in the right direction And that's what we see with paul here He gave advice from the beginning his advice was sound He spoke with authority encouraged those who were afraid remained steadfast in his understanding of the leading of the lord He held fast and led by example