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Over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia, and there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy, and he put us therein. And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete over against Salmone, and hardly passing it, came on to a place which is called the Fair Havens. And I were unto was the city of Lycia. Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already passed, Paul admonished them, and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt, and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised the part then also, if by any means they might attain to Phoenice, and there to winter, which is an haven of Crete, and lie toward the southwest and northwest. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosening fence, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Uroclidon. And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running unto a certain island, which is called Claudia, we had much work to come by the boat, which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship, and fearing lest they should fall into a quicksand, strike sail, and so were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with the tempest, the next day they lightened the ship, and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be safe was then taken away. But after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo, God had given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, Sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country, and sounded, and founded twenty fathoms. And when they had gone a little further, they sounded again and founded fifteen fathoms. Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for the day. And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had led down the boat into the sea, under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the fourth ship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that we have tarried, and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not be in her fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken, 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 when they were all of good cheer, and they also took some meat, and we were in all in the ship, two hundred threescore and sixteen soles. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea. And when it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain creek with a shore into which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed their rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground, and a four part stuck fast, and remained unmovable. But the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves, and the soldier's counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that they, which could swim, should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land. And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the Bible, dear God, for your precious words. We thank you for this church, for wonderful brothers and sisters, dear God, and we ask that you please bless our pastor tonight as he preaches your word. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. All right, we are in Acts chapter 27, nearing the very end of the book of Acts here. And the title of the sermon this evening is Staying in the Ship. Staying in the Ship. And of course, the previous chapters leading up to this, you have Paul making his appeal to King Agrippa. And basically showing that he's not guilty of the things that they're accusing him of. We obviously understand that the Jews are trying to get him killed, they want to destroy him, because of the fact that he is converting a lot of Jews, he's converting a lot of Gentiles. They're trying to use the excuse that he brought a Gentile into the temple, and thereby polluting it. We obviously understand that they just hate God, they hate his word, they hate the man of God, and that's why they're going after him. So obviously, this creates a huge stir in Jerusalem, and we see that God continuously delivers Paul. Paul has God's favor, and is constantly showing himself strong on his behalf. Now in chapter 27, we see that now Paul is basically going to make his voyage to Rome. Obviously he had appealed unto Caesar, and because of that, any other judgment that King Agrippa, Festus, or anybody else made was basically null and void. So it doesn't matter what they said, doesn't even matter if they thought he was innocent, because Paul had already appealed unto Caesar, therefore he had to go to Caesar to be judged there. So 27 really is the chapter of that journey from Jerusalem all the way, not even all the way to Rome, because in chapter 28 we're going to see Rome, but it's going to take us down the path all the way to Sidon, under Cyprus, going to Crete, etc., and we'll get into that in just a bit. Now look at verse number 1, it says that when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. And entering into a ship of Adramedium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coast of Asia, one hour Starkis, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. And the next day we touched at Sidon, and Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go into his friends to refresh himself. So right off the bat, they leave Jerusalem, and as they're sailing to their final destination, they first stop at Sidon, which is by Tyre, it's by Damascus. And obviously it's a region where Paul has a lot of friends. He probably has a lot of converts, you know, the disciples are probably there, the apostles are probably there, and so we see that the apostle Paul has such a good reputation that even though he's a prisoner, the centurion is like hey, you know, go and see your friends, go refresh yourself, the ship leaves at this time, just make sure you're back here by this time or whatever. It says a lot, doesn't it? And you know, Paul goes, and who knows, maybe he tells James, like hey, how come you weren't at the trial, man? Why are you staying all quiet while I'm being persecuted here or something, you know? Which by the way, as I read this, I'm like, where are the other apostles at when Paul's being like, tried, you know what I mean? All the pastors in that general region, all the leaders in that general region who believe like Paul, why are they being quiet? Why aren't they saying anything during Paul's persecution? Probably because they're a little scared, that's why, they're fearful of the Jews. But hey, he goes there and he sees his disciples or he sees, you know, his friends, and Julius courteously entreats him, gives him liberty to go see his friends and refresh himself. So this really shows that, you know, obviously in the mind of Julius, he's probably thinking well Paul's an honest man. He's a Christian, he's a man of morals. If I just let him go, he's not just like, you know, trying to escape or something because of the fact that he is subject unto the laws of the land, he seems like an honest individual, he wants to go to Caesar, you know, I'm not worried about that. I'm sure he didn't give that privilege to any other prisoner that was on that ship, you know, and what this shows us is the fact that, you know, no matter what trial you find yourself in, no matter what restriction or