305
August, 1936
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
INTERNATIONAL LESSON Commntary Outline and Exposition Blackboard Lesson Children’s Division Golden Text Illustration Object Lesson B y B. B. S utcliffe B y B essie B. B urch B y H elen G ailey B y A lan S. P earce B y E lmer L. W ilder Points and Problems B y A lva J. M c C lain , Dean, Ashland Theological Seminary, Ashland, Ohio
III. T he O pen D oor for S inners (Rom. 10:8-13).
SEPTEMBER 6, 1936 TURNING TO THE GENTILES A cts 13:13 to 14:28; R omans 10:8-15
This passage shows clearly how Gen tiles—as well as all other individuals— may be saved. The verses teach that Christ is the end of the law for righteous ness to every one who believes. It is the righteousness by faith of which the apostle speaks, and the one who desires righteous ness before God cannot acquire it through obedience to the law, but simply by believ ing on the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is not of law but of grace; it is riot of works but of faith. “The word of faith,” mentioned in verse 18, is tw ofold: It includes the belief in one’s heart that God has raised Jesus from the dead, and it involves also the confes sion with the mouth. The believer is not merely to confess that Jesus has been raised, but also that the risen One was Jesus, the Lord. The Revised Version renders verse 9: “ Confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord.” The belief lies within the heart where God sees it ; the confession is with the mouth, and men hear it. Hence it is not a mere empty profession without practical meaning, but one that controls both the lips and the life. There is'no partiality with God, nor is there respect of persons with Him. “Who soever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” What does it mean to call on His name? It means to acknowl edge one’s deep need, realize one’s utter helplessness, recognize that in the Lord alone there is aid, and then rely wholly upon the aid that God grants. It- means to cast oneself wholly upon the Lord’s grace, remembering that the promise of salvation is to “ whosoever.” The way to salvation is open to all. But it will not always be open; hence, there is need for action today, for “now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day o f salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2 ). A. Points and Problems 1. “Impotent in his feet” (Acts 14:8). This is a Greek expression which is found frequently in medical writings, adding to the evidence that the writer o f Acts was himself a physician. 2. “H e leaped and walked” (v. 10). The Greek tenses are instructive. The verb “leaped” is an aorist, indicating a single and completed act. But “walked” is an imperfect, suggesting that he kept on walking. The case was a real miracle, not like some of the pretended kind in our day, instances in which the “healed” per son immediately suffers a relapse after the excitement o f the moment is over. 3. ' “ The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men" (v. 11). The stu dent will find it interesting to compare the similar miracle in Acts 3, and to note the contrast between the Jewish reaction to the miracle there and the Gentile re action in Acts 14. The Jews admitted the genuineness of the miracle (4:16), but un derstood perfectly that the power did not feside in the apostles (4 :7 ). But when the Gentiles of Lystra saw the miracle, they immediately concluded that the apostles
the thought of worship’s being ascribed to human beings. But the incident gave them opportunity to preach to the people —to tell them that God, the living God, the Creator of heaven and earth, was the only One to be worshiped. II. T he O pposition from S atan (Acts 14:19,20). Satan again stirred up opposition to the spread of the gospel. He was successful in causing these pagans to do violence to Paul and Barnabas although, at first, the people were at the point of worshiping them. Such is the fickleness of any faith founded on signs! Paul was stoned and left for dead. Whether he was really dead may be a question. But even if he were not dead, and by a miracle given life again, a miracle nevertheless took place, for after being cruelly stoned and left for dead, he was enabled to rise up and return to the City, and the very next day he set off again with Barnabas. No man hav ing received the treatment that Paul un derwent could be physically able to move under his own power, and much less to continue his travels which were necessarily on foot. Thus in this incident there is an other manifestation o f the presence and power o f the risen Lord. It may be asked why such occurrences are not common at the present time. The Lord reserves something even better for the saints today. “ Blessed are they that* have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Furthermore, the practice of the early Christians is not the norm for today. In that day, the New Testament was not written, the gospel was practically untried among pagan peoples, and the walk by faith rather than by sight was new to many. Satan is never contented or idle when the gospel is being given to any people. He opposes not so much the healing of the afflicted as the liberation of the souls of men. He strenuously opposes the gospel because it brings the deliverance of souls from his thralldom, and the salvation of men from eternal destruction. Neither the deliverance nor the salvation comes from miracles o f healing, but from the acceptance of the gospel as preached by Spirit-taught witnesses. BLACKBOARD LESSON
Lesson T ext: Acts 14:8-13, 19, 20; Rom. 10:8-13. Golden T ext: “ I have set thee to be a light o f the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth” (Acts 13:47). Outline and Exposition I. T he E vidence of the R isen L ord (Acts 14:8-13). T he healing of the cripple of Lystra was a miracle similar to the miracles wrought by our Lord while He was on earth (ys. 8-10). This man had never walked. He was presumably a Gentile; therefore, the miracle was not performed in order to present credentials of Jesus’ Messiahship to the nation o f Israel, as had been one purpose in view in the per formance of miracles by our Lord. It appears that the healing of the lame man was granted chiefly for the benefit of the man himself, rather than as a testimony to the divine nature o f Jesus Christ. Evi dently there was something about the way in which the man listened to Paul’s preaching that attracted Paul’s attention and made him know that the man had faith to be healed. In response to Paul’s command, “ Stand upright on thy feet,” the man leaped and walked. There were required both Paul’s word and the man’s faith. And it should be remembered that the expression of the apostle and the faith o f the lame man alike grew out of the recognized presence of the Lord and His power to heal. As a result of the healing, the people thought the gods had come down among them (vs. 11-13). These people evidently were polytheists, worshiping many gods; when the miracle was wrought, they took it for granted that, in the persons o f Paul and Barnabas, two of the gods whom they worshiped stood among them. “And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mer- curius” (v. 12), and prepared to worship them. These people were Gentiles; hence, the healing was no sign to them of the power of the Lord. Signs were for the Jews. Paul and Barnabas were Jews, and to them this exhibition of grace and power would speak to them of the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was with them in wonder working power. But to the Gentiles, the occurrence merely gave occasion for a pagan celebration. The people’s attempt to worship the Lord’s servants had to be hindered; Paul and Barnabas abhorred [These lessons are developed from out lines prepared by the Committee on Im proved Uniform Lessons o f the Interna tional Council. The outlines are copy righted, 1934, by the International Coun cil o f Religious Education and used by permission .—E ditor .]
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