PT-4 "The Shipwereck" (Acts 27:27-44)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/30/2018 8:41 PM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-4 “The Shipwreck”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 27:27-44

            Message of the verses:  We actually finished commenting on all of the verses in the 27^th chapter of the book of Acts and so I promised to post the quote from John MacArthur’s commentary as he comments on what we can learn from this section of Scripture.  It is important to find out exactly what it to be learned and put into practice after studying a portion of Scripture, and as mentioned many times in our comments on the book of Acts that the book of Acts does not have a lot of theology in it, but tells the story of the early church and how the Lord, through His Holy Spirit caused the church to begin and to then move on.  It begins in Jerusalem and then the book of Acts will end in Rome, and from there it will end up being available to go around the known world.

            “Looking back over this dramatic episode in Paul’s life, several key principles of true biblical leadership can be clearly seen.

            “First, a leader is trusted.  Paul was an important prisoner, whose escape or death would have meant serious trouble for Julius.  Yet somehow during the brief journey from Caesarea to Sidon, Paul convinced the centurion that he could be trusted.  Julius therefore let him leave the ship to be ministered to by the Christians there.

            “Second, a leader takes the imitative.  At the council at Fair Havens, Paul, although prisoner, did not hesitate to give his advice.

            “Third, a leader uses good judgment.  Had the centurion and sailors heeded Paul’s sound advice, they would have been spared a terrible ordeal—and the loss of the ship.

            “Fourth, a leader speaks with authority.  In the midst of the raging storm, Paul confident assertion that all on board would be saved must have seemed like madness.  But his unshakable confidence in God’s Word caused him to speak out boldly.  Paul also called others to obedience; he was the one who prevented the sailors from abandoning the rest of the passengers (v.31).

            “Fifth, a leader strengthens, others.  Paul three times encouraged the terrified passengers and crew (vv. 22, 25, 34)—twice not to lose hope and once to eat.  His calmness, confidence, and optimistic trust in God also reassured the others.

            “Sixth, a leader never compromises his absolutes.  Paul prevented the crew from prematurely abandoning the ship.  God had said that all would be saved, but all must remain together, and Paul refused to compromise on that instruction.

            “Seventh, and most important, a leader leads by example.  Believing God would do exactly as He said, Paul set an example for the others by remaining calm and confident.  Realizing they needed to eat before attempting to get ashore, Paul ‘took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all; and he broke it and began to eat’ (v. 35).  His example motivated the others, ‘and they themselves also took food’ (v. 36).

            “These timeless principles of leadership, manifested in the midst of appalling circumstances, reveal Paul as the godly leader he was.  They must characterize every leader who wishes to effectively lead God’s people.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Aaron” (Exodus 32:2).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where did Moses go when he fled from Pharaoh?

Answer in our next SD.

9/30/2018 9:00 PM

PT-3 "The Shipwreck" (Acts 27:27-44)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/29/2018 6:35 PM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-3 “The Shipwreck”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 27:27-44

            Message of the verses:  I want to begin with a short quote from John MacArthur’s commentary on the book of Acts to help us begin right after what we looked at in the last SD.

“The next step was to find a spot to run the ship on shore.  But ‘when day came, they could not recognize the land.’  However, ‘they did observe a certain bay with a beach, and they resolved to drive the ship onto it if they could.’”  Now this step followed the steps of cutting away the lifeboat, and then getting rid of as many things onboard as they could to make the ship ride higher in the water in order to mix as many rocks as they could, and next we read “At the same time they were loosening the ropes” that bound the “rudders” to the sides of the ship.  Then, “hosting the foresail to the wind, they” headed “for the beach.”  This was the idea of the crew to ditch the boat kind of like a modern landing craft, the kind that the Navy has.

            This voyage has been filled with great problems and they were not over yet as we read “Striking a reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves.”  What happened is that the ship was stuck and the waves were beating it up and soon it would be destroyed, so something had to be done soon, but remember what the Lord had told Paul and the Lord will not go back on His promises.  This has been a life and death situation for the last couple of weeks as we have been following over the last few days.  What can we learn from this that will help us today in difficult situations?  Well for one thing we can learn to trust the Lord who for His own children will work out things for our good and for His glory.  But there is more to learn when the Lord sees us through difficult situations.  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our

affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. 6 But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer (2 Cor. 1:3-6).”  Paul went through a lot of affliction and it was not wasted by what he went through as he could give comfort to those who were going through difficult times.

