Now let us turn to our sermon passage for this morning, which is found in Acts chapter 27, verses 13 through 26. I'd planned to do a larger section, but as often occurs, I found that I had plenty to deal with in this section. So here now, the word of God as he ministers to our souls. When the south wind blew softly, supposing they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. But not long after, tempestuous headwind arose called Eurocliden. 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 secure the skiff with difficulty. When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship, and fearing lest they should run aground on the surdid sands, they struck sail, and so were driven. And because we 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 would be saved was finally given up. But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, then 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 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 is told me. However, we must run aground on a certain island. Amen. Please be seated. Shockingly, men trust in themselves to supply all of their needs as if they were sufficient in themselves. It is shocking because truly man is a feeble and frail creature in desperate need and in constant dependence upon God for all things. And yet he imagines that he himself is sufficient. Truly it is shocking, is it not? And throughout the scriptures, the Lord commands us not to trust in ourselves, but in him alone, and to glory in him. In Jeremiah 9, 23, for example, he says thus, says the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches. He says that because it is a problem, it is a temptation, it is something men do. They glory in themselves and in their accomplishments as mere men. Men do glory in riches. The rich young man certainly did. And when he is told to sell all his riches and give it to the poor, he could not because he gloried in his riches. He trusted in his riches. And so the Lord Jesus concluded that conversation by saying that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. He concluded by demonstrating how often men trust in their wealth and not in the Lord. Likewise, they trust in strength. Goliath, as he went out against that ruddy-faced young man David, trusted in his strength and experience to prevail. Or the Rabshakeh, when the Assyrians besieged Jerusalem, blasphemed God, trusting in the mind of his army. Men trust in their wisdom. Ahithophel, the advisor of King David, trusted that he could prevail in his wisdom against the will of God, and backed Absalom instead of David, and ended up, of course, committing suicide because his wisdom failed so miserably. Men trust in themselves, their riches, their strength, their wisdom, and not in God, but God commands. but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord exercising loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these I delight, says the Lord. Men ought rather to trust in the Lord than their self-confidence, to glory in him than in themselves. But how is it then that men who are self-confident, who trust in themselves, who think that they are sufficient for their own needs, how is it that they can be turned to trust in the Lord instead? Well, of course, it takes a work of God. It takes a work of His grace. It takes his effectual call to draw them to himself, and part of that effectual call is to drive them, excuse me, to drive them out of themselves. In Westminster Larger Catechism, question 155, that is part of it. The effectual call of God drives men out of themselves. It drives men from their own self-confidence, from their own self-sufficiency, and shows they're bankrupt, and drives them to Christ instead. Well, that is what we find in our passage here this morning. The centurion and the men with him, because of their expertise, their wisdom, decided they would travel further. Contrary to the prophecy and wisdom of God, they trusted in themselves and their wisdom to be sufficient. And the Lord must drive them out of themselves. to show them that they are not sufficient in themselves, that it is God, and God alone who is sufficient for all their needs. Once they come to despair in themselves, they come to value the trust and the hope that they can have in God. We look at this passage under two headings. First, self-confidence, in verses 13 through 20, and then prophetic word, verses 21 through 26. First, we have the self-confidence. The self-confidence of man. The centurion decided to go with the wisdom of man. And he thought that was affirmed. He thought, in fact, that he was right because it appears to be working. As they set out on this short journey of less than a day, perhaps, they are attended with a south wind that blew softly. And so it blew in their direction and blew gently so that they could stay near the coast and not fear being blown into the coast. Everything seemed to be going their way. All the circumstances seemed to be right. They seemed to have achieved their desire. In a few hours, they would make it to a safe port and be vindicated as making a right decision. The circumstances are in their favor. And often this happens with men. that they make a decision, they