WEBVTT 00:00:07.629 --> 00:00:10.009 Welcome to the Potter's House Salmon Arm Podcast. 00:00:10.390 --> 00:00:12.810 We are a Bible -believing church located in beautiful 00:00:12.810 --> 00:00:15.390 British Columbia, Canada. We are proudly part 00:00:15.390 --> 00:00:17.489 of the Christian Fellowship Ministries with 3 00:00:17.489 --> 00:00:20.030 ,000 churches around the world. We are a church 00:00:20.030 --> 00:00:22.870 focused on world evangelism, discipleship, and 00:00:22.870 --> 00:00:25.750 church planting. Here we will share recent sermons 00:00:25.750 --> 00:00:28.550 from PHSA Church and other sermons from throughout 00:00:28.550 --> 00:00:31.100 our fellowship. I'm Pastor David Bigford, and 00:00:31.100 --> 00:00:33.420 I will be your host for this podcast. I thank 00:00:33.420 --> 00:00:35.619 you for listening today, and we hope these messages 00:00:35.619 --> 00:00:38.020 are a blessing to you and bring you closer to 00:00:38.020 --> 00:00:48.219 God. Hello, and welcome back to the podcast. 00:00:48.420 --> 00:00:50.280 My name is David Bigford. I'm the pastor here 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:52.640 in Salmon Arm. The message I put together is 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:55.740 Sovereignty in the Storm, and the text that we're 00:00:55.740 --> 00:00:58.340 going to be using is Acts 27, 21 through 26. 00:00:59.880 --> 00:01:02.820 Have you ever noticed how easy it is to be grumpy 00:01:02.820 --> 00:01:06.620 when you're tired, cold, hot, or hangry? Isn't 00:01:06.620 --> 00:01:09.099 it amazing how even the most devout believer 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:12.319 or the most respectable people can still let 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:15.140 exhaustion get the best of them? Now, I know 00:01:15.140 --> 00:01:16.799 that this has never happened to you, and I bet 00:01:16.799 --> 00:01:19.760 that everyone here listening can remain calm 00:01:19.760 --> 00:01:22.280 as a cucumber even when you are tired or hungry. 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:24.900 When the weather's bad, I bet you're just a pillar 00:01:24.900 --> 00:01:28.349 of joy. But, you know, I'm not one of those pillars. 00:01:28.629 --> 00:01:31.129 I can be quite grumpy if I'm cold, wet, or hungry. 00:01:31.209 --> 00:01:33.489 If I'm trying to sleep and someone or something 00:01:33.489 --> 00:01:36.909 wakes me up prematurely, I've been known to snap 00:01:36.909 --> 00:01:40.030 a few times. Sometimes I wake up and having not 00:01:40.030 --> 00:01:42.209 slept well, it can be very hard to get moving. 00:01:42.310 --> 00:01:45.730 And in those times, how do you react? In those 00:01:45.730 --> 00:01:47.969 times of physical stress, it's easy to act out. 00:01:48.010 --> 00:01:50.629 It's also easy to direct our frustration onto 00:01:50.629 --> 00:01:54.290 others and even onto God. Is this right, though? 00:01:54.620 --> 00:01:57.200 How should we react to our frailties? Sometimes 00:01:57.200 --> 00:02:00.420 I'll try to force myself into action, like in 00:02:00.420 --> 00:02:02.140 the Marine Corps, we would call this sucking 00:02:02.140 --> 00:02:05.079 it up or embracing the suck. Now, sucking it 00:02:05.079 --> 00:02:09.060 up might work sometimes, but often it just makes 00:02:09.060 --> 00:02:11.939 things worse. Many of the injuries or ailments 00:02:11.939 --> 00:02:14.539 I have from my time in service come from me being 00:02:14.539 --> 00:02:18.560 stubborn and sucking it up. So his sovereignty 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.199 in the storm, this is this is a illustration 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:23.259 I've used before, but it's about Sergeant Daniel 00:02:23.259 --> 00:02:25.400 B. Olson and how he was part of the U .S. Army 00:02:25.400 --> 00:02:28.400 Intelligence Unit, the 24th Mechanized Infantry 00:02:28.400 --> 00:02:31.120 Division during the first Gulf War, way back 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:33.620 in the early 90s. Their task was to seize Iraq 00:02:33.620 --> 00:02:37.879 airbase at Jalaba and trap the Iraqi army, preventing 00:02:37.879 --> 00:02:41.360 their escape from Kuwait. So in this story, we 00:02:41.360 --> 00:02:46.849 see, you know, we see his his. through this time 00:02:46.849 --> 00:02:50.830 in battle. And we kind of get a piece of his 00:02:50.830 --> 00:02:54.550 story. In his story, he says, mount up, we're 00:02:54.550 --> 00:02:58.569 moving out. And it tells the tale of when he 00:02:58.569 --> 00:03:03.870 was having to rush towards the battlefront after 00:03:03.870 --> 00:03:08.330 being sleepless night after night and how he 00:03:08.330 --> 00:03:10.810 had to pack up and move out into the desert. 00:03:11.530 --> 00:03:15.479 How he had to anticipate. the orders since the 00:03:15.479 --> 00:03:18.740 start of the war was 40 days earlier, but he 00:03:18.740 --> 00:03:24.159 was waiting for the rush to move forward. So 00:03:24.159 --> 00:03:26.919 in this story, it's pretty interesting because 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:31.639 people didn't know what to expect. This was the 00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:34.139 first real war that America would have entered 00:03:34.139 --> 00:03:39.039 into in quite a while since Vietnam. And so there 00:03:39.039 --> 00:03:41.400 was a lot of unknowns in this battle. So while 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:44.969 the Army and Marine divisions east of his unit 00:03:44.969 --> 00:03:47.110 slogged through artillery fire and landmines 00:03:47.110 --> 00:03:50.129 his division raced across the empty desert expanse 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:53.430 and after 30 hours of non -stop driving his company 00:03:53.430 --> 00:03:56.150 finally paused for a six -hour rest he was tired 00:03:56.150 --> 00:03:59.330 he was exhausted having had gone two days straight 00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:02.669 on a on pure adrenaline and as he was sitting 00:04:02.669 --> 00:04:04.849 there chilling wind blew the sand in his face 00:04:04.849 --> 00:04:08.069 and into a sleeping bag as he plopped down on 00:04:08.069 --> 00:04:11.280 the on the rocky landscape It began to rain. 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:14.979 The skies were just full of despair is the way 00:04:14.979 --> 00:04:18.180 you'd see it. There was no time to erect a tent 00:04:18.180 --> 00:04:20.519 because the wind was blowing too hard. There 00:04:20.519 --> 00:04:25.240 was no refuge as he sat there in the sand. So 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:27.519 let's look at our text in Acts 27, 21 through 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:30.360 26. Since they had been without food for a long 00:04:30.360 --> 00:04:34.779 time, Paul stood among them and said, Men, you 00:04:34.779 --> 00:04:37.160 should have listened to me. and not have set 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:39.720 sail for Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 00:04:40.600 --> 00:04:43.879 Yet I know I urged you to take heart, for there 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:46.699 will be no loss of life among you, but only of 00:04:46.699 --> 00:04:49.660 the ship. For this very night there stood before 00:04:49.660 --> 00:04:53.120 me an angel of God to whom I belong and whom 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:55.740 I worship. And he said, Do not be afraid, Paul. 00:04:55.860 --> 00:04:59.060 You must stand before Caesar. And behold, God 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:02.019 has granted you all those who sail with you. 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:14.529 So take heart. So in Acts 27, it's fascinating 00:05:14.529 --> 00:05:17.329 on many levels. It gives us this vivid first 00:05:17.329 --> 00:05:20.089 -person account of a hair -raising nautical adventure 00:05:20.089 --> 00:05:22.709 complete with dangers, intrigue, shipwrecks, 00:05:22.769 --> 00:05:26.589 survival. It showcases what courageous Christian 00:05:26.589 --> 00:05:28.649 leadership looks like in a chaotic situation. 