And if you're able, would you stand with me as we read the word of God? Acts chapter 27, beginning with verse nine, says, Now, when much time was spent and when sailing was now dangerous because the fast was now already passed, Paul admonished them and said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt. and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and owner of the ship more than those things which were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, The more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phineis, and there to winter, which is in haven of Crete, and lieth toward the southwest and northwest. And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, There arose against it a tempestuous wind called Euroclodon. Father, bless the time that we spend now. I need your help to say things and you know I'm weak and I pray that you'll help me say what is pleasing to you, what is helpful to the people. Bless our time together. Amen. You may be seated. Thank you. The Apostle Paul is on his way to Rome. to face Caesar. He has appealed to that avenue of justice. He has exercised his right as a Roman citizen to get there. And they have a boat or ship that is going to take him there. The boat has a captain and it has a cargo. But along with the cargo of wheat or whatever it might have been, they have some captives, some prisoners, are being taken to Rome and the prisoners are under the care of a centurion and for whatever reason they have delayed and they have tarried they've sort of twiddled their thumbs for a while longer than was wise and finally they are ready to cast off and make the journey and right about then Paul stands up and he says you know we shouldn't go it's going to be a very dangerous journey. Now, the centurion liked Paul. He really did. He respected Paul. He gave Paul liberty to go and visit friends, treated him with utmost courtesy, especially for a prisoner. And Paul was an experienced traveler. Man, he had traveled all over the known world at that time. But the owner, the master of the ship, said, I think we can make it. We read in the text that the fast was already passed. There was a time on the calendar after which it was deemed unsafe to sail, but the captain said, no, I think we can make it. I want to speak to you tonight on this subject, how to wreck your ship and how to survive your wreck. First Timothy Chapter 1 verse 19 mentions those who have made shipwreck of their faith. And I hope you'll see the parallel tonight. Three ways to wreck your ship. Number one, listen to the wrong counsel. Listen to the wrong counsel. There are so many voices clamoring for our attention. And you know what the centurion did And what the captain did was reasonable and normal from a human perspective. Listen to the experts. I'm told that there are financial experts that tell you that you should not tithe until you get out of debt, and then it's okay to start tithing. But the Bible says that the tithe is the Lord's. It's not yours to decide what you're going to do with it. You give an offering. As far as I'm concerned, you pay your tithe. Malachi 3.8 says that we rob God when we fail to pay our tithes. And just to throw this in, they didn't have it in the notes, but I'll give it to you for free. I've heard people say, well, tithing was Old Testament. Okay, fine. But understand this, that if you know anything about the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was very clear in proclaiming that we in the New Testament, there's more expected of us than in the Old Testament. So if you don't want to believe in tithing, you better believe in something a little higher than that and not rob God. Years ago, just to move ahead, Dr. Benjamin Spock, now I'm not talking about the guy on Star Trek, okay, but Benjamin Spock and others like him began to come into prominence writing these books, Parent Effectiveness Training, and they said things like, you should never tell your children no. Really? I mean, really? If they're coloring on the wall, just go and redirect them. You know, that's really pretty, honey. Now, let's draw on this piece of paper instead. But whatever you do, don't suggest they may have done something wrong. And that mentality has produced a generation, everybody talks about the millennials, and I want to be careful in saying that because it's not an age group that I oppose, it is an attitude. They're raised telling them that they're always right. I'm talking about the kids now. They're always right. Every drawing is a work of art. Every game, they're the winner. Every race, they come in first. Everything they've ever said was brilliant. There's a fellow. like that in the Bible. His name was Adonijah. The Bible says that his father had never displeased him at any time. Yeah, never told him no, never questioned his behavior. Better be careful who you listen to. Better be careful about listening to the radio and watching the television and these smooth sounding preachers and there's a ton of them out there. I mean they sound so educated and so wonderful and everything's nice and everything's happy and anything you want to do is okay and God's love and grace allows you to live like the devil without any consequences. Watch out. Watch out, you want to wreck your ship, listen to the wrong counsel. Teenagers, I don't mean to pick on you tonight, but teenagers get their encouragement to do wrong things from other teenagers, not from godly adults. Disgruntled church members always find other disgruntled church members who tend to agree with them and they're attracted to each other like magnets. Hey, you want to wreck your ship? Listen to the wrong counsel, the wrong advice. In 1 Kings chapter 12, we'll not turn over there, but there was a new king in Israel named Rehoboam. He was trying to get his kingdom established and the people were rebelling. And so he went to the advisors that had been advisors to his father, Solomon, and he said, you know, what