And then we invite you to turn to Acts chapter 27 this morning, Acts chapter 27. You can see the text, but I'm going to read just verses 14 to 25 to get us started into this text of scripture. If you will follow along in your Bible, they're on their way to Rome by ship. And we read in verse 14, not long after, a temptuous headwind arose called Euryclodon. So when the ship was caught and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. And running under 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, fearing lest they should run aground on certus sands, and they struck sail, and so were driven. And because they 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 should 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, God, that it will be just as it was told me. Would you join me in prayer? Father, may you add your blessing upon the reading and the preaching of your word this morning. We're trusting in you, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm sure you're aware the Apostle Paul faced many trials and difficulties in his life. He recounts many of these in 2 Corinthians chapter 11. You realize that he was whipped five times. He was beaten with rods three times. He was almost stoned to death on one occasion. He was persecuted and often thrown into prison. He faced robbers in his travels. He was shipwrecked three times at least prior to this story that we read about in Acts chapter 27. He knew what it was to be hungry, what it was to be thirsty. The apostle Paul indeed faced many trials and difficulties in his life. And I'm sure that even as I speak, some of the members of our congregation are going through a significant trial in their life. It may be a health crisis. It may be a family crisis. But you know, you cannot live in this world without facing the storms of life. And the question is this, how can we have victory over the storms of life? How can we endure the difficulties of life? Well, right here before us, we have a great testimony of Luke, as he recounts the story of how God used Paul to not only bring about deliverance to himself, but also to everyone on the ship. I want to give a little background to our story. The apostle Paul was a prisoner and he appealed to Caesar. That meant that he had to travel to Rome. And so the centurion in charge of him found a boat going to the north and they went up over the island of Cyprus and ended up in the port of Miro. And there they found another ship that was going west. And so they went to Crete and settled in the port of Fair Havens. Now, by this time, it was likely October. It was becoming more dangerous to travel that time of the year. The apostle Paul had much experience traveling on the seas and he advised them not to go but to wait out winter there in the port. Well, they were anxious to get to Rome to deliver their imperial prisoners, and the weather was good, and so they disregarded what Paul had to say, and they set sail first intending to go. to Phoenix, and to travel there on the island of Crete. And yet, there was a strong gale that swept down from the Cretan mountains, and it began to rain, and it began to storm, and they could make absolutely no headway against the wind, and the only recourse of action they had was to just let the ship be driven by the wind and by the storm. Well, in the process it rained and it stormed for fourteen straight days. They could not navigate by the stars or the heavens and they were lost at sea and feared that they would end up where ships were stranded on the northern coast of Africa and they would all die. Well, that was the situation they were facing. And we're going to see how faith in God and hope in God brought them through this terrible crisis and storm. And we're going to see how you and I can make it through the storms of life. Today's Father's Day. And I want to especially encourage fathers to listen about how you can help your family through the storms and the difficulties of life. The first thing I want to say is this, that in times of trouble, don't react in the wrong ways. Folks, what happens when you face a bad storm in life, literally or figuratively? You know, a lot of times we react with fear, we react in all kinds of ways that we see here, and we're going to see some of the ways that you should not react. The first is, don't lose hope. as you go through a great difficulty in life. But that is exactly what had happened to many on this ship. We read in verse 20, 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. Have you ever gotten in a place in your life where you had just given up hope? That's a bad place to be, but that is exactly where these people were. They thought they would surely drown at sea, that they were all going to die. They had lost hope. And you know, Paul says in Ephesians that unbelievers don't have hope. because they don't know God. And it's a difficult thing to not only go through a trial of life, but to not even have hope anymore. Hope is what sustains us through trials and difficulties. It's what helps us to keep going and not give up. And so don't lose hope. The Bible says that God is the God of hope. No matter what you're going through, as long as you have hope in God, You truly have hope. But secondly, don't despair and become depressed. You know, when you go through great difficulties in life, it's very tempting to get really down in the dumps, to get sad, depressed, to have a pity party, you might say. And what happens when we get really down and depressed? Well, some people