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Acts 27:14-25  PAULS SHIP CAUGHT IN A STORM

Introduction:

	In our previous text the ship in which the Apostle Paul was traveling put 
into a bay named Fair Havens on the Island of Crete in order to take refuge from 
a storm.  The Apostle Paul advised the Roman centurion, who was in charge, to 
spend the winter anchored in that bay.  He warned that if they were to try to go 
forward the ship with its all its cargo, its crew and passengers would be in 
danger.  However, when the storm they were end passed over and the weather 
cleared, because it was only a short distance to an excellent seaport which 
offered much better accommodations, the centurion, at the urging of the ship’s 
captain and the owner, decided to move on the next port.  
	In our text today, we see that this was a huge mistake.  They had scarcely 
left the bay when they were hit by another storm which was much much worse than 
the previous one.  

I.  The suddenness of the storm .  

   	V. 14,  “But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, 
called Euroclydon.”  Luke says that the storm hit not long after they left the 
harbor.  The suddenness of the storm makes it appear that they were following 
close to the shoreline and that a bend or point in the shoreline blocked their 
view of the approaching storm.  Then when they went abound the bend or point, 
the storm suddenly came into view and there was no chance to head back into the 
bay.  
	The storm hit with a mighty force.  According to our King James version 
Luke said that the storm arose against them.  The Greek word that here is 
translated “arose” means that it beat upon them.  The winds hit with a mighty 
force.  Luke called the storm a “Euroclydon.”  This word is composed of two 
Greek words which mean “wind and waves.”  So they were suddenly hit by the force 
of mighty winds and by the force of huge waves.    
	V. 15, “And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, 
we let [her] drive.”  The winds of the storm were coming from the direction 
which they had been traveling and still wished to travel.  Now ordinarily a ship 
which is compelled by winds can travel in the direction from which the wind is 
coming by setting their sails and their rudder at an angle.  They cannot go 
directly into the wind, but they can travel in a zig-zag pattern and go in the 
direction from which the wind is coming.  But the winds of this storm were so 
fierce that they could not go at all in the direction from which the wind was 
coming.  They just had to let the winds blow them in the direction in same 
direction which they were traveling.  However, as we will see in the next verse, 
they were able to use the sails and rudder to do a little steering.  

II.  A struggle for survival

	The ship’s crew and passengers, including the prisoners, were in a 
struggle to do what they could to try to survive.  It was now a matter of life 
or death.  V. 16, “And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we 
had much work to come by the boat.”  The Island of Clauda was about two miles 
off the coast of Crete and the winds blew them toward that island.  Luke says 
that they went “under” the Island of Clauda.  That is, they went to the leeward 
side.  This indicated that the sailors used the sails and the rudder to stir the 
ship to the leeward side of the island.  This would give them a little 
protection from the winds as they passed the island.  The land and trees would 
lessen the force of the winds somewhat.  
	While they passed this island on the leeward side, the sailors took 
advantage of this opportunity to try to save the lifeboat which had been tied to 
the side of the ship.  Luke says, “...we had much work...”  This means that the 
sailors enlisted the help of the passengers.  Even with their aid it was a great 
struggle.  In that short two mile trip from the Island of Crete the winds and 
waves had banged the boat against the side of the ship so hard that they feared 
that it would either be smashed or torn away and carried away from the ship.  So 
with very great effort they struggled to rescue the lifeboat.    
 	V. 17, “Which when they had taken up...”  The sailors did not try to tie 
the lifeboat more securely to the ship.  That would have been an impossible 
task.  It was all that they could do to haul it up onto the deck of the ship and 
get it tied down there so that it would not blow overboard.  But after quite a 
struggle, they succeeded.  
	There was another dangerous which they faced.  The ship itself was in 
danger of breaking in two if they should hit a sandbar.  They knew that the 
waters off the Island of Clauda had many sandbars.  If the ship should hit one 
of those sand bars, one end of the ship would be stuck in the mud and the other 
end would take a beating from the powerful winds and the huge waves.  In that 
case the ship would be in grave danger of breaking apart.  So they did what they 
could to strengthen the structure of the ship.  (V. 17), “...they used helps, 
undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the 
quicksands...”  They used whatever ropes, cables and chains which they had 
available to wrap around the structure of the ship in an effort to strengthen 
the ship.  
	  (V. 17), “...strake sail, and so were driven.”  After rescuing the 
lifeboat and doing what they could to strengthen the structure of the ship, they 
lowered the sail and let the winds take it where it might go.  The Greek word 
which here is translated “strake” means to let down, to lower.  That first day 
of the storm was a long, difficult exhausting day.  Luke does not tell us if 
they got any sleep that night, but if they did, it must have been very little.  

