904 sides the countless numbers in private houses. Every stree t and every square had its sanctuaries, and a Roman poet has said th a t it was easier to find gods th ere th a n men. L ike Babylon of old, it was a city of graven images, containing more th a n all the re st of Greece. Some streets were so crowded w ith those who sold idols th a t it was impossible to make one’s way through them. (1) The S p irit of P au l S tirred. “His sp irit was stirred in him .” P au l stood alone in the m idst of th is scene. As he looked a t th e idols and th en a t the people, his soul was stirred w ith indignation. H is God was dishon ored. Manhood was p ro stitu ted through th e corrupt practices which accompan ied heathen worship. The whole city seemed held in subjection to Satanic power. P au l’s soul blazed w ith desire to dethrone th e ir idols and pu t in th e ir place th e crucified and risen Christ. He could not endure th e though t th a t th is g reat city should be given over to luxury and lust, to indolence and idol atry , to selfishness and sin. He could look beyond th e glamor of th e gold and m arble; beyond th e cu ltu re and the civilization; beyond th e giddy throngs b en t on pleasure; beyond th e restless crowds seeking some new sensation,— rn d see th e suffering of soul; could hear th e unu ttered cry of restless h earts longing for peace. P au l felt th e consciousness of his call to m inister th e word of salvation to these people, and resorted to th e syna gogue and m arket places th a t he m ight have an opportunity to present th e claims of Christ. He had bu t one Gos pel for th e b ru tal Roman prison keepers in Philippi, th e barbarians of Derbe, and for the cultured A thenians. There is bu t one Gospel now. The scholar in the school and the sinner in th e slums are to be m inistered to— can only be m inistered to— w ith th e same blessed sto ry of salvation th rough the
T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S shed blood of Jesus Christ. P aul dealt w ith th ree classes: The Jew s (his own people) and devout per sons who were proselytes to th e Jewish faith, believers in th e Jewish Scriptures and th e tru e God. These constituted th e self-righteous class. The Epicureans, —who lived for pleasure and who prac ticed th e worst forms of degenerate sensuality. Carnality was th e ir char acteristic. The Stoics,—who were Pan theists, believing th e world to be God’s body, and God th e soul of th e world, th a t th e government of th e world was left to . fate, th a t v irtue was its own rew ard and vice its own punishment. Indifference to all suffering ch aracter ized them . The conditions which confronted P au l were sim ilar to those which con fron t us. Every city is filled w ith stran g e and fanciful doctrines,— a mix tu re of Atheism, Materialism , P an th e ism, Polytheism , and all o ther "ism s.” Eddyism, Spiritism and Theosophy are but m ixtures of these decrepit old effete philosophies, bu t they find th e ir fol lowers now as then. They called P aul th e “Babbler” or “ seed-picker,”— one who had picked up crumbs of wisdom and philosophy w ith out assim ilating them . The comm ittee of safety, who had charge of th e educa tional affairs of th e city, arrested him and compelled him to accompany them to th e Assembly H all th a t th ey m ight know what his doctrines were. (2 ) The Sermon on Mars H ill. “Whom therefore ye ig n o ra n tly . worship, him declare I unto you.” P au l’s them e for this rem arkable dis course was taken from th e wayside. He followed th e example of his Lord Who found His themes in the fields and th e flowers. A heathen a lta r furnished P au l w ith a text, “The Unknown God.” The A thenians for fear of offending some god by om itting his name from th e ir altars had erected one to th e “ un known.”
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