The Voyage and Shipwreck of the Apostle Paul,[1]
Part Two: Paul as Counselor to Unbelievers
Acts 27:1-44
Outline:
I. A Word of Warning by Prophecy — The First Counsel of
Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:9-11)
II. A Word of Encouragement by Revelation — The Second
Counsel of Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:21-26)
III. A Word of Warning to Abide — The Third Counsel of
Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:30-32)
IV. A Word of Health with Thanksgiving — The Fourth
Counsel of Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:33-34)
I. A Word of Warning by Prophecy — The First Counsel
of Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:9-11)
When we considered this section previously attention was
drawn primarily to the geographical and nautical details.
As we come back to it this time our concern will be with
the discourse itself in verses 9-11.
9
Now when much time was spent,
and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul
admonished them, 10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this
voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but
also of our lives. 11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master
and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.
Here is a prophetic word of warning from Paul to his
fellow travelers (273 of whom were unbelievers):
Don’t go!
Stay here!
In one word: Don’t! (or, Stay! or, Stop!)
II. A Word of Encouragement by Revelation — The Second
Counsel of Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:21-26)
The second occasion for Paul to offer his counsel comes
in verses 21-26.
21 But after long abstinence Paul stood
forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me,
and not have loosed from Crete, and to 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 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; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them
that sail with thee. 25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I
believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. 26 Howbeit we
must be cast upon a certain island.
Notice that Paul does not hesitate to say, “I told you so!”
Nor should we.
When wise counsel is spurned, and the consequences must be
faced, the responsibility for failure to heed that counsel should not be
ignored. This is a pattern that will otherwise be repeated unless exposed and
confronted.
Here is a word from God to Paul of encouragement. By direct
revelation Paul is able to speak hope into the situation.
All is not lost!
Believe, and have hope!
In one word: Rejoice! (or, Believe!)
III. A Word of Warning to Abide — The Third Counsel of
Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:30-32)
The third opportunity when Paul provides counsel is in
verses 30-32.
30 And as the shipmen were about to flee
out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as
though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, 31 Paul
said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye
cannot be saved. 32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat,
and let her fall off.
Again Paul is warning his fellow travelers, once again to
stop, to stay on board the ship.
Don’t go!
Stay with the ship!
Stay together!
We need every able bodied man, and cannot afford to let
anyone go!
In one word: Abide!
IV. A Word of Health with Thanksgiving — The Fourth Counsel
of Paul to the Unbelievers on the Ship (27:33-34)
The fourth time Paul counsels those on board the ship is
in verses 33-36.
33 And while the day was coming on, Paul
besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye
have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. 34 Wherefore
I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not
an hair fall from the head of any of you. 35 And when he had thus
spoken, he took bread, and 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 took some meat.
Paul’s final counsel to his shipmates before they are
safely on land is to strengthen themselves by eating.
Eat!
Take care of yourself!
You need to think about your physical health right now!
In one word: Eat!
[Sermon preached 3
MAY 2015 by Pastor John T. “Jack” Jeffery at Wayside Gospel Chapel, Greentown,
PA.]
Appendix 1 — Resources
cited in Notes
James Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul with
Dissertations on the Life and Writings of St. Luke, and the Ships and
Navigation of the Ancients, 2nd ed. (London: Longman, Brown, Green,
Longmans, & Roberts, 1856); on Internet
Archive at https://archive.org/details/voyageandshipwr02smitgoog [accessed 23 APR 2015]; and 4th ed., rev. Walter E.
Smith (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1880); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=IMsNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false [accessed 23 APR 2015].
William M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen,
11th ed. (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1907), pp. 314-341; and 10th ed.
(London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1907), pp.195-211, s.v. Chapter XIV, “The Voyage
to Rome;” on Christian Classics Ethereal
Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ramsay/paul_roman.xvii.html [accessed 23 APR 2015].
Appendix 2 — Resources
on Acts
G. K. Beale and D. A. Carson, eds., Commentary on the New Testament Use of
the Old Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007), pp. 513-606.
Paul Barnett, The
Birth of Christianity: The First Twenty Years, After Jesus, Vol. 1 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 2005).
Darrell L. Bock, Acts,
Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New
Testament, eds. Robert W. Yarbrough and Robert H. Stein (Grand Rapids:
Baker Academic, 2007).
F. F. Bruce, The Acts of the Apostles: The Greek Text
with Introduction and Commentary, 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans
Publishing Co., 1951, 1952).
Dennis E. Johnson, The Message of Acts in the History of
Redemption (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 1997).
I. Howard Marshall, Acts:
An Introduction And Commentary, Vol. 5 in Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. Leon Morris (Downers
Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980; 2008 reprint).
David G. Peterson, The
Acts of the Apostles, in The Pillar
New Testament Commentaries, gen. ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids: William B.
Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009).
John B. Polhill, Acts,
Vol. 26 in The New American Commentary,
gen. ed. David S. Dockery (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman, Publishers,
1992).
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts,
Vol. 5 in the Zondervan Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, gen. ed. Clinton E. Arnold (Grand Rapids:
Zondervan, 2012).
W. C. van Unnik, “The ‘Book of Acts’ the Confirmation of
the Gospel,” in Novum Testamentum 4:1
(OCT 1960), pp. 26-59; reprinted in The
Composition of Luke’s Gospel: Selected Studies from Novum Testamentum,
compiled by David E. Orton, Vol. 1 of Brill’s
Readers in Biblical Studies (Leiden: Brill, 1999), pp. 184-218.
William H. Willimon, Acts,
in Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for
Teaching and Preaching, series ed. James Luther Mays, New Testament ed.
Paul J. Achtemeier (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2010).
Appendix 3 — Resources on Paul
Kenneth E. Bailey, Paul Through Mediterranean Eyes: Cultural
Studies in 1 Corinthians (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2011).
F. F. Bruce, Paul:
Apostle of the Heart Set Free (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1977).
D. A. Carson, The
Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism (Grand Rapids: Zondervan,
1996), pp. 496-501.
W. J. Conybeare and J. S. Howson, The Life, Times and Travels of St. Paul, 2 vols. in 1, unabridged
American ed. (New York: E. B. Treat U Co., 1869); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=Bn1CAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Adolf Deissmann, Paul:
A Study in Social and Religious History, 2nd ed., trans. William E. Wilson
(New York: Harper Torchbooks, n.d.).
F. W. Farrar, The Life
and Work of St. Paul (New York: E. P. Dutton and Co., 1889); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=RB2KeCSM6KsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Bruce N. Fisk, “Paul: Life and
Letters”, in The Face of New Testament
Studies: A Survey of Recent Research, ed. Scot McKnight and Grant R.
Osborne (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), pp. 283-325.
Richard B. Gaffin, Jr.,
"Acts and Paul", 46 lectures (MP3 format), WTS Resources Media Center
on Westminster Theological Seminary
at http://wts.edu/resources/media.html?paramType=audio&filterTopic=5&filterSpeaker=10&filterYear=2005 [accessed 20 MAR 2013].
Frank J. Goodwin, A
Harmony of the Life of the St. Paul According to the Acts of the Apostles and
the Pauline Epistles (New York: American Tract Society, 1895); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=YgpEAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 12 FEB 2013].
Richard N. Longenecker, The
Ministry And Message Of Paul (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971).
Richard N. Longenecker, Paul,
Apostle Of Liberty (New York: Harper & Row, 1964).
Richard N. Longenecker, ed., The Road From Damascus : The Impact Of Paul's Conversion On His Life,
Thought, And Ministry (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997).
Richard N. Longenecker, Studies
In Paul, Exegetical And Theological (Sheffield : Sheffield Phoenix Press,
2004).
J. Gresham Machen, The
Origin of Paul's Religion: The James Sprunt Lectures Delivered at Union
Theological Seminary in Virginia (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1925).
Leon Morris, The
Apostolic Preaching of the Cross (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Co., 1955).
John Pollock, The
Apostle: A Life of Paul, 3rd ed. (Colorado Springs: David C. Cook, 1969,
2012); also published as The Man Who
Shook the World (Wheaton: Victor Books, 1972; originally The Apostle: A Life of Paul, New York:
Doubleday, 1969).
Stanley E. Porter, Paul
in Acts, in Library of Pauline
Studies, gen. ed. Stanley E. Porter (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers,
Inc., 1999; 2001 reprint of The Paul of
Acts: Essays in Literary Criticism, Rhetoric and Theology, in Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen
Testament 115, by Mohr Siebeck, Tubingen).
W. M. Ramsay, The
Cities of St. Paul: Their Influence on his Life and Thought (New York: A.
C. Armstrong and Son; London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1908); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=JryEbmKool0C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, Pauline
and Other Studies in Early Christian History (New York: A. C. Armstrong and
Son, 1906); on Google Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=-1ZJAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul
the Traveler and the Roman Citizen, 10th ed. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
1907); on Christian Classics Ethereal
Library (CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ramsay/paul_roman.html
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
W. M. Ramsay, The
Teaching of Paul in terms of The Present Day: The Deems Lectures in New York
University (London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1914); on Internet Archive at http://ia600404.us.archive.org/2/items/teachingofpaulin00rams/teachingofpaulin00rams.pdf
[accessed 13 FEB 2013].
A. T. Robertson, Epochs
in the Life of Paul: A Study of Development in Paul's Character (Grand
Rapids: Baker Book House, 1974).
Eckhard J. Schnabel, Paul The Missionary: Realities, Strategies
And Methods (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic,
2008).
Udo Schnelle, Apostle
Paul: His Life and Theology, trans. M. Eugene Boring (Grand Rapids: Baker
Academic, 2003; trans. from Paulus: Leben
und Denken, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co., n.d.).
Thomas R. Schreiner, Paul,
Apostle of God's Glory in Christ: A Pauline Theology (Downers Grove, IL:
IVP Academic, 2001).
James Stalker, The
Life of St. Paul, (Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark, 1885; rev. ed. 2010 by
Kessinger Publishing from 1912 ed.); on Google
Books at http://books.google.com/books?id=vT0HAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 7 FEB 2013].
James Ironside Still, St.
Paul on Trial (London: Student Christian Movement, 1923).
End Notes:
[1] The title is adapted from
the classic work on the subject by James Smith, The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul with Dissertations on the Life and
Writings of St. Luke, and the Ships and Navigation of the Ancients, 2nd ed.
(London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans, & Roberts, 1856); on Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/voyageandshipwr02smitgoog
[accessed 23 APR 2015]; and 4th ed., rev. Walter E. Smith (London: Longmans,
Green, and Co., 1880); on Google Books
at http://books.google.com/books?id=IMsNAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
[accessed 23 APR 2015]. Along with Smith the following imporant work should
also be consulted on this episode: William M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveler and Roman Citizen, 11th ed. (London: Hodder
and Stoughton, 1907), pp. 314-341; and 10th ed. (London: Hodder and Stoughton,
1907), pp.195-211, s.v. Chapter XIV, “The Voyage to Rome;” on Christian Classics Ethereal Library
(CCEL) at http://www.ccel.org/ccel/ramsay/paul_roman.xvii.html
[accessed 23 APR 2015].
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