1 00:00:00,049 --> 00:00:04,459 Uh, we, we've talked a lot about, uh, the weather today, and, you know, every 2 00:00:04,459 --> 00:00:08,339 single time it, it rains, and we get our, like, our first rain of the year, um, or 3 00:00:08,339 --> 00:00:11,729 our first rain of the fall, I should say, it's always, like, a big conversation 4 00:00:11,729 --> 00:00:13,649 piece, especially among Californians. 5 00:00:13,939 --> 00:00:17,049 Um, I think number one, because people don't know how to drive in the rain, but 6 00:00:17,049 --> 00:00:18,439 number two, because it's just so rare. 7 00:00:18,449 --> 00:00:20,859 We're like, "Oh yeah, it's, something happens sometimes. 8 00:00:20,869 --> 00:00:24,039 Precipitation happens, um, even in Southern California." 9 00:00:24,279 --> 00:00:29,009 And I was thinking about it, and really, the weather i- is just one of those, 10 00:00:29,240 --> 00:00:35,280 um, perennial, uncontrollable things that does remind us that we are very, 11 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,120 very small and not very powerful. 12 00:00:38,399 --> 00:00:42,019 We think of, um, so many things that we've, we've mastered 13 00:00:42,020 --> 00:00:43,429 under certain circumstances. 14 00:00:43,430 --> 00:00:48,219 Yeah, sure, maybe we don't need as much, um, rainfall in order to water 15 00:00:48,219 --> 00:00:53,179 our crops because we have advanced, uh, irrigation systems and things like that. 16 00:00:53,180 --> 00:00:56,829 Like, we made the, the cultivation of lettuce in Imperial 17 00:00:56,829 --> 00:00:57,999 Valley, which is a desert. 18 00:00:57,999 --> 00:00:59,899 We made that happen, and, you know, it's pretty good. 19 00:00:59,899 --> 00:01:05,729 But o- overall, like, to some extent, like, we are still much beholden to the 20 00:01:05,729 --> 00:01:08,619 weather in many of the things we do. 21 00:01:08,639 --> 00:01:12,470 Just think of even in your recent life, like how many things and how many 22 00:01:12,479 --> 00:01:17,629 plans have been kind of marred by bad weather, whether it was the heat or 23 00:01:17,629 --> 00:01:22,519 whether it was the rain, um, you know, unexpected rain on certain circumstances. 24 00:01:22,709 --> 00:01:27,070 Um, I can think about, uh, my, my poor daughter who was, uh, born on August 10th, 25 00:01:27,070 --> 00:01:30,719 and every single one of her birthdays it's, you know, 110 degrees, and so it… 26 00:01:30,749 --> 00:01:33,299 we're limited to the things we can do. 27 00:01:33,669 --> 00:01:39,440 Um, and I, I just think of how much weather is a good check on our lives 28 00:01:39,449 --> 00:01:43,029 to remind us that we are powerless. 29 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:47,759 There's one quote from the, the 19th century that's often attributed to 30 00:01:47,759 --> 00:01:49,799 Mark Twain, but it goes like this. 31 00:01:50,110 --> 00:01:54,779 Um, "Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody seems to do anything about it." 32 00:01:54,949 --> 00:01:55,910 Isn't that, that funny? 33 00:01:56,579 --> 00:02:00,149 Um, I recently saw a, a movie, if you guys have seen it, it was in theaters 34 00:02:00,180 --> 00:02:01,999 earlier this year, called, uh, Pressure. 35 00:02:01,999 --> 00:02:03,289 Anyone seen Pressure with… 36 00:02:03,399 --> 00:02:03,769 Apparently. 37 00:02:03,769 --> 00:02:04,739 O- okay, a couple people. 38 00:02:04,860 --> 00:02:05,869 With, uh, Brendan Fraser. 39 00:02:05,869 --> 00:02:07,639 He played, uh, um, Eisenhower. 40 00:02:07,819 --> 00:02:12,099 Well, Eisenhower is, is a main character in the movie Pressure, but really most of 41 00:02:12,119 --> 00:02:17,009 the, um, most of the plot and development is about, um, a man, a British, uh, 42 00:02:17,020 --> 00:02:22,660 meteorologist named James Stagg, and an American meteorologist named Irving Crick. 43 00:02:22,829 --> 00:02:25,849 And they're kind of at loggerheads because they're trying to interpret 44 00:02:25,869 --> 00:02:31,149 the weather because they wanna ha- give Eisenhower assurance on whether it'll 45 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:36,221 be good weather on D-Day when they, when they invade, um, Europe- And they 46 00:02:36,221 --> 00:02:38,932 eventually, um, do move it from… 47 00:02:39,002 --> 00:02:43,162 The, it's the, basically the story of how D-Day was moved from June 5th to June 6th, 48 00:02:43,402 --> 00:02:45,301 and what kind of planning went into there. 49 00:02:45,462 --> 00:02:48,252 And you, uh, halfway through you're like, "Okay, they made an 50 00:02:48,252 --> 00:02:49,511 entire movie about the weather? 51 00:02:49,522 --> 00:02:50,542 That's, that's interesting." 52 00:02:50,732 --> 00:02:51,672 But, but it really is. 53 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:55,281 It's called Pressure because it's, hey, these guys are trying to predict 54 00:02:55,281 --> 00:03:00,101 the future, trying to determine what's going to happen, and they 55 00:03:00,102 --> 00:03:04,981 find themselves frustrated that, that really at, at, at best they can just 56 00:03:05,061 --> 00:03:07,952 guess, and they don't know for sure. 57 00:03:08,221 --> 00:03:19,812 Well As much as, um, we see the trials happening to the Apostle Paul in the Book 58 00:03:19,812 --> 00:03:25,301 of Acts, um, one of the things that really hasn't happened quite yet is adverse 59 00:03:25,301 --> 00:03:31,062 weather, and that's what we're gonna see in his travel to Rome right here. 60 00:03:31,331 --> 00:03:37,002 But the point of this passage in scripture, I think, is 61 00:03:37,002 --> 00:03:40,121 to show us that pass… 62 00:03:40,202 --> 00:03:47,591 Uh, uh, uh, that the Apostle Paul is not simply himself a, a, a demonstration of 63 00:03:47,601 --> 00:03:55,031 God's mercies and God's, um, glory in, in sharing his gospel, but that God uses 64 00:03:55,071 --> 00:04:01,081 the Apostle Paul's witness in times of actually dire situations brought on by 65 00:04:01,081 --> 00:04:06,591 weather to show his word and his hope not only to the Apostle Paul and around 66 00:04:06,591 --> 00:04:12,111 his immediate companions, but to people who are, um, w- in the Gentile world. 