nnd w11tchfulnoss. '.rhe deep lesson of the gospel here illustrated is that we ought not to be ta.ken at unawares, IV. UNnELIBVING FEAR AND BELIEVING CONFIDENCE. The former in verR. 16--20. 'l'o save dear life men will cast their treasures as worthleRs dross into the sea. And when, in spite of all, death seems near and inevitable, nothing is left but despair. But if earthly life itself is well lost for the sake of the immortal soul, hope need not set, but rather rise, like the morning star, above these troubled waves. This contrast is brought out by the behaviour of the apostle (vers. 21-26). Through the many sunless and starless days and nights, hope shines unquenched within bis breast. 'l'here are reflections of such times within the horizon of the soul (Isa. xi.10; !xiii. 17). Reason contends with faith; and in struggle with itself the spirit becomes conscious of its power and victory through God. Paul supports himself on a Divine intimation, confirming the promise of the past (eh. xxiii. 11). The great thing is to be intent upon our work and witness; then comes the sense of security, the faith that 110 harm can come nigh us until our work be done. "Too busied with the crowded hour To fear to live or die." It will be felt deeply true that- " On two days it steads not to run from thy grave- The appointed and the unappointed de.y; On the first neither balm nor physician can save, Nor thee on the second the universe slay." V. SHIPWREOK AND LANDING. (Vers. 39-44.) The day breaks. The face of God appears after the night of weeping and watching. When need is sorest, he is nearest. Yet his light leads to strange and unfamiliar scenes : " They knew not the land." The scenery that unfolds before the soul in the great crises of lifo or in the hour of death is that of a. foreign shore. Death is a great break-up of all our familiar and trasted associations, and great experiences of change in the soul may resemble it in this. Their use is to teach self-reliance-that true self-reliance which irlentifies God with the truest impulses of the soul. At the moment when all seems lost, all is gained. The foreign and seeming unfriendly shore proves a haven and a home; the restless sea tosses them from its bosom to terra firma, and to a rest. So to the faithful soul do the fears and fancies of the terrified imagination give way to fixed prospects, and we are wrecked in transitory conditions that we may :find a footing in the eternal.-J. Vers. 21-36.-The exam.ple of Paul in the storm. I. Hrs FIRM FAITH IN ms GoD, AND THE PEACE OF SOUL THENCE FLOWL.'!O, We may compare the picture of the Saviour on the lake of Galilee. "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?" II. HIS CONSEQUENT CALMNESS AND PRUDENCE IN COUNSEL. He sets aside, with clear presence of mind, mistaken plans (vers. 27-32); he encourages di~pilited minds (vers. 33-38); he acts with the fidelity of a pastor to the souls he feels committed to his care. III. Hrs PROPHETIC POWER, It is seen in warning of danger (ver. 10), and exhorta- tion amirlst trial. The spirit of the prophet is at home amidst the storms of the world; flits like the petrel above the troubled waves. He has heard of the still small voice; the noise and crash of elemental war cannot shut out the melody of God. He rides upon the waters, directs the storm, furnishes an ark for the faithrul in secret. God is our Refuge and Strength ; this song was singing throughout in the heart of Paul. IV. Ills LOVING, THANKFUL, AND HOPEFUL SPIRIT. (Vers. 34-36.) He breaks bread with the company, gives th11nks, 11nd utters the divinest and most successful con- solation, A picture again that recalls the scene of the last Supper.--J.
Ver. 25.-'Z'he victory of faith. "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer," etc. The position of Paul in the voyage. 'l'hough II prisoner, yet really the ruler of the ship. An example of ·moral influence. The 1·oot of his ch,\racter was neither his intellectu,i.l 310 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. [oH. X1VIL 1-H,