mh_parser/vol_split/44 - Acts/Chapter 28.xml

<div2 id="Acts.xxix" n="xxix" next="Rom" prev="Acts.xxviii" progress="29.71%" title="Chapter XXVIII">
<h2 id="Acts.xxix-p0.1">A C T S.</h2>
<h3 id="Acts.xxix-p0.2">CHAP. XXVIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Acts.xxix-p1">We are the more concerned to take notice of and to
improve what is here recorded concerning blessed Paul because,
after the story of this chapter, we hear no more of him in the
sacred history, though we have a great deal of him yet before us in
his epistles. We have attended him through several chapters from
one judgment-seat to another, and could at last have taken leave of
him with the more pleasure if we had left him at liberty; but in
this chapter we are to condole with him, and yet congratulate him.
I. We condole with him as a poor shipwrecked passenger, stripped of
all; and yet congratulate him, 1. As singularly owned by his God in
his distress, preserved himself from receiving hurt by a viper that
fastened on his hand (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.1-Acts.28.6" parsed="|Acts|28|1|28|6" passage="Ac 28:1-6">ver.
1-6</scripRef>), and being made an instrument of much good in the
island on which they were cast, in healing many that were sick, and
particularly the father of Publius, the chief man of the island,
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.7-Acts.28.9" parsed="|Acts|28|7|28|9" passage="Ac 28:7-9">ver. 7-9</scripRef>. 2. As much
respected by the people there, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.10" parsed="|Acts|28|10|0|0" passage="Ac 28:10">ver.
10</scripRef>. II. We condole with him as a poor confined prisoner,
carried to Rome under the notion of a criminal removed by "habeas
corpus" (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.11-Acts.28.16" parsed="|Acts|28|11|28|16" passage="Ac 28:11-16">ver. 11-16</scripRef>),
and yet we congratulate him, 1. Upon the respect shown him by the
Christians at Rome, who came a great way to meet him, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.15" parsed="|Acts|28|15|0|0" passage="Ac 28:15">ver. 15</scripRef>. 2. Upon the favour he found
with the captain of the guard, into whose custody he was delivered,
who suffered him to dwell by himself, and did not put him in the
common prison, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.16" parsed="|Acts|28|16|0|0" passage="Ac 28:16">ver. 16</scripRef>. 3.
Upon the free conference he had with the Jews at Rome, both about
his own affair (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.17-Acts.28.22" parsed="|Acts|28|17|28|22" passage="Ac 28:17-22">ver.
17-22</scripRef>) and upon the subject of the Christian religion in
general (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.23" parsed="|Acts|28|23|0|0" passage="Ac 28:23">ver. 23</scripRef>), the
issue of which was that God was glorified, many were edified, the
rest left inexcusable, and the apostles justified in preaching the
gospel to the Gentiles, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.24-Acts.28.29" parsed="|Acts|28|24|28|29" passage="Ac 28:24-29">ver.
24-29</scripRef>. 4. Upon the undisturbed liberty he had to preach
the gospel to all comers in his own house for two years together,
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.30-Acts.28.31" parsed="|Acts|28|30|28|31" passage="Ac 28:30-31">ver. 30-31</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Acts.xxix-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28" parsed="|Acts|28|0|0|0" passage="Ac 28" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Acts.xxix-p1.12" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.1-Acts.28.10" parsed="|Acts|28|1|28|10" passage="Ac 28:1-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.28.1-Acts.28.10">
<h4 id="Acts.xxix-p1.13">Paul's Voyage towards Rome.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xxix-p2">1 And when they were escaped, then they knew
that the island was called Melita.   2 And the barbarous
people showed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and
received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of
the cold.   3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks,
and laid <i>them</i> on the fire, there came a viper out of the
heat, and fastened on his hand.   4 And when the barbarians
saw the <i>venomous</i> beast hang on his hand, they said among
themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath
escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.   5 And
he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.   6
Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down
dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no
harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a
god.   7 In the same quarters were possessions of the chief
man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and
lodged us three days courteously.   8 And it came to pass,
that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody
flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on
him, and healed him.   9 So when this was done, others also,
which had diseases in the island, came, and were healed:   10
Who also honoured us with many honours; and when we departed, they
laded <i>us</i> with such things as were necessary.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p3">What a great variety of places and
circumstances do we find Paul in! He was a planet, and not a fixed
star. Here we have him in an island to which, in all probability,
he had never come if he had not been thrown upon it by a storm; and
yet it seems God has work for him to do here. Even stormy winds
fulfil God's counsel, and an ill wind indeed it is that blows
nobody any good; this ill wind blew good to the island of Melita;
for it gave them Paul's company for three months, who was a
blessing to every place he came to. This island was called Melita,
lying between Sicily and Africa, twenty miles long, and twelve
broad; it lies furthest from the continent of any island in the
Mediterranean; it is about sixty miles from Sicily. It has been
famous since for the knights of Malta, who, when the Turks overran
that part of Christendom, made a noble stand, and gave some check
to the progress of their arms. Now here we have,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p4">I. The kind reception which the inhabitants
of this island gave to the distressed strangers that were
shipwrecked on their coast (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.2" parsed="|Acts|28|2|0|0" passage="Ac 28:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): <i>The barbarous people showed us no little
kindness.</i> God had promised that there should be no loss of any
man's life; and, <i>as for God, his work is perfect.</i> If they
had escaped the sea, and when they came ashore had perished for
cold or want, it had been all one; therefore Providence continues
its care of them, and what benefits we receive by the hand of man
must be acknowledged to come from the hand of God; for every
creature is that to us, and no more, that he makes it to be, and
when he pleases, as he can make enemies to be at peace, so he can
make strangers to be friends, friends in need, and those are
friends indeed—friends <i>in adversity,</i> and that is <i>the
time that a brother is born for.</i> Observe, 1. The general notice
taken of the kindness which the natives of Malta showed to Paul and
his company. They are called <i>barbarous people,</i> because they
did not, in language and customs, conform either to the Greeks or
Romans, who looked (superciliously enough) upon all but themselves
as barbarians, though otherwise civilized enough, and perhaps in
some cases more civil than they. These barbarous people, however
they were called so, were full of humanity: They <i>showed us not
little kindness.</i> So far were they from making a prey of this
shipwreck, as many, I fear, who are called Christian people, would
have done, that they laid hold of it as an opportunity of showing
mercy. <i>The Samaritan</i> is a better neighbour to the poor
wounded man <i>than the priest or Levite.</i> And verily we have
not found greater humanity among Greeks, or Romans, or Christians,
than among these barbarous people; and it is written for our
imitation, that we may hence learn to be compassionate to those
that are in distress and misery, and to relieve and succour them to
the utmost of our ability, as those <i>that know we ourselves are
also in the body.</i> We should be ready <i>to entertain strangers,
as Abraham, who sat at his tent door to invite passengers in</i>
(<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.2" parsed="|Heb|13|2|0|0" passage="Heb 13:2">Heb. xiii. 2</scripRef>), but
especially strangers in distress, as these were. <i>Honour all
men.</i> If Providence hath so <i>appointed the bounds of our
habitation</i> as to give us an opportunity of being frequently
serviceable to persons at a loss, we should not place it among the
inconveniences of our lot, but the advantages of it; because <i>it
is more blessed to give than to receive.</i> Who knows but these
barbarous people had their lot cast in this island for such a time
as this! 2. A particular instance of their kindness: <i>They
kindled a fire,</i> in some large hall or other, and <i>they
received us everyone</i>—made room for us about the fire, and bade
us all welcome, without asking either what country we were of or
what religion. In swimming <i>to the shore,</i> and coming on
<i>the broken pieces of the ship,</i> we must suppose that they
were sadly wet, that they had not a dry thread on them; and, as if
that were not enough, to complete the deluge, waters from above met
those from below, and it rained so hard that this would wet them to
the skin presently; and <i>it was a cold rain too,</i> so that they
wanted nothing so much as a good fire (for they had eaten heartily
but just before on ship-board), and this they got for them
presently, <i>to warm them, and dry their clothes.</i> It is
sometimes as much a piece of charity to poor families to supply
them with fuel as with food or raiment. <i>Be you warmed,</i> is as
necessary as <i>Be you filled.</i> When in the extremities of bad
weather we find ourselves fenced against the rigours of the season,
by the accommodations of a warm house, bed, clothes, and a good
fire, we should think how many lie exposed <i>to the present rain,
and to the cold,</i> and pity them, and pray for them, and help
them if we can.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p5">II. The further danger that Paul was in by
a viper's fastening on his hand, and the unjust construction that
the people put upon it. Paul is among strangers, and appears one of
the meanest and most contemptible of the company, therefore God
distinguishes him, and soon causes him to be taken notice of.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p6">1. When the fire was to be made, and too be
made bigger, that so great a company might all have the benefit of
it, Paul was as busy as any of them in gathering sticks, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.3" parsed="|Acts|28|3|0|0" passage="Ac 28:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Though he was free from
all, and of greater account than any of them, <i>yet he made
himself servant of all.</i> Paul was an industrious active man, and
loved to be doing when any thing was to be done, and never
contrived to take his ease. Paul was a humble self-denying man, and
