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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
and saw no harm come to him, they changed th eir minds, and said th a t he was a god. (7 ) In the same quarters were possessions of the chief man of the island, whose nam e was P u b liu s; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. ( 8 ) And it came to pass, th at the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody, flux: to whom P au l entered in, #nd prayed, and laid his hands on him. (9) So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island, came, and w ere healed: (10) Who also hon oured us w ith many, honours; and when we departed, they laded us w ith such things as w ere necessary. ( 1 1 ) And after three m onths we departed in a ship of A lexandria, which had w intered in the Outline: (1) The Superstitious People, vs. 1-6. (2) The Supernatural Poorer, vs. 7-10. (8) The Successful A rrival, vs. 11-16. Introduction. The scene for this lesson is in the Island of M elita, about a hundred miles south of Syracuse, in Italy , where they landed. It is well worthy of notice th a t in the account of the circumstances at- LESSON tending the stay on the EXPOSITION island and the subse- T. C. H o rto n quent journey to Appii Forum, •’ no mention is madfe of the officers of the vessel, nor of the centurion or soldiers,- though they journeyed on w ith Paul and necessarily became eye-witnesses of God’s providen tia l dealings w ith the strange prisoner, and of the miracle-working power given him. Would it not be n atural fo r the cen turion and his guard to bear testimony to these facts in Borne and thus, in a natural way, prepare the authorities and soldiers of C aesar’s court for the events which were to follow? (1) The Superstitious People, vs. 1-6, "N o doubt th is man is a m urderer.” God touched the hearts of the barbarous people and they showed kindness to the needy ones. Now this is strange. God could not toueh the hearts of the Jew ish rulers—th eir hearts were filled w ith the fires of hell. They had no sympathy for the suffering Christ on the cross, no pity for the persecuted Paul, but these barbar-
isje whose sign was C astor and Pollux. (12) And landing at Syracuse, we tarried there three days. (13) And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to R hegium : and after one day the south w ind blew, and we came the next day to P u teo li: (14) W here w e . found brethren, and w ere desired to ta rry w ith them seven days: and so we w ent tow ard Rome. (15) And from thence, w hen the brethren heard of us, they came to m eet us as far as A ppii Forum, and The three taverns, whom w hen Paul saw, he thanked God, and took courage. (16) And. w hen we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the p ris oners to the captain of the -guard: but Paul was suffered to dwell by him self w ith a soldier th at kept him. ians kindled a fire to warm these refugees. When David the king fled from his own son, Absalom, and when many of his fo r mer friends deserted him, Itta i, the P h il istine, stood w ith'K im (2 Sam. 15:21) ‘‘A nd Itta i answ ered the king and said, As the L ord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth, surely in w hat place my lord th e king shall be, w hether in death or in life, even there also will th y servant be.” Help' and sympathy often come from unexpected quarters. I f there is a fire to be kept up, be sure th at Paul will do his part. The tru e ser vant of God is not one in name only, but in deed, so P au l graces his apostleship by gathering sticks. True nobility is m an ifested in little >■ things. Paul was the greatest man in all the world th a t day and y et he could forget himself and m inister te the comfort and cheer of others. ■Let us learn to gather, sticks to the glory of God. The viper on P a u l’s hand was a sure sign to the ignorant natives th a t Paul was a murderer. They believed th a t the vengeance of God was being visited on the prisoner for his crime. There is an unw ritten law in the hearts of men demanding the punishment of the wicked. ‘‘Whatsoever a man soweth th a t shall he also re a p ” (Gal. 6:7), This un w ritten law is an evidence of, the great fact th a t all men are, conscious of sin and of the necessity of punishment. The sail ors oh the vessel on which Jonah sailed cast lots to see, who was responsible for the storm (Jonah 1:7).
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