67 00:04:12,121 --> 00:04:17,521 He sh- he shows himself in a real way to the Gentile world by showing himself 68 00:04:17,522 --> 00:04:23,401 to Paul's companions l- um, in a large sense as he's traveling to Rome by ship. 69 00:04:23,812 --> 00:04:29,121 And so let's go ahead and, and start and ta- look at, um, the, this, the 70 00:04:29,121 --> 00:04:38,161 journey that Paul sets out on to Rome starting, uh, in Acts 27:1. 71 00:04:38,191 --> 00:04:44,401 It says, "And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they 72 00:04:44,411 --> 00:04:51,121 delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centerni- uh, centurion of 73 00:04:51,121 --> 00:04:54,492 the Augustine cohort named Julius. 74 00:04:54,922 --> 00:05:00,761 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports 75 00:05:00,761 --> 00:05:05,451 along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, 76 00:05:05,871 --> 00:05:07,921 a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 77 00:05:08,231 --> 00:05:10,501 The next day we put in at Sidon. 78 00:05:10,742 --> 00:05:14,291 And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to 79 00:05:14,291 --> 00:05:16,511 his friends and be cared for. 80 00:05:17,131 --> 00:05:20,881 And putting out to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus 81 00:05:21,021 --> 00:05:23,011 because the winds were against us. 82 00:05:23,252 --> 00:05:27,191 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of 83 00:05:27,401 --> 00:05:33,891 Cicil- um, Ci- uh, Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 84 00:05:33,922 --> 00:05:37,961 Then the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for 85 00:05:37,972 --> 00:05:39,741 Italy and put us on board." 86 00:05:40,106 --> 00:05:45,485 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty 87 00:05:45,545 --> 00:05:50,765 off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed 88 00:05:50,765 --> 00:05:53,435 under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 89 00:05:54,255 --> 00:05:58,615 C- coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, 90 00:05:58,795 --> 00:06:01,775 near which was the city of Lasea. 91 00:06:01,955 --> 00:06:02,445 Much… 92 00:06:02,455 --> 00:06:06,376 Since much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because 93 00:06:06,385 --> 00:06:12,315 even the fast was already over, Paul advised them saying, "Sirs, I perceive 94 00:06:12,315 --> 00:06:17,455 that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo 95 00:06:17,456 --> 00:06:20,595 and the ship, but also of our lives." 96 00:06:21,395 --> 00:06:25,535 Verse eleven: But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the 97 00:06:25,555 --> 00:06:27,835 owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 98 00:06:28,105 --> 00:06:32,655 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority 99 00:06:32,655 --> 00:06:37,465 decided to put out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach 100 00:06:37,534 --> 00:06:43,585 Phoenix, a harbor of Crete facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the 101 00:06:43,585 --> 00:06:51,720 winter there So where are we exactly in the book of Acts and the story of Paul? 102 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:57,350 Well, we're at a moment of decision where Paul, who having appealed to Caesar, 103 00:06:57,509 --> 00:07:02,589 then as you, we saw last week, um, had an audience with King Agrippa, after which 104 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:05,859 Agrippa essentially cleared Paul's name and said, "I don't, I don't see this, 105 00:07:06,129 --> 00:07:08,130 uh, Paul as having done anything wrong. 106 00:07:08,250 --> 00:07:09,850 I see this as an innocent man." 107 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:13,910 His appeal to Caesar was still being carried out. 108 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:17,260 It was still a legitimate appeal, and by law, they were just saying, "Okay, 109 00:07:17,260 --> 00:07:19,809 we're gonna bring Paul to Caesar." 110 00:07:19,990 --> 00:07:20,940 And now that was… 111 00:07:21,060 --> 00:07:26,409 all that was left for him to do, um, was just to get there, which was 112 00:07:26,409 --> 00:07:29,880 no small task in the first century. 113 00:07:30,319 --> 00:07:34,449 So we don't exactly know, um, who decided. 114 00:07:34,449 --> 00:07:39,379 It isn't clear who decided to sail when they sailed, but it was likely some 115 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:45,539 Roman authority who gave the green light from, um, to sail from, uh, I believe it 116 00:07:45,539 --> 00:07:49,729 was, was Caesarea to the city of Rome. 117 00:07:50,199 --> 00:07:55,020 Nevertheless, we know from the whole of the narrative of the book of Acts 118 00:07:55,020 --> 00:07:59,909 that no matter who decided when to do these things and where to sail, um, 119 00:08:00,029 --> 00:08:04,339 the entire journey, just to remind you guys, was preordained by God. 120 00:08:04,539 --> 00:08:09,029 God was still in control of Paul's eventual journey, yes, 121 00:08:09,050 --> 00:08:11,869 to Jerusalem, but later to Rome. 122 00:08:12,080 --> 00:08:13,119 Remember, this was… 123 00:08:13,179 --> 00:08:16,549 What we're seeing now is in the fulfillment of the words of the 124 00:08:16,550 --> 00:08:19,410 Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 19. 125 00:08:20,409 --> 00:08:28,070 Um, after he had left, uh, uh, Eph- Ephesus, Act- chapter 19 says, "Now after 126 00:08:28,070 --> 00:08:34,479 these events, Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia 127 00:08:34,519 --> 00:08:40,759 and go to Jerusalem, saying, 'After I have been there, I must also see Rome.'" 128 00:08:41,058 --> 00:08:44,839 And Luke has that note that it was not just Paul, he was just trying to do 129 00:08:44,839 --> 00:08:50,379 some stuff, but he was led by the Spirit for mostly kind of unknown reasons, 130 00:08:50,389 --> 00:08:55,049 for reasons that will be soon revealed and, and were soon to be revealed by 131 00:08:55,069 --> 00:09:02,877 the narrative itself Later, after he is, um, uh, found and, and arrested in, 132 00:09:02,938 --> 00:09:07,938 uh, Jerusalem by the religious leaders, uh, after the riot and everything, we 133 00:09:07,938 --> 00:09:13,627 see in Acts chapter 23, "The following night, the Lord stood by him," i.e. 134 00:09:13,627 --> 00:09:18,178 by Paul, "and said, 'Take courage, for as you have testified to the 135 00:09:18,178 --> 00:09:23,937 facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.'" 