trust in it, and it seems to be working. It seems to be demonstrating the wisdom of their decision. And yet, as Christians, we do not ask so much the question, does it work, but does it please God? And if it pleases God, then ultimately it will work in the sense of our chief end. which is to glorify and enjoy God. And if it does not please Him, no matter how it seems to work, it will not work ultimately, but bring upon us misery. And that is what we find here. The circumstances seem to be working, the decision seems to be working, but soon it will be shown to be folly, because up arises a great storm, a tempest. A strong wind that blows against the ship and knocks him off course. This strong wind is called a tempest, but the Greek word is Tufonikis, from which we get our word typhoon. And it's so infamous that it is named. Notice there, Eurycleidon, which essentially means a northeaster. And so here is this infamous storm that arises and drives them from their course deeper into the sea. In fact, it is so great that they cannot resist it, and they let the ship go. They let it simply go where the wind will blow it. They're helpless in its grip, or rather in the grip of God. who brought this storm against them. And why did God bring this storm against them? Previously, you recall, he prophesied doom for them, destruction upon them if they continued. They did, and now they're in the hand of this great storm that God has brought, in the hand of God who promised them doom. It is a terrible place to be. It is a horrific condition for man. And he is beginning to feel how helpless he is against the hand of God, against this storm. And yet he has not yet given up hope. After all, these were sailors. They had experienced, no doubt they had experienced many storms. They had weathered many storms previously. There are certain measures they could take, certain wisdom they could employ, certain strength they could use to try to resist this storm. And so they do. And we find those measures as we continue on in our passage. In verse 16, for example, they came to some temporary refuge on the island of Clodagh. It appears there was no port for them to enter into. but they had some shelter from the wind and so they brought in the skiff or the lifeboat. It was no doubt full of water, so they brought it in with great difficulty. They ran cords around the ship in order to undergird it and fortify it against the storm. They took these certain measures and they used them to try to save themselves. from the storm. But notice, knowing where they were, seeing this island, they knew where they were. They were afraid of these infamous sandbars that likewise are named the Sirdis Sands. And so they were afraid if they continued any further along the course, they'd strike these sands and their boat would break up. And so, instead of doing that, they let themselves be driven further out into the sea. They let their sail down again, and let themselves be driven further out into the depths of the waters. And so, they took all these steps trying to avoid catastrophe, but it didn't work. Nothing worked. Because in verse 8, we read that they are exceedingly tempest-tossed. so that they lighten the ship again. They were trying to remain buoyant on the waters, no doubt taking on much water. And so they threw out supplies, they threw out their possessions. Because when it comes down to a man's life or his possessions, he will rid himself of his possession to save his life. Though it does not work that way for everlasting life, does it? The rich young ruler would not throw out his possessions to save his everlasting life. Though if he had been on the ship, I dare say he would throw them out to save his physical life. Men value their physical lives and trust in themselves to save themselves, but not in the Lord. not for the everlasting life that he offers. And so they do all they can to save themselves. In verse 19, they even threw over the ship's tackle or equipment. Now there are certain things they could not do as a ship. They had lost this equipment and ability to do certain things. So desperate were they to lighten the load and to survive. But it didn't work even this. On the following few days, we read that not even the sun or stars appeared, so dark it was and filled with clouds. And this is particularly troubling to a sailor because he has no point of reference, therefore. It is not merely that he does not feel the sun shining upon his skin or the encouragement of daylight, but he has nothing to guide him. He looks to the stars and to the sun for his direction, and so they are entirely lost. They have no idea where they are. They're driven by the waves. They go up to a mountain height and sink down to a valley all day and all night in the darkness with really no hope any longer of survival. They have done everything they can to try to survive. They've used up all their wisdom, all their ingenuity, all their strength, and nothing. There is nothing they can do. They continue to be beat upon by this storm so that all hope is lost. Finally, they are brought to despair. But so it always is when men trust in themselves. Ultimately, those who trust in themselves will