00:05:29.069 --> 00:05:32.089 It advances the narrative. of the book of Acts 00:05:32.089 --> 00:05:34.350 as Paul journeys towards Rome to bear witness 00:05:34.350 --> 00:05:37.529 to Christ. By all accounts, Acts 27 gives us 00:05:37.529 --> 00:05:40.050 an engaging story, but it does more. It gives 00:05:40.050 --> 00:05:42.990 us a practical theology. Specifically, it shows 00:05:42.990 --> 00:05:45.350 us how the doctrine of God's sovereignty plays 00:05:45.350 --> 00:05:48.170 out in the storms of life. But we can put a finer 00:05:48.170 --> 00:05:50.889 point on things. Acts 27 provides a case study 00:05:50.889 --> 00:05:53.449 on how the apostle Paul, the New Testament author, 00:05:53.649 --> 00:05:57.050 most associated with teaching of God's sovereignty, 00:05:57.350 --> 00:06:00.730 put his theology and practice in real time. In 00:06:00.730 --> 00:06:03.430 other words, in Acts 27, we see the practical 00:06:03.430 --> 00:06:05.689 implications of Paul's theological understanding 00:06:05.689 --> 00:06:08.810 relating to God's sovereign control over the 00:06:08.810 --> 00:06:11.850 world. How did Paul's journey start? Well, in 00:06:11.850 --> 00:06:15.009 Acts 27, 1 through 11, we read about him sailing 00:06:15.009 --> 00:06:17.910 for Rome. And it says, and when it was decided 00:06:17.910 --> 00:06:19.750 that we should sail for Italy, they delivered 00:06:19.750 --> 00:06:22.790 Paul and some prisoners to the centurion of the 00:06:22.790 --> 00:06:25.939 Augustan cohort named Julius. and embarking on 00:06:25.939 --> 00:06:28.620 the ship of a drab medium which was about to 00:06:28.620 --> 00:06:30.980 sail to the port along the coast of asia we put 00:06:30.980 --> 00:06:35.120 to sea accompanied by aristarchus a macedonian 00:06:35.120 --> 00:06:38.540 from thessalonica the next day we put into sidon 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:41.300 and julius treated paul kindly and gave him leave 00:06:41.300 --> 00:06:43.319 to go to his friends and be cared for and putting 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.339 out to sea from there we sailed under the lee 00:06:46.339 --> 00:06:49.500 of cyprus because the winds were against us and 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:52.160 when we had sailed across the open sea along 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:55.670 the coast of cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to 00:06:55.670 --> 00:06:59.209 Myra in Lycia. There the centurion found a ship 00:06:59.209 --> 00:07:02.149 of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on 00:07:02.149 --> 00:07:05.089 board. We sailed slowly for a number of days 00:07:05.089 --> 00:07:09.329 and arrived with difficulty off Sinaitis, and 00:07:09.329 --> 00:07:11.649 as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we 00:07:11.649 --> 00:07:15.329 sailed under the Lee of Crete of Salmon. Coasting 00:07:15.329 --> 00:07:17.930 along it with the difficulty, we came to a place 00:07:17.930 --> 00:07:20.769 called Fairhavens, near which was the city of 00:07:20.769 --> 00:07:24.420 Lycia. Much time had passed and the voyage was 00:07:24.420 --> 00:07:27.240 now dangerous because even the fast was already 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:30.199 over. Paul advised them, saying, Sirs, I perceive 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:32.939 that the voyage will be with injury and much 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:35.839 loss, not only of cargo and the ship, but also 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:38.439 our lives. But the centurion paid more attention 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:40.920 to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:44.100 to what Paul said. Paul knows how their voyage 00:07:44.100 --> 00:07:47.360 will turn out. Shipwreck, but survival for all 00:07:47.360 --> 00:07:51.420 on board. The journey's end has been predestined. 00:07:51.769 --> 00:07:55.970 God has a predetermined ending for this trip. 00:07:56.529 --> 00:07:58.550 Yes, there will be a loss of material, ship, 00:07:58.670 --> 00:08:01.129 cargo, but no, there will not be any loss of 00:08:01.129 --> 00:08:03.930 life. That brings me to my first point, which 00:08:03.930 --> 00:08:06.870 is the storm. Life is full of storms, but God 00:08:06.870 --> 00:08:09.829 is in those storms. There are different types 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:12.750 of storms, a disturbance of a normal condition 00:08:12.750 --> 00:08:15.089 of the atmosphere manifesting itself by winds 00:08:15.089 --> 00:08:18.089 or unusual force or direction. You've got rain, 00:08:18.209 --> 00:08:20.730 snow, hail, thunder, lightning, all