Enduring Storms

“Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” Acts‬ ‭27:31‬ ‭‬‬‬‬‬‬

Paul is on his way to Rome which was ordained not by his own doings, but by the will of God. As they set sail, they haven’t been long into the journey before an Euroclydon storm hit. This storm would be equivalent to our Nor’Easter storm that we get riding up the East coast in the winter, dumping heavy rain, snow, and lots of high winds. What was unusual about this storm was that it was so turbulent that the effects of it lasted fourteen days. After the fourteen days of enduring the storm and its effects, they men of wanted to abandoned the ship and get in smaller boats thinking that this was going to be their salvation. But Paul intervened and said “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.”

The Church is in many ways is like a ship. In Biblical times, the Mediterranean Sea was considered evil. There were many lives lost because of the storms and various currents that cause a lot of ships to go down and carry many lives with it. The sea also represented conflict and chaos. Belief in Greek Mythology and Poseidon, the god of the sea, didn’t help matters either because of his anger and abuse of power created fear in many. Like many who set sail in days of old, the church also set sail nearly 2000 years ago at Pentecost and today, like Noah’s Ark, it continues to sail on and through the waters of God’s judgements on the world.

G K Chesterton said that the Church has experienced death on many occasions only to come back to life again. The reason why is that its head (Jesus Christ) died and rose again. He also said the “Five times the faith has gone to the dogs, and every time it was the dog that died.” God’s people have always found ways to endure and adapt because the Church is “Built upon a rock, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18) Unfortunately, although the Church has endured, there have been many within it who did not. When times got tough, jumped off into the smaller boats false doctrine and drowned In unbelief!

Today, Church attendance is lower than fifty percent for the first time in America since the Revolutionary War. Because of Secularism, Progressivism, Pluralism, and the failure to disciple younger generations, it appears that people are forsaking the Church and jumping into other systems of belief like Humanism, Transcendentalism, New Age, or not believing in anything at all. For some reason they believe that these systems offer a better hope. But over time, these have proven not to give mankind the peace and assurance that they long for, especially when the reality of death and the after life comes.

Like this ship in our text, it appears that the Church is anchored and going no where. It appears to be falling apart with all of its splits and various denominations, but we are only looking at it in the moment and not eternity. With all of its faults and failures, it is still the greatest entity in the world today, simply because it is not of the world! It is not some religious organization, but a living, breathing or organism that’s gets its life and breath from He who was, and is, and is to come, it’s Author and finisher, Jesus Christ!

The Lesson for us is Storms come and go. There will be times of chaos and conflict like we are seeing now. It is nothing new to the Church. Jesus said “The gates of hell will not prevail against it.” He never said that it would not come against it, but said it would not prevail against it.

This is no time to jump ship and quit! If there was ever a time to be in Church and a part of the Church, it is now. We not only need God, but we need one another! Let us “Not forsake the assembling of ourselves together, but exhort one another, and so much the more as we see that day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25)

Pastor Robby