actually part one of a message that I'm going to finish up next week. It started out being a single sermon built about six weeks ago, coming out of the midst of my daily writing. I was writing one verse out of Acts 26 and 27, and really and truly the Lord began to speak to me in this sermon, this message that we're going to look at here quite quickly. Coming out of Acts chapter 27 and verse 12, the Bible says, "...across the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence, if by any means they might attain to Phanasie, and there to winter, which is a haven of Crete, lieth toward the southwest. and Northwest. So many times in our life, when you begin to think about how we operate, how we function on a daily, weekly, monthly, and even a yearly basis, some of us operate on quarters. I still tend to operate my life and everything on quarter Q1, Q2, and this and that, but many times in the seas of life, we'll call it that this evening. The decisions are made based on what may or may not happen. Really and truly, the souls of men and women, quite often, they spend so much time searching the what-ifs and the could-happens of life. It often happens when we begin to focus on what could happen and what may happen and what if this and what if that. It often results in negative outlooks, resulting in an overwhelming fear. of what really is a fictitious act. It's not even real. It hasn't even happened. It's something we've created in our own mind that we worked up and we make a decision, a choice in our life based on what has never even happened yet. Not an exponential decision, but rather an emotional one. These choices are determined by emotions, desires, but yet quite often they're determined by comfort. And despite popular opinion, all three of these particular aspects in these areas on decision-making are not the most healthy in our life. Our lives are like a vessel sailing in the seas, and sometimes it's difficult to navigate. We would all agree here tonight that sometimes life is just difficult to navigate through. Other days are filled with ease, they're filled with bliss, and we just seem to float on in comfortable ways, but some days are not like that. But nevertheless, when we make a choice based on what comfortable. Based on what brings us comfort at the present moment, the consequences typically turn out to be troubling, to say the least, if not devastating. Acts 27, we're gonna see tonight that we find 276 souls on board of a ship sailing towards Rome, and the events which follow can be traced back to one particular single decision and its foundation. And I've titled that tonight, Comfort Seeking on the Seas of Life. Looking in for comfort in our days. And again, I'll go back to the verse again, Acts 27 and in verse 12, when we see that there, that it says, and because the haven was not commodious to winter in, I want to bring this message to you this evening, looking at the journey that Paul and Luke, mind you, made on this ship, this ship of Adramidium, the Bible says, which became a prison vessel. And again, part of 276 people on there. Now Acts 27 is written in the first person. This is what's unique about it. It's written in the first person by Luke the physician, the dear friend of the Apostle Paul. Paul picked Luke up in Troas during his second mission journey and his church planning endeavors. But here's what's important for us to take note of tonight. Luke is a great man. He's a great man of God. He writes two books of the Bible. He writes the gospel according to Luke, and of course the book of Acts. But I want you to keep in mind here this evening, Paul's the prisoner. Paul's the preacher. Paul's the falsely accused. Paul's the one appealed to Caesar. Paul's the one arrested, and Luke, that's his buddy. He didn't have to go. He didn't have to leave. He didn't have to be stuck on this prison vessel. He didn't have to be there at all. He chose to be with him. As a matter of fact, in Paul's final letter that he writes in AD 68, just weeks or maybe a month away from his execution, he writes this in 2 Timothy 4, verse 11. He says, only Luke is with me. Now here's what's even greater. Take Mark and bring him with thee, for he is profitably for the ministry. He's talking about John Mark. John Mark, the nephew of Barnabas. sister's son of Mary. He's talking about John Mark who spent 20 years earning the respect of Paul and trying to repair the testimony for leaving Paul and Barnabas on the mission field. Paul says, "...and went not with them to the work." When Paul took the leadership of the mission journey, took the leadership, they transversed all the way over Cyprus, they get to Paphos, and now Paul's preaching, and all of a sudden, he slaps blindness on Bar-Jesus, the wicked sorcerer that kept that city in blindness. John Mark sat back and said, hang on a second, I heard Jesus say, turn the other cheek, this guy's slapping blindness on people. And all of a sudden, now it's Paul and his company, not Barnabas and Saul. So what did he do? He goes, I'm gonna go home to Mama. I don't think I'm cut for the mission field. And because of that, He got a bad reputation, but he spent 20 years, Mark did, building that testimony back up with Paul. And then you got Luke, who he says, only Luke is with me. I'm gonna say this as a side note this evening. These are the kind of friends in life, and especially I'll say in the ministry, who are difficult to come by. They are far and few between. But beloved, when they're present, it is sweet fellowship. Friends like Luke are the ones you fight battles with, but they're the ones, most importantly, they fight battles for you when you're not around. Friends like Luke are the ones who take care, they are far and few between, but friends like Luke are someone that they're just a rarity, and he's in this ship with him. Not only that, guys, but when you got a friend like Luke, you get work done. Beloved, no man is an island. No man is a