929
T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S
MONDAY, SEPT. 26. Acts 18 :1-6 . Paul in Corinth,. Corinth was located on th e isthmus connecting cen tral Greece and the Peloponnesus. Its situation made it a city of g reat commercial importance. Its wealth and mixed population led to a lax state of morals. P au l came to Corinth from A thens and made his home w ith Aquila and P riscilla, who were Roman Jews. They were tent-m akers and P au l earned his own living by work ing with them . He ta u g h t in th e syna gogue every Sabbath, preaching to Jews and to Greek proselytes. He evidently could not earn enough for his support. 2 Cor. 11:9. How deeply he was im pressed by. the scenes of Corinth may be seen from his Epistles. Most of his illu stration s are drawn from Gentile customs. He had looked w ith sympath etic in terest on th e grace and swiftness of many a youthful ath lete in the beau tifu l stadium . 1 Cor. 9:24. The box ing matches are referred to in 1 Cor. 9:26, 27, th e imposing vanity of a Ro man trium ph in 2 Cor. 2:14-16, th e long h air of effem inate dandies in 1 Cor. 11:14, th e theatrical displays in 1 Cor. 4:9, and th e fading garland of Isthm ian pine in 1 Cor. 9:25. TUESDAY, SEPT. 27. Acts 18 :7 - 11. Paul’s Vision. This experience places the stamp of Divine approval on th e course of P aul from T roas to Antioch. A t Troas th e vision said, “Come into Macedonia.” He is now far beyond th a t in d istan t Achaia. Is he in th e will of God? The vision replies, “ I am w ith th ee.” The vision was also given to show how th e Lord can sustain the- sp irit of his servant. P aul may have been discouraged if not dismayed. The first word of th e vision is “Be no t afraid .” He is given the assurance th a t no man shall harm him. This accords w ith has confession a t a. later time, th a t he came to Corinth “in weakness and in fear and in much trem bling.” 1 Cor. 2:1-3. He had rea son enough to be downcast. He had been “ shamefully en treated ” a t Philippi, driven out of Thessalonica and Berea, and mocked a t Athens. The p ast had been one long siege of b itte r tria l, his courage may have been tottering. It is ju s t like our blessed Lord to give him such an opportune and heart-cheering encouragement.
needed th e Gospel. The tim e of h er g reatest In tellectual development was th e tim e of her g reatest moral degrada tion. Dr. Talmage once said, “ Educate a m an’s head and you make him an in fidel. Educate his h ea rt and you make him a fanatic. Educate both together and you have th e noblest work of God.” SATURDAY, SEPT. 24. Phil. 3:1-12. Paul’s Supreme Ambition. F rom th e hum an standpoint the b righ t prospects of Saul, the young Jew ish rabbi, were th row n 'to the winds. Position, associations, friends, wealth were all forsaken for th e .lonely life of an itin e ra n t m issionary, full of h ard ship and danger. He sacrificed every earth ly emolument for th e sake of heavenly reward. He gave up th e com fo rt and happiness of domestic life to be a homeless wanderer. The Philip pian Epistle is his balance sheet of profit and loss. “W hat things were gain to me, those I counted lpss for Christ.” H is two-fold objective and desire was, to know Christ and to make Him known. To realize th is supreme ambition no sacrifice was too great, no service too arduous and no suffering too keen. Such an exalted ideal followed w ith sin gleness of aim and whole-hearted de votion will bring glorious success* in life and rich compensation in eternity. SUNDAY, SEPT. 25. 2 Cor. 11:21-33. Paul’s Sacrificial Life. Though P aul sacrificed so much, yet by v irtue of those very sacrifices he was qualified for usefulness. He planted th e cross th roughou t the Roman Empire and bore w itness in th e judgm ent hall of Caesar. Moreover, by his sacrifices he became immortalized. He m ight have lived an obscure life and passed in to oblivion even though he succeeded Gamaliel in Jerusalem . Gamaliel" him self is only remembered as being the teacher of Saul. The name pf Paul is a household word th roughou t the Chris tia n world. His w ritings are classics. He is more frequently quoted th an any o th er w riter of the New Testament, hav ing become th rough the sacrifices he made, the stand ard of excellence in though t and reasoning in ethics and theology. He is known as the apostle of th e Gentiles and occupies the same relationship to th e New Testam ent as Moses does to the Old Testament. He is th e mouth-piece and oracle of th e risen Christ and the one to whom the “ Gospel of th e glory” was first given. Rom. 16:25, 26.
Made with FlippingBook HTML5