Good morning. It is certainly a joy and a privilege to be here with you this morning. I bring you greetings from the Deep South, from Jackson, Mississippi, and Reform Theological Seminary. For this morning's message, I would ask that you would please open your Bibles to the 27th chapter of Acts, Acts chapter 27. And we'll be reading verses 39 through 44 as the chief focal point for the message, although we'll make reference to other portions of the 27th chapter. So Acts chapter 27, verses 39 through 44, we'll read that text, and then I'll offer a brief word of prayer, and then we'll get into the message this morning. So let's give attention to the reading of God's word, Acts chapter 27, beginning in verse 39. Hear now the word of God. Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach on which they planned, if possible, to run the ship ashore. So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. The soldier's plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for land and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. Let's bow together in a brief word of prayer. Let us pray. Father God, we pray that you would plow the fallow ground of our hearts, that you would plant the truth of your word deep within, and that you would rain down your Holy Spirit upon us, that in so doing you would produce the fruit of holiness and godliness and even greater faith, and in so doing you would bring glory to you, oh triune God. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. In 1477, a papal emissary by the name of Poggio Bracchiolini was scouring medieval monasteries and their libraries. He was a book scavenger, if you will. He was hunting for rare books. He was on a mission and he was seeking to find as many rare and perhaps just obscure books as he could so that he could copy them and then in copying them distribute them around Europe. And as he pulled off books volume by volume, he ended up finding a book written by an ancient Epicurean philosopher by the name of Lucretius and it was titled On the Nature of Things. He believed that it was quite literally the only single copy of this ancient book in the world. And so Poggio Bracchiolini saw to the copying of this book, and as this book was distributed throughout Europe, it began to make an impact. And this story of this book is what is told in Professor Stephen Greenblatt's book, The Swerve, How the World Became Modern, as he talks about this book and the influence that it had throughout the ages as various people encountered it and read it. That it was influential upon the likes of Voltaire, that it was influential upon David Hume, Galileo, Thomas Jefferson, as well as even Albert Einstein. In fact, in reading a letter that Einstein wrote to one of his friends, he said of Lucretius in this little book that he was impressed with Lucretius and his willingness to set aside the superstitions of religion and to really embrace a scientific understanding of the world. See, in this little book on the nature of things, Lucretius claimed that the gods were not in control of the world or the creation, but rather we were subject to the random collision of atomic particles. That as these atoms would swirl throughout the air, sometimes they would swerve ever so slightly. And in this random swerve, they would collide and produce unpredictable events, such as the creation of this world, or such as the events that might transpire seemingly inexplicably in our own lives. Well, in this respect, Professor Greenblatt has argued that this little book and its rediscovery played a significant role in shaping the modern world in which we now live. As scientists, for example, now claim that the universe and everything that we see is the product of chance. The random collision, really, of atomic particles in producing things like the Big Bang and the events that we see in our lives. Well, what is it that Professor Greenblatt's book, The Swerve, and Lucretius' book, On the Nature of Things, have to do with the shipwreck here in Acts chapter 27? Why does Luke tell us about this and what does it have to do with these other books? Well, we may not realize it, but Lucretius' book presents a major stream of thought in the ancient world and one with which Luke was interacting and the Apostle Paul interacted. Recall that when the Apostle Paul was at Mars Hill interacting at the Areopagus with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, this is part of the thought world with which he would have had to deal. He would have been engaging the views of Lucretius. Now for us, I think that as we read Acts chapter 27, it might not necessarily strike us as all that unique. We affirm God's providence and we affirm the benefits and the importance of prayer, that we can prayer to God and that He can and will intervene on our behalf and answer our prayers, that He will hear our prayers. Moreover, we know that God is powerful because he's the creator of heaven and earth. It means that he can intervene in the world and even do so miraculously. But yet, what we may not realize is that against the backdrop of the views of Lucretius, it sets a darkness over the passage that enables us to perceive and to see what Luke has to say here with greater clarity and greater appreciation. In other words, against the backdrop of the false beliefs of the Epicurean philosophers, we can appreciate the light of the truth that Luke presents here in Acts chapter 27. It can help us to understand why it is that Luke would include Paul's shipwreck here in the 27th chapter, because if you look at the book of Acts, you can say, well, why is it that Luke would even include this? Why not just skip from the events of chapter 26 and fast forward to Rome? Well, it's because I believe that Luke wanted to make an apologetic defense of the truths of the gospel by presenting these events to counter the claims of the Epicureans so that people in Paul's own