August 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
499
Paul Tells of Jesus in Two Great Cities Acts 17:16-18 :17; 1 Cor. 2:1-16; 1 Tim. 2:3-7. Memory Verse.-*-“ I will trust and not be afraid.” Isa. 12:2. Approach. —Show the children a watch. Ask them to hear it tick. It goes on tick ing day and night, and when we wish we may look at it and know the time. It
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD 0 UTLINE c "• O U L S L / r e s e r v e d f o r ' •SERVICE 1 RINCIPLES S t a t e d Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 1 Cor, 2 :2. r > A S S IO N FOR
and most comprehensive. Fine tact and practical wisdom are exhibited. It is less theological than some of his other writ ings, yet it brings out profound truths concerning the doctrine o f the resurrec tion and treats in a most masterly way the subjects of love> purity, conscience, dis cernment and reverence in the church. The,; Corinthian church was troubled with cliques. The loose habits o f heathen dom clung to many, making them easily misled. They had no authority among them to h.old things in check. They went off on tangents. There were outbreaks o f emotionalism accompanied by immor ality. Paul writes from Ephesus' (1 Cor. 16:8) to answer some of. the questions that had come to him. With all their faults he addresses them as “the church o f God sanctified in Christ Jesus." He meets the need by appealing to their high stand ing: in Christ and the reality of their union with Him. He let them know that he ;saw in them the seeds o f great spir itual growth. The lesson committee assigns the first four chapters which have to do with the general subject of cliques in the church. The teacher will find some fine bits of teaching material in these chapters and will do well to select such portions as may be best adapted to those to be taught. Our attention is .first called to chap. 1, verses 10-13. “I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be■ perfectly joined 'together, in the same mind and in the same judgmentt" (v. 10). It is painful to be compelled to acknowledge among Christians of that early day, the spirit o f division—but there it is! Satan has always made it his special business to divide believers. It takes .but a very thin veil to hide one Christian from another,.’ and the devil’s workshop is busy overtime turning out the veils,!:?,;, It may be pleasing to dream of the early church as a society o f angels, but when we begin to read the New Testa ment carefully, we behold Satan at work “rightly dividing” the church. Again and again believers were called upon to avoid this subtle snare o f the enemy, and to cul tivate, through prayer, the spirit o f har mony. Unity of sentiment is not to be ex pected, but unity o f affection is .always possible. “ There are [contentions among you/i says the apostle (v. 11). Teachers had arisen claiming •superior scholarship and advancing _ interpretations contrary to those received from Paul. One said he was instructed o f Peter; another said Apollos was /his teacher; some all but worshiped Paul (vs. 12-13). It is very easy, when one has a differ ence with another, to tack on a pretense of religion and to give envious contests a glorious name. There is a lot o f pure cussedness that goes under the mask of religious zeal. Be suspicious of religious zeal when it boils up in the form of un kind personalities and when it leads to glorying and boasting, as in the case be fore us. How did Paul deal with a situation of this kind ¡g) One said: “ I march with Dr. So-and-So.” Another said “Dr. Doe is the greatest leader: march with him or you will land in perdition.” Paul directed every eye and every heart to one object— Jesus Christ, the center and source of unity. “Is Christ divided?" (v. 13). No
does not stop in the dark but runs just as well as in the light. This is like o u r heavenly Fa ther’s love. Whether we are asleep or awake, whether we are sick or well, whether we are in safety or in danger, Should we’ not trust
stayed here for quite a while, (one and one-half years) and told how God loved them and wanted them to be saved. This is a message for us too, for God has given us all a chance to be saved, and if we refuse to love and obey. Him, we alone are to blame, and we must one day stand before God. If we belong to Jesus what a happy day that will be, for we will go to live with Him in heaven for- .evef-i, If why do not. belong to Jesus, oh, what a sad day it will be, for we are lost forever. Paul belonged to Jesus and He took care o f him. He watches : in the night as well as in the day. (Teach M. V .) (Prayer.) • S eptember 16, 1928 L esson in O utline I. Condemnation o f Divisions. 1:1-2:16. 1. Apostolic greetings. Vs. 1-3. 2: Prayer for spiritual growth o f the ■ church. Vs. 4-9. 3. Exhortation to unity. Vs. 10-17. 4. The Gospel, th.e power and wisdom of God. Vs. 18-31. 5. The divine origin of the Gospel. 2 : 1-16. II. The Unity of the Church. 3:1-17. 1. Paul and Apollos, fellow-workers in the Gospel. Vs. 1-9., , 2. The one foundation. Vs. 10-15. 3. Warning against destroying the tem- Pjjffple o f God. Vs. 16,- 17. III. Sundry Warnings and a Loving Ap peal. 3:18-4:21. 1. Warning against worldly wisdom. 3 :18-23. 2. Warning against judging. 4:1-5. 3. ;: The false attitude of the Corin thians censured. Vs. 6-13. 4. A loving appeal -to the church of Corinth. Vs. 14-21. — o — Paul Writes to the Corinthians T ext: 1 Cor. 1:10-13; 3:5-11, 21-23 V U E have' seen in our last Sunday’s v v lesson that Paul’s first missionary labor among the Corinthians extended over a year and a half, during which
He watches over us.
Him and not be afraid? Prayer. Lesson Story.- What is the most won derful book in all the world? The Bible. Let us hold our Bibles up in our right hands, and sing: “Take it wherever you go.” Let us bow our heads and thank God for the Bible, and ask Him to help us to read and study it every day, and to do as it bids us do. In our story today Paid tells, o f Jesus in two great cities. W e learned last week that those who did not believe in Jesus followed Paul to Berea. Some o f Paul’s friends slipped him away to the big city of Athens, but Silas and Timothy remained at Berea. The- people of Athens were con sidered the wisest people living, and were' known all over the world for their learn ing; yet they worshiped false gods. They made beautiful statues o f these gods, and built splendid temples and altars to them in different 1 parts of the city. There was one altar with the words TO THE UN KNOWN GOD. For though they had many gods, they felt there was one God whom they had never learned about. Paul had sent for Timothy and Silas to come, and while he was waiting for them, it was impossible for him to be silent, es pecially in such a place as Athens. (Tell the story of his Wonderful message on Mars’ Hill, how he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection.) After leaving Athens, Paul came to the city of Corinth, and met a Jew by the name o f Aquila and his, wife Priscilla; who were tentmakers. The Jews always taught their sons some business, so when they grew up they would be able to sup port themselves. While Paul was an apos tle, he often made tents so' he could sup port himself. So Paul went to work and stayed with these people who were also tentmakers, but every Sabbath Day he went into the synagogue and taught the people, persuading them to believe in the Saviour. When the Jews would not be lieve him and spoke wickedly o f Jesus, he said unto them, “ I have done my duty in telling you of Him. If you will not be saved, the fault is your own ; I will go and preach to the Gentiles.” Now Corinth, like Athens, was a great city, but the people who lived there were wicked. Paul loved their souls and want ed to see them saved. The Lord spoke to Paul in the night in a vision, and told him that many, of them should become Chris tians. He commanded Paul to preach boldly and without fear, for the Lord had said: “I am with thee to take care of thee, and no man shall hurt thee.” Paul
period he lived with Aquila and Pris cilla a n d wrought at the tent-making trade for a living. The q u e s t i o n s brought up at Cor inth were not Jew ish, as in other com
munities. They concerned a people just converted from idolatry and emerging from the corruption o f heathen life in a very wicked city. The contents o f Paul’s first letter to the believers at Corinth, written at Ephesus, are therefore varied
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