You're listening to audio from Faith Church, located on the North Side Of Indianapolis. If you'd like to check out more information about our church and ministry, you can find us at faithchurchindy.com. Now, here's the teaching. Alright. We did it.

We put the last little piece on the top of that mausa. That stained glass is finally completed. We are entering the last phase of our sermon series on acts. I don't know how long we've been in this series, but it seems we we had stained glass windows in this church when we started. We are here.

We are finally able to get to the pinnacle of the story of A. R. A. T. S.

P. A. C. A. C.

A. C. E. A. C.

'27 begins when it was finally decided that we should sail for Italy. See travel in the century was nothing like modern travel. Right? The accommodations were not very comfortable. The schedules were completely unpredictable.

Once you took off, you weren't really certain you were gonna end up where you were supposed to go anyways. Oh, wait. Come to think of it, that's exactly like modern air travel, isn't it? I mean, have you guys flown recently? I I have not had a flight go as planned since I cannot remember when.

Couple I think it was last year, I landed in Newark, New Jersey for what was supposed to be a two hour layover coming home, going to be an indie that night. That was perfect for me because I had some emails I needed to finish. I could have a sit down dinner, not one of those like grab and go kind of things. I could sit down, I could eat dinner, I could answer my emails, and I can make it to my next gate. We landed in Newark right on schedule, we taxied up right to that jetway, and I could see out the window of the jetway that we were supposed to be walking across, and I looked at it for two hours.

Two hours while we waited for a ground crew to finally pull us in, so that we could deplane and I could go meet my next flight. So I run to my next gate just in time to see my next plane backing away. They found a ground crew in a hurry for that flight. What about my flight? So I'm just losing my mind, and there's this gay agent who has just shut the door.

She turns around, she comes back to the desk, and I'm like, look, this was an American flight to an American flight. You knew. You knew where we were. You knew what was going on. Why didn't you hold the flight?

I don't remember what she said to me. It wasn't, oh, that's a good point. Let me bring the plane back. And that's about when I noticed the sign. You know the sign that they've put in all the airports now?

Right? So I look at the sign, I look at her, I go, if I yell at you, get arrested? She's like, yeah. And we just, like, locked eyes for this awkward, long pause. And then she broke the silence.

She's like, sir? And And I go, Oh, no, no. I'm still weighing that option. Right? I didn't yell at her.

I didn't lose my cool too much. But I mean, it's frustrating. Right? And I think air travel is a pretty good, you know, case study for this because what happens is once you've checked in through security, you are no longer in control, and that is very difficult for us. It's really challenging.

And to make it worse, it seems like sometimes the people who are in control, not necessarily competent to be so. Control, this is a lesson today, control over our situations. It's not actually common to the human experience, and unfortunately, it's not promised in the Christian life. Control over our situations, not common, not promised. I wanna read to you a section of today's text, but I I wanted to kind of like get you into the the the scene.

Okay. So I want you to picture that you're on an airplane. You're getting ready to take off. You're buckled in, they've already gone through the safety, speech or you think they have, who pays attention anyways? Right.

You're just kinda looking out the window and there is a really bad storm that you can see out your window. You don't even need to see it, you can feel it. Tell me if you can can you feel the plane is rocking as gusts of wind hit it? You get you picture that? You can hear rain pelting the outside of the airplane so hard it feels like you're under a tin roof.

And in this scenario, the the pilot comes on and he says, yeah, it's pretty bad out there. Not sure how takeoff is gonna go, but, we took a vote. Now I'm quoting to you from Acts 27 verse 12. The majority decided to put out from here on the chance that somehow we could reach Phoenix. Please stow all devices and make sure your trade tables are up and in the locked position.

Let's go. Right? What do you do in that situation? Because the reality is, I mean, you could yell, you could scream, you could you could shout verbal abuse, but the door's locked. The cockpit is locked.

What are you gonna do? I wanted you to imagine instead surrender, about to happen to you. And when I I mean, you use this word today called, surrender. I don't mean this passive resignation, just inaction, just giving up. It's the kind of surrender that says, if there's any other way, Lord, take this cup from me, but not my will, but yours be done.

