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THE KING’S BUSINESS
have a visible manifestation of Christ like that, but none the less He is ready to manifest Himself unto us if we meet the conditions of such manifestation (John 14:21), and whenever we read His words as recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke', and John, we should hear the living Christ uttering them as a message direct from Himself unto ourselves just as much as if He were visibly present and we saw His lips moving. What a precious and living book the Bible becomes when we thus read it. We do not need Spirit-given trances or ecstacies now, for we have the Spirit- given words of Christ and the Spirit-given vision of Christ uttering the words. What more do we need ? It ig not the part of wisdom but the part ot foolishness to be" seeking such trances as_ were granted to Paul. Of course, if God sees fit to give them to us, all well and good, but if not let us be abundantly satisfied with what God has given us in His written word. As Jesus stood there He sa'id, “Make haste, and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem.” How strange this must have sounded to Paul. Doubtless when he went to Jerusa lem he thought that the place of places for him to give his testimony was in Jeru salem, for there he was well known; -more over, there he had been active and promi nent as a persecuter of Christ. Jerusalem $eemed of all places the one where his testimony would count most. But no, “Make haste, and get thee out of Jerusa lem,’’ is the Divine commission. No won der Paul was staggered. The place we would choose above all others oftentimes is the place God has not chosen. We are not competent to decide where our testi For the moment it seemed to Paul as if the Lord must be making a mistake, and he started to argue it with the Lord and to give the Lord what appeared to him con clusive reasons why Jerusalem was of all places the city where he should give his testimony. So oftentimes we may be able mony will count most. Wednesday, April 11. Acts 22:19, 20.
out and openly confessed Christ before the world. The time has come for Paul to do that and it must be done at once,'go Ana nias concludes his message with the words, “Why tarriest thou? Arise and be bap tized, and wash away thy sins, calling on His name.” The mere act of water bap tism would not wash away his sins, but that baptism was an act of obedience of faith, and in it faith received its expres sion, and furthermore it was accompanied by a “calling upon the name of the Lord,” and a true calling upon the name of the Lord always brings salvation, the washing away of sins (Rom. 10:13). This is not to say, for one moment that the water bap tism was not vital, it was what God had commanded, and true faith always expresses itself in obedience, and thus there is an intimate connection between the faith that saves and submission to baptism, which is an act of obedience to Him in The Lord Jesus had appeared personally to Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damas cus. Here He appears to him again in Jerusalem. In this instance he was in a “trance” or “ecstacy,” that is to say, in a state in which he was taken out of him self and wholly occupied with the presence of the Lord. It was while he prayed that he fell into this trance and that Jesus appeared to him. It was also when Cor nelius was praying that the angel appeared to him (Acts 10:3, 30), and it was when Peter had gone up on the roof and was engaged in prayer that a vision of God’s purpose was given to him (Acts 10:9, 10). The reason why so many of us so seldom hear the voice of the Lord speaking to us is because we are so seldom in prayer. At this time the Lord Jesus gave him his specific commission. In the ecstatic -state into which he fell -at that time he not only heard a voice, he "saw” Jesus, he saw His lips moving and uttering the command that followed. This is clear from the opening words of v. 18. It may not be ours to whom man believes. Tuesday, April 10. Acts 22:17, 18.
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