Acts 27:27-44 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.” So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away. Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. Altogether there were 276 of us on board. When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea. When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.
In this passage we have Paul on his journey to Rome experiencing a shipwreck on the shoals of the Island of Malta. He and the 276 onboard will find safety on the island after abandoning the wreckage of the Alexandria. The plan of God revealed to Paul by an angel had to be followed exactly. If not, they would not escape death in the ocean. Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, YOU CANNOT BE SAVED. God planned their escape from the terror of the sea, no variation, no sloppiness in carrying out his will was tolerated. We see God’s perfection revealed in the Old Testament when He instructed the Israelites to build a tabernacle for him. All measurements of the tabernacle had to be precise; no estimation or sloppiness in building his tabernacle would be tolerated. God is perfect, holy and absolute. Jesus said we must be perfect as God is perfect; no deviation or sloppiness is allowed in God’s plan of redemption. As Paul states to the Philippians, Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. (Philippians 2:11-13) In our redeemed stature by the blood of Jesus, God is working out his perfection in us, for IT IS GOD who works in you TO WILL and TO ACT in order to fulfill his good purpose. Now we see the ship, the Alexandria, destroyed on the shoals of Malta; we see 276 people surviving the turbulent sea. It is God who worked out his will on the beach of Malta. But Paul had to warn the centurion that unless they followed God’s perfect will, the sea would swallow up all onboard. God, through Paul’s words, encouraged the people to eat, to gain strength for their exhausted bodies. Paul said to the people, you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. This horrific experience on the sea had dried up their appetite, fear will do that, but God wanted them to eat so Paul encourages them to do so. He says this to them while the storm is still raging. Now they placed their trust of survival into Paul’s hands and his God that he serves. He told them that Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head. After he said that he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. The breaking of bread is symbolic of God’s presence. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus did not know Jesus was with them until Jesus broke a loaf of bread to give to them to eat. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him. (Luke 24:30-31) After Paul broke bread on the ship and began to eat, the others followed him, eating until they were full. The bread of life was on that ship; they would not die in this raging storm, but they would be shipwrecked and experience the danger of the elements and the coldness of the environment. But salvation had come to the people on the ship through the words of God through Paul.
Do we really believe the builder of our lives has come to us? Are we building on the solid foundation of Jesus, The Rock, in this wilderness of life? Paul is telling the ship’s occupants that God is with them on this raging sea, but they must believe that, trust his purposes in this situation. Paul is telling everyone on board that God is with them. They now realize Paul is a man of God; they trust his words and place their faith in his God. After they ate as much as they desired, they threw the grain into the sea, no more food was now onboard. They cut loose the anchors that helped them to battle the sea and untied the ropes that held the rudders. They were now at the mercy of the ocean’s waves. By faith, they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach, expecting now that their ship would make it safely to the land. But God had other plans; he put rocks in the way of their landing on the shore of Malta. To avoid drowning within the ship's wreckage, they had to abandon it and swim for the beach. Some paddled to shore on planks and pieces of wood. Their once earthly security was broken up on the rocks, now it was all God or drowning. God made sure that all of them would make it to shore, surviving this horrible ordeal. We who are IN CHRIST must depend on God’s work and not our own efforts, knowledge and wisdom. God is working out our salvation through Jesus Christ. God assures us that we will make it to the heavenly land He has prepared for us to occupy. Paul advises us to build only on the foundation of Jesus Christ. In the process of living we must build our lives wisely on Jesus Christ. Each one should build our lives with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. (1 Corinthians 3:10-13) The people on the Alexandria followed God’s words carefully and they made it to the land of safety because of listening to God through Paul’s words. God is a good God, but precise. They were to follow God’s directions completely. No deviation, no sloppy assumptions. If we build our redeemed life on false and careless assumptions, we are not building on God’s redeeming work, which is Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is the knowledge and wisdom of God. If we build in complete trust in Jesus' work, we are building our lives with gold, silver and precious jewels; we can be assured that we will make it to shore alive. Paul said about the Colossians, I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself. In him lie hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:2-3)
We see in this episode of God rescuing the people on the Alexandria an analogy of God rescuing his own people from the raging sea of life. God has made a new covenant with his people through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. As Moses heard from God about the Israelites in slavery: I am Yahweh, no longer just El-Sahddai. I am more than that, I am your God, your caretaker: “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. (Exodus 5:7-8) We do not know if anyone on this ship turned to God with their whole heart, but we do know God rescued them from death. In the New Testament we see Jesus often rescuing people from their fleshly trials. He heals people, delivering them from blindness, leprosy, conditions of deformity, and the like. In his miraculous work through Paul, He restores them to health, places them on the new land in safety. The 276 people survived on a new land through God’s miraculous work. The disciples carried on with this work of God through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They helped people to land safely on a new life, away from the horrors of the sea. One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!” So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them. Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk. (Acts 3:1-8) God would reveal himself to his creation through the work of his Son. God’s work is always precise, complete, and redeeming. People who felt the healing balm of God through his Son would leave the arena of the scene, jumping, running and praising God. Surely the people on the Malta beach were praising the God of Paul, for everything ended just as Paul had said: now they were safe on land, escaping the judgment of death on a turbulent sea. We who are under the great hand of Yahweh through our shepherd Jesus Christ should live lives worthy of our Redeemer who died on the cross for our salvation. In Paul’s concern for the souls of the Colossians, he says, We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. (Colossians 1:9-12) Christians are to build our lives with gold, silver, and precious jewels. We are to be obedient to the Lord’s teaching. “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.” (Luke 6:46-49) The people on the Alexandria put the words of God into practice. They were reluctant at first; did not heed Paul’s words not to sail the Mediterranean so late in the season, but later on they listened to Paul and put his words into practice, for they knew they were from God. Dear friends put in practice the words Jesus taught you so that you might build your life on God and not on your own fleshly desires and opinions. Then when others need to hear from God, you will be ready to speak his words.
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