these kinds 00:08:20.730 --> 00:08:23.889 of things. You can also call a storm a violent 00:08:23.889 --> 00:08:27.569 military assault on a fortified place or a strong 00:08:27.569 --> 00:08:30.750 position. You can consider it a heavy or sudden 00:08:30.750 --> 00:08:34.350 volley or discharge. You could see a storm of 00:08:34.350 --> 00:08:37.809 criticism, a storm of bullets, a violent disturbance 00:08:37.809 --> 00:08:41.850 of affairs, a civil, political, social, or domestic 00:08:41.850 --> 00:08:44.690 commotion. These are all things that you could 00:08:44.690 --> 00:08:47.070 classify as a storm. And we have seen some of 00:08:47.070 --> 00:08:50.809 these in our own lives. God uses the storms in 00:08:50.809 --> 00:08:55.070 Job 38. When he says in Job 38, 22 through 27, 00:08:55.330 --> 00:08:57.250 have you entered the storehouses of the snow 00:08:57.250 --> 00:08:59.990 or have you seen the storehouses of hail, which 00:08:59.990 --> 00:09:01.970 I have reserved for the times of trouble for 00:09:01.970 --> 00:09:05.549 the day of battle and war? What is the way to 00:09:05.549 --> 00:09:07.470 the place where the light is distributed or where 00:09:07.470 --> 00:09:11.409 the east wind is scattered upon the earth? Who 00:09:11.409 --> 00:09:13.409 has cleft the channel for the torrents of rain 00:09:13.409 --> 00:09:16.750 and a way for the thunderbolt to bring rain on 00:09:16.750 --> 00:09:19.570 land where no man is, in the desert in which 00:09:19.570 --> 00:09:22.629 there is no man, to satisfy the waste in the 00:09:22.629 --> 00:09:24.830 desolate land and to make the ground sprout with 00:09:24.830 --> 00:09:27.970 grass? We can see from Sergeant Olson's frustration 00:09:27.970 --> 00:09:31.570 and how it was beginning to rise at the beginning 00:09:31.570 --> 00:09:34.389 of his tale. He's tired, he's exhausted, and 00:09:34.389 --> 00:09:37.990 now he's wet. Why did there have to be a storm 00:09:37.990 --> 00:09:40.350 now? We are in the desert. How can there even 00:09:40.350 --> 00:09:43.710 be a storm right now? So what does Sergeant Olson 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:46.429 do? He prays. He says, God, please stop this 00:09:46.429 --> 00:09:49.509 rain. I cried out an acre in frustration. He 00:09:49.509 --> 00:09:51.710 says, I begged God to see the depth of my faith 00:09:51.710 --> 00:09:54.250 to show him how much I believed he could stop 00:09:54.250 --> 00:09:56.090 the rain. I thanked him for the miracle that 00:09:56.090 --> 00:09:58.830 would soon come. And then it happened. The rain 00:09:58.830 --> 00:10:02.149 came down on sheets. Why are you doing this, 00:10:02.230 --> 00:10:04.669 God? I pleaded. Your own son said that a mustard 00:10:04.669 --> 00:10:07.379 seed of faith. could move a mountain, I only 00:10:07.379 --> 00:10:09.700 asked that you would move a dark rain cloud. 00:10:10.240 --> 00:10:12.600 I was disillusioned that God, who controls the 00:10:12.600 --> 00:10:16.340 wind and the rain, would not say, peace, be still. 00:10:16.820 --> 00:10:19.279 After all, I was his child, wet and cold and 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:21.879 on the desert floor. In Acts, we get a similar 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:26.340 picture. In Acts 27, 12, it says, And because 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:28.659 the harbor was not suitable to spend winter in, 00:10:28.659 --> 00:10:31.059 the majority decided to put out to sea from there, 00:10:31.139 --> 00:10:33.840 on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, 00:10:33.919 --> 00:10:37.409 a harbor of Crete. facing both southwest and 00:10:37.409 --> 00:10:40.389 northwest and spend the winter there if we could 00:10:40.389 --> 00:10:43.190 pick it up in thirteen it says now when the south 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:45.309 wind blew gently supposing that they had obtained 00:10:45.309 --> 00:10:47.769 their purpose they weighed anchor and sailed 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:51.409 along crete close to the shore but soon a tempestuous 00:10:51.409 --> 00:10:53.830 wind called the nor 'easter struck down from 00:10:53.830 --> 00:10:56.309 the land and when the ship was caught and could 00:10:56.309 --> 00:10:58.929 not face the wind we gave