would stoop to any thing by which he might be serviceable, even to
the gathering of sticks to make a fire of. We should reckon nothing
below us but sin, and be willing to condescend to the meanest
offices, if there be occasion, for the good of our brethren. The
people were ready to help them; yet Paul, wet and cold as he is,
will not throw it all upon them, but will help himself. Those that
receive benefit by the fire should help to carry fuel to it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p7">2. The sticks being old dry rubbish, it
happened there was a viper among them, that lay as dead till it
came to the heat, and then revived, or lay quiet till it felt the
fire, and then was provoked, and flew at him that unawares threw it
into the fire, and <i>fastened upon his hand,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.3" parsed="|Acts|28|3|0|0" passage="Ac 28:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Serpents and such
venomous creatures commonly lie among sticks; hence we read of him
<i>that leans on the wall, and a serpent bites him,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.19" parsed="|Amos|5|19|0|0" passage="Am 5:19">Amos v. 19</scripRef>. It was so common that
people were by it frightened from tearing hedges (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.10.8" parsed="|Eccl|10|8|0|0" passage="Ec 10:8">Eccl. x. 8</scripRef>): <i>Whoso breaketh a
hedge, a serpent shall bite him.</i> As there is a snake under the
green grass, so there is often under the dry leaves. See how many
perils human life is exposed to, and what danger we are in from the
inferior creatures, which have many of them become enemies to men,
since men became rebels to God; and what a mercy it is that we are
preserved from them as we are. We often meet with that which is
mischievous where we expect that which is beneficial; and many come
by hurt when they are honestly employed, and in the way of their
duty.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p8">3. The barbarous people concluded that
Paul, being a prisoner, was certainly a murderer, who had appealed
to Rome, to escape justice in his own country, and that this viper
was sent by divine justice to be the avenger of blood; or, if they
were not aware that he was a prisoner, they supposed that he was in
his flight; and <i>when they saw the venomous animal hand on his
hand,</i> which it seems he could not, or would not, immediately
throw off, but let it hang, they concluded, "<i>No doubt this man
is a murderer,</i> has shed innocent blood, and therefore,
<i>though he has escaped the sea, yet</i> divine <i>vengeance</i>
pursues him, and fastens upon him now that he is pleasing himself
with the thoughts of that escape, and will <i>not suffer him to
live.</i>" Now in this we may see,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p9">(1.) Some of the discoveries of natural
light. They were barbarous people, perhaps had no books nor
learning among them, and yet they knew naturally, [1.] That there
is a God that governs the world, and a providence that presides in
all occurrences, that things do not come to pass by chance, no, not
such a thing as this, but by divine direction. [2.] That evil
pursues sinners, that there are good works which God will reward
and wicked works which he will punish; there is a divine
<i>nemesis—a vengeance,</i> which sooner or later will reckon for
enormous crimes. They believe not only that there is a God, but
that this God hath said, <i>Vengeance is mine, I will repay,</i>
even to death. [3.] That murder is a heinous crime, and which shall
not long go unpunished, that <i>whoso sheds man's blood,</i> if his
blood be not shed by man (by the magistrate, as it ought to be) it
shall be shed by the righteous Judge of heaven and earth, who is
the avenger of wrong. Those that think they shall go unpunished in
any evil way will be judged out of the mouth of these barbarians,
who could say, without book, <i>Woe to the wicked, for it shall be
ill with them, for the reward of their hands shall be given
them.</i> Those who, because they have escaped many judgments are
secure, and say, <i>We shall have peace though we go on,</i> and
have their hearts so much the more <i>set to do evil because
sentence against their evil works is not executed speedily,</i> may
learn from these illiterate people that, though malefactors have
escaped the vengeance of the sea, yet there is no outrunning divine
justice, <i>vengeance suffers not to live.</i> In Job's time you
might ask <i>those that to by the way,</i> ask the next body you
met, and they would tell you that <i>the wicked is reserved to the
day of destruction.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p10">(2.) Some of the mistakes of natural light,
which needed to be rectified by divine revelation. In two things
their knowledge was defective:—[1.] That they thought all wicked
people were punished in this life; that divine vengeance never
suffers great and notorious sinners, such as murderers are, to live
long; but that, if <i>they come up out of the pit, they shall be
taken in the snare</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Jer.48.43-Jer.48.44" parsed="|Jer|48|43|48|44" passage="Jer 48:43,44">Jer.
xlviii. 43, 44</scripRef>), if <i>they flee from a lion, a bear
shall meet them</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:Amos.5.19" parsed="|Amos|5|19|0|0" passage="Am 5:19">Amos v.
19</scripRef>), if they escape being drowned, a viper shall fasten
upon them; whereas it is not so. The wicked, even murderers,
sometimes <i>live, become old, yea, are mighty in power;</i> for
the day of vengeance is to come in the other world, <i>the great
day of wrath;</i> and though some are made examples of in this
world, to prove that there is a God and a providence, yet many are
left unpunished, to prove that there is a judgment to come. [2.]
That they thought all who were remarkably afflicted in this life
were wicked people; that a man on whose hand a viper fastens may
thence be judged to be a murderer, as if those on whom the tower in
Siloam fell must needs be greater sinners than all in Jerusalem.
This mistake Job's friends went upon, in their judgment upon his
case; but divine revelation sets this matter in a true light—that
all things come ordinarily alike to all, that good men are
oftentimes greatly afflicted in this life, for the exercise and
improvement of their faith and patience.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p11">4. When he shook off the viper from his
hand, yet they expected that divine vengeance would ratify the
censure they had passed, and <i>that he would have swollen</i> and
burst, through the force of the poison, or <i>that he would have
fallen down dead suddenly.</i> See how apt men are, when once they
have got an ill opinion of a man, though ever so unjust, to abide
by it, and to think that God must necessarily confirm and ratify
their peevish sentence. It was well they did not knock him down
themselves, when they saw he did not swell and fall down; but so
considerate they are as to let Providence work, and to attend the
motions of it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p12">III. Paul's deliverance from the danger,
and the undue construction the people put upon this. The viper's
fastening on his hand was a trial of his faith; and it was found to
praise, and honour, and glory: for, 1. It does not appear that it
put him into any fright or confusion at all. He did not shriek or
start, nor, as it would be natural for us to do, throw it off with
terror and precipitation; for he suffered it to hang on so long
that the people had time to take notice of it and to make their
remarks upon it. Such a wonderful presence of mind he had, and such
a composure, as no man could have upon such a sudden accident, but
by the special aids of divine grace, and the actual belief and
consideration of that word of Christ concerning his disciples
(<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Mark.16.18" parsed="|Mark|16|18|0|0" passage="Mk 16:18">Mark xvi. 18</scripRef>), <i>They
shall take up serpents.</i> This it is to have <i>the heart fixed,
trusting in God.</i> 2. He carelessly <i>shook off the viper into
the fire,</i> without any difficulty, calling for help, or any
means used to loosen its hold; and it is probable that it was
consumed in the fire. Thus, in the strength of the grace of Christ,
believers shake off the temptations of Satan, with a holy
resolution, saying, as Christ did, <i>Get thee behind me, Satan;
The Lord rebuke thee;</i> and thus they <i>keep themselves, that
the wicked one toucheth them not,</i> so as to fasten upon them,
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:1John.5.18" parsed="|1John|5|18|0|0" passage="1Jo 5:18">1 John v. 18</scripRef>. When we
despise the censures and reproaches of men, and look upon them with
a holy contempt, having the testimony of conscience for us, then we
do, as Paul here, <i>shake off the viper into the fire.</i> It does
us no harm, except we fret at it, or be deterred by it from our
duty, or be provoked to render railing for railing. 3. He was none
the worse. Those that thought it would have been his death
<i>looked a great while, but saw no harm at all come to him.</i>
God hereby intended to make him remarkable among these barbarous
people, and so to make way for the entertainment of the gospel
among them. It is reported that after this no venomous creature
would live in that island, any more than in Ireland; but I do not
find that the matter of fact is confirmed, though the popish
writers speak of it with assurance. 4. They then magnified him as
much as before they had vilified him: <i>They changed their minds,
and said that he was a god</i>—an immortal god; for they thought
it impossible that a mortal man should have a viper hang on his
hand so long and be never the worse. See the uncertainty of popular
opinion, how it turns with the wind, and how apt it is to run into
extremes both ways; from <i>sacrificing to Paul and Barnabas to
stoning them;</i> and here, from condemning him as a murderer to
idolizing him as a god.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p13">IV. The miraculous cure of an old gentleman
that was ill of a fever, and of others that were otherwise
diseased, by Paul. And, with these confirmations of the doctrine of
Christ, no doubt there was a faithful publication of it. Observe,
1. The kind entertainment which <i>Publius, the chief man of the
island,</i> gave to these distressed strangers; he had a
considerable estate in the island, and some think was governor, and
he <i>received them and lodged them three days very
courteously,</i> that they might have time to furnish themselves in
other places at the best hand. It is happy when God gives a large
heart to those to whom he has given a large estate. It became him,
who was the chief man of the island, to be most hospitable and
generous,—who was the richest man, to be rich in good works. 2.
The illness of <i>the father of Publius:</i> He <i>lay sick of a
fever and a bloody flux,</i> which often go together, and, when
they do, are commonly fatal. Providence ordered it that he should
be ill just at this time, that the cure of him might be a present
recompence to Publius for his generosity, and the cure of him by
miracle a recompence particularly for his kindness to Paul, whom he
received in the name of a prophet, and had this prophet's reward.
