Down the Road, Paul and the Storm

Have you ever been in a really great storm?  I mean a doozy of a storm?  Do you remember when Juan swept through in September 03?  I woke up in the middle of the night when the power went out, it actually flickered and the printer cycled on and off and woke me up.  I remember hearing the wind and rain and looking out the window into the pitch black night and thinking “What a waste of a good storm, I can’t see it.”  We had friends at the time who were single and silly and they got in their jeep and spent the night chasing the hurricane around the city, they went down to the waterfront in Bedford and Halifax and at Point Pleasant Park and they told us later what a hoot it had been.

As most of you know before I went into the ministry I spent a couple of years at sea with my dad on salvage tugs as well as a commercial fishing boat and during that time we spent more than a few day at sea in storms.  I always found it interesting to see the point in the storm that I would go from being sick to being scared.  In the scripture that was read earlier we saw that point arrive in Acts 27:20 The terrible storm raged for many days, blotting out the sun and the stars, until at last all hope was gone.

A little bit of the back story here.  Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem for preaching the gospel and then is sent to Caesarea to present his case before King Agrippa, and we looked at that story last week.  Now Paul has requested the opportunity to appeal his case before Caesar in Rome.  Let’s pull down one of our trusty maps here.  Here is Jerusalem, and here is Caesarea where their voyage begins.  And here is Rome where they were heading, and obviously this would be the quickest way, but Luke tells us that there were supposed to make several stops along the way, apparently they were travelling on what would be called a costal freighter today.

So their first stop was in Sidon and from there they head out and encounter the first of a number of storms, and so they decide to stay north of Cyprus and land at a port by the name of Myra.  From there they are transferred to an Egyptian ship that is heading to Rome.  Back at sea they encounter another storm and end up at a harbour named Fair Haven.  And it is at that point we read this account Acts 27:9-10 We had lost a lot of time. The weather was becoming dangerous for sea travel because it was so late in the fall, and Paul spoke to the ship’s officers about it. “Men,” he said, “I believe there is trouble ahead if we go on—shipwreck, loss of cargo, and danger to our lives as well.”

But what did Paul know?  He wasn’t a sailor, so the captain decided to sail further up the coast to a more sheltered harbour by the name of Phoenix.  And mixing metaphors that’s when the wheels came off the wagon and where we came into the story. 

Now most of us will never be in a storm at sea, at least you want to hope you won’t it really isn’t a lot of fun, people get hurt, equipment gets damaged and sometimes you throw-up on yourself, not that I would know about the last one personally it’s just something I read in a book.  Sometimes it looks something like this. . .  (storm video)

But every one of us here without exception will face storms in our lives.  They might be storms in your relationships.  Perhaps with a spouse or parents or children.  It might be a financial storm, or it might be a storm as it relates to your health, and there are some of you here today who are in the midst of that particular storm even as I speak. 

And I am familiar with some of your storms, we have talked, you have asked for advice or prayer and I know what you are going though.  But there are others here today who are good at hiding the difficulties in their lives.  It might be the way you were brought up or a matter of pride I don’t know, but right now the wind is blowing and the seas are threatening to capsize you and you are terrified. 

So. . . what can we learn from this story?  Let’s begin with the storm itself.  Acts 27:13-14 When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. So they pulled up anchor and sailed close to the shore of Crete. But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea. 

And so the first thing we discover is The Suddenness Of The Storm  In the spring of 1978 we were fishing on the Rali II off the northern coast of PEI when we lost our engine, it was a beautiful day and so we notified the Coast Guard that we were without power, they asked if we needed a salvage craft and our skipper, my uncle said “No, that’s alright, we will get our sister ship, the Nadine to tow us back to port.”  The best laid plans of mice and men.  Kind of reminds me of the scripture we just looked at Acts 27:13-14 When a light wind began blowing from the south, the sailors thought they could make it. . . But the weather changed abruptly, and a wind of typhoon strength (called a “northeaster”) burst across the island and blew us out to sea.  And sure enough before it was over people got hurt, equipment got damaged and the only reason I didn’t throw up was I was terrified.  When we finally got back to our home port people asked “What were you thinking?”  Well we certainly weren’t thinking we’d end up in the middle of a storm.

One of my rules of boating is “It is better to be on shore wishing you were at sea than to be at sea wishing you were on shore.”

But really isn’t that how most storms arrive? Without notice?  You think everything is hunky-dory and then the weather changes abruptly.   Your boss invites you into his office and lets you know the company is expanding your employment opportunities, the police arrive at your door in the middle of the night or the doctor says “perhaps you should sit down.”

