J -1.— l.«fcWF -- T^-^J---- -^m I » Y^ILIE«¥MH¥EI^SIIir¥» STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES BV EDWARD I. BOSWORTH BASED ON THE RECORDS AND LETTERS OP THE APOSTOLIC AGE BV ERNEST DE WITT BURTON NEW YORK THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS COFYRIGHT, 1898, BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE OF YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATIONS STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY I. The Promise to Empower the Witnesses, and its Fulfilment 2. The First Witnessing,andtheBeginningsoftheChurchin]erusalem 3. Persecution of the Leading Witnesses, and Growth of the Church in Jerusalem 4. The Appointment of the Seven, and the Martyrdom of Stephen 5. The Work of PhiUp th« Evangelist, and the Conversion of Saul 6. The Early Christian Life of Saul, and Peter in Lydda, Joppa and Caesarea 7. The Early Days of the Church in Antioch, and Contemporary Events in Jerusalem 8. Re'view, and Paul's First Missionary Journey 9. Paul's Second Sojourn in Antioch, and the Council at Jerusalem 10. From Syrian Antioch to Athens, in Paul's Second Missionary Journey II. Paul's Ministry in Corinth on the Second Missionary Journey, and his Letters to the Thessalonians. la. Paul's Return to Syria, and Third Sojourn in Antioch : the Letter to the Galatians 13. Paul's Return to Syria, and Third Sojourn in Antioch : the Letter to the Galatians 14. Paul's Return to Syria, and Third Sojourn in Antioch : the Letter to the Galatians 15. Paul's Ministry in Ephesus, and the First Letter to the Corinthians ; in the Third Missionary Journey 16. Paul's Ministry in Ephesus, and the First Letter to the Corinthians; in the Third Missionary Journey. 17. Paul's Ministry in Ephesus, and the First Letter to the Corinthians ; in the Third Missionary Journey 1 8. From Ephesus into Macedonia : the Second Letter to the Corinthians 19. From Ephesus into Macedonia: the Second Letter to the Corinthians 20. From Ephesus into Macedonia: the Second Letter to the Corinthians 21. In Macedonia and Achaia : the Letter to the Romans 22. In Macedonia and Achaia : the Letter to the Romans 23. In Macedonia and Achaia : the Letter to the Romans 24. In Macedonia and Achaia : the Letter to the Romans 25. In Macedonia and Achaia : the Letter to the Romans 26. The Letter to the Romans, and the Journey from Corinth to Jerusalem 27. Review 28. Paul's Last Visit to Jerusalem 29. Paul's Two Years' Imprisonment in Caesarea 30. Paul's Voyage to, and Testimony in, Rome STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES Study r. Study 2. Study 3. Study 4. Study 5, Study 6. Study 7. Study 8. Study 9. Study 10. Study ii. Study 12. Study 13. Study 14. Study 15. Study 16. Study 17. Study 18. Study 19, Study 20. Study 21. Study 22, Study 23. Study 24. Study 25. Study 36. Study 37. Study 28. Study 29. Study 30. § I to $ 3 i inclusive $ 4 to § 8 •• § 9 to S 13 •• « 14 to 1 15 •• $ 16 to 5 19 4« § 30 to § 25 <• J 26 to § 30 «• § 31 to § 35 • < § 36 to 5 38 «• § 39 to S 45 •« §46. §47. §47. §47. § 48 to S 50 inclusive § SO. S SO. § 50 to § 51 inclusive I51. I 51. §52. §52. § 52. § 52. § 52. § 52 to J 53 inclusive Review. § 54 to § 58 inclusive § 59 to § 63 «l § 63 to § 68 • I STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES GENERAL SUGGESTIONS I. These Studies are laid out with a view to securing daily study of the text itself. Their success depends upon your keeping this end persistently before you. 2. Give the best and freshest half-hour of the day to them — preferably a half-hour in the early morning. 3. Endeavor (i) to bring out in a scholarly way the thoughts that are really in the text, and (2) to make devout application of them to daily Ufe. 4. Remember that the question you have constantly to ask is this, — what thought did the writer or SPEAKER OF THESE WORDS intend THEM TO CONVEY TO HIS ORIGINAL READERS OR HEARERS? When you have ascertained this thought, transmute it into Ufe. 5. Try each day to take from your study some definite thought for the day's Ufe, but do not strain the text in an effort to secure such a thought if there happens to be none specially apphcable to you. Simply take what the text yields. 6. Remember that many of the largest and best thoughts that you will derive from this study will be those that come out slowly in the course of many lessons. 7. Keep a note book in which to record your answers to the questions asked in the Studies, and any other thoughts that grow immediately out of the study. You wiU be astonished to see how much you gain by persisting in this habit. 8. Record in a separate place, for subsequent investigation, interesting side questions that may arise in connection with your study. 9. Make note of any questions you are not able to answer, and bring them up in the class meeting. 10. Compel your imagination to produce for you every scene that is described, and your mind to think every thought that is expressed in the text. Do not be content with words, but see the real thing described, and think the real thought expressed. II. You will save time if you do things in the order indicated in each Study. . Do not first read over the whole page of directions. 12. You have but a few moments for study. Keep your mind on the subject. Do not let your thoughts wander for a moment. 13. Begin and end your study with prayer. Life consists in personal relationships, — in friendships. If this study is to give you larger Ufe, it will do so by introducing you into closer and truer rela tionships, of which the chief is that between yourself and God in Jesus Christ. In prayer you cultivate this relationship. STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES INTRODUCTORY NOTE ON THE PURPOSE OF THE BOOK OF ACTS The purpose of the book of Acts is to show how Christianity ceased to be a Jewish sect, and became a world-religion. Even the apostles of Jesus in the first months or years after the resurrection supposed that none but Jews could have the opportunity of accepting Jesus as Messiah, and being saved in the Kingdom of God. They supposed that God, who had seemed always to honor the Jews above other nations, had now graciously given them a monopoly of this high privilege. It is not until ii :i8 (read §25, 11 :i-i8) that we find the apostles admitting that foreigners could become Christians without first becoming Jews. The book of Acts describes step by step the process by which, through the enlightening influence of the Holy Spirit, the church was emancipated from this narrow view. At the beginning of the book Christianity is established in Jeru salem, the Jewish capital ; at the close of the book it is estabhshed in Rome, the capital of the world. (B. Weiss, Einleitung, p. 562, 2ded.) A company of Jews empowered and directed by the Holy Spirit begin at Jerusalem and carry the message out into the wide world (§1,1:8). The author of Acts considers only such of these men as are connected with the movement of the Gospel toward Rome, with its passage from the Jew to the Gentile. He drops Peter as soon as Peter's work ceases to be serviceable to his great purpose. Even Paul, whose work among Gentiles necessarily makes him the most prominent figure in the book, is dropped as soon as he has made his proclamation of the Gospel in the great metropolis. Luke is probably acquainted with the interesting details of Paul's two years of city mission work in Rome (§68, 28:30, 31), but he has no occasion to give them, because the purpose of his book is accomplished when he has repre sented Christianity in the person of its great apostle, as established in the Gentile capital. STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY I : THE PROMISE TO EMPOWER THE WITNESSES, AND ITS FULFILMENT First Day: Preliminary Surrey I, Today get before your mind a general view of the scope of these Studies and the method to be pursued. First read the ' 'General Suggestions" slowly and thoughtfully. 2. Read next the five "Principal Divisions of the Apostolic Age" given on page xi in the introduction to Burton's "Records and Letters of the Apostolic Age, " the book upon which these Studies are based. 3. Glance through the "Analytical Outline of the Apostolic Age'' given on pages xui to xix of the same book. Note that the "Chapters" in this outhne are not chapters in Acts but divisions in the history as a whole. 4. Read in the Studies — not in Burton — the "Introductory Note on the Purpose of the Book of Acts", and the references to the book of Acts contained in the note. Personal Thought: This study ought to alter your daily life. You ought to be living a better daily life at the close of this series of Studies than you are now living. It is to secure this end that the study is made daily study. Can you not by the grace of God keep your average daily life more steadily up to your best moments? STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i: THE PROMISE TO EMPOWER THE WITNESSES, AND ITS FULFILMENT Second Day: § i. The Promise of the Spirit, and the Ascension of Jesus (to be continued) I. This section contains an account of an exceedingly important six weeks in the intercourse of Jesus with the apostles. It is a summary account of what Jesus said to them on various occasions during that period, and merges into an account of what was said in His final interview with them. 2. Read the section carefully, compelling your imagination to pro duce for you each scene described. When you have read a descriptive phrase, see what it describes, 3, Compare Luke l :i-4 with v, i. Perhaps the use of the word "first" instead of "former" indicates that Luke had planned to write a third volume for this gendeman and his friends. The use of the epithet "most excellent," Luke 1 :3, compared with its use in § 59, v. 3 ; § 62, 26 :2s, makes it probable that Theophilus was a gentleman of some rank. 4. Compare Luke 24:36-53 with w. 2-5, and answer in your note book these questions : What "commandment" is referred to in v. 2? What is meant by his having ' 'given commandment through the Holy Spirit"? What promise is referred to in v. 4? Why is it caUed the promise "of the Father" (John 14:26), v. 4, and Luke 24:49? How long had some Spirit-baptism been expected? Compare Luke 3 :i6. Begin to think about this question, which will recur for some days, and record such answer as now occurs to you : What did Jesus mean by being "baptized with the Holy Spirit"? Personal Thoughts: Is Christianity anything more to you than a scheme for saving your own soul? Do you have some sense of belonging to ag^eat movement, the beginnings of which are described here, at the center of which stands Jesus? Realize in your life today some thing of the exhilaration which you have a right to feel in view of your connection with this great world-movement. 10 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i: THE PROMISE TO EMPOWER THE WITNESSES, AND ITS FULFILMENT Third Day: § i. The Promise of the Spirit, and the Ascension of Jesus (continued) I. Read w. 1-5 with a view to taking up the thought at the point where it was dropped yesterday. 2. The Jewish conception of the Kingdom of God varied in its details at different periods of Jewish history, and among different classes of the people. Each foresaw in it the realization of his own ideal of happiness. According to the popular conception in the time of Jesus, the Kingdom of God was to be a political state, composed of pious, law-keeping Jews, over which the Messiah would reign with Jerusalem as His capital, and subject to which, in some indefinite relation, would be the other nations of the earth. To what extent do the apostles share this current conception of the Kingdom (v. 6)? Do they fully understand Jesus' conception of the Kingdom? What is the time to which they refer (v. 6) as likely to witness the inauguration of this Kingdom? With v. 7 compare Mark 13:32. 3. In V. 8 Jesus lays before them the "program" of the new move ment. The rest of the book is occupied with a history of the partial accomplishment of this "program." Men EMPOWERED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD ARE TO START FROM Jerusalem, and make conquest of the world by A CAMPAIGN OF TESTIMONY. What was there in the question of the apostles (v. 6) that suggested the idea of "power" in v, 8? Compare Mark 10:33-37. Did the apostles comprehend the full significance of this "program" at the time? To what were they to bear witness? Answer carefully, 4, Read w. 9-1 1 slowly, compelling your imagination to produce the picture as it is described, phrase by phrase. Had the apostles anticipated this separation, or had they expected a continuance of such occasional interviews as had occurred during the preceding six weeks? What would Peter have said if some one on the way back to Jerusalem had asked him how soon he expected Jesus to return and inaugurate His Kingdom? Personal Thoughts: Have you ever heartily accepted the "program" laid out by Jesus for the movement to which you belong? Are you taking any part in His campaign of testimony for the conquest of the world? If the most profound purpose of one's life constitutes his real testi mony, what message is unconsciously sounding out from your life? 11 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i: THE PROMISE TO EMPOWER THE WITNESSES, AND ITS FULFILMENT Fourth Day: § i. The Promise of the Spirit, and the Ascension of Jesus (concluded) I. Read rapidly vv, i-ii in order to take up the thought where it was dropped yesterday, 2, Read w, 12-14, Note the three groups that had this upper room as their common meeting place. Trace the history of the "women" as already noted by Luke in his Gospel, 8:1-3; 23 :46-49, 55 ; 24:10, Trace the history of Jesus' brothers as suggested by Mark 3 :20, 21, 31 ; 6:4; John 7 :3-5, What did they think had become of their brother now? 3. Imagine yourself a member of this company, having had three years' personal association with Jesus, having received a great commission and promise from Him, and having just seen Him go into the heavens. Under such circumstances what would have been the substance of your daily prayer (v. 14)? 4. In concluding the study of § i answer these general questions : What new ideas did the apostles receive during the six weeks succeeding the resurrection? What was the principal theme of Jesus' post-resurrection teaching? Personal Thought: The apostolic enthusiasm resulted largely from an overpowering sense of their personal relation to Jesus. They were personally acquainted with the man "at God's right hand" (§4, v. 33). Can you in some measure reproduce in your own experience the apostoUc sense of personal relationship to Jesus? Think often today that your Lord and Friend is "at the right hand of God"! 