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00:00 stood here was like two months ago. I remember it was uh on the eve of Chinese New Year. It's also very encouraging to
00:07 see uh the hall packed with so many people uh coming here uh to spend the
00:13 Sunday morning in the presence of God. Now about uh 3 years ago uh in the year
00:19 in the month of August 209, I I had a good fortune of uh visiting San
00:25 Francisco uh for about a week. This was my second trip to this beautiful city.
00:30 The first time it was in 1997 together with Lean, my wife. Now this second trip
00:36 was a bit more memorable because I had the wonderful opportunity of actually
00:42 walking across the Golden Gate Bridge and this was how it was like a proof
00:47 that it was there. Okay. The bridge rising majestically from a
00:52 thick uh layer of mist. It was beautiful. Uh there were six lanes uh on
00:59 the on the bridge for vehicles, but they also provided a broad a wide pathway on
01:04 either side for bicycles and for people to to walk or to jog. If you have not
01:10 noticed the Golden Gate Bridge is not gold in color, but it's actually painted
01:15 red. And as and I was as I was enjoying the uh bridge and the breeze, I could not
01:22 help but notice uh some small signs on some of the vertical columns. Uh it says
01:29 uh crisis counseling. There is hope. Make the call and the consequences of
01:36 jumping from this bridge are fatal and tragic. Now I'm not sure if a telephone number
01:43 was provided be above or below the sign. It will be tragic to have uh this sign
01:49 but no telephone number to call. It has been three years since and uh my
01:54 me my memory is failing me but quite possibly I faintly remember there was an actual telephone uh somewhere near this
02:00 sign. And so I was uh happily walking uh across the entire span of the bridge. I
02:07 was greeted by this grim reminders that life is not a bed of roses.
02:14 There are occasional storms uh in our voyage of life. There are uh challenges
02:20 and and obstacles that that weigh us down. And some people seem to have a greater share of of storms compared to
02:27 others. I don't know why. Some people seem to be so battered by the storms
02:33 that they prefer to end it all by jumping off a bridge. As soon as we come to the end of the
02:39 book of Acts, we find Paul and his shipmates battling a physical storm and
02:44 then suffering uh a shipwreck. We shall see how ordinary men react during a
02:49 storm. We shall also see how God works in the midst of a storm. And thirdly, we
02:55 shall see how a man of God like Paul conducts himself during a storm. Shall
03:00 we commit this time to the Lord in prayer?
03:06 Our father in heaven, as the psalmist says, your word is a lamp to my feet and
03:11 a light for my path. I therefore pray that each of us seated here this morning will be firmly
03:18 grounded in your word and your word will light up the way before us so that we
03:23 can better see above and beyond the storms and struggles that we encounter.
03:29 May your spirit illumine our hearts this morning. For this we ask in Jesus name. Amen.
03:36 Now in our encounters with non-believers, we are often uh sometimes asked this question. How do you know the
03:43 Bible is the word of God? How do you know the Bible is not fiction? Now in my
03:49 younger and more energetic years, I used to engage in long and uh fierce debates
03:54 with my non-Christian friends. I would I would argue all sides all sorts of uh evidence of proof that the Bible was
04:01 true. Now these days, however, as I mellow with age, this is the time when you take
04:06 off your earrings. I tend to look at scripture through the lens of faith. I believe with all my
04:13 heart that the bi the Bible is the word of God. Those hard evidences are no longer so
04:20 important to me. And yet as I say this, there is a place for reading the Bible
04:27 based on reasons and facts in addition to of course embracing it by faith. I
04:32 think it was Abraham Lincoln who said accept this book as much as you can based on reason and the balance on faith
04:41 and you will live and die a happier and better man. Studying the Bible is very much an exercise u in in in spiritual
04:49 exercise where faith is a necessary tool but at the same time God's word can
04:54 easily stand the up to any test of history and facts. So if the facts can
05:00 strengthen your faith well and good for you. So this passage of uh Acts 27:1 to
05:08 28:10 is an excellent example where the facts are so evident, so undeniable, and
05:16 they point convincingly to the accuracy of the Bible. This passage before us is
05:22 remarkable on three counts.
05:27 Its geographical accuracy, nautical accuracy, and meteorological
05:33 accuracy. When I say geographical, I mean the names of places. When I say
05:38 nautical, I mean I'm referring to navigation and the handling of ships. And when I say meteorological, I'm
05:44 talking about the weather pattern uh described here in this passage. And they all point uh to the conclusion that the
05:52 story was not being up and this actually happened as Paul narrated.
