Who is our keeper? Who has taken care of you up
until now? Is it your parents? Is your effort? Many call themselves,
‘self-made’. Is it because of your education? Or is it fate? Are you a ‘son of
fate’? Many think that fate is at work in their lives. Many people do not see
the mighty hand of God at work in their lives and so they ascribe their being
and success to one thing or another.
Here we see the divine intervention and power of
God in accomplishing His purpose for Paul to proclaim the gospel in Rome.The
Apostle shared in the perils of his companions in the sea. Through that we see
his character in crisis that is so resolute and practical, so that he
maintained the sanity of his mind when others were losing it. We see him in the danger of sea and storm, the
danger of being killed by the soldiers, the danger of hunger and the danger of
being shipwrecked. But God preserves not only Paul but also even others on his
account. He preserved him from death for a purpose. God used the circumstances
to show His power in keeping His people because we are kept by His power
through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time (1Peter 1:5).
God’s power in keeping and looking after His people
is first of all by keeping them from destruction, by providing for their needs
and by using them in the circumstances to show forth His goodness, love and
mercy, so that sinners may come to Him.
1.
Preserved from destruction
Paul appealed to Caesar and he was handed over to a
centurion of the Imperial guard to be taken to Caesar. This was to be done by
sea for a good number of reasons: Paul could be taken together with other
prisoners and it is difficult to escape in the sea. The centurion was also in
charge of transporting grains and so he could combine the two. It was less
tasking than land.Luke records this voyage to Rome in exceptional detail so
that in it we have a taste of the maritimetransport in the ancient times. We
see skillful navigation of the ship in the circumstances in trying to be away
from the violent wind. After the first two weeks they managed to dock at Myra
(South of Turkey). They changed ships to the one bound to Italy from Alexandria
ferrying grains from Egypt because Rome depended on wheat, barley etc. from
Egypt.
This becomes very difficult because of the season –
it was now after the fast (the day of atonement), which means it was early
October (AD. 59 had the day on 5th October.) They were getting to
the winter season known for storms so that the many ports in the Mediterranean
were closed from November to January. Paul himself, an experienced sailor
warned them from carrying on with the journey but they did not listen to him so
that there met storm after another so that they threw away the cargo and even
the spare tackle!What destruction faced these 276 because they all sailed in
the same ship? Paul’s warning shows a Christian full of faith in the
sovereignty of God and yet responsible and prudent in giving them advise
although it was not taken. It shows that God was still with him and was
concerned for the others because later on God revealed that not one of them
would lose even his hair. Let us remember that God, who foreordains whatever
comes to pass, also foreordains the means through which His purposes are
accomplished. The wise and sane application of human brain and senses is part
of the means to achieve the end for which God ordains.
There is no question that from here we learn of the
grace of God to preserve His people from disaster and in the process, common
grace is extended to the rest of the world on the account of those who are
saved. There is no doubt that this account presents us with the power of God to
restrain the natural forces for the good of His people.
God by His power has kept us from destruction. It
is because of His goodness and mercy that He has told us, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; and I have called you by name, you
are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through
riversthey shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire, you shall not
be burned, and the flame shall not consume you”. (Isa. 43:1b, 2)
God is the one who is our faithful keeper for He
has promised “No temptation has overtaken
you that is not common to a man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be
tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He will also provide the
way of escape, that you may be able to endure it” (1Cor. 10:13).
The encouragement is that, “…all were brought safely to land” (v. 44). Therefore we should never
give up or be discouraged or lose hope in whatever situation you are in. God is
our keeper; He will keep us until the end. He will bring His purpose for us to
pass and we should patiently look up to Him for in Him we have our being. At
the same time those who are in Him, though enjoy much of His common grace now,
it will soon be cut off when you remain as you are. As Paul approached Rome, it
was for him to be vindicated but the rest of the prisoners were going to be
condemned. What are you waiting for? Does it matter if you escape trials and
problems of this life only to face the most severe and permanent problems?