In football there is a two minute warning sounded letting the teams know that there are two minutes left in the half.  Wouldn’t it be great if life gave us a warning to let us know that a storm is approaching?  Two minute warning, unemployment ahead, heads up a tragedy is just around the corner.  But life isn’t like that.

And while it may not be a comfort, understand that you are not alone, Luke and Paul weren’t the only two aboard the vessel and theirs wasn’t the only vessel at sea that night.  It might seem that we are all alone walking through territory that no one has ever walked before but others have been there before.

Acts 27:15-16 The sailors couldn’t turn the ship into the wind, so they gave up and let it run before the gale.  Following the suddenness of the storm was the The Frustration of the Storm 

In a perfect world the sailors would have turned their vessel into the wind, so even if they weren’t making much headway they at least had a semblance of control over their ship.  But apparently they had left the decision too late and now if they attempted to turn the vessel into the wind it would breach and roll over.

And so they did the only thing they could, they held on for the ride.

I think one of the things we struggle with the most in the storms that engulf us is the frustration of helplessness.  A few years ago I was at a conference in Moncton and the hotel we were staying in had a waterslide, so I decided that since I had paid for the waterslide I ought to use the waterslide.  First time I had been on a waterslide in fifteen years and the thing that struck me as I careened down the tube was the feeling of helplessness, of being out of control.   I knew how it had started and I suspected how it would end but right then I had no control over what was happening at that particular time.   You know what I’m talking about, you are in a storm right now and you know how it had started and you suspect how it will end but right now you have no control over what is happening. 

Soren Kierkegaard the Danish Philosopher summed it up when he said “I feel as if I were a piece in a game of chess when my opponent says of it, “That piece cannot be moved.””

In a perfect world if we had of responded sooner we may have been in a better position, but “would of, could of, should have, won’t change the reality of the situation. 

Most if not all of us want to be in control of our lives, even if we aren’t moving very fast we want to be able to say with William Ernest Henley “It matters not how straight the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll, I am the captain of my fate, I am the master of my soul.”

But often in the storms of life control is wrestled out of our hands and all we can do is let it run before the gale. We can’t go back and undo it or redo it, all we can do is hold on and pray.

But that isn’t to say there wasn’t anything they could do.  They had come to the realization that they had no control over the storm but there were things they could do to increase the odds of coming out of the storm in one piece.

Acts 27:17-19 Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before the wind. The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard. The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard.

Dealing with the Storm The sailors knew there wasn’t anything they could do about the storm, there was no way they could magically transport themselves to safety.  So they did what they could to make their vessel safer and increase the odds in their favour.  The first thing they did was is found in our story:  Acts 27:17-19 Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it.  They knew the only thing between themselves and certain death was their ship and so they made every effort to make sure their ship remained intact.  

When the storms of life threaten to swamp you realize that part of what keeps you safe are the relationships with in your life.  And most importantly your relationship with God.  Sometimes when the storm gets dark we find it hard to seek God, but that is when we need Him the most. Sometimes we feel like David did when he wrote Psalm 77:1-2 I cry out to God; yes, I shout. Oh, that God would listen to me! When I was in deep trouble, I searched for the Lord. All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven, but my soul was not comforted.  Have you ever felt like that?  Maybe it’s gone deeper, it did for David, Psalm 77:7-9 Has the Lord rejected me forever? Will he never again be kind to me? Is his unfailing love gone forever? Have his promises permanently failed? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has he slammed the door on his compassion?

Have you been there?  In the darkest days of your storm have you wondered if you have been abandoned?  Maybe you just need to follow through as David did Psalm 77:11-14 But then I recall all you have done, O Lord; I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago. They are constantly in my thoughts. I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works. O God, your ways are holy. Is there any god as mighty as you? You are the God of great wonders! You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.  Stop and remember what God has done, he didn’t abandon you in the past and he won’t abandon you now.  We need to remember Psalm 50:15 Then call on me when you are in trouble, and I will rescue you, and you will give me glory.

The secret and the promise are found in Isaiah 43:2 When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.

The word of God doesn’t say you won’t go through deep waters, or go through rivers of difficulty or walk through the fires of oppression, we are people we live on earth that is life.  Which may not be all that comforting but God is saying he is still on the throne and he is still in control.

