1123. Human Reasons for Setting Sail
Human Reasons for Setting Sail
"And because the haven was not commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart thence also, if by any means they might attain to Phenice, and there to winter; which is an haven of Crete, and lieth toward the south west and north west.
"And when the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loosing thence, they sailed close by Crete" (Act_27:12-13).
Although the Apostle Paul gave sufficient warning, the centurion and the captain of the ship insisted upon putting out to sea. Our key verses present to us three reasons which they gave.
1. The appeal of the flesh. "The haven was not commodious to winter in." How many there are whose chief aim seems to be to satisfy their flesh! The Romans of our text are not alone in their desire to get away from incommodious havens. There are many, particularly among the younger people, who cry out against a true church of Christ. This church-takes a stand against the dance, the card tables, the theater, the movies, and many grosser forms of evil. There are those who are unwilling to have fellowship with such a church. They say it is not a comfortable place in which to winter. They want more room to satisfy their evil appetites; they want to run riot; they demand liberty and license for their carnal desires.
2. The appeal of public opinions. "When the south wind blew softly" they decided it was time to move on. There are many south winds blowing today, but that fact means nothing. Yesterday morning when we woke up the south winds were blowing, and we prophesied that the New Year (it was January 1, 1922) gave promise of a beautiful birthday. An hour had not passed before the winds switched to the north, and, bringing at nightfall, a big blizzard.
All over the country, there are south winds blowing. Preachers and politicians, authors and news-writers are telling us that a new day is about to dawn. The Disarmament Conference has decreed that certain ships of war shall be turned' into a junk heap. Many are saying that brotherly love will soon cover the earth.
Let the Bible student, who takes up these studies, refuse to put faith in the voice of these south winds. This is not summer time; it is winter. The old earth is living in the throes of her greatest travail. Let not false voices make you waver. God's Word is true, and history is fast running into the mold of prophecy. A storm lies ahead for the whole world.
3. The appeal of human reason. "Supposing that they had obtained their purpose." Human thoughts are not God's thoughts. Who, in the days of Noah, believed in the coming of the flood? Rationalists decried the possibility of a deluge. They said such a thing was impossible; it couldn't be. Human reasoning to-day vainly imagines that there will be no more storms, that the time of universal peace has come.
Human reasoning is wrong. A few more years and God's "more sure Word of prophecy" will be vindicated. Human reasoning will prove no more than a soap bubble. It will collapse before the storms of coming wrath. Every glass house that man has builded upon the sands of human suppositions, will fall into a wreckage that will display the folly of those who lift themselves against the Word of God.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR