Acts 27:1-26 - Prepared for the Storm

Hey, I'm going to invite you today to Acts chapter 27 is where we're going to be Acts chapter 27. And now we're getting to our tail end of our time in the book of Acts. If you're interested in knowing where we're going to go together after the book of Acts, we. We like to spend a portion of our, our summer in the, in the Psalms, we just feel like the Psalms are a great a reflective portion of Scripture that really encourage us as people in aspects of worship. One of the beautiful things about the Book of Psalms is it's not a necessarily a story that ties together like other books of the Bible. You could really treat each of the Psalms as individual Psalms in and of themselves. There are a couple of Psalms that they work together intricately, like, you know, they'll, they'll be coupled together. And so sometimes if you read some Psalms, you'll recognize that that they're, they're paired together. But it's great for especially in the summer when our schedules are just different. And sometimes we got all sorts of travel happening. And it's just a good book of the Bible to refresh our hearts in worship. And one of the things I like to point out with the Book of Psalms is when we read the Bible, in many ways it's God speaking to us, but the Psalms are the opposite of that. It's learning how to connect our hearts and worship to the Lord.

And so when we end the series together, which is three more weeks after today, we'll then dive into the book of Psalms for the month of July, into the first couple of weeks of August before we kick off our next series. But here we find ourselves in Acts chapter 27, in the last section of the Book of Acts. If you remember how this book unfolded for the very beginning of of the book of Acts really followed the life of of the Apostle Peter, primarily. The second half of the Book of Acts centers more around the Apostle Paul and his missionary journeys. We followed Paul through three missionary journeys. And now in this latter portion of the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul, we find, has. Journey back to Jerusalem after the conclusion of his third missionary journey. It's here that a riot breaks out around him, out of. Out of anger towards the Apostle Paul. He's then arrested and imprisoned for a couple of years. Paul then appeals to Caesar being a Roman citizen and pursuit of a trial he feels like is going to be better for him than staying in the area of Jerusalem where the Jewish people want to kill him. And so in Acts chapter 27 is that moment where they load him on a ship and he sets sail for the capital of Rome to appear before Caesar. And it's in the midst of this traveling upon a boat that he encounters a storm both literally and metaphorically.

Paul encounters a storm, and it's in the storm of of his life that Paul teaches us what it means to go through storms and honor the Lord. And we think about those seasons that we might experience. Nobody wants adversity. Nobody wakes up and says, you know what? I want to make my life really hard. How can I do that? And, and let me just pursue that path. We, we typically want to go after the path of least resistance. But we understand that there's some importance to resiliency. Like how do I learn to toughen myself up? And maybe even as a parent, when you. As you raise your kids, you realize somewhere along the way we went from, maybe if you're my generation, what it was like to be an 80s kid where you rode in the back window of your parent's sedan or whatever it was, and seatbelts were just a commodity to the car that no one really knew how to use. Is that kind of a thing? And no one ever heard of a helmet before? And then all of a sudden, sometimes it seems like we might have gone too far. The other direction where we become a bit of a helicopter parent, which not giving our kids those kind of experiences that teach us, teach them resiliency. What does that, what does that mean to provide those right opportunities to, to nurture the heart of my children where, where they learn to, to get tough in life.

But, but, but also learn the compassion that's necessary to just be a well-rounded person in the way that God has created them. What does, what does that look like for you and for me? I remember as a, As a kid, I had an uncle that he was a wrestler in high school. He went on after high school to do a a little bit of MMA. And this is like when MMA first started where they they learned they should probably create some rules because people will kill each other without certain rules. And so it was during that time period, he got into MMA. And I remember as a 16, 17 year old kid, I thought, man, I'm going to I'm going to jump on those mats with him and wrestle around. I'm going to show him how tough I am. And here I am on these mats with these people, you know, more grown men than where I was in life and their later 20s. And, and what I learned in that experience was I'm terrible. Like, I am not as tough as I thought I was. And, and so it was a lot of humbling in that wrestling experience for me. And, but I kept, I kept persistent with this and realizing at first I thought I was just a rag doll and they would just.