05:57 Now in the first count geographical accuracy in this passage I mention various towns and harbors and and
06:04 islands and they're all real. Now each of them either exist still exist today
06:10 or they existed before in the past. They are not fictional like what you might
06:15 find in a story like the Lord of the Rings. Now I like the movie so much that uh I remember place named like Gondor
06:22 and Minast and you know Riendell if you have watched the movie but those names
06:27 are 100% made up but not the names in these two chapters of acts in fact what
06:35 we have here is a lesson in the geography of the Mediterranean area. Now take for example the port city of
06:42 Cisoria where Paul began his journey in Acts 27:1 and where he appeared before King Agria
06:49 uh before this in Acts 26. Cesaria is a real place. Today it is
06:56 more of a resort town but during the first century uh it was a thriving port
07:03 uh somewhere northwest of Jerusalem. Now today if you were to go to the
07:09 seafront in Ciseria you will see the ruins of the port city.
07:14 Now this is what it was like uh when Lean and I were there as part of our Israel tour sometime back.
07:22 I noticed the matching color of the clothes.
07:28 The result of 18 years of marriage. a convergence of taste
07:35 to the extent that my hair matches the color of my wife, my wife's head.
07:40 Now you can see, but seriously, you can see the footprints of ancient buildings in the background, fallen columns and
07:47 pillars and huge slabs of building stones. And when you were there, you
07:52 cannot help but feel a deep sense of biblical history that kind of lifts you up spiritually.
07:59 Now so accurate is this account of Paul from a geographical point of view that the people in Malta were able to
08:06 identify the very bay where Paul and his shipmates landed after the shipwreck.
08:12 How could they do that? Because of the sandy beach mentioned here in verse 39
08:18 and the sandbar mentioned in verse 41. They were able to ident identify that
08:23 very bay. It is now called known as the St. Thomas Bay. And further out from
08:29 this bay, apparently divers have found the four anchors mentioned in verses 29
08:35 and 40. And today there at least two Roman Catholic churches uh in Morta
08:41 dedicated to Paul's shipwreck and they called the church of Paul uh St. Paul's shipwreck.
08:47 Next on the second count, the nautical accuracy of this passage. Now you will
08:52 agree with me that this is very much a sea story. Now this is what it might have been like
08:59 except for the portion uh a small portion in Acts 28 the 10 verses much of this passage happened at sea right from
09:07 the beginning when they sailed from Cisaria now I'm not a sea man and I'm
09:12 I'm not familiar with the various nautical terms um I'm not familiar with the operation of the sailing ship but
09:19 apparently if you are a professional sailor and you're familiar with the operation of a sailboat now you would
09:24 agree to the last detail the way they were navigating and handling the ship
09:30 here in Acts 27, especially during the storm. For example, in the 27:4,
09:38 they were sailing along the northern sheltered corridor of Cyprus because the wind was against the ship on the
09:44 southern side of the island. Now, in verse 17, uh they were lowering the sails during the hurricane so that the
09:51 ship would not be blown all the way to the shores of Libya in the south. In verse 28, checking the depth of the
09:58 water as the ship approached land. In verse 29, dropping anchors because they
10:03 didn't want the ship to smash against the rock and so on and so forth. The nautical details are pretty amazing if
10:10 you were to ask a seaman. Not only is the passage accurate from a nautical perspective, it is also
10:16 accurate from a meteorological standpoint. Now, this is the third angle that authenticates this passage. We're
10:24 talking about the weather. Verse 9 says, "By now it was after the day of atonement or in some versions the day of
10:30 fast." Now the day of atonement is stipulated in Leviticus chapters 16 and 23 and it happens on the 10th day of the
10:39 seventh month in the Jewish calendar and around September. This is around September to to October. The day of
10:45 atonement is also known as the uh Sabbath of Sabbaths. And today in Israel
10:51 if you go to Israel uh is called is better known as the Yom Kipur. Now based on historical facts if you dig out uh
10:58 this historical facts from Acts 25 and 26 we know that this actually happened in AD59.
