These are the concluding remarks from the message from Acts 27 preached on the 12th of April. I hope that it will be as much an encouragement to you as it is to us.
e. The deliverance of God. 27:21-44
Here the Lord again strengthens Paul to lead. He –
1). Established his credibility. 27:21
2). Encouraged them with the message from God. 27:22-25
3). Exhorted them to be prepared for the work ahead. 27:26-41
a). They must stay together. 27:26-32 They need all of their knowledge and strength.
b). They must work together. 27:33-41
A great deal of courage and strength was going to be needed to survive. Paul ministered to them –
(1). Spiritually. He prayed for the Lord’s blessings.
(2). Physically. He provided an example for them bread to eat. A positive influence. 27:35,36
(3). Continually. The words in 27:33 – “…And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat…” mean that Paul continued
to encourage them until the morning light. The number of the persons aboard the ship is given as 276. We can imagine Paul, along with
Luke and Aristarchus, moving among them throughout this stormy night, taking each man some bread and encouragement.

4). Escaped from the danger, all safely reaching land. 27:42-44

We have no idea how many times have men been rescued from an untimely death because a child of God was in their midst?

If we can use our imaginations and picture the Apostle Paul lying on that beach, the wind still howling and the waves still pounding, wet, exhausted and thanking God for His deliverance, we may ask ourselves this question –

Why the storm? Why did God send this storm into their lives?

God had promised Paul that he would reach Rome and that he would testify of the Lord there. We would have expected a simple cruise across the sea and a safe march up the Italian road to Rome!

Remember God’s promise in Acts 23:11 And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.

And also in 27:24 “… Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar:”

We learn again that the Lord will bring glory to Himself through His working through His children. Because of this storm Paul went from being an ordinary prisoner to being feared and favoured. On this ship were three faithful servants of the most High God. The other 273 people – soldiers, sailors, merchants, and prisoners, people from all walks of life, listened to the preaching, heard the promises, and saw the power of God through the life of His witnesses.

We do not look forward to storms in our lives, but God has promised to bring us through them unto Himself. We have a sure destination – it is the journey that holds trials and tribulations.

Luke, through the leadership of God, has penned down this account to encourage us in our journey – to trust God in the storms, and to praise Him for the testimony we may have for Him