The Acts of the Apostles- 91

Subtitle:  At the Mercy of the Winds

Acts 27:1-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on February 9, 2025.

We now turn to the final act of the book of Acts, which is Paul’s voyage to Rome and the subsequent two years under house arrest while he waits for his appeal to Caesar.

It could be called Paul’s Fourth Missionary Journey, except this journey has him under Roman arrest.  Previously, Paul chose to travel by land and by sea to convert people to Jesus and establish churches.  However, who actually sends us on a mission journey, if not God?  Sometimes, God may use authorities and shackles to put you in a place to witness for Him.

Handcuffs never impeded Paul’s ability to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus to others.  He had presented the Gospel to King Agrippa, several governors, Roman Commanders, Roman Centurions and other magistrates.

The title of this message refers to the stormy winds that will buffet this trip to Rome.  The winds can be a metaphor for things that are bigger than us, over which we have no control or choice, pushing us this way and that way.  But, no matter what gale force headwinds we face, the Lord is greater than any natural or metaphorical storm.  The believer in Jesus does not need to fear.  Instead, they can trust His plan in their life to lead to a good place, no matter how bad the present may seem.

God is able to bring peace to the storm, or, He can use it to get us exactly where He wants us to be.

Let’s look at our passage.

The Voyage from Caesarea to Crete (v. 1-8)

This chapter begins another “we” section.  This means that Luke has joined Paul on this trip to Rome.  He also mentions in verse 2 that Aristarchus of Thessalonica joined them.  This is the same Aristarchus that has helped Paul in his missionary journeys and was even seized by a mob in Ephesus when they couldn’t find Paul (chp 19-20). 

This may seem strange to us, but this is not a military vessel.  It is a commercial ship that any paying customer can board.  No doubt, Paul knows that he will spend a substantial amount of time under house arrest and has asked them both to join him.  They would be able to help him. 

Paul and some other prisoners are put under the charge of a Roman Centurion named Julius.  With a number of soldiers requisite to the number of prisoners, they board a ship that is from a western port of Asia Minor called Adramyttium.  This ship is not headed to Rome, but travels up the Mediterranean coast, most likely headed back to Adramyttium.  At first, there is no mention of bad winds.  They voyage to Sidon and put into port.  It is here that Paul’s treatment by Julius is described.  He “treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care.”  It is likely that he was one of the centurions who were in the auditorium on the day that he addressed King Agrippa II.  Paul clearly made an impact upon him.  Nice treatment was not a hallmark of Roman centurions.

Verse 4 gives us the first mention of contrary winds.  These winds were making it harder to go where they wanted to go, towards the west.  “Under the shelter of Cyprus means that they sailed on the side of Cyprus toward which the wind was blowing.  Since it mentions Cilicia, Pamphylia and Myra of Lycia, these winds were blowing northeast causing them to sail on the northern side of the Island.

It is at Myra that they switch to an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy.  Here it is mentioned again in verse 7 that they were moving slowly for many days with difficulty.  By the time they reach Cnidus, they realize that the winds are such that they cannot continue East.  This means that a wind from the northeast is coming down from the Aegean Sea.  Thus, they turn south in order to use the Island of Crete as a shield against this wind.  This allows them to sail west along the southern coast of Crete until they reach a town called Fair Havens.

Paul’s wise counsel (v. 9-13)

They had lost a lot of time in this difficult sailing.  It was getting late in the year approaching winter, and they were only half way to Rome.  “The Fast” in verse 9 would be a reference for Jewish people regarding the Day of Atonement.  This occurs between mid-September and mid-October.

Paul strongly advises them not to continue the journey.  It is becoming too dangerous.  If they foolishly push on, he believes they will suffer damage and loss of life.  Essentially, they would have to winter in Fair Havens until the Spring. 

There does not seem to be a word from the Lord in this advise.   In other words, this is not a prophecy from the Lord Jesus.  This is Paul using his experience of traveling on ships.  He recognizes that they are fighting the reality that they have simply lost too much time.

It is important for Christians to understand that God does not always give us a prophetic word or a dream.  In those moments, we use our minds and experience in order to determine the best course.  Yet, it is also important for Christians to use the mind of the Lord and think biblically about the matters before us.  We should bathe such decisions in prayer, asking the Lord to help us make a good decision.

Yet, even when we think biblically and prayerfully, Christians can be wrong in their decisions at times.  Our opinions and conclusions should be held humbly, but also expressed.

