To go through this wonderful book, The Book of the Acts, what a joy to realize, as we have already stated, it can be called the Acts of the Holy Spirit. May I say definitely, when you read the titles of your books, the titles of your books are not inspired in the original writings, and the titles have been given by the translators. Now you have here, at the beginning of the Book of the Acts, of the apostles well beloved may I say as we begin twenty seven to nine in the testimony of the Lord when he began at Pentecost and as we have been reading throughout the whole book of the Acts A period of not many years, maybe thirty some odd years, after the resurrection and the departure of Christ to heaven. But those two apostles that stand out chiefly are the Apostle Peter and the Apostle Paul. If you've carefully noted the study of the Book of the Acts, the first twelve chapters, Peter is the chief character that is mentioned above any other of the Apostles. or any other saints. Then from chapter thirteen to the end of the whole book the Apostle Paul is the chief character and servant of the Lord. Now it is we find in other scriptures that Peter was called the Apostle to the circumcision meaning the ministry of Peter was usually to his fellow Jews. Paul on the other hand was called the Apostle to the on circumcision, meaning the Gentiles. And I'm sure we well know from the study of the book of the Acts, beginning with chapter thirteen, Paul had missionary journeys into the Gentile dominion in which he was greatly blessed. There were three great journeys that he had, and they were accomplished in the closing chapters that we had preceding the twenty-seven chapter, when he came back to Jerusalem And unfortunately, he became a prisoner of Rome at the same time. Now, as we begin the twenty-seventh chapter of the Book of the Acts, let me please read part of it. It's a long chapter, forty-four verses, which will see it particularly describes at length a sea journey across the Adriatic Ocean or the Adriatic Sea. And I tell you one thing, if you had been in there, you'd have been pretty well seasick. when it happened. But may I say this, don't think of the journey of the ship chiefly. Don't think of the captain of that ship chiefly. Nor don't even dwell upon the Roman centurion who were at charge of the prisoners who were on the ship. The leading figure in the whole chapter and in The last part, the second chapter, the second division of the book of the Acts, the leading person is the Apostle Paul, the servant of God. Shall we begin reading in verse one? And note these words. 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 Bamban. Now those of you that have been following this study have noticed that in the recent chapter, twenty-two and on, the beloved apostle Paul unfortunately became a prisoner of Rome. Now he is about to go to Rome as a prisoner. But if you will notice, as I understand from the announcement tonight, you will be studying the book of Romans. And Paul wrote that Roman epistle to the church at Rome and to the saints at Rome. He had never been at Rome. He had nothing to do with the establishing of that testimony of the Lord Jesus in the city of Rome. But if you read the opening of the epistle, he desired to go to Rome and to preach the gospel there. And when you come to the end of the epistle of the Romans, chapter fifteen particularly, Paul had intended to make a journey to Spain, intending on the way to Spain to stop at Rome. So did he had never been to Rome as yet, as we begin our reading tonight. But now he's going there, as the word Italy suggests, for Rome was in the country of Italy, and he was placed with other prisoners in the hand of a centurion named Julius. Now shall we read from verse two and read on a little? And entering into a ship of Adramitian, we launch, meaning to sail by the coast of Asia, one, Harry Starkus, and Macedonia, Thessalonica, being with us. And the next day we touched its sidon, and Julius, courtesy, entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. And when we had launched from Thames, we sailed unto Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed over the Sea of Philithia and Panthelia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. Now, this is the first part of the journey. And we may know, they touched at the port of Sidon, not too far from Caesarea, where it began. And Sidon was an important city, together with Tyre, which was a greater one in his day. But at Sidon, evidently, Paul knew some of the Christians there. He may have been there before. And Julius, very courteous to Paul, gave him the liberty of visiting the friends that were there, which he did. And then they sailed to go on until they came to Lyra, a city of Lyceum. Now may I emphasize right now, as we shall see it more fully, sailing over the sea in that day was a difficult thing. They didn't have any motors at all to drive their boats. They used sailing vessels chiefly, dependent upon the wind, as well as the ability to know how to sail into that wind and according to that wind. So that the journey was rather slow, oftentimes. But now we find them coming to the city of Lysias. And now we know it in verse six. There was a change in relation to the boats. And we find it saying that the centurion found a ship of Alexandria. Now Alexandria was a great port and a great city on the coast of Egypt. And evidently from that city this ship had come. And it was a larger vessel than the preceding vessel they had traveled upon. And the centurion noted it. And that it was going where he wanted to go with his prisoners to Italy. So he put the prisoners there on. And when we had sailed slowly, please emphasize that. The sailing was slow. And they were very difficult to to navigate and are they able to come over against neither the wind not suffering men for we sailed under creed over against Salmoni a difficult thing to be sailing and depend may I say it again chiefly dependent upon the wind in its direction as well as the ability of the sailors to sail against it or with it as the case may have been Now when we come, if you don't mind, verse eight, hardly passing psalmony, we came unto a place which is called the Fair Havens, near where unto us the city of La Silla. And it's evidently, it's a lovely name, the Fair Havens, they thought it was a good place to stay, and you will know something as follows. Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already passed. Paul admonished them. Now we came to pass because of time and because of the fall of the year and the changing of the season. Now, beloved, let me give you the suggestion. The seasons change. If you don't believe it, just look at the hurricanes. They don't come all year round. When certain seasons of the year, they appear, as we well know. from perhaps June to November, in our area of our world, in which we form a path. So it was with the sailing of those early days, the seasons affected their traveling as they traveled by sail only, depending upon the wind and the direction it would lead them. Now you note in verse nine, they'd spend much time at Fairhaven. And sailing was beginning to come and appear dangerous. For the fast. Not only a Jewish fast, but even the heathens had their fast. And yet Paul had much. Now, I want you to know something. Here we have Paul appearing. And don't forget, please, he was not a sailor. Though he'd done much sailing, undoubtedly, in his experience of traveling. But he appears and makes known what he feels is the conviction of his heart. Now let me read verse ten. And he said unto them, says, Undaverly speaking to the captain, and Undaverly speaking to the centurion, and those in charge of the ship, says, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage Not only of the lady, that is, the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives. Where did he get his information from? Why is it that he thus spoke? This is the central message of the chapter. He was the servant of God. No matter who the captain may have been, no matter who the centurion was in charge. Paul was close to God. He had been doing something that they never did. And I was praying. They would never have said these words, and he had not been in fellowship and communion with God. They'd know this message. Sir, I. What? Paul? You've never driven a ship. You don't know anything about the work of it. But he stands up, says, Sir, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt, damage, and much damage, not only of the cargo of the ship, but even at the expense of our lives. Was he right? Well, let's read on. Verse eleven. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship. More than those things wish births were spoken by Paul. May I pause for just a moment to make a comment. I'd like to commend it to all others who are Christians. Be sure you listen to what Paul writes. What? We'll see a little more about that later on. And I said it lovingly, but truthfully, in my conviction of my heart, That which is wrong and difficult at the church today is the result of not listening to Paul. Let me just mention this. If you've ever studied the epistles carefully, there are three great lines of truth. Now I said the epistles, I didn't say the gospel, the epistles. written as we well know the book of Romans by Paul and many others and so on all to the end there are three great lines of truth there is what is called kingdom truth meaning there's a kingdom coming and we're not thy kingdom truth is an Old Testament truth you've got more teaching in the Old Testament about the coming kingdom about our Lord Jesus Christ may I tell you this you may not believe it There's more scripture in the Old Testament telling you about the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ when he comes back to the earth. Lots of it. Not only in the Pentateuch, but more so in the Psalms and even in the prophets particularly. And there are writers in the general epistles such as Peter, James and John and Jews. that refer to that king. And Peter speaks about a never-lasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But then there's another line of truth. And I want to emphasize it from the writings of John the Apostle. Did you ever notice that John, in the Gospel and in his epistles, and even in the book of the Revelation, he writes more about Christ, the person of Christ, than any other writer. You get Christ's truth. Oh, I say lovingly. I say in earnestly. I have learned much about the person of Christ from John's writings. You say, why? Well, I'll tell you one reason why. I think of chapter thirteen of the Gospel of John. And verse twenty-three, there was leaning on Jesus' bosom, one of the disciples whom Jesus loved. And if you've read that Gospel through, you know who that disciple was. It was John. He got nearer to the Lord than any of the other apostles. And he was able to write more about that blessed person of his Lord. And he did. But then there's another line of truth in the New Testament. It's church truth. And it's indebted. We're indebted to Paul for it. For instance. You begin with the book of Romans. and follow the epistles through and you go to the book of the Thessalonians the last letter the letter he wrote to the Thessalonians about the coming again of the Lord for his church and then many other writings that follow me in the book of