136 00:09:24,127 --> 00:09:27,917 And it was God's way of revealing himself to Paul, and specifically 137 00:09:27,917 --> 00:09:32,387 comforting and encouraging him to say, "Hey, you're in this dire situation. 138 00:09:32,387 --> 00:09:35,737 Yes, you're in prison, and you're not gonna be free for a very long 139 00:09:35,737 --> 00:09:37,927 time, but this is all going to plan. 140 00:09:38,198 --> 00:09:41,647 You had purpose in your heart to go to Rome." 141 00:09:41,788 --> 00:09:45,448 God essentially is saying, "I'm the one who g- put that purpose into 142 00:09:45,448 --> 00:09:48,728 your heart, so you're in the right place, you're in the right time. 143 00:09:48,827 --> 00:09:55,351 This is not chance- And though these seasons and, and what we see, these 144 00:09:55,361 --> 00:10:01,411 details seem like ordinary, um, human choice and even random chance, uh, it's 145 00:10:01,411 --> 00:10:06,911 a good reminder that God is in control of all circumstances and details. 146 00:10:07,721 --> 00:10:12,891 And I think Luke goes into as much detail as he goes into in the passage 147 00:10:12,891 --> 00:10:20,191 we just read in Acts chapter 27 because he's trying to describe the things that 148 00:10:20,191 --> 00:10:25,691 were happening and how they fulfilled God's eventual prophecies on Paul and 149 00:10:25,701 --> 00:10:30,692 God's eventual promises to Paul, but not only to Paul, as we'll see, but 150 00:10:30,721 --> 00:10:37,211 all to his c- traveling companions on the ship of, um, uh, the, for the 151 00:10:37,211 --> 00:10:39,271 ship on which they were, uh, sharing. 152 00:10:39,631 --> 00:10:44,261 So we see as they sail for Rome that it was two ships that they had taken. 153 00:10:44,491 --> 00:10:50,091 Um, the first ship was a ship of Adramyttium, which was an area, um, 154 00:10:50,290 --> 00:10:54,861 I think closer to the north that happened to be in the area, and it was 155 00:10:54,861 --> 00:10:56,461 kind of like a, a connecting flight. 156 00:10:56,461 --> 00:10:58,171 Like, we can see it as a connecting flight. 157 00:10:58,211 --> 00:10:59,081 They, they… 158 00:10:59,111 --> 00:11:03,992 It takes them not all the way to Rome, but it takes them to a, a place called Lycia. 159 00:11:04,581 --> 00:11:09,441 And then here in this journey, we can note a couple things, that Paul was not alone. 160 00:11:09,632 --> 00:11:14,021 Notice the narrative says that, um, we- starts using the word we, which means 161 00:11:14,031 --> 00:11:18,551 that Luke himself was there, and he starts ref- referencing the, um, not 162 00:11:18,551 --> 00:11:20,201 just Paul, but also his companions. 163 00:11:20,452 --> 00:11:23,351 We also see that there was a man named Aristarchus who 164 00:11:23,351 --> 00:11:25,831 accompanied him on the, um, ship. 165 00:11:26,061 --> 00:11:29,171 If you recall, it was actually Aristarchus, um, when there was a 166 00:11:29,171 --> 00:11:34,271 riot at Ephesus, um, and they couldn't find Paul, they started to find his 167 00:11:34,281 --> 00:11:35,781 friends and grab him and seize him. 168 00:11:35,811 --> 00:11:38,021 Aristarchus was actually one of those guys they found. 169 00:11:38,231 --> 00:11:39,081 Poor Aristarchus. 170 00:11:39,101 --> 00:11:42,821 But he was still very loyal to Paul, even though his association 171 00:11:42,821 --> 00:11:44,801 was obviously a liability for him. 172 00:11:45,321 --> 00:11:50,421 And so we see in addition to Paul being able to travel with his companions, 173 00:11:50,671 --> 00:11:55,221 that Julius, the centurion who took over the charge of Paul and conveying 174 00:11:55,221 --> 00:11:58,421 him to Italy, was very kind to Paul. 175 00:11:58,761 --> 00:12:03,671 In verse three, we see that Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go, 176 00:12:03,871 --> 00:12:06,431 um, to his friends and be cared for. 177 00:12:06,702 --> 00:12:13,151 And so he essentially treated Paul almost like an innocent man, a non-dangerous man, 178 00:12:14,032 --> 00:12:18,901 because I think it was well known at that point that everyone kind of knew that Paul 179 00:12:18,941 --> 00:12:24,121 was not at fault with anything, and yet as a formality, they were journeying to 180 00:12:24,121 --> 00:12:30,074 Rome as far as they knew Then they board the second ship, and it was a s- ship of 181 00:12:30,074 --> 00:12:34,784 Alexandria, which in theory was meant to be the ship that was supposed to be- take 182 00:12:34,784 --> 00:12:38,464 them from Lycia all the way to Italy. 183 00:12:39,134 --> 00:12:43,364 But again, we start to see Luke starts to inject the difficulties 184 00:12:43,393 --> 00:12:46,043 they had in trying to get there. 185 00:12:46,454 --> 00:12:51,413 And he u- uses very specific, um, sailing terms where… 186 00:12:52,083 --> 00:12:55,503 And this is, this is a point at which, like, I, I needed to call up, like, 187 00:12:55,534 --> 00:12:58,614 John Bandman or something, someone who knew, um, sailing really well. 188 00:12:58,803 --> 00:13:04,023 But they sail very slowly, in verse seven, for a number of days and arrive 189 00:13:04,034 --> 00:13:07,574 with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, 190 00:13:07,574 --> 00:13:12,123 we sailed under the lee of Crete, off Salmone, and sailing across it with 191 00:13:12,124 --> 00:13:16,704 difficulty we came to a place called Fair Havens, which was near the city of Lasea. 192 00:13:16,883 --> 00:13:23,783 So without, you know, self-propo- propelled boats, and only, um, uh, 193 00:13:23,793 --> 00:13:29,774 depending on wind, basically all they, um, all that had to happen to push 194 00:13:29,774 --> 00:13:34,153 them off their journey and to disrupt and slow them down was the wind had 195 00:13:34,153 --> 00:13:36,363 the power to simply not be favorable. 