THOSE WHO SAVE IN TIMES OF PERIL

Acts 27:42-43 ... "The soldiers' plan was to kill the prisoners, that none of them should swim away and escape; but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention."

      Paul had spent nearly two years in prison in Palestine and had endured many hearings and trials before he appealed his case to the Emperor in Rome. Along with other prisoners he was turned over to a centurion named Julius and a contingent of Roman soldiers. Leaving Caesarea, they sailed in a ship of Adramytium as far as Myra of Lycia, where they transferred to a ship of Alexandria carrying grain from Egypt to Rome. All went well until they reached Fair Havens, a port of Crete. It was already late autumn, and the storms of winter were threatening. Any day sailing on the Mediterranean would become hazardous, if not impossible. So Paul advised Julius to winter the ship at Fair Havens. The centurion, however, took the advice of the ship captain, who wanted to make a run for Phenice, a more commodious port of Crete. Hardly had the great ship set sail than a tremendous storm swept it into the open sea, where the sailors had no reference points and were virtually lost. For the next two weeks the ship was blown helplessly about, so that almost all on board lost hope of ever reaching land again. Having been visited by an angel, Paul assured the people they would reach land, if they followed the instructions of the Lord.

      The next day the sailors saw land ahead and made a dash for shore. But quite a distance from it, the ship struck something like a reef or bar. Although the pounding waves demolished the stern of the ship, it was close enough to land, a beach on the island of Melita, that the people could swim or float there on debris from the disintegrating vessel. But the soldiers, fearing that the prisoners, whom they guarded with their own lives, should escape, advised their commander to kill them. Then comes a very significant statement:  "But the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention."

      The lives of the other prisoners were spared because of the presence of one man, the apostle Paul. For the past two weeks Julius had observed the godly and virtuous behavior of this unusual prisoner and had learned to respect both his counsel and his trust in the God he worshiped. There is a great lesson here for every Christian. In Mt. 5:13 Jesus said to His disciples, "You are the salt of the earth." Since salt is primarily a preservative, this indicates that Christians should be saving agents of their environment and the people about them. Most of the 276 men on the Alexandrian freighter were unregenerate sinners, but the Lord was willing to spare their lives for the sake of Paul. Because Paul had the attitude, behavior, and speech that befitted a committed Christian, he so influenced Julius, the officer in charge, that this man acted to save all the other prisoners. Christians today are surrounded by a host of people who are either irreligious or indifferent to religion. Our world is becoming more sinful and ungodly with each passing day, increasingly ripe for destruction as divine retribution. But the presence of a few faithful, stalwart Christians may be just the key agents that are staying God's hand. Except for these occasional lights in a dark world of evil, God would at once extinguish the whole. This realization should encourage Christians to redouble their efforts to live pure and holy lives, reflecting through them the glory of the Lord Jesus.

ALMOST PERSUADED

Acts 26:28 ... "Agrippa replied to Paul, 'In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian.'"

      After Paul had spent about two years in prison in Palestine, he appealed his case to the Emperor in Rome. But before Festus, the Roman governor, could send Paul to Caesar it was necessary that he prepare the formal charges against him. To Festus this was very difficult, for it seemed as though the issues centered more on religious differences than on criminal conduct. When King Agrippa came to welcome Festus to his office, the governor now thought he had access to valuable help. With Agrippa being both a Jew and a Roman functionary, Festus thought surely he would be able to fathom the intricacies of this challenging case. He therefore set a time for the apostle to present his case before Agrippa. Thus we read that "on the next day, when Agrippa had come together with Bernice, amid great pomp, and had entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in," (Acts 25:23).

      It is noteworthy that, when Paul was given license to speak before the court, he did not launch out into a vigorous refutation of the charges against him nor eagerly defend his character, motives, and behavior. Rather, he first gave a brief account of how he had been converted from a champion of the Jewish persecution of Christians to an advocate for Christ. Then he began what was, in effect, a basic gospel sermon designed to appeal to the dignitaries arrayed in their finery before him. His message was interrupted by Festus with a declaration that Paul's great education had made him mad. Paul denied this with the statement that all he had just said was a matter of open knowledge which could easily be verified by witnesses. Then, turning directly to the king, he asked, "King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?" (26:27). Paul was suggesting that a man of Agrippa's erudition should be able to see that Christianity is the fulfillment of ancient prophecies. Also implied in his question was the idea that such perception should induce one to obey the gospel and become a Christian. Agrippa at once perceived Paul's motive and answered, "In a short time you will persuade me to be Christian."

      The king's answer may be interpreted in either of two ways. It could be he was flippantly casting aside Paul's appeal to him. That is, he was sarcastically saying, "Paul, do you really think you can persuade me to become a Christian during this short session? (The sense of the NAS used here.) Or, it might be that Agrippa had been cast into a serious frame of mind and was telling Paul that he had brought him almost to the point of conversion. (The sense of the KJV.) Actually, it does not matter whether the king was serious or being sarcastic. The important point is that he did not accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. He assumed the tragic position of anyone, then or now, who is given an opportunity to renounce sin and accept salvation but chooses instead to continue in the course of sin to which he is accustomed.  To be "almost persuaded" is to be lost. To exchange eternity in heaven for whatever hinders you from accepting Christ as Savior and Lord is a bad trade, one that will be bitterly regretted forever.