one-person operation, at least not for long. None of us are as strong as all of us, and friends who will go with you to the work are priceless, they're rare, they're a diamond in the world filled with gold. So having said all this tonight, we look at our text this evening. We look at our text and we watch what it begins to reveal, and it's something that's very obvious in the days of Paul and Luke. It's something that's obvious in these days in the first century, but I think it's even more prevalent in the 21st century. As a matter of fact, I believe it's become a plague of mankind. So we look back at our text and we see here in Acts chapter 27, and we see that in verse 12 that makes it clear. There's a word that it says there, it says, and was not commodious. Now I mentioned this one phrase, not commodious. And what this means, this is a compound definition that means inconvenient or uncomfortable. That's what it means. To be not commodious means to be uncomfortable or inconvenient. So with this thought tonight, I want us to step back and do a few verses of Acts 27. I want us to establish a context. And we're gonna have three quick points and we'll be finished this evening. But step back into Acts 27. We're gonna begin in verse nine. Read it with me from the screen. And the Bible says here, now when much time was spent and when sailing was now danger, and I'm gonna stop you at this right here. Now I don't know about you, but there's a whole lot of discussion going on. There's a whole lot of arguing. There's some different opinions and all this and that. But I really think the first sentence would be enough for me. When sailing is now dangerous, okay? It's almost like saying when crossing the street is now dangerous. Well, hey, we wanna go. Let's just step out in front of the car. You see, this was common sense to me, but we're going to find out that common sense is not so common anymore. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more than those things which were spoken by Paul. So before we get back into verse 12 in our text tonight and begin to break it apart, we find that Paul admonishes them. That means to warn, okay? It means to advise. Sirs, I perceive that this voyage is going to be with much hurt. So not only do they all recognize the fact that this is not a good time to go sailing, now you've got the man of God that you were given keen instructions to protect his life above and beyond, all the lives on that ship. saying, hey, you know what? We got a problem here. If we go on this journey, everybody's going to die. And he says, no, we're going to take the opinion of someone else. So the warnings there, the advisement has been made by the man of God who has not been wrong as of yet. Now, since we know the context of verse 12 now, I want to return back to it. I want you to get a picture of it with me, okay? Get a picture of verse 12 as we begin to break it down. So this is what we find in verse 12. So here's what we know in the context when we go into verse 12. We know that much time was spent in discussing the matter. We know that sailing was now dangerous. We know warning was given for the ship and the lives of the people. We know that the centurion took the words of everyone else over the apostle Paul. But here's the caveat. And because the haven was not commodious. I want you to stay with me on this tonight because I do believe that each and every one of us have made decisions over that simple statement right there. And when, and when it was not commodious to winter in. Now I realize hindsight is 20-20. But how often do we see people, young and old alike, children, teens, young adults, make choices in their life solely because the alternative was more comfortable than where they were? Solely because of where they are at the present moment, it's inconvenient, it's uncomfortable, they're not getting their ego stoked or whatever it may be. How often have we seen people make those same choices and decisions in their life just because they're uncomfortable? Beloved, you can put this down in your book tonight, Taking the Path of Least Resistance. will always make rivers and men crooked under no circumstances that ever gonna be different. The choices have been made because there may be some difficulty involved in being where your feet are. And too many will run away seeking comfort, seeking ease, seeking commodious lifestyles instead of remaining in the place less convenient and learning what the Lord has in store. I gave you the definition of what not commodious means but the word commodious itself means comfortably or conveniently spacious, roomy, handy, and serviceable. None of that right there includes our house. Not one doorway in our house is spacious, handy, or serviceable. It ain't convenient. I bump in and out of doors and walls. 27-inch door, you kidding me, man? But this is what it means. Commodious, it means something that is comfortable, it's convenient. I want you to let that seek in just for a second, because the fair haven where they were sat, just because it wasn't spacious, just because it wasn't comfortable, Let's risk everyone's life in getting out of here just to find ease and comfort in our life. My friend, resistance will make you a stronger Christian. I'm not talking about resisting God, that's rebellion, that's equivalent to witchcraft, but inconvenient days, inconvenient weeks, inconvenient months will make you a stronger year, a stronger parent, a stronger wife, a stronger husband, a stronger citizen, a stronger employee, a stronger missionary, pastor, preacher, coach, whatever it is. When you have inconvenient days and times, if you'll stick in with it and sink your heels in, it's gonna make you better. Difficulty is designed to designate, delineate, and determine your steps that will only better you in the long run. Can I say this to you this evening? Without difficulty, we become weak. Without difficulty, we become sensitive. Without difficulty, we become easily moved, confused, borderline delusional, and eventually depressed in a darkened state of mind. When we don't have difficulty pressing us forward, we start looking for those convenient, those comfortable days. And you may say, why? If you get used to quitting when things get tough, everything you do in life, you're always gonna look for a way to escape difficulty. That's what happened here. Think about this for a second. They spent quite a bit of time where they were in the Fair Havens, and that's a good, Fair Haven's a nice name, but it was only a nice name. It wasn't a comfortable place to stay, but you know what it was? It was safe. And they had this discussion, they had this debate, they had all this and that that was going on in their life, And they said, we need to find someplace nice. We need to find someplace comfortable. When you always look for a way to escape difficulty, which is part of life, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, you're gonna break down, you're gonna give heed to carnal and sensual advice, and it's gonna end in devastation. So I want you to notice the results in making this decision. I want you to notice what happens when they decided to part just because the Fair Haven wasn't close enough. You can read it as best you can from the screen, but listen to me as I read it. Watch this very first verse, which should give us an answer. And it said, Supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing fence, they sailed close to Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind called Heraclodon. And when the ship was caught and could not bear it 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 and they used helps undergirding the ship in fear unless they should fall into the quicksand, straight sail and were driven. And we being exceedingly tossed with the tempest, and the next day they lightened the ship, and the third day we cast out all our hands in the tackling of the ship. And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us," watch this, "...all hope that we should be saved was taken away." Did you notice the shift here? I want you to remember, they set sail. Against the advisement of Paul, he says we don't need to do this. I realize all the fun things are not here in the fair haven. I get that. I get that it may be a little rough and there's just a stony beach out here. But we don't need to go because we're all going to die and the ship's going to get destroyed. And they said, nah, nah, we're not going to do it. You didn't have your coffee shops, didn't have your free Wi-Fi, didn't have your hammocks, didn't have all the things that we like to comfort ourself with. so they would have eventually actually had maybe you know what maybe in the fair haven they actually had to work for their food i don't know who knows but i do know this and it was not a place that they saw comfortable for the few months that they would spend in the winter time so here's the current situation this is what we find acts 27 verse 15 we see that they had to drive We see had they had to let her drive That's that's a verse here that is stuck in my heart and mind for years on end Saying this and and when the ship was caught it could not bear up into the wind. We let her drive Guess what? The choice is now remember what we read in the last verse It said that all hope that we should be saved was taken away didn't say was lost did it? Is it was taken away? You ever had something taken away from you? You remember when you was a kid? You mean you had a lego or something in your hand and I don't know if you have legos today But a lego or somebody just came and took it away from you You know, I had a kid in kindergarten did that, and I punched him right in the eye. Got him Roger Croc, man. We were five years old. He took something away, and I popped him, man. I couldn't believe that. Felt bad for it, you know? But that's what I'm saying. You ever had something taken away? See, you lose things. I lose my keys, and I lose my phone every single day. Every single day, they're put somewhere. I don't know where they are. It wasn't taken from me. I lost it. In this case, hope was taken away, and now the choices are gone. See, they had a choice in the fair haven. They had a choice to stay and be safe and secure. They had a choice to be where they needed to be, where their feet were. Now they said, no, we're not gonna do that. So the choices are gone. Now we're into the consequence. We let her drive. We took our hands off. There's nothing we can do now. We had a choice back there. We just gotta let her drive. A place of safety, security, and a place of strength, if you will. was now gone. The more part were led by their emotions. And now they were in the consequences driving them. That phrase, we let her drive, it's always amazed me. The results are out of their hands and the control was in the fair havens. Now the sea controls them and having their way with them. And now they're in the midst of turmoil. And now they're in the midst of this tempestuous wind called Eurocladon. You know that word only appears one time in the Bible in this verse right here. And the word, it literally means a violent agitation. You know, it's defined as a northeast winds, which is a storm coming, produced by a storm from the southeast. Tempestuous, you know what tempestuous means? It means like a whirlwind. So for all practical purposes, and I don't know this, they're probably in a hurricane, all right? As we read on, we find out they're in the midst of this thing for 14 days, and hurricanes can hang around, man. This was their choice. They may not have had the weather channel, okay, like we have today, but they had the man of God who told them, we don't need to go sailing. They already knew sailing was now dangerous. They had common sense, and they chose not to listen to either. So the man of God gave them the warning to make the right decision. But