12 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY I : THE PROMISE TO EMPOWER THE WITNESSES, AND ITS FULFILMENT Fifth Day: § 2. The Choosing of Matthias I. While the apostles are waiting for the promised empowering of the Spirit that shall enable them to begin their campaign of testi mony, they fill up the gap in the circle of witnesses made by the apostasy of Judas. 2. Read § 2. 3. Had they already made a list of members (v. 15)? Does this number (v. 15) include all of Jesus' followers? (§ 50, 15:6,) What "ministry" (v, 17)? Meaning of the word "ministry"? Arew. 18, 19, Peter's words or Luke's explanation? What does Peter regard the first quotation (v. 20) as proving? What does the second quotation prove? Does it make any better sense to include w. 18-20 in the parenthesis, and regard the entire parenthesis as Luke's comment? (So Rendall in his new Commentary on Acts.) What do w, 21-26 show to have been their conception (i) of the conditions of membership in the apos tolic circle, (2) of the functions of an apostle? 4. Note in this section their new sense of the great plan of God, At first the death of Jesus had seemed to them the remediless defeat Of all their hopes (Luke 24:21), but now, after Jesus has given them a course in Messianic prophecy (Luke 24:27, 44-46), they see that all these events are simply steps in the accomplishment of God's plan for the establishment of His Kingdom. Personal Thoughts: Take comfort today in the thought that God is slowly and surely carrying out a great plan for the betterment of men. He will never grow weary and give it up. The Kingdom of God will surely come ! Anything you may be able to accomphsh today in the interest of that Kingdom will be saved up by God, and made to contribute to a certain and indestructible result. The results of your efforts will not be frittered away for lack of competent oversight ! 13 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i: THE PROMISE TO EMPOWER THE WITNESSES, AND ITS FULFILMENT Sixth Day: § 3. The Coming of the Spirit (to be continued) I. In the execution of the program stated in § i, v. 8 the first step is now to be taken, namely, the empowering of the witnesses by the Holy Spirit. It occurs on the day of a great religious festival when the city is crowded with Jewish worshippers that had come back to the holy city from their homes in many and distant parts of the world. 2, Read § 3 carefully, endeavoring to see the picture described. Observe the alternative translations in the footnotes. In order to make the picture as distinct as possible, answer the following questions : Who were in the meeting? Where were they gathered? Did Peter preach (v. 14) in the place where the phenomena of fire and wind were observed? At what time in the day had they met? (cf. v. 15). How long time do you imagine elapsed between w. i and 14? How was the attention of the crowds in the city attracted to what was going on in this meeting? 3. The gift of tongues, which was common in the early church, is most fully described in § 50, chap. 14. From the account there given it seems to have consisted in the utterance of inarticulate ejaculations by persons in a state of spiritual excitement induced by the action of the Holy Spirit. The person in this state experi enced a great disturbance of the emotional nature, but had no distinct thought in his mind (§ 50, 14:14, 15). Certain persons, able to discern and express in words the emotions which over powered the person speaking with tongues, were called "inter preters" (§50, 14:27, 28), The phenomenon on the day of Pentecost seems to have involved an actual use of foreign words (v. 8), although some saw in it only such an excited state of mind as suggested intoxication (v, 13), (If you have time, read § 50, chap. 14,) Personal Thought: "The Spirit gave them utterance" (v, 4), Do you believe that the Holy Spirit of God actually comes in contact with human minds and suggests thoughts to them? Have you ever seriously considered the conditions to be fulfilled by him who would receive such suggestions? 14 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i: THE PROMISE TO EMPOWER THE WITNESSES, AND ITS FULFILMENT Seventh Day: § 3. The Coming of the Spirit (concluded) I. Read § 3. 2. Answer the following questions carefully : Of what value to the apostles were some such external manifesta tions of the long-expected coming of the Spirit? What symbolism, if any, did they see in the particular external manifestations granted them in the sun-rise prayer-meeting, that is, the sound of rushing wind and the distributed tongues of fire? Had the Holy Spirit never been in the hearts of men before this? (Luke 1:67; §2, V. 16.) What was there new about this manifestation of the Spirit? Why was the Holy Spirit given? 3. Record your present view of what is really meant by being "bap tized with the Holy Spirit"? Exactly what experience is described by the expression? What good does it do? We shall come back to this point again. Personal Thought: Do you really desire and value a more intimate acquaintance with the Spirit of God? Is there anything you value more? Do you suppose it is possible for you to know Godany better than you do? 15 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 2: THE FIRST WITNESSING, AND THE BEGINNINGS OP THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM First Day: § 4. Peter's Sermon on the Day of Pentecost(to be continued) § 5 . The Conversion of the Three Thousand (to be continued) 1. The empowering of the witnesses has been described in § 3, and now in § § 4 and 5 follows an account of the first testimony by an empowered witness in the great campaign for the conquest of the world,§ i,v,8,andof its wonderful consequences. The prominence given by Luke to his enumeration of the various nationalities present (§3, w, 9-1 1) — an enumeration made on the basis of difference of language, and from Rome as the center of survey (Rendall) — suggests that he regarded this occasion as a miniature evangelization of the whole world, an experience at the very beginning of the campaign prophetic of its ultimate outcome, 2. The sunrise prayer-meeting, in which physical manifestations of the Spirit's presence were observed, was held in a house (§ 3,v,2), This house and the houses adjacent to it being filled with Pente cost lodgers, and the streets being filled with early worshippers going to the temple, a crowd speedily gathered about the house from which the mysterious sound emanated (§ 3,v,6), Theapostles must then have left the house and gone to some place where there was room enough for the several thousands that listened to Peter, This place was very likely one of the spacious open courts in the gpreat area about the temple (cf, § 6, v, 46), 3. Read § § 4 and 5, laying aside as far as possible all pre-conceived ideas of their contents. Come to them as for the first time. Regard them as a piece of testimony and answer these questions : What did Peter hope to accomplish by his testimony? What are the two, three, or four most important facts or truths to which Peter bears testimony? Which one truth, if any one, is most important in his testimony? Is this a full, verbatim report of Peter's address? What function did "the eleven" (v, 14) perform in producing the result? Personal Thoughts: Have you ever seen clearly what it is to which Jesus expects you to bear testimony in this great movement of which you are a part? What do you know about Jesus Christ to which you could give testimony from personal experience? Has any one, so far as you know, ever been moved by your testi mony to take Jesus as his Lord and Saviour? 16 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 2: THE FIRST WITNESSING, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Second Day: § 4. Peter's Sermon on the Day of Pentecost (concluded) § 5. The Conversion of the Three Thousand (continued) I. The Jews divided all time into two divisions, the "present age" and the "age to come." According to the idea that prevailed among the Jews at the time of Jesus, the "present age" was to be ended by the appearance of the Messiah to judge the world, and establish the Kingdom of God, which kingdom was the "age to come." This judgment day was identified by them with the "Day of the Lord" (v. 20), so prominent in the Old Testament. The "last days", therefore, were the period just preceding this Messianic judgment and inauguration of the Kingdom of God. 2. Read w. 17-21 and determine what feature of this Pentecostal coming of the Spirit Peter regarded as fulfilment of the pro phecy. Were w, 19, 20 fulfilled in this event? To what period did he regard v, 2 1 as applying? 3, Read w, 22-32 and determine what the quotation from Psalm 16 in vv, 25-28 is used by Peter to prove. Who is the speaker in the quotation? 4, Read w, 33-35 and determine what Peter intended the quotation from Psalm no to prove. What connection did the apostles recognize Jesus to have had with the production of these manifestations of the Spirit's presence? 5, Readw, 37-39- What was it that so stirred the consciences of Peter's hearers? What is it to "repent"? What is it to be baptized "in the name of Jesus"? Personal Thoughts: The gist of Peter's testimony is two-fold: (i) Jesus is alive and therefore the Christ, with all power at God's right hand ; (2) who ever takes Him as Lord and Christ shall be saved in the King dom of God from sin and its misery. Have you some increasing sense of daily association with a living Christ so that you can bear testimony to His resurrection? To the world He is a dead Jew, Does your life give evidence that He is at work upon it, saving it from sin and its misery? 17 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 2: THE FIRST WITNESSING, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Third Day: § 5, The Conversion of the Three Thousand (continued) § 6. The Church in Peace and Favour (to be continued) I. The "gift of the Holy Spirit" (v. 38) is not the Holy Spirit's gift but the gift of God, which is the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit is a person. The "baptism'' with, or the "gift" of the Holy Spirit must in its essence, therefore, consist of an intimate association •with an All-Powerful and Holy Person. The results of the gift of the Holy Spirit must be such as are to be expected from an intimate association with an All-Powerful and Holy Person, The conditions of receiving this "gift" are such as one must nec essarily meet in case he desires intimate association with such a person, 2, In the Ught of this thought read § § 5 and 6, and answer carefuUy the following questions : What is here stated as the condition, or conditions, that one must meet in order to receive the gfift of the Holy Spirit? What is here stated as the results that follow the reception of the gift of the Holy Spirit? Do you imagine that the results of receiving the Holy Spirit were the same in all cases? Was there any result that was common to all cases? If so, what,!* According to w, 38, 39, at what period in one's religious experi ence is the gift of the Holy Spirit offered? Whom did Peter mean by "all that are afar off" (v. 39)? Personal Thought: Have you any joyful experience of intimate association with the All-Powerful, Holy Spirit of God? Perhaps you can look back to no distinct date at which some special sense of this association began, any more than you are perhaps able to date your conver sion, but have you some present experience? Will you pray for a growing sense of association with the Spirit of the Holy God, and will you meet any conditions of such deepening acquaintance that He may impose? 18 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 2: THE FIRST WITiraiSSING, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Fourth Day: § 5. The Conversion of the Three Thousand (concluded) § 6. The Church in Peace and Favour (concluded) I. Read w. 41-47, trying to picture to yourself the daily occupa tions and religfious emotions of these new believers, and the effect they produced upon the city. Imagine yourself one of them. 2. Analyze with particular care v, 42, answering the following ques tions: What did the apostles teach? What would you have liked them to teach you? How did they teach — in classes, by public addresses, or how? What is the meaning of "fellowship," and in what did it here consist?Meaning of "the breaking of bread"? Does § 50, 11:23, 24 throw any Ught on it? What were "the prayers"? 3, Fear of what and upon what souls (v, 43) ? 4, Did the state of things described in w, 44, 45 involve the renun ciation of the principle of private property? Compare §11, v, 4, 5, What did they do in the temple (v, 46)? Was there any reUgious significance in this act of "breaking bread" (v, 46)? If not why mention it here? What was the reason for their popularity with the people (v, 47)? Personal Thoughts: The g^ft of the Holy Spirit involves an intimate association with an All-Powerful, Holy Person, producing such love, joy, and purity of Ufe as make one an effective witness by silent Ufe and spoken word in the great campaign of testimony for the conquest of the world. The most important result of the reception of the Holy Spirit seems to have been a new love that expressed itself in the practi cal relief of those in need. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was a baptism of love. Have you desired the gift of the Holy Spirit because you have thought it would enable you to serve God in some conspicuous way, or because you desire your daily Ufe to be increasingly characterized by unselfish love? 19 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 2: THE FIRST WITNESSING, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Fifth Day: § 7. The Healing of the Lame Man by Peter and John I. Being now quite well started in these Studies, take time to note again (i) the "Principal Divisions of the ApostoUc Age" on page xi of the text book ; (2) the Analysis of Part I, found on pages xiu and xiv. 2. Read § 7 slowly, compelling your imagination to see the picture described. 3. Why single out the incident described in this Section from the many that occurred about this time (§ 6, v. 43) ? 