And let’s not forget our relationship with those who care for us most.  Too often during those times you feel like you are all alone and that there is nobody there for you.  But too often that is because we have put up walls of self-pity and pride.  We have said either with our words or our attitude “I don’t need your help or I don’t want your help.”  But at some point you will have to acknowledge that you can’t do it yourself.  Surround yourself with people who can be there for you.  Heed the words of Solomon from Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.

Author George M. Adams tells us “Fortify yourself with a flock of friends! You can select them at random, write to one, dine with one, visit one, or take your problems to one. There is always at least one who will understand, inspire, and give you the lift you may need at the time.”

I remind people to make sure there is at least one person they could call at three o’clock in the morning to post bail for them.  Surround yourself with friends and family who can help you hold it together. 

Aristotle reminds us “In poverty and other misfortunes of life, true friends are a sure refuge.”  But as much as they might want to help they will only be able to if you let them.

The next thing they did was Acts 27:17-19 Then the sailors bound ropes around the hull of the ship to strengthen it. They were afraid of being driven across to the sandbars of Syrtis off the African coast, so they lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship and were driven before the wind.

They lowered the sea anchor to slow the ship.  They knew they couldn’t control where they were going but they could do what they had to slow it down and regain some control.  Sea anchors are usually like canvas bags that you toss overboard and they increase the drag of the ship, they won’t stop you but they will slow you down.  And if you don’t have the right thing than you need to use the next best thing.  The night we lost our engines off of PEI on the Rali II we had been mid water trawling, and that meant we pulled a large net behind our vessel that was held open by large metal wings, that were called doors, and we dropped those overboard on cables to increase our drag so we wouldn’t be blown ashore. 

When the storms of life come upon us it is a good time to slow down and re-evaluate our lives. God’s word tells us: Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God!”  Sometimes we are moving so fast that we miss the lessons that God has for us.  Get into God’s word, find time for church, take time to pray, cast out those sea anchors that you need to slow down your life.  Take time to think and re-evaluate where you are.

During that time we can see what course corrections there might need to be made when the time presents itself. 

Acts 27:18-19 The next day, as gale-force winds continued to batter the ship, the crew began throwing the cargo overboard. The following day they even took some of the ship’s gear and threw it overboard.

Then the crew began to lighten the ship by throwing the cargo overboard.  They had to decide what was important, right at that point in time and what was peripheral.  It might have been important at one time and it might be important again at another time, but right then at that particular point in time it was a hindrance and it had to go.

There may have been others who would have disagreed with them, to some people the cargo may have seemed important.  Like the people who owned the cargo, but they weren’t there and at that point in time it wasn’t their decision to make.

Another story, my family used to own a 42 foot cape islander, named the Narcosis, that had been converted to a pleasure boat that they used on the Saint John River system.  Angela and I honeymooned on the Narcosis.  On our first day we sailed into a little cove and dropped anchor so we could enjoy the sunshine.  Who would have known that there would have been that much tide 50 kms from the Bay of Fundy? 

When we went to continue our journey we discovered we were aground.  And we spent most of that night aground waiting for high tide to arrive at 4:30 or so in the morning.  As we approached high tide we put the anchor, the propane tanks and anything else we could in the dingy to lighten our load.  When we were afloat again we pulled the dingy back alongside and loaded stuff back aboard.

When you are facing storms in your life there may be things that have to be ditched, at least for the time being.  If you are between jobs and struggling financially you may have to re-examine your budget and see where you can trim fat, do you need cable, high-speed internet, two cars?  Is it essential to eat out as often as you did, maybe this year it isn’t essential that you belong to the gym and that your kids play hockey.  Those things may have been important at one time and they might be important again, but right now?  Perhaps not so much. 

Are you struggling with health issues?  Then maybe your focus needs to be getting better and that may mean curtailing some of your volunteer activities or not doing some of those things that “Others” think you should do. 

Are there problems with your marriage?  Than you probably need to focus on that for the time being, it should be a primary responsibility.  Other relationships may need to be put on hold for the time being, other activities may have to become secondary. 

Word of caution here, make sure that what you are offloading is peripheral; this wouldn’t be a good time to ditch church or your scripture reading or your time with God.   I’m assuming that they didn’t throw stuff like their food and water over board or the sails they would need later.

Here is the addendum to this message.  You may not be in a storm yourself but you probably know someone who is going through a storm.  This scripture gives us an example of what to say and what not to say. 

Acts 27:21 No one had eaten for a long time. Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss.  Paul should have been slapped.  Nobody needs to hear “I told you so” when they are going through the storm, they might need to hear it later but they don’t need to hear it right then. 