beloved, you may not have a spiritual weather channel tonight. You may not have an advice to tell you exactly what's going to happen specifically tomorrow. I don't think any of us have those. But I can tell you what you do have. You got a preacher this evening. You got a man of God tonight that's warning and teaching and giving the whole counsel of God night and day. And so you can make choices accordingly. What did they have to do? They made a choice on their own affair. They made a choice on their own emotions. They had made a choice. I would rather be comfortable than work and get stronger. I'd rather be comfortable than go through the discomfort. I would rather make something convenient than inconvenient. Now, they just had to be driven of the winds. So what comes in? Secondly, we find despair. I think despair is one of the most dangerous places for any human being to ever find themselves. Verse 20 says, 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. You know when a country goes in and conquers another country, you know the first thing they try to squash? The second thing's the language. The first thing is hope. When Rome conquered lands, When they began to conquer nations, and they would arrive on their main ship, they would remove everything from the ship onto smaller ships, and they would begin to row into the coast. And as they did that, they set the big ship on fire. It was a psychological move. You know why? Because when the inhabitants of that land saw that the big ship was on fire, it told them, we've come to stay. And you know what it squashed in the people? Hope. Despair entered in. No hope. This is where they are now. Why are they there, by the way? Can you remember why they're there? Because of a choice they made. Why are they there? Because they disregarded the advice. Why are they there? They disregarded common sense. Why are they there? Because they wanted to be comfortable, and now they're in the midst of a storm that seems to come out of nowhere, destroying them. And I've read this verse so many times, guys. I have written verse 20 down a thousand times, I would imagine, and every single time, that I write this verse, each time it digs at me just a little bit deeper, a little bit deeper. It stirs up memories and thoughts of the past and ill choices that were made. And when the tempestuous winds of the consequences that I chose in my own life rolled in with overwhelming pressure of despair, having no hope that I would ever be saved, it would barrel in like a freight train. The literal feeling of no hope. It causes many to fall. And it's an experience I wish on no one. On the next day, they're still in the midst of the storm. I'm sure, you know, when the day passed, they were hoping it would be gone, but it's still there. What did they start doing? They start lightening the ship. Get this picture with me, okay? They're on this ship, 276 of them. They all brought some personal items. You know, they got their little knickknacks. Maybe they got their little, I don't know, unicorn things. I don't know, I can make stuff. They got all their stuff that they just love, they cherish, right? And that storm's kicking in. They got their little lunch box. They got their, you know, protein bars. They got their shakes. They got all this stuff that's theirs. By the way, let me say this. If they stayed in the Fair Haven, they could have kept them. But when the next day rolled around, they had to lighten the ship. The next day rolled around, they start taking the goods, their personal items, they start chucking those things off. Extra things anymore, they were removed. In the midst of despair, things that are close to you in your life or seem to be close to you in your life, they lose all of their appeal. Now it's survival. Cut, wait, and run in the midst of the winds of consequence. By the third day, third day rolled around, they're emptying the ship of the tackling. You know what the tackling is? The tackling is, it's not special items. These are things you need. These are things like apparatuses. These are equipments. These are even furniture. These are things that need to help the ship go in the direction that it needs to go, but they're like, we're gonna die if we don't get some of this weight off of here. So they start chucking things overboard. The only thing they had at that moment in their mind was saving lives. So now it wasn't just the extra personal items, now it was anything of weight, anything they didn't need for life at the moment was removed because of the current storm in their life being so great. You know what that means? In the midst of despair, you see no other option. So think about it. These decisions of desperation are all a result of a choice only made because they wanted comfort. Now anything and everything of comfort is lost. and they're placed in a situation without hope, and even their life would be spared. What a turnaround. What a turnaround just in a couple of days. Yeah, it was uncomfortable back there on the Fair Havens. Yeah, it wasn't the nicest place to live. It probably wasn't pretty, probably didn't have rainbows and green grass, you know, all of that. But now you have nothing, because for the more part, despair. The prodigal son got into desperation, didn't he? Remember he went to his daddy and said, give me all my inheritance. I'm going to live my life. And he wandered off to the far country and he wasted it with riotous living, the Bible tells us. And all of a sudden he's down in the pig pen with this nasty old slimy hogs and in their muck and mud. And you know what else is inside there? And he's starting to eat the husk, the leftover husk of corn. I mean, he lost everything. He had nothing. Then he comes to his right mind, say, good night, man. I could go be a servant at my daddy's house. Despair. Lastly and thirdly tonight, what we find, results of choosing comfort all the time over discomfort, is gonna be destruction. We're gonna