            What was the next thing to be done by the 276 souls on board this ship, stuck to the bottom of the beach?  Well we read that the soldiers were planning to kill all of the prisoners of which was the best leader that was on board this ship in the person of Paul, but “The centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention.”  The centurion trusted Paul and he knew that they would not be in the position they were in now if not for Paul’s wonderful leadership, so Julius “commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, and the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship.  And thus it happened that all” 276 people on board “were brought safely to land”—just as God had promised. MacArthur adds “God’s power and providence had triumphed, and His glory had been displayed.”

            Now in our next SD I will quote the ending remarks that John MacArthur writes in his commentary as we have looked at all of the verses from the 27^th chapter of Acts, and he will give us some important things that we can review and learn from.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “That no bone would be broken.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘Break off the golden earrings…and bring them to me?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/29/2018 7:00 PM

PT-2 "The Shipwreck" (Acts 27:27-44)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/28/2018 8:24 AM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-2 “The Shipwreck”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 27:27-44

            Message of the verses:  We ended our first SD on this section by giving a quote from F. F. Bruce who was actually quoting from a book written by James Smith, a 19^th century British yachtsman who wrote a book entitled “The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul.”  We begin our SD today by looking at verse 28 “They took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be fifteen fathoms.”  Twenty fathoms is 120 feet and fifteen fathoms is 90 feet, so they knew that they were getting closer to land and this actually frightened them, however if they would have listened to Paul they would have understood that this is exactly what he said would happen. 

            Verse 29-30 “29 Fearing that we might run aground somewhere on the rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and wished for daybreak.  30 But as the sailors were trying to

escape from the ship and had let down the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow.”  We see here that the shipmates were taking things into their own hands as they feared running into the rocks, and as stated they were not listening to Paul.  The were actually untying the life boat and trying to get in it and go to the land.

            Paul was ever alert and in verse 31 we read “31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved."”  God’s promise is seen in verse 24 “saying, ’Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’”  This promise was only good if all stayed on the boat and so we read in verse 32 “Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the

ship’s boat and let it fall away.”  We can see from this verse that the soldiers believed Paul and so they took the correct action.  We mentioned at the beginning of this entire section consisting of chapter 27 what it took to be a good leader, and we can see through this voyage that Paul was fulfilling what it takes to be a good leader.

            The long night of anxious waiting ended “33 Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, "Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. 34 “Therefore I encourage

you to take some food, for this is for your preservation, for not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.’”  Paul, the constant leader, begins to once again speak to those on board telling them to eat some food, for they had nothing for 14 days, and we can be sure that they needed food to continue to survive.  He also said that they would all be saved from this horrific event that they were going through.  I can say that I have fasted a couple of times and in order to fast one has to prepare themselves unlike what was going on with these men, and so that is why I say that they were hungry, for it is provable that they did have a little food while going through this difficult time onboard this ship.

            We see in verse 35 that Paul is leading by example “35 Having said this, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it and began to eat.”  Whenever I see in Scripture “the breaking of bread” my mind goes to two places.  The first of course is the “Last Supper,” that Jesus ate with His disciples, and the second is from the 24^th chapter of Luke’s gospel as the risen Savior broke bread with the two who had been on the road with Him, and then He vanished. 

            We will look at verses 36-38 “36 All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food. 37 All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six persons. 38 When they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by throwing out the wheat into the sea.”  We see here that they took Paul’s advice and were encouraged as they finally got some food in their system, and so they begin to prepare the ship for what would be the crashing into the rocks of this island.  They began to throw everything that they could into the sea, and as we read the number of those onboard we can see that they had many hands to accomplish this task.  By doing this the ship would ride higher on the sea and this would help them when they came upon the rocks near the shore. 

