October 1931 that there is any transforming virtue in Christianity. But if they see, in the lives of those who profess to be Christians, un selfishness, gentleness, patience, thought fulness, purity, and other marks of Christ- likeness, there can be no argument against the power of Christ to change the fallen nature of man. “Thou shalt be his wit nesses unto all men.” Paul in Trouble A cts 21:27-39 Memory Verse : “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Approach: After Paul left Ephesus, he went back through the cities where he had been before, visiting the churches
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1. Because of its claims. It declares that it alone possesses the truth of God, that it is final, and that it is the fulfillment of all that went before. It asserts that it has the truth, and there fore is not seeking for it. It claims to have come into the world full grown, a revelation and not an evolution. 2. Because of its character. It is bigoted, dogmatic, and intolerant. By its very nature, it must condemn all others, and it must separate from them. It must condemn, because it alone has the tru th ; and it must separate, because truth and falsehood can not go hand in hand. Its character is naturally repellent to the natural man. It says to every man, in a voice more insistent than the Roman Cath olic Church or any other ecclesiastical body, that outside of its communion there can be no salvation and no knowledge of the true God. 3. Because of the conditions of receiv ing it. It demands unconditional surrender, and this requirement is humbling to the na turally proud heart of man. It demands full obedience to Another, even when His orders may not be understood. It re quires that those who embrace it shall walk, not by the light of reason, but by the leading of faith. Little wonder, then, that this strange sect called Christianity should everywhere be spoken against! When they had appointed a day in which to hear him, many of the Romans came together to hear what Paul would have to say. From verses 23 and 24 of our lesson, we learn that he gave them a full exposition of the Scriptures concern ing Jesus of Nazareth in relation to the kingdom. It must have been an exhaus tive treatment of the subject, for he spoke “from morning till evening”—a full day. The result was that some believed, but others—and these represented the nation of the Jews—believed not. This unbelief was the final rejection of the gospel by the Jewish nation. The gospel was given to the Jew first, but when he refused it, it was extended to all people, without respect to nationality. It is now not a racial but an individual offer from God to man. The book of the Acts closes with a reference to the final rejection of the gospel on the part of Israel. But the Epis tle to the Romans, which immediately fol lows, and which carries a message to indi viduals of all nations, indicates the resto ration of the Jewish nation at a future time (Rom. 11). III. P aul ’ s R esidence in R ome (30, 31). For two years, Paul was permitted to dwell in a private house and to receive all who came to him. He was always guarded by a soldier. The graciousness of his char acter and the power of his preaching won the admiration of the guards and resulted in the conversion of many of them (Phil. 1). Circumstances need never hinder a true witness for the Lord. During this period, Paul was “preach ing the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ.” In Jesus of Nazareth, Paul found, first, the Lord, or the One to be worshiped; second, he found Jesus, or the Saviour to be trusted; and third, he found Christ, or the Ruler to be obeyed. This
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at Rome” (Acts 23:11). The record of his journey from Jerusalem to Rome is one of thrilling adventure. Encountering such peril as few have ever survived, Paul and his company finally arrived at Rome. Here he was not immediately subjected to close confinement, but with a soldier to guard him, he was allowed to dwell by himself. The fact that he was guarded, and that different soldiers were assigned to him at different times, gave him the opportunity to preach to the whole prae torian guard, and, by this means, to give the gospel to the palace into which he would probably not have had the oppor tunity to enter. Thus the Lord brought good from evil and gave His servant the honor of witnessing where no other had ever spoken concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. II. ' P aul ’ s R eport to the J ews (17-24). Paul wished, as usual, to witness to those of his own race. Therefore, he sent for the “chief of the Jews” that he might report to them. He knew that, if he could win these leaders, there would be more likelihood of reaching the rest of the Jews in Rome. When the leaders came to him, Paul informed them of the circumstances which brought him to Rome, speaking with per fect frankness of his experiences among the Jews in Jerusalem. He was not of fering a defense of himself, but he was attempting to open the way for the en trance of the truth which he wished to bring to them. He cared little for his personal reputation, but he wished to dis arm suspicion. We recpgnize the wisdom of Paul’s method in his mention of the “hope of Israel,” for which he claimed he was in bonds. The hope of Israel was the com ing of the Messiah, but the Jews would not believe that Jesus of Nazareth was He. Because Paul firmly believed it, he charged his nation with the crucifixion of their Anointed One. The leaders replied that they had had no word concerning Paul from the au thorities at Jerusalem. They admitted that they had heard about the “sect,” and added that “everywhere it was spoken against.” They referred, of course, to Christianity, and they desired to know what Paul thought about it. Christianity is still “everywhere . . . spoken against.” There is a hybrid Chris tianity that gains the approval of worldly men, but the Christianity of Paul is still spurned by the world. We are not sur prised that this is the case when we con sider the reason for it. Men speak against Christianity for several reasons:
and e n c o u r a g ing the Christians. All this time, he had wanted v e r y much to go back to Jerusalem. He was warned that, if he went there, the Jews would take him and put him in prison. Yet in spite of this, he took some Gen tile f r i e n d s and
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traveled to Jerusalem. Lesson S to ry: How glad Paul was to meet his friends and to tell them about his journeys! But his joy didn’t last very long; for when the Jews who were Paul’s enemies saw Paul in the temple one day, they spread about the news that he was there, and that he had taken one of the Gentile friends in with him—which was against the Jewish law. So when the Jews heard this story, they became very much excited, and they ran together in crowds and would have killed Paul if the Roman soldiers had not come to his rescue. As the soldiers were taking him bound up the stairs to the castle, Paul asked if he might speak to the people. When he received permission to do so, he turned around and told them how, years before, he had tried to kill Jesus’ disciples, and how, on the road to Damascus, a light from heaven had shone on him, and how Jesus had spoken to him, and he had be lieved. Paul begged the people to believe, too. But they would not listen to him. They were so angry that some of them banded themselves together and said that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. But Paul was saved from them this time by his nephew, who found out about the plot and told the Ro man captain. So the soldiers took him by night to another city, for God still had work for Paul to do.- NOVEMBER 22, 1931 Paul in Rome Lesson-. Acts 25:1-12; 28:16-30. Lesson T e x t: Acts 28:16-24, 30, 31. Golden T e x t : “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). I. P aul ’ s A rrival in R ome (16). Long before, when he was at Ephesus, Paul had declared that after he had gone to Jerusalem, he “must also see Rome” (Acts 19:21). Then, when he was in Jerusalem, and it seemed he might be martyred there, the Lord appeared to him, saying: “As thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also
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