world would understand why it was that they needed to worship the one true living God as he had been revealed in Jesus Christ. So once we take stock of Lucretius' views, I think that we can better appreciate what Luke has to say here about Paul's shipwreck in Acts chapter 27. And so what I want us to do this morning is I want us to look at three L's. The first thing we want to look at is we want to look at Lucretius. What is it that Lucretius believed? And what did he believe about the gods? Secondly, I want us to see what Luke has to say so that we can understand how it is against this backdrop of Lucretius that Luke was actually addressing, I think, a number of these false beliefs. And then third and finally, I want us to make sure that we pay attention to the fact that God's love in Christ is writ large across this entire passage. So we wanna look at Lucretius, Luke, and love. I don't ordinarily do alliterations, but I did this just for you, okay? So Lucretius, Luke, and love. So let's take a look first at Lucretius. Lucretius lived in the second century B.C. and he wrote his little work around 50 years before the birth of Christ. And he saw that people were scared because they would go about their lives and various events would occur and so they were concerned about how these events transpired and Lucretius didn't want people to live in ignorance, cowering in the darkness like little children afraid of what would happen next. And he believed that with a true understanding of the nature of the world, they could therefore face the events in their lives with this knowledge and therefore without fear. And so Lucretius believed that the gods did not make the world. They did not make the world. Rather, the world was made up of these atoms that would swirl about. And that occasionally, these atoms would swerve unpredictably, randomly, by chance. And as they would swerve, they would collide with other atoms and produce unpredictable events such as the creation of the world. Or perhaps the unpredictable events in our own lives, sickness, tragedy, fortune. Lucretius wanted his readers to understand that this was the nature of the world. We were just simply the victims of the random collision of these atomic particles. And so if the gods did not create the world, then this means that they did not control it. Lucretius writes, nature is to be free at once and rid of proud masters, herself doing all by herself of her own accord without the help of the gods. In theological terms, Lucretius denies the doctrine of providence, that God superintends and sovereignly ordains whatsoever comes to pass. Lucretius said, no, the gods aren't in control. They didn't even make the world. And if they didn't make the world, then they're not capable of controlling the events in the world. Understand that. Moreover, he would also say that the gods were ultimately indifferent to human beings. They were nestled away on Mount Olympus, concerned with their own things, resting in their peaceful repose. indifferent towards human suffering, indifferent towards the events in our lives. They didn't care. And so Lucretius said, armed with this knowledge, you can face the events in your life without fear. But not only does he deny the doctrine of providence, but he also denies the importance and the doctrine of prayer. Lucretius believed that if the gods were not in control of the world, if they didn't create it, then it was foolish to attribute the events in this world to them, which meant that it was therefore irrational to pray. It was foolish, it was pointless. And in one particular passage, he writes of how foolish it is to pray, but I want you to take note of the illustration that he uses because I think it bears directly upon our passage here in Acts chapter 27. when also the supreme violence of a furious wind sweeps over the sea, over the waters, the chief admiral of a fleet along with his mighty legions and elephants. Does he not crave the God's peace with his vows? Does he not in panic seek with prayers the peace of the winds and favoring breezes? But all in vain. since nonetheless he is often caught up in the furious hurricane and driven upon the shoals of death. He says the gods don't care about you. The gods don't care if you're sitting upon the ocean as it's tossing you about with its furious winds and its hurricane breezes. It doesn't care. The gods don't care. So it's foolish of you to pray because not only do they not care, but they are powerless to intervene. Just embrace the truth that you're at the whim of these random collision of particles and look fearlessly in the face of death, knowing that you will be cast upon the rocks and upon the shoals. Be fearless in the face of death. Understand what it is and how it is that this world works. Well, the gods did not create the world, thus they were not in control of it, and if they were not in control of it and there's no providential care, then there's no point in praying. But Lucretius also believed that the gods, therefore, could not intervene. There were no such thing as miracles. He believed that when people ignorantly found fortuitous events in their lives and attributed these fortuitous events to the gods, he said, well, you're ignorantly saying that the gods brought this about in your life when it's just simply the unfolding of nature. This is just simply the random occurrence of these events. So don't attribute the good fortune in your life to the intervention of the gods. Don't be so ignorant and don't be so foolish. The gods don't care. They won't intervene. They won't intervene ordinarily, let alone miraculously. So, Lucretius denies providence, he denies prayer, and he denies miracles. This veil of darkness, I believe, sets the stage for what Luke has to say here in Acts chapter 27. And so this brings us to our second point. I think we can say that there's a sense in which Luke's account of Paul's perilous