Acts 27:1-28:10: Remembering God’s Providence

Acts 27:1-28:10: Remembering God’s Providence

We’ve been working our way passage by passage through the book of Acts, and today the next passage we come to is Acts 27:1-28:10, so I’ll be reading a selection of verses from that passage. It says,

1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica… 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea. 9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix…. 13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along….18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. 21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told…. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf…. 43 [T]he centurion…ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land. 1 After we were brought safely through, we then learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The native people showed us unusual kindness, for they kindled a fire and welcomed us all, because it had begun to rain and was cold. 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. 

May God bless the reading of his Word.

Let’s pray: Father, we find it written than “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Help us to view your word that way this morning—not merely as an interesting subject for study or as a helpful resource for various situations but as our very life. May we experience it as that, through the ministry of your Spirit. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. 

Horatio Spafford was a prominent lawyer and actually a senior partner in a prestigious Chicago law firm in the 1800’s. He was also a highly successful real estate investor in the northern section of Chicago. He had a wife named Anna and five children. He also happened to be a devout Christian and a personal friend and financial supporter of the famous evangelist D. L. Moody. So this was a man who basically had everything going for him—that is, until a series of tragic events turned his life upside down. 

In 1870, Horatio lost his only son, Horatio Jr., to scarlet fever at the tender age of just 4 years old. Then, less than a year later, the Great Fire of Chicago destroyed nearly all of his real estate investments. A vast portion of his life savings was gone in a matter of hours. Then, about two years after that, the Spaffords decided to take an extended vacation to England. However, Horatio ended up being delayed a couple of weeks by some business obligations, so he decided to send the rest of the family on ahead of him with plans to join them as soon as he could. But, as his wife Anna and their four daughters were on the ship that was taking them across the Atlantic Ocean to England, their ship collided with another ship and sank in just 12 minutes. Anna managed to survive, but the four daughters did not. Horatio learned the devastating news from a telegram that Anna sent him from England shortly after the tragic event. It read, “Saved alone.”

Immediately upon receiving the telegram, Horatio began his journey to England in order to grieve with his wife. And as he passed over the part of the ocean where his four daughters had drowned, he went to his cabin and penned these words: 

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Now, maybe you’ve never gone through anything quite like what Horatio Spafford went though. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t times in your life when you feel overwhelmed by your circumstances. Maybe it’s a health issue or a dire financial situation or turmoil in your family or, like Horatio, the loss of a loved one or maybe simply a season of depression that has no obvious explanation. There are many different storms and trials that we can face in our lives. So, how, in the midst of those things, can we say, as Horatio Spafford did, “It is well with my soul”? How is possible to have that inward peace he talks about even when the storms of life are raging all around us?

I believe the answer is found in our main Scripture passage this morning of Acts 27:1 through 28:10. We’re able to have that peace to the degree that we view all of our circumstances in light of something called “God’s providence.”  And that’s the main idea of this entire passage. God wants us to view all of our circumstances in light of his providence. 

Providence is a theological term that isn’t found in the Bible but is nevertheless taught throughout the Bible. Perhaps the best way of defining it is with the words of Paul in Ephesians 1:11, where he states that God “works all things according to the counsel of his will.” God “works all things according to the counsel of his will.”  That means he’s intimately involved in all of our circumstances—working in them all and through them all to accomplish his perfect purposes. So, when you think about it, there’s actually no such thing as luck. There’s simply providence as God works through every detail of every event in accordance with his will. 

Also, for all of you systematic theology buffs out there, notice that providence goes beyond the idea of sovereignty. God’s sovereignty simply means that he rules over our circumstances, while providence means that God not only rules over our circumstances but is also purposeful within them. He’s actually doing something—he’s accomplishing his purposes. 

And it’s absolutely critical for us to remember this truth of God’s providence in the midst of the storms and trials in our lives—just like we see the Apostle Paul doing back in our main passage. In fact, we might say that, in this passage, Paul’s facing a storm within a storm. He’s facing a figurative storm in that he’s been falsely accused of certain crimes and unjustly arrested and taken in custody. That’s been his situation for several chapters. And now, in this particular passage, he finds himself in the midst of a literal storm within that figurative storm. And isn’t that how it feels in our lives sometimes—a storm on top of a storm…and maybe even on top of another storm!