11:05 In AD59 the day of atonement fell on October the 5th. And so we know exactly
11:12 when this took place and that is the first three weeks uh of the month of
11:18 October. Now from midepptember to mid November uh it was a known fact that sailing in this
11:24 part of the Mediterranean can be very dangerous because of winds of hurricane force that blew at this time of the
11:30 year. Verse 14 refers to this wind as the noraster or if you have the King
11:36 James version it is called the Eurocyclone. Okay. Now, the fascinating thing about this passage is that the nor
11:42 easter is still blowing today towards the end of the year as it did 2,000
11:48 years ago. In fact, if you were to sail today uh in
11:53 the Mediterranean somewhere between September and November, you could actually use Acts 27 as your
11:59 meteorological guide. So with this I trust that you are convinced by the geographical the
12:05 nautical the meteorological accuracies of this passage and you can take comfort
12:10 that the word of God is based on facts based on hard facts and not based on
12:16 half fiction. Now moving on let me clarify that this morning's sermon is is not a lesson in geography or or or a
12:23 lecture on sailing at least of all a weather report. Let us now move beyond the facts on the surface
12:30 and uncover the secondary layer of meaning. Now before we do that, I
12:35 propose that we first trace quickly Paul's voyage from his from his departure in Acts 27:1 and all the way
12:42 to the landing on the shore of Malta in Acts 28:1. Now this can be divided into four
12:48 distinct episodes uh which most of your Bibles would indicate. Episode one smooth sailing 271
12:56 to 2712. Uh episode 2 stormy sea uh 2713 to 2726.
13:04 Episode 3 severe shipwreck 2727 to 27:44.
13:09 Episode 4 finally safety and shelter uh 28 vers1 to 10. Now, to help us navigate
13:16 through these verses, let me show you a map of the Mediterranean region
13:21 because without this, it can be quite confusing to follow the ship's path from Ciceria to Malta. We shall start from
13:27 verse one, you please follow the red triangles as we trace the ship's path. Now, from verse one and two, uh you can
13:36 see down there, Paul departed from Cesaria with a centurion named Julius.
13:41 The ship they boarded was a coastal vessel. This would be a smaller ship
13:46 that skirted along the coast from one port to another. The ship was registered
13:52 uh at another port city uh Adrathium uh that is fur up in the north mark with an
13:57 ax. Now from verse three, they made a brief stop at Sidon. Okay, just just up
14:04 further up from uh from Cisaria. from verse four. Uh because of strong winds,
14:10 they had to sail along the sheltered uh side of Cyprus. Uh because the wind was
14:16 blowing along the southern side. So they had to sail along the the NIV says the lee of uh of Cyprus, not my name. The
14:23 lee of Cypress means the sheltered side of Cyprus, which is the northern side. And from verse 5, uh they sailed uh off
14:31 the coast of Cissia and Penilia. Those provinces are all all mentioned or named there on the map. And also from verse 5
14:38 and then verse six, they arrive at Myra. Okay, this port city where the centurion
14:44 found a much larger ship uh a grain ship carrying grains originating from
14:51 Alexandria in the south and heading for Italy. So so they made a transit uh at
14:56 uh at Myra. From verse 7, uh the ship, the grain ship got close to uh Sniders, further to
15:04 the west. Uh the wind did not allow them to go further west. They would have gone further west to Italy. So they sail
15:10 along the sheltered side of the island of Cree opposite this Cape uh ceremony.
15:16 From verse 8, with difficulty they move along the coast of the island of Cree
15:21 and come and came to a place called Fair Havens near the town of Lasia. And at
15:28 this time it would have been 6th October. But Fair Havens was deemed from verse
15:34 verses 9 and to to 12 Fair Havens was deemed not a suitable uh harbor to take shelter in. And so the majority on the
15:41 ship wanted to move on to try to make it to another harbor Phoenix uh further to
15:47 the west of the island. But Paul warned them not to do so in verse 10 as it
15:53 would be very dangerous. Now from verses 13 to 14 uh uh against Paul's advice
15:59 they set sail for Phoenix to the west of the island but was soon caught by a violent hurricane called the
16:06 noraster. Now from verse 16 they passed uh uh the
16:11 small island of Koda. They had a lifeboat uh being told behind their ship and they were but they were
16:18 afraid to lose lose the the lifeboat this little dingy to the huge wave. So they had it hoisted on deck
16:26 from verse 17. Now from verse 27 we read that the noraster drove the ship across the Adria
16:32 or the Adriatic Sea. Okay. And by now they had already lowered
16:37 their sails so that the ship will not be carried by the waves. So that the ship will be carried by the waves not by the
16:42 wind. Okay. Verse verse 17. And by now okay at this point they had already thrown their cargo and equipment
16:49 overboard. verse verses 18 and 19. So somewhere between the island of Cit and
16:55 then the big island of uh of Sicily, they were tossed and battered by the wind and waves. And by the time they we
17:02 get to verse 41, they were shipwrecked just off the coast of the small island
17:08 of Malta. And this is what it must it might have been like
17:15 on that dark and stormy day. It must have been terribly scary for the
17:20 270 men uh on board the ship.
