4 9 8
August 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
some preachers called him an ignoramus. He was a bachelor of arts, a master of. arts, a bachelor of law, a doctor of law (honored by degrees in eight or ten col leges). Was he not competent to study the Bible and weigh its values? Yet, like Paul, he was called a mere babbler. How did Paul meet these highbrows ? "H e preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection ” (v. 18). There you have two"strings that the preacher can always play upon. There is no danger of too much emphasis. The music will find its way into all-kinds of hearts. They took this babbler to the Areopagus to hear him through. This was a college o f justice where judgment was pro nounced upon the worst cases. Luke tells us that these Athenians, spent their time in picking up everything new in the way o f religion (v. 21). We still have the reli gious newsmonger with us. He runneth from lecture to lecture to see what neve vagary he can pick up. Paul “stood up in the midst of Mars’ Hill and said . . . . I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious” (over religious) (v. 22). They admitted any thing and everything that came in the dress o f religion,' though in it all, there was no knowledge of God. W e have in Paul’s address a rare combination of pru dence, courtesy, wisdom and boldness. His counsel to Timothy (2 Tim. 2:24) is sig nally illustrated. Let the preacher and teacher observe that he did not denounce their heathen priestcraft and insult them, hut laid a foundation upon common ground and then preached the Gospel. He speaks of seeing an “altar to the unknown God” (v. 23). This was the only Greek altar which in any sense was an altar to the true God. For fear there might have been some deity omitted, they erected this one for the unknown. “ The God you do not know is the only God,” said Paul. “Him I declare unto: ‘you.” What a fine contact he had made ! He then proceeds to open the three great books of God: (1) God in nature (vs. 24- 25) ; (2) God in human history (vs. 26- 28) ; (3) God in Christ (vs. 29-31). “God, made the world” (v. 24). In one crack he knocked the props out from un der both philosophies. If there was a personal God, their deities were -nothing. God is separate from and superior to all existences. Down goes pantheism. God is the Controller o f everything. Chance is ruled out. He “dwells not in temples made with hands.” Where could more beautiful temples be found than in Athens ? He is not worshiped by hand (v. 25), but “in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24). He wants, first of all, our recognition and yieldedness, not our gifts and deeds. It was ,the common belief that the dif ferent races had different origins. Paul taught their unity o f origin. “God hath made of one blood all nations” (v. 26). He pulls up by the roots the Athenian conceit that they were a very superior stock. In their conception mankind was divided into two classes—Greeks and bar barians. Scripture teaches that there is no difference in the bldod o f human races; Science has proved it. “In Him we live" (v. 28). Therefore, live to Him. In Him “we move.” , There fore, look to Him. In Him we “have our being.” Therefore, consecrate your life to Him (Rom. 12:1). All men are “ the offspring of God” (v. 29) . It is God’s relation to men as creatures
himself, together with his own lowliness, pressed him down in spirit. In this ex cited dnd depressed condition Silas and Timothy found him (v. 5). Their fellow ship and the encouraging news they bore, stimulated him greatly. A year and a half he continued “teach ing the Word of God among them” (v. 11). During this period were written the two epistles to the Thessalonians, the first of his nine letters to churches, though the last in the order o f our New Testament. —o—- E rrors C orrected by P aul ’ s M ars ’-H ill D iscourse 1. Atheism —the dogma that there is no Godp?p| 24. 2. Pantheism— the theory that all is God—v. 24. 3. Materialism —the .notion that matter is eternaL—v, 25. 4. Fatalism—the idea that no intel ligence presides over the universe, that all comes to pass by chance—v. 26. 5. Polytheism —the idea there are many gods—Vs| 27-28. 6 . Ritualism— the idea God can be hon- onored by purely external performances —v. 25. 7. Evolutionism,—the idea that man! is the product of force and matter—v. 29. 8 . UniversaliSm— the idea that all will be saved-rfys. 30-31. — o — S eed T houghts Be ready to talk for Christ on all oc casions (17:17). New religions begin with a doubt, end with a guess, and have no tomorrow (v. 21 ). That which is good in a man furnishes an avenue o f approach to bring him the best (v. 23). Man was never created to act inde pendently o f God (v. 24). God doesn’t want help, but love (v. 25). Sacred truths of the greatest -certainty to the saints have, from the' first, been the subject of jests among the “wits” (v. 3 2 ). Propagate the Gospel, not by force, hut by fair argument (18:4). Having done your best, leave the rest (v. 6 ). Comfort—“Be not afraid” (v. 9 ), Com mand —“but speak.” Companionship — “I am with thee” (v. 10). Compensation — “ I have much people.” Mr. Bradlaugh, the great Atheist, once challenged Hugh Price Hughes to a de bate on Christianity. Mr. Hughes replied: “Most certainly; nothing would give me greater pleasure. But as conventional de bates usually lead to nothing, let us- have one on new lines. I will undertake to bring a hundred men and women o f va rious sorts to the platform and they shall witness to the saving work o f the Christ of Calvary’s cross. You cross-examine them. You are to bring a hundred men and women who have been saved from sin by means of your atheistic teaching.” The debate did not take place. — o — G olden T ext I llustration For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2 ).
