King's Business - 1923-08

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THE KING ' S BUSINESS

ter, and highest hills, Paul points to Him who Is the Fountain of living wa– ters, and to the land that Is higher than the hills. Moses talks about going Into the land, Paul talks about going into the glory. Moses has to do with that which is local and transitory, Paul has to do with that which is infinite and eternal. If he supersedes Moses, be outranks the disciples. Peter may represent the Christian In the flesh, James the Chris– tian under the Law, John the Christian walking in love, but Paul r epresents the Christian as risen and seated at the right hand of God. Paul is the Imperial apostle; the apostle of con– flict, but victory; of restless energy, but eternal hope. Paul gives us the Chris– tianity of the head as well as the heart; intellectuality as well as spirituality; reason as well as faith, and faith both the base and apex of true reason. He was born In Tarsus, a no mean city of Clllcia. He was born under Roman sway at the hour of her apogee; at the hour when she was seeking ar– chitecture from Greece, commerce from the Islands, and science from Egypt. He was born at an hour when the tramp of returning legions could be heard coming back from the fields of con– quest; and when Roman arches, telling the power of Roman prowess and Ro– man civilization, were being erected on every square. He spoke Greek, Latin and Hebrew, and knew the Aramaic and Syriac ver– nacular. He was at home In the Greek anthology, and was versed In all the legends of the Talmud. He breathed the atmosphere of Grecian and Eastern metaphysics; came to J erusalem; sat at the feet of Gamaliel, and drank in deep draughts of Hebrew history, Law and Tradition, and to the predisposition of seeker after truth added the terrific conditions of religious bigot and na– tional partizan. He was a member of the Jewish San– hedrin, and, therefore, once married. He sat In the Council which tried the martyr Stephen, assisted as a witness at his death, and, Inflamed with hatred against Christ and Christianity, went to Damascus with authority to extir– pate "this heresy." J esus met him above the Damascus gates; he fell down, and amid the dust of repentance owned the Christ of God, and straightway, went forth to preach Him, showing to his countrymen that this Jesus Is the Christ, openly alleging

that the J ews had fulfilled their proph– ets In condemning Him. But he saw a wider field than Judea, and heard a louder call than the voice of his own people. He saw In the night the vision of a man in Macedonia who stretched out his arms and said: "Come over and help us." And then, straightway he took the mightiest journey, and crossed the widest distance, ever accomplished by mortal man: he passed over the dis– tance between Jewish exclusiveness and pagan liberalism. He passed out of the realm of narrow provincialism, and en– tered the broad realm of a dying and needy world. The ministry which he had begun with sue h "straightwayness' he con– tinued till his voice had been heard in Antioch, in Athens, in Ephesus, in Cor– inth, in Macedonia, along the Adriatic coast, in Spain, and in Imperial Rome. He climbed mountains, threaded val– leys, crossed rivers, passed through towns and villages, hamlets and des– erts, and sailed the seas till he had placed to his credit thousands of miles as a traveler, and thousands of i!ves as a winner of souls. And in fulfilling this ministry he passed continually through the gate– way of suffering. He was put in prison at Philippi, stoned out of Thessalonica and Berea, .arrested In Ephesus, left for dead In Galatia, nearly torn to pieces in Jeru– salem, shut up· in a dungeon at Caesa– rea, shipwrecked on the Mediterranean, tied to a soldier's arm at Rome, sealed up in the Mamertlne prison, and at last, according to tradition, beheaded on the Appian Way. He was the greatest of missionaries. Without aid from societies, without support of wealth, without modern means of communication, without rail– roads, or steamboats, without tele– graphs to send his messages, with no reporters to serve up his sermons, or make them known to the general pub– lic, and advertise him as the greatest and most wonderful of preachers, he traveled thousands of miles, addressed multitudes among all nations, peoples, kindreds and tongues, and made the name of Christ known from the Pillars of Hercules to the waters of Damascus, from the hills of Rome to the deserts of Arabia. He was a great preacher. He stirred the council at Jerusalem, swayed the multitude on the steps of

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