Introduction: Explain that Luke is speaking in first person
Show DVD of Acts Chapter 27
Have you ever had a shipwreck kind of day, week or year? Maybe, your vacation this summer did not go as you planned: car broke down, husband got sick, maybe your picnic to the park to build family unity turned out to be a disaster with everyone mad at each other, or you went to work with great expectations only to be fired, or maybe you started a ministry and it turned out to be a complete failure or a loved one got sick or maybe even passed away? Maybe you had great expectations about how after being saved yourself, you had a vision of seeing your entire family come to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord but no matter how hard you tried your family would not listen to you when you told them about your faith? How did you handle the shipwreck? Did you come across as a leader who is cool, calm and collected under fire? Were you an example of James 1:19-20 19g“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person hbe quick to hear, islow to speak, jslow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God”.
In other words, you did not get upset but remained calm, optimistic, enthusiastic and motivating. Did you look at the situation as an opportunity to share the gospel? Or did you compromise? Did you get mad at God, your spouse and your dog? Did you yell at the kids? Most of us would not admit any of that. Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday was a shipwreck experience for me, taking my son and daughter back to college with three cars and a trailer. My daughter Michelle is graduating from college and is getting married this December but her fiancé has another semester until he graduates. After marriage, they will live together for a semester at Liberty University until he receives his commission as an Army officer. So they need some furniture. I had made plans to help Michelle get all her furniture down to school. On Wednesday, I borrowed my brother-in-law’s trailer to drive to Cleveland to meet with the fiancé’s parents and pick up some furniture they were donating to the cause from Detroit. I connected the trailer to the suburban and began to make my way to 79 North. As I accelerated down the on ramp the entire car and trailer began to shake violently. I just used this trailer a week ago and there was no problem. I stopped at the first rest stop and it looked like the bearings were loose. Well, after a long slow trip to Cleveland and back, by the next day I had seen four mechanics, replaced a tire on the trailer, balanced all the trailer tires, filled them all with the proper air pressure, and brought four new tires for my suburban. My brother-in-law volunteered to back the trailer out of the tire shop. He is expert with trailers, you see, and I said go ahead. He backed up too sharply, denting his trailer with the bumper on my suburban and yes denting and bending my bumper. At about the same time, Michelle shows up with her lease that I have to cosign and with the news that fluid is leaking out of the Jeep. We replaced the power steering line. At this time, I am waiting for the alignment of the suburban, Michelle and Nathan my son who is very anxious that he is going to miss the book store’s used book sale because of the late start, they began to drive to Liberty. Now I am waiting for the alignment to be done, before hooking up the trailer to the suburban to get on the way to take Michelle’s furniture 8 hours south to Lynchburg, Virginia and I get a call from Michelle saying she is broken down on the turnpike at service plaza Oakmont. She made it about 50 miles. Nathan is agitated, adding to the pressure, the jeep is broken down, and I have 8 hours to drive with a trailer full of stuff behind my car with a bent bumper and its 3:30 Thursday afternoon. Did I tell you Michelle had a talking Panamanian Yellow-Headed Parrot in the front seat of the broken down Jeep? I called AAA to tow Michelle back to Zelienople and AAA says I owe $30. I didn’t owe any money, but the tow truck driver shows up and begins to demand payment. At this time I am waiting for the alignment to be done and Jimmy emails with the question on my BB. Mark I need the title and reference for your TGIF’s preaching assignment. I yell, Shipwrecked! This goes on but you get the point. How did I handle this shipwreck? What makes leader? What makes a leader at church, at home and in the community or at work? Are you an effective spiritual leader? Let’s define spiritual leadership.
Defining spiritual leadership (show Definition of Spiritual Leadership slide)
Spiritual leadership, by definition, requires spiritual power that can never be generated by self. Oswald Sanders, in his book, Spiritual Leadership, states that a "true leader influences others spiritually only because the Spirit works in and through him to a greater degree than in those he leads." Click slide
Leader" is not a word you will find often in the Bible - just six times does it appear in the King James Version. Much more frequently, we read about the role of a servant, particularly in the teachings of Jesus Christ. "Servant" in any language speaks of lowliness - low honor, low respect. Yet Jesus used this term as a synonym for greatness. What a revolutionary term! Mark 10:43-44 states, "Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all." Click slide
1401δοῦλοσ1, δοῦλοσ2 [doulos /doo·los/] is the Greek word for slave [adj. F]rom 1210; [TDNT 2:261; TDNTA 182; GK 1528 and 1529; 125 occurrences; AV translates as “servant” 118 times, “bond” six times, and “bondman” once. ][TDNTA 182; GK 1528 and 1529; 125 occurrences; AV translates as “servant” 118 times, “bond” six times, and “bondman” once. ][GK 1528 and 1529; 125 occurrences; AV translates as “servant” 118 times, “bond” six times, and “bondman” once. ][AV translates as “servant” 118 times, “bond” six times, and “bondman” once. ]1 a slave, bondman, man of servile condition. 1a a slave. 1b metaph., one who gives himself up to another’s will those whose service is used by Christ in extending and advancing His cause among men. 1c devoted to another to the disregard of one’s own interests. 2 a servant, attendant.