constantly snack and eat trying to make themselves feel better. But when you're really bad off, a lot of people Quit eating. They just don't have an appetite. They've just kind of given up. And they even quit eating. And that's what happened with some of these same people that had lost hope. In verse 33, it says, As the day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food and eaten nothing. Fourteen days many on this ship had not eaten anything. And I think it's because of two reasons. One is perhaps some were seasick and didn't feel like eating for that reason in the storm. But I believe that many of them quit eating because they had given up. They knew they were going to die anyway, so why eat? Why sustain their life? And so, we should not become like that. And we're going to see in just a moment that instead of becoming depressed in trials, we ought to be rejoicing in our trials. And then furthermore, don't fear the worse. You know, when trials come, when literal storms come our way, we often react with fear. But notice what the angel said to Paul in verse 24. Do not be afraid, Paul. And in the original language it can be translated, stop being afraid. Even Paul. had fear, more than likely, in his heart as he was facing this raging storm. But yet, how many times do we read God saying to His people, fear not? It is hundreds of times in the Word of God. But yet, that is such a normal fear that we have when trials and difficulties come our way. We fear the worst. We are to be people of faith rather than fear. And that is why we can fear not even in difficult situations. John Wesley was going to America as a missionary. And as they were traveling by ship, they came upon a fierce storm. And Wesley was a missionary. And yet he was distressed about how afraid that he was. And yet there were some German Moravians on board that ship who were not fearful, but they were singing to the Lord. And Wesley was impressed. by their faith, and how they were not afraid to die. And they illustrate how we ought to be when we go through trials and difficulties. We are to face it not with fear, but with faith, as we'll talk about in just a moment. So in times of trouble, there are some ways we should not react. But in times of trouble, we can and should even rejoice. If you were to look at James 1 and verse 2, James says, my brethren, count it all joy when you fall among various trials. Now how in the world can we rejoice when we're going through a trial or a difficulty? It's because, as James says, that God is working through that trial. He's building character. He's building patient endurance in your life. He's using this trial and difficulty in your life. And we're going to see from chapter 27 that Paul could rejoice and encouraged others to cheer up because of several reasons. I want to show you why we can rejoice even in times of trouble. Paul, first of all, was used of God to address the leaders of the ship. And you know, he said this, he said, you know, I told you we should not head out from there. He said, we should not do it, it's too dangerous. Now you didn't listen to me then, now will you listen to me now? And he's going to give some advice to them, more than one occasion, to see this ship safely to shore. Well, what should we do? Well, first of all, we can rejoice because of the promises of God, or the promise of God in this particular situation. If you look at verse 22, notice what Paul says, and now I urge you to take heart, cheer up, And he repeated that exhortation in verse 25, cheer up, be encouraged. You know, it's one thing to say to somebody, cheer up, when they're going through a difficulty. But it's another thing to give them a reason why they should cheer up. And here we see some reasons why. The first is because of the promise of God. He says, take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. Now they had concluded they were all dead men. But He says, listen, I'm telling you, we're all going to make it through this storm. We're all going to survive through this storm. And then he goes on to explain why. Verse 23, 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. He received a promise from an angel of God that he was going to make it, and not only he was going to make it, but everyone on that ship was going to make it. And so, because of the promise of God, he could rejoice, he could cheer up, and he encouraged others to do the same. And you know, Paul had found the promises of God true so many times, and he had absolute confidence that what God had promised, he would do. And he has hope now. And in Romans 12, 2, he talks about rejoicing in hope. And that's why they could rejoice even in the trials. You know, God may not send an angel to give you a promise, But God has given us many promises in this book called the Bible. For example, He says, I am with you always, all the days. And no matter what you go through, you can count on God's promise that He will be with you. He certainly will. Romans 8, 28 promises that God works all things together for good to those that are called to those who are called according to His purpose. Those that love God, those that are called according to His purpose. Listen, God has given us promises and we're going to make it. Everything's going to be okay. God's going to work this out. This is how we can rejoice even in difficult times. But also, you can rejoice by faith in God. It's one thing for God to give a promise, it's another thing for us to believe the promise. And we need to have faith