196 00:13:36,624 --> 00:13:41,753 And when they reference sailing under the lee of Crete, um, essentially 197 00:13:41,753 --> 00:13:45,033 it's, it's a, it's a sailing move which I, which I only learned about 198 00:13:45,153 --> 00:13:46,773 recently after after having… 199 00:13:46,914 --> 00:13:48,174 wondering like, "What is a lee?" 200 00:13:48,414 --> 00:13:52,854 Uh, it's essentially when the, when the wind starts to blow in a specific 201 00:13:52,854 --> 00:13:58,804 direction, it's when you use the island or a nearby land mass itself to, um, block 202 00:13:58,804 --> 00:14:04,514 severe winds and as you kind of do your best to go against and, and, um, not even 203 00:14:04,523 --> 00:14:06,153 in the direction you were intending to go. 204 00:14:06,323 --> 00:14:09,713 But by kind of going maybe a little bit more south than you want 205 00:14:09,713 --> 00:14:13,633 to, you can still get, um, very, very close to where you wanna go. 206 00:14:13,633 --> 00:14:20,104 It's just very slow and very difficult and very tedious to, to, to sail this way. 207 00:14:20,683 --> 00:14:25,483 And so Luke was basically saying by the time they got to this place 208 00:14:25,484 --> 00:14:31,124 called Fair Havens, so much time had passed that, um, it was essentially 209 00:14:31,203 --> 00:14:34,313 September, uh, late September. 210 00:14:34,343 --> 00:14:38,913 He- Luke notes for the purposes of time that the fast ha- was already over, 211 00:14:39,063 --> 00:14:43,703 which was essentially the celebration of Yom Kippur, and he kind of uses 212 00:14:43,703 --> 00:14:47,523 that as the, a marker to say, "Hey, guys, it's late September, and now 213 00:14:47,524 --> 00:14:50,873 we're into a more tumultuous season." 214 00:14:52,513 --> 00:14:58,294 Paul starts to speak up, and he says, "Well, I perceive that the voyage will 215 00:14:58,294 --> 00:15:03,363 be with much injury or, or with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo 216 00:15:03,403 --> 00:15:06,853 and the ship, but also of our lives." 217 00:15:07,623 --> 00:15:11,863 Paul may have had some special insight of what was gonna happen if they continued 218 00:15:13,247 --> 00:15:16,927 But it's also true that like anyone with eyes who knew what was going on 219 00:15:16,927 --> 00:15:21,287 of like, "Hey guys, we're going really, really slow on this journey," could have 220 00:15:21,327 --> 00:15:24,617 gotten an indicator of what was going on. 221 00:15:24,818 --> 00:15:28,407 You didn't need to be a sailing expert to realize that this was 222 00:15:28,437 --> 00:15:33,008 a very dangerous and precarious journey were they to keep going. 223 00:15:33,758 --> 00:15:39,697 But the centurion, whose job it was to get these prisoners to Rome, chose to listen 224 00:15:39,697 --> 00:15:42,187 to the other sources in verse eleven. 225 00:15:42,187 --> 00:15:45,497 He paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the 226 00:15:45,497 --> 00:15:49,017 ship than to what Paul says. 227 00:15:49,628 --> 00:15:54,878 And what's more, in verse twelve, is that they'll-- those guys, the pilot 228 00:15:54,878 --> 00:15:58,607 and the owner of the ship who said, "Eh, yeah, it shouldn't be a big deal," they, 229 00:15:58,698 --> 00:16:00,967 um, got the majority on their side. 230 00:16:00,977 --> 00:16:05,157 That majority decided to put out to sea from there on the chance that 231 00:16:05,167 --> 00:16:09,967 somehow they could reach Phoenix what, uh, which was another harbor of Crete. 232 00:16:09,987 --> 00:16:13,377 So they were already on the island of Crete, a place called Fairhaven, 233 00:16:13,377 --> 00:16:17,147 which actually seems really nice, but they started to go a little bit 234 00:16:17,147 --> 00:16:22,038 further west off the chance that they could get a better harbor and, 235 00:16:22,068 --> 00:16:23,838 um, continue on in their journey. 236 00:16:23,838 --> 00:16:27,957 And you might think like, "Hey, yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a, um, it's a… 237 00:16:28,387 --> 00:16:29,887 Let, let's say it's a fair risk." 238 00:16:30,387 --> 00:16:35,427 But the Apostle Paul was on the side of caution, and as we'll see, he ended 239 00:16:35,427 --> 00:16:38,327 up being correct in his estimation. 240 00:16:38,637 --> 00:16:42,978 Verse thirteen says this, as a result of their decision, 'Now when the 241 00:16:43,187 --> 00:16:47,187 south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, 242 00:16:47,187 --> 00:16:51,878 they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete close to the shore.' 243 00:16:51,887 --> 00:16:55,927 So in other words, they saw that there was a, there was a wind, and the wind 244 00:16:55,947 --> 00:16:58,917 kind of died down, and they're like, "Oh, maybe we have some favorable conditions. 245 00:16:58,917 --> 00:17:02,027 Maybe we have a week or so of good sailing, and we 246 00:17:02,027 --> 00:17:03,797 can, um, make the journey." 247 00:17:04,666 --> 00:17:09,297 Well, verse fourteen, 'But soon a tempestuous wind called the 248 00:17:09,297 --> 00:17:14,217 nor-northeaster came down, um, or struck down from the land. 249 00:17:14,247 --> 00:17:18,337 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave wa-- we 250 00:17:18,337 --> 00:17:20,548 gave way to it and were driven along. 251 00:17:20,867 --> 00:17:26,008 Running along the lee of a small island named Cauda, we managed with difficulty 252 00:17:26,008 --> 00:17:28,717 to se-secure the, secure the ship's boat. 253 00:17:28,877 --> 00:17:35,397 And after hoisting it up, um, they used supports to undergird the ship. 254 00:17:35,647 --> 00:17:40,757 Then fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the 255 00:17:40,757 --> 00:17:42,698 gear and thus they were driven along. 256 00:17:42,798 --> 00:17:47,347 Since we were violently storm tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 257 00:17:47,548 --> 00:17:49,777 And on the third day, they threw the ship's tackle 258 00:17:49,787 --> 00:17:51,768 overboard with their own hands. 259 00:17:51,968 --> 00:17:57,427 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest 260 00:17:57,427 --> 00:18:02,107 lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.' 261 00:18:03,921 --> 00:18:09,782 So essentially, we see that this was a wrong decision. 