that is here spoken of, not His relation to them as spiritual children (see Gal. 3: 26; Jn. 1:12). The argument is, .that since man’s very existence points to an intelligent Creator, He; must be conceived of as more than a stone image. Why is it that some men are so eager to establish paternity for man among the baboons? “ The times o f ignorance God winked at” (v. 30). The word means literally “forbore.” W inking is a figure the word will not bear. God allowed the ignorant worship o f man to pass without special interference for centuries, but now, in the light o f the incarnation, the' cross and the resurrection, “commandeth all men everywhere to repent.” Here is a word that should be pondered by those who. teach that repentance is not the message for the present dispensation. The closing verses record the threefold result of Paul’s discourse. 1. Derision. 2. D e la y ,, 3. Decision. Paul saw more clearly than ever that the only salvation for cultured people was that of the cross, however they might regard it (1 Cor. .1 : 18-20, 25-30). Paul next proceeded to Corinth (18:1). The Corinthians were èxpertàùin sin and no city could beat its devotion to thè al tars of darkness. Paul no doubt preached better at Corinth because o f his expe rience at Athens. He decided to make his messages thoroughly evangelistic. As he walked the forty miles to Corinth, he may have said to himself : “After all, there’ s only one arrow that can pierce the heart o f man.” Anyway he wrote the Cor inthians: “I came not to you with excel lency o f speech or wisdom . . . for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” That is a message we can all declare and that always works when it finds entrance to an honest heart. At Corinth^.'he “found a certain Jew named Aquila . . . . with his wife Pris cilla. Because he was of the same craft he abode with them and zvorked (for by occupation they were tentmakers.)” (vs. 2-3). How did he ever find them? How did we. find each other? There is no chance, but that of the eternal purpose'. After all, there was a kind providence in that edict of Claudius’ (v. 2) that drove these tentmakers from Rome to Corinth. It was God’s way o f caring for Paul’s comfort during a trying time. How much it means if the Lord’s servants can have a place to feel at home, with congenial fel lowship ! For Aquila and his wife, it meant a rare opportunity to entertain an. apostle, and through it, to enter Christian work (Rom. 16:3-4). Paul was glad to work on tents to pay expenses; that he might preach without charge on the Sabbath day. He would not give occasion to the sharp-eyed Greeks to charge him with being a grafter. It is well for a preacher to know something besides preaching. “ The laborer is worthy o f his hire,” but there are times when a wise foresight for the Gospel might lead ministers to follow Paul’s example. During his stay, until after receiving an encouraging vision and the words of Christ (vs. 9-10), Paul seems ;tp have passed through a time of depression (v. 5). Later, writing o f it, he says he “was with them in weakness, and in fear and in much trembling." His epistle confirms the impression that the whole of this first Corinthian visit was a time of ordeal and crisis. The hardened perversity o f the Jews and their virulent hatred against
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