Acts 27:21

Acts 27:21 says, But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.  After they had given up hope, Paul stood in the midst of them and said, "Sirs, ye should have hearkened to me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss."   I don't believe Paul was playing “I told you so.”  He was simply stating the obvious.  If we warn people about a dangerous situation that God has made us aware of, and they ignore us and suffer from their decision, we must never gloat about it.  This is especially true when it comes to salvation.  If we witness to a person, and they ignore us, and die in their sins, we can never feel that they got what they deserved. Verse twenty-two adds, 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.  Paul offered them some hope They had ignored Paul when he warned them not to sail, now days into the tempest, he asks them to be of good cheer.  Would we listen, under the circumstances?  Lost people today are in the middle of a spiritual tempest, and no matter how many times they have refused to listen, we must still continue to witness. All is not lost as long as we have breath, unless we have finally left the door to salvation closed for good.  We bring a message of hope, and they need to be of good cheer.  Once they listen to the message and accept the salvation of Christ through faith, then their lives will never be lost.  The storm did not immediately stop.  They had to take Paul at his word by faith.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, the tempest may not stop, but we know that our life is eternally safe. 

Acts 27:18

Acts 27:18 says, And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;  We find they were being exceedingly tossed by the tempest, so the next day they lightened the ship.  Verse nineteen adds, And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship.  The third day everyone cast out the tackling of the ship. First the crew was working to save the ship- saying they lightened- and the next day everyone was- saying we threw out.  When we see devastation in the world, especially to those that God has already warned, and they have ignored His warning, which would be everyone because God’s word warns us of the coming destruction, we cannot sit back and ignore nor applaud the action.  We could say that Paul and the others with him only helped because they wanted to save themselves, but they knew the outcome was in God's hands.  Even knowing the ultimate fate of those who refuse to listen to God does not excuse us from helping them when they need help, whether it benefits us or not.  Too often today Christians seem to be in the punishment business instead of the saving business.  We seem to want others punished or even destroyed instead of saved.  Verse twenty continues, 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.  Then, Paul and the rest of those on the ship spent several days in darkness, seeing neither the sun or moon.  The lost in the world today are in a similar darkness. They cannot or will not see the light of salvation.  We are charged with doing everything we can to help them come to the Light.  They had given up hope we are told in verse twenty.  At times, people have to reach the point of realizing being saved by the world is impossible before accepting the salvation of Christ.  Though this is always true that until we believe that Christ is the only way to salvation, some only get to that point when all seems lost.  We, as His followers, are to be there to give them hope, not rejoice in their misery.

Acts 27:14

Acts 27:14 says, But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.  After the gentle south wind, there arose a tempestuous wind called an Euroclydon.  When we go against the word or will of God, things may begin smoothly, but eventually the tempest will come.  It may not be in this lifetime, but the eventual outcome is assured.  Even if we gain the world, when time passes away, so will everything we gained outside of the will of God.  Only those things laid up in Heaven will last. Verse fifteen adds, And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.  The ship was caught up in the wind and they just had to let it go where it would.  Matthew Henry states that the wind was sent by God to bring glory to Himself and honor to Paul.  Since God had sent a warning by Paul of the danger, we can either believe He sent the wind after they refused to listen to Paul, or that He knew of its existence beforehand.  I choose to believe the latter, since God has no constraints of time and I don't believe He would act after the fact just to prove Himself right.  The real issue is that those in charge of the ship refused to believe Paul's warning from God.  Verse sixteen continues, And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat:  They ran under an island called Clauda.  Verse seventeen concludes, Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. They were no longer in control of the ship.  When we begin to go against the will of God, somewhere we will lose control of our life.  We will stumble around in darkness just trying to hang on. This is true, no matter our material status.  When we are not operating under the power and protection of God, there can never be any real peace. The lost of the world may never acknowledge it, and like the sailors with Paul continue to struggle to save their stuff, but it is a losing battle.  The Christian can never deny it. 

The ship sailed in spite of Paul's warning.  They had decided that the port they were at was not a good place to winter, and they wanted to reach Phenice, a haven of Crete, and winter there.  We can warn people of the dangers of continuing on the path they are on, when we know from God's word that it will lead to destruction, but we cannot force them to not continue. As long as lost people think something better lies ahead, they will continue to listen to the world instead of God.  This can even be true of God's people.  We have a plan to achieve greater success, and even when God tells us we are going the wrong way, we continue.  The ultimate result may not be destruction of earthly possessions, but it will destroy our effectiveness for God.  As they set sail, they had a gentle south wind blowing, which led them to believe that they were right and Paul was wrong.  The wrong decision about listening to the world as opposed to God usually starts out successfully.  If temptation, or even disobedience to God, had immediate negative results, we would quickly turn away from it.  God warns us, but then He allows us to make our choice.  Again, there are those who say that whatever happens it is God's will.  As I have stated before, as long as there is free will, then not everything that happens is the will of God.  He allows it to happen, but He does not cause it to happen.  When we find ourselves in a bad situation, we cannot blame God.  Paul was under arrest, on a ship that God had warned him was going to crash, but he didn't put the responsibility on God.  The devil can't make me do it and God will not make me do it, so the responsibility rests with me.  Even when the way starts smoothly, if we know it is not the way God wants us to go, it will end in destruction.  We will not lose our salvation over the wrong choice, but we will destroy our closeness to God.