way to it and were 00:10:58.929 --> 00:11:01.370 driven along running under the lee of a small 00:11:01.370 --> 00:11:04.330 island called cauda we managed with difficulty 00:11:04.330 --> 00:11:07.669 to secure the ship's boat after hoisting it up 00:11:07.669 --> 00:11:10.450 they used supports to undergird the ship then 00:11:10.450 --> 00:11:13.149 fearing that they would run aground on the syrtis 00:11:13.149 --> 00:11:15.649 they lowered the gear and thus were driven along 00:11:15.649 --> 00:11:18.690 since we were violently storm -tossed they began 00:11:18.690 --> 00:11:21.470 the next day to jettison the cargo and on the 00:11:21.470 --> 00:11:23.470 third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard 00:11:23.470 --> 00:11:26.610 with their own hands when neither sun nor stars 00:11:26.610 --> 00:11:29.049 appeared for many days and no small tempest lay 00:11:29.049 --> 00:11:32.899 on us all hope of being saved was at last abandoned. 00:11:33.820 --> 00:11:36.500 As the storm rages, Paul announces good news 00:11:36.500 --> 00:11:38.679 to the ship's crew and passengers in our text 00:11:38.679 --> 00:11:43.340 verses 21 through 26. God, through an angelic 00:11:43.340 --> 00:11:45.600 messenger, had shown him that what would happen 00:11:45.600 --> 00:11:47.799 to all of them. Paul recounts the angel's words, 00:11:47.879 --> 00:11:50.480 do not be afraid. You must stand before Caesar 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:53.799 and behold, God has granted you all those who 00:11:53.799 --> 00:11:56.259 sail with you. Paul's confidence in God's power 00:11:56.259 --> 00:11:58.700 and promise spill out and his encouragement to 00:11:58.700 --> 00:12:01.649 the frightened crew. So take heart, men. For 00:12:01.649 --> 00:12:03.590 I have faith in God that it will be exactly as 00:12:03.590 --> 00:12:14.330 I've been told. So how does Paul respond in light 00:12:14.330 --> 00:12:16.169 of his confidence in God's promise? How does 00:12:16.169 --> 00:12:19.309 knowing the outcome of the story affect him for 00:12:19.309 --> 00:12:22.870 the rest of the journey? Here's where it gets 00:12:22.870 --> 00:12:25.009 interesting. As we watch Paul in action, we see 00:12:25.009 --> 00:12:27.549 how Paul lives. in light of God's sovereignty. 00:12:27.850 --> 00:12:30.110 And what we see may surprise us. Even though 00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:32.690 Paul believes in God's promises to save everyone 00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:35.470 on board, he sees human actions as still having 00:12:35.470 --> 00:12:38.330 a great significance for good or ill. When Paul 00:12:38.330 --> 00:12:40.769 learns of the sailors' plan to escape in lifeboats, 00:12:40.830 --> 00:12:43.570 Paul warns the soldiers to stop them. Unless 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:46.570 these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved. 00:12:47.169 --> 00:12:52.840 In Acts 27, 31. So when we think of sovereignty, 00:12:53.039 --> 00:12:55.399 you can think of a monarch, a king, a queen, 00:12:55.480 --> 00:12:58.019 or a supreme ruler. You can think of someone 00:12:58.019 --> 00:13:02.639 who has all authority, omnipotence. Someone who's 00:13:02.639 --> 00:13:05.299 supreme and independent power or authority in 00:13:05.299 --> 00:13:07.299 government is possessed or claimed by the state 00:13:07.299 --> 00:13:09.879 or the community. So if God is sovereign, then 00:13:09.879 --> 00:13:12.799 he has the ability to control the weather. And 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:15.519 like Sergeant Olson quoted from Jesus, In Luke 00:13:15.519 --> 00:13:26.019 17, 6, it says, Then certainly this prayer from 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:28.740 a faithful follower should have been heard and 00:13:28.740 --> 00:13:31.779 the rain would immediately stop. The trick here 00:13:31.779 --> 00:13:33.860 is that we neglect to remind ourselves about 00:13:33.860 --> 00:13:37.379 God's sovereignty. He has the power. He is all 00:13:37.379 --> 00:13:40.240 -powerful, but he's also all -knowing. And his 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:42.700 thoughts are not our thoughts, which we see in 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:46.289 our text. for my thoughts are