AP

Weathering the Storms of Life

Hebrews 6.19,20: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.

What a surprise!

Surprisingly, ships, storms and shipwrecks figure prominently in the Bible. For example:

Noah and the Ark (Genesis 6);

Moses in the bulrushes (Exodus 2);

Jonah and the ship to Tarshish (Jonah 1);

Hymenaeus and Alexander, who made shipwreck of their faith (1 Tim.1.19,20);

Ephesians 4.14:That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.

The ships on the Sea of Galilee, most famously the one in Mark 4.31-35 where Jesus stills the storm.

The shipwreck of Acts 27, when they threw four anchors from the stern, and they all came safely to land.

Hebrews 6.19: We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor for the soul.

These ships are often associated with miracles:

The Stilling of the Storm is one of a group of four miracles in Mark 4 and 5. The Healing of the Gadarene Demoniac shows Jesus’ power over evil; The Healing of the Sick Woman shows His power over sickness and suffering; The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter shows His power over death; The Stilling of the Storm shows His power over the created order. Together they demonstrate the truth of Paul’s declaration about Jesus in Romans 9.5: ‘the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever’. So, in the Bible we see that a miracle, where God intervenes supernaturally in the created order, shows us one aspect or another of His mighty power.

In Acts 27, another kind of miracle unfolds as Paul experiences a shipwreck. Despite the worst that the forces of the created order could hurl at His servants, God is with them through it all. When we’re tossed about and troubled by the circumstances of life, ‘we rest in Him, our Shield and our defender’.

The adventure of the Christian life:

Paul must have seen life in Christ as one great adventure in which he would participate to the full.

He would do whatever God asked him to do.

He would go wherever God asked him to go.

He would trust God to enable him and to bring him through it all to glory.

And this was all because he had complete faith in the power of his Lord Jesus Christ to hold him fast and enable him to persevere to the end.

Paul was a manly man, but far, far more than that, he was a man in Christ and, ever since Christ came to him on the road to Damascus until the day he went to be with Christ in glory, he gave the whole of his life to Christ as he lived the grand adventure by Christ’s power and grace, and for Christ’s glory.

One of Paul’s greatest adventures was that sea journey recorded in Acts 27, and it stands as a kind of parable of our journey through life. When they set out, the weather was calm enough, but Paul warned that there was a real risk of sailing into bad weather and dangerous waters, and that they should wait for better weather. They set out anyway. A fierce storm did come, leading the sailors to try everything they could to keep the boat afloat, by throwing the cargo overboard, then putting out four anchors from the stern. Despite the best efforts of the sailors, the ship broke up and they had to cling to pieces of the ship to drift to the shore.

            In the meantime, Paul was waiting on God who sent an angel to assure him that no-one would perish.

The resistance of the world:

In Acts 27.9-12 we read: Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement. So Paul warned them, ¹⁰ ‘Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.’ ¹¹ But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. ¹² Since the harbour was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there.

Then in Acts 27.21-26 we read:  After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: ‘Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³ Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴ and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.” ²⁵ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. ²⁶ Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.’

They should have listened to Paul, shouldn’t they? But they would not. And that’s the situation of the world today – it goes its own sinful, rebellious way instead of turning to God and listening to Him as He speaks so clearly in His Word.

We ought to feel sad for unbelievers, even as Jesus did when He wept over Jerusalem and said: ‘Oh Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing’ (Matthew 23.37).

The means of grace.

We don’t give up though. We keep on telling the world about Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love, of all His saving and strengthening power through His means of Grace.

In Acts 27.29 we read: ^‘Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.’ In happier days for the Church of Scotland, James S. Stewart, preached a celebrated sermon in which he allegorised on the four anchors, declaring that we must throw out four anchors to keep us from being dashed to pieces in the storms of life (the lessons are commended, not the allegorising):

Prayer is the first anchor. It has been said that ‘All of life should become a prayer’. With every step we take, we should be praying for God’s guidance and help in everything we say or do, remembering that ‘more things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of’.

Bible study is the next anchor. We should constantly ‘read, learn, mark and inwardly digest’ God’s Word. We should rejoice in its promises, tremble at its threatenings, heed its warnings and obey its commandments, reading the Bible in the spirit of believing that what the Bible says is what God says.

Faith is the third anchor. Hebrews 11.1-3 says: Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. ² This is what the ancients were commended for. ³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.’

Fourthly, Christ Himself is our greatest anchor. Hebrews 6.19,20 says: ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.’

So we must ‘build ourselves up in our most holy faith’. (Jude 1.1-3, 17-21): Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. ⁴ For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a licence for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord …  But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. ¹⁸ They said to you, ‘In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.’ ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.

Conclusion:

‘Jesus’ is indeed ‘the Name above all names’, the sinner’s Hope, the saint’s true Friend. In order to weather the storms of life, know that the Christian life is a grand adventure; in which we will face the resistance of the world; but in which we will receive the protection and power of God through the means of grace: Prayer … Bible study … Faith … and our Lord Jesus Christ’s gracious and constant presence with us in every step we take on our earthly pilgrimage.

Let us pray

Dear Lord our God and loving Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your dear Son promised to Peter: ‘Simon, Simon, Satan would have you that He may sift you like wheat, but I have prayed the Father that your faith fail not. Lord, we know that Satan would have us too, but we also know that our Lord Jesus sits at Your right hand to plead our cause before Your Throne of Grace. We thank You that He is truly a sure and steadfast anchor for our souls. When we face trials and temptations, please strengthen our faith so that we can resist all the fiery darts of the evil one, and overcome in all the difficulties we face. Lord, help us too to share our faith with others still lost and dead in their trespasses and sins. Give us the joy of seeing them raised from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. And we ask this in the precious name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.

AMEN.

– Bob Thomas