Hebrews probably but he writes much concerning the truth of the church and I say lovingly and earnestly for the guidance of a local church because you can't get all the church together in one building on the earth But wherever there is a group of believers in the Lord Jesus, wanting to follow the truth of God regarding the gospel and the church in its order and testimony, you've got to go to Paul. But let's read on. Paul was the important figure there in the chapter here. Now we read in verse twelve. Because the haven was not commodious to wintering, And may I say again, it was very necessary to have a commodious place, according to the amount of men or passengers, to winter in, and wait for the season to come and break in the spring. The more part are advised us to depart, Saints also. The majority were in favor of going on if by any means they might attain to Phoenician. There to winter, which is an haven of Crete, lies toward the southwest then, northwest. So that you can find Paul still alone. And may I say again, if you follow the book of the Acts through, and if you follow the epistles of Paul through, you'll have to confess how often Paul had to stand alone as he fought for the truth of God. And so he was alone here. and the majority were against their suggestion. And unfortunately, I say unfortunately, for this led them astray, as you read in verse thirteen, when the south wind blew softly, oh, that seemed a good indication. That's just the kind of wind they needed to get going to Italy. The south wind, I'll tell you one thing, well, They never can... Well, I think of the words of the proverb writer. Boast not thyself for tomorrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Here was an outward indication. They had a good sign to go. And they read. Supposing they obtained their purpose. They lose sense. They sailed close by Crete. But just as they came near Crete, the island of Crete, not long after... There arose against it a tempestuous wind called Eurocleton. Now this was not a hurricane. It was chiefly a wind. How much rain there was in it? We don't know. I'm doubling plenty, you know. But it was chiefly a wind. It was a powerful wind. Now let me repeat again. Consider the danger of sailing. when you're dependent upon the wind and you have to guide your ship accordingly or your sails and set them accordingly to take advantage of the direction the wind is going and thus they did not long after they went started again on their way a tempestian wind called you rockers and came and what happened when the ship was caught could not bear up into the wind they couldn't even use it Their sails. The wind was so furious. It was a tempestuous storm. All they could do, let the wind drive them. Let the wind drive them. Now notice in verse sixteen, running close to a certain island, which is called Claudia, we had much work to come by the boat. For it was very rough sailing. And also the wind could blow them upon the rocks. There were not only dangers of rocks near the islands, but even this shifting sands of Egypt and Africa on the other side of them. And when they had much work to come by their boat, they could hardly control the boat. Now, please, may I say, this was a sailing vessel. Now, please, the old-fashioned sailing vessel with sails and with a big cargo, no crescent, the ship after, and a cargo of freight. He wanted to deliver in Rome. And then he had two hundred and seventy-six people on board altogether, as we'll see later in the chapter. So there was a great responsibility, as well as great danger to them all. But you please notice, they tried to help themselves the best they can, which when they had taken up, they used helps undergirding the ship, and fearing that they should fall into the quicksand, They just struck, they put up the sail and let the wind drive them. So they were driven. And no, verse eighteen, it was an easy trip either. But may I say this, before going further, I don't know if you have a Bible map, or even check it on the Bible map. But from this point, from the idols, I learned of Claudius, near where they came, it was a direct journey to Italy of five hundred miles it's a straight line of course they didn't know which way they were going because of the tempest and the wind but they just and note what we see in verse eighteen we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest the next day they lightened a ship I don't know whether you've ever been seasick, but I have. And I want to tell you, I said, Lord, I'd be willing to go to the bottom of the sea. The most unpleasant sickness you can have. It won't cost you much, but if you eat too much before you get on the boat, you're liable to have it sometimes. But anyway, they were all exceedingly tough with a temper. Then they liked the sheep even further, through other things aboard. And the third day, We cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship, some of the necessary portions of the ship, to lighten alone. They was heavily loaded and laid him down with the great cargo too, as well as the people who were on it. But now know verse twenty, when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, nothing but darkness. No sun, not even the stars. It was a two-week storm, and no small tempest lay on us. Now, please note of the actual condition in the verse winning. All hope that we should be saved was then taken away. Everyone on board, except Paul, expected to lose their life. And if you please notice, as we begin reading in verse twenty-one, but after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said, Notice words of rebuke, Sir, ye should have happened unto me, and not have loosed from Cretan to have gained his farm in life. Can I pause again? Going back to the reference made previously, the great responsibility of the church to fulfill its duty according to the will of God and the word of God in this age is to listen to the teachings of Paul. I often think due to the problems that the professing church has on the earth today, Paul, if you were here today, would say, Sirs, you should have listened to me. How important to listen to the words of Paul as he has given them by the Holy Spirit. And there would not have been the loss to the ship and the harm that they were facing. But then that wasn't the end of Paul's words. He had words of encouragement and notes. In fact, it's often to be a good cheer. Now I exhort you to be a 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 hath given thee all then that sail with thee. What words? Listen. Let me ask you again. Please let me ask you. Who was the important, most important person on the ship? Paul, the servant of God. My beloved, let me say this lovingly and earnestly, as well as personally, for every one of us who are Christians. The most important thing for you and me is to listen to the word of God what he has to say. You know, we often sing that old hymn. Trust and obey? For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and what? Obey. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, he shines upon our way. Now, please, may I please emphasize this fact. It's the most outstanding fact in the whole chapter. Paul was in touch with God. The shipmaster wasn't. Maybe no one had an enemy. Neither the centurion. And maybe many of them. But Paul particular. He was in touch with God. And notice what he got to say in verse twenty three. As he exhorts them to be a good cheer. There'll be no loss of any man's life. He tells them very friendly. We're going to lose the ship. That wasn't good news for the shipmaster. But. There was good news for everyone on the ship that their lives would be saved. You know, may I put it this way? If you believe what Paul believed, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and he said that, adding of whom I am saved, you'll be saved. And that's how he was saved. And no matter what happens to the church testimony in the world, the ship might go to pieces, but Let me give you the thought. We believe according to the word of God. The end of the church will take place on the earth. It's pilgrimage. The Lord Jesus made a promise. I will come again and receive you unto myself. Then where I am there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know and the way ye know. And everyone that knows the Lord Jesus as his and her savior has found a way to God and to the home of ours. And then you've got what Paul writes in verse Thessalonians for. The Lord himself shall come from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, with the trump of God. And the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we be forever with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. I'll tell you very frankly. if you study your Bible correctly you'll find carefully that in the end days of Christianity there's going to be more departure away from the truth of God and there'll be a great apostasy away from God when the Lord Jesus comes back let me quote one statement he made when he was on the earth when the Son of Man cometh and I'm quoting it from the Greek text When the Son and man come, shall he find thee faith upon the earth? My beloved, as you know your Bible and the prophetic scriptures, the prophecies of the scripture tell. The days coming when man will call himself God and will seek to drive God out of knowledge. Read the second Thessalonians chapter two. The man of sin. And that day is getting near. But if you know Paul. And I know his Savior. Think of what he said. It's the first. Second Timothy one. For I know whom. Not what. Whom I have believed. And am persuaded. That he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him. Against that day. And Paul was waiting for that day. Oh the joy. You know one of the greatest comforts you have. It is the greatest comfort. Jesus is coming again. And we know he's coming for his saints. So if you're sailing with Paul, let me put it that way. If you're sailing with Paul, maybe the ship will sink, but you'll be saved. But read on. And tells why? The angel of God stood by him. Oh, my beloved Lord. The captain never knew it. The centurion didn't know it. No other man on the boat did. But that time there was somebody else on the ship. And it was an angel. An angel of God. Of whom Paul said. Whose I am. And whom I serve. And that angel said to you not, Paul. And no. Thou must be brought before Caesar. Now Paul wasn't expecting that when he wanted to go to Rome the first time. But of course he had already appealed to Caesar due to the condemnation they were trying to place upon him that was false in Jerusalem as well as in Caesarea. But he was sure going to Rome. And look, God has given me all them that sail with me. You know, I'm glad I'm sailing with Paul. I believe in his Savior as he did. My Savior too. Now go on and see what he goes on to say. Wherefore so it be a good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. The one thing and best thing to do is to believe what God says. There's no liar. We well know that. And the joy of knowing we could depend on his word. And yet Paul adds in closing. But how be it we must be cast upon a certain island. And it became the island of Melita or Malta. And may I repeat again, from where they began, their journey to go to Rome on that last voyage, part of the voyage, it was five hundred straight miles to the island of Melita. And they