The dispute was becoming so violent, that the Commanding Officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces between them, ordered the Guard to go down and rescue him from them, and take him into the Fort.

In the morning the Jews combined together, and took an oath that they would not eat or drink till they had killed Paul.

But Festus answered that Paul was in prison at Caesarea, and that he himself would be leaving for that place shortly.

"Whether it is soon or late," answered Paul, "I would to God that not only you, but all who are listening to me, might to-day become just what I am myself--except for these chains!"

The natives were expecting inflammation to set in, or that he would suddenly fall dead; but, after waiting for a long time, and seeing that there was nothing amiss with him, they changed their minds and said that he was a God.

Then, as they would not keep God before their minds, God abandoned them to depraved thoughts, so that they did all kinds of shameful things.

God must prove true, though every man prove a liar! As Scripture says of God-'That thou mayest be pronounced righteous in what thou sayest, and gain thy cause when men would judge thee.'

that 'the elder would be a servant to the younger.'

While Israel, which was in search of a Law which would ensure righteousness, failed to discover one.

But if in love, then no longer as a result of obedience. Otherwise love would cease to be love.

I would ask the one man 'Why do you judge your Brother?' And I would ask the other 'Why do you despise your Brother?' For we shall all stand before the Bar of God.

For I had determined that, while with you, I would know nothing but Jesus Christ-and him crucified!

This philosophy is not known to any of the leaders of to-day; for, had they known it, they would not have crucified our glorified Lord.

Are you all so soon satisfied? Are you so soon rich? Have you begun to reign without us? Would indeed that you had, so that we also might reign with you!

Not, of course, meaning men of the world who are in immoral, or who are covetous and grasping, or who worship idols; for then you would have to leave the world altogether.

With reference to the subjects about which you wrote to me: It would be well for a man to remain single.

My advice, then, to those who are not married, and to widows, is this: It would be well for them to remain as I am myself.

For, through his wife, the husband who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ's People; and the wife who is an unbeliever has become associated with Christ's People through our Brother whom she has married. Otherwise your children would be 'defiled,' but, as it is, they belong to Christ's People.

I, however, have not availed myself of any of these rights. I am not saying this to secure such an arrangement for myself; indeed, I would far rather die-Nobody shall make my boast a vain one!

If all the body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If it were all hearing, where would the sense of smell be?

If, however, they all made up only one part, where would the body be?

But at a meeting of the Church I would rather speak five words with my mind, and so teach others, than ten thousand words when using the gift of 'tongues.'

Next, Brothers, I would remind you of the Good News which I told you, and which you received-the Good News on which you have taken your stand,

And by means of which you are being saved. I would remind you of the very words that I used in telling it to you, since you are still holding fast to it, and since it was not in vain that you became believers in Christ.

And in this confidence we would gladly leave our home in the body, and make our home with the Lord.

We would remind you, Brothers, of the love that God has shown to the Churches in Macedonia--

For it is not the case, as it would be if we were not in the habit of coming to you, that we are exceeding our bounds! Why, we were the very first to reach you with the Good News of the Christ!

I could wish that you would tolerate a little folly in me! But indeed you do tolerate me.

I say again--Let no one think me a fool! Yet, if you do, at least welcome me as you would a fool, that I, too may indulge in a little boasting.

When I speak thus, I am not speaking as the Master would, but as a fool might, in boasting so confidently.

I would remind you, Brothers, that the Good News which I told is no mere human invention.

It was in obedience to a revelation that I went; and I laid before the Apostles the Good News that I am proclaiming among the Gentiles. I did this privately before those who are thought highly of, for fear that I might possibly be taking, or might have already taken, a course which would prove useless.

If, while seeking to be pronounced righteous through union with Christ, we were ourselves seen to be outcasts, would that make Christ an agent of sin? Heaven forbid!

And Scripture, foreseeing that God would pronounce the Gentiles righteous as the result of faith, foretold the Good News to Abraham in the words--'Through thee all the Gentiles shall be blessed.'

Does that set the Law in opposition to God's promises? Heaven forbid! For, if a Law had been given capable of bestowing Life, then righteousness would have actually owed its existence to Law.

What has become then, of your blessings? For I can bear witness that, had it been possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me!

I could even wish that the people who are unsettling you would go further still and mutilate themselves.

My own desire is to depart and be with Christ, for this would be far better.

For I have no one but him to send--no one of kindred spirit who would take the same genuine interest in your welfare.

For they would prevent us from speaking to the Gentiles with a view to their Salvation, and thus are always 'filling up the measure of their iniquity.' But the Wrath of God has come upon them to the full!

Yet do not think of him as an enemy, but caution him as you would a Brother.

If, then, you count me your friend, receive him as you would me.

Now if Joshua had given 'Rest' to the people, God would not have spoken of another and later day.

if those, I say, fell away, it would be impossible to bring them again to repentance; they would be crucifying the Son of God over again for themselves, and exposing him to open contempt.

If he were, however, still upon earth, he would not even be a priest, since there are already priests who offer the gifts as the Law directs.

If that first Covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second.

for then Christ would have had to undergo death many times since the creation of the world. But now, once and for all, at the close of the age, he has appeared, in order to abolish sin by the sacrifice of himself.

Otherwise, would not the offering of these sacrifices have been abandoned, as the worshipers, having been once purified, would have had their consciences clear from sins?

Again, it was faith that enabled Sarah to conceive (though she was past the age for child-bearing), because she felt sure that he who had given her the promise would not fail her.

Faith caused the parents of Moses to hide the child for three months after his birth, for they saw that he was a beautiful child; and they would not respect the King's order.

Need I add anything more? Time would fail me if I attempted to relate the stories of Gideon, Barak, Samson, and Jephthah, and those of David, Samuel, and the Prophets.

Obey your Leaders, and submit to their control, for they are watching over your souls, as men who will have to render an account, so that they may do it with joy, and not in sorrow. That would not be to your advantage.

And one of you were to say to them--"Go, and peace be with you; find warmth and food for yourselves," and yet you were not to give them the necessaries of life, what good would it be to them?

as they strove to discern what that time could be, to which the Spirit of Christ within them was pointing, when foretelling the sufferings that would befall Christ, and the glories that would follow.

'He who would enjoy life And see happy days-- let him keep his tongue from evil And his lips from deceitful words,

It would, indeed, have been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn away from the holy Command delivered to them.

From us, it is true, they went out, but they had never belonged to us; for, if they had belonged to us, they would have remained among us. They left us that it might be made clear that they do not, any of them, belong to us.

Though I have a great deal to say to you, I would rather not trust it to paper and ink, but I am hoping to come and see you, and to speak with you face to face, so that your joy may be complete.

Therefore, when I come, I shall not forget his conduct in ridiculing us with his wicked tongue. Not content with that, he not only declines to recognize our Brothers himself, but actually prevents those who would, and expels them from the Church.

I know your life; I know that you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot!

But those who were left of mankind, who had not perished through these Curses, did not repent and turn away from what their own hands had made; they would not abandon the worship of 'demons, and of idols made of gold or silver or brass or stone or wood, which can neither see, nor hear, nor walk';