There are so many books and movies about men that have been shipwrecked on an island.  No doubt, you can think of many yourself.  It seems like most of them have to do with pirates and then of course comes to mind the movie called Castaway with Tom Hanks about being Shipwrecked and that silly soccer ball that he called Wilson. 

When I was a young boy there was a TV series called Gilligan's Island. It was all about a group of people that were on a boat for a three hour cruise. They were just having a good time unaware of what was just ahead of them. As far as they could see, it was smooth sailing, not a worry in the world, life could not be better. Then comes a storm! The result of the storm was that they were not keeping an eye out for trouble. Next thing you know, marooned on a deserted island. The rest is TV legend history.

 

There are several shipwreck stories in the Bible. If you wanted to you could read the little book of Jonah which is only four chapters long. The Apostle Paul says that he was shipped three times, can you imagine such a thing not once but three times.  2 Corinthians 11:25 Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; 

And then there was an account of one of those shipwrecks in Acts chapter 27 you could look that up and read it if you like. One thing is for sure Paul understood what it was to be shipwrecked.  There could hardly be a more miserable circumstance than finding one self in a situation they never dreamed possible but they just never even thought the Shipwreck was a possibility.

There is a Bible text below where Paul warns about being Shipwrecked spiritually.

1 Timothy 1:18  This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;

19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme. 

At the time of writing this I have been coming out to the county jail for about 9 years. The one thing I have seen over and over is men that come to Christ for salvation during their time in jail or prison. With this newfound faith in Christ, they find hope that this time when they get out they will have better success at staying a free man. Then it is the craziest thing that can happen, I suppose to each man it's different the thing that can trigger us.  We can be doing fine and then out of the blue comes a “sucker punch" that we just weren't looking for. It may be money difficulties, relationship difficulties or just the everyday things that can come up. It may be things that we did not have to deal with while we were in jail. Then once that circumstance has triggered us, we wind up falling back on the very things that got us put in jail to begin with. The next thing you know . . .  back in jail. Shipwrecked yet once again. We swore that it would never happen but that's the weird thing about shipwrecks: you don't ever see them coming unless you learn to look out for them. I'm sure that there is no one that wants to be Shipwrecked, that longs for an accident at Sea that leaves them in peril for the rest of their lives. Nobody's looking for that. And then to think of somebody like the Apostle Paul that it happens three times. 

In the Bible text that we mentioned in first Timothy Paul had much experience with shipwreck both physically and spiritually. He had his own battles and he certainly had seen people that had spiritual battles as well.

A few years ago I had the opportunity to interact with somebody that had just gotten out of jail. His own testimony was that he had been in and out of jail many times and as a matter of fact most of his life had been spent in prison. This time there was something different. He had come to know Jesus Christ as his personal savior and as a result he had a new plan for when he got out he was going to do things differently and one of those things which is so important is to have a church home. He decided to go to church where I happen to be going. I'll never forget seeing him. He was so happy having gotten released and was now a free man. You know how it is, ready to conquer the world, on cloud nine stepping big time because he had a brand new start. 

I came across him in the hallway at a church one time and I was concerned that he wasn't going to keep his guard up spiritually. It is so easy to get sucker punched and spiral out of control. I stopped him and asked him “what would you do if I reached up and slapped you right now”. I'll never forget the look on his face. We're  standing there in church and the question just really caught him off guard and he gave me the most spiritual answer he could think of, “I would turn the other cheek, blah blah blah Etc”. I said okay, then what would you do if next time we were in church we walked by each other and I just reached up and slapped you again. He looked at me very puzzled and tried to give another answer of what he hoped he would do. Then I continued with … “and the next time that I reached up and slapped you what would you do?”. Then I told him what I'm trying to get across to you is to keep your guard up. There are things that are going to happen that we're not expecting and if we don't keep our guard up that circumstance is going to happen that will catch us off guard and that's the one that will cause us to be Shipwrecked. 

When Paul wrote these couple of verses he was making a charge to a young man. The first time I heard that word “a charge” I wasn't sure what it meant. It is a challenge that is given to a person to help them in the battle they will be facing. This charge is so that a young man can war a good warfare in order to become a faithful and good soldier for Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 1:18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; 

Make no mistake, the Christian Life is a warfare.  Sometimes we may think because we've accepted Christ that now everything is going to be a bed of roses and easier somehow. To some degree that is true with the exception of one thing; a spiritual life has started when we accepted Christ as our savior and now we have a couple of new enemies that we have really never dealt with before. One of them is the flesh. The “flesh” is that old nature, that sinful nature that we know all too well! That sinful nature wants to have his way.   Romans 7:18  For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.  Not only the flesh, but Satan and his minions were not our enemies before. Now, as a child of God we have a new enemy that wants more than anything our failure in the Christian Life.  1 Peter 5:8  Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 

In any “war” there are those that make “good warfare” and there are poor examples of soldiers as well. Paul is wanting this young Timothy to war a good warfare.

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith,  . . .

