As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard. On the third day, they threw out the ship’s tackle with their own hands. When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the middle of them, and said, “Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete and have gotten this injury and loss. Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve, saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me. But we must run aground on a certain island.”
But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land. They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms. Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight. As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these stay in the ship, you can’t be saved.” Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.
While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing. Therefore I beg you to take some food; for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads.” When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, then he broke it and began to eat. Then they all cheered up, and they also took food. In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship. When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea. When it was day, they didn’t recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it. Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach. But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.
The soldiers’ counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape. But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land; and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So they all escaped safely to the land.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv21, 23, 24, 25, 30, 33, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42 21. After long abstinence. Though Luke doth not plainly…
21. After long abstinence. Though Luke doth not plainly express how the mariners and soldiers behaved themselves, yet he doth plainly distinguish Paul from them, declaring that he stood in the midst of them that he might comfort their faint hearts; for no man is fit to exhort but he who is himself an example of constancy and fortitude. Furthermore, Paul deferred this exhortation until they were all even at the last cast. We may easily gather out of the common custom of the infidels, that they raged and made much ado at the first. A moderate and soft voice could never have been heard amongst those cries and tumults. Now, after they be weary with working and howling, they sit still all in a damp, and Paul beginneth to speak to them. Therefore, it was meet that they should languish like men half dead, until they were somewhat quiet, and could hear a man which would give them good counsel.
Notwithstanding, Paul seemeth to deal unseasonably, when as he objecteth to them foolishness, because they would not do after his counsel when all was well, seeing that they knew that he was inexpert in sailing, as he himself also knew how unskillful and ignorant he was.
Read full note →
But if we consider what an hard matter it is to bring men unto soundness of mind, this reprehension was very profitable. Paul’s authority should have been nothing worth, neither should it have moved them any whit, unless they should know this, that it had not gone well with them because they had despised him before. Chiding is indeed cruel, and bringeth no comfort; but if it be tempered with some remedy, it is now a part of the medicine. So, after that Paul had made the mariners attentive, and had taught by the very event that they ought to believe him, he exhorteth them to be of good courage, and promiseth them safety. And this is a token of no small boldness, when he saith that they ought to have obeyed him. Therefore, he testifieth by these words, that he spake nothing unadvisedly; but did command them to do that which God had prescribed. For though we do not read that he had some especial revelation then given him, yet he himself knew that the Spirit did secretly govern him, so that he might without fear take upon him to give counsel, seeing he had the Spirit of God to be his guide. Whereby that doth better appear which I touched of late, that Paul in speaking thus doth awake the mariners, that they may more attentively hear what he will say. Otherwise, it had been a ridiculous thing for a man which was in danger of drowning, to promise safety to those who were partakers with him in like calamity.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv18, 21, 25, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44 The end proveth that none provide worse for themselves,…
The end proveth that none provide worse for themselves, than they which commit themselves to be governed only by their own wisdom.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv18–44 18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest,…
18 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest, the next day they lightened the ship;
Ver. 18. And being exceedingly tossed] Seneca speaking of such as have lived long to little purpose, not improving their time and their talents, he saith that their lives are like ships in a storm, mullam iactati sunt, non navigarunt, tossed much, but have sailed nothing; or like a mill stone, that is ever moving, but removes not at all; or as when men make imperfect dashes, they are said to scribble, but do not write.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv18–44 Casting out the merchandise or lading which was in…
Casting out the merchandise or lading which was in it, that the ship, being so much lighter, might not so readily strike upon a rock, or be swallowed up of the quicksands, it drawing so much the less water.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv20, 27, 33, 38 Observe here, 1. The hopeless, helpless, comfortless state, which…
Observe here, 1. The hopeless, helpless, comfortless state, which St. Paul, and those in the ship with him, were now reduced to: neither sun nor stars appeared, and the weather proved very tempestuous, and when they utterly despaired of life, then God gives Paul, and he the rest, a comfortable assurance that nothing should be lost, but the vessel only.
O how does God delight to deliver those that are forsaken of their hopes; what a present help is he to the helpless: He reserves his holy hand for a dead lift! our extremities are the seasons of his succour.
Read full note →
Observe, 2. The great and special favour which God indulged the holy apostle, even to send an angel to him to comfort him: The angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, said, Fear not.
O what an encouragement is it to us to enter upon, and be faithful in, the service of God, when he causes his holy angels, upon all occasions, to serve us! When visible dangers are before us, God has invisible servants round about us, both to succour and secure us. Lord, help me in sincerity to say, Thine I am, and thee I serve! Let me be found faithful in all the instances of my duty to thee,and then shall I find (as the apostle here) that safety evermore accompanies duty.
Observe, 3. How God was pleased for St. Paul’s sake to save all that were with him in the ship; sinners are spared and saved for the saints’ sake, whom yet they hate and seek to destroy. The wicked are oft-times delivered from temporal destruction for the sake of the godly who live among them, and intercede with God for them; there were two hundred threescore and sixteen persons, all heathens, except three or four, saved for St. Paul’s sake, who no doubt begged their lives of God.
Lord, what fools and madmen are the wicked, who seek the destruction of those for whose sake it is that they are not themselves destroyed! The breaches which wicked men make by sinning, they make up by praying.
Observe, 4. How steady and steadfast the apostle was in the faith and belief of God’s promise and providence for his own and the company’s preservation: I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
We honour God exceedingly, when we depend upon his promise, rely upon his power, believe his word, though what he says be very improbable, and unlikely to come to pass.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v21 We have here the issue of the distress of…
We have here the issue of the distress of Paul and his fellow-travellers; they escaped with their lives and that was all, and that was for Paul's sake. We are here told (Act 27:37) what number there were on board - mariners, merchants, soldiers, prisoners, and other passengers, in all two hundred and seventy-six souls; this is taken notice of to make us the more concerned for them in reading the story, that they were such a considerable number, whose lives were now in the utmost jeopardy, and one Paul among them worth more than all the rest. We left them in despair, giving up themselves for gone. Whether they called every man on his God, as Jonah's mariners did, we are not told; it is well if this laudable practice in a storm was not gone out of fashion and made a jest of. However, Paul among these seamen was not, like Jonah among his, the cause of the storm, but the comforter in the storm, and as much a credit to the profession of an apostle as Jonah was a blemish to the character of a prophet. Now here we have,
I. The encouragement Paul gave them, by assuring them, in the name of God, that their lives should all be saved, even when, in human appearance, all hope that they should be saved was taken away. Paul rescued them from their despair first, that they might not die of that, and starve themselves in that, and then they were in a fair way to be rescued from their distress. After long abstinence, as if they were resolved not to eat till they knew whether they should live or die, Paul stood forth in the midst of them. During the distress hitherto Paul hid himself among them, was one of the crowd, helped with the rest to throw out the tackling (Act 27:19), but now he distinguished himself, and, though a prisoner, undertook to be their counsellor and comforter.
Read full note →
1. He reproves them for not taking his advice, which was to stay where they were, in the road of Lasea (Act 27:8): "You should have hearkened to me and not have loosed from Crete, where we might have made a shift to winter well enough, and then we should not have gained this harm and loss, that is, we should have escaped them." Harm and loss in the world, if sanctified to us, may be truly said to be gain; for if they wean us from present things, and awaken us to think of a future state, we are truly gainers by them. Observe, They did not hearken to Paul when he warned them of their danger, and yet if they will but acknowledge their folly, and repent of it, he will speak comfort and relief to them now that they are in danger, so compassionate is God to those that are in misery, though they bring themselves into it by their own incogitancy, nay, by their own wilfulness, and contempt of admonition. Paul, before administering comfort, will first make them sensible of their sin in not hearkening to him, by upbraiding them with their rashness, and probably, when he tells them of their gaining harm and loss, he reflects upon what they promised themselves by proceeding on their voyage, that they should gain so much time, gain this and the other point: "But," says he, "you have gained nothing but harm and loss; how will you answer it?" That which they are blamed for is their loosing from Crete, where they were safe. Note, Most people bring themselves into inconvenience, because they do not know when they are well off, but gain harm and loss by aiming against advice to better themselves.
2. He assures them that though they should lose the ship yet they should none of them lose their lives: "You see your folly in not being ruled by me:" he does not say, "Now therefore expect to fare accordingly, you may thank yourselves if you be all lost, those that will not be counselled cannot be helped." No, "Yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing; your case is sad, but it is not desperate, now, I exhort you to be of good cheer." Thus we say to sinners that are convinced of their sin and folly, and begin to see and bewail their error, "You should have hearkened unto us, and should have had nothing to do with sin; yet now we exhort you to be of good cheer: though you would not take our advice when we said, Do not presume, yet take it now when we say, Do not despair." They had given up the cause, and would use no further means, because all hope that they should be saved was taken away. Now Paul quickens them to bestir themselves yet in working for their own safety, by telling them that it they would resume their vigour they should secure their lives. He gives them this assurance when they were brought to the last extremity, for now it would be doubly welcome to them to be told that not a life should be lost when they were ready to conclude they must inevitably be all lost. He tells them, (1.) That they must count upon the loss of the ship. Those who were interested in that and the goods were probably those greater part that were for pushing forward the voyage and running the venture, notwithstanding Paul's admonition, and they are made to pay for their rashness. Their ship shall be wrecked. Many a stately, strong, rich, gallant ship is lost in the mighty waters in a little time; for vanity of vanities, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. But, (2.) Not a life shall be lost. This would be good news to those that were ready to die for fear of dying, and whose guilty consciences made death look very terrible to them.
3. He tells them what ground he had for this assurance, that it is not a banter upon them, to put them into humour, nor a human conjecture, he has a divine revelation for it, and is as confident of it as that God is true, being fully satisfied that he has his word for it. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in the night, and told him that for his sake they should all be preserved (Act 27:23-25), which would double the mercy of their preservation, that they should have it not only by providence, but by promise, and as a particular favour to Paul. Now observe here,
(1.) The solemn profession Paul makes of relation to God, the God from whom he had this favourable intelligence: It is he whose I am, and whom I serve. He looks upon God, [1.] As his rightful owner, who has a sovereign incontestable title to him, and dominion over him: Who I am. Because God made us and not we ourselves, therefore we are not our own but his. His we are by creation, for he made us; by preservation, for he maintains us; by redemption, for he bought us. We are more his than our own. [2.] As his sovereign ruler and master, who, having given him being, has right to give him law: Whom I serve. Because his we are, therefore we are bound to serve him, to devote ourselves to his honour and employ ourselves in his work. It is Christ that Paul here has an eye to; he is God, and the angels are his and go on his errands. Paul often calls himself a servant of Jesus Christ; he is his, and him he serves, both as a Christian and as an apostle; he does not say, "Whose we are, and whom we serve," for most that were present were strangers to him, but, "Whose I am, and whom I serve, whatever others do; nay, whom I am now in the actual service of, going to Rome, not as you are, upon worldly business, but to appear as a witness for Christ." Now this he tells the company, that, seeing their relief coming from his God whose he was and whom he served, they might thereby be drawn in to take him for their God, and to serve him likewise; for the same reason Jonah said to his mariners, I fear the Lord, the God of heaven, who has made the sea and the dry land, Jon 1:9.