The centurion puts the question to the captain (the man who owns the boat) and the navigator.  It appears that there is some poll of the crew as well.  The sailors do not like the idea of staying at Fair Harbor.  Apparently the name of the town was overstated, at least in winter.  There are several reasons sailors would not want to winter for three months in a particular harbor.  It may be that the prevailing winter winds blow directly into the harbor, reeking havoc upon any ships docked.  However, it may also have to do with the number of men on the ship (267 according to verse 37) and the ability of the town to put up and entertain that many men.  Their decision is to attempt a run along the coast to a harbor called Phoenix on the same island that is about 40 to 80 miles away (the exact location of Phoenix, Crete, is in dispute).

At some point, a south wind began to blow softly, and the sailors take advantage of the turn in winds to attempt a run to Phoenix.  Have you ever been suckered by a “favorable wind?”

Caught in a violent storm (v. 14-20)

They do not sail far when a northeast wind begins to pound the vessel.  It is so strong that they are unable to turn into the wind and hold their position.  Thus, they turn and let it push them along.  It is clear that they end up in an existential crisis.  They may die, and so, Luke describes a series of increasingly desperate measures.

Have you ever told yourself that you couldn’t live without something or someone?  If you end up in a situation where holding on to it may get you killed or severely injure you, then you may find that you do not want it that badly.  “I don’t want to let this go, but I want to live.”  How many things are people holding onto at the expense of eternal life?

These men begin throwing cargo into the sea in order to lighten the boat.  Later they begin to throw expensive tackle overboard.  They even run ropes around the boat in order to band it (strap it) so that it doesn’t split apart from the violence of the storm.  This is a lot of dangerous work in the middle of a violent storm.  Yet, sometimes human power and expertise is not enough.

We should praise God for guys who do stuff like this in the middle of storms, or for the reconstruction efforts they do after such storms.  However, the power of man is quite limited in the face of the powers of nature.  Praise God that He is greater than the storms!

These men abandon all hope (verse 20) of making it through the storm.  These experienced sailors have reached a point where they are at the end of their wits and strength.

From the Apostle Paul’s perspective, this is a bad situation.  However, Jesus had told him that he must go to Rome.  Still, he doesn’t know what that is going to look like.  Sometimes your experiences are roped together with the choices of others.  It can be frustrating and angering.  We can rage against men and against God.  Yet, God does not intend for any of us to live unto ourselves.  We are born for relationships and into relationships that affect us in many ways.  We can complain, or we can trust God and honor Him in our choices.  When someone else’s decision seems to ruin our life- keep in mind that we are quick to be overly dramatic in such times, it is better for us to cast ourselves upon God and look for His direction.  Raging against people and God will not fix anything.  Paul represents a man with his ear to the Lord, who gives good help and counsel to others.  Yet, he is still yoked to their decisions.

We can think of this as being at the mercy of the winds that other people create.  Some create good winds and others bad winds.  Of course, we might ask ourselves if we are perfect in our determinations of which is which.  Sometimes things that we call bad can end up doing the greatest good in our life.  This good thing can only be seen with retrospection.

As we move forward in this culture, we are going to be continually challenged.  Things in our Republic (things in our families, things in our jobs, etc.) will insert themselves, and we will be unable to control these violent prevailing winds of the time.  Yet, there is one thing we must hold fast.  Jesus is greater than all that we face, and he has promised not to leave us alone in it, but rather, to work it towards our good.

I am reminded of the time when Jesus was sleeping in the boat while a storm threatened him and his disciples.  These fishermen shook Jesus awake crying that they were about to die.  Jesus stood up and commanded the winds to cease, and they did.  “What manner of man is this?” they exclaimed!  God is greater than deep states, globalists, wannabe dictators and even natural disasters.  We can rest in that knowledge, even when he doesn’t cause it to cease immediately.

Greater than God’s ability to put an end to anything we face is His ability to make the storm serve His purpose.  Goliath served a purpose on the battlefield that day.  He glorified God in his death before an inexperienced, young man named David.  No one else had faith in God that day, but David did.  May God help us to face these storms, even when it becomes clear that He means to take us through it.  He loves you and has your best in mind!

Mercy of the Winds audio

The Lord of All Creation

Mark 6:45-52.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on Sunday, October 20, 2019.

