The Tupelo journal., 1909-10-29
Paul a Prisoner
The Voyage
Memory
School Lesson for Oct. 81, 1913
Specially Arranged for This Paper

NAs1PDA b4< 49, ~. A~NON
verses 1924.
GOLDEN TExT."-Commit Thy way
unto the Lord. trust also in him, and he
shall bring it to pass."-Psa 37:5.
TIME.-Summer and autumn Of A.. d.
SO or 60.
PLACE-on the Mediterranean sea, on
the way to Rome.
Suggestion and Practical Thought.
The voyage of life illustrated by
Paul's voyage toward Rome.
/. The Voyage On a Peaceful Sea.
From Cesarea to Crete.-Vs. 1-13. The
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
a 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-
tan merchantmen loaded with grain
from Alexandria.
The ships company included Paul
and other prisoners, Luke, who writes
the account mote the I'VE" 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 (Acts
O0.dl. Cont Trr1i,,c nith a o,tarI nf
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 a PENN
sula at the extreme southwest point
of Asia Minor, although the distance
is only 1870 miles.
The sailing was still difficult, and
they put into a harbor called Fair
Ravens 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 adj
vised them to remain at Fair Ha-
vens till spring opened.
Pauls advice was good, but it is not
strange that experienced seamen
should not regard very highly the
opinion of a scholarly landsman.
2. Storm Tossed on a Wintry Sea.
VS.. 1926. There arose against it"
(v. 14), the ship, "a tempestuous
wind,' typhonic. tempestuous, like a
whirlwind; a hurricane, a typhoon, a
cyclone.
Is. 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. 1--WE let her drive" r. ", I'VE
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 ". 3S).
10. Cast out with our own hands,"
that is, of the passengers as we'll as
of the crew, "the t%ackling," 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 ia
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, tia
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 23:11).
Paul's safety was as sure as Gods
promise. The promise had been OBJ
scured before this, but it had shone
out again through riffs 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. fhe 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 it's goal. No
helmsman however skilled in handling
a wheel or experienced in seamanship
would be trusted to guide a 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 craftsmanship"
and also of manhood and ~womanhood.
Let us put into the language of the
sea the picture which Bishop Phillips
Brooks tells in the language of the
land as he pictures a traveller bound
on a long journey to a distant city.
At the very beginning of the journey,
from a high hill the traveller plainly
sees the spires of the far away city
flashing in the sun, and feasts his
eyes on the vision. The road at once
descends and loses sight of the city.