After weeks at sea, and fourteen days in a vicious storm … Paul and his shipmates had lost hope (Acts 27:20).

But then one night it happened, Paul tells us: “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 sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Acts 27:23-25

God sent an angel, one of His miraculously created “messengers,” (creatures whom Paul believes to be “ministers for the heirs of salvation” as per Hebrews 1:14) … an angel bringing some “good news!”

Good news as in … “Be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.” Acts 27:22, the angel’s words!

Paul will be spared … to testify in Rome. (Center of the GENTILE world!) And as a “gift,” maybe because of their unusual kindness to Paul … “Lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.” Acts 27:24, not a single fatality.

Wow!

Look at the Apostle’s faith, too! “For I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Verse 25, and it DID happen just exactly like the Lord indicated!

But my thought this morning concerns Paul’s marvelous little Clause, describing the Lord … “Whose I am, and whom I serve.” Verse 23 of our chapter, Acts 27.

The Line beautifully indicates ownership (“Whose I am.”) and then obedience (“Whom I serve.”) … a brilliant combination!

This Claim can (or should) be made for every single Believer in Jesus.

Yes … We belong to Him, He having redeemed (bought) us with His precious Blood on the Cross of Calvary!

“My beloved is mine, and I am his.” Song of Solomon 2:16

“What? know ye not that … ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

And yes … We obey Him, as a result of His infinite Love for us!

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

“For the love of Christ constraineth us.” 2 Corinthians 5:14

Think about this twofold Truth today, all day …

Our great God … “WHOSE I AM AND WHOM I SERVE.”

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

By the way, God takes good care of His property!

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Luke is with the Apostle Paul on that dangerous voyage to Rome! Notice his use of the pronoun “we.”

“And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 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.” Acts 27:18-20

In the midst of a storm, a cyclone it looks like. Unable to navigate, to guide the ship. (A sailing vessel, remember.) The situation is so dire that even the ship’s owner (who is on board, verse 11) feels the need to throw the cargo overboard! Day after day comes and goes, still no relief!

Then comes today’s Lesson, this morning’s thought … “All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.” Verse 20

Now that is a dangerous situation!

The noun “hope” appears 129 times in the King James Version of the Bible. From Ruth 1:12 to 1st John 3:3.

Naomi, King David’s distant Grandmother, once lost hope! (Her childbearing years being well behind her.)

And Job, that great Old Testament Patriarch, in the midst of his sufferings, lost hope! “My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and are spent without hope.” Job 7:6

Not counting dear Paul and his fellow-travelers that stormy day! Again, “All hope was taken away.”

So I’ve quickly given three Scriptural examples … to which could be added innumerable other instances in the post-Biblical world.

Hope … gone!

But Hallelujah, for the Christian (spiritually speaking) there is ALWAYS hope!

In fact, Jesus our Saviour never lost hope! Isaiah 42:4 prophesied of Him … “He shall not fail nor be discouraged.” Never be without hope!

Even on the Old Rugged Cross, our Lord kept hope alive! Hebrews 12:2 assures us that He somehow maintained “joy set before Him!” What a Saviour!

Because of Him, we have hope too …

The “Blessed Hope” particularly coming to mind this instant … “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13

Our very faith consists of hope, God given hope! “Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1

And even when we face personal crises, which we will, hope stays strong for the Believer! “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.” Hebrews 6:19a

How about this for hope? “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” Jeremiah 33:3

Jesus now … “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7

Hope, what a blessing!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Enjoy some today …

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Paul, we believe under the leadership of the Holy Spirit of God, has cautioned a group of men NOT to sail any further toward Rome, not for a season.

He even went so far as to claim: “There will be hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.” Acts 23:10

But those men overruled Paul, who was after all merely a prisoner, for two reasons; comfort and cash!

Plus … “the south wind blew softly.” Such balmy breezes meaning (surely) that fair weather was ahead! (Acts 27:13)

They ignored a wise man of God’s suggestion, one with a pretty strong warning attached, due to what their eyes saw and their bodies felt! Gentle currents and warm temperatures.

Then barely one verse later, Luke the historian adds: (They stubbornly being at sea now … “Not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.”

No longer the soft winds … but now tempestuous ones! The name “Eurocludon” literally means “violent east wind!”

And the fierce storm ultimately destroys the ship, its cargo and nearly (but for the Grace of God) its crew!

“The ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind.” Acts 27:15

Then by verse 27: The rather large (for that day) ship “was broken with the violence of the waves.” Amazing!

The point of today’s Lesson: at times we should be wary of trusting the “soft, warm, balmy winds” of life! They may not be the best criteria on which to base our decisions!

Especially when we have some “leading” from the Lord to refrain from a certain action! (We do not live by sight, or by feelings … but by “the Word of the Lord.”)

They here misread the “soft south winds,” trusted the superficial issues of life … way too much!

An old Preacher I heard a lot in my youth used to say: “Hope for the best but plan for the worst!” Had these shipmates done so, as Paul hinted, the vessel’s owner would have been a lot better off! A lot wealthier!

Enjoy the balmy breezes … but be aware … the storm is coming! It always does!

That same old Preacher of yesteryear, wise and godly, often said this too: “Never sacrifice the permanent on the altar of the immediate.”

Immediately this ship’s crew wanted comfort; a better harbor … but in the long run they lost nearly everything! Endangering their very lives!

Enjoy the pleasant circumstances of life … they often being gifts of God … but do not forget to prepare for the coming storm!

Wow!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Today’s Bible Text, Acts 27:9-13, with the verse numbers still in place for easy reference …

“9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul ADMONISHED them, 10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. 11 NEVERTHELESS the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. 12 And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. 13 And when the south wind blew softly, SUPPOSING that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.”

Paul is under arrest and being transported to Rome, to stand trial. Yet he seems to sense some unnecessary danger! (Being tried before Caesar is perilous enough!)

So the Apostle warns the Centurion (guard, chief soldier) and the ship’s crew … with Luke using the Greek verb “paraineo” for “admonished.” Basically the word means “to recommend.” And literally it carries the idea of “telling a story.”

The verb as used here is not an imperative, Paul is not issuing commands! (He being a preacher and a tent maker … not a sailor!)

But still he has an uneasiness in his heart, soul, spirit! About the next leg of the journey!

But up against Paul’s counsel was both the pressure to deliver their cargo sooner (this is a merchant vessel, hence the ship’s “owner” is mentioned) and a harbor not as convenient as they would have liked!

Two flimsy reasons when compared with one’s life!

Anyway, Paul’s caution was disregarded and the ship set sail. Money and comfort determined the next move!

And you know the result … a violent storm and the loss of the ship and all its cargo!

Oh, the danger in ignoring mature, spiritual advice!

Folks, Psalm 1 essentially encourages us to walk in the “counsel of the godly.” And Proverbs 12:15 thunders: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise.”

Proverbs 19:20 applies here as well. “Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.” Godly counsel, that is.

Listen to Wisdom (personified as a godly Lady) in Proverbs 1:30, lamenting her Counsel being spurned by the world! “They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.”

Wow!

I trust the point has been made this morning.

Danger ahead, life threatening danger … because a wise and godly man’s (Paul’s) counsel/advice was not heeded!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Are you listening to those wise men and women God has strategically placed in your life?

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

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It’s almost a divine travelogue, the Book of Acts. Everybody is going somewhere! And Paul is the principal participant!

His “First Missionary Journey.”

Then his “Second Missionary Journey.”

Followed by, of course, his “Third Missionary Journey.”

And now, his long voyage to Rome!

“And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. And when we had launched from thence, we SAILED under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.” Acts 27:3-4

“We,” Luke being among them.

“Sidon,” a Phoenician coastal city.

And Paul even has friends there! He was a “people person” indeed. He did not work well alone.

Yet this group is travelling (Paul dong so under arrest, under compulsion) during a dangerous time of the year. As we shall soon see!

But now back to my main “thought” this morning …

Why such an “on-the-go” mood in Acts?

Well, in chapter 1 verse number 8 Jesus tells us: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”

Wow, watch the trajectory of this Gospel expansion! Yes, now consult your Bible map. “Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria” merely start the great global expansion!

Outward from Jerusalem, where Jesus was crucified, buried and raised from the dead, from the grave!

Ever outward (necessitating travel for these “witnesses”) unto “the uttermost part of the world!”

And so Paul was merely obeying that divine commission, “Great Commission” we call it now! Following that “grid!”

So in these last two chapters of Acts … not Paul on the road as much as Paul aboard ship … but still witnessing nonetheless!

By the way, that’s why we still support missions, isn’t it? Sending the soul-saving Gospel around the world!

Are you helping?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

I haven’t even mentioned Paul’s great plan to go to “Spain” and preach the Gospel! Romans 15:24 … “Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey.”

Yes!

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