November 1931
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¿L'Jniernaiiona / LESSON COMMENTARY Lesson Outline and Exposition Blackboard Outlines Golden Text Illustrations Children’s Division By B . B . Sutcliffe By Bessie B . Burch By Alan S. Pearce By Helen Gailey
II. P aul ’ s D esires (9-15).
Against the devil, Paul had fought vic toriously; and now victory was about to crown the last battle. Like a conquering hero returning from foreign wars in which the hosts of the enemy had been defeated and put to flight, Paul here con siders his exodus, and looking back over the path he had trod, cries triumphantly, “I have fought a good fight.” Over the flesh, he had overcome and had run a good race, finishing his course and reach ing his goal with honor to himself and to the One for whom he ran. Against the world, he had kept the faith; that is, the body of teaching committed to him! He had been true to the trust reposed in him in spite of all attempts of the world to deflect him from that faith, or to si lence his testimony to it. He had not only believed the faith, but he had guarded it against all attacks and had kept it un adulterated, uncompromised, and inviolate. 3. Looking at the future, Paul could exult. In spite of the manner of his departure, there was joy. A crown awaited him, and of this he was certain. He had stood be fore many judges during his strenuous life; there had been truckling Felix, su percilious Festus, prejudiced Jews, un scrupulous Gentiles—all of them unright eous—and justice had never been rendered him. But his departure would bring him at last before a righteous Judge, who would, Paul was assured, give to him his just deserts. As he spoke, perhaps Paul had in mind the games of ancient Greece, in which the winners were rewarded with the crown of the discus thrower, or the crown of the wrestler. Paul’s crown was to be one of righteousness. He knew that the fall of the axe which would sever his head from his body would only be the signal that the race was finished, the fight was over, the trust was fully kept, and the crowning day about to dawn. “I am sending my first examina tion on the ‘Christian Workers’ Ef ficiency Course,’ and I wish to say that I am enjoying the lessons im mensely. They are just as practical and helpful as I had hoped they would be, and they are a real induce ment to Bible study —not just read ing. “I hope to be ready, with the ex amination on Bible Geography in a day or two. It is the clearest concep tion I have ever gotten of the distri bution of nations, and it is interest ing to know where some of the ‘Babel-builders’ migrated.” SEE SPECIAL “TWO EN ROLLMENTS FOR PRICE OF ONE” AD ON PAGE 523 OF THIS ISSUE. What Home Bible Study Means to One
DECEMBER 6, 1931 Rome and Beyond L e s s o n Rom. 15:22-29; 2 Tim. 4:6-18; Titus 1:5-16; 3:11-14. Lesson T e x t : 2 Tim. 4:6-18. Golden T e x t: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). I. P aul ' s E xultation (6-8). As far as the record goes, Paul’s min istry closed in Rome. He was there when he wrote this last letter to Timothy. Our lesson relates to the circumstances and experiences which occurred near the close of the life of this greatest of all wit nesses for Jesus Christ. 1. Looking at his then-present experience, Paul could exult. He felt that he was already being of fered ; or, as the margin reads, being “poured out as a drink offering” to the Lord. And with this, there came the as surance that the time of his departure was at hand. There is no dirge here. Rather, a joyful note is sounded as Paul comes to the end of his earthly journey. “Departure” means, first, “an exodus, a going out,” as Israel went out from Egypt, leaving the bondage behind and entering into the free dom of the Promised Land. So Paul felt he was going out from all the pain and the burdens and the misunderstandings, all the persecutions and the bitter ex periences that had been his lot as he jour neyed here and there proclaiming the gos pel. Leaving all this behind, he was en tering upon the enjoyment of richer, fuller blessing than he ever could have known on earth. “Departure” also means “an unloosing,” as a ship is unloosed from the hindrances that bind it, and is al lowed to slip out into its proper element, for which it was made. So Paul felt he was being unloosed from all that bound him to the rough ways of earth and was being set free to enter at last that glo rious place of rest and joy for which he knew he had been made. Again, the word “departure” means “an unmooring,” as a ship is unmoored when the hawsers that hold it to the foreign dock are cast off, and it sails away to its home port. So Paul felt that his departure would be but the casting off of ties that bound him to an alien shore, and that it would allow him to enter his Home, never to leave it. Thus, as he considered his circumstances, there was only joy within his heart. 2. Looking at the past, Paul could exult. The retrospective glance brought noth ing but the consciousness that he had fought a good fight, that he had finished his course, and that he had kept the faith. Life for him had been a constant and fierce fight against evil forces; it had been a strenuous race against the flesh; it had called for daily steadfastness in keep ing the faith against the world.
While waiting in his dungeon, Paul'was intensely human. His spirit felt the need of the Companionship of those who were likeminded. Only Luke was with him. Tychicus had been sent on an errand to Ephesus, and Demas had forsaken Paul. We feel a touch of sorrow as we read of Demas—once faithful and willing to' share the persecution of the apostle, but later, overcome with the stress and strain of such a life, and yearning after the present world, he turned his back upon Paul and, in the hour of his need, fled from him. What became of Demas is not known, but we may be sure that anguish of heart and bitterness of soul were his until he re turned to the Lord. It is uncertain whether Paul means to say that Crescens went to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia for the same reason that Demas departed to Thes- salonica, or whether they were sent on errands by the apostle. At any rate, we know that Paul was lonely, and that he desired the company of Mark. This men tion of Mark implies that, whatever may have been Paul’s hesitancy concerning him at an earlier date (Acts 15: 37, 38), he had been restored to, Paul’s favor and regard. Besides the desire for fellowship, the apostle had certain physical needs. In the cold, damp cell of that Roman prison, he felt the absence of warm covering, and he desired that his cloak, which he had left in Troas with Carpus, be brought to him. Finally, there was the need of his mind. His mental capacity was not satisfied unless he was poring over “the parch ments,” by which is doubtless meant por tions of the Word of God which were the apostle’s chief delight. Some readers criticize the incorporation of such intimate, personal affairs into the Word of God. But these verses show that God takes everything into account—small things as well as great. The more fully a Christian enters into fellowship with God, subjecting to the divine will every minute detail of his life, the more faithful will he be in the homely duties of life. Paul’s departure was at hand, but he sought to fill his allotted days with the same faithfulness that he would wish to show if he knew he were to live for a thousand years. Moreover, he desired that Timothy be warned against a certain man, Alexander the coppersmith. This man had harmed the apostle in some way. How he had withstood Paul’s words, and how he did evil to the apostle, is not revealed. Paul had in him nothing of false charity, which shuts its eyes to evident wrong. That would have been mere sentimentality. It is to be noted, however, that Paul did not ask Timothy to avenge the wrong. He was content to leave Alexander in the hands of the righteous Judge before whom he himself expected to stand.
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