17:27 Now you will agree with me that with a pictorial aid such as this map, okay, the verses here uh become a little bit
17:34 alive as we trace Paul's journey across the Mediterranean. Now first on the
17:39 smaller remember the cost smaller smaller coastal ship from Ciceria to Myra. Okay. And then uh at Myra they
17:46 they they they changed their to a bigger ship and then they journeyed on this bigger grain ship from Myra to
17:52 eventually to Malta. Now at this juncture since we now have a clear picture of the ship's passage it will be
17:58 more instructional to see the reaction of ordinary men u in times of crisis. As
18:05 I said earlier uh at the beginning, we shall now see um how ordinary men react
18:11 when faced with a storm. And we shall see how God works during a storm. And finally, we shall see how a man of God,
18:18 Paul, conducts himself during a storm. So what did the people in uh in Acts 27
18:25 uh do during the storm or even before the storm? First of all, the northeaster season had already started. And so in
18:34 verse 10, when they were in fair havens, Paul cautioned them against continuing the journey. The northeaster is not
18:40 something that you would take lightly. He says here in verse 12 that the majority on the ship wanted to move from
18:47 fair havens, we saw earlier to a more suitable harbor to the west in Phoenix.
18:53 But before that, before they could do that, in verse 11, the ship's captain and the ship's owner had had already
18:58 convinced the centurion that they should continue their journey. So, did these two share the same desire as the
19:05 majority to get to Phoenix? I don't think so. Since the captain and the and
19:11 the ship ship owner were mentioned separately from the so-called majority on the ship, I'm inclined to think that
19:17 the former these two uh guys had a different reason to continue sailing. And I think that reason is greed.
19:25 And how is that so? The ship was already late from verse 9. Late for what? Now
19:32 this grain ship from Alexandria in the south near the fertile area of Nile uh
19:37 was supposed to deliver grain to Italy where upon arrival the captain and the ship owner can expect a handsome fee.
19:45 The faster they could get their cargo to their customers especially in Rome the faster these two would earn uh their
19:51 reward monetarily. And so there is an element of greed here although not so
19:56 apparent. And so we find that greed can drive a
20:02 man to do things at the expense of others. In this case, they were willing to risk
20:08 the lives of those on board, the passengers, the prisoners, the the crew
20:14 and and the soldiers in the pursuit of profits. These lives became dispensable.
20:22 If not for their greed, I believe they if they have if they have heeded Paul's advice and they might have stayed safe
20:29 in fair havens and not bring upon themselves the the disaster that was about to unfold. Indeed, there must have
20:36 been many storms in our lives, storms that we faced before that could have
20:41 been avoided if we had not succumbed to greed or to envy or to hatred.
20:49 And besides greed, we can also detect another human trait that can cause us a lot of trouble and headache. And that is
20:56 haste. Being hasty and reckless. By verse 12,
21:02 they had already somewhat decided to to to throw caution to the wind and to move on from fairs onwards to Phoenix. Then
21:11 something uh happened in verse 13. A gentle wind started to blow from the
21:16 south. Okay. And that sealed their decision to move on because they found
21:22 that this gentle breeze blowing northwards is hardly what Paul was trying to frighten them with and it
21:28 might actually get them all the way to Italy. And so that set sail. Now here I
21:33 wish to offer a word of caution for those seeking guidance from God. There
21:39 are times when you have when you might want to do something a certain way your
21:44 way. Actually, you've already made up your mind. You actually have your plan of action ready, but you sense that God,
21:51 you know, prompting you that it might be not might not be such a good idea and and you hesitate.
21:58 And then comes the slightest the slightest indication that favors your
22:03 earlier plan and you grab this as confirmation and you get into action
22:10 only to meet with disappointment later. When you seek guidance from God, when
22:16 you seek to to do his will, to follow his will, don't go to God with your
22:21 plans and look for for the slightest evidence or the slightest circumstance that support your plan and then say that
22:28 it is God's plan. Don't be hasty because God never act in haste.