do you think that I ought to do about this rebellion? And they said, look, be a servant to the people, treat them well, and they will serve you forever. That's good advice. But unfortunately, Rehoboam must have thought that sounded sort of wimpy, so he went and asked advice of his friends within his own peer group. And they said, hey, what you need to do is you need to get rough with these people. You need to clamp down on them, and you need to show them how tough you are. instead of following the wise counsel of the older and experienced men, Rehoboam gave heed to the advice of the young men and he ruled harshly and he made a mess of his kingdom. Want to wreck your ship? Listen to the wrong counsel. This ship headed for Rome was wrecked and because they listen to the experts instead of listening to the man of God. Listen, you hear a lot of wise counsel from this man right here. You say, well, you know, Dr. So-and-so says this and the TV preacher said that. You just go along with what, Brother Hunt? teaches. Your pastor at your church, wherever you attend, he is in the best position to advise you. Not because he's so much smarter than anyone else, although he may be, but because he preaches the Word of God. Second thing, if you want to wreck your ship, not only listen to the wrong counsel, but do what's comfortable. What does it say in here? The haven was not commodious to winter in. It was not a comfortable or convenient place to spend the winter. And we live in a comfort-driven society. And I admit, I'm glad that we have air conditioning in the summer. I'm glad my car has adjustable seats and power windows. I'm thankful for padding. on pews especially since I don't have much padding in the right places and and God's good to us he lets us enjoy those things and he's given us freely all things to enjoy but the truth is that you will find that when you do the will of God you'll often find that it takes you to an uncomfortable place when dad announced to us that God had called him to Brazil as a missionary. I was eight years old and, you know, the whole thing sounded like a big lark to me. I couldn't wait to get there. Later, I wondered what mom thought about it. As soon as we got there, other missionaries told us that the water would make you sick, very sick, if you drank it as is. And so we had to boil all the water for drinking and cooking. And after we boiled it, then it had to be run through a filtering system. A lot of work involved in all that stuff. The first house we lived in, once a week they set up an open air food market in the street right in front. They blocked off the street and set it right in front of our house. And mom would go out there to buy food. And in the meat section, You couldn't see what the meat was until you shooed away about a thousand flies, and then you got what you wanted. Well, then we moved up north, and we began going out into the interior. Dad had a fondness for that, and so he bought a heavy-duty vehicle, sort of like a Land Rover. Had to be the worst riding car I have ever been in in my life. And I always had to sit in the far back. It wasn't really a seat. He built a wooden bench with no padding and we had to, me and my brother, had to sit on that thing back there. It wasn't always a comfortable environment in which to live. And remember, this is 50 years ago in a third world nation. But let me tell you something. There are several churches that were established during that time period that are still thriving today, and those churches have started other churches, and those churches have started yet other churches, and thousands of souls have been saved because, humanly speaking, one man was willing to take himself and his family into an uncomfortable situation. And by the way, I mentioned mom. I never heard her complain. one time she has to be one of the most adaptable individuals I've ever known and she is now with the Lord and I'm sure he has put his stamp of approval on her as well but I wonder what the Lord thinks about our attitude well you know I would come to midweek service but that's you know that's the night I bowl I'd like to make it to Sunday school, but you know it's hard getting the kids up early, so I just come for the 11 o'clock service. We can rationalize all we want to, and I do it too, but the truth is sometimes we're just lazy, and we don't want anything to interrupt our comfortable lives. You want to wreck your ship? Listen to the wrong counsel and make your decisions on the basis of comfort. And then thirdly, go along with the crowd. Go with the crowd. In verse 12, it says, the more part advised to depart. The majority felt like this was the right thing to do. And often, we experience a lot of pressure to go along with a certain activity or a philosophy or a point of view because it seems like everybody is in agreement. I probably said this when I was growing up. If mom or dad said, no, you can't do this particular thing, I probably said, but everybody's doing it. I remember what dad said, well, not everybody, because you're not. And that settled the issue. St. Augustine. Now, he was a Roman Catholic bishop back in the fourth century and doesn't give him much in the way of theological credentials. But you can't say everything wrong. And he made this statement, right is right even if no one is doing it. Wrong is wrong even if everyone is doing it. You may be the only one out of a hundred or a thousand to stand on a certain principle. But if it says it in the book, then it doesn't really matter what everybody else says. Exodus 23, 2 says, thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil, but the more part, the majority, if you will, determined to go on the voyage, and they got themselves in trouble. Let's read some verses here. Verse 14, not long after, it didn't take long for things to go south, not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Euroclodon, and when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running