4. What light does this Section throw upon the attitude of the apos tles toward the long-established institutions of the Jewish reli gion? Did they think that believing in Jesus as the Messiah had relieved them from the necessity of observing all the rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion? 5. Do you judge that the lame man was familiar with the teaching of the apostles, and so had faith in the power of Jesus to which Peter appealed (v. 6) ? Does V. 6 indicate the poverty of Peter and John, or simply that they happened on this occasion to have no money for alms-giving with them? Personal Thoughts: "All the people saw him walking and praising God" (v.9). It was this man's evident sense of having been benefited by God, and his sincere expression of gratitude that made him so effective among the people. Have you any real sense of benefit received from God? What real good has God done you? Is there such habit ual cheerfulness and gratitude in your life as would lead your acquaintances to suppose that you had received such benefit? 20 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY a: THE FIRST WITNESSING, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Sixth Day: § 8. Peter's Sermon in Solomon's Porch (to be continued) I. The strange antics (§ 7, v. 8) of the healed man as he passed with Peter and John through the temple courts attracted the attention of the crowds, who ran after them to a colonnade which seems to have been a favorite resort of the apostles (§ I2, v. i3^ as it had once been of Jesus Himself (John 10:23). It was a portion of the original structure erected by Solomon that had been left undisturbed when Herod rebuilt the temple. 2. Read § 8 with a view to answering the foUowing general ques tions. In all this work do not fail to write out your answers faithfully.What are the principal thoughts contained in this testimony? In what respects does it resemble that of § 4? Does it contain any thought not found in that Section? If so, what? Personal Thought: Select for yourself the best thought suggested by today's study. 21 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY a: THE FIRST WITNESSING, AND THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Seventh Day: § 8. Peter's Sermon in Solomon's Porch (concluded) I. Read § 8 again and then answer these questions regarding details of the address. In w. 13-15 what two specially aggravating cir cumstances does Peter mention with a view to developing their sense of g^ilt? In what sense "in ignorance" (v. 17)? What motives to repentance are urged in w. 19-21? What are meant by "seasons of refreshing" (v. 19)? Send Christ where (v. 20)? Do these seasons of refreshing precede, coincide with, or foUow the sending of Christ? With v. 21 compare § i, v. 6. What motives are used in w. 22, 23? What motives are used in w. 24-26? Does "raised up" in v. 26 refer to the resurrection or the incar nation? Personal Thought: Peter here (w. 13, 26) applies to Jesus the title "Servant," apparently having in mind Isaiah's "Servant of Jehovah." Inti mate association with the Sphit of Jesus is possible only to him who wiU also become a servant. In the routine of today, how many can I serve by doing for them the commonplace kindnesses of daily Ufe? 22 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY: a: PERSECUTION OF THE LEADING WITNESSES, AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM First Day: § g. The First Imprisonment of Peter and John (to be continued) I. The temple and its courts were under the special care of the high-priestly family, which at this time was Sadducean, and the daily meetings of the Nazarenes in Solomon's Porch was a con stant annoyance to them. Consequently on this afternoon when a large crowd was present (§ 8, v. 1 1), the chief of the temple police, accompanied by some of the priests and other leading Sadducees, suddenly appeared upon the scene and broke up the meeting by arresting the two speakers. 2. Read w. 1-22 of § 9 with a view to answering the foUowing general questions : Why did the Sadducees object to the apostles' preaching? (cf. § 57. V. 8.) What was the body before which the apostles were brought, and how gfreat was their danger? (Compare Mark 14:53. Compare also the last clause of v. 13 with John 18:15-18, 25-27.) What answer did the prosecuting officers expect in reply to their questions (v. 7), and what course of action had they probably planned to follow? What are the principal points in Peter's reply (w. 8-12)? Why did the court take no more decisive measures against the preachers? Personal Thought: Is there any one before whom you find yourself afraid to acknowl edge your connection with Jesus? If so, pray for such an exult ant sense of alliance with the Spurit of God as will take away aU unworthy fear of men ! 23 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 3: PERSECUTION OF THE LEADING WITNESSES, AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Second Day: §9. The First Imprisonment of Peter and John (concluded) I. Get the situation described in this Section well before your mind. Two men untrained in the theological learning of the rabbis (v. 1 3) are standing in the presence of the sanhedrin, the highest Jewish tribunal, composed of theological and religious specialists. Prisoners are usually abashed in this august presence (v. 13), but diese two men are bold. They actually maintain that they them selves, and not these dignified religious specialists, are the trusted agents of the Messianic Deliverer the nation has so long expected. They accuse these professional religious leaders of spiritual incompetence, — likening them to stupid builders that have not sense enough to recognize the great stone sent from the quarry by the architect to occupy the principal place in the structure (v. II). They go further and actually charge them with the crime of murdering the Messiah, the only one through whom their national and personal expectation of blessedness in the Kingdom of God can be realized (v. 12). 2. Note that the three thousand in § 5, v. 41, included both sexes and all ages, while at this time the number has increased to five thousand men (v. 4). Many of those converted on the day of Pentecost have perhaps already left the city. 3. Does V. 8 imply some special manifestation of the Holy Spirit at this particular time? What was there in the experience of "being filled with the Holy Spirit" calculated to produce boldness? 4. When had Peter heard the quotation in v. 11 used before? (cf. Mark I2 :io, 11.) 5. Read w. 23-31, and answer the following questions: When the suspense of the preceding night is relieved by the return of Peter and John what two things do the apostles pray for? How do the different characters in v. 27 fulfil the language of the quotation? What was the purpose of the manifestation mentioned in the first part of V. 31? r'ersonal Thought: Do you try to cultivate a sense of the nearness of the invisible Jesus? Do you realize, when you pray, that He is so near that He might jar the room in which you pray to let you know that He is near and listening? 2i STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY ,3: PERSECUTION OF THE LEADING WITNESSES, AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Third Day: § 10. The Unity of the Church, and the Community of Goods I. After passing through the crisis described in §9 the Nazarenes continued to experience the power of the Spirit of God. 2. Read § 10. 3. What three or four evidences of the Spirit's presence are men tioned in vv. 32, 33? Was the community of property here described compulsory? (cf. §11, V. 4.) What is the meaning of the word "grace" in v. 33? What is the force of the first word, "for", in v. 34 — that is, how did the situation described in v. 34 result from the fact that "great grace was upon them all" (v. 33)? Why is the generosity of Barnabas mentioned here? Why is he so fully described? (cf. §21, v. 27; §26, vv. 22-26; §31.) In view of what peculiarity did he receive the name "Son of Exhortation"? Personal Thought: Do you suppose your friends think of you as one characterized by great grace of spirit? Does the appeal for sympathy made by the lives of those around you receive quick recognition and hearty response?Might not the Spirit of the gracious God develop this grace more fully in us^ 25 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 3: PERSECUTION OP THE LEADING WITNESSES, AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Fourth Day: § 11. Ananias and Sapphira I. Two of the Nazarenes, moved perhaps by the praise accorded Barnabas' generous gift, attempt to secure the reputation for benevolence without incurring the expense of it, and fall into terrible sin. 2. Read §11, and answer the foUowmg general questions: Of what sin or sins were this man and his wife guilty? Why was the punishment so severe? 3. In what sense did their action constitute a lie to the Holy Spirit (v. 3), or to God (v. 4)? What is meant by their "tempting" the Holy Spirit? What evidence in this Section of the personaUty of the Holy Spirit? What appears to be the relation of Satan to the individual's sin and guilt? 4. The quick burial described here (w. 6, 10) is in accordance with the habits of the East. Lieutenant Conder, in his "Tent Work in Palestine, " p. 326, describes the burial of a boy fifteen minutes after he had been killed by falling from a tree. Possibly the expression "younger men" (v. 6) applies to a class of officers, and indicates the existence of some form of church organization. Personal Thought: One needs often to put this question to himself, — Do I desire to appear to be better than I am wiUing to take the pains to become? 26 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY: 3: PERSECUTION OF THE LEADING WITNESSES, AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Fifth Day: §13. Signs and Wonders done by the Apostles § 13. The Second Imprisonment of the Apostles (to be continued) I. The apostles seem to have gone boldly on writh the meetings in Solomon's porch (§ 1 2, v. 1 2) regardless of the sanhedrin's threats (S9> vv. 18, 21). Frequent miracles and numerous conversions (S 12, v. 14) proved that there was no abatement of the Spirit's power in their work. 2. Read § 12 slowly, compelling your imagination to reproduce the impressive scenes described. 3. Who are the "rest" in v. 13, who seem to be distinguished from the believers gathered in Solomon's Porch (v. 12), and from the "people" (v. 13)? Why did they not dare to join the Nazarenes (v. 13)? 4. Read § 13 rapidly in preparation for more careful study tomorrow, and determine whom Luke considers to be the real antagonists in this g^eat contest. Personal Thought: We are sometimes solely concerned to get from God sufficient help for our own difficulties and temptations. Here in §12 appears a company of people in whose lives the power of God is so abundant as to suffice not simply for their own needs but for those of many others. Their connection with the source of power is so perfect that there is an abundant overflow into the lives of others. Are you making the mistake of desiring joyful and intimate asso ciation with the Holy Spirit simply for your own satisfaction? Present your personaUty to Him today as an agency through which He may do His work of love in the lives of all with whom you associate. 27 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 3: PERSECUTION OF THE LEADING WITNESSES, AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Sixth Day: § 13. The Second Imprisonment of the Apostles (continued) I. Among a people whose genius was so decidedly religious as was that of the Jews, there could be no party without decided religious and theological interests. The Sadducees constituted no excep tion to this statement, as has been already seen in § 9, v. 2. (Cf. also Matt. 22:23.) They had, however, no such exclusive inter est in religion as that which characterized the Pharisees. They were the social and political aristocrats of the day. They seem not to have shut themselves against the influence of the Graeco- Roman civilization, which was present even in Jerusalem, as did the Pharisees. They were subservient to the Roman government, and were glad to have members of their party kept by the Romans in the high-priestly office and in other offices of political infiuence because of such subserviency. 2. Read vv. 1 7-2 1 slowly, seeing in imagination the scene described by each phrase. How could the popularity of the apostles (§ 12, w. 13-16) affect the political interests of the high priest and his associates so as to cause jealousy (v. 1 7) ? Or was the jealousy due to something else? (Note in this con nection the manifestation of this same disposition on the part of the high priests in the case of Jesus, Mark 15 :io. Compare also John 11:47-53.) What "Ufe" is referred to in v. 20? 3. Read slowly in vv. 21-32 the account of this early moming meet ing of the sanhedrin, evidently a full and formal session (v. 21), prepared to take decisive measures against this new movement. Note the principal points in the reply of the apostles. How did the Holy Spirit bear His witness to the truth of these statements (v. 32)? Personal Thoughts: ' 'Whom God hath given to them that obey Him. " Naturally we can not expect to have a glad sense of intimate association with the Holy Spirit of God if at any point we are refusing to obey God. Does your conscience trouble you about anything when you have a quiet half-hour? Do you know of anything God would have you stop doing or begin to do? If so, give up to God, whose every requirement is an expression of His love, and receive His Spirit. 28 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 3: PERSECUTION OF THE LEADING WITNESSES, AND GROWTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM Seventh Day: § 13. The Second Imprisonment of the Apostles (concluded) I. It is worth while to dwell upon such a section as this, because it brings out with clearness the fact that Jesus Christ although for the time being invisible, is directing the Campaign of Testimony just as really as He directed His disciples before His death. The high priests themselves cannot keep His witnesses in prison over night ! 2. Read with care w. 33-42, and state carefully what there was in Peter's reply (w. 29-32) that stung these dignified gentlemen of the sanhedrin into such a passion of hatred (v. 33). Note Gamaliel's relation to Paul, § 56, v. 3. What is his argument? 