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THE KING’S BUSINESS
the Jews whom he used never for a morfient imagined they were furthering the cause of God arid His truth, but they were, and all the opposition that we meet today in our work for God, if we conduct ourselves as we ought to under the opposition, will simply serve to further the cause of God. Saturday, February 24 . Acts 17 : 16 - 21 . Paul was a scholar and a trip to Athens would naturally be one full of delight. But Paul was, by grace, more a lover of God than he was by nature a lover of literature or art. So it came to pass that Paul «for got all about the literary memories that clustered about Athens, and the treasures of art that adorned it, in his grief over its idolatry that manifested itself upon every hand. “His spirit was provoked within him, as he beheld the city full of idols.” He did not spend his time preparing himself to give lectures on “The Art Treasures of Athens” when he got back to Antioch, but went to work with a will to witness for Jesus “in the synagogue,” and “in the mar ket place.” This he did not only occasion ally, but “every day.” Whoever “met with him” “he reasoned” with them. There is a much needed lesson here for every Christian tourist at home or abroad. The philosophers of the different schools treated Paul with much contempt; they spoke of him as “a garbage picker.” But Paul’s name has lived on while the names of all these self-sufficient philosophers have been forgotten, and while their philosophies have themselves gone to the garbage box. There is many a “philosopher” today who looks with as supercilious contempt upon the simple gospel preacher as did these Epicurean and Stoic philosophers upon Paul, but if history repeats itself, and it always does, these “philosophers” will soon be forgotten, but the work of the simple preacher of the Word of God will prove eternal. Those scholars of old thought Paul ought to take a course of philosophy in their schools before he ventured to preach. Paul preached there just what he hgd preached elsewhere, " Jesus and the
resurrection.” It is well to have a great subject and stick to it. But in spite of the- contempt of these philosophers, Paul got a very distinguished hearing after all. He was taken to the Areopagus to expound his doctrine, and some at least of that famous supreme court of Athens, the Areopagus, were present to hear him. The populace also were present. The Athenians were not unlike a large portion of Americans, always on the alert “either to tell or to hear some new thing.” This fact disposed them to hear what Paul had to say, but not to hear with any great depth of conviction or earnestness of heart. Too great eager ness for the new is not favorable to hold Paul was now standing in the same place that Socrates some five Centuries earlier was brought to face the charges of his accusers, surrounded by the most dis tinguished assembly of thinkers of the day. But Paul was not at all overawed by the wisdom and prominence of the men who constituted his audience, and he had no riew gospel for this distinguished throng, but only the same gospel of a Jesus who arose from the dead and who was to be the judge of the world, that he preached to common people. But while Paul had no new gos pel for this extraordinary audience, with divinely given tact he introduced it in a new way. He began with what appeared like words of approval, not with words of criticism. This is not brought out either in the Authorized Version nor in the Revised Version, but it comes out in the American Revised Yersion. He did not say, “I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious,” but “In all things I perceive that ye are more religious,” or “very religious.” Paul’s object was to win the favor and attention of his audience before he called upon them to repent. In this he sets a good example for modern preachers and personal workers. People will listen patiently to calls to repentance if we first win their favor by words ?■of ing fast to the true. Sunday, February 25 . Acts 17 : 22 , 23 .
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