under a certain island, which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat, which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship and fearing lest they should fall into the quicksand, straked sail, and so were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship. And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. They are now discarding that which is necessary to help them operate the ship itself. Verse 20, and when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. But after long abstinence, Paul stood forth. in the midst of them and said sirs you should have hearkened unto me. Now ladies I'm reluctant to tell you this because I'm afraid you might abuse this particular scriptural insight but it's biblical to say I told you so. But please note the words after long abstinence Paul held his peace until it became obvious that they were in trouble. But he said, "'Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me and not have loosed from Crete and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you.'" Here's an amazing statement. The wind is howling, the boat is tossing and turning, they're throwing overboard every non-essential item to lighten the ship, and even the things that are necessary to operate the boat. They haven't seen the sun or moon in days, and Paul says, I exhort you, be of good cheer. Seems like sort of a non-sequitur, doesn't it? Let's read verses 22 and 23. Now I exhort you to be of 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. Now don't miss that statement. Paul says of God whose I am and whom I sir aren't you glad you belong to God aren't you glad you serve God verse 24 what did God say saying fear not Paul thou must be brought before Caesar and lo God have given thee all them that sail with thee hey be careful who you get in the boat with all those people were spared because they were in the boat with Paul. In contrast, think about Jonah. When Jonah got on the ship going to Tarsus, everybody on that boat was worse off because of Jonah's presence. That's another message for another time. Verse 25, wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God. I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me." How be it? We must be cast upon a certain island. But when the 14th night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight, the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country and sounded and founded 20 fathoms. And when they had gone a little further, they sounded again and founded 15 fathoms. Then, fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for the day." Have you ever been the darkness of one of the storms of life and wished for the day Lord how long before I get a break how long before some sunshine comes through verse 30 and as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship when they had let down the boat into the sea under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the four ships Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. He says the boat's gonna wreck. He'd already said that. Now let me tell you how to survive your wreck. Here's the first principle from this passage. Number one, stay where you are. where you are except these who was that that was the ones who were operating the ship except these abide in the ship you cannot be saved the sailors were the ones who knew something about navigating the ship and Paul says if these leave we're not going to make it don't let them go away make them stay where they are It is particularly important for leaders to stay in place when the storm comes. I'm sure that over the years of this church's existence, there's been storms, there's been problems, there have been strong disagreements. Those of you from other churches, I'm sure the same is true. And may I say to you who have stayed through the storm, while others have departed, and it would have been easy to do so, just pull up stakes and go somewhere else where it's more comfortable and more convenient, but you stuck it out and you rode out the storm. God bless you for staying in the boat. Stay where you are. The storm comes and we're always tempted to leave and go somewhere else. And we want to blame God in the process. Well, I'm just not sure that this is the will of God for me any longer. You don't have to be sure. The fact is, now you can agree or disagree with this, but the fact you're not responsible for searching out and discovering and knowing God's will for your life. Psalm 32 8 God says I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way thou shalt go I will guide thee with mine eye you're not always going to know in advance and ahead of time you know where God's gonna take you or where God wants you and remember he told Abram said pull up stakes and leave he said where are we going he said I'll tell you when we get there Your job is to submit to the will of God. Romans 12, 1 and 2 says that if you will present your body as a living sacrifice and live for the Lord, he says you will prove you'll find out by doing what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And when you have been led somewhere by the will of God, you stay there, no matter how stormy it is. You stay there until you're absolutely sure, beyond doubt, that God really does want you to go somewhere else. Don't run away. Don't look for some easier place. Don't try to get away from the problems. Don't leave the boat in the middle of the storm, except these abide in the boat. You cannot be saved. Verse 32. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat and let her fall off. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat. saying this day is the 14th day you have tarried and continued fasting having taken nothing wherefore I pray you to take some meat for this is for your health for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you some of y'all weren't on that boat I can tell but and when he had thus spoken he took bread and gave thanks to God in presence of them all and when he had broken it he began to eat then Were they all of good cheer? And they also took some meat. The next verse tells us there were 276 people on the boat. And verse 36 says they were all of good cheer. Seems to me that people today tend to diminish the significance of the spoken word. They said you got to have media And you have to have pictures and screens. And listen, I'm not against that. I use those things myself. Let me tell you something. God has promised or rather he has chosen to proclaim his truth by the preaching, the verbal proclaiming of his word. Don't demean or diminish the power of the spoken word. Paul's words, be of good cheer, we're gonna survive, I've heard it from God. Paul's words changed the attitude of 276 people. They were all of good cheer. Verse 38. And when they had eaten enough, and that's what we ought to practice. You remember that when we go over here next door, all right? Just eat enough. Then it says, where are we? Verse 38, and when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea. And when it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain creek. with a shore into the which they were minded if it were possible to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves under the sea and loosed the rudder bands and hoisted up the main sail to the wind and made towards shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. And the fore part stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldier's counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out escape I see those Roman soldiers that were that had prisoners under their charge they could bring back a dead body a dead prisoner but if they brought back no prisoner then they would be killed themselves verse 43 but the centurion willing to save Paul told you he liked him kept them from their purpose and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea and get to land good news You're all going to be saved. You're all going to make it safely to shore. Now, jump and swim. Hey, wait a minute. I thought God was going to save me. Well, second thing, how to survive your wreck. Not only stay where you are, but number two, do what you can. Do what you can. Troubles and fears tend to paralyze us and we do nothing. We sit around waiting for some lightning bolt out of heaven, some miraculous deliverance. But God says, no, if you can swim, jump out of the boat and swim. There's an old story, and you may have heard it, it's been around for a long time, but about the fellow that was in a flood situation and the water was all the way up to his to his porch. And he was standing there on the porch and the water is raining and the water is rising. And a couple of fellows came by in a rowboat and they said, hey, the water is going to get worse. We're storming and there's going to be a bigger flood than this. Get in the boat and we'll take you to safety. And the man said, no. He said, God is going to take care of me. Well, it wasn't too much longer beyond that, the water did get up, and it got clear up past the first story, and the fellas came by in a speedboat, and this fella's looking out the second story window, and they said, hey man, the water's still rising, it's gonna be a bad flood, jump in the boat, and let's take you to safety. And he says, no, God is going to take care of me. In the passage of time, the water keeps rising, keeps rising, he climbs up on the roof, and finally he's standing on top of the chimney, and the water's about up to here, and a helicopter comes over. And they get on the speaker and say, sir, we're dropping a rope ladder. Climb to safety because the water will continue to rise. And he yelled back up and he says, no, God is going to take care of me. Well the scene switches to heaven and the fellow meets the Lord and he says God I'm really surprised at you. You said that you would take care of me and God said I sent you a rowboat a speedboat and a helicopter what more do you want? Listen, we are laborers together with God. There are some things that God has told us to do, and there are some things that he has reserved for himself. We cannot do the things that God has reserved for himself to do, and I am firmly convinced that God will not do for us the things that he has told us to do. And furthermore, I'm convinced that God will not do the things we cannot do until we have done the things that we can do. You've probably heard the old saying, God helps those who help themselves. And most people think that's a quote from the Bible. I think it's from the book of Hezekiah. But no, while it is not a Bible quotation, there's an element of truth in that. Why should we expect God to miraculously deliver us from our storm, our problems, our trials, if all we do is sit around on our sorry seat of do nothing and we need to quit feeling sorry for ourselves and quit moaning about all the things we don't have and all the things we can't do and do what we can. Can you read your Bible? Can you pray? Can you love your wife? Can you rear your children in a godly manner? Can you be faithful in your service to the Lord's Church? say well that won't solve my problem maybe not but I don't think God's gonna solve it either until you do what you can do what you are able to do Ecclesiastes chapter 9 verse 10 it says whatsoever thy hand findeth to do do it we find something that we can do I'll pray about that listen If it's there and it needs to be done, we need to do it. But you know what? It doesn't stop there. It says, do it with thy might. Instead of moaning and groaning, lamenting about all the things that we would do if we could, find out what you can do and do what you can and do it to the best of your ability. Mark chapter 14, we read of a woman came to Jesus and anointed him with some ointment, very expensive, and it perhaps was the only possession of value that she owned. And there were some there who saw what she did and they began to murmur and they began to criticize