2 Corinthians 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:

4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 

2 Timothy 2:3  Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.

4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

When Paul continues writing he mentions two things as danger signs to be careful about. Because when these two things are put on the back burner or forgotten about, shipwreck is on the horizon.

1 Timothy 1:19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck: 

Have you ever had something that was a very precious possession? maybe something you treasured more than anything else in this world?  For each person there is a different story, as to what that precious position is. Then as this life goes on we get distracted from that precious possession and maybe even misplace it, or forget about it.  

When I was a much younger man my grandfather passed away.  I remember being shown some of the things that were left over after having been picked through by a lot of different family members and I found what was probably one of the most treasured possessions.  A little pocket knife that my grandfather carried for many years. I knew this because his name was engraved on it by a jeweler and then that portion was worn off. You could barely see the store bought engraving and it looked like he had taken a nail and scratched his name over the worn out fancy engraving.  I will never forget how much I treasured that knife, knowing that he had carried it in his pocket for who knows how many years. When I would pull it out of my pocket I could feel close to him even though he was gone.  Now that's been more than 30 years and I know that knife is still around somewhere but as I sit here writing this I could not tell you where it is. 

Holding faith 

It is always so important to keep in mind that it is faith that saves us (Eph. 2:8-9).  Faith in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ on the cross of calvary. I hope that is a decision that you have made in your life. 

Salvation is when we understand 

1. That we are sinners. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 

2. There is a penalty for sin and that penalty is death, separation from God. Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; . . Revelation 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.  

3. God loves us and Jesus is the proof when he died on the cross for our sins.  Romans 5:8 But God commendeth (showed) his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 

4.  We then believe with all our heart (trust) what Jesus did for us when He died in our place and an innocent substitute for us.  Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

A sinner's prayer of salvation is something like this. . .   “Lord I know that I have sinned against you, I know the penalty for sin is eternal death, I know that Jesus died as an innocent substitute for me, I trust Jesus Christ as my personal saviour, thank you Lord for saving me”

Then God says, the same way that we became a child of God, is how we walk as a child of God . . . . by faith.

Colossians 2:6  As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 

We receive him by faith and then we walk by faith. Especially when we first get saved, God is so close and so important to us, yet somehow or another it is so easy with the passing of time for that precious relationship to be put on the back burner forgotten about. God wants to always be #1 in the child of God's life.  You can read your Bible over and over and find so many stories where people made a shipwreck of their life as a result of forgetting about their faith in God.

Paul said if you want to avoid the Shipwreck give daily attention to your faith!  Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 

A Good Conscience

Have you ever had your conscience bother you about something that you did or said?  That is the inward working in the depth of our soul speaking to us about what is good or bad, right or wrong.

Now as a child of God it takes on a little more profound meaning.  Now that same inward part of us is affected by the Holy Spirit of God dealing with our spirit within us.  Romans 9:1  I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, 

As God deals with us about what we do or say we should continually yield to that conviction of God for many reasons, one of which is in order to have a good conscience. Notice the treasure that Paul speaks of in the next verse. Acts 24:16 And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men. Now be sure to notice also that it took exercise. That is a daily pursuit to please God. Look at the verse below at what the Apostle John said as well. You talk about a great treasure!  1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. When we are in good fellowship with God it is the greatest treasure. A good fellowship with God can only exist when our conscience is clear and our heart does not condemn us.

The clear reality is that when these things are not on the forefront, it is very easy to start making stupid decisions, kind of like somebody out on a boat; all of a sudden they get overconfident forgetting about the basic principles of operating that boat. Next thing you know . . . . Shipwrecked.

I saw something one time in the county jail that made me realize what one of the first danger sins is. Think with me if this is not true. One day when we were getting ready to come into the secure part of the jail to have church services, I went into the restroom and when I did I looked at the trash can and on top of that trash can was one of the Bibles that are given out inside of jail. I did not see the account of what took place but I could see it in my mind. I can see it as something that happens way too many times.  Inside of jail we focus our attention on God and it might be that we come to a decision to trust Christ as our saviour. We start getting into that Bible, we start learning how to pray cuz we've got big needs and then for some reason when we step out of those doors there's a tendency to put all of that on the back burner. The picture that expresses that problem is the Bible on the trash can.  

If I have one thing I repeat a lot when I'm inside of jail it is encouraging men to realize and understand that what we learn to put to work in jail in our spiritual life will also work on the outside. And the minute that we don't continue in our walk with God on the outside we may have some smooth sailing for a while, but the storms are going to come and without that solid anchor  . . . . shipwreck is on the horizon.

1 Timothy 1:20 Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.  

Paul gives the example of two men, these were real men that were part of his life that he had interactions with and tha no doubt at one time they had good desires in their spiritual lives. In all probability they were young in the faith and starting their spiritual journey as a child of God. They thought it would be easy and they never saw the major crash that was lying just ahead of them. Paul referred to them as spiritual shipwrecks.  After this shipwreck there is no doubt that these two men had major league regrets. 

These two men and the example of their tragic shipwreck has been repeated so many times down through the years and I just don't want it to be repeated with you.