Let's stand together for the reading of God's Word as we continue forward together in this section, this long section of the storm. By God's grace, learning how to love when ignored, the title of today's sermon. I'll be reading from verse one of chapter 27 all the way through to verse 44. It's a long section. We'll be focusing in there on verses nine through 12, but also looking at Paul's love throughout this entire section. Brothers and sisters, please listen very carefully because this is God's holy and infallible word. And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan regiment. So entering a ship of Adramidium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed over the sea, which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. There, the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board. And we had sailed slowly many days and arrived with difficulty off Canidas. The wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmon. Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens near the city of Lacea. Now when much time had been spent and sailing was now dangerous because the fast was already over, Paul advised them saying, Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives. Nevertheless, the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. And because the harbor was not suitable to winter end, the majority advised to set sail from there also. If by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there. When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, pulling out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, a tempestuous headwind arose, called Euryclidon. So when the ship was caught and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. And running onto the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship, and fearing lest they should run aground on the Sirtis sands, they struck sail, and so were driven. And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. On the third day, we threw the ship's tackle overboard with our own hands. Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, do not be afraid, Paul. You must be brought before Caesar. And indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you. Therefore, take heart, men, for I believe that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island. Now, when the 14th night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight, the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. And they took soundings and found it to be 20 fathoms. And when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be 15 fathoms. Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship when they had let down the skiff into the sea under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off. And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food. Today is the 14th day you have waited and continued without food and eaten nothing. Therefore, I urge you to take nourishment for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you. And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all. And when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then they were all encouraged and also took food themselves. And in all, we were 276 persons on the ship. So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea. When it was day, they did not. They observed a bay with a beach onto which they planned to run the ship if possible, and they let go of the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile, loosing the rudder ropes. And they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. And the prowl stuck fast and remained immovable. But the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves. And the soldier's plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land. and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land. Thus ends the reading of God's word. Amen. Amen. Please be seated. So it's time to look at the map again. They're moving from the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea there, you see where they began there in Caesarea, they began this journey. And then to Sidon where Paul went and was refreshed with the church when Julius gave him liberty. And you can see there they most likely sailed along the southern coast of Cyprus, that contrary wind keeping them from being able to go up and take what would have been probably a shorter course. And then they come to Myra, they go along the southern coast there of Asia, they change ships, and they're now on this Alexandrian ship, and they've made their way down to Crete, and it has taken a long time. That's where we are. They're there on the eastern edge of Crete. And they're gonna eventually, today, as we look at it, make their way across that section of the Mediterranean and over there to Malta. So as we look at today's text, there's a question I hope that we'll consider. How do you respond when others do not listen to you, when they don't take your advice? Especially when it's an important matter, when you've spoken very important words of caution or warning to them. When that occurs, what voices do you hear inside? Here's some options. Walking in the flesh. Do you hear a voice of anger? How dare you? Okay, fine, go get what you deserve. Those who fail deserve to be blamed and punished. Is that how you respond? Or is it maybe the voice of despair? Oh, it was foolish of me to speak up. What was I thinking? No one ever listens to me anyways. Or maybe the voice of vengeance, oh, okay. Not listen to me, just