Yet, as we walk through this passage, we’re going to see four principles related to God’s providence that are critical for us to remember in the midst of the storms of our lives. 

God Has to Bring Us to the End of Ourselves before We’ll Learn to Trust in Him

First, God has to bring us to the end of ourselves before we’ll learn to trust in him. God has to bring us to the end of ourselves before we’ll learn to trust in him. The beginning of Acts 27 [verses 1-2] records the start of Paul’s journey by ship from Caesarea to Rome. He’s placed in the custody of a Roman military officer called a “centurion,” who was called that because he was in charge 100 soldiers. Yet, Paul’s also allowed to travel with two of his friends—Luke, who’s writing this narrative, and a guy named Aristarchus, who’s mentioned in verse 2. 

Eventually, in verse 8, after completing the initial leg of their journey, they find themselves in a coastal town on the island of Crete called Fair Havens. Now, by this point in the year, travel by sea was beginning to get rather dangerous. Verse 9 tells us that the “Fast,” also known as the Day of Atonement, had already passed, meaning that it was already well into October—well past the season when travel by sea was generally recommended. So Paul, being the experienced traveler that he is, warns the centurion against going any farther and recommends instead that they spend the winter where they are in Fair Havens. Yet, instead of listening to Paul, the centurion listens to the captain of the ship—who was under the centurion’s command because it was an imperial vessel—and decides instead to try to make it about another forty miles to the city of Phoenix. It’s a risky decision, and as we see, things don’t go well at all. 

Look at verses 14-20: 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship’s boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned. 

And it’s that statement, right there at the end of verse 20, that I’d like to draw your attention to: “all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.” They were at rock bottom. And that’s what’s necessary in order for us to learn to trust in God. In order to start trusting in God’s strength, we have to be brought to the end of our own strength. We might say that God has to break us down before he can build us up. You see, as long as we’re able to rely on our own strength, we will. It’s only when that’s no longer a viable option that we learn to start relying on God. So God, in his providence, will graciously allow circumstances to come into our lives that properly position us to trust in him rather than in ourselves. As Paul himself says in 2 Corinthians 1:9, “Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God.” Just like a blacksmith has to heat the metal he’s working on in order to make it malleable so that he can then shape it into what he wants it to be, God has to heat us up in the furnace of affliction so that we’ll be malleable and so that he can shape us into who he wants us to be and teach us to rely on him. 

God Gives Us Promises as Anchors for Our Soul

Then a second principle is that God gives us promises as anchors for our soul. In the midst of the storms that God providentially allows to come into our lives, he gives us promises as anchors for our soul. We see an example of this in verses 21-25: 21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. [So, in other words, “I told you so.” You’ve gotta love that…though I imagine the people on the ship probably didn’t love it as much since they had been without food for a long time and were probably a little bit hangry. Nevertheless, Paul continues…] 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 

So Paul shares with everyone on board the ship that an angel of God appeared to him both to remind him of a promise made before—that Paul would stand before Caesar—and to make another promise—that everyone on the ship would survive. Paul then expresses total confidence that God’s going to come through on these promises. Again, verse 25, “So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.”

Likewise, we also can have total confidence in God to keep every promise he makes—no matter how long ago the promise was made. At this point in the narrative of Acts, it had been over two years since God had promised Paul in Acts 23:11 that he would stand before Caesar. Yet, as we see from the angel’s visit, the fulfillment of that promise was just as sure as it had ever been. And that promise served as Paul’s anchor in the midst of the storm. The ship may have been assaulted by the waves and tossed to and fro by the violent winds of the storm, but Paul was at peace because he was anchored by the promises of God. The ship may not have been anchored, but Paul was…because he had God’s promises. 

So think about the promises that God makes to us today. It might even be a good idea to go home this afternoon and make a list of some of God’s promises that are especially meaningful to you. I think of Romans 8:28, for example: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good….” Or Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you”—talking about the material things we need to survive. Also, Romans 8:38-39: 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Or how about Revelation 21:4, talking about the new creation, that “[God] will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Friends, how precious are these promises that God’s given to us! Each of these promises—plus many others—is like an anchor for our soul in the midst of the storms we encounter in our lives. 

God Decrees both Ends and Means

Then a third principle related to God’s providence that we find in our main passage is that God decrees both ends and means. God decrees both ends and means. In other words, his plan includes not only final outcomes but also the ways in which those outcomes will be accomplished. 

I’m not typically big on cheesy Christian jokes, but there is one I’ve heard that I believe illustrates this important concept quite well. One time, there was this guy who was stranded on the rooftop of his house in the midst of a flood. And he was praying to God for help. So, before long, a man in a rowboat came by and shouted to the man on the roof, “Jump in, I can save you.” But the stranded guy shouted back, “No, it’s okay, I’m praying to God and have faith that he’s going to save me.” So the rowboat went on. Then a motorboat came by, and the man in the motorboat shouted, “Jump in, I can save you.” Yet, again, the stranded man replied, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and have faith that he’s going to save me.” So the motorboat went on. Then, finally, a helicopter came by and the pilot shouted down, “Grab this rope and I’ll lift you to safety.” But, of course, the stranded man shouted back, “No thanks, I’m praying to God and have faith that he’s going to save me.” So the helicopter pilot reluctantly flew away. Soon after that, the water level rose above the rooftop and the stranded man drowned. Fortunately, went to heaven and finally got his chance to discuss this whole situation with God. And he asked God why God didn’t rescue him from the flood. Yet God replied, “I sent you a rowboat and a motorboat and a helicopter. What more did you expect?” Now, again, I know that’s a bit cheesy, but hopefully it helps us better understand this concept of God working through certain means to accomplish his ends. 

We can see this at several points in our main passage. In the subsequent verses of chapter 27, we read about the crew of the ship discovering through measurements they take that the water is getting increasingly shallow—indicating that they’re approaching land and also arousing significant concern that the ship will be dashed against the rocks. So, in the middle of the night, the crew tries to sneak away from the ship in the dinghy boat while everyone else is sleeping. Yet, before they can do that, Paul says to the centurion and soldiers in verse 31, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” Think about that. We saw earlier that God had promised that everyone on the ship would survive. And yet, we see here that that promise was actually conditional on having the professional crew on board the ship. No doubt their skills would be desperately needed the next day to help everyone make it to land safely. So God decreed not only the end (that everyone would survive) but also the means by which the end would be accomplished (by having the ship’s crew on board to help everyone make it to shore). 

This same concept also comes up several other times in the narrative such as earlier in the chapter, in verses 18-19, where they toss overboard the supplies and tackle from the ship in order to make the ship lighter. That was a prudent and necessary step for them to take in order to keep the ship from sinking. We also see, in verses 33-38, Paul urging everyone on the ship to eat the remaining food on board the ship in order to strengthen themselves for their laborious swim to shore the next day. 

So the practical takeaway for us is don’t expect God to bless your foolish decisions. Don’t expect God to heal you of your health ailments if you’re not taking care of your body. Don’t expect God to provide for you financially if you’re not budgeting and spending your money wisely. Don’t expect God to give you a happy marriage if you’re being selfish or negligent toward your spouse. And don’t expect God to save the people you care about if you’re not praying for them and actively seeking to share the gospel with them. So, yes, the Bible teaches that God, in his providence, is sovereignly working to accomplish his purposes. But the way in which he accomplishes those purposes is through various means, such as our diligence and obedience. And when you don’t avail yourself of the means God’s provided for your well-being, any expectation of God helping or rescuing you isn’t faith but rather presumption. True biblical faith involves diligently utilizing the means God has provided. 

God Has a Purpose for Every Trial

Then a final principle we see in this passage is that God has a purpose for every trial. God has a purpose for every trial. Throughout the passage, we see God using the tumultuous events that are recorded in order to make it clear to everyone that his hand is on Paul in a unique way and to give Paul a platform for gospel ministry. I mean, think about it. God could have allowed them to have a totally uneventful trip from Caesarea to Rome, and I’m sure Paul would have been a faithful witness. But how much more of a platform does Paul have share Jesus with the people around him because of the events that transpire! Think about the opportunity those events give him to be influential among the soldiers guarding him, the crew sailing the ship, the other passengers on the ship, and eventually among the inhabitants of the island where they wash ashore. God’s working through all the seeming chaos to accomplish his purposes among all those people. 

We see this especially with the islanders. Just to summarize the rest of the passage briefly, they do indeed end up crashing against a reef a little way offshore, but, just as God had promised, every single one of the 276 people on board the ship makes it safely to the shore. Then, in chapter 28 [verses 1-2], we learn that they’ve made it to a small island called Malta and that the natives on the island show “usual kindness” to them and actually start a fire so they can get warm. We then read in verses 3-6: 3 When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god. So notice how God’s already giving Paul a platform for ministry and influence among the islanders. 

