The Sunday School by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Jul 1, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 25.

The Sunday School

By Editor

International Series.

LESSON III.—SUNDAY, JULY 18, 1897.

PAUL AT THESSALONICA AND BEREA.

NOTE.—Read 1 Thessalonians, chapters 1 and 2, and commit verses 10-12 of the lesson scripture. The lesson section includes Acts 17: 1-14. Study also 1 Thess. 3: 5-10; 4: 9, 10; 2 Thess. 1: 3, 4; 2: 1, 2, and Philippians 4: 15, 16. Note the various ways in which the cause of Christ and his salvation were advanced,—by preaching Christ, by the use of the Scriptures, by the opposition of wicked and unprincipled men, and by searching the Scriptures. The time of this lesson is the twelfth year of the reign of Claudius Cæsar, emperor of Rome; Agrippa II. was then ruler of Judea; the Jews, being in a state of revolt, had been expelled from Rome; a famine was raging in the empire, and the commonest necessaries of life had risen to many times their ordinary value.

Lesson Scripture, Acts 17: 1-12, R. V.

"Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagog of the Jews; and Paul, as his custom was, went in unto them, and for three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that it behooved the Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom, said he, I proclaim unto you, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people. And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received; and these all act contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus. And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. "And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroa; who when they were come thither went into the synagog of the Jews. Now these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, examining the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so. Many of them therefore believed; also of the Greek women of honorable estate, and of men, not a few."

Golden Text.—"They received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily." Acts 17: 11.

SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS.

(1) Through what places did the apostles pass in going to Thessalonica? (2) What was situated at this place? Verse 1. Note 1. (3) What course did Paul take at this place? (4) What custom of his work is here alluded to? Verse 2. Note 2. (5) What did he affirm in regard to the work of Christ? (6) What did he affirm of Jesus? Verse 3. Note 3. (7) With what success was Paul's teaching accompanied? Verse 4. Note 4. (8) What action was taken by the unbelieving Jews? (9) Whose house did they assault? (10) What was their object in this? Verse 5. (11) Not finding those they sought, what did they do with Jason (Hebrew, Joshua) and his brethren? (12) What charge did they bring against the work of the apostles? Verse 6. Note 5. (13) What charge did they lay against Jason? (14) How did they try to prove them traitors to the government? Verse 7. Note 6. (15) How were the people affected by these charges? Verse 8. (16) What was required of those who were brought before the rulers? Verse 9. Note 7. (17) What was done with Paul and Silas? (18) Why may we infer that this was done secretly? (19) To what place did Paul and Silas go? (20) What in this verse shows their continued courage in the work? Verse 10. (21) What is said of the people at this place? (22) In what way did their nobleness manifest itself? Verse 11. (23) What was the consequence of their counsel? (24) Who were included in the believers at this place? Verse 12.

NOTES.

1. They.—The student will notice that in the latter part of the previous chapter, as also in this chapter, the writer of the book uses the word "they" in speaking of the apostles and their work. In the first portion of the previous chapter the pronouns are "we" and "us." This would indicate that the writer (Luke) did not accompany Paul, Timothy, and Silas when they left Philippi, neither was he with Paul and Silas in the prison at that place.

2. As his custom was.—A similar expression to that found in Luke 4: 16, showing the example which Paul was following in teaching in the synagog on the Sabbath day. It was the same day of the week also as that upon which Christ taught in the synagog, the day on which the Jews met for worship. Notice also that this Sabbath upon which the Jews worshiped is still denominated by the Spirit of inspiration "the Sabbath." Had a change of the sabbatic period taken place, in consequence of Christ's resurrection, to the first day of the week, the Spirit of Christ, who indited this record, would not now be calling the seventh day "the Sabbath."

3. Opening and alleging.—Not simply asserting, as the word "alleging" has now come to mean. The Greek word means "setting forth" arguments, reasons. Paul, with the open Scriptures, was proving to them that he who was the Messiah, in order to fulfil the prophecy, "must needs have suffered;" that he who claimed to be the Christ, and did not suffer as predicted in Isaiah 53, could not be he for whom Israel looked. Then he described the sufferings of Christ, showing in these the literal fulfilment of the words spoken by the prophets.

4. Chief women.—"In Macedonia, as in Asia Minor, women occupied a much freer and more influential position than in Athens."—Professor Ramsey. "In Macedonia monuments were erected to women by public bodies. Macedonian women were permitted to hold property, and were treated as mistresses of the house."—M. R. Vincent.

5. Turned the world upside down.—The charge was an unjust one. The world had been already turned upside down. The apostles were engaged in turning it right side up. The world had been so long in the unnatural position, through the influences of sin, that they could see no light in the overturning process.

6. The decrees of Cæsar.—Decrees forbidding treason and rebellion. The mob claimed that the decrees were broken because of the teachings of the apostles that there was another king, "one Jesus." The mistake of those times, and the blindness, has a counterpart in these days. Christ is not the political king of this world, as is witnessed by his own words. See John 18: 36. Therefore his kingdom will not "enter the realm of law through the gateway of politics." This erroneous doctrine of the union of the Church and State, or religion and the State, is responsible for the Christian lives that went out during the Dark Ages, and for all the persecution for conscience' sake this world has ever seen.

7. Security.—That is, they were required to give bail, either pledging their own persons, or depositing a sum of money, which would be forfeit if the missionaries remained in that place. This is regarded as one of the ingenious devices of Satan to prevent the return of the missionaries, and as the reason why Paul did not return there, as he desired to do. 1 Thess. 2: 17, 18; 3: 10.