It has been nearly eleven years since I last preached this passage in the early days of planting this church. While the last eleven years of ministry hold some miraculous memories – people being saved powerfully from the clutches of Satan, Sin, and Death, broken lives being restored, marriages being strengthened, sin being overcome, etc. – even amidst all that miraculous beauty, the last eleven years has also felt like I literally walked through hell and back sometimes.
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has called me to plant this church, pastor this church, and lead a motorcycle ministry within a yard of hell; no question about it. But there are many seasons where the pressures of ministry, the sacrifices of ministry, the pain of ministry, and the expectations of ministry, all collide in one moment into what feels like an unbearable weight.
Certainly, I am not the only one in the room who feels this way, right? You do not have to endeavor to do what I do to experience the crushing weight of the darkness, the brokenness, and the sin in this world. Get married and you will experience it. Be a friend and you will experience it. Pursue a vocation and you will experience it. Get a little older, see what happens with your aging body and you will experience it. Give in to that sinful appetite again and you will experience it. There is more than enough opportunity for all of us to experience the crushing weight of darkness, brokenness, and sinfulness that comes crashing into our live like tsunami waves. Agreed?
Following Jesus does not come with a promise to live a struggle free or pain free life. Following Jesus actually comes with a promise of eternal life and a promise of suffering in this life as we are being prepared for eternity. Our Savior suffered; therefore, we will suffer too; we will experience massive storms as we follow Jesus. Look at our text for today with me…
1And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. 4And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
9Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northeast, and spend the winter there.
13Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 18Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
21Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26But we must run aground on some island.
27When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. 29And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship’s boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.
33As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37(We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
39Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned, if possible, to run the ship ashore. 40So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisted the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
This passage is all about the apostle Paul experiencing a deadly storm as he follows Jesus to share the gospel in Rome. The storms of this life are not biased, they will come, and they will come more often than you wished they would. The only question is, what will you do when those storms hit your house? What will you do when the storms of this life come ripping through the interior hallways of your soul? First thing we should do is admit that we have an infatuation – an addiction – to immediate gratification.
#1: WE NEED TO ACCEPT THE SLOW DIFFICULT JOURNEY (VV. 1 – 8)
Following Jesus was never meant to be a walk in the park; all of Scripture witnesses to the fact that God’s people will endure some massive storms as they travel down the dirt roads – or sail the open seas – of following Jesus. This journey is meant to be slow and difficult.
The passage in front of us is a great metaphor regarding the slow and oftentimes difficult nature of following Jesus. In verses 1 – 8, Paul is a prisoner of a Roman centurion who is charged with getting his crew of soldiers and prisoners safely to Rome. But the journey is not an easy journey because of the time of year that they are traveling; the wind is not cooperating, and they wind up hopping on three different ships as try to navigate the uncooperative wind.
Verse 4 says “the winds were against us”, verse 7 says, “we sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty”, and “the wind did not allow us to go farther”, and verse 8 says, they were “coasting along with great difficulty”. Now we need to remember that these circumstances were not under Paul’s control; he was a prisoner. But even as a prisoner, he was experiencing the slow and difficult nature of following Jesus and trusting him amidst the storms of this life. Maybe this is the reason that the apostle Paul could clearly see the warning signs all around him when everyone else could not.
#2: WE NEED TO HEED THE WARNING SIGNS (VV. 9 – 12)
Half of our issues in this life – if not more than half – could probably be the result of ignoring the warning signs on the roads we travel. Sometimes, the storms we experience are because someone else ignored the warning signs even though we brought them to their attention and in their ignorance, we become the recipient of the storms that begin to engulf their lives. Whether we experience the storm because of our own ignorance or because of someone else’s ignorance does not really matter, what matters is how we endure those storms and how we respond to the warning signs.
In verses 9 – 12, Luke tells us that “the voyage was now dangerous because the Fast was already over” meaning that the Passover was done which indicates that the time of year at hand was not safe for sailing. So, Paul, reading the warning signs correctly, warns everyone in verse 10 when he says, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of cargo and the ship, but also of our lives”. And of course, we know from verse 11, that instead of heeding the warning signs “the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said”. This is a classic case of a believer seeing the warning signs, trying to get some unbelievers to heed the warning signs, and then ultimately being ignored.
You do not have to be an unbeliever to ignore the warning signs as you seek to follow Jesus; but when a believer does ignore the warning signs – especially when other believers bring those warning signs to their attention – then at that point you are acting like an unbeliever and will most likely face the consequences of your ignorance when all hell breaks loose. The question is this: Will you own the consequences when the storm erupts because of your ignorance? Conversely, what will you do when you get caught in the storm that is created by the person or people you previously warned?
#3: WE NEED TO HANG ON TIGHT AND DON’T JUMP SHIP (VV. 13 – 38)
When the storms of this life come blasting into the hallways of your soul, it is really hard not to give up and jump ship. I cannot tell you how many times I have desperately wanted to just jump overboard and try to find my own way out of a particular storm that was brought on either by my own ignorance of the warning signs or by the ignorance of someone else close to me.
One thing I have learned, is that jumping ship usually means inevitable death. There are unique circumstances where jumping ship is definitely the best option, but in this day and age of high divorce rates, cancel culture, church hopping, a consumer mindset as it pertains to the church family, a general “I want things my way right away” mentality, and the massive parade of people that make their way through the church year in and year out, I would have to say that hanging on tight for the last nearly 12 years has done more good for my soul than leaving ever would have done.
