The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 1 — Section 421

root of evil in the fr1lse prophet's life, and which poisons all his teaching. There is craft, guile, the desii(n to deceive others for pri~ate e~ds. Then there is a certain lightness and recldesaness of conduct connected with this, denoted by a pecnliar Greek word (radiourgia), The false teacher will respect no truth and no sanctity which stands in the wo.y of his objects and ends. Such a man may well be called a "child of the devil." The idea of the devil is that of an accuser or slanderer • and the false prophet will stick at no lies to serve his ends. He is the foe of all th~t is aood and must be; for the good and right, resting on the principle of trnth, is deadly o~ros~ to him, the living lie. • He is the perverter of the Lord's straight ways. While the servants of God proclaim, in the words of the ancient prophet, the levelling of inequalities and the making of the crooked straight, the object of the decei,er is to twist the straight into crookedness, and bring back old chaos and disorder. Such are the arrows of denunciation launched at his head ; such, in brief words, are the traits of the deceiver, drawn by the firm hand of the apostle. 2. The occasional revelation of Divine judgment against the ungodly. Such acts as that of Paul, in virtue of a Divine authority, in their occasional character, reveal a general principle of judgment. "The hand of the Lord is upon thee," not to strengthen and to illuminate, but to weaken and to deplive of light. 'l'he unused or misnsed sense decays. "From him that bath not shall be taken even that which he bath." If we use not our intelligence in the cause of truth, we cannot expect to retain it in its clearness. And if our conscience is not guided by love, it will become darkened. And if the light within becomes darkness, how great is that darkness I At the same time, mercy mingles with judgment. It is for a season only, that tbe opportunity for reformation and repentance may be given, and blessed the suspensions of activities which we have misused, if, in the enforced silence and privation, we are led to reflection and back to God. III. CONVERSION FOLLOWS THE MANIFESTATION OF THE TRUTH. The fall of error means the establishment of a conviction in the mind. The overthrow of a lie delights the spirit, which is made for truth. Falsehood tempts and entbralls when it appeals to our passions ; let the falsehood be exposed, and spiritual emancipation follows. Fear and astonishment are often the means God employs to break up the fatal slumbers of the soul. They are like volcanic forces, which prepare for the working of the genial forces of nature. Every conversion implies in the subject of it the knowledge of the superiority of truth over falsehood, the presence of the soul at a moral victory. Truth in conquering us, sets us free.-J, Vers. 13-52.-Paul'a missionary dise01,rse at .Antioch in Pisidia. We are intro- duced to one of those synagogue scenes which are of so much interest in connection with the early progress of Christianity. Here the gospel fought its foes and triumphed by the logic of love; here the seeds were sown which sprang up to cover the world with fruit, According to the ordinary practice, the officers of the synagogue invite the strangers to address the congregation. Paul rises. His address falls naturally into parts. It resembles in general argument and tenor that of Stephen before the Sanhedrim. We may gather from it what were the great rea.eons which convinced and led to the conversion of the Jews, L THE PROVIDENTIAL OOURSE OF lsBAEL'S HISTOBY, 1. There was the Divine ,election of a people, not to be for themselves favourites of God, but to be his light and salvation to the ends of the earth. 2. There was the wondrow deliverance of this people out of the oppressor's hand-from the land of Egypt. On this memory of a surpassing Divine power joined with Divine goodness, the historio consciousness of the nation was based. 3. There was the desert discipline: the giving of the Law, the enforcement of holi- ness-chastisement, purification, education in obedience. 4. The expulsion of the Canaanite tribes and the foundation of a settled system of government. This, too, was a great epoch; and Israel could not refer to it without the consciousness of her high Illission as a nation-called of God to supersede the weak, effete idolatrous nations of the land, and to diffuse holier manners, purer laws. 6. 'l'he epoch of the kings. The brilliant. but erring SI .ul; the hero David and his glorious era. Every nation has some similar or analogous points in its history on which its memory rests; landmarks of its way ; prophetic moments containing the future ; sowing-times for future harvests ; t3ndeavours towards an ideal. Thinl!: of our own Magna Oharta, our Civil War, our ACTS, ' , • 2 ■  418 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLE& ['oH, XIII, 1-52,