The log cabin Democrat., 1909-11-04
Paul a Prisoner The Voyage Sunday School Lesson fer 0et. 31, 1909
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 GOLDEN TEXT. "-Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass "-Psa. q :5. TiME,-Sumner and autumn of A. D. 69 or GO.
 PLACE. On the Mediterranean sea, on the way to Rome.
 Suggestion and Practical Thought. The voyage of life illustrated by Pauls voyage toward Rome. l. The Voyage on a Peaceful Sea. From Cesarea to Crete.-Vs. 1-13. The ships. After it 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 a large Egyp- tian merchantmen loaded with grain from Alexandria.
 The ships company included Paul and other prisoners, Luke, who writes the account (note the we" in the story) Aristarchus, an old friend of Paul who was one of the committee that accompanied Paul to Jerusalem with the collection for the poor tActs 20:4; Capt Julius, with a 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. It took them several days to reach the port Cnidus on a penin- sula at the extreme southwest point of Asia Minor, although the distance is only 130 miles.
 The sailing was still difficult, and they put into a harbor called Fair Ravens on the southern coast of Crete. Here they wainted 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- yens till spring opened.
 Paul's advice was good, but it is not strange that experienced seamen should not regard very highly the opinion of scholarly landsman.
 ?. Storm Tossed on a Wintry Sea. -Vs. 14-26. There arose against it" (v. 14), the ship, "a tempestUous wind" typhonic, tempestuous, like a whirlwind a hurricane, a typhoon, cyclone.
 b When the ship was caught" A very strong eXpression implying that the wind seized hold of the ship. as it were, and whirled her out of her course. "We let her drive" R. ". we gave way to it, and were driven" be- fore the wind.
 IS. The next day they" the sail ors, frightened the ship" The i'm perfect denotes that they began to tighten the ship, set about it by throwing out some of the cargo, not the precious wheat which was thrown overheard later (v. 38).
 19 Cast out with our own hands" that is, of the passengers as well as of the crew, the tackling," the fur niture of the ship, it's fittings and equipment, anything movable lying on the deck, upon which the pasSen- gers could lay their hands, such as ta- bles, beds. chests. and the like"
 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared" We have to re- member that before the invention of 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"
 The Vision of Cheer.-Now Paul comes to the front, the only one in the whole ship who could bring a message of hope. The reason for his assurance follows. An angel came to him with a message from God, as Jesus had appeared to his disciples in the tempest-tossed boat on the Sea of Galilee
 The message was that he would be saved because he (v. 24 must be brought before Caesar" as God had promised him before (Acts 23:1D. PauIS Safety was as sure as GOu 5 promise. The promise mad been ob- scured before this. but it had shone out again through rifts in the clouds. God hath given thee all them that sail with thee" Doubtless Paul prayed earnestly for the safety of those who were in the ship with him; and their lives were granted in an swer to his prayers. The good man is never selfish even in his prayers.
 The Port to Which We Should Sail. A statesman declares that The first requisite of one who would have a successful life, as of the pilot of a ship. is a knowledge of its goal. No helmsman however skilled in handling a wheel or experienced in seamanship would be trusted to guide vessel unless he knew and could specify in which direction it should go. A knowledge of the goal of nations is the first essential of statesmanship,' and also of manhood and womanhood.
 
 The Riches Of Christ,