495
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
August 1928
■
■
International Lesson Commentary
Heart of the Lesson—K .L. B„ Outline—David L. Cooper Little Folk—Mabel M. Hope
The thought o f dominion for Christ in advance of the cross emanated from Sa tan as the crowning temptation in the wilderness (Mt. 4:8-10). Later it was suggested by Peter and he was told that he was the mouthpiece o f Satan (Mt. 16: 22-26). Never, from the first, did our Saviour turn from the straight road to Calvary’s cross. It is vital that we should understand this “must needs.” Some believed. Some believed not (vs, 4-5). The greater number o f converts were Greeks. Some were women of dis tinction in the city. The first epistle to the Thessalonians describes a church largely Gentile. They “ turned to God from idols to serve the living God” (1 Thess, '1;;:9). His great succes's among the Gen tiles exasperated the Jews so that they aroused against him the violence of per secution. They leagued with them, loun gers from the market place (v. 5). There is such an element in every place, ready for mischief, and plenty of this kind o f people are usually found assisting in every religious persecution. Are you mixed up in a church squabble? See who is siding with you. It may be an indica tion that the devil is your captain. Hoping to catch Paul and Silas, the home of Jason was mobbed (v. 5). Baf fled in the effort to lay hold, o f the mis sionaries, they dragged Jason and others before the rulers saying, “ These who have turned the world upside down, are come hither also.” Observe how devoted some o f these Jews were to Caesar—on some occasions. How Concerned they were for the maintenance o f his author ity! Yet this was their only ground for asking police interference and they did not scruple to take it.-* “ Upside down” l It was botti a mali cious lie and a glorious truth. The mis sionaries were not social agitators, but the aim of the Gospel is to turn the world right side up, for it is'.certainly bottom side up at the present time. The rulers knew how the matter lay. They simply took bail of Jason and dis missed the case (v. 9). Under cover o f night Paul and Silas journey on. to Berea, where again they go into a synagogue (v. lu ). If our opportunity to teach the Word is closed in one place, instead o f staying and throwing stones, the wise thing is to move on to another place where we are free to witness. At Berea they found a model congrega tion. They came to. a church—Bibles in hand, ready to test the preacher’s words. It is good advice for today—“Don’t swal low all you hear in church.” No true preacher will say to a congregation: “Open your mouths. Shut your eyes and swallow.” H e 1 .challenges investigation (Jn. 5:39). ' If more preachers today* had Bible- searching congregations, it would compel some better preaching. In many a ser mon, a preacher might make a hundred statements not in accord with Scripture and the people would not know the differ ence. W e are told o f a Scotch cabman who was taking an American tourist
S eptember 2, 1928 Paul in Thessalonica 7 Text: Acts 17:1-15 ‘ L esson in O utline I. Paul’s Ministry in Thessalonica. Acts 17:1-9. 1. Paul’s' preaching in the synagogue. Vs. 1-3. 2. Results o f the preaching. Vs. 4-9. a. Multitude of believers. V. 4. b. Opposition o f the unbelievers. Vs. .5-7. c. Influence o f opponents on city officials and citizens. Vs. 8 , 9. II. Paul’s Ministry in Berea. Acts 17:10- 15. 1. Paul’s preaching in the synagogue. V. 10. 2. Results o f the preaching. Vs. 11-13. a. Multitude o f believers. Vs. 11,12. b. Opposition of unbelievers. V. 13. 3. Paul’s departure for Athens. Vs. 14, 15. -III. The Secrets o f Paul’s Successful Ministry.. Rom. 15 :18-20. 1. The impartation o f power by the Holy Spirit. Vs. 18, 19. 2. Desire to preach in unevangelized regions. V. 20. IV. Sundry Exhortations to Holy Liv ing. 1 Thess. 5 :12-23.
“where was THE synagogue of the Jews” (v. 1). Following his custom of going "to the Jew first,” Paul sought out this; place to preach the Gospel For three Sabbath days Paul “reasoned with them” out o f his own head ( ? ) N o! “ Out of the Scriptures" (v. 2). A min ister visiting a home, suggested that he read from the Bible, and called for the family Bible. After some hunting, the man of the house brought out the covers with a few mixed-up leaves between them. “ I didn’t know we were so near out,” he explained. Some o f our preachers today seem to be “nearly out of Scripture.” Their only authority is the guesswork of men. Is it any wonder that church mem bers become anemic? W e should watch Paul’s method of ap proach to people. He always found a common ground on which to begin. Among heathen at Lystra, he took the ground of natural religion and reasoned up to the living- God “who made heaven and earth.” } At Athens he followed a similar course.. But in synagogues o f the Jews he began with the Old Testament. He knew that his Jewish hearers would accept what could fairly be deduced from their own Scriptures. In every argument there must, be some proposition laid down to which both parties agree. The logi cian would call it “the major premise of the syllogism.” Here we find a practical hint for personal work. Proceeding along this line, Paul took their own prophecies and began to. ex pound, proving Christ to be the One de lineated in the Old Testament. “ Opening [giving the sense]: and alleging [setting it forth] that Christ must needs have suf fered and risen again from the dead, and that this Jesus . . . is Christ [Messiah] (v. 3). Bear in mind that the Jews had great difficulty in reconciling the two pictures o f the Messiah found in the pages of their own Scriptures, They found Him as a mighty Conqueror and also as “a man of sorrows." They were taken up exclusively with the first picture and ignored the lat ter, expecting a temporal prince. For this very reason, Paul insisted that in the or der o f prophecy, Christ was first to suffer, then to rise from the grave and then to reign as King. It is strange indeed that in recent years some teachers have gone back to reversing the divine order and teach that Christ first attempted to set up the throne of David and, failing o f sup port, postponed it. (See 1 Pet. 1:11.) “ Christ MUST NEEDS have suffered.” This seems to be Paul’s response to Jesus’ own words in His resurrection '. “ Ought not Christ to have suffered?” (Lk. 24:25- 27). The cross must come before’ the crown. Let us take these statements at their face value. For Christ, before His crucifixion, to have offered to set up an earthly throne* would have been to con tradict the Scriptures to which He ap pealed. Types, shadows, ■prophecy and express declarations—all harmoniously converge upon one momentous necessity—- “must needs have suffered."
— o —
“DAHL 'S two epistles to the Thessajg lonians (fhe earliest of his epistles) give such a glowing picture of the Thes- salonian Church, that it is interesting to
meet, in our chapter for today, an ac count o f its found ing. As the capital of Macedonia, Thes salonica was an ap propriate place for one of the starting points o f the Gospel
in nurope. The careful student will notice the ac curacy o f the order in which Luke names the places passed by the travelers in their journey from Philippi to Thessalonica (v. 1). The missionaries did not pause un til they reached the city which would have a centrifugal influence as a field o f labor. The results certainly did not disappoint Paul’s expectations. " From you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, hut also in every place. your faith to Godward is spread abroad’’— thus he wrote afterward >(1 Thess. 1:8). The commercial eminence of the city meant that many Jews would be found there. Naturally there would be many synagogues. Apparently there was one more prominent than the rest, for in the original it is emphatically designated—
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker