The Righteous Are Anchored In The Lord (Acts 27)
The righteous person stands firm and has courage when the storms of life come. This is not something that we see in one place in Scripture. It is something that we see throughout the Scriptures. The righteous person, because they trust the Lord, stands upon stable ground. They are not shaken. They are not thrown into a frantic frenzy every time life hands them discomfort. They have a firm faith in the Lord that is not shaken.
I would like to survey just a few texts that put forward this idea.
“When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.” (Proverbs 10:25 ESV)
Or, as the New Living Translation puts it,
“When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a lasting foundation.” (Proverbs 10:25 NLT)
The foundation of the righteous lasts while the wicked are whirled away. And we see this very thing in Psalm 1. My family sings this psalm quite often and, even in this very well known Psalm, we see this idea put forward quite plainly.
“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” (Psalm 1:1-6 ESV)
The righteous person does not totter to and fro. They are firmly planted, like a tree planted by streams of water. They are not moved. They are not thrown into a chaotic mess. They are steadfast. They produce fruit in season and they do not wither away.
“For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the LORD.” (Psalm 112:6-7 ESV)
What we find to be the truth of the matter is that the righteous have courage in the face of trouble and wicked turn into a chaotic mess.
“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1 ESV)
It is the wicked that are constantly in fear. It is the wicked that flee when trouble hasn’t really gotten that bad. But on the other side, the righteous are as bold as a lion.
Today we get to see Paul amid an actual storm on the sea. This is one of the most detailed accounts of seafaring found in any writing of the ancient world. And I believe the reason for this is that Luke was on the boat. And Luke detailed the horror that fell upon Paul and those with him on the way to Rome.
Jewish people were not seafaring people. The only Jewish people that were on boats much at all were fishermen. The thought of travelling on sea struck most Jewish people with fear. This is the reason that the thought of there being no sea in the Book of Revelation is supposed to bring comfort. Tumultuous waters are in the sea. It is a scary place.
I love the moments I have spent in the ocean with my family. We put on snorkels in the ocean and looked at the fish that were swimming all around us. But we always have this understanding about the power of the ocean. We are constantly telling our kids how far we can all go. And we are not letting them be in the ocean without us. We understand it is a dangerous place. And during a storm, the waves are massive. I’ve been able to watch the waves from the comfort of a patio chair on a few occasions and that is a sight to behold. If you’ve been there, you probably know what I’m talking about.
But today, we are going to see Paul not just on a boat in the ocean. He is in a boat in a storm that pushes them with hurricane force winds for 2 weeks, where they are eventually shipwrecked and forced to swim to shore. The people on this ship are a chaotic mess. As the people are tossed to and fro by the waves of the sea, they are emotionally tossed to and fro. They have no anchor. And it is Paul, amid all the chaos, that alone stands firm. Through all this, it is the courage of Paul, because of His faith in the Word of the Lord that shines in our text today.
The righteous are anchored in the Lord.
The Righteous Are Anchored In the Lord And So Walk In Wisdom (Acts 27:1-12)
Paul has been found to be innocent by everyone so far but because he appealed to Caesar, he now must be transported to Caesar. This transport was done by sea. It is very likely that Paul is being transported to a lot of people going to their execution.
They set sail and had some trouble on the sea. The winds simply were not cooperative and this put them way behind schedule.
They were so behind schedule that further sailing would put them in the ocean at a time that is considered dangerous to do so. We know this because we are told that the Feast was already over. This was The Day of Atonement. Because the Jewish calendar was lunar, this requires a little thinking. But it is very likely that this feast would have taken place on October 5th. If this date is wrong then it was at the end of September. But either way, you are in the dangerous season for seafaring in this part of the world. From late September to Early November, it was considered dangerous to sail due to storms that could pop up at any moment. And Paul thought that to sail now would be to tempt God. Paul was applying common sense to decision making. And it is something that we should do as well.
God has ordered the world in a certain way. Paul was simply applying that knowledge to the decisions that he was making in the moment. This is part of wise decision making.