(2.) The account he gives of the vision he had: There stood by me this night an angel of God, a divine messenger who used formerly to bring him messages from heaven; he stood by him, visibly appeared to him, probably when he was awake upon his bed. Though he was afar off upon the sea (Psa 65:5), on the uttermost parts of the sea (Psa 139:9), yet this could not intercept his communion with God, nor deprive him of the benefit of divine visits. Thence he can direct a prayer to God, and thither God can direct an angel to him. He knows not where he is himself, yet God's angel knows where to find him out. The ship is tossed with winds and waves, hurried to and fro with the utmost violence, and yet the angel finds a way into it. No storms nor tempests can hinder the communications of God's favour to his people, for he is a very present help, a help at hand, even when the sea roars and is troubled, Psa 46:1, Psa 46:3. We may suppose that Paul, being a prisoner, had not a cabin of his own in the ship, much less a bed in the captain's cabin, but was put down into the hold (any dark or dirty place was thought good enough for him in common with the rest of the prisoners), and yet there the angel of God stood by him. Meanness and poverty set none at a distance from God and his favour. Jacob, when he has no pillow but a stone, no curtains but the clouds, yet has a vision of angels. Paul had this vision but this last night. He had himself been assured by a former vision that he should go to Rome (Act 23:11), from which he might infer that he himself should be safe; but he has this fresh vision to assure him of the safety of those with him.
(3.) The encouragements that were given him in the vision, Act 27:14. [1.] He is forbidden to fear. Though all about him are at their wits' end, and lost in despair, yet, Fear not, Paul; fear not their fear, nor be afraid, Isa 8:12. Let the sinners in Zion be afraid, but let not the saints be afraid, no, not at sea, in a storm; for the Lord of hosts is with them, and their place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks, Isa 33:14-16. [2.] He is assured that for his part he shall come safely to Rome: Thou must be brought before Caesar. As the rage of the most potent enemies, so the rage of the most stormy sea, cannot prevail against God's witnesses till they have finished their testimony. Paul must be preserved in this danger, for he is reserved for further service. This is comfortable for the faithful servants of God in straits and difficulties, that as long as God has any work for them to do their lives shall be prolonged. [3.] That for his sake all that were in the ship with him should be delivered too from perishing in this storm: God hath given thee all those that sail with thee. The angel that was ordered to bring him this message could have singled him out from this wretched crew, and those that were his friends too, and have carried them safely to shore, and have left the rest to perish, because they would not take Paul's counsel. But God chooses rather, by preserving them all for his sake, to show what great blessings good men are to the world, than by delivering him only to show how good men are distinguished from the world. God has given thee all those that sail with thee, that is, spares them in answer to thy prayers, or for thy sake. Sometimes good men deliver neither sons nor daughters, but their own souls only, Eze 14:18. But Paul here delivers a whole ship's crew, almost three hundred souls. Note, God often spares wicked people for the sake of the godly; as Zoar for Lot's sake, and as Sodom might have been, if there had been ten righteous persons in it. The good people are hated and persecuted in the world as if they were not worthy to live in it, yet really it is for their sakes that the world stands. If Paul had thrust himself needlessly into bad company, he might justly have been cast away with them, but, God calling him into it, they are preserved with him. And it is intimated that it was a great favour to Paul, and he looked upon it to be so, that others were saved for his sake: They are given thee. There is no greater satisfaction to a good man than to know that he is a public blessing.
4. He comforts them with the same comforts wherewith he himself was comforted (Act 27:25): "Wherefore, Sirs, be of good cheer, you shall see even this will end well; for I believe God, and depend upon his word, that it shall be even as it was told me." He would not require them to give credit to that to which he did not himself give credit; and therefore solemnly professes that he believes it himself, and the belief of it makes him easy: "I doubt not but it shall be as it was told me." Thus he staggers not at the promise of God through unbelief. Hath God spoken, and shall he not make it good? No doubt he can, no doubt he will; for he is not a man that he should lie. And shall it be as God hath said? Then be of good cheer, be of good courage. God is ever faithful, and therefore let all that have an interest in his promise be ever cheerful. if with God saying and doing are not two things, then with us believing and enjoying should not.
5. He gives them a sign, telling them particularly what this tempestuous voyage would issue in (Act 27:26): "We must be cast upon a certain island, and that will both break the ship and save the passengers; and so the prediction in both respects will be fulfilled." The pilot had quitted his post, the ship was left to run at random, they knew not what latitude they were in, much less how to steer their course; and yet Providence undertakes to bring them to an island that shall be a refuge for them. When the church of God, like this ship, is tossed with tempests, and not comforted, when there is none to guide her of all her sons, yet God can bring her safely to shore, and will do it.
II. Their coming at length to an anchor upon an unknown shore, Act 27:27-29. 1. They had been a full fortnight in the storm, continually expecting death: The fourteenth night, and not sooner, they came near land; they were that night driven up and down in Adria, not in the Adriatic Gulf on which Venice stands, but in the Adriatic Sea, a part of the Mediterranean, containing both the Sicilian and Ionian seas, and extending to the African shore; in this sea they were tossed, and knew not whereabouts they were. 2. About midnight the mariners apprehended that they drew near to some shore, which confirmed what Paul had told them, that they must be driven upon some island. To try whether it was so or no, they sounded, in order to their finding the depth of the water, for the water would be shallower as they drew nearer to shore; by the first experiment they found they drew twenty fathoms deep of water, and by the next fifteen fathoms, which was a demonstration that they were near some shore; God has wisely ordered such a natural notice to sailors in the dark, that they may be cautious. 3. They took the hint, and, fearing rocks near the shore, they cast anchor, and wished for the day; they durst not go forward for fear of rocks, and yet would not go back in hope of shelter, but they would wait for the morning, and heartily wished for it; who can blame them when the affair came to a crisis? When they had light, there was no land to be seen; now that there was land near them, they had no light to see it by; no marvel then they wished for day. When those that fear God walk in darkness, and have no light, yet let them not say, The Lord has forsaken us, or, Our God has forgotten us; but let them do as these mariners did, cast anchor, and wish for the day, and be assured that the day will dawn. Hope is an anchor of the soul, sure and stedfast, entering into that within the veil. Hold fast by that, think not of putting to sea again, but abide by Christ, and wait till the day break, and the shadows flee away.
III. The defeating of the sailors' attempt to quit the ship; here was a new danger added to their distress, which they narrowly escaped. Observe, 1. The treacherous design of the seamen, and that was to leave the sinking ship, which, though a piece of wisdom in others, yet in those that were entrusted with the care of it was the basest fraud that could be (Act 27:30): They were about to flee out of the ship, concluding no other than that when it ran ashore it must be broken all to pieces; having the command of the boat, the project was to get all of them into that, and so save themselves, and leave all the rest to perish. To cover this vile design, they pretended they would cast anchors out of the fore-ship, or carry them further off, and in order to this they let down the boat, which they had taken in (Act 27:16, Act 27:17), and were going into it, having agreed among themselves, when they were in to make straight for the shore. The treacherous seamen are like the treacherous shepherd, who flees when he sees the danger coming, and there is most need of his help, Joh 10:12. Thus true is that of Solomon, Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth or a foot out of joint. Let us therefore cease from man. Paul had, in God's name, assured them that they should come safely to land, but they will rather trust their own refuge of lies than God's word and truth. 2. Paul's discovery of it, and protestation against it, Act 27:31. They all saw them preparing to go into the boat, but were deceived by the pretence they made; only Paul saw through it, and gave notice to the centurion and the soldiers concerning it, and told them plainly, Except these abide in the ship, you cannot be saved. The skill of a mariner is seen in a storm, and, in the distress of the ship, then is the proper time for him to exert himself. Now the greatest difficulty of all was before them, and therefore the seamen were now more necessary than ever yet; it was indeed not by any skill of theirs that they were brought to land, for it was quite beyond their skill, but, now that they are near land, they must use their art to bring the ship to it. When God has done that for us which we could not, we must then in his strength help ourselves. Paul speaks humanly, when he says, You cannot be saved except these abide in the ship; and he does not at all weaken the assurances he had divinely given that they should infallibly be saved. God, who appointed the end, that they should be saved, appointed the means, that they should be saved by the help of these seamen; though, if they had gone off, no doubt God would have made his word good some other way. Paul speaks as a prudent man, not as a prophet, when he says, These are necessary to your preservation. Duty is ours, events are God's; and we do not trust God, but tempt him, when we say, "We put ourselves under his protection," and do not use proper means, such as are within our power, for our own preservation. 3. The effectual defeat of it by the soldiers, Act 27:32. It was not time to stand arguing the case with the seamen, and therefore they made no more ado, but cut the ropes of the boat, and though it might otherwise have done them service in their present distress, they chose rather to let it fall off, and lose it, than suffer it to do them this disservice. And now the seamen, being forced to stay in the ship whether they would or no, are forced likewise to work for the safety of the ship as hard as they could, because if the rest perish they must perish with them.