recognize how bankrupt they are, how empty they are of self-help, how their confidence is misplaced. They'll come to recognize by just a small ounce of God's strength exerted how helpless they are in His power. It is true of all great storms and events, isn't it? Men trust in themselves, they're so confident, they're so self-reliant. They're so bold, they're so boastful, until there comes an earthquake, or tornado, or hurricane, or plague, or anything that demonstrates the power of God to any degree. And suddenly they recognize how small and weak they are in the face of God's outstretched hand and the ounce of power he demonstrates to them. Suddenly they recognize that they're nothing in the face of God. What is man that he is mindful of them? All the nations are a drop in the bucket. What is one mere man in his strength, in his wisdom and ingenuity? They come to recognize how bankrupt they are in themselves, how empty, how foolish to trust in themselves with such acts of power by God. They are driven, that is, outside of themselves to seek hope not in themselves, but in something else. You see, they are now prepared to hear the hope that God offers to them by the messenger Paul. Hope not in themselves, but in God. And so that brings us to our second point, the hope that the Apostle Paul offers them. But what is interesting is that before he gives them this hope, our passage once again emphasizes something of the depths of their despair, and then puts the blame upon them for it all. Notice there in verse 21, they had long abstained from food. Later in verse 33, we find it is for 14 days they abstained from food. 276 men abstained from food for 14 days. What would cause someone not to eat for two weeks? Have you ever not eaten for two weeks on end? Have you ever lost your appetite for such a long period of time? Well, these men did, and it was due to their constant frenzied activity and their desperate attempt to survive, and their deep anxiety as they were tossed about like a ragdoll in the teeth of an angry dog. As they went up to the heights of the mountains, as it were, in the next second plunged to the depths of the valleys, and over and over and over, night and day, they faced such a storm. At any moment they could be capsized and killed. The stress, the anxiety, the fear, the tumults, was so great that they lost their appetite for two weeks and they would not eat because they did not want to eat. So desperate was their plight that they even forsook the sustenance of their life. They gave it up for lost. They gave up their life and they gave up trying even to sustain it with food. That was their desperate situation here. That is the context in which Paul comes to them, stands in their midst and says to them, you should have listened to me. Now, you might say to yourself, that doesn't seem right. And whenever anyone has said to you, I told you so, you might have never once enjoyed that experience, but thought to yourself, that was utterly unnecessary. But particularly if you are in the midst of despair, particularly if you are in the midst of deep anxiety so that you won't even eat, and someone comes to you and says, I told you so, this is all your fault. You might say to yourself, well, that is not a good thing to do. And he should think more about his timing. This is something that often pastors hear about and think about. We sometimes know the right thing to say to somebody, but we struggle to know the right time to say it. And I dare say that any class on pastoral theology might look upon this passage and say, well, we don't recommend doing what Paul did here. Why did he do it? Was he simply vindictive? Was he simply a man who is irritated and in the throes of danger himself? He let it explode against them and he declared it was their fault they're in this mess. No, in fact, it was simply because the Apostle Paul loved them and cared for them and was gracious to them that he says it to them here at this very moment. Well, how in the world can that be? Well, it is so because the Apostle Paul is going to tell them that it is not too late for them to be saved. But if they would be saved, they must listen to him now. And so he reminds him of what came upon them because they didn't listen to him before. And he says, in effect, you had not listened to me before and now you're in this mess. But do not worry. If you listen to me now, we can get out of it. And so he says, I told you so in essence because he wants them to listen to him now and be saved from this mess. It is out of love, it is out of care and concern for them that he speaks in this manner and impresses upon them the foolishness of not listening to him, that they listen to him now. Is this the best pastoral timing? Well, they need to hear it now. They are in a desperate situation. They must listen now or all is lost. And so, yes, we can say this is the perfect timing and the perfect word from the Apostle Paul to those in desperate need. Notice then what he says to them. There in verse 22, I urge you to take heart, for there'll be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. But there stood by me this night an angel of the Lord to whom I belong and whom I serve