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And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy! Acts 27:1-20 St. Paul's voyage E. T. Prust. The power of religion is best seen when it is exhibited in living reality. It is so as to its sanctifying energy. It is so, too, as to its efficacy in sustaining amid danger, and comforting in difficulty and sadness. It has always, therefore, been the plan of Providence to place good men, and sometimes the Church collectively, in such circumstances as to test, and thus to make manifest, the sustaining energy of religious principle in times of agitation and danger. I. A STORM IN THE MEDITERRANEAN. How powerless, or at least how feeble, man appears, and is, when contending with the mighty agencies of nature! The stoutest heart then quails. The most reckless are then often seen on their knees. Men almost instinctively call at such times on Him who "holds the winds in His fist and the waves in the hollow of His hand." It is difficult to realise such a scene of terror in calmer days. But there is a great emblematic lesson in this. The fact that such changes do arise in nature — that the blue sky may become beclouded, that the bright sun may be hidden, that the sea, now so glassy and so clear, may be lashed into tempest, and that the mariner who now seems to be lord of the deep, subduing winds and waves into subserviency to his ends, may another day be contending with that same element roused into fierceness and storm, and made to feel how weak he is in that terrible conflict — is emblematic of other changes, which may, and must, one day arise. Life is not ever the calm, even flow of days and months and years. The brightest scene may be overcast, and to some extent is almost sure to be. Life's autumn and life's winter must be thought of as well as its summer days. All may know times of stormy wind and tempest, and all will one day be in the grasp of death, and have to face the near prospect of those things which abide when the shadows shall have passed away! II. ST. PAUL AMIDST THE STORM. 1. We see the apostle's repose of soul in this hour of peril, and the grounds of it. It was in his relation with God that he found restfulness. Our "times" are in His hand. St. Paul knew, too, that he was now here in God's service. 2. We have here a striking example of Christian life and influence. Paul had resources of strength and comfort that those around him had not, and he becomes their comforter and adviser. III. THE BENEFICENT WORKING OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE FOR THE PRESERVATION OF PAUL AND ALL WHO WERE WITH HIM. The promise of God was fulfilled, the perils of the deep having only made Divine protection the more evident and the more deeply felt. ( E. T. Prust. )

Benson Commentary Acts 27:1 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. Acts 27:1-2 . When it was determined that we should sail into Italy — The apostle having, by appeal, transferred his cause to the emperor, Festus determined to send him to Italy by sea, as being a shorter and less expensive passage to Rome; and for that purpose delivered him, with certain other persons, who were also to be judged at Rome, to one Julius, a centurion of the Italian legion. All these prisoners, with the soldiers who guarded them, went aboard a ship of Adramyttium, a seaport of Mysia, and sailed from Cesarea in the autumn of A.D. 62. From the history here, it appears that the messengers of the churches, who accompanied Paul into Judea with the collections, ( Acts 21:4 ,) were not intimidated by the evils which the Jewish rage brought upon him in Jerusalem. For, while he continued there, they remained with him; and when he was sent a prisoner to Cesarea, they followed him thither, and in both places, doubtless, ministered to him, and perhaps attended him on his trials. And when it was determined to send him to Italy, two at least of these affectionate friends went in the same ship with him; namely, Luke, the writer of this book, as appears from his style here, and Aristarchus, a Thessalonian. Acts 27:2 And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us. Acts 27:3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. Acts 27:3-8 . And the next day we touched at Sidon — A celebrated city on the Phenician coast, not far from Tyre. Here Julius, to whose care the prisoners had been delivered, being a man of singular humanity, allowed Paul to go ashore and refresh himself with the brethren of that city; a favour which must have been peculiarly acceptable to one that had been so long in prison. After that, loosing from Sidon, they sailed under Cyprus — Leaving it on the left hand; to Myra, a city of Lycia; and there finding a ship of Alexandria, bound for Italy, they went aboard. This ship, it is probable, was laden with wheat, for the greatest part of the corn consumed in Rome was brought from Alexandria in Egypt; and the vessels employed in that trade were exceedingly large, as this vessel certainly was; for there were on board of her no fewer than two hundred and seventy-six persons. And when we had sailed slowly many days — By Rhodes and several other small islands, which lay near the Carian shore; and scarce were come over against Cnidus — A cape and city of Caria; the wind not suffering us — To make greater despatch, steering to the south; we sailed under Crete — A well-known island in the Mediterranean sea; over against Salmone — A promontory on the eastern coast of that island. And hardly passing it — That is, passing the cape with difficulty; we came to a place called The Fair Havens — The most considerable port in that part of Crete, which still retains the same name: but the city Lasea, mentioned next, is now utterly lost, together with many more of the hundred cities for which Crete was once so renowned. Acts 27:4 And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. Acts 27:5 And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. Acts 27:6 And there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing into Italy; and he put us therein. Acts 27:7 And when we had sailed slowly many days, and scarce were come over against Cnidus, the wind not suffering us, we sailed under Crete, over against Salmone; Acts 27:8 And, hardly passing it, came unto a place which is called The fair havens; nigh whereunto was the city of Lasea. Acts 27:9 Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them , Acts 27:9-12 . Now when much time was spent — In making this little way, and the season of the year was so far advanced, that sailing was now dangerous — On account of the tempestuous weather usual at that season: for the fast — Of the seventh month, or anniversary expiation; was now past — And consequently winter was coming on apace. It may be proper to observe, that the fast here spoken of was the day of atonement, which was ordered to be kept on the 10th day of the 7th month, called Tisri by the Jews, and consequently must have been about the 25th of our September. Philo, in several passages quoted by Dr. Whitby in his note here, speaks of this as an ill time for sailing, as Aratus also does; and it would naturally be so, not only on account of winter approaching, but also because of the flows that are still well known in the Mediterranean. Paul admonished them — Not to leave Crete. “Even in external things,” says Bengelius, “faith exerts itself with the greatest presence of mind, and readiness of advice.” And said unto them — Namely, to the centurion and other officers; I perceive that this voyage — If it be pursued according to the present scheme you have in view; will be with hurt and much