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THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Apollo, a heathen deity. P au l else where pronounces these heathen idols to be demons. 1 Cor. 10:20. As the m issionaries each day went to the place of prayer, this demon-possessed girl assailed them and annoyed them . Paul, grieved by th is exhibition of evil, cast out th e evil spirit. The syndicate saw its business ruined and raised a rio t in revenge. Satan has no t abdicated his throne. He has many devices and mani fold methods. H is methods may vary a t different times, hu t he is ever the same, th e enemy of all tru th . FRIDAY, August 26. Ph il. 1:1-11. The Church a t Philippi. A t Philippi th e world has been con quered th ree times and in th ree ways. W ithout th e phalanx Alexander could no t have overcome the Orient. I t was th e thousand talen ts tak en by his fath er every year from the mines of Philippi which created th e phalanx. A t Philippi forty-two years before Christ, th e b at tle was fought which decided th a t th e republic of Rome should become an em pire. At Philippi P aul planted Chris tian ity in Europe. The first conquest was by money, th e second by arm s, the th ird by moral force. The church a t Philippi was especially d ear to Paul. He felt more a t home w ith the Chris tians here th a n w ith those of other places. He w rote to them w ith less re serve, more as a pastor to his flock or a fath e r to his family. This was th e only church which never gave him cause to shed a tear. The le tte r which he wrote from his prison a t Rome has been called his “ joy song” for none of his other w ritings approaches it in glad ness of heart. SATURDAY, August 2 7 . Ph il. 1:21-30. A Pauline D ilemma. The b attle of Philippi was considered by Augustus Caesar as the most im po rtan t ever fought. It established the empire and gave him his throne. He bestowed g reat honor upon th e city and carved his name upon its monuments. The details of th is b attle must have been as fam iliar to those who walked its streets as the b attle of Bunker Hill is to American boys. P lu tarch puts these words into the mouth of B rutus, “When I was young, Cassius, I blamed Cato for killing himself, th ink ing it not a valian t act to run away from the evil th a t shall happen, bu t now in my own fortunes I am of another m ind for I have already given up my life to my
country,” May not P aul have had this saying in remembrance when he penned Phil. 1:21-23? Therefore he will not im itate B rutus even in his wish to die. SUNDAY, August 28. Ph il. 2 :5 -11 . The Supreme Ambition. P aul uses bu t once the word tran s lated “robbery” in Phil. 2:6. It lite r ally means “ a th ing to be snatched a t.” Christ though t equality w ith God not a th ing to be snatched at, bu t proven to be righ tly his by hum ility and renuncia tion. How forceful th is description would seem in a city where its g reatest event was a b attle in which four of the most powerful men in th e world had fought, each one trying to snatch for himself the sovereignty of th e world 1 W hat a contrast between th e ways of Christ and those of hum an ambition! Compare th e mind of Lucifer in Isaiah 14:13, 14, w ith th e m ind of Christ in Phil. 2:7, 8, and let th is be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. MONDAY, August 29. Acts 16:19-34. The Philippian Jailor. Cruelly scourged and th e ir feet in th e stocks, P aul and Silas were in prison. The Gospel still trium phs. They who had conquered th e sp irit of Python remained unconquered themselves. In th e dungeon darkness and w ith no hope of release, th e ir voices rang through the prison in songs of praise to God. Then something happened. More th an an earthqu ak e was there. E arthquakes do not open bolted doors and unclasp fetters and chains. It was th e hand of God who was opening a way for the Gospel into heathen hearts. Divine mercy followed hard upon Divine power. The jailo r like a tru e Roman was about to kill himself for th e loss of his pris oners when P aul in terfered and the sto ry of his conversion follows. He is th e first “ bad” man converted by th e m issionaries of the cross. Previous con v erts like Cornelius and Lydia had been “ good” or a t least respectable. Here is a man who had been glad to see Paul and Silas b ru tally beaten and had wan tonly to rtu red them. Behold him wash ing th e ir wounds, feeding and com fort ing them and rejoicing in the Lord! Thus th e Gospel dem onstrated its power to win “ both bad and good.” Matt. 22 : 10 . TUESDAy, August 30. A cts 17:1 -9 . A t Thessalonica. W estward on th e Roman highway from Philippi, the m issionaries hasten
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