262 00:18:09,782 --> 00:18:13,911 This was an unwise decision to proceed from Fair Havens and 263 00:18:13,911 --> 00:18:16,992 try to get to a new harbor. 264 00:18:17,971 --> 00:18:19,031 Uh, there's a various… 265 00:18:19,072 --> 00:18:23,331 there's a, a variety of things that happened to them where they were 266 00:18:23,351 --> 00:18:27,331 blown instead of blown kind of try-- although they were kind of trying to 267 00:18:27,331 --> 00:18:31,981 keep parallel and even with the island of Crete, they were en-- they ended up 268 00:18:31,981 --> 00:18:38,052 being blown away from the island, and they were almost blown so far that they 269 00:18:38,052 --> 00:18:40,072 were near another island called Cauda. 270 00:18:40,471 --> 00:18:45,461 And they were trying to secure the ship's boat, which would have been a separate 271 00:18:45,461 --> 00:18:51,571 boat tied to the ship and in tow, which was also in danger of, um, being torn 272 00:18:51,572 --> 00:18:55,151 away from the ship or slowing down the ship or possibly sinking the ship. 273 00:18:55,631 --> 00:19:01,531 They also, um, feared to run aground on the Syrtis, which was kind of like a, 274 00:19:01,532 --> 00:19:06,051 um, uh, a s-- kind of a sandbank, which would have been too shallow and they 275 00:19:06,052 --> 00:19:07,561 would have been shipwrecked on this. 276 00:19:07,822 --> 00:19:12,421 And so they lowered the gear, and they tried to slow down as much as possible. 277 00:19:12,491 --> 00:19:18,691 When that didn't work, they had basically, um, uh, stages of, uh, uh, 278 00:19:18,741 --> 00:19:24,731 uh, tiers of, of responses, where then they s- went to the next item to say, 279 00:19:24,731 --> 00:19:28,291 "Okay, well, if we, we, we're not going anywhere, then we have to save the ship." 280 00:19:28,561 --> 00:19:32,641 And so in verse eighteen, they started to jettison the cargo, which means 281 00:19:32,641 --> 00:19:34,591 that, like, it made this entire journey. 282 00:19:34,591 --> 00:19:38,821 Remember, like, the centurion is essentially renting this ship or, or 283 00:19:38,981 --> 00:19:42,761 commandeering this ship, but this is a ship of many, many other people. 284 00:19:42,862 --> 00:19:46,101 Later in the chapter, it's gonna mention that it's gonna be over probably 285 00:19:46,101 --> 00:19:47,951 two hundred people were on board. 286 00:19:48,341 --> 00:19:51,621 And the whole reason why this journey was gonna be profitable 287 00:19:51,621 --> 00:19:52,801 was because of the cargo. 288 00:19:52,971 --> 00:19:55,351 They probably had wheat, they probably had these things. 289 00:19:55,811 --> 00:19:58,821 And so they just thought, "Okay, well, this is no longer a 290 00:19:58,822 --> 00:20:00,081 profitable journey at this point. 291 00:20:00,091 --> 00:20:02,051 We're gonna overthrow the cargo." 292 00:20:02,391 --> 00:20:07,262 And not only were they gonna overthrow the cargo, it came to the point 293 00:20:07,822 --> 00:20:11,851 in, in terms of triage and, and self-preservation in verse nineteen, 294 00:20:12,001 --> 00:20:15,751 they started to throw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 295 00:20:15,811 --> 00:20:20,231 The ship's tackle meaning the basic items used to secure the ship and 296 00:20:20,241 --> 00:20:22,061 used to ensure a safe journey. 297 00:20:22,482 --> 00:20:26,461 And so basically, it was starting to proceed into, well, we're gonna make a 298 00:20:26,461 --> 00:20:29,991 quick journey, it's gonna be great to, okay, we're gonna take a significant 299 00:20:30,081 --> 00:20:36,862 financial loss, and now they're in dire straits, not hoping to even save the ship. 300 00:20:37,182 --> 00:20:42,231 And in verse-- by the time verse twenty comes around, they are in 301 00:20:42,391 --> 00:20:44,861 terror and fear for their own lives. 302 00:20:45,311 --> 00:20:48,431 And they're not only thinking, you know, are we gonna make it by before 303 00:20:48,432 --> 00:20:51,761 the end of winter, but they're thinking, are we gonna make it alive? 304 00:20:53,504 --> 00:20:59,254 So they're in a dire situation very, very suddenly, very, we might say 305 00:20:59,314 --> 00:21:03,534 unpredictably, but possibly predictably because of the seasons there. 306 00:21:04,103 --> 00:21:12,304 And so finally, Paul speaks up again, and not simply to the centurion, but 307 00:21:12,304 --> 00:21:19,484 to everyone on the ship in verse 21 and says this, uh, uh, "Since they had been 308 00:21:19,484 --> 00:21:23,963 without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, 'Men, you should 309 00:21:23,963 --> 00:21:28,773 have listened to me and not set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 310 00:21:28,954 --> 00:21:32,383 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be loss of life among you.' 311 00:21:33,213 --> 00:21:34,494 Um, no, no… 312 00:21:34,533 --> 00:21:38,023 I'm sorry, 'No loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 313 00:21:38,313 --> 00:21:43,244 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to 314 00:21:43,293 --> 00:21:47,423 whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, "Do not be afraid, Paul. 315 00:21:47,583 --> 00:21:50,003 You must stand before Caesar." 316 00:21:51,563 --> 00:21:52,143 And before… 317 00:21:52,164 --> 00:21:56,403 And behold, God has granted you all who sail with you. 318 00:21:56,583 --> 00:22:00,864 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that will be exactly… 319 00:22:00,883 --> 00:22:03,044 that it will be exactly as I have been told. 320 00:22:03,193 --> 00:22:06,383 But we must run aground on some island.'" 321 00:22:07,434 --> 00:22:08,514 What's happening here? 322 00:22:09,023 --> 00:22:15,543 Well, it's a continuation of the way God is working in the life of the 323 00:22:15,544 --> 00:22:20,763 Apostle Paul, especially as we near this section of the Book of Acts. 324 00:22:21,654 --> 00:22:26,933 God could have, and God has in biblical stories before, calmed storms. 