ending with a touching allusion to his own captivity.
The apostle's reply may be rendered " I could pray to
God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this
day, might become, both in little and in much, such as
I am, except these bonds ;" or, with another reading, " I
could pray to God that whether (persuaded) with ease
or with difficulty, not only thou, but all that hear me this
day, might become such as I am, except these bonds.' 7
The answer corresponds to the statement, and is to be
understood accordingly. The apostle could pray, or found
it in his heart to pray could at once pour out an ardent
supplication, were it convenient at that moment ; and the
prayer is, that all that heard him might become as he was
a genuine, decided, active, and patient Christian wholly
Christ's, and wholly in His work as he was, or precisely in
his condition. But he checks himself at once, and admits
one exception " these bonds " as he points to the fetter
upon his arm, or lifts it to view ; " except these bonds "
and by an instinctive movement of his arm, the words
found an echo in the clang of his chain. What better
prayer could the apostle present what nobler wish could
he entertain ? His prayer could not be that Festus should
be transferred to a richer province, that Agrippa should
succeed to a larger kingdom, or that the aristocracy of
Cesarea should enjoy the coveted patronage of the emperor.
But it was that their hearts should be as his, their
ambition as his, and their life as his vitalized by the
422 PAUL AT CESAREA.
truth and Spirit of Christ, for then they should possess
peace, joy, and hope working for Him who had blessed
them, and preparing to pass into His presence and be
crowned with His rewards. Yet filled as his soul was with
ecstacy, he forgot not his loss of liberty, and referred to it
with a delicacy which pleaded for him more powerfully
than an open and bitter complaint.
On the assembly breaking up, a favourable opinion was
expressed of his character he had not spoken in vain.
Agrippa uttered the formal decision "This man might" or
"could have been set at liberty, if he had not appealed unto
Ca3sar." That is, he ought to have been released prior to
his appeal ; and Felix and Festus are virtually condemned
for their partiality or carelessness. But his discharge was
impossible, now that an appeal had been taken; for an
appeal could not be withdrawn, even with the consent of
both parties. His appeal, however, secured the visit to
Home on which his heart was set, and by which he should
have the honour of proclaiming the gospel for a long
period in the eternal city.
XVII. PAUL ON THE VOYAGE TO ROME.
ACTS xxvii.
THE great goal of the apostle's life is now to be reached.
The name of Kome must have been familiar to him from
his youth. Images of its military and architectural gran-
deur must have often floated before him ; the City of the
Seven Hills must have stood out to him as the centre of
the world's pomp and power. Wherever he had been,
at home in Tarsus, in Judea, in the Levant, in Asia
Minor, and in Europe, Koman authority and law prevailed.
Roman roads had been often trodden by him, and he had
seen the eagles of Rome under every sky. He longed to
visit the great metropolis, and he had already written a
large and argumentative letter to the church there. He
did not reach it so soon as he had anticipated, or by such
a journey as he might originally contemplate. But God
had promised it, and the divine promise was in God's own
way fulfilled. In self-defence he had appealed to Csesar,
and he must sail for Italy to prosecute his appeal.
The time of departure at length came, and Paul and
certain other prisoners of a different class, were placed
under the care of Julius, "a centurion of Augustus' band;"
perhaps a captain in the imperial life-guards returning
to Italy. The ship in which they embarked at Cesarea
belonged to Adramyttium, and was apparently on its
424 PAUL ON THE VOYAGE TO ROME.
homeward voyage, " meaning to sail by the coasts of
Asia," the usual route for vessels engaged in this traffic.
Several of the apostle's friends were with him Luke the
narrator, and Aristarchus the Macedonian, whom he after-
wards names his "fellow-labourer" and "fellow-prisoner."
On touching at Sidon the next day, the centurion, who,
from the report of Festus, must have been aware of the
frivolous charges preferred against him, " courteously
entreated Paul," and allowed him to go on shore to see his
friends and refresh himself the reference in the last word
being to corporeal frailty, perhaps increased by sea-sickness.