They. Maybe they got to get better with me as they just beat me mercilessly on a mat. But one of the things I learned is like, eventually if you just keep showing up to the mat, eventually you stop losing, right? If you want to learn what makes a great fighter, it's it's ten 000 losses. That's what that's what takes place before. Before you learn how to do that. And it's even been said, you know, the difference between a white belt and a black belt is that the black belt just kept getting up. And when it when it comes to our our relationship with the Lord, I find when it comes to being a resilient follower of Jesus, that sometimes it's the knocks of life that really teach us the sweetness of who Christ is. And when we start to experience loss in this world, how we. We learn to gravitate towards something that matters more. And that becomes critical for us as believers. When we think about the the pursuit of our life, because God has called us to something tremendous in this world and being representatives of him, we realize that that this this earth is passing away. But we as followers of Christ, become this connection between heaven and earth and realizing the brokenness of life. We're going to face adversity. So. So with Jesus or without Jesus, we're going to experience those challenges.

How do we do that? Well, if I'm going to walk this, this broken world, I want to do it with him. And so what does that look like for me as a follower of Christ, to honor God where I'm at? And by the way, I can't think of a better place to do it than than here in Utah to think about what it means to honor Jesus in this place. God has a place that he's called us to, to plant our flag for his glory. And so, God, how do I represent you well in this world now, when we face adversity in life, like, and realizing like, we don't necessarily want that we don't wake up and say, okay, give me challenges, please. But there's something to learn through the adversity that we face. And I like to remind us of a couple of things as we, we start down this road. And one is just recognizing how Scripture speaks to the idea of adversity. I mean, James starts off his story like that. And, and, and the book of James chapter one is letter. He, he's writing to a persecuted church. And he says, count it all joy when you face various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect work. Meaning there's something about challenges that shows us the richness of what we possess in Jesus, or the lack thereof.

Because it's one thing to say, I believe this, but it's something altogether different to then live that out. Right? We can proclaim all day long, but it's not until the challenges of our life arise that really demonstrates. Is this what I believe? You know, some some have said it like this a storm reveals the strength of a tree's roots. It's not until you're. You're pressed against the storm that you begin to recognize what you're really holding on to and will. Will it endure? Now, some people, when they go through challenges they might determine like this. They might say to themselves, well, if God is a loving God, he must not be powerful. Otherwise he would do something about it to stop this storm for me. Or if God is an all powerful God, he must not be very loving. Otherwise he would do something to stop the storm for me. And in the conclusion of that, they determine either there is no God or if there is a God, he doesn't really care or is not capable of caring. Therefore, I just become a functional atheist in that way and saying there might be a God, but he's indifferent to my plight for whatever whatever reason God may be. But in Christianity, we recognize, well, there's actually a third option. And that third option. We also realize that we're not God and we don't fully understand. But in Christianity, we acknowledge two things about the Lord that he is both transcendent and immanent, and his transcendence.

We. We recognize that he's far greater than anything in this world, and he has the authority to govern it all. And at the same time, while he is this transcendent God, he's also an imminent God. And the way that he becomes personal for you and for me, that he's not indifferent to my pain, but rather he entered into it by giving his own life that I might find freedom in him. Now, in between that, we seek to discover what does that mean? To recognize that God is a loving God and an all powerful God and the challenges I face in this world. And the question becomes, what will I trust him? Do I trust in myself? Do I trust in something this world offers? Or am I willing to trust in the Lord? Because Romans chapter eight reminds us that that God works together, all things for good to those who are called according to his purpose. Meaning, I may not fully understand how God is going to orchestrate all of this, but when I when I see the goodness of who God is and the way that he pursued me with his life. It invites me to trust in him, recognizing that while I may go through struggle in this world, that God will work it all out and I'll be the beneficiary of a God who is good and all powerful.