In verses 13 – 38, due to the ignorance of the centurion, the pilot, and the ship’s owner, the ship full of a couple hundred people find themselves amidst a deadly storm that lasts over two weeks (v. 27). Things get so bad at one point that Luke tells us in verse 20, that “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest [a huge storm] lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned”.
I do not know about you, but I have faced many seasons where I reached the end of my rope, and all hope was completely abandoned; I was completely done and ready to throw in the towel. What do you do in these moments? How do you hold on tightly amidst the storm instead of jumping ship to your death – especially when the storm you are caught in is because of someone else’s stupidity?
In verses 21 – 26, Paul does not jump ship but instead, he relies on his relationship with Jesus to hold him steady; and not only that, but he also ministers from that deep well of faith in God to those who had previously ignored his warnings and led them into the deadly storm they were now experiencing. One commentator says that Paul found the courage to hang on tightly and to not jump ship by holding on to the anchors of: “God’s Presence, God’s Ownership, Service for God, and Trust in God”.2
Listen to Paul’s words in verses 21 – 25, “Men, you should have listened to me and not set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of this ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of God [Paul spent time in God’s presence amidst the storm] to whom I belong [Paul new he was twice owned by the God who created and redeemed him] and whom I worship [Paul served God alone] and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ So, take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told [Paul trusted in God no matter the circumstances and no matter whose fault the circumstances were].” At the end of the day, Paul held fast to God as his only anchor amidst the storm; God’s presence is what kept Paul from jumping ship.
Not everyone possesses this kind of courage, this kind of maturity, this kind of steadfastness when the storms hit. Luke even tells us in verses 27 – 31, that things got so scary that some of the men tried to jump ship – they tried to get into a life boat – so Paul had to warn them in verse 31, that “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved” and the result – miraculously in my opinion – is that they got back into the ship and cut the life boat loose so that they could not try to jump ship again.
This is a good lesson for us in regard to hanging on tight amidst the storms and not jumping ship when things get super scary. Sometimes we need to cut the ropes on our escape plans. I grew up in a home where I was taught the fight or flight mentality from an early age; if you cannot win the fight then take flight, was the normal way of relating to others. I have had to continuously cut the ropes on my escape plans so that I could hang on tight amidst the storms of this life instead of jumping ship.
One last thing to think about in terms of hanging on tightly instead of jumping ship when the storms hit the hallways of our hearts and souls, is the simple principle of finding nourishment and dumping our baggage. We all carry baggage the older we get. And we all need proper nourishment if we are going to weather the storms well. This is exactly what we see happening in verses 33 – 38. In these verses, Paul encourages everyone to eat a good meal for some physical nourishment and strength for the impending shipwreck and then they toss all their baggage – extra weight – overboard to soften their landing.
Oftentimes, I find that the storms of this life of following Jesus are much more difficult because I am not being properly nourished, and I am carrying around too much baggage from the past. Good counseling, reading good books, a better diet, a more balanced schedule, learning to say no, living within my human limitations, daily spiritual disciplines, regular time spent with God’s people, and enjoyable hobbies; these are all ways that I have found to pursue healthy nourishment and offloading of heavy baggage. These kinds of rhythms are meant to prepare you and I for the day we sail through the final storm of this life and land on the beaches of eternity where salvation will be once and for all complete.
#4: WE MUST LOOK FORWARD TO ETERNAL SALVATION (VV. 39 – 44)
Probably the hardest thing to do amidst a deadly storm, is to get your eyes off the current circumstances you are in and on to the future, that you have been promised in Christ Jesus. God promised through the apostle Paul, that he would bring everyone to safety through the shipwreck. In verses 39 – 44, the people aboard the ship that was about to wreck, noticed a beach that they could run the ship into, and after canceling the soldiers’ plan to kill all the prisoners because the centurion wanted to save Paul, they wrecked the ship and made their way to the beach in various ways so “that all were brought safely to land” (v. 44).
The centurion who failed to listen to the warning signs earlier, now exhibited a remarkable ability to trust in the promises of God to bring them safely through the wreck onto dry land. It is this kind of forward vision that is needed in us if we are going to be brought through the storms and through the shipwrecks of this life into the eternal salvation that has been promised by our crucified, risen, and returning Savior.
Jesus left that cross bloody – arguably the stormiest day this world has ever known – and he left the tomb empty – arguably the most miraculous day this world has ever known – and he has promised to bring you and I into complete salvation in eternity – arguably the best promise we could ever have amidst the storms of this life. If you hang on to the promise of eternity in Christ Jesus, you will undoubtedly weather every storm that comes your way.
CONCLUSION…
Inconclusion, we have learned that if we are going to weather the storms that come our way, because of our own ignorance or because of someone else’s ignorance, all we need to do is: Accept the slow difficult journey (vv. 1 – 8), Heed the warning signs (vv. 9 – 12), Hang on tight when the storms hit (vv. 13 – 38), and Look forward to eternal salvation (vv. 39 – 44).
These principles are what has kept me in the game for the last nearly 12 years of planting this church and over 23 years of following Jesus. The reality is this, Hebrews 6:19 says that Jesus is “A sure and steadfast anchor of the soul”. I have it tattooed on my arm under an anchor as a reminder that no matter what the storm is, no matter who is to blame for the waves that are crashing into my soul, and no matter what the damage is, I can hang on tight to a sure and steadfast anchor so that my soul may rest in the peace of the presence of my crucified, risen, and returning Savior. – Amen!
1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references in this paper are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).
2 Kent, Hughes, Acts: The Church Afire, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 1996), 334 – 338.