T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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nor did he hinder has fellowship w ith the Lord. To th e Jews he became— th u s far— a Jew (1 Cor. 9:20 ) th a t he m ight win th e Jews, and he did it for th e Gospel’s sake (1 Cor. 9:23) “ And this I do fo r the gosp el’s sake, that I m ight be partak er thereof w ith yon." These four men were Christians and were not seeking by th is perform ance to secure th e ir salvation, bu t believ ed th a t through th is Divine ordinance for th e Jews they were pleasing God. P erhaps Paul took occasion to ta lk to them about the freedom of believers, (1 Cor. 9:19) “ F o r though I he free from a il men, yet h ave I made m yself servan t unto all, that I m ight gain th e ' more.” Had it been a question of loyalty to Christ P aul would have stood to the death (Acts 20:23, 24) bu t when his breth ren seek peace a t the price of concession, and no principle is involved, he seeks to give offence to none, and to glorify God in his acts (1 Cor. 10:31- 33) ‘“W heth er therefore y e eat, or drink, or w h atsoever y e do, do a ll to the g lo ry o f God. ' G ive none offence, neither to the Je w s , nor to the G entiles, nor to the church of God. E v e n as I please all men In a ll things, not seekin g mine own prollt, but the Profit of m any, th at th ey m ay he saved.” in m atters of doctrine, we should stand for th e tru th as God reveals it to us,— teach it, defend it, if need be die for it. We will certainly have to suffer for it. In non-essentials we should be will ing to set aside our preferences in order to help the weak. We may be opposed to ritualism , and yet worship w ith our ritu a listic b reth ren so long as they hold to the fundam ental tru th s. (3 ) The Populace S tirred, vs. 27-32 “And all th e city was moved.” P au l’s pacific efforts availed not. The sight of him was like a red flag to an enraged bull. They had determ ined upon his death. Like h is . Lord, he was under th e ban of th e ir w rath (Matt. 2 6 :4 ). Christ had said “The tim e cometh th a t whosoever k illeth you will
th ink th a t he doeth God service.” (John 1 6 :2 ). There was no ground for ac cusation against Paul. His enemies were controlled by “ zeal for th e law and loyalty to th e ir religion (v. 28). This led them to a hasty inference (v. 30). They took for granted th a t P aul had taken a Greek into the temple (y. 29) and finally were led to a murderous purpose, (v. 31). These men were incited by members of the church to believe th a t an awful crime had been comm itted against the sanctity of the temple. W hat a hot bed of hell is th e human heart! W hat things may be w rought in th e name of the Lord! When th e Jews had deter m ined upon the death of Christ they postponed it un til afte r the Passover F east (John 1 8 :28 ). They did not w ant a drop of P au l’s blood upon the pavement of th e temple, b u t they were qu ite w illing to have it upon th eir heads. There is grave danger in a formal, religious life. I t breeds a sp irit of in tolerance. There is little of love in it and consequently little of real -liberty, bu t th e re is sure to be much of the sp irit of th e devil. This phase of th e lesson affords an opportunity to stress th e evil of th e n atu ra l h eart. It is “ deceitful above all things and desperately wicked” (Jer. 1 7 :9 ). C ontrast such a h eart w ith one filled w ith th e Spirit. I t is “ first pure, th en peaceable, gentle and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fru its, w ithou t p artiality and w ith out hypocrisy.” (Jas. 3:17, 18). (4) The Prophecy Fulfilled, vs. 33-39 “Commanded him to be bound w ith chains." Agabus had said he should be bound hand and foot (Acts 21 :11 ) and so he was. His life was in danger, but God delivered him. He was safer in th e hold of th e Roman ja il th an in the hands of th e Jewish leaders. God uses human agencies to protect His people.
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