what, you know, country or what laws you're under, as long as you're under the law of Christ, you know, really you're free. You know, you're at liberty to basically do whatever you want to do, and when I say do whatever you want to do, obviously we're referring to do whatever God wants you to do, right? He's at liberty. He's not at liberty to just go home and just escape or just go do whatever he wants. He's actually going, probably confirming the brethren, talking about his trials, he's going to come back, et cetera. And really when I think about this, I think of the fact that, you know, Julius to a certain extent is an enemy of Paul. Why would he be an enemy of Paul? Well, because he's the one who's keeping him captive. Now obviously he's not an enemy in the sense of like the enemy of God, but he's obviously an adversary who is keeping Paul captive. He's going to deliver him to Rome, et cetera. And you know what the Bible tells us is that when a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him, you know? And the reality is this, is that it doesn't matter how radical our preaching is, how radical our doctrine is. If we please God, the result of pleasing God is that the unsaved world, even if they don't agree with us 100%, we're going to have peace with them. Because the unsaved world who's just normal, the unsaved world who's rational and reasonable, that part of the world, they can see, well, I don't agree with their beliefs, but at least he stands by what he says, or at least he's a moral person, at least she's a moral individual, at least they're righteous, they seem like law abiding citizens. And that's a form of having peace with them, you understand? I mean, I'm sure you have neighbors, I'm sure you have coworkers who know that you're a Christian, they know that you go to church, they know that this is what you're about. They're not necessarily for it, but they respect you because they understand, well, you're a moral person, you're a God-fearing person, not my thing, but I can respect you for it. I have peace with you, right? So obviously, there's another piece that we can't have with certain individuals and that's when they begin to cross the line and cross that threshold where they try to stop us from preaching God's word. And the Bible says, I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for war. At that point, that's a different situation. But in general, the general population will look at a church like us or Christians like us and say, well, I think they're pretty crazy for believing this, but I can respect them because they seem like normal people. They're kind people, they're normal individuals, they're law-abiding citizens, et cetera. And we have to pray, obviously, that wherever we're at, that we would have favor with those people, right? Especially if they're in positions of authority. The Bible tells us that Paul told Timothy, I will, therefore, that intercessions, prayers, supplications, and giving of things be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Because of the fact that he wants all men to be saved. And so in order for that to happen, God obviously understands that there are magistrates that can determine that sometimes based upon the laws of the land, et cetera. The Bible says in 2 Thessalonians 3, verse 1, finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified even as it is with you. We want God's word to have just free course. Without any obstruction, without any hindrance, we want to be able to go and preach the word of God and have no one bother us for doing so. We want to be able to just preach freely, go see our friends, meet together, congregate, preach the word of God, edify one another, go so many, just believe whatever we want to believe and not be hindered by doing that. And look, that's something we got to pray for, man. We got to pray, Lord, may your word have free course in the city of Omani, in Los Angeles, in California, in the United States. And so, man, that's pretty awesome that Julius said, hey, Paul, you know, you can go, I know you're cool, man, you're cool. I see you praying, you know, I see you reading your Bible, Paul, you know, I know you're one of those believers, you're of that way. So I know that those people who are of that way, they're very respectful people, they're law abiding citizens, you're not going to be dishonest, you're not going to say, yeah, I'll see you at five and then never come back or something, you know. And obviously he returned. So he's gaining favor with Julius and Julius is seeing that this guy is a pretty solid person. Look at verse number four. And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus because the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed over the Sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia, and there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy and he put us therein. So we have a transfer of ships here. And verse number seven says, and we had sailed slowly many days and scares were come over against Nitus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete over against Salmonium and hardly passing it came into a place which is called the Fair Havens, nigh whereunto was the city of Lycia. So here's something that's pretty funny. It's called Fair Havens, but there's nothing fair about it because obviously we're going to see later on that there's a storm that comes, right? So you know, just because you have a name that says, hey, we're happy or hey, we're nice people or hey, we're gay or something, it's everything but that. Okay. So I'll throw that in there. Verse nine, now when much time was spent and when sailing was now dangerous because the fast was now already passed, Paul admonished them and said unto them, sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage. Not only of the lady and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more than those things which were spoken by Paul. So look, Paul is just using common sense. He's using just his regular God given discernment. He sees the winds are contrary. He sees that a storm is coming. He's like, hey, maybe it's not a good idea to leave Crete. Maybe we should just stay in Crete. We can be in a lot of trouble because look, from Crete all the way to Rome, it's very far. I mean, it's the furthest Paul would have ever gone. And the route from Crete all the way to even militia and there to Rome is extremely far. I mean, there's nothing but ocean there. Okay. You have the Mediterranean ocean, the sea right there and you know, it's pretty dangerous. And so he's saying, look, it's best to just stay here. We should just rest here because we can get into a lot of trouble. But here's the thing is that the centurion is basically, well, I'm going to believe the master. I'm going to go with the owner of the ship more than those things, which were spoken of Paul. So even though Paul had credibility with Julius, he didn't have that much credibility, right? And really Julius said, I get what you're saying. I know you're sincere, but I'm going to go with the ship master. I'm going to go with the owner of the ship and the master. Now what's a, what's a practical lesson that we can learn here? Well, look, you know, Paul is bringing this message to them, to these unsafe people. And they're just