What will I trust in? Proverbs 2416, which is not a verse I wrote in your notes, but it says this for the righteous fails seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumbles in times of calamity and thinking about the challenges of life. It's saying there's a way the wicked, they stumble and that's it. But there's a way. The righteous in all of their stumbling again and again, they find the strength to arise. How do they do that? That's the kind of question I want to ask as we look at the storm that the apostle Paul is going to go through here and then consider for our own lives, how do how do I prepare for those storms? Because God has called me to a beautiful work in this world, but that beautiful work isn't going to be absent without its challenges. So what does it look like for me to live for his glory in the midst of the challenges of this world? To find the strength of God carrying me through? And in Acts chapter 27, we're going to look at the first 26 verses of this chapter. I'm going to look at the first 13, first 13 verses right now, and we're going to ask that question together. What does it look like for me to be prepared for the storms that might arise in the midst of the glory of who God is, knowing he cares? So verse one starts this way.

And by the way, we're going to read a lot of names and towns, and I kind of get tired of it. So I might just like make up my own words for these. But it says, and when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustine cohort named Julius, and embarking in a ship of. Look at that. See who cares? And which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. The 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 and putting out to sea. From there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. Let me just say this at the end of verse three. It's telling us Paul's been given tremendous freedom. Remember, he's he's a prisoner on a boat with other prisoners. Yet the one who's in charge of him has given him freedom to take leave from the ship. And so he's given a quite a long leash and trust and being able to do this. And, and many commentaries think that that that phrase cared for at the end of verse three is actually recognizing that Paul is he's sick, he's battling illness, and no doubt being in prison for a couple of years.

He's, he's probably had some tremendous adversity and in terms of ailments that have come upon him. And so they've given him permission to seek treatment while they were docked. It goes on in verse five. And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia. We came to Myra in Lycia. The. There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and put us on board. We sailed slowly for a number of days, and arrived with difficulty off Sinitis, and as the wind did not allow us to go further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, of Salamine, coasting along with its difficulty. We came to the place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lycia. Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because of. The fast was already over, Paul advised them. I'm going to tell you what Paul said here in a minute, and that's really what we are going to hone in on, as Luke is giving us a lot of details around the circumstances. And then Paul gives some thoughts for us to consider in light of the challenges that they're experiencing and those it's these words that become the nuggets of truth to help us Gravitate towards what matters in seasons of adversity. And really more than adversity. It's where we should root ourselves regardless.

So that no matter the season of life, we find strength in the Lord. But one of the things I just want to highlight for us in verse nine, Paul, or excuse me, Luke tells us that this is dangerous because even the fast was already over and most of us would look at that and say, why? Like, who cares about that detail? What is that? Why do I need to know that? And what he's recognizing is this is this has taken place. The sailing of the ship has taken place during a time period where most people determined we need to wait till the spring. Now, this is late in the fall. And this is typically a time where most ships aren't on the sea. And the reason for that is it gets dangerous. And so what Luke is saying is like, we're sailing late in the in the season for sailing at a time when most didn't. In fact, we're incredibly late in the way that we're doing this now. And looking at this this particular section of Scripture, we might say to ourselves, Why is Luke giving us all this detail? Like, why didn't he just say, and we jumped on a boat to go from Caesarea to Rome, and we wrecked in this particular place? Why do I need to know all of these, all these specifics? And I would say there's a couple reasons Luke is writing this for us.

One is Luke is a physician, and he's a man that pays attention to incredible detail. And he's even more detailed in this specific journey because Luke is a passenger on the ship. So he's specifically interested in the well-being of what's about to take place, to the point that he's giving us these details and all that they're going through. But but more than that, by documenting these particular places, Luke is rooting us in history. The, the book of Acts and even the Gospel of Luke. Luke writes both of these stories as a Gentile writer. He's the only Gentile writer of the New Testament we know of. But Luke and documenting this for us gives validity to the story that's being told. In fact, throughout history, there have been archeologists that have mocked the Bible. One of them is a man by the name of Sir William Ramsay. I talked about him in the very beginning when we started the Book of Acts together, and William Ramsay wanted to use his life. He was a. He was an atheist and wanted to use his, his training as an archeologist to actually disprove the Bible. And one of the steps that he took to do that was to go back over what Luke documented in the book of Acts and the book of Luke to disprove Christianity. And he went on an archeological journey for over a decade. And when he was to return his, his, his friends and colleagues who were adverse to Christianity, couldn't wait for what Luke discovered.

