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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
Consistent Living. P aul gave a splendid example of a tru e servant of God. He was entitled to support, (1 Cor. 9:14) “ E ve n so hath the Lord ordained that they w hich preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel.” bu t he preferred to labor w ith his own hand so th a t he could say (Acts 20:34) “ Y e a , y e you rselves know that these hands have m inistered unto m y necessi ties and to them that w ere w ith me,” (2 Cor. 11:9) “ In a ll th in gs I have kept m yself from being: burdensome unto you, and so w ill I keep m yself.” (1 Thess. 2 :9 ) “ Laboring: night and day, because w e would not be ch argeable unto a n y of you, we preached unto you the gosp el of God.” He stripped the apostle’s office of mere professional dignity and adorned it by working as a common laborer. Christ, has Lord, worked as a carpenter and called as His disciples rud e fisher men. P au l lived a life above reproach. No shadow or suspicion of self-seeking re st ed upon him. The tru e servant will always be willing to deny him self any thing, sacrifice everything, forego his own freedom, for th e sake of those who need his help. Clean Garments. P aul was pressed in sp irit and preached w ith fervor the tremendous tru th s of th e Scriptures. The enemies of the tru th became in tensely b itter and spoke in a profane manner. Then P aul shook his gar ments as a testimony against them. He had done his best. He had cleared his sk irts of responsibility. God asks no more from any one. F aithfulness clears us from the blood of the lost. (Ezek. 33; 9) “ N evertheless, If you w arn the w icked of his w a y , to turn from it; If he do not turn from his w a y , he sh all die In his Iniquity; but thou h ast delivered th y soul.” (Acts 20:26)
v ill fix the blame where it belongs and attach the penalty. Paul tu rn s from the Jews to the Gentiles. God’s order is “to the Jew first,” and P aul follows th e order to the .end. H is n atu ra l inclination (Romans 9 :3 ; 1 0 : 1 ) m ight have hindered the work he was plainly called to do. So the Lord perm itted persecution to force him to his service for th e Gentiles. (2) M idnight Vision. “Then spake the Lord * * * by a vision.” . P aul left th e synagogue and held his meetings in the house of one Ju stu s who was evidently a proselyte and be came a believer through P au l’s m inistry. Quite a revival followed. The ru ler of the synagogue and his household be came converts, as well as many other Corinthians. But from th e context we are led to be lieve th a t P aul was either suffering from fear of possible danger, or was dis couraged. He had been imprisoned and beaten a t Philippi (Acts 16:22, 24), persecuted a t Thessalonica (Acts 17:5, 6 ), failed a t A thens (Acts 17:32-34) and expelled from th e synagogue here at Corinth. There had been a con tinuous series of disappointm ents ac companied by g reat suffering, and the Lord graciously gave him a message of com fort, “Be not afraid ,” ' It is like those gracious words to Abraham , “F ear not, Abram, I am thy shield and th y exceeding g reat rew ard.” (Gen. 15 :1 ). The message is first— comfort, then command. “Speak, hold •not thy peace.” Ju st give out the message. The Lord assures him of His companionship, “ I am w ith thee.” He puts H imself between P aul and his enemies and assures him of protection, “No man shall h u rt th ee,” and then He assures P aul of success: “ I have much people in this city.” W hat a com fort it is to us, as work ers, to know th a t He is the same, yes terday, today and forever. (Matt. 28; 2 0 )
“W h e r e f o r e , I t a k e y o u t o r e c o r d t h i s d a y t h a t I am p u r e f r o m t h e b lo o d o f a l l m e n .”
There is a terrib le responsibility re st ing upon believers. Every man living is entitled to hear th e Gospel. If he does not, someone is to blame. God
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