TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - October 3, 2025 - Acts 27 - Friday Boat Faith: Anchored in the Storm

Episode Date: October 3, 2025

In today’s Morning Manna: Friday Boat Faith Series, we journey with Paul through the perilous voyage of Acts 27. As storms rage and the ship seems doomed, Paul’s faith in God’s promise becomes the anchor of hope for all aboard. This chapter reminds us that obedience to God’s word, courage in crisis, and trust in His providence carry us safely through life’s fiercest gales. Even when the vessel breaks, the promise stands—God delivers His people to the shore of His purpose. Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc BurkhartYou can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.com, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today!www.megafire.worldGet high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!www.AmericanReserves.comIt’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today!www.Amazon.com/Final-DayApple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books!www.books.apple.com/final-dayPurchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today.www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. It's Friday, and that means it's Faith Friday. And on Faith Friday, we study Faith. And we also participate in the Lord's Supper. So please be ready at the end of this lesson to join us at the Lord's table, have bread and your choice of grape juice or red wine. And our requirements for your participation is that you're born again and you are baptized. in water. And if you meet those qualifications, you are invited to be in the Lord's supper with us. We are continuing our series of lessons called boat faith. This started several months ago. And the Lord dropped those two words in my spirit as I was seeking him about the theme for the next Faith Friday lesson. And I heard those two words, boat faith. Faith. And I had never heard it before, never taught on boat faith. But I went to work on it, and the Holy Spirit revealed week after week, lesson after lesson. We've been in this well over two months, and I thought today would be the final boat faith lesson,

but I think we may have two more coming. We'll see how far we get today if we may have one more. So today we're going to focus on the book of Acts chapter 27. And we're going to look at the entire chapter. So I'm not going to go through this verse by verse because we'd be here for several weeks just to get through chapter 27. So I'm going to, we're going to teach this in sections of verses. And I'm going to have Doc read each section and then he and I will discuss. trust it and our focus is faith.

What we're looking for in these scriptures is boat faith. Now, this one would be faith in the sea. All right. We've had boat faith on the sea. This one is boat faith in the sea because the boat went into the sea and the sailors went into the sea. And you have to have faith when you're in the sea at night. So let's pray and then we'll read the word and jump into this study.

Almighty God, our dear Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Father, we love you. We reverence you. We worship you. We thank you. Father, we invite the Holy Spirit into this morning man, a Bible study to lead this study. teach us more about boat faith how we can apply these principles of faith in the sea how we can apply it to our daily lives and we ask this in the name of jesus christ amen so doc we will begin

chapter 27 and the first reading would be verses one through eight okay all right so if you got your Bibles this morning, and you should always have your Bibles when you're at a Bible study. Read along with me, I'm reading from the King James. The first eight verses of Acts chapter 27. Acts chapter 27. Our topic today is related to both faith. So let's begin reading. And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other passengers unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus's band. And entering into a ship, of Adramatrium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coast of Asia, one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. And the next day we touched at Sidon, and Julius courteously

entreated Paul and gave him liberty to go into his friends and refresh himself. And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. And when we had sailed over the Sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lisea. And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy and he put us there in. And when we had sailed slowly many days and scarce were come over against satinitis, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete over against Salmoni. And hardly passing it came into a place which is called the Fair Havens, nigh wherein two was the city of Lassia.

A lot of tough words there today. there today yeah doc you did great that's why i didn't read it and i uh i didn't give you any time to practice either so you did well thank you all right we're all applauding for you doc if if they weren't the right pronunciations you did it so well we we wouldn't i convinced otherwise that's right you convinced this okay so uh versus um one through eight uh I think sets the stage for one of the Bible's most dramatic boat faith narratives. Oh, yeah. Okay.

So this opening section, one through eight, this focuses on Apostle Paul's obedience and submission to God's will as he journeys under Roman custody. and he's not just taking a cruise he's under he's under arrest so let's see what we learn here and again i'm we're crunching together eight to 10 12 verses at a time to get through the entire chapter so what do we see in the first eight verses first of all paul's journey was was not an accident and it wasn't an expression of Paul's will. Like I said, he wasn't on a cruise. He didn't say, hey, I think I'm going to take a ride. No, this was all God's orchestration.

It was the outworking of God's sovereign plan. And even though Paul traveled as a prisoner, he was carried by the unseen hand of divine purpose. Right. That's a hard thing for some people to adjust to there. He was in custody. He was in the custody of Rome. And yet, he was free in Christ.

Yes. He was more free than the guards who were guarding him. Correct. And yes, so this is God's, sovereign will that Paul be transported as a prisoner on a ship and it was God's sovereign well this will be an interesting so was it God's sovereign will that the ship sink or because the Holy Spirit gave gave them warning okay so we'll work our way through this as we get to those verses okay but you know doc and we were talking here at the beginning with you know the

the very challenging words, names to pronounce. And Doc did a marvelous job with that. If I did it, you guys would still be snickering. But here's the point. The narrative gives us detailed names of ships and ports and travelers. Why? To remind us that God's providence works in the ordinary details of history.