IV. The new life which Paul put into the company, by cheerfully inviting them to take some refreshment, and by the repeated assurances he gave them that they should all of them have their lives given them for a prey. Happy they who had such a one as Paul in their company, who not only had correspondence with Heaven, but was of a hearty lively spirit with those about him, that sharpened the countenance of his friend, as iron sharpens iron. Such a friend in distress, when without are fightings and within are fears, is a friend indeed. Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart; so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel, Pro 27:9. Such was Paul's here to his companions in tribulation. The day was coming on: those that wish for the day, let them wait awhile, and they shall have what they wish for. The dawning of the day revived them a little, and then Paul got them together. 1. He chid them for their neglect of themselves, that they had so far given way to fear and despair as to forget or not to mind their food: This is the fourteenth day that you have tarried, and continued fasting, having taken nothing; and that is not well, Act 27:33. Not that they had all, or any of them, continued fourteen days without any food, but they had not had any set meal, as they used to have, all that time; they ate very little, next to nothing. Or, "You have continued fasting, that is, you have lost your stomach; you have had no appetite at all to your food, nor any relish of it, through prevailing fear and despair." A very disconsolate state is thus expressed (Psa 102:4), I forget to eat my bread. It is a sin to starve the body, and to deny it its necessary supports; he is an unnatural man indeed that hateth his own flesh, and does not nourish and cherish it; and it is a sore evil under the sun to have a sufficiency of the good things of this life, and not to have power to use them, Ecc 6:2. If this arise from the sorrow of the world, and from any inordinate fear or trouble, it is so far from excusing it that it is another sin, it is discontent, it is distrust of God, it is all wrong. What folly is it to die for fear of dying! But thus the sorrow of the world works death, while joy in God is life and peace in the greatest distresses and dangers. 2. He courts them to their food (Act 27:34): "Wherefore I pray you to take some meat. We have a hard struggle before us, must get to shore as well as we can; if our bodies be weak through fasting, we shall not be able to help ourselves." The angel bade Elijah, Arise and eat, for otherwise he would find the journey too great for him, Kg1 19:7. So Paul will have these people eat, or otherwise the waves will be too hard for them: I pray you, parakalō, "I exhort you, if you will be ruled by me, take some nourishment; though you have no appetite to it, though you have fasted away your stomach, yet let reason bring you to it, for this is for your health, or rather your preservation, or safety, at this time; it is for your salvation, you cannot without nourishment have strength to shift for your lives." As he that will not labour, let him not eat; so he that means to labour must eat. Weak and trembling Christians, that give way to doubts and fears about their spiritual state, continue fasting from the Lord's supper, and fasting from divine consolations, and then complain they cannot go on in their spiritual work and warfare; and it is owing to themselves. If they would feed and feast as they ought, upon the provision Christ has made for them, they would be strengthened, and it would be for their souls' health and salvation. 3. He assures them of their preservation: There shall not a hair fall from the head of any of you. It is a proverbial expression, denoting a complete indemnity. It is used Kg1 1:51; Luk 21:18. "You cannot eat for fear of dying; I tell you, you are sure of living, and therefore eat. You will come to shore wet and cold, but sound wind and limb; your hair wet, but not a hair lost." 4. He himself spread their table for them; for none of them had any heart to do it, they were all so dispirited: When he had thus spoken, he took bread, fetched it from the ship's stores, to which every one might safely have access when none of them had an appetite. They were not reduced to short allowance, as sailors sometimes are when they are kept longer at sea than they expected by distress of weather; they had plenty, but what good did that do them, when they had no stomach? We have reason to be thankful to God that we have not only food to our appetite, but appetite to our food; that our soul abhors not even dainty meat (Job 33:20), through sickness or sorrow. 5. He was chaplain to the ship, and they had reason to be proud of their chaplain. He gave thanks to God in presence of them all. We have reason to think he had often prayed with Luke and Arisatarchus, and what others there were among them that were Christians, that they prayed daily together; but whether he had before this prayed with the whole company promiscuously is not certain. Now he gave thanks to God, in presence of them all, that they were alive, and had been preserved hitherto, and that they had a promise that their lives should be preserved in the imminent peril now before them; he gave thanks for the provision they had, and begged a blessing upon it. We must in every thing give thanks; and must particularly have an eye to God in receiving our food, for it is sanctified to us by the word of God and prayer, and is to be received with thanksgiving. Thus the curse is taken off from it, and we obtain a covenant-right to it and a covenant-blessing upon it, Ti1 4:3-5. And it is not by bread alone that man lives, but by the word of God, which must be met with prayer. He gave thanks in presence of them all, not only to show that he served a Master he was not ashamed of, but to invite them into his service too. If we crave a blessing upon our meat, and give thanks for it in a right manner, we shall not only keep up a comfortable communion with God ourselves, but credit our profession, and recommend it to the good opinion of others. 6. He set them a good example: When he had given thanks, he broke the bread (it was sea-biscuit) and he began to eat. Whether they would be encouraged or no, he would; if they would be sullen, and, like froward children, refuse their victuals because they had not every thing to their mind, he would eat his meat, and be thankful. Those that teach others are inexcusable if they do not themselves do as they teach, and the most effectual way of preaching is by example. 7. It had a happy influence upon them all (Act 27:36): Then were they all of good cheer. They then ventured to believe the message God sent them by Paul when they plainly perceived that Paul believed it himself, who was in the same common danger with them. Thus God sends good tidings to the perishing world of mankind by those who are of themselves, and in the same common danger with themselves, who are sinners too, and must be saved, if ever they be saved, in the same way in which they persuade others to venture; for it is a common salvation which they bring the tidings of; and it is an encouragement to people to commit themselves to Christ as their Saviour when those who invite them to do so make it to appear that they do so themselves. It is here upon this occasion that the number of the persons is set down, which we took notice of before: they were in all two hundred threescore and sixteen souls. See how many may be influenced by the good example of one. They did all eat, nay, they did all eat enough (Act 27:38), they were satiated with food, or filled with it; they made a hearty meal. This explains the meaning of their fasting before for fourteen days; not that they did not eat during all that time, but they never had enough all that time, as they had now. 8. They once more lightened the ship, that it might escape the better in the shock it was now to have. They had before thrown the wares and the tackle overboard, and now the wheat, the victuals and provisions they had; better they should sink the food than that it should sink them. See what good reason our Saviour had to call our bodily food meat that perishes. We may ourselves be under a necessity of throwing that away to save our lives which we had gathered and laid up for the support of our lives. It is probable that the ship was overloaded with the multitude of the passengers (for this comes in just after the account of the number of them) and that this obliged them so often to lighten the ship.
V. Their putting to shore, and the staving of the ship in the adventure. It was about break of day when they ate their meat, and when it was quite day they began to look about them; and here we are told, 1. That they knew not where they were; they could not tell what country it was they were now upon the coast of, whether it was Europe, Asia, or Africa, for each had shores washed by the Adriatic Sea. It is probable that these seamen had often sailed this way, and thought they knew every country they came near perfectly well, and yet here they were at a loss. Let not the wise man then glory in his wisdom, since it may perhaps fail him thus egregiously even in his own profession. 2. They observed a creek with a level shore, into which they hoped to thrust the ship, Act 27:39. Though they knew not what country it was, nor whether the inhabitants were friends or foes, civil or barbarous, they determined to cast themselves upon their mercy; it was dry land, which would be very welcome to those that had been so long at sea. It was a pity but they had had some help from the shore, a pilot sent them, that knew the coast, who might steer their ship in, or another second ship, to take some of the men on board. Those who live on the sea-coast have often opportunity of succouring those who are in distress at sea, and of saving precious lives, and they ought to do their utmost in order to it, with all readiness and cheerfulness; for it is a great sin, and very provoking to God, to forbear to deliver those that are driven unto death, and are ready to be slain; and it will not serve for an excuse to say, Behold, we knew it not, when either we did, or might, and should, have known it, Pro 24:11, Pro 24:12. I have been told there are some, and in our own nation too, who when from the sea-coast they see a ship in distress and at a loss will, by misguiding fires or otherwise, purposely lead them into danger, that the lives may be lost, and they may have the plunder of the ship. One can scarcely believe that any of the human species can possibly be so wicked, so barbarously inhuman, and can have so much of the devil in them; if there be, let them know of a truth that they shall have judgment without mercy who have shown no mercy. 3. They made straight to the shore with wind and tide (Act 27:40): They took up the anchors, the four anchors which they cast out of the stern, Act 27:29. Some think that they took pains to weigh them up, hoping they should have use for them again at the shore; others that they did it with such precipitation that they were forced to cut the cables and leave them; the original will admit either. They then committed themselves to the sea, the wind standing fair to carry them into the port, and they loosed the rudder-bands, which were fastened during the storm for the greater steadiness of the ship, but, now that they were putting into the port, were loosed, that the pilot might steer with the greater freedom; they then hoisted up the main-sail to the wind, and made towards shore. The original words here used for the rudder-bands and the main-sail find the critics a great deal of work to accommodate them to the modern terms; but they need not give us any difficulty who are content to know that when they saw the shore they hastened to it as fast as they could, and perhaps made more haste than good speed. And should not a poor soul that has long been struggling with winds and tempests in this world long to put into the safe and quiet haven of everlasting rest? Should it not get clear from all that which fastens it to this earth, and straitens the out-goings of its pious and devout affections heavenward? And should it not hoist up the main-sail of faith to the wind of the Spirit, and so with longing desires make to shore? 4. They made a shift among them to run the ship aground, in a shelf or bed of sand, as it should seem, or an isthmus, or neck of land, washed with the sea on both sides, and therefore two seas are said to meet upon it, and there the forepart stuck fast; and then, when it had no liberty to play, as a ship has when it rides at anchor, but remained immovable, the hinder part would soon be broken of course by the violence of the waves. Whether the seamen did not do their part, being angry that they were disappointed in their design to escape, and therefore wilfully ran the ship aground, or whether we may suppose that they did their utmost to save it, but God in his providence overruled, for the fulfilling of Paul's word, that the ship must be lost (Act 27:22), I cannot say; but this we are sure of that God will confirm the word of his servants, and perform the counsel of his messengers, Isa 44:26. The ship, that had strangely weathered the storm in the vast ocean, where it had room to roll, is dashed to pieces when it sticks fast. Thus if the heart fixes in the world, in love and affection, and adherence to it, it is lost. Satan's temptations beat against it, and it is gone; but, as long as it keeps above the world, though it be tossed with its cares and tumults, there is hope of it. They had the shore in view, and yet suffered shipwreck in the harbour, to teach us never to be secure.
VI. A part
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv18–43 And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest,.... Sometimes…
And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest,.... Sometimes being lifted up as it were to the heavens, and then presently sinking down, as if they were going into the bottom of the sea; such a condition at sea is described to the life by the Psalmist, in Psa 107:25.
the next day they lightened the ship; of its burden, its lading, the goods and merchandise that were in it; as the mariners did in the ship in which Jonah was, Jon 1:5 the Ethiopic version renders it, "they cast the goods into the sea"; the Arabic version, the "merchandise".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 30, 31, 33, 34, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 44 They lightened the ship - Casting the heavy goods…
They lightened the ship - Casting the heavy goods into the sea.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 Verse 18. Lightened the ship] Of what, we know…
Verse 18. Lightened the ship] Of what, we know not; but it was probably cumbrous wares, by which the deck was thronged, and which were prejudicial to the due trim of the vessel.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv20, 23, 27, 33, 39, 42 Act 27:20-22. And when neither sun nor stars in…
Act 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, υβριν και ζημιαν, rendered harm and loss, are used Act 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 Act 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, 1Sa 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.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 They lightened the ship - By throwing out a…
They lightened the ship - By throwing out a part of the cargo.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 21, 23, 24, 27, 30, 31, 33, 40, 41, 44 The lightened the ship by throwing overboard part of…
The lightened the ship by throwing overboard part of their loading and goods. Some call it, they made the jetsam. (Witham)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 cast out with our own hands--passengers and crew together.
cast out with our own hands--passengers and crew together.
the tackling of the ship--whatever they could do without that carried weight. This further effort to lighten the ship seems to show that it was now in a leaking condition, as will presently appear more evident.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 18. Lightened the ship—Casting over whatever could be spared,…
18. Lightened the ship—Casting over whatever could be spared, but saving the ship’s rigging and wheat cargo.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv18–44 18. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest]…
18. And we being exceedingly tossed with a tempest] Better, with R. V. “and as we laboured exceedingly with the storm.” The storm waxed in violence.
the next day they lightened the ship] This is not as precise as the original. Read “they set about throwing the cargo overboard.” The verb is an imperfect, and the noun is used in classical Greek for “a cargo cast forth.” The ship was probably carrying corn from Alexandria to Italy, and if so the load would be a heavy one and its removal a great relief to the struggling vessel. On the African supply of corn to Italy cp. Juv. Sat. v. 118 seqq.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 (18) The next day they lightened the ship.—St. Luke…
(18) The next day they lightened the ship.—St. Luke uses the technical term for throwing the bulk of the cargo overboard. They effected, in this way, the relief of the ship from the imminent danger of sinking. The act shows that, in spite of the undergirding, leakage was still going on. The cargo, as coming from Alexandria, probably consisted largely of corn; but see Note on Act_27:38.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv18–44 As we labored exceedingly for being exceedingly tossed, A.V.;…
As we labored exceedingly for being exceedingly tossed, A.V.; the storm for a tempest, A.V.; began to throw the freight overboard for lightened the ship, A.V. Labored; ceimazoumenwn, only here in the New Testament; but used by Plato, Thucydides, Diodorus Siculus, Josephus, and others, and especially by medical writers. It is the passive voice, and this is best expressed by the A.V. "tossed." They began to throw, etc. The phrase ejkbolhn ejpoiounto is one of the technical phrases for taking a cargo out of a ship, given by Julius Pollux; ejkbolhsasqai twn fortiwn (Alford, from Smith). It is also the phrase of the LXX in Jon_1:5, jEkbolhsanto twn skeuwn twn ejn tw ploi. They began to expresses the imperfect. It is inferred from this, and the subsequent statement (ver. 19) as to throwing overboard the tackling of the ship, that, in spite of the undergirding, the ship was leaking, and therefore heavy with water, and in danger of going down. (comp. Jon_1:5) The freight here mentioned may have been heavy packages of merchandise other than the main cargo of wheat (see ver. 6, note).