22:37 Take time to be still before God. Take time to wait upon God.
22:42 So apart from the greed and the haste that we have just seen, let us now look at the reaction of the crew when the
22:48 storm set in. Now it appears to me that people can be quite resourceful uh during times of crisis. People including
22:56 you and I, we always try to find ways out of trouble and the crew we found
23:01 worked very hard in the face of danger. They actually passed thick ropesh uh from verse 17 thick ropes around the
23:07 hull so that the the vessel would not break apart and then they lowered they lowered their sails so that the wind
23:13 will not blow the the ship all the way down south to the sandbarss of Libya. Also from verse 17 they started to throw
23:20 their caros overboard and all the extra equipment overboard so that the ship be lighter and the water line lower so that
23:27 the ship will not take in more water from the roaring waves. That's from uh verses 18 and 19.
23:34 But whatever they did, there was nothing they could do that could alter or thwart
23:40 God what God has ordained. From verse 22, it is clear that the ship will be
23:45 destroyed no matter what. No matter what they did, when facing a storm in life, people will
23:52 employ all their resources, physical or mental, to battle the crisis. But God's
23:58 plan will come to pass regardless. So as Christians, we consider ourselves more
24:04 fortunate uh than others. Not only do we have at our disposal our physical and
24:10 mental resources, God has also blessed us with spiritual resources that come
24:15 from above. Now to continue the saga, just before the ship wrecked, when it appeared that
24:22 the ship would be lost, their resourcefulness turned to panic. Some of the crew tried
24:28 to lower the lifeboat in an attempt to escape from verse 30. Uh the rest cut
24:33 the anchors and raised the sails hoping that the the wind will blow the ship to shore to safety from verses 39 and 40.
24:41 The soldiers also panic. They tried to kill the prisoners rather than letting them swim ashore less some of them
24:47 escape. Now how is that a sign of of panic? In the Roman army, there is a
24:53 rule that says that if a soldier let a prisoner escape, the soldier would have
24:58 to stand trial in place of the prisoner and receive whatever punishment that would otherwise be metered to the
25:04 prisoner. So soldier panicked. Now we have seen greed and haste. We have seen
25:12 resourcefulness and panic on board the ship. Now let us see how God works during a storm.
25:18 Firstly, God has full knowledge of what is happening uh during a storm.
25:26 The God of the universe who created and placed the stars in the skies by which the sailors chart their courses across
25:33 the oceans. This same God knew exactly what was happening aboard aboard that green ship of sailing from Myra heading
25:41 for Italy. Otherwise, he would not have sent an angel to assure Paul in verses
25:46 23 and 24. Secondly, be comforted by the fact that God is always in full control when we
25:54 face a storm. The crew tried desperately to mitigate the dangers they were
25:59 facing. But when God said that the ship would be lost, but everyone would be safe from verse 22, everything happened
26:07 exactly as God has had planned. So often during times of severe setbacks, during times when the pain
26:15 seems too much to bear, we may scream, "God, where are you? Why did you let
26:20 this happen to me?" Scream all you like. But make make no
26:25 mistake that God is always in full control. Now, thirdly, God sends
26:31 assurance when we face a storm. He sent an angel to assure Paul in verses 23 and
26:36 24. As I said, when you're struggling with a crisis that saps your confidence, it is God's habit to send you asurances
26:45 either through the working of the Holy Spirit in your heart or through the word of God or through your brothers and
26:50 sisters in Christ who come and stand by you. Now, if people have knowledge of how God
26:56 works during a storm and how he's sovereign, they will not have to deal with the storm in desperation or in
27:03 panic. In contrast, it's interesting to see how a man of God react when confronted with
27:10 a crisis. Christians conducts themselves differently from
27:16 others during a storm. Let me repeat that. Christians conduct themselves
27:22 differently from others during a storm. How did Paul conduct himself aboard a
27:27 ship that was battered by the angry sea? Two words come to mind. courage from
27:33 verse 22 and 25 and the word faith from verse 25. Paul told those who on board
27:41 to keep up their courage not once but twice. You cannot tell others you know
27:46 to have courage unless you are courageous yourself. Courage means a quality of spirit that enables us to
27:54 face danger or pain without showing fear. If we can avoid it, none of us
27:60 want to experience danger or pain. But when we have to, we face it with courage
28:06 and without fear. Fear is the enemy of faith, which is the second key word
28:12 besides uh uh courage. Paul says in in verse 25, "Keep up your courage, man, for I have faith in God." In Hebrews
28:21 11:1 uh the famous verse fa faith is defined as the confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do
28:27 not see. The depth or strength of your faith in God will determine how well you
28:34 weather the storms that you face in your life. Christians are not immune to the storms
28:41 of life. If Christians have immunity, the churches will be packed with people.