not your thoughts 00:13:46.289 --> 00:13:50.190 neither your ways my ways declares the lord for 00:13:50.190 --> 00:13:52.110 as the heavens are higher than the earth so are 00:13:52.110 --> 00:13:55.250 my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts 00:13:55.250 --> 00:13:59.269 than your thoughts sergeant olson neglected to 00:13:59.269 --> 00:14:01.750 provide space for god's will within the storm 00:14:01.750 --> 00:14:04.889 often we are in a storm we can't see the whole 00:14:04.889 --> 00:14:08.570 picture when we are tired hungry cold wet grumpy 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:11.700 That is when we tend to judge God and his lack 00:14:11.700 --> 00:14:14.820 of fulfilling of our prayers the harshest. But 00:14:14.820 --> 00:14:17.340 God is always there and we can find our rest 00:14:17.340 --> 00:14:20.940 in him even during the storms. So as we continue 00:14:20.940 --> 00:14:24.740 on with Sergeant Olson's story, we read it. It 00:14:24.740 --> 00:14:27.500 was, then I felt the Lord speak to my heart. 00:14:27.899 --> 00:14:30.460 Dan, you say you have enough faith to believe 00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:33.820 that I can stop the rain. Do you have enough 00:14:33.820 --> 00:14:37.519 faith to trust me when I say that the rain is 00:14:37.519 --> 00:14:40.500 for your own good? My answer was simple, no. 00:14:40.820 --> 00:14:43.759 How could this exhaustion be for my own good? 00:14:44.460 --> 00:14:49.000 What I needed was rest. I never did sleep and 00:14:49.000 --> 00:14:51.799 the rain continued through the night. I lay awake 00:14:51.799 --> 00:14:55.379 frustrated and cold until the sunrise. When we 00:14:55.379 --> 00:14:57.980 mounted up again, we continued the march through 00:14:57.980 --> 00:15:00.639 the next evening. When we stopped, I collapsed 00:15:00.639 --> 00:15:03.659 onto my sleeping bag. The rain had stopped and 00:15:03.659 --> 00:15:07.460 blissful sleep came upon me. This brings me to 00:15:07.460 --> 00:15:11.279 my final point which is salvation the term salvation 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:15.000 can be described as the act of saving or protecting 00:15:15.000 --> 00:15:18.860 from harm risk loss destruction the state of 00:15:18.860 --> 00:15:22.940 being saved or protected a source or a cause 00:15:22.940 --> 00:15:28.559 or a means of being saved or protected so a theological 00:15:28.559 --> 00:15:31.320 definition would be deliverance from the power 00:15:31.320 --> 00:15:35.649 and penalty of sin or redemption So as we reflect 00:15:35.649 --> 00:15:38.049 on how Paul's confident declaration, all will 00:15:38.049 --> 00:15:39.970 be saved, relates to his urgent warning, you 00:15:39.970 --> 00:15:42.730 cannot be saved. We run into the mystery of the 00:15:42.730 --> 00:15:45.009 divine sovereignty intersecting with human agency. 00:15:45.509 --> 00:15:48.409 We also discover an important corrective for 00:15:48.409 --> 00:15:51.570 those who push either side of the tension too 00:15:51.570 --> 00:15:54.710 far. If we see God's sovereignty as editing out 00:15:54.710 --> 00:15:57.549 human agency and responsibility, we don't see 00:15:57.549 --> 00:16:00.610 it the way Paul did. If we become passive or 00:16:00.610 --> 00:16:03.149 careless about life, believing that whatever 00:16:03.149 --> 00:16:05.490 God has predetermined will automatically happen, 00:16:05.889 --> 00:16:10.190 we are not following Paul's example. By the way, 00:16:10.210 --> 00:16:13.669 this was the heir of the minister who allegedly 00:16:13.669 --> 00:16:16.210 told missionary William Carney, young man, sit 00:16:16.210 --> 00:16:18.929 down. When God pleases to convert the heathen, 00:16:18.929 --> 00:16:22.850 he will do it without your aid or mine. If we 00:16:22.850 --> 00:16:24.950 treat human choice and actions as irrelevant 00:16:24.950 --> 00:16:28.440 in the outcome of life's story, We are off sides 00:16:28.440 --> 00:16:32.100 with Paul. So Sergeant Olson's story continues. 