This could have been written in a way and they said, hey, there were some people in the boat and they were going over here. Right, we took a trip. And sometimes that's the way the Bible narrative reads. We don't even know who it is. No names, no information. And yet in this one, it's very detailed.

Yes. As if to say, this really happened. This isn't just some fairy tale or something we made up, you know, just to write. No, you can go almost to the readers that you. You can go to these towns and you say, remember when Paul and that centurion here? Oh, yeah, well, I remember that day. You know, so, but you can go back and, you know, it almost as if the Lord is providing his own evidence,

documentation, that these are real events happening to real people in real time. Yes. Now, the next thing that we see, Doc, is Apostle Paul's faith in God's plan amid hardship. Paul did not resist his imprisonment. He did not resist being placed on the ship. But he surrendered. He embraced it in obedience to God's plan.

Paul was at rest in his spirit with God's plan. So faith. trust God's plan even when it comes wrapped in chains and that's a tough one oh it is a hard one

God's plan sometimes is wrapped in chains but Apostle Paul's demeanor and his steady faith stood in contrast to the rest of spirit the uncertainty of the sailors and the soldiers paul was calm the other guys weren't

julius the centurion treated paul kindly allowed him liberty to refresh himself with friends and what do we learn here that even in hardship in difficult times, God provides tokens of grace to sustain our faith. Julius's kindness to Paul was God's grace. That was taking some of the edge off of the pain, off of the discomfort. He's a prisoner. He's being transported. Things aren't looking good.

But God arranged to have a kind-hearted guard assigned to Paul. Just to provide some grace, some, like I said, to take the edge off of the pain. And obviously, it was no accident about who was assigned to Paul. It was a centurion. Now, when most people think of a centurion, you know, they read the Bible in that word, just kind of goes over, you know, and they think, well, that's just a Roman soldier. And so, but no, a Centurion was in charge of a whole company of soldiers. He was like, he was almost like a military CEO, if you will.

It's probably comparable to the rank of colonel in the U.S. Army. You're in charge of a large contingent of soldiers. oftentimes you paid you know for that role you paid to be a centurion you weren't just rank and file roman soldier so for paul to be assigned a centurion meant that paul was a high profile prisoner uh you know being sent to rome it wasn't just some he was an enlisted officer Yeah. Well, yeah, I guess so. In Roman term, sure, but a high ranking one. So not just a casual, you know, rank and file soldier, but someone that was really in charge of a company of soldiers. And so he was likely experience. He was likely wealthy himself. So, you know, the faith lesson. The faith lesson is that even in hardship, God provides. tokens of grace to sustain our faith yes that's that's the lesson here for us that we should see

mercies not as a coincidence but as divine encouragement that when things are difficult and we experience these small acts of mercy faith recognizes those acts of mercy as God saying, I'm with you in this. Don't, don't panic, don't fear, don't despair. I'm with you. That's how Paul received it. Paul's looking at Julius going, oh, I know. You don't know my father, but I do.

And my father has told you to be kind to me. Paul recognized it. I see Julius, Doc, has. He was a Tylenol. You know, he was a Tylenol pain reliever. So God gave Paul a Tylenol. I say, I'm going to take some of that edge off of your pain. Okay, I'm going to give you a guard named Julius.

He's going to be kind to you. Then we see warning signs. The journey quickly became difficult. contrary winds blowing the wrong way all right slow progress dangerous weather conditions these were early hints that a great storm was coming towards them so what do we learn about what's the faith lesson here what is our boat faith lesson faith recognizes that obedience to God does not guarantee smooth sailing. Trials often increase as we walk in obedience to God's will.

That's another difficult lesson to learn. Because in our modern times, we're trained to believe difficulty is a sign that you're out of God's will. Right, that you did something wrong, that somehow you're being punished for something that you did to offend God. Or you're just completely wrong. You're just going in the wrong direction. Right. And actually, many times, the difficulties is the evidence you're going in the right direction. The Lord and His sovereign will allows. difficulties in our path for various purposes.

Sometimes it's for our own growth. He's expanding our faith. He's deepening our trust in him. He's increasing our peace in him. You don't know true peace until you are at rest in a storm. But also often, other times he's using our difficulties to witness to other people. watching us go through the difficulty. Right.

Or to refine our ministry. I mean, John Bunyan, the famous Christian writer in the 1600s, was put into prison in 1660 for preaching the gospel. And King

Charles II didn't like the way he was preaching, so put John Bunyan in prison. But while he was in prison, John Bunyan wrote grace abounding, He wrote Pilgrim's Progress. He wrote several other books while he was in prison. And he said in his grace abounding autobiography,

I think my God he put me in prison because it gave me the opportunity to write. Think about that. Because when he was out of prison, you know what he did for a living? Do you know what John Bunyan did for a living? It wasn't a writer. What? What was it? He made shoelaces.