            In our next SD I hope to finish this last section of chapter 27 and we first of all will continue to look at the preparation by the crew to crash the ship onto this island.  After our next SD we will only have one more chapter in the book of Acts to look at.  In his commentary John MacArthur breaks up chapter 28 into two chapters so it will take a little while to finish up the book of Acts.  My prayer is to seek the Lord in finding out what we will study next.  My thoughts are either the books that John has written, 1-3^rd John, or to go through the book of Ephesians.  Ephesians is a very difficult book to study and although it is short, some six chapters it would take us a fairly long time to cover it.  I can say that it is one of the most important epistles found in the Word of God and would be well worth our time in looking at it.  I will continue to pray about this.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have many good leaders to follow in our church, with many in our Sunday school class, and it is my desire to listen to them.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord with an issue that has been going on for a while now, that the Lord will speak to my wife’s heart along with mine to give us understanding to resolve this issue.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “In everything give thanks.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What prophecy concerning the Crucifixion was given in Psalm 34:20 and was fulfilled in John 19:36?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/28/2018 9:12 AM

PT-1 "The Shipwreck" (Acts 27:27-44)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/27/2018 10:30 AM

My Worship Time                                                                           Focus:  PT-1 “The Shipwreck”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference: Acts 27:27-44

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will begin to look at the shipwreck that Paul, Luke and the others who were on the boat that was supposed to be heading to Rome.  This is a rather long section of Scripture and so we will look at it when we make comments on these verses.  There is a fairly long quote from F. F. Bruce as he comments on a book written by the 19^th century British yachtsman James Smith’s book “The Voyage and Shipwreck of St. Paul.” 

            “27 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land.”

            Luke is writing about the 14^th night since they had left “Fair Havens.  This day found Paul and his fellow travelers still being driven about in the Adriatic Sea and this should not confuse us with the modern Adriatic Sea which is located between Italy and Croatia.  In Paul’s day, that body of water was known as the Gulf of Adria, and this today is the central Mediterranean Sea.  Now as we continue on in verse 27 we can see that it looks like this difficult voyage was about to end because “about midnight the sailors began to surmise that they were approaching some land.”  Perhaps they heard the crashing of surf on a shore and this caused them to believe that they were getting near to land.  They were only three miles from what is appropriately called “St. Paul’s Bay.”  MacArthur adds “Remarkably, in the providence of God, the storm had driven them across the Mediterranean to a small dot of land in the middle of the sea.”

            We will now look at the quote that I mentioned earlier and will probably end this SD with this quote:

“Smith relates how he made careful enquiries of experienced Mediterranean navigators in order to ascertain the mean rate of drift o a ship of this kind laid-to in such a gale.  The conclusion which he reached was a mean drift of about thirty-six miles in twenty-four hours.  The soundings recorded in v. 28 indicate that the ship was passing Koura, a point on the east coast of Malta, on her way into St. Paul’s Bay.  ‘But the distance from Clauda to the point of Koura…is 476.6 miles, which, at the rate as deduced from the information…would take exactly thirteen days, on hour, and twenty-one minutes.’  And not only so:  ‘The coincidence of the actual bearing of St. Paul’s Baby from Clauda, and the direction in which a ship must have driven in order to avoid the Syrtis, is if possible still more striking than that of the time actually consumed, and the calculated time.’  Then, after carefully reckoning the direction of the ships head with the wind, and from the lee-way, he goes on:  ‘Hence according to these calculations, a ship starting late in the evening from Clauda would, by midnight on the 14^th [day], be less than three miles from the entrance of St. Paul’s Bay.  I admit that a coincidence so very close as this, is to a certain extent accidental, but it is an accident which could not have happened had there been any inaccuracy on the part of the suthor of the narrative with regard to the numerous incidents upon which the calculations are founded, or had the ship been wrecked anywhere at Malta, for there is no other place agreeing, either in name or description, within the limits of which we are tied down by calculations founded upon the narrative.”  “The Book of Acts, The New International Commentary on the New Testament.”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  What the authors of the above quote were actually talking about in my mind is the sovereignty of God, as there is no other way that this ship would have ended up where it did if it were not in the divine control of God.  This makes me wonder how many things that have happened in my life that are similarly controlled by my Sovereign God, and I suppose there were many of them and probably still more to come.  For all of these that happened and will happen I praise the Lord.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to care for what is going on in Washington D. C. today that it will bring glory to the Lord.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Because they were bitter” (Exodus 15:23).