Vers. 18-44. The escape from shipwreck.
Read full note →
The particular feature in this part of the narrative of the shipwreck to which attention is now invited is the sacrifices by which the final escape was effected. The eighteenth verse finds the whole party on board the ship in an encounter with a furious tempest. We can easily picture to ourselves the sea running high, the vessel crouching as it were before the wind, the waves breaking over the side of the ship, and the water beginning to fill her. At this moment the relative value of things in the mind of the master and crew undergoes a great change. The freight of the ship so precious in the owner"s eyes, acquired at great cost, put on board with much labor, and on which was set the hope of great gains when the vessel should reach the Italian shore now loses all its value in his eyes. Something more precious is at stake the ship itself, and the lives of those on board; and so the sacrifice must be made. They throw the freight overboard in order to lighten the ship, that it and all that are in it may not go down to the bottom of the deep. Some relief from the pressing danger seems to have followed this step. For a time the vessel was relieved, and rode more buoyantly upon the troubled waves. But the relief was only temporary. The ship began again to fill with water, and the danger was greater than ever. Some fresh sacrifice must be made if she was to be kept afloat. And so with their own bands they cast all the tackling into the sea (note on ver. 19). Things which once seemed necessary to their comfort, things without which the ship could never have started on her way, are now ruthlessly destroyed. They stand in the way of saving something more precious than themselves the ship and its freight of human life and so they are cast into the sea. But the needful sacrifices are not yet complete. For eleven more days the ship keeps afloat, though every hour might seem to be her last. But on the fourteenth night a new element of danger appeared. They were close upon a lee shore, and so their only chance of safety was to run her upon the soft beach. But how could this be done? There still remained in her the precious cargo of wheat which she was carrying from Alexandria to Italy. Lightened of this heavy load, there was a hope that she might run upon the beach, so that they might jump out and be saved. And so this sacrifice was made too. They threw out the wheat into the sea, for their lives were more precious than even the golden grain; and they escaped all safe to the land. This account exactly illustrates the Christian"s career. There is a time when the things of this world wealth, or reputation, or the world"s friendship, or certain habits and opinions are of supreme importance in his eyes. By-and-by some conjuncture arises in which he has to choose between them and the salvation of his soul. There is a struggle at first, and an unwillingness to part with them. But as the things of God rise in their immensity before his eyes, and it becomes clear that the sacrifice must be made if he would enter into life, his mind is made up. What things were gain to him, those he counts but loss for Christ, for whom he suffers loss of all things, and counts them but dung that he may win Christ. He makes the calculation, "What shall it profit me, if I gain the whole world and lose my own soul?" and the decision is not uncertain. Thus the Hebrew Christians took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, knowing that they had in heaven a better and enduring substance. Thus Levi at the receipt of custom, at the call of Jesus, left all, and rose up and followed him. But it often happens that the whole sacrifice is not made at once, nor does the necessity for it become apparent at once. Some lighter loss is sustained at first, and the lightened soul moves easier on her spiritual way for a while. But then some new danger arises. This time it is the sacrifice of the man"s self, some part as it were of his very being, that has to be made. The right hand has to be cut off, or the right eye plucked out, if he would enter into life. But still the decision is the same. There is nothing that he can give or take in exchange for his soul. The sufferings and losses of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed; and even in those extreme eases where the choice has to be made between life itself on the one hand, and faithfulness to Christ on the other, the true believer falters not. He well knows that the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal; and so he cheerfully lays down his life on earth that he may not make shipwreck of eternity. So the blessed Paul himself was led on from loss to loss, but through loss to eternal gain His legal privileges, his blameless righteousness, his high standing as a Pharisee among Pharisees, his consideration among his equals, his rabbinical learning, his boasted superiority, all fell one by one before the excellency of Christ. Desiring to be the honored benefactor of his race, he found himself the off-scouring of all things, hunted down and persecuted as one not worthy to live. But still his views of Christ"s gospel kept enlarging; his conceptions of the blessedness of being in Christ kept brightening; the righteousness of Christ, and the glory of Christ, kept growing in the intensity of their all-absorbing interest, and so he was led on to suffer loss upon loss, and to heap labor upon labor, and to endure affliction upon affliction; till from being the prisoner of the Lord he became the faithful martyr of Jesus Christ, and laid down his very life in sure anticipation of receiving the crown of righteousness at the hand of the righteous Judge, when he should plant his foot in triumph upon the shore of eternal life.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv20, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 32, 38, 44 And when neither sun nor stars in many days…
Act_27:20-26
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared.
Read full note →
Spiritual darkness
I. There are many ways in which we may account for this state of mind.
1. It may be due in part to nervous and physical exhaustion. To the speed of modern life we do not add an increased proportion of rest. And to all our haste, telling on the finely adjusted nature with which God has endowed us, there comes inevitable reaction. The liver, or digestion, or nervous system, suddenly collapses under the exacting strain, and refuses to perform, or performs sluggishly, the behests of the will. It is at that time that one is apt to lose the vision of the unseen. Elijah, overtired, asks to die.
2. It may be due to mistakes in the previous education of the soul. Suppose we have received our religion simply upon hearsay or on tradition from our fathers, without much of that inner experience which authenticates it to the soul; or suppose we have mistaken creeds, formularies and acts as constituting religion, thinking when these are assailed or shown to be valueless, that we have lost the essence of religion; or suppose we have suddenly come into collision with the ruthless spirit of criticism, which, in the professed interest of truth, tears asunder the most delicate flowers to learn the secret of their manufacture, and refuses that we should enjoy a flower unless we can tell exactly how it came to be. In any of these cases the soul arrested in the enjoyment of unquestioning faith, and unable in the tumult to discriminate between the transitory and the eternal, the form and the substance, cries out as if it were bereaved of everything, when in point of fact it is only shedding the cerements of the grave as it passes into the fuller life, and leaving its baby clothes for those of youth and developing growth.
3. It may be due to moral declension. Only as the eye is single is the body full of light. Only the pure in heart can see God, Only those who do His will know. It is not always so, of course; but more often than not it is they who yield to the spell of Circe and are turned to swine, that lose the power of recognising the true Man, and appreciating those subtle influences from the unseen and spiritual world, which proves its existence no less certainly than did the spice-laden breath of the land, bearing in its current the land birds, prove to Columbus that the continent of his dreams was about to break on the vision of himself and his discontented sailors.
4. It may be due to the direct temptation of evil spirits. Often Satan, unable to secure his object by solicitations addressed to the senses, directs his attack on some of the nobler attributes. Sometimes he arouses the senses to hold the spirit in thrall, as some slave girl, with castanet and dance, may subjugate a Caesar to her will. At other times he suggests through days and months together, that there is no need for the spirit to maintain its upright attitude, because there is no eye watching it, no hand waiting to reward it. There is no God. Why, then, be so careful? Eat and drink, tomorrow you will die and end as a brute.
5. Sometimes it is due to the necessity for that preparation of the soul to help others, which can only be acquired through the discipline of trial. So often God has to wean us from our sensible enjoyment of Him, that we may learn to live by faith. God permits thee to go this desolate path in order to explore it and become a Greatheart, beneath whose guidance Mr. Fearing, Miss Much-afraid, and Mr. Despondency will come safely to the celestial city.
II. What should we do under these circumstances?
1. Be of good courage. Do not begin to say either that there is no such thing as truth, or that you will never behold it again. Do not get into a panic. If you walk in darkness and have no light, stay yourself on God; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart. Wait: be strong, fear not.
2. Go on obeying the better impulses of your soul. Go on doing what is right, because it is right. Be pure and sweet, gentle and true, unselfish and forgiving, keep your hand upon the thread of conscience, it traverses the darkest mines, and leads out into the perfect day.
3. Keep your difficulties to yourself. There is nothing gained by talking of them; and you have no right to sow the seeds of your own difficulties in the hearts of others.
4. Put away all known evil. There is a mote or a beam in your eye that must come out, ere you can see clearly. Be cleansed in the blood of Jesus, and delivered by the power of the Holy Spirit.
5. Put your will on Gods side. Keep your face towards the east. Struggle through the slough to that further side which is next the celestial city. Remember how Thomas, though he seemed fast closed against faith, mingled with the rest in their gatherings in the upper room, as if he could not abandon the precious hope of seeing the risen Lord. (F. B. Meyer, B. A.)
Ancient navigation
A compass was, of course, not included in the outfit of an ancient Oriental ship; and, in that respect, modern Oriental navigation resembles the ancient. Except in cases, increasingly more frequent, where the principles of Western European navigation have been adopted, the Oriental coasting vessels carry no compass; but the sailors are dependent upon sun and stars, and upon their knowledge of the characteristic features of the coast, to guide them in their voyage. The typical Oriental captain is a man skilled in weather signs, familiar with the limited range of coast along which he plies, and somewhat too ready to run his craft into a safe inlet at the approach of a storm. The captains of the grain ships plying between Egypt and Rome were men of more capability; but even they had hardly any resources when they were out of sight of land, and sun and stars were long hidden. (S. S. Times.)
All hope that we should be saved was then taken away.--
Wrecked, but not reckless
I. Sometimes I have been glad to hear that cry. Multitudes of persons are sailing in what they think to be the good ship of self-righteousness: they are expecting that they shall get to heaven in her. But she never did carry a soul safely into the haven, and she never will. Now, this vessel manages to keep on her way against all the good advice of Scripture. I am glad, therefore, when some terrific tempest overtakes this vessel; and when mens hopes through their own doings and their own feelings are utterly wrecked. It must end in destruction, and it is therefore a thousand mercies when they find it out soon enough to get another and a better hope of being saved rather than this. Yet it is really wonderful how self-righteous persons will do their best to preserve their self-righteousness as long as they can. Like these mariners--
1. They have got a boat behind the vessel. There are some who have not only good worlds enough, but a few to spare. They have hauled this in very soon under stress of weather, and got the boat on deck for fear of losing it altogether. If we cannot be saved by good works, they say, we will get under the lee of some church and get ceremonies to help us out. And when the hurricane has blown them out to sea, and they have found that there is no defence for a soul in ordinances; that only the precious blood can cleanse away sin, and even that must be applied through the Holy Ghost by faith to give the conscience peace--alas! poor souls, their hope of being saved has become more slender than before.
2. They undergird the ship; gird their self-righteousness together; pray more, read the Bible more, go to a place of worship oftener--by any means they will endeavour to keep together the timbers that the storm has begun to loosen. But the storm blows too severely; the vessel cannot be preserved by such appliances as these.
3. They cut down all that might hamper them. They cry, We cannot boast any longer; we acknowledge we have transgressed in some respects, but, Lord, accept our confessions; put away our sin, because we have repented of it. They have given up a good deal, but they still cling to the old ship as long as they can. She must go to pieces, or you cannot get them out of her; so the Lord sends the wind, and the storm again breaks over them.