325 00:22:27,574 --> 00:22:32,283 Jesus himself in, in, you know, in, in Mark chapter four calmed the storm 326 00:22:32,283 --> 00:22:36,774 with his very voice, and the disciples who were on bo- uh, on board the boat 327 00:22:36,783 --> 00:22:39,973 with him in which they were in the middle of the sea marveled and said, 328 00:22:39,974 --> 00:22:43,164 "What kind of man is this that can actually calm the storm with his mouth?" 329 00:22:43,353 --> 00:22:49,823 So God could have done that, but God does not do that, and rather he prefers to 330 00:22:49,824 --> 00:22:58,113 speak to Paul and give him encouragement and exhortation and mercy, even in the 331 00:22:58,114 --> 00:23:00,953 midst of the ship being tossed around. 332 00:23:06,558 --> 00:23:12,408 We should take to heart that this was most of all what Paul himself needed, 333 00:23:12,738 --> 00:23:16,047 but also what the sailors needed. 334 00:23:16,477 --> 00:23:23,217 A reminder that God was sovereign, omnipotent, all-powerful, yes, 335 00:23:23,247 --> 00:23:26,528 and in control of the situation 336 00:23:29,482 --> 00:23:36,162 God spoke to Paul to, and comfort him in s- within the storm rather 337 00:23:36,162 --> 00:23:41,441 than take the storm away from Paul and all of his companions. 338 00:23:42,792 --> 00:23:49,552 And really the revelation of God in this moment is, is the primary, uh, turning 339 00:23:49,552 --> 00:23:57,881 point for the remainder of this story We're gonna see some more details and see 340 00:23:57,881 --> 00:23:59,892 how the story, um, f- unfolds next week. 341 00:24:00,131 --> 00:24:00,461 But for 342 00:24:02,572 --> 00:24:07,361 this moment, I thought it was important to slow down and really think about the 343 00:24:07,361 --> 00:24:13,721 revelation that God showed to Paul, and by extension, his companions, and the 344 00:24:13,722 --> 00:24:20,941 reality with which God often reveals himself to us in dire circumstances, even 345 00:24:20,941 --> 00:24:24,182 while not taking the circumstances away. 346 00:24:24,832 --> 00:24:31,552 That God, in his abundant mercy, knows that above all, we don't always simply 347 00:24:31,552 --> 00:24:36,231 need to be delivered from a situation or delivered from a, a something 348 00:24:36,231 --> 00:24:40,481 that's very difficult and frightening, but rather we need his encouragement 349 00:24:40,611 --> 00:24:46,131 and the lifeline of his Word while we're in a, uh, an adverse situation. 350 00:24:46,591 --> 00:24:46,631 Amen. 351 00:24:46,981 --> 00:24:51,761 And so I have four things to share with you about this as we sort of 352 00:24:51,761 --> 00:24:54,161 think about this passage and close. 353 00:24:54,931 --> 00:25:02,641 Number one, that God extends his protection on all believers. 354 00:25:04,152 --> 00:25:07,052 Does God protect us like he protected Paul? 355 00:25:07,091 --> 00:25:08,912 Seems like Paul got, like, some special treatment. 356 00:25:08,921 --> 00:25:13,041 Like, hey, Paul got a few, like, extra guardian angels or something like that. 357 00:25:13,301 --> 00:25:18,171 But it's true that the Bible actually teaches us that God, when we are… 358 00:25:18,572 --> 00:25:22,471 When we put faith in him, when we are his people, that God 359 00:25:22,591 --> 00:25:24,772 does protect us generally. 360 00:25:25,311 --> 00:25:29,111 This is the promise of God's providence over our lives. 361 00:25:29,441 --> 00:25:34,751 You, if you are a Christian, are the recipient of divine protection. 362 00:25:35,251 --> 00:25:44,601 In Psalm 121:7-8, which is often a, um, a psalm invoked in, uh, prayers 363 00:25:44,601 --> 00:25:49,821 for travel mercies, if you will, it says this: "The Lord will keep you 364 00:25:49,831 --> 00:25:52,552 from all evil; he will keep your life. 365 00:25:52,601 --> 00:25:56,711 The war- the Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from 366 00:25:56,711 --> 00:25:58,921 this time and forth and forevermore." 367 00:25:59,191 --> 00:26:01,022 What is that psalm trying to tell us? 368 00:26:01,671 --> 00:26:04,731 That you're never gonna get in a car accident, that you're, you know, 369 00:26:04,781 --> 00:26:07,362 always gonna be okay, that you're always gonna get the parking spot? 370 00:26:07,682 --> 00:26:08,872 No, not necessarily. 371 00:26:09,031 --> 00:26:12,942 But that everything that happens to you, your going out and your coming 372 00:26:12,942 --> 00:26:18,292 in, no matter where you go, no matter what you do, is watched and, we can 373 00:26:18,292 --> 00:26:21,332 say, divinely filtered by God himself. 374 00:26:21,861 --> 00:26:27,372 Specifically, in addition to that, the Bible uses the imagery of even storms 375 00:26:27,531 --> 00:26:33,911 and waters as a depiction of trouble from which God preserves believers. 376 00:26:35,171 --> 00:26:40,421 Isaiah 43:2 says, "When you pass through the waters, I will be 377 00:26:40,421 --> 00:26:43,941 with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. 378 00:26:44,141 --> 00:26:47,321 And when you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, and the 379 00:26:47,322 --> 00:26:49,721 flame shall not consume you." 380 00:26:51,346 --> 00:26:56,765 That doesn't mean we are free as believers from death or suffering or sickness or 381 00:26:56,765 --> 00:27:04,736 even third-degree burns, but rather that God holds our times in His hands until 382 00:27:04,736 --> 00:27:07,735 we are in glory with Him in heaven. 383 00:27:08,685 --> 00:27:16,485 Trusting in God's protection therefore means that we are neither presumptuous nor 384 00:27:16,495 --> 00:27:21,346 risk-averse, that we don't get ourselves in trouble simply because we think that 385 00:27:21,346 --> 00:27:26,015 God will protect us from anything, that we can just live a life of reckless abandon. 386 00:27:26,415 --> 00:27:31,405 But neither does it mean that we should be afraid to be bold when we need to. 387 00:27:32,605 --> 00:27:36,416 Therefore, God's providence over our lives, God's protection of His 388 00:27:36,416 --> 00:27:43,795 believers, means that we can be bold in our callings and life without fear. 389 00:27:44,675 --> 00:27:47,686 It's been said, um, and I couldn't figure out who said this 390 00:27:47,695 --> 00:27:54,515 first, but, uh, the Christian is immortal until his work is done. 391 00:27:56,435 --> 00:28:00,275 If we believe this, if Christians truly believe in God's divine 392 00:28:00,275 --> 00:28:02,136 protection, then what happens? 