Our little Two-Verse Text this morning says a lot!
“But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land: and the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.” Acts 27:43-44
The ship has been destroyed, in the fierce cyclone. And the crew and passengers (276 men) have been told to “do the best they could” to reach land!
No lifeboats mentioned!
Now watch this … some “swam” to shore!
Others grabbed a piece of floating wood, a plank of some sort, and drifted to land!
Then others again latched onto larger pieces of the ship itself, which gradually inched toward dry ground!
But … the bottom line … “they all escaped to land safely!”
Why, how?
Fundamentally, because God had made Paul a PROMISE! Here it is … “Be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you.” Acts 27:22
And while their guaranteed deliverance was not all that smooth … everybody was still breathing!
The stronger men just (under their own power) swam and paddled and got themselves to the island!
The weaker ones used “props” to get there! But God must have made sure the “props” were there! Fulfilling His Word!
Which brings me to the point of today’s Lesson. There are at least 7,000 promises in the Bible! (Numbers vary based on who is counting and how one defines a “promise.”)
Get yourself one or two of them today … and “hang on” to it or to them until you rest your head tonight, until bedtime.
I believe God will (as He did to each of these storm ridden men) keep His Word!
After all, “God cannot lie!” (Titus 1:2)
— Dr. Mike Bagwell
For example, Psalm 91:10 … “There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.”
Wow!
Or, if you’ve never been saved … “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24, Jesus teaching on “How to be saved!”
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