But to their surprise, when he returned, not only did he validate Christianity in the historical reality, especially that Luke records, he had actually given his life to Christ. So when when Luke is writing about particular individuals and specific cities. It's as if he's saying to the first century, if you don't believe these stories, it's been documented, you can go back and check it out. But even to the 21st century, it's it's rooted in history and it speaks to the inspiration and the inerrancy of God's word. And so Luke is, is giving us these details. But then ultimately, it comes to this point where in verse ten, Paul says, 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. But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 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. Paul is bringing the people on the ship to a place of recognizing you're about to go through loss. And it's in this particular moment that we as people should recognize that that's what really every storm of life produces for us there.

In a way, there is a sense of loss. That's why those moments feel like storms. There's a risk, and with risk something can be taken away. And the problem with people of a of a worldly mentality and even Christians in, in the struggle of this, is that if we root our identity in the things of this world and the things of this world are temporary, then our identity will suffer to the point we will despair, become angry, and live in fear over the possibility of loss and Paul is encouraging the lives of the people in recognizing like this is about to happen to you. And so what you root yourself in becomes critical. In fact, we would even say in the story, the reason Paul is able to encourage these these individuals on the ship is because he knows where he's discovered his identity, and he's able to speak with clarity in the midst of a struggling moment. In fact, as you read all of chapter 27, you're going to be reminded again and again of the position of the apostle Paul in comparison to these sailors, because these sailors live with anxiety towards the circumstance they're facing. And for the apostle Paul, no doubt he realizes this is a challenge, but there is a peace in his heart that's rising above the temporal circumstance for which he finds himself in.

In fact, in preparing for the storm, I should probably give you point number one. I didn't do that yet, did I? Okay. It's this I don't I think you said no, it sounds more like this, but I'm going to go with the note. Finding identity in what cannot be lost. Find identity and what cannot be lost. How do I prepare for a storm? Find identity in what cannot be lost. If we're not careful. The positions and the properties we receive in this world will become a place that we root ourselves to. The point we will find our identity in the titles that you carry, the things that you own. You could live in the facade of thinking that that is what determines the worth of who you are. And in the loss of those things, you despair. Now, I'm not saying, as a Christian that it's not wrong to grieve and loss. I think the greatest loss that we can experience is the loss of life. And I think one of the most beautiful things that you can do in the loss of life is grieve. And the reason for that is because out of everything in this world, human beings weren't made for death. We were made for life. And we don't truly find real life until that life is rooted in Christ. And knowing that the curse of sin has come upon us and we experience death.

I think it's a very God honoring thing for believers to grieve, because in our grieving, we're acknowledging we're made for more. It's okay to grieve, but it's recognizing. I'm not grieving so much about the identity that I lost and the things that passed from me, but really that all of this was created for God's glory and we go through loss. It's a recognition of the brokenness of this world. It's different for believers because in the life of a believer, our hope isn't rooted in those things, but in something greater. But it's not until our lives are surrendered to the one who has created us for his purpose that we discover this. And Paul, really, in this moment, he's speaking to the life of the sailor as if to say, because if, if, if your hope is in this ship and your hope is in the position that you have, and the ship, as if this is your identity, this ship is going down. And so it's critical for you in this loss to really examine where are you finding your identity. And it's the same for all of us, right? The, the titles that you may carry in this world, they're all fleeting, but there's one title that supersedes it all, and it gives you a hope beyond this world. And it's critical. And, and the recognition of that title, of what I have in the Lord, then to perceive the the different parts of my life in this world as, as simply a steward of either the positions of the possessions that I have.

