Providential Plot
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Good morning, please turn with me to Acts 27. We will be looking at Acts 27:13-28:10.
Passage: Acts 27:13-28:10
Key Take Away: Even after disaster, God continues to use his servants for his glory.
One of C. S. Lewis' best illustrations concerns the theme of adversity. He likened God's use of adversity to walking a dog. If the dog gets its leash wrapped around a pole and tries to continue running forward, he will only tighten the leash more. Both the dog and the owner are after the same end, forward motion, but the owner must resist the dog by pulling him opposite the direction he wants to go. The master, sharing the same intention, but understanding better than the dog where he really wants to go, takes an action precisely opposite to that of the dog's will.
It is in this way that God uses adversity; He wants what is best for us, and we want to define what our best interests look like. It is ironic that when we choose to resist the promptings of God in an attempt to avoid pain, this pain-avoidance strategy leads to more pain, not less. Our fundamental need in our relationship with God is trust.
1. God safeguards his faithful servants. (Acts 27:13-28:6)
1. God safeguards his faithful servants. (Acts 27:13-28:6)
Acts 27:21-26 (God told Paul he must stand before Caesar)
Nothing would hinder Paul from accomplishing God’s will for him to appear before Caesar.
The Storm could not kill Paul. (Acts 27:13-38)
12 And 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 northwest, and spend the winter there.
13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore.
14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land.
15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along.
16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat.
17 After 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.
18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo.
19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands.
20 When 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.
21 Since 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.
22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,
24 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.’
25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.
26 But we must run aground on some island.”
27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land.
28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms.
29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come.
30 And 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,
31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.”
32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship’s boat and let it go.
33 As 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.
34 Therefore 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.”
35 And 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.
36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves.
37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.)
38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
The Shipwreck could not kill Paul. (Acts 27:39-44)
39 Now 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.
40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach.
41 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf.
42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape.
43 But 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,
44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.
The Snakebite could not kill Paul. (Acts 28:1-6)
1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta.
2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold.
3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.
4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.”
5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.
6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
The locals believed that Paul being bitten was sign of him being a murderer. (Acts 28:4)
Paul, before his salvation, was a guilty of persecuting believers.
4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women,
However, because of his salvation, Paul was without guilt of his previous actions.
Acts (8) Paul’s Deliverance from the Viper (28:1–6)
Justice was not catching up with Paul. Quite the contrary—providence was preserving him.
God’s providence, God’s sovereign plans for Paul, did not involve Paul dying by the sea, shipwreck or a snakebite; he was to appear to Caesar.
24 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.’
Application:
God has a providential plot for each of our lives.
Some of us have been set apart as Sunday School Teachers, others to be servants in the Kitchen, others members of the worship team, some even have been called to be in vocational ministry, yet all of us have been called to make disciples.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
As long as we walk in the way of the Lord, he will not allow us to taste death until our time has come. Sometimes, even walking in the will of God leads to our death.
We have countless stories of missionaries who would eventually suffer death at the hands of the people they were trying to reach.
Paul, the other apostles, and many early church leaders were martyred for the faith they held so dearly.
God’s safeguard is two-fold, we know we can rest assured that we will not die before God’s appointed time in our life and two this earthly death has now power over us because to die is gain.
21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Therefore, we can rest knowing that while we live we live in Christ and upon death we acquire great gain because of Christ!
Transition
Not only do we see that God safeguards his faithful servants,
2. God employs his faithful servants. (Acts 28:7-9)
2. God employs his faithful servants. (Acts 28:7-9)
7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days.
8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him.
9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured.
God opened the heart of the natives to receive Paul and the men with them. (Acts 28:7)
God used Paul’s presence to heal the people physically. (Acts 29:8-9)
The people were suffering from intermittent fever and dysentery.
Those who were infected would be in bad shape physically.
Speaking of the healing of Publius’ father. (v 8)
Acts (9) The Hospitality of Publius (28:7–10)
This is the only time in Acts when both prayer and the laying on of hands accompany a healing.
In praying, Paul declares it is God who heals not himself, an important distinction for us to remember, especially since there is no mention in our passage of the locals receiving faith.
In the chaos of being a prisoner, in a severe storm, shipwrecked, and snakebitten, Paul does not lose focus of his mission.
