The Montgomery tribune., 1909-10-29
Paul a Prisoner
--ThesNoyage :.
Sunday School Lesson for Oct. 81. 1908,
speciallv Arranged for This Paper :
LESSON TExTIlAActs 27:1-0s Memory

GOLDEN TTlxTt'-CompIt, thy way
unto the Lord; TRUST also in him; and he
shall bring It to pass PISA. 37:5
T1ME.-Summer and autumn Of A. ID.
50 or 60.
PLACE.-on the Mediterranean sea, on
the way to Rome.
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
The voyage of life illustrated by
Pauls voyage toward Rome.
1. The Voyage on a Peaceful, Sea-
From Cesareafto Crete. US. f1H3. PIE
ships. After 1t was determined to
send Paul to Rome under military
escort, the first thing was to find a
ship. There was probably very little
direct commerce between Cesarea and
Rome, and hence they embarked in
trading vessel which coasted north.
ward along the shores of Palestine to
Sidon and around the eastern point
of Cyprus, past Cilicia and Tarsus,
and part Of Pamphylia to Myra In
Lycia, near the southwest angle of
Asia Minor.
The second ship was large Egyp-
tian merchantmen loaded with grain
from Alexandria. s~.N a.
The ships company included Paul
and other prisoners, Luke, who writes
the account (note the I'VE" in the
story; Aristarchus, an old friend of
Paul who was ore Of the committee
that accompanied Paul to Jerusalem
with the collection for the poor (Acts
20:D; Capt. julius, with guard OF
soldiers from the Augustan band, be-
sides we know not how many other
passengers, and the crew.
The Peaceful Voyage.-They sailed
westward. 1t took them several days
to reach the port Cnidus on penin.
sula at the extreme southwest point
of Asia Minor, although the distance
is only 100 miles.
The sailing was still diff ficult, and
they put into a harbor called Fan
Havens on the southern coast of
Crete. Here they Wanted for pleas
anter weather. But it was late in the
season, and rough, stormy weather
must be expected to prevail. Paul ad.
vised them to remain at Fair Ha-
vens till spring opened.
Paul's advice was good, but It is not
strange that experienced seamen
should not regard very highly the
OpihiOh VI a oSholdlly
2. Storm Tossed on Wintry Sea
VS.. 1926. There arose against it"
". 1D, the ship, "a tempestuous
wind" typhonic, tempestuous, like a
whirlwind; hurricane, typhoon, a
cyclone.
Is. when the ship was caught"
A very strong expression, implying
that the wind seized hold of the ship
as 1t were, and whirled her out of her
course. 1--WE let her drive" r. ", 1--WE
gave way to 1t, and were driven" be-
fore the wind
18. "The next day they" the sail
ors, frightened the ship" The i'm
perfect denotes that they began tc
tighten the ship, set about 1t by
throwing out some Of the cargo, not
the precious wheat which was thrown
overheard later ". 3S).
10. Cast out with our own hands,
that is, Of the passengers as we'll as
of the crew, "the tackling," "the fur
niture of the ship, its fittings and
equipment, anything movable lying
on the deck, upon which the passen
gers could lay their hands, such as ia
bles, beds, chests, and the like"
90 when neither sun nor stars
appeared" We have to re
member that before the invention O
the compass the sun and stars were
the only guides of sailors who were
out of sight of land. "All hope
was then." at last, henceforth, "ta
ken away"
Tho Nicinn nf Thoar -NnTy Don
comes to the front, the only one il
the whole ship who could bring /;
message of hope. The reason for hi
assurance follows. An angel came t
him with a message from God, al
Jesus had appeared to his disciples IL
the tempest-tossed boat on the Sea o
Galilee.
The message was that he would b.
saved because he ". 24) must b.
brought before Caesar" as God ha,
promised him before (Acts 23:11)
Pauls safety was as sure as God
promise. The promise had been OF
scured before this, but it had shon
out again through riffs in the clouds
God hath given thee all them tina
sail with thee" Doubtless Pau
prayed earnestly for the safety O
those who were in the ship with him
and their lives were granted in al
swer to his prayers. The good ma
is never selfish even in his prayers
The Port to Which We Should Sal
"A statesman declares that 9Th
first requisite Of one who would hav
successful life, as of the pilot of
ship, is knowledge of its goal N
helmsman however skilled in handlin
wheel or experienced in seamanshi
would be trusted to guide vesse
unless he knew and could specify 4
which direction 1t should go. !
knowledge Of the goal of nations
the first essential of craftsmanship,
and also of manhood and womanhoot
1T