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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
B e tte r be in the will of God always. Here We have an instance of God’s over ruling providence. H is divine protection of Paul, and through Paul, H is saving of the lives of the crew and the passengers. Bead the whole chapter before you study or teach this lesson. v (1) The Starless N ight, vs. 27-32, “ F ear ing lest we should have fallen upon the rocks.” For fourteen nights the vessel drifted and “ n either sun n o r stars appeared.” They were driven- up and down in Adria and were d riftin g tow ard death. There was no human hope of help. Weary of w atching and w aiting—th eir spirits brok en—they aw aited the coming doom. This is a graphic picture of the ship wrecked soul of man,—sin-sick, tempest- tossed, billow-beaten, weary w ith warring against the adverse winds, weak from the works of the flesh, w ishing for the dawn of some .bright day and confronted w ith the rough rocks th a t line the shore. How helpless is a man in the fight against forces of sin,—weighed down w ith the woes of life, compassed about w ith chains woven of strong passions! “ They cry* aloud bu t the only answer is the echo of th eir wail ing cry. ’’ W hat if there were no light to break, no voiee to cheer, no shore to reach? W hat if the soul were destined to d rift forever in the dark? The selfishness of human nature is evi denced by the effort of the sailors to save themselves and to abandon the passengers to th eir fate. Safety lay in abiding in the boat, Their lives had been given to Paul by God, and he alone was able to direct affairs so as to insure their safety. The captain and the centurion give place to the captive. The prisoner be comes-the principal, and salvation depends upon obedience to the words of one man. (2) ®he Summons of .F aith , vs. 33-38, JP'/There shall not an h air fa ll.” is unique. He stands out in superb condbMt w ith other men. We are glad thqA /Paul was subjected to this stormy voytge, fo r it enables us t o , see him a t
his best. In seasons of greatest tria l we are able to discover the secrets of the souls of men. P aul m anifests the fullness of faith . Here is a storm-driven vessel, a rocky shore, a powerless crew of sailors, and death dragging his n et to engulf all. On the deck of the boat stands a manacled man speaking words of cheer. P au l believed God. The calm of a con scious fa ith was his (Isa. 26:3). “ Thou w ilt keep him in perfect peace whose m ind is stayed on thee, because he tru ste th in th ee.” The quiet of a soul in fullest fellowship was his (John 14:27): “ Peace X leave w ith you; my peace I give unto you; not as th e w orld giveth, give I unto ' you. L et not your h eart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” He issued a call to all on board, “ Come and e a t,” He had compassion on the mul titud e as did H is Lord (M att. 15:32) “ Then Jesu s called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the m ultitude, because they continue w ith me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I w ill not send them aw ay fasting, lest th ey fain t in the w ay.” Note the power of one man whose life is surrendered to Christ and ruled by the Holy S pirit (1 P et. 4:14) “ If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for th e sp irit of glory and of God resteth .upon you; on th eir p art he is evil spoken of, bu t on your p a rt he is glorified.” See h ow .faith brings sheer and comfort and changes the scene of gloom into one of glory. Standing in th eir presence, w ith bread in hand, he turns his eyes up to God and asks His blessing upon th e food (John 6:11) “ And Jesu s took the loaves; and w hen he had given thanks, he distributed to his disciples, and the disciples to them th a t w ere set down; and likewise of th e fishes as much as th ey w ould.” I t was of the goodness of God th a t they had been preserved and were to be saved, and Paul recognizes it and exhibits a thankful spirit. Ilnthankfulness is a root of sin, and Paul, in his letter to the Bo- mans, names it first in the seven stages of Gentile apostasy (Bom. 1:21) “ Because th at, w hen they knew him as God, th ey glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.” The tru stin g heart is thank fu l under all circumstances (Eph. 5:20) "G iving thanks alw ays fo r all things unto God and the F ath er in the name of our Lord Jesus C hrist.” (Phil. 4:6).
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