Surviving a Shipwreck

SURVIVING A SHIPWRECK

Acts 27:9-15

INTRODUCTION:   Acts chapter 27 is an exciting story of the sea and of survival.  It is true history of the life of the Apostle Paul who was a prisoner of Rome sailing to Rome to be tried before Caesar.  The ship Paul was sailing on got into a storm and was destroyed.  The ship was lost but Paul and his companions were saved!  In this chapter we find an illustration of what will happen to every one of us here tonight.  Acts 27:9-10; Acts 27:11.  Many times we cause our own troubles, our own storms by the way we live but this time it came through no fault of Paul.

 

WHAT CAUSES SHIPWRECK IN OUR LIVES?

If you live by compulsion you will sink your ship!  “Let’s do something even if it is wrong!” is not a good way to live out your life.  Not waiting on the Lord because of the compulsion of life is not a wise way to live: Isaiah 40:28-31.  You never waste time when you wait on the Lord! Taking bad consultation will also sink your ship!  The Centurion asked Paul but notice Acts 17:11 and especially the word “nevertheless!”  When you have spiritual advice and secular advise be careful which you choose to follow.  When we listen to consultation more than revelation beware: Jeremiah 17:5-10.  When your primary desire is to live a life of comfort beware, your ship is about to go down: Acts 27:12.  When we don’t seek God’s will for our lives should we be surprised when our ship sinks?  Also, living by consensus will sink your ship: Acts 27:12.  Be careful of following a crowd because they are almost always going in the wrong direction.  Matthew 7:13-14; Proverbs 3:5-8.

 

THE HIGH COST OF SHIPWRECK IN OUR LIVES!

Just when the centurion and everyone else on the ship began to think how smart they were to ignore a word from God they found out the truth: Acts 27:13-15.  This was a terrible storm: Acts 27:20; Jeremiah 10:23.  Sin in your life will take you places you never thought you would go: Acts 27:15-17.  They did the best they could to save the boat.  So often in life when we look for the easy way it becomes the hard way to live. Proverbs 13:15 with Matthew 11:28-30.

 

THE WASTE OF SHIPWRECK IN OUR LIVES!

The cost of ignoring God and His Word and choosing the easy way, the popular way, the way of the majority is always waste!  Acts 27:18-19.  Everything on that ship was being thrown overboard!  So many today have rejected Jesus for the things of this world but they will lose both in the end.  That is why our Lord Jesus said: Mark 8:36-37.  A life lived without our Lord Jesus is a wasted life: 1 Timothy 6:6-10.

 

THE WISHES AND SCHEMES OF THE SHIPWRECKS OF OUR LIVES!

Not only do the majority waste, they also wish: Acts 27:29.  People who don’t know the Lord can only wish, for people who do not live lives of prayer and hope in the Lord. Acts 27:30-32.  The man or woman who has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, even in the midst of the storm has hope: Acts 27:21-27.  This world as we know it is a sinking ship!  But we need not be afraid.  God said in His Word 365 times: Be not afraid!”  Our God will take care of us and get us home safe if we trust in Him.  John 14:1-6.  We are all going to go through some storms in our lives but if we will trust in our God and in His Word,  we will not go through them alone and we will have hope in all our storms.  Isaiah 33:6.