You can call it submission. You can just call it trust. It's the posture of saying, look, I don't have to steer this plane. This seems to be the most difficult for me in scenarios where I don't have control but I think I could. Okay.

There we we are given a lot of scenarios in life control. Health diagnoses, right, economic turmoil, job loss, these things happen to us and we we know intuitively, we have no control over the the harder areas to practice, a posture of to know that God is in control is when I'm pretty sure that if I get attention of the right if I articulate well enough, if I yell loud enough, can I speak to a supervisor? Right? That I can influence what's gonna happen. And so then, I am tempted to think that's what I should do.

That's what's needed. That's what's necessary. I'm asking you to imagine instead being seated on that plane in a posture of surrender because you don't have to be in control when you know the one who is. You don't have to be in control when you know the one who is. Alright.

Let me catch you up in the story to this point where the majority decided to put out from there on the chance that they might reach Phoenix. That's actually the name of a port on the island of Crete, by the way. Paul was not sailing to Arizona. He was sailing to Rome and that was no surprise to him. Jesus Christ appeared to him two years ago while he was in prison in Judea and stood there in prison with him and said, 'take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.' So Paul knows this is gonna happen and now chapter 27 begins.

They decided to sail for Italy. So now we know it's gonna be by sea, not by land. There's a centurion named Julius. He's given charge over Paul and several other prisoners and it's his job to figure out how to sail these guys on. Right.

How to get them to Italy. So they board on the leg of their journey a ship of adrimitium. It's not gonna be an exam, but here's basically what a ship of adrimitium is. You guys ever board a flight in Indy that's going to O'Hare where you're gonna meet a real airplane? You know what I'm talking about?

Like you you get on there, you're ducking down, there's one seat on one side, two on the other side of the aisle. Your your carry on luggage will not fit in the overhead compartments. Right? This thing is not made for long journeys. It's just up and down, lands in O'Hare, that's where you're gonna meet a seven thirty seven.

K. That's what this ship is. It's not designed for open sea, so they just kind of putts along the shore. They they go along the coast stopping at different port cities. When they finally get to a a port called Myra, that's where they find a ship of Alexandria, and what that tells us is this is a real ship, right?

This is designed to carry large amounts of cargo across the open sea from Egypt to Greece or to Italy, to Rome. Except Luke goes into some detail about how hard this journey is. Twice, he talks about how slow going it is, some concessions they have to make that to sail under lease of things, whatever that means, but he he uses the phrase with great difficulty twice. So what's what he's telling you is this took longer than usual. So by this point in the story, they have gone 600 miles to, this port called Fair Haven, and it's just not it's it's taken a long time.

They're late into the season. There's a point in the calendar where you just don't sail past that point. They're almost there or they are there, but Fairhaven's not a really good place. They've already gone 600 miles. There's another port called Phoenix.

It's just 40 miles up the shore on the same island. It's not far away. Let's go there. Let's go there instead. If we have to be stranded for the winter, let's head there.

Now Paul is not new to sea travel. He writes in his letter to the Corinthians that he had been shipwrecked three times. He had spent one of those times adrift all night in the open sea hoping for rescue. So he's seen some things, he's been on some boats and he decides to take that experience and voice a little bit of concern. Look in verse nine, Since much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous because even the fast was already over, that's a reference to the Jewish calendar, a Jewish feast tells us basically it's wintertime they shouldn't be sailing.

Paul advised them saying, Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but also of our lives. And Paul knows what he's talking about, but if you look in verse 11, the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix. Shipwrecks were not uncommon. They weren't rare in this era of sea travel.

Luke didn't need to spend so much time detailing on this precious parchment. Not only that there was a shipwreck, but all of the events that led up to it, and in particular this dialogue that that preceded it, unless there was something he wanted us to see in there. And what I think he gives us in this narrative, the privilege of seeing, is a faithful Christian response to poor decisions by those in authority. It is common to the human experience to be under bad leadership from time to time. To even bear the consequences of someone else's bad leadership or mistakes or bad ideas or things that you would have disagreed with.