00:16:32.159 --> 00:16:35.860 We seized Jalabat after a fierce fight. When 00:16:35.860 --> 00:16:37.740 the shooting stopped and the smoke cleared, I 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:40.659 got a closer look at the destructiveness of the 00:16:40.659 --> 00:16:43.799 44 -day war. I crawled through the bunkers and 00:16:43.799 --> 00:16:46.580 foxholes abandoned by the enemy and inspected 00:16:46.580 --> 00:16:48.700 the area where the Iraqi troops slept the day 00:16:48.700 --> 00:16:51.879 before. I felt the blankets that the enemy slept 00:16:51.879 --> 00:16:55.460 under under the night that it rained so hard. 00:16:55.899 --> 00:16:59.000 and in an instant god opened my eyes the blankets 00:16:59.000 --> 00:17:01.179 were wet the holes in the ground were filled 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:04.539 with mud the bunker stank with mildew could it 00:17:04.539 --> 00:17:07.119 be that the same rain that kept me awake had 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:10.400 demoralized these troops did the clouds and blowing 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:13.480 sand that made me so miserable conceal our forces 00:17:13.480 --> 00:17:16.960 as we maneuvered for our attack didn't the pouring 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:20.740 rain uncover buried iraqi minefields and didn't 00:17:20.740 --> 00:17:23.579 the stormy weather keep the enemy from using 00:17:23.579 --> 00:17:26.720 its chemical weapons did the god whose hands 00:17:26.720 --> 00:17:29.119 control the winds and rain know what was best 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:31.740 for me that night as i cried out in desperation 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:34.940 i humbly bowed my heart and soul and at that 00:17:34.940 --> 00:17:39.099 moment i declared he did in acts twenty seven 00:17:39.099 --> 00:17:41.660 verse thirty nine forty four it reads now when 00:17:41.660 --> 00:17:44.680 it was day they did not recognize the land but 00:17:44.680 --> 00:17:47.960 they noticed a bay with a beach on which they 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:50.970 planned if possible to run the ship ashore so 00:17:50.970 --> 00:17:53.049 they cast off the anchors and left them in the 00:17:53.049 --> 00:17:55.289 sea in the same time loosening the ropes that 00:17:55.289 --> 00:17:58.509 tied the rudder then hoisting the foresail to 00:17:58.509 --> 00:18:01.450 the wind they made for the beach but striking 00:18:01.450 --> 00:18:04.829 a reef they ran the vessel aground the bow struck 00:18:04.829 --> 00:18:08.029 and remained immovable and the stern was being 00:18:08.029 --> 00:18:11.109 broken up by the surf the soldier's plan was 00:18:11.109 --> 00:18:13.789 to kill the prisoners lest any soul should swim 00:18:13.789 --> 00:18:16.650 away and escape but the centurion wishing to 00:18:16.650 --> 00:18:19.359 save paul kept them from carrying out their plan 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:21.960 he ordered those who could swim to jump overboard 00:18:21.960 --> 00:18:25.940 first and make for the land and the rest on planks 00:18:25.940 --> 00:18:28.880 or on pieces of the ship and so it was that all 00:18:28.880 --> 00:18:32.660 were brought safely to land paul's understanding 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:35.079 of god's sovereignty did not remove his belief 00:18:35.079 --> 00:18:37.019 in the importance of human choice and actions 00:18:37.019 --> 00:18:40.740 he understood human agency still carried historical 00:18:40.740 --> 00:18:45.230 efficacy the soldiers and sailors could not do 00:18:45.230 --> 00:18:47.569 anything they wanted and still count on being 00:18:47.569 --> 00:18:50.170 saved by God's sovereign power. Their actions 00:18:50.170 --> 00:18:51.890 would affect the ending of the story. People 00:18:51.890 --> 00:18:54.529 are not chess pieces moved by a divine hand. 00:18:54.910 --> 00:18:58.069 God has granted humans the power to impact outcomes 00:18:58.069 --> 00:19:00.890 by our decisions. God's sovereignty and human 00:19:00.890 --> 00:19:04.890 choices both matter. They are two sides of the 00:19:04.890 --> 00:19:07.910 same coin, with God's side being the head and 00:19:07.910 --> 00:19:11.900 ours the tail. In ways we cannot fully explain, 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:14.740 they merge into life's story in an amazing way. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:17.599 Like gears that move in opposite directions but 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:20.400 still mesh together, divine sovereignty and human 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:22.940 agency work together to accomplish God's purpose. 