Acts 27:9

Acts 27:9 says, Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them,  After they had spent much time at The Fair Havens, it was no longer a good time for sailing.  It was past the fast, the Jewish day of atonement, around September twentieth by our calendar, according to Matthew Henry.  The journey so far had taken longer than expected, but the crew was ready to move on. Sometimes, in our impatience, we only think of moving ahead, without considering if it would be dangerous or not.  At such times, we need to ask God for guidance, which is what Paul did.  Verse ten adds, 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.  Paul warned them that he perceived that "this voyage would be with hurt and much damage, not only for the laden and ship, but also of our lives." Paul was not talking about some strange vibe he got.  He was speaking of what the Holy Spirit was revealing to him. When God has revealed to us a danger, either to ourselves or others, all we can do is make them aware of the warning.  Paul was still a prisoner, so we might ask why he would care, unless he were worried about his own safety.  Since he had already placed his life in the hands of God, and not Caesar, I think it is safe to assume that he was concerned for the crew, passengers, and even the cargo and ship.  We must never become indifferent to the welfare of others.  God expects His people to reach out to everyone, even those who hate us, with love and empathy.  They may not believe us when we warn them, but that doesn't relieve us of the responsibility of doing so. Verse eleven states, Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.  The Centurian did not believe Paul but listened to the master and owner of the ship instead. People today may choose to believe others instead of God's messengers, especially when it supports their decision, but we still have the responsibility to deliver God's word.  Verse twelve adds, 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.  It would seem to them that the logical thing would be to get to Phenice and winter there, since the weather would be better for them, so they were willing to ignore Paul’s warning.  Things may appear physically better to people today when we warn them of the need to repent and accept Jesus Christ in order to weather the storms of life, and they may ignore us. Verse thirteen concludes, And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete.  Even the wind seemed to be in their favor, so they ignored Paul’s word from God and sailed for Crete.  Life may seem to be going so well for those that we witness to today that they ignore the gospel when we share it with them.  

After leaving Sidon, they sailed under Cyprus because the wind was contrary.  After they sailed over the sea of Ciicia and Pamphylia, they came to Myra, a city of Lycia.  There the centurian found a ship of Alexandria, sailing for Italy, and he put Paul and all the others with him on it.  Again, all this time Paul could have been free had he simply allowed King Agrippa and Festus to determine his guilt or innocence.  We need to acknowledge that the easiest answer is not always the best answer.  They continued their journey sailing slowly for many days, and were barely come over to Cnidus, the wind not suffering them.  Then they sailed under Crete, over against Salmone.  Hardly passing there, they came to a place called The Fair Havens, which is close to the city of Lasea.  We might think that God could have provided better transportation for Paul.  Surely He could have given them favorable winds for the journey, since He had told Paul he was to be a witness in Rome.  Why was it that everything seemed to be working against them if God was in control?  We too often see things from a temporary view, while God sees things from the eternal view.  Just because God has called us for a specific task does not mean that we will never encounter opposition.  When circumstances seem to be going against us, we need to remember that God has insured the ultimate victory, if we only wait on Him.  We can never let impatience push us ahead of God.  We never hear Paul saying that there must be a quicker, better way.  He was content to wait on God, and so must we be.

Acts 27:1

Acts 27:1 says, And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.  Here, we find the record of the beginning of Paul's trip from Caesarea to Rome.  Paul and other prisoners were delivered to the custody of a Centurian named Julius, who was of the band of Augustus. We are not told how much time passed from Paul's testimony before Agrippa until his being put on a ship to get to Rome. Verse two adds, And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.  We might think that since Paul was under arrest in the care of the Roman army that they would just provide a ship to transport him, but they had to wait for a ship going that way.  When we hear someone say that God doesn't expect them to be hampered by travelling by public transportation, we need to look at Paul.  He was going to do what God was sending him to do, but he was at the mercy of those who had him imprisoned, as well as their finding transportation. They left Adramyttium, planning to sail by the coasts of Asia.  A Macedonian named Aristarchus sailed with them, another to support Paul. Verse three adds, 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.  The next day, they docked at Sidon, and Julius gave Paul liberty to meet with his friends there.  We need to realize that even when carrying out instructions from those in power over them, not all people in power over us wish us to suffer. We must also acknowledge that Paul did not take advantage of the trust Julius placed in him.  He was free and on land, but he had an obligation to represent God to those around him and an obligation to preach the gospel in Rome.   Verse four continues, And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.  Still, Paul was not without friends with him, including Luke, by the use of the term "we sailed" and his being acknowledged as the author of Acts.  When we are feeling imprisoned by the world, we can take heart in the fact that we are not alone.  Even if they aren't with us physically, we can be certain that we have Christians with us in Spirit, supporting us in prayer.  When things are hard, and we see what seems to be an easy escape, we need to ask if it glorifies God and supports our calling from Him.  Verse five states, And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. They were slowly making their way to Rome, just as we are slowly making our way to heaven.  Like Paul, even if we were to be imprisoned here, we need to continue to witness for Jesus Christ. Verse six adds, And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein.  Once more, we need to realize that they could not just book a direct plane or even ship to Rome but had to find one going that way that they could secure passage on.  Verse seven continues, And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone;  They were sailing slowly because the wind was against them much of the time.  We are not guaranteed an easy passage through this life, but we are guaranteed that God will always keep us safe spiritually if we are faithful to Him.  Verse eight concludes, And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea.  They arrived at a place called Fair Havens near Lasea.