It's the nature of our political angst. Right? Because ultimately, we we don't have a lot of control there. If you haven't experienced this at work or in your daily lives, then either you will or you're the one, right? This is a common.

Verbally abused people? Paul Guys, we know from elsewhere in scripture, Paul was sharp witted and sharp tongued. He could have had a much different tone to this conversation. He was capable, but he doesn't. Why?

Because you don't have to be in control when you know the one who is. I will say that is one major difference between ancient travel and modern. The ancients had a very keen understanding that God or the gods were in control of the ultimate outcome, especially of sea travel. Okay. For us, it's easy to just blame the person in front of you, like it's the gate agent who did it.

Right? Like, she's the one who planned out all the air airplane, or departure times. But if you're familiar with Greek mythology, you know, you've got the Odyssey. Right? Odysseus, he made an enemy of the god of the sea, Poseidon, and so Poseidon blew him off course and that journey went really really really badly.

Right? Or just think of the story of Jonah, right, where where they're they're facing a lot of storms and it's going badly at sea and all the people on the boat have one conclusion. Look, one of you guys made a god really mad, now who was it? Jonah's like, it was me. And I go, and he's overboard and then everything's fine for the people on the boat.

So Luke is writing acts to, for us, yes, but particularly to one person. His name is Theophilus. We don't know a whole lot about him but it's a Greek name. He, no doubt, would have been steeped in the same understanding. And Theophilus knew that this journey had a shipwreck in it.

And what Luke wants to do, what he's careful to do in outlining all of these details, is to say, yes, Theophilus, we were shipwrecked. No, it is not because God was against us. Yeah. The the journey was hard, but it is not because God was working against us. On the when you know who's in control, you know how God is working, then you can look specifically at how he is at work.

So let's look at how he was at work in Paul's journey, for though it was. We already mentioned his experiences. Right? I mean shipwrecked three times. You really only have two options of how to interpret that.

Either God really didn't like Paul, but was apparently very bad at finishing the deed. Right? Or he had been preparing Paul. He had been preparing Paul to be on a journey where the gospel needed to reach Rome, and it was gonna go through a shipwreck. Speaking of preparing him for something, look at the favor that Paul has with the Centurion and the guards.

K. He had been imprisoned by Roman authorities for over two years at this point. Two different governors. He was arrested when Felix was governor. Two years later Festus takes over.

And all this time, Paul's conduct has earned him such a good reputation, good favor with the guards. When the centurion lands in one of those little ports as they're jumping along, Sidon, he just lets Paul have a day pass to go visit his friends in the city. That's a lot of favor that Paul has. When you find yourself in a situation where you have a lot of favor, that's not just your doing, that's God has has done that. He's pulled that off for you.

And speaking of friends, Luke takes the time to detail for us who's on the boat. of all, Luke is on the boat. So this is a person encounter for Luke. And there's also another companion who's making this journey with Paul. His name is Aristarchus.

He's named here. We know a lot about Aristarchus. Aristarchus was in Ephesus with Paul when they rioted, when they beat him. Paul writes later in his letter to the Colossians from Rome spoiler alert, yeah, they make it so from Roman imprisonment he's gonna write later and he's gonna name my fellow prisoner Aristarchus. The only person we're told was arrested in Jerusalem was Paul.

This is a minor thing, maybe a little bit of interpolation, but for Luke and for Aristarchus to be on the boat with Paul, they had to subject themselves to the same imprisonment, the same sentence, the same trial as Paul. You don't buy a ticket on a Roman commandeered ship to head to Rome with prisoners. These were fellow prisoners God put there with them. When you are not in control, but you know the one who is, you take inventory. How God has prepared you, who God has put with you on the journey.

You do that to have the most important thing that Paul has. Courage to surrender. Not not surrendering to the Centurion necessarily or to the TSA or the gate agent, right? But surrender to what God is doing and how he is at work, which doesn't include you being an authority or in control. Control is not common to the human experience.

