FAITH: A Very Safe Haven

There is also the “evidence” side of faith, meaning that, in our faith, we must have evidence...else we will not be able to understand or hold onto the “substance” part of faith . I am not talking about a “show-me-first-then-I’ll-believe-kind-of-faith”. I’m referring to the kind of faith where you know beyond any shadow of any doubt that the Lord said this or showed you that. This was the case for Paul, and it needs to be our case as well. The conclusion can then be: If one of the Lord’s apostles must maintain a sense of calmness, humility and civility while in the midst of turmoil and trial, so should we. Or maybe we should say: If Paul can maintain a sense of calmness, humility and civility while in the midst of turmoil and trial, so can we. Here, in Acts 27, we’ll take a look at one of Paul’s “more interesting” journeys and how he “handled it”.

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Acts 27 (1) And when it was determined that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a man named Julius, a centurion of Augustus’ band, (3) and Julius was kind and friendly to Paul, giving him liberty to go visit his friends and refresh himself. (4) When we had launched from there...(5) we came to Myra, a city of Lycia, (6) where the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy, and he put us on it. (7) We sailed slowly for many days, barely reaching Cnidus (because the wind did not permit us), and we came near to Crete, by way of Salmone.

(8) We hardly passed it and came to a place which is called The Fair Havens; (9) we spent much time there, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them saying, (10) “Sirs, I believe that this voyage will come to harm and much damage, not only of the cargo and ship, but also of our lives”. (11) Nevertheless, the centurion chose to believe the master and the owner of the ship, rather than the words Paul spoke. (12) And because the haven was not large enough to accommodate the ship during winter, it was decided to leave there, so we might reach Phoenicia, and winter there. This is a haven of Crete...(13) the south wind began blowing softly, and they supposed this suited their purpose, so they cut loose the ship, sailing on to Crete. (14) Not long after, there arose a violent wind, called Euroclydon, catching the ship in her grip. (15) Because the ship was seized and unable to bear up into the wind, we let her drive and (16) struggled our way to a certain island which is called Clauda. We fought just to secure the ship’s boat, (17) and after we had taken it up, we used cables to undergird the ship. To worsen matters, we feared the danger of drifting into the quicksands, so we shortened the sail, and we began to drift.

(18) The following day we were still at the mercy of the storm, so we started to lighten the ship. (19) The third day found us casting the ship’s tackle out with our own hands, and (20) when neither sun nor stars appeared after many days, and the gale force winds still smote us, we had lost all hope that we should be saved. (21) No one had eaten for some time, and Paul came forward to speak to the men. “Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, wherein you have gained this harm and loss. (22) And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but only the loss of the ship. (23) For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, (24) saying, ‘Fear not, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar, and, behold, God has blessed you by giving you all who sail with you.’ (25) Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. (26) However, we must run the ship aground at a certain island.”

(27) On the fourteenth night, around midnight, as we drifted in the Adriatic Sea, the shipmen sensed that they were nearing land. (28) When they sounded, they found it to be twenty fathoms (around 120 feet), and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms (90 feet). (29) Then, for fear of crashing upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and prayed for daylight. (30) The shipmen were about to desert the ship, and they had even let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they might release anchors out of the bow.

(31) But Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men stay aboard the ship, you will not be saved.” (32) Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall into the sea. (33) At daybreak, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “This day is the fourteenth day that you’ve continued fasting, not eating while you’ve been on watch. (34) Now is the time to take some food, please, I beg you for your own sakes. And there shall not one hair fall from the head of any of you.” (35) And when he had spoken, he took bread, gave thanks to God in presence of them all, and when he had broken it, he began to eat. (36) Then were they all of good cheer, and they also began to eat. (37) And we were 276 souls in all, aboard that ship.

(38) And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea. (39) And when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy shore where they planned to beach the ship if possible. (40) And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea, and loosed the steering oars. Then they hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. (41) But they struck a shoal, and they ran the ship aground. The bow stuck fast, remaining unmoveable, and the stern began breaking with the violence of the waves.

(42) At this, the soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, in the event any of them should swim out to shore, and try to escape. (43) But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose. Instead, he commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first, and get to land, (44) and the rest should follow, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that everyone escaped safely to land.

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If Paul Really Had Faith...