Leaving Sidon, they sailed under Cyprus, that is, under
the lee of Cyprus, or to the east of it, the direct course
being to the south of it; for so the contrary winds com-
pelled them, and they might take advantage of a strong
current which, running with great strength to the west-
ward, would enable them to make way against the gale.
They thus " sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia,"
and " came to Myra, a city of Lycia." At Myra vessels
were changed, and the prisoners were put into a " ship of
Alexandria sailing into Italy " probably a corn-ship, and,
like others of the class, a regular trader, of large size and
with a well-appointed crew. On loosing from Myra, the
wind was adverse. Small progress was made, and after
"many days" they had with difficulty come opposite to
Cnidus, a distance of not more than one hundred and thirty
miles. The prevailing wind in those regions, and at that
season of the year the close of summer is still the
north-west wind, against which the ship could scarcely
work up. In consequence of this they ran under the lee
WARNINGS OF DANGER. 425
of Crete, or to the east of it, so as to be sheltered by it.
Having with difficulty rounded the point of Salmone
" hardly passing it," they coasted the south side of the
island, and, unable to pass Cape Matala, where the shore
suddenly trends to the north, they put in to the Fair
Havens, not far from Lasea a town, the ruins of which
were for the first time identified in 1856 by Mr. Tennent,
a merchant of Glasgow, and the friends who were cruising
with him in his yacht.
The season was, however, far advanced " the fast was
now already past " it was the end of September or begin-
ning of October, and therefore perilous to undertake a long
voyage. Navigation was not actually interrupted till about
six weeks later, but sailing "was now dangerous." Warning
comes from an unexpected quarter. It is not the centurion
in anxiety for his charge, the captain afraid of his ship, nor
the owner apprehensive about his cargo. It is not the crew
who refuse to put to sea, nor the passengers who protest
on account of the roughness of the weather. It is one of
the prisoners who takes it upon him to warn them, and to
foretell disaster damage to the cargo and ship, and the
jeopardy of their own lives. The apostle was no coward
himself, and he knew that he should reach Kome. But he
had regard to those who were with him. He knew the
dangers of the season, and may have had a supernatural
intimation. He felt that no one should tempt Providence,
and he was willing to remain, though assured of a divine
safeguard. Nor was he without previous experience
" Thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I
been in the deep." This is the first time he speaks, and
426 PAUL ON THE VOYAGE TO ROME.
his words are unheeded ; but in a brief time he commanded
attention, and the safety of the passengers was owing to
his courage and presence of mind. On deck,' though in
bonds, he grows in importance among soldiers and seamen
who knew nothing of his history, and cared as little for it ;
nay, rises ultimately into supreme command, captain and
centurion being for a season superseded by the insignificant
Jewish prisoner. Thus mind and character will assert
themselves in every situation, and shine through every
disguise. These forces of soul defy repression and burst
into ascendancy guiding with facility, and governing with
universal compliance. The centurion, however, would not
listen to Paul, but rather " believed the master and owner
of the ship," both of whom were anxious to get to the end
of the journey. They had lain long wind-bound at Fair
Havens, but it was not a good winter station, and the
greater part joined in opinion with the captain and super-
cargo, hoping to get to Phcenice, about forty miles west,
and a more commodious roadstead to winter in, as from its
position it was secured from the prevailing storms. They
seem now to have given up all hope of reaching Rom 1 -
before next spring ; but on a favourable change of breeze,
when the "south wind blew softly," they made for
Phcenice which lay to the north-west, and, hugging the
shore, " sailed close by Crete." But they were soon over-
taken by a hurricane, blowing down from the highlands of
the coast, and called Euroclydon perhaps more correctly
Euroaquilo or a north-east wind. The adjective rendered
tempestuous is in the original "typhonic," or like a
typhoon, the tempest which is accompanied by whirlwinds
THE STORM. 427
driving the clouds in circling conflict, and raising the sea
in columns of spray. The ship was caught in the squall,
and " could not bear up into it," literally, look it in the
eye, and was therefore forced to scud before it. " Running
under " the islet of Clauda, they " had much work to come
by the boat," that is, taking advantage of the smooth water
under the lee of the island, with difficulty they hoisted on
board the boat which was usually towed behind the ship,
showing that they were preparing to resist the storm. Then
they used "helps," " undergirding the ship," a common
precaution in those times, passing a stout cable several times
round the hull, so as to tighten the planks which might be
strained by the heavy seas. Being driven still to the
south-west, and being naturally afraid of falling " into the
quicksands," or the shoals of the Syrtis on the northern
shore of Africa, they straJce sail rather, lowered the
mainyard and its sail and "so were driven," keeping
the ship's head off shore, and her right side to the
wind. The tempest did not abate, and the next day they
" lightened " her threw out a portion of the cargo. But
the danger still increasing, " we cast out with our own
hands the tackling of the ship " all portions of the
heavy gear or rigging others, according to this reading,
beside the crew being employed in the work, or the
apostle himself and Luke putting a hand to the labour.
