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give God all the glory.—Henry. 21:23. Do th is th a t we say. It was hard for th e Jews to get away from the sacredness of th e ceremonial law though they understood th a t Christ was its ful fillment. P aul always made it clear th a t salvation was not in the law (T itus 3:13, 14). The Gentile Christians did no t have th is problem. I t was no t un lawful to observe th e ceremonies b u t it was wrong to expect any salvation through them . Some had gotten the idea th a t P aul was an enemy of Moses and so ignorantly condemned him. The leaders wanted P aul by a public act to show he was not against Moses.— S. & W. 21:26 Purifying himself. All th is was a subtle snare. He was by th is action to show th a t w ith all his preach ing to th e Gentilés he was still a good Jew, faith fu l to all the trad ition s of the fath ers and attached to th e temple. S trange sigh t it is to see th e apostle P au l back in th e temple, going through these dead ceremonies which had been ended by thé death of th e cross. S trange to see him who disclaimed all earth ly au tho rity and ta u g h t deliver ance from th e law and union w ith an unseen Christ, subm itting once more to th e elem entary things. H as not many a church fallen into th e same snare ?— Gaebelein. 21:28. Crying out. Some people who belong to the church in name only some times become most zealous for th e name of the church.— Echoes. I t is easier to get men to fight for religion th a n it is to get them to live for it.— Davis. 21:30. Draw him out. As if the act would have less gu ilt attached to it if comm itted outside th e temple ra th e r th an inside.— Sel. I t must have recalled th e trea tm e n t of Stephen in which he himself had had a hand (7: 57, 58). We are very likely ourselves in due tim e to be treated th e same way th a t ,we have trea ted others.— Torrey. 21:34. Some cried one thing. Lis ten to th e crowd and you will get noth ing straigh t.— P arker. 21:36. Away w ith him . “ Chase him out of th e world.” The same cry which was used by th e Jews before P ilate in reference to Jesus.-—(Lk. 23: 18)— Camb. Bible. 22:14. Know H is w ill. F o r th is reason it is th a t P aul so often in the commencement of his epistles speaks of himsexf as an apostle according to th e will of God. (I Cor. 1 :1 ; II Cor. 1 :1 ; Epb. 1 :1 ; Col. 1 :1 ). The whole
Bonds and Imprisonment awaited him and overtook him. P au l’s citizenship was th e basis upon which th e privilege of speaking to the assembly was granted to him. I t was an honor to be a Roman, and he took advantage of it. Christ claimed a heavenly citizenship (John 8:23 ) and so can we. (Ph il. 3:20 R. V.) “ B u t our citizenship is in heaven, from whenc'e also w e look fo r the Saviou r, the Lord Je su s Christ.” A m an's life should accord with. his citizenship (Col. 3:1-3) “ I f ye then he risen w ith Ch rist, seek those th in gs which are above w h ere C h rist sltteth on the rig h t hand o f God. Set yo n r affection on things above, not on th in gs On the earth, F o r y e are dead, and you r life is nm w ith Ch rist in God.” ,, . P au l’s defense was a plain, practical statem en t of God’s dealings w ith him, — clean-cut, concise, convincing. PRACTICAL POINTS.. (1) This was a live m issionary meet ing, composed of live missionaries. (2 ) One can tell w hat God has done w ithout blowing his own horn. (3 ) Concession in non-essentials is not compromise of th e tru th . (4) The motive which prompts a man is th e m easure of his character. (5 ) Zeal for th e temple is no t neces sarily peal for th e tru th . . (6) The n atu ra l h ea rt is desperately depraved in both sain t and sinner. (7 ) The C hristian is a citizen of a continuing city. The Chris tia n w orker should make his repo rt so th a t men would th ink of God, n o t him. — Johnson. We are not asked COMMENTS FROM In Gods hand is plans th rough us. J H J th e place of blessing (Deut. 3 3 :3 ), service (Acts 2 0 :1 9 ), supply (Ps. 104: 28) and security (Jno. 10:28, 29).— Garry. 21:20 Glorified th e Lord. Since P aul ascribed it all to God, they would 21:19. God w rought. MANY.SOURCES K eith Ii. Brooks to originate new schemes for Christ b u t to al low Him to w o rk /i out His
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