Today’s Bible question:  “According to 1 Thessalonians 5:18, when should a Christian thank God?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/27/2018 11:05 AM

PT-2 "The Storm" (Acts 27:13-26)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/26/2018 11:37 PM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-2 “The Storm”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 27:13-26

            Message of the verses:  “13 When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, close inshore. 14 But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo; 15  and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along. 16 Running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. 17 After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along. 18 The next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the cargo; 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned.

             21 When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. 22 “Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24  saying, ’Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 “But we must run aground on a certain island."”

            We begin by looking at verse 18 where we see that the crew took more provisions to keep the ship from sinking as they got rid of the cargo, and then in verse 19 we see that they threw the ships tackle overboard with their own hands.  John MacArthur points out that the word “we” is used in throwing the ships tackle overboard showing that Paul and the others helped out. 

            Verse twenty tells us that they had lost all hope of being rescued or getting to land, and so it was a depressing journey from this point on.

            We mentioned at the beginning of our comments on chapter 27 about the leadership that Paul had and he showed it beginning at verse 21 through verse 26.  We see that Paul stood up and talked to those on board that an angel from the Lord came and spoke to him telling him that God had given all on board to Paul; however the ship would be destroyed when it came upon an island and the rocks would tear it to pieces.  In verse 22 we see that Paul tells them to keep up their courage.  Paul was encouraging them to be courageous and when this was said to these people from Paul it was like he was pouring courage into them.  Paul was good at this as this was part of what a good leader does. 

            Now the stage was set for the dramatic conclusion of this ill-fated voyage and we will see the fulfillment of God’s promises that were made to Paul from the voice of the angel that God sent to Paul.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  It is nice to have someone encourage you when trouble surround you, someone like Paul would be a good choice, or reading something from the Word of God and then that brings encouragement to you.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am thankful that the Lord has encouraged me to get this SD done even though it has happened very late in the day.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Ezra and Nehemiah.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Why could not the Israelites drink of the waters of Marah?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/26/2018 11:58 PM

PT-1 "The Storm" (Acts 27:13-26)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/25/2018 9:05 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                          Focus:  The Storm

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 27:13-26

            Message of the verses:  “13 When a moderate south wind came up, supposing that they had attained their purpose, they weighed anchor and began sailing along Crete, close inshore. 14 But before very long there rushed down from the land a violent wind, called Euraquilo; 15 and when the ship was caught in it and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and let ourselves be driven along. 16 Running under the shelter of a small island called Clauda, we were scarcely able to get the ship’s boat under control. 17 After they had hoisted it up, they used supporting cables in undergirding the ship; and fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor and in this way let themselves be driven along. 18 The next day as we were being violently storm-tossed, they began to jettison the cargo; 19 and on the third day they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 Since neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small storm was assailing us, from then on all hope of our being saved was gradually abandoned. 21When they had gone a long time without food, then Paul stood up in their midst and said, "Men, you ought to have followed my advice and not to have set sail from Crete and incurred this damage and loss. 22 “Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 “For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, 24  saying, ’Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing with you.’ 25 “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. 26 “But we must run aground on a certain island."”

            Paul had told the leaders of the ship in a meeting that they should not leave from where they were, and yet because of the centurion wanting to get the grain on to Rome they would not listen to Paul and so when a moderate south wind came up it was decided to leave thinking they would have clear passage to get to Rome.  Such was not the case as a great storm came up and trouble was brewing for them. 

            The storm was called “Euraquilo” and John MacArthur writes that this word is “a hybrid word from the Greek word euros; ‘east wind,’ and the Latin word aquilo; ‘north wind.’  This powerful, dangerous windstorm was dreaded by all who sailed the Mediterranean.  When the ship was caught in it, and could not face into the wind, the sailors had no choice but to give way to it, and let themselves be driven along.  Out of control, the ship was just being pushed by the wind.”