That was it. You know, if you wanted shoe laces, you went to John Bunyan, right? And so he was the shoelace guy. But he was preaching, got thrown into prison, and then, you know, there's no sense making shoelaces in prison. So he started writing and ended up writing several books while in prison, including Pilgrim's Progress.

I read Pilgrim's Progress once a year every year. And it's still 400 years later, that book is still impacting. people today because of the trial that John Bunyan went through in prison. So God takes sometimes the difficult periods of time in our life to refine our ministry and to distill the ministry down to exactly what God wants us to focus on. And so that's why I look at this situation with Paul. God is using this situation to refine Paul's ministry. Doc, you know what that, which the story you told about Paul Bunyan, you know what that tells me?

There was a Julius in that jail. Yes. You know, someone had to make sure he had writing materials and everything. Who was bringing the writing materials in? Who was bringing the paper and the pen to him? There was a Julius somewhere. See, there's God's grace. There's the faith lesson.

So Paul did not complain. or despair the apostle lived in quiet submission to god's unfolding plan his faith was not passive but it was a steady anchor for himself and for others on the ship who would soon be in fear again sometimes god allows very difficult things to happen in our lives so that your faith in God can provide an anchor to others who are frightened by the circumstances. Amen. I believe we, as a world, we are going into extremely difficult times, financially, socially, civil disorder.

and war. God is preparing you and me to be anchors to others who do not have our faith. We're going to go through difficult times, but you and I are going to be quiet, steady anchors for others to hold them in place. They're going to look at you and me and say, they have something I don't have. they're not afraid they're not terrified they're not panicking the whole world is panicking but they're not they're going to cling to you that's an opportunity to lead them to christ amen we're going to go through the difficult situations matthew henry said though paul was a prisoner yet he was under

the special care of heaven the centurion showed him kindness which was the fruit of god's providence the john gill said the voyage though undertaken by men was ordained by divine providence the lord's hand was in it all that paul might testify of christ at rome adam clark said it is worthy of observation that god while he reveals the great purposes of redemption takes care also to show his providence in the smallest circumstances of human life. Charles Spurgeon said, the waves may roll and the winds may be contrary, but faith sees God upon the throne,

ruling it all for the accomplishment of his purpose. All right, Doc, that's, yeah, I think we've covered everything in these first eight verses okay um faith accepts god's providence even in difficult times uh obedience walks forward in trust even when the journey becomes difficult faith looks for tokens of god's kindness to strengthen our endurance in the difficult times and faith prepares for storms for storms by anchoring our souls in God's faithfulness before the tempest arrives. That's right.

And it's appropriate that we end verse 8 there. They were resting in Fair Haven because trouble was just around the corner. Yes. So now let's go to verses 9 through 20. Okay. So picking back up in Acts chapter 27 and at verse 9, 9. So they're in Fair Haven. Now, verse 9. Now, when much time was spent and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already path, Paul admonished them and said unto them,

sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only for of the lading and the ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship more than those things which were spoken by Paul. and because the haven was not commodious to winter in the more part advised to depart thence also if by any means they might attain to phoenix and there to winter which is a haven of crete and lieth toward the southwest and northwest and when the south wind blew softly supposing they had obtained their purpose loosing thence they sailed close by crete but not long after there arose against it to pentrous wind called Euraclidon. And when the ship was caught and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive.

And running under a certain island, which is called Clawda, we had much work to come by boat. Now notice the we in this narrative that keeps popping up, which when they had taken up, they used helps undergirding the ship, and faring less they should fall into the quicksand, struck sail, and so were driven. And we, being exceedingly tossed with the tempest, the next day they lighted the ship.

And the third day, we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. 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. The story just became personal for Luke here. Luke, yes, Luke wrote Axe, and he was remembering it in vivid details. So, what are we learning here? Apostle Paul, guided by divine providence, by the Holy Spirit, by divine discernment, And seasoned experience.

You know, this is not the first dangerous situation Paul's been in. And what we see here, Doc, is both spirit and reason. They're not contradictory. No, don't throw your mind out because you desire to be led by the spirit. they're not contradictory the holy spirit will lead you and he will speak through your mind god didn't give you a brain just to toss it out once you got saved and filled the holy spirit paul warns of hurt and much damage but his his wise counsel went unheated because worldly wisdom

and the majority vote will outweigh godly advice oh they was they had democracy and the majority was wrong and often the majority will vote the wrong way

but faith listens to God's voice even when it even when it contradicts human calculations and reasoning that sound right on the surface the century you get right into it the reason why paul got outvoted was a business decision you got it doc they had cargo that's right ship what paul was not the only thing being transported on that ship and if the ship went down who paid for the lost cargo the master and owner of the ship yes that's how they insured cargo they didn't have an insurance company if you owned a ship

you were the insurance and if you did not deliver the cargo you were legally responsible to pay for the replacement of the cargo but what we see here is that both the centurion and the shipmaster trusted in their expertise and their reading of the favorable winds rather than to pay heed to the servant of god so a soft south wind well who can resist a soft south wind right We live here and we're Floribians. And a soft south wind is so nice. It deceives you. It can deceive you into thinking, always safe.

