40 Fulfilling God's Plan; Pt. 4 - Shipwrecked (Acts 27:1-44)

* Over the past couple of weeks, we have been considering the transition of Paul's ministry from proclaiming the gospel in a traveling ministry to the ultimate fulfillment of God's prophetic proclamation to him that Paul would bear His name before kings (cf. Acts 9:15-16) We have seen how God used Paul's wrongful imprisonment to begin the process of moving him along to Rome, just as Jesus had promised him (cf. Acts 23:11). * In the spring of 2020, we studied Paul's second letter to the church of Corinth. The title of the series was "Embracing Affliction" because that is the theme of Paul's letter. In 2 Corinthians 11, Paul provides a list of the afflictions and trials which he had endured up to the point of writing that letter. In the list, he states that he had been shipwrecked three times, and that he had spent a day and a night in the deep! What is truly amazing about that statement is that he wrote that letter to them prior to this voyage we will be considering today! * As we began that series, we considered from 2 Corinthians 1 the purpose of afflictions - the reason that we should "embrace" them. It is through these situations that "press us" we experience the encouragement of the Father of all encouragements ... in order that WE might be able to put courage into (encouragement) others who are going through pressing situations, and that we might reveal the presence and power of God to those who do not know Him! * Today, we will see how God - in His Sovereignty - orchestrated events in order to provide Paul an ideal opportunity to share His power and presence with a large group of prisoners, soldiers and sailors! * This message was presented on July 30, 2023 by Bob Corbin.