III.  Desperate circumstances

	V. 18, “And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next [day] 
they lightened the ship.”  This was now the second day of the storm and there 
was no let up.  There was no sign that it would let up any time soon.  The 
situation was extremely dangerous.  By this time the ship must have been taking 
on water and would sit deeper in the water.  The ship must be lightened so as to 
allow the ship to sit higher in the water and be in less danger of sinking.  The 
circumstances were desperate and it was time to take desperate measures --- and 
they did.  They lightened the ship.  I take this to mean that they took all of 
the less costly heavy items and threw them overboard.    
	That was on the second day of the storm.  On the third day, the situation 
was even more desperate.  They went throughout the ship once again throwing 
overboard even the most expensive items and items which normally they would not 
at all part with.  V. 19, “And the third [day] we cast out with our own hands 
the tackling of the ship.”

IV.  All hope gone

	They waited in desperation as day after day passed and the storm did not 
let up.  Day after day and night after night passed.  Many days passed and the 
storm had not lost its fury.  But the people on board that ship had lost 
something.  They were physically exhausted.  They were downcast in spirit.  They 
were at the end of their rope.  They had lost hope.  V. 20, “And when neither 
sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on [us], all hope 
that we should be saved was then taken away.”
	Luke says that all hope was gone.  I take this to mean that everybody on 
board that ship had given up all hope --- with the exception of one man.  We 
will see in the next verse that there was one man on that ship who had not lost 
hope.  You probably already know who that one man was.  The centurion who was in 
charge had lost all hope.  The captain and the owner of the ship had lost hope.  
The seasoned seamen lost hope.  The figured, “We are all goners.  We are all 
going to die.”  I take it to mean that even Luke and Aristarchus, who were 
Christians, like those who were not Christians,  had lost all hope of survival.  
However, they did have a hope --- a sure hope --- a hope of being in a better 
place after death.  That was a hope which the unsaved did not have.  

VI.  A message of hope from Paul

	V. 21, “But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, 
and said...”  The abstinence spoken of in this verse does not refer to Paul’s 
long silence.  Rather it refers to the abstinence from food and nourishment 
which all of them had experienced.  The crew and passengers had eaten little 
food during the many days of the storm.  For one thing there had been little 
time for eating.  They had been too busy working, trying to survive.  For 
another, there had been little concern on their part for food.  Their chief 
concern had been survival.  The mental and emotional stress which they had been 
through had taken away their appetite for food.  
	(V. 21), “...Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed 
from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss.”  Paul rebuked them for not 
heeding the advice that he had given back in Fair Havens at the Island of Crete.  
Specifically, his rebuke was intended for the Roman centurion who had made the 
final decision to move on and for the captain and owner of the ship who had 
encouraged the centurion to move on to a more suitable place to spend the 
winter.  But now hind sight was better than foresight.  They could now see that 
they made a mistake.  They should have listened to Paul.  They could easily see 
that now.  
	Surely the Apostle Paul was not reminding them of their mistake just so 
that he could gloat and say, “I told you so.”  I think that rather he was 
reminding them of their mistake so that they would listen to him now in the new 
message of hope that he was about to give to them.  He wanted them to believe 
what he had to say to them.  He wanted for them to heed his new advice.  It was 
essential for their own benefit that they heed his advice this time.  So, in 
effect, Paul was saying to them, “Please do not make the same mistake twice.  
Please do not fail to heed my counsel this time.”  
	Now listen to the counsel that Paul gave to those people.  V. 22, “And now 
I exhort you to be of good cheer...”   Paul’s first counsel was, “Be of good 
cheer...’  Stop  your fretting.  Stop worrying.  Stop your moping.  Chin up.  Be 
happy.  Let’s have a smile.  The sky is dark and dreary, but open up your heart 
and let the sunshine in.”
	Can you imagine that!  These people have had day after day of relentless 
storm.  It has almost torn apart the ship that they are in.  The ship is taking 
on water.  They have cast everything overboard that they can to lighten the 
ship.  They have done all they could to re-inforce the structure of the ship.  
They figure that at any time now the ship may sink and this man tells them, 
“Cheer up!  Be happy!”  Can you believe this?  Could you do what Paul asked them 
to do?
	You could if you could just believe what else he is about to tell them.  
(V. 22),  “... for there shall be no loss of [any man's] life among you, but of 
the ship.”  Paul gave them something to be happy about.  Paul promised them that 
not one person on board that ship would loose his life.  That promise, of 
course, was conditional.  We will see later what condition they must meet in 
order for the promise to be fulfilled.  But Paul gave them good news.  He gave 
them just about the best news that anybody could give them right at that moment.  
He informed them that they were not going to drown in this storm. 
	Now note that Paul did not promise them that they were not going to be 
shipwreck.  The very opposite is true.  He told them that the ship would be 
lost.  It would wreck.  It would go down.  But even though the ship and all its 
cargo would be lost, not one of them would loose his life.  
	
