Acts 27:23

A GOOD COMPANION

‘Whose I am, and whom I serve.’

Acts 27:23

I. Christian manliness.—Like a true man, St. Paul came to the front in the hour of danger. The ship is drifting to her ruin; the sailors are absolutely hopeless; but it is as if, through a rift in the clouds which covered the heavens, a message of mercy had dropped at their feet, as they gather round this Jewish prisoner, and listen to his word of calm assurance, while he speaks to them in the name of his God, Who rules the earth and sea, and promises that not one of them shall perish.

II. A good confession.—It was not easy for St. Paul, a prisoner, and almost the only Christian on board that great vessel, to confess Christ and speak of Him to the heathen. It was especially difficult, when the storm came on. Those heathen sailors were terribly superstitious, and, as the case of Jonah reminds us, they might have easily taken up the idea that it was against St. Paul the anger of their gods was roused, and that their only safety would be to cast him overboard. And yet he was not ashamed to own his Master. It was a great thing for St. Paul to promise, that not a hair would fall from the head of any one on board. Suppose that, just as he was speaking, the waves had washed some one of the sailors overboard, what attention would have been paid to him or his words thereafter? He had no fear; he knew God and trusted Him. God had certainly spoken to him. It was a great promise He had made; but St. Paul knew it was like his God to promise great things and do them.

III. Ownership and service.—‘Whose I am.’ He expresses it more fully in some of his epistles, when he calls himself ‘the slave of Jesus Christ.’ A Roman slave was the absolute property of his master: he was to have no will of his own; he had to do, say, and suffer whatever his master chose without a thought of appeal or resistance. And this is the word St. Paul uses, once and again, to express his relation to the Lord Jesus. The words which follow present the other side of St. Paul’s relation to Christ: ‘Whom I serve.’ This word ‘serve’ seems to be always used of the service of God, and it seems to indicate joyful, willing service.

Illustrations

(1) ‘Bishop Moule, in his little book on Christian Sanctity, says many beautiful things on this subject. Christ is my despotic Master, he thinks the words mean; He has a right to order me about: let Him do it. Every moment I will remember that I am at His disposal. In the little things of life, I will stand and wait close beside Him. Let others know where to find me, ever at my Master’s side. No corner of my spirit is to be shut against Him; I am bound to think as He thinks, and my piques and my prejudices and my sensitiveness are to be laid at His feet and to lie there all day long.’

(2) ‘It is impossible to estimate the national and civic value of a good man. He is the salt that preserves society from total corruption. If all the good men and women were taken out of the world, then Dante’s Inferno would not be a thing of fancy but of fact. The religious element in English society is its best safeguard.’