But ultimately, I know my destiny because I know who I belong to. It's that thought that gave individuals throughout Scripture and throughout history of God's people the opportunity to rise up in the midst of difficult circumstances, to glorify God and and to walk in a beautiful relationship with him. In fact, if I just highlighted a few of those for you, like, for example, the life of Abraham, he's, he's, he's considered the, the father of the Hebrew people that that went on a journey at 75 years old, having no children of his own, he or Sarah, he's called from his homeland to go to a place that the Lord was leading him and to the people around him. This would have looked absolutely insane because during his time period, you you were you were born, you were raised, and you died all within a 50 mile radius of where you were from. People didn't journey far. And the reason for that is, in this particular society, there were not police to protect you. Your protection was your tribe and more specifically, your family and especially as you aged in life, your retirement plan was your children. And so for Abraham not having children, the next place of his protection would have been his extended family.

But to up and abandon all that, to go to a place of, of people that were not of his tribe, this was putting his life in absolute risk. But it tells us in in Hebrews chapter 11 verse eight, it says, Abraham went out not knowing where he was going. By faith he went out to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. I mean, when you study his life, you recognize he didn't even. He never owned property. Even in the Promised land he went. He lived like a nomad. At the end of his life, he bought a little plot of land to bury his wife in. But then in verse ten, it tells you why, for he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God. A greater identity, a greater hope, Even with the Apostle Paul. When you consider how his writings lay out, like if you just kind of put it in a chronological order, you can somewhat see how how the Lord is really growing him and, and learning what it means to trust in the Lord. You know, the, the idea of, of facing adversity and it helping you become more resilient in your relationship with Jesus. And in second Corinthians, Paul writes this letter and his third missionary journey right after he left Asia or Asia Minor, where Ephesus was.

And there was a riot that took place and some difficulty that Paul went through to the point that when he writes second Corinthians, most theologians think that whatever Paul's talking about here, he actually it actually isn't specifically mentioned in the book of Acts. But but Paul says this for we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we had felt like we had received the sentence of death. I mean, what Paul is saying is we were at the end of our ropes and we didn't even have the strength to get up anymore. But but that was to make us rely not on ourselves, but on God who raises the dead. The one who is sovereign over it all. To let go of my hope in this world and to find the hope that is far greater, that rises above it all. He goes on a little later and he writes the book of Philippians. And Philippians was written shortly after the shipwreck that we're reading in the book of Acts. And he says this, for me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. When you look at the story of Acts chapter 27, and you see the soldiers filled with anxiety in this moment over losing the things of this world and possibly even their life.

And you look at the Apostle Paul, there is an apparent difference in the way they're perceiving the storm that they're going through. Paul, no doubt, is recognizing the storm and possibly has fear rising within him in the midst of it. But he has a hope that transcends it all. He's learning in all circumstances that in Jesus, the brightest days are still in front of him. So Paul is resting in the Lord. For me to live as Christ and to die is gain. Yes, I get great things in this world by having the privilege to honor him. But take it all away. Even my life and I know my future is even better. And so Paul, Paul, he's he's found this, this place of resting his soul and the greatness of, of who God is. Now, let me just say this, because I got to move this, this ball forward here and get the point number two. But I want us to, to recognize that as, as Paul is sharing this with, with these sailors, he's, he's talking about the idea of loss. Remember, Paul has already shared with these sailors that they're, they're about to go through a shipwreck if they're not going to listen to him. And it tells it tells us that the. They choose to listen to someone else rather than the Apostle Paul. Which is rather ironic because when you read the Apostle Paul's life in second Corinthians chapter 11, starting in about verse 20, Paul starts to share with us adversity that he went through in life hunger, naked, without clothing and shelter and hungry.

And one of the things he had imprisonments and lashings. But one of the things that says to us in second Corinthians 11, verse 25, is that he had been shipwrecked three times. That is before this passage, which makes now at least four times. And it tells us in being shipwrecked that he was adrift at sea at least one night and one day. I don't know about you, but when I consider everyone that I've known in life, I can't name one person I'm like, that has been shipwrecked once, right? The fact that he's been shipwrecked three times, you just might say to him, Paul, you should consider other means of transportation. Like, how many times are you going to be? How many times can a person be shipwrecked and survive? This has happened to Paul three times, and you got to think out of anyone that you might want to listen to. You know, Paul may not call himself a sailor, but he's got some wisdom when it comes to the sea. Probably not a good idea to get into a boat, especially with Paul. He might even say to them, listen, every time I get in one of these things, you know, this happens. But but rather than listen to Paul, they chose to listen to a different voice.