VII.  The basis of Paul’s optimism

	V. 23-25, “For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, 
and whom I serve.  Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: 
and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.  Wherefore, sirs, be 
of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.”  The 
reason that Paul was so optimistic is because the Lord God of heaven had sent a 
message to him by and angel telling him that he would not die in the storm and 
that not one of the people aboard that ship would die in the storm.  Now if Paul 
could believe that God was telling him the truth then he could be cheerful and 
happy even in the midst of the storm.  And Paul did believe God.  He said, “I 
believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.”  
	Now if those people aboard that ship could believe God then they, too, 
could be cheerful in the midst of the storm.  They could chin up.  They could 
stop their worrying.  They could know that they would survive the storm.  They 
could rejoice.  

VIII.  The best news of all

	Luke does not mention it here, but I am confident that after the storm was 
over and after they were all safely on shore, that Paul gave them the best news 
of all.  He gave them the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He told them that even though 
they were all sinners and that even though they were in danger of going into 
everlasting fire where they would suffer the penalty of their sin forever, yet 
there is good news for them.  He would tell them about Jesus who died on the 
cross in order to provide a way for the guilty sinner to be saved.  By repenting 
of his sin and by trusting Jesus Christ to save his soul, he could abvoid those 
terrible fires of hell land live in God’s wonderful heaven forever and ever.  
Paul would assure them that not one person who would call upon Jesus and trust 
Jesus to save his soul would perish and go down into the everlasting fires of 
torment.  
	Now that is the best news of all.  It was even better than the good news 
that they would not perish in the water.  This is the kind of good news that I 
give to you today.  This is a message that God is sending to each of you.  I am 
telling you that even though you are a sinner--- even though you have lived in 
sin day after day. week after week month after month and year after year, yet if 
you will believe the gospel message that God has sent to you and if you will 
call upon Jesus and trust Him to save your soul and keep you out of hell that 
you will never go into the fires of hell.  Even though you will die and your 
body will go to the grave ---even though you will stand before God in judgment, 
yet you will not go to hell, you will live in peace and glory forever with God.  
	Now, as you have probably already noticed, there is a condition.  The 
first condition is that you must believe the message that God has sent to you.  
You must believe that it will come to pass just as God has said --- just as God 
has promised.  Can you believe that?  Can you believe that God  can and will 
keep His promise to you.  
	Then let me point out the next condition.  The next condition is that you 
call on Jesus and ask Him to save your unworthy soul.   Romans 10:13 says, “For 
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Can you believe 
that?  Do you believe that?  If not, will you believe it right now?  And will 
you call upon Him right now and ask Him to save your soul?  
	If you will, then I am going to ask you to be of good cheer.  I am going 
to ask you to rejoice.  I am also going to ask you to come forward and share the 
good news with us that you are now trusting Jesus to save your soul.  Will you 
come?