if we are going to truly be able to rejoice in times of difficulty. And let me share with you some aspects of faith that we ought to exercise, especially in times of trouble. One is we need to trust in the character of God. He says in verse 25, Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. Paul says, I believe God. It's going to be exactly like He said would happen. Because God is a true God. He's a faithful God. He keeps His Word. And so He says, I believe God. That's why we can rejoice. That's why I know everything is going to be okay. Trust in the character of God. You know, when I was a young Christian, I remember it being said, God said it, I believe it, that settles it. And that's the kind of faith that you and I need to have. And then we need to trust in the sovereignty of God. You know, it doesn't specifically address the sovereignty of God in chapter 27. And yet, there is clear evidence that Paul had hope and had faith because he believed in the sovereignty of God. That God is on the throne and everything else may seem to be out of control. all around you, and yet God is on the throne and He's still in control. You can be sure of that. Nothing takes Him by surprise. And He is able to providentially work the circumstances of your life. to bring you to the end that He wants to accomplish in your life. Trust in the sovereignty of God. And also, trust in God alone. In verses 30 to 32, we see that the sailors wanted to escape from the ship on the lifeboat and leave everyone else to fend for themselves. And as it says there, Paul, verse 31, said to the centurion and the soldiers, unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. Paul knew that if this ship was going to survive, they needed the experience of these sailors. And if they bail, then the rest of the people on the ship would not survive. And they didn't listen to Paul the first time. This time, the centurion listened to him. And the soldiers required that the lifeboat be let go and that everybody stay with the ship. Now, here's the point I'm making. The point is, instead of trusting in that little lifeboat, they were going to have to trust in the God of Paul, who made the promise that everyone was going to survive, everyone was going to be okay. You know, too many times in life, we are like the sailors, taking things into our own hands, trying to work it out ourselves, when what we really need to be doing is trusting God and trusting Him completely. And so we can rejoice when we have faith in God and we can rejoice when we see God answer prayer. In verse 24, the angel said, Indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you. I believe that Paul was not only praying for his own survival and that of Luke and Aristarchus, fellow believers, but I believe as a Christian ought to do, he was praying for everybody on that ship. That everyone would survive. And the angel said, God has heard your prayers and God has answered your prayers. It's just a matter of time and it's going to happen. You know, Philippians 4 verse 4 says, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Always! Not just in good times, but in bad times as well. And then in verse 7 he says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be made known unto God. Listen, when the storms of life come, don't worry, don't become anxious, pray. Put your trust in God, and He will see you through, and you'll rejoice in how God answers prayer in your life. Well, last of all this morning, in times of trouble, be a witness to others. Boy, chapter 27, even though we don't see an account of Paul overtly witnessing of his faith, yet nevertheless he was definitely a witness on that ship. And listen folks, when people go through trials and difficulties, that is a tremendous opportunity to witness for the Lord. Now someone that you know may be going through a trial and difficulty, it is an opportunity to witness of your faith, of your hope. to bring comfort and cheer to them. And if you're going through a trial or difficulty in your life, then it's an opportunity for you to witness to others. Whether it's a doctor, whether it's a nurse, whether it's someone that's come to minister to you, what an opportunity we have in times of trouble to be a witness for the Lord. And let me show you a few ways that we can be a witness as Paul was. The first is by your encouraging words. You know, Paul had already encouraged them, and said, listen, an angel appeared to me, and God gave me the message that we're all going to be okay, so cheer up, cheer up. And you know, we can minister to people who are going through difficult times, and we can say, not just cheer up, but let me tell you why you can cheer up. Because we have a God of hope. We have a God that we can count on. We have a God that's on the throne. We need to be encouragers to people who are going through difficulties. Have you ever gone through a difficulty in your life and someone came, and they were like Job's friends? I mean, you were glad when they left, you know. They were not very encouraging, but you know, we need to be like Paul, and when people are going through difficulties in their lives, we need to be encouragers. Another example is verse 34, 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. Encourage them to take nourishment because they're going to need it to survive, to swim to shore. And so Paul, witnessed by giving encouraging words, But Paul also witnessed by being thankful in the midst of his troubles, and that's how we should be as well. And