like, nah, I'm just going to go with this instead. And you know what this can be like unto us, either preaching the gospel or giving doctrine to save Christians. And they said, no, I'm just going to go with this instead, right? You know, when you go to someone, you teach them from the word of God that they're lost, that the wages of sin is death, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for their sins, resurrected on the third day, that, you know, salvation is a gift. It's a gift. And you explain it to them. You go to them at 16, you go through Ephesians two, and then at the end of the message, they say, no, I think we're just going to go with my Catholic church. I'm just going to go with this way of belief. I'm just going to go with what I've always been taught. I'm going to go with the master. I'm going to go with the owner of the ship. I get what you're saying, but I'm going to reject that. Now why is that? Well, the Bible tells us, the Bible tells us that for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us, what you're saved is the power of God. So obviously we should expect sometimes that our message would be foolish to a lost and dying world, to a world that does not know God, that is working their way to heaven. Our preaching can seem as foolish to them. And the reason we need to know that so that you don't get discouraged or disillusioned when you're out sowing, you know, because sometimes Christians can get disillusioned and say, man, I'm not getting anybody saved or man, I don't know what's wrong with me. You know, well, here's the thing is that obviously the vast majority of people that we preach the gospel to, a lot of them, they're going to readily receive the word of God throughout your lifetime, but you know, there's always going to be a vast majority that does not get saved too. It's going to be a lot of people that just reject the word of God, that reject the gospel and you should never take that personally, right? You should never say, well, man, it's just, now obviously if you have sin in your life, if you're not filled with the spirit, if you are, you know, if you have some sort of hindrance to the gospel, you need to get that right, but let's just assume that everything is in order. Let's just assume you have a clean heart, that you are righteous, you love the Lord, you got your gospel presentation down and they still say, no, I'm going to go with the owner of the ship. Okay. At that point, what do you do? You shake off the dust of your feet and you move on to the next individual and we're talking about Paul here. You know, Paul, obviously he's waxing eloquent. He knows how to explain, explain things, but yet his message is being rejected. And how many times do we, you know, talk to people out there to flee from the wrath to come? We show them all the evidence and they're just like, no, I'm good. And it's just like, but you understand that this is the penalty for sin? You understand you're going to hell? Yeah, I get that. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it says it in the Bible, but you don't want to get saved and you're just like, no, I'd rather, you know, cause Paul is on the ship. God is going to protect them because of Paul. Right. This shows us that, you know, sometimes we bring a message to the unsaved individuals such as the message of salvation and they just say no. But how about this? How about when Christians just reject the message? You know, there's a lot of steps when it comes to the Christian life, as far as like how much someone could digest doctrinally. First of all, they got to get, they got to be overcomers, you know, their faith needs to overcome so that they can be saved, right? They have to overcome and they're, you know, they have to overcome their false ideologies and what they believe in, you know, to get to heaven, to trust on Jesus Christ, to believe on him. But even thereafter, there's a slew of doctrines that the Bible teaches that even Christians can't handle. They cannot digest certain doctrines. I mean, I've talked to many of them even this week. People who are saved and it's just like, you give them the verses, you show them what the Bible says, Psalm 5-5, Psalm 139, Romans chapter one, and it's just like, I'm just going to go with this. I'm just going to believe what the Bible says. It's like, well, this is what the Bible, I'm showing you what the Bible says. These aren't the writings of Bruce Mejia. These aren't the writings of Delphin Mejia. People think I'm like hiding that name or something like that. You know, these aren't my writings. This is the King James Bible. This is God's word. This is what God's word says. Well, you know, that's your interpretation of that portion of scripture, you know, that's your interpretation. Hey, no prophecy of the scripture is given of any private interpretation. You know, for the scripture came not in old time by the will of man, but holy man of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And so God does not give a private interpretation to clear teachings in the Bible. He teaches them with clarity, with distinction, and we preach plainly so for people to understand. So you're not confused about it. God is not the author of confusion. But sometimes we bring a message to even Christians and they're just like, whoa, whoa, whoa, I'm good with that. You know, I'm good with that. But folks, there's nothing new under the sun. They did it to the apostle Paul. They did it to Jesus. His own disciples went back and walked no more with him. The Bible says, you know, when he was telling them that he's the bread of life that came down from heaven to give into the world, eternal life, what do they say? This is a hard saying. Who can know it? Who can hear it? They say, well, this is hard. And from that time forward, his disciples went back and walked no more with him. Why? Because they couldn't handle, they couldn't digest the truth. Hey, I admire the fact that we have a building filled with Christians who can handle the truth and not just like basic truths. I mean the deep truths of God were, it's a hard truth, but hey, shows you from the Word of God and you're just like, well, that's a hard saying, but I believe it. And look folks, people who are saved can't deny these things, obviously, they just could disagree with it because we've had people who are visitors here and they're saved. I remember a couple brought another couple to visit and the wife was saved. The husband was not. And I remember like going out and I was like ripping on, I don't know, I was getting on something, you know, ripping on reprobates or something like that. And I was going off. This is a while back. And then, you know, I went down to meet them and they shook my hand and, you know, I asked them if they're saved. And I think the husband was being witnessed too. So I asked the wife, like, you're saved. She's like, yeah, I believe on Jesus Christ. I've been saved for years. And I said, so what did you think about the service? She's like, well, I learned a lot. She's like, I can't deny it. It's in the Bible. You know, it's obviously there. What is she saying? She's saying, this is a hard saying. She obviously can't deny what the Bible says. All she can do is say, but it's hard to digest, you know? And so