393 00:28:02,525 --> 00:28:07,926 Well secondly, our faith gains us a hearing in times of crisis. 394 00:28:09,145 --> 00:28:14,396 The Apostle Paul, uh, when he might have sounded overcautious in the 395 00:28:14,396 --> 00:28:21,046 moment, now actually sounds very reasonable in saying that number one, 396 00:28:21,046 --> 00:28:25,085 they shouldn't have done that, but number two, I have an alternative. 397 00:28:25,105 --> 00:28:27,775 I have some divine revelation from God. 398 00:28:28,635 --> 00:28:33,035 The Apostle Paul in the last chapter was just accused by Festus for being 399 00:28:33,046 --> 00:28:37,155 out of his mind, and maybe some Christians are thought of that way. 400 00:28:38,016 --> 00:28:42,095 Hopefully not because we're, we're acting crazy, but hopefully we're accused for 401 00:28:42,366 --> 00:28:46,475 bad reasons and false reasons, that, "Hey, all Christians, you know, you, you, 402 00:28:46,625 --> 00:28:51,055 you have, you're too Pollyanna-ish or you're too optimistic about the world." 403 00:28:51,685 --> 00:28:56,165 But in most cases, Christians are the most prepared for times of 404 00:28:56,165 --> 00:29:02,276 crisis because they are not swayed by circumstances, by people, by competing 405 00:29:02,276 --> 00:29:07,665 authorities, nor are they overly arrogant, trusting in themselves. 406 00:29:09,145 --> 00:29:11,875 I love what Psalm 146 says. 407 00:29:12,725 --> 00:29:17,265 It says, "Do not put your trust in princes, in a son of man, 408 00:29:17,495 --> 00:29:19,485 in whom there is no salvation. 409 00:29:19,965 --> 00:29:26,206 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth, and on that day his plans perish. 410 00:29:26,725 --> 00:29:32,206 Blessed is he whose God or whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is 411 00:29:32,206 --> 00:29:36,356 in the Lord his God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is 412 00:29:36,356 --> 00:29:41,855 in them, who keeps faith forever, who executes justice for the oppressed, 413 00:29:42,005 --> 00:29:44,175 and who gives food to the hungry." 414 00:29:46,624 --> 00:29:51,224 Because we believe that, and because we believe in d- God's divine protection, 415 00:29:52,134 --> 00:29:57,004 we are not swayed, and therefore, often we have standing in times of 416 00:29:57,004 --> 00:30:02,964 crisis to be heard, to be heard by our friends, to be heard by our unbelieving 417 00:30:02,964 --> 00:30:06,833 family to say, "Hey, you've, you've kept it together during this bad time. 418 00:30:07,033 --> 00:30:08,203 What's your secret?" 419 00:30:09,783 --> 00:30:15,433 Thus, Paul speaks of not simply that he had a revelation, but he had a 420 00:30:15,433 --> 00:30:23,223 revelation from the angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship. 421 00:30:24,033 --> 00:30:25,934 Paul appealed to this authority. 422 00:30:26,694 --> 00:30:30,474 He couldn't appeal to the authority of being a sailor or the authority 423 00:30:30,474 --> 00:30:35,254 of being a wise meteorologist, but he knew above all that when life and 424 00:30:35,254 --> 00:30:41,964 death were at stake, he could appeal to God for authority and his word. 425 00:30:43,363 --> 00:30:50,153 You know, uh, this Friday is September 11th, and it's the 25th anniversary of 426 00:30:50,183 --> 00:30:55,653 the terrorist attack on the Twin Towers, and I think of, like, that's 25 years ago. 427 00:30:55,653 --> 00:30:58,134 That's an entire generation of people ago. 428 00:30:58,954 --> 00:31:02,773 But you think about what happened after that Sunday, if you guys remember where 429 00:31:02,774 --> 00:31:05,223 you were and where you were in life then. 430 00:31:05,713 --> 00:31:06,053 The… 431 00:31:06,143 --> 00:31:07,144 It happened on a Tuesday. 432 00:31:07,144 --> 00:31:11,053 The following Sunday, churches were absolutely packed because it was people 433 00:31:11,053 --> 00:31:15,254 saying, "Well, we once trusted in the, you know, the United States government. 434 00:31:15,303 --> 00:31:19,613 We once trusted in, you know, the Central Intelligence Agency to keep 435 00:31:19,613 --> 00:31:23,564 us safe and to keep off international terrorists from attacking us. 436 00:31:23,673 --> 00:31:25,213 Now what do we trust in?" 437 00:31:25,463 --> 00:31:27,373 And it was a question of life and death. 438 00:31:27,393 --> 00:31:32,163 It was the beg, big question of, "What am, what is gonna happen to me and my family?" 439 00:31:32,833 --> 00:31:37,893 That's a que- that's a spiritual question to be answered by a spiritual authority. 440 00:31:38,433 --> 00:31:43,743 In your life and in your sphere of influence, you are, to some extent, to 441 00:31:43,743 --> 00:31:48,773 a great extent, a spiritual authority to your friends and family, and you'll 442 00:31:48,773 --> 00:31:50,603 gain a hearing in times of crisis. 443 00:31:51,633 --> 00:31:56,053 Thirdly, God uses us as witnesses for his abundant mercies. 444 00:31:56,683 --> 00:32:03,353 God was generous in his revelation to Paul because it wasn't just for Paul, but 445 00:32:03,353 --> 00:32:05,803 it was also for those who were with him. 446 00:32:06,674 --> 00:32:11,683 We see this in two ways, that God was generous in the fact that he divinely 447 00:32:11,693 --> 00:32:15,913 intervened to protect the lives that, of all who accompanied Paul on the 448 00:32:15,913 --> 00:32:22,843 ship, and that comfort extended and was used by Paul to be a messenger of God's 449 00:32:22,844 --> 00:32:25,073 mercy to the people on board the ship 450 00:32:27,394 --> 00:32:32,624 So we first see th- that God intervened in particular, and commentator, um, I. 451 00:32:32,624 --> 00:32:37,033 Howard Marshall w- in this passage says that the wording implies that Paul 452 00:32:37,044 --> 00:32:41,374 had prayed for his fellow travelers and that God had heard his prayer. 453 00:32:41,624 --> 00:32:46,723 We think of Abraham even interceding for the people of Sodom in Genesis 454 00:32:46,723 --> 00:32:52,013 18, where God listened to Abraham to, to a large extent, and so 455 00:32:52,014 --> 00:32:54,003 they were saved by this means. 