we read in verse 35, 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. Can you imagine all 276 people gathered on the deck of that ship? and how Paul is holding up bread and giving thanks to God, and then giving it out to the people for them to eat, and now they're encouraged to eat. He witnessed by giving thanks to God, the God of Israel, the God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, he witnessed by giving thanks publicly. And you know, we can do the same thing, can't we? And when you're in a restaurant, you can bear witness of your faith by having a blessing before the meal. There may be other situations where you're free to offer thanks to God publicly as a witness to the Lord, and that's the way it ought to be. We ought to give thanks to the Lord. But you know, Because of their faith, because of hope, because God's on the throne, because God is true to His Word, we see the following results right here at the end of chapter 27. One is that others were indeed encouraged. Yes, they were encouraged and they took food to themselves. Paul's encouragement worked. It was effective, and that's the way it ought to be with us. Lives were saved. Notice what happened in verse 41. The ship was blown many miles away and ended up at the island of Malta. And we read in verse 41, "...but striking a place where the two seas met, they ran the ship aground. The prow struck fast against and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves, and the soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape." Now why would the soldiers want to kill the prisoners? It's because if prisoners escape, they would be held liable even to death. But yet God said, they're all going to survive. So notice how God worked it out. Verse 43, 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, they all escaped safely to land. God steered that ship to a place where they would survive swimming to shore. Some could swim, some could hold on to whatever was floating, but every one, every one of the 276 on board that craft survived. Now folks, what's the odds of that? Not good at all. I mean, there were so many things that could have had a different result as we've already seen, and yet God saw them through to safety. And we need to have the same kind of hope, the same kind of faith. And you know, even if, as a Christian, God doesn't always deliver you, By the way, in the Gospels, Jesus calmed the storm. But here, God didn't calm the storm. He allowed them to endure the storm, but brought them safely through the storm. Sometimes God works that way. But even if He doesn't always deliver you in this life, as a Christian, you have confidence that you will arrive safely on the shores of heaven. What a hope we have as Christians. And so, not only were they saved physically, but I'm confident that some were saved spiritually. Don't you think that centurion ended up giving his heart to Jesus? Don't you imagine that some of the others on that ship were so impressed by the faith and hope and leadership of Paul that some of them likewise were saved? That's how God works through the storms of life. May we have that kind of confidence in God as we face the storms of life. Would you bow with me in prayer? Heavenly Father, I thank You that You are on the throne. I thank You that You are worthy of our trust, that You are the God of hope, that You are the God that we can pray to in difficult times, Thank You that You are the God that has given us promises. Lord, I thank You that we did not go through the trials and difficulties of life alone. But You are always with us and we always have hope. Lord, help us to remember this message and live by this message in the days ahead. And any in this congregation that are going through one of those difficulties of life, I pray especially for them. that they will heed the message, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. You know, I would not want to go through this world without knowing Jesus is in my heart. And so we invite you this morning, if you're not saved, why don't you get saved. Trust in Jesus. Repent of your sins today. Or if you need to recommit your life or just pray at the prayer altar because you're going through a storm and difficulty in this life, or if you need to join this church or make some other decision, you come as we stand and as we sing. Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidst me come to Thee, of God I come, I come. Just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark lot, to Thee whose blood can cleanse O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, though tossed about with many a conflict, doubt, fighting's within, and fears without, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am poor, wretched, blind, sight-rich, of the mind. Yea, all I need in thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Just as I am, thou wilt receive, wilt welcome, Because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come. I come just as I am thy love unknown hath broken every barrier down I am thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come, I come. Sing verse 1. Just as I am without one plea, but that Thy blood was shed for me, and that Thou bidst me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, Let's keep singing verse 2. Just as I am and waiting not to rid my soul of one dark blot, to thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come. Well, we want to thank you for joining us for worship. It's been a special day and see God work.