saying, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid, Paul. You must be brought before Caesar. And indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you. It is a remarkable message and vision that the Apostle Paul receives, which begins by noting, of course, that Paul himself should not fear, that Paul himself needs to take this warning to heart. The Lord never speaks an extraneous or vain word. He never says to someone, do not fear, when there is no possibility of that happening. But rather, when he speaks to the Apostle Paul, he is saying, in effect, that Paul is in danger, at least, of fearing in these circumstances. Paul is but a man with like nature as we, with like weaknesses as we have. And under the grind of this pressure from day to day, he is certainly in danger, at the very least, of fearing for his own life. But why should he? After all, the Lord has promised that he will come to Rome. Does he not believe the promise of God? Well, no, he doesn't perfectly. He's a mere man. He is not a machine. He is not a perfect angel. When the Lord gives him a promise and he is stuck on a boat going up and down with ferocity and full of anxiety and full of constant work and labor so that no one eats, he begins to fall into this fear himself. If he perfectly believed God, he would rest in perfect peace and content. Yes, but he doesn't. As a mere man of like weakness with us, he begins to fear himself so that the Lord comes to encourage him and reiterate and reassure him of his promises that he will not die, but he will make it to Rome because God has promised it. And which God? The Apostle Paul is surrounded by pagans who worship, no doubt, many and various idols. And so he identifies the God who speaks to him as a God whom he serves, the God who is his. Now, that is an interesting way of referring to God, isn't it? You might have expected him to say something else, to say something like this, the God of Abraham, identifying this God in terms of history, in terms of the people to whom he was covenanted and bound. Or you might have believed he would say something like, the true and living God, there is no other. to demonstrate the greatness of God and put to shame all the idols in which these men trust. Or you might have expected him to say something like this, that this is the creator of all things, and therefore he is sovereign over this storm. But instead he simply says this, notice. There stood by me this night an angel of God to whom I belong and whom I serve, there in verse 23. whom I belong and whom I serve. This is often what the Apostle Paul is saying as he identifies his relationship with God. Throughout the epistles, he says this, doesn't he? Paul, a bondservant, a slave of God. He delights to announce his relationship of subservience and belonging to God. He delights to recognize this as his God and his bondage to God. In fact, really, this is a summary of all covenant theology, isn't it? He is our God and we are his people. It is a wonderful way of declaring who God is to us. And so the Apostle Paul does. As he explains, he belongs to God. Matthew Henry, I think, puts it quite well when he says this. He looks upon God first as his rightful owner, who has a sovereign, incontestable title to him and dominion over him. whose I am, because God made us, and not we ourselves. Therefore, we are not our own, but his. His we are by creation, for he made us, by preservation, for he maintains us, by redemption, for he bought us. We are more his than our own. And he goes on to make clear that if he owns us, it is only right then that we should serve and obey him if he has made us and designed us. Who better then to know how we ought to live than the creator and designer? And so we ought to declare with great joy, whose I am. I belong to Jesus. and whom I serve, I am his lowly and grateful servant." It is a profound way, actually, of describing who this God is in relationship to Paul. It is something that we all ought to say and affirm with joy, whose I am and whom I serve. But also, of course, this implies something to his audience. If indeed this God whom Paul trusts in and whom Paul serves and to whom Paul belongs, if his word is brought to pass, then should not all serve him, should not all look to him and trust in him, should not everyone therefore look to the Lord as their God as well? That is the implication that Paul gives to his audience, these 276 men, as he explains to them his vision. But you might say, well, what is his vision to them? What is his relationship to God to them? What is the promise of God that he bring him to Rome to them? What does it matter to them that God looks upon Paul and will save Paul from shipwreck? It matters because, as he goes on to say, God has granted all of them to Paul as well. There in verse 24. Therefore, take heart, he says. God has granted every one of those lives to the apostle Paul. The word grant here is really a verb form of the word grace. He has given as a favor, an undeserved favor to Paul, the lives of all who travel with him. He has granted them. But what does that mean? It implies, of course, that Paul has been praying for them. Paul has been interceding for their