wait. Nobody treats me like that. Scheming. Or maybe the voice of pride, once your warning is proven true, well I told you so. If you would just listen to me. Now what about if you're walking in the spirit? How might you respond if you are walking in the spirit? Lord, please bless me to remember that I belong to you, that I've been bought with a price, the price paid by Jesus Christ upon the cross. Bless me, Lord, to remember how he lived when he was ignored, when he was dismissed. Bless me to live the way he lived, that I would love others and serve others. Because Lord. Lord. Lord. Lord. Lord. Lord. Lord. I think that's what we see Paul doing, and today, next he can be loving when he's been mist and ignored. We'll look at the one he is, we'll look at him and how they ignored him, and how they ignored him. Some examples of how people responded after he was ignored. worked hard, he encouraged hopelessness in them, gave them encouragement in the face of hopelessness, and he went on to have the courage to warn them again, even to lead them and encourage them to take the place that God had given to him. This is where the influences show up, all the way that Paul's behavior Was he trying to be a person who would follow Jesus? Think of it. And he's the way that. Breathe. Perils of the Gentiles, and perils in the city, and perils in the wilderness, and perils in the sea, and perils among false brethren. So Paul has been here before. In fact, we know that he's been in this area there at Cyprus, the earlier part of their travels. We know that he's been along the southern coast there as a part of his earlier travels, the southern coast of Asia Minor. So based upon his experience and his wisdom, he warns them not to sail on. He says, I perceive, right? His warning, it's not divine revelation as an apostle, but it's rather prudence as an experienced wise man who's been on the seas before. And it's important to note here that Paul has already got a certain level of respect from the crew, enough to even grant him an opportunity to speak to the ship's council, to be even a voice to the ship's council. So he's not like the other prisoners, even at this point, as we've already seen, with Julius giving him liberty, Julius risking his life, perhaps, because if Paul runs off, what happens to Julius? So Julius listens to Paul, but not closely enough. So they ignore his warning. Nevertheless, the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there." So we see here that the centurion somehow on this Alexandrian vessel has become the decision maker on this vessel. And he receives counsel from the ship's helmsman and owner, along with Paul and probably others. They all agreed, except for Paul, that they needed to winter somewhere close. I'm sorry, let me step back. Including Paul, they all agreed that they needed to winter somewhere close before the long leg to Italy. But the crew convinces Julius that they can make it to a better winter harbor that's a bit further west on Crete's southern coast. So if you look at the map, you've already made it to Crete. And they're saying, well, OK, Paul, but we can make it over here to this better harbor. for winter. In Phoenix, the commentary tells us, was up the coast at most 50 miles west of Fair Havens. So it doesn't necessarily seem like a super unreasonable thing for them to do. It's not like they're totally dismissing Paul. But they didn't listen to him. So they go, and things go badly. And how does Paul respond? Well, first, he works hard. Paul works hard. He doesn't complain. He doesn't sit in the corner. whittling and looking at them going, well, look at that. It's terrible. Yeah, go ahead. Try to fix it. No, no. He works hard with them. There's two verses here, 16 and 19. Running under the shelter of an island called Clodagh, we secured the skiff with difficulty. That's the team. That's Paul's team. 19, on the third day, we threw the ship's tackle overboard with our own hands. That's hard work. Paul got involved. He got up and he worked. So the vessel had headed west toward Phoenix, but a bad wind prevented their desired path. What happened? His concerns began to manifest themselves. When the south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by creek, but not long after a tempestuous headwind arose called Ura-Clyden. So when the ship was caught and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. Commentary says, trouble does arise in this tempestuous wind. It leaves them no longer in control of the ship. And the noun form of this Greek word here is the origin of our word typhoon. So tempestuous, typhoon is what they're hitting. In Greek, it refers to a severe windstorm that now takes hold of the ship with winds coming out of the Northeast, driving the ship southward away from the island as its protection. They're unable to turn the bow of the boat into the wind or face the wind eye to eye. They are driven by the wind and not able to control the ship. And the commentary also mentions that there's this giant mountain there, Mount Ida, and that the winds would come swooping down off that mountain and push sailors away from the island. Perhaps Paul knew better of this wind than they do. We don't know. So what's his response to this trouble that they're in after he's warned them? What would be your response to someone who gets in trouble after you've warned them, after they've walked away from your advice? You know, you all experienced that, that temptation in your heart. Well, you know, you had