            We next read that the ship came under the shelter of an island called Clauda, and this gave the men of the ship time to get things read for what lies ahead as they were able to get the “ships boat” on board.  This was like a life boat that was towed along in good weather and then put on the ship when a storm came up.  It was probably filled with water and so it took a lot of effort to get it on board.  Luke says that “we” helped getting it on board, which probably refers to all on board including the passengers.  Once on board the sailors tied it down with some cables to make sure that it would stay put and not move about.  Next we read “fearing that they might run aground on the shallows of Syrtis, they let down the sea anchor, and so let themselves be driven along.”  MacArthur explains “The Syrtis was the dreaded graveyard of ships off the North African coast.  Although the Syrtis was still far away, the sailors did not know how far, nor how far the storm might blow the ship.  Lowering the sea anchor would act as a drag and help prevent the ship from drifting that far south.  Alternatively, the phrase translated ‘let down the sea anchor’ may be translated ‘lowered the gear.’  In that case, the reference would be to lowering the mainsail, which otherwise would be torn to shreds by the violent wind.  However the prhase is translated, the sailors obviously did both—it would have been self-defeating to put out an anchor with the mainsail still rigged.”

            We will continue looking at this portion of Scripture in our next SD.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Cornelius” (Acts 10:1-2).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which tow Old Testament books tell the history of the Jews after their return from the captivity in Babylon?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/25/2018 9:30 AM

           

The Stay (Acts 27:9-12)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/24/2018 9:32 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                                  Focus:  The Stay

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Acts 27:9-12

 

            Message of the verses:  “9  When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast was already over, Paul began to admonish them, 10  and said to them, "Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives." 11 But the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. 12 Because the harbor was not suitable for wintering, the majority reached a decision to put out to sea from there, if somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.”

 

            I will quote from John MacArthur’s commentary so that we can understand what Luke is saying when he talks about the time period that they were in by saying “since even the fast was already over.”  “The ship was delayed for a considerable time in Fair Havens, apparently waiting for a change in the winds.  To continue the voyage was now dangerous, since it was late in the sailing season.  Luke notes that ‘even the fast’ (the Day of Atonement) ‘was already over.’  For ancient sailing vessels, travel was problematic and dangerous from mid-September to mid-November.  All sailing in the open sea ceased from mid-November until at least February.  Inasmuch as the Day of Atonement fell in late September or early October, Paul’s ship was already well into the danger period.”

 

            It looks like there was a meeting about what they should do, and it seems that Paul was also involved in this meeting, perhaps because Paul was a seasoned traveler and could give his impute on what should be done.  “Paul began to admonish them, 10 and said to them, "Men, I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."”  We read in 2 Corinthians 11:25 the following:  “Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.”  In this section of 2 Corinthians Paul was giving a testimony of what had happened to him while on his missionary journeys serving the Lord, and in that verse we see that he had been in three shipwrecks and was not wanting to add another, although if he wrote 2 Corinthians after this event then this coming shipwreck would already been written about.  Not real sure when 2 Corinthians was written.

 

            It was regretfully that “the centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship, than by what was being said by Paul.”  We have mentioned that this ship was owned by the imperial grain fleet, which makes it property of Rome it was the centurion and not the pilot or the captain who would make the final decision.  Perhaps the centurion was making that decision because there was need to have the grain delivered.  We will see that this was a bad decision as the grain would end up in the sea.

 

            Now we want to talk about why Fair Havens was not suitable for wintering.  “Since the harbor at Fair Havens was exposed to winds from half the compass points (though small islands did provide some shelter), it was a less desirable place to spend the winter.  Because the harbor at Phoenix (about forty miles away) faced southwest and northwest, it provided much better shelter from the winter storms.”  (John MacArthur)

 

            If the decision was made for comfort, comfort would not be what they were facing as we will see in our next SD when we talk about “The Storm.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There are times when believers think that Pastors have a better opportunity to get prayers answered than regular believers.  Perhaps this is true if the Pastor has lived a life closer to the Lord than the believer who is asking the Pastor to pray for them.  However I believe that believers who are walking with the Lord can receive answers from the Lord.  In the case of what we are looking at today Paul, along with Luke and the other believer were the best people to give advice to the captain and the centurion.  

