READING
READING
DLH There is a kind of twofold interest in this chapter, one referring to Paul personally and his conduct in an extremely trying moment; the man of faith who had to do with God; and the other the way in which the incident may be viewed in relation to the history of the assembly.
JT We may trace the Spirit of Christ in the apostle in relation to the Jews in these chapters, and also in relation to the assembly. The latter, for instance, is seen in chapter 20 in the manner in which recovery is indicated through the attitude of the Lord to the assembly. But then we also have set forth in the apostle the Spirit of Christ in its unvarying interest in the Jew. It is especially manifest when he arrives at Rome. He called the chief of the Jews together, and shows his untiring interest in them. From chapter 20 right through to the end we see the unflagging interest of Christ in the Jew.
DLH But actually, at the end of chapter 28, they refuse their last chance, and a solemn judgment is pronounced upon them, and the salvation of God is sent unto the gentiles; they would hear the testimony. The long-suffering of God lingered with the nation, and gave them every possible testimony.
JT The visit to Jerusalem, whilst it appears to be somewhat mistaken, the Spirit brings forward as showing the exercise of the Spirit of Christ in the apostle in relation to Israel.
DLH One sees how God was above the mistakes, and allowed this final testimony to be given.
JT It would be a testimony against the Jews, that after the vicissitudes of this dreadful voyage [p. 246] his interest in them was unflagging. At Rome they had heard nothing against the apostle and he declares that he had no charge against the nation: he had only affection for them and interest in them.
DLH With regard to the assembly, it is very wonderful to see how God maintains His own counsel and purpose, and brings that which is of Himself right through in safety in spite of all the wreck and ruin that has come in.
JT And everything seems to depend on the ministry of Paul.
DLH His ministry ham been the salvation of the church in a sense.
JT God gave to him all those that sailed with him. The voyage suggests Psalm 107, “They that go down to the sea in ships ... these see the works of the Lord”, Psalm 107:23,24. God permits us to get into extremities, which has been the continuous history of things in the church. So it is better to be at the end as we are, for we can see what God can be for us at the moment, and thus learn to “praise the Lord for his goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men”, Psalm 107:31.
WJ There are sweeter notes at the end than at the beginning; the greater the difficulties the more we can learn what God can be for us.
JH It is wonderful in that connection to see the energy of the Spirit of God in Simeon and Anna at the close of the day.
JT In the Old Testament we continually find the interest of the Lord in His people, even when God could not publicly own them, as in the book of Esther. Psalm 107 suggests the importance of taking advantage of blessings that are to be gained in the history of the church; one sees the wonders of the Lord, His mercy and what He can be to His people, so that it results in praise.
Reverting to Esther, it shows the interest of the [p. 247] Lord; the Spirit of Christ in His care for His people without showing Himself as such. There is nothing official in the book; the Lord Himself does not appear, yet there is great activity on the part of Mordecai, indicating the exercises of the Spirit of Christ in caring for the Lord’s people and His interests. Now in Acts 27 we read that neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, which seems to indicate that the Lord is not seen in His official glory, and perhaps, too, the absence of guides, and yet God’s hand is over things.
WJ If they had listened to the counsel of the apostle in the first place, they would not have removed from the harbour; the church got away from seclusion into something more public.
JT If Paul is not listened to, where are we? We have lost the church; we have lost everything that regulates the church, because Paul gives us the structure. If the structure is not held in the soul, the order that is due to the house of God would not be maintained, and things would go adrift; they drifted about in Adria. “Sirs”, Paul says, “ye should have hearkened unto me”. They turned a deaf ear to Paul, and hence they got into a position where they gave up all hope.
DLH The apostle Paul’s line of ministry was the first thing that the church gave up, and it is his ministry that has been recovered in these last times.
JT His voice is raised again in this chapter; he regains a certain influence.
DLH For a fortnight he seems to have been perfectly quiet; nobody said anything and they got no guidance. “Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand”, we read at the end of Psalm 107, and if we wish to see where Paul is, we must go on to the next psalm: “O God, my heart is fixed”, Psalm 108:1.
PRM That is where the man of God comes to,
[p. 248] because he sees everything in the light of purpose; that is, “the firm foundation of God stands”, 2 Timothy 2:19. The other is, “Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things”, 2 Timothy 2:7.
Ques What do you mean by the structure of the church through Paul?