see two sections today, and the last section of this passage of scripture is gonna be our opening text next week for part two. But the Bible says, but when the 14th night, now that really escalated fairly quick. We just saw the next day, and then the third day, and then all of a sudden many, and now it's the 14th night. It says, but when the 14th night was come, as we were driven up and down the Adria, About midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country, and sounded sound, and found it twenty fathoms. And when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it to be fifteen fathoms. And in fear, unless they should have fallen upon the rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for day." Now look here, and we're going to skip down to verse 40. And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder-bands, and hoisted up the main sail to the wind, and made toward shore. And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. The fore part stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the hinder part was broken with violence of the waves, and the soldier's counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that they that could swim should cast themselves into the sea first, and get to land, and the rest on some boards, and some on some broken pieces of the ship. And it came to pass that they all escaped, safe with their life. They all got their life. You know what that tells us today? It was a bad choice, man. They made a bad choice. But the battle in your lives are gonna bless you. Some are your own results. Some of your own choices, I understand that. But if you'll just deal with the battle rather than running away from it and trying to find comfort and trying to find convenience and trying to find things to cover up maybe the choice that you made, the battle's gonna bless you. You see, looking back at the admonition of Paul that was refused, we find this back in verse 13, when the south wind blew softly. See, this is where they saw. They saw the soft wind. They were all arguing. They say, Paul, you're no sailor. You don't know what you're talking about. You know what I'm saying? We're going to listen to the ship member. We're going to listen to the owner. I want to listen to this interior. Oh, listen to that. There's that sweet, comfortable, little soft wind. Oh, then that's got to be the Lord telling us to go. Meanwhile, the man of God's back here going, listen, guys. You know, the weather guy said this dangerous sailor now. And by the way, we're going to all die if we go. You see, they supposed they obtained their purpose. Can I say this to you tonight before we close? Just because it was a soft wind, doesn't mean you're obtaining your purpose. You see, verse 14 says, and not long after, not long after what? Not long after that soft wind, not long after they refused the admonishment, not long after they were seeking that comfort in the midst of seas of life, There grows against it a tempestuous wind. I call you Rakhladan. Comfort-seeking. Avoiding the discomfort will always result in destruction. Taking the advice of those who do the same will result in being driven by your emotions, resulting in despair of heart, soul, and mind. So as we close tonight, I'm gonna ask you this question this evening. I'm not gonna ask you, have you ever been a comfort seeker? But are you tonight? Are you comfort seeking on the seas of life? Are you avoiding the hard things, the difficult things? Are you avoiding the challenges which are only gonna make you better in the life that you now live? Are you where your feet are this evening? Saying that I'm gonna buckle in, I'm gonna dig my heels in, and I'm gonna learn whatever I need to learn in the midst of this trial so that I can be better tomorrow, so that I can help others the next day. Comfort-seeking in the seas of life will rarely result in a positive outcome. The same in the weights we lift, it's in the battles we face, the struggles we endure. They're all made to make a stronger day, stronger week, stronger month. But comfort-seeking often results in storms, greater devastation. The lack of spacious convenience in your life, guys, is not an excuse to tuck and run. So rather than running from the inconveniences of life, the lack of comfortable footing, or maybe even the missing commodious lifestyles that we often desire, lock in with a brother or sister. What did I say in the beginning of the sermon tonight? It wasn't that long ago. Maybe it seemed like it, but it wasn't. None of us are as strong as all of us. So if you're in a place of inconvenience, if you're in a place that is not comfortable, you know one of the greatest things that you can do? is you can lock in with a fellow brother, sister in Christ. You can lock in with a partner, with a friend, a coworker, somebody that you can trust. You can lock in with a Luke, if you will, and weather the storm, batten down the hatches, lock it down, and just be better today than you were yesterday. That's all it takes. Not comfort seeking on the seas of life, but enduring the storm, because it'll make both of you stronger, the bond greater, and it'll make you better prepared for the challenges that rock your way. Will you bow your heads tonight? Father in heaven, we thank you, Lord, for who and what you are. We thank you for the opportunity this evening, and we pray that you take your word and write it upon the table of our hearts, and we ask you to move in our life in a great and wonderful way. We ask you to bless our time together this evening and even afterwards. Lord, I pray that you take what was said here this evening, and as the closing song is sang tonight, let us not soon forget that which we heard, Let us ponder it, let us think on it, let us apply it. And Father, if we need some help, some support, let us lock in together that we may be stronger together one with another than we are in unison. In Jesus' name we pray, amen and amen.