Paul is continuing to do what he has been called to accomplish to reach people with the Gospel.
He does not give himself glory but turns the people’s attention to God who provides the healing.
We do not know if the Maltese recieved the gospel message. However, a recurring them throughout Acts is where healing took place the Gospel took root in the people. Thus, while the text does not inform us one way or another, I do believe in the very least God used Paul’s misfortune for the fortune of the Maltese.
Application:
In prosperous times and adverse times, God wants us, his people, to bless others around them. If it had not been for Paul and the rest aboard the ship’s misfortune, the people of Malta would have likely suffered great loss with the disease that was infecting them.
Who are the people that God has placed in your life for you to bless with encouragement, the gospel, and prayer in this season of life?
Illustration:
Wesleyan Methodist missionary, James Calvert (1813-1892), committed his life to reaching the indigenous peoples, who were known as cannibals, of the Figi Islands. It is widely reported that upon his voyage, the ship’s captain warned him to turn back, saying, “You will lose your life and the lives of those with you if you go among such savages.” Calvert purportedly replied, “We died before we came here.”
Are we living with this kind of faithful servanthood to the Lord? If we want God to use us for his glory, then we must live our lives understanding we died when we surrendered our lives to Jesus.
To finish the story James Calvert made it safely to the indigenous people and he remained for eighteen years, during which time he witnessed marvellous triumphs of Christianity amongst the people.
Are we willing to be employed by God even if there is great risk for us?
The great men and women of God in history all have counted the cost worth it for the sake of Christ.
Transition
We have seen how God safeguards his faithful servants, and how he employs his faithful servants, now let us look at how:
3. God upholds his faithful servants. (Acts 28:10)
3. God upholds his faithful servants. (Acts 28:10)
10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
God uses others, even lost souls, in order to uphold his servants.
John Polhill writes:
Acts (9) The Hospitality of Publius (28:7–10)
Perhaps in this manner Luke was drawing attention to the fact that simple pagan “barbarians” like the Maltese have a genuine potential for becoming Christians. Their hospitality would in any event be in stark contrast with the reception Paul found from the Jews of Rome.
They had lost all their belongings in the storm and what little might have been left was destroyed in the shipwreck.
Yet, God provided them with all that they needed. (Acts 28:10)
Here are a few of the promises from God and how he will provide for his servants:
19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
When times are tough and you don’t see any hope for God providing for your needs do not lose heart and do not give into the temptation to stop trusting God. Keep praying for God to give you the strength and faith to continue to trust in the Lord to provide for your hour of need!
In the face of adversity, we must hold onto this truth:
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,
4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,
5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
APPLICATION
One of the most powerful realities of being a follower of Christ is knowing the one who is able to provide for every need has a loving interest in providing for his children. God longs for us to succeed for his glory and praise.
When we surrender our lives to Christ, we give our own dreams to the Lord to allow him to form them into his dreams for us. Our hope no longer rests in our jobs, wealth, health, or family, it rests in Christ alone. God then blesses us with his great gifts.
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
A shipwrecked man managed to reach an uninhabited island. There, to protect himself against the elements and to safeguard the few possessions he had salvaged, he painstakingly built a little hut from which he constantly and prayerfully scanned the horizon for the approach of a ship.
Returning one evening after a search for food, he was terrified to find the hut completely enveloped in flames. Yet by divine mercy this hard affliction was changed into a mighty advantage. Early the following morning he awoke to find a ship anchored off the island. When the captain stepped ashore, he explained, “We saw your smoke signal and came.”
Everything the marooned man owned had to be destroyed for him to be rescued!
APPLICATION
The process of experiencing salvation can be very similar. Confession and repentance feel like giving up things that are precious to us. But the reality is all we give up is being shipwrecked, marooned and impoverished.
The Lord clothes us in his righteousness, he adopts us into his family to never be alone again, and he nourishes us with his food and water so we are never hungry or thirsty again.
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
If you are feeling storm tossed, shipwrecked, all alone, hungry, burdened with great sorrow, will you lay those concerns at the feet of Jesus this morning? If you’ve never experienced saving faith in Christ Jesus, will you confess him as lord and believe in God raising Jesus from the dead?
I’ll be down in the front, come to Jesus this morning.
Pray...