And we'll be looking here in Acts 27, verses 40 through 44, as Brother Kelton just so wonderfully read, and we find that verse 40 reveals what happened, what the shipment did in an attempt to spare the lives AND the ship. Now, keep in mind, we'll get back to the Apostle Paul's words here in just a little bit when Paul said, Sir, you know, you should have listened to me. He told him not to go. He even said that there was going to be a danger, both of the ship and their lives, and yet we find now through all of these things, through this 14-day period in the midst of this terrible, terrible storm, the shipment did everything they could do, not only to spare the lives of the people, but they also were trying to save the ship. And so in verse 29, we see what's revealed. It says, taken up anchors. That's in verse 40. Verse 29 says, then fearing unless we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for the day. So by the time we get into verse 40, it says they're taking up anchors. But back in verse 29, they're still trying to save the ship. They're trying to save the lives. Now, the stern of the ship, is the rearmost part of the ship. So in other words, when you drop four anchors off the back side of the ship, you're trying to stop the direction the storm was taking them. You're trying to sit still. You're trying to keep from going where that storm was pushing them. And we heard last week, that they got in such a situation where they were so much out of control, they just said, we let them drive. We just let them drive. And so, you need to remember it, guys, there are the consequences of the sea at this time. Their choice was lost when they set sail. When they took off and they went against the admonishments of Paul to remain in the fair havens, their choice was gone now. they're on to the consequences. And they're working hard to be saved. They're working hard to save the ship. They're working hard just to save everyone. But here's just a side note here this morning. There are no works that we can ever do in this life to be saved, eternally speaking. There is no good work that you're ever going to perform in order to be eternally saved and sealed. All that is required of a soul to be saved was conducted on the cross of Calvary when Jesus Christ died on that cross, and what is required today for mankind is to accept that truth, to believe on the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mentioned this again last week with Romans 5, 8, but God committed His love toward us, and then while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Never, never, never forget this. Furthermore, once you were saved, you were eternally saved, sealed under the day of redemption. Now, again, this is just a sidebar. I understand. I understand the realities here in Acts 27. They're committing all this work to save the ship. They're committing all the work to save temporal things. They're committing all this work to save their earthly lives. I understand that, but I do want to reiterate the fact that there is no earthly work we can do to save our souls. And furthermore, Paul had already said, the ship's going to be gone. You should have listened. So they dropped these anchors in verse 29 to try to keep them from going in the direction that consequences are taking them. They were trying to commit works to try to keep them from where they lost their choices. They could have saved their lives in the ship way back here. So they're doing everything they can do to cease from heading to the direction that the seas of consequences were taking them. But now by the time of verse 40, they had to take the anchors up. They had to let her drive. They had to let the sea have their way with them. We also read in that verse, and it says they loosed the rudder bands. Ancient ships had two great broad-blade oars for rudders. When they're not in use, they were lifted up out of the sea. You didn't have a single rudder in the back like we do in many of our ships today, but two broad-blade rudders, if you will, oars that went to the side that they were able to control and try to direct and turn. But when they wasn't being used, they were taken out and they were tied, if you will. Again, we see that Luke records, we had much work to come by the boat. They were doing everything in their power. We know they've used undergirding inside of the ship to try to keep it from breaking apart, all the things they were doing, because again, they're in the consequences now. The choice is lost, and the work was great, and in reality the work was too great for the present moment. Look with me, if you will, there in verse 16, I just kind of alluded to this. And running into a certain island, which is called Quata, we had much work to come by the boat, which when they had taken up, they used help undergirding the ship. These were simple chains or cables, if you will, which in case of necessity could be passed around the frame and tied on the inside of the ship as well, making right angles and the length and making it tight and pulling all things together to keep. the ship from falling apart. Again, I'm saying this to you just to push this point. They are doing everything THEY can do, everything in THEIR power, everything in THEIR ability to save the ship and themselves, because their choices wasn't taken away, but their hope was. And this is what we find between last week and this week. Before the destruction of the ship, we look back in verse 20 and 22. And it says, And it says, 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." This is words from the man who knows about the battle. He knows about loss, and he knows about victory. I'm saying all that to make this particular point this morning. We go back to the original admonishment. Paul mentioned the ship, all of its cargo, and the lives. It wasn't just now, it wasn't just, okay, the ship's going to be destroyed, the lading's going to be destroyed, the cargo's going to be