damage — Paul seems to have given them this warning, not so much because of the time of the year, and the tempests usually attending it, as by a prophetical spirit. God, intending to preserve and honour Paul in this tedious and difficult voyage, endues him with the gift of prophecy; which, when they saw it verified, could not but beget in them a great respect for him, and was probably the means of salvation to many that were in the ship with him; not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives — So it would have been; their lives would have been lost, as well as the ship and goods, had not God given the lives of all in the ship unto Paul, and saved them for his sake. See Acts 27:24 . Nevertheless, the centurion believed the master — Whom he thought most experienced and best skilled in an affair of that kind. And, indeed, it is a general rule, Believe an artificer in his own art. But Paul had an extraordinary qualification, with which the centurion was not acquainted: he had supernatural light from God. And because the haven — Notwithstanding its promising name; was not commodious — ????????? , was unfit, and probably judged unsafe; to winter in, the more part — Of the ship’s company; advised to depart — ????????? , to set sail thence; if by any means they might obtain to Phenice — A port in Crete, and not the Phenicia in Syria; and lieth toward the south-west and north-west — That is, having a double opening to these two parts. Acts 27:10 And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Acts 27:11 Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul. Acts 27:12 And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west. Acts 27:13 And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence , they sailed close by Crete. Acts 27:13-15 . And when the south wind blew softly — Ordinarily a wind very mild, and at that time not high; supposing they had obtained their purpose — And would soon arrive at the harbour they wished to reach; loosing, they sailed close by Crete — That is, sailed along the shore of the island, not being afraid to be driven upon it by that side wind. But not long after there arose against it — Against the ship; a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon — This expression comes from ????? and ?????? , an eastern storm, as the word signifies. A kind of tempest this which is called by those who now frequent those seas, a Levanter. It was a kind of hurricane, not carrying them any one way, but tossing them backward and forward: for these furious winds blow in all directions, from the north-east to the south-east. And when the ship was caught — ?????????????? , was violently hurried away; and would not bear up against the wind — Or face it, as the word ???????????? signifies; we let her drive — Gave her up to the wind, to be driven before it. Acts 27:14 But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon. Acts 27:15 And when the ship was caught, and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. Acts 27:16 And running under a certain island which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the boat: Acts 27:16-19 . Running under a certain island called Clauda — A little to the south of the western coast of Crete. Such was the violence of the storm, that we had much work — Great difficulty to become masters of the boat, so as to secure it from being staved; which when they had taken up, they used helps — Not only all such instruments as were fit for their purpose, but all hands too; undergirding the ship — With cables, to keep it from bulging, and enable it to ride out the storm; and fearing — As the wind had varied more to the north, and blew them toward Africa; lest they should fall into the quick-sands — The greater or the lesser Syrtis, those quick-sands on the African shore, so famous for the destruction of mariners and vessels; they strake sail — That so their progress might be slower, and some more favourable weather, in the mean time, might come to their relief; and so were driven — Before the wind, as before. And the next day they lightened the ship — Casting the heavy goods with which she was laden into the sea. And the third day we cast out the tackling of the ship — Cutting away even those masts that were not absolutely necessary, and throwing them overboard with their furniture. Acts 27:17 Which when they had taken up, they used helps, undergirding the ship; and, fearing lest they should fall into the quicksands, strake sail, and so were driven. Acts 27:18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship; Acts 27:19 And the third day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship. Acts 27:20 And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us , all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. Acts 27:20-22 . And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared — The direction of which could be the less spared before the compass was found out; and no small tempest lay on us — Still the wind was boisterous, and the sea ran high; all hope that we should be saved — That is, delivered from the danger we were in; was then taken away — The whole ship’s company expected nothing but that the ship would certainly be lost, and we should all perish with it. But after long abstinence — For all this time they had had no heart to think of taking any regular refreshment, and probably several of them took little or none; Paul stood forth in the midst of them — Authorized by God to give them encouragement; and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me — Paul having foreseen and foretold what had befallen them, and warned them not to set sail from Crete, they ought to have believed his prediction, and taken his advice, especially as Luke and Aristarchus, if not some others on board the ship, Paul’s companions, could have borne, and probably did bear, witness to the spirit of prophecy and the miraculous powers with which he was endowed: and for their not hearkening to him they were now deservedly punished. And to have gained — That is, to have brought upon yourselves and upon us all, as well as upon the owner of the ship, this harm and loss — Which is now before your eyes. The words, ????? ??? ?????? , rendered harm and loss, are used Acts 27:10 , and have here evidently a reference to what the apostle had there predicted. And — Or nevertheless; now I exhort you — Bad as the situation of affairs may appear; to be of good cheer — For though you conclude you must inevitably perish, I assure you there shall be no loss of any man’s life — Among you, that is, provided they would do as he directed them, see Acts 27:31 . In God’s promises there is generally implied a tacit condition, which, from the nature of the thing, is to be understood, as in the promise made to Eli, 1 Samuel 2:30 . Paul here foretels their preservation so particularly, that, when it was effected, more credit might be given to the gospel which he preached, and more glory might redound to the God he worshipped. Acts 27:21 But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. Acts 27:22 And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. Acts 27:23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Acts 27:23-26 . For, &c. — As if he had said, It is not without good authority that I speak in so express and positive a manner, with regard to an event which seems to you utterly improbable; there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose servant and property I am, and whom I serve — Worship and obey. How short a compendium of religion! Yet how clear and how full! Containing both doctrine and practice, both the foundation and