July 1928
T h e
K i n g ’ s
429
B u s i n e s s
International Lesson Commentary
mi Heart of the Lesson—K.L.B Outline—David L. Cooper Little Folk—Mabel M. Hope
■
and myself .remain.” After pausing a moment, he added: “I rather question his orthodoxy,” They made their way to Lystra and Derb’e| Cities of Lycaonia, and-in the sur rounding regions "they preached the Gos pel” (v. 7): Probably they preached all the better because of what they had been through. We should no doubt have more wonderful preaching today if w;e knew more of the .fellowship of His suffering. There are too many buttery-soft preach ers. Many sermons are like soda water— mostly sweet wind. In the days when be lievers were hunted and had to meet in caves after dark, they went with hungry hearts and probably heard something ; worth while. At Lystra they encountered a cripple who., had never walked. Hearing Paul speak, this poor man earnestly beheld him. As Paui spoke, he perceived that faith was’available for this man’s heal ing. With a loud voice, Paul said: “Stand upright on thy feet" (v. 10). The man leaped and walked. Thus Paul’s apostleship among Gentiles was demon strated by exactly the same kind of a mir acle with which Peter’s work had been opened (3:2) among Jews. Each healed a lame man; each encountered a sorcerer, Let us not miss the point that Paul “perceived that he had faith to be healed" (v, 9), God gives' such perception to those who are in close communion with the Spirit, Some Christian leaders bring disfcredit by loudly demanding of God, without perception as to whether or not it is His will to heal. Faith for healing is a gift of the Holy Spirit operating in ac cord with the will of God. It is not mere ly “standing on the promises.’?';:! It does not appear that the lame man cured by Peter (ch. 3) had faith for his. own healing, for he expected only alms. Nothing is more-foolish than to try to construct a doctrine of healing upon these cases recorded in the New Testament. Practically all of those healed were un- pkved persons -and were healed without regard to personal faith. Hereditary cases and incurables were often selected. Modern healers carefully ■avoid such cases and if their efforts to heal are un availing, usually lay it to lack of faith on the part of the patient. The people were carried away by this demonstration of divine healing (v. 11); “The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men,” they cried out. Barna bas they would call Jupiter. Paul was called Mercurius. The priest of Jupiter proposed to offer sacrifices before the missionaries. Do we not see here'.the in herent longing in men’s hearts for a man ifestation of deity in human form? The doCtrine of the incarnation is by no means contrary to the intuitive Conceptions of the human mind. That which was super stition here was a reality at Bethlehem. The New Testament message of “God manifest in the flesh” was the answer to the heart cry of humanity, the most rea sonable thing in the world. “They brought oxen and garlands unto
A ugust 5, 1928 Paul In a Pagan Country Text: Acts 14: 1-28
Help! Help!! For your Sunday-school teachers. Form a club of K. B. subscribers in your Sunday school and by send ing. five at one Jime secure the}yearly rate of $1.00 in U. S.
— o — ’ L esson in O utline Acts 14:1-28 I. The Ministry of Pdiil in Iconium. Vs. 1-7. 1. The Message Accepted by Many. V. 1. 2. Opposition by the Unbelieving. .V. 2. 3. ; The Word Confirmed by Miracle. V. 3. 4. The Multitude Divided. V. 4. 5. Opposition Arising. V. 5. 6. Paul's Flight into: Adjacent Terri tory. Vs. 6, 7. II. A Miracle' of Healing at Lystra. Vs. 8 - 20 . 1. The Healing. Vs. 8-10. 2. An Attempt to Worship the Mes- !' sengers. Vs. 11-18. (a.) The A p o s t l e s Mistaken for Gods. Vs, 11-12.' (b.) The Multitude at the Point of Worship. V. 13. (c.) Speech of Protest. Vs. 14-18. 3. Stoning of Paul, and his Miraculous Preservation. Vs, 19-20. III. The Return Trip to Antioch. Vs. 21-28. 1. The, Return Journey to Antioch. Vs. 21-28. (a.) Comfort for the Disciples. Vs. 21 , 22 . (b.) Appointment of Elders in each Church. V. 23. 2. The Journey from Antioch in Pi- sidia to Antioch in Syria, Vs. 24-26. (a.) Preaching in Perga. V. 25. • (b.) Arrival at Antioch in Syria. V. 26. . 3. The Report of the Missionaries to! the Home Church. Vs. 27, 28., -— o — TPHE reception given Paul and Barnabas in Antioch of Pisidia is recorded in the last few verses of chapter 13 and we discover there. the reason they turn, in
of the last two nights, I cannot express the joy that flooded my soul when I had no covering but the dark curtains ,of nightHH The missionaries reached Iconium and went immediately to the ’synagogue to preach the Gospel. “They so spake that a great multitude both of Jews- and Greeks believed" (y. 1). There is'a great difference in the way words are spoken. They may be so spoken from thesrheart and warmed by the Holy Spirit that ,con viction will be brought to mem The same- words from the mouth 1of pother speaker might be powerless. Persecution sjíad driven these men to their- knees; and that is what causes a sermon to have “free course and be glorified.” But God gave His servants no chance to"'get swelled hea'dlil The “unbelieving.. JctáS stirred up •the Gentiles - and made their minds evil-affected" (v. •2® It is to be wondered if any real, deep work of the Spirit is being done when evangelists are loaded with presents, showered with flowers and applause ánd feasted. In spite of slanders and malicious ef forts of the - enemies Pfy.the Gospel to thwart their work, Paul and Barnabas abode a long time, “speaking boldly in the Lord, who 'i.gave testimony , unto the word of His grace, and granted signs and wan ders.to be done by their hands" (v. 3).-.. Here is a"notable definition of the Gospel ',-^-the word, of His grace. This was the message both tp -Jew and Gentile and it was corroborated by miracles. We are sometimes told that miracles and signs were not connected with the. Gospel, of grace, but with the offer of a temporal kingdom to the Jews. Let God’s Word supply the refutation to .this theory. The multitude was divided and a crowd of hoodlums assaulted the missionaries with stones (vs, 4-5). The enemies of*-; the Gospel always present a solid front, no matter how much they may hate, each Other. Orthodox churches often are not so ready to unite for the spread of the Gospel. At most critical times churches are very apt to be divided. An elder was asked how his church was getting along. “We had 400 members,” he replied, “then we had a split and 200 left. The 200 had a disruption and 10 left. Then we had a heresy trial ánd only Brother Johnson
our lesson, for today, to Iconium, a pagan country. A great per secution had b e e n r a i s e d ,against the missionaries, and the Jews, assisted by a company of women, caused them to.be ex
pelled out of the coasts of Pisidia. The closing verse, of chapter 13 re cords a striking fact: “The disciples, were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost" If we have been faithful in witnessing, we can rejoice, whatever the persecution. This joy is as strange as the finding of flowers growing in the dead of winter, and can be accounted for only by the in dwelling Spirit. Renwich, the last of the Scottish martyrs, driven into' the moun tains, wrote: “Our enemies were happy that we were driven out into the moun tains, but even in the midst of the storms
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker