John Calvin Commentary Acts 27:24

"saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must stand before Caesar: and lo, God hath granted thee all them that sail with thee." — Acts 27:24 (ASV)

Fear not, Paul. He is very desirous that they give God alone the praise for their deliverance, lest these superstitious men falsely attribute it to their idols; and by this means he invites them to the true faith. But by this it appears how great the men’s wickedness is, in that they shut their ears against sound and wholesome counsel, and immediately forget the grace of God, though it was familiarly known to them.

Yes, (what is worse) they do not see or perceive it when it is present before their eyes. But, however, the greater part was unthankful, yet this oracle was not revealed without fruit; yes, this was good, so that those might be made without excuse who flattered themselves too much in their deceit.

And, since it was said that he must be presented before Caesar, its purpose was that his confession might further strengthen the godly, when they would know that he came forth from God as a witness to confirm and affirm the doctrine of the gospel, and that he was appointed and saved for that purpose.

Hath given thee all the souls. Luke seems to indicate by these words that Paul prayed not only for himself, but also for the rest, that God would save them all from drowning. And, surely, it is not likely that, since he saw the danger common to them all, he was so careful for his own life that he did not care for the rest whom he saw in similar danger. Nevertheless, it may be that the Lord, of His own accord, anticipated his prayers. Nor is it anything new that His blessing should reach even the unworthy who are joined to the faithful by any association. So He would have saved Sodom, if there had been ten good men found there.

Here a question arises: how far does the integrity of the saints profit the wicked? First, we must remove the superstition of the Papists, who, when they hear that God is good to the bad for the sake of the good, dream that they are mediators who obtain salvation for the world through their merits.

And they are doubly foolish in that they apply these titles of the living to the dead, and think that God will be favorable to them for no other reason, except only because He beholds them, and therefore they make them their patrons.

I omit the point that by extolling men’s merits they darken the free goodness of God. Now, so that we may answer the question posed, we must briefly note this: since the good are mixed with the bad, prosperity as well as adversity happens to both the one and the other. Yet it sometimes happens that when the Lord spares His own, He also bears with the wicked for a time along with them.

Again, there are many reasons why God does good to the wicked and reprobate for the sake of the faithful.

“He blessed the house of Potiphar for Joseph’s sake,” (Genesis 39:5) so that He might move him to handle this holy man gently. He declared His goodwill toward Paul in saving many men, so that Paul might bear witness of his godliness, and so that the majesty of the gospel might thereby appear more plainly. But we must note this: that whatever benefits God bestows upon the wicked, they turn in the end to their destruction; while, on the other hand, punishments are profitable for the godly, which they suffer together with the reprobate.

Meanwhile, this is a unique pledge of God’s love toward us, in that He makes certain drops of His goodness distill from us to others.