3. His cure: Paul took cognizance of his case, and though we do not
find he was urged to it, for they had no thought of any such thing,
yet he entered in, not as a physician to heal him by medicines, but
as an apostle to heal him by miracle; and he prayed to God, in
Christ's name, for his cure, and then laid his hands on him, and he
was perfectly well in an instant. Though he must needs be in years,
yet he recovered his health, and the lengthening out of his life
yet longer would be a mercy to him. 4. The cure of many others, who
were invited by this cure to apply to Paul. If he can heal diseases
so easily, so effectually, he shall soon have patients enough; and
he <i>bade them all welcome,</i> and sent them away with what they
came for. He did not plead that he was a stranger there, thrown
accidentally among them, under no obligations to them and waiting
to be gone by the first opportunity, and therefore might be excused
from receiving their applications. No, a good man will endeavour to
do good wherever the providence of God casts him. Paul reckoned
himself a debtor, not only to the Greeks, but to the Barbarians,
and thanked God for an opportunity of being useful among them. Nay,
he was particularly obliged to these inhabitants of Malta for the
seasonable shelter and supply they had afforded him, and hereby he
did in effect discharge his quarters, which should encourage us to
entertain strangers, for some thereby have entertained angels and
some apostles unawares. God will not be behind—hand with any for
kindness shown to his people in distress. We have reason to think
that Paul with these cures preached the gospel to them, and that,
coming thus confirmed and recommended, it was generally embraced
among them. And, if so, never were any people so enriched by a
shipwreck on their coasts as these Maltese were.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p14">V. The grateful acknowledgement which even
these barbarous people made of the kindness Paul had done them, in
preaching Christ unto them. They were civil to him, and to the
other ministers that were with him, who, it is likely, were
assisting to him in preaching among them, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.10" parsed="|Acts|28|10|0|0" passage="Ac 28:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. 1. They <i>honoured us with
many honours.</i> They showed them all possible respect; they saw
God honoured them, and therefore they justly thought themselves
obliged to honour them, and thought nothing too much by which they
might testify the esteem they had for them. Perhaps they made them
free of their island by naturalizing them, and admitted them
members of their guilds and fraternities. The faithful preachers of
the gospel are worthy of a double honour, especially when they
succeeded in their labours. 2. <i>When we departed, they loaded us
with such things as were necessary;</i> or, they put on board such
things as we had occasion for. Paul could not labour with his hands
here, for he had nothing to work upon, and therefore accepted the
kindness of the good people of Melita, not as a fee for his cures
(freely he had received, and freely he gave), but as the relief of
his wants, and theirs that were with him. And, having reaped of
their spiritual things, it was but just they should make them those
returns, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:1Cor.9.11" parsed="|1Cor|9|11|0|0" passage="1Co 9:11">1 Cor. ix. 11</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Acts.xxix-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.11-Acts.28.16" parsed="|Acts|28|11|28|16" passage="Ac 28:11-16" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.28.11-Acts.28.16">
<h4 id="Acts.xxix-p14.4">Paul at Rome.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xxix-p15">11 And after three months we departed in a ship
of Alexandria, which had wintered in the isle, whose sign was
Castor and Pollux.   12 And landing at Syracuse, we tarried
<i>there</i> three days.   13 And from thence we fetched a
compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind
blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli:   14 Where we found
brethren, and were desired to tarry with them seven days: and so we
went toward Rome.   15 And from thence, when the brethren
heard of us, they came to meet us as far as Appii forum, and The
three taverns: whom when Paul saw, he thanked God, and took
courage.   16 And when we came to Rome, the centurion
delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard: but Paul was
suffered to dwell by himself with a soldier that kept him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p16">We have here the progress of Paul's voyage
towards Rome, and his arrival there at length. A rough and
dangerous voyage he had hitherto had, and narrowly escaped with his
life; but after a storm comes a calm: the latter part of his voyage
was easy and quiet.</p>
<verse id="Acts.xxix-p16.1">
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.2">Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum,</l>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.3">Tendimus ad Latium————</l>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.4"/>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.5">Through various hazards and events we move</l>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.6">To Latium.</l>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.7"/>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.8">Tendimus ad cœlum.</l>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.9">We make for heaven.</l>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.10"/>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.11">————Dabit Deus his quoque finem.</l>
<l class="t1" id="Acts.xxix-p16.12">To these a period will be fixed by Heaven.</l>
</verse>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p17">We have here,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p18">I. Their leaving Malta. That island was a
happy shelter to them, but it was not their home; when they are
refreshed they must put to sea again. The difficulties and
discouragements we have met with in our Christian course must not
hinder us from pressing forward. Notice is here taken, 1. Of the
time of their departure: <i>After three months,</i> the three
winter months. Better lie by, though they lay upon charges, than go
forward while the season was dangerous. Paul had warned them
against venturing to sea in winter weather, and they would not take
the warning; but, now that they had learned it by the difficulties
and dangers they had gone through, he needed not to warn them:
their learning did them good when they had paid dearly for it.
Experience is therefore called the mistress of fools, because those
are fools that will not learn till experience has taught them. 2.
Of the ship in which they departed. It was in a ship of Alexandria;
so was that which was cast away, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.27.6" parsed="|Acts|27|6|0|0" passage="Ac 27:6"><i>ch.</i> xxvii. 6</scripRef>. This ship had <i>wintered
in that isle,</i> and was safe. See what different issues there are
of men's undertakings in this world. Here were two ships, both of
Alexandria, both bound for Italy, both thrown upon the same island,
but one is wrecked there and the other is saved. Such occurrences
may often be observed. Providence sometimes favours those that deal
in the world, and prospers them, that people may be encouraged to
set their hands to worldly business; at other times Providence
crosses them, that people may be warned not to set their hearts
upon it. Events are thus varied, that we may learn both how to want
and how to abound. The historian takes notice of the sign of the
ship, which probably gave it its name: it was <i>Castor and
Pollux.</i> Those little foolish pagan deities, which the poets had
made to preside over storms and to protect seafaring men, as gods
of the sea, were painted or graven upon the fore-part of the ship,
and thence the ship took its name. I suppose this is observed for
no other reason than for the better ascertaining of the story, that
ship being well known by that name and sign by all that dealt
between Egypt and Italy. Dr. Lightfoot thinks that Luke mentions
this circumstance to intimate the men's superstition, that they
hoped they should have better sailing under this badge than they
had had before.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p19">II. Their landing in or about Italy, and
the pursuing of their journey towards Rome. 1. They landed first at
Syracuse in Sicily, the chief city of that island. There they
<i>tarried three days,</i> probably having some goods to put
ashore, or some merchandise to make there; for it seems to have
been a trading voyage that this ship made. Paul had now his
curiosity gratified with the sight of places he had often heard of
and wished to see, particularly Syracuse, a place of great
antiquity and note; and yet, it should seem, there were no
Christians there. 2. From Syracuse they came to Rhegium, a city in
Italy, directly opposite to Messina in Sicily, belonging to the
kingdom of Calabria or Naples. There, it seems they staid one day;
and a very formal story the Romish legends tell of Paul's preaching
here at this time, and the fish coming to the shore to hear
him,—that with a candle he set a stone pillar on fire, and by that
miracle convinced the people of the truth of his doctrine, and they
were many of them baptized, and he ordained Stephen, one of his
companions in this voyage, to be their bishop,—and all this, they
tell you, was done in this one day; whereas it does not appear that
they did so much as go ashore, but only came to an anchor in the
road. 3. From Rhegium they came to Puteoli, a sea-port town not far
from Naples, now called <i>Pozzolana.</i> The ship of Alexandria
was bound for that port, and therefore there Paul, and the rest
that were bound for Rome, were put ashore, and went the remainder
of their way by land. At Puteoli they <i>found brethren,</i>
Christians. Who brought the knowledge of Christ hither we are not
told, but here it was, so wonderfully did the leaven of the gospel
diffuse itself. God has many that serve and worship him in places
where we little think he has. And observe, (1.) Though it is
probable there were but few brethren in Puteoli, yet Paul found
them out; either they heard of him, or he enquired them out, but as
it were by instinct they got together. Brethren in Christ should
find out one another, and keep up communion with each other, as
those of the same country do in a foreign land. (2.) They desired
Paul and his companions to <i>tarry with them seven days,</i> that
is, to forecast to stay at least one Lord's day with them, and to
assist them in their public worship that day. They knew not whether
ever they should see Paul at Puteoli again, and therefore he must
not go without giving them a sermon or two, or more. And Paul was
willing to allow them so much of his time; and the centurion under
whose command Paul now was, perhaps having himself friends or
business at Puteoli, agreed to stay one week there, to oblige Paul.
4. From Puteoli they went forward towards Rome; whether they
travelled on foot, or whether they had beasts provided for them to
ride on (as <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.23.24" parsed="|Acts|23|24|0|0" passage="Ac 23:24"><i>ch.</i> xxiii.
24</scripRef>), does not appear; but to Rome they must go, and this
was their last stage.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p20">III. The meeting which the Christians at
Rome gave to Paul. It is probable that notice was sent to them by
the Christians at Puteoli, as soon as ever Paul had come thither,
how long he intended to stay there, and when he would set forward
for Rome, which gave an opportunity for this interview.
Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p21">1. The great honour they did to Paul. They
had heard much of his fame, what use God had made of him, and what
eminent service he had done to the kingdom of Christ in the world,
and to what multitudes of souls he had been a spiritual father.
