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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
be kept in th a t category.—Haldeman. v. 10. Honored. Every workman will have his wages. God supplies in ways th a t are strange (1 Cor. 9:11).—Sel. y. 14 . • Found brethren. God has saints in unlikely places.—Henry. Christians soon find each other out.—-Sawyer. T arry w ith them. I f friends are kind, thank God who makes them so.—Henry. .. v. 15. B rethren came. I always seize the opportunity to fellowship w ith men of God.—Davis. Took courage. See 2 Tim. 4:16. I t is wise to tak e our courage from God’s promises ra th e r th an from m an ’s compliments.—Sel. v. 16. Came to Rome. P au l is a t Rome at last. L ittle did he understand, as he longed and prayed to go to Rome, the devious ways by which God would bring him there a t last. Years of imprisonment at Caesarea, conspiracies against his life, storms, shipwrecks, v ip e r’s bite, and other things had intervened. God’s promise, however, had held good through it all.— Tprrey. God’s ways are p ast finding out bu t let H is servant be confident always in H is promises and ready to do every good work wherever the waves of events may land him.—Sum. Bible. Subject Illustration.—I t pays to be al- ways ready to make known th e gospel as Paul was. A Christian man was giving away gospel tra c ts on board a steamer. through a Gospel tra c t given me in Glas gow tw enty years ago, th a t I was con v e rte d .” The gentleman showed consid erable interest, and asked for particulars. On hearing the young m a n ’s story about the tra c t th e gentleman said: “ I am the one who gave you th e traet, For years I ceaselessly distributed tracts, b u t I saw so little result from my efforts, th a t years ago, I ceased scattering them. But by the grace of God I shall sta rt ag ain .” Bible Illustration.—Luke 4:16-20, Jesus preached in H is home town; in John 3, to a polished Pharisee; in John 4, to a sinful woman; in John 8, to a fallen woman; in Luke 10:25-37, to a lawyer. LESSON ILLUSTRATIONS W . H . P ik e work. *f Said the A gentleman, who ac cepted one in a g ra cious way, sa id ,, ‘‘1 have not mueh faith in th a t k i n d o f Christian: “ I t was
v. 6. Should have swollen. The world expects to see the Christian fail in bad circumstances.—Henry. F e lt no harm. Nor does it seem unreasonable to suppose th a t P aul was enabled to behave through out w ith th e calmness he displayed be cause he recalled th e promise which his M aster had given to the eleven and of which he must have heard (Mk 16:18), and bethought himself of th e twice-given» assurance (23:11; 27:24) th a t he would see Rome and therefore could not perish in M alta.—Horn. Analysis. Changed th eir minds. M ark the uncertainty of popular opinion.—Marsh. Said he was a god. A few moments ago P aul was a murderer, bu t now he is a god. H appy is the man who seeks simply to approve himself to the unchanging mind of God (Gal. 1:10; Heb. 11:5). v. 7. Chief man of th e island. Paul the poorest man helps th e richest man (ef. 3:6). He who is rich in fa ith cannot possibly be poor. The Spirit-filled Chris tian can begin anywhere, any time, w ith any man, and do Christian work.—Brooks. v. 8. A bloody flux. Dysentery. Be sides according w ith L u k e’s professional character as a physician, th is is another testimony to his accuracy as a n arrato r of facts. Physicians now resident in th a t island report th a t these diseases are by no means uncommon among the inhabi tan ts.—Whitelaw. P au l entered in. Paul was ‘always ready to do good wherever the w ill of God landed him.—Davis. C h rist’s servants should be distinguished by tKeir gratitude to those who show them kindness, which they sometimes are not. Wherever Christians go they should en deavor to leave those they meet th e b etter for th eir society, "which they do not al ways do.—1loin. Com. v. 9. Others. Wherever, in the provi dence of God, th e Christian is put, he is placed there to do a work for God and to represent Jesus Christ. Blessings may come to thousands out of seeming calam ity th a t has befallen a true servant of God. —Sum. Bible. These are th e blessings resulting from a shipwreck.—Stillion. D i vine healing has taken place through p ray er and fa ith on down through the age to this day, b u t it is not set fo rth in Scrip tu re as a doctrine, to be preached. I t is not a cult to be insistently proclaimed. I t is a m a tte r of privilege and individual faith . To go about teaching th a t physi cians must be set aside, th a t no remedies are to be taken, th a t sickness is not to be tolerated, is to set up a doctrine of confusion (2 Cor. 12:7-10). Healing is a m atter of faith , not doctrine, and must
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