And God gives him even more of a ministry platform in verses 7-10: 7 Now in the neighborhood of that place were lands belonging to the chief man of the island, named Publius, who received us and entertained us hospitably for three days. 8 It happened that the father of Publius lay sick with fever and dysentery. And Paul visited him and prayed, and putting his hands on him, healed him. 9 And when this had taken place, the rest of the people on the island who had diseases also came and were cured. 10 They also honored us greatly, and when we were about to sail, they put on board whatever we needed. 

So Paul heals everyone on the island of their sicknesses, including Chief Publius’s father, with the result that the islanders supply them with all the provisions they need. And even though it doesn’t specifically say this in the passage, I think we can be fairly certain that Paul took advantage of the ministry platform God gave him and shared the gospel with the islanders. In fact, according to tradition, this was the beginning of the church on the island of Malta, with none other than Chief Publius as its first pastor. Of course, we don’t have proof that that tradition’s accurate, but at the very least, it’s certainly not difficult to imagine the massive spiritual impact Paul must have had. 

So, as you can see, God was providentially working through everything recorded in this entire passage in order to accomplish his perfect purposes and draw people to himself. He’s not just sovereign over these circumstances but also purposeful in the midst of them. 

And guess what? It’s the same in our lives as well. Every trial that we experience has a purpose and is exactly what we need at that moment in time. God functions in a manner that’s similar in some ways to a physical therapist. If you’ve ever been through physical therapy, then you know that it’s anything but comfortable. Yet every single exercise that the physical therapist has you do is exactly what you need in order to recover. The therapist isn’t being sadistic by inflicting pointless pain on you for their own enjoyment but is actually helping you get better. Similarly, with the trials God allows us to go through in our lives, God has a purpose for each one of them. And each trial is tailor made for us. It’s exactly what we need. God’s accomplishing his purposes both within us and also, as we see in Acts 27-28, through us in the lives of others. And, truth be told, he’s accomplishing things that, quite often, we can’t even imagine. As John Piper has observed, “God is always doing 10,000 things in your life, and you may be aware of three of them.”

Conclusion

And those purposes all come back to the central purpose God has within this world, which is to get worshipers for himself. That’s what it all comes back to. All of the events and occurrences in this entire universe are like the spokes of a wheel that all come back to that central hub of God glorifying his name by getting worshipers for himself. 

And the central and decisive way in which God’s acted in history to accomplish that purpose is by sending his Son Jesus to redeem us from our sins. You see, the Bible teaches that each one of us has sinned against God and thereby made ourselves deserving of God’s judgment. Not only that, but according to Scripture, we’re actually not just guilty of committing sins but also enslaved by a sinful nature. So we can’t worship God because we’re enslaved by sin. 

But God, in his unfathomable mercy, didn’t leave us in our wretched condition but sent his own Son Jesus come to this earth as a human being and then die on the cross to pay for our sin. Jesus died in our place and suffered the punishment that we deserved. And through his death and subsequent resurrection from the dead, Jesus redeemed us from both the guilt and power of our sin so that we can enter into a relationship with God and spend the rest of our lives and the rest of eternity worshiping him. So it’s through Jesus that God’s worked decisively to accomplish his purpose in this world of redeeming worshipers for himself. 

Yet, as you’ll remember, God decrees not only the ends but also the means by which those ends will be accomplished. So, in order to experience the redemption and rescue Jesus offers, the Bible says that we have to turn away from our sins and put our trust in Jesus alone for that rescue. And if you haven’t done that yet, God invites you do to so even today. That’s the most important decision you could ever make. In fact, for those who haven’t yet put their trust in Jesus, I believe there’s biblical warrant for you to interpret all of the trials and difficulties you face your life as a merciful wake-up call from God meant to rouse you from your spiritual slumber and alert you to the desperate situation you’re in spiritually. C. S. Lewis says that pain is like God’s megaphone that he uses to get our attention and draw us to himself. So whatever painful or difficult experiences come your way, I’d suggest viewing those as an opportunity to put your trust in Jesus to do for you what you could never do for yourself and rescue you from your sin. He’s speaking to you through his megaphone and calling you to himself. Will you listen to what he’s saying?