In our story today, we have a miraculous event that makes it easy for some to scoff and discount it as a myth, at best.  There are even some Christians who will say that this didn’t actually happen, but that the story is designed to teach what the writer believes is the truth about Jesus.  To them, these mythical and miraculous stories are merely vehicles to take us to the truth.  They are not the truth themselves.

All of this may seem good in some halls of academia (note: not all schools of higher learning teach this), but these men were not university professors with the desire to make up and use myths in order to teach truth.  They were humble fishermen, hated tax collectors, and men who did not think in such ways.  Their world had been turned upside down by an almost incredible man named Jesus.

Something else we should keep in mind is this.  God does not present himself as an “ends justifies the means” being.  His Holy Spirit was not encouraging these disciples to spin mythic yarns in order to get some people to believe the truth.  This is important in our day and age because it is becoming an increasingly common method of “persuasion.”   In truth, such methods are actually manipulation.  No, God really is as great as He is presented in the Scriptures, even the miracles of Jesus.

In this life, we will face much difficulty.  Some of it is simply life; some of it is the effects of our choices; and some of it is spiritual opposition.  Regardless of what we are facing today, may God help us to trust His power over the natural and the supernatural creation that He has made by His power.

Jesus walks on the water

Last week we stopped with Jesus and his disciples picking up 12 baskets of leftovers from a miraculous provision of food for over 5,000 people.  We are then told that evening was upon them and dark was approaching.

There are two other narratives of this event in the other Gospels in Matthew 14, and John 6.  In John 6, we are told that Jesus recognized that the crowd wanted to take him by force in order to make him king.  This leads to Jesus doing two things.

First, Jesus makes his disciples leave in a boat without him.  Most likely, he doesn’t want them to get caught up in the fervor of the crowd, and he has other plans for why they will be on the water in a boat without him.

Second, Matthew records that Jesus sent the multitude away and went up on a nearby mountain alone in order to pray.  It was not the time for Jesus to present himself as king, and he was destined to be rejected by the nation.  Jesus was not looking to crowds as an opportunity for self-advancement.  He was looking to His Father for the proper advancement that comes from Him alone.  This is why it is a common theme throughout the Gospels that Jesus would get alone to pray.  Believe me, he had even less time to pray than you do.  Yet, he took time to commune with Father God late at night and early in the morning.

In light of the rest of this story, we must also recognize that Jesus knew that his disciples had not completely understood the magnitude of the miracle that had just happened with the feeding of the multitude.  He is setting them up to see just who he really is in an unmistakable way.

It appears from the different accounts that the disciples took off in their boat across the Sea of Galilee as it grew dark, and began rowing across the large lake.  It is around 6 to 7 miles across.  At some point, the winds begin to pick up and they are not tail winds.  Now, oaring is difficult enough without the resistance of the wind.  However, this wind becomes very hard and the waves very large.

This account is very similar to the storm we saw earlier in Mark 4.  There the storm was swamping the boat and the disciples feared that they would perish.  However here, the storm seems different.  It is impeding their progress and exhausting their efforts more than it is jeopardizing their lives.  This is important because, when you think about it, we face exhaustion and giving up far more often than we face physical threats against our lives.  When we become physically exhausted, it commonly leads to emotional and mental exhaustion.  This can then lead to spiritual exhaustion wherein we simply give up and quit.  It is a good thing to guard against spiritual exhaustion by taking care of ourselves physically, and making sure we are not physically exhausted.  We can be our own worst boss, driving ourselves harder than is good for us, and harder than God desires for us.  Yet, sometimes life does not give us a choice in this matter.  We can be assailed by ill winds that just won’t quit, and by things that sap our strength in every way.  The good news is that Jesus knows this.

Jesus wasn’t only praying on the mountain.  Verse 48 tells us that he was also watching the progress of the disciples across the lake.  Of course, he wanted to spend time with the Father and would not forgo that.  However, he also allows them to oar, and oar…, and oar, for hours against the wind.  Yet, he eventually does come to them in the last watch of the night.  The last night would be anywhere from 3 AM to 6 AM.  Clearly, these guys had been oaring for a long time and were not getting very far.

Do you ever wish that God would show up sooner than he does?  Of course, we all do.  Yet, the testimony of saints through the ages is that God’s timing was always for their good in retrospect.  The problem with hindsight is that you don’t get it until you reach the other side of the story.  Can we keep faith and trust in Christ in the midst of difficulty, or will we quit oaring the direction Jesus sent us and go back?  These stories, the stories of other believers today, and our own past experiences, all teach us that God can be trusted to take care of us.

