The Indianapolis sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1880-1904, 1885-04-19

the scene of the shipwreck, bat the claim has
no solid support. Melita is q Phoenician
name, and the island seems TO have been Or
iginally colo nized by PhoenicIsns from Tyre
or Carthage. The people were called bar
barisns to distinguish them from Greeks
and Romans; not to mark them as uncivil-
izedor savsges. They had manufactures
and hacsome buildings. The narrative az
fords-
/. An interesting picture of heather hos
Iitality $50 kindly and CORDIAL, this must
Rave been most welcome. Dreuched and
chilled the case of the whole company was
sorry enough. The natives took pity on
them and showed them mo common kind
Dess," kindling FIRE, and receiving every
one, because Of the rain and CO o. Ii il q
mistake to suppose that all heather are with
out conscience ard compassion. Were II
otherwise how could the missionary Eately
60 among them; or find any starting place
IN their hearts from which to~build hope OF
their improvement.
Bot there is another side to this which
Robertson has we'll described. There is a
class OF writers who talk much OF early IN
sophisticated times. They tell of the days
when wild in woods the noble savage ran
But the Truth is, the natural good feelings OF
human nature are only instincts, no more
moral than long sight or delicate sense of
hearing. The profuse hospitality of the
mountaineer who rarely secs strangers and
to whom gold is little worth becomes shrewd
and selfish calculation so soon ss passing
traffic is placed in his way. You may travel
among savages who treat you as o stranger
with courtesy; but yet feed on the flesh CT
tier enemies" And eli this was true Of
the rs CO to which these Melitaas belonged.
Still the kindness of these heather may be q
reproof to uss if we are wanting in hospital
ity to strangers or compassion for suffering
neighbors.
,. An example of Apostolic condescen-
sion and bashfulness (3) Paul did not stand
by with folded arms while the natives built
the fire, aud the sailors brought the fusl.
With his own hands "he gathered bundle
of sticks and lsid them on the fire." We
have seen his Re p'ulaess on the ship during
| the storm; ano remember that he wss wont
to support himself BY labor a. his trade. All
| this helped to make him independent. Bat
| il also made him a man among common
men, There are stilted people, awful 10
| dignity ard cold in reserve, who never
| think of lending hand, who are over will
| Jog that others should wait upon them, and
do all the menisl things: and then they
wonder they never get near to other hearts.
3. Certain wrong lnferences from right
principles a 6)-That vipers are not now
found in Malta is no proof that they did not
| once abound there. This one, would seem,
| fastened upon the Apostles hand with its
| deadly faDgs The natives expected to see
| him drop down dead. They had natural
| sci So OF Justice q natural conviction that
| the guilty VIII bs punished. In this they
were right. IL is true there is j0st God,
| true that Sin unrepented sill not go unpun-
| ished, and true that 81 suffering is somehow
| the fruit Of sis. But their inference tba.
this Particular calamity was Denaltv fer
some specific crime was mistake We ara
not SO taught. all ills are from GOD, bat
| that which in one case is a judgment. in an
other may be means of gracious discipline,
| an Interpolation of mercy.
The other wrong inference appeared in the
4 " ~ m fhasp "
they Jaw that Paul was unframed. They
! were right in ascribing bis escape To divine
| power. God hand is in every good as well
| SIS every i'll. Bat this world is not the place
OF full award. Tacse who experience remark
| able del1veTen Cos or are greatly prospered
! are, not thereby. proved to be either gods or
favorites with Heaven. They may be good
men, and they may be quite other than what
they should be. The adjustment OF things
VIII come by aad by, and in another world.
4. hint for those who wouli do good
work for Christ & 10. 1T was no doub. on
julius account that tbs chief man o. the
! island invited the shipwrecked company to
bis house. But Paul was among them. And
it is interesting to notice how ready he ever
YVES to improve opportunities TO do any sort
OF good Just now We saw him helping to
iced the fire And hare a gain We find him
ministeTiDg TO the sick.
Luke was no doubt present, but suoh med
icines as be had started With must have been
|
where the father OF Publius lsy sick, prayed
and layed his hands on him. And once
more the power of Jesus was manifested in
miraculous healing. Other afflicted cnes,
hearing the news of what had been done
also came and other cures wsre wrought.
That which followed was precisely what We
should expect. The honors referred to ma ?
have been gifts, and the honors were many.
We may be sure Paul did not lose the op-
portuniiy thus afforded to tell the story OF
Jesus and to offer salvation to these people
To visit the sorrowiDg, the poor, the SICK; 70
chow them Kindness by sucn assistance as
we can render; to pray with aud for them
this, at least, Is IN our power, and 1t is sura
way to their kindly thought. 1t opens the
door OF their hearts. Ii pens the door Of
their hearts Ought We not 10 make more
ute OF this means TO reach men Or their pres
ent comfort, and particularly tba5so We may
win them for Christ?
> A glimpse of sunshine breaking through
the clouds (l115) The three months speut
in waiting at Malta must have afforded re
freshiDg rest to the Apostle after ali his trials
and perlIs at jerusalem and Caeserea and on
the Sea. We may bs also sure that some con-
verts were gathered. Bat the waiting is at
length over, and still prisoner he once more
sets out for Rome.
We are sure he has some Questionings re-
specting what shall beia'l him in that city.
Well.nigh alone, and no. so youthful as he
once was he could not have been without
some fears, as the final words of this passage
indicate. We are never TO forget that TIE
heroic Paul as human, and that his sensibili-
ties were az keen as ours. Bat now the sail
ing was smooth, and come possibly unex-
peCted JOYS awaited him. at Pdte9li he
found Christian brethren, and with them he
was permitted s week OF companionsh o..
And more gladdeniDg still was the surpr sc
at Apph, Forum and the Three Taverns. The
latter plscs was thirty aud the former forty
miles from Rome. at each of these places
delegations from the city met him. That
they should have heard OF his coming and
thus come cut to meet him After al these
centuries of time our own hearts are gla1 for
him. is 1T strange that he thanked God and