to learn the hard way, huh? No, Paul's just working with them. He served the crew by working hard. At this point, there's no hint of Paul correcting the crew for not listening. He does give some correction later, but even then it appears gentle and appropriate and not any sort of chiding. You see, what's happening is he's suffering with them by helping them to do the hard jobs of securing the skiff and throwing the ship's tackle overboard. When people in your life bring hard times on themselves and they've done it after ignoring your advice, do you just dive in and suffer with them? Think about that. That's a really important question. A lot of times we don't want to come alongside. I'm not going to get in there. You got yourself into this mess. I'm not going to help you. Next, he endures hopelessness with them. He stays alongside them. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up. Paul is enduring this hopeless experience in the darkness, the mess with them. Now he knows the stars and the sun and the moon have not moved. He knows that. But under the sun he's experiencing this hopelessness with them. He's mourning with those who are mourning. So things have gone from bad to even worse. Tossed wildly by this storm for a couple hours? No. Think about it. For many days they didn't see the stars or the sun or the moon. And these giant waves just crashing endlessly. Hope was lost. It reminds me of when I would give the air sickness lecture. I would say to the students, I'd say, really, this is all you need to know, the flight students. The first phase is you're so sick, you're scared you're going to die. And then it gets worse. And the second phase is you're so sick, you're afraid you won't die. And I suspect this might have been kind of where they were getting to. They had given up hope, and they were perhaps looking forward to drowning, because at least then the suffering would be over. Now, I want us to see Paul's silence during this suffering. He's there in the darkness with them. He's not only serving them and working alongside them, but he's there in the darkness with them, enduring even into the depths of hopelessness with them. Does he lash out for ignoring him? No, he just simply suffers with them. And again, this gets to the big question when when when we are in life with people and they don't listen to us and they end up bringing harm on themselves and even harm on us. How are we going to respond to that? Paul shows us. And of course, he's pointing us to Jesus. Next, he gives them encouragement in the midst of the hopelessness. After long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, Men, you should have listened to me and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, saying, Do not be afraid, Paul. You must be brought before Caesar, and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you. Therefore, take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island." So Paul is just as hungry and tired and sick and beat down as the rest of them. Physically, mentally, emotionally suffering. in the middle of the night with the rest of the crew, with all of his traveling companions. He's no different than they are. He's suffering with them, as we've said. And it appears as though it was pretty bad. Maybe he was even starting to give way of fear, right? To fear, because the angel says, do not be afraid, Paul. So Paul's continuing, right? The one who said, pray without ceasing, the one who had written already, pray without ceasing. What do you think he's doing? He's seeking the Lord. He's praying. Now he's hurting, he's aching, he's in the midst of the suffering, but he's crying out to God. Well, the angel comes and meets him. Trusting in God. I mean, think about it. Maybe he started to even doubt whether he would really get to Rome. Doubting the promises that he had heard from Christ himself. Have you ever been in those dark spots? You know what you've read in God's word, but you're like, ah, maybe that's just for others. Maybe that's not really for me. Paul was human like us. His faith was not limitless. Even Paul had his faith stretched. God comes to him, sends an angel to Paul with a great message, a repeat message, and a great additional promise. So God speaks the same promise to him again. That's why we keep going back over and over again in God's Word, over and over again. Remember, remember, remember, remember. Hide it in your heart, hide it in your heart, hide it in your heart. God is so good to us to come by His Spirit and to continue to press His truth into us, which we would jettison and run away from if it was up to us. He repeats the promise, you must be brought before Caesar. He's told Paul that. You must be brought before Caesar. So Paul's like, okay, I'm gonna make it. But then look at the next thing he says. And indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you. You never know what God will do in the lives of those around you as you trust in his promises. As you trust in his promises, you never know what God will do in the lives of those around you. And it may just be miraculous, or it may be kind of like we see here with Paul, that his loving influence was used of God to draw them, to draw them towards his leadership, to draw them towards following Jesus with him. Now look, you would hope that the heavens would open and you could hear the angels singing and the sunlight would come bursting through at this very moment. That's not what happened. There were still dark days ahead. The