But he does redeem himself in the next verse Acts 27:22 But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.  Be an encourager; let them know that you are there and that you care.

I don’t know what storm you may be going through right now, but I would like to pray for you. 

Down the Road, Paul and Agrippa

You eat what you kill!  That was what I was told when I started selling for Saint John Toyota in 1985.  Angela and I had spent most of the previous year in upstate New York on staff at a Wesleyan church and that didn’t work out the way we anticipated and so we had returned to Saint John and eventually I ended up selling Toyotas.  I never liked saying I sold cars, it’s because people think less of you, but when you say you sold Toyotas it’s like you’ve done a service to humanity, and really it wasn’t a bad gig and I was always driving a brand new car.

If there was one down side it was the salary, there wasn’t one, there was no base, no minimum, it was completely commission, or as I was told “You eat what you kill”.                            

And so one day my Sales manager asked me if I had sold anything that morning to which I responded “I almost sold a Camry.”  To which he responded, “Well then, I will almost pay you on Friday.” 

How often do we use the word Almost?  I tell people, “I run almost every day, almost Monday, almost Tuesday. . .”  Which means in reality that I never run.  The Oxford Dictionary defines almost this way; Almost: adverb Not quite; very nearly:  Remember this (Get Smart Clip).  Almost means that you missed it, it might have only been by this much but you still missed it.

When I was a kid, when somebody said “I almost did this” or “I almost did that” the proper response was, “Almost only counts in horseshoes.”  Did you ever say that?  Did you know why almost only counted in horseshoes? Because in Horseshoes if you are close you still get some points. 

That is one of the facts of life: almost doesn’t cut it, as a matter of fact “Almost only counts in horseshoes.” 

We’ve been following Paul on his journeys and as we continue down the road Paul has been arrested for preaching the Gospel, again.  This time the Roman Consulate Festus decides to hand over the responsibility of Paul to King Agrippa, who wasn’t really a king at all he was actually Herod Agrippa the second, who ruled over a small part of Palestine at the grace of the Romans with his sister Bernice, who was the sister in law of Festus. The story is told in the book of Acts in chapter 26 Paul states his case, he starts with his early life and then how he persecuted the Christians, and then he told of his conversion, in short he gave his testimony. Paul has laid everything out and used all his ammunition, and then he closes with these words in Acts 26:27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do—” 

Paul has become the master fisherman. He has baited his hook, he has cast his line and now he has a nibble, he can see Agrippa taking the bait, easy, easy, and gotcha.  He gives the line a jerk to set the hook. You know it’s at this point that most of us fail in being fishers of men. We testify, we witness and get folks interested and then we don’t set the hook and they eat the goodies and swim away. But not Paul, Paul takes the time to set the hook. Paul was used to success, and I’m sure that he was ready for Agrippa to say, “I believe Paul, I believe”. 

But instead we read in Acts 26:28 Agrippa interrupted him. “Do you think you can persuade me to become a Christian so quickly?” 

You might be more familiar with this translation Acts 26:28 NKJV Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian” Almost Paul, but not quite. Paul must have been flabbergasted, discouraged, disgusted. And when I get discouraged I think of Paul, he blew it, he wasn’t a hundred percent. 

Why? Who knows, maybe he wasn’t convincing enough, perhaps he had turned Agrippa off in some way or perhaps Agrippa wasn’t paying attention maybe his mind was wandering and was thinking of something else. We don’t know why Agrippa was only “Almost persuaded”.  Paul had done everything right but it didn’t seem enough.

I love the ministry, it’s my life, and to a certain degree I have been training for the ministry since I was sixteen years old.   During the summers I spent working on salvage tugs and oil tankers but during my high school years I began selling and I continued to sell into my time at college. I sold dress clothes, blue jeans, vacuum cleaners, wood stoves, bicycles, cars, trucks, travel trailers and advertising. From the time that I was sixteen years old I made my living convincing people that they needed what I had to offer.

And really, ministry is sales. No that’s not sacrilege. I have something other people don’t have but need. My job very simply is to convince them that they need Jesus Christ. Every once in a while someone will ask me if I can do something about the weather to which I reply “Sorry I’m in sales not management.”

Now I am not one of those people who can sell everything to everybody I will never be able to sell refrigerators to the Inuit, I worked hard at my selling and I used all of the tools of my trade. I made sure that I was properly groomed, and well dressed, I discovered how to address people and set them at ease, and I learned everything about my product and I learned how to set the hook. I discovered early that it was no good spending time selling a product and then never actually asking the customer if they actually wanted to buy it or not.

