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us never stand in pulpit or class without being first assured that the truth we utter is such that He can endorse. Gamaliel had been Paul’s teacher. He was very astute and non-committal. He said, “Let us wait and see; the truth will conquer.” He expected that the new en thusiasm would die down if it were let alone. He knew that, a draught of wind fans a fire. But he lived to see his. mis take. We must be warned by v. 42 not only to preach Christ as king in the tem ple, but also at home. & Ü? Peter Shows His Courage Acts 5:17-42 I Memory Verse: “We must obey God ■ rather than men.” Acts 5 :29. Approach : In one place in India a man was beaten nearly to death because he believed in Jesus. He said, “Is it noC enough, pastor, for the disciple, to be like
the prison and brought the apostles forth, saying, “Go up to the temple and preach to the people.’’,; And they did as the angel commanded; for early in the morning they went up to the temple and preached there. The high priest, not knowing what the angel had done, called the council together, and sent to the prison to have the .apostles brought. The officers came back to the council, saying, “The prison, truly, we found shut, and the guards were keeping watch before the doors, but the men for whom you sent are not there.” Now the rulers, in the council wondered what this could mean. While they were wondering, a messenger came saying the men were in the temple preaching; the officers went and brought the apostles be fore the council. Then thé high priest asked them saying, “Did we not com mand you to speak no more about Jesus?’ But you have not obeyed us.” Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, “We ought to obey God rather than men. Jesus, whom you persecuted and put to death on the cross, God has raised up again, as a Saviour, to give the Jews new and penitent hearts, and forgive them their sins. And we, his apostles, are sent to tell you of these things.” The high priest and officers became very angry and talked of putting the apostles to death. Then one of the rulers, who was thought a great deal of by the Jews, stood up and spoke: “Let these men alone and do them no harm; for if what they teach be untrue it will soon come to nothing; but if God has indeed sent them to speak to the people, you can not stop them, and if you try to do so, you will be fighting against God.” The council did not put the apostles back in prison, but beat them on their bare backs and commanded them not to preach any more. The apostles went out rejoicing that they were allowed to suffer pain for. Jesus’ sake. Are you willing to suffer for Him? .True courage will face danger if necessary. Did the apostles stop preaching? C o n v ic t io n o u r a g e ONTINUANCE Ceased not to teach.—Acts 10:42.
S elected from D r . F. B. M eyer (In Devotional Commentary)
ACTS 5:12-26.' While the Holy Spirit works mightily within the Church, He co-operates with it in its outward operations by adding ment and women to
t h e Lord. N o n e should be added to the Church roll who have not a l r e a d y been led into living union with J e s u s . Through the Church, as His body, the risen Saviour works such miracles as are here; narrated, fill
ing the hearts of the humble with love and joy, and exciting inveterate hatred in His foes. The angel of God comes to open prison doors. Are you in sore trouble, from which there is no apparent deliverance ? Are you imprisoned in the dungeon of doubt and black despair? Are you being heavily persecuted? Oh, wrap around you the divine protection ! Dare to be lieve that the doors will open as by unseen hands. Nothing can stay the purposes of God. Only use your God-given liberty to go forth to teach the people. The Gospel is a message to the people. Let us preach to the hungry, needy crowds. Philosophers, scientists, the wise and pru dent of the age, may mock, but the people know the Gospel when they hear it. Let us give it to them! Acts 5 :27-42. The high priest and his party could not forget the imprecation of Matt, 27:25. It haunted them. Compare Peter’s description of thé Cross as the tree with Deut. 21:23 and Gal, 3:13; also his own usage of the phrase in 1 Pet.. 2: 24. Notice in v. 31 the divine order— Jesus must be Prince, if He is to be Saviour. It is because that order is not observed, and men therefore seek to de rive His benefits before they concede His rights, that He is unable to deliver them. Christ must be the enthroned Lord and Master of your life, if you want to be sayed to the uttermost. See Rom. 10:9, R. V. Repentance is his gift equally as forgiveness. Mark that reference to the witness of the Holy -Spirit, v. 32. Let
his Master?” One of 4;h i s daughters asked for baptism. She was a s k e d, “What if you should have to suffer like your father ?” Her reply was, “Has not my Lord said, ‘Re joice and be exceed ing glad, for great
is your reward in heaven’?” Yet some ask, “Do the converts from heathenism stand?” Lesson Story: Last week we heard about a lame man sitting at the temple gate. Horace, you tell us the story. What lesson can we learn from this story ? Whose power healed the man? At one time Peter was weak and cowardly, but now he is brave and courageous.. Peter and the other disciples were preaching. They were also healing the sick and casting out unclean spirits in the name of Jesus. One day while they were preach ing, the officers marched in and laid hold of the apostles and put them in prison. In those days the prisons were not kept clean and comfortable like in our day, and the prisoners suffered much hardship. That night God sent an angel down to
R edemption of Bodies I N Dr. Brown’s book on the Resurrection there is a story told of a servant, who, receiving' a silver cup from his master, suffers it to fall into a vessel of aqua fortis, and, seeing it disappear, contends in argument with a fellow.- servant that its recovery is impossible, till the master comes on the scene and infuses salt water, which precipi tates the silver from the solution, and then, by melting and hammering the metal, he restores it, not only to its orig inal shape, but to something more beautiful than it was before. It is said that a skeptic was so impressed by this incident, and so convinced of his own foolishness, that he renounced his opposition to the Gospel, became a happy Christian and was buried at last near the foot of Dr. Brown’s grave in the sure hope of a glorious resurrection. Satan shall not have so much as the believer’s dust to gloat over, according to Scripture, for body as well as spirit and soul, is purchased by Christ and to be claimed and transformed by Him at the resurrection (Rom. 8:23).
A Fable A LOUD, noisy and particularly objectionable skunk, x obsessed by its own prominence and the attention paid to it, challenged a. lion to single combat. The challenge was promptly and emphatically de clined by the lion. “Huh !” sneered the skunk, “You’re afraid to fight me!” “No,” answered the lion, coolly, “but why should I fight you? You would gain fame from fighting me, even though I gave you the worst licking of your life, as I would do. How about me, though? I couldn’t pos sibly gain anything by defeating you, while on the other hand, everyone who met me for a month would know I had been in the company of a skunk.” Moral: It’s an art to know when to fight.— The Walk-Over Man.
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