3. Note that the Pharisees, represented by Gamaliel, appear here for the first time. There were two parties in the sanhedrin, the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Although the Sadducees were politically more powerful and promi nent than the Pharisees, still the Pharisees, being more influ ential among the people, were the really dominant power in the national life. After the death of Jesus the persecution of the disciples was first taken up by the Sadducees, perhaps because the disciples held their meetings in the temple courts where the Sadducean high priests were the responsible authority. The Sadducees had chosen to object to the disciples on the ground that they preached the resurrection (§9, v. 2), but the Pharisees staunchly defended this doctrine, and so would not naturally have co-operated with the Sadducees. Perhaps this partly accounts for the fact that a prominent Pharisee now sounds the note of moderation. Read in this connection § 57, vv. 1-9. 4. Why did the liigh priest allow the daily meetings in Solomon's Porch to continue (v. 42) in spite of the strict prohibition (v. 40) ? Picture to yourself Peter's daily Ufe as suggested by v. 42, Personal Thought: "Rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name" (v, 41), Have you not some growing sense of per sonal affection for Jesus, so that sacrifice of dignity, or comfort, or money, for His sake is becoming a pleasure? 29 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 4: THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN, AND THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN First Day: § 14. The Appointment of the Seven I. The author is now preparing to give the history of a movement out from Jerusalem. The appointment of the Seven introduces Stephen, whose execution by the sanhedrin was the initial step in the persecution that scattered the believers (§ 16, v. i), and so resulted in a further development of the program outlined in § I, V. 8. 2. There were as yet none but Jews or naturalized Jewish citizens among the believers. There were, however, two distinct classes of Jews in the Jerusalem Church, (i) Chaldee-speaking Jews, natives of Palestine, and (2) Greek-speaking Jews, bom in foreign countries, but now resident in Jerusalem. 3. Read § 14 and answer the foUowing questions : What was the nature of this trouble? That is, what was the "daily ministration" (v. i)? Who originally attended to this business (§ 10, w. 34, 35)? Who was attending to it now? What was the reason for each of the three quaUfications requisite in those to be appointed (v. 3)? What were the three steps in their appointment and induction into office? Is there any significance in the fact that all the seven have Greek names? 4. What light do the statements in v. 7 throw upon Luke's pur pose in this portion of his history? 5. According to Josephus the total number of priests was 20,000, and as they served in "courses," relays of them were constantly coming up to Jerusalem from their country homes to do service in the temple (see Luke 1 :5, 8, 23, 39, 40). This gave them an excellent opportunity to attend the meetings in Solomon's Porch. The numerous conversions that occurred among them must have been peculiariy aggravating to the leaders of the priesthood ! Personal Thought: Is there any thought here specially applicable to your own Ufe? 30 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 4: THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN, AND THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN Second Day: § 15. The Trial and Death of Stephen the Martyr (to be continued) 1. The original persecutors of the Nazarenes seem to have adopted the policy advised by Gamaliel (§13, w. 38-40), but now perse cution arose in a new quarter, and for a new reason. 2. The synagogue was the central institution in the Jewish com munity, a place where the law was taught on the Sabbath, and where it was executed on week days (Matt. 10:17). Foreign bom Jews coming from the same part of the world worshipped in the same synagogue while resident in Jemsalem (§ 15, v. 9). So did men of the same class, for example the "Libertines," or "Freedmen" (libertini), Jews that had been deported as captives, and afterward freed. According to Jewish tradition there were 480 synagogues in Jerusalem. 3. The accusers. Read vv. 8-15 in § 15, and answer the following questions : "To what general class of Jews did the new persecutors belong? Where did Stephen come in contact with them? Were the Nazarenes still attending the regular synagogue ser vices, or had their own meetings taken the place of the synagogue service?What did they dispute about (v. 9) ? What class that had hitherto been favorable to the Nazarenes is now prejudiced against them? Compare § 1 2, v. 13 with § 1 5, v. 1 2. 4. The charge. Express in your own words the exact charge, or charges, brought against Stephen. Note that one of them was the revival of a somewhat similar charge once made against Jesus. (Mark 14:57, 58; 15:29.) Do you suppose Stephen had really said anything about a future destruction of the temple by Jesus? (Cf. Mark 13:1, 2.) 5. "The court. Before what body was Stephen brought? Personal Thought: The irritation produced by the consciousness of being unjustly accused constitutes a peculiarly severe test of character. Evi dently one of the results of the Spirit's presence in Stephen (§ 14, v. 5) was the ability to endure such accusation without becoming bitter (v. 15). Are you able to meet unfair criticism or accusation in this quiet spirit? 31 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 4: THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN, AND THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN Third Day: § 15. The Trial and Death of Stephen the Martyr (continued) I . The Nazarenes are now in the greatest peril of their history. The charges brought against Stephen are calculated to inflame aU classes with bitter prejudice against them. His alleged sacrile gious attack upon the eternal law of Moses (v. 14) instantly arouses the Pharisees and their Scribes from the pa'5sive attitude advised by Gamaliel (§ 13, v. 38). His alleged anarchistic threat that the holy temple will be destroyed arouses the Sadducean custodians of the temple. Both charges, especially the latter, throw the mass of the people into a frenzy of passionate hate. 2. The charges made against Stephen seem to have taken several forms, (i) He was in general a blasphemous ranter against God and His holy institutions. "He ceased not to speak words," etc. (vv. 11-13). (2) He threatened specifically that Jesus who had been ignominiously executed by the sanhedrin as a blasphemous pretender, would return and destroy the temple. (3) He threat ened that this Jesus would also abrogate certain of the unchangeable laws given by God through Moses. The destruction of the temple would involve the abrogation of the Mosaic Legislation regarding sacrifices, all of which were to be offered at the temple. These charges are distinctly said to have been made by perjured wit nesses, but this does not exclude the probability that Stephen had said something capable of being perverted into the false statements. 3. Read § 1 5, w. 7 :i-8 :ia, and answer the foUowmg questions : Did Stephen admit the tmthfulness of the charges? Did he deny them and, if so, how did he refute them? Can you determine his real attitude toward the temple worship? That is, did he still continue to offer sacrifices like an orthodox Jew? Did he beUeve the temple would one day be destroyed? If so, did he expect that it would be rebuilt, or did he think that they could get on without a temple? Personal Thought: Are you open to new truth coming from any quarter? Can you recognize truth even when advocated by those whom you disUke, or against whom you are prejudiced? 82 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 4: THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN, AND THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN Fourth Day: § 15. The Trial and Death of Stephen the Martyr (concluded) I. Stephen's real attitude toward the law and the temple service was probably still that of an orthodox Jew. Had he been personally lax in his observance of the law, such present laxness would have been charged against him rather than the fact that he taught a future change of law (6:14). In common with other Nazarenes he was probably famiUar with the orally current teaching of Jesus that the temple would be destroyed (Mark 13 :i, 2). He differed from many of his feUow Nazarenes in seeing that whenever this destruction of the temple, and abrogation of the temple law, should occur, they would be able togetonperfectly well without a temple. 2. He makes three points in his long defense. (i) His appreciative summary of Jewish history shows that he is no blatant blasphemer, but that he worships God, and reverences Moses and Jewish institutions. (2) But to his mind the temple is not essential to true worship. Note aU the places where, and the great men by whom, God was worshipped without a temple. Consider especially vv. 47-49. (3) He attacks his accusers, at first indirectly by showing that Israel has always resisted God's chosen deliverers. Note espe cially the three instances mentioned in w. 9, 23-29, 38-41. In w. 51-53 the attack becomes direct, and resembles those pre viously made by Peter. (§ 9, v. 10; § 13, v. 30.) 3. Read vv. 54-59 slowly, reproducing the picture in imagination. On the place and method of stoning compare Lev. 24:14; Deut. 17:5-7. Note Luke's sense of the real antagonists in this awful contest as seen in 6:5, 10, 15, 7:51, 55, on the one hand, and in 7 : 5 7-60 on the other. Personal Thoughts: Jesus risen from His throne, standing in glory to welcome the first martyr among His witnesses, is a revelation of the profound sympathy existing between Himself and His witnesses. Have you ever made earnest with the thought that Jesus wiU actually be interested in all that you do today? 33 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 4: THE APPOINTMENT OF THE SEVEN, AND THE MARTYRDOM OF STEPHEN Fifth to Seventh Days: Review of Part I We have finished the detailed study of Part I., and it wiU be profitable to take a general survey of its contents in review, Three days are to be spent in this work as foUows : Fifth Day Read the whole of Part I., giving careful attention to the progress of its thought as indicated in the titles of chapters and sections. Record the thoughts that impress you most distinctly as a result of this reading. Sixth Day Write in the margin of your Bible at the proper places the title of Part I., Studies 1-4, and Sections 1-15, as g^ven in Burton or at the top of each page in the Studies. The object of this is to associate the analysis contained in these divisions with the text of the Bible itself as you read it. It might be well to buy an inex pensive Revised New Testament with a somewhat ample margin, and use it for this purpose. There is an Oxford 1 2 mo edition suitable for this purpose that can be bought for twenty-five cents. Review the "Personal Thoughts" of the first two Studies. Seventh Day Commit to memory the titles of these Studies and Sections, ' learning them from your inscription of them on the margin of your Bfble. If you do this, then in all your subsequent reading of this part of the Bible the progress of thought indicated in these titles will be suggested to you by the text itself. This will not be the case if you simply learn them from the page in Burton. Review the "Personal Thoughts" of tlie third and fourth Studies. 34 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 5: THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL First Day: § 16. The Scattering of the Church by Persecution I. Glance through the outUne of Part II. , on pp. xiv and xv, in order to get its general scope. 2. Read § 16 carefully. 3. "On that day" (v. i). — ^What day? What is the relation in Luke's mind of this event (w. i, 4) to the general program outlined in § i, v. 8? Note the similarity of expression in § 16, v. i, and § i, v. 8. Why did the apostles remain in Jerusalem? What two features indicate the thoroughness and fierceness of the persecution? What does "haling" mean? 4. Does § 15, 8 :ia, or anything in the footnotes on pp. 14 and 15, indicate that Saul was a member of the sanhedrin? Is there any probability that Saul had heard Stephen's synagogue discussions? Compare Acts 22 :3 (footnote on p. 14) with § 15,6:9. Construct from the footnotes on pp. 14 and 15 a brief summary biography of Saul. Personal Thought: "They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word" (v. 4). Many of these doubtless like Philip had already been in a sense professional preachers in Jerusalem, but many others were common-place Nazarenes. We need to take pains not to lose our sense of having been intrusted with a definite message which we are to deliver in all wise and tactful ways, wherever we may be. You have a message for every one to whom you can find suitable opportunity to deliver it. 35 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 5: THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL Second Day: § 17. The Planting of the Church in the City of Sama ria (to be continued) I. The very measures taken to suppress the movement are destined in the providence of God to extend it. The Samaritans, among whom the movement now extends, are in no sense Gentiles. They are of Jewish stock, though not of pure Jewish blood. Note that this is not the first preaching among them (John 3:23; 4:39-42). They worship Jehovah, have the Pentateuch as their sacred scriptures, have the Mosaic system of sacrifices, practice circumcision, and expect the Messiah (John 4:25). On their origin read 2 Kings 17 :24-28. 2. Readw. 4-13 of §17. Was this preacher Philip the AposUe (§ I, V. 13), or Philip the member of the reUef board (§ 14, v. 5)? Compare § 16, v. i, § 17, vv. 14-17. Note in w. 4-8 the phrases in which Luke emphasizes as usual the wonderful effect of the testi mony of an empowered witness. The case of Simon in w. 9-13 is evidently cited for the same reason. What three circumstances in the previous career of Simon does Luke emphasize as indicat ing the greatness of his influence over the people? 3. Readw. 14-24 of § 17. Was this ' 'falling of the Holy Spirit upon the believers" accom panied by any external manifestations? Had they had no connection with the Holy Spirit during the time between their baptism and the arrival of the apostles? Why was the power to confer the Holy Spirit hmited to the apostles? Personal Thought: "And there was much joy in that city" (v. 8). Wherever there is a distinct experience of having been saved, or of being saved, by the power of Jesus, there is real joy. Have you ever definitely thought of what it means that you are being saved by Jesus Christ? Is your habitual mood such as to convince an unconverted acquaintance that you have in your experience a source of real joy that is lacking in his Ufe? 36 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 5: THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL Third Day: § 17. The Planting of the Church in the City of Samaria (concluded) § 18. Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer (to be con tinued) I. Some visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit's presence seems to have followed the laying on of the Apostle's hands, a manifesta tion so impressive that Simon naively confessed his sacrilegious desire to add it to his repertoire of sorceries. It probably con sisted of some such extreme exhilaration of spirit as the critics had attributed to drunkenness on the day of Pentecost (§ 3, v. 13), and must have been very valuable in proving that God approved of this new step forward in Samaria. It was appropriate that the leadership of the apostles should be made evident to all at this important juncture by such special power as they manifested on this occasion. 2. Read again § 1 7, w. 14-25. In what sense had Simon "believed" ? How extensive was the work in Samaria? 3. In § 1 8 there is recorded an incident full of significance as a step in the accomplishment of the great program outlined in § i , v. 8. God Himself is seen to be superintending even the details of the campaign of testimony. Philip, doubtless to his amazement, is directed to discontinue his successful work in Samaria, and go far south to the Jerusalem-Gaza tmnk road leading into Eg^pt. The distinguished man whom he meets on this road is not regarded by Luke as a Gentile, for Cornelius (§ 24) is evidently regarded as the first Gentile convert. He must therefore have been either a fuU proselyte or a Jew holding high office in Ethi opia, as did Daniel in Babylon, and called an Ethiopian because he lived in Ethiopia, just as Jews living in Parthia were called Parthians (§ 3, v. 9). 4. Read § 18 slowly. At what three points in the narrative does Luke emphasize the invisible superintendence? Personal Thoughts: "And the Spirit said unto Philip" (v. 29). Have you realized the possibility of real personal intercourse with the Spirit of God? Do you look for His direction in the deUvery of your personal testimoojr? 37 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 5: THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL Fourth Day: § 18. Philip and the Ethiopian Treasurer (concluded) I. The Ethiopian treasurer had probably heard in Jerusalem of the new sect that pretended to have discovered the Messiah, for the city must have been full of the excitement of the persecution. He may have detected, in the eager question of the man running up to his chariot, a hint that he was a member of the new sect now known to be scattered far and wide through the country. 2. Read § 18 again, taking pains to see its picture. 3. Glance through the whole passage (Isaiah 52:13-53:12) from which w. 32, 33 are quoted, and see whether it has suggested to the officer the general thought of Messiahship. Compare also v. 34. 4. Give a brief outline of what you suppose Philip's line of thought to have been (vv. 35, 36). As he apphed v. 33 to Jesus, how do you suppose he explained it? 5. Did the Spirit "catch'' Philip away in some miraculous manner or simply impel him to leave, as it is said in v. 29 to have impelled him to approach? Note in this connection the last clause of v. 39. 6. It is not necessary to suppose that Philip came soon to Caesarea. It may be that after several years he finally settled in Caesarea which is mentioned later (§53, 21 :8) as his permanent residence. 7. Regarding this whole incident as illustrative of the way in which the Kingdom of God is extended, note all the agencies employed. Personal Thoughts: God plans and cares for the saving of individuals in ways that they may not at all understand. Are you holding yourself in readiness day by day to act as His agent? Are you ready to use the chance opportunity tactfully and faith fully? Could you tell a man who was ready to leam, exactly what it is to become a Christian? 38 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 5: THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL Fifth Day: § ig. The Conversion of Saul (to be continued) I. The work of today is to examine the three accounts of this remark able experience in the life of Saul, and to note every circumstance in the second and third accounts not g^ven in the first. The differences in these accounts wiU be found to be only such as generally occur in several reliable reports of the same incidents. In making the comparison proceed as follows : 2. First read rapidly § 55, w. 30-36 with § 56, 21 :37-22 :4 in order to understand the circumstances under which the account con tained in the second column was given. Also read rapidly § 62, 25:13-26:11 for a similar understanding of the account in the third column. 3. Now compare the three accounts, two or three verses at a time, and underscore on the pages any circumstance in the second and third columns not mentioned in the first column. In 9 :"] and 22 :9 the fact probably was that Paul's fellow travelers heard a sound but that Saul alone heard articulate words. Personal Thought: "I wiU show him how many things he must suffer" (9 :i6). Paul's life, Uke his Lord's, was to grow steadily harder to the end. Is your conception of the Kingdom such as to make it seem worth while to suffer for its sake? 39 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY y THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL Sixth Day: § ig. The Conversion of Saul (continued) I. In the process of carrying out the program of Jesus announced in § I, V. 8, it had not yet occurred to the witnesses that any but Jews or their relatives, the Samaritans, and Jewish Proselytes had the privilege of accepting Jesus as Messiah, and entering the Kingdom of God. Now Jesus appears in person to appoint a new witness, and in connection with the appointment a distinct hint is given that the purpose of this unique appointment is to have the testimony carried out into the great non-Jewish world. Note this hint in all three accounts, 9:15; 22:15; 26:16, 17. 2. Read the account in the first column with great care. Conceive yourself to be an artist, and imagine what you would put on the canvas in response to each phrase of the description. Find the location of Damascus on the map. 3. Answer carefully the following general questions : Why should a conscientious young Pharisee like Rabbi Saul wish to kiU Nazarenes (26:9, 10)? Was the occurrence on the Damascus road a real visible appear ance of Jesus or simply a wholly spiritual experience of Saul? Consider the account here and also compare the footnotes on p. 18. Just how much did the vision prove to Saul? Personal Thought: Here we have a suggestive instance of the activity of the invisible Jesus. Do you ever wonder how Jesus spends His time year after year, and century after century? Does time hang heavy on the hands of Him whose Ufe in Palestine eighteen centuries ago revealed so active and energetic a spirit? He is StiU Saviour of men, working upon the lives of men. He is busy turning men from lives of selfishness and estabUshing them in usefulness. We are His workmanship. 40 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 5: THE WORK OF PHILIP THE EVANGELIST, AND THE CONVERSION OF SAUL Seventh Day: § ig. The Conversion of Saul (concluded) I. Rabbi Saul, after being so prominent in the movement against Stephen (§ 15, 7 :58, 8 :ia) and in the persecution of the Jerusalem Nazarenes (§ 16, v. 3), now proposed to begin a campaign of per secution throughout the Dispersion. He probably planned to visit all the principal cities outside of Palestine in the Jewish quarters of which Nazarenes might have been residing since the great Pentecost (compare § 3, vv. 8-1 1), or to which they might recently have fled from Jerusalem. To this fiercely conscientious persecutor and his company, when, after from four to six days of riding, they had almost reached the Damascus gates (22 :6-8), the crucified Nazarene Jesus appeared in blinding glory, and vic toriously transformed His chief persecutor into His faithful wit ness (26:16). Then and there the persecuting Rabbi received his first order from the lips of his Nazarene Lord (9 :6), and the long life of service in which he delighted to call himself "Jesus' bond-slave" (§68 (2), 1:1) began. 2. Read rapidly the first column in § 19 so as to gather up its thought, and then answer the following questions : What thoughts do you imagine to have been uppermost in Saul's mind during his three days of blindness in the house on Straight street (v. 9)? What significance was there in the statement "Behold he prayeth" (v. II)? Had he never prayed before? What is the force of the first "for" in v. 16? 3. Note in the whole incident the economy of the miraculous. Human agencies were not dispensed with, and the incident consti tutes no exception to the general principle that men are used by God to introduce their fellow-men into the Kingdom of Heaven (w. 10-17). Note also that Luke mentions in Saul's case the usual preparation of the witnesses (v. 17). Personal Thought: This incident makes it very evident that no man is saved simply for his own sake. He is first saved, and then sent (9:15 ; 26:16, 17). If one will not be sent he cannot be saved. Have you thought of Jesus as one who sends you as weU as one who saves you? 41 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CESAREA First Day: § 20. The Three Years in Damascus and Arabia I. Saul seems at once to have entered upon his work of witnessing, and in the very synagogues where he had expected to arrest those engaged in this work. Judging from the case of Ananias, the leading Damascus Nazarenes were keeping the Pharisaic tra ditions (§19, 22 :i2), and so had escaped such persecution as had been aroused in Jerusalem by the more radical views of Stephen. 2. Read § 20 and its footnotes. 3. What thoughts did Paul probably present in his synagogue addresses? Do you suppose that Paul's theological views were fully developed at this time? Could he have written the epistles to the Romans and to the Ephesians? He had been informed that his mission was in some way to include foreigners (§ 19, 26 :i7). Did he already understand that Gentiles could become Christians without becoming Jews? 4. Note in v. 20 the evidence that the Jewish population in Damas cus was considerable. The term "Son of God" (v. 20) was a current Jewish designation of the Messiah, and is equivalent here to the term "Christ" used in v. 22. 5. Arabia is a name applied not simply to the peninsula between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, but to all the long strip of land east of Palestine (see map) between the Jordan and the great desert. In some periods of history, Damascus itself was included in Arabia. It is impossible to determine how long Paul stayed in Arabia. What was the purpose of his excursion? 6. §51,11 :3o-33 indicates that Paul was long ridiculed by his ene mies because of the way in which he escaped from Damascus. 7. What inference regarding Saul's position would you draw from the expression "his disciples" (v. 25)? Personal Thought: Saul's testimony was based on his personal experience. There is much of value in the historic facts connected with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to which we can call attention, but the gist of our testimony must be some personal experience interpreted in the light of these historic facts. 42 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EAItLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CiESAREA Second Day: § 21. Saul in Jerusalem, Syria, and Cicilia (to be continued) I. Read all three columns in §21 and answer the following questions : What were at least two of the reasons why Saiil wished to return to Jerusalem? Did Saul accomplish what he hoped to by his Jerusalem visit? Did the Jerusalem Nazarenes know of Saul's activity in Damascus (§ 20, V. 22)? If they did, what was their theory regarding him? Who was Barnabas (§ 10, v. 36)? What do you suppose to have been the reason for Barnabas' special interest in Saul? 2. Picture to yourself the various experiences through which Saul passed after his return to his old home (§ 56, 22 :3) as they are suggested in the section, or as you can imagine them. Personal Thoughts: I. There are latent powers of service in the Christians about us which may remain latent unless some one, like Barnabas, gives them recognition and welcome. This is particularly true in col lege life. Are you quick to recognize and welcome those that have such latent powers? 2. If you became a Christian at a mature age, have you ever thought of your responsibility as a witness to those with whom you associated before your conversion (22 :i9, 20)? 43 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CiESAREA Third Day: § 21. Saul in Jerusalem, Syria, and Cilicia (concluded) (Read with special care all the references given below.) I. The fact that Jesus had appeared in person and appointed Saul to some special work (§ 19, 26:15-18) must have produced in Saul the consciousness of being an apostle (§50, i Cor. 9:1). He naturally, therefore, wished to connect himself with the apos tolic circle in Jerusalem, and to come to an understanding with Peter, its evident leader (§21, Gal. 1:18). Furthermore it doubtless seemed to him that he had a great work to do among the Jerusalem Pharisees (§21, 22:19, 20), He anticipated that his old associates among the Rabbis would be strongly influenced by his testimony. He hoped to bring over to the new movement the main body of the influential leaders and with them the mass of the people. It was, therefore, a great disappointment to him when, soon after his arrival, as he was praying in some quiet place in the temple courts, he had a vision of Jesus commanding him to give up his cherished plan, and leave the city (§21, 22: 17, 18). He argued with Jesus.but without avail, and before he had been in the city two weeks (§21, Gal, 1:18) he realized that he had overrated his influence with his old associates, and that he must flee for his life (§21, 9 :29, 30), This was a bitter dis appointment to a Jew of Saul's passionate patriotism (§ 52, Romans 9:1-3), 2, This visit must have played an important part in Saul's spiritual development. It brought his guilty past vividly before him. Perhaps he re-visited the place where he had with such satisfac tion watched Stephen die ! The Greek-speaking Jews, who had opposed Stephen, perhaps in the very synagogues where Saul now bore his testimony, were now found preparing to kUl Saul. (Compare §21, 9:29 with § 15, 6:9.) He also began now to realize what he had sacrificed in accepting a commission as a Nazarene witness. He had lost all his friends and former prestige, and received but a scant welcome from the Nazarenes themselves. Saul was a man who appreciated the value of what he had lost though he did not regret the sacri fice, as is evident from his eloquent confession in § 68, Philippians 3:4-11. 3. Saul's cold reception by the Nazarenes was due to the difficulty they experienced in believing that one who had dragged so many of 44 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CiESAREA Third Day: § 21. Saul in Jerusalem, Syria, and Cilicia (concluded) their friends to prison, could now be himself a sincere Nazarene. They perhaps regarded his present pretensions as part of a deep- laid plot to gain information regarding their membership with a view to exterminating them. Only one of the Twelve was in the city at the time (§21, Gal. 1:19). Barnabas, a self-sacrificing man and an eloquent preacher (§ 10, w. 36, 37), guaranteed the genuineness of Saul's conver sion. Barnabas seems already to have been acquainted with Saul. Perhaps they had been fellow-students. It would be interesting to know whether the Rabbi Saul and the fisherman Peter found each other personally congenial. Certainly at a later time each heartily recognized the other's apostleship (§ 47, Gal. 2 ¦.y-^), although an unpleasant episode in their acquaintance occurred afterward in Antioch (§47, Gal. 2:11-14). 4. Note on the map the location of Caesarea, Tarsus, Syria, and Cilicia. Why was Tarsus selected as Saul's destination? In Luke's summary, v. 31, what are the salient points? What has become of the persecutors? Personal Thought: A man's own judgment as to the kind of work he is fitted to do is not infalUble. Saul thought himself peculiarly fitted to be a home missionary, but the Lord said, "I will send thee forth far hence" (22:21), and as we look back we see that the Lord was right. Are you confident that Jesus can and will send you to the largest work you are fit to do, and that to undertake any other would be a mistake? Have you trusted Him to do this? 45 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EARLY CHRISTUN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CJESAKEA. Fourth Day: §22. The Healing of JEnesis §23. The Raising of Dorcas I. The summary statement in § 21, 9 :3i makes it evident that Luke is about to enter upon a new period of his history. The signifi cant event which he is about to describe is found in § 24. §§ 22 and 23 constitute two introductory paragraphs showing how Peter, full of the power of God, reached Caesarea where the astounding revelation that revolutionized his view of the world, was made to him. 2. Read § 22. 3. Peter is now represented as ' 'touring" through the region described in § 21, 9 :3i. Who is in charge of the Jerusalem church? (§47, Gal. I :i9; 2 :i2; § 28, v. 17; § 54, v. 18.) Find Lydda and Sharon upon the map. Note that Peter seems to have had peculiar power to heal (§ 1 2, v. 15). 4. Read § 23. 5. What light does this incident throw upon early church life in these Jewish communities? Did the disciples in Joppa anticipate that the g^eat apostle would restore the dead woman to life? Do you suppose that Peter consciously imitated Jesus? Compare Mark 5 :40, 41, noting also Mark 5 :37. In what respect did his method of procedure differ from that of Jesus?What do you imagine to have been Peter's occupation in Joppa (v, 43)? Personal Thoughts: "Peter said unto him, Jesus Christ healeth thee. Arise" (v. 34).' Here is a man so closely allied to Jesus Christ as to raise men out of impotence, and set them to work. The measure of our power to set men morally upon their feet is in proportion to the closeness of our alliance with Jesus Christ. 46 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CiESAREA Fifth Day: § 24. Peter's Visit to Cornelius I . Up to this time the work of the apostles had been confined to their own countrymen. The great promise of the Messianic King dom of God had been made to God's chosen people, the Jews, and probably even Saul still supposed that a Gentile must first become a circumcised Jew, before he could claim a share in the promise. Just at this juncture a revolutionary revelation was made to the leader of the apostolic band. In the parlor of a Roman miUtary officer in the city of Caesarea, uncircumcised Gentiles accepted the Messiahship of Jesus, and received the same baptism of the Spirit that God had given to the apostles them selves on the day of Pentecost (§ 24, vv. 44, 45 ; § 25, vv. 15-17). Furthermore this result was brought about in a way so distinctly supernatural as to make it seem unquestionably the plan of God. 2. The Jewish feeling that physical contact with Gentiles resulted in moral contamination, had led the Jews to separate themselves socially from all foreigners. To enter a Gentile's house, rendered a Jew ceremonially unfit for worship Qohn 18 :28). 3. To many Gentiles polytheism had become intellectually unsatisfac tory, and the immorality of the Ufe about them ethically unsatisfac tory. These persons were attracted to the monotheism and morality of the Jewish religion. They were unwilling to be circumcised and so to become full Jewish proselytes, but they attended the Sab bath services in the synagogues and went to greater or less. lengths in the worship of Jehovah. This Roman officer was one of these synagogue Gentiles. There does not seem to have been much or any social intercourse between the average Jew and the synagogue Gentiles (§ 24, v. 28), and evidently it was not con sidered possible for them to enter the Kingdom of God. 4. Read § 24 very slowly, picturing it all to yourself, and carefully noting in your book all evidences of divine superintendence amd approval in the transactions described. Personal Thought: It is in the leisure afforded by the prayer hour that God finds opportunity to draw near to the soul with His message (w. 9,30). 47 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CffiSAREA Sixth Day: § 24. Peter's Visit to Cornelius (continued) I. In coming from Lydda to Caesarea, Peter came from a strongly Jewish city to one predominantly Graeco-Roman, with a theatre, amphitheatre, temple, elegant palaces, and marvelous au-tificial harbor. It wais in a sense the Roman capital of Palestine. Find Caesarea upon the map. 2. The synagogue Gentiles are described in Acts as "God-fearing" or "devout" persons. Notice the other synagogue Gentiles beside CorneUus mentioned in w. 1-8. 3. Read w. 9-16, and state the significance of the vision. 4. Cornelius had evidently calculated the time when his messengers would return, and had invited to his house a considerable com pany of friends, probably synagogue Gentiles like himself. The gathering of this company and the profound salaam (v. 25), so unusual in the intercourse of a Roman with a Jew, show how highly expectant Cornelius was. Read w. 24-34. 5. It is not to be supposed that Cornelius now for the first time heard of Jesus and the Nazarenes (v. 37). Nazarenes in their flight from Jerusalem, had very Ukely come to Cassarea, the natural outlet by sea from Palestine, and preached in its synagogfue. It had, however, never yet occurred to ainyone that an uncircum cised GentUe, even one so devout as Cornelius, could receive the message. It was necessary that some leader Uke Peter should be given a broader view of the scope of the Gospel, and begin the work of evangelization among the synagogue Gentiles. 6. Make a list of the principal truths presented in w. 34-43. Are there any new truths not presented in his previous discourses? What truth does he use to awaken the consciences of his hearers? What class of persons had Peter in mind in v. 35? What does he mean by their being "acceptable"? Had the common doxo- logy, "he is Lord of all," any new significance (v. 36)? Personal Thought: Are there any persons or classes of persons whom you never think of as possibly becoming Christians? Do you habitually regard every person you meet as one meant by God to be a disciple of Jesus Christ? SIUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 6: THE EARLY CHRISTIAN LIFE OF SAUL, AND PETER IN LYDDA, JOPPA, AND CmSAKEA Seventh Day: § 24. Peter's Visit to Cornelius (concluded) § 25. Peter's Defence of his Action Respecting Cornelius I. Luke takes pains to show that the apostolic body in Jerusalem is convinced by the case of Cornelius that the Gospel is to be preached to the Gentiles, and that it approves of this new step in the accomplishment of the program of § i, v. 8. ?. Read vv. 44-48 in § 24 and all of § 25. Did Luke see any significance in the time at which the Holy Spirit feU upon these Gentiles (§ 24, v. 44; § 25, v. 15)? Why did Peter take the six Joppa men to Cassarea (§ 24, w. 23,45) and to Jerusalem (§25, v. 12)? 3. "They that were of the circumcision" (§ 25, v. 2) does not refer to a class of Jewish Christians more devoted to circumcision than were other Jewish Christians, but, since there are now uncircum cised Gentile believers in Caesarea, Luke introduces the term by which all Jewish believers are henceforth to be distinguished from Gentile believers. 4. What seem to you to be the strong points in Peter's defense of his action? 5. The Jewish view of the Gentiles current at this time is at least suggested by that which is found later in the Talmud. They were thought to have fallen away from God, to have lost human nature, and to have been transformed into animal nature. The Holy Spirit had been taken from them, and God could not work upon them. (Weber.) In view of this conception, what is the meaning of the statement made by the apostles in § 25, v, 18? Personal Thought: The readiness with which these men in Jerusalem overcame their prejudice, and accepted these new brethren, shows their Christian largeness of heart. (V. 18.) Do you recognize with heartiness and gratitude to God aU those of whatever name or shade of belief whose lives give evidence that God has blessed them? 49 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM First Day: § 26. The Beginning of the Gospel in Antioch § 27. Relief sent from Antioch to the Brethren in Judaea I. Read § 26, and look up on the map all the places mentioned. 2. What to Luke's mind was the most significant feature of the work in Antioch? Note every point in this paragraph where he as usual brings out (i) the fact that God approved the new departure, and (2) that the leaders in Jerusalem sympathized with it. Do you suppose these "Greeks" to have included any beside synagogue Gentiles? Do you suppose that these venturesome Antioch preachers had heard of Peter's experience with CorneUus? Why did Barnabas think of Saul in connection with this Graeco- Jewish work in Antioch? Do you suppose Saul had been preaching to any but Jews before this time? Did the name "Christian'' originate among unbelieving Jews, Gentiles, or the believers themselves? 3. Read § 27. What to Luke's mind was the significance of this incident? Personal Thought: Does it give you such satisfaction as these Jerusalem believers evidently felt, to hear that new regions are being opened to the Gospel? Are you much interested in the missionary work of the Church, — at home or abroad? One takes a new interest in it when he thinks of it as part of a campaign of testimony for the conquest of the world under the superintendence of Jesus Himself, and in which the disciple is himself personally taking part. 50 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM S«cond Day: § 28. The Persecution of the Church by Herod Agrippa I (to be continued) I. Considerable progress has now been made in the execution of the program of § i, v. 8. A breach has been made in the barrier between Jew and Gentile, and a great church composed of both Jews and synagogue Gentiles has been established on the Syrian frontier. Its relations to the mother church in Jerusalem are of a very friendly character (§ 27). Just at this point, before leaving the church in Jerusalem as the author does in § 29, there is inserted a paragraph (§ 28) the purpose of which in the develop ment of the book is not at first apparent. 2. Herod Agrippa was a grandson of Herod the Great, and had some Jewish blood in his veins, his grandmother having been a Jewish princess. He was a bankrupt adventurer in his youth, and spent a good deal of time in Rome. In his maturer years he became a measurably pious Pharisee, at least whenever he happened to be living in Palestine, and was exceedingly anxious to please the Jews. Caligula had been a friend of Herod, and in 37 when he became emperor, at once made Herod king over certain territory which was afterward enlarged, Judaea being added in 41. Herod died in 44. (Josephus, Antiquities, 19:8:2.) Just before the sacred Passover week began, when the city was full of visitors, and when reUgious fervor was at its height, Herod beheaded James the son of Zebedee. This act made him so popular that he proceeded to attack the great apostolic leader himself. 3. Read § 28 with close attention to details. Why did Luke insert this incident? That is, what purpose does it serve in the development of the thought of the book, or which of Luke's favorite truths does it illustrate? 4. Of what event was this (vv. 3, 4) the anniversary week among the Nazarenes? What bearing had this fact upon their solicitude regarding the possible fate of Peter? Personal Thought: Some serve God by dying for the cause, as did James, and others by living for it, as did Peter. Some are laid aside from active service, while others are kept in it, and both serve God. Can you trust Him to dispose of you in any way that His wisdom and love may approve? 51 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM Third Day: § 28. The Persecution of the Church by Herod Agrippa I (concluded) § 2g. The Return to Antioch of the Messengers to Jeru salem I. § 28 brings out clearly the fact that God is the Invisible Power with whom all who attack the Nazarenes must contend, and that all opposition to the new movement is absolutely futile. This Invisible Power delivers the king's prisoner from what seems to be certain death (v. 11), and smites the king himself with a fatal disease (v. 23). 2. Note the fact that the mother of John Mark was evidently a prominent member of the Jerusalem church, and that Peter was evidently a friend of the family (v. 12), which accords with the tradition that Mark's Gospel was derived from Peter. 3. What did they mean by saying it was Peter's "angel" (v. 15)? Compare Luke 24:37. Why send word to James (v. 17)? Com pare § 54, V. 18 and §47, Gal. 2:9, 12. Why did Peter not go himself to James? 4. The inhabitants of Tyre and Sidon were dependent upon the pro ducts of Herod's territory, particularly of Galilee, for their food supply. Compare i Kings 5:11 (Rendall). If you have a copy of Josephus, read in the Antiquities, 19 :8 :2, another account of this episode. What does v. 24 show Luke's view of this entire episode to have been? 5. Read § 29. How came the Antioch messengers to take John Mark back with them? Compare § 68, Col. 4 :io. The fact that the statement in this Section immediately follows the account of Herod's persecution does not necessarily imply that Barnabas and Paul were in Jerusalem during the persecution. Verse 25 should rather be read in close connection with § 3 1 , v. i , and considered as prehminary to what follows, explaining how Barnabas and Paul came to be in Antioch again. Personal Thought: It had not occurred to this praying group in Mary's house that God would answer their prayer in the way He did (vv. 12, 15). Do you have such confidence in God's resources that you can trust Him to answer your prayers in ways you do not see? 52 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM Fourth Day: § 30. The Letter of James to the Jewish Christians of the Dispersion (to be continued) I. Read the note on the "Chronology of the Apostolic Age" found on pp. 201-207 of the "Records and Letters." Since this book was published, the view has again been advanced by some prominent scholars, that Saul was converted in the year of the crucifixion, and that consequently everything recorded in the first eight chapters of Acts occurred within a few months after the resurrection. It is quite possible that the events described in these chapters took place at an earlier period than that assigned to them in most chronologies, but it is hardly probable that a consen sus of opinion will be gained for the support of so early a date. 2. Read the note on "The Date of the Letter of James" found on p. 208 of the "Records and Letters." 3. Read the first few sentences in the letter itself, and reflect upon their thought. Personal Thought: How little the apostles thought that their words and acts would interest the world for so many centuries ! We need to reflect upon the wide scope and the far-reaching character of God's plan for the betterment of man, and to be glad that in so vast a plan there is a distinct place for us and our testimony. 53 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM Fifth Day: § 30. The Letter of James to the Jewish Christians of the Dispersion (continued) I. Read the letter rapidly through, viewing its contents, so far as possible, as though you were introduced to them for the first time, and answer the two following questions : Is there any one dominant thought or purpose evident in the let ter? Are there any thoughts the omission of which surprises you, particularly concerning the character and work of Jesus? 2. It will be impossible to do more than make a rapid sketch of the thought of this epistle, and of the situation in which it represents its readers to be. The view of the letter taken here is that favored in the "Records and Letters," namely, that it was written to Christian Jews outside of Palestine, before the Gospel had been preached to Gentiles. 3. Note carefully all the references given below bearing upon the question of authorship. The author was probably James, the brother (half-brother, or cousin) of Jesus (Mark 6:3). At first he was doubtless strongly inclined to believe the Messiah was a member of his own family, which was of Davidic descent (John 2 :ii, 12). Later he lost patience with his brother's appar ently aimless and un-Messiah-like conduct (John 7 :3-5). Jesus had a special interview with him after the resurrection (§ 50, I Cor. 15 :7), which led him to join the apostolic circle (§ i, v. 14). After Peter's departure from Jerusalem he became the pastor of the Jerusalem church. (§ 28, v. 17 ; § 54, v. 18 ; § 47, Gal. 2 :i2.) Personal Thought: The letter presents religion as a certain kind of daily life. It is an epistle of the loving life, (i :27; 2 :i4; 4:11.) One needs constantly to remind himself that genuine religion can not consist in anything else than a daily life of unselfish thought, word, aiid dted. 54 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM Sixth Day: § 30. The Letter of James to the Jewish Christians of the Dispersion (continued) I. Read carefully all the following references explaining the situa tion of the readers addressed in this letter. They were Jewish Christians outside of Palestine (1:1), who doubtless highly esteemed the pastor of the Jerusalem church. Many of them were accustomed to see and hear him when they visited Jerusalem to attend the yearly religious feasts of the Jews. They had organized churches in which the officers were called "elders" (5 :i4). They were in the midst of persecution, the thought of which was uppermost in James' mind when he began to write (i :2). Their situation was so perplexing that they did not know which way to turn for counsel (i :5), They were in such distress that they were tempted Uke Job to accuse God of trying to over whelm them (1:13-15). Their chief persecutors were the rich orthodox Jews, who had not believed in Jesus, and who were continuaUy bringing them before the synagogue authorities (2 :6), and blaspheming the name in which the Nazarenes had been bap tized (2 :7, compare § 5, v. 38). These rich men employed them and kept back their wages (5 :4). In all this James endeavored to encourage them by assuring them that the Lord would come to avenge them (5 :7-9), and by citing the patience of their fore fathers in affliction (5 :io, 11). 2. Constant opposition, persecution, and daily debate with their unbeUeving neighbors had engendered a contentious, bitter spirit. They must control their tempers and cultivate meekness (1:19- 21). Their eagerness to shine in these daily debates needed rebuke (3 :i), for they would in the course of them lose control of their tongues, and say bitter things which would do harm (3 :2- 12). Wise men would realize that a quiet, consistent life is far more convincing than angry argument (3 :i3-i8). 3. They were not free from the love of money which characterized the nation. Rich, well-dressed people that visited their Sabbath service were given better pews than those assigned to poor men (2:1-6). The bazaar men, who traveled from city to city, were absorbed in their business, and forgot the speediness with which they might be summoned to render their final account (4:13-15). The poor were constantly struggling to get money, oftentimes perhaps what was due them as wages. There seem to have been 55 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM Sixth Day: § 30. The Letter of James to the Jewish Christians of the Dispersion (continued) some exhibitions of violence (4:1, 2). Even those that cried out to God for help were thoroughly selfish (4:3), Their love of money and of what it would get, made them false to God (4 ,-4, compare Matt, 6 124), They needed a humbler, soberer spirit, (4:5-10.) 4, The paragraph 2 :i4-26 is best explained on the supposition that Paul had been preaching his doctrine of righteousness by faith in some of the churches now addressed by James, Perhaps this had been done during his residence in Syria and CUicia (§ 47, Gal, I :2i). This doctrine was one very easily misunderstood and misrepresented, as is evident from Paul's statement some years later in § 52, Rom. 3 :5-8. Perhaps in this early period of his preaching he had not learned to guard his statement of the doctrine as carefully as he did later when he wrote the letter to the Romans (§ 52, Rom. 6), James felt the necessity of correcting this misunderstanding of Paul's teaching, and in so doing used the illustration of Abraham, which was a favorite one with Paul, and which wais therefore current among those now addressed. There was no disagree ment between James and Paul. Both agreed that genuine faith must express itself in a life of love. Personal Thought: This letter is a sturdy protest against the idea that there is value in high ideals apart from any faithful effort to realize them in daily life. How many kind things we think of doing but never do ! The next time you think of doing something kind, do it. 66 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 7: THE EARLY DAYS OF THE CHURCH IN ANTIOCH, AND CONTEMPORARY EVENTS IN JERUSALEM Seventh Day: § 30. The Letter of James to the Jewish Christians of the Dispersion (concluded) I. There is a striking resemblance in thought and phraseology between this epistle and the teaching of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels. It is uncertain whether this is due to the fact that James had himself often heard Jesus teaching, or whether he was familiar with that form of the teaching of Jesus cur rent among the Jerusalem Christians in this early period before the Gospels had been given their present literary form. a. Read the following references showing this similarity. Emphasis laid on t/oz'w^ the word, James 1:22, 23; Matt, 7:21, 24, 26, Fundamental conception of religion is that of the loving heart expressing itself practically in a kindly life, James i :27 ; 2 :i5, 16; Matt, 25:34-45; Luke 10:30-37, The supreme law is the law of love, James 2 :8 ; Matt, 22 :36-40, The tendency to flatter the rich and neglect the poor is con demned, James 2:1-3; Luke 14:12-14, Men are known by their fruits, James 3 : 10-12 ; Matt, 7 : 15-20, Men are warned against censoriousness, James 4:11; Matt, 7:1; and against becoming engrossed in making money, James 4:13-17; Matt, 6:25, 31, 34, Woes are pronounced against the selfish rich, and against hoard ing, James 5:1-3; Luke 6:24; Matt, 6:19, 20, Swearing is forbidden, James 5 :i2; Matt, 5 :33-37. The inconsistency of professing friendUness with God and with the ' 'world" is shown, James 4 :4 ; Matt, 6 :24, Personal Thoughts: Record the thoughts that have most deeply impressed you during this brief outUne study of the epistle. 57 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 8: REVIEW, AND PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY We have now finished the detailed study of Part II, Studies 5-7, Sections 1 6-30, and are to take a general survey of its contents in review. Three days are to be spent in this work, as follows : First Day: Read the whole of Part II, giving careful attention to the progpress of its thought as indicated in the titles of Chapters and Sections. Record the thoughts that impress you most distinctly as a result of this reading. Second Day: Write in the margin of your Bible at the proper places, the tides of Part II, Studies 5-7, and Sections 16-30, as given in Burton, or at the top of each page in the Studies. The object of this is to associate the analysis contained in these divisions with the text of the Bible itself as you read it. Reflect upon the Personal Thoughts in Studies 5 and 6. Third Day: Commit to memory the titles of these Chapters and Sections,/i?ar«- ing them from your inscription of thcTn on the margin of your Bible. If you do this, then in all your subsequent reading of this part of the Bible the progress of thought indicated in these titles will be suggested to you by the text itself. This wiU not be the case if you simply leam them from the page in Burton, Reflect upon the Personal Thoughts in Study 7, 68 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 8: REVIEW, AND PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY Fourth Day: §31, Barnabas and Saul sent forth from Antioch § 32. Preaching the Word at Salamis and Paphos (to be continued) I. Are you faithfully recording in your note book answers to the questions in the daUy lessons? Much of the profit to be derived from these Studies depends upon putting your thought into definite written form. 2. Read over on pp. xv-xvii the titles of the chapters and sec tions in Part III, so as to get a general view of its contents. The great church in Antioch, composed of both Jews and syna gogue Gentiles, and over-supplied with leaders, is well fitted to serve as an evangelizing center for the great western world. These leaders are described as ' 'prophets and teachers". Prophets were those who under a special and temporary inspiration of the Holy Spirit spoke forth God's messages. Read § 50, i Cor, 14:29-33. The gift of prophecy sometimes included the ability to foretell future events (§27, v. 28). Teachers were probably those that gave instruction through the permanent inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, perhaps, the same person was both prophet and teacher. 3. Read §31, and answer the following questions : Is there any significance in the order of the names? What does "ministered to the Lord"mean? How did the Holy Spirit say it? What, to Luke's mind, are the most significant features of this event? Compare § i, v, 8; §24, vv, 19, 20, 4, Read § 32, and note on the map the location of all the places mentioned, 5, Why did they go first to Cypms? Compare § 10, v, 36 ; § 26, v, 19, What special significance does Luke see in the conversion of Sergius Paulus? Was he a synagogue Gentile? How could a sorcerer like Bar-Jesus gain influence over a Roman officer "of understanding" (v, 7)? Personal Thought: "So they.being sent forth by the Holy Spirit" (v, 4), Do you look to God to determine for you your life work and to send you to it, whatever it may be? It is a comfort in times of discouragement to feel a conviction that one has been sent by God to his work, and that consequently he is in the right place, whatever its diffi culties may be, 59 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 8: REVIEW, AND PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY Fifth Day: §32. Preaching the Word at Salamis and Paphos (concluded) § 33. At Pisidian Antioch (to be continued) I. In this incident at Paphos Paul comes into the foreground and remains prominent to the end of the book. Note the different designations of the party in V. 7 and v. 13. The Roman name "Paul" and the Hebrew name "Saul" had probably both been given in childhood. Why does Luke henceforth always use the Roman name? 2. Bar-Jesus the "sorcerer", or "magian" (Matt. 2:1,7, 16) "repre sented in his single personality both the modem fortune teUer and the modern man of science" (Ramsay, St. Paul, p. 78). Why did he fear the influence of Paul and Barnabas? 