Acts 27 is a most instructive chapter. It contains wonderful lessons as well as warnings for believers as we travel on our way home to be with our Lord Jesus Christ. Though this chapter contains a very accurate history of all that befell the Apostle and those who travelled with him on his way to Rome, it also presents a little picture of the history of the assembly in this world.
It is well worth spending time considering - but not for the sake of gaining knowledge. We need to carefully study the moral instructions which are contained in this story so that we might be kept in our “journey” through this world.
Paul was going on a journey - not one which he would have chosen to travel as a prisoner. But he submitted to the ways of God with him and thus we see how he was used in blessing to all those that went with him to Rome.
1. In reading through the various epistles of Paul, it becomes evident that as time went on many disciples no longer wished to be with Paul. What caused Demas to leave the Apostle? 2 Timothy 4:___
2. Simply being found with other Christians is not a guarantee that we will be kept going on in the assembly. When Paul wrote his epistle to the Colossians (which was written some time before he wrote to Timothy), who did he specially mention were with him and sent their greetings to the Colossian assembly? Colossians 4:___
3. It is possible that only two other believers went with Paul on his journey to Rome: Luke and Aristarchus. When Paul was rejected and sent away as a prisoner, being identified with him became very unpopular. Later Paul, in writing to Timothy, told him that all in Asia had turned from him. Who does he mention as not having forsaken him when a prisoner in Rome?
2 Timothy 1:___
4. Paul characterized himself as the “prisoner” of the Lord. How was Timothy (and all believers) to feel towards him? 2 Timothy 1:___
5. Onesiphorus was not the only one who benefited from his association with Paul. In the last chapter of 2 Timothy (the last recorded letter he wrote before he was martyred), to whom does Paul send his special greeting?
2 Timothy 4:___