Acts 27:20
When All Hope Is Gone
What do you do when all hope is gone? Until this last month, I would
have said that most of us will most likely never be on a ship
stranded at sea fighting for our lives; however, in the wake of the
Coronavirus, many sailors and cruise passengers have found themselves
in that exact predicament.
Of course, there were many other circumstances that were different:
1. Paul was a prisoner being transported to Rome for trial.
2. The ship he was being carried on had several difficulties,
mostly running into contrary winds which made their voyage
much longer than it should have been.
3. This put them at sea during what we would call "typhoon"
season.
4. \\#14\\ They got caught in the winds that bring in the
typhoon and could not withstand them.
a. They had to drop their sails and let the winds drive them
or be broken up.
b. \\#16\\ They had a soft wreck on an island called Clauda,
where they were able to repair the ship; but because the
island was dangerous and the weather was going to get
worse, they put out to sea again.
c. And again, they had to drop their sails and let the wind
drive them.
d. After the third day, they threw over all the cargo and
even the ship’s tackle, hoping to make the ship which was
obviously taking on water, light enough to stay afloat.
And that is where our text verse says, "no small tempest lay on us,"
meaning a worse storm than they could expect to live through hit
them, and "all hope that we should be saved was then taken away."
Everyone thought they would die.
How are we to deal with news or circumstances in which there is no
hope. I do not think most of us are in that kind of situation right
now—a few may get sick and even a fewer still may die—but most of
us will not. But what will we do when such a time comes—for it will
come to us all?
I. Change hopes.
A. I do not mean to be flippant, but for the Christian, there is
always a greater hope.
B. Christians face four enemies that may steal our hope:
1. Death should not be a fear or a hopeless situation for a
Christian, but to some it will be. Some will be
frightened and filled with dread, even some who are
saved.
2. Pain - No one likes to hurt and having to face a long road
of pain can easily steal the hope of even the most
spiritual saint.
3. Cruelty - This is world is filled with evil people and
they are getting more wicked by the minute. The cruelty
that one human being can put on another is sickening and
shocking. Some of God’s people will have to face it.
4. Endlessness - The state of being in a bad situation that
seemingly will never end. Whether it is pain, cruelty,
neglect, unbearable circumstances, or something else, it
all becomes even more unbearable when we know it will
never end.
5. So what do we do when we face these enemies? Change
hopes.
C. For each enemy, God and the Bible gives us a hope.
1. The hope when facing death is heaven:
Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:
for the first heaven and the first earth were
passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their
eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any
more pain: for the former things are passed away.
a. For the Christian, death is nothing more than the
doorway to heaven.
(1) In heaven death will be looked on as the birthing
process is looked upon here.
(2) It’s just how we got here.
b. For the Christian, there are two sides of death.
(1) There is the side of those left behind.
(a) I’ve never been there and don’t want to go
there.
(b) But I do know the hope of heaven can ease
your pain.
(c) The key is to quit looking at what you have
lost and start looking at what your loved
one has gained.
(2) And then there is the dying side.
(a) I’ve never faced that either; but I believe
that when we face death, we should not be
concentrating on process but on the
destination.
(b) Our family does not travel a lot, and I
can’t say I get that excited about sitting
in an automobile for hours or days.
(c) But I can get excited about who we are going
to see or what we are going to get to do
once the trip is over.
c. You may think me morbid, but you need to prepare
yourself for that day.
(1) We all know it is coming, the saved and the
lost.
(2) The difference is that the saved can prepare for
it.
(3) Preparation is not just selecting the right
destination, but it is also a matter of facing
death with courage and faith.
(4) It is not enough to live well. God’s people
need also to die well.
2. The hope for pain is glory:
Romans 8:18 For I reckon that the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
a. Even for Christians who have no fear of death, there
can be dread of pain.
b. So God gives us a hope, a longing, to hold onto when
we suffer; namely that the glory of heaven will far
outweigh any suffering we must endure here.
3. The hope for cruelty is reward:
a. Jesus told the disciples that there was a reward for
enduring persecution.
Matt 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile
you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner
of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is
your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the
prophets which were before you.
b. Later in the same chapter, He mentioned being
despitefully abused.
Matt 5:44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that
hate you, and pray for them which despitefully
use you, and persecute you;
c. The sick of soul and demented of spirit have, are, and
will continue to devise evil ways to hurt and kill
God’s people.
(1) Did they not crucify Jesus upon a cross?
(2) Have they not cut God’s prophet’s asunder?
(3) Did they not burn alive the early Christians and
fed them alive to the wild animals?
d. Such cruelty has continued since so that I doubt that
there has ever been a day when some Christian some-
where was not being tortured or killed for Jesus.
e. But the faithful shall be rewarded.
f. Think not on the harm or evil others do to you, but
rather the hope of your righteous rewards in heaven.
4. The hope for an endless cycle is God’s intervention:
Heb 10:36 For ye have need of patience, that,
after ye have done the will of God, ye might
receive the promise.
37 For yet a little while, and he that shall
come will come, and will not tarry.
a. For the Christian, sooner or later, everything that
seems endless today will end.
b. It may not come too soon for you, but it will come.
c. Hope in God’s intervention.
II. Pray
A. Prayer is a cure-all for whatever hurts us.
1. Where did Paul go in this hopeless situation?
Acts 27:21 But after long abstinence Paul stood
forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye
should have hearkened unto me, and not have
loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm
and loss.