4. They go to the Word of God for comfort, but, like the mariners, they get no food, for there are no consolations for those who can save themselves.
5. We find that the sailors with Paul laboured hard; they tried to pump the vessel. Meanwhile, neither sun, nor moon, nor stars appeared. They were all in the dark: and that is just the condition of a self-righteous soul when the Spirit of God blows with His rough north wind upon it, and it comes to see that By the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified. It is an awful condition to be in, in some respects; it is a most blessed one in others. Oh, for such a storm as would that vessel wreck which is sailing under the flag of self-righteousness, that all hope of being so saved might be taken away from you.
II. Sometimes I have deplored it. I have heard some such lamentation as this from men who had no self-righteousness certainly, but who had fallen into despair, or had been guilty of stifling conscience, or had grown careless while hearing the Word, and they had gradually wrought themselves into the belief that they must be lost.
1. I am sorry for these reasons.
(1) I am afraid that you will go and do something very wrong. Because there is no hope, says the man, I do not care what I do. As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb. Despair has been employed by Satan to lead many men into desperate crimes. Some have taken their own lives. Do not believe what Satan is telling you. The hope that you may be saved is not altogether gone.
(2) I fear that you will leave off hearing the gospel. I have met with some who said that they would never go any more to the house of God because it was no good. They had seen a great many converted, but it had never touched them, and therefore it was no use; they were only adding to their responsibilities. Dont give up hearing, I pray you. I would sooner you came here and went to sleep, for perhaps when you woke up a saving word might get in somehow or other.
(3) For you will keep on coming out of custom, but you wont listen with any attentions because you will feel It is no good. I have heard of a boy who was noticed to lean forward to catch every word of the preacher; and his mother said to him, William, what makes you so very attentive? Because, said the boy, our minister said that if there was a sentence in the sermon that was likely to do us good Satan would try so that we should not hear it, and therefore I want to hear all that is said in the hope that God may bless me. I do believe, if you were to hear like that, you would get good one of these days.
2. But you must not give way to that feeling that there is no hope.
(1) It is quite contrary to Scripture. Do you find the passage there that says there is no hope for you? You find this: Him that cometh unto Me I will in no wise cast out.
(2) It is opposed to all fact. There are many here present who were sinners and seekers like you now are, and they have found peace. Now, if they have been delivered, why should not you?
(3) It is to insult the great Father who always receives the prodigals that come back to Him. Say that He cannot save you? why, you deny His omnipotence and distrust His mercy!
(4) It is to grieve Jesus. Do you think His blood cannot cleanse you? What, is there some new sin come up that Jesus did not know of?
(5) It is to do injury to the Holy Ghost, for there is nothing which the blessed Spirit cannot move out of your way which is now an impediment. If thy heart be like the millstone, He can turn it into wax. If you cannot believe, He can give you faith.
III. I have sympathised with it, because many a time have I felt the same. Children of God do not always find it smooth sailing to heaven. Even in the good bark of Christ crucified there are storms. Christ may be in the vessel, but He may be asleep, and the ship may be tossed with the tempest. I have introduced this subject because there are many young believers who get into such a squall, and do not know what to make of it. They say, Why, had I been a child of God, I could not have drifted into this frightful tempest. How sayest thou so? Did not David go through it? He said, All Thy waves and Thy billows have gone over me. You cannot expect to be upon these seas and not have tossings to and fro sometimes. The strongest faith that ever was in this world has sometimes faltered. The old story tells us of Caesar in the storm, when he said to the trembling captain, Fear not! Thou carriest Caesar and all his fortunes! Now, Christ is in the same boat with all His people. If one of His members perish, He must perish too. Because I live ye shall live also. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Gods dealing with man in his extremity
I. He begins by aggravating the distress (Act_27:21). You have brought all this distress upon yourselves. How would this reproof aggravate for the moment the agony of that dark hour! It would call up conscience. When a man is made to feel that his suffering is not merely a calamity, but a crime, it comes on him with new intensity and weight. Thus God ever deals with men. The first thing that He does to help a world in misery is to convince it that its misery is self-produced. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself. And He goes on to convince it of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
II. He proceeds to mitigate the distress (Act_27:22). After the wound comes the salve. After sinners have experienced the workings of genuine repentance, there comes the message of Divine comfort. After the tempest the still small voice.
III. He does both through His servants (Act_27:23-24). Three things are here to be noticed.
1. The essential character of Gods servants. What is indispensable in the character of a true servant?
(1) A practical consciousness of Gods absolute claim to our being. Whose I am. I am not the proprietor, but the trustee of myself.
(2) A constant working out of Gods will in our being. Whom I serve.
2. Their high privilege. Communication from the heavenly Father. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him.
3. Their social value. God hath given thee all them that sail with thee, Paul was the temporal saviour of all on board. The world is preserved for the sake of the good. Every righteous man is a bulwark to his city and his country. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
Pauls voyage to Rome considered in connection with his faith
I. The perilous circumstances in which the apostle was placed. What calamity excites more painful sensations than a storm at sea?
II. The apostle is the exercise of a lively faith. His faith appears--
1. In the strength of its exercise. This was manifested in the ready regard which he paid to the testimony of the angel, although circumstances at the time seemed directly opposed to its fulfilment.
2. In the support which it yielded to his mind. While the tempest was so awful that despondency took possession of the crew, the apostle came forth to cheer their hearts, as his own was cheered, by declaring that no mans life should be lost.
3. In influential connection with the use of the ordinary means of safety and success (Act_27:10; Act_27:21; Act_27:31). Unhappily for us, we carry the feelings of presumption into our religious concerns to an extent unknown in our worldly occupations.
4. In its promotion of the glory of God. There was no attempt to magnify himself by concealing the source of his prophetic assurance. He attributed nothing to his own wisdom or power; he ascribed the honour entirely to God.
Conclusion: The subject may teach us--
1. The tender care which God exercises over those who love and serve Him, and sometimes over others for their sake. Not only was the apostle saved himself from the threatened destruction, but the crew also.
2. When under the mysterious dispensations of Providence not to think that the purposes of God are changed. If we make present appearances the rule or index by which we judge the love of God, we shall often be deceived and perplexed. A lengthened trial, therefore, a dark and awful calamity, should not be viewed by a Christian as implying a change in Gods intention to do him good, but as involving various, and some of them painful, means by which that good is to be effected.
3. The necessity of the possession of solid peace and hope, of our being what Paul denominated himself, a servant of God. (R. Burls.)
Paul in the storm and his celestial visitant
Certain spots will be forever sacred as places of contact between earth and heaven. Bethel, Penuel, Midian, Sinai, Bethlehem, Jerusalem. But except those spots made holy ground by contact with our Lord, none surpass in sacred associations this unknown spot in the Adriatic. I see three dazzling rays gleam from it.
I. Earthly sublimity. A storm at sea; a crowded ship driven helplessly; provisions gone; all hope taken away from 276 souls. While we shudder at it, let us think of the more sublimely fearful scene around us. It is a stormy voyage we are making from port to port between the two eternities. If the storm has not struck us in the calm harbour of youth, we know that the sea is treacherous. After this disappointments drench us; great billowy griefs go over us; sudden temptations almost capsize us; we go into the trough of the sea in wretched habits and circumstances; we see daily some rock on which someone is wrecked. We undergird our lives with expediencies--property, friends, culture, formalities of religion. But soon the crash comes. The ship of earthly estate is lost. One event cometh alike to all. Thank God if the soul--the man in the ship--be saved. But alas! the shores are strewn with not only waifs of fortunes, of reputations--the lumber and cargoes of life--but with soul wrecks.
II. The celestial sublimity. A light shines through that black storm, and above the howling a supernatural voice is heard by one man. What did it signify? Have you elevation of mind sufficient to believe that the angel of the Lord stands by our storm-tossed humanity? The sailors knew not where they were; but the angel knew. So when we are shut down under the hatches of perplexity and despondency, the Lord knows where we are. He found Hagar in utter despair. To Abraham, when his faith wavered, He came with promise. To Jacob, when his resolution faltered, He came with strength and confirmation. To Moses, seeking light for duty, He came in a flame. To Joshua, David, Christ. The sublimity deepens as me hear the infinite voice--Lo I am with you alway, etc.
III. The human sublimity. One alone is undismayed. The sailors experience and the officers skill gave them no such confidence as his. He cries to the crew, Be of good cheer, etc. The angel has filled him with his own bright spirit. I have seen a few such men who have a solar radiance, a partial transfiguration, as if Christ lived in them.
1. They are sinners, but they have heard the voice of the angel saying, Thy sins are forgiven thee.
2. They have been sorely bereaved, but they have heard the angel saying, Be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.
3. They are nearing dissolution, but they have heard I am the resurrection and the life.
Conclusion: Have you heard the voice?
1. Faith is hearing. I believe God.
2. The secret of the angelic assurance was Whom I am and whom I serve. He was the Divine protege, because he had given himself to the Divine keeping. (J. M. Ludlow, D. D.)
Religion in a storm
After all true religion is not a thing to be sneered at. That which could make a landsman calm and confident in the midst of a storm which overwhelmed the oldest sailors must have been something more than fancy; and that which could make a man talk and act as Paul did must have been something more than blind enthusiasm. Note--
I. Faiths composure in the midst of lifes tempests. I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. This after all hope that we should be saved was taken away. Think of the contrast on board that ship. There were old sailors there; veterans who had fought in the foremost ranks of Rome; merchants who had travelled through many lands; but of all the two hundred threescore and sixteen souls there were none who could with composure look this danger in the face, save the prisoner and the one or two Christians who were companions with him in his bonds. He stood alone, amid all that hopeless company, and declared his confidence; and he, who knew the ground of his own composure best, said it was because he believed God. If nautical experience could have inspired such fearlessness, then, surely, the sailors should have been more composed than Paul; and if it had been merely a question of nerve or temperament, then the soldiers, who had dared a thousand deaths, ought certainly to have been as cool as the tentmaker. As it was on board that ship, so it is in the voyage of life. Amidst the surging waters, faith alone can keep us steady. With the sailors we may have much life experience; with the soldiers we may possess a large share of natural courage; with the merchants we may enjoy much wealth and influence; but unless with Paul we can say, I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me, we shall be the victims of every tempest and the sport of every wave.
II. Faiths work in the midst of lifes tempest. One mans faith may be a means of blessing to others. I believe God,--wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer! One chief end of our mission is to seek each others happiness. How can this be done? Paul did it--
1. By declaring the Word of God! Paul did not begin to calculate and explain the ships position, neither did he try to weigh the probabilities of escape by this or that procedure; but he assured them, on the strength of what God had spoken, that not an hair should fall from the head of any of them.
(1) Let the strong men in the Church make Paul their example in this particular. Jonathan arose, and went to David in the wood, and strengthened his hand in God. This is what we want now.
(2) Consider, you fathers, what those words are upon which you have been taught to hope, and, by a repetition of them to the fainting, Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Dont forget that the Church abounds with little children, and that your word about Him that is from the beginning may be a source of comfort to their hearts.
(3) Let me remind you little faiths of what our God has said. He says, He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of His eye. But Paul did not fail to give them both sides of the truth. The ship was to be lost, and he was to stand before Caesar! It was not all blessing that the angel predicted. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.