the superstructure: comprehending at once faith, hope, and love, with their proper fruits: in fact, all graces and virtues. Reader, see thou be able to say, Whose I am! and then, and not before, thou wilt be able to add, and whom I serve. Be his subject, his servant, his child, his heir, and know thyself to be such, know that thou art of God, by the Spirit which he gives thee, and then thou wilt be able to serve him in holiness and righteousness before him, making his will thy rule, and his glory thy end, in all thy actions, and that all the days of thy life. Saying, Fear not, Paul — Such a message God’s angels have often brought unto his people. See Daniel 10:12 ; Daniel 10:19 ; Luke 2:10 ; Matthew 28:5 . Thou must be brought — Rather, be presented; before Cesar: and lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee — Paul had doubtless prayed for them. And God gave him their lives; and perhaps their souls also. And the centurion, subserving the designs of the Divine Providence, spared, for his sake, the lives of the prisoners, Acts 27:43 . Here we have an instance how wonderfully the providence of God reigns in things apparently the most contingent! And, rather shall many bad men be preserved with a few good, (for so it frequently happens,) than one good man shall perish with many bad. So it was in this ship, and so it is in the world. Paul repeats, it seems, the very words of the angel, Lo, God hath given thee all that sail with thee. For at such a time of distress as this, there was not the same danger which there might otherwise have been, of Paul’s seeming to speak out of vanity what he really spoke out of necessity. Wherefore, be of good cheer — Take courage, and lay aside your fears; for I believe God — I trust in him whose word is faithful, and his power almighty; that the event shall be as has been told me. Howbeit — I know also; we must be cast upon a certain island — And that the vessel will be wrecked upon the coast of it. Nevertheless, if we take care to use the proper means, we shall all escape, and get safe to land. Acts 27:24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Acts 27:25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Acts 27:26 Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. Acts 27:27 But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria, about midnight the shipmen deemed that they drew near to some country; Acts 27:27-32 . But when the fourteenth night — Since they left Crete; was come, as we were driven up and down in Adria — That is, in the Adriatic sea: as the ancients called all that part of the Mediterranean sea which lay south of Italy. About midnight, the shipmen deemed (apprehended) that they drew near to some country — Or shore; which confirmed what Paul had told them, that they must be driven upon some island: and, to try whether it was so or not, they sounded — In order to ascertain the depth of the water, which would be less as they drew nearer to the shore. And by the first experiment, they found it twenty fathoms, and by the next only fifteen — Which decrease of their sounding convinced them that their apprehension was just. Then, fearing lest they should have fallen upon rocks — Of which there were very many in those seas, especially about the islands, where there might not be depth of water sufficient to keep the vessel from striking; they cast four anchors out of the stern — This shows how great the tempest was, in that they needed so many anchors; and wished for day — That they might the better discern their situation. And, as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship — Perceiving the danger to be extreme, and endeavouring to provide for their own safety, by making to the shore; and when — To compass their design; they let down the boat into the sea — Supposing it would go more safely over the shallows; and were just going into it, under colour as though they would have cast anchors — From the ship’s head, to make the vessel more secure; thus dissembling the true reason of their going into the boat, which was to make their escape. Paul — Who knew it was the will of God that all proper endeavours should be used for their preservation, in a dependance on the promise he had given them, perceiving the design they had in view; said to the centurion and to the soldiers — Who had power to hinder their accomplishing their design; Except these mariners abide in the ship — Without whom ye know not how to manage it; ye cannot be saved — He does not say, We. That they would not have regarded. The soldiers were not careful for the lives of the prisoners: nor was Paul careful for his own. We may learn hence, to use the most proper means for security and success, even while we depend on Divine Providence, and wait for the accomplishment of God’s own promise. He never designed any promise should encourage rational creatures to act in an irrational manner; or to remain inactive, when he has given them natural capacities of doing something, at least, for their own benefit. To expect the accomplishment of any promise without exerting these, is at best vain and dangerous presumption, if all pretence of relying upon it be not profane hypocrisy. Then the soldiers — Who had learned from their commander to pay a deference to what Paul said, that the success of this intended fraud might be effectually prevented; cut off the ropes of the boat — By which it was fastened to the side of the ship; and let it fall off into the sea — Before any of the mariners got into it. Acts 27:28 And sounded, and found it twenty fathoms: and when they had gone a little further, they sounded again, and found it fifteen fathoms. Acts 27:29 Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day. Acts 27:30 And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Acts 27:31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Acts 27:32 Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. Acts 27:33 And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Acts 27:33-38 . While the day was coming on — Before they had light sufficient to discern what they should do; Paul besought them all to take meat — To take some refreshment; saying, This is the fourteenth day that ye continue fasting — Not as if they had absolutely eaten nothing all that while; for it is generally allowed that none can fast half so long without danger of death; having taken nothing — No regular meal; through a deep sense of your extreme danger: the necessary consequence of which is, that you must be very faint and weak, and unfit for those exertions and fatigues which may farther lie before you; for it will be a narrow escape that we are to expect, and we may find great difficulties in getting on shore. If a sense of the great danger they were in took away all their desire for food, let us not wonder if men who have a deep sense of the danger they are in of everlasting death should, for a time, forget either to take food, or to attend to their worldly affairs. Much less let us censure that as madness which may be the beginning of true wisdom. Wherefore — Since till the morning rises we can attempt nothing by way of approach to land; I pray — ???????? , I exhort; you to take ?????? , nourishment, for this is — ???? ??? ???????? ???????? , for your preservation, that ye may be the better able to swim to shore; for there shall not a hair, &c. — A proverbial expression, assuring them of entire safety. And when he had thus spoken, he took bread and gave thanks — For that provision which God now gave them in their necessities, and for the assurance of life with which he had favoured them by so particular a revelation; and