And so Paul is ready to set the hook, He says “King Agrippa, do you believe?” and Agrippa says “You know Paul, you almost persuaded me”.  Not good enough Agrippa, almost found is still lost, almost saved is still doomed.

I’m sure that Paul wanted to say, “Agrippa, almost only counts in horseshoes.” But Paul wasn’t alone and neither was Agrippa. 

In Second Peter 2:5, Peter refers to Noah as a “Preacher of righteousness”   Now you would think, at least I would, and that if this fellow was a good enough preacher to get mentioned in the Bible as a preacher of righteousness that he must have been pretty persuasive. Wrong, out of all the people on earth he only persuaded seven people to join him on the ark.

Noah Didn’t Persuade Everyone

Only eight people all up were willing to forsake sin for God, while the rest forsook God for sin, why? Because they were more concerned with the temporal then with the eternal. That’s the way most of us are. The concept of delayed gratification is lost on us, we want what we want and we want it now. We just can’t see much further then tomorrow. That’s why so many people don’t look at resale value when they buy cars, that’s down the road. That’s why the government makes CPP contributions mandatory and why we have the old age pension. That’s why people don’t make up wills or funeral arrangements, they can’t imagine that this will end.

The people of Noah’s day were having a ball, they were saying, “Eat drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die” today our philosophy is “eat drink and be merry for you ain’t never gonna die. The people of Noah’s day didn’t want to hear that things were coming to an end any more than people today want to hear that.

Hebrews 11:25 speaks of the “Fleeting pleasures of sin.”  God doesn’t try to tell us that sin isn’t fun, but he does say that the fun doesn’t last. I’m sure that if Noah’s neighbours had of realized how close the reality of judgment was they would have changed their ways.

Now I’m not advocating that you need to give up your fun and games, and live a dull, boring, humdrum, ho-hum, monotonous life in order to get to heaven. Even Zig Zigler couldn’t’ sell salvation with a line like that. Jesus didn’t say “I have come to take the fun out of life” and Jesus didn’t say “I have come to make life unbearable” and Jesus didn’t say “I have come that life may be a drag” what Jesus said was recorded in John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

Who is them? Them is you? They were those who had responded to the claims of the Gospel. Millions of people have discovered an important fact, and that is that Christianity does not take the enjoyment out of life. Jesus Christ’s primary motivation is not to make life miserable but to make life full and rewarding.

If you don’t think that you can have fun as a Christian I would wager that is because you are receiving your “Fun” from external sources. Drugs, alcohol, or premarital or extra marital sexual activity. In other words you aren’t receiving your gratification from within or from friends you are dependent on external stimuli.

But things do end, and eventually the rain started, and Noah and his family went into the ark. And those on the outside, yelled out things like “Noah, you almost convinced us to repent.” And Noah leaned over the rail and said, “Almost only counts in horseshoes.”

But wait, Noah and Paul you’re not alone. Genesis 19 records the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Sin and immorality abounded in those two cities and God told Abraham that he was going to destroy the cities. Abraham began negotiating, “If I can find, 50, 45,40, 20, 10 righteous men will you spare the city” and God said “sure” or something like that. But in the end only four people were saved, Lot, his wife and their two daughters. Lot tried to convince his future son-in-laws, in Genesis 19:14 So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking.

Lot Didn’t Persuade Everyone

Lot’s future son-in-laws didn’t take the claims of God serious. They thought it was a game; unfortunately too many people have that attitude today. Religion is one big game show. And so society asks us “Do you believe door number one, door number two or door number three? And whatever beliefs you pick you win as long as you live that belief sincerely.”  It doesn’t matter if it is Christianity or Islam, or Mormonism, or Hinduism, or J.W.ism, they are all seen in the same light. Wrong, It’s just that people refuse to take the words of Jesus Christ seriously, he said and I quote from John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

 You say, “No preacher that isn’t right, what he really meant was that if you are a good person then he won’t punish you.” wrong, he meant what he said, and what he said was “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.   The only door to heaven is called Christianity and all others doors lead to hell.

God wasn’t joking when he said that the wages of sin are death, and when the fire and brimstone rained down on Sodom Lot’s son in laws must have cast their voices heavenward and said, “Lot almost persuaded us” And when lot looked down on the charred remains of those 2 great cities he said “Almost only counts in horseshoes” Paul, Noah and Lot you’re not alone

Luke 18:18 Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: “Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” 

Jesus responded by saying, “That’s a good question, I’m glad you asked, keep all the commandments” and the ruler said, “been there, done that” and so Jesus says in Luke 18:22 So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

And then in the next verse we see the man’s response:  Luke 18:23 But when he heard this, he became very sorrowful, for he was very rich.

