The Exploits Of A Sent Man Part 4 by Pastor Jerry Eze: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Your Days of Bowing Down Are Over

Your days of bowing down and regret are over. Your days of being helped by the things you hate are over. All yokes are broken.

Acts 27 — The Sent Man in a Storm

Acts 27:1-44. When it was determined that they should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. Paul was a prisoner. A sent man does not have to be in perfect circumstances to be in the center of God's will.

Paul warned them before they set sail that the voyage would be with hurt and much damage — not only of the cargo and ship, but also of their lives. Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master and owner of the ship more than the things spoken by Paul. They set sail and a tempestuous wind called Euroclydon arose against them. The ship was caught and could not bear up against the wind. They were driven. They were exceedingly tossed with a tempest. The next day they lightened the ship. The third day they cast out the tackling with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay upon them, all hope that they should be saved was taken away.

But after long abstinence, Paul stood up in the midst of them and said: "Sirs, you should have listened to me and not set sail from Crete. But now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, though the ship will be lost. 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 behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you."

Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer. For I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me. Acts 27:25.

This is the declaration of a sent man in a storm. He did not pray his way to the angel — the angel came to him. Why? Because a sent man has an assignment and God is committed to that assignment being completed.

God's Commitment to the Sent Man's Assignment

The sent man carries the agenda of heaven. When heaven has an agenda, heaven protects the carrier of that agenda. Paul was in chains. Paul was in a storm. Paul was surrounded by 276 people who had lost hope. But Paul had the word of the Lord. And the word of the Lord does not fail.

God gave Paul all those who sailed with him. That means there are people connected to a sent man who benefit from the covering on that man. The centurion, the soldiers, the sailors — none of them would have survived apart from Paul's presence on that ship.

The Qualities of a Sent Man Under Pressure

• He gives counsel even when rejected. Paul warned them at the beginning. They ignored him. But when the storm came, he stood up again with a word from God. A sent man does not stop speaking because men did not listen the first time.
• He does not lose his peace in the storm. Paul was able to eat, to encourage others to eat, to give thanks in the presence of them all. In the middle of the worst storm, he gave thanks.
• He keeps others from fleeing. When the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, Paul said to the centurion, "Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved." The sent man discerns what must be held together and he holds it.
• He operates in the word that was given. The ship was eventually run aground and broken by the violence of the waves. But every soul was saved. It was even as it was told him. The word of the Lord did not return void.

The Sent Man's Favor Is Measureless

The centurion, willing to save Paul, kept the soldiers from their purpose of killing the prisoners. Paul's life was covered by God even through the decisions of unbelieving men. That is the kind of favor that rests on a sent man — it works even through people who do not know God.

You are a sent man. You are a sent woman. Your days of bowing down and being controlled by the things you hate are over. The storm cannot stop you. The chains cannot hold you. The agenda of heaven is on your life and it will be fulfilled.