They had heard of his sufferings, and how God had owned him in
them, and therefore they not only longed to see him, but thought
themselves obliged to show him all possible respect, as a glorious
advocate for the cause of Christ. He had some time ago written a
long epistle to them, and a most excellent one, <i>the epistle to
the Romans,</i> in which he had not only expressed his great
kindness for them, but had given them a great many useful
instructions, in return for which they show him this respect. They
<i>went to meet him,</i> that they might bring him in state, as
ambassadors and judges make their public entry, though he was a
prisoner. Some of them went as far as <i>Appii-forum,</i> which was
fifty-one miles from Rome; others to a place called the <i>Three
Taverns,</i> which was twenty-eight miles (some reckon it
thirty-three miles) from Rome. They are to be commended for it,
that they were so far from being ashamed of him, or afraid of
owning him, because he was a prisoner, that for that very reason
they counted him worthy of double honour, and were the more careful
to show him respect.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p22">2. The great comfort Paul had in this. Now
that he was drawing near to Rome, and perhaps heard at Puteoli what
character the emperor Nero now had, and what a tyrant he had of
late become, he began to have some melancholy thoughts about his
appeal to Cæsar, and the consequences of it. He was drawing near to
Rome, where he had never been, where there were few that knew him
or that he knew, and what things might befal him here he could not
tell; but he began to grow dull upon it, till he met with these
good people that came from Rome to show him respect; and <i>when he
saw them,</i> (1.) He <i>thanked God.</i> We may suppose he thanked
them for their civility, told them again and again how kindly he
took it; but this was not all: he <i>thanked God.</i> Note, If our
friends be kind to us, it is God that makes them so, that puts it
into their hearts, and into the power of their hands, to be so, and
we must give him the glory of it. He thanked God, no doubt, for the
civility and generosity of the barbarous people at Melita, but much
more for the pious care of the Christian people at Rome for him.
When he saw so many Christians that were of Rome, he thanked God
that the gospel of Christ had had such wonderful success there in
the metropolis of the empire. When we go abroad, or but look
abroad, into the world, and meet with those, even in strange
places, that bear up Christ's name, and fear God, and serve him, we
should lift up our hearts to heaven in thanksgiving; blessed be God
that there are so many excellent ones on this earth, bad as it is.
Paul had thanked God for the Christians at Rome before he had ever
seen them, upon the report he had heard concerning them (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.8" parsed="|Rom|1|8|0|0" passage="Ro 1:8">Rom. i. 8</scripRef>): <i>I thank my God for you
all.</i> But now that he saw them (and perhaps they appeared more
fashionable and genteel people than most he had conversed with, or
more grave, serious, and intelligent, than most) <i>he thanked
God.</i> But this was not all: (2.) He <i>took courage.</i> It put
new life into him, cheered up his spirits, and banished his
melancholy, and now he can enter Rome a prisoner as cheerfully as
ever he had entered Jerusalem at liberty. he finds there are those
there who love and value him, and whom he may both converse with
and consult with as his friends, which will take off much of the
tediousness of his imprisonment, and the terror of his appearing
before Nero. Note, it is an encouragement to those who are
travelling towards heaven to meet with their fellow travellers, who
are their <i>companions in the kingdom and patience of Jesus
Christ.</i> When we see the numerous and serious assemblies of good
Christians, we should not only give thanks to God, but take courage
to ourselves. And this is a good reason why respect should be shown
to good ministers, especially when they are in sufferings, and have
contempt put upon them, that it encourages them, and makes both
their sufferings and their services more easy. Yet it is observable
that though the Christians at Rome were now so respectful to Paul,
and he had promised himself so much from their respect, yet they
failed him when he most needed them; for he says (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.4.16" parsed="|2Tim|4|16|0|0" passage="2Ti 4:16">2 Tim. iv. 16</scripRef>), <i>At my first
answer, no man stood with me, but all men forsook me.</i> They
could easily take a ride of forty or fifty miles to go and meet
Paul, for the pleasantness of the journey; but to venture the
displeasure of the emperor and the disobliging of other great men,
by appearing in defence of Paul and giving evidence for him, here
they desire to be excused; when it comes to this, they will rather
ride as far out of town to miss him as now they did to meet him,
which is an intimation to us to cease from man, and to encourage
ourselves in the Lord our God. The courage we take from his
promises will never fail us, when we shall be ashamed of that which
we took from men's compliments. <i>Let God be true, but every man a
liar.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p23">IV. The delivering of Paul into custody at
Rome, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.16" parsed="|Acts|28|16|0|0" passage="Ac 28:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. He is
now come to his journey's end. And, 1. He is still a prisoner. He
had longed to see Rome, but, when he comes there, he is delivered,
with other prisoners, to the <i>captain of the guard,</i> and can
see no more of Rome than he will permit him. How many great men had
made their entry into Rome, crowned and in triumph, who really were
the plagues of their generation! But here a good man makes his
entry into Rome, chained and triumphed over as a poor captive, who
was really the greatest blessing to his generation. This thought is
enough to put one for ever out of conceit with this world. 2. Yet
he has some favour shown him. He is a prisoner, but not a close
prisoner, not in the common jail: <i>Paul was suffered to dwell by
himself,</i> in some convenient private lodgings which his friends
there provided for him, and a soldier was appointed to be his
guard, who, we hope, was civil to him, and let him take all the
liberty that could be allowed to a prisoner, for he must be very
ill-natured indeed that could be so to such a courteous obliging
man as Paul. Paul, being suffered to dwell by himself, could the
better enjoy himself, and his friends, and his God, than if he had
been lodged with the other prisoners. Note, This may encourage
God's prisoners, that he can give them favour in the eyes of those
that carry them captive (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.106.46" parsed="|Ps|106|46|0|0" passage="Ps 106:46">Ps. cvi.
46</scripRef>), as Joseph in the eyes of his keeper (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.39.21" parsed="|Gen|39|21|0|0" passage="Ge 39:21">Gen. xxxix. 21</scripRef>), and Jehoiachin in
the eyes of the king of Babylon, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.25.27-2Kgs.25.28" parsed="|2Kgs|25|27|25|28" passage="2Ki 25:27,28">2
Kings xxv. 27, 28</scripRef>. When God does not deliver his people
presently out of bondage, yet, if he either make it easy to them or
them easy under it, they have reason to be thankful.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Acts.xxix-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.17-Acts.28.22" parsed="|Acts|28|17|28|22" passage="Ac 28:17-22" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.28.17-Acts.28.22">
<h4 id="Acts.xxix-p23.6">Paul at Rome.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xxix-p24">17 And it came to pass, that after three days
Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come
together, he said unto them, Men <i>and</i> brethren, though I have
committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers,
yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.18" parsed="|Rom|18|0|0|0" passage="Romans. 18">Romans.   18</scripRef> Who, when they had examined me, would have let
<i>me</i> go, because there was no cause of death in me.   19
But when the Jews spake against <i>it,</i> I was constrained to
appeal unto Cæsar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of.
  20 For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see
<i>you,</i> and to speak with <i>you:</i> because that for the hope
of Israel I am bound with this chain.   21 And they said unto
him, We neither received letters out of Judæa concerning thee,
neither any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of
thee.   22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest:
for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken
against.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p25">Paul, with a great deal of expense and
hazard, is brought a prisoner to Rome, and when he has come nobody
appears to prosecute him or lay any thing to his charge; but he
must call his own cause; and here he represents it to the chief of
the Jews at Rome. It was not long since, by an edict of Claudius,
all the Jews were banished from Rome, and kept out till his death;
but, in the five years since then, many Jews had come thither, for
the advantage of trade, though it does not appear that they were
allowed any synagogue there or place of public worship; but these
<i>chief of the Jews</i> were those of best figure among them, the
most distinguished men of that religion, who had the best estates
and interests. <i>Paul called them together,</i> being desirous to
stand right in their opinion, and that there might be a good
understanding between him and them. And here we are told,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p26">I. What he said to them, and what account
he gave them of his cause. He speaks respectfully to them, calls
them men and brethren, and thereby intimates that he expects to be
treated by them both as a man and as a brother, and engages to
treat them as such and to tell them nothing but the truth; for
<i>we are members one of another—all we are brethren.</i> Now, 1.