when he had broken it, he began to eat — Thus setting them an example. Then were they all of good cheer — Encouraged by his example as well as words; and they also took some meat — As he had done. And when they had eaten enough — As much as was sufficient for their present refreshment and support; they lightened the ship — Still more than they had done; and cast out the wheat — The very stores they had on board; into the sea — So firmly did they now depend on what Paul had said. Acts 27:34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you. Acts 27:35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it , he began to eat. Acts 27:36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat. Acts 27:37 And we were in all in the ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. Acts 27:38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, and cast out the wheat into the sea. Acts 27:39 And when it was day, they knew not the land: but they discovered a certain creek with a shore, into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust in the ship. Acts 27:39-41 . And when it was day — And they had the shore before them; they knew not the land — And therefore were still at a loss what course to take; but they discovered a certain creek — A bay or bosom of the sea, having land on each side, where they judged it most likely for them to get on shore; using, however, still all proper means for their safety. And when they had taken up — Or, as it is now termed, weighed; the anchors, they committed themselves — Or, rather, the ship; unto the sea — And tried to stand in for the creek. But the original expressions here, ??? ??????? ??????????? ; ???? ??? ??? ???????? , may be rendered, having cut the anchors, they left them in the sea. And loosed the rudder- bands — Their ships had frequently two rudders, one on each side. These were fastened while they let the ship drive; but were now loosened, when they had need of them to steer her into the creek. And hoisted up the mainsail to the wind — Which seemed to set right for their purpose. Although our translators here render the word, ???????? , mainsail, Grotius (who supposes that ?????? , rendered sail, Acts 27:17 , signifies the main-mast, and consequently, that the mainsail was now gone, Acts 27:19 ) supposes it was a sail near the fore part of the ship, answering to what we call the foremast, or the bowsprit. And falling into a place where two seas met — Probably by reason of a sand-bank running parallel with the shore, such was the violence of the current, that they ran the ship aground, so that the fore part stuck fast upon the sand. but the hinder part was broken to pieces by the violence of the waves — So that they suffered shipwreck with the shore in view, and almost in the harbour, teaching us never to be secure. Acts 27:40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoised up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. Acts 27:41 And falling into a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the forepart stuck fast, and remained unmoveable, but the hinder part was broken with the violence of the waves. Acts 27:42 And the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out, and escape. Acts 27:42-44 . And — In this critical juncture, as there were several prisoners on board, who were to be conveyed in custody to Rome; the soldiers’ counsel was to kill them — A counsel most unjust, ungrateful, and cruel; lest any of them should swim out and escape — Out of their hands; of which they were unwilling to run the hazard, as they knew how severe the Roman law was in such cases, where there was any room to suspect the guards of connivance or negligence. But the centurion, willing — Or rather, desirous; to save Paul — For though he had despised his advice, ( Acts 27:11 ,) yet he afterward saw much cause to respect him, and therefore prevented the soldiers from executing their purpose. Thus God, for Paul’s sake, not only saved all the rest of the ship’s company from being lost in the sea, but preserved the prisoners from being murdered, according to the unjust and barbarous proposal of the soldiers, who could have thought of no worse a scheme, had they all been condemned malefactors, and had these guards, instead of conveying them to their trial, been carrying them to the place of execution. Commanded that they who could swim should cast themselves first into the sea, and get to land — That they might be helpful to others in getting on shore; and the rest, some on boards, &c. — Still using means, though it was of God only that they had those means, and that the means were made effectual for their preservation. And it came to pass — Through the singular care of Divine Providence, and according to the prediction of Paul; that they escaped all safe to land — And there was not one single life lost; and some of them, doubtless, received the apostle as a teacher sent from God. These would find their deliverance from the fury of the sea but an earnest of an infinitely greater deliverance, and are, long ere this, lodged with him in a more peaceful harbour than Malta, or than earth could afford. Acts 27:43 But the centurion, willing to save Paul, kept them from their purpose; and commanded that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea , and get to land: Acts 27:44 And the rest, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship. And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land. Benson Commentary on the Old and New Testaments Text Courtesy of BibleSupport.com . Used by Permission.

Expositor's Bible Commentary Acts 27:1 And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band. Chapter 18 IN PERILS ON THE SEA. Acts 27:1-3 ; Acts 28:16 THIS chapter terminates our survey of the Acts of the Apostles, and leads us at the same time to contemplate the Apostle of the Gentiles in a new light as a traveller and as a prisoner, in both which aspects he has much to teach us. When St. Paul was despatched to the judgment-seat of Caesar from the port of Caesarea, he had arrived at the middle of his long captivity. Broadly speaking, he was five years a prisoner from the day of his arrest at Jerusalem till his release by the decision of Nero. He was a prisoner for more than two years when Festus sent him to Rome, and then at Rome he spent two more years in captivity, while his voyage occupied fully six months. Let us now first of all look at that captivity, and strive to discover those purposes of good therein which God hides amidst all his dispensations and chastisements. We do not always realise what a length of time was consumed in the imprisonments of St. Paul. He must have spent from the middle of 58 to the beginning of 63 as a prisoner, cut off from many of those various activities in which he had previously laboured so profitably for God’s cause. That must have seemed to himself and to many others a terrible loss to the gospel; and yet now, as we look back from our vantage-point, we can see many reasons why the guidance of his heavenly Father may have led directly to this imprisonment, which proved exceedingly useful for himself and his own soul’s health, for the past guidance and for the perpetual edification of the Church of Christ. There is a text in Ephesians 4:1 which throws some light on this incident. In that Epistle, written when St. Paul was a captive at Rome, he describes himself thus, "I therefore the prisoner in the Lord," or "the prisoner of the Lord," as the Authorised Version puts it. These words occur as the beginning of the Epistle for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. Now there is often