didn't know it, but they're being driven all the way by the wind in that same direction. Now note in verse twenty-seven, it tells you how long it was going on. When the fourteenth night, two weeks was come, as we were driven up and down in Avery, about midnight, the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country. Do sailors recognize by the sound of the surf? Some of it was beating upon rocks, not all of it, but as evidently they could distinctly hear on the fourteenth night, the sound of the ocean beating upon the rocks somewhere nearby, a land... And they found it. In other words, they found out how deep they was below the boat. Twenty fathoms. They went a little further. Again they found it. Fifteen fathoms. Then they realized they were nearing the shore of some place. And then fearing lest they 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... And the sailors of the ship thought, this is a good way to get out of it. And they were luring a boat, too. And when they lay down a boat into the sea, under the collar as though they would have cast the anchors out of this foreship, they meant to flee the ship. And Paul stood up again. Here again, please, may I repeat, here it was in command. And he said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except those sailors abiding in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut the ropes, cut off the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off. And they threw out the anchors, which undoubtedly would hold and drive so that they wouldn't be driven by the wind further. Very little. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take. They hadn't even eaten for two weeks. But Paul besought them. Take food. and saying this day is the fourteenth day. You're carrying and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Pray till you take some meat, take some food. This is who you have. There shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you. And then he made himself an example. He took bread, gave thanks to God, and the presence of them all. And when he had broken it, he began to eat. And then they all began to be of good cheer. Do you ever notice the three good cheers of Jesus? Look them up in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of John. You've got the three good cheers of Jesus. And here, Paul, he had the good cheers of the Lord too. And he passes them on. Be of good cheer. They were all of good cheer. They took some food. And we were in all in the ship. Two hundred and seventy-six souls. And when they had eaten enough, they lined the ship, cast out the wheat and... And the last part of the cargo, the wheat, was thrown into the sea. Delight in the ship. And they wished it was day. As you read on, when it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain creek with a shore into which they were mined and it were possible to frost in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea. Let the wind drive them. And they loosed the rudder band, hoisted up the mainsail to the wind. and made toward the shore. And they fell to falling into a place. There was a bay in there. And they went in where two seats met. And they ran the ship aground. And the four parts stuck, tapped, remained unmovable. But behind the part was being beat to pieces by the violence of the waves. And the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners. I can understand why the soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners. Because if any of the prisoners were escaped, they would be killed and their lives would be forfeited. And they wanted to kill the prisoners. Any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion. And here you see again. Paul's influence. Even over the centurion. Willing to save Paul. Kept them from their purpose. Because neither that they could, those which could swim, should cast themselves first in the sea. And get to the land. And the rest. Some on board. Some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass. They escaped all safe. to land. Well, beloved, let me say this. I'm sure of it. I think of the words of a dear old saint by the name of Samuel Rutherford, lived in the, I think, in the sixteenth of the seventeenth century, a dear child of God and a servant of God who suffered much for the sake of the Lord Jesus. And there he was, as he was a prisoner in what he called Aberdeen Castle. He called it Christ Castle in the country of Scotland. He made the statement, I do not know what is going to happen to this little bark of mine. But this one thing I know, I shall reach the desired haven. Beloved, look, it's great to be saved. You say, why? Well, bless your soul when the time comes to die. I know where I'm going. And you can't help me get there either. The Lord will do it. To be with Christ, which is far better, will get saved to the heavenly shore. Shall we pray? Blessed, blessed Father. How we thank thee for the journey of life. How even in our chapter some of the rugged times of life are pictured. The storms of life are indicated. But what a joy to have the Lord Jesus. No wonder that someone wrote the lovely hymn. Jesus, Savior, pilot me over life tempestuous sea. And how we thank thee, Lord Jesus. Oh, Lord Jesus. When Christ is in the boat, we'll come safe to the other shore. We pray thy blessing upon us in the study of thy words. Help us to indeed enjoy the truth of it that we've learned tonight. Giving thanks in the name of the Lord Jesus for being here. And commending each one of us to the blessing of God that make us rich. And add us no sorrow in the name of our Savior. Amen. Thank you for putting up with this old man. But don't forget Paul and the word of God.