It's a false calm before the storm. Temporary prosperity often blinds us. It blinds us to dangers that are head. and it will harden us against Heating God's soft warnings to us. But you know what? Part of the problem too, Rick, is they spent too much time in Fairhaven. And verse 9, you know, they spent, in fact, Luke says it. He says, now when much time was spent.

They wanted to get on the road. They'd sure put that in there. In other words, they wait. waited too long to leave. I don't know why. Maybe that Fairhaven had a great casinos. I don't know. Who knows what was going on in Fairhaven? But it's easier to stay in Fairhaven than to go on the journey, isn't it? Yes. Yes, it is. But a mighty wind, a mighty wind hurled the ship off course. And what do we learn here? That human strength proves useless. Ropes and sails, and anchors and sailors

were all useless against this mighty wind see faith sees God's hand in the storm unbelief sees it only by chance then in verses 18 and 19

they lightened the ship they started tossing things overboard they cast out cargo and tackling and they were trying everything to save themselves and yet nothing succeeded what's the lesson man's wisdom and power fail under God's mighty tempest

have you ever had a storm in your life everything you did to stop the storm to fix the storm everything failed you even threw the tackling over you threw everything over until you got to the point you had nothing left when God sends a storm in your life no human plan can overcome it only his work can save you he's not trying to terrorize you he's not trying to take away your stuff he's trying to to strengthen your faith in him to realize he is everything he can replace your stuff if you have him you have everything you need And in verse 20, they're in total despair.

Days of darkness, no sun, no stars. Navigation by the stars is impossible. Right. All hope that we should be saved was then taken away. What a statement. All hope. All hope that we could be saved was taken away. They reached a point where not one person on that ship except Paul.

believe that they could be saved and that includes Luke yes he said the Luke says all hope that we should be saved was taken away that's how desperate it was and maybe Paul too yeah what do we see here this is the end of human hope and yet it's the beginning of divine deliverance your miracle will arrive when you have given up on you fixing the problem. There's no glory in it for God if you fix the problem. Amen. Praise God. So faith triumphs at this moment when all human hope is gone.

That's when God's promise shines the brightest. Matthew Henry said those who will not be advised by God's ministers prepare vexation for themselves fair winds often prove false friends I like that line fair winds are false friends when neither sun or stars appeared hope itself seemed gone yet God had not forgotten them Adam Clark said every measure was adopted to preserve the ship in lives with all human help failed. Thus God permitted their strength to be exhausted that his power might be the more evident.

Adam Albert Barnes, Presbyterian, the narrative is designed to show the utter helplessness of man when God sends his storm and the certainty of his word to deliver even when all human hope is gone. I remember doc these these old presbyterians and Anglicans and that they didn't have a holy ghost right and that's what is that's what we're told today they didn't have a holy spirit they weren't spirit filled they were more spirit filled and the so-called spirit-filled people today Alexander McLaren the false claim lured them to destruction so often the soul refuses God's warnings and is destroyed by its own folly. When man's hope dies, God's power begins. And Doc, wait until you're going to love Charles Spurgeon's comment. God allows us to be

driven into a corner that we may learn to trust him. Hope in self must be wrecked before hope in God can rule the soul. Amen. Wow. Hope in self must be wrecked. That's what God was wrecking there. It wasn't a ship. It was their hope in themselves. Amen. You will not fully trust in God until your trust in yourself is wrecked. And I'm sorry, I don't know any way to arrive at that point without going through a shipwreck not necessarily physically on a sea but somewhere in your life you have to have a shipwreck none of us want to do it who would volunteer hey could you send something my way that just wrecks my life who who prays that way none of us but our father who loves us sends us storms to wreck our faith in ourselves

and then he reveals himself I don't ever go back to having faith in myself amen I've seen his glory okay so faith heeds God's warnings even when they're unpopular even when they're contradicted by human wisdom false prosperity deceives the soft south wind is not always

soft it's not always a sign of safety God storms strip away human confidence and show the emptiness of our strength despair prepares the way for faith when all hope is taken away. That's when God is ready to reveal his promise. And obedience to God's word is safety, even in the fiercest storm. Now, let's go to verses 21 through 26. All right. Picking back up here at verse 21, but after long abstinence, Paul stood forth in the midst of them and said, sirs, you should have hearkened unto me

and not have loosed from Crete and have gained this harm and loss. Now I exhort you to be of good cheer. There shall be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship. 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, 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, how be it, we must be cast upon a certain island.

Yes. I shouldn't listen. I'm not going to say I told you so, but I told you so. so when the 14th night was come 14 nights doc yeah two weeks in a rocking boat notice paul remained silent for two weeks he remained silent he allowed them to come to the end of themselves Paul didn't speak until the Holy Spirit said, now they're listening. There's nothing left to toss overboard.

They don't have another gimmick up their sleeve. They have no idea what to do. That's when Paul stood and reminded them that his earlier warning should have been heated. See, if he had said this days earlier, they would have tossed him overboard. Get out of here. We don't hear you about it. We'll throw you into the sea too because they're angry. They're angry and they're angry that they can't stop the storm.

