497
August 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
and a knife. Now this is a very fine knife and very use ful, but how many of you boys would like to receive one like it for a present if you could never open it? No, it would not be o f any value; whatever if it
against the Bible, and they lose their faith; but if they would open their Bibles and read for themselves, they would know the truth and be saved. V/e must re member wherever the Bible is preached, there will be enemies who will persecute and make it hard for those who believe, but we must also remember that the Lord is with His own. It was very hard for Paul, but see what he says in our memory verse for today. Paul says the Lord stood by and strengthened him, so he could go on and preach the Gospel to the people, and the Lord was with him. Oh, boys and girls, how thankful we; should be for our Bi bles ! Let us open them and learn some thing from them each day. Prayer. S eptember 9, 1928 L esson in O utline ' I. Paul’s Ministry in Athens. Acts 17: 16-34. 1. His preaching in synagogue and market-place. Vs. 16-18. 2. Paul taken to Mars’ Hill. Vs. 19-21. 3. His speech on Mars’ Hill. Vs. 22-31. a. The false gods of the city. Vs. 22, 23. b. The true God o f the universe. Vs. 24-29. c. The call to repentance. Vs. 30, 31. 4. Results o f the discourse. Vs. 32-34. II. Paul’s Ministry in Corinth. Acts 18: 1-17. 1. Paul at manual labor. Vs. 1-3. .2. Paul preaching in'■■the / synagogue. Vs. 4-6. 3. Paul preaching in a private home. Vs. 7-H. a. Multitudes o f converts. Vs. 7, 8 . b. Divine encouragement. Vs, 9-11. 4. Paul before judgment-seat of Gal- lio. Vs. 12-17. III. Paul as a Worker at Corinth. 1 Cor. 2:1-16. 1. His preaching only the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Vs. 1-5. 2. The divine origin of his message. Vs. 6-16. IV. The Fundamentals o f Paul’s'M es sages. 1 Tim. 2:\-7. 1. Praise and prayer for officials. V. 1. 2. The Christian life one of godliness and gravity. V. 2. 3. God’s love for the world. Vs. 3, 4. 4. One God. V. 5a. 5. One Mediator—the God-Man. Vs. 5b, 6 . 6 . Paul’s apostleship and ministry. V. 7.
from Thessalonica. Silas remained be hind and we gather that Timothy had been sent back to Thessalonica to es tablish t h e Chris tians t h e r e (1 Thess. 3 :2 ). Thus the evangelistic band was broken up into units. Alone in the great heathen city o f Athens, the scenes on which Paul gazed made him all the more lonely. It was a great center of art, philosophy, and sci ence. It was called “the brain o f the world.” Milton describes it in his “ Para dise Regained” as the “mother o f arts and eloquence.” In these very streets Socrates had been a daily teacher during his life, and on Athens’ Areopagus he was condemned to die. In the olive grove by the banks o f the Cephissus, Plato found ed his academy. Within this city was a garden where Epicurus met his followers. Where all this education flourished,;, where the very perfection o f human art: was found ; the center o f human culture—- their idolatry and sensuality most abound ed. Does that carry a message for the presentday? What is there in material SplendcffS and mental training to affect the moral and spiritual condition o f a peo ple? (1 Cor. 1:21; Rom. 1:21.) These people had more images than, could be found in all the rest of Greece. Their streets were crowded with idol sellers. It well-nigh broke Paul’s heart to see all this misuse o f the products of genius—culture ending in nothing but selfish, vile gratification for the flesh. "His spirit was stirred [paroxysm] in him’’ (17:16). Daily he carried on a discussion in the synagogue and in the market place. There he encountered the Epicureans and the Stoics (v. 18), the two leading schools of philosophy. Epicureans taught that the great end o f existence was enjoyment. Creation was ascribed to chance. If there was any Supreme Being, He was indif ferent tq human interests. The Stoics claimed to believe in God but .were pan theists. Providence was governed by fatal necessity. In the language of today, we have in these two schools the materialists and the moralists. In Epicureanism it was man’s sensual nature resisting the claims o f the Gospel of Christ. In Stoicism, it was self- righteousness and pride o f intellect that resisted Christ. Thè same general lines may be drawn .today among the rejecters o f Christ. Here was Christianity’s- first contact with human philosophy.' Paul was an educated man in à university city. He was fearless of all human sophistries, knowing that the Gospel could stand any test (Rom. 1:16). These men called him “a babbler” ( seed-picker). The word re ferred to birds that picked up seed around the market places and was sometimes ap plied to persons who hung around- the streets picking up gossip. It was the old' game of brow-beating. Paul, to them, was , j.u.st a picker-up of learning’s crumbs-Do not the highbrowis!Sstill look upon the, mes sengers o f the cross with the. same con tempt ? The late William Jennings Bryan was never regarded by statesmen as an un educated man, but when he used his ora tory to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and defend fundamental truth, even
was never to be opened, Now, boys and girls, did you know that is just like the Bible; it is the most wonderful book in all the world, but, like the knife, if kept closed it can not be o f any help to any one. You know there are many homes with Bibles in them, but the Bibles are never opened, and they are no better off than the people living in a home where there is no Bible. The Bible tells us of Jesus our Saviour who died to save us from our sins, and shows us how to live each day, and so many other wonderful things. What kind o f a Bible is in your home ? Prayer. Lesson Story. —Were any o f you ever in an earthquake? Were you frightened? Who will tell us the story o f the earth quake that proved a blessing and helped Some people to know the Lord Jesus as Saviour? We have another story o f Paul and Silas today finding some new friends, and they found new foes also. I wonder if you boys and girls went to Sunday school and church on your vacation. You know we have a very good idea o f people by the places they go to on the Lord’s Day. Paul and Silas were going from place to place, and our story says they were in a city called Thessalonica for some time, and they went into the synagogue for three Sabbaths and preached unto the people, showing from the Bible that Jesus was the Saviour. And some o f them be lieved, and many of the Gentiles also. Now the story tells us something about Paul. It says He was always in God’s house on the Lord’s Day. Now the Jews who would not believe became angry when they saw others believing on the Lord Jesus, and they caused an uproar in the city. (Describe this scene showing how we often suffer because we believe in Jesus, but the Lord is watching over His own.) The Christians in this city sent Paul; and Silas away by night to another city, called Berea. Now the people here, were more willing to hear than those in Thes salonica, for they listened to the Gospel, and after hearing it from Paul and Silas, they read every day for themselves in the Bible, to see whether the things Paul and Silas told them were true. Many of the Jews believed, and Gentiles also, both men and women. This is such a beautiful story, and the one we so much need. These people opened their Bibles and read for them selves, and they were saved. You know people today, many o f them, go to church and hear the Bible, and then they go away and they hear someone else say things FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE O PENING THE T V 7 BJECTING TO \ X / n r r | BEYING THE V V L / i VJ. The opening o f thy words giveth light. Psa. 119:130.
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1 Paul in Athens and Corinth Text: A c ti 17:16-18:17
■pOR the first time in Paul’s travels he found himself without human com panionship. He had been persuaded by the believers at Berea to take ship to Athens in view o f the appearance' of persecutors
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