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October, 1933
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
try in Europe, and preach there. Paul obeyed the vision, and from that time on, most of his preaching was done in Europe. He came to the city of Philippi. There he found a little group of people who used to meet on the seashore every Sabbath to pray. Paul met with them and their leader, a woman named Lydia. He preached to them, and many believed. Now in Philippi, there was a girl with an evil spirit. She used to follow Paul and Silas and call after them. One day, Paul turned and commanded the evil spirit to come out of her. It did. But the owners of the girl were very angry because now she could no longer tell fortunes. They went to the authorities and complained about Paul and Silas. They said that they were Jews, and that they were teaching the people things that they, as Romans, should not do. So Paul and Silas were beaten and put into jail. But they were not discour aged. They knew that God had a plan for them; that, even though they were suffer ing now, some good would come of it. As they lay that night in the jail, they couldn’t sleep, so they sang praises to God. While they were singing, an earth quake opened the prison doors, but Paul and Silas didn’t try to escape. The jailer rushed in. He had never seen prisoners
like this. When they were beaten, they sang. When an earthquake opened the prison door, they didn’t escape. The jailer wanted to learn from them what made them so happy and so honest. They told him the gospel story, and he believed. This was the good that came of their suffering. The Dark W ill Be Light A tender child o f summers three, Seeking her little bed at night, Paused on the dark stair timidly. “ O mother! take my hand,” said she, “And then the dark will all be light." We older children grope our way From dark behind to dark before; And only when our hands we lay,'[f' Dear Lord, in Thine, the night is day, And there is darkness nevermore. Reach downward to the sunless days Wherein our guides are blind as we, And faith is small, and hope delays; Take Thou the hands o f prayer we raise, And let us feel the light o f Thee! SR-J ohn G. W hittier . Outline and Exposition I. T he I gnorance H e M et (22, 23). While Paul was preaching in Athens, he was heard by some of the philosophers who invited him to speak to an audience on Mars Hill. He accepted the invitation, and when the time came, began his address by declaring that he knew these people were very superstitous (or, religious) because o f the many altars he noticed in their city. The city was wholly given to idolatry (v. 16), was most religious, but it was con-; trolled by Satan. The gods of the Gentiles are only demons. But behind all the gods which the people worshiped, they felt there was one God whom tbey did not know. They felt this unknown God was superior to all the others, and they had erected one altar bearing the inscription, “To the Un known God.” Using this inscription as a text, Paul proceeded to preach to the people. II. T he I nstruction H e G ave (24-29). He told them that the God whom they ignorantly worshiped was the Creator of all things (v. 24). This God was therefore before all things and apart from all things. All other gods were made by man and therefore were lower than man. BLACKBOARD LESSON the hill was still a meeting place for many distinguished citizens, so Paul chose a very effective pulpit from which to preach.
He told them that the true God was su preme over all things (v. 24). He was Lord of all things in heaven and in earth. He could not be confined in temples made with hands, nor could He be worshiped with material things, as though He needed any thing (v. 25). He is not dependent upon the gifts of His worshipers, He is in need of nothing men have, but it is from Him that men have their life and breath and all things. He told them that the true God had cre ated all men of one blood and had deter mined all their times and the bounds of their habitation (v. 26). This text is used by those who speak of a “universal broth erhood of man and a universal Fatherhood of God.” , But the text teaches only that all men have a common source o f existence; they are all of one blood; they all have the same nature. But being all sinners by nature and by practice, they all need to be born again to become the. children of God (John 3:1-7). They are mere creatures of God by natural generation. He told them that the true God is “not far from every one o f us” (v. 27). So near is He that in Him all men live and move and have their being (v. 28). Even some of their own writers had said, “ For we are also his offspring.” In referring to this quotation, Paul did not mean that all men are the children o f God, but that all men have their existence from God and are sus tained in their present life by God. In the sense that all are created by God, they are the offspring of God. They are His crea tures by creation, His children by procre ation. He told them that the true God was not to be thought of as being material (v. 29). Gold, silver, or stone, however cleverly fashioned, could never become God, and the gods o f the Athenians were therefore mere objects of material substance, sense less and unfeeling. He told them that be cause things are made, there must be a Maker. It is the Maker of all things who is to be worshiped rather than the things Which He has made. He pointed out their folly in worshiping mere material objects and thus revealed their sinfulness. III. T he E xhortation H e G ave (30, 31). He told them that the times of their ig norance God had winked at, that is, God’s patience had borne with their idolatry. But now God was sending forth a com mand to all men to repent. That is, they were to change their minds about who and what God was, turn from their folly and sinfulness in worshiping material objects, and worship only the true God who made all things and was before all things. Thus repentance becomes much more than sor row for sins committed. Repentance is a change o f mind con cerning God, a change o f attitude toward sin, and a change of thought about God’s judgment upon sin. Until repentance comes, man lives in ignorance of God, in disobedience to God, and in danger of judgment from God. The time o f the judgment o f God is already appointed, as is the Judge. The Judge will be the Lord Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead. The fact of His resurrection is the assurance God gives that the judgment is sure, that it will be in righteousness, and that it will include all men. The avoidance of that judgment lies in repentance toward God and faith in Jesus Christ. IV. T he R esults of H is P reaching (32-34). First, some mocked at his preaching. In like manner, the message was re ceived in Jerusalem when they said the
NOVEMBER 19, 1933 PAUL IN ATHENS A cts 17:16-34
Lesson T ext: Acts 17:22-34 Golden T ext: “ For in him we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Cultured Athens hen P aul entered Athens, he went to the very center of its life and activity. His first stopping place was the Agora, or market place. We must not think of it as similar to markets in our own country. It was not a place for the selling of meat and vegetables. While « I
there were g few shops, th e Agora was primarily th e , center o f the polit ical, philosophical, and religious life of th e city. It Was there that the coun cils of the people met in former years when Athens was
yet a democracy. It was along those colon naded corridors that the philosophers walked, and propounded their theories. Political candidates frequently made their campaign speeches there, and conquering athletes, returning from the Olympic games, were received with much ceremony. In short, the Agora was the public square o f the city. The Apostle Paul was able to preach to a cross section of the life of Athens by going there. The scene of his most famous sermon was near by. On the way from the Agora to the summit of the Acropolis, he passed by the Areopogus. This is a low hill, al most entirely of rock, situated on a spur o f the Acropolis whicb reaches out toward the west. In days gone by, it was the meet ing place of the most powerful council of the nation. The Council o f the Areopo gus consisted of a group o f noblemen whose decisions were supreme in all mat ters o f government. O f course, the council had long since passed away, for it was discontinued in the time o f the democracy, and had no purpose when Rome governed the country, as in the days of Paul. Yet
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