September 1931 oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith” (Matt. 6:30)? Who ever really trusts Him to keep His word can thank Him even before the answer is actually received. . Following this method, the peace of God will keep the heart and mind of the believer. Looking at circumstances, he may not be able to understand how peace is possible, but it will be there—“the peace that passeth all understanding.” It is the peace of God, that which God Him self enjoys. It is not peace with God, for that is for the conscience of the sinner; but it is the peace o f God, the portion for the believing saint. Lesson Questions Acts 16:22-24. What was the occasion for the imprisonment of Paul and Silas? Did the people realize that in this case the power of Satan was overcome by the power of God operative in His servants, or did they look upon the act as an indig nity against the government and the com munity (vs. 20, 21) ? Into whose charge were they committed? What did this per son do with them? Vs. 25, 26. In what way was the con duct of Paul and Silas unusual? Point out four ways by which this is marked as an extraordinary prayer meeting. What phenomenal event occurred as a climax to it? Vs. 27-34. Why did the jailer attempt suicide? Assured by Paul that his charges were all safe, what question did he ask? How important is it? What was the main point in Paul’s brief but suffi cient reply? How did the jailer respond? In what practical ways did his salvation manifest itself? Phil. 4:4-7. What is the believer told to do “alway” ? How is this possible? Give the content of verse 6 in three sim ple phrases. Is it true that when every thing is committed to God in prayer, the soul that truly trusts may rejoice, even before the answer is received? When this course is followed, what is the result ? Golden T ex t Illustration Many a canary sings as if its throat would burst. It sings as if it were happy, as if it were in love. And remember, it is caged 1 Joy is sometimes developed only by means of pain, affliction, or limi tation. Fanny Crosby could sing in the dark, and the very darkness enabled her to see eternal light and truth. She might never have been able to write, “Some day the silver chord will break, And I no more as now shall sing, But O the joy when I shall wake Within the palace of the King, And I shall see Him face to face, And tell the story saved by grace, had she not been denied the sight of the green fields, the evening sunset, and a mother’s smile. When the woodsman desires a piece of timber with an especially beautiful grain, he cuts down a maple that has been gashed by the ax and twisted by the storm and tapped for syrup. If the tree could know, as the woodsman knows, that the painful process through which it has passed has produced the hard ness that will take the highest gloss, it would rejoice.
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Lesson Text: Acts 17:1, 5-11; 1 Thess. 2:7-12. Golden Text: “Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law” (Psa. 199: 18). • I. T he I nterruption to H is W ork (A cts 17:5-9); It was the custom of the apostle, when entering a strange city, to go to the syna gogue, if the city had one, and to speak there to the Jews. He never forgot his Jewish ancestry, and his heart was always yearning over his brethren after the flesh. Hence, when he came to Thessalonica, the first place he preached was in the syna gogue. He reasoned with the Jews out of their own Scriptures, showing that Jesus was their Messiah, and that He suffered and was raised from the dead according to prophecy. The result of his preaching was that some of the Jews, a great mul titude of devout Greeks, and a number of the chief women believed and were saved. This greatly enraged the rest of the Jews. Filled with envy, they determined to deport the apostle from the town. Paul had been living with a man named Jason, and to Jason’s house the mad mob went. Not finding Paul there, the insurrection ists bore Jason away to the rulers of the city. They charged that he had received into his home the apostles who had “turn ed the world upside down,” and had taught contrary to the decrees of Caesar by saying: “There is another king, one Jesus.” This reference to Jesus as King implies that Paul, in preaching from the Scriptures, not only spoke of the death and the resurrection of Christ, but also alluded to His second coming, of which there was so much recorded in the He brew Scriptures, that is, the Old Testa ment. To appreciate the fullness of the apos tle’s testimony, we should read the whole of the seventeenth chapter of Acts. There Paul mentions seven great truths con cerning Christ, which are foretold in the Old Testament. He speaks of His deity (vs. 3, 13, 18, 23), of His humanity (v. 31), of His crucifixion (v. 31), of His resurrection (vs. 3, 18, 31), of His exal tation (v. 31), of His Saviourhood (vs. 23, 30), and of His second coming (v. 31).’ Paul’s task was to reveal that the Old Testament’s predictions concerning the Messiah were fulfilled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, whom the Jews had rejected, but whom God had received. However, the apostle’s work was abruptly interrupted when the multitudes of Greeks believed, for the Jews were unable to overcome their jealousy of anything, out side their own legal system, that offered acceptance with God. The faithfulness of Jason should not be overlooked. This man, of whom so little is known on earth, is well known in heaven, and his kindness to Paul and his faithfulness to the Lord will be richly rewarded when the Lord comes again. One may not do anything that appears great in the sight of men, but the least service rendered to the Lord will not go unnoticed. Even a cup of cold water given in His name will bring a bountiful reward in the coming day (cf. Mk. 9:41). “Let us. not be weary in well doing” (Gal. 6:9), knowing that we shall surely reap an eternal harvest.
P aul in Prison A cts 16:22-34
Memory Verse: “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice” (Phil. 4:4). Approach: Paul arid Silas were not in Philippi very long before some trouble makers came along, the owners of a slave girl. This girl earned money for her
owners by telling fortunes. Paul and Silas cured her of the evil spirit which tormented her, and she could no longer tell fortunes. This made her owners so very angry that they went to the magis trates of the city and told them that Paul and Silas were
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wicked men. The magistrates believed them and beat Paul and Silas and put them in prison. Lesson Story: God took care of Paul and Silas in a wonderful way. They couldn’t sleep very well that night in the prison. Their backs hurt them from the beating they had received, and their hands were tied in a most uncomfortable way; but instead of lying there feeling sorry for themselves, they were praying and singing praises to God. Read Acts 16 :25-34. When Paul and Silas were sent to prison, they must have wondered who would preach to the people. Then they remembered that they could preach and pray right there in the prison. I don’t believe that they were praying for them selves. I think they were asking God to help the poor people around them. Per haps they were praying for the jailer. But God was remembering them, and how wonderfully He did answer their prayer! Paul and Silas were not afraid. They knew that they were obeying God by preaching the gospel, and they knew that God would take care of His children. God takes care of us, too. We need never to be afraid when we are working for Him. OCTOBER 18, 1931 Paul in Thessalonica and Berea Lesson: Acts 17:1-15; 1 Thess. 2:1-12. Thanks for the Rod Thy rod fell on me, stern at first, then soft As parent’s kisses, till the wound was healed; And I went forth a laborer in Thy field! They best can bind who have been bruised oft. I thank Thee for all joy and for all pain; For healed pangs, for years of calm content; -- t For blessedness of spending and be ing spent In Thy high service where all loss is gain. —D ina M ulock C raik .
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