Somehow, Paul had a hearing before the decision makers and saw it unwise to tempt the Lord in such a circumstance. It is very likely that some of the others believed as Paul did, but they did not seem to have the ear of the leadership as Paul did. This is an interesting thing that comes up time and time again with Paul. There is something about him that puts leadership at ease before him. And there is something about him that causes leadership to listen to him as was the case with two Roman governors and King Agrippa in the last few chapters. He was heard here, but they did not heed his advice.
Rome relied upon Egypt for much of its ocean transport. And we see that in our text today. They ended up boarding a ship that was carrying goods for sale. And so, Paul was on the ancient equivalent of a very large freight vessel. Paul was not the most experienced person on the ship, and so his wisdom was ignored.
But Paul, as we will see throughout this story was right to give the advice he gave. Not heeding his advice put them in danger. Paul’s advice was wise advice. The righteous are anchored in the Lord and walk in wisdom.
We see repeatedly that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs 1:7, 9:10). And we don’t have to guess at what it means to fear the Lord. It is faith and trust in the Lord.
“The friendship of the LORD is for those who fear Him, and He makes known to them His covenant.” (Psalm 25:14 ESV)
You can say this in a variety of different ways. But, simply put, the person that fears the Lord above all others has placed His faith and trust in the Lord.
God created the world and everything in it. And the people He created rebelled against Him. He could have left them in their sin and rebellion and punished them for it immediately, but that is not what God decided to do. God sent His Son to take on human flesh and dwell among us. His Son lived a perfect life on our behalf, died on the cross paying the punishment for sin, and rose from the grave three days later. And all those that turn from ruling their own life and trust in the Savior will be redeemed. The person that repents of their sin and places their faith in Jesus Christ are saved.
And it is that person that fears the Lord. They have faith and that is the beginning of wisdom. And this person, because they have trusted in the Lord, will make decisions that accord with wisdom.
They will fear the Lord above all others and make decisions that accord with His Word and how He created the world.
God’s Word is our guide in this life. There is no denying this is the case. The person that disregards the Word that the Lord has revealed is a person that his walking in foolishness and not wisdom. It is a person that is walking in the fear of this world and not the fear of the Lord.
And the same can be said for the person that is walking against common sense. The Christian understands that God has ordered the Universe in a certain way. And it is foolish to go against the created order.
In this case, Paul understood that there were times and seasons that God had put in place. And decisions that are made outside of that understanding are foolish and unwise.
This is the reason that the transgender madness has been so obvious. We look around and see that God has created the world to operate a certain way. God created man and woman, which is also found in Scripture. But this is easily observed simply by looking at nature as well. It is foolish according to nature itself to allow children to decide to be a different gender.
When we think about decisions made by pilots whether or not to fly that day, whether a flight should be cancelled or delayed. They are decisions made in accordance with the way that God has ordered the world. These are things that can be observed from nature.
And if we view them that way, then we will see Paul’s thought process here. God has ordered the world in such a way that attempting to sail this boat at this time is dangerous and unwise. Therefore we should not do it.
This may seem like a silly statement to make, but it is one that needs repeated in a time such as ours. God created the world to be lived in a certain way. And there is blessing for those that do so. Hard work, as a general rule, creates income. Laziness, as a general rule, creates poverty. And sailing this area at this time is dangerous.
The Righteous Are Anchored In The Lord And So Trust The Word Of The Lord (Acts 27:13-26)
The whole boat felt that things were going well for them when they first set sail. A gentle wind blew. And they felt they had made the right decision. But that did not last very long. They turned out to be counting their proverbial eggs before they were hatched.
A tempestuous wind “called the northeaster” popped up and changed everything for the crew. These are storms that can create hurricane force winds. And, generally speaking, they would face directly into a wind such as this to keep some semblance of control. But they could not do this. They couldn’t fight the wind at all, so they had to allow the wind to carry them where it went.
They did all they could to make this better. But nothing really worked. They used rope to support the ship. There has long been debate about what this meant, but somehow they tied rope around the hull of the ship to keep the boat from falling apart as the waves and wind crashed against it. They lowered gear to slow the boat down. They feared that the ship would run aground somewhere and they would all drown, it was a cargo ship that rode low in the water. So they tossed out cargo to lessen the weight of the ship. This made them even more susceptible to being tossed around, but that was thought to be better than hitting a reef as the wind carried them wherever it went.
They survived in a storm for many days without visibility of sun, stars, or moon. They couldn’t tell where they were, where they were going, or really anything but that they were in the middle of a storm. They had gone without food for a long time. Those unaccustomed to the sea were likely sea-sick. And there probably wasn’t much time to get to food anyway due to busyness attempting to stay alive. I would also venture to guess that a good bit of food had probably been spoiled by ocean water. And as you might expect here, “all hope of being saved was at last abandoned.”
Amid all this chaos Paul stood up to speak. In order to get a hearing now, Paul informs them that they should have listened to him earlier. Now they really should listen to him. And he delivered to them a message he received from the Lord through an angel.
An angel came to him and told him not to be afraid. Paul was not afraid, and it would seem that he was the only one. But this courage is due to two things. God had already told him that he would make it to Rome. And God told him that, in this case, the stuff and bat would be destroyed, but everyone on it would live. And again, Paul must stand before Caesar. Paul will make it to Rome.
As a side note I want to say that Paul seems to have prayed for the people on the ship. The angel said to Paul, “God has granted you all those who sail with you”. This seems to indicate that God granted Paul his request to spare the whole crew.
So, with all of this being said, Paul calls upon them to all take heart. They are all to have courage because he has faith that the Lord will do exactly what the angel said. They will run aground on an island somewhere, but the people will all be saved.
Paul stood before a group of weary and distraught men. And rather firmly he told them that they should listen to him. They failed to listen to his wisdom earlier, but they need to heed his word now. An angel of the Lord visited him and all would be okay.
I can’t imagine a more difficult scenario to trust that everything would be okay in. And Paul’s steadfastness in the face of all these troubles puts to shame the lack of faith that alot of us feel in the Lord on a day-to-day basis.
But where the Lord has spoken, we ought to have faith and trust in the Lord. Where we see in God’s Word that He is with us and that He will care for us, we ought to trust Him.
If every hardship throws you into turmoil, then you don’t trust the Lord as you ought. You should be able to stand tall and weather the storm.
I say this as a person that is sometimes thrown into turmoil. I say this as a person that has occasionally had to repent of my lack of faith and trust in the Word of the Lord. I say this as a person that has had to repeatedly remind myself that the Lord has promised to be with me.
“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”” (Joshua 1:9 ESV)
We are not to be dismayed because the Lord is with us. We are not to be frightened into chaos, because the Lord is with us.
We may not be able to see how it all is going to work out, but we are to know that the Lord is with us. He has promised us that much. And we trust that it is true. That doesn’t mean that all of life will smell like a bed of roses. And it certainly does not mean that you will go through life without hardship.
But it does mean that we can face the hardships of this life with courage because the Lord is with us.
The Righteous Are Anchored In The Lord And So Stand Firm In The Word Of The Lord (Acts 27:27-32)
The wiley plan of some of the crew was to leave, but Paul had been told that the whole crew would survive. Paul, a prisoner, saw this take place. And Paul, a prisoner, revealed the wicked plot. And by now Paul had gained enough trust that the soldiers listened to him and cut the life raft so that this sort of funny business could not take place.
At this point it almost seems like Paul is running the show. He has no official title, in fact he is a prisoner. But the steadfastness of Paul has caused the crew to be confident in Paul. And Paul is going to stand firm on the conviction of the Word of the Lord.
Here’s what happened. They began to realize that a shore was getting closer and they feared running aground, but again, they weren’t really in control of where they boat went. So they threw four anchors out from the stern and prayed for day break. And the reason for this is simple. If they crashed, they wanted it to happen in daylight.
The life raft would have been in the way and under the guise of taking down the life-raft a few of the soldiers were going to sneak away. And it was Paul that noticed. He stood firm on the Word he had been given.
Paul informed those around him that if those men left the whole group would not be saved. The reasoning here is that the promise was that the whole crew would survive the shipwreck. And if the whole crew did not entrust their self to the announcement of the angel, then the whole crew would perish.
So, the soldiers cut the ropes. They trusted Paul and cut the ropes.
Steadfastness in trouble tends to engender confidence from others. And the once chaotic crew was now listening intently to Paul’s words. And his words accorded with he words that the Lord had given.
God’s Word should be our grounding. When the struggles of this life come upon us, we should be anchored in it.
An anchor, since we are speaking of boats this morning, works by attaching to something at the bottom of a body of water. So, an anchor that works in a lake is going to look different than an anchor that works in the ocean. An anchor in a lake doesn’t need to dig up layers of sand to hold a boat steady. But an anchor for the ocean will need to do so. Both anchors have the same purpose though and it is to hold you steady.
When I was a teenager and into my early 20’s we would anchor the front and back of the boat along quite a contraption that we had made. We attached an anchor to jugs that floated on top of the water and attached our boat to the rope on the jugs. We caught big fish in this location and we didn’t want to get tangled up in the anchor, because it wasn’t going anywhere. But if we didn’t anchor on both sides of the boat we would spin in and out of the prime location. And our shad net would get all twisted up and tangled up with our lines.
It does work that way for us as Christians. When we are anchored in God’s Word as we ought to be, we are given the tools for standing firm in this life. Hardships can fall upon us quickly and with great turmoil and if we are not anchored in God’s Word we will get completely bent out of shape.
It’s not that Paul is just a man that doesn’t care about anything so he is not bothered. It is that Paul trusts the Word of the Lord completely. In Paul’s mind, it is as if the promises God has made have already happened. He will not waver because He believes and trusts the Lord completely. And he structures his life as if this is the case as well.
As husbands and fathers lead their homes, it is God’s Word that should be their anchor. It should be God’s Word that directs their decisions for their selves and their families. When difficult decisions are to be made, it is not the emotions that will lead us. It is the Word of the Lord.
When the hardship comes, we don’t spiral into chaos personally because we are rooted and anchored in the Word of the Lord. This goes for all of us. But if you are in charge of something then it applies to how you order that group.
It also gives you the ability to encourage those around you. Your faith and trust in the Lord is a source of strength for others.
The Righteous Are Anchored In The Lord And So They Are A Source Of Strength For Others, Not Chaos (Acts 27:33-38)
The righteous are not tossed around by the troubles of this life. Rather, they are steadfast and encourage others to be the same. Another way of saying this is that they are a source of strength for others and not a source of chaos.
It had been two full weeks since the storm had first struck them. They had been carried along by the wind all this time and never could gain control of the boat. And here, Paul encouraged everyone around him to trust the Lord.
His encouragement was to speak a counterintuitive word to the people. Eat and strengthen yourself for your salvation draws near. You’re not going to die tomorrow; you will live is in essence what Paul is saying to the people here. Then Paul led the group in giving thanks to God and eating in the presence of all that were there.
There were 276 people on board that heard and saw this. They were encouraged, ate, and went to work trying to lighten the boat enough that they could go to shore.
This would have been difficult work, but that work was better than swimming further. To get wheat into these boats it was usually done by filling up bags and emptying the bags onto the floor of the boat. Then planks would be laid on top of the wheat. Emptying it would be filling up bags and emptying them into the ocean. And they worked to make this happen. When they did run aground, they would do so riding higher upon the waves and closer to shore.
The righteous will encourage others to be faithful in the Lord through their own encouragement and personal faithfulness.
When hardship comes the temptation is to fly into chaos. The tendency of the human heart moves toward chaos and frantic worry. And this had been done by people aboard this ship for 2 weeks. Paul’s words and Paul’s example brought calm and confidence to the people aboard. And because of this the ship made it closer to shore and made them able to survive.
