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THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
strangely they have been led by ways which have been full of mercy and good ness.— Exp. Bible. v. 7. The Spirit suffered them not. Sometimes we need th e Sp irit’s guid ance to keep us from preaching.—Aid- rich. v. 9. A m an of Macedonia. The in troduction of Christianity into th e con tin en t where it was destined t o win its chief trium phs is fitly prepared for by a special revelation.— Dummelow. Come over. It is the du ty of th e Church of Christ to respond to th e cry of heathen nations. Reason and equity say we should send to others th a t which we ourselves received from others.— Bogue. There are calls of the same kind con tinually made upon Christian people, which we need no vision to remind us of, because they are a reality w ith which we are acquainted and because we have Christ’s commission to preach to all nations.—Day. v. 10. Assuredly gathering. L iter ally “laying things tog ether.” They set various facts side by side, and so they came to understand w hat the vi sion meant. W hat a significant little group it was. Silas, from Jerusalem ; Timothy, half a Gentile; Luke, alto g ether a Gentile; and Paul. These four shook th e world.—Maclaren. v. 11. A straig h t course. - Lose no tim e in getting to the place where God is calling you.— Parsons. v. 13. By a riv er side. The g reat est victories of th e Cross have been gained in outdoor meetings.— Garry. The conversion of Europe began here, w ith a handful of praying women.— Haldeman. P ra y er w as wont to be made. Those who would devote them selves to prayer should w ithdraw from- both the world’s bustle and its super stition and sin (Matt. 6 :6 0 ). P rayer may be offered anywhere. If Chris tians, for any reason, cannot obtain com fortable places to worship, rath e r than not worship a t all they should betake themselves to the river banks, hillsides, or even th e caves of th e earth'.'—Day. Women reso rted th ith er. We wonder if P aul looked for th e man he had seen in his vision. There was no man pres ent.— Gaebelein. Considering how lit tle regard the Jews had for women as persons to be conversed w ith and taugh t, t is noteworthy how large a p art wom en play in th e Gospel history.—-Plum mer. W hat woman h as and shall have
giving revelations in opposition to the Spirit. The Scripture is full of 'warn ings against the artifices of evil spirits, b u t th e devil uses th e professors in our. schools to explain these m anifestations upon philosophical and metaphysical grounds. We are not sure concerning the origin of demons, b u t we know th a t they exist. If th e Lord has a woman like Lydia whose h e a rt is opened to the tru th , the devil has his counterfeit, whose h eart lve has filled. She is a poor victim of sin, possessed of an evil spirit, for in v. 18 P au l commands th e evil sp irit to come out of her. PRACTICAL POINTS (1) No man is g reater th an his vi ,ion of th e possible. (2) The Holy Spirit both restrain s and constrains. (3) The leading of th e Spirit will be into lanes of service. (4) We need Spirit-touched eyes to see th e man in need; Spirit-touched ears to h e a r his cry,, and SpiraMouched h earts to respond. (5) Demons are wiser th an some col lege professors, for they certify to th e tru th . (6 ) F o rtify against demons by having the fulness of th e Spirit. v. 6. Forbidden of th e Holy Ghost., God guides us as certainly by a closed door as by an open door. If we believe in a living God a t all, we must believe th a t He compass- COMMENTS FROM eth our path and MANY SOURCES our lying down K eith L. B rooks and is acquaint ed w ith all our ways. The steps (and stops) of a good man are ordered of the Lord.— F arr. Every sincere and earnest follower of Christ has experienced somewhat of th e same mystical blessings. God’s tru est servants commit th e ir lives and ac tions in devout prayer to the guidance of the heavenly F ath e r and th en When they*look back over th e past, they see how marvellously they have been re strained from courses which would have been fra u g h t w ith evil, and how
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