destroyed. It was we're going to be destroyed. But now at the end of the storm, getting toward the closure of this point, now we have a man who's been in the midst of the battle all his ministerial life. Now he says, be of good cheer. No loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. So something changed. Teddy Roosevelt, or Theodore Roosevelt, gave his famous speech in Paris on the 23rd of April, 1910. He was a former president of the United States, and he left office in 1909, and he spent a year hunting in Central Africa before embarking on a tour of Northern Africa and Europe in 1910. He attended events and gave speeches in places like Cairo and Berlin and Naples and Oxford, and he stopped off in Paris on the 23rd of April. to make his way to the Saban, where there was what is quoted, fully 25,000 persons packed the streets. And at 3 p.m., before a crowd that included ministers in the court, dress, army and navy officers in full uniform, 900 students and an audience of 2,000 ticket holders, according to Edmund Morris, biography titled Colonel Roosevelt, Roosevelt delivered a speech called The Citizenship in a Republic, which has now become famous, famously titled as The Man in the Arena. Within that speech, and you can probably not see it really well, but I'm gonna say this, within that speech, Roosevelt said this. It's not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man may stumble, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. He said, The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." From that speech, the man in the arena, I take to you what Paul said, Sirs, you should have hearkened unto me. and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss." At the end of the day, praise the Lord for the preacher. Praise the Lord on that ship for the man in the arena who is bloodied and battered and still moving forward. The man is not looking for a commodious environment. Praise the Lord for the man who is giving heed to the crowd, the more part, if you will, The man who refuses the convenient. The man in the arena lives by conviction, faces controversy, and battles through the contrary. Look with me, if you will, in Acts 27, verses 22 and 25. He says, And 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, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar, and, lo, God hath given thee all them that assail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer. I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me, howbeit We must be cast upon a certain island. The battle was a long-fought fourteen days, where the ship was left to drive by the winds contrary to them. Despair entered in, and destruction was the result. But with this ship, this night, there were two men, two men fighting the battle, two men who had been in the battles before, two men who were known as men in the arena. Paul testified. of the storms he faced in his life prior to this one, and the storms that he faced, not of his own choosing, the storms that he fought in the midst of his own life just to bring the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. He gives testimony in II Corinthians chapter 11, saying, Are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool, I am more, and labor is more abundant. in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths off of the Jews. Five times received I 40 stripes, save one. Thrice I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been in the deep, in journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils amongst false brethren. and weariness and painful, and watchings often, and hunger and thirst, and fastings often, and cold and nakedness, beside those things that are without, which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches." Paul likens the care that he has for the churches he had planted. He almost makes it almost MORE pressure that all of these things he listed that he had Now the critics will sit back and nitpick Paul apart. The more part of this ship said, no, we're not going to listen to that guy. We know more about the ship, but he knew more about the storm. Nope, we're not going to listen to that guy right there, you know. We know more about travel, but he knew more about treacherous times. No, we're not going to listen to the man of God over here, you know, because we know more about the seasons, but he knows more about the season of change, the man in the arena. It's not the critic who matters. On top of all that he listed in 2 Corinthians 11, in his final letter, Paul writes into Timothy, and this is what he says, but thou hast fully known my doctrine and manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra. He said, what persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. Kind of sounds like that old 14-year-old ruddy boy who said, God deliver me out of the mouth of the lion and out of the bear. In this Philistine, he's going to do the same thing. The men in the arena, the men who have bloodied themselves, the men who have fought, the men who have battered, the men who have stood in the midst with a strong back and stood on the Word of God, that's the man you listen to. Paul says, once I was stoned. Do you know what he's referring to? He's referring to II Corinthians 11, 25 of the events at Lystra. Guess what happened at Lystra? In Acts 14, verse 19 it says, Paul references what happens during the time he was dragged out of the city as dead. Paul becomes the only soul in the Church to go to heaven and return. He records it in II Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 2. He says, I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell, God knoweth, such as one who was caught up into the third heaven. That's what happened to Paul. What happened next? Acts chapter 14, 20, Howbeit as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, amen? and came into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. Now listen, they just stoned him and