It is not promised in the Christian life. All authority in heaven and earth has been granted to Christ. Therefore, go. So so what does this Christian posture of surrender look like Well, of all, I think it's obvious that surrender is not silence. Let me be clear on that.

Surrender is not silence. Paul heard the plans. He thought they were dumb plans. And using his experience and the favor that he had, he went ahead and told them, I think these are pretty dumb plans. Right?

Surrender is not silence. He was a prisoner, but he had the favor to be able to, as Luke says in verse nine, advise them. So being surrendered to God's control doesn't mean that we don't ever disagree. Hear hear me on this. It is not particularly unchristian to disagree and to voice concern, to voice disagreement, to raise a dissenting opinion.

That is not particularly unchristian. But when you are surrendered and you know who is ultimately in control, you can do so without dehumanizing the other, without using hyperbole to exaggerate the crisis of the situation. I I know that I fall victim to this a lot. I do this, right? Don't we exaggerate things, we speak in in ways that elevate, heighten the crisis.

You morons, what is gonna happen here? Things are going off the rails. Right? There's no coming back from this. How could you even imagine that we should do that?

When we do that, we feel like the stakes are high. I want so badly to elevate our advice. We tear down those that God has actually put in authority. And we can really believe that if we aren't heard, that if we do not exercise some level of influence, everything's gonna fall apart. So we use language that reflects our fear.

Right? Well, this is gonna be a train wreck. If we don't get a handle on this, right, these are not when when we start to speak like that, these are not just opinions any longer. These symptoms these are symptoms of a heart that thinks that everything depends on me being heard, me being influential. These are phrases hear me on this these are phrases that represent a fear of an existential threat that is not consistent with the Christian conviction that God is in control and is working all things for the good of those whom he has called.

God can use a shipwreck. God could even prescribe a shipwreck on Malta. He could choose to work in that way accommodations at Fairhaven. Like, they had a Motel six there, and he's going, listen y'all, there is a Hilton 40 miles away. Who's with me?

And God, use that selfish motive for his purposes. You don't need to remain silent, but you do need to keep perspective. God, how have you prepared me for this? What are you doing in this? Why are we here?

Why is this happening? Or even is this experience what you have given me, what you are working in me now for something future that you are preparing me for? God, do not let me waste this opportunity to be grown by you and to be grown by waste this opportunity to be grown by you and to be grown by suffering. And then ultimately, you've got to keep Christ in focus. And I don't just mean like in a generic sense, like God loves me so everything's gonna be fine in the end anyways.

When I keep saying, you don't need to be in control when you know the one who is. Church, know the one who is. I meditate and know Jesus Christ. Elsewhere in one of his letters, Paul reflects on this and he says that he became obedient even to the point of death. Think about that.

God the Son, creator of the universe, all supreme. Obedient? I want you to consider the the level of control that we're talking about here. Do you have any idea how neat a trick it is to get yourself killed without doing anything wrong? Right?

God's plan was for Christ to die sinless. He comes, takes on flesh, and without committing any crimes he doesn't start a rebellion that'd be a quick way to get it done. He doesn't even break any Roman laws. He doesn't even break any Jewish laws. But the circumstances were orchestrated in just such a way that the the religious leaders, the holy people of their day, devout to the law felt so challenged, so threatened by Jesus that they were incensed all the way to being willing to commit murder to kill him.

But they are the holy people so they don't want to break the law. So they need to sanitize this plot of theirs through the Roman authority. So they go to Pilate. Pilate, mind you, who had already declared Jesus innocent, he's like, I don't find anything at fault here. But Pilate, God had put such a spineless leader in charge in that time for that exact scenario.