journey across the sea is not necessarily unique to ancient literature of the period. Homer's Odyssey, where Odysseus suffers shipwreck, for example, was common and well-known during this period. But unlike Odysseus, who was at the whim of the gods at Mount Olympus, Luke is telling us that Paul was in the hands of the one true living God. The big difference here is that the story of Odysseus is fiction, it's mythology. Or as Luke is recounting to us, history. He's recounting to us truth. And as Paul leaves on his journey, he warns the ship's owner in Acts chapter 27, verse 10, don't go. These are not optimal sea conditions. I don't think that this was the worries of a landlubber and that the Apostle Paul, if you recall, in 2 Corinthians 11, verses 25 and 26, recounts how he was shipwrecked three times and not only shipwrecked three times, but that he even spent a night floating out in the open sea. Maybe the ship owner should have said, you've been shipwrecked three times, you stay behind. We don't want you with us. Nevertheless, they set out and they soon encountered stormy seas. They took measures to weather the storm. In verse 16, they secured the ship's boat. In verse 18, they jettisoned the cargo. In verse 19, they threw the tackle overboard. But by verse 20, they were at wit's end. Luke records all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. They were on a storm-tossed sea, and it looked as if all would be lost, not only the vessel, but all souls on board. But Luke tells us in verses 21 and following that Paul made a speech. And he says this, men, you should have listened to me and have not set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you but only the ship. For this very night there stood before me an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I worship. And he said, do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you. So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. Now speeches like this in ancient literature were common. You find them in Virgil's Aeneid, you find it in Homer's Odyssey, but they always speak of impending doom, and here Paul has a message of hope. He has a message of hope. But do you see the contrast? Especially against the backdrop of the Epicurean false views of Lucretius? Luke's account here is a head-on collision with the Epicurean views of the gods, and that there are not gods. but rather there is one God and this is the God whom Paul worships. And this one God sent Paul and a messenger to tell him that all would be well. In other words, this one true God was not indifferent to Paul and his journey and the journey of his companions. He cared for him, he cared for them. In this respect, we can say that unlike Lucretius' gods who were unable to control the events in the creation because of the swerving atoms and the random collision of these atomic particles, the one true God was providentially caring for Paul and for all who were on board. God told Paul, you will stand before Caesar. And indeed, he was going to make good on that promise. We also see here in Luke's account that not only was God providentially caring for Paul and all who were aboard the vessel, unlike the Epicurean gods, that Paul prays on two occasions. Remember the illustration that Lucretius gave about the admiral upon the storm-tossed sea when he says, it's foolish to pray. Just look death in the face and be fearless. And yet Luke recounts that the journey reached the 14th night in verse 27. I can't fathom being on the storm-tossed seas for 14 nights, for two whole weeks. Sometimes I get restless. I've been restless ever since I was a child and I would have to walk around the classroom before I could sit down and read. And so I get restless and I'll click over to YouTube and sometimes I watch videos of sea vessels, Navy ships, cruise ships in rough seas. And I think, no way. I'll just stay here on land. Maybe I'll go in as deep as my ankles. No way. And yet, this is the type of situation that Paul and his companions faced. Just absolute terror upon the high seas for 14 days. So naturally, in verse 29, Paul and his companions prayed for day to come, we see in verse 29. They prayed to the one true God, knowing that he is the creator of the heavens and the earth, and that he controls everything therein and in between. And so that they could pray to him and say, please, turn on the lights. I can only imagine how fearful it is during the day to be on those storm-tossed seas, going over the troughs and down into the swells. But it must be absolutely terrifying to be tossed about on the seas in the night when you can't see anything. And so they prayed to God, not foolishly, not superstitiously, But Luke recounts that they were praying to the one true God, indeed the one who could deliver them. Moreover, Paul prayed for both daylight to come, but he also gave thanks and prayer for the food that they ate. We read in verse 35, he took bread and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat. If they were throwing cargo overboard, it likely meant that they were short on food. So for those of us who eat three squares a day, maybe praying and giving thanks for food might not necessarily seem all that significant, but here, I think it does take on a significance, because if the Epicurean God supposedly didn't care and were indifferent, here Luke is saying that God does care, and not only is he going to see them safely to the shore, and he's going to deliver them, even miraculously, He's giving them something as seemingly insignificant as food, a meal. And so Paul gives thanks and prayer. He trusted in God's message from the messenger and told his fellow travelers in verse 34, not a single hair is gonna fall from your head because God will deliver us. You see, I think what Paul ultimately rested upon is on the truth that God does care for us and that he does love us and that we can call to him in prayer. The