August 1931
369
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K i n g ’ s
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—the gospel of the grace of God. Paul was ready to be the human instrument in the meeting of that need. We miss the heart of today’s lesson if we fail to grasp the truth which Paul so nobly exempli fied; namely, that every believer in Christ is responsible for taking the news of sal vation to those “in darkness and the shadow of death.” Paul was not ashamed of the gospel, for, he said: “It is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek” (v. 16). The Jew was not first in the matter of preference, but rather in precedence. The power of the gospel was not the power in which Rome trusted; her con fidence was in physical force. Likewise, there are many today who rely upon man made schemes, and who endeavor to bring in righteousness by means of legislation. It was not the power upon which the Greeks depended; their trust was in in tellectual force. There are many today who take the same position, who attempt to establish righteousness by means of education. Neither was it the power of the gospel upon which the Jew relied; his hope was in ethics and religion. In our generation, his followers are legion. No wonder Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Unlike anything else, it is “the power o f God unto salvation.” It is not government, though in it there is perfect government. It is not intellectual force, though it contains an appeal to the mind, that nothing else can provide. It is not ethics or an ideal, though it pre sents both. The gospel is more than all these; it is a living power, making pos sible the realization of the highest ideal. Paul knew something of the power of the gospel. He had watched it working in the lives of such men and women as Sergius, the Roman jailer. He had watch ed it transform Philemon, the wealthy owner of a great estate, and bring him to a place where he could call a runaway slave his brother in the Lord. And Paul knew something of the power of the gos pel in his own life. It is when we come to see what the gospel does for us per sonally, and what it does in the lives of those to whom we take it, that We be come enthused over its greatness and its power, and ready to go anywhere and everywhere with the good news. Lesson Questions Acts 13:42, 43. What was the Gentile response to the message that Paul preach ed? What did Paul exhort the people to do? V. 44. How did the inhabitants of the city show their interest in the preacher of the gospel? V. 45. What attitude did the Jews take? Of what were they jealous or en vious ? Was their conduct becoming to their profession? V. 46. Had the Jews deliberately cast away the gospel and judged themselves unworthy to receive it? Were the apos tles justified in turning to the Gentiles with the message? V. 47. Why was it difficult for the Jews to understand that the gospel was for all men? Do men refuse to accept this truth today? Vs. 48, 49. What caused the Gentiles to rejoice? What was their attitude to ward the Word of God? What action did
BLACKBOARD LESSON
the gospel story themselves felt that it should be just for them and not .for the Gentiles. They had always been taught to believe that they were different from the Gentiles, and they began to think that they were better than they. It is a very bad thing when people think that they are better than other people. When the Jews found the apostles preaching to the Gentiles, they were very angry. They turned against Paul and Barnabas and made trouble for them. But Paul and Barnabas were not afraid. They knew that what they were doing was right. So they went right on preaching to the Gentiles as well as to the Jews. They said to the Jews, “We preached the word of God to you, and you put it from you. Now we have turned to the Gentiles, for the Lord has told us that we shall be a light to the Gentiles and bring salvation to the end of the earth.” SEPTEMBER 13, 1931 Some Missionary Experiences Lesson: Acts 14; Ephesians 6:10-20. Lesson T e x t : Acts 14:8-23. Golden Text: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” ,(Matt. 5:10). I. T he P ower of G od A mong the H eathen ( 8 - 10 ). 1. An object of the power of God (8). There was a t Lystra a cripple “impo tent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked.” This man is a type of every unsaved sin ner—unable to help himself, never hav ing known any other condition, because he was born into it, being unable to walk, that is, to please God. But in this case, as in every other, when the power of God comes in, natural inability is done away, and supernatural strength is supplied. It does not appear that Paul had this man especially in mind while he was preaching, but God had him in mind. The language that the Holy Spirit uses in this passage proves that this man’s case was an extraordinary one. Perhaps Paul was surprised to find that among all who heard him this poor unfortunate was the one upon whom the eye of God particu larly rested, and the one who called forth the miracle-working power of the Al mighty. Oftentimes our testimony is aim ed at an object which we ourselves see, but it reaches, instead, an object which God alone sees. We should be content to allow God to use us in whatever way He sees fit, for His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and His ways than our ways (Isa. 55:9). 2. The channel for the power- of God (9). The readiness of the cripple to be healed ■constituted the means by which God’s power could reach him. Here again the picture is of an unsaved man or woman, one who reaches out the hand of faith to accept salvation. Paul preach ed the Word. The cripple heard and be lieved (cf. Rom. 10:17). This done, he could take the first step in faith which, prior to that time, had been impossible for him (cf. Rom. 10:9). He heard, be lieved, and obeyed. This is exactly what every sinner must do in order to be saved.
they take? How did the good news spread? Vs. 50-52. What opposition occurred? What was the reaction of Paul and Bar nabas to it? Did the persecution contri bute to the spread of the gospel? How did it affect the disciples? Rom. 1 :14-16. In what sense was Paul a debtor to the Gentiles? Why was Rome not an easy place in which to preach the gospel? Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; why was he con fident that its power was greater than the physical force in which Rome trusted, or the intellectual attainments of which Greece boasted, or the ethical and re ligious standards which the Jews lauded? In what instances outside of this lesson did Paul witness the transforming power of the gospel (Acts 16:27-31; Phile mon 1-21) ? Golden T ex t Illustration A writer, referring to a torchlight pro cession at a country station in honor of a returned hero, says: “As the procession started, one torch after another blazed into radiance, as if touched by electricity. One couldn’t tell what lighted them. But presently a small child was discovered, crouching under some timbers to keep away from the wind, with a lighted can dle in his hand. Every torch-bearer came came to him for light. Silent and smiling, with one hand sheltering the flame held in the other, this little fellow was lighting up the world of darkness!” The gospel is the light of the world, but somebody must hold it and give it out; a child may. —G reat T houghts . Memory Verse: “Thou shalt be a wit ness for him unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard” (Acts 22:15). Approach: On the journey which Paul and Barnabas made, they had lots of hard things to endure. Traveling was not easy in those days. Boats were small and there P aul P reaching in A ntioch A cts 13:42-52
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were no engines in them to help them ride the seas. Roads were r o u g h and narrow a n d dan gerous because of robbers. But these were not the only sort of hardships w h i c h Paul and Barnabas h a d to endure. Lesson S t o r y :
You remember that the disciples, or apos tles as they are called now, understood that the gospel story was to be preached to every one. But this didn’t please the Jews. Even many of them who believed
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