T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S ■ The topic assigned for study in th is lesson is “The E arly Life of Saul,” b u t the portions of Scripture selected throw very little ligh t upon his early life, and in fact, nothing is told LESSON us regarding his early EXPOSITION life other th a n th a t he T. C. H o rton was a Pharisee, th e son of a Pharisee, a citizen ■of Tarsus, h u t brought up a t th e feet of Gamaliel. The passage from 2 Tim. 3:14, 15 does not tell us anything of the early, life of Paul, b u t of the early life of Timothy, and we can only infer th a t P au l had been sim ilarly instructed. The passage from Deut. 6:4-9 was com mented upon in connection w ith the les son for May 1st, and can be referred to, if desired. Inasmuch as th e rest of the lessons for 1921 will be in the Book of Acts, we have though t it well to give a brief synopsis of th e Book before tak ing up th e study of it in detail. A b etter title for th is book would be “The Acts of th e Holy Sp irit” for over fifty times is He mentioned by His dis tinctive title, indicating how large a place He fills in th e inspired record. The four Gospels give an account of th e redemptive work of Christ before His ascension, and the Book of Acts tells of th e work of salvation w rought by Him, through the Holy Spirit, a fte r His ascension. In th is book we have th e history of the establishm ent and development of th e Body of Christ, (known as th e Church) in which th ere is n eith er Jew nor Greek, bond nor free,— a body not known in the Old Testam ent, b u t re vealed in the New, (Eph. 3:2-6; Col. 1:26, 27). The au tho r is Luke (1 :1 ). The date is unknown, bu t it follows th e Gospel of Luke, which is credited to A. D. 63-68. The book falls n atu rally into three divisions: I. Chapters 1 to 7, Centering in Je ru salem, beginning w ith
591 The promise, command and ascen sion of our Lord. 1. The gift of th e Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. 2. The organization of the church. 2. The w itnessing church. 3. The opposition of the Jews.' 4 and 5. The persecution and m artyrdom of Stephen. 6 and 7. II. Chapters 8 and 9, Centering in Judea and Samaria. Here we have: The scattering of the witnesses, Philip going to Samaria. The persecution by Saul of Tarsus, and his conversion. This period begins w ith peace and closes w ith persecution. III. Chapters 10-28. The Gospel to the ends of th e earth . H ere we have: The call to th e Gentiles, Ch. 10. The Gentile Pentecost in the house of Cornelius, Ch. 10 and 11. The persecution of believers, Ch. 12 . The m artyrdom of James, Ch. 12. The imprisonm ent of Peter, Ch. 12. The life and history of Paul, from th e 13th chapter to the end of th e book. This order is in exact accord w ith th e command, of th e Lord Je su sp -first, Jerusalem ; second, Jud ea and Samaria; th ird , to th e u tterm o st ends of the earth. The e n tire book centers largely around two persons:— In the first part, P ete r is th e cen tral figure. The re st of th e book, from the th irte en th chapter to th e end, is largely concerned, w ith th e life-and history of Paul. (In th is connection we would call the rea d er’s atten tion to th e lesson for June 12 in which is given an exposition of “The P resen t Mission of the Church” Acts 1 :6 -9 ). Look now a t the relation of th is book of th e “Acts of th e Holy Sp irit” to the subject of evangelization, and note th a t th e conditions which existed a t the threshold of th e Church’s history, exist a t th is present tim e: A heathen world,
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