JT I refer to the general way he takes it up, more particularly as it is seen in Corinthians, the order that is needed for guidance. I thought also of “neither sun nor stars ... appeared”. There is no reference to the moon, which is the church at the present moment. The omission was intentional. One could not look for guidance in the moon in that broken state of things. To speak figuratively it is possible to have the sun and stars without the moon. That is, Christ in His authority in the heavens, and those whom He raises up. Luther was a star; a star in Scripture is a guide.
EMcB That is confirmed in connection with the seven assemblies at the beginning of Revelation; the seven angels were the seven stars.
DLH The fourteen nights answer very much to what is called the dark ages.
WJ The church lost separation and desired expansion, and the moment that was the came a soft wind blew for the time, and the thought they had gained their purpose.
JT Then Satan took advantage of their folly and raised the storm. It is not only that we suffer when we disregard the word, but Satan takes advantage of our blunders, so that the sufferings are multiplied.
EHC The winds were contrary, and consequently progress was slow and dangerous.
JT We can understand how the malice of the enemy would take advantage of a disregard of Paul’s doctrine, and endeavour to overwhelm the church. But God never withdrew His hand, and [p. 249] it is in that point that Psalm 107 is so touching, because they are brought to their wit’s end. Then they recognise Paul.
DLH In chapter 20 we have the resource: “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace”, Acts 20:32. That is the resource now.
JT It connects itself with Paul’s remark in this chapter: “I believe God”. There is a clear outline as to the result after Paul regains his place and influence and is listened to, and then everything goes well.
DLH The voice that spoke for God at the outset, and appears to have been silent for a whole fortnight in this voyage, is now heard again and in a commanding way; he carries things.
JT Paul suggests food; John’s teaching comes in the way of food. There is no hope at all if we do not regard Paul, because you have no order, and if divine order is not maintained God cannot be with us.
DLH In actual fact it is Paul’s ministry that has been recovered. The Lord made known to J.N.D. the truth of union with Christ; it was Paul’s line of ministry.
HT At the end J.N.D. drew our attention to John.
DLH After Paul’s doctrine had been ministered with great freshness and power for a number of years, J.N.D., as he was passing off the scene, warned the saints that they must not neglect John. His observation was to this effect: ‘Let not John’s ministry be forgotten in insisting on Paul’s. One gives the dispensation in which the display is, the other (John) gives that which is displayed’.
JT The effort of the enemy since J.N.D.’s death has been to set John aside; whereas the more recent attack is against Paul; a question of the [p. 250] order of the house. Paul and John have to be held together. The line of attack in connection with the receiving of the Spirit, in America, was against the subjective side, which is John’s line.
WJ Spiritual sustenance, food, is largely supplied by John; he gives us the fatness of God’s house.
JT John gets a survey of Paul’s work in connection with the seven assemblies; there is perfect design in the way the truth is presented. John comes in to meet the breakdown and he sees the heavenly city.
WJ The book of the prophet Habakkuk connects with this chapter pretty much. It is desolation, but he can joy in God.
JT We reach a point in verse 34 that is important. Sustenance is needed. Not only Paul’s light is needed, but food. The saints need to be fed. John presents food; he speaks of the “bread of God”, John 6:33. The Scriptures make a great deal of food; there is food for each position which we occupy in regard to the testimony.
ASL Paul’s line of things, even in its objective character, properly taken up, would be food.
JT All ministry is food, but the Scriptures are so perfectly set, and there is food in different positions. In Psalm 78 we read that God opened the windows of heaven and rained down manna upon them and gave them of the corn of heaven and “man did eat angels’ food” (Psalm 78:25), the bread of the mighty. It was a most remarkable thing because of the nature of their circumstances; they were in the wilderness and they needed food. In this chapter it does not say what it was, but they needed food.
ASL In connection with Paul’s line and John’s line of ministry, it cannot be said that the former is exclusively objective; Paul is quite as subjective as John.
JT John’s gospel sustains Paul’s teaching. Internal evidence would tend to show that it is the last of the inspired writings.
DLH We cannot lay down an iron rule, and what has been said as to John’s line and Paul’s line refers to what is characteristic.
JT But Paul presents Christ personally as much as John.
ASL One could not be in the truth of John and disregard Paul.
JT A great deal of energy is required under the conditions indicated in this chapter, food and strength are needed. It is so like the great Shepherd of the sheep to nourish His flock.
PRM What marks the giving of food here is that the apostle gives thanks before all. Food is of no use without that.
