p. 13 | The Sunday School

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 11, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 10.

The Sunday School

International Series.

LESSON XIII.—SUNDAY, MARCH 28, 1897.

REVIEW.

LESSON 1.—Christ’s Ascension. Acts 1:1–14. Golden Text: “While he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven.” Luke 24:51. The book of Acts was written by Luke. According to “Hale’s Chronology” the ascension took place on May 31. The rulers at this time were: Tiberius Cæsar, emperor of Rome; Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea; Herod Antipas, governor of Galilee; Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas, high priest. In addition to the ascension the lesson contains the promise of Christ’s return to earth in the same manner in which he was taken up from the earth into heaven, and the promise that the disciples should receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

LESSON 2.—The Holy Spirit Given. Acts 2:1–13. Golden Text: “They were all filled with the Holy Ghost.” Acts 2:4. The time of this lesson is ten days later than that of the previous one. It includes the reception of the Holy Ghost by the apostles, and the speaking of the Word in the languages of the various nationalities represented in Jerusalem at this time. This mightiest of evidences was rejected by many of the sin-loving multitude, and some said, “They are filled with new wine.”

LESSON 3.—A Multitude Converted. Acts 2:32–47. Golden Text: “The promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off.” Acts 2:39. This lesson contains the exhortation of Peter to the Jews, following his announcement of the fact that they were responsible for the crucifixion of the Messiah; the working of signs and miracles by the apostles; the accession of 3,000 to the faith in one day; and the selling of individual property for the good of the cause.

LESSON 4.—The Lame Man Healed. Acts 3:1–16. Golden Text: “His name through faith in his name hath made this man strong.” Acts 3:16. The scene of the lesson is at Jerusalem, in the outer court of the temple, near the Beautiful Gate. The healing of the blind man was one of the numerous ways in which the Gospel was impressed upon the minds of the people. It showed the love and the power of God. It was an evidence that God was working through the one who performed the act. The healing was followed by one of Peter’s characteristic accusations of the betrayers of his Lord.

LESSON 5.—The Boldness of Peter and John. Acts 4:1–14. Golden Text: “There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12. The section includes the whole chapter to verse 31, with a review of chapter 3, being a record of a single event and its outcome. The event was the healing of the blind man. It includes the imprisonment of the apostles, and their trial before the Sanhedrin. Up to this time the church had about 5,000 members. The leaders of the Jews took knowledge of the apostles “that they had been with Jesus.”

LESSON 6.—True and False Giving. Acts 4:32 to 5:11. Golden Text: “Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” 1 Sam. 16:7. The members of the early church sold their possessions, and turned the price into a common fund for the support of the work and the poor among them. Ananias and Sapphira, selling their possessions, brought a part of the price, representing it to be the whole. The two classes here brought to view represent the true and false givers.

LESSON 7.—The Prison Opened. Acts 5:17–32. Golden Text: “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29. This lesson contains an account of the imprisonment of the apostles, and the opening of the prison doors by an angel of the Lord. Their deliverer instructed them to go and stand in the temple and speak to the people the words of this life. Then follows the trial before the Sanhedrin and the warning which caused Peter to utter the words found in the Golden Text.

LESSON 8.—The First Christian Martyr. Acts 6:8–15; 7:54–60. Golden Text: “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Rev. 2:10. “And Stephen, full of grace and power, wrought great signs and wonders among the people.” For this and the bold stand which he took for Christ, the Jews “gnashed on him with their teeth,” cast him out of the city, and stoned him to death. While the cruel work was being done, Stephen was praying for his murderers a prayer similar to that of Christ upon the cross.

LESSON 9.—The Disciples Dispersed. Acts 8:1–17. Golden Text: “They that were scattered abroad went everywhere preaching the Word.” Acts 8:4. Following Stephen’s death came a “great persecution,” which scattered abroad the members of the early church, who caused multitudes of others to join themselves to the cause of Christ by presenting him wherever they went. By this means the Gospel was brought to Samaria, and the believers there received the Holy Ghost.

LESSON 10.—The Ethiopian Convert. Acts 8:26–40. Golden Text: “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” Acts 8:35. This incident and that of the previous lesson show the way in which the Gospel began to be carried into the regions beyond. The Ethiopian convert carried the good news of salvation through Christ into the mountains and valleys of what is now Abyssinia.

LESSON 11.—Saul, the Persecutor, Converted. Acts 9:1–12, 17–20. Golden Text: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15. Saul, the persecutor of Christ (in the person of his followers), was Paul, the extoller and advocate of Christ to all the world. Saul had letters of authority to bring bound to Jerusalem all who confessed Christ at Damascus. Christ interposed in behalf of his followers, and through his intervention saved Saul as well as those whom he would persecute.

LESSON 12.—Christian Self-restraint. 1 Cor. 9:19–27. Golden Text: “Every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.” 1 Cor. 9:25. This is a temperance lesson as well as an exhortation to faithfulness in the Christian life. In the different athletic games only one could be victor; not so with the Christian’s race. Their prize was a corruptible crown; the Christian’s an incorruptible one. Paul studied the Christian life from the standpoint of those who were not Christians that he might the more successfully lead them to Christ.