a marvellous amount of spiritual wisdom and instruction to be gained from a comparison between the, epistles and gospels and the collects for each Sunday. All my readers may not agree in the whole theological system which underlies the Prayer Book, but every one will acknowledge that its services and their construction are the result of rich and varied spiritual experiences extending over a period of more than a thousand years. The mere contrast of an epistle and of a collect will often suggest thoughts deep and searching. So it is with this text, "I therefore the prisoner in the Lord." It is preceded by the brief pithy prayer, "Lord, we pray Thee that Thy grace may always prevent and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works, through Jesus Christ our Lord." The words of St. Paul to the Ephesians speaking of himself as the prisoner of God and in God suggested immediately the idea of God’s grace surrounding, shaping, constraining to His service every external circumstance; and thus led to the formation of the collect which in fact prays that we may realise ourselves as so completely God’s as, like the Apostle, continually to be given to all good works. St. Paul realised himself as so prevented, using that word in its ancient sense, preceded and followed by God’s grace, guarded before and behind by it, that he looked beyond the things seen, and discarding all secondary agents and all lower instruments, he viewed his imprisonment as God’s own immediate work. I. Let us then see in what way we may regard St. Paul’s imprisonment as an arrangement and outcome of Divine love. Take, for instance, St. Paul in his own personal life. This period of imprisonment, of enforced rest and retirement, may have been absolutely necessary for him. St. Paul had spent many a long and busy year building up the spiritual life of others, founding churches, teaching converts, preaching, debating, struggling, suffering. His life had been one of intense spiritual, intellectual, bodily activity on behalf of others. But no one can be engaged in intense activity without wasting some of the spiritual life and force necessary for himself. Religious work, the most direct spiritual activity, visiting the sick, or preaching the gospel, or celebrating the sacraments, make a tremendous call upon our devotional powers and directly tend to lower our spiritual vitality, unless we seek abundant and frequent renewal thereof at the source of all spiritual vitality and life. Now God by this long imprisonment took St. Paul aside once again, as He had taken him aside twenty years before, amid the rocks of Sinai. God laid hold of him in his career of external business, as He laid hold of Moses in the court of Pharaoh, leading him into the wilderness of Midian for forty long years. God made St. Paul His prisoner that, having laboured for others, and having tended diligently their spiritual vineyard, he might now watch over and tend his own for a time. And the wondrous manner in which he profited by his imprisonment is manifest from this very Epistle to the Ephesians, in which he describes himself as God’s prisoner - not, be it observed, the prisoner of the Jews, or of the Romans, or of Caesar, but as the prisoner of God-dealing in the profoundest manner, as that Epistle does, with the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith. St. Paul had an opportunity during those four or five years, such as he never had before, of realising, digesting, and assimilating in all their fulness the doctrines he had so long proclaimed to others, and was thus enabled out of the depth of his own personal experience to preach what he felt and knew to be true, the only kind of teaching which will ever be worth anything. Again, St. Paul designates himself the prisoner of the Lord because of the benefits his imprisonment conferred upon the Church of Christ in various ways. Take his imprisonment at Caesarea alone. We are not expressly told anything about his labours during that time. But knowing St. Paul’s intense energy we may be sure that the whole local Christian community established in that important centre whence the gospel could diffuse itself as far as the extremest west on the one side and the extremest east on the other, was permeated by his teaching and vitalised by his example. He was allowed great freedom, as the Acts declares. Felix "gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in charge, and should have indulgence; and not to forbid any of his friends to minister unto him." If we take the various centurions to whom he was intrusted, we may be sure that St. Paul must have omitted no opportunity of leading them to Christ. St. Paul seems to have known how to make his way to the hearts of the Roman soldiers, as his subsequent treatment by Julius the centurion shows, and that permission of the governor would be liberally interpreted when deputies from distant churches sought his presence. Messengers from the various missions he had founded must have had recourse to Caesarea during those two years spent there, and thence too was doubtless despatched many a missive of advice and exhortation. At Caesarea, too, may then have been written the Gospel of St. Luke. Lewin (vol. 1. p. 221), indeed, places its composition at Philippi, where St. Luke laboured for several years prior to St. Paul’s visit in 57 A.D. after leaving Ephesus; and he gives as his reason for this conclusion that St. Paul called St. Luke in 2 Corinthians 8:18 , written about that time, "the brother whose praise is in the Gospel," referring to his Gospel then lately published. I think the suggestion much more likely that St. Luke took advantage of this pause in St. Paul’s activity to write his Gospel at Caesarea when he had not merely the assistance of the Apostle himself, but of Philip the deacon, and was within easy reach of St. James and the Jerusalem Church. St. Luke’s Gospel bears evident traces of St. Paul’s ideas and doctrine, was declared by Irenaeus ("Haer.," 3:1) to have been composed under his direction, and may with much probability be regarded as one of the blessed results flowing forth from St. Paul’s detention as Christ’s prisoner given by Him in charge to the Roman governor. The Apostle’s Roman imprisonment again was most profitable to the Church of the imperial capital. The Church of Rome had been founded by the efforts of individuals. Private Christians did the work, not apostles or eminent evangelists. St. Paul came to it first of all as a prisoner, and found it a flourishing church. And yet he benefited and blessed it greatly. He could not, indeed, preach to crowded audiences in synagogues or porticos as he had done elsewhere. But he blessed the Church of Rome most chiefly by his individual efforts. This man came to him into his own hired house, and that man followed him attracted by the magnetic influence he seemed to bear about. The soldiers appointed as his keepers were told the story of the Cross and the glad tidings of the resurrection life, and these individual efforts were fruitful in vast results, so that even into the household and palace of the Caesars did this patient, quiet, evangelistic work extend its influence. Nowhere else, in fact, not even in Corinth, where St. Paul spent two whole years openly teaching without any serious interruption; not even in Ephesus, where he laboured so long that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word; nowhere else was the Apostle’s ministry so effective as here in Rome, where the prisoner of the Lord was confined to individual effort and completely laid aside from more public and enlarged activity. It was with