PUTTING YOUR FAITH IN ACTION
ACTS 27
We are experiencing a
combination of situations that the world
have never seen before.
We are in a nation divided
along party lines. We have civil unrest.
We have our politicians
fueling the unrest with their words.
Add to that a worldwide
pandemic and an economic shut down.
God has allowed His Church to
be in the middle of all this
for His pleasure.
We are expected to survive on
our faith.
In this text the Apostle Paul,
a prisoner on a ship headed to
As long as you and I are in
this world, we are on a ship that is going
down, But you and I will be saved.
How to live like you been
saved in the mist of this situation?
Our text is Acts 27. God gives us the attitude of survival
Acts 27:9-12
9 Much time had been lost,
and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast.
So Paul warned them, 10 "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be
disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives
also." 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said,
followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.
GIVE GOOD ADVICE FROM THE
LORD
A. Always give Good Advice
1. Paul had been unjustly accused by his
own people.
2. The Roman officials in
Paul.
3. But his own people appealed to Caesar in
4. Paul was on a ship headed to be
executed.
5. Before the ship got into trouble, Paul
gave good advice
Paul an
experience traveler by sea, knew the dangers of sailing
In the
His sailing
experience under the guidance of the Holy Spirit,
he gave the
ship captain sound advice to stay in the port.
It is a fool who rejects wise council
B. It does not matter what
you are going through or what your
enemy has done to you, Give good advice.
1. Paul could have save himself a lot of
hardship if he let the ship
go down.
2. We must remember God has an assignment
for us and it includes
some hardships.
3. When things are going well, proud people
may ignore your advice.
2 Thessalonians 2:10-12
They perish because they
refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 For this reason God sends them a
powerful delusion so that they will believe the lie 12 and so that all will be
condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.
BE ENCOURAGED
V:21 After the men had gone a
long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you
should have taken my advice not to sail from
A. The ship is going down,
but you will be ok
1. They were cold, hungry, tired and saw their doom.
2. It was dark, they could see day or night.
3. I know their situation. I been on a
work boat where the sea was rough
and fog was so thick, you couldn’t see
2 feet in front of you.
B. As long as we are in the world, we are on a
sinking ship.
1. It going down, but you are going to
be ok
2. In this life, you going to loose some
stuff, you going to loose
people, you are going to have some
disappointments,
your heart is going to be broken, but God
says you going to be ok.
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
Acts 27:23-24
23 Last night an angel of the
God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, 'Do not be afraid,
Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the
lives of all who sail with you.'
A. Prayer is the most
important tool you got to live in this world.
1. You need to know the God you serve.
2. I am not talking about heard about
Jesus, I am taking about
knowing Jesus.
3. Knowing that you can trust His Word.
4. Knowing Jesus enough to see Him in every
area of your
life, good or bad.
B. FEAR NOT, DON’T BE AFRAID
1. Paul just told them the ship is going
down!
Now He said, don’t be afraid!
2, Paul
was talking to unbelievers. 176 men were on the ship.
a. We have been changed.
b. A man in Christ is a new creation
c. God has not given us the spirit of
fear, but power,
Love and sound mind
3.
The only way you can live in fear is to open the baggage
You brought into the relationship with
Christ.
4. In uncertain situations, you have to rely on
the sound mind
Christ gave you.
I can do all things through Christ who
strengthen me.
C. God has a job for you. He gave you an
assignment.
1. You not going to leave this earth until
you complete your
assignment.
2.
Your assignment includes the welfare of those around.
3. It is God’s grace that you got
companions doing your
trouble times.
4. Paul was to stand before Caesar in
the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
5. When the last time you made the case for
Jesus before
a non believer?
CONFESS YOUR FAITH IN GOD
Acts 27:24-26
25 So keep up your courage,
men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26
Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."
A. Your assignment includes
some planned hardships.
1. We really don’t want to hear that God
has planned some
rough times for our lives.
2. It part of getting you ready to
complete the assignment.
3. To get out of this situation that we
are in, we may go through
some lost to get prepared for our
assignment.
4. Come here Jacob, talk to me.
a. He had to be betrayed by his uncle
Laben to marry Leigh
on his wedding night when he
agreed to marry Rachel.
He work another 20 years to leave with 12
sons
from Rachel and Leigh and their maidens
His
sons became the 12 tribes of
b. That was Jacob assignment to
produce 12 sons
5. Come talk to me Joseph.
He had
to be put in a pit by his brothers, sold into
slavery
to arrive in
He had to be lied on by Potifer’s wife to
end
up in jail to be notice by the King of Egypt.
His assignment was to save his family from a
famine
So they could grow up in slavery in
of
6.
Come here David, talk to me.
He had
to be chased by King Saul for fifteen years
Who wanted to kill him.
To be
ready to be King of
God’s own heart, he had to fight for his
life,
David couldn’t write 75 chapters in the Book
of Psalms
With such influencing power if it had
not been
for his experience with Saul.
d. We serve a God that don’t care about
your stuff. He cares
about your life.
e. Sometimes on your way to your
assignment, God has
sub assignments for you.
The ship broke up at the
It was a people who were suppositious.
These people showed compassion for the
176
men. So Paul heal all their sick in the
name of
Jesus,
introducing them to the power of God.
The
176 men on the boat experience the saving power
Of God.
SHOW COMPASSION TO OTHERS
AROUND YOU
Acts 27:30-32
In an attempt to escape from
the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were
going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion
and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be
saved."
Paul, on his way to
be executed showed compassion to
those who wanted to
abandon him.
The solders was about abandon by
getting in the
Life boat. But PAUL concerned about
their wellfare,
told
them they would not survive if they abandoned
the ship.
CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE
V:32. Just before
dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he
said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food — you
haven't eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to
survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head."
A. When God gives you the attention of others,
continue to
Encourage in the lost.
1. There will be times when people have
lost hope.
God uses you to restore or build their confidence
Him.
2. You should continue to express that God
is true to His
Word.
3. Your confidence in God can lead others
to the light.
B. When people have lost
hope, they can’t see how important
They
are to others.
1. You never know how a word of
encouragement affects
others.
2. In all situations, we should be concerned
about the welfare
of others.
THANK GOD IN YOUR
SITUATION
Acts 27:35-38
After he said this, he took
some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and
began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37
Altogether there were 276 of us on board.
A. There are times when you
have to lead the devotion to God.
1. We must realize that we are not alone in
times of trouble.
2. God takes us to trouble. He takes
through trouble. And
He will save us in our trouble.
B. The ship is going down,
but you will be ok.
IN SUMMARY
FOLLOW THE ADVICE THAT GOD
GIVES
BE ENCOURAGED
PRAY WITHOUT CEASING
DON’T BE AFRAID
CONFESS YOUR FAITH
SHOW COMPASSION
GIVE GOD THANKS.
Rev. M. Mitchell
No comments:
Post a Comment