Atos 27

Atos 27

Wesley concluded that he lacked saving faith. On May 24, 1738, he had an experience that changed everything. He described the event in his journal: In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. (Read Wesley's full journal entry related to this incredible God event!) God used those Moravians’ trusting Him during that storm at sea to bring about the conversion of the great evangelist, John Wesley. If you’re going through a storm, He wants you to trust Him. He is sovereign over your storm. If you trust Him openly, He will use you to bear witness to many who need to know the Savior, who alone can deliver us from the storm of God’s wrath that is sure to come on the whole earth. Acts 27:36 All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food. NET Acts 27:36 So all of them were encouraged and took food themselves. GNT Acts 27:36 εὔθυμοι δὲ γενόμενοι πάντες καὶ αὐτοὶ προσελάβοντο τροφῆς. NLT Acts 27:36 Then everyone was encouraged and began to eat-- KJV Acts 27:36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. ESV Acts 27:36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. CSB Acts 27:36 They all became encouraged and took food themselves. NIV Acts 27:36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. NKJ Acts 27:36 Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. NRS Acts 27:36 Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves. YLT Acts 27:36 and all having become of good cheer, themselves also took food, NAB Acts 27:36 They were all encouraged, and took some food themselves. NJB Acts 27:36 They all plucked up courage and took something to eat themselves. GWN Acts 27:36 Everyone was encouraged and had something to eat. BBE Acts 27:36 Then they all took heart and did the same. all: Ps 27:14 2Co 1:4-6 Video - Shipwreck Acts 27 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries PAUL'S CONTAGIOUS COURAGE All of them were encouraged and they themselves also took food - They had seen Paul's words come to pass and were encouraged by his example of eating. Simply the act of eating would indicate that Paul was not planning on dying. If so why eat? It was an expression of Paul's confidence in God's promises and this is turn gave heart to all on the ship. Paul's courage is "contagious." One truly brave soul in a time of danger can save a crowd from panic. Spurgeon said "Courage is contagious, as well as timidity. The holy bravery of one good man may make many others brave." Billy Graham once said "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened." THOUGHT - In Phil 1:14+ we see another example of the "ripple effect" of the courage of one man, Paul writing "that most of the brethren, trusting in the Lord because of my imprisonment, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear." In this case Paul’s courage in chains spread to the believers who watched him witness to the Roman soldiers. And persecution can be productive. Even though Paul was in jail on a trumped-up charge, his incarceration produced a harvest of bold evangelism across the city of Rome. How did Paul encourage others? He faced his difficulty with joy. He used every opportunity to speak up for Christ. He demonstrated a lack of fear. He refused to complain or blame. May we all be imitators of Paul who imitated Christ (1 Cor 11:1). Warren Wiersbe said, “There are times when one dedicated believer can change the whole atmosphere of a situation simply by trusting God and making that faith visible.” Encouraged (Only NT use)(2115)(euthumos from eu = good + thumos = temperament, mindset) means literally "well minded" and thus well-disposed, cheerful, encouraged, in good spirits. See cognate or related verb euthumeo used in Acts 27:25. F W Brown wrote "Courage gives gladness, it inspires hope, and anticipates, as well as helps to ensure victory. Courage is contagious; just as fear will strike panic into the breasts of others, so pluck (spirited and determined courage) will enkindle enthusiasm, and propagate ardour." (Biblical Illustrator - Acts) Gilbrant - Paul's faith and example had inspired them with new hope, real hope for the first time since the storm began. It is likely they sensed Paul's love as well. The combination of faith, hope, and love is unbeatable under all circumstances. (Complete Biblical Library) Andrews - May God help us to be faithful to Him in the storms of life and to set the example for others to follow! Are you being a source of encouragement in storms and trials? Are you setting a godly example for others to follow? Let us never be ashamed to go to the Lord in prayer before others—let us not just talk about faith, but let us talk to the Father! (The Jack Andrews Expository Studies: Understanding Acts) ILLUSTRATION FROM LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON - Courage, we are often told, is not the absence of fear. Rather, it is doing the right thing despite fear, inability, and uncertainty about the outcome. Such courage is contagious. In the United States, we remember 1776 as the year of independence, but we forget that it was also a year of military defeat and near-disaster for the new republic. The British easily drove Washington and his troops out of New York City, which both sides saw as a strategic key to the entire war. The Continental Army fled