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THE KING ' S BUSINESS
the partings from those he loved and whose races he should see no more. In the midst of it all, he moved stead– fastly on, serving the Lord with all humility of mind and with many tears (Acts 20:17-38). His testings were many. The Spirit impelled him on to Jerusalem and at the same time made known that the journey would be fraught with danger, culminating in bonds and imprisonment, but he said, "None of these things move me; neither count I my life dear nnto myself, that I might finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the Gospel of the grace of God." If we could know that such affiictions, perse– cutions and trials, with the sword as their climax awaited us with our crown (not our salvation) at stake, what would we choose? (3) THE CONSECRATION AND CHARGE OF PAUL. We have but a limited space for the remaining words of our lesson. Acts 26: 1-23 tells us of his consecration and personal experience, his prompt ob~dience, "I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision"; the abandonment of his old life, and bis avowed a llegiance– body and soul- to the Lord Jesus Christ. The vision remained wHh him, urging him on and on. Though the Jews sought to kill him and the Gentiles mocked him, he continued to give out his God-given message concerning the suffering, death and resurrection of J esus Christ, to rich and poor, to small and great. There was no respect of persons with Paul. All were lost; Christ died for all (Rom. 5:8), and so all could be saved. He had one gospel for all men, under all conditions, in all the world. We get a final glimpse of Paul in 2
life, "I delight to do thy will." No one can ever know the real joy of living, until he has made an absolute sur– render of himself to the will of God. Four things characterize Paul's life as a believer: (1) Faith. (2) Obedience. ( 3) Patience. ( 4) Prayer. His conversion was followed by his commission to preach the Gospel, and is one of the most remarkable inci– dents in the Scripture and one of the strongest proofs of the inspiration of the Word of God and the reality and power of the new birth. (2) THE CONFLICT AND COURAGE OF PAUL. Acts 20: 17-35 gives us some concep– tion of Paul as the slave of Jesus Christ. Without carnal weapons, without any credentials from earthly authorities, he swept through Asia Minor, Macedonia, Greece and the regions beyond and planted the banner of his Lord, the King of kings, victoriously, so that "from Je– rusalem and round about unto Illyri– cum" he sounded out the gospel of the grace and glory of God. The hardships of his travels can scarcely be imagined ( 2 Cor. 11: 26). "In Journeyings often, ht perlls of "·n– terl!I. to 11erils of robber8, tu perlhl by mine own countrymen, ht 11ertl8 by the henthen, In t)e.rlls In the city. In perils In the ,,·11- derne1u1. In periht Jn the sen. In tterlls nmong fn1se bretl,1ren; In '\Ven.rfue88 nnd pnlnfulneH8, In wntcb– lngs ot•en, In cold und nnketlness." While on these Journeys he probably wrote to the churches at Corinth, Rome, Galatia, and perhaps gave his caution to the church in· Ephesus. He was beset by trials on every hand. The Jews laid wait for him (Acts 20: 3) after the Gen– tiles had failed to kill him. But wor.se than the hardships of travel and the persecutions of enemies were those experiences which came to him, such as the disagreement among brethren and
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