July 1928
431
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
The great difference between the heathen and Christian ideas of incarna tion is that Christian teaching presents a God who came down to die on a cross to redeem men. Where will you find that in the world’s religions? The crowd always wants a man to wor ship, and some preachers are perfectly willing to be idolized (v. IS). Some are ready to give you roses one day and rotten eggs the next day (v. 19). . “Supposed him dead” (v. 19)^vâ mis take commonly made about God’s wit nesses'. Enemies,' more than once, have rejoiced that they were rid of a Chris tian’s.testimony,/only to have it come kçt life again. rr. K,wé get a crown from Christ, we shall have to carry à cross for Christ (v. 22). —o— B rief O utline Persistence ..................;..vs. 1-7. Popularity .................................. vs. 11-13 Preaching............................. vs.14-18. Persecution ........................ 1....... vs. 19-22. —o— B ible J ottings “Jews stirred up the Gentiles” (\. 2). There are only two persecutions, recorded in Acts which proceeded from others than Jews (16:19; 19:23). The sudden inter est of Jews in the spiritual good of Gen tiles is marvelous to behold. It was only' because th ey ' saw Gentiles flocking to Christ, "The word of His Grace” (v. 3). We are saved by grace (Eph. 2 :8-10) ; justi fied by grace Rom. 3 :29) ; accepted in grace (Eph. 1:6-7) ; stand in grace (Rom. 5:2); built up in grace (Acts 20; 32) ; provided for in grace (Heb. 4:16) ; taken to heaven by grace (2 Thess.'2: 16).' Compare the two healing cases by Peter and Paul (Acts 3 and 14). “Lame from birth’® “j>eeing Peter and John”- “heard Paul”—“fastened eyes”J | “Paul beheld”— “rise up and walk”—'“Paul said, Stand up right’’—“leaping stood’l--4“l e a'jje d Jand walked.” The people saw. Both cases teach hopeless spiritual lameness ot the natural man—no curative powers in him self—dependent upon Christ (Rom. 5:6). Note : examples- of great faith found among -Gentiles (v. 9; cf. Mt. 8:10; 15: 28). G olden T ext . I llustration I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound "(Phil. 4:12). In the year A. D. 315, old Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, was led along the Appian Way in chains to die. It was the last day of the Saturnalia, the maddest of Roman carnivals. The galleries of the- Coliseum were thronged with patricians, plebians and slaves whose appetites were whetted for blood. The lions were wait ing their prey. The old man fearlessly faced his doom; saying, “I am the Lord's wheat. If He will that I be ground this day by the teeth of lions into bread for His little ones, so be it!” As the lions pounced upon him, he sang: “Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost.” Thus the mills •of Satan grind for God and we see some, of the reasons why suffering is permitted among even most devoted servants of God.
FRED S. SHEPARD ’S BLACKBOARD OUTLINE
they were greatly shocked, and fan in among them, urging them to stop. They told the people they were only men like themselves; that there was only one God, and to Him they must give all the honor. They told the people they did wrong to worship any but the one true God, and that now there was no excuse for them worshiping idols and false gods, who had no power to help them, for they had taught them the truth. The missionaries were brave, true men, who would not allow the people to honor them. They were not afraid to speak boldly the Word of God. They brought good tidings to the people. It sometimes requires a great deal of courage for a child, when tempted to do wrong, to say out boldly, “No, I belong to Jesus,' and I am not going to do wrong.” No matter how small you are, you can be true friends to Jesus. (Closing Prayer.) ; . A ugust 12, 1928 The Council At Jerusalem Text: Acts 15:1-35 —o— L esson in O utline Acts 15 :l-35 I. The Occasion of the Conference. Vs, 1 - 5 . ; 1. The Activity of the Judaizing Critics. V. 1. 2. These Teachers Opposed by Paul and Barnabas. V. 2. 3. The Question Referred to Jerusalem ' Church,. V. 3. 4. The Reception Accorded them and Opposition in Jerusalem. Vs. 4, 5. II. The Council in Session. Vs. 6-29. 1. The Private Meeting of the Leaders before the General Meeting. Gal 1: 1-15. ■ The_Convening of the Council. V.6. . . 3. Preliminary Discussion. V. 7a. 4. Peter’s ;Speech. Vs-, 7b-ll. ' 5. Speech of Paul and Barnabas, V. 12. 6. James’ Speech. Vs. 13-21. 7. The Resolution of the Conference. V. 22., • 8. The Epistle of the Conference. Vsf 23-29. III. The Arrival of the Jerusalem Com mittee at Antioch. Vs. 30-35. 1. The Report of the Committee to the Church. Vs. 30-34. 2. Teaching Ministry of Paul and Bar nabas at Antioch. V.-35. T-TERE we have one of the most impor- tant chapters in ecclesiastical history. A wrong step at this point and Christian liberty in Christ would have been entirely l o s t . Christianity would have’ become a Jewish sect. It was t h e first
L o v e OYALTY IBERTY Love one to another.—John 13:35.
Paul and Barnabas Preach to the Heathen Acts 14:1-28 MemoryfVerse ^ “We bring you good tidings.” Acts 14:15. Approach.^- A graphic presentation of the lesson may be made in a series of squares on the blackboard or a large piece of paper, using short straight lines
-for men, triangles and t i n y squares i for houses, a hori zontal line for Paul Stoned, lines b e n t toward Paul for the stoners,. etc. Employ blue for. Paul, . red for Barnabas, green for Timothy, and so on. Teach the great in'l'ffacing danger.—
lesson of courage Peloubet’s Notes.
Lesson Story .y-We have been hearing about Paul and how faithful he was in: telling others of his wonderful Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Review, empha sizing the fact that the Lord is depending on us and all who believe in Him, to, like Paul, tell others; of our wonderful Sav iour.) Today we are to hear about Paul and Barnabas in another town, called Iconium, where there were many Jews' .They went into : the:;,synagogue a n d preached the Gospel, and they Spoke so bravely and with such power that a great number .(jf the Jews and; Gentiles believed. The unbelieving Jews became very an gry at the missionaries,, and turned the Gentiles against them, and the city was divided. There yvere the unbelievers who held with the Jews, and the believers who held with the missionaries. The unbeliev ers planned to stone the missionaries, but they found it out and went away into an other toWn, called Lystra. This was a wild, drear country, and the people who- lived there were heathen. They found here a man’who was a cripple and had never walked a step in his life. This crip pled man listened to Paul preaching, and as Paul looked a t.him, he saw that he had faith to be healed; so Paul spoke with a loud voice and said, “Stand upright on thy feet,” and the. lame man jumped up and walked. He was healed through faith; he believed that the Jesus of whom Paul spoke was willing and able to cure him. The people of Lystra worshiped false gods, and when they saw th e ' lame man cured they cried out, (“The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.” They called Paul and Barnabas after the names, of two’ of their gods. Then the priests of these heathen people brought oxen and garlands before the h o u s e where Paul and Barnabas were, and were:’ about to offer sacrifice to them, as if they had been gods. It would have been a great sin for the missionaries to have allowed the. people to honor them as gods, and as soon as they found out what they were planning
great battle between law and grace. It re sulted in the o n l y c h u r c h council re corded in the Bible.
The proud heart of man does not relish the idea that it cannot do anything to ward saying itself—that it must be saved by grace alone. Some declare that when a Christian fails in works, he is “fallen from grace."
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