sometimes truths, biblical truths are hard to digest. Jesus said, I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. So you know, even he knew that there are certain truths that people just could not get right away. It required, you know, conditioning the soul through God's word in order for them to be able to digest that doctrine, okay? Go to John chapter 12, if you would. Hold your place there. Go to John chapter 12. You know, you preach certain, you preach the hatred doctrine, oh man. Talk about a doctrine that people can't even like readily accept. And look, you could understand to a certain extent why. That's not crazy to us. We understand why people, that people bucket that and they have a knee-jerk reaction because of the fact that we've heard for so many years that God is only love, that God loves everyone. And you know, God loves everyone and there's a good God, good devil, good hell, good eternal fire and you know, good demons and everything is just like Barney the dinosaur and it was just like Teletubby Christian type thing, right? So there's nothing bad and it's just like this Star Wars Jedi Christianity where it's just like hatred is all bad and then when you start shooting them these scriptures of Psalm 5-5 where the Bible says that God hates workers of iniquity, all workers of iniquity. What do they say? Well, that's Old Testament. Oh no, it's New Testament. Psalms is New Testament, folks. Because the Bible says in the New Testament to sing the Psalms. Tells us to sing, to take those Psalms in the Old Testament and bring them on into the New Testament. And it wasn't selective. God didn't say, you know, just don't do Psalm 5-5, you know, just don't do Psalm 139. He just said Psalms, okay? But you know, there are some hard truths that people have a hard time digesting and that's one of them because of the fact that the mind has been conditioned by this weak Christianity to say, well, you know, no, that hate is always bad. You that love the Lord hate evil. And you tell them these things, it's like when Jesus Christ resurrected and Mary Magdalene came to the apostles and they seem to them like idle tales. They're just like, oh, I don't know if I can believe that. That's like your interpretation. Where are you going? Are you listening to that new IFB or something? So I just could show you from the Bible. Look at John 12, verse 47, if any man hear my words and believe not. I judge him not, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me receiveth not my words. He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day. Now, obviously this is referring to salvation and here's the funny thing is like, well, Jesus doesn't judge. Yeah. Well, that's because they have, they already have judgment upon him and their own words condemn them. By thy words thou shall be justified and by thy words thou shall be condemned. Someone is just like, well, don't judge. It's like, well, you're actually judging yourself. Because by your rejection of the gospel, by your rejection of God's word, you're actually rejecting, you're actually rejecting God, okay? By your own admission there, you're judging yourself. But I want you to notice that when we get rejected, don't take it hard. They're rejecting Jesus. When people say they hate you and they're reviling you, really who they hate and revile is Jesus. Right. They despise God. The Bible says that they're haters of God. So don't take it personal. You know, obviously sometimes it can get personal, right? When they started attacking you, your family, your children, your spouse, your church, your pastor, your church members, and it's just like, it can get personal. But at the end of the day, when we step back, we realize, oh, it's not really me they hate. It's the God that I believe in. It's the Bible that I preach. No, we just hate that wicked doctrine that you teach. Yeah, but if that doctrine didn't exist, you'd find some other doctrine to hate me for. Because at the end of the day, that's not what it's about. It's the fact that you hate God. And you would look for any reason to hate us. Let me read to you from Mark chapter eight, verse 38 says, whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Folks, it doesn't matter, you know, people are obviously going to reject God's word. Christians are going to reject God's word sometimes. But that should never cause us to just say, well, I'm sorry for what the Bible says. Or, you know, maybe you won't have a preacher who says, I'm sorry, though there's some out there. But maybe they'll be like, I'm just not going to preach on this subject, though. Well, at that point, you become ashamed of his word. Don't be ashamed of God's word. Don't try to make excuses for God's word. Well, yeah, you know, it says that, but in the Greek and in the Hebrew, it actually means this. It says what it says. And I believe it. I love it. It's pure. It's great. And I'm not ashamed of it. Because of the fact that when Jesus comes back, I don't want him to be ashamed of me. And it's funny how these Christians are like, oh, Jesus would be ashamed of you. Why? I'm not ashamed of his word. Are you projecting? Because he's actually ashamed of you, you lame, limp-wristed Christian. You sissified, little punk Christian who thinks he's pleasing God because you're appeasing the enemies of God instead of standing up for God's word. Don't be ashamed of God's word. Not a jot nor a tittle. Well, you know, it's a little controversial when it says bastard, hey, that's a great word. That's an awesome word. Yeah, but when it says whore and stuff, great word. When it says whore-monger, though, yeah, that's the perfect word. When it says sodomite, yeah, sodomite's a good word, yeah. That's a good word. Right? Calling them sodomites. When it says dog, yeah, I like dog, yeah, that's a good way to describe him. Sons of Belial, sons of the devil, yeah, that sounds great, yeah, yeah, I like it all. Don't be ashamed of what the Bible says. And there's always something within every Christian when they come across those passages, it's just like, ooh, you know, like, oh, yeah, I don't know, yeah. Yeah, when you do that, just recognize there's nothing wrong with the Bible, there's something wrong with you. That's what it is. You know, there's a song, when you find when you read it that there's something wrong, there's something wrong with you. When you come across the Bible, it's like, wow, this doesn't seem right, well, no, it's just that you're not right, because God's word is always right. Be not ashamed of his word. Go back to Acts. He said, why bring that up? Well, because of the fact that, you know, sometimes people when they're ashamed of God's word, that can often cause them to not preach the entire word or withhold certain information or certain doctrines and not teach the whole counsel of God, you know. But here's the thing, if you're not ashamed of God's word, you're just open about whatever you believe. You just agree with what everything that God says. Yeah, but it's not politically correct today, I don't care. What is politically correct anyways? I mean, we just had people storm Congress in 2021, anything can happen. There's no such thing as being politically correct anymore. Look at verse 12. So they reject what he says. They don't believe