storm did not stop at that very moment. But you see, Paul believed God and the next day he encouraged the crew. After he heard the message, he believed God and encouraged the crew. He didn't require God to stop the storm right there on the spot. He didn't require God to bring land within view on the spot before he went and told the people what was going to happen. He just told them what God said. So he didn't keep this good news to himself. He spoke to the crew. Now I don't see a command for him to speak to the crew. You might have promises from God that are very encouraging to you. And the person who dismissed you and didn't listen to you like, well, I'm not going to listen to me. And you might keep those great promises to yourself instead of being an encourager and sharing the truth of God's word, even to those who've ignored you and brought pain into their own lives and into your life through ignoring you. Take heart, man, for I believe God will be just as he has told me. So Paul grants them great encouragement, even detailing the coming return to land. He tells them a detail of what's coming. So we see what happens when you're owned by God, you love God and you want to serve God and you just keep serving him regardless of how the people have treated you. Next, we see his courage even to warn them. You might think, wow, you've been dismissed. You've been ignored. You're not going to go on to actually warn them and give a warning and especially a pressure packed warning. Listen to this. When the 14th night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight, the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land and they took soundings and found it to be 20 fathoms. And when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be 15 fathoms. Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off. So these sailors are a really great example of what happens to a lot of us, right? We have faith. We believe it's not hopeless anymore. And then we take matters into our own hands, right? We take matters into our own hands. So they have hope. But not enough. They have faith in what Paul said, but not enough. So Paul was ignored when no scheming or conflict was apparent. Back in the beginning when they were having the ship's council, he was ignored. And here, with the pressurized threat of sailors who are now lying and fleeing and fearing for their lives as they're doing it, Paul does not shrink back. What is the specter here? I'll tell you, it's the fear-fueled, hand-to-hand shipboard conflict. Knives and swords drawn and hand-to-hand bloodshed is what's before them right now, when these soldiers tell these sailors, get back on the ship. And it's purely the threat of force at that point in time. Paul doesn't shrink back. He gives the warning. Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. So he knew enough, it seems, about their coming trial that God planned to save them through the efforts of these fleeing sailors. The work of the sailors that was about to take place later, when the ship's getting smashed to bits, was an important part of how God was going to save them. Commentary says, God, who appointed the end that they should be saved, appointed the means that they should be saved by the help of these seamen. Though if they had gone off, no doubt God would have made his word good some other way. You see, Paul speaks here, again, as a prudent man, not as a prophet, when he says, these are necessary to your preservation. Duty is ours, events are God's, and we do not trust God, but we tempt God when we say we put ourselves under his protection and yet do not use proper means, such as are within our power for our own preservation. You don't take off without enough gas to get to your destination and just saying, oh, we'll just keep flying because we'll trust God. Right? And that's what we do in so many ways in our lives. We do foolish things. Don't listen to good advice. Taking off without enough fuel to fly to our destination and tempting God. And in His kindness, often He just gets us there. instead of letting us fly it into the ground like we've earned, like we deserve, over and over again. But it goes finally, I think, to the pinnacle of of love is he has the faith to lead in this situation. This is very significant. He takes actions with the ship's stores and, you know, again, he sets himself up to be attacked, to be torn down when he takes this step of faith to lead. And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, Today is the 14th day you have waited and continued without food and eaten nothing. Therefore, I urge you to take nourishment for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from your head, the head of any of you. And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all. And when he had broken it, he began to eat. Then they were all encouraged and also took food themselves. And in all, we were 276 persons on the ship. So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea. So Paul knew what was ahead for this crew. He knew a dangerous, strenuous grounding awaited them. He knew what was coming for these people and he knew what they needed at that moment. And he takes the lead to show that to them. He says, you need nourishment. You need strengthening of mind and body for what is about to happen to us. So in faith toward God, Paul implores them all to eat. and He reminds them of God's promise to them. Now does that sound familiar? Certainly we're supposed to be thinking about the