Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1916-10-27
LESSON FOR OCTOBER 29
THE VOYAGE.


Paul sailed from Caesarea August,
A. ID. 30 (Ramsey), a few days after
bis address before Agrippa. He
reached Malta about November 10.
Paul knew how to meet nobs,
but none of his adventures are more
outstanding than the one we are
studying today. Luke, his physician.
was a companion, and the historian,
.IoSephus, states that on board the
ship there were more than 600 people
travelling with Paul. Paul was man
of distinction, Roman citizen. He
Lad his own hired house in Rome
Aristarchus may possibly have been
MS servant to furnish comfort for
the jOurney. Ramsey believes Paul
bad received hereditary property. thus
making him Il Roman citizen of rank,
Of learning and of standing finan-
cially.
I. Fair Weather and Contrary Winds
(vv. 1-12). Sidon was about 20
miles north of Caesarea on the coast
of PALESTINE Here Paul received lib
erty to go ashore and visit His Chris
tian friends. Myra is in Asia Minor.
1t requires IA days to reach this point
from Sidon, distance of about 100
miles. Here, instead of going up tie
Aegean sea route, often used in going
to Rome, the centurion found a grain
ship bound from Alexandria to Italy,
end put his prisoners on board. Sep
tember l they started for Italy. The
direct course would have been west
ward, but the wind vas contrary. and
the progress was slow. On the 23d
they were opposite Cnidus, the south
west point of Asia Minor, 130 miles
from Myra. September 25 they
entered the harbor of Fair Haven,
near the middle of the south shore
of the island of Crete. The fast day,
October 5. the day of the great atone
ment, was observed in this place. The
| question of going farther was a de
batable one, yet the commander per-
sisted, and about tie 10th of October
they sailed for Fair Haven
u. The Hurricane wv. 1920. TAX
| ing advantage of gentle wind they
rut out of Fair Haven, and almost
| Immediately encountered the hurri-
| cane. 1t was perhaps hard for Paul
curing those IA days to discern the
+ wise, gentle hand of God (Jonah
| 1-4). Gods most faithful servants do
not always find smooth sailing Phil.
| 4:6, z; Isaiah 26 3; John 16 :33). but
4 they nay,Sno matter how fiercely tenn
pest tossed, know that God has not
/ ceased to look upon them with favor.
Sometimes the best thing for us to
do, when thus tempest tossed. is ''to
tighten the ship ". 1S).
Many of us are carrying too much
cargo for such q stormy voyage as
Tins world presents, and the tempest
is often Gods call to Z unload (Heb.
12:1; Phil. BIS; Math 1926.
Their greatest danger was lest they
should fall into quicksand. 1t was
indeed a dark and doubtful situation.
III. The Message of Cheer: "a Be-
Iieve God" wv. 20-26). Neither sun
nor stars having shone for many days,
and all hope that any should he saved
seemingly taken away, yet God is able
to save in the darkness as well as in
the sunshine. In the tempest as we'll
as in the calm, and there was in that
bcat one man at least whose hope was
not gone, for God had said to him
"Thou must bear witness at Rome
aiso' (23:1D. Paul's message OF
cheer in the midst of this despair and
after they had been so long without
food Immediately stamped him as q
leader of wisdom and power. In the
presence of passengers and sailors he
began his message by saying that they
had come into this disaster by neglect
ing his advice two weeks before. He
refers to this in order to inspire conf
dence in his message, that there
should be no loss of any mans life
among them.
Paul could make this promise be
cause IAN angel Of God whose | an
and whom l serve" had come to him
and assured him that God would re
deem the promise made two years be
fore. This implies that Paul had giver
himself to prayer. Observe how one
godly man can save many ungodly
men (Gen. IS :22-33). Gods visior
came to Paul, but Paul used it for the
comfort and cheer of the whole ships
company III Cor. 1-4). A modern il
lustration of a similar experience was
that of Mr.. Moody and General How
ara, returning from Europe on the
steamship Spree in 1892.
/
Moody did great deal to cheer the
passengers, by both his words and hi,
actions, during those days of stress
and storm. The darker and stOrmiel
the night, the more likely are tht
angels of God TO appear if we are in
deed his ". %: CT Oh. 1923 :11)
Sometimes these angels stand besid,
us and we do not see them. we ar,
taken up with the darkness and tht
bowling of the storm. 1t is grea
thing to be able to look up to the in
finite God and say, 81 am his" II
make this statement intelIigently, an,
with deep realization of it's meanin;
will give significance and solelnnity t,
all.
w. Paul, the Life Saver wv. 27-37)
Paul did not stop with simply sayin;
that God was his, but went on to say
'Whom also | serve" Many say the,
are Gods hut do not prove it by thei
lives of service. Paul loved to thnl
and speak of himself as the servant o
God (Rom. :9; II Tim. 1:3; Titu
lid. Some of the sailors thought t,
launch the boat. leaving the passenger
to their fate.
All the hurricanes that ever strucI
the sea or the ships of the sea coul,
not prevent the fulfillment of God
promises, and Paul fully accepted rh,
significance of Gods word fear not.
1t is n great thing to have a godl.
= man in ship in storm ". 2O.
| Notice Paui's closing words in vers
25. Each of our lives is voyage
Childhood, youth. manhood and oil
! dge are sailing the sea of life.
The port to which we sail is tha
one designated by God, the celestia