DLH The tendency of his action was to bring the fear of God before them. “I believe God”. The way in which this faithful servant is sustained is very blessed; all the ship’s company and the men of authority are dependent on him. Having the fear of God before him he is in the mind of God at the close, and he does not quail in the presence of extreme trials, though all who had knowledge of the sea were greatly frightened.
JT God used the shipwreck to restore Paul’s influence. We have to take account of the humiliating history of the assembly, and that greatly helps in restoring Paul in his place before our eyes and hearts.
WJ There is to be no insensibility as to the state of things, but on the other hand the heart is to be fixed on God’s side of things.
DLH The ship has to go to pieces; there is nothing official or dogmatic that will carry things, but what is of God never goes to pieces.
JT The question is, what should be done under [p. 252] these conditions? Paul had the mind of God. In a crisis, the great difficulty is knowing what to do. When God has done His work in discipline there is invariably a crisis.
ASL The company reaching the shore represent all that is of God safely landed.
PBM There were those who could swim, and it required vitality to do that; they could breast the elements.
FHB There are two sides in evidence. Utter breakdown of what is connected with man in responsibility; that keeps us humble and lowly; on the other hand, there is what is connected with God’s purpose, and that would encourage us. We have the two things in 2 Timothy. It needs much grace to hold the two in even balance.
JT The exercise of the Spirit of Christ in these conditions, and what exercises Paul must have gone through, is seen in Paul because he was with God, and God answered his exercises. He cared for everybody in the ship, and God gave him all. We need to keep the whole circle of saints before our souls. The exercise of the Spirit of Christ in regard to the assembly must include the whole; one could not restrict it for a moment.
EMcB In that sense if we have a separate boat it is cut off.
PRM We learn a lesson here as to the folly of carrying about superfluous information with us; it is only what we appropriate that is of use to us. They had to cast out the wheat into the sea. It is of no use to carry about mere information from Genesis to Revelation. If you begin to eat of Christ, you begin to unload.
DLH Everything that was vital got safe to land, and everything that was otherwise was broken to pieces. Verse 31 seems to involve that every help has to be taken advantage of. The sailors were [p. 253] men who knew what to do; they could deal with anchors, and could steer the ship. There are people who are guides in that sense, and we are glad to take advantage of them.
PRM The last two chapters give us the main attempts of Satan in assailing what is of God. In chapter 27 he fails in regard to what is corporate, and then he returns to attack the individual servant. The saints are carried through a crisis in safety, and when the corporate attack fails the enemy will single out the individual servant and attack him. It is illustrated in the last chapter. Paul contributed to the comfort of the rest, and the enemy took occasion by it to attack him in the viper coming out of the heat and fastening on his hand.
JT There is great encouragement here in consideration of the assurance that all that sail with Paul should be saved; we are not despondent or pessimistic in the light of this. There is neither elation nor depression.
PRM If saints are depressed they are not in a condition to appropriate divine food, and if they are elated they are not in a condition for it, but the Lord seems to work to bring us into subjection that we may be able to appropriate the food He has for us, so that His work may prosper in our souls. There is no elation at the end; Paul did not pass into Rome with flying colours and banners waving; he just thanked God and took courage. We may all take courage. Whilst few could stand with Paul, he passes this on to Timothy: “in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (1 Timothy 4:16); so that the weakest one may stand in the light of this salvation and be the source of salvation to others, to all “them that hear thee”.
JT The Spirit of Christ is in exercise in Paul [p. 254] in regard to the saints; it is not restricted to any circle of christians. The Lord’s affections include all, and those affections are practically expressed in the exercises of the saints. The Spirit of Christ is seen all through Scripture. “If any one has not the Spirit of Christ he is not of him”, Romans 8:9.
DLH All the people got safe to land as individuals; it is a question of individual faith and energy. It is very interesting to know how many there were. “The Lord knoweth them that are his”, 2 Timothy 2:19.
JT For us at the present moment, while we would like to know them all and care for them all, it satisfies the heart to know that the Lord knows them that are His.
PRM He cares for their hair too; “there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you”; every detail is taken account of that represents vitality.
JT They all safely reached land. Land is always in contrast to the sea; it is a sort of standing ground, connected doubtless with God’s purpose.
WJ Some people are preserved by influences, and not by swimming, their own vitality or faith.
PRM Many are carried on in that way in connection with others who are a help to them.
DLH One would rather be a swimmer.