Pilate was spineless and he followed the crowds. And the crowds this is it, this is the trifecta of it all the crowds who Jesus had healed and had fed, just at this right time, tide starts to turn in public opinion and their their political angst, their their disenchantment with this would be Messiah rises to a level that the spineless pilot decides it's gonna be better for his political career to turn this innocent man over to deliver him to what the religious leaders, out of their jealousy, wanted to do. Could you devise a plan like that? Could you be in control like that? All of this, by the way, just so happened to unfold on Passover, the Jewish holiday where they're celebrating God's deliverance with a spotless lamb while inside the city, Jews are selecting their spotless lamb for sacrifice.

Outside the walls, God had selected His. I'll go on. This Messiah was betrayed for 30 pieces of silver, Zechariah 11. He was pierced, Zechariah 12. Numbered with transgressors, Isaiah 53.

Mocked and ridiculed, Psalm 22. Buried in a rich man's tomb, Isaiah 53. All prophecies written centuries prior, that is not coincidence. That is not accident. That, that is control.

That is divine orchestrate every bit of the universe down to every detail control for our good. That's Christ. And this Christ, who we worship because He is co equal with the Father, supreme over all creation, this Christ was obedient. He was surrendered to the father's plan that led to his death. He wasn't silent, he pleaded, if there is any other way, but when it came to it, he surrendered.

He was obedient unto death, even death on a cross, Paul says, because he knew that this plot would mean suffering for him, but not defeat. He knew that it would be hard and it would be his death, but not his ruin. Because God raised him from the dead, exalted him in the highest heavens, gave him the name that is above every name, and called him the fruit of the resurrection. So that you can know, of life in Christ again someday. That's true.

But also that you may know that today, now, even now, this Christ is seated at the right hand of the father, interceding on our behalf. With that kind of an advocate at the right hand of the father, what can separate us from God, Paul wrote? Tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword? No. In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us enough to surrender to death.

Does God promise you control? No. Most often, the opposite. Control over our situation is not common to the human experience nor is it promised to the Christian life, but confidence is. Confidence.

That confidence that confidence that knows that the one who obeyed unto death has been vindicated, resurrected, and reigns now for my good. That confidence does not come from my ability to influence. It does not come from my control. It does not come from my words. It didn't come from my abilities, my wisdom, my aptitude.

You know how I know that? Because this is the most peculiar part of the story for Luke to include. Get this. Luke gives us everything that Paul said. Why?

Why would he do that? Because you know what? Paul was wrong. He was wrong. Paul advised them saying, sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but of our lives.

Now, pastor Tom is going to walk you through the text next week. We will see this was not a trip without incident but the following spring, every passenger on that ship walked into Rome, no worse for the wear. He was wrong. Paul was wrong. The gate agent in Newark, by the way, she knew what I didn't know.

She knew that there was another flight headed to Andy in forty five minutes. She probably also knew that if she held that plane for just me that more people might have actually lost their connections at the next place and the ripple effect would have been worse than the original. She had a perspective that I didn't have. God had a perspective here in Myra that Paul didn't have. The difference is Paul knew it, I really didn't.

Paul knew and so he was able to be surrendered, have a posture of surrender because he knew that he wasn't in control and he shouldn't be in control. What about you? Can you can you stop clawing for control? Can you stop plotting and planning as though everything depends on you being heard, finding influence? Can you stop believing the lie that if you could just get the influence that you want, that you somehow could fix everything that's broken?

Can you instead surrender? Not not just passive resignation, but the confidence because you know the one who steers not only the ship but also the storm. Jesus Christ surrendered himself to the father's will. He was obedient which means, which means this. Listen, every moment of your life, every storm in your path, every consequence of someone else's bad decision that now falls on you, idea to begin with, every outcome that you didn't have the ability, the control, the influence to change, that was not outside of God's control.

His rule. So take inventory. What So take inventory. What has God prepared you for? Who has he put with you, beside you in this journey?

What is he doing in your storm? You don't have to be in control. You need to know the one who is. Let's pray. Father in Heaven, we're taught to pray, Holy is Your name, Your kingdom come.

And God, I pray that you would keep the truth of Christ's reign ever in our minds and a desire to see your name glorified, not our own. Lord, so that we can truly pray as Jesus taught his followers, your will be done. Your will be done. It is in your son's name we pray. Amen.