349
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
September, 1936
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“ Because it won’t let us alone,” promptly replied the orator. Something about the Bible gets at sin, unbelief, and such like.— 1,000 Tales Worth Telling, by Pickering. When People Read the Bible A cts 17:1-15; 1 T hessalonians 2:1-12 Memory Verse: “I will not forget thy word” (Psa. 119:16). Approach: After Paul and Silas were set free from the prison at Philippi, they went on farther into Macedonia into the city of Thessalonica. L e s s o n S t o r y : msm and told the people that “ Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus . . . is Christ.” Some, mostly Greeks, believed in the Lord Jesus and wanted to hear more. But the Jews who did not believe wished to make trouble; so they stirred up rough men to go about saying something like this: “These men that have turned the world upside down have come here. They are saying there is another king besides Caesar, one Jesus.” Soon the whole city was in an uproar, and Paul and Silas had to leave. But we know that they left some believers in that city, for later Paul wrote two let ters to the church members there. Next the missionaries, Paul and Silas, came to the city of Berea. Once more they entered the synagogue and preached. The Bible tells us that these Bereans were more noble than the people of Thessalonica, for they “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily.” And because of this study of God’s Word, many believed. We, too, must hide God’s Word in our hearts that we “might not sin” against Him. Objects: A Bible with o v e rla p p in g edges, and six pieces o f silk ribbon, each about three-quarters o f an inch wide and twelve inches long. (Thé ribbons should be black, red, white, sky-blue, grass-green, and yellow. Sew them together in the order mentioned. Begin with the yellow and roll. Place the roll at the top o f the Bible, between the overlapping edges. Slip the black portion through the Bible and allow it to hang at the bottom as a book mark. An elastic band placed over the roll and fastened around the Bible will secure the ribbons until the presentation of the lesson. It can then be removed.) Lesson: The Bible is the most wonder ful book in all the world. It tells us all of the things that are the most important for us to know. Without opening this Bible, I want to take out of it some o f the great truths that it contains. This black ribbon looks like a bookmark, but it suggests the first great truth of the Bible. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory o f God” (Rom. 3 :23). “All we like sheep have gone astray” (Isa. 53:6). “ There is none righteous, no, not one” (Rom. 3:10). Unless we first learn this Object Lesson G od ’ s W onderful W ord H e re in th is city th ere w ere many Jew s and G reek s who wished to wor ship God according to the Jewish law, and they had a build ing in which to wor ship. H e re P au l went, and as was his custom, he stood up
But as they grew in the Lord and in spiritual things, they needed the care of a father, and Paul has changed the figure of his relationship to them (vs. 10-12). As a father he had strengthened their spiritual life through example (v. 10), living holily before God with regard to what was sinful and unclean, and living justly before them with regard to what was unjust and un fair. Therefore, he had lived unblamably toward both God and them, and they were witnesses to the fact. Moreover, he strengthened their spiritual life by his ex hortation (v. 11). He encouraged and con soled them; he comforted, supported and sustained them; and he “charged” them, thus pressing upon their hearts and minds the truth. Paul ministered to the end that they might “walk worthy of God” (v. 12), being holy, pure, clean, just, and mani festing the love of Christ that was the out ward expression o f the new nature within. Points and Problems 1. The first part of this lesson deals with the work of Paul in two cities: Thessaloni- ca and Berea. It is interesting to note where the apostle began his work in both cities. He began in the “synagogue of the Jews'’ (Acts 17:1, 10). Furthermore, Acts 17:2 declares that this was Paul’s regular method ( “as his manner was” ). Several reasons for this method should be noticed: First, throughout the book o f Acts, Paul adheres to his formula, “to the Jew first.” Second, because of the Jewish interest in the coming o f Messiah, there was a prep aration for his message that Paul could not possibly find among the pagans o f his day. And finally, Paul depended upon Old Testament Scripture for his argument, which Scripture was accepted without question in every Jewish synagogue. 2. However, just as we find differences between churches of today, so Paul found there was a vast difference between differ ent Jewish synagogues. In Thessalonica the Jews tried to kill the preacher, while at Berea the Jews “received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (v. 11). No wonder Luke says that the Bereans were “more noble” ! The habit of devout Bible study does confer a spiritual nobility upon the human soul and intellect which is unique. Enter a church where the Bible is exalted, studied, and be lieved with the heart, and you will feel immediately the difference between such a church and those churches where the Bible is treated merely as a piece of furniture. 3. "And searched the Scriptures daily" (v. 11). There was nothing superficial about the study o f the Word among the Bereans. The Greek verb "anakrino" is a legal term denoting a careful examination and investigation. Pilate -uses the term when he says of our L o r d “ Behold, I, having examined him before you, have found no fault in this man” (Lk. 23:14). T o the Bereans, Bible study was a serious undertaking. So it should be to us, even more serious than the work of the United States Supreme Court when it “examines” the Constitution of the land for the pur pose of determining whether or not some new law has any constitutional validity. Golden Text Illustration “Why don’t you tackle Homer, Shake speare, Kipling, or some of these chaps? Have a shot at them, and let the Bible alone for a while,” suggested a man at one of the iiifidel lectures in the east o f Lon don.
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