He professes his own innocency, and that he had not given any just
occasion to the Jews to bear him such an ill will as generally they
did: "I have <i>committed nothing against the people</i> of the
Jews, have done nothing to the prejudice of their religion or civil
liberties, have added no affliction to their present miseries, they
know I have not; nor have I committed any thing <i>against the
customs of our fathers,</i> either by abrogating or by innovating
in religion." It is true Paul did not impose the customs of the
fathers upon the Gentiles: they were never intended for them. But
it is as true that he never opposed them in the Jews, but did
himself, when he was among them, conform to them. He never
quarrelled with them for practising according to the usages of
their own religion, but only for their enmity to the Gentiles,
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Gal.2.12" parsed="|Gal|2|12|0|0" passage="Ga 2:12">Gal. ii. 12</scripRef>. Paul had the
testimony of his conscience for him that he had done his duty to
the Jews. 2. He modestly complains of the hard usage he had met
with—that, though he had given them no offence, yet <i>he was
delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.</i>
If he had spoken the whole truth in this matter, it would have
looked worse than it did upon the Jews, for they would have
murdered him without any colour of law or justice if the Romans had
not protected him; but, however, they accused him as a criminal,
before Felix the governor, and, demanding judgment against him,
were, in effect delivering him prisoner into the hands of the
Romans, when he desired no more than a fair and impartial trial by
their own law. 3. He declares the judgment of the Roman governors
concerning him, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.18" parsed="|Acts|28|18|0|0" passage="Ac 28:18"><i>v.</i>
18</scripRef>. They examined him, enquired into his case, heard
what was to be said against him, and what he had to say for
himself. The chief captain examined him, so did Felix, and Festus,
and Agrippa, and they could find no cause of death in him; nothing
appeared to the contrary but that he was an honest, quiet,
conscientious, good man, and therefore they would never gratify the
Jews with a sentence of death upon him; but, on the contrary, would
have let him go, and have let him go on in his work too, and have
given him no interruption, for they all heard him and liked his
doctrine well enough. It was for the honour of Paul that those who
most carefully examined his case acquitted him, and none condemned
him but unheard, and such as were prejudiced against him. 4. He
pleads the necessity he was under to remove himself and his cause
to Rome; and that it was only in his own defence, and not with any
design to recriminate, or exhibit a cross bill against the
complainants, (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.19" parsed="|Acts|28|19|0|0" passage="Ac 28:19"><i>v.</i>
19</scripRef>): <i>When the Jews spoke against it,</i> and entered
a caveat against his discharge, designing, if they could not have
him condemned to die, yet to have him made a prisoner for life, he
was <i>constrained to appeal unto Cæsar,</i> finding that the
governors, one after another, stood so much in awe of the Jews that
they could not discharge him, for fear of making him their enemies,
which made it necessary for him to pray the assistance of the
higher powers. This was all he aimed at in this appeal; not to
accuse his nation, but only to vindicate himself. Every man has a
right to plead in his own defence, who yet ought not to find fault
with his neighbours. It is an invidious thing to accuse, especially
to accuse a nation, such a nation. Paul made intercession for them,
but never against them. The Roman government had at this time an
ill opinion of the Jewish nation, as factious, turbulent,
disaffected, and dangerous; and it had been an easy thing for a man
with such a fluent tongue as Paul had, a citizen of Rome, and so
injured as he was, to have exasperated the emperor against the
Jewish nation. But Paul would not for ever so much do such a thing;
he was for making the best of every body, and not making bad worse.
5. He puts his sufferings upon the true footing, and gives them
such an account of the reason of them as should engage them not
only not to join with his persecutors against him, but to concern
themselves for him, and to do what they could on his behalf
(<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p26.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.20" parsed="|Acts|28|20|0|0" passage="Ac 28:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>): "<i>For
this cause I have called for you,</i> not to quarrel with you, for
I have no design to incense the government against you, but to
<i>see you and speak with you</i> as my countrymen, and men that I
would keep up a correspondence with, because <i>for the hope of
Israel I am bound with this chain.</i>" He carried the mark of his
imprisonment about with him, and probably was chained to the
soldier that kept him; and it was, (1.) Because he preached that
the Messiah was come, who was the hope of Israel, he whom Israel
hoped for. "Do not all the Jews agree in this, that the Messiah
will be the glory of his people Israel? And therefore he is to be
hoped for, and this Messiah I preach, and prove he is come. They
would keep up such a hope of a Messiah yet to come as must end in a
despair of him; I preach such a hope in a Messiah already come as
must produce a joy in him." (2.) Because he preached that the
resurrection of the dead would come. This also was the hope of
Israel; so he had called it, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p26.5" osisRef="Bible:Acts.23.6 Bible:Acts.24.15 Bible:Acts.26.6-Acts.26.7" parsed="|Acts|23|6|0|0;|Acts|24|15|0|0;|Acts|26|6|26|7" passage="Ac 23:6,24:15,26:6,7"><i>ch.</i> xxiii. 6; xxiv. 15; xxvi. 6,
7</scripRef>. "They would have you still expect a Messiah that
would free you from the Roman yoke, and make you great and
prosperous upon earth, and it is this that occupies their thoughts;
and they are angry at me for directing their expectations to the
great things of another world, and persuading them to embrace a
Messiah who will secure those to them, and not external power and
grandeur. I am for bringing you to the spiritual and eternal
blessedness upon which our fathers by faith had their eye, and this
is what they hate me for,—because I would take you off from that
which is the cheat of Israel, and will be its shame and ruin, the
notion of a temporal Messiah, and lead you to that which is the
true and real hope of Israel, and the genuine sense of all the
promises made to the fathers, a spiritual kingdom of holiness and
love set up in the hearts of men, to be the pledge of, and
preparative for, the joyful resurrection of the dead and the life
of the world to come."</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p27">II. What was their reply. They own, 1. That
they had nothing to say in particular against him; nor had any
instructions to appear as his prosecutors before the emperor,
either by letter or word of mouth (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.21" parsed="|Acts|28|21|0|0" passage="Ac 28:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>): "<i>We have neither received
letters out of Judea concerning thee</i> (have no orders to
prosecute thee) <i>nor have any of the brethren</i> of the Jewish
nation that have lately come up to Rome (as many occasions drew the
Jews thither now that their nation was a province of that empire)
<i>shown or spoken any harm of thee.</i>" This was very strange,
that that restless and inveterate rage of the Jews which had
followed Paul wherever he went should not follow him to Rome, to
get him condemned there. Some think they told a lie here, and had
orders to prosecute him, but durst not own it, being themselves
obnoxious to the emperor's displeasure, who though he had not, like
his predecessors, banished them all from Rome, yet gave them no
countenance there. But I am apt to think that what they said was
true, and Paul now found he had gained the point he aimed at in
appealing to Cæsar, which was to remove his cause into a court to
which they durst not follow it. This was David's policy, and it was
his security (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.27.1" parsed="|1Sam|27|1|0|0" passage="1Sa 27:1">1 Sam. xxvii.
1</scripRef>): <i>There is nothing better for me than to escape
into the land of the Philistines, and Saul shall despair of me, to
seek me any more in any coasts of Israel; so shall I escape out of
his hands:</i> and it proved so, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p27.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.4" parsed="|Acts|28|4|0|0" passage="Ac 28:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. <i>When Saul heard that David had
fled to Gath, he sought no more again for him.</i> Thus did Paul by
his appeal: he fled to Rome, where he was out of their reach; and
they said, "Even let him go." 2. That they desired to know
particularly concerning the doctrine he preached, and the religion
he took so much pains to propagate in the face of so much
opposition (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p27.4" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.22" parsed="|Acts|28|22|0|0" passage="Ac 28:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>):
"<i>We desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest</i>—<b><i>ha
phroneis</i></b> what thy opinions or sentiments are, what are
those things which thou art so wise about, and hast such a relish
of and such a zeal for; for, though we know little else of
Christianity, we know <i>it is a sect every where spoken
against.</i>" Those who said this scornful spiteful word of the
Christian religion were Jews, <i>the chief of the Jews at Rome,</i>
who boasted of their knowledge (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p27.5" osisRef="Bible:Rom.2.17" parsed="|Rom|2|17|0|0" passage="Ro 2:17">Rom.
ii. 17</scripRef>), and yet this was all they knew concerning the
Christian religion, that it was a <i>sect every where spoken
against.</i> They put it into an ill name, and then ran it down.
(1.) They looked upon it to be a sect, and this was false. True
Christianity establishes that which is of common concern to all
mankind, and is not built upon such narrow opinions and private
interests as sects commonly owe their original to. It aims at no
worldly benefit or advantage as sects do; but all its gains are
spiritual and eternal. And, besides, it has a direct tendency to
the uniting of the children of men, and not the dividing of them,
and setting them at variance, as sects have. (2.) They said it was
every where spoken against, and this was too true. All that they
conversed with spoke against it, and therefore they concluded every
body did: most indeed did. It is, and always has been, the lot of
Christ's holy religion to be every where spoken against.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Acts.xxix-p27.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.23-Acts.28.29" parsed="|Acts|28|23|28|29" passage="Ac 28:23-29" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.28.23-Acts.28.29">
<h4 id="Acts.xxix-p27.7">Paul at Rome.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xxix-p28">23 And when they had appointed him a day, there
came many to him into <i>his</i> lodging; to whom he expounded and
testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus,
both out of the law of Moses, and <i>out of</i> the prophets, from
morning till evening.   24 And some believed the things which
were spoken, and some believed not.   25 And when they agreed
not among themselves, they departed, after that Paul had spoken one
word, Well spake the Holy Ghost by Esaias the prophet unto our
fathers,   26 Saying, Go unto this people, and say, Hearing ye
shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and
not perceive:   27 For the heart of this people is waxed
gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they
closed; lest they should see with <i>their</i> eyes, and hear with
<i>their</i> ears, and understand with <i>their</i> heart, and
should be converted, and I should heal them.   28 Be it known
therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the
Gentiles, and <i>that</i> they will hear it.   29 And when he
had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning
among themselves.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p29">We have here a short account of a long
conference which Paul had with the Jews at Rome about the Christian
religion. Though they were so far prejudiced against it, because it
was every where spoken against, as to call it <i>a sect,</i> yet
they were willing to give it a hearing, which was more than the
Jews at Jerusalem would do. It is probable that these Jews at Rome,
being men of larger acquaintance with the world and more general
conversation, were more free in their enquiries than the bigoted
Jews at Jerusalem were, and would not answer this matter before
they heard it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p30">I. We are here told how Paul managed this
conference in defence of the Christian religion. The Jews appointed
the time, a day was set for this dispute, that all parties
concerned might have sufficient notice, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p30.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.23" parsed="|Acts|28|23|0|0" passage="Ac 28:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>. Those Jews seemed well disposed
to receive conviction, and yet it did not prove that they all were
so. Now when the day came,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p31">1. There were <i>many got together to
Paul.</i> Though he was a prisoner and could not come out to them,
yet they were willing to come to him to his lodging. And the
confinement he was now under, if duly considered, instead of
prejudicing them against his doctrine, ought to confirm it to them;
for it was a sign not only that he believed it, but that he thought
it worth suffering for. One would visit such a man as Paul in his
prison rather than not have instruction from him. And he made room
for them in his lodging, not fearing to give offence to the
government, so that he might do good to them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p32">2. He was very large and full in his
discourse with them, seeking their conviction more than his own
vindication. (1.) He expounded, or explained, the kingdom of God to
them,—showed them the nature of that kingdom and the glorious
purposes and designs of it, that it is heavenly and spiritual,
seated in the minds of men, and shines not in external pomp, but in
purity of heart and life. That which kept the Jews in their
unbelief was a misunderstanding of the kingdom of God, as if it
came with observation; let but that be expounded to them, and set
in a true light, and they will be brought into obedience to it.
