Having taken a final leave of the elders of Ephesus, St. Paul and his company sailed to the island of Coos, or Cos; then to another called Rhodes; and from thence to the coast of Asia Minor, where they landed at Patara, a sea-port of Lycia. Here they found a ship about to sail into Ph[oe]nicia, and going on board, they passed near the isle of Cyprus, and finally landed at Tyre, "for there the ship was to unlade her burden." Finding disciples at Tyre, St. Paul stayed with them seven days, teaching and exhorting them. St. Luke tells us that some of these disciples "said to Paul through the Spirit, that he should not go up to Jerusalem." This means that the Holy Spirit had made known to these disciples, that great troubles and dangers awaited the Apostle at Jerusalem; and therefore they tried to persuade him that he should not go up at all. St. Paul, however, knew that it was his duty to go to Jerusalem at this time, and therefore no fear of personal suffering would keep him away: he was ready to undergo whatever God saw fit to send. St. Luke then says, "And when we had accomplished those days, we departed, and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed." The brethren at Tyre were grieved to part with St. Paul, particularly foreseeing that sufferings awaited him at Jerusalem. They accompanied him to the sea-shore, where the ship waited for him. Their last act sets us an example of what we should do in all times of sorrow and anxiety. They would not part without praying to God; so they all knelt down where they were, and prayed earnestly from their hearts. The Lord will hear all such real prayers, wherever we say them, or whether we are kneeling or not; but if we kneel down and repeat words without caring or thinking about what we are saying, that is not such prayer as the Lord our God has promised to hear. When St. Paul and his companions had prayed with the Christians of Tyre, and taken leave of them, they "took ship,"--that is, embarked on board the ship, whilst the others "returned home again." From Tyre St. Paul sailed to Ptolemais, and landing there, stayed one day with the brethren. Ptolemais was a celebrated sea-port of Syria, to the north of Mount Carmel. In the Old Testament, Ptolemais is called Accho. It was situated in that part of the Land of Canaan given to the Tribe of Asher; and it was one of those cities out of which the Children of Israel did not drive the idolatrous inhabitants, as the Lord had commanded them to do. You will remember the sin and trouble that came upon the Land of Israel, in consequence of the disobedience of several of the tribes, who, instead of entirely driving out the Canaanites, let them continue to live amongst them; by which they were afterwards led into sin, and suffered much misery in consequence.