Welcome to 'The Nathan Report'. God is at work, Listen to His voice
This week we will be learning about "God is at work". Those who are discouraged I tell you, be encouraged because God is at work. Keep trusting and you will see the mighty working of our Lord.
Acts 27, "1 And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan Cohort named Julius. 2 And embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to the ports along the coast of Asia, we put to sea, accompanied by Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him leave to go to his friends and be cared for. 4 And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 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.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 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, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.
The Storm at Sea
13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.
21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 Yet now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood before me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we must run aground on some island.”
27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were being driven across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took a sounding and found twenty fathoms. A little farther on they took a sounding again and found fifteen fathoms. 29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the ship's boat into the sea under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the ship's boat and let it go.
33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food. For it will give you strength, for not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said these things, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all 276 persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
The Shipwreck
39 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to run the ship ashore. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders. Then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41 But striking a reef, they ran the vessel aground. The bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was being broken up by the surf. 42 The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape. 43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land."
Acts of apostle is an act of Holy Spirit. Book of acts is not closed, it's open. We are the one who has to carry on. We need to thank God for this opportunity.
Paul sails to Rome, not with his own will but was taken as a prisoner for trial to caesar. On the way, there was a storm. All were scared.
Verse 25 (see above)
In the midst of storm, Paul says, "I have faith in God, do not be afraid". Generally we find it difficult to cope up, but here Paul says, "take courage, I have faith in God".
The next portion of scripture beautifully describes how Paul's faith is in unfailing God. This means Paul had trust in God. Paul tells that I have to meet Caesar and I am already in the midst of the storm, however he is not afraid. This gave him courage and strength.
The important thing to do is to listen what God is speaking to us.
Illustration: A businessman required 7 million $ to invest but had no money. He went to church and goes towards the alter and prays with tears in his eyes.
Prayer is the preparation time where we spend time seeking the face of the Lord.
He knelt down and over heard that another person was praying and asking for 100 $, this man pulled money from his pocket and have it to the other man. Other man went away joyfully. Now this businessman said, "God you have undivided attention."
God is not having problem of listening to us it is our problem. Bible says, Ezekiel 12:2, "“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, who have eyes to see, but see not, who have ears to hear, but hear not, for they are a rebellious house."
We need to hear what the Spirit of the Lord is speaking.
Acts 27:10 (See above)
The centurion who was taking these people had faith in the captain of the ship. He said, I don't have to listen to you Paul since I know people who have much expertise.
How can we listen to God when he speaks to us?
There are three ways, so listen/read this carefully...
1: Do not allow thing and people to influence us more than God Himself and stop us from listening to him.
Sometimes we do not listen to God because we love some things or people more than God and we tend to listen to them than to God.
This also distract us from our responsibility.
We want our children to listen to us but not ready to listen to what God wants us to listen.
Deuteronomy 6:3, "Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the LORD, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey."
Isaiah 55:7, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."
Are you listening to the voice of God? Have you ever asked, "I want to hear from you, I need one word today, I need one sentence from you today, I need a sign from you, I need a promise from you today."
Illustration: A pastor was preaching in the church about "bringing your bible". Next week he preached the same message and no one seemed to object to the repetitive message and moreover few people didn't even recognized. This kept on going for another 4-5 Sundays. After these Sunday's, few people realized that this is the same message from last 4-5 services so they asked, "why are you preaching same thing again and again?"
Pastor responded, "If you heard my message properly, then, "where is your Bible?"
We need to listens to the voice of God. Listening is the only way to know Him better and to know what is the purpose of our life.
John 10:14, "I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me."
How can we have an intimate relationship with God without listening to Him? God is speaking to us, hear Him.
God sometimes speaks in a supernatural way. He chooses different ways to speak with us. We need to listen to Him else we might miss important things and blessings of our Lord. It is important for us to listen to Him.
2: Do not allow distractions to keep you away from listening the voice of God.
One of the thing that we fail to listen to the voice of God is voices on background. Are you halfhearted listeners? God wants your whole heart. You are rich or poor doesn't maters.
Illustration: A Young boy listened to God saying, "Samuel! Samuel!". He asked his master, "did you called me?"Master refused but not asked two more times. Master understood that God is speaking and helped him to come in tune with God.
Someone said, Listening is waiting to hear.
Illustration: At times we get text messages and we do not wait to read it. Many times there are advertised messages but even while we are busy such as driving, we pull over to read the text.
Do we have time to listen to the God?
Psalms 123:1-3, "1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt."
3: Do not allow your own interest to stop you to listen to the voice of God.
Sometimes we like to watch action movies or daily soap etcc
Illustration: A lady was coming down from chair and she asked he husband, what's that on Couch. He responded I am killing flies. She asked how many flies have you killed on which he responded 2 female flies and 3 male flies. She asked how did you figured this out? He responded, two were sitting on phone and 3 in remote control.
We get so busy even with the church work that we miss worship. God doesn't appreciates works much unless we have a connection with our God.
At times we get so busy that we have no time for God. Nothing will satisfy you friends only the voice of God.
Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
God says I have plan for you to give you hope, to give you peace, to satisfy you, to strengthen you.
We must receive, accept and listen carefully to the word of God. The Bible is the inspired word of God. Sometimes he speaks through books, bible, any situation at home or work. Listen to God.
God wants to grow in our prayer life, in our personal lives, in the commitment to the house of God. Are you listening?
I encourage all of you to read this out loud, "Lord I come to You, Speak to me Lord, Your servant is ready to listen!"
We hope you enjoyed today's service, we will see you again next week. God bless!
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