And because of that, they end up in the storm. The reason I say that for all of us is just to recognize, like sometimes in life, there are storms that we go through that we we couldn't control. But other times there are storms in life that we go through because it was our fault. And when we go through those particular storms, we have a tendency, if we're not careful to, rather than walk in our identity, to live in guilt and shame. And I think it's critical for all of us to realize whether whether the storm was something you couldn't control or the storm was something you could control, and you chose not to listen to the Lord. In either case, the Lord still cares about you. In fact, I think one of the greatest chapters in all the Bible to remind you of that, especially if you're new to Christ and you're like, man, I want to get rooted in what it means to follow Jesus. Can I just tell you one of the most incredible passages of the Bible you can go through is Romans chapter eight. Romans chapter eight is one of those chapters that is all about your identity in Jesus. In fact, in Romans 323, it tells us, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And what it's saying is like, not only have you sinned once, but the real.

The truth is, in the Greek, it's this perpetual state of sinning. It's kind of like a sundial. You know, the sun just kind of moves around the dial and it doesn't stop or gears in a car as it's shifting, those gears are always turning. That's what I'm saying about the life of us as believers. We just we walk in sin and you get to you get later into Romans, Romans chapter five. But we're delivered by the Lord by his grace, which is fantastic. But then you get to Romans seven and Paul saying, but if I try to live this out in my own, try to live the Christian life perfectly, I can't do it. He gets the end of seven and says, I despair, oh, wretched man that I am! Who will save me from this body of sin and death? But then when you get to Romans eight, verse one, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. In fact, he goes on to say, you've. You've been adopted into God's family by which you can cry out to him, ABBA, father. And the points of life where the adversity is so great that there may not even be words you can put to it, but it's talking about the intimacy of your walk with the Lord. God deeply cares about you. God desires for you to to grow in him and to know him.

So whether you're. You've caused the storm or whether it was a storm you. You couldn't control. The Bible tells us in Lamentations chapter three, verse 22 and 23, great is his faithfulness. His mercies are new every morning. Meaning, while you might be unfaithful, he is faithful to you and every day becomes this opportunity to grow in the grace of God. Number one, find identity and what cannot be lost. Number two, find reason to take heart. I got to do this fast. Find reason to take heart. Paul goes on from here and he says the boat's going down. There's your summary. The boat is going down, okay? And he goes on in verse 21 because of that. He says this since they had been without food. You see, they're panicking. Like we don't even have time to eat. They're all just worried. They're sick to their stomachs. Since they had been without food a long time, Paul stood up among them and he said, this. Here's Paul speaking into their lives again. Men, you should have listened to me. He probably didn't need to say that. He should have listened to me and not have 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 the ship, I love this, he's saying you didn't listen to me.

But God's still going to be gracious to you, and he encourages him this way. Take heart. So so Paul is really saying two things. Don't find identity in things that are being lost and take heart. I mean, how do I do that? You know, if we think about within our own society today, people that are civil servants, I think of maybe like a, a soldier or a fireman, we might ask the question, what causes a fireman to run into that fire? Or what causes a soldier to fight in battle? And maybe their answers could be something along this. For a soldier, he might say things like, well, it's for my brothers around me. It's for my family and friends at home, maybe for my country, that in that circumstance, he finds reason to rise above the challenges, to live for something more, for the benefit of those around him. Maybe. Maybe for the firemen. It's a similar thought. I run head first into the fire for the sake of those that I'm called to rescue. Because life matters. You think about for us as believers, what does it mean to take heart? It's. It's a response of courage. And where do we find courage? It's to recognize the the importance of what we have in Jesus, that no matter what, this world may rip away from me, that what I have in Christ cannot be taken. And the opportunity then I have in Jesus to make a difference.