But now they've come to the place they're at the end of themselves. They don't know what to do. Now Paul stands and says, hey, do you remember the advice I gave you before the storm? But this was not a rebuke to say, you know, hey, guys, I was right. but it was to prepare them to hear the message it wasn't a rebuke it wasn't a condemnation so the faith lesson here

is that when men reject God's word and they suffer God often gives them another chance to hear the word learn that when you have somebody in your life that you care about and they don't listen to the word of God and they go through a difficult time wait wait wait until God says now is the time they will listen yes you'll give them a

second chance to hear the word all shift it quickly from rebuke to comfort there shall be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship be of good cheer cheer up everybody yeah i got good news for you know they've been in the dark rocking on a boat for two weeks cheer up cheer up i got good news the ship's going down but you're not oh glory now the guy was right the first time and now you're thinking oh my he's going to be right the second time he just told us the ship's going to sink that's not the that's not the message they desired to hear

they desired to hear the storm is going to stop so faith not only sees the storm but hears the voice of God above the storm this is a promise of mercy to everyone, even though most had rejected

the earlier warning. God's extending mercy to them. Nobody on that ship except Paul and Luke were saved. I mean, God could have said, hey, y'all are going to drown except Paul and Luke.

But he didn't. Our merciful Heavenly Father said to all those terrified men who finally gave up and said, our muscles will not get us out of this mess. God sent them another message of mercy. Praise God. Paul said, an angel of God, the God who I serve stood by me. Now that's bold.

This is not my message. got this from an angel right and an angel and that angel appeared after paul had fasted i would guess maybe the two weeks rick maybe you couldn't eat they threw all the food they threw all the food overboard but it says after a long abstinence then an angel the lord appeared yes so he he identifies his faith. He said, I belong to God and I serve him. I made it very clear where he got his faith and confidence. I am a servant of Almighty God. He said, fear not. Or no, that's the, this is the message you're giving to Paul was fear not. You must be brought before Caesar. God's purpose for Paul cannot be broken by a storm or sea or any other force.

That's right. So this is a faith message for Paul. Paul, there is nothing that's going to happen to you because God's will is for you to go stand before Caesar. So when God has you on a mission for him, no storm, no entity, no person, no person, no government, nobody can stop it. Nobody. If you are on a mission for God, wherefore sirs be of good cheer,

for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. What a bold statement of faith. absolute confidence in God's word above physical circumstances. Paul was declaring, don't look at these ways. Don't listen to the wind. Don't listen to your fears. Be of good cheer.

Be of good cheer like I am because I believe God. And I believe the ending shall be as it was told to me by the angel. so faith does not rest on probabilities or appearances or physical reality faith rests on god's word alone on the promise god sent a promise to paul through an angel And he says, how be it we must be cast upon a certain island? We're going to get, the ship's going to sink, we're going into the water, but hey, don't, don't panic because there's an island out here. And we're going to end up on that island. The lesson here is faith does not deny the existence of true.

trouble of difficulty that's right so that was one of the fallacies of the faith movement back in the 80s people were denying that their trouble existed right or if trouble came is because we we didn't have faith right I mean if you have cancer you don't deny you have cancer you deny the right of cancer to live in your body is a difference back there in the 80s there were people who were just denying reality I refuse to admit that I have this disease I refuse to admit I have this problem no it's there faith that's not faith faith is saying i believe god's word more than i believe what my eyes see right okay faith accepts god's plan even when it involves loss and hardship because god has an ending so faith

faith combines confidence in God's promise with submission to God's way. There's where a lot of people get tripped up. They'll believe his promise, but they won't submit to his way. But they desire to change his way. Your way is for what? for me to go into the sea and swim to an island that's your way that's your will yes that's my will i don't like that way can we do another one but god had given paul promise your safety is over here in an island well to get to the island you get the ship's got to sink and you got to swim

see sometimes we have to go through something unpleasant to get to the island who doesn't like islands i love islands but i don't want to swim to one i mean flying or or sailing there that's great but not swimming let's see um spurgeon said i believe god oh for grace to say that when winds how and waves roar let God be true and every man a liar faith believes God in the teeth of the tempest the teeth of the tempest

I like that Doc another great faith leader I read him from time to times I haven't quoted him before it's Charles Simeon he said

Paul did not say I think but I believe here lies the difference between human conjecture and divine assurance his faith was the ground of his courage and his courage the support of others okay so now

let's go to verses 27 through 32 all right so picking back up verse 27 here But when the 14th night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country, and sound it and found it 20 fathoms, and when they'd gone a little further, that sounded again and found it 15 fathoms, then fearing less we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern and wished for the day. and as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship when they had let down the boat into the sea

under color as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved and also verse 32 Rick 30 no let's see let me see where I'm out here yeah 32 yeah then the soldiers cut off the ropes the boat and let her fall off

okay so the sailors were about to abandon ship yes I know we're over the the hour at 9 and I appreciate the class

sticking with me if you have to depart I understand you can come back and finish this today rather than only having a few verses to hang over to next week so I really desire to finish it today I understand that some of you have to leave but you can come back later and watch it on video on demand so what are we seeing here

after 14 nights drifting in the sea now the sailors they can sense land ahead They can smell it. They know. All right. Why? So their fear is intensifying as they're measuring the depth of the sea. And what do they realize?