The view of leadership that Jesus taught is very much the opposite of the world’s view of leadership. Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of spiritual leadership. When most people think of leadership, they picture a military officer giving out orders or an employer closely supervising his employees, making sure all the work gets done. These aspects can be part of leadership, but they are not the essence of spiritual leadership.
Spiritual leadership is the opposite of what most people think. Spiritual leadership is servant leadership. Jesus Christ Himself taught us, "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). (Click slide) Jesus was most definitely a leader. He was the leader of the twelve disciples and a much greater group of followers beyond them (Luke 10:1-17). Jesus did not lead by giving out orders or by supervising. Jesus led by being a servant and serving alongside of His followers. Spiritual leadership involves humbling yourself and doing the tasks that are necessary, even if no one else wants to do them.
John Piper defines spiritual leadership as knowing where God wants people to be and taking the initiative to use God's methods to get them there in reliance on God's power. John Piper goes on to say, the answer to where God wants people to be is in a spiritual condition and in a lifestyle that displays his glory and honor his name. Therefore, the goal of spiritual leadership is that people come to know God and to glorify him in all that they do. Spiritual leadership is aimed not so much at directing people as it is at changing people. If we would be the kind of leaders we ought to be, we must make it our aim to develop persons rather than dictate plans. You can get people to do what you want, but if they don't change in their heart you have not led them spiritually. You have not taken them to where God wants them to be. Everyone has the responsibility of leadership in some relationships. (Click on first slide) Everyone (including every spiritual leader) needs to have three significant people in their lives. Pastor Jimmy encouraged this idea months ago in the series of slides he showed on CBC’s future goals and objectives.
Before I get into how Paul,demonstrated effective leadership we need to see how Paul got to Jerusalem in the first place and where we are in the timeline of Paul’s life.
(Show Paul life slide)
Background to the Acts 27.
What was Paul doing in Caesarea? Caesarea was a port on the coast of Israel just to the west of Jerusalem. Caesarea is where Pilate lived during the time of Christ. There was a main Roman military barracks at Caesarea. Paul had been brought to Caesarea as a prisoner to be transported to Rome to stand trial before Caesar. Paul returned to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey in Acts 21:15. Paul had collected money from the Gentile churches all over Asia Minor to give to the church at Jerusalem. In Acts 21:11, the prophet, Agabus, had warned Paul not to go back to Jersusalem because he would be taken prisoner by the Jews and handed over to the Gentiles. Paul knew the prophecy was true, but he was committed to the ministry God had called him to, Paul said , in Acts 21:13, “I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus”. Here is an example of the first leadership quality all leaders at all levels must have, leaders must have a vision. (Show slide Characteristic of a Spiritual Leader). What is a vision? A vision is an image of the future that the leadership as led by God’s word wants to create. Alex Montoya states “Pastors (elders) must be men of vision. They must possess a deep sense of what they are to do, where they ought to go, and how they are to do it”. Paul was determined to do the work of his Savior no matter what the obstacles. Paul had a vision to take the word of God to all the Jews and when the Jews rejected him, he put all his effort into sharing the truth about Jesus Christ to the Gentiles. Paul spent years on three missionary journeys, enduring unbelievable hardships, ending up shipwrecked another time on the island of Malta, spreading the gospel and seeing the vision given to him by God fulfilled. What is the vision for CBC? Two Sundays ago one of the our missionaries, Russell Ebersole, stated at the beginning of his presentation, Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision the people will be discouraged”. He said that the vision of the church he had just visited was to increase the membership by hundreds. He was encouraged by that vision. I don’t think Paul was concerned so much about the numbers attending the new churches, but more so did he use every opportunity he had to spread the gospel. It is the leaders’ responsibility to inspire the flock with a vision. The CBC purpose states that we are a community of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who seek to honor God by equipping one another toward effective ministry in the community and throughout the world. I like to think a good vision for us would be that; “CBC will be known as thechurch that increases the numbers of believers throughout the surrounding areas that are growing in a deeper understanding of the Bible”. What is your vision for your personal life? What is your vision for your family? As a husband, my