But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because you will not experience any loss of life, but only of the ship.Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship.And now I exhort you to be of good cheer; for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
4 sermons cite this verse
6. Thus it was that the heavens grew black with clouds, and the storm gathered amain. For the more Christianity spread, the more hurt was done, in the account of those who received it not; and the number increased of those who were more and more enraged at these “men who thus turned the world upside down;” (Acts 17:6; ) insomuch that more and more cried out, “Away with such fellows from the earth; it is not fit that they should live;” yea, and sincerely believed, that whosoever should kill them would do God service. 7. Meanwhile they did not fail to cast out their name as evil; (Luke 6:22; ) so that this “sect was everywhere spoken against.” (Acts 27:22.) Men said all manner of evil of them, even as had been done of the prophets that were before them (Matt. 5:12). And whatsoever any would affirm, others would believe; so that offences grew as the stars of heaven for multitude. And hence arose, at the time fore-ordained of the Father, persecution in all its forms. Some, for a season, suffered only shame and reproach; some, “the spoiling of their goods;” “some had trial of mocking and scourging; some of bonds and imprisonment;” and others “resisted unto blood” (Heb. 10:34; 11:36ff.) 8. Now it was that the pillars of hell were shaken, and the kingdom of God spread more and more. Sinners were everywhere “turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God.” he gave his children “such a mouth, and such wisdom, as all their adversaries could not resist;” and their lives were of equal force with their words. But above all, their sufferings spake to all the world. They “approved themselves the servants of God, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours; in perils in the sea, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness and painfulness, in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness” (2 Cor. 6:4ff.). And when, having fought the good fight, they were led as sheep to the slaughter, and offered up on the sacrifice and service of their faith, then the blood of each found a voice, and the heathen owned, “He being dead, yet speaketh.” …
Who puts that smile on your face in the midst of the storm? Paul says, the same one that gave me songs in the night when I was in a dungeon in Philippi. His name is Jesus. I see the apostle Paul walking on the deck of that ship, quoting the word of God, Psalm 107, verses 23 and following. They that go down to the sea in ships, they that do business in great waters, these see the wonders of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the winds thereof. They mount up to the heavens. They go down again into the depths. Their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man and are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. …
By the way, somebody has said, I've not counted them, but somebody has said that at least 365 times in the Bible we find this phrase, fear not. One for every day of the year. Fear not, Paul, for thou must be brought before Caesar, and lo, God hath given thee all them that say it with thee, wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer. For I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. Well, basically three things I want you to see as we look in this passage of Scripture today. First of all, the reason for these kind of storms. And secondly, I want you to see the reaction of people when they get into storms, good people and bad people, godly and godless. And then thirdly, I want you to see the result of the storm, what it does in the lives of those who are people of God and in the lives of those who don't know the Lord. Now, we all get into storms, whether you're saved or lost. …
"And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened 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. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete, and incurred this disaster and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of life among you, but only 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, you must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God has given you all them that sail with you. Therefore, Sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." Acts 27:18-25. …