The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 66

to go further than it went in Athena, If ever, anywhere, human philosophy, human art, tho human imagination could have reached truth and found Goel, it would have triurophc<l at Athens, But there was the melancholy exhibition of error and immo- rality, The utmost exertion of human thought had ended in (I) the worship of many gocls; (2) the worship of gods to whom lust and cruelty were ascribed· (3) the worship of these. g?ds with de~asing rites. No city in _the world gives surer or ~adder proof that sin so inJures and disables us that our unaided manhood can.not rise to the sacred heights of truth and purity. Ill. 'fHl!I BAD SPE0TAOLE IT SUGGESTS TO us NOW. u Athens needed the ministry of Po.ul so terribly then, how much must o.ll heathen cities require the gospel of Christ to-clay I In the vast populations of the Asiatic and African continents, and among the hundred "islands of the sea," where human intelligence has never attempted to sea.le the heights which Grecian philosopher~ tried to r~h, what awful degradations must exist and do exist I If Athens was an idol-covered city, what must be the condition of the barbarous towns and villages of an unevangelized world? What sights are there to stir our spirits now I What idolatry, what superstition, what cruelty, what lascivi- ousness, what falsehood, what dishonesty I what utter absence of piety, holiness, and love! what an absolute reversal of God's first thought of human natw-e and human life I What in.finite reason to address ourselves to- IV. 'l'HE SACRED DOTY TO WHICH IT CALLS us. "Therefore disputed he . . . daily" (ver. 17). The Christian Church must gird itself to the work of meeting pagan error with Divine truth. It is a great task to undertake. But a.a the lonely apostle went on, single-banded, with bis mission, trusting in him "to whom all power is given in heaven and in earth," and knowing that "the foolishness of God is wiser than ma.n," and tha.t "the weak things of the world can confound the things which are mighty,'' even so must we. If only the Church went forth to this its work with half the zeal with which the spirit-stirred apostle wrought out his life-work, the time would not be counted by centuries when the idols would be utterly abolished, and the Lord Jesus Christ would alone be exalted.-0. Ver. 18.-0hristianity and Epicureanism. Against the doctrine of Epicurus, the truth as it is in Jesus teaches us- I. THAT ALL THINGS PROCEED FBOll THE INTELLIGENT OPERATION OF THE LIVING Goo, and a.re by him sustained. That all our springs are not in any " it," but " in him" (Ps. lxxxvii. 7); that "every gift cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom," etc. (Ja.a. i.17); that he (a Divine One) made the worlds, and upholds all things, etc. (Heb. i. 2, 3; Gen. L 1; ver. 24; etc.). JI. THAT THE HOMAN SPIRIT, AS DIBTIN'7r l!'BOH THE HUllAN BODY, IS THE ONE OBJECT OF INESTIJUBLE VALUE. Ill. THAT THE CHIEF GOOD AND FINAL END IN Il1J'lU.N LIFE 18 RIGHTEOUSNESS. Not a.Tap<i(t<i through <1>pd1171cns, but righteousness by faith and love. 1. The being counted right (or righteous) by God. 2. The possession of inward, spiritual rectitude. 3. 'l'he exhibition of integrity in word and deed. This (I) by faith in Jesus Christ, and (2) as the outgrowth of love to him. IV. THAT THE POSSESSION OF RIGHTEOUSNESS IBBDEB IN PEACE AND JOY. We a.re not to regard a state of mental equability a.a the great end to be diligently and per- sistently attained, as the one supreme accomplishment; but to "seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," in the assurance that, thus seeking, we shall filld a "peace which passes understanding," and a joy which cannot be ta.ken from us. V. THAT THERE IS AN ASSURED FUTURE FOB THE FAITHFUL, WHICH WILL REALIZE THE LARGEST HUMAN HOPE: that the mind does not perish with the body, but lives on in another world, entering a brighter realm, moving in a broader sphere, living a. fuller life, :n the home of God, in the a.bode of purity and blessedness.-C. Ver. 18.-0hriatianity and Stoicism. While there were points in Stoicism which harmonized with the doctrine of the great Teacher, there was very much indeed in which it was wholly dissimilar and even antagonistic. 'fhe fact that it conducted so. freely and frequently to suicide is a melancholy confession of its failure; some- thmg more and som~thing ot4~ w~ )lee4e4. tQ Jlleet the wants of the soul tha.n. ha 88 THE AOTS OF THE APOSTLE~ loH. xvn. 1-34-.