What had just taken place was Paul’s brilliant witness and testimony before a king, a governor and other royal leaders. All of chapter 26 is Paul speaking to this gathered group of dignitaries, telling them of his life, his conversion, and all of the glories of Christ, including His death, burial and resurrection! What is so odd here, is that if Paul had not “appealed to Caesar” (in Acts 25:11), he would have been a free man -- free to go forth and preach the Gospel once again. So, did Paul “miss it” here? Or was there a Higher Power at work? We must be very, very careful when we look at other people and judge them by what we may perceive as “the right or correct thing to do”. It’s much too easy to say, “Well Paul...you really blew it there, didn’t you?” Most likely, that’s exactly what the demons of hell shouted at Paul. I’m sure there are those of us who, at some point in our lives, were led of the Lord to do this, go there or say that, and not many of our family or friends understood or appreciated what it was we were doing.

As I mentioned earlier, it would be easy to address so many things in the 27th chapter of Acts. Such as: Euroclydon, the “tempestuous wind” in verse 14 -- it means to “billow or dash over; a surge of the sea; raging, waves”. But we’ll not get side-tracked with the sea and the wind. Like Peter, in Matthew 14:25-33, let us keep our eyes upon Jesus, else we’ll miss the simplicity of this thing called faith and sink when our Euroclydon blows in upon us.

Then there’s the names of the people in the ship, the names of the places they made port, and the name of the harbor, “Fair Haven”. I love to study out the names of people and places and see how they may fit into practical teachings, so it would be easy to focus on the name Fair Havens, which means: “Beautiful and valuable harbor or covering”, but this would be a whole other teaching altogether. Instead, it would be better if we place full attention on His Name — Jesus, the Name above all names.

There are so many things we could do with this passage. Originally, I had planned to use this chapter of Paul’s journeys in the first “Weekly Teaching”. I was just going to entitle it “Safe Havens”, but as I began studying and preparing, I went in another direction altogether. And I had not intended to begin (nor do I plan to maintain) a “thread” about “Safe Havens”. We’ll just have to see where the Lord leads us. I do, however, want to address a theme in Paul’s life and ministry. The theme? His faith, and where and what it got him.

Looking at Acts 28, in the very first few verses, we see Paul’s faith tested once again. Paul is helping in building a fire...let’s stop here a moment. Paul just saved this group of men! He could have just stood off to the side, declaring: “I’m the one who saved you guys...you build the fire.” Instead, the humble servant Paul, showing great civility, began gathering wood. And what do you suppose happens? A viper comes out of the firewood pile, grabs Paul’s hand and says, “You are a dead man, Paul” (I know -- snakes don’t talk -- I just added that little tidbit). What does Paul do? Panic? Scream out in fear or does he even rebuke that devilish thing? No, he just calmly shook off the snake into the fire. Oh, what a great man he must be; so much so that the natives of that land were ready to worship him. But Paul merely knew and understood, because he had evidence strong enough to be substantive to him, that he was not going to die on that cold, wet shore. He knew he must go to Rome!

Oh sure, you can find anything if you look long enough and hard enough -- and we can talk ourselves (or allow ourselves to be talked) into nearly anything -- but is it God’s evidence? We must measure and judge all that we hope for or strive for by God’s Measurements, not our own. And if there is Godly Evidence that breeds Godly Substance in our hearts, then we will grow and nurture Godly Faith. For it says, “Have faith in God...”, or, “Have the God kind of Faith” (Mark 11:22). Have the kind of faith God used to create the worlds, but speak these words in faith and love in your world. And remember, God is Love -- so all of our hopes or wants or desires must be filtered through Godly, agape Love.

All of the faith that we’ve discussed, concerning Paul, was of the unselfish, agape-motivated kind. Look at Acts, chapters 21 through 28; you’ll see his care and concern for others, time and again. Did he do it for money; for fame or for Paul? No, he did it for the Lord, willingly following His Directions. What were the results? He almost converted King Agrippa (Acts 26:28); he was instrumental in saving all 276 people aboard his prison vessel; the snake that bit him led to him being able to minister to that whole island (Acts 28:6-10); not to mention all of the souls influenced by his care, his love, his faithfulness to them and to his God.

Nothing Paul experienced was in vain -- nothing we experience is in vain. Let our faith grow and mature so that we, like Paul, may be ready vessels of honor. That is what real faith is all about. Not using it for ourselves; but rather using it for the glory of God and to further His Kingdom.