Jesus Didn’t Persuade Everyone

Now let’s get one thing straight, money is not the important thing here, the important thing is the attitude. Money, an unsaved boyfriend or girlfriend, a job, a hobby a habit, what is the thing in your life that is more important than Jesus.

With me, look I would have come to the Lord three months sooner than I did if it hadn’t been for a female. She was something else. When I was with her I felt like a million dollars. She had a gorgeous shape, all the curves were in the right places and she drew stares where ever we were. If I left her for five minutes when I came back there was a crowd around her. I’d only been serious with her for six months, but I had first laid eyes on her two years before and it was love at first sight. Every nickel I earned’ was spent on her and I knew deep down in my heart that when I accepted Jesus as Lord that I’d have to give her up.

Right then she was my life and I fought a battle for three long months knowing it was her or God. And on the night that I turned my heart over to the Lord he told me “if you are going to serve me 100% then she has to go.” and I knew what I had to do and the next day I did it, I put a for sale sign on her. Oh did I fail to mention that “she” was a 1971 Cutlass Supreme convertible. She was fire engine red, with white top and leather interior power windows and a 350 rocket engine with four barrel carby and, and, and.

Maybe you aren’t foolish enough to let something as dumb as a car stand in the way of your salvation, maybe it’s your career or your friends, or you money or your pride. Jesus is looking for all of you. The rich young ruler thought he had it in the bag, it wasn’t until Jesus spoke that he understood, “He didn’t have the riches, the riches had him”.  Who or what is standing in your way. What is it in your life that is more important than Jesus? 

The rich young ruler wanted to follow Jesus, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that he wasn’t ready to give it all up. Salvation is free but it aint cheap, it will cost you all that you have and all that you are. The rich young ruler knew that there were things in his life that would hold him back. It would save a lot of time, if some people were at least honest enough with God, and with themselves to do what the rich your ruler did. And that was to say, “Jesus you almost persuaded me to follow you", and then he walked away. And Jesus must have been broken hearted as he thought, “Almost only counts in horseshoes.”

Paul you are not alone.

But there were others who were persuaded. Peter, Andrew, James, John, Bartholomew, Matthew and the rest of the 12. Zacchaeus was persuaded and so was Nicodemus, and Joseph of Aramiathia, and the woman at the well, and Simon the Pharisees, and the Paralytic at Peter’s house, the lone leper, the Prostitute who washed Jesus feet, the centurion at the cross, Saul of Tarsus, Cornelius, Priscilla, Eunice, Jude, Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Moody, Graham, Mansvelt, Kneebone, Wickwire, Slauenwhite and the list goes on and on and on.

In Hebrews chapter 12 Paul writes Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 

That crowd represents the millions upon millions of people who have done more then “almost believe”.  That crowd of witnesses is all of those who have gone on before you who were persuaded. The twelve were persuaded, the 120 were persuaded, the 3000 were persuaded, the multitudes were persuaded.

You say “Denn you almost persuade me to become a Christian” almost isn’t good enough, almost finishing the race means that you didn’t make it. Almost in means that you are still out, almost healed means that you are still sick, and almost saved means that you are still lost.

Denn Won’t Persuade Everyone

Almost doesn’t make it down here and almost won’t make it on judgement day. When Agrippa died and stood at the pearly gates, and said “Paul almost persuaded me to become a Christian” St. Peter would have said, “Sorry Agrippa, Almost only counts in horseshoes.”

The big difference is that horseshoes is only a game, and if you blow it then you play another game.   Life and salvation are no game, there is no second chance. When it’s done, it done. That great American Philosopher Yogi Berra said “It aint over til it’s over” and that’s true, but remember Yogi , when it’s over it’s over. Paul said it best when he stated in the book of Hebrews 9:27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment,

Almost persuaded isn’t good enough, it won’t help you follow Jesus in this life and it won’t get you to heaven in the next life. Why was Agrippa only “almost persuaded”  ?I don’t know. It wasn’t Paul’s fault, he did everything he could and it wasn’t God’s fault. Why is it that some who sit under my ministry are only “almost persuaded?” I don’t know, it’s not my fault, it’s not God’s fault. Jesus lost some, Paul lost some, Noah lost some, Lot lost some and Denn Guptill will lose some but I don’t want to. Are you almost persuaded?