The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-11-26
Faith Source of Strength
That Produces Leadership
Paups Life Characterized by Boldness
Sustained by the Promises of Divine
Help in Time of Stress.

ship and decided to 60 to a
haven of Crete for the winter.
Soon after they started on
their way a tempestous wind
arose and carried the ship be-
fore IT. After an exciting eX-
perience of falling into quick
sands and having to tighten the
ship. they went so far as to cast
out the tackle of the ship. When
for several days the clouds had
sun, and when those on board
despaired. Paul again appeared
and exhorted them to be Of good
cheer. saying unto them that the
angel of God whose / am ana
whom l serve" had appeared be-
fore him, saying. Fear not,
Paul; thou must be brought be-
fore Caesar: and 10. God hath
given thee all them that sail
with thee"
Paul Gains New Strength.
The storm continued until the
fourteenth night, when they
came near to land and the sailors
cast out anchors and then con-
.pired to leave the ship and save
themselves. Here the text OF our
talk for today begins at the
most dramatic point of the ad-
venture. 1t brings out the mas
terful character Of Paul, and
this outstanding fact compels a
consideration OF the reasons for
Paurs confidence. Paul's calm
ness. Paurs command of the
situation and Pauls care for his
companions.
Paurs confidence was not a
personal matter. although he
was self-reliant and had in him
those elements of leadership
that would have made him
dominant character among any
group, regardless OF the line Of
work in which he was engaged.
He was a leader when he went
about prosecuting the Christians:
that leadership was still more
pronounced after he had talked
with Jesus on his way to Da-
ma scus at the time of his con-
version.
1t is sometimes said OF a man
that he has convictions but has
them well under control. Not so
with Paul. His convictions con-
trolled him, but when he became
a follower of Christ he found
new source OF strength that
made him adamant in trying
positions.
Assured by Angel.
In this case he had vision
one OF the heavenly visions
which he so faithfully followed.
The angel of God assured him
that he must be brought before
Caesar and that God had given
him all them that sail with
thee" Was Paul deceived? Or did
he actually hear the voice of an
angel and accept as true the in
formation received?
We might as well meet the
issue here for II arises often
in reading the Bible. DO you be-
lieve in the supernatural, or
have you gone through the Bible
and eliminated everything that
you cannot explain? Have you
risen to the Bible plane. or have
you tried to bring the Bible
down to your level7 Is II inspired
or Just the word OF men, Have
you accepted the Bible as the
WORD of God and received IT upon
its own authority? II you believe
the things recorded actually
happened. you can understand
Paul and his comprehension
can understand Christ and his
work.
If. on the contrary, you reject
the supernatural. then the Bible
becomes to you a book OF fiction
worse still, you regard II as a
false record. no longer binding
on your conscience. but just a
volume from which you select
the passages that you like, as
you would select them from the
writings Of a philosopher, a poet
or a novelist.
Believed In His Vision.
In these talks we offer pass
ages from the Bible as words To-
be believed. not words to be
emAsculated by scepticism or
whitfield down by criticism or
rejected by agnosticism or athe-
ism. All that is said of Paul in
the account of his sea adven-
ture implies the absolute truth
and sincerity of Paul in report
ing what he saw and heard 1t
was Paul's belief in the reality
of his vision and his unque.tion-
ing reliance upon it's accuracy
and truthfulness that led him to
do the things that are described.
1t was because OF this conf
dence that he was calm. When
he had thwarted the plot OF the
sailors to desert the ship, he
called upon all to take refresh
ment. They had been fourteen
days without food and he knew
that deliverance was at hand.
His words Gained them; he was
calm himself and his calmness
was contagious. He took the
bread. gave thanks to God in
the presence OF them all, and
ate. Then were they all of good
cheer. and they also took some
meat"
prisoner on his way to plead
his cause before Caesar, rising.
giant like. from out the group.
He takes charge of the expedi-
ton. and two hundred and sew
enty-f1ve souls, including tho
centurion. captain of the ship,
sailors and prisoners, are his
guests. Why do they all obey?
Because he is the one man who
holds communion with God. He
is the channel through which
the commands of the Almighty
are delivered to those on the
ship.
Centurion Saves Paul,
He had no knowledge of the sea
or OF the tasks of the sailor, but
he knew God and trusted Him.
He heard, and Ahe obeyed; and
there was such majesty about
his faith that no one dared op-
pose him; they Acknowledged