St. Paul as it is with God’s messengers still. It is not eloquent or excited public efforts, or platform addresses, or public debates, or clever books that are most fruitful in spiritual results. Nay, it is often the quiet individual efforts of private Christians, the testimony of a patient Sufferer perhaps, the witness all-powerful with men, of a life transformed through and through by Christian principle, and lived in the perpetual sunshine of God’s reconciled countenance. These are the testimonies that speak most effectually for God, most directly to souls. Lastly, St. Paul’s imprisonment blessed the Church of every age, and through it blessed mankind at large far more than his liberty and his external activity could have done in one other direction. Is it not a contradiction in terms to say that the imprisonment of this courageous leader, this eloquent preacher, this keen, subtle debater, should have been more profitable to the Church than the exercise of his external freedom and liberty, when all these dormant powers would have found ample scope for their complete manifestation? And yet if Christ had not laid His arresting hand upon the active, external labour in which St. Paul had been absorbed, if Christ had not cast the busy Apostle into the Roman prison-house, the Church of all future time would have been deprived of those masterly expositions of Christian truth which she now enjoys in the various Epistles of the Captivity, and specially in those addresses to the churches of Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae. We have now noted some of the blessings resulting from St. Paul’s five years’ captivity, and indicated a line of thought which may be applied to the whole narrative contained in the two chapters with which we are dealing. St. Paul was a captive, and that captivity gave him access at Caesarea to various classes of society, to the soldiers, and to all that immense crowd of officials connected with the seat of government, quaestors, tribunes, assessors, apparitors, scribes, advocates. His captivity then led him on board ship, and brought him into contact with the sailors and with a number of passengers drawn from diverse lands. A storm came on, and then the Apostle’s self-possession, his calm Christian courage, when every one else was panic-stricken, gave him influence over the motley crowd. The waves flung the ship of Alexandria in which he was travelling upon Malta, and his stay there during the tempestuous winter months became the basis of the conversion of its inhabitants. Everywhere in St. Paul’s life and course at this season we can trace the outcome of Divine love, the power of Divine providence shaping God’s servant for His own purposes, restraining man’s wrath when it waxed too fierce, and causing the remainder of that wrath to praise Him by its blessed results. II. Let us now gather up into a brief narrative the story contained in these two chapters, so that we may gain a bird’s-eye view over the whole. Festus entered upon his provincial rule about June, A.D. 60. According to Roman law the outgoing governor, of whatever kind he was, had to await his successor’s arrival and hand over the reins of government-a very natural and proper rule which all civilised governments observe. We have no idea how vast the apparatus of provincial, or, as we should say. colonial government among the Romans was, and how minute their regulations were, till we take up one of those helps which German scholars have furnished towards the knowledge of antiquity, as, for instance, Mommsen’s "Roman Provinces," which can be read in English, or Marquardt’s "Romische Staatsverwaltung," vol. 1, which can be studied either in German or French. The very city where first the new governor was to appear and the method of fulfilling his duties as the Judge of Assize were minutely laid down and duly followed a well-established routine. We find these things indicated in the case of Festus. He arrived at Caesarea. He waited three days till his predecessor had left for Rome, and then he ascended to Jerusalem to make the acquaintance of that very troublesome and very influential city. Festus then returned to Caesarea after ten days spent in gaining an intimate knowledge of the various points of a city which often before had been the centre of rebellion, and where he might at any moment he called upon to act with sternness and decision. He at once heard St. Paul’s cause as the Jews had demanded, brought him a second time before Agrippa, and then in virtue of his appeal to Caesar despatched him to Rome in care of a centurion and a small band of soldiers, a large guard not being necessary, as the prisoners were not ordinary criminals, but for the most part men of some position, Roman citizens, doubtless, who had, like the Apostle, appealed unto the judgment of Caesar. St. Paul embarked, accompanied by Luke and Aristarchus, as the ship, being an ordinary trading vessel, contained not only prisoners, but also passengers as well. We do not intend to enter upon the details of St. Paul’s voyage, because that lies beyond our range, and also because it has been thoroughly done in the various "Lives" of the Apostle, and above all in the exhaustive work of Mr. James Smith of Jordanhills. He has devoted a volume to this one topic, has explored every source of knowledge, has entered to discussions touching the build and rigging of ancient ships and the direction of Mediterranean winds, has minutely investigated the scenery and history of such places as Malta where the Apostle was wrecked, and has illustrated the whole with beautiful plates and carefully drawn maps. That work has gone through four editions at least, and deserves a place in every man’s library who wishes to understand the life and labours of St. Paul or study the Acts of the Apostles. We may, however, without trenching on Mr. Smith’s field, indicate the outline of the route followed by the holy travellers. They embarked at Caesarea under the care of a centurion of the Augustan cohort, or regiment, as we should say, whose name was Julius. They took their passage at first in a ship of Adramyttium, which was probably sailing from Caesarea to lie up for the winter. Adramyttium was a seaport situated up in the northwest of Asia Minor near Tress, and the Sea of Marmora, or, to put it in modern language, near Constantinople. The ship was in fact, about to travel over exactly the same ground as St. Paul himself had traversed more than two years before when he proceeded from Troas to Jerusalem. Surely, some one may say, this was not the direct route to Rome. But then we must throw our, selves back into the circumstances of the period. There was then no regular transport service. People, even the most exalted, had to avail themselves of whatever means of communication chance offered. Cicero, when chief governor of Asia, had, as we have already noted, to travel part of the way from Rome in undecked vessels, while ten years later than St. Paul’s voyage the Emperor Vespasian himself, the greatest potentate in the world; had no trireme or warship waiting upon him, but when he wished to proceed from Palestine to Rome, at the time of the great siege of Jerusalem, was obliged to take a passage in an ordinary merchant vessel or cornship. It is no wonder, then that the prisoners were put on board a coasting vessel of Asia, the centurion knowing right well that in sailing along by the various ports which studded the shore of that province they would find some other vessel into which they could be transferred. And this expectation was realised. The centurion and his prisoners sailed first of all