October 1931
465
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1. The folly of the attempt was mani fested. The evil spirit leaped upon the people and prevailed against them, so that they fled from its presence (vs. 15, 16). We gather from these verses that evil spirits are real beings, that they understand when addressed, that they use the facul ties of the person whom they possess, that they have a knowledge of the past, that they are stronger than mortals, and that they recognize both Jesus and His fol lowers. 2. Fear came upon all the people. Unbelievers instinctively feel, whenever there is a manifestation of spiritual power, that the spirit realm is very near; conse quently, a strong sense of fear falls upon them. It is this fear by which multitudes are controlled and 'dominated today, as indicated by the rapid spread of Spiritism. 3. The truth was advanced because the name of the Lord Jesus was mag nified. A great revival resulted (vs. 17-20). It began with the confession of many who had practiced superstitious rites. The con fession was public, “before all men,” and sincere, because it cost them “fifty thou sand pieces of silver.” When there is true repentance, confession will always be as public as was the offense. (We must be careful not to insist upon public confes sion of private misdeeds.) 4. Because of the revival, “mightily grew the word of God and pre vailed. True revival results in eagerness and effectiveness in the service of the Lord. Every great revival of the past has been followed by an intensive and extensive seeking of the lost and striving to bring the gospel to them. One may properly doubt the genuineness and reality of any so-called revival which does not result in increased interest in foreign missionary endeavor, in deepened concern for the lost at home, and in a growing desire to see the Word of God published far and wide. The results of the opposition of super stition reveal, as does the opposition of infidelity, that God brings good out of evil and forwards His own purposes in spite of men and Satan. We should not be disturbed by opposition from any quar ter. We need only trust that God will overrule, and will from that which ap pears to be disastrous, bring glory to His own cause. Lesson Questions Vs. 8-10. For how long did Paul preach in the synagogue at Ephesus? How was his message received? What two mean ings are contained in the word “hard ened” ? What is the thought here? Give one Old and one New Testament illus tration of hardening of heart. When Paul left the city, did the day of salvation for the Christ-rejecting Jews of that place virtually come to a close? Cite other sol emn occasions when perpetual and willful unbelief has resulted in the withdrawal of the means of grace. In what way did op position lead to the furtherance of the gospel ? Vs. 11-14. What was the primary cause of the opposition against Paul? Was the power which was imparted to him, a spe cial gift, which was needed in that par ticular period, or was it something which
BLACKBOÆ 0 LESSON CÛMP^ÔMIS[ B% rtLLÛVSUIP^
Approach : After Paul had preached in Corinth for a long time, he thought it was time to move to another country to tell the gospel story. This time he took a
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boat and s a i l e d across the sea to the city of Ephesus. Lesson S t o r y : Here he preached for two years until t h e p e o p l e a l l around E p h e s u s , both Jews and Gen tiles, had “heard the word of the Lord Jesus.” God gave. Paul
W H A T TCLLOWSMIP UATU ~ T^IGMTEOUSNESS WITH UNRIGHTEOUSNESS <
believers in all dispensations have and enjoy? How does the experience of Tro phimus affect your answer? To what did the Jews attribute Paul’s power? How did they seek to counterfeit the super natural? Were they successful? Vs. 15-17. What teaching regarding evil spirits is found in these verses ? Is it largely through fear that multitudes to day are held in the grasp of Spiritism? Vs. 18-20. In this lesson, what led to conviction, repentance, and revival? Name some results that prove that the revival was genuine. May these tests properly be applied to religious movements today to determine their genuineness ? What illus tration is there in this lesson that believers need not fear opposition, so long as they are trusting in God? Golden Text Illustration Among the fairest of maidens in an cient Greece was one called Dejanira, whom a host of suitors strove to win. Among the suitors were Hercules and Achelous, to whom the rest gave way, and these two mighty gods came to bat tle over her. Achelous, the river god, dis covered that he was no match for the powerful son of Jove, and he found him self, after a terrific struggle, on his face with his mouth in the dust and his throat in the grip of Hercules’ mighty hand. But Achelous was possessed of a strange power to transform himself at will either into a hissing serpent or a raging bull. First he curled his body into a coil and hissed with his forked tongue in Hercules’ face. But Hercules had strangled snakes in his infancy and soon was choking the very life from his rival’s body. Vanquished in this form, Achelous turned himself into a bull, but Hercules rushed upon him, threw him upon the sand, wrenched one of his horns from his angry head, and compelled him to ac knowledge his mighty foe. his conqueror. That bull is a man’s besetting sin in the sense that it is the ultimate form it assumes to cause a saint to fall. The devil is a past-master in metamorphosis. The essence of evil is ever the same, but its form is as varied as the passions of men. You conquer it in one form, and it appears in another. There are those who have victory at practically every point but one, and that is where the death-struggle must take place. But, thank God, there is divine strength of a mightier sort than Hercules ever knew, and even the bull can be thrown and throttled and overcome. . .'V / / / W. E. B. Paul in the City of Ephesus A cts 19:8-20 Memory Verse : “Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).
power to heal the sick and to cure the peo ple of evil spirits. When some of the Jews saw what wonders Paul could doj they wanted that power, too. They didn’t know that the power was given to Paul by God; they thought it was a sort of magic. So when they tried to cure a man with an evil spirit, he leaped upon them so that they fled in fear from the place. When the crowds of people saw this, they believed in the message which Paul preached. Many brought their old books, which had taught them things which now they know were not so, and burned them. It must have made a very big bonfire, for when they counted the price of the books they had burned, they found that they were worth more than fifty thousand pieces of silver. But the price didn’t mat ter to them. We must not be afraid of destroying evil things either. We may not need to make a bonfire of books; but if we know of anything that we are doing which is wrong, we must get rid of it, no matter what it costs. Golden T e x t : “Thou shalt be his wit ness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard” (Acts 22:15). I. T he A ccusation A gainst P aul (27-29). Accusation came from certain Asiatic Jews who discovered Paul in the temple during the feast of Pentecost. At this feast, thousands of Jews from all parts of the world gathered in Jerusalem, and among them came some from Asia. It was known to them that Paul had been preaching the gospel of the grace of .God. Not discerning the true import of that gospel, they supposed that he was teach ing against the law of Moses. But this was wholly a mistake, as he really upheld the law in its fullness and majesty, its perfection and certainty of fulfillment. It was this very perfection of the’law that made necessary the gospel of grace. The law could only condemn and slay all who broke it and, since all had broken it, there was in the law no hope for any one. Hence, the gospel of grace was needed for guilty sinners, and this was the gospel that Paul had been preaching. When he came to Jerusalem, the lead ers among the Christians had a confer ence with him (vs. 15-26), saying that, because of the many Jews who still held to some parts of the ceremonial law and yet believed in Christ as their personal NOVEMBER 15, 1931 Paul in Jerusalem Lesson: Acts 21:17 to 23:30. Lesson Text: Acts 21:27-39.
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