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:27.099 Acts 27 shows us that in the midst of life's 00:19:27.099 --> 00:19:29.420 storms, God's sovereignty plays out through human 00:19:29.420 --> 00:19:32.380 choices and actions. He accomplishes his will 00:19:32.380 --> 00:19:34.720 but does so through the thoughts and decisions 00:19:34.720 --> 00:19:38.319 and actions. So in the midst of your storm, in 00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:42.180 life, Rest in God's sovereign concern and control, 00:19:42.440 --> 00:19:45.559 but also seek to take wise actions as you trust 00:19:45.559 --> 00:19:49.380 him to accomplish his good purpose. If I could 00:19:49.380 --> 00:19:51.539 have every head bowed, every eye closed, wherever 00:19:51.539 --> 00:19:53.279 you're listening, I just want to give a quick 00:19:53.279 --> 00:19:57.500 invitation as we finish this message today. If 00:19:57.500 --> 00:20:00.059 your heart's not right with God, if you're troubled 00:20:00.059 --> 00:20:04.430 in your spirit, it's time to turn to Jesus. And 00:20:04.430 --> 00:20:06.029 if you do want that, if you want to give your 00:20:06.029 --> 00:20:08.049 life to Jesus, you can do that by signifying 00:20:08.049 --> 00:20:10.309 that with an uplifted hand. This is a simple 00:20:10.309 --> 00:20:12.609 thing. Obviously, I can't see you, but God sees 00:20:12.609 --> 00:20:15.269 your heart. So if you raised your hand and you 00:20:15.269 --> 00:20:16.970 meant that, I want you to just repeat after me. 00:20:17.009 --> 00:20:20.750 Dear Lord, I know that Jesus Christ is your son 00:20:20.750 --> 00:20:23.410 and that he came to earth and died for my sins. 00:20:24.210 --> 00:20:26.869 I accept him as my Lord and Savior and I turn 00:20:26.869 --> 00:20:31.130 from my sins. I turn from living away from you. 00:20:31.579 --> 00:20:34.980 And I accept you as my sovereign Lord. In Jesus 00:20:34.980 --> 00:20:37.900 name, I pray. Amen. If you've prayed that prayer 00:20:37.900 --> 00:20:40.359 and you mean it, I do believe that your life 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:44.200 has changed and it will be changed. And if, you 00:20:44.200 --> 00:20:47.039 know, from that point, if you need a Bible, if 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.599 you need anything, you know, that can help you 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:51.140 with your journey to move forward in Christ, 00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.039 I want you to reach out to us here. If you're 00:20:54.039 --> 00:20:56.819 in Salmon Arm, please come to church. Introduce 00:20:56.819 --> 00:21:00.240 yourself. We'd love to see you. But again, thank 00:21:00.240 --> 00:21:02.180 you for listening today. I think this was a bit 00:21:02.180 --> 00:21:04.819 of a shorter message, and I pray that it helps 00:21:04.819 --> 00:21:07.460 you and that you can go from this place and come 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:10.420 back again. And remember to like, share, and 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:12.779 subscribe to this podcast to go look at our YouTube 00:21:12.779 --> 00:21:15.819 channel, our Instagram page, our Facebook page, 00:21:15.900 --> 00:21:18.680 and just follow along with us as we strive to 00:21:18.680 --> 00:21:21.640 build a work for God here in Salmon Arm with 00:21:21.640 --> 00:21:24.680 a vision to plant churches locally and globally 00:21:24.680 --> 00:21:28.019 and help us and partner with us in that. In Jesus' 00:21:28.119 --> 00:21:30.980 name, I thank you for listening again. God bless 00:21:30.980 --> 00:21:38.920 until you come back again. Bye. Thank you for 00:21:38.920 --> 00:21:41.359 listening to the PHSAA Potter's House Salmon 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:43.539 Arm podcast. Be sure to follow us on Instagram 00:21:43.539 --> 00:21:46.279 at pottershouse underscore salmon arm to keep 00:21:46.279 --> 00:21:48.640 up to date on what we are doing. Join the conversation 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:51.700 and discover how Jesus Christ can revolutionize 00:21:51.700 --> 00:21:52.319 your life.