The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1909-08-21

tCopyright. 1900. by American Pres Association.
It was Paurs thought. II 1t should
prove to be the will Of God. to visit
the places In Europe where he had
been on his previous tour and then re-
turn to Jerusalem. hoping ut some
time to see Rome also. Meantime he
sent Timothy and Erastus. two Of hts
ministers, into Macedonia, while he
tarried in Asia for a season oversees p,
20. Remembering what we wrote in
the last lesson Of the little that is said
OF some disciples. we might easily for
get that Timothy was one OF the COM
pany were it not for an occasional ref
erence to him. This Is our first intro
duction to Erastus. Of whom we read
elsewhere in Rom. XVI. %; II Tim. ".
20. 1t may not seem like saying much
for them to say that they ministered
unto Paul, but for some years 1t was
all that could be said Of Elisha with
regard to Elijah. He ministered unto
him" Il Kings xix, Ply. and in doing
this they as truly ministered to the
Lord as those who ministered to Him
personally when He was here on
earth Matt. K. AZ. 1t is impossible
to minister to the Lord sincerely with
even dared to ask the Lord Jesus to
worship him Matt. ". o.. He Is the
god Of this world and may also be
called the religious leader. for the vast
majority Of religious people worship
him, perhaps unconsciously. No one
can draw near to or worship the one
only living and true God except by
Jesus Christ. the Son Of God. and by
virtue Of His atonement for sin. His
great vicarious sacrifice.
That which Is not the worship of
God Is the worship Of tho devil Il Cor.
K. 2O). whether 1t be the worship Of
Diana or Jupiter or Buddha or Mo-
manned or the professed worship of
a God who saves people because they
try to do right and to follow a Jesus
who is not God and never suffered as
a sacrifice for our sins. Like the men
in chapter xvi who caused the perse-
cution of Paul and Silas because their
demon possessed slave was healed
and thus further hope Of gain through
her was gone. Demetrius and his
because the sale OF silver shrines for
Diana was falling of through the
preaching Of the truth concerning the
Lord Jesus Christ. Their cry that. not
alone at Ephesus. but almost through
all Asia. Paul had turned away much
people from the worship OF Diana was
splendid testimony to the work Of the
Spirit through Paul. but that was not
the aim Of Demetrius. The testimony
was like that Of the Jewish rulers In
Acts V. %. Behold. We have filed
Jerusalem with your doctrine" Where
is there such zeal today. such spirit
filed men?
The cry Of the opposition was: "Our
craft Is In danger. BY this craft
we have our wealth" oversees .. %.
What is the difference between that
and the cry Of the unrightcous rulers
in many cities today who by oppres-
sion and theft have their wealth and
yet have power enough somehow tc
cover up their misdeeds and to escape
punishment. but who are ready 10
raise n great cutlery against any who
would attempt to put their Ubiquitous
craft in danger? AS to the condition
Of multitude OF churches. with their
new theology dishonoring God and
Christ and His word ard hllirg the
church with all manner Of wor!dli
ness, what can we say but How long.
o Lord. how long" canst Thou suffer
It? When teachers in our Sunday
schools ard even some preachers en-
Joy the Sunday newspapers. light read
ing of any kind. the theater. and such
like. and consider those who renounce
these things as only babes and unde-
veloped. and the cry from all sides Is
Great is our Diana. whom all the
world worshipeth"' can those who
would be cut and out for Christ lay
to heart the advice OF the town clerk
Of the city Of Ephesus and be quiet
and do nothing rashly"' Verse So
Yes. truly. for. though the heather in
heathen0om and Christendom rage as
they please and shout themselves
hoarse in honor Of their gods. we may
wei! be quiet. knowing that ''our Je-
hovah is above all gods and whatso.
ever He plcases He will do" Fs.
cxxxv. 5, g.. Jesus Of Nazareth shall
reign - King If kings and Lord OF
- - t''c ', IONS of this world