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I trust the Lord to give me His direction on the purchase of a different car as we are in the market for a different car.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “The upper room” (Luke 22:12).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Who was described as ‘A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house’?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/24/2018 10:03 AM

 

 

 

PT-2 "The Start" (Acts 27:1-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/24/2018 12:11 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  PT-2 “The Start”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Acts 27:1-8

           

            Message of the verses:  “1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, we put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. 4 From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds were contrary. 5 When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it. 7 When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone; 8 and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.”

 

            We pick up our thoughts in today’s SD from verse three where we see that Julius treated Paul in a good way so that he could go and see his friends who were willing to help minister to Paul in probably some tangible ways.  We must keep in mind a couple of things and the first was that Paul was an important prisoner, and also that he was a Roman citizen. 

 

            Next we see in verse four that they left Sidon and Luke mentions that the winds were contrary, and this should have been a sign to those who were heading this voyage that things were going to get worse.  This ship was traveling between Cyprus and the main land in order to try and keep the ship safe. 

 

            After that the ship continued to sail across the northeastern Mediterranean, as they sailed “along the cost of Cilicia and Pamphylia.”  Paul was familiar with this section as he was from Cilicia and he traveled extensively in those areas on his missionary journeys.  MacArthur adds “Helped by local offshore winds and a west-flowing current, the ship worked its way west along the southern shore of Asia Minor, making port ‘at Myra in Lycia’ and disembarking.”

 

            Myra was a very important port for the Roman ships as they brought wheat from Egypt to take to Rome.  After arriving there the centurion needed to find a ship that was going to Rome and finding one, and Alexandrian grain ship they sailed slowly for a good many days on it as once again the winds were causing trouble.  We can see from verses seven and eight “When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone; 8 and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.”  Weary from fighting the weather, the travelers entered the bay.  This would be a foreboding sign of what was to come for them as they continued towards Rome.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “David” (1 Samuel 18:29).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “What was the place called where Jesus observed the Passover with His disciples?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/24/2018 12:30 AM

 

PT-1 "The Start" (Acts 27:1-8)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/22/2018 1:27 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                     Focus:  PT-1 “The Start”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                         Reference:  Acts 27:1-8

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia, we put out to sea accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica. 3  The next day we put in at Sidon; and Julius treated Paul with consideration and allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. 4  From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of Cyprus because the winds werecontrary. 5 When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy, and he put us aboard it. 7 When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of Crete, off Salmone; 8  and with difficulty sailing past it we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

 

            I mentioned before that Luke went with Paul, as they were good friends, and Luke writes in a wonderful way about this sea voyage.  As we read through this entire sea voyage we will come to appreciate the way that Luke writes about it even though the voyage become a threat to their very lives on different occasions of the voyage.   By the way this is the first time that Luke has joined the narrative since Acts 21:18, which was a while ago.  Luke may have been living near Caesarea nearby to where Paul was in prison in order to make sure he stayed in good physical condition.  So if this was true, which we think it was, then Luke was on hand to go with Paul as he sailed to Rome along with “Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.”  John MacArthur writes “Aristarchus first appeared in Acts when he was seized by the angry rioters at Ephesus (19:29).  He accompanied the apostle on his journey to Jerusalem with the offering from the Gentile churches (20:4).  He later ministered to Paul during the apostle’s imprisonment at Rome (Col. 4:10).  According to tradition, Aristarchus, like Paul, suffered martyrdom under Nero.  That he and Luke were willing to accompany Paul on a hazardous, uncomfortable voyage shows their love for the apostle, and his ministry.  In addition, some have speculated that they may have identified themselves as Paul’s slaves so that they could accompany him (cf. Sir William M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.”

 

            We see that this journey began as Paul and some other prisoners who were bound for Rome from Caesarea were placed in the custody of a “centurion of the Augustan cohort name Julius.”  In MacArthur’s commentary he mentions that there is evidence of an Augustan cohort which was stationed in Palestine during the reign of Agrippa.  We have read about other centurions in the Word of God in Matthew 8:5ff., 27:54; Acts 10:1ff., and it seems that these men were representing the Emperor, and were men of integrity,  and in this case was escorting some important prisoners, such as Paul.