Lord's Supper right now. Certainly we're supposed to be thinking about the bread and the wine that we're going to share together again this Lord's Day. And we're going to look to the Lord Jesus for life's storms and whether our ship gets destroyed and cast into the sea, He's going to take care of us. He's going to strengthen us through any trial that will come our way. He tells them, hey look, this is for your survival. This is why we're doing this now. He reassures them, you're gonna be okay. Not a hair's gonna fall from your head in this trial. And he took bread and he gave thanks to God and he broke it and they all ate. And 276 people total did this at the same moment, so I'd say 275 people followed Paul at this moment as Paul trusted in God. Now that took courage for him to do that, to lead like that. This is love taking risk in order to encourage and to help the people around him, to lead them to Christ. Now there's fruit here that takes place as a result of his faith towards God. not giving way to the flesh, not withdrawing, not attacking, staying close to God, remembering God's promises, and walking close to God by His power. There's fruit that we see here, a few things. First of all, God grants him a voice during disaster. We know he's already been given a voice, but now in the midst of disaster, he's given a voice. And remember, he's a prisoner. He's not a member of the ship's crew. It's very odd that a prisoner would have this kind of influence. Now, granted, they all knew he was innocent and he wasn't truly a prisoner, but still, he's going to Caesar. They've got to keep him and take him. After long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, So he had quietly served the crew since they ignored him. He helped secure the skiff and throw the tackle overboard with no hint of complaining or anger. And he had endured the hopelessness with them without casting blame. And now at this moment, these men allow Paul to stand in their midst and speak an important message to them, even that included some very direct correction. You should have listened to me. So love and service bring us into a spot where people understand that even when we have hard words to say, it's not because we're trying to tear them down or promote ourselves. It's so important in parenting. It's so important in married life. It's so important in friendship. Will we love each other well enough to build that kind of trust? And are we in one another's lives for this shared purpose of being sanctified together? Loving each other and saying the things that need to be said. You see, love grants a voice during disaster. Paul's steady service toward them and suffering with them is used of God to give Paul an influential voice during the depths of darkness in this disaster. And parents, you know, you exasperate your children when you try to have a voice in their life without walking beside them, without being in their lives with them. As Paul shows us here on this ship. Next comes contagious hope. Paul's hope becomes their hope. When the 14th night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea about midnight, the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. Why did they sense that they were drawing near some land? Well, yeah, you could say because they're sailors, but why did they even care that they were drawing near to land? Because they had some hope. So after he gives this great promise of deliverance to them, sharing the angel's message with them, it appears like something has changed in them. They had given up all hope before. When you give up all hope, you don't look for signs of deliverance. So something had changed as a result of this. They're attentive enough, at least, to perceive the land was near, and perceiving the land, Paul's message then gains more credibility. Paul's hope had become their hope. It was unfolding, as he had said, You've seen this before when people talk to you, they give you advice, they say, look, it's probably going to go like this. And then you say, wow, it did go the way that person said. And that person gains more credibility, more standing in your life a lot of times as a result of their demonstrated wisdom in your life. Paul had that growing influence as the crew's hope was growing. This leads to persistent vigilance. They took soundings and found it to be 20 fathoms, and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be 15 fathoms. Now, I'll grant that maybe they were taking fathoms so that they could escape in the skiff, right? But they're not any longer in the dark depths of hopelessness. Paul's love has had an influence on the crew. They begin to embrace the hope of deliverance, and they begin to act. They arise from their midnight despair. They take note of their surroundings, and they begin to actively seek important information. Love not only breeds hope, but also hope gives birth to meaningful action. Hope is so important. Love breeds hope. Hope breeds meaningful actions. And so as we love those around us, especially in situations where maybe we've been ignored, like Paul was ignored here, We can be those who point others to Christ and have a voice of good influence in their lives. Not for our own glory, not because we can pat ourselves on the back, but because we want to enjoy Jesus together. We want to enjoy Christ together with those in our lives. He goes on to have the guiding voice and ultimately he has the place of trust. Verse 30 to 32, and as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship when they had let down the skiff into the sea under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. The soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off. So we see it took courage for Paul to give this warning. But as he's moving and stepping into this spot that God has given to him, one of the fruits is God grants him the guiding voice and the soldiers listen to him. I mean, that was a moment. We don't know the exact tactical situation in that particular ship at that moment, where the sailors were, where the soldiers were, who had the upper hand, who had weapons on hand. We don't know. But the soldiers had a choice to make. And that choice included the potential for violence at that point in time. So Paul is a trusted voice. His love and service, even after being dismissed, his understanding and his forgiving heart towards them, his hard work, bring him now to being seen as the leading voice. And this is a part of being a team. He's such a great team member, right? They brought him into the team. You'll be a part of the ship's council. And he just keeps working hard. And he keeps loving people and that his voice is still welcome on the council. He doesn't make his voice unwelcome. The fearful and weak of faith, brothers and sisters, they will look to those who look to God. The fearful and weak of faith will look to those who look to God. Those who follow God in times of trouble will have those who follow them in times of trouble. And we want to be those kinds of people who hold on to Christ in the midst of difficulties and live the way that he lived when he went through his difficulties. Paul ends up with this place of trust, taking the food, giving thanks and serving the crew and so much so that they dump all the wheat overboard. They're like, we don't need this anymore. It's probably there. What they were taking in time as part of their transport, a commerce vessel could have been part of their stores as well. So Paul's love prompted him to see the moment's need and to lead them to eat and to encourage them and love's influence. They gave that to him as well. See, that reminds me of Calvin when he said, you know the Holy Spirit is at work in a congregation when the pastor is preaching the word of God and the people are gobbling it up. That cannot happen apart from the work of the Holy Spirit of God in our midst. The pastor won't preach the word, the people won't hear the word and love the word together and feast on his truth together unless he's there in their midst. And that's what's happening here. The Spirit is at work here. He's proven his reliability to them. He's brought near to their minds by God's Spirit throughout the course of these events, granted him the place of trust on this ship at this point in time. Not only enough trust to thwart the sailors' treacherous attempts to abandon the ship, bloodshed in view, but now to determine use of the ship's stores, the highest level of trust with starvation in view. And then finally, ultimately, we see the greatest influence of all from love is that God, brothers and sisters, he uses his children to lead others from death to life. And look at what happens in Paul's life here. When it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they observed a bay with a beach on which they planned to run the ship if possible. And they let go of the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes. And they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore, but striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. And the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves. I've seen some movies like this where they have the ship and it's just stuck right in the sand and the waves are just crashing on it and destroying the backside of the ship. You've seen this before. There's no way apparently that you're going to get saved from that. That seems like a very scary place to be. And yet the soldiers are more afraid of Rome. Because they're going to kill the prisoners, lest the prisoners should swim away and escape. And this goes to what I was saying before about Julius risking his skin, giving Paul liberty. And here's Julius' concern for Paul. But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land. So what if these soldiers had tried to kill those prisoners at that moment? Well, first of all, some people would have died. Just sword blows to the neck and head and body, right? But a lot of those people who were fighting would have ended up drowning because they wouldn't have been thinking about getting safely to shore. A lot of really bad things would have happened. The centurion wants to save Paul. He doesn't seem directly interested in the prisoners, does he? He loves Paul, it appears, or he has some respect for Paul or some sense that Paul needs to be protected. So the most thrilling fruit of love is being rescued from death. And in this case, the centurion wanted Paul alive. And I think this serves as a picture of God's great power and providence over all situations. And of course, Paul saw this. Paul saw God's hand over all of this. Do you see God's hand over all of your life, over everything you're going through, everything your family's going through, your children are going through, everything that we are going through together, everything this world is going through that we know about right now, do you see God's hand over and through all of this for His glory? Do you know that even though maybe you haven't seen the stars