Oh, no. There are rocks ahead. We can't sail over rocks. And so they cast the anchors. And they pray that they get through the night. So even when God promises deliverance, faith must endure through the night. That's when we're tested.

You have to endure through the night until the light arrives. Okay? God has promised deliverance, but they still had to get through the night. The sailors, what they did is that they pretend it to let down the anchors but they were secretly planning to escape in a lifeboat yes so it was a sneaky plan but it was disobedience and it was disobedience driven by fear because they were willing to let all their other shipmates die as long as they save themselves boy this is

These are the moments that reveal what's inside a person. But human schemes cannot replace God's way of salvation. Paul declared with authority, except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. If you try to save yourself on your own, you're going to perish. perish so god's promise provided the means deliverance required obedience to the instruction

see now we're back to submission submission and trust their deliverance required obedience to the to the divine instruction faith never excuses disobedience the God who promises safety also commands the conditions. Humans want to change the conditions to get to God's promises. But the God who made the promise also controls the conditions. So the soldiers, the sailors, they cut off the ropes, they let the lifeboat fall away. now they're all on the boat and this showed their reliance they finally came to the place and say we're going to rely on what this this preacher is telling us see faith will destroy false

refuges faith will cling holy to god To abide in the ship was the appointed means of safety. So too must sinners abide in Christ or they cannot be saved. Amen. The lifeboats of human contrivance must be cast away. Charles Spurgeon, the sailors would trust their boat rather than God's word, but Paul declares their boat is but a snare. If we run to refuges of lives, we perish.

only in Christ a pointed way is salvation. All right, Doc, verses 33 to 38. All right, 33 to 38 here. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying this day is the 14th day that we have carried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore, I pray you to take some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not a hair,

fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of the maw, and when he had broken it and he began to eat, they were all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. And we were all in the ship, 20, three score, and 16 souls, 276 altogether. And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the sea. Amen. so apostle paul encourages the men to eat food he reminds them you guys haven't had food for 14 days you were too afraid and too weary to eat they weren't on a religious fast they were just terrified and too tired to eat for two weeks he makes a promise to him not one hair shall fall from the head

view and who else said that doc jesus christ luke 21 verse 18 oh yeah that's right he's quoting christ so faith always speaks words of encouragement and they're always grounded on God's promises. So now Paul sets the example.

He takes bread. He gives thanks to God before all. He breaks it and eats. What are we getting ready to do in a few minutes? We're going to go to the Lord's table. He broke bread and he offered it to God in Thanksgiving. He broke it and ate it. He's showing calm confidence in God.

you know those men were watching him they're thinking this guy has been right ever since he got on this ship and he's not afraid he's not been afraid for weeks now he's just calmly breaking bread and having a meal but he's praying to his God he claims that there's a God who sent the storm he claims there's a God who sent an angel

so faith is not abstract it it acts practically and gratefully in the face of crisis the storm is still there and now paul is calmly breaking bread and eating verse 36 says then they were all of good cheer and they all took some meat. He's spreading his faith to 276 men on that ship. What's the lesson for us? One person's faith and trusting God can strengthen an entire community. Other people depend on you being calm

in having confidence in God when there is no hope Versus 37-38, the crew lightened a ship by casting out the remaining wheat. What was this? It was a practical step, but it was a full surrender to God.

Yeah. They made bread and then cast out the wheat. Yes. the last thing that they could eat so faith faith will equip us with the strength to act and to act decisively even to let go of what we once relied on

yes doc this ministry has done something and I'm not going to go into the details but we've done this in recent weeks we have let go of what we used to rely on. We've cast out the wheat.

Yes. Charles Spurgeon said, when you are most tried, eat your bread with thankfulness. The world takes note of a man who can bless God in a storm. Such a testimony makes others desire his God. Adam Clark said, He who in the midst of danger can give thanks to God over his daily bread shows, a trust which cannot be shaken. Such an example was more persuasive than words.

Okay, the final set of verses 39 through 44. All right, verse 39. And when it was day, they knew not the land, but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they reminded if it were possible to thrust in the ship. And when they had taken up anchors, They committed themselves unto the sea and loosed the rudder bands and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind and made toward shore.

And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground. The four parts stuck fast and remained unmovable, but the hindered part was broken with the violence of the waves. And the soldier's counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing to say, Paul kept them from their purpose and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves

first into the sea and get to land and the rest some on boards and some on broken pieces of the ship and so it came to pass as they escaped all all all safe to land okay so daybreak they see land but they don't recognize it they aim for the shore but the ship runs aground and breaks apart in the violence of the waves and the rocks how can this be faith

faith understands that even when God's promises is sure the path may still be rough and dangerous Faith recognizes that God's purposes are accomplished through trials and difficulties, not the avoidance of them. We all desire to avoid difficulties, trials, and shipwrecks.