Epicurean gods are indifferent, they cannot control anything, and so it's foolish to pray. But yet, what does Paul say in Romans chapter eight, verses 26 and following? Likewise, the spirit helps us in our weakness, for when we do not know how to pray for as we ought, the spirit himself intercedes with groanings that are too deep for words. And he who searches the heart knows what is the mind of the spirit, because the spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. God loves us. And the Spirit intercedes for us. In the simplest of terms, God hears you when you pray. And he hears you when you're an adult. And he hears even the smallest of children. He cares for us. He loves us and he listens to us. We also see here that, of course, that God intervenes in our lives and that God miraculously delivered Paul and his companions. And this is what we read in verses 39 through 44 where they were able finally safely to get to the land because God promised that he would get them there. And this was an answer to their prayers. Even though Luke only records two prayers, I suspect that those entire 14 days were punctuated with prayers along the way. I live in Mississippi now, which means that I can't surf. There's not enough ocean close by. But when I lived in California, I could surf. And I would go with one of my colleagues sometimes in the early morning, and one January morning, I went surfing. And it's not so bad, really. When the first wave hits you in the face, your face goes numb. Then you can't feel anything, and it's great. But I remember that morning in particular, the sky was overcast and gray as it typically is in Southern California in the early morning hours. And as I was surfing, I got knocked off the board, and I tried to come to the surface, and I really wanted to breathe badly. And I couldn't. I could still feel the water all over my face. And I struggled to get to the surface, and I remember my friends saying, don't struggle, just float up. Counterintuitive. And I got held down for a long time. It was probably only three seconds. But it felt like a long time. When you want to breathe now, three seconds can feel like forever. And I remember coming up to the surface, taking a huge gasp of air. and then clinging to my board and I thought, I'm done. I went into the shore and I sat there and my friends called out, are you okay? I said, yeah, I'm okay, but I'm gonna watch. I've had enough. I was winded, I was exhausted, I was wet and I was cold. I suspect that's how Paul and his companions felt when they arrived on the shore. So God did deliver them, but that didn't mean necessarily that it was just a cakewalk. I'm just gonna doggy paddle on in. But God did keep his word. He delivered them. He intervened miraculously. Moreover, when they finally did arrive at Malta, we see God's miraculous intervention yet again as Paul is foraging for firewood, he reaches down and a serpent latches on and bites him. And judging from the reaction, we can say that it was a two-step serpent. What's a two-step serpent? Well, a two-step serpent is when it bites you, you take two steps and you die. Because the people were shocked. I can't believe he's still alive. The serpent bit him to no ill effect, so much so that they thought he was a god. Paul says, no. My God promised me that I would stand before Caesar, and so shall I. God promised to deliver Paul, and God was faithful to his word. God miraculously delivered Paul through the stormy seas, he delivered him through the shipwreck, and he delivered him from the snakebite. Because God is a God of providence. He's in control of the events of Paul's life. God is a God of prayer. because Paul prayed knowing that the God of creation would hear his cries, and he's a God who intervenes and sometimes even miraculously so. But this brings us, beloved, to our third and final point, which is the love of God that is writ large across this entire passage. I think that if we don't take a step back and look at the larger narrative, we might lose sight as to what is actually transpiring. God told the apostle Paul in Acts chapter 23 verse 11, take courage for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also about me in Rome. You see, the providential care of God in this particular passage is just not a general care for Paul, but it's ultimately providence in the service of the gospel of Christ. God wanted Paul to testify in Rome to the truth of the gospel before Caesar. And so ultimately, what this passage is about is it's about Christ. It's about Christ first and foremost, I think, preserving Paul, but not only preserving him, but through the events of his life, conforming him to the image of Christ. But it's also about seeing that the message of Christ goes out and into the world. And this ultimately is a manifestation of God's love. Again, as Paul writes in Romans 8, 28 and following, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. God's providence is not about just our general happiness or our comfort. but it's ultimately about His love in Christ to redeem us and to conform us to the image of Christ. Far from being indifferent towards our suffering, as the Epicureans like Lucretius would teach, God loved us so much that He sent His only begotten Son so that we might believe on Him and have everlasting life. but not only have everlasting life, but that even in the here and the now, he would use all of the events in our lives that he sovereignly weaves together into a beautiful tapestry to conform us to the image of Christ that we might reflect his glory and his love and his holiness. When Jesus reflects upon God's fatherly care for us, in Matthew chapter six, he says, do not worry. about what you will eat, or what you will drink, or what you will wear. He says these are the things that the Gentiles worry about. And if you believed in the stuff that Epicurus does, then I could see why. The gods are indifferent