Dail$ Devotional Home Readings Connected with International Sunday) School Lessons B? FREDERIC W. FARR, D. D.
TUESDAY, NOV. 1. Acts 21:27-22:1. P a u l’s A rrest. "When Paul came to Jerusalem a t the close of ,his missionary journey, the elders arranged for him to tak e a public p a rt in certain Jew ish rites, to allay the prejudice th a t was fe lt concerning him. While these ceremonies w ere 'g o in g on, some foreign Jew s recognized him and laid hold upon him, crying out, “ This is th e man th a t teacheth all men everywhere against the' people and thé law and this place.” This was u tterly untrue. P aul had never u t tered a word against th e Jew ish people, the law o r-the temple. M isrepresentation is a grievous sin. How careful we ought tp bp, in repeating anything, to state the précise tru th w ithout exaggeration. There is always; danger th a t prejudice in the niihd ;may âëstroy accuracy in the speech. Many .a slander th a t has ruined a repu tatio n has arisen from some slight m is statem ent in reporting something said or done. “ Set a watch, O Lord, before my njouth; keep the door of my lip s.” Ps. Î4 Ï:3 . W e d n e s d a y , N ov. 2 . Rom. 8 : 28 - 39 . ...... God’s Overruling Power. "•The Roman government was hostile to Christianity. In P a u l?s: case, however, it delivered him out of the hands of his ene mies and later carried him free of charge to Rome where* although a nominal pris oner, he carried on his work as a mis sionary under thè protection of its laws. Thé .Jew ish inob tried to kill Paul, but it only caused him to be sent to Rome w ith the message, of the Gospel. God is always active in human affairs, bringing good out of evil. All efforts to work us harm and injure the cause of Christ w ill u tterly fail if we only commit them to God and keep pur hands off. “ Commit thy way unto the fLord: tru st also in Him and He shall bring it to pass.” Psalm 37:5. “ Who is he th a t will harm you, if ye be followers of th a t which is good?” I Pet. 3:13. THURSDAY, NOV. 3. I Tim. 5:17-25. ;■ The Duty of Investigation. Paul exhorts Timothy to carefully verify any accusation before giving it credence. He had- suffered grievously himself. The chapter giving the account of his arrest
is full of unjust and unproved charges against him. Lysias assumed th a t Paul must be a great crim inal or the people would not have mobbed him in th e temple. The mob did not know why P aul was a r rested. They heard the outcry and joined the crowd. People are like sheep. I f one sheep jumps over a wall, th e whole flock w ill follow. We should never tak e any body ’s say-so about another w ithout in quiry. I f we find th a t th e charges are false, we should become a defender instead of a defamer. I t is grossly unjust to con demn anyone unheard. Every man must be regarded as innocent un til he is proven guilty. I t is a crime to press evil charges against a man w ithout know ing the tru th of the m atter. FRIDAY, NOV. 4. Acts 23:1-10. Paul Before th e Council; Ananias the high-priest was a man of violent tem per and guilty of rapacity. He robbed inferior priests of th eir dues and took tith es by force. From P a u l’s apology in verse 5, it would seem th a t he did not really know th a t the person giving the command was th e high-priest. He quotes Exodus 22:28. P a u l’s conduct upon this occasion, although extenuated by th e illegal command of the high-priest, John 7:51, falls very fa r below th a t of th e M aster on a sim ilar occasion. John 18:23. P aul was a human being and liable tp error and sin. Im agine w hat P aul m ight have said and done had he not been converted. When we are tempted to criticise Christians for th eir shortcomings, it m ight be well for us to stop and think w hat they would be w ithout th eir religion. ‘ SATURDAY, NOV. 5. Acts 23:11-24. P a u l’s Deliverance. Nothing is hidden from God, H e is never tak en by surprise and no purpose of H is can ever be defeated. P a u l’s de liverance depended upon many little things, such as the presence of his siste r’s son in the city, th e young m a n ’s learning of the •conspiracy, his adm ittance to the castle, his ready access to Lysias, the chief c a p ta in ’s "interest, in his prisoner and his prompt action when he heard of the plot. God takes care of each of H is children in this way. He plans every life so th a t
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