In a short time such a vessel must have foundered and
gone down, a common fate with ancient ships. The sky
had closed dark and angry around them, and "neither
sun nor stars in many days appeared," while the gale
increased in fury, and they abandoned hope ; for the ship
428 PAUL ON THE VOYAGE TO ROME.
was leaking, and they could not tell where they were, on
what coast they might be driven, or how long the opening
timbers would resist the violence of the waves. The
darkness of night was above them, with a raging sea around
them, and the labouring bark, though frapped and eased of
its heavier freight and furniture, was drifting helplessly
before the wind.
In this crisis of dismay and danger, the voice which had
warned them at Fair Havens was heard again. And the
apostle now spoke from divine authority. We know not
what were the feelings of the passengers, or how they
expressed them, though we can well imagine the confusion
and fear among two hundred and seventy- six persons
during a tempest of such force and duration. Perhaps, as
in Jonah's voyage, they cried every man to his god, and
bethought themselves of Paul's early counsel. As " the sea
wrought and was tempestuous," the master might exhaust
his skill, and the centurion betake himself to Neptune, but
Paul resorted to secret prayer to Him who " commandeth
and raiseth the stormy wind which lifteth up the waves."
They would not listen to his advice, and the hurricane
had enveloped them ; but still he prayed for them, and he
received all their lives as a gift in answer to his inter-
cession. So richly fraught with comfort, he stood forth
to cheer and animate them, for they were exhausted with
toil, terror, and fasting. He reminds them first of his
previous warning, which they had slighted not to
upbraid them indeed, nor even to elicit the conclusion
that he was a true prophet, but to show them that he
had spoken not from opinion, but from certain knowledge,
THE VISION. 429
and that, therefore, what he was now to say demanded
credence " 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. For there stood by me this night the angel of
God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not,
Paul ; thou must be brought before Caesar : and, lo, God
hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore,
sirs, be of good cheer ; for I believe God, that it shall be
even as it was told me. Howbeit, we must be cast upon a
certain island."
The brief speech is remarkable; the Master, by an
angel, had appeared in the crisis to reassure His servant.
The apostle does not disguise his position "Whose I
am, and whom I serve" and the language shows why
such a vision had been vouchsafed to him. Had there
been five righteous persons in Sodom it would have
been saved, and for Paul's sake the lives of all his fellow-
passengers are preserved. He had appealed to Caesar,
and the appeal must be heard. He was the principal
person on board, and invested with peculiar dignity. The
ship is his by God's charter. Her cargo may be cast
into the sea, and the ship herself be lost, but the apostle
must get to Rome. " God hath given thee all them that
sail with thee" their life; that of nigh three hundred
persons was bound up in his life. The effect of such a
speech at such a time may be easily conceived. It was
no flattering prophecy which he uttered. He made no
attempt to buoy up their spirits by predicting that the
storm was approaching its end, that the clouds were
breaking, or that the wind was veering. There is a
430 PAUL ON THE VOYAGE TO EOME.
distinct assurance of safety, but as distinct an assurance of
wreck. They should not founder, or be engulphed among
the quicksands they dreaded, but they must be driven
ashore, and that " upon a certain island.' 7 The prophecy
was minute and circumstantial, and could not but impress
them who listened to it. If they rejoiced in safety, they
must have rejoiced with trembling when they thought
that they were to be cast away in the storm. It was
life in the midst of destruction which was pledged to them
they were to be snatched from a watery grave. Deliver-
ance was not to come from God's stilling the " noise of the
seas," but the turbulent surges were to throw the ship on
land, and break her to pieces in their fury.
It was now the fourteenth night since they had left
Fair Havens in Crete, and they were still tossed about in
the Adriatic " They mount up to the heaven, they go
down again to the depths ; their soul is melted because of
trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken
man, and are at their wit's end." Unable to ascertain
their position, " about midnight the shipmen deemed that
they drew near to some country " literally, that some
country drew near to them -common but graphic nautical
language, in which land rises or sinks, comes near or dis-
appears. The shipmen seamen came to this conclusion,
as they could from many signs unperceived by soldiers,
prisoners, and passengers, such as the noise of breakers
rising above the sound of the storm. Fearful of the close
proximity of the shore, "they sounded, and found its
depth twenty fathoms;" and in a short time, heaving the
lead again, " they found it fifteen fathoms." This rapid
RIDING AT ANCHOR. 431
shallowing alarmed them, and they feared to be dashed on
the rocks over which the waves were breaking. To stay
the progress of the ship, and keep her if possible in her
present position, they cast four anchors out of the stern
not an unusual fashion in ancient navigation. On that
coast the land is too low to be seen, though the breakers
might be both audible and visible ; and soundings of simi-
lar depth are yet found by mariners in the same locality.
The alarmed inmates of the ship, groaning " in the sides "
or crowded upon deck, now anxiously waited for the day.
They might go down at their anchors, unable to ride out
the gale if it increased ; and they could not tell the nature
of the coast till morning broke. Their purpose now was to
strand the ship, and she was anchored so that her head was
to the land, but they could not tell whether there might be
a beach which should afford them the opportunity. In this
moment of awful suspense, when wreck was certain, and
the object was to be prepared for it, the sailors lost heart,
and would have deserted the vessel. They pretended that
it was necessary to lower the boat, which some days before
they had taken in with difficulty, for the ostensible purpose
of carrying out anchors from the prow to steady the pitch-
ing vessel. This manoeuvre shows how critical they
reckoned their situation when, in such a night of gloom
and tempest, they would take to the boat which could
scarcely be expected to live in such a sea. Their purpose,
as they had the working of the ship, could not be easily
detected by the landsmen, whom they would have so
selfishly abandoned.
But there was one on board who had the gift of discern-
432 PAUL ON THE VOYAGE TO ROME.
ing spirits. He divined the treachery, and for the third
time spoke. His stern words were " Unless these abide
in the ship, ye cannot be saved." He had already assured
them of safety ; but that safety so absolutely promised
depended upon means. They were to run the ship
ashore as soon as it was day ; and the operation could not
be done except by the practised seamen, who alone could
handle the vessel so as that she might be carried to the
most promising part of the beach, and as high on the beach
as possible. Neither the soldiers nor the landsmen on
board could be depended on for this difficult task. The
soldiers at once, on hearing Paul speak in such a tone, cut
the ropes by which the sailors were lowering the boat, and
it fell into the sea, and was either capsized or drifted away.
From this period till day began to appear, the apostle was
exhorting them all to take food. The crisis was at hand,
and it would need all their strength and presence of mind
to take advantage of it. The last desperate effort to save
their lives by swimming or floating on broken spars was to
be made, and it must not be made by them in a dull and
exhausted state. The apostle had special care of them, for
their lives were given him ; and he who could discourse as
he had done before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa, can descend
to speak of common duty, and inculcate obedience to physi-
cal law. His topic had been usually the salvation of the soul,
but now it is the preservation of life ; it had been generally
the deliverance of their spirits from hell, but now it is the
rescue of their persons from a watery grave. The great
and the little, the mighty and the minute, the spiritual and
the temporal, dietetic necessity and evangelical enterprise,
PEESENCE OP MIND. 433
were equally within his grasp. Raising his voice above
the storm, he said to his fellow-voyagers, and it was his
fourth utterance " The fourteenth day ye this day com-
plete without food, expecting (the storm to abate), and
having taken nothing. Wherefore I exhort you to partake
of food, for this is for your safety, for of none of you shall
there fall a hair from the head. 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.
Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some
meat. And we were in all in the ship two hundred three-
score and sixteen souls." The apostle now stands out the
commander of the ship, the guiding spirit in the emer-
gency her officers and crew are passive and helpless.
For a fortnight they had had no regular meals the usual
result of a hurricane ; and day after day they had been
looking for it to moderate. But as the moment of danger
and deliverance was at hand, they were to strengthen
themselves by food, and rest assured of ultimate safety.
Displaying his lofty presence of mind, he set the example,
gave thanks for this brief service was not to be forgotten
and began to eat. His words cheered them all, and
there were many of them for the store ships were large
and roomy, and the trade between Egypt and Eome was
great and constant.
That they might run the ship as high upon the beach
as possible, they lightened her again, and cast out the
wheat into the sea the remainder of her cargo. As day
broke, they could not tell where they were, but they
discovered a bay, not rocky and bold, but having a shore
2 E
434 PAUL ON THE VOYAGE TO ROME.
sandy beach and on it they resolved to run the ship.
For this purpose, and to lose no time, they cut away the
anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time^ as
ancient ships were steered by two large paddles or oars,
one on each quarter, which in this case had been lashed
away while the ship lay at anchor by the stern, they
loosed these "rudder-bands," when she got under way;
and that she might be steered to the likeliest spot, they also
hoisted the foresail, and " made toward shore." " Falling
into a place where two seas met/' or a narrow channel
between two portions of the sea between the island of
Salmonetta and the larger island of Malta they succeeded
in stranding the ship ; and the sharp prow being forced into
the tenacious clay and mud of the beach, " stuck fast and
remained immoveable ; " but the stern was broken by the
billows which so violently struck it and washed over it.
The anxiety and consternation at the first shock must have
been great, as each looked to the readiest means of safety.
The sternness of Koman discipline next showed itself
amidst the confusion, and the soldiers proposed " to kill the
prisoners, lest any should swim out and escape." Had not
Paul been among them, a military execution might have
ensued ; but the centurion was willing to save him, and
the other prisoners were saved along with him for as he
had said already, God had given him the lives of all on
board. In fact, Paul was invulnerable, and the military
counsel was folly. The sailors, in selfish panic, would
leave the ship, but they cannot; the soldiers would slay the
prisoners ere they secured their own safety, but they dare
not shed a drop of blood. The centurion then gave orders
ULTIMATE SAFETY. 435
that all should make for the shore ; that those " which
could swim should cast themselves first into the sea;" and
that the rest should float themselves through the surf on
boards deck planks, or any suitable portion of the wreck.
His commands were obeyed, and the divine pledge was
fulfilled " and so it came to pass, that they escaped all
safe to land."
XVIII. PAUL IN EOME.
ACTS XXVHI.; EPHES. m. 1; vi. 20; PHIL. i. 12 14; iv. 22; COLOSS. iv. 18;
PHILEMON 9 13.
THE island on which the ship had been cast was Malta,
and the entire account of the voyage and of the storm
confirms the statement. The rain was pouring down in
torrents ; the weather was intensely cold ; and the wet and
shivering voyagers were kindly received by the natives,
called "barbarians," as not being of Greek descent, but
a Punic colony. "They kindled a fire and received us
every one." The apostle, having saved his fellow-travellers
from death, exerted himself for their comfort, and helped
to keep up the fire by gathering fuel; but in arranging
a bundle of sticks on the burning heap, a viper, roused
from its torpor, glided " out of the heat and fastened
on his hand." The native onlookers expected instant
death for him. They knew the viper's bite to be mortal ;
observing Paul to be a prisoner, they concluded that
some heavy crime lay upon him ; and seeing in the event
a retributive providence, "they said among themselves
No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath
escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffer eth not to live"-
rather, suffered; for in their estimation he was already dead.
But the apostle shook the beast off his hand into the fire,
and "felt no harm." The rude spectators, seeing it "hang
on his hand" and in the attitude of biting him, and know-
MIRACLES OF HEALING. 437
ing what venom was in its bite, at once " changed their