Acts 27:3 And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul… Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty; and, in so doing, he did but act as almost everybody acted towards the great apostle who had anything to do with him. St. Paul had a remarkable power of personal fascination. For instances of the impression which he produced on individuals, compare Acts 18:14; Acts 19:31, 37. For Scripture illustrations of the power to win confidence, recall the incidents of Joseph's early life in Egypt, and the narrative of the three Hebrew youths as given by Daniel. For illustration in modern life, recall the liberty which the jailor gave to John Bunyan. Very possibly this Julius had heard Paul's address before Agrippa, and the kind consideration of the centurion must have been very helpful to the apostle, whose two years' imprisonment must have told unfavorably upon his health, and who can have been but scantily provided with the requisites for a long voyage. We direct attention to that power which St. Paul evidently possessed, of winning the confidence and the favor of those who came into intimate contact with him; observing that - I. POWER TO WIN CONFIDENCE IS A NATURAL GIFT. It belongs to some persons in an unusual degree. Children at once recognize and respond to it. We are wont to say that the true teacher is the person who can gain the confidence of the children. From some persons we instinctively shrink, to others we are as instinctively drawn. it is a power that belongs to natural disposition and character; it is a Divine endow-merit or gift, the talent entrusted to some. So far as it belongs to character we may notice its dependence on three elements. 1. Transparency. Some men make you feel their sincerity, honesty, integrity, guilelessness. They make you feel that you know them as they are, and that there is nothing hidden behind. 2. Firmness. Some men are changeable, undecided, and you cannot rely on them. Others may be slower in forming their judgments or expressing their decisions, but you know that you can trust them; they stand fast by their promise; they are as steady as a rock. 3. Sympathy. A mysterious attraction is in some persons as they seem to understand us and feel with us, and their brotherliness commands our confidence. II. POWER TO WIN CONFIDENCE IS A DIVINE TRUST. It takes its place among the talents. It is our characteristic, a force for good, which is entrusted to our use. It is ours as distinctly as may be the gifts of song, of eloquence, of art, of position, or of wealth. And this particular gift has even an unusual importance attaching to it, for, in inviting the trust of men in us, and meeting that trust faithfully, we may be revealing God to them and helping them to confidence in him. It is hard indeed for that man to have confidence in God who has never been able to rely on any of his fellow-men. This Divine "trust" brings its burden of responsibility. In relation to it we may be found faithful or unfaithful. III. POWER TO WIN CONFIDENCE IS CAPABLE OF CULTURE. Not so much of direct as of indirect culture. As in other cases so in this, culture comes by use. To employ any talent, to exercise any gift, is to nourish it into strength; but those powers which belong to character are cultured in the general moral culture, in the daily training of the spirit and ordering of the life. Occasion may be taken here to plead for the duty of "keeping the heart with all diligence, seeing that out of it are the issues of life." IV. POWER TO WIN CONFIDENCE IS SANCTIFIED BY RELIGION. This St. Paul well illustrates; his faith in God, his devotion to men, his renewed disposition, his sense of the living presence of Christ, the measure of his change into the very mind and image of Christ, all told directly on the purifying and perfecting of this his natural gift. Christian faith sanctifies character, especially bearing its force on those three features of transparency, firmness, and sympathy, on which we have seen the power to win confidence mainly depends. Impress that, from the Christian standpoint, a man will only use this power of drawing others to himself in order that he may draw them all to Jesus, and, in and through him, to God. - R.T. Parallel Verses KJV: And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. |
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