28:48 Pain and suffering happens to believers and non-believers alike. Matthew 5:45
28:55 says, "He causes his son to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the
29:01 righteous and the unrighteous." In this sovereign will, God does not
29:07 promise us a problem life free, a problem free life. The little signs on the Golden Gate Bridge where I show you
29:12 earlier, they are reminders that that that life is not a braid of roses
29:18 for both Christians and non-Christians. I must emphasize while God does not
29:23 promise us a problem-free life. What he does promise us his children is a
29:28 strength to deal with the storms of life. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:10,
29:34 "Interestingly, I delight in weaknesses, in hardships
29:41 and difficulties, for when I'm weak, then I'm strong."
29:47 How strong is your faith? So, as far as this passage is concerned,
29:53 so far we have covered the facts on the surface, the geographical facts, the nautical facts, and the meteorological facts. We have also discussed a
29:60 secondary layer of uh of of application. How ordinary men react during a storm. How God works during a storm and how a
30:06 man of God like Paul conducts himself during a storm. Let us continue to to unpack these verses quickly. And we now
30:13 move to a final and deeper layer of understanding which is a metaphorical
30:18 layer. Now in this third layer, it is not difficult to see how Paul's voyage
30:24 mirrors our own journey of life.
30:29 Paul started his uh his journey from the port city of Cicyria and ended up in the on the island of Malta. Similarly
30:37 uh we in our earthly life there is a beginning and an end. Paul sailed on a grain ship
30:45 we travel on the ship of faith and in this ship and this ship of faith
30:51 we carry the anchor of the promises of God. Paul says in Ephesians 28, "For it
30:57 is by grace you have been saved through faith." F ai th
31:02 Now after the tour of Cesaria during our Israel trip, one or two days later, Lean and I had the opportunity of enjoying a
31:08 boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, not far from to the east from Cesaria. And the
31:14 boat was owned by a Messianic Jew. In other words, a Jew who accepted Jesus as savior. Uh incidentally, although not so
31:21 surprisingly, he gave the name uh he gave the boat the name Faith. If you can
31:26 see the name of the boat in the picture. And this is Lean and I on board the ship, this ship of faith.
31:34 And this is what the boat looked like on from the deck. And we had a lovely time uh of worship together with some other
31:41 American passengers. Now to go on Paul's voyage is marked by
31:46 episodes of smooth sailing of storms uh even a shipwreck and similarly in our
31:53 earthly life we will encounter ups and downs sunshine and rain happiness and tears.
32:01 You will not be up up all the way. It will not be uh happiness and and sunshine all the time. As I've already
32:09 said, life is not a bed of roses from beginning to end.
32:15 And we may beseech God to keep us away from the storms and the tears. While we do that, do not be too surprised when
32:23 struggles and suffering comes our way. Now, notice what I said. When struggles
32:29 and sufferings come our way, not if, but rather when.
32:35 Remember that we live in a fallen world. a world fraught with what I call the 3Ds of life.
32:41 The the 3Ds of life are disease, decay, and death. And God does allow his
32:48 children to suffer these 3Ds. As as a matter of fact, the sea itself on which
32:54 Paul's ship was sailing on can be considered a metaphor for something bad or undesirable. In scripture, the sea is
33:02 often an imagery for something frightful and hostile, even something evil. A good
33:08 example is in Revelations 21:1 where John saw a vision of the new heaven and new earth. And the verse says, "Then I
33:15 saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first earth, first heaven and first earth had passed away, and there was no
33:21 longer any sea." Now, why is there no sea in the new heaven and new earth? And
33:27 this is most likely metaphorical. The answer should be clear to you now because the C stand for something evil
33:35 because in a new heaven, new earth, everything will be perfect in every sense. Now, you may be surprised that
33:41 there is actually a metaphor for heaven in this passage, in this third layer of application. What is comforting about
33:47 Paul's voice is that it ends up in safety and shelter. The island of Malta
33:53 can be seen as a metaphor for our eventual destination, which is heaven. At the end of our journey on earth, we
33:60 can expect to arrive at this place that God has prepared for us where we shall find eternal rest. Paul got to the
34:06 island of Malta safely, but not before the ship was destroyed in a shipwreck.