2. Preserved by His protection and provision
God made sufficient protection and provisions for
Paul from the beginning in that among other things he was a Roman citizen. He was handed to this particular influential
centurion of the Augastan Cohort, i.e “His Imperial Majesty’s”. It was a title
of honor and was given to those who served in close proximity to Caesar, and
specifically in charge of the grain transportation to Rome, a very important
task, given to those greatly trusted by Caesar. His name is given as Julius,
which could be a possibility that as a result of his close association with Paul,
he came to be a believer. When they landed at Sidon, Luke records of his
kindness to Paul so that he allowed Paul to go to his friends to be catered for
(v.3). His relationship with Paul became so obviously good that when he refused
to heed Paul’s advise not to proceed from Fair Havens, Luke was surprised so
that he took it so serious as to record it (v.11). But we see his favor to Paul
in that he heeded his advise not to allow some of the ship crew to leave the
ship (vv.31, 32) and he did not want to have the prisoners killed on the
account of Paul (v. 43). In this account we learn how God uses even the wicked
men for the benefit of His people and for the realization of His purposes that
cannot be thwarted. You should not give up a situation because you do not know
of a Christian to help you. Remember that God is able to use even donkeys to
bring good for His people.
God also provided friends to cater for the needs of
Paul in the ship (he had Luke the physician and Aristarchus (v.2). He also
provided friends in Sidon (v.3), God gave Paul a sound and an intelligent mind
throughout the journey as even to give sound advice and he was so responsible
and practical. He gave the ability predict exactly what lay ahead of them (vv.
10, 21-26, 31, 33-35) God further sent an angel of God to encourage Paul (v.
23). There was sufficient food up until the last meal they took together before
the ship was ultimately destroyed. Here is the faithfulness of God in meeting
with our needs exceedingly and abundantly beyond our imagination, even in the
midst of a disaster.
In this we see how God is gracious and will prove
that God is genuinely concerned about meeting the needs of all His creation. He
did not want any to perish. God has said in His Word that He does not delight
in the death of a sinner but is patient towards you, not wishing any should
perish, but that all should reach repentance (2Peter 3:9). This then means that
those who perish because of their obstinacy and lack of repentance so that they
are overtaken by destruction having worn out the patience of God by counting it
as slowness!
About God’s protection Paul said, “We are afflicted in every way, but not
crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair, persecuted, but not forsaken,
struck down but not destroyed, always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies (2Cor. 4:8-10)
So that as servants of God, they could commend themselves by “great endurance, in afflictions, hardships,
calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labours, sleepless nights, hunger,
purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love, by
truthful speech, and the power of God…”
(2Cor. 6:4-7b).
About God’s provision he said, “Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in
whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know
how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of
facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him
who strengthens me”(Phil. 4:11-13). Brethren this is a call to strong,
mature and abounding faith in this world – a faith that will not shrink, or
fail or die.
God has made the ultimate provision for the
salvation of people in giving His own Son to come on earth to meet the demands
of His justice for sinners, whereby He paid the penalty for their sins.
Moreover, He is willing to give His righteousness to all those who come fully
trusting in Him. If you have gladly received the physical provision of food,
clothing, parents, children etc. how can you reject the most important
provision of God Christ who is the solution and answer to all human problems
starting with the greatest problem of sin? The argument of Romans 8:32 is that
because of God has given us His Son for us all, He will along with Him give us
all things, implying that that the most important gift and provision of God in
your sustenance is Christ. But on your part, all you want is all things apart
from Christ! I beseech you by the mercies of God. You must not continue to
reject this Gift of gifts all other gifts in One. Where it not for the giving
of Christ, this world would have been destroyed.