But this is teaching us that we have to accept that it may be God's plan. So the soldiers plan to kill the prisoners. to prevent escape. Ah, but Paul was one of them. So that's a very grim reminder that human self-preservation can quickly turn to cruelty. And that's what was about to happen.

We're going to save ourselves. We've got to kill all these prisoners. Why were they going to kill the prisoners? because they were as soldiers they had the responsibility to get those prisoners to delivered safely that's right and they lost one guess who paid the price the soldiers that's right they could lose their life so faith faith sees how quickly despair can turn into sinful decisions when God's word is ignored. Julius, the kind heart of Centurion,

once again, he steps in and he restrains the soldiers for Paul's sake. See, God placed Julius on that ship to show Paul kindness and now to protect Paul's life. The storm didn't threaten Paul's life. the soldiers did the very man who had the word of God was at danger of being killed by the people who ignored it

think about that you're giving the word of God the promises of God the hope of God to people they ignore those words and then they turn around and they want to kill you because they ignored the word of God. And it may not be they want to physically kill you, but they want to hurt you.

They want to damage your life. But we see God using pagan military officers to accomplish his purposes and to protect his servants. So Julius orders, he says, hey, if you can swim, jump overboard and start swimming if you can't swim find yourself a plank and hold on and hold on the waves will take you in what's the lesson here obedience to god's promises still requires action their faith was not going to pick them up and take them through the air and land them on the island

Faith seizes the means that God provides for our deliverance. We all know that story. We all heard a thousand times about the man in a flood. He's on the rooftop, you know, praying for deliverance, you know. And three times somebody shows up in a boat and he doesn't get in. That was the means of deliverance. When you're in that situation, faith looks for the means of deliverance.

Faith doesn't dictate to God. Hey, this is the way I desire to get out of here. Faith looks and says, if I see a means of deliverance, I'm seizing it. I'm leaving. I'm getting out of here. And so it came to pass that they escaped all.

safe to land. Not one life was lost, although things were destroyed. So the storm ended with triumph, the triumph of divine faithfulness and the vindication of Paul's faith and obedience. John Gill said the centurion, willing to save Paul kept them from their purpose. Thus God who has all hearts in his hands

overruled it for good. The preservation of Paul was the preservation of them all. Adam Clark, God had promised they should all escape, but they must use the means. Those who could swim did so, and the rest took hold of the wreck. Thus promise and means, went together. That's important to understand. Promise and means were together. Divine heavenly promise combined with physical earthly means. Right. It doesn't say these guys got saved, but God honored the promise, didn't he? Yes. Doc, the thing that was wrecked, the ship, was the thing that delivered them. Yeah.

If they would have stayed with the boat, they would have died. But the boat split apart became the means for their safety. Right. The very things that fall apart in your life, God will use as the means

to deliver you to the island. All right. amazing lessons to learn yeah tough but amazing Charles Simeon the ship was lost

but the men were saved so often it is that God suffers our earthly comforts to be wrecked but our souls to be brought safe to the haven of his mercy Cheryl Spurgeon though the vessel is dashed to pieces

is yet the promise of God stands fast. Let us not be afraid, though we lose our all, so long as we have God's word, which never fails. All right, Doc. I know it's a long lesson today, and we need to go to the Lord's table. I appreciate everybody staying, those of you who could stay.

I know we lost a few, but praise God. About 95% of the audience is still here. Thank you so much. All right. Well, as usual on Fridays, we approach the Lord's table with hearts of humility and in submission to the Lord and in remembrance that as often as we do this, that we remember what he did for us at Calvary. And right now I'm reading a book, going through a book by a fellow by the name of J.J. Jowett called the School of Calvary. and he had a couple great chapters on the Lord's Table I read yesterday evening and just has an increased meaning today about how deep it is what the Lord did on Calvary and what he signified in the Lord's table.

It really touched me last night, and I pray that this touches you today as well. Before we enter into the Lord's table, we always ask the Lord to search our hearts. if there's anything that stands between us and heaven as we approach the elements of the Lord's table. So I'm going to ask Rick if you would pray for us right now and ask the Lord to search our hearts for those areas of our life, the sins of omission, sins of commission, that would be a hindrance to us, having a clear conscience and entering into the Lord's table. Rick, would you pray for us, please? Yes.

