Fellows, every life is a campaign, and it is the biggest game of all;
into this great contest come crises now and then, and the way we meet
them largely determines the result. If those crises have not begun to
come in your life, let it be the sure sign to you that God is holding
them off while He gives you the opportunity to make the necessary
preparation for them, for come they will. There will be times when the
storm is breaking around your head and the ground will seem to be
crumbling beneath your feet. Such times come to every fellow who sets
his face to a principle and determines to stand like a man, no matter
what it costs.
Fellows, Paul was that kind of a man. He had that steadfastness to
principle, that firmness of purpose, which gave him poise when all
about him was tumult. Other men lost their heads; Paul kept cool. It
was a critical moment around the temple court that morning; the Jewish
mob was murderous, the Roman chief captain was petulant, and he was
cold and relentless as steel.
Paul had to handle both on separate grounds to keep them from
"handling" him--and both at the same time. He shrewdly "played both
ends against the middle." He drew from his quiver two keen but
entirely different arrows, and both "went home." To the chief captain,
he whispered one small word, "I am a Roman citizen.
Pages:
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143