towards you? You're at the mercy of random chance events? Well then undoubtedly so. You're going to worry about where your next meal is going to come from, or what you're going to wear. But what does Christ say? He says, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. For what can you do by worrying? Can you add even a single hour to your life? In other words, beloved in Christ, our heavenly father loves us and he providentially cares for us so that when we cry out to him in prayer and we ask him, oh father, give us something to eat, he does not give to us a stone or a serpent. He gives to us bread. And chiefly, He gives to us the manna from heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ, as well as many other temporal blessings so that we don't have to worry about what we will eat, what we will drink, or what we will wear. Our God is a God of providence. Our God is a God of prayer. Our God is a God of miracles in that He loves us, He intervenes for us, and He cares for us. As the words of our confession of faith summarize the biblical teaching, it says, God in his ordinary providence makes use of means, yet is free to work without, above, and against them at his pleasure. When we pray to God, we're asking him, oh Lord, change the circumstances of my life, of my situation. And we can have the hope of knowing that he can and will and does. Because God has loved us. He has given to us His Son. As Paul writes in Romans chapter 8, if God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not with Him graciously give us all things? Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. This was the message that Luke wanted to convey to the Epicureans around him so that they would understand that God is not indifferent towards us. He providentially cares for us. He loves us. And he hears our cries of prayer. So, beloved in Christ, If Professor Greenblatt is right about the influence of Lucretius's on the nature of things, and I do think he has a point, then it means that some of the roots of the modern world in which we now live come from this little book that Lucretius wrote. Another way that we could look at this is we could say with the preacher from Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. that people today attribute the events in the world to the random collision of atomic particles and chance. They do that today just as they did that in Lucretius' day. But if Lucretius' book is truly some of the roots of our present day unbelief, then that means that Lucretius is still relevant. But if Lucretius is still relevant, then it means that Luke's account is still relevant. And beloved, I think we can say that it is relevant and his apologetic presentation of the truth is therefore still vital for us today. In the end, the gospel of Christ was and is and forever will be relevant as long as there are sinners in need of salvation. Remember, Forget it not that God is not indifferent towards us, but that He sovereignly ordains whatsoever comes to pass. And yet in the midst of our lives and the challenges that we face, it may sometimes seem and feel as if we are on a storm-tossed sea for weeks upon end. but that we must and can pray to our God in Christ through the Spirit knowing that He can and does hear our prayers and that He will answer our prayers. It may not seem as if He's on time, but He's never late. He's always on time when He answers our prayers. And that beloved in Christ, He is all powerful to save and to deliver you from your sins and from the clutches of death and he is also all powerful and loving to see you through the storms of life and to deliver you safely to the shores of the new heavens and the new earth. Our God is faithful. Let us worship him as such. Let's bow together in a word of prayer. Father God, we are grateful for your love and for your care. We rejoice in knowing that we are not at the mercy of chance and the random collision of the forces of this world. But rather, in love, you have created. And in even a greater amount of love, you have redeemed. And in your fatherly, sovereign, providential care for us, you show us your love at every single turn in our lives. And that we can rejoice in knowing that every event in our lives pass through the nail-scarred hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. You are not indifferent towards us, and you hear us when we pray. O Lord, now we pray that indeed you would hear us, that you would enlarge in the eyes of our faith, that you would give to us greater amounts of hope, and that you would give to us the peace that surpasses all understanding as we look upon our lives, that we can rejoice at times when things go well, but in the face of the difficulties and the challenges that we face, we ask, O Lord, that you would grant to us that peace, that trust in you, knowing that you have loved us in Christ and you have given us everything in him, And if you so splendorously clothe the lilies of the field that are here today and in the oven tomorrow, we pray that we would remember that you more gloriously clothe us because you love us and you care for us. And if you have given us Christ, then what is everything else? It pales in comparison. Well, Father, we pray and ask all of these things in the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen. Please stand. O God, beyond all praising, we worship you today. For we can only wonder at every gift you send, at blessings without number and mercies without end. Be with us, Lord, when we are poor, Amen. Savior, accept the love we bring, that we who know your favor may serve you as our King. And whether our tomorrows our sorrows and rise to bless you still. Marvel at your beauty and glory in your ways and make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise. Receive now the benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you and make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.