lives to be spared, for God to have mercy upon them and not bring them to the watery grave here on this ship, that he has been pleading for mercy for his fellow companions. What a grace this is that God answers this prayer, and what a grace is seen in Paul's life that he would plead it. Could he not easily have said, you scorned my counsel. You got us into this danger. The God whom I serve will get me out of it, but you all are lost and destroyed because of your folly. You deserve it. But on the contrary, he pleads for their life because he is merciful and gracious of heart like his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He pleads for them to be saved, and God answers that prayer and grants it to him. What a wonderful fact this is. But it is also the reason why a number of commentators previously would deny that verse 10, the declaration of Paul, is a prophecy from God. Because remember what Paul said, there'd be much loss of life. If that is indeed a prophecy from God and it doesn't come to pass, how can that be? And so commentators say, no, no, it is not a prophecy from God in verse 10, because it is not fulfilled later on, and therefore it cannot be the prophecy of the Word of God, because that always comes true. How do we explain this apparent discrepancy? We explain it in this way, that God's prophecies are often built in with caveats that are even implicit at times. There are often conditions placed upon the promises of God that are even implicit, not explicit. For example, think of Jonah, when he went to Nineveh, what did he declare as God commanded him? 40 days, Nineveh shall be destroyed. He did not say, Nineveh might be destroyed, depending on how you respond here. He said, 40 days, Nineveh shall be destroyed, thus says the Lord. But it wasn't destroyed, was it? Why? Because the Lord had a conditional in mind when he declared that prophecy, and the conditional was implicit, not even explicit. It was, unless they repent, but if they do repent, they will have mercy, because I promise mercy to all who repent. And so that principle of repentance, receiving mercy, was greater than and overarching that prophecy of God. So that there was this implicit conditional 40 days you shall be destroyed unless you repent and then you shall have mercy as God promises. Or more to the point, perhaps, when Israel refused to enter into the promised land in Numbers chapter 14, what did the Lord say in his anger? That he would bring a plague upon them and disinherit them, and he would make of Moses a great nation. He would start new. He would cast off Israel and start new with Moses and raise up a nation from Moses. Again, he does not say, I'm thinking about doing this. or I might do this, but he says, this is what I will do. And yet when Moses interceded on behalf of the people, the Lord relented. and did not do as he declared he would do. How can we explain it? Because there was a conditional that was implicit. I will cast off this people unless the Christ figure of Moses intercedes for them. And when he intercedes, I will have mercy, for how can I not listen to the voice of Jesus Christ as it were prefigured in Moses? Likewise here, the Lord said there will be much loss of life unless my servant Paul will intercede and plead for them, and then I will grant their lives and relent for my promise. You see, that is what is happening here, I believe. It was a prophetic word from God before. It was clearly, in my view, God speaking and warning them not to proceed. But when they do, the Lord, who is so often better than his word even leads us to expect, Relent, and have mercy, and grant to Paul what he is pleading for. For the sake of Christ and his crucifixion and his blood, you have mercy, and hear his servant Paul, and he will spare the lives of these 276 men. Such is the mercy and the goodness of God. Such is his condescending grace to answer prayer. Do you and I slip into believing that prayer really doesn't matter? We're Calvinists. We're Reformed. We believe in the sovereignty of God. Say, Levi, Levi. Whatever will be, will be, right? But if we really are Reformed, really are Calvinists, so to speak, really believe in the sovereignty of God, then we will really believe He answers prayer because He reveals that to us in His Word. And we will really pray because He, the sovereign God, commanded us to. And we will really trust that he will answer prayer, because he has done so and will do so, as revealed in his word. How we ought to be a people of prayer, more so than anyone, let us say, as those who truly believe in the sovereignty and the goodness of God. So Paul was praying, even against the prophecy, that he had uttered because he knew that if the Lord were merciful and relented, he could save 276 men from death. And so he did. And he discovered that the Lord did have this implicit conditional or caveat in his prophetic word, and he did relent, and he did therefore grant these souls to be saved. And so Paul seeks to encourage them in the promise of God too. And part of Paul's encouragement is to tell them that he believes this promise of God himself. You see, He's not standing before them trembling now in fear and doubt. He has