him. They're just like, all right, whatever, we're still going to do this. Because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phoenice and there to winter, which is an haven of Crete and lieth toward the southwest and northwest. So basically they're saying, yeah, I don't know if this is a good area to stay in for winter. We should just try our luck and set sail and see if we can make it there before winter begins. Verse 13, and when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained favor purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. So what happens? They're basically in the eye of the storm, like, all right, it's looking pretty good. The wind is blowing softly and like, all right, we'll stay near Crete though, in case it gets crazy or something. But not long after there arose against it, a tempestuous wind called Eurycleidon. So what does this teach us right here? It teaches us that things can turn for the worse at the drop of a hat sometimes. You know, you can have some soft winds blowing in your life and all of a sudden a storm comes along and just messes everything up. So what does this teach? How do we learn from this? Well, be not afraid of sudden fear. Neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh. You know, we should trust the Lord in regardless what circumstance we're in. But mark it down, it will happen to you, it'll happen to your marriage, it'll happen to your children, it'll happen to our church, it'll happen to your health, where the winds are blowing softly, everything's going dandy, the bills are being paid, you know, your wife loves you, your husband loves you, your dog is healthy, and all of a sudden your dog just dies. You know, all of a sudden, you know, you lose your job. All of a sudden you come down with coronavirus or something, you know. Things can turn for the worse at the drop of a hat. Now don't let that worry you, though. Don't live your life wondering when the next trial is going to come because sometimes we can live like that. We're just like, oh man, everything's just going too well, everything's just going way too good. When's the next trial? I know it's coming. And the pastor always says it's coming. Don't live like that. Just ride the wave. And here's the thing. If you were an unsaved individual out in the world, then yeah, you would think like that. Because they have nothing. Whereas we as Christians, we can rejoice in tribulation and we take comfort in the fact that we are under his wings, that God covers us, he's a shield and a buckler in a time of temptation and trials and a time of storms. And what a perfect way to describe what's going on here as a storm because that's exactly what a trial is. A tribulation is like a storm that compasses you round about. Verse 15 says, and when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. So it's just like, it's basically at a point where they're just like, we can't do anything. We're just going to let her float and take us wherever it wants to take us because we have no control over the ship. Have you ever been in a situation like that in life where the trials are so difficult that the trials and temptations and the trials and tribulations are so hard, it's just like, I can't do anything but just sit and laugh or something. Just go for the ride. I can't change anything. I can't make my circumstances change. I can't make money come out of nowhere. I can't just fix my health. I can't change this relationship. I can't just change this. I guess I'll just ride the wave. Let her ride. Just go with the flow. Go with the ship. See where it takes us. Well, you know, at that point, it's when the Bible says you're at your wits end. And it's when you're at your wits end that God comes through. Verse 16 says, and running under a certain island, which is called Claddagh, we had much work to come by the boat, which when they had taken up, they used helps undergirding the ship, and fearing lest they should fall into the quicksand, straight sail, and so were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with the tempest, the next day they lightened the ship, and the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. So what do you think everyone is thinking right now? We should listen to Paul. That stinking preacher was right. What do you think Julius is thinking? He's probably like, you know, dumping things out as he's looking at Paul. I should have just listened to that idiot. Why didn't I just listen to him? By the way, we've all been there too. Where we refuse counsel, we refuse the wisdom of an older, godlier person or some sort of advice that someone gave us, and then we just reject it. We go through that trial and we're like, man, I should have just listened to brother so-and-so. I should have just listened to my dad. Why didn't I just listen to my mom? Why didn't I just listen to the pastor? Why didn't I just listen to so-and-so? I should have just done what they told me to do, right? So right now, things are getting pretty bad. This isn't like rain in Omani or something. It's not like, you know, we get a little bit of rain and everyone's like, acid rain. This is a tempest where the winds can just completely decimate the ship and just drown everyone on board, right? Verse 20, and when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. So obviously, they use the stars and the sun and the celestial bodies to be able to determine where they're going. They can't even see that. So it's like, you know, this is a perfect example of what a trial is, because sometimes when you're going through a tribulation or a trial, you can't see ahead of today, right? Sometimes it's like you can't see beyond tomorrow or something. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof, where it's just like, I can't even see past tomorrow. Well, you know, then just handle today. And some of you might be going through something like that even now, you know, where you're going through a very difficult trial in your life and there seems to be no solution. There's no light at the end of the tunnel. You can't even navigate your way through the week because the sun and the stars are not appearing, so to speak. You can't navigate. Okay, well, just navigate a couple feet in front of you. Navigate today. Handle today. Take care of your responsibilities today and, you know, let God take care of tomorrow. You know, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and these things shall be added unto you. And look, obviously, it's not just a matter of handling today. We need to trust God, walk with God, make sure we're living righteously, serving the Lord so that he can bless us. But you see where they're at. They're just like, all right, we're done. We're not going to be saved, we're dead. Now here's the thing. As I read this, I can't help but think of end times Bible prophecy because of the fact that they're going through a tumultuous tribulation here. And it could be likened unto the tribulation of the end of the world. Now, every tribulation in life is like a little taste of that great tribulation that will one day come. That's why it's important that when you go through a tribulation, you don't get out of church, you don't get out of your Bible, you don't stop preaching the gospel. You build endurance. You