to Sidon, where St. Paul found a Christian Church. This circumstance illustrates again the quiet and steady growth of the gospel kingdom, and also gave Julius an opportunity of exhibiting his kindly feelings towards the Apostle by permitting him to go and visit the brethren. In fact. we would conclude from this circumstance that St. Paul had already begun to establish an influence over the mind of Julius which must have culminated in his conversion. Here, at Sidon, he permits him to visit his Christian friends; a short time after his regard for Paul leads him to restrain his troops from executing the merciless purposes their Roman discipline had taught them and slaying all the prisoners lest they should escape; and yet once again, when the prisoners land on Italian soil and stand beside the charming scenery of the Bay of Naples, he permits the Apostle to spend a week with the Christians of Puteoli. After this brief visit to the Sidonian Church, the vessel bearing the Apostle pursues its way by Cyprus to the port of Myra at the southwestern corner of Asia Minor, a neighbourhood which St. Paul knew right well and had often visited. It was there at Patara, close at hand, that he had embarked on board the vessel which carried him two years before to Palestine, and it was there too at Perga of Pamphylia that he had first landed on the shores of the Asiatic province, seeking to gather its teeming millions into the fold of Jesus Christ. Here at Myra the centurion realised his expectations, and finding an Alexandrian transport sailing to Italy he put the prisoners on board. From Myra they seem to have sailed at once, and from the day they left it their misfortunes began. The wind was contrary, blowing from the west, and to make any way they had to sail to the island Cnidus, which lay northwest of Myra. After a time, when the wind became favourable, they sailed southwest till they reached the island of Crete, which lay half-way between Greece and Asia Minor. They then proceeded along the southern coast of this island till they were struck by a sudden wind coming from the northeast, which drove them first to the neighbouring island of Clauda, and then, after a fortnight’s drifting through a tempestuous sea, hurled the ship upon the shores of Malta. The wreck took place towards the close of October or early in November, and the whole party were obliged to remain in Malta till the spring season permitted the opening of navigation. During his stay in Malta St. Paul performed several miracles. With his intensely practical and helpful nature the Apostle flung himself into the work of common life, as soon as the shipwrecked party had got safe to land. He always did so. He never despised, like some religious fanatics, the duties of this world. On board the ship he had been the most useful adviser to the whole party. He had exhorted the captain of the ship not to leave a good haven; he had stirred up the soldiers to prevent the sailors’ escape; he had urged them all alike, crew and passengers and soldiers, to take food, foreseeing the terrible struggle they would have to make when the ship broke up. He was the most practical adviser his companions could possibly have had, and he was their wisest and most religious adviser too. His Words on board ship teem with lessons for ourselves, as well as for his fellow-passengers. He trusted in God, and received special revelations from heaven, but he did not therefore neglect every necessary human precaution. The will of God was revealed to him that he had been given all the souls that sailed with him, and the angel of God cheered and comforted him in that storm-driven vessel in Adria, as often before when howling mobs thirsted like evening wolves for his blood. But the knowledge of God’s purposes did not cause his exertions to relax. He knew that God’s promises are conditional upon man’s exertions, and therefore he urged his companions to be fellow-workers with God in the matter of their own salvation from impending death. And as it was on board the ship, so was it on the shore. The rain was descending in torrents, and the drenched passengers were shivering in the cold. St. Paul shows the example, so contagious in a crowd, of a man who had his wits about him, knew what to do and would do it. He gathered therefore a bundle of sticks, and helped to raise a larger fire in the house which had received him. A man is marvellously helpful among a cowering and panic-stricken crowd which has just escaped death who will rouse them to some practical efforts for themselves, and will lead the way as the Apostle did on this occasion. And his action brought its own reward. He had gained influence over the passengers, soldiers, and crew by his practical helpfulness. He was now to gain influence over the barbarian islanders in exactly the same way. A viper issued from the fire and fastened on his hand. The natives expected to see him fall down dead; but after looking awhile and perceiving no change, they concluded him to be a god who had come to visit them. This report soon spread. The chief man therefore of the island sought out St. Paul and entertained him. His father was sick of dysentery and the Apostle healed him, using prayer and the imposition of hands as the outward symbols and means of the cure, which spread his fame still farther and led to other miraculous cures. Three months thus passed away. No distinct missionary work is indeed recorded by St. Luke, but this is his usual custom in writing his narrative. He supposes that Theophilus, his friend and correspondent, will understand that the Apostle ever kept the great end of his life in view, never omitting to teach Christ and Him crucified to the perishing multitudes where his lot was cast. But St. Luke was not one of those who are always attempting to chronicle spiritual successes or to tabulate the number of souls led to Christ. He left that to another day and to a better and more infallible judge. In three months’ time, when February’s days grew longer and milder winds began to blow, the rescued travellers joined a corn-ship of Alexandria, which had wintered in the island, and all set forward towards Rome. They touched at Syracuse in Sicily, sailed thence to Rhegium, passing through the Straits of Messina, whence, a favourable south wind springing up, and the vessel running before it at the rate of seven knots an hour, the usual speed for ancient vessels under the circumstances, they arrived at Puteoli, one hundred and eighty-two miles distant from Rhegium, in the course of some thirty hours. At Puteoli the sea voyage ended. It may at first seem strange to us with our modern notions that St. Paul was allowed to tarry at Puteoli with the local Christian Church for seven days. But then we must remember that St. Paul and the centurion did not live in the days of telegraphs and railway trains. There was. doubtless a guard-room, barrack, or prison in which the prisoners could be accommodated. The centurion and guard were weary after a. long and dangerous journey, and they would be glad of a brief period of repose before they set out again towards the capital. This hypothesis alone would be quite sufficient to account for the indulgence granted to St. Paul, even supposing that his Christian teaching had made no impression on the centurion. The Church existing then at Puteoli is another instance of that quiet diffusion of the gospel which was going on all over the world without any noise or boasting. We have frequently called attention to this, as at Tyre, Ptolemais, Sidon, and here again we find a little company of saintly men and women gathered out of the world