(2.) He not only expounded the kingdom of God, but he testified
it,—plainly declared it to them, and confirmed it by incontestable
proofs, that the kingdom of God by the Messiah's administration was
come, and was now set up in the world. He attested the
extraordinary powers in the kingdom of grace by which bore his
testimony to it from his own experience of its power and influence
upon him, and the manner of his being brought into subjection to
it. (3.) He not only expounded and testified the kingdom of God,
but he persuaded them, urged it upon their consciences and pressed
them with all earnestness to embrace the kingdom of God, and submit
to it, and not to persist in an opposition to it. He followed his
doctrine (the explication and confirmation of it) with a warm and
lively application to his hearers, which is the most proper and
profitable method of preaching. (4.) He persuaded them concerning
Jesus. The design and tendency of his whole discourse were to bring
them to Christ, to convince them of his being the Messiah, and to
engage them to believe in him as he is offered in the gospel. He
urged upon them, <b><i>ta peri tou Iesou</i></b>—<i>the things
concerning Jesus,</i> the prophecies of him, which he read to them
<i>out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets,</i> as pointing
at the Messiah, and showed how they had all had their
accomplishment in this Jesus. They being Jews, he dealt with them
out of the scriptures of the Old Testament, and demonstrated that
these were so far from making against Christianity that they were
the great proofs of it; so that, if we compare the history of the
New Testament with the prophecy of the Old, we must conclude that
this Jesus is he that should come, and we are to look for no
other.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p33">3. He was very long; for he continued his
discourse, and it should seem to have been a continued discourse,
from <i>morning till evening;</i> perhaps it was a discourse eight
or ten hours long. The subject was curious—he was full of it—it
was of vast importance—he was in good earnest, and his heart was
upon it—he knew not when he should have such another opportunity,
and therefore, without begging pardon for tiring their patience, he
kept them all day; but it is probable that he spent some of the
time in prayer with them and for them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p34">II. What was the effect of this discourse.
One would have thought that so good a cause as that of
Christianity, and managed by such a skilful hand as Paul's, could
not but carry the day, and that all the hearers would have yielded
to it presently; but it did not prove so: the child Jesus is set
for the fall of some and the rising again of others, a foundation
stone to some and a stone of stumbling to others. 1. <i>They did
not agree among themselves,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p34.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.25" parsed="|Acts|28|25|0|0" passage="Ac 28:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. Some of them thought Paul was
in the right, others would not admit it. This is that division
which Christ came to send, that fire which he came to kindle,
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p34.2" osisRef="Bible:Luke.12.49 Bible:Luke.12.51" parsed="|Luke|12|49|0|0;|Luke|12|51|0|0" passage="Lu 12:49,51">Luke xii. 49, 51</scripRef>. Paul
preached with a great deal of plainness and clearness, and yet his
hearers could not agree about the sense and evidence of what he
preached. 2. <i>Some believed the things that were spoken, and some
believed not,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p34.3" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.24" parsed="|Acts|28|24|0|0" passage="Ac 28:24"><i>v.</i>
24</scripRef>. There was the disagreement. Such as this has always
been the success of the gospel; to some it has been <i>a savour of
life unto life,</i> to others <i>a savour of death unto death.</i>
Some are wrought upon by the word, and others hardened; some
receive the light, and others shut their eyes against it. So it was
among Christ's hearers, and the spectators of his miracles, some
believed and some blasphemed. If all had believed, there had been
no disagreement; so that all the blame of the division lay upon
those who would not believe.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p35">III. The awakening word which Paul said to
them at parting. He perceived by what they muttered that there were
many among them, and perhaps the greater part, that were obstinate,
and would not yield to the conviction of what he said; and they
were getting up to be gone, they had had enough of it: "Hold," says
Paul, "take one word with you before you go, and consider of it
when you come home: what do you think will be the effect of your
obstinate infidelity? What will you do in the end hereof? What will
it come to?"</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p36">1. "You will by the righteous judgment of
God be sealed up under unbelief. You harden your own hearts, and
God will harden them as he did Pharaoh's'; and this is what was
prophesied of concerning you. Turn to that scripture (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.1" osisRef="Bible:Isa.6.9-Isa.6.10" parsed="|Isa|6|9|6|10" passage="Isa 6:9,10">Isa. vi. 9, 10</scripRef>), and read it
seriously, and tremble lest the case there described should prove
to be your case." As there are in the Old Testament gospel
promises, which will be accomplished in all that believe, so there
are gospel threatenings of spiritual judgments, which will be
fulfilled in those that believe not; and this is one. It is part of
the commission given to Isaiah the prophet; he is sent to make
those worse that would not be made better. <i>Well spoke the Holy
Ghost by</i> Esaias <i>the prophet unto our fathers.</i> What was
spoken by <span class="smallcaps" id="Acts.xxix-p36.2">Jehovah</span> is here said to be
spoken by the Holy Ghost, which proves that the Holy Ghost is God;
and what was spoken to Isaiah is here said to be spoken by him to
their fathers, for he was ordered to tell the people what God said
to him; and, though what is there said had in it much of terror to
the people and of grief to the prophet, yet it is here said to be
well spoken. Hezekiah said concerning a message of wrath, <i>Good
is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.3" osisRef="Bible:Isa.39.8" parsed="|Isa|39|8|0|0" passage="Isa 39:8">Isa. xxxix. 8</scripRef>. And <i>he that
believes not shall be damned</i> is gospel, as well as, <i>He that
believes shall be saved,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.4" osisRef="Bible:Mark.16.16" parsed="|Mark|16|16|0|0" passage="Mk 16:16">Mark xvi.
16</scripRef>. Or this may be explained by that of our Saviour
(<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.15.7" parsed="|Matt|15|7|0|0" passage="Mt 15:7">Matt. xv. 7</scripRef>), "<i>Well did
Esaias prophesy of you.</i> The Holy Ghost said to your fathers,
that which would be fulfilled in you, <i>Hearing you shall hear,
and shall not understand.</i>" (1.) "That which was their great sin
against God is yours; and that is this, you will not see. You shut
your eyes against the most convincing evidence possible, and will
not admit the conclusion, though you cannot deny the premises:
<i>Your eyes you have closed,</i>" <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.27" parsed="|Acts|28|27|0|0" passage="Ac 28:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>. This intimates an obstinate
infidelity, and a willing slavery to prejudice. "As your fathers
would not see God's hand lifted up against them in his judgments
(<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.7" osisRef="Bible:Isa.26.11" parsed="|Isa|26|11|0|0" passage="Isa 26:11">Isa. xxvi. 11</scripRef>), so you
will not see God's hand stretched out to you in gospel grace." It
was true of these unbelieving Jews that they were prejudiced
against the gospel; they did not see, because they were resolved
they would not, and none so blind as those that will not see. They
would not prosecute their convictions, and for this reason would
not admit them. They have purposely <i>closed their eyes, lest they
should see with their eyes</i> the great things which belong to
their everlasting peace, should see the glory of God, the
amiableness of Christ, the deformity of sin, the beauty of
holiness, the vanity of this world, and the reality of another.
They will not be changed and governed by these truths, and
therefore will not receive the evidence of them, <i>lest they
should hear with their ears</i> that which they are loth to hear,
the wrath of God revealed from heaven against them, and the will of
God revealed from heaven to them. They stop their ears, like the
deaf adder, that <i>will not hearken to the voice of the charmer,
charm he ever so wisely.</i> Thus their fathers did; they <i>would
not hear,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.8" osisRef="Bible:Zech.7.11-Zech.7.12" parsed="|Zech|7|11|7|12" passage="Zec 7:11,12">Zech. vii. 11,
12</scripRef>. And that which they are afraid of in shutting up
their eyes and ears, and barricading (as it were) both their
learning senses against him that made both the hearing ear and the
seeing eye, is, <i>lest they should understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them.</i> They kept
their mind in the dark, or at least in a constant confusion and
tumult, lest, if they should admit a considerate sober thought,
they should understand with their heart how much it is both their
duty and their interest to be religious, and so by degrees the
truth should be too hard for them, and they should be converted
from the evil ways which they take pleasure in, to those exercises
to which they have now an aversion. Observe, God's method is to
bring people first to see and he and so to understand with their
hearts, and then to convert them, and bow their wills, and so heal
them, which is the regular way of dealing with a rational soul; and
therefore Satan prevents the conversion of souls to God by blinding
the mind and darkening the understanding, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.9" osisRef="Bible:2Cor.4.4" parsed="|2Cor|4|4|0|0" passage="2Co 4:4">2 Cor. iv. 4</scripRef>. And the case is very sad when
the sinner joins with him herein, and puts out his own eyes. <i>Ut
liberius peccent, libenter ignorant—They plunge into ignorance,
that they may sin the more freely.</i> They are in love with their
disease, and are afraid lest God should heal them; like Babylon of
old, We would have healed her, and she would not be healed,
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.10" osisRef="Bible:Jer.51.9" parsed="|Jer|51|9|0|0" passage="Jer 51:9">Jer. li. 9</scripRef>. This was the
sin. (2.) "That which was the great judgment of God upon them for
this sin is his judgment upon you, and that is, you shall be blind.