got to make sure you build endurance, that you pray your way through. When you get persecuted, you stand for right. You just stay strong during the difficult times because God is preparing you for the future tribulation, whether that's the one at the end of the world or the one that's going to come upon you this year in 2021. Because every tribulation gets more difficult. The longer you're alive, the harder life gets sometimes. It's hard to break it to you young people. It's the truth. It doesn't get easier as the years go by. Sometimes it gets harder. But this reminds me of the tribulation. Why? Think about this is that obviously Christians are not to be dismayed of the signs in heaven. We're not like the heathen that looks at the sun and the stars and tries to determine the zodiac or I don't know, the astrological celestial bodies and tell our future by that. But here's the thing. When it comes to the end times though, when the sun and moon are darkened, the stars start falling from heaven, that's an indication to us that our redemption draweth nigh. But you know what? There's going to be a time during the beginning of sorrows where you're not going to see that. So this is kind of where they're at. They're in that beginning stages of the sorrow in the ocean because they can't see stars. They're not able to see the sun. And it's just like, we're not going to be saved through this. I mean, you're going to be like, this is the third horseman of the apocalypse. And you know, I think we're done here. Now the lesson that we can learn here is this. When you go through a tribulation, don't shipwreck. You think of Paul when he said, holding faith in a good conscience, which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck. And you know what? There's a lot of people out there that when they go through a tribulation, they go through a trial, they stop having faith, they stop exercising their faith, and they make shipwreck. Basically what's happening here, okay? Don't let that happen to you. Let me read to you or go to Luke chapter 21. Hold your place there in Acts. Let's make some parallels here. So I already mentioned one, the sun and the stars, but look at Luke 21 verse 25. Of course, we know that Matthew 24, Mark 13, Luke 21, they're all parallel passages dealing with end times Bible prophecy, more specifically, the beginning of sorrows and great tribulation leading up to the rapture. Look at verse 25. It says, and there shall be signs in the sun and the moon and in the stars and upon the earth the distress of nations with perplexity, look what it says, the sea and the waves roaring, which is exactly where they're going through, right? Men's hearts failing them for fear, just what we see in the ship. Everyone's like, we're not going to be saved. And looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the son of man coming in the cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads for your redemption draweth nigh. So go back to Acts chapter 27 there. So this could be a parallel to what we're going to experience in the great tribulation in the sense that we are on a ship, right? And we have to be able to navigate through this tempest, through this tribulation, through the storm known as the beginning of sorrows and great tribulation. And there's going to be times when we can't see ahead of us. Like it's just like, I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. You know, I don't know when that day is. We don't know the day or the hour, but we obviously understand that when the abomination of desolation is set up, at that point, we have 75 days until the second coming of Christ. Now here's the thing, folks, listen to me, you think, well, 75 days, easy, 75 days is a long time. It doesn't seem like very long. I mean, folks, three and a half years is a long time, but when you get to the latter end of great tribulation, which is 75 days, it is a long time. Now it's a long time when nothing's happened to you. How much more when people are trying to kill you? How much more when there's no food to eat? How much more when there's disease, pestilence? You're going to be like, what day is it? We've been here for like 70 days, it's only been like a week, what are you talking about? It's not over yet, man, the antichrist is still trying to kill us. But we need to make sure that we stay on the ship. And what I mean by staying on the ship, don't jump ship. Don't forsake the Lord. Don't get out of church. Don't stop reading your Bible. Don't stop praying. Just keep serving God. Well, I just want to have fun in my life. You'll have fun in the millennial reign, I promise you. There's going to be plenty of fun in the millennial reign. Okay? A lot better. And look, there is no fun for Christians during the great tribulation. Let me just break it to you. Even if you want to compromise and just, you know, you want to Bob Gray it and just like make friends with all these heretics and the antichrist or whatever during that time, it's not going to go well with you. So you might as well just get serious about the things I've got now and just stay in the boat. Don't get out of the boat, stay in and look, you have your, your, um, your co-laborers on the ship with you that can encourage you. And when you feel like you're just losing it, you're just, you're crying, you're weak, you're scared, you're fearful, you know, someone's going to come on that ship and say, Hey, we're going to be okay. Just stay on the ship. And here's the thing. People jump ship all the time, don't they? But it's like, it's worse out there. Why would you jump ship? You're going to drown out there. You're going to be swallowed up alive by Leviathan or something. You know, something's going to, a whale is going to swallow you up. It's worse out there. Yeah. It's hard here, but it's harder out there outside of the confines of God's protection and safety. And that's what you got to think when you're just like, well, I just want to quit. I just want to get out of church. It's worse for you out there. You just need to change your perspective. And here's the thing, especially if you're saved, because when you're saved and you go out there into the world, then you have God against you. Then God begins to chastise you. Then your, your problems multiply and they double because you're, you're, you're given to Satan for the destruction of the flesh. So it's just better just to stay in the boat. Stay in the boat, labor, pull, pull the sail, throw up a little bit and just mop up and just do whatever you have to do while the, while the seas are just tossing you about and you're just going through it because you know that eventually you will reach a safe Haven. Or just say, Hey, that wasn't that bad. I lost my lunch. You know, I got a little scared, got a little wet, but it wasn't that bad. I think I can go through that again. So we see that look at verse 21, but after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said, sirs, you should have hearkened unto me and not have left, not have lose from Crete and to have gained this harm and loss. I like that it says after long abstinence, just let them go crazy and be fearful and stuff and just like, Paul, where are you going to say anything? He's just like, it's like, I told you. And then finally, when