across New Jersey, barely evading the far superior forces of the British army. Finally, it crossed the Delaware River into Pennsylvania for safety. Even then, the Continental Congress, meeting in nearby Philadelphia, felt so threatened that it fled to Baltimore. Finally, Washington saw an opportunity to turn things around. On Christmas night 1776, in the midst of a freezing storm, he led 2400 of his ill-clad, hungry, discouraged troops back across the Delaware, boatload by boatload, to attack the Hessian garrison at Trenton in the morning. It was the first clear victory for the Americans. A few days later, in response to a British counter-attack, Washington led his troops behind the front to attack Princeton. This led to a second American victory, but only after the field commander was killed and Washington took personal command. One of his officers describes the scene: “I shall never forget what I felt … when I saw him brave all the dangers of the field and his important life hanging as it were by a single hair with a thousand deaths flying around him. Believe me, I thought not of myself.” Courage is contagious. Washington’s display of courage inspired his officers and men to think not of themselves or the danger they faced, but only of the glorious cause. (Russell Resnick) ILLUSTRATION - COURAGE is contagious. A letter arrived from an organization called World Relief asking for prayer for the church in southern Sudan, site of ongoing persecution of Christians by radical Muslims. The facts were grim: churches looted, Christian villages burned, the wholesale murder of Christian leaders, and even stories about Christian children being sold into slavery. This is all accompanied by famine and widespread civil war. I knew a bit about this, and so I read the letter with interest. Not long after that I was in Chicago taping an interview at the Total Living Network. Since they usually do a whole week in one day, guests from several programs meet in the "Green Room" before the taping. When I walked in, I spotted a nice-looking gentleman and his adult son. He immediately stood and said, "Hi, I'm Clyde Calver with World Relief." I recognized his name and mentioned that I had read his letter. It turns out that he had just returned from Sudan and was going to talk about it on the television program. When I asked if the reports about widespread persecution were true, he replied in the affirmative. Then he added a detail I hadn't heard. He said that in many places the church in southern Sudan is growing rapidly. Despite the persecution (or perhaps because of it), one church leader told him, "We've got too many converts. We can't take care of them all." That's a nice problem to have, isn't it? How has it happened? An early church father named Tertullian gave the answer when he declared that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. You can kill the messenger but you cant kill the message. For two thousand years, enemies of the gospel have done their best to wipe out Christianity. They may stop it in one place, but it springs up in another. Then when they turn around, it springs back up where they thought they had stamped it out. Too often we say, "I'm waiting for better circumstances." God says, "Go ahead and speak up. I don't need good circumstances in order to do my work." Hard times often give us fantastic opportunities to share the gospel with others. (Ray Pritchard) Acts 27:37 All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six persons. NET Acts 27:37 (We were in all two hundred seventy-six persons on the ship.) GNT Acts 27:37 ἤμεθα δὲ αἱ πᾶσαι ψυχαὶ ἐν τῷ πλοίῳ διακόσιαι ἑβδομήκοντα ἕξ. NLT Acts 27:37 all 276 of us who were on board. KJV Acts 27:37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. ESV Acts 27:37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) CSB Acts 27:37 In all there were 276 of us on the ship. NIV Acts 27:37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. NKJ Acts 27:37 And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship. NRS Acts 27:37 (We were in all two hundred seventy-six persons in the ship.) YLT Acts 27:37 (and we were -- all the souls in the ship -- two hundred, seventy and six), NAB Acts 27:37 In all, there were two hundred seventy-six of us on the ship. NJB Acts 27:37 In all we were two hundred and seventy-six souls on board that ship. GWN Acts 27:37 (There were 276 of us on the ship.) BBE Acts 27:37 And we were, in the ship, two hundred and seventy-six persons. two hundred and seventy-six: Ac 27:24 persons (literally souls): Ac 2:41 Acts 7:14 Ro 13:1 1Pe 3:20 Video - Shipwreck Acts 27 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries MUSTER IN PREP FOR THE WRECK A muster is a gathering of military personnel for duty, and undoubtedly it was "all hands on deck" at this critical moment in their voyage. All of us in the ship were two hundred and seventy-six persons - Note that Luke returns rather abruptly to the first person narrative. Persons is the Greek word (psuche) also translated "souls." You can rest assured that there were 276 persons who heard the pure unadulterated Gospel from the apostle Paul! While this was a large ship, Josephus wrote about a ship he had sailed on that carried 600 passengers. We do not know how many of the 276 were prisoners.