2. By avowing his own faith. I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Dont profess that which you dont possess; but if you want to do good in the world, dont go about theorising and philosophising as to whether or not God has spoken, or whether or not He is likely to do what He has said! Either be silent altogether, or declare your unbounded faith in Gods Word.
3. By setting a good example. To make others happy, you must yourself wear a cheerful face. It is useless to cry, Be of good cheer, when, to your own soul, you are crying, Why art thou cast down? True faith will be detected no sooner by the emphasis of your word than by the genuineness of your smile. Rejoice in the Lord always!
III. Faiths honour in the midst of lifes tempests. What honour faith confers! It makes the child a man, and it makes the man a very giant. When Paul stepped on board that vessel no man was more despised than the great apostle; but when the Euroclydon beat upon the ship, and all hope of being saved was gone, he arose a prince amongst men. Faith made him the master of the ship; and though a prisoner in charge of Julius the centurion, Julius the centurion sought the advice and obeyed the commands of his own captive. And true faith will ever thus assert itself. A ship was on her beam ends in the Atlantic, and all hope was taken away. The captain had warned his men to prepare for death. But there was one clinging to the shrouds who saw no danger, and the praying cabin-boy became the champion of faith in the midst of the tempest. God will save us yet, sir, said the lad; and, while hanging to the helpless vessel he sought to cheer the crew, his youthful prayers were heard in heaven. Soon after a tremendous sea came rolling on towards them, which they quite expected would carry them down, but, to their astonishment and joy, it so struck them as to right the ship, and they continued their voyage, and entered New York in safety. Them that honour Me I will honour.
IV. Faiths support in the midst of lifes tempests. There stood by me this night the angel of God, etc. O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, read Pauls narrative. What Paul had to comfort him, that every child of God has.
1. Paul was remembered all through the storm. Unbelief often says hard things about God when darkness and tempest for a long time distress. Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, etc. But what saith the Lord? Can a woman forget her sucking child, etc.
2. Paul was watched all through the storm. Though the sun and the stars had not been able to pierce the storm clouds, the eye that never slumbers had watched over Paul, and the angel of Adria knew just where to find him. I will guide thee with Mine eye. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them.
3. Paul was sustained all through the storm. All through that trying time Gods word was a source of unspeakable consolation; but that special love visit of the angel raised him to the highest pitch of Christian happiness. And thus God comforts His people by His word still. (W. H. Burton.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv21, 27, 33, 39 21–26. After long abstinence. Anxiety and necessity would enforce…
21–26. After long abstinence. Anxiety and necessity would enforce abstinence. The fires were all put out, the provisions watersoaked, the men constantly employed, their fear too great to prepare regular meals. If there was eating at all, it would be by snatches. Paul stood forth. He chose some place on deck where all could hear him. Ye should have hearkened. He reminds them of his advice, not to taunt, but to secure confidence for what he shall now say. The vessel and cargo shall be lost, but no man's life.
An angel. He gives the grounds of his hope. An angel of God, the God he served, Jehovah, stood by him and declared it. Whose I am, and whom I serve. This short sentence is a sermon. It is the key-note of all Paul's ministry.
Read full note →
Fear not. They were in the midst of terrible peril, in a ruined ship, on an unknown sea, tossed by the storm, surrounded by angry waves beneath, and angry heavens above. But God had not forgotten his servant. God hath given thee all, etc. Paul had then prayed for his fellow-voyagers.
Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island. Their safety and wreck on a certain island were assured; the details were not yet revealed.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On vv27, 37 Act_27:27. The fourteenth night dated from the rising of…
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act_27:27. The fourteenth night dated from the rising of the gale, which occurred soon after leaving the Fair Havens. The Sea of Adria.—See “Homiletical Analysis.” Though applied to the sea between Greece and Italy, it also embraced the ocean waters around Sicily and as far south as the coast of Africa. The country towards which the ship drifted was not the island of Meleda near the Dalmatian coast, but that of Malta, south of Sicily, so that the course of drifting was west-by-north.
Read full note →
Act_27:29. They cast four anchors out of the stern.—One advantage of doing so was that the ship was thus ready for running ashore. Besides, had they anchored from the prow, the vessel might have swung round and been dashed against the rocks. Cæsar (De Bel., Civ., i. 25) secured his ships by means of four anchors: naves quaternis anchoris destinabat, ne fluctibus moverentur; and Nelson is said to have anchored his ships in this way at the Battle of Copenhagen, having been led to do so by reading on the morning before the battle the twenty-seventh chapter of the Acts (Conybeare and Howson).
Act_27:30. Cast anchors out of the foreship should be, stretch or lay out anchors from the foreships. The idea seems to have been to pretend to sail out from the bows in the boat with one or two anchors, so as to drop them into the sea at the full length of the cables. The intention was to escape and leave the soldiers and prisoners to their fate.
Act_27:31. On the seeming inconsistency of this verse with Act_27:22 see on Act_27:26. Notwithstanding Paul’s previous assurance of safety, nothing but death could result if the only persons who could man the vessel were allowed to leave it.
Act_27:32. The soldiers to whom Paul gave the alarm prevented the base attempt of the sailors to desert the ship from being successful.
Act_27:33. Paul besought them all to take meat, or food.—Because of their long fast, and because of the labours which the dawning day might bring them. Before they could reach the shore, much fatigue would require to be endured and for this they would need to recruit their strength by means of food,
Act_27:35. He took bread and gave thanks.—Neither celebrating a love-feast or Eucharist (Olshausen, Ewald), nor acting as a father of a family (Meyer, Hackett), since there is no mention made of any distribution of the bread, as in Luk_24:30; but simply setting them example as a pious Jew or Christian, who asks a blessing on his food (De Wette, Zöckler, Alford)—an example which they all followed (Act_27:36).
Act_27:37. Two hundred threescore and sixteen souls.—The number is probably correct, though some ancient authorities read about threescore and sixteen. The vessel must therefore have been quite equal in size to the largest class of modern merchantmen. Its keel, it has been estimated, would be about one hundred feet in length, while its carrying capacity would be about eleven and twelve hundred tons.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_27:27-37
Nearing the Breakers; or, a Night of Anxiety
I. The situation on the fourteenth night.—(I.e., from the bursting of the storm, which occurred soon after leaving Fair Havens, perhaps on the same day, at nightfall.)
1. Drifting in the Adria. Though usually applied to the Gulf of Venice, or the sea between Italy and Greece, the term “Adria” comprehended, in a wider sense, the ocean around Sicily, near which was Melita. The later Greek and Roman writers even called by this name the entire sheet of water as far as Africa. In what direction they drifted can be inferred from the statement that they were wrecked on Melita, or Malta, near Sicily, not the island of the same name on the Dalmatian coast. It was on this Ocean of Adria that Josephus was wrecked (Life, 3).
2. Nearing land. The time was now midnight. Whatever that may be to poets and landsmen, to tempest-tossed sailors in a sinking ship, with no moon or stars in the firmament overhead, or even with these, it must ever be a season of deep horror and great danger. With the sound, too, of breakers ahead announcing the proximity of unknown land, the acuteness of distress felt by crew and passengers in such a plight must be simply appalling.
“And fast through the midnight dark and drear,
Through the whistling sleet and snow,
Like a sheeted ghost the vessel swept
Towards the reef of Norman’s woe.
“And ever the fitful gusts between
A sound came from the land;
It was the sound of the trampling surf
On the rocks and the hard sea-sand.”
Longfellow.
Such was the position of Paul’s ship on that terrible fourteenth night. The sailors on the look-out surmised, from the sound of foam-crested billows dashing against rocks or breaking on the beach, that they were “drawing near to some country,” and this surmise the soundings forthwith taken confirmed—first twenty fathoms, and again, after a little space, fifteen fathoms.
3. Letting go anchors. So imminent was the peril, and so great the fear of being hurled amid rocks, that the mariners dropped into the sea from the stern four anchors, in the hope of retarding the fate which now appeared inevitable. Ancient vessels, not carrying so large anchors as modern ships, had often more of them. Lucian (Nav., v.), in describing the Alexandrian corn-ship, speaks of her as having anchors (in the plural). “Athenæus mentions a ship which had eight” (Hackett); and that Paul’s possessed more than four is expressly stated (Act_27:30). The reason for dropping the anchors from the stern, instead of from the prow, as was customary (Anchora de prorâ jacitur, Virgil, Æn. 6:902), is evident. Had the ship been anchored from the bows it might have swung round and struck upon the rocks, whereas, anchored from the stern, it was ready to be run ashore at any moment. The anchorage in St. Paul’s bay, the traditionary locality of the shipwreck, is reported good. “While the cables hold there is no danger, as the anchors will never start” (Sailing Directions).
4. Longing for the day. Whether or not the crew and passengers cried “every man unto his god,” as the mariners on Jonah’s ship did (Jon_1:5), and as it may well be believed Paul did (see Act_27:24), all on board fervently wished the night gone, since, for aught they knew, any moment the ship might founder, or the cables might snap. “The tension of hope and fear, the suspense which made men almost cry—
‘And if our fate be death, give light and let us die’—
is vividly brought brought before us by Luke’s words” (Plumptre).
5. Attempting to escape. Under pretence of paying out anchors from the foreship a number, perhaps all, of the sailors lowered the boat into the sea, and, mean spirited and selfish, would themselves have been overboard had not Paul, with his eagle eye, perceived and frustrated their design by informing the centurion and the soldiers, adding, with a peremptory tone of authority, that unless the sailors remained on board, the rest of the ship’s company could not be saved. Either Paul had received a Divine intimation to that effect, or he reasoned that, should the sailors abandon the vessel, no possibility could remain of successfully working it in any favourable emergency that might arise.
6. Defeating the (would be) deserters. “Nothing can show more forcibly,” says Lewin, “the absolute ascendency which Paul had gained over his comrades than the implicit faith with which they now executed his commands.” “With military promptitude the soldiers held no discussion on the subject, but decided the question by immediate action. With that short sword with which the Roman legions cleft their way through every obstacle to universal victory, they ‘cut the ropes,’ and the boat fell off, and, if not instantly swamped, drifted off to leeward into the darkness, and was dashed to pieces on the rocks” (Conybeare and Howson). Beautifully writes Besser: “It was a strong faith which did that. The last bridge between the lost ship, for which there was no deliverance, and the near land was, with this act, broken. At the same moment that the centurion ordered the boat’s ropes to be cut and the boat to be dropped into the sea, he stepped with his soldiers into the salvation boat of Paul’s word, which was hung with fast cords to the faithfulness of Almighty God. Do thou also hew the cords from every boat upon which thou hast placed thy confidence alongside of God, and then will to thee a morning light dawn in thy night, when thou shalt see the glorious help of God.”
II. The situation on the fifteenth dawn.—At length the grey light of coming dawn began to relieve the intolerable gloom which had prevailed during night. The rain fell in torrents (Act_28:2). The crew and passengers shivered through cold, wet, hunger, and fear. A second time, therefore, Paul addressed himself to the company.
1. He repeated his assurance of safety for all on board. Not a hair of their heads should perish—not even of the sailors who had so meanly attempted to leave them. Thus did he requite their evil with good, and heap coals of fire upon their heads (Rom_9:20). How they were to get ashore lay, as yet, beyond his knowledge. Only the fact that all should reach the beach alive had been revealed to him, and he believed that that would come to pass which God had said. When God speaks, faith immediately proceeds to hush her doubts, knowing that nothing can be too hard for omnipotence (Jer_32:17).