456 00:32:54,693 --> 00:32:59,983 And we see secondly that when Paul knew of this thing to happen, he 457 00:32:59,983 --> 00:33:03,943 went to applying the mercies of God to their comfort, and he told them, 458 00:33:03,943 --> 00:33:10,343 "I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you." 459 00:33:10,883 --> 00:33:13,413 He could have just not told them anything and said, "Well, you 460 00:33:13,413 --> 00:33:15,643 know, God's gonna preserve them, and I'll just let them freak out." 461 00:33:15,643 --> 00:33:19,043 But he took it upon himself to show mercy. 462 00:33:19,283 --> 00:33:23,503 He took it upon himself to be a vessel of mercy to those around him and to 463 00:33:23,503 --> 00:33:26,393 be the encourager during this time. 464 00:33:27,033 --> 00:33:30,873 In the same way, God often makes us the vessel and the conduit 465 00:33:30,893 --> 00:33:33,793 of mercy to those around us. 466 00:33:34,524 --> 00:33:35,544 We don't have… 467 00:33:35,584 --> 00:33:38,733 I mean, not lately for myself at least, but you know, I haven't had 468 00:33:38,734 --> 00:33:42,073 a vision from the angel of the Lord lately, but I do have the revealed 469 00:33:42,073 --> 00:33:47,093 word of God, which makes me a vessel of mercy and hope to those around me. 470 00:33:48,014 --> 00:33:53,943 Lastly, when we should under- underscore and understand that the gospel is 471 00:33:53,943 --> 00:33:57,023 good news for a hopeless audience. 472 00:33:57,313 --> 00:34:03,033 Notice that Paul finally ge- got a great audience when everyone was out of 473 00:34:03,243 --> 00:34:10,484 hope, and it reminds us the extent to which the gospel and the word in which 474 00:34:10,484 --> 00:34:18,172 we proclaim is a message for hopeless people, that as things get worse in 475 00:34:18,172 --> 00:34:24,592 our world, we can, not rejoice, 'cause that sounds a little bit weird, but we 476 00:34:24,592 --> 00:34:30,103 can be grateful to understand that as things get worse and as people get more 477 00:34:30,103 --> 00:34:36,324 hopeless, the appetite to hear a message of hope is even greater with our family 478 00:34:36,382 --> 00:34:39,763 and our friends and those around us. 479 00:34:40,344 --> 00:34:47,393 Ephesians chapter 2 verses 12 and 13 says this: "Remember that you were at 480 00:34:47,393 --> 00:34:53,263 that time separated from Christ," talking about people before they accepted Christ. 481 00:34:53,493 --> 00:34:57,274 "They were alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers 482 00:34:57,274 --> 00:35:02,294 to the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 483 00:35:02,543 --> 00:35:06,393 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought 484 00:35:06,403 --> 00:35:08,913 near by the blood of Christ." 485 00:35:11,600 --> 00:35:17,210 What was happening on this ship was a very accelerated version of the spiritual 486 00:35:17,210 --> 00:35:19,550 re- reality for many of these people. 487 00:35:19,820 --> 00:35:22,360 That when immediately confronted with death, they were like, 488 00:35:22,400 --> 00:35:24,029 "Okay, what do we even do now? 489 00:35:24,039 --> 00:35:25,419 We don't have any hope." 490 00:35:25,780 --> 00:35:32,650 And the lack of a hope of any idea of being saved actually had them stop 491 00:35:32,669 --> 00:35:35,890 eating, where we're gonna see in, in the next, uh, later in the chapter that 492 00:35:35,890 --> 00:35:39,380 there was actually food available, but they even stopped eating because they 493 00:35:39,380 --> 00:35:42,269 were just simply giving up completely. 494 00:35:42,650 --> 00:35:48,879 And how much people, I think, in this world give up in life, give up and become 495 00:35:48,880 --> 00:35:54,009 depressed, give up and become unmotivated simply because they have no hope. 496 00:35:54,039 --> 00:35:57,469 Well, let me tell you that you can have hope. 497 00:35:57,830 --> 00:36:03,029 You can have hope in Christ Jesus to bring you close to God, and it's not 498 00:36:03,039 --> 00:36:07,120 simply to bring you close to God by any means, but rather to bring you 499 00:36:07,120 --> 00:36:14,649 close to God, as it is in Ephesians 2:13, "By the blood of Christ, which 500 00:36:14,660 --> 00:36:17,759 formerly separated you by your… 501 00:36:18,249 --> 00:36:19,420 because of your sin." 502 00:36:20,730 --> 00:36:25,409 The distance meaning that you were apart from God. 503 00:36:25,419 --> 00:36:27,140 You were apart from hope. 504 00:36:27,140 --> 00:36:32,549 You were apart from life, and therefore God brought you near to give you a 505 00:36:32,620 --> 00:36:35,979 hope in this world and in the next. 506 00:36:37,039 --> 00:36:41,119 So as we consider that and as we consider the promises that God has given 507 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,429 to us to share, let's pray together. 508 00:36:44,220 --> 00:36:46,369 Lord God, we thank you for your Word. 509 00:36:46,569 --> 00:36:51,839 We thank you for your exhortations and many aspects of hope with 510 00:36:51,849 --> 00:36:53,670 which you encourage our hearts. 511 00:36:54,150 --> 00:36:59,839 Lord, I ask for anyone in here who themself is struggling with a difficult 512 00:36:59,849 --> 00:37:06,569 situation, who is struggling with a life-threatening situation, that they 513 00:37:06,569 --> 00:37:12,629 would call out to you for hope, that they would call out to you for mercy. 514 00:37:13,289 --> 00:37:18,370 And Lord, I pray for all of us in here who call themselves Christians, that 515 00:37:18,379 --> 00:37:25,360 we would be bold in confronting people in hopeless situations with hope, that 516 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,909 we would confront people who need to make decisions, people who are at a 517 00:37:28,909 --> 00:37:34,239 crossroads, that we would confront them with reasonableness and a, an effort to 518 00:37:34,239 --> 00:37:37,170 point them to your Son, Jesus Christ. 519 00:37:37,730 --> 00:37:41,070 Lord, I ask that you would be with us, you would accompany us, and 520 00:37:41,070 --> 00:37:44,229 that, Lord, you would watch over us through your divine protection. 521 00:37:44,409 --> 00:37:46,559 In Jesus' name we pray, amen.