and living the ideal life of purity and faith beside the waters. of the Bay of Naples. And yet it is quite natural that we should find them at Puteoli, because it was one of the great ports which received the corn-ships of Alexandria and the merchantmen of Caesarea and Antioch into her harbour, and in these ships many a Christian came bringing the seed of eternal life, which he diligently sowed as he travelled along the journey of life. In fact, seeing that the Church of Rome had sprung up and flourished so abundantly, taking its origin not from any Apostle’s teaching, but simply from such sporadic effects, we cannot wonder that Puteoli, which lay right on the road from the East to Rome, should also have gained a blessing. A circumstance, however, has come to light within the last thirty years which does surprise us concerning this same neighbourhood, showing how extensively the gospel had permeated and honeycombed the country parts of Italy within the lifetime of the first apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ. Puteoli was a trading town, and Jews congregated in such places, and trade lends an element of seriousness to life which prepares a ground fitted for the good seed of the kingdom. But pleasure pure and unmitigated and a life devoted to its pursuit do not prepare such a soil. Puteoli was a trading city, but Pompeii was a pleasure-loving city thinking of nothing else, and where sin and iniquity consequently abounded. Yet Christianity had made its way into Pompeii in the lifetime of the apostles. How then do we know this? This is one of the results of modern archaeological investigations and of epigraphical research, two great sources of new light upon early Christian history which have been only of late years duly appreciated. Pompeii, as every person of moderate education knows, was totally overthrown by the first great eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the year 79 A.D. It is a curious circumstance that contemporaneous authors make but the very slightest and most dubious references to that destruction, though one would have thought that the literature of the time would have rung with it; proving conclusively, if proof be needed, how little the argument from silence is worth, when the great writers who tell minutely about the intrigues and vices of emperors and statesmen of Rome do not bestow a single chapter upon the catastrophe which overtook two whole cities of Italy. These cities remained for seventeen hundred years concealed from human sight or knowledge till revealed in the year 1755 by excavations systematically pursued. All the inscriptions found therein were undoubtedly and necessarily the work of persons who lived before A.D. 79 and then perished. Now at the time that Pompeii was destroyed there was a municipal election going on, and there were found on the walls numerous inscriptions formed with charcoal which were the substitutes then used for the literature and placards with which every election decorates our walls. Among these inscriptions of mere passing and transitory interest, there was one found which illustrates the point at which we have been labouring, for there, amid the election notices of 79 A.D., there appeared, scribbled by some idle hand, the brief words, "Igni gaude, Christiane" ("O Christian, rejoice in the fire"), proving clearly that Christians existed in Pompeii at that time, that they were known as Christians and not Under any other appellation, that persecution and death had reached them, and that they possessed and displayed the same undaunted spirit as their great leader and teacher St. Paul, being enabled like him to rejoice even amid the seven-fold-heated fires, and in view of the resurrection life to lift the victorious paean, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." After the week’s rest at Puteoli the centurion marched towards Rome. The Roman congregation had received notice of St. Paul’s arrival by this time, and so the brethren despatched a deputation to meet an apostle with whom they were already well acquainted through the epistle he had sent them, as well as through the reports of various private Christians like Phoebe, the deaconess of Cenchreae. Two deputations from the Roman Church met him, one at Appii Forum, about thirty miles, another at the Three Taverns, about twenty miles from the city. How wonderfully the heart of the Apostle must have been cheered by these kindly Christian attentions! We have before noticed in the cases of his Athenian sojourn and elsewhere how keenly alive he was to the offices of Christian friendship, how cheered and strengthened he was by Christian companionship. It was now the same once again as it was then. Support and sympathy were now more needed than ever before, for St. Paul was going up to Rome not knowing what should happen to him there or what should be his sentence at the hands of that emperor whose cruel character was now famous. And as it was at Athens and at Corinth and elsewhere, so was it here on the Appian Way and amid the depressing surroundings and unhealthy atmosphere of those Pomptine Marshes through which he was passing; "when Paul saw the brethren, he thanked God, and took courage." And now the whole company of primitive Christians proceeded together to Rome, allowed doubtless by the courtesy and thoughtfulness of Julius ample opportunities of private conversation. Having arrived at the imperial city, the centurion hastened to present himself and his charge to the captain of the praetorian guard, whose duty it was to receive prisoners consigned to the judgment of the Emperor. Upon the favourable report of Julius, St. Paul was not detained in custody, but suffered to dwell in his own hired lodgings, where he established a mission station whence he laboured most effectively both amongst Jews and Gentiles during two whole years. St. Paul began his work at Rome exactly as he did everywhere else. He called together the chief of the Jews, and through them strove to gain a lodgment in the synagogue. He began work at once. After three days, as soon as he had recovered from the fatigue of the rapid march along the Appian Way, he sent for the chiefs of the Roman synagogues, which were very numerous. How, it may be thought, could an unknown Jew entering Rome venture to summon the heads of the Jewish community, many of them men of wealth and position? But, then, we must remember that St. Paul was no ordinary Jew from the point of view taken by Roman society. He had arrived in Rome a state prisoner, and he was a Roman citizen of Jewish birth, and this at once gave him position entitling him to a certain amount of consideration. St. Paul told his story to these chief men of the Jews, the local Sanhedrin perhaps, recounted the bad treatment he had received at the hands of the Jews of Jerusalem, and indicated the character of his teaching which he wished to expound to them. "For this cause therefore did I entreat you to see and speak with me: for because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain," emphasising the Hope of Israel, or their Messianic expectation, as the cause of his imprisonment, exactly as he had done some months before when pleading before King Agrippa. { Acts 26:6-7 ; Acts 26:22-23 } Having thus briefly indicated his desires, the Jewish council intimated that no communication had been made to them from Jerusalem about St. Paul. It may have been that his lengthened imprisonment at Caesarea had caused the Sanhedrin to relax their vigilance, though we see that their hostility still continued as bitter as ever when Festus arrived in Jerusalem and afterwards led