34:12 Now to take the metaphor even further, there are some Bible scholars who are inclined to think that the ship that
34:17 Paul was traveling in can be uh taken as a parallel to the physical shell that houses our spirit which is our body.
34:25 Before we get to our eventual destination, we would have to give up this physical body that is subjected to
34:31 much disease and decay. And after that, we'll be resurrection resurrected with a new body. They will be perfect. And I
34:39 leave you with two verses to comfort you. Paul says in two in 1 Corinthians 15-42,
34:46 the body that is sown, it is is perishable, but it is raised imperishable.
34:54 And first because first he talks about the earthly body, then he talks about the resurrected body. And Paul says the
34:60 same thing in 2 Corinthians 5:1. For we know if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God,
35:08 an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. So in summary, this is how
35:14 the metaphor uh in the passage looks like uh from a more overall perspective.
35:22 Now, even as we map Paul's voyage to our own journey here on earth, we cannot help but to ask the timeless question of
35:29 why God allows storm to come our way in the first place. Wouldn't it be wonderful if it is smooth sailing all
35:36 the way minus all the storms? Unfortunately or fortunately, that is
35:41 not how God works in our lives. As I conclude this sermon, I wish to quickly revisit the answer as to why sometime
35:49 God does not hold back the storm and he allows us to suffer. And many of you already know this. The answer lies in
35:56 James 1:es 2 to 4. The famous passage on the reason be behind our sufferings.
36:03 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of every kind of many kind. Because you know that the
36:09 testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and
36:15 complete not lacking anything. Sufferings are described as a kind of testing of our faith which develops
36:22 perseverance which brings about maturity.
36:27 There is another complimentary passage that explains the reason behind suffering and that comes from Romans 5:es 3 and 4. We also rejoice in our
36:35 sufferings because we know that the suffering that suffering produces perseverance. Perseverance character and
36:42 character hope. Here suffering develops perseverance which develops character
36:47 which produces hope. Now there is a type of suffering known as consequential suffering that is not
36:54 covered by these two passages uh by James 1 or Romans 5. Consequential
36:60 suffering is suffering that you bring upon yourself. We sometimes suffer as a
37:05 direct consequence of our bad decisions or our or callous action or even our
37:11 inaction. In other words, will you reap what you sow? For example, if you don't service your car, you will suffer the
37:18 inconvenience of a breakdown later. If you have a habit of driving very fast, one day you're going to meet with an
37:24 accident. That's pretty obvious. If you eat too much, you're going to suffer weight problems. If you choose the wrong
37:31 life partner, you ended up with happy unhappy marriage. And I can go on and on.
37:37 So often we are suffer because we are careless or we are lazy or we are ignorant or we are stubborn or if we are
37:43 greedy or hasty as what happened in this chapter. There is no one to blame but yourself. But in contrast, I must point
37:51 out that the suffering mentioned here in James 1 and James 5 are sometimes described as educational and has got a a
37:58 lot to do with disciplehip or even discipline. God shapes us. God molds us
38:06 uh through suffering. If you have never encountered storms in your life, I'll be very surprised
38:13 because it means that you have never been molded by God. suffering as a means
38:18 of spiritual refinement is absolutely biblical.
38:23 Lastly, Hebrews 12:12 uh 10-11 says, "Our fathers uh referring to our earth
38:30 earthly fathers discipline us for a little while as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good that we
38:37 may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at time but painful
38:44 later on." Now, this is important. later on it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who
38:51 have been trained by it. Some of you I know personally have been
38:57 trained by suffering. And so my brothers and sisters keep courage and have faith
39:02 when you have to deal with occasional storms of life. And when you do that consistently
39:08 one day you will be able to say through many dangers, toils and snares I have
39:13 already come. This grace had brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me
39:20 home. The famous words from Amazing Grace. Now home chapter 1 vers7 says,
39:25 "The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in
39:32 him." Shall we pray? Oh Lord, grant us the courage to face
39:39 the storms that come our way. strengthen our faith to deal with the
39:44 pain and the tears that we sometimes have to bear. Thank you that you're always in control and ship us like a
39:51 porter shapes his clay and do it as you see fit. For we long to be more and more
39:57 Christlike by the days. For this we pray in Jesus name. Amen.