everyone, cause he says, it says he stands in the midst of them. That means they're probably not doing anything else. They're just like ready to die. And he's just like, you guys should listen to me. Now here's the thing. Don't feel bad when people reject what you say, right? Because when the temptation comes and the trial comes, then they're going to listen. Then they realize, Oh dang, that guy was right. He was right. You know, Hey, don't get mad at the pre-tribbers who are saved when they just hate us for being posted pre-wrath. It's okay. They'll be posted pre-wrath one day too. Guaranteed. Guaranteed. You know, the men's warehouse, I guarantee it. I promise you, if the tribulation comes in our lifetime, let me just, let me just be a little funny here. Okay. I'm looking forward to seeing what some of these pre-tribbers you said, what are you going to do? Well, Paul did just stand in the midst of them and say, you guys should have listened to me. What does he say? I told you. So don't feel bad when people are just like, you know, bashing you and criticizing you for being posted pre-wrath. Don't worry. They will believe that one day they're going to be hard post-trip pre-wrath one day. They're going to be preaching it. They're going to be living it. They're going to be listening to the revelation series and after the tribulation, they're going to be asking us for copies. I'm telling you, don't worry. Because everyone always gets to this point right here and it takes a tribulation. It takes a storm for them to come and actually do something right to actually ask, but he waits for a while. And then he, then he basically tells them, I told you so verse 22, and now I exhort you to be of good cheer. What? How? For there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship for there stood by me this night, the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve saying, fear not Paul thou must be brought before Caesar. And lo God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore sirs be of good cheer for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. That is awesome. I'm sure that was very comforting for Paul because he's seeing the storm, everyone's freaking out and then God just tells him, Hey, you're going to be all right. Not only are you going to be all right, everyone else in the ship is going to be all right. Now look, we could apply this also to our families, right? You know, as a family unit, you know, as a husband, as a wife and your children, sometimes you wonder how are we going to get through this trial? Don't worry. God is going to deliver you and your children as long as you stay in the ship. God will deliver you, your children, your spouse. Everything's going to be okay. You just got to stay in the ship. Don't get out of the ship and you'll be okay. But he tells them be of good cheer. The Bible says in John 16 verse 33, these things have I spoken unto you that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I've overcome the world. So when you're going through the storms of life, just know that the winds and the seas obey him. It doesn't matter how big the storm gets. Doesn't matter how big the tribulation is. Doesn't matter how hard life gets. Just know God, you know the winds and the waves obey him, so be of good cheer. Have peace. Look at verse 26, how be it we must be cast upon a certain island, but when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, referring to the Mediterranean Sea, about midnight the shipment deemed that they drew near to some country and sounded and found it 20 fathoms and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again and found it 15 fathoms. Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for the day. And as the shipment were about to flee out of the ship, when they had led down the boat into the sea, under color as they would have cast anchors out of the four ship, Paul said to the centurion, to the soldiers, look what it says, except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. So it's like, hey, there's a condition to this promise. In order for you to be saved physically, you got to stay in the ship and if you don't stay in the ship, if you don't abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Go to John 15, John chapter 15, these guys are ready to quit, ready to throw in the towel themselves. They're ready to jump ship, they're like, I'm done, I don't want to die here. And Paul's telling them, hey, this is the way you're going to survive, you got to remain here. And he specifically says this, abide in the ship, okay? Ye cannot be saved. Now obviously he's not referring to justification of the soul, he's referring to the salvation of the flesh. And you know what, in like manner, when it comes to any trial or tribulation, in order for your flesh to be saved, you need to abide in the vine. Look what it says in John 15 verse one, I am the true vine and my father is a husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh away and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean to the word which I have spoken unto you, abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye accept ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can't do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth into the ocean, he's cast forth as a branch and is withered. Then gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you. Hey, if there's any motivation for you to make sure that you're abiding in the vine, keeping his word, reading the Bible, is the fact that he gives you access to just ask for anything and he'll do it for you. That's a pretty amazing promise if you think about it. God says, look, if you abide in me, you can ask anything that you will and I will give it to you. Now, why is he just like, well, a million dollars then, right? No, because when you abide in the vine, you pray according to his will. You recognize the most important things and you pray according to his will and therefore, because it's according to his will, he's going to give it to us, amen? So look, not just the great tribulation, but just the tribulation that's coming upon you this year, this week, today, you just got to remember this. The Christian life, it's very simple, just abide in the vine, read the Bible, pray, meditate upon scripture. You know, sometimes we saturate ourselves with everything but scripture and that's why we become fearful, anxious, you know, we can become, you know, just distracted. The Bible says that the cares of this life choke the word and it become unfruitful. So it's important that we just abide in God's word. Now, look at verse 32, go back to Acts chapter 27, we're almost done here. Now, what is everyone thinking at this point? Yeah, let's just listen to Paul now. We didn't listen to him the first time, didn't go well with us, let's just listen to him. Stay on the ship, no one get off. So we see, look at verse 32, then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off. So what were they doing? They're actually already getting ready to leave the ship on little boats. This was their salvation. And then when he said that, it was like, all right, we'll just cut the ropes and let the boats fall, we're going to abandon them basically. Now this is a great picture right here, okay? Because