2. He besought them to take food. For fourteen days and nights they had eaten nothing—at least, nothing adequate to their necessities, having been able to obtain no regular meals, and having had no heart to eat what they could obtain, fear and despair having quenched their appetites. The idea that they had been keeping a religious fast is not for a moment to be entertained. “Appian,” says Doddridge, “speaks of an army which for twenty days together had neither food nor sleep: by which he must mean that they neither made full meals nor slept whole nights together. The same interpretation must be given to this phrase” (quoted by Hackett). “It was physically impossible that the two hundred and seventy-six who were on board could have gone on for fourteen days without any food at all. Scanty rations had, we must believe, been doled out to those who came for them; but the tension of suspense was so great that they had not sat down to any regular meal” (Plumptre). As an inducement to their compliance with his entreaty Paul explained that this was absolutely necessary for their safety; meaning that, though they might not perish through drowning, unless they took support they might die of weakness induced by starvation.
3. He himself set them an example. Having taken bread, he gave thanks to God in presence of them all, and began to eat. There is no ground for assuming either that Paul intended his action to be commemorative of the Lord’s Supper or that the Christians present (who must have been few) understood it in this light. Just as little did he purpose to represent himself as the father or head of the family, since he did not distribute among the company the bread which he took. Simply he designed, one may suppose, to exemplify his own precept; and in so doing he properly acted as a pious Jew or a devout Christian, giving thanks to God in presence of them all for the lives He had hitherto preserved amid the dangers of the deep as well as for the prospect of safety that lay before them; for the food which, in His providence, they still possessed, and for the comparative calmness of mind in which at last they were allowed to partake of it—after which, having broken it, he began to eat. It must have been a sublime as well as strange spectacle to that shipload of heathen soldiers and prisoners, sailors and passengers, all shivering and shrunken, poor, emaciated creatures, starving and cold—to look upon the face and hear the voice of the one unperturbed spirit among them—a physically weak but spiritually strong Jew; a shackled prisoner, standing on the deck in the grey light of dawn, amid the rain and storm, the howling of the winds and dashing of the waves, perhaps the shrieking of the passengers, the cursing of the soldiers, and the shoutings of the prisoners, lifting up his soul to God in prayer, and then quietly partaking of food. “Were I a painter,” writes Besser, “I would paint that scene!” And one feels disposed to say, A men! One would like to have heard Paul’s “grace,” and to have seen the faces of them who listened to it! How it impressed them may never be known; how it affected them is told. “Then were they all of good cheer, and themselves also took food.”
Learn—
1. Man’s helplessness, apart from God, amid the storms of life.
2. The unspeakable baseness of the natural heart, as shown in the mean attempt of the sailors.
3. The value of a good man in times of difficulty and danger.
4. The sublimity of true religion, as seen in Paul.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act_27:27. Midnight on the Sea.
I. A gloomy picture.—
1. A stormy ocean.
2. A drifting wreck.
3. A starless sky.
4. A rocky coast.
5. A despairing crew.
II. A suggestive symbol.—Of the Christless soul.
1. Tossed about upon the sea of life.
2. Drifting he knows not whither.
3. Without a star of hope in the interior firmament of his soul.
4. Nearing an unknown country, the future world.
5. Filled with alarm for his safety.
III. An instructive contrast.—The voyage of the Christian soul different in these respects.
1. Tossed about by life’s tribulations, he is not afraid.
2. Driven to and fro, he always knows whither he is bound.
3. Though stars shine not without, they do within.
4. The country he nears is not unknown.
5. A stranger to despair, he is conscious of a settled peace and holy joy.
Act_27:29. Anchored from, the Stern.—Many whose faces are, or seem to be, turned towards the shore of the better country are held back, being anchored from the stern—
I. By their secret lusts.
II. By their earthly affections.
III. By their worldly occupations.
IV. By their darling enjoyments.
Act_27:31, along with Act_27:22. Theological Doctrines and Theological Mistakes.
I. Theological doctrines.—
1. The doctrine of Divine Fore-ordination. That God fore-knows and fore-ordains (or, vice versâ, fore-ordains and fore-knows) everything that comes to pass illustrated by the promise that no life should be lost.
2. The doctrine of human freedom. That man is responsible for working out his own destiny exemplified by the statement that, except the sailors remained in the ship, neither they nor the rest could be saved.
II. Theological mistakes.—
1. That Divine fore-ordination precludes human freedom. This is an error, since the same wisdom that ordains the end ordains also the means—viz., human freedom.
2. That human freedom precludes Divine fore-ordination. This the twofold mystery of God’s relation to His intelligent creatures, that He can create free beings without Himself ceasing to be free, and that He can fix His own plan without fixing (in the sense of coercing) man’s.
Act_27:34. A Daring Prophecy. “There shall not a hair perish from the head of any of you!”
I. Most unlikely in the view of reason.—Beyond all reasonable ground of hope or expectation it must have seemed to crew and captain, centurion and owner, soldiers and prisoners, that, with a sinking ship on a wind-driven ocean, and an unknown coast to the leeward, with multitudes on board who could not swim, none of them should be lost! Had any one asserted it but Paul, it would instantly have been scorned as unworthy of credence. As it was, it is not evident that much trust was reposed in the prediction. So most of God’s predictions (not, however, the world’s, which always seem reasonable!) are spurned by the unbelieving world as contrary to common-sense, if not impossible.
II. Absolutely certain in the eye of faith.—To Paul it looked neither impossible nor incredible that what he had affirmed should come true. Paul believed—
1. That God had the power to perform this unlikely thing; since all things were possible with God, and nothing could be hard for Him who held the water (Isa_40:12) and the lives of men (Dan_5:23) in the hollow of His hand.
2. That God was faithful, and would perform that which He had promised (Act_27:25). Such faith characteristic of God’s people (Rom_4:21). On these grounds the Church rests her confidence to-day in the predictions of Scripture.
III. Exactly fulfilled in the course of experience.—Precisely as Paul had said it came to pass. At one time failure threatened (Act_27:30-31), but in the end all escaped safe to land (Act_27:44). So in the long run will every word that God has uttered be fulfilled (Mat_5:18; Mat_24:35).
Act_27:35. Paul’s Prayer upon The Ship’s Deck; or, Grace before Meals.
I. A time-honoured practice.—Rendered venerable and sacred by the example of Samuel (1Sa_9:13) and of Jesus (Mat_14:19; Mar_8:6-7; Luk_9:16).
II. A highly becoming practice.—Considering whence the meals come (Jas_1:17) and the undeservingness of the recipient (Gen_32:10).
III. A truly religious practice.—Practically enjoined upon Christians, not alone by Christ’s example and Paul’s (1Co_10:30), but by direct Scripture precept (1Th_5:17; 1Ti_4:4).
IV. An eminently useful practice.—Being calculated, when not done with ostentation or timidity, or in secrecy, but humbly yet courageously, so as to let its true character be seen—being calculated to seriously impress beholders.
V. A greatly neglected practice.—Much reason to fear that, even in pious households and with individual Christians, this hallowed custom has much fallen into disrepute—greatly to the injury of religion.
Act_27:10-35. Paul in the Storm.—A noble picture—
I. Of manly courage.—
1. His prudent counsel (Act_27:10).
2. His presence of mind (Act_27:31).
II. Of Christian peace of mind.—
1. His friendly address (Act_27:21).
2. His confident trust in God (Act_27:25).
III. Of apostolic unction.—
1. His prophetic exhortation (Act_27:24).
2. His priestly love-feast (Act_27:35).
Paul in The Storm.—Christ’s glory reflected in the apostle.
I. Christ’s prophetical office.—In Paul’s warning (Act_27:10) and promise (Act_27:25).
II. Christ’s priestly office.—In Paul’s pastoral care (Act_27:21) and love-feast (Act_27:34-35).
III. Christ’s kingly office.—In Paul’s greatness of mind (Act_27:35) and the souls given to him and rescued for his sake (Act_27:24; Act_27:31).—Gerok in Lange.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv18, 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44 18. “And we being violently tossed by the tempest,…
18. “And we being violently tossed by the tempest, forthwith they were making the casting-out,
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv23, 24, 30
Acts
TEMPEST AND TRUST
Read full note →
A SHORT CONFESSION OF FAITH
Act 27:23.
I turn especially to those last words, ‘Whose I am and whom I serve.’
A great calamity, borne by a crowd of men in common, has a wonderful power of dethroning officials and bringing the strong man to the front. So it is extremely natural, though it has been thought to be very unhistorical, that in this story of Paul’s shipwreck he should become guide, counsellor, inspirer, and a tower of strength; and that centurions and captains and all the rest of those who held official positions should shrink into the background. The natural force of his character, the calmness and serenity that came from his faith-these things made him the leader of the bewildered crowd. One can scarcely help contrasting this shipwreck-the only one in the New Testament- with that in the Old Testament. Contrast Jonah with Paul, the guilty stupor of the one, down ‘in the sides of the ship’ cowering before the storm, with the calm behaviour and collected courage of the other.
The vision of which the Apostle speaks does not concern us here, but in the words which I have read there are several noteworthy points. They bring vividly before us the essence of true religion, the bold confession which it prompts, and the calmness and security which it ensures. Let us then look at them from these points of view.
I. We note the clear setting forth of the essence of true religion.
Remember that Paul is speaking to heathens; that his present purpose is not to preach the Gospel, but to make his own position clear. So he says ‘the God’-never mind who He is at present-’the God to whom I belong ‘-that covers all the inward life-’and whom I serve’ -that covers all the outward.
‘Whose I am.’ That expresses the universal truth that men belong to God by virtue of their being the creatures of His hand. As the 100th Psalm says, according to one, and that a probably correct reading, ‘It is He that hath made us, and we are His.’ But the Apostle is going a good deal deeper than any such thoughts, which he, no doubt, shared in common with the heathen men around him, when he declares that, in a special fashion, God had claimed him for His, and he had yielded to the claim. ‘I am Thine,’ is the deepest thought of this man’s mind and the deepest feeling of his heart. And that is godliness in its purest form, the consciousness of belonging to God. We must interpret this saying by others of the Apostle’s, such as, ‘Ye are not your own, ye are bought with a price. Therefore, glorify God in your bodies and spirits which are His.’ He traces God’s possession of him, not to that fact of creation {which establishes a certain outward relationship, but nothing more}, nor even to the continuous facts of benefits showered upon his head, but to the one transcendent act of the divine Love, which gave itself to us, and so acquired us for itself. For we must recognise as the deepest of all thoughts about the relations of spiritual beings, that, as in regard to ourselves in our earthly affections, so in regard to our relations with God, there is only one way by which a spirit can own a spirit, whether it be a man on the one side and a woman on the other, or whether it be God on the one side and a man on the other, and that one way is by the sweetness of complete and reciprocal love. He who gives himself to God gets God for himself. So when Paul said, ‘Whose I am,’ he was thinking that he would never have belonged either to God or to himself unless, first of all, God, in His own Son, had given Himself to Paul. The divine ownership of us is only realised when we are consciously His, because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Brethren, God does not count that a man belongs to Him simply because He made him, if the man does not feel his dependence, his obligation, and has not surrendered himself. He in the heavens loves you and me too well to care for a formal and external ownership. He desires hearts, and only they who have yielded themselves unto God, moved thereto by the mercies of God, and especially by the encyclopaediacal mercy which includes all the rest in its sweep, only they belong to Him, in the estimate of the heavens.
And if you and I are His, then that involves that we have deposed from his throne the rebel Self, the ancient Anarch that disturbs and ruins us. They who belong to God cease to live to themselves. There are two centres for human life, and I believe there are only two-the one is God, the other is my wretched self. And if we are swept, as it were, out of the little orbit that we move in, when the latter is our centre, and are drawn by the weight and mass of the great central sun to become its satellites, then we move in a nobler orbit and receive fuller and more blessed light and warmth. They who have themselves for their centres are like comets, with a wide elliptical course, which carries them away out into the cold abysses of darkness. They who have God for their sun are like planets. The old fable is true of these ‘sons of the morning’-they make music as they roll and they flash back His light.
And then do not let us forget that this yielding of one’s self to Him, swayed by His love, and this surrendering of will and purpose and affection and all that makes up our complex being, lead directly to the true possession of Him and the true possession of ourselves.
I have said that the only way by which spirit possesses spirit is by love, and that it must needs be on both sides. So we get God for ourselves when we give ourselves to God. There is a wonderful alternation of giving and receiving between the loving God and his beloved lovers; first the impartation of the divine to the human, then the surrender of the human to the divine, and then the larger gift of God to man, just as in some series of mirrors the light is flashed back from the one to the other, in bewildering manifoldness and shimmering of rays from either polished surface. God is ours when we are God’s. ‘And this is the covenant that I will make with them after these days, saith the Lord. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’
And, in like manner, we never own ourselves until we have given ourselves to God. Each of us is like some feudatory prince, dependent upon an overlord. His subjects in his little territory rebel, and he has no power to subdue the insurgents, but he can send a message to the capital, and get the army of the king, who is his sovereign and theirs, to come down and bring them back to order, and establish his tottering throne. So if you desire to own yourself or to know the sweetness that you may get out of your own nature and the exercise of your powers, if you desire to be able to govern the realm within, put yourself into God’s hands and say, ‘I am Thine; hold Thou me up, and I shall be safe.’
I need not say more than just a word about the other side of Paul’s confession of faith, ‘Whom I serve.’ He employs the word which means the service of a worshipper, or even of a priest, and not that which means the service of a slave. His purpose was to represent how, as his whole inward nature bowed in submission to, and was under the influence of, God to whom he belonged, so his whole outward life was a life of devotion. He was serving Him there in the ship, amidst the storm and the squalor and the terror. His calmness was service; his confidence was service; the cheery words that he was speaking to these people were service. And on his whole life he believed that this was stamped, that he was devoted to God. So there is the true idea of a Christian life, that in all its aspects, attitudes, and acts it is to be a manifestation, in visible form, of inward devotion to, and ownership by, God. All our work may be worship, and we may ‘pray without ceasing,’ though no supplications come from our lips, if our hearts are in touch with Him and through our daily life we serve and honour Him. God’s priests never are far away from their altar, and never are without, somewhat to offer, as long as they have the activities of daily duty and the difficulties of daily conflict to bring to Him and spread before Him.
II. So let me turn for a moment to some of the other aspects of these words to which I have already referred, I find in them, next, the bold confession which true religion requires.
Shipboard is a place where people find out one another very quickly. Character cannot well be hid there. And such circumstances as Paul had been in for the last fortnight, tossing up and down in Adria, with Death looking over the bulwarks of the crazy ship every moment, were certain to have brought out the inmost secrets of character. Paul durst not have said to these people ‘the God whose I am and whom I serve’ if he had not known that he had been living day by day a consistent and godly life amongst them.
And so, I note, first of all, that this confession of individual and personal relationship to God is incumbent on every Christian. We do not need to be always brandishing it before people’s faces. There is very little fear of the average Christian of this day blundering on that side. But we need, still less, to be always hiding it away. One hears a great deal from certain quarters about a religion that does not need to be vocal but shows what it is, without the necessity for words. Blessed be God! there is such a religion, but you will generally find that the people who have most of it are the people who are least tongue-tied when opportunity arises; and that if they have been witnessing for God in their quiet discharge of duty, with their hands instead of their lips, they are quite as ready to witness with their lips when it is fitting that they should do so. And surely, surely, if a man belongs to God, and if his whole life is to be the manifestation of the ownership that he recognises, that which specially reveals him-viz., his own articulate speech-cannot be left out of his methods of manifestation.
I am afraid that there are a great many professing Christian people nowadays who never, all their lives, have said to any one, ‘The God whose I am and whom I serve.’ And I beseech you, dear brethren, suffer this word of exhortation. To say so is a far more effectual, or at least more powerful, means of appeal than any direct invitation to share in the blessings. You may easily offend a man by saying to him, ‘Won’t you be a Christian too?’ But it is hard to offend if you simply say that you are a Christian. The statement of personal experience is more powerful by far than all argumentation or eloquence or pleading appeals. We do more when we say, ‘That which we have tasted and felt and handled of the Word of Life, declare we unto you,’ than by any other means.
Only remember that the avowal must be backed up by a life, as Paul’s was backed up on board that vessel. For unless it is so, the profession does far more harm than good. There are always keen critics round us, especially if we say that we are Christians. There were keen critics on board that ship. Do you think that these Roman soldiers, and the other prisoners, would not have smiled contemptuously at Paul, if this had been the first time that they had any reason to suppose that he was at all different from them? They would have said, ‘The God whose you are and whom you serve? Why, you are just the same sort of man as if you worshipped Jupiter like the rest of us!’ And that is what the world has a right to say to Christian people. The clearer our profession, the holier must be our lives.
III. Last of all, I find in these words the calmness and security which true religion secures.
The story, as I have already glanced at it in my introductory remarks, brings out very wonderfully and very beautifully Paul’s promptitude, his calmness in danger, his absolute certainty of safety, and his unselfish thoughtfulness about his companions in peril. And all these things were the direct results of his entire surrender to God, and of the consistency of his daily life. It needed the angel in the vision to assure him that his life would be spared. But whether the angel had ever come or not, and though death had been close at his hand, the serenity and the peaceful assurance of safety which come out so beautifully in the story would have been there all the same. The man who can say ‘I belong to God’ does not need to trouble himself about dangers. He will have to exercise his common sense, as the Apostle shows us; he will have to use all the means that are in his power for the accomplishment of ends that he knows to be right and legitimate. But having done all that, he can say, ‘I belong to Him,’ it is His business to look after His own property. He is not going to hold His possessions with such a slack hand as that they shall slip between His fingers, and be lost in the mire. ‘Thou wilt not lose the souls that are Thine in the grave, neither wilt Thou suffer the man whom Thou lovest to see corruption.’ God keeps His treasures, and the surer we are that He is able to keep them unto that day, the calmer we may be in all our trouble.
And the safety that followed was also the direct result of the relationship of mutual possession and love established between God and the Apostle. We do not know to which of the two groups of the shipwrecked Paul belonged; whether he could swim or whether he had to hold on to some bit of floating wreckage or other, and so got ‘safe to land.’ But whichever way it was, it was neither his swimming nor the spar to which, perhaps, he clung, that landed him safe on shore. It was the God to whom he belonged. Faith is the true lifebelt that keeps us from being drowned in any stormy sea. And if you and I feel that we are His, and live accordingly, we shall be calm amid all change, serene when others are troubled, ready to be helpers of others even when we ourselves are in distress. And when the crash comes, and the ship goes to pieces: ‘so it will come to pass that, some on boards, and some on broken pieces of the ship, they all come safe to land,’ and when the Owner counts His subjects and possessions on the quiet shore, as the morning breaks, there will not be one who has been lost in the surges, or whose name will be unanswered to when the muster-roll of the crew is called.
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv18–44 18-20. (18) " And being exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next…
18-20. (18) " And being exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day we lightened the vessel, (19) and on the third day, with our own hands we cast out the tackling of the ship. (20) And as neither the sun nor the stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, at last all hope that we should be saved was taken away. " The sailors now began to realize the truth of Paul's prediction about the character of the voyage, and they were prepared to listen to him with more respect when he addressed to them the following speech:
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv23, 28, 37, 40 the angel
the angel
an angel of the God whose I am, whom also I serve. (See Scofield "Heb 1:4").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On vv21, 27, 33, 39 Paul comforts crew and passengers:
Paul comforts crew and passengers:
v. 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.
Read full note →
v. 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.
v. 23. for there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve,
v. 24. saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar; and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
v. 25. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer; for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me.
v. 26. Howbeit, we must be cast upon a certain island.
For fourteen days and fourteen nights the vessel was tossed by the waves of the Mediterranean like a nutshell, during which time crew and passengers were in too great distress to think of eating; they abstained entirely. But when Paul, on one of these days, stepped into their midst and stood before them, they were willing to listen with greater respect to one whose judgment had been sounder than that of the great majority, if not of all of them. Without the slightest trace of malice in his attitude, but with the frankness which characterized him at all times, Paul told them that they should have permitted themselves to he persuaded by him and not have sailed from Crete. By not having put to sea, as he had advised, they would not have suffered this loss, they would have saved themselves both distress and injury or loss of property. But now he earnestly admonished them to be of good cheer, since there would be no loss of life in the case of any of them, unless it be of the ship. The ship would, in the events which were get to transpire, prove a total loss, but all lives would be spared. And this admonition Paul supported by the evidence of a vision or dream. In the night that had just come to a close the angel of the Lord, whose own he was and whom he served, had stood by him and told him not to fear, since it must happen that he would be placed before Caesar, be arraigned before the emperor, and God had granted him the lives of all that were sailing with him. They were his as a present, a gift, from God, with the implication that without such gift they all would have perished. And so Paul again urges the men to be of good cheer, for he had absolute trust in the words of God that things would come to pass in exactly that way which had been told him. And in a spirit of prophecy the apostle adds: On a certain island, however, we are to be stranded. It was not a part of the angel’s message to him, but he had this information through the Spirit of God. Note: Every true Christian considers himself as belonging to the Lord, as being His own: and every Christian spends his life in the service of his Lord, even as Paul did. Mark also: God often spares the unbelievers and scoffers for the sake of the Christians, who are then to carry out, the work of the Lord with double vigor.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv19, 21, 23, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42 the sailors threw overboard the ship's equipment with their…
the sailors threw overboard the ship's equipment with their own hands
Here "equipment" refers to the sailors' equipment needed to sail the ship: tackle, hoists, beams of wood, block and tackle, ropes, lines, sails, and the like. This indicates how desperate the situation was.
Read full note →
When the sun and stars did not shine on us for many days
They could not see the sun and stars because of the dark storm clouds. Sailors needed to see the sun and stars in order to know where they were and what direction they were headed.
the great storm still beat upon us
"the terrible storm still blew us roughly back and forth"
any more hope that we should be saved was abandoned
This can be stated in active form. AT: "everyone stopped hoping we would survive" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
day
hope
save
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv18, 21, 27, 30, 33, 36, 39, 42 27:18-20 The violence and persistence of the storm led…
27:18-20 The violence and persistence of the storm led to throwing the cargo overboard (cp. Jon 1:5) and the crew’s abandoning hope.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.