God will give you up to a judicial infatuation: <i>Hearing you
shall hear</i>—you shall have the word of God preached to you over
and over—<i>but you shall not understand</i> it; because you will
not give your minds to understand it, God will not give you
strength and grace to understand it. <i>Seeing you shall
see</i>—you shall have abundance of miracles and signs done before
your eyes—<i>but you shall not perceive</i> the convincing
evidence of them. Take heed lest what Moses said to your fathers
should be true of you (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.11" osisRef="Bible:Deut.29.4" parsed="|Deut|29|4|0|0" passage="De 29:4">Deut. xxix.
4</scripRef>), <i>The Lord has not given you a heart to perceive,
and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day;</i> and what
Isaiah said to the men of his generation (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p36.12" osisRef="Bible:Isa.29.10-Isa.29.12" parsed="|Isa|29|10|29|12" passage="Isa 29:10-12">Isa. xxix. 10-12</scripRef>), <i>The Lord has poured
out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your
eyes.</i>" What with their resisting the grace of God and rebelling
against the light, and God's withdrawing and withholding his grace
and light from them,—what with their not receiving the love of the
truth, and God's giving them up for that to strong delusions, to
believe a lie,—what with their wilful and what with their judicial
hardness, <i>the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their
ears are dull of hearing.</i> They are stupid and senseless, and
not wrought upon by all that can be said to them. No physic that
can be given them operates upon them, nor will reach them, and
therefore their disease must be adjudged incurable, and their case
desperate. How should those be happy that will not be healed of a
disease that makes them miserable? And how should those be healed
that will not be converted to the use of the methods of cure? And
how should those be converted that will not be convinced either of
their disease or of their remedy? And how should those be convinced
that <i>shut their eyes and stop their ears?</i> Let all that hear
the gospel, and do not heed it, tremble at this doom; for, when
once they are thus given up to hardness of heart, they are already
in the suburbs of hell; for who shall heal them, if God do not?</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p37">2. "Your unbelief will justify God in
sending the gospel to the Gentile world, which is the thing you
look upon with such a jealous eye (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p37.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.28" parsed="|Acts|28|28|0|0" passage="Ac 28:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): therefore seeing you put the
grace of God away from you, and will not submit to the power of
divine truth and love, seeing you will not be converted and healed
in the methods which divine wisdom has appointed, <i>therefore be
it known unto you that the salvation of God is sent unto the
Gentiles,</i> that salvation which was of the Jews only (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p37.2" osisRef="Bible:John.4.22" parsed="|John|4|22|0|0" passage="Joh 4:22">John iv. 22</scripRef>), the offer of it is made
to them, the means of it afforded to them, and they stand fairer
for it than you do; it is sent to them, and they will hear it, and
receive it, and be happy in it." Now Paul designs hereby, (1.) To
abate their displeasure at the preaching of the gospel to the
Gentiles, by showing them the absurdity of it. They were angry that
the salvation of God was sent to the Gentiles, and thought it was
too great a favour done to them; but, if they thought that
salvation of so small a value as not to be worthy of their
acceptance, surely they could not grudge it to the Gentiles as too
good for them, nor envy them for it. The salvation of God was sent
into the world, the Jews had the first offer of it, it was fairly
proposed to them, it was earnestly pressed upon them, but they
refused it; they would not accept the invitation which was given to
them first to the wedding-feast and therefore must thank themselves
if other guests be invited. If they will not strike the bargain,
nor come up to the terms, they ought not to be angry at those that
will. They cannot complain that the Gentiles took it over their
heads, or out of their hands, for they had quite taken their hands
off it, nay, <i>they had lifted up the heel against it;</i> and
therefore it is their fault, for <i>it is through their fall that
salvation is come to the Gentiles,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p37.3" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.11" parsed="|Rom|11|11|0|0" passage="Ro 11:11">Rom. xi. 11</scripRef>. (2.) To improve their
displeasure at the favour done to the Gentiles to their advantage,
and to bring good out of that evil; for when he had spoken of this
very thing in his epistle to the Romans, the benefit which the
Gentiles had by the unbelief and rejection of the Jews, he says, he
took notice of it on purpose that he might provoke his dear
countrymen the Jews <i>to a holy emulation, and might save some of
them,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p37.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.14" parsed="|Rom|11|14|0|0" passage="Ro 11:14">Rom. xi. 14</scripRef>. The
Jews have rejected the gospel of Christ, and pushed it off to the
Gentiles, but it is not yet too late to repent of their refusal,
and to accept of the salvation which they did make light of; they
may say No, and take it, as the elder brother in the parable, who,
when he was bidden to <i>go work in the vineyard,</i> first said,
<i>I will not,</i> and yet <i>afterwards repented and went,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p37.5" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.29" parsed="|Matt|21|29|0|0" passage="Mt 21:29">Matt. xxi. 29</scripRef>. Is the
gospel sent to the Gentiles? Let us go after it rather than come
short of it. And will they hear it, who are thought to be out of
hearing, and have been so long like the idols they worshipped,
<i>that have ears and hear not?</i> And shall not we hear it, whose
privilege it is to have God so nigh to us in all that we call upon
him for? Thus he would have them to argue, and to be shamed into
the belief of the gospel by the welcome it met with among the
Gentiles. And, if it had not that effect upon them, it would
aggravate their condemnation, as it did that of the scribes and
Pharisees, who, when they saw the publicans and harlots submit to
John's baptism, did not afterwards thereupon repent of their folly,
<i>that they might believe him,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p37.6" osisRef="Bible:Matt.21.32" parsed="|Matt|21|32|0|0" passage="Mt 21:32">Matt. xxi. 32</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p38">IV. The breaking up of the assembly, as it
should seem, in some disorder. 1. They turned their backs upon
Paul. Those of them that believed not were extremely nettled at
that last word which he said, that they should be judicially
blinded, and that the light of the gospel should shine among those
that sat in darkness. <i>When Paul had said these words,</i> he had
said enough for them, and <i>they departed,</i> perhaps not so much
enraged as some others of their nation had been upon the like
occasion, but stupid and unconcerned, no more affected, either with
those terrible words in the close of his discourse or all the
comfortable words he had spoken before, than the seats they sat on.
They departed, many of them with a resolution never to hear Paul
preach again, nor trouble themselves with further enquiries about
this matter. 2. They set their faces one against another; for they
had great disputes among themselves. There was not only a quarrel
between those who believed and those who believed not, but even
among those who believed not there were debates. Those that agreed
to depart from Paul, yet agreed not in the reasons why they
departed, but had <i>great reasoning among themselves.</i> Many
have great reasoning who yet do not reason right, can find fault
with one another's opinions, and yet not yield to truth. Nor will
men's reasoning among themselves convince them, without the grace
of God to open their understandings.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Acts.xxix-p38.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.30-Acts.28.31" parsed="|Acts|28|30|28|31" passage="Ac 28:30-31" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Acts.28.30-Acts.28.31">
<h4 id="Acts.xxix-p38.2">Paul Preaches Two Years at
Rome.</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Acts.xxix-p39">30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own
hired house, and received all that came in unto him,   31
Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man
forbidding him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p40">We are here taking our leave of the history
of blessed Paul; and therefore, since God saw it not fit that we
should know any more of him, we should carefully take notice of
every particular of the circumstances in which we must here leave
him.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p41">I. It cannot but be a trouble to us that we
must leave him in bonds for Christ, nay, and that we have no
prospect given us of his being set at liberty. <i>Two whole
years</i> of that good man's life are here spent in confinement,
and, for aught that appears, he was never enquired after, all that
time, by those whose prisoner he was. He appealed to Cæsar, in hope
of a speedy discharge from his imprisonment, the governors having
signified to his imperial majesty concerning the prisoner <i>that
he had done nothing worthy of death or bonds,</i> and yet he is
detained a prisoner. So little reason have we to trust in men,
especially despised prisoners in great men; witness the case of
Joseph, whom <i>the chief butler remembered not, but forgot,</i>
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.40.23" parsed="|Gen|40|23|0|0" passage="Ge 40:23">Gen. xl. 23</scripRef>. Yet some think
that though it be not mentioned here, yet it was in the former of
these two years, and early too in that year, that he was first
brought before Nero, and then his bonds in Christ were manifest in
Cæsar's court, as he says, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.1.13" parsed="|Phil|1|13|0|0" passage="Php 1:13">Phil. i.
13</scripRef>. And at this first answer it was that <i>no man stood
by him,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.3" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.4.16" parsed="|2Tim|4|16|0|0" passage="2Ti 4:16">2 Tim. iv. 16</scripRef>.