And, Dr. I'm scanning the chat looking at comments. and I'm very blessed to see what God's doing in real time as we're teaching this lesson. Cindy said, Rick, I've been waiting for an answered prayer on a situation that is costly. The lesson, this lesson just reminded me that I need to move forward and trust in Jesus that it will work out. Jesus sent me a boat and I didn't see it until now. Praise Jesus. See, that's divine revelation. Right.

a means of escape has been provided Mary Ann said I never looked at this story in this manner so eye-opening on the gloriness of faith faith is strength, peace beautiful lesson today I'm glad to see that this is

blessing people today okay so let's pray Father Father we come to you in humility realizing that none of our means, none of our possessions, none of our attributes, none of our strength

is sufficient in a storm that only you can preserve us and deliver us. And so, Father, we give you glory and honor. We praise you for your greatness and glory and majesty and power. Father, search our hearts and reveal to us sin and anything in us that is not pleasing to you father we confess our sins we ask for forgiveness in the name of jesus we ask that we

you wash us with the blood of your precious son that was given on the cross at calvary bless his holy wonderful name jesus jesus jesus the name that saves father we love you we praise you in jesus name amen amen let's approach the lord's table now and as we mentioned at the beginning of our lesson today if you're a confessing believer in jesus christ and been baptized in water according to scripture in the name of the father the son of the holy spirit we invite you to participate in the lord's table with the elements of bread and either red wine or grape juice. As your conscience permits, we ask today that you would take a moment as we pray a prayer of blessing over these elements of the Lord's table and partake of his most blessed holy meal today. Almighty God, in your

tender mercy, you gave your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption. He offered himself and made once for all time a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. He instituted this remembrance of his passion and death, which he commanded us to continue until he comes again. And so, Father, we ask you to bless and sanctify with your word and Holy Spirit these gifts of bread and wine that we may partake of his most blessed body and blood. Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed once for all upon the cross. Therefore, let us keep the feast. Hallelujah. On the night that He was, was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and gave it to his

disciples, saying, take eat. This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is given for you, preserve your body and soul to everlasting life. This is the bread of heaven. Take and eat. in remembrance that Christ died for you. After supper, Jesus took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, drink this all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for many,

for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Praise God, hallelujah. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you, preserve your body and soul to everlasting life. drink the cup of salvation and remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for you and be thankful behold the Lamb of God behold Him who takes away the sins of the world and blessed are those who are invited to the married supper of the Lamb the sacrament

is the gift of God for the people of God feed on him by faith with Thanksgiving that Christ died for you praise God always a privilege to share the cup and the bread with hundreds of people around the world in a dozen or so different countries simultaneously. Amen. Always a privilege. And if you ever want an opportunity to share Morning Man, especially Faith Fridays, one open door there is to say, would you like to, when's the last time you had communion with anyone?

Would you share this video with them? Invite them to participate in the Lord's table. if they're also confessing baptized believers as well, it might be an opportunity for you to witness to them and testify to them about the Lord's grace in your life as well. So just something to think about there. Rick, it's been an interesting week in Morning Manah. We've learned a lot this week.

And looking forward to next week as we begin a new chapter, Proverbs 14. and so and we are heading on through proverbs haven't quite made it through halfway yet but we're getting there we're almost there yeah we got one more lesson on monday on chapter 13 again 14 on tuesday and i'll pray and see i've got i've got one more boat faith lesson i'll pray and see if the lord once desires me to deliver it next friday he may say move on we got another lesson You gave me a foretaste of where we're taking our faith lessons, and I've been getting excited about that one. I can't wait to dive.

That's why I'm eager. I was eager like in last night as the Lord's saying, no, we got more here. There's more boat faith. Don't get too. Don't get ahead of me. All right. So that's where we're at. Well, listen, be blessed today.

Enjoy your weekend. Spend time with the Lord. Carve out time. and set a place in your home where you meet the Lord. Just create a place where that's where you meet him. Okay. All right, Doc. All right.

One last word here, Megafire, Rick's new book, America's fourth, next fourth turning crisis. If you haven't gotten it already, you need to get it into your hands. It's a reference guidebook for the next five to ten years and beyond. And so I encourage you to get it. Go to megafire.world, and you can order your copy as well. And so if you, for those that have received it already, getting raved reviews from those that have already received it. We're looking forward to hearing even more as you get this book in your hands.

Megafire. Dot world is where you can order Rick's book. And if you didn't read my newsletter yesterday, you've got to read it. Oh, yes. Vladimir Putin's science advisor told 1,000 Russian teachers at a conference that the elite of the Western nations plans to release a virus to kill 90% of the Earth's population and for the elite to rule the world with AI and robots. I'm not making this up. This was on the front page of the time. of London so the the western news media is saying that's just Russian

propaganda they're they're spreading conspiracy theories I don't think so I think the Russians know exactly what the plan is I think they know what the plan is and it terrifies them and they know they've said in the past several years they believe they're facing Antichrist right and for the those are still with us on chat. I just put the web version of Rick's newsletter into the chat real quick. So click on it before we sign off here. And so if you want to go back and look at it again or share it with other people, you can do that too. Okay. All right, everyone, have a wonderful weekend in Jesus. We'll be back here Monday morning, Lord Willing, and the seas don't rise

as we talk about our boat faith today. God bless you. We love you very much. We look forward to having you back here with us 8 a.m. Eastern time Monday morning for morning manna. God bless you. We love you. Have a great day. See you Monday.