Title: Take it easy (Acts 27:22)
In verse 22, “I urge you to take it easy now, there will be no harm to life among you, only the stomach.” Isaiah said in Isaiah 48:22 that “there is no peace with the wicked.” Paul's drift in trouble can be thought of as a wild sect sweeping the whole world. However, the Apostle Paul, the servant of God, was especially relieved by the vision and encouragement of the Lord and played a major role in leading the 276 souls on the boat to God.
1. The need for comfort
(2) The need for comfort No matter how strong a person is, sometimes they become discouraged and fall and fail. Consolation is a healing medicine that rescues those who are discouraged. Reformer Martin Luther was sometimes discouraged and lost his joy during the Reformation. One day his wife, Katherine Von Bora, was sitting in mourning. M. Luther asked, “Who is dead?” The wife said, “Luther is discouraged because God is dead.” So I said I was wearing a mourning suit. Luther replied, "Why does God die? God never dies." That is why Luther gained courage again and initiated the Reformation. In Philippians 2:19, Paul said, "I hope in the Lord that I send Timothy to you soon, that you may be comforted in the knowledge of your circumstances." 1 Thessalonians 4:18 says, “Therefore, comfort one another with these words.” The church is in tribulation, but comfort is a source of strength for the church.
2. Where does true comfort come from? Paul said, “Take it easy” twice in verses 22 and 25. In the midst of such tribulation, he comforted the people in the ship with his incarnation. The content of that comfort was the Word of God. In the midst of life and death, he said to Pujung, “Be at peace now, there will be no damage to your life, but only the belly. An angel of God, whom I belong to, whom I serve, stood by me last night and said, “Do not be afraid, Paul, because you are before Caesar. And God has given you all those who sail with you.” He said, “Therefore, be at ease, everyone, I trust God that it will be just as I said to you. But we will be caught on one island.” These words show how much Paul respected God's Word and trusted his authority. This is what Paul meant when he said, “I belong, the God whom I serve.” Paul looked forward to the sailor's hope according to God's word and prayed. By virtue of one person, many people have been saved and have been relieved.
3. Believe that God, who gave Paul supernaturally reassuring power, will also give the same power to this people in anxiety, let's look up some places in the Bible.
(1) He tells us to be relieved in our apology (Matthew 9:1-2) A friend of mine who suffered from paralysis was carried by a friend of Lee. When the Lord saw their faith, he granted the forgiveness of sins and was cleansed.
(2) During his illness, he said, “Daughter, I have saved you from your disease” (Matthew 9:22). The work of the Lord is preaching the gospel to the poor, while at the same time making the blind sight, the lame walk, the lepers clean, the deaf deaf, and the sick healed. The salvation of the soul requires healing of the sickness of the body. In order to heal a woman who had suffered from a hemorrhage for 12 years, according to the Jewish methods of treatment at the time, the skeleton of a wolf, antlers, a water buffalo's head, goose eyes, frog's liver, viper's flesh, grasshoppers and bats should be roasted as a panacea. has been taken It just didn't work with these drugs. But the Lord healed the sick and said only, “Salvation has come; take it easy.”
(3) Be at peace in the midst of wind and storm; do not be afraid, I am (Matt 14:27). We are not in the harbor. A sailor floating in the ocean. Therefore, it cannot escape the gusts of wind. But we can rest assured that we are with Jesus. We listen to the voice of the Lord telling us to be at peace in any storm when we take the lead with patience on the course of life, attach the anchor of hope, hold the rudder of faith, take the Bible as our sea, and Christ as our captain, and be filled with the energy of the Holy Spirit to arrive safely.
(4) Be at peace in tribulation, I have overcome the world (John 16:33). Just as the Lord overcame the world, He gives us the strength to overcome. Romans 8:36 says, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Help,” he said. Here we find indeed Noah's Ark, a great example of today's church courageously carrying hope in the midst of a desolate sea, and this should be the true face of the church. Therefore, I pray in the name of the Lord that we too can become all of us who have such great faith and hope in the midst of such despair.