God's got me in a place to plant a flag for his glory to the benefit of others. That what Jesus has done for me, Jesus desires to do in the hearts of others. So what better purpose could I live my life for than to see people finding an eternal difference in knowing a God who's pursued them to give his life for them, that they could find a worth and identity, that anything greater this world can offer. What better thing could I live for that the temple of the circumstances of life. That, though it may be challenging, what I have in Jesus supersedes it all. So how can I not get up? This is what Paul is saying. Take courage. Find. Find strength in who the Lord is. Like sometimes when people face challenges in life, the storms of life, some respond in fear and others respond in courage. And people ask the question, why? Why does some respond in fear and others respond in courage? And we can just say it like this. Because some people, what they look at is the storm, but others in the midst of the storm, what they choose to look at is the Lord. It's the strength of the Lord that that carries us beyond the circumstances of life. Not to put our hope here, that we might delight in the opportunity and privilege it is to represent him in the way that we live.

But to recognize, no matter what you take from me, you can never rob me of what ultimately matters. So that last point is this the answer is always Jesus. The answer is always Jesus. The soldiers. I've been peppering this in the message, but the soldiers might be left asking this question of Paul. Paul, you're telling us we're going to lose. We're going to lose the ship. We're going to lose our stuff. We could even lose our lives. And and and and Paul, you're telling us to take heart. But where? And then verse 23, Paul gives the answer for this very night there stood before me an angel of the Lord, to whom I belong and whom I worship. 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. But we must run aground on some island, and how incredible it is that I find within this story, because Paul's life has been spared, because Paul is following the Lord, everyone on the ship is spared. Guys, can I just tell you, this is really a metaphorical picture of our lives that in the the ship of your own life, you have people that intersect with you all the time.

And the ship's going down, but you have something that matters to impart to them, for the soul to be able to endure. What a gift. Because Paul's life in following Jesus, his presence there and representing the Lord all their lives are being spared. And. And it's the same for you that you have the the privilege to to honor the Lord and the way that you live your life. And so if you're here this morning, you're asking the question like, how do I, how do I discover that? How do I find the courage? How do, how do I do this? Like, I just feel like a failure. I feel like I mess up, I feel like I'm constantly God's, God's mutt on the side. Like, how could God really love me? I'm just I'm just saying it. If if you just continue to make it about you, you're you're missing the gospel altogether. Because the point of the gospel is to take your eyes off of you and look at the greatness of who he is and everything that he's done for you. And it's not until you take your eyes off yourself and you see the richness of who Christ is and what he's accomplished at the cross that you even begin to understand of a God who cares about you, who has offered everything that you might find freedom in him. It's not about you, but everything he was willing to accomplish for you.

And the seasons of life rock us. They rock us in a way that for some of us, sometimes we're good at just quickly diving into faith and for. For others, sometimes we have we have difficulty getting there. Which leads me to close with this. And church history is a man by the name of Philip Melanchthon. And Philip was a theologian during the Reformation. In the 1500s. He was great friends with Martin Luther. He was a companion of Martin Luther and an intellectual mind. Martin Luther really appreciated him for that. But there was also something known about Philip Melanchthon is that he was a worrier, constantly worrying, putting the stress of everything on them, because for Philip and Martin, There was a constant threat of people wanting to kill them, imprison them, do have ill intent towards them. And it's known throughout Philip Melanchthon's life that Martin Luther would regularly repeat to him this phrase, Philip, Let Philip cease to rule the world. Let Philip cease to rule the world. When we go through challenges of life, that's our tendency, right? Is just to throw it on us like it depends on us. And wearing the anxiety of trying to save it all, not recognizing that there's one who does. And it's not mine to bear, but his. And he bore it on the cross for you and for me, so that no matter the season I go through in this world, I know in Jesus I'll never lose.

This message has been brought to you by Alpine Bible Church in Lehi, Utah. If you'd like more information, please visit us online at Alpine bible.com.