dragged his lifeless body out of the city, and then he stood up and he says, let's go back into the city. That's the man in the arena, amen. That's the man that you listen to. That's the one who has been through, who says now, Sarge, you should have listened to me back there, but now it's too late. Now you can listen to him because now, not only is he a man in the arena, But there was also another man in the arena that stood by him that night. So here's a man, a preacher of the gospel who had suffered loss of all things, and he is above all human beings, the man in the arena. But Paul's confidence was not in the power of his own power. Paul's confidence wasn't even in his past. It was in the other one that stood by him that night. the man who stood by Paul, the man who I believe can speak from experience. It was HE who makes all things possible, when Paul said, For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve. Now, doctrinally we understand. You've been taught in this church the biblical definition of the word angel. It means appearance, not messenger. There's plenty of angels of God who had messages, and there's plenty who did not. But THE angel of the Lord, THE angel of God, we understand differently. As a matter of fact, Genesis chapter 22 and verse 11 and 12 says, And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thy hand upon the land, neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son and thy only son. Watch these next two words from me. Who's speaking to him? The angel of the Lord. Who's speaking? God. Specifically, who is it? Jesus Christ. Exodus chapter 3. Verses 2 and 4, And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. And he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. Verse 4, And when the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses, he said, here am I. Wait a second. Who is the angel of the LORD? Who is speaking to him? The same being out of that burning bush, the angel of the LORD. Now, there's many other instances of textual and biblical definitions that it's not for this message today, we've taught it in this church time and time again, but it is clear who Paul serves. He serves the risen Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's clear that it was Jesus Christ standing by Paul that night. Now, some people have tried to say, Oh, but it was the Holy Spirit of God. You're the tabernacle, the temple of the Holy Spirit. You've been bought with a price, haven't you? Where's the Holy Spirit right now? Inside of you. When you're sealed under the Day of Redemption, He doesn't jump out of you and stand by you in the midst of the storms. No, He's still inside of you. Jesus stood next to Paul that night. Paul most assuredly is a man in the arena, but Jesus, now hey, this is a whole different animal. He is THE man in the arena. He is THE man who was bloodied and beaten, yet risen victorious. We read in Isaiah chapter 53 quickly, it says, Surely He hath borne our griefs. and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned every one to his own ways, and, Lord, have laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before the shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison, from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living for the transgression of the wicked, and with the rich in his death. Because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, and he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand." A man in the arena? You better believe it. Jesus Christ, who experienced more pain, more grief, more sorrow, more suffering than anyone that we may know? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, Isaiah 52, 14 tells us, As many as were astonished at thee, his visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the son's man. He was not even recognizable, my friend, not even recognizable as a human being that day. Hebrews tells us, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. In other words, he has been through it all. In other words, he has conquered it all. He has stepped away from it and now stands with Paul in the midst of this horrendous storm, in the midst of the battle in the arena, giving assurance that everything is going to be okay. No, sir. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, and in the midst of that storm that night, As things were getting ready to fall completely apart, Jesus Christ stood next to Paul and He says, You know what? It's going to be alright. So there is a rebuke in verse 21, and rightly so in our text today, for the admonition to the exhortation in verse 22 to be of good cheer. I don't know about you, but when I'm going through a storm, when I'm in the midst of dark places, when those waves of life are battering me left and right, do you know what I want to hear? I don't want to hear, you should have done this, you should have done that. I want to hear, be of good cheer. I want to hear from someone who's been through it before. I want to hear, I want the assurance of someone, they've been through the battles, they've been through the struggles, they've been bloody, they've been battered, they've been cut up, they've been bruised, and they carry the scars from it, but they say, you know what? Be of good cheer. For there shall be no loss of any man's life, but of the ship." You're going to lose the belonging that's gone. You're lost with the choice, but I'm going to move in today, and I'm going to give you some cheer. He said, be of good cheer even in the midst of the storm. There's the presence of God. There's the presence of God. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve. Despite what people may think, here is the Lord Jesus Christ standing firm with Paul, giving him the assurance to be of good cheer. And, beloved, when you're going through the storm, be it your choice or not your choice, but the consequences are there nevertheless, rest assured," he said, "'I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee.'" When the winds are battering your heart, when they're tearing your soul apart, when your mind can't even collectively think of anything positive, when it's there, just know that God is there with you. When the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee and the storm came up violently in the midst of that storm, of which it was known to, man, they worked and rode and worked and rode. They were trying to get to the River Jordan. They were trying to get out of that storm. They were trying to get into a place of peace. They wanted to get to that sweet River Jordan. But the only problem is this, is the River Jordan is one of the fastest-moving rivers on all the planet. And you know by your simple geography, where does it end up? It ends up a place of dead things. It goes from the sweet Sea of Galilee upon the fast-moving River Jordan, and it dumps off into the Dead Sea. And when we are trying to work ourselves to get out of the storm, God was down there, Jesus Christ was down there sleeping. in the bottom of the boat. What he's saying to you is be of good cheer. God is with you tonight. Be of good cheer. God is with you in the midst of the storm. Don't try to get out of the storm. Don't try to work the problem. Trust the Lord. So lastly, beloved, we can be of good cheer because God is in the storm with us, purely because of his infinite grace. You say, wait a second, preacher, how in the world? How is this grace? Well, you remember back in our text last week, remember back here where Paul stood up the first time? He says, listen, there's going to be some problems. If we set sail right now, we all going to die. All right. 276 of us on this ship. Not only is the ship going to be destroyed, but we're all our lives are going to be in danger. We're going to die. I'm paraphrasing that, of course. But by the time we get to this night that the Lord stood by Paul, verse 23 reads, For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo, God hath given thee all them that sell with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me, albeit we must be cast upon. a certain island. He said, Well, preacher, wait a second. Was Paul wrong when he said our lives are going to be in danger? No, sir, their lives were in danger. As a matter of fact, in the midst of that storm, all hope was robbed from them. All hope was taken from them. They entered into desperation, leading to depression and darkness and all of these things. As a matter of fact, it got so bad, those soldiers are getting ready to kill all the prisoners. Some of them were, matter of fact, we didn't get into it, but some of them were acting like they were throwing lading off the ship and they were throwing lifeboats off the ship. You know what they were gonna do? Those soldiers are gonna sneak off by themselves. Paul told that centurion, he says, listen, they all gotta stay in the ship if they wanna be alive. If they do their own thing, they're gonna die. So they cut the ship, they cut the little lifeboats loose. Yeah, they disregarded the Word of God. As a result of that, they got into the consequences of the storm. But may I say this to you this morning? The Bible tells me where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. God's grace of a group of comfort-seeking souls extended it into their life because of the man of God on that ship. Despite their refusal to obey in the beginning, their rebellion against the Word of God, their trusting in themselves and seeking immediate comfort over temporal discomfort, grace did much more abound. And beloved, you know, discomfort is part of life. Ups and downs and struggles and dark days, but running from them will only result in being driven by your emotions, feelings of despair, and the destruction of our lives. But praise the Lord for the grace of God. Praise the Lord that we can be of good cheer for it, maybe not without loss, maybe not without cause, not without scars of seeking comfort over commitment. But beloved, in this together with the Lord, who is always therefore present with us, as I mentioned last week, we can dig in together. No matter the storms of life at the moment, whether they be from choices that we've made or whether or not, together we can come forward, together we with Christ can be victorious, together we can get THROUGH the storms as long as we are obedient and forever we'll remain stronger. Paul's confidence, again, was not in his power and that was in his past, but it was the PERSON that was in the ship that night. both men who are men of the arena, both men who knew loss, who knew struggle, who knew pain, who knew battles, and have stood in the test of time. So I challenge you today as we close, whatever storm that may be around the corner, know that the Lord is with you. Know that you can depend on Him and trust Him. You can go to His Word and you can find solitude there. You can find solace there. You can find comfort and peace and understanding and know that once this storm is over, you're gonna be stronger. It may be uncomfortable for a while, but in the midst of that storm, God's grace will much more abound. And that, my friend, is really and truly the comfort in the midst of the seas of life. Will you bow your heads this morning? Father, we thank you, Lord, for the opportunity and time to be together today, and we pray now for your continual blessings. We ask that you would please help us, give us God, his grace and mercy, and lead us into the right way. Take your word, I pray this morning, and I pray you apply it into our life and help us use it today to serve you greater. Whatever storm that may be presented to us in the upcoming future, dear God, we can rest assured that you are with us and that grace may abound. We ask these things in the precious name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. I hope and pray that the preaching and teaching of the Word of God was a blessing to your heart this morning.