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Releasing The Shackles
Contributed by Gordon Curley on Nov 22, 2010 (message contributor)
Summary: Releasing the Shackles. (PowerPoint slides to accompany this talk are available on request - email: gcurley@gcurley.info)
• The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown.
• Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace.
• By midday he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground.
• Well into the afternoon;
• He realized that his greed had taken him far from the starting point.
• He quickened his pace and as the sun began to sink low in the sky,
• And he began to run,
• He knew that if he did not make it back by sundown;
• The opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost.
• As the sun began to sink below the horizon he came within sight of the finish line.
• Gasping for breath, his heart pounding,
• He called upon every bit of strength left in his body
• And he just managed to stagger across the line just before the sun disappeared.
• He immediately collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth.
• And in a few minutes he was dead.
• Afterwards, his servants dug a grave.
• It was not much over six feet long and three feet wide.
• The title of Tolstoy’s story was:
• How Much Land Does a Man Need?
Quote:
• When someone asked J.D. Rockerfeller how much does it take to satisfy a man;
• Her replied “A little bit more than you have”.
Twice in this story (verses 16&19) we are told how the men viewed the girl:
• She was nothing more than a money making machine;
• And they would make sure she stayed that way.
(4). The magistrates are imprisoned by their
tradition, pride and prejudice (vs 20-23).
• The owners of the slave girl win their appeal;
• By playing the race card against Paul & Silas. In verse 20 they say "They are Jews,".
• In verse 21: They appeal to the magistrates sense of tradition and custom.
• "They are advocating customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to adopt or observe,"
Ill:
• 1903 the Russian Czar;
• Noticed a sentry posted for no apparent reason on the Kremlin grounds.
• Wanting to know why he was there, he started making inquiries and he discovered;
• That in 1776 Catherine the Great found there the first flower of spring.
• On seeing it she commanded;
• “Post a sentry here, so that no one tramples that flower under foot!”
• For 127 years no-one questioned why a sentry was standing in the middle of no-where,
• Some traditions die-hard.
Quote:
“We need to build on our traditions, and not be buried underneath them!”
The slave-girls owners use both the race tactic and the traditions ploy to get rid of Paul & Silas:
• The magistrates decide to act fast.
• They flex their muscles and have Paul & Silas beaten and thrown in prison.
Eventually verse 39 tells us the magistrates try to appease to Paul and Silas,
• When they learn they are Roman citizens.
• And realise what a mistake they have made (Romans cannot be flogged).
• Once again they are worried and ask them to leave the city.