For Christians, they have all things in Christ –
because He is the richness of God’s glory being before all things, holding all
things together… so that in everything He has preeminence, and in Him the all fullness
of God dwells. Thus He has made permanent peace for us with God by His
blood! (Col. 1:17-20). So could we get
any richer? We are made the heirs of the glory of God and this is why the
prevailing situation is nothing for us because we know that we have Christ, the
hope of glory!
3. Preserved for His glory
In this account
is a very simple line of thought. God is concerned for the gospel to spread to
all the parts of the world, starting from Jerusalem going to the rest of the
world. Rome was the universal headquarters, so to speak. The Apostle
commissioned to take the gospel there has to go there and bring the gospel to
the Emperor himself. The gospel has to get to the household of Caesar and this
is what God has continued to confirm to Paul. When the angel of God came to him
at night, he told Paul not to be afraid because, “… you must stand before Caesar” (v. 24). Standing before Caesar was
not just for the trial, although it includes it. He was to stand before Caesar
to expound and testify about the kingdom of God and so try to convince them
about Jesus. He had to go to Rome to proclaim the kingdom of God, and teaching
about Jesus Christ (28:23, 31)
Why did God
undertake all He did for Paul and his companions? What was the motive for all
this? Why was it so important for God that Paul goes to Rome? The number one
motive and passion for God is His glory. Christians must never forget this
truth that God created us for His glory and this we are to find our identity,
passion and all the joy and excitement. We are to give little regard for the
prevailing situation because when we are taken up by trials and challenges of
life, we can very easily forget the glory of God and so lose our focus.
What credit can
anyone ascribe to himself in those situations? Luke records that, “When
neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us,
all hope of being saved was at last abandoned (v. 20). We are talking of
people who had nothing to glory of themselves. They were at the end of their
tether and for them to starting claiming anything could be ridiculous. Yet God
had revealed to Paul to have faith because He had granted to him “… all those who sail with
you.”But at this point they have no hope, including Luke! This is what
is needed, where you come to the end of yourself in despair so that you can lay
no strength to your effort. You have to come to a point where you are
completely helpless so that you can depend on Christ only. You have to come to
this point and call for help from God. It is my prayer that the situation will
not bring you to desperation as to give up on God, but rather that it will push
you to come to God who is the present help in times of trouble.
The particular
situation I have in mind is the sin. Sinners are saved when they come to a
point of desperation and realize that there is no more help remaining as to
bring about salvation. You have to stop depending on yourself to look to the Lord
Jesus Christ for salvation. This way everything else in the ship an be thrown
overboard for the salvation of the souls. The body itself like the ship can be
destroyed to make sure that you see your need for the Lord because this is what
God is of first importance concerned about – your soul.
If we were to
look at the ship like Christ, Christ, Christ suffered all for your sake and
praise be to His Name because He delivered us to a safe place – to the Father.
Thankfully Christ was not totally destroyed because for Him, after three days
He rose from the dead to bring to us the redemption by His resurrection.
This passage is
also a call to make effort in working out your salvation, because the promise
of God always comes with the means of realizing and fulfilling the promise.
John Calvin said, “God certainly does not commend His power to the faithful in
order that they may give themselves up to laziness and inactivity, with
contempt for intervening means or rashly rush into danger, when there is a
definite reason for taking care.” Surely God’s decree or promises do not mean
that you do not engage any activity to extend your hand to receive the promise,
rather faith is an expectant effort at receiving the promises of God.
God has
provided you with a rational mind so that you may act rationally. In this
passage urging men to eat and not to leave the ship because those were the
means of their salvation. Those who call themselves Christians and refuse to
use the means that God has given are only foolish – like those who refuse to
use medicine and yet we know that God is the giver of every good and perfect
gift. So in this passage we are encouraged to be integrated Christians who
combine spirituality with sanity. We are encouraged to be people of faith and
of action; of Spirit and common sense so that we may be of earthly use for
Christ. This way God is glorified for we see His purposes being fulfilled in
our lives in accordance to the means He has provided for us.
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