when you go through a trial, when you go through tribulation, a storm, often what it does is it helps you to realize the most important things in life. And the Bible tells us that when we are running this race, we need to lay aside every way in the sin which doth so easily beset us, and run with patience the race that is set before us. So that's exactly what these guys were doing, they're like, all right, well we're just going to cut off that which is holding us back. Cut off whatever you're trusting in, and put your trust in the main ship. I mean, isn't it kind of ridiculous that they were trusting in these little ships? Because you think it's going to go better with you in this little, measly little ship here, this little rubber ducky, than in the main ship, but you know, people could be irrational sometimes when the going gets tough. And what we need to do as Christians is just cut those things off, just cut them off. Cut off that which is holding you back, right? Cut off that habit, that sinful habit that you have that's holding you back from drawing closer to God and through His Word. Cut off that toxic friendship that you've got going on there that makes you worldly, that makes you more carnal. Cut off that girlfriend or that boyfriend that doesn't love the Lord, is probably not even saved, and if they are, they're not here, it's probably holding you back. Cut it off. Cut off that which holds you back during a tribulation. And look, any other time, it's difficult to cut those boats off, but when you're going through a storm, it's super easy, because you know what you're thinking, I want to make sure that I have all of God's favor, and I want to make sure that none of these boats get in the way of that. So screw these boats, I'm cutting them all out, I'll cut yours off too, let me just make sure this one doesn't survive here, just in case you're tempted. That's like the dad and his family, you know what I mean, like we're just, cut off all these things. It's great. Lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us. You know, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. You know, the Bible tells us that no man that warreth entanglements himself in the affairs of this life. And sometimes there's certain things that can entangle us and hinder us and stop us from serving God, we need to abstain from those things, get rid of those, you know, whatever it may be. Verse 33, while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not an ear fall from the head of any of you. Doesn't that sound familiar? Luke 21, when talking about the tribulation, says, But there shall not an ear of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls, the Bible says. And again, patience, you know, in the Bible is often synonymous with endurance. It's saying, look, if you endure, you're going to possess your soul, and it's not referring to the soul that is saved. Often when the Bible talks about soul, it's either referring to literally the soul that which is justified when we believe on Christ, or it's referring to just the person in general. So when he's saying, in your patience possess ye your souls, it's like, when you endure, that's when you survive. So learn how to endure. Look at verse 35, And when he had thus spoken, 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 were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. Good principle there. You know, sometimes when you're emotional, you just got to eat. Hey, it boosts morale, it really does. When you're like feeling down, and you just get yourself that four by four, you know, animal style or something, you know, or that, that Rio's pizza, or that Raising Cane's, you know, no slaw extra toast, or, you know, just junk food in general, just that chocolate or something, you know, I'm hungry, let's pray, no I'm just kidding. You know, sometimes it can boost morale. That's why he's giving to me. He's giving them food. They've been fasting, and it's just like, all right, we got some hope, man, you know, we got some food in our system. I think we can do this. I mean, haven't you guys seen Bear Grylls, you know, just, you know, take your vitamin and all that, it boosts morale. And we, verse 37, we were, were in all in the ship, two hundred threescore and sixteen souls, two hundred seventy-six people there, and when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat in the sea, into the sea. And when it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain creek with the shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. When they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore, and falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground, and four parts stuck fast and remained unmovable. But the hindered part was broken with the violence of the waves, and the soldier's counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that they, which could swim, should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land. And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped, all safe, to the land. Now what is the final principle here? What kind of goes along with the previous principle, as far as cutting off the boats there? You know, that was their way of escaping. And look, all of us have a way of escaping, right? Our own way of escaping, our difficulties, our trials. We have our manner of escape, our little boat that we keep on the side of the ship, just the case. You gotta cut those off. Because here's the thing, we need the way that God makes to escape. And there is no temptation taking you, but such is His common demand. But God is faithful, who will with that temptation, also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. So the Bible says. And look, that wasn't the time for them to escape in the boat. God was just going to crash the boat, and then they were just going to be able to swim shore, and everyone lived. If everyone just got on those boats, everyone would just have died. But when they did it God's way, and they escaped through God's door, everyone lived. It almost seems like, wait, wait, a boat, and then swimming in the ocean? How does that? Yeah, that's sometimes how God works. Sometimes that is the way God works, that's how He performs miracles. We just need to do it God's way, and He'll always make a way to escape. So really, the sermon is this, abandon your little boat, and stay on God's boat. Stay on God's boat. Get off those little rubber duckies that are on the side of your ship, don't trust in those things, and recognize that God always makes a way to escape in the temptation. And look folks, when it comes to the great tribulation, those 75 days of great tribulation where people are dying, God will make a way for us to escape. And when the hottest part of the battle is upon us, and persecution is at its highest, lift up your heads for your redemption, draweth nigh. You say, well, what door is that? Jesus. He is the door. And once that door of heaven opens up and He breaches that realm between eternity and the physical realm here, that is our way to escape. Amen? Aspire His enough word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the book of Acts, and thank you for this great story where we can draw those parallels, Lord. And this is something we need on a regular basis.