Dailj? Devotional Home Readings Connected with International Sunday? School Lessons B $ FREDERIC W. FARR, D. D.
pel to all classes of society. At Philippi, Lydia an affluent business woman is the first convert and sho rtly afte r a poor slave girl whose psychic powers of mediumship had been syndicated by some unscrupulous men was delivered by th e m ighty power of God. j Samaria trium phed over Simon Magus? Pappas saw Elymas groping in darkness and here again Satan blocks the way only to suffer ano ther defeat. Such a case as this shows th e reality of the pheno mena of spiritism and also reveals th eir source. This girl had th e sp irit of the Py th ian Apollo, the heathen god, as her fam iliar spirit. I t was used for divina tion. 1 Cor. 10:20. W hat the demons said was tru e enough, vs. 17, b u t neith er Jesus nor P au l would receive th e ir tes timony. Mark 1 :25 ; Luke 4:41. W hat a knowledge demons have of th e plan of salvation even though they are be yond its pale! Their knowledge is used, however, for th e purpose of thw arting th e Gospel and compromis ing th e Gospel worker. When P aul exorcised the evil sp irit th rough the name of Jesus, those who had profited by it saw th a t th e ir business was ruined. It was easy for them to raise a riot. Christianity strikes a t th e root of all unlaw ful business carried on through greed of gain. This explains in p a rt at least the opposition and h atred of all those who prey upon the passions and infirm ities of hum an natu re. “They saw th a t th e hope of th e ir gains was gone.” The name of Jesus is supreme in the in visible world of sp irits and when uttered by one who has th e rig h t to use it, “ demons fear and fly.” FRIDAY, Oct. 3. Acts 16:13-18. The Philippian Jailer. P au l and Silas, having suffered the cruel Roman scourge, are cast into prison. They who had conquered the sp irit of Python are not conquered themselves. W ith th e ir bruised and bleeding bodies, th e ir feet fast in the stocks, the dungeon darkness of th e inner prison around them , and no prom ise of fu tu re release, th e ir voices were raised in song and prayer. When P eter and John were arrested the place was
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 1. Mark 2:13-17. The Call of Matthew Something can be in ferred of the ch aracter of Matthew from th e fact th a t he was a publican. As conditions were, it would tak e ’a man capable of dis loyalty to become a publican. He must be selfish and w ithout sympathy for the feelings and aspirations of his country men. Unless driven by necessity he must have been careless of his rep u ta tion. He must have been also of a buoyant sp irit and joyful disposition. When he was called to be a disciple of Jesus, rejoicing in th e prospect, he gathers his old associates for a g reat feast of celebration. He seems th e re fore a fit man to be paired w ith th e gloomy and skeptical Thomas. Appre ciation is a large elem ent in his joy. He prizes the new relationship to Jesus. In giving the account of his call, he does not say w ith the others Levi, th e name of honor, bu t uses th e old name Matthew, meaning “gift■of Jehovah” as more properly belonging to h is new life. He was modest and humble. He calls him self the publican while th e other w riters tactfu lly avoid th e name of dis repute. The others also place his name before th a t of his companion, b u t he puts Thomas before himself. In speak ing of thle feast, he merely says th a t Jesus “ sat a t m eat in th e house” and does not say a t whose house it was, while Luke declares it to have been a g reat feast given by Matthew. He was probably a well-to-do business man, and his business habits seem to be reflected in th e orderly topical arrang em en t of his Gospel narrative. There is an under tone of joy runn ing th rough his Gospel and a strong sense of the fulfillment of Jew ish hopes in Jesus th e Messiah. No one has a b etter opportunity for preaching and living the Gospel th a n the average business man and th e re are many consecrated men of affairs today who have gone into p artn ersh ip w ith God and are doing business for Him. THURSDAY, Oct. 2. Acts 16:13-18. .Salvation Cornés to Two Women. No one can fail to be impressed by the marvelous adap tab ility of th e Gos
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