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ed against trad ition s in th e same way. Again the claim to Messiahship of a suffering crucified Christ was antago nistic to Saul’s P harisaic ideals. This claim may be found in the preaching of Peter, Philip and Stephen. In th e ad dress of Stephen, Acts 7:51-53, th e re is an echo of Jesu s’, denunciation of Pharisaism w ith an accusation of world- liness, hypocrisy and resistance of Di vine messengers. Though Saul was fully and freely forgiven by God, he never forgave him self or forgot his heinous sin.‘ Ezek. 16:63. . “Saint, did I say? w ith your remembered faces, Dear men and women whom I sought and slew, Ah! when we mingle in th e heavenly places, How will I weep to Stephen and to you.” , TUESDAY, SEPT. 20. Acts 9:1-9, Saul’s Conversion. From Jerusalem to Damascus was a long journey of one hundred and sixty miles. W ith th e slow and difficult means of locomotion it would ,probably con sume a week. Most of it lay across the desert where th ere would be nothing to d istract the though ts of a traveller. In this enforced leisure doubt seems to have invaded th e mind of Saul. He had heard th e defence of Stephen and seen his face shining w ith th e Shekinah glory. He had seen him kneeling under th e shower of •stones and heard him praying for his murderers.- He may have w itnessed many sim ilar scenes during the course of his persecution. Could- such people as these be th e enemies of God? He may have weighed th e ir testi mony and recalled th eir argum ents as he travelled over th e d esert sands. However, the Good Shepherd had heard the cries and prayers of His trembling and th reatened flock and went fo rth to face the tiger of Tarsus on th eir be half. ' WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 2 1. Acts 9:23- 8 1. Paul the Apprentice. The worker must be prepared for his work. P aul did not plunge in to it im mediately after his conversion bu t had many experiences and much training. About th ree years were spent in Arabia and Damascus and perhaps ten years in Syria and Cilicia, if the fourteen years of Gal. 2 :1 includes th e year a t Antioch,
•Acts 11:26, and 4f th ree years be al lowed for the first m issionary journey. The influences of his early tra in in g and environm ent m u st be taken into ac count and .also the contributions of the different and dom inant races which focalized in him. P au l’s retirem en t into the solitude of A rabia gave him th a t op po rtun ity for communion w ith God and preparation for his fu tu re work th a t Moses found before him in the forty years of shepherd life in th e desert. This is why we make room for th e morning watch and the quiet hour in our busy modern life. We must be alone w ith God in th e communion of the closet if we would be girded w ith Di vine streng th in the conflict of the arena. THURSDAY, SEPT. 22. Acts 11:22-80 . Paul at Antioch. Antioch was one of th e most import a n t cities of the Roman Empire. Ac cording to Josephus only Rome and A lexandria took precedence of it. Paul came to Antioch in 44 A. D. The Chris tians who were scattered abroad by persecution went everywhere preaching th e Word. Some Greek Jews came to Antioch, preached to Greeks and brought about th e ir conversion. On learning of this the Apostles sent Bar nabas to Antioch.- He was greatly pleased w ith th e work and when it grew beyond h-is ability to properly care for it, he realized th a t Paul was the man above all others fitted by birth and train in g for such a field and so he brought him from Tarsus to Antioch. This new center gives rise to a new name and the disciples are called Chris tian s first a t Antioch. This new word is illum-inating and suggestive. Happy is th a t man to whom it can be rig h t fully applied! FRIDAY, SEPT. 23. 1 Cor. 1:26 -3 1. Paul at Athens. The A thenians were especially noted for th e ir busy intellectual curiosity and for an intense desire to argue and de bate. The epithet which they bestowed on Paul, “ babbler,” Acts 17:18, is the imperfect tran slation of a Greek word which literally means “seed-picker.” It may have been a slang term used in the schools of A thens to designate one who picked up scraps of knowledge. A love of knowledge for its own sake was a marked ch aracteristic of the Greeks. 1 Cor. 1:22. If education and learning could save, A thens would have n ev er
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