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th e w riter, shows no - little fam iliarity w ith th e sea in th e n au ti cal term s which he uses. P rom P a ta ra
companying them , togeth er w ith chil dren, kneeling in prayer-upon the sand. The ordinary position of the Jew in prayer was standing, b u t in tim e of sorrow they fell upon th e ir knees. It was a sweet, sad time. Together they poured out th e ir h earts, m ingling th e ir tears and praises to th e .God of all grace. This is a commendable way for loved ones to p a rt from one another,—p art w ith prayer, commend one ano ther to th e grace and goodness of God. W hat a con trast between th e adieus of unbe lievers and th e good-byes of believers. We cannot always say it, b u t we can always sing it, “God be w ith you till we m eet again.” -W ith faith strengthened, love in-, tensified, hope confirmed and h earts encouraged, they parted to meet in the rap tu re when th e Lord shall re tu rn for His own (1 Thess. 3 fl2 -1 3 ). (2 ) A P o rten tou s Prophecy, vs. 7-12 “Thus saith th e Holy Ghost.” A fter one day a t Ptolem ais th e party journeyed on to Caesarea. Here they were entertained in th e home of Philip, th e evangelist. This is th e th ird re corded visit of P aul to th is city (Acts 9 :30 ; 1 8 :22 ). Philip, the evangelist, must be dis tinguished from Philip, th e apostle. He was one of the seven deacons appointed n early tw enty years before a t Je ru sa lem (Acts 6 :5 ). He was a g reat preacher (Acts 8 :5 ). The E thiopian trea su rer was one of his converts (8: 26) and he held evangelistic meetings in many cities. (8 :4 0 ). F o r all these years he had been a faith fu l w itness and now he Seems to be a settled pastor in Caesarea. W hat a tim e of rejoicing! Luke sees, perhaps for th e first time, the man whose name was fra g ra n t in the early church. P aul would hear from Philip’s lips th e story of the con quests of th e Holy Spirit, and Philip would h ear of th e trium phs of the Cross through th e preaching of Paul,
LESSON
EXPOSITION li'. O. H orton
to Tyre' was about 340 miles and probably consumed from two to th ree days. (1 ) A P ray erfu l P arting , vs. 1-6 “We kneeled on the shore and prayed.” Seven days in Tyre! The glory of th e once famous city had departed. Antioch and Caesarea had rivalled it as commercial centers, b u t it still main tained some measure of importance. The destiny of Tyre forms th e burden of one of th e sublimest of prophecies (Isa. 23; Ezek. 26). Old Tyre had been swept away, and a. new Tyre bu ilt upon a small island. Ii would have been th e n atu ra l thing for P aul and his companions to have looked up th e sights of the city, b u t in stead they looked up th e saints. (The word used suggested th a t they had to be searched o u t). There was a pecu liar bond uniting the believers in those days. They were few in number and subject to much persecution. They were driven to fellowship and to th e ir knees. Spiritual life flows strong and stu rdy under stress of trial, and we can imagine something of th e genuine joy th e re would be when a visitor like P aul should tu rn aside for a seven days’ visit. ( Seven days seems to have been a favorite period of tim e w ith Paul, Acts 20:6, 7; 2 8 :14 ). How com forting to th e ir h earts to h ear from his lips th e message of love and exhortation to faithfulness and steadfastness. While in Tyre, P aul received a note of warning concerning his journey to Jerusalem . Here, also, we find the first mention of children in connection w ith th e church. W hat a homely, life like picture it gives us! Paul, Luke, Trophimus, A ristarchus and perhaps Timothy, w ith other loved friends ac
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