and the moon and the sun for quite some time, that they're still there? The Lord's plan and promises will not be thwarted. And so in this situation, God's granted Julius respect for Paul and it appears that he cares for Paul's life. Now is it just because Julius has been commanded to take Paul to Caesar? Maybe. Maybe it's just because he wants to be faithful to the order that he's been given. But would he have given him liberty if that was really everything involved? It appears Paul's love is engendered love in Julius toward Paul. Right? The whole thing about if you want to have friends, be friendly. Right? If you want to know love, give love. I reach out to my dad a lot because I think about my own kids a lot. I reach out to my dad a lot because I think about my own kids a lot. I want my own kids to think of me a lot, so I reach out to my dad a lot. You see? I love my dad because I think a lot about my kids loving me. That's how it works. You want to be loved, love. You want to receive, give. Commentary says, the centurion, for Paul's sake, quashed this motion presently. Paul, who was his prisoner, had found favor with him as Joseph with the captain of the guard. Julius, though he despised Paul's advice, yet afterwards saw a great deal of cost to respect him and therefore being willing to save Paul, he prevented the execution of that bloody project. And from a regard to Paul's life, he kept them from their purpose. It does not appear that they were any of them malefactors convicted, but only suspected and waiting for their trial. And in such a case as this, better ten guilty ones should escape than one that was innocent be slain. As God had saved all in the ship for Paul's sake, so here the centurion saves all the prisoners for his sake. Such a diffusive good is a good man. So when we look back at this journey, do we not see clearly a gospel illustration before our eyes? From death to life, against all odds, by the grace and power of Christ alone, all in the ship saved for the sake of Paul, all of the people of God saved only for the sake of Christ, only for his goodness and love. But again, this is, we need God's help, brothers and sisters. You know, the practical aspect of this is how do we live this way? Well, you're not your own. Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit is given to you from God by his grace. And you've been bought at a price. And therefore, you are to glorify God with your body and with your soul. And so this is Paul's source of his love. He says it in verse 23, for there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve. This is where we need to be drinking and overflowing from each day, may it be so. So what could have prompted Paul to live in such a way over and over again? It's not just this episode. Was it his upbringing? excellent training at the feet of Gamaliel? Was it his intellectual prowess, his vast knowledge of God's Word and the history of the Church? Was it his own strength of being? Was it because he had been converted so powerfully? No. It was because he was walking in the Spirit. He continued to walk in the Spirit day by day. Faith and repentance was the life that Paul lived. He said, to whom I belong. You see, he understood that his very being is the sole possession of God. Do you understand that? He's not self-owned, nor is he the possession of another person. And this concept of possession gets to idolatry. Little children, keep yourself from idols. These things possess your soul. Whether it's self-love and selfishness, or whether it's something in this world that you give yourself to. Oh, those who make them become like them. Paul was not like this. He's not self-owned, nor does he make himself the possession of another person or something in this world. He's not the possession of the Roman government that holds on to him at that moment. Paul belongs to God and he knows that that possession is his greatest gift and that it is only by God's grace. And so he's obeying the command he gave to the church at Corinth. Glorifying God with his body and with his soul, a life of power, service and gratitude to God. He gave thanks to God before he ate the bread. And this is the God that he serves. We belong to God. We serve God. Paul did not serve himself. He did not live a servile life to others. He served his master who died for him. And that's what it means to belong to God. In idolatry, we'll serve that which possesses our souls. But in Christian living by faith, we serve the God who owns us and we can love no matter how we're treated, because our power is flowing to us from heaven, from God, and there's nothing in this world that can break that connection that God has made. As we said in our liturgy today, may we abide in Him and His Word, abide in us, that we would bear much fruit. Let us pray. Almighty and gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you for the example of Paul. We thank you for the demonstration of your great and mighty power and providence in this wondrous set of events. We thank you for delivering that whole ship from the destructive forces of that storm that you brought upon them. Lord, bless us, we pray, to be like Paul, to serve no matter how we're treated. We know this points us to you, Lord Jesus Christ. He said, Father, forgive them, for they know not what to do. They know not what they do. Lord, bless us to be like Jesus, who entrusted himself to you, who judges justly. May we always remember this and walk in this way, Father. In Jesus' name.