her. And I love what Jesus said. He said, let her alone. And then he said this, she has done what she could. I'd like for that to be my testimony when my life draws to a close. How do you survive your shipwreck? Number one, stay where you are. Number two, do what you can. And then number three, use what you have. Use what you have. Now look what happens to the rest, the ones who couldn't swim. I can relate to that. I never learned to swim. The deathly fear of water. And I won't even drink water, I drink Kool-Aid. But there were some folks there that couldn't swim. Verse 44, and the rest, some on boards. Now isn't that nice? I've flown a few times in my life on an airplane, you understand. And they always make the same announcement before takeoff. In the unlikely event of a water landing, a board has been provided for you. You get on a boat or on a cruise ship, it's a mandatory regulation that there must be a board on the boat for each passenger. No, of course not. A board is not the preferred life-saving implement. Your seat cushion, is a flotation device. There are life jackets aboard the boat. Nobody wants a board. It's not ideal. It's not what you would choose. But you know what? They do float. And if you hang on to it, you'll probably be all right. I think it's sad and unfortunate that when we think about and talk about the church of which we are a part, we often focus on what we consider the deficiencies. We don't have a large youth group. We don't have much musical talent. We don't have a modern facility. We're not in a good neighborhood. And I'm probably as guilty as anyone else. And I guess it's true what they say. There's no such thing as a perfect church. And like somebody else said, if you ever find the perfect church, whatever you do, don't join it because you'll ruin it. That'll be the end of it. No perfect church. And I can hear God saying to us, hey, I know what you have, and I know what I've called you to do, and I expect you to do that work with the resources that I have allocated to you. Don't wish you had something else, and don't regret that you're not located in a more affluent area. I've given you a board. Now use what you have. And I've had God impress upon me this thought, yes, I know there are Christians out there who have more money than you have, or they have more talent than you do. Or maybe they have more personal charisma than you do, but you're my child, and I have chosen to give you a board. Now get busy and use what you have. Do you have tracks that can be handed out to your server at the restaurant? Do you have a Bible that you can read? Do you have a simple understanding of the concept of prayer, which is simply talking to God? Stay where you are. Do what you can. Use what you have. One other thing. Take what you get. Take what you get. Some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship. Good grief, these guys didn't even get a board. They got a broken piece, rough and splintered, and fingers feeling those splinters stick into their skin as they desperately grab onto that broken piece and hang on for dear life. And I can sort of imagine someone with a jagged piece of the ship sees somebody with a nice long board as he goes floating by and he says, must be nice. Don't know why you should get a board. You weren't any better prisoner on the ship than I am. You're not any better person than I am. I don't know why you have enough money to pay your bills. Don't know why you have a faithful husband to help rear the children and keep the car running and fix the leaky faucet. Don't know why you have a decent income and can do some nice things that I can't afford to do. And God says, no, no, no, no. Quit feeling sorry for yourself. Some got boards and some got broken pieces. Stay where you are. Do what you can. Use what you have and take what you get. But I want to notice I want you to notice the last part of verse 44. And so it came to pass. That they escaped. all safe to land. All safe to land. God took care of them, and he'll take care of you and me. I wish nobody had a strip wreck. I wish nobody had to jump out of the boat and swim. I wish everybody who got stuck in the storm got a nice board, at least. I wish nobody's situation was ever so desperate that their lives depended on a broken piece. I'd like to sail without storm or gale on a smooth and placid sea with the gentle breeze that my sails would seize and achieve my destiny. No sudden squall on my ship would fall and make dark the midday sky nor the lightning flash or the thunder crash till I reach my port on high. Never troubled seas or contrary breeze just smooth sailing day by day, not a storm to face nor my smile erase as I journey on my way, never blown off course by the tempest force, not a bit of strain or strife, only light and peace, never joy decrease as I sail the sea of life. But the lightning's flash and the waves that crash interrupt my travel's fare and my path is lost as my ship is tossed, and my life is filled with care. For the raging sea brings no peace to me, and the land seems far away. My poor ship will break and no headway make, and it's dark for many a day. Now all hope I've lost, as by waves I'm tossed in the violent, troubled sea. It's all done, I think. I begin to sink, then a broken peace by me. Though I cannot swim, and I'm tired of limb, and aboard is not my lot, I will seize the peace, nor my grip release. For you see, it's all I've got. Yet not really all, for on him I call, and on his word rely, that I'll make it o'er to that peaceful shore in my mansion by and by. So remember, friend, when things break and bend, and your journey's really tough. Though the storm won't cease, you've a broken peace. And with Jesus, that's enough. Father, we thank you for this passage of scripture. And I pray that the thoughts that I've communicated will be a help and an encouragement to someone here tonight. Bless in the furtherance of the service, we pray in Christ's name, amen. Amen.