Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev19980927.htm

ACTS: THE LOCAL CHURCH AS GOD'S AGENCY FOR DISCIPLING
Part LIII: God's Sovereign Oversight Of His Servants' Geographical Placements
D. Handling A Superior's Refusal To Heed Our Wise Suggestions That Conform To God's Will
(Acts 27:1-44)
  1. Introduction
    1. We learned from Acts 16:6-10 that our service for God involves His geographically placing us for service.
    2. Yet, there can arise obstacles to our arriving at or staying put where God wants us. These obstacles can be so big that the believer may quit trying to arrive or stay in that spot, or question God's will as t o location.
    3. One hurdle may be our having to deal with a superior who refuses to hear our wise suggestion on an issue related to God's will. Paul faced this difficulty as a prisoner, and that event offers us direction as follows:
  2. Handling A Superior's Refusal To Heed Our Wise Suggestions That Conform To God's Will.
    1. Jesus told Paul that it was necessary (dei) for him to witness in Rome as he had in Jerusalem, Acts 23:11.
    2. To do that, it was necessary for Paul to have a safe journey by ship to Italy as a prisoner of Rome, 27:1-2.
    3. However, when Paul offered a wise suggestion to his superior, the official refused to heed Paul, 27:7-13:
      1. The sailors had difficulty sailing against the wind, so time was wasted in just getting to Crete, 27:7-9a.
      2. This loss of time had brought the ship to Crete after the "fast" (Acts 27:9) which refered to the Jewish Day of Atonement held in October (Ryr. St. Bib., KJV ftn. to 27:9). Since sailing after that was risky, (B.K.C., N.T., p. 427), Paul suggested opposite the ship pilot's view that they winter in Crete, 27:9b-11.
      3. However, as the boat bearing grain was considered to be in government service (Ibid.), the centurion was in charge, and he took the ship pilot's advice. Thus, they kept sailing toward Italy, Acts 27:11-13.
    4. This put Paul in a bind: (1) he as a civil prisoner had no choice but to go along with the centurion's decision (2) though this military official chose a path that risked Paul's life opposite God's will.
    5. At this point, God directly intervened to exalt Paul so that the centurion had to follow Paul's lead:
      1. The Lord of the wind and waves allowed a "Northeaster" to whip up with hurricane force, Acts 27:14.
      2. This wind necessitated the sailors letting the ship get blown in the direction of the wind to avoid certain shipwreck, and that just took them out into the open sea under great duress, Acts 27:15!
      3. Following a series of many fruitless attempts to improve their lot over a two week period in this storm, God gave Paul a vision to verify that he would make it to Rome to stand before Caesar, that all on board would be saved and that the ship would be lost near an island, Acts 27:16-20, 23-24.
      4. Thus, Paul announced to the ship leaders that they should have listened to his warning about the storm to have avoided this trouble while also announcing God's latest helpful insight, Acts 27:21-23, 24-26.
      5. In response, the now stressed centurion heeded Paul, following his advice to prepare for a shipwreck:
        1. He heeded Paul in making the sailors stay on the ship instead of trying to escape by lifeboat, 30-32.
        2. He and the others heeded Paul in taking courage to eat just before the shipwreck, Acts 27:33-36.
      6. In fact, the centurion came to protect Paul's life from other soldiers out of respect for him, 27:41-43:
        1. When the boat struck a shoal and began to disintegrate, the soldiers at first planned to kill the prisoners lest they escape, for the soldiers were accountable to the death for their custody, 27:41-42.
        2. Paul's predictions about the storm, the island and the ship's loss so far were right on target, so the centurion valued Paul's insight and trustworthiness. Thus, he saved the prisoners' lives, Acts 27:43.
      7. Accordingly, the ship was lost, but all on board one way or another made it safely to shore, Acts 27:44.
Lesson: If a superior will not heed our wise suggestions that put or keep us in God's will, it is GOD'S business to CHANGE the overseer's MIND, and that often by way of his having HARD experiences!

Application: (1) In having no choice but to follow a human superior's errant lead opposite God's will, simply look to the lead of our ULTIMATE Superior, God. (2) God may give us the headship over our human superior as that superior gets into trouble. However, in such a case, (a) do NOT give any suggestions until GOD tells us what to do to HELP our superior out of his BIND, cf. Acts 27:20, 21-26, and (b) until the human superior has run out of ideas on his own, Acts 27:20. (c) Otherwi se, the frustrated, upset superior could react very negatively toward us, cf. opposite Acts 27:43!