But it seems, instead of being set at liberty upon this appeal, as
he expected, he hardly escaped out of the emperor's hands with his
life; he calls it a deliverance out of the mouth of the lion,
<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.4" osisRef="Bible:2Tim.4.17" parsed="|2Tim|4|17|0|0" passage="2Ti 4:17">2 Tim. iv. 17</scripRef>, and his
speaking there of his first answer intimates that since that he had
a second, in which he had come off better, and yet was not
discharged. During these two years' imprisonment he wrote his
epistle to the Galatians, then his second epistle to Timothy, then
those to the Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and to Philemon,
in which he mentions several things particularly concerning his
imprisonment; and, lastly, his epistle to the Hebrews just after he
was set at liberty, as Timothy also was, who, coming to visit him,
was upon some account or other made his fellow-prisoner (<i>with
whom,</i> writes Paul to the Hebrews, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.5" osisRef="Bible:Heb.13.23" parsed="|Heb|13|23|0|0" passage="Heb 13:23">xiii. 23</scripRef>, <i>if he come shortly, I will see
you</i>), but how or by what means he obtained his liberty we are
not told, only that two years he was a prisoner. Tradition says
that after his discharge he went from Italy to Spain, thence to
Crete, and so with Timothy into Judea, and thence went to visit the
churches in Asia, and at length came a second time to Rome, and
there was beheaded in the last year of Nero. But Baronius himself
owns that there is no certainty of any thing concerning him betwixt
his release from this imprisonment and his martyrdom; but it is
said by some that Nero, having, when he began to play the tyrant,
set himself against the Christians, and persecuted them (and he was
the first of the emperors that made a law against them, as
Tertullian says, <i>Apol.</i> cap. 5), the church at Rome was much
weakened by that persecution, and this brought Paul the second time
to Rome, to re-establish the church there, and to comfort the souls
of the disciples that were left, and so he fell a second time into
Nero's hand. And Chrysostom relates that a young woman that was one
of Nero's misses (to speak modishly) being converted, by Paul's
preaching, to the Christian faith, and so brought off from the lewd
course of life she had lived, Nero was incensed against Paul for
it, and ordered him first to be imprisoned, and then put to death.
But to keep to this short account here given of it, 1. It would
grieve one to think that such a useful man as Paul was should be so
long in restraint. Two years he was a prisoner under Felix
(<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.6" osisRef="Bible:Acts.24.27" parsed="|Acts|24|27|0|0" passage="Ac 24:27"><i>ch.</i> xxiv. 27</scripRef>), and,
besides all the time that passed between that and his coming to
Rome, he is here two years more a prisoner under Nero. How many
churches might Paul have planted, how many cities and nations might
he have brought over to Christ, in these five years' time (for so
much it was at least), if he had been at liberty! But God is wise,
and will show that he is not debtor to the most useful instruments
he employs, but can and will carry on his own interest, both
without their services and by their sufferings. Even Paul's bonds
fell out <i>to the furtherance of the gospel,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.7" osisRef="Bible:Phil.1.12-Phil.1.14" parsed="|Phil|1|12|1|14" passage="Php 1:12-14">Phil. i. 12-14</scripRef>. 2. Yet even Paul's
imprisonment was in some respects a kindness to him, for these
<i>two years he dwelt in his own hired house,</i> and that was
more, for aught I know, than ever he had done before. He had always
been accustomed to sojourn in the houses of others, now he has a
house of his own—his own while he pays the rent of it; and such a
retirement as this would be a refreshment to one who had been all
his days an itinerant. He had been accustomed to be always upon the
remove, seldom staid long at a place, but now he lived for two
years in the same house; so that the bringing of him into this
prison was like Christ's call to his disciples <i>to come into a
desert place, and rest awhile,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.8" osisRef="Bible:Mark.6.31" parsed="|Mark|6|31|0|0" passage="Mk 6:31">Mark
vi. 31</scripRef>. When he was at liberty, he was in continual fear
by reason of <i>the lying in wait of the Jews</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p41.9" osisRef="Bible:Acts.20.19" parsed="|Acts|20|19|0|0" passage="Ac 20:19"><i>ch.</i> xx. 19</scripRef>), but now his
prison was his castle. Thus <i>out of the eater came forth meat,
and out of the strong sweetness.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p42">II. Yet it is a pleasure to us (for we are
sure it was to him) that, though we leave him in bonds for Christ,
yet we leave him at work for Christ, and this made his bonds easy
that he was not by them bound out from serving God and doing good.
His prison becomes a temple, a church, and then it is to him a
palace. His hands are tied, but, thanks be to God, his mouth is not
stopped; a faithful zealous minister can better bear any hardship
than being silenced. Here is Paul a prisoner, and yet a preacher;
he is bound, but the word of the Lord is not bound. When he wrote
his epistle to the Romans, he said <i>he longed to see them, that
he might impart unto them some spiritual gift</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p42.1" osisRef="Bible:Rom.1.11" parsed="|Rom|1|11|0|0" passage="Ro 1:11">Rom. i. 11</scripRef>); he was glad <i>to see
some of them</i> (<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p42.2" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.15" parsed="|Acts|28|15|0|0" passage="Ac 28:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>), but it would not be half his joy unless he could
impart to them some spiritual gift, which here he has an
opportunity to do, and then he will not complain of his
confinement. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p43">1. To whom he preached: to all that had a
mind to hear him, whether Jews or Gentiles. Whether he had liberty
to go to other houses to preach does not appear; it is likely not;
but whoever would had liberty to come to his house to hear, and
they were welcome: <i>He received all that came to him.</i> Note,
Ministers' doors should be open to such as desire to receive
instruction from them, and they should be glad of an opportunity to
advise those that are in care about their souls. Paul could not
preach in a synagogue, or any public place of meeting that was
sumptuous and capacious, but he preached in a poor cottage of his
own. Note, When we cannot do what we would in the service of God we
must do what we can. Those ministers that have but little hired
houses should rather preach in them, if they may be allowed to do
that, than be silent. <i>He received all that came to him,</i> and
was not afraid of the greatest, nor ashamed of the meanest. He was
ready to preach on the first day of the week to Christians, on the
seventh day to Jews, and to all who would come on any day of the
week; and he might hope the better to speed because <i>they came in
unto him,</i> which supposed a desire to be instructed and a
willingness to learn, and where these are it is probable that some
good may be done.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p44">2. What he preached. He does not fill their
heads with curious speculations, nor with matters of state and
politics, but he keeps to his text, minds his business as an
apostle. (1.) He is God's ambassador, and therefore <i>preaches the
kingdom of God,</i> does all he can to preach it up, negotiates the
affairs of it, in order to the advancing of all its true interests.
He meddles not with the affairs of the kingdoms of men; let those
treat of them whose work it is. He preaches the kingdom of God
among men, and the word of that kingdom; the same that he defended
in his public disputes, <i>testifying the kingdom of God</i>
(<scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p44.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.28.23" parsed="|Acts|28|23|0|0" passage="Ac 28:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>), he enforced
in his public preaching, as that which, if received aright, will
make us all wise and good, wiser and better, which is the end of
preaching. (2.) He is an agent for Christ, a friend of the
bridegroom, and therefore <i>teaches those things which concern the
Lord Jesus Christ</i>—the whole history of Christ, his
incarnation, doctrine, life, miracles, death, resurrection,
ascension; all that relates to the mystery of godliness. Paul stuck
still to his principle—to know and preach <i>nothing but Christ,
and him crucified.</i> Ministers, when in their preaching they are
tempted to diverge from that which is their main business, should
reduce themselves with this question, What does this concern the
Lord Jesus Christ? What tendency has it to bring us to him, and to
keep us walking in him? <i>For we preach not ourselves, but
Christ.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="Acts.xxix-p45">3. With what liberty he preached. (1.)
Divine grace gave him a liberty of spirit. He preached <i>with all
confidence,</i> as one that was himself well assured of the truth
of what he preached—that it was what he durst stand by; and of the
worth of it—that it was what he durst suffer for. He was <i>not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ.</i> (2.) Divine Providence gave
him a liberty of speech: <i>No man forbidding him,</i> giving him
any check for what he did or laying any restraint upon him. The
Jews that used to forbid him to speak to the Gentiles had no
authority here; and the Roman government as yet took no cognizance
of the profession of Christianity as a crime. Herein we must
acknowledge the hand of God, [1.] Setting bounds to the rage of
persecutors; where he does not turn the heart, yet he can tie the
hand and bridle the tongue. Nero was a bloody man, and there were
many, both Jews and Gentiles, in Rome, that hated Christianity; and
yet so it was, unaccountably, that Paul though a prisoner was
connived at in preaching the gospel, and it was not construed a
breach of the peace. Thus God makes <i>the wrath of men to praise
him, and restrains the remainder of it,</i> <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p45.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.76.10" parsed="|Ps|76|10|0|0" passage="Ps 76:10">Ps. lxxvi. 10</scripRef>. Though there were so many that
had it in their power to forbid Paul's preaching (even the common
soldier that kept him might have done it), yet God so ordered it,
<i>that no man did forbid him.</i> [2.] See God here providing
comfort for the relief of the persecuted. Though it was a very low
and narrow sphere of opportunity that Paul was here placed in,
compared with what he had been in, yet, such as it was, he was not
molested nor disturbed in it. Though it was not a wide door that
was opened to him, yet it was kept open, and no man was suffered to
shut it; and it was to many an effectual door, so that there were
saints even in Cæsar's household, <scripRef id="Acts.xxix-p45.2" osisRef="Bible:Phil.4.22" parsed="|Phil|4|22|0|0" passage="Php 4:22">Phil. iv. 22</scripRef>. When the city of our
solemnities is thus made a quiet habitation at any time, and we are
fed from day to day with the bread of life, no man forbidding us,
we must give thanks to God for it and prepare for changes, still
longing for that holy mountain in which there shall never be any
pricking brier nor grieving thorn.</p>
</div></div2>