 

            “And embarking in an Adramyttian ship, which was about to sail to the regions along the coast of Asia (2a).”  Adramyttian is the home port, and was located on the northwest coast of Asia Minor, near Troas, and from there they would have little trouble finding a passage to Italy, near Rome.  They put out to sea, making port the next day at Sidon, seventy miles to the North.

 

            We will continue looking at this voyage as we go along with Luke, and Paul along with the man from Thessalonica in our next SD.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Shall he live.”

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘Is the young man Absalom safe’?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/22/2018 1:58 PM

 

           

Intro to Acts 27:1-44

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/21/2018 10:46 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                                       Focus:  Intro to Acts 27

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                       Reference:  Acts 27:1-44

 

            Message of the verses:  In today’s SD we will talk about Acts 27, the entire chapter as we give a short introduction to this auctioned filled chapter in which we will see Paul, along with Luke get on a boat and travel to Italy.  I suppose I mentioned it before but while attending Moody Founders Week many years ago I heard a preacher state that Luke really knows how to describe a good sea voyage.  We will get into that as we make our way through the chapter, but in John MacArthur’s commentary on this chapter he brings up leadership in his introductory portion.  We have been accustomed to quote at least the last paragraph of his introductory comments in order to understand the direction we will be going, and will do that today also.

 

            Leadership can be described in many ways depending on whether or not the leadership is good or poor.  I want to quote from Mark’s gospel, chapter ten and verses forty-two to forty-five to get Jesus’ perspective on good leadership.  In these verses we actually see the key verse for the entire gospel of Mark:  “42 Calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 “But it is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a

ransom for many.’”  First of all I want to give a bit of a background for these verses.  Jesus was heading up to Jerusalem to be killed, and He certainly knew this for that is why He came to earth.  On the way up to Jerusalem he took His disciples aside and told them that this would happen, and we next see James and John asking for some special favors from Him when He comes into His kingdom.  Jesus then breaks out in to the narrative of these verses, (42-45), and in them we see some evidence of what a good leader is.  Jesus first of all talks about bad leadership, that which the Gentiles do as they lord it over their subjects.  He then goes on to talk about good leadership as he states the ones who wish to become great among you shall be your servant, and then talks about those who seek to be great will become slaves of all.  In verse forty-five we see the key verse in Mark’s gospel where Jesus talks about His mission while on planet earth.  On His first visit to planet earth Jesus came to serve and not to be served, and in His serving He certainly demonstrated great leadership, in that He served by giving His life for His flock. 

 

            In his commentary John MacArthur writes about poor leadership, those who are afraid to make any decision because they are afraid to make a mistake, those who are like the leaders of oppressed countries like North Korea or China.  People like Hitler or Stalin are examples of poor leadership.  What we will see in chapter 27 is a prisoner, the apostle Paul become a leader and not because he was seeking it out but because it was necessary to stand up and led. 

 

            One more thing I want to talk about and that is Winston Churchill who it is said became the greatest leader of the 20^th century as he became Prime Minster the very day that Hitler was invading France.  Churchill was said to be bi-polar and yet God used him to lead England, with the help of the United States to defeat Germany. 

            A good leader leads and a good leader does not know everything but has good people around him to help him, and yet he is the one to make the final decision.  Like Paul, Churchill was a good leader. 

 

            MacArthur writes “Among other emphases manifest through this unique chapter, it is helpful to note the issue of the greatness of Paul’s leadership.  The story of his emerging leadership during a storm-filled journey across the Mediterranean Sea, and the resulting shipwreck, unfolds in four stages:  the start, the stay, the storm, and the shipwreck.”  Lord willing we will began with the start in our next SD.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  While watching a political show yesterday there was a man, a black man who was a guest on the show.  He was in trouble of saying that the greatest problem in the black community of Detroit was that the men were not standing up to their Biblical role as husbands and fathers and he was totally correct.  If men everywhere would stand up and do their job as a husband and a father the world would be a better place to live in. 

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  With the help of the Lord I desire to be a good Christian, husband, father, and grand-father.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “That Jesus Christ is Lord” (Philippians 2:11).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “Complete John 11:25 ‘Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet…’?”  (KJV)

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

9/21/2018 11:21 AM