This time, Jesus is not going to dramatically tell the storm to stop.  He is going to come to them in a way that will help them understand that the storm is not bigger than him.  This may seem cliché, but God help us to hold on to the truth that He really is bigger than all of our problems.  We don’t have to fear.  He doesn’t always help us in the way that we want, or in the same way, but help He will and none too late!

The disciples are rowing as best they can, probably taking shifts, but they are making little progress if any.  It is at this point that Jesus comes walking on the water looking as if he is going to pass on by them.  This is an important point.  Jesus is coming for them, yet they need to recognize his presence and call out to him.  We can get so caught up in our difficulties, with our head down towards the ground, and not see him in our situation, and not cry out to him.

The comedy of this situation should not escape us as these grown men think they are seeing a ghost, and give a cry of fear.  This is not anything they would expect to see.  Someone is walking on the water, and, as if that wasn’t enough, it is in the middle of a storm.  Another boat would have been surprising to see, but normal.  However, this scared them.

When we come face to face with the mighty power and ability of God, it can be a hair-raising experience.  He is more powerful than we can imagine, and we definitely do not want to be His enemy.  Yet, even His children can be caught by surprise and have a sense of fear at how great His power really is.  It is not God’s intention to cause us to fear, but it will happen nonetheless.  Thus, Jesus states, “Be of good cheer!  It is I; do not be afraid.”  Ah yes, the classic statement of angels, and now Jesus, to those freaked out by their presence.  “It is I” is the promise Christ makes to all who trust him.  “I will never leave you nor forsake you…I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  These are the words he gives to us.  God help us to hold on to them in our storms, and even when we are exhausted.

We should note that the episode of Peter, sort of walking on the sea, happens at this point, but only Matthew 14 records this event, and so we will not go into it now.

Essentially, the disciples go from fear that Jesus is a ghost (some kind of shade from the Hebrew equivalent of Davey Jones’ Locker) to amazement at what they had just witnessed.  The waves, the wind, and the water that impeded them so greatly were no such impediment to Jesus.  We can almost hear those words again, “What manner of man is this?”  Mark uses three different ways of telling us their minds were blown: they were “greatly amazed,” “beyond measure,” and “marveled.”  That is our God, and we must never forget it.  When He needs to do so, He can blow our minds with His power and ability.

When Jesus gets into the boat, the winds cease.  There was no command of Jesus.  It just simply calms down.  There is a good historical reason to believe that Peter was the main source for Mark in these stories.  So, it is interesting that Mark’s account is the one that points out that their inability to grasp that Jesus was more than a man was due to their hearts being hard.  After they saw Jesus speak to the storm, cast out the legion of demons, feed the multitude with a paltry amount of food, surely then they should have understood the power of Christ and what it says about him. 

We are used to seeing the phrase “hard hearts” with unbelievers like Pharaoh, but not with believers.  They were believers in Jesus, but they were also disciples, which implies that they had much to learn (that we have much to learn).  Discipleship is not easy, and is filled with moments that challenge our faith to step up to the next level.  May God help us to understand that no force of nature is greater than He is.

There is a final point to be made with this story.  Jesus literally walked on water and that is a tribute to His power as the Son of God.  Yet, there is some purposeful symbolism here that also gives tribute to His power over supernatural forces as well.

Revelation 17:15 clues us in to the fact that the waters of the sea are sometimes used as symbols of the peoples of the earth.  The waves picture the forces from within humanity and beyond it that cause a turbulent movement of societies in every which way.  Ill winds blowing upon the waters is often a picture of supernatural forces, whether good or evil, interacting and affecting the nations of the earth.  Also, there is a theme of the Bible that is explicitly seen in Isaiah 27:1, where the devil is pictured as an aquatic reptile, or a water dragon.  He is like a sea monster, slithering throughout the peoples of the earth, mastering the chaotic seas, and causing havoc wherever he wishes.

These are the kind of things that scare us and make us feel puny, but Jesus is the Lord of all creation, both its natural aspects and its supernatural ones.  He will slay the fleeing serpent and we need not fear even when all the forces of hell are marshalled against us.  How?  We can know that Christ is always watching over us, and praying for us.  He will come to us at just the right time, and we will grow to know His power and grace even more.

Lord of Creation Audio