vision is for all my children to come to know Christ as their personal savior, but more than that. I believe that the effectiveness of my spiritual leadership will not be measured by my children so much as by my grandchildren. Will I be as passionate as Paul for Jesus Christ in order that my children will lead their children to believe Jesus is Lord and the Bible is truth? My vision is that my grandchildren have a real and growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Point number one: leaders give their followers a vision. So back to how Paul was arrested fulfilling his vision. According to Acts 21:27, we read there that Paul went to the temple in Jerusalem. He was seen by some Jewish worshipers who falsely accused him of defiling the temple. These Jews knew Paul was traveling with Trophimus, who was a Gentile. The Jews falsely supposed that Paul brought Trophimus into the temple, where Gentiles were forbidden to enter. The Jews started a riot, showed their hatred of Paul and Paul was arrested and taken to Caesarea for trial. Paul spent two years in jail in Caesarea. Paul went before Governors Felix and then Festus and finally Herod Agrippa II. All three found him to be innocent. During the trial before Festus, Paul appealed directly to Caesar which was his right a Roman citizen. So Acts chapter 27 begins after Paul had appealed to Caesar. What is interesting about the accounts of the trials and times with the governors is how Paul shared Jesus Christ with all in the court room. In Act 25:24 it states Felix and his wife heard Paul speak of faith in Christ Jesus and Paul reasoned about righteousness and self-control and the coming judgment. Paul did not flatter Felix or beg for his release from jail, instead Paul proclaimed the gospel boldly and clearly even though Felix had the power of life and death over Paul. That brings us to the second characteristic of a spiritual leader: A spiritual leader proclaims the gospel boldly. Click slide Characteristic of Spiritual Leadership. Now again in chapter 26 Paul goes to stand trial in front of Agrippa,and Governor Festus is present also. We should read Acts 26, not only does Paul give his testimony on how he was saved, struck by a light, blinded and so forth, he proclaims the gospel in court and moreover he presses Agrippa, “you believe this don’t you” he asks the governor? The governor says, you can’t persuade me to be a Christian in that short amount of time. Festus says, “Paul, you are out of your mind.” He can’t believe Paul is preaching to Agrippa. Verse 29And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day tmight become such as I am—except for uthese chains.” So how are we doing as leaders here in CBC? When was the last time you shared Christ? Can you imagine, instead of arguing how he was falsely accused and how the Roman authorities were sending an innocent man to jail, Paul instead proclaims the gospel. Can you see yourself the day you are fired from a job where you have been working for 20 years, you say to your boss, “Let me tell you about my Savior.” Spiritual leaders are evangelists. They are ready at all times to boldly and clearly proclaim the gospel of sin, judgment, grace and redemption. Leaders suffer to be able to share the gospel. Leaders take every opportunity to share the good news: door to door, street evangelism and building relationships one on one. So Paul is in Caesarea ready to ship to Rome.
Show map of voyage to Rome.
And when it was decided that we should sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion of the Augustan cohort named Julius. Who is the WE? Well it is Luke, Paul and Aristarchus. Luke wrote Acts. But in chapter 27 Luke begins writing in the first person, because he is with Paul and he is writing from first-hand knowledge. Paul was the low man on this ship. There was a captain, a centurion, soldiers and sailors aboard, all with some sort of position of authority or in the chain of command. On the other hand, Paul was a prisoner. Paul had absolutely no authority on this voyage. So why on earth would Luke want to go with him? There were no first class seats for friends of Paul on this trip. Characteristic number 3. Leaders inspire loyal followers. Luke must have been extremely loyal to Paul and his vision, to have volunteered to travel with Paul to Rome, the Bible doesn’t say Luke is a prisoner. “Who can find a faithful man”? Proverbs 20:6 John MacArthur states, “Loyalty is essential to leadership. The wise leader cultivates loyalty by being loyal-loyal to the Lord, loyal to the truth, and loyal to the people he leads. Nothing is more destructive of leadership than a leader who compromises his own loyalty”. Nothing upsets me more than a subordinate criticizing my leader. After a short period of time, I become very loyal to the leader and organization I have been moved to join. Or why join? My dads used to tell me that if you don’t have something nice to say about someone don’t say anything. There may be times for constructive criticism but go to the leader face to face and explain your solution to the problem not just what is wrong. Don’t talk behind the leaders back and if you are the leader, support those under your charge. Luke was loyal to Paul and Paul valued Luke’s commitment and friendship.