2. Paul went to pray.
B. Prayer moves God.
1. Paul’s prayers moved God to save the everyone on board the
ship.
2. I am surprised and grieved when I hear people make
comments that prayer does not work.
a. If prayer does not move God, then the whole Bible is
a hoax for the whole Bible speaks of it.
Psalms 91:15 He shall call upon me, and I will
answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will
deliver him, and honour him.
Isaiah 58:9 Then shalt thou call, and the LORD
shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say,
Here I am.
Jeremiah 33:3 Call unto me, and I will answer
thee, and shew thee great and mighty things,
which thou knowest not.
John 14:14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name,
I will do it.
1 John 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of
him, because we keep his commandments, and do
those things that are pleasing in his sight.
b. Notice, those promises come from the Old and New
Testaments, from prophets, apostles, and Jesus
Himself.
(1) If prayer does not work, then the WHOLE Bible
is worthless.
(2) In this world,
(a) The CDC can tell you one week facemasks
won’t work and then tell you three weeks
later they are essential and still be the
CDC.
(b) One broker can tell you the market is about
to rally and another tell you is going to
fall again and both of them keep their
brokerage license.
(c) One news station can tell you President
Trump is leading in the polls and another
can tell you he is trailing hopelessly in
the polls and both keep their broadcasting
license.
c. But if any part of this Book if wrong, the whole Book
is absolutely worthless.
(1) If prayer doesn’t work, there is no God, Jesus is
not God’s Son, faith and repentance will not get
you to heaven, and it is all just a big lie.
(2) It is all or nothing.
(3) That is why I grieve when a Christian says,
"Prayer does not work."
3. Friend, I have never told anyone that I get all of my
prayers answered, but I have gotten enough answered to
know that prayer works and if it does not; the problem
is on my end, not God’s.
a. It may simply be that you do not believe He will
answer your prayer.
James 1:6 But let him ask in faith, nothing
wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of
the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
7 For let not that man think that he shall
receive any thing of the Lord.
b. Then again it may be that in this matter, you have
missed the will of God.
1John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we
have in him, that, if we ask any thing according
to his will, he heareth us:
c. It may be that you gave up too easily.
Luke 11:9 And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall
be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you.
10 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he
that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh
it shall be opened.
d. It may be that you never put any time and real effort
into learning how to pray.
(1) Why would you think it would be easier to pull
gifts down from heaven than it is to read a
book, or to learn a new language, or to play a
musical instrument?
(2) Go give time to prayer—now—when you have no
great need so that you can learn how to pray at
your own pace.
(3) Don’t wait until you are in need of a life-
changing gift from God expect that He will jump
to your every whim.
(4) He may. He is that good of a God, but then
again, if you have never heeded His call, He
may choose not to heed yours.
C. When all hope is gone, go pray.
III. Continue to do what God has told you to do.
A. A hopeless situation does not excuse mutiny or AWOL.
B. The Lord warns us all not to abandon our post. Whether the
reason is feast or famine, the result will be the same.
Luke 12:42 And the Lord said, Who then is that
faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall
make ruler over his household, to give them their
portion of meat in due season?
43 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when
he cometh shall find so doing.
44 Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make
him ruler over all that he hath.
45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My
lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat
the menservants and maidens, and to eat and
drink, and to be drunken;
46 The lord of that servant will come in a day
when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when
he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and
will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.
47 And that servant, which knew his lord’s will,
and prepared not himself, neither did according
to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
The Boy Scouts in Britain have a special award, the Cornwell Award,
reserved exclusively for Scouts under the age of 20 and is given in
respect to their courage and endurance under extreme conditions.
The Cornwell Award is named after John Travers Cornwell who at the
age of 15 gained the Victoria Cross at the battle of Jutland off the
coast of Denmark. "Jack," as he was known, joined the British Navy in
1915 and was trained as a Sight Setter or Gun Layer. He became Boy
Seaman First Class assigned to HMS Chester.
On May 13, 1916, HMS Chester was in the front line in the Battle of
Jutland and came under attack from 4 German Cruisers. Cornwell has
severely injured but this was not known until the ship was relived
and first aid parties boarded the Chester and found him still at his
post. Jack was taken to Grimsby Hospital where he died on June 2,
1916, at the age of 16.
Three months later, Captain Robert Lawson of HMS Chester described
the events to the British Admiralty. Cornwell was recommended for a
posthumous Victoria Cross. King George V endorsed it. The
recommendation for citation from his Commanding Officer, Admiral
Beatty, reads: "the instance of devotion to duty by Boy (1st Class)
John Travers Cornwell, who was mortally wounded early in the action,
but nevertheless remained standing alone at a most exposed post,
quietly awaiting orders till the end of the action, with the gun’s
crew dead and wounded around him. He was under 16½ years old. I
regret that he has since died, but I recommend his case for special
recognition in justice to his memory and as an acknowledgement of the
high example set by him."
Cornwell’s body was exhumed July 29, 1916, and taken to London to be
reburied in Manor Park Cemetery with full naval honors. The funeral
route was lined by Boy Scouts and attended by tremendous crowds.
Jack’s family walked in the procession with 80 members of Jack’s old
school, Boy Scouts, Sea Cadets, and six Boy Sailors from Jack’s ship,
HMS Chester.
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