been reassured by the prophetic word of God that has been reinforced in his vision. And he stands forth boldly, remember in the midst of a storm that is rocking the ship, that is threatening to tear it apart in the midst of anxiety unto death where men will not even eat and they despair of their lives. He stands up and says, I believe there's hope because of the promise of God. You see, the Lord drove these men out of themselves. He drove them from trusting in themselves. They did everything they knew to do. All their ingenuity was exhausted. They put in the labor. They did the work. All of their strength was exhausted. They even cast over their possessions. All of their wealth was gone and exhausted. And they had nothing but despair left. And here the apostle Paul comes to them and stands with boldly and says, do not despair because the God to whom I belong, whom I serve, said that you will be saved. And I believe him. What a glorious testimony this is by the Apostle Paul in the midst of such circumstances. But he does say this as he concludes this passage. However, we must run aground on a certain ship. In other words, for this promise to come true, and it will, we must run aground on this specific island. Now that may be a discouraging sounding conclusion to this great hope Paul offers in God. Because we'll have to run aground? That's not what a sailor wants to hear. He wants to hear that we'll find a nice safe port and sail into it. And we'll run aground on a ship, on an island? Here we are out in the middle of the sea, who knows where. Our great hope is perhaps we'll hit a long continent because there's greater chance of that than some small island in the middle of the sea. But Paul says, no, you will have to run aground on a very specific island that God has ordained if we are to survive. You must trust that God will guide us there. You have no stars to guide by, no sun to tell direction by. You are enveloped in darkness. You are going up and down. Fear of destruction plagues you every moment of every day for day after day after day. You have done everything you can possibly do to survive, and now you must cast yourself upon the wisdom, the power, the mercy of God to take you and bring you to one small island, to get stuck there, and yet to trust that no one will die in the midst of the ship tearing apart and you trying to make it safely to that island. The Lord, you see, drives men out of themselves to despair of saving themselves in order that they might be compelled by absolute necessity to cast themselves upon God for his mercy and grace, which is the only sure foundation of hope. What we have here in our passage is a physical picture on the physical plane of what we know to be true on the spiritual plane as well. It is a picture of what we have experienced in our own salvation. We trusted in ourselves as sufficient. I am good enough. I'm strong enough. I'm smart enough. And the Lord, by his grace, drew us effectually to himself and caused us to recognize how bankrupt our trust and our hope is. We are not great and sufficient. We are poor, blind, naked, and weak. And we are to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and his mercy to save us as he has promised. And there is no other hope save in him. Remember the words that the Lord Jesus spoke to the church of Laodicea in Revelation 3, verse 17 and following. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing. And do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy for me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich, and white garments that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed. And anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see." That is what has happened to us if we are in Christ. We who once trusted in ourselves and thought ourselves sufficient have seen we are nothing but naked, impoverished, wretched, blind, miserable sinners before God, in desperate need of His mercy and grace, and cast ourselves entirely upon Him in our desperation for salvation. May His blood wash us, may His righteousness clothe us, may His Spirit empower us, may He do all that is necessary for us, and may we glorify Him alone as the God who is sufficient for all our needs. Let's pray. Our fathers, we now come before you in prayer. We acknowledge that we are not sufficient even to pray, that we do not know what to pray for as we ought. We pray amiss. And Father, we ask, therefore, that you would help us even as we pray now before you and bless us, that you would grant us to be driven out of ourselves and our self-confidence to honor you alone with our trust. and our praise, for you alone are worthy. And when we step into this trusting in ourselves, when we begin to lean upon our own understanding, our own strength, our own wealth, grant us grace to shake us from this confidence, to bring us to repentance, and to cause us to kneel before you humbled in acknowledgement of your sufficiency in our absolute weakness and need. We come to you now with empty hands, asking that you'd fill us. And we do now pray, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us to pray, by saying together, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.