But it’s not courage and confidence in oneself. It is courage and confidence in the Lord that matters here. It is courage and confidence in the Lord that we are to spread to others.
This works both directions. If you are overcome with anxiety and get chaotic when hardship comes, so will those around you. Or, they are more likely to do so.
I think I can make up a helpful and vague illustration here.
If I, as the pastor, became frantic over something that had taken place in our church, then it would lead to chaos and frantic anxiety from the people here. But, if I trust the Lord and lead the church trusting the Lord, then it will go a long way in easing anxiety. In fact, it will cause people to at least consider this as the correct option.
This works in your home as well. God made us to be communal creatures. And part of this is that people feed off of the emotions they see all around them. This is how mobs get out of control. It’s also how any group of people gets out of control.
As Christians, we should be the calm. We should be the person that endures the hardships of this world with incredible grace. And we do this because we are anchored in the Lord. We do this because we trust Him completely.
The Righteous Are Anchored In The Lord And Will Not Be Disappointed (Acts 27:39-44)
They made every effort to run that boat ashore. And they got as close as they could before running into a reef. Here the boat was not only stuck but being broken to pieces by the surf.
The soldiers decided it was a good idea to kill all the prisoners before they got away. So they planned to kill them all. But the centurion decided not to do this. He wanted to save Paul. So, he ordered everyone to jump out and swim that could swim to shore. And those who could not rested on planks, probably from on top of the wheat that were now floating in the ocean, or part of the boat. In this way, every single person made it to shore safely.
Our trust in the Lord will not lead to disappointment. Our trust in the Lord will not be put to shame.
The present sufferings are nothing in comparison to the fulfillment of the promises that have been made to us in Jesus Christ.
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18 ESV)
No turmoil in this life can take away the hope that we have as Christians.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died–more than that, who was raised–who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 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.” (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)
No suffering or sorrow of this life can take this away from us. And as Christians we look at the many promises that God has made to us and see that this is the greatest of them. The promise to be with Him forever is the greatest of these promises. And it can never, ever be taken from us.
Nothing can take that away from us.
Conclusion
I have at times wondered how older saints that had gone through so many different trials in this life fared so well amid hardship even as other people freaked out over very little. In fact, it is often the case that they would go through hardships very similar to those that were in their same peer group much better.
Augustine, who died around 430 AD, wrote this massive book called “City of God”. It is still in circulation and still influential today. This was written around the time of the Fall of Rome. And this book was essentially a defense of the Christian faith in the face of the sack of Rome by the Visigoths.
This brought universal suffering upon both Christian and non-Christian. And it was apparently well-known that the Christian handled it better than the non-Christian. And in it, he wrote this.
“Though the sufferings are the same, the sufferers remain different. Virtue and vice are not the same, even if they undergo the same torment. The fire which makes gold shine makes chaff smoke; the same flail breaks up the straw, and clears the grain; and oil is not mistaken for lees because both are forced out of the same press. In the same way, the violence which assails good men to test them, to cleans and purify them, effects in the wicked their condemnation, ruin, and annihilation. Thus the wicked, under pressure of affliction, execrate God and blaspheme; the good, in the same affliction, offer up prayers and praises. This shows that what matters is the nature of the sufferer, not the nature of the sufferings. Stir a cesspit, and a foul stench arises; stir a perfume, and a delightful fragrance ascends. But the movement is identical.
Thus, in this universal catastrophe, the sufferings of Christians have tended to their moral improvement, because they viewed them with the eyes of faith.” (Augustine, City of God, Penguin Classics 1984, p. 14.)
We all face varying degrees of suffering in this life. And a lot of us will go through the same things. What matters is how you go through the suffering. Will you view it with the eyes of faith? Will you trust the Lord as you go through it?
There is a vast difference between the righteous and unrighteous going through suffering. It is the righteous that are anchored in the Lord.
R. Dwain Minor