3. Readw. 13, 14 and find the places on the map. The sudden withdrawal of John Mark was probably occasioned by somethuig that happened in Perga, for otherwise he would have left them in Paphos. They seem to have left the lowlands of the coast, and to have gone at once to the Phrygian highlands, a country dangerous to travelers because of brigands and mountain torrents. Notice in § 51, 2 Cor. 11 :26, the close connection of these two perils. The reason why Paul changed his plans so suddenly, is suggested in §47, Gal. 4:13, which epistle was probably written to the churches whose founding is mentioned here in Acts. John Mark had no mind to follow a sick man through the dan gerous passes of the Taurus mountains ! 4. Read the whole of § 33 and determine what Luke regards as the most important feature or features of the Antioch work. What two classes in the audience were recognized by Paul in his open ing words? Note that in v. 26 Paul offers the choicest privilege of the Jew, namely entrance into the Messianic Kingdom, to both classes in the audience. Consider the effect of this offer upon the conservative Jews. 5. What characteristic Pauline words and thoughts do you recog^e in vv. 38, 39? Compare § 52, Rom. 3 :20-24. Personal Thought: "We bring you good tidings" (v. 32). When you speak to a man about becoming a Christian, do you realize that you are bringing good news to him? You have no need to apologize for speaking to him. You are opening up before him the greatest opportunity that can confront a human being. £0 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 8: REVIEW, AND PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY Sixth Day: § 33. At Pisidian Antioch (continued) I. "Raised up" in v. 33 does not mean "raised from the dead", but "introduced into the world". The quotation in v. 34 (Is. 55:3) impUes the resurrection of the Messiah, because the "mercies", or "holy things", of David were the promises of an eternal Kingdom, and they would not be "sure," or permanent, if its King, the Messiah, were to end His reign in death. State in a sentence the argument by which the Messiahship of Jesus is proved in w. 33-37. 2. Did Paul see anything in the faces of his audience that induced him to close with a warning (w. 40, 41)? Was anything in v. 39 or elsewhere in the address calculated to offend the audience? 3. Imagine the occupation of Paul and Barnabas during the week that followed Paul's synagogue address (vv. 43, 44). What does the "grace of God" mean? Of what were they jealous (v. 45)? What entirely new step is taken by Paul and Barnabas according to w. 46-49, — that is, how did their subsequent work in this region differ from any that had ever been done before in the his tory of the church? Where did they henceforth hold their services? Note that the step is so serious that they justify their action by scripture. To whom does "thee" refer in the quotation (Is. 49:6), and how does the quotation justify their new step? Was there any preach ing done outside the city? By what two statements in vv. 48-52 does Luke show God's approval of this new step? Were these ladies (v. 50) Jewesses? On what ground were Paul and Barnabas expelled from the city? What was the significance of shaking dust from their feet? Who were the "disciples" (v. 52)? Personal Thought: Do you feel jealousy or discomfort when you find another more successful than yourself in Christian work? It is a satisfaction to Jesus Christ to see him successful. Can you not share the satisfaction of Jesus? 61 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 8: REVIEW, AND PAUL'S FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY Seventh Day: § 34. At Iconium § 35. At Lystra and Derbe, and the Return to Antioch in Syria I. Read § 34, and consult the map. Was the preaching mentioned in v. 3 done in the synagogue? In what two statements (w. 1-3) does Luke show God's approval of Gentile work in Iconium? What objections do you suppose the city officials had to Paul and Barnabas? (v. 5). 2. Read § 35, noting the location on the map of all the places men tioned. Derbe and Lystra were prominent cities in the part of Lycaonia that had been incorporated into the Roman province of Galatia. 3. The people may have been led to think of Zeus and Hermes because of their possible acquaintance with the Greek myth (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8 :626) that represented these two divinities as having once visited this region. Zeus, their tutelary deity, would naturally be expected to visit them (v. 13). Note the likeness of Paul's hurried address to the crowds (vv. 15-17) to his view of the Gentile world in § 52, Rom. i :i9, 20. 4. Note the distance this joint deputation of Jews (v. 19) came, as an evidence of their bitter hatred. What do you suppose they said to the multitudes (v. 19)? Of whom must Paul have been thinking when the stones began to bruise him? 5. Notice on the map how near Paul and Barnabas were to Tarsus and Antioch via the two passes called the Cilician amd the Syrian Gates. Consider their premature departure from their converts (§ 33> V. 50; § 34, V. 6; § 35, vv. 19, 20), and state the two princi pal reasons (vv. 21-23) why they wished to re-visit them at such great risk. 6. Picture the return of the missionaries to the home church after their two or three years of absence (v. 27). Note the light thrown on Luke's purpose in writing Acts, by the one item in their report (v. 27) selected for special mention. Personal Thought: "Confirming the souls of the disciples" (v. 22). Do we sufficiently consider our duty to our fellow Christians? We watch for chances to reach the unconverted. Do we watch for chances to strengthen our fellow Christians? Are any of your friends in danger of giving up their discipleship? 62 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 9: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM First Day: § 36. The Council at Jerusalem (to be continued) I. Read in § 36 the paragraph from Acts, leaving that from Gala tians untouched for the present, and answer the following general questions : Who constituted this so-called "council"? What was the question submitted to the council? Why was it an important question in the history of Christianity? That is, consider the effect in case the council had decided to require circumcision. Who are the most influential participants? What vvas their decision upon the main point before them? 2. Some of the Pharisees had become convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, but had taken an entirely different attitude from that of Paul toward the Gentiles. It seemed to them that the great promise of the Messianic Kingdom had been made to law-keeping Jews, and that no Gentile could claim this promise unless he had first become one of those to whom the promise was made. To be sure no one could be saved without believing in Jesus as the Messiah, txit only law-keeping Jews or circumcised proselytes had the privilege of believing in the Messiah. See how Paul met this objection in § 52, Rom. 4:9-12. Why did the committee of Christian Pharisees from Judasa select Antioch as their field of operations? Why did they raise their objection just at this time? Had the events described in § § 31-35 anything to do with it? Do you suppose these Pharisees had already become Christians when Peter had his interview with Cornelius, and when the Antioch church was founded (§ 26)? Personal Thought: "Except ye be circumcised, * * * ye cannot be saved" (v. i). Are you giving practical recognition to the fact that every man who takes Jesus as his Lord and Christ is a saved man, no mat ter to what church he belongs, or how much he differs from you in social habits and religious views? Do you really count him as a brother? 63 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY g: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM Second Day: § 36. The Council at Jerusalem (continued) 1. Look through the Section to see whether any of the apostles or officials in the Jerusalem church had been connected with the visit of this committee of Pharisees to Antioch. Do you suppose the committee found sympathizers among the Jewish element in the Antioch church? Did the churches in Palestine generally sympathize with them? (Read vv. 1-5 carefully.) 2. The consideration of this important question must have occupied a number of days at least, and possibly several weeks, in the slow oriental way of deliberating. See if you can distinguish in the Section any indications of different meetings. Make as good a program as you can out of the statements in Luke's narrative. For instance, was Peter's speech (w. 7-1 1) delivered m a private meeting of apostles and elders (v. 6), or in a public meeting (v. 12)? Does the "much questioning" of v. 7 refer to a single meeting, or to many sessions? 3. Give Peter's two or three reasons for supporting the side of Paul and Barnabas. Had he begun to be lax himself in the observance of the Mosaic law? 4. What was the powerful argument advanced by Barnabas and Paul (v. 12)? Personal Thought: "And they hearkened unto Barnabas and Paul rehearsing what signs and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles" (v. 12). Do you take pains to familiarize yourself with the wonderful side of God's work in the world? Do you read missionary literature enough to acquaint yourself with God's achievements among those we call the "heathen"? Some of these achievements are as marvelous as any recorded in Acts, and they constitute now, as then, the most striking proof that God is at work in the world. 64 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY g: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM Third Day: § 36. The Council at Jerusalem (continued) I, Read James' speech (w. 14-21). Note its conservative Hebrew character, (i) in the name by which Peter is called, (2) in the quotation from the scriptures, (3) in the absence of all suggestion of any impulsive impatience like that of Peter (vv. 10, 11) with the burdensome- ness of the Mosaic legislation, and (4) in the compromise sug gested by him. State James' argument. Does the quotation prove that Gentiles need not be circumcised? What does it prove? On what does James probably base his opinion (v. 19) that Gen tile converts need not be circumcised? What were "pollutions of idols" (v. 20)? Cf. v. 29. Animals offered in sacrifice seem to have been afterward sold for food in the public markets. Cf. §50, (5), i Cor. 10:25-28. The Jewish abhorrence of eating blood, or of eating a strangled animal which still contained the life blood, was due to such pas sages as Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:10-14; Deut. 12:15, 16, 23. To our minds "fornication" is a thing in itself wrong, while the other three things mentioned are not, in themselves considered, wrong. In the low moral state of the Gentile world at that time, however, sexual passion was regarded as a natural appetite that might be gratified as freely as the appetite for food. Paul had to contend against this view even in some of the churches. Read § 50 (5)> I Cor, 6:12-20; § 46 (2), I Thess, 4:3-6. Personal Thought: "That the residue of men may seek after the Lord" (v. 17). This is the age when the human residuum is being brought to seek after the Lord, What has ordinarily been regarded as the waste of humanity, the submerged tenth in the great cities, the despised races, the cannibals among the heathen, is receiving a new valuation. We are waking up to see God's age-long purpose to do this great class good, just as the Church woke up to the same fact in the period which we are studying. In your life plans are you taking account of your duty to the "residue of men," or do you chiefly consider the favored classes? 65 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY g: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM Fourth Day: § 36. The Council at Jerusalem (continued) I. The question next to be considered is the reason for the four specifications mentioned in vv. 19,20. The word "for" in v. 21 indicates that this verse gives the reason. Before reading the next sentences on this page, record in your note-book your own opinion as to what that reason is. Most Jews, as we have already seen, had a profound conviction that physical contact with Gentiles was morally contaminating, Jewish Christians therefore would naturally shrink from any inti mate social and Christian fellowship with the Gentile Christians, They would be particularly unwilling to eat the Lord's Supper with them (§ 25, v, 3). There would have to be a Jewish church and a Gentile church in many communities. James here pro poses that the Gentile believers make certain concessions that wiU enable the two parties to unite in one church. Perhaps as Ramsay suggests (St. Paul, p. 43) these concessions had always been made by synagogue Gentiles as the price of their regular admission to the synagogue service. In the light of this explanation paraphrase v. 21. 2. Read vv. 22-28, and note four points favorable to Paul and Barnabas. 3. Was the arrangement proposed in this decree likely to be perma nently satisfactory? In replying to this question consider the dif ferent answers that might be given by different persons to the following questions : (i) Could a Gentile disciple be saved if he refused to make the four concessions required by this decree? (2) Would a Gentile disciple that submitted to circumcision be a higher type of Christian than one that merely obeyed the four requirements of the council? (3) Could a conscientious Jewish disciple and his family have intimate social relations with the family of a Gentile disciple that obeyed the four requirements of the council? Personal Thought: Are you willing for the' sake of harmony and good fellowship to make concessions that do not involve a violation of your con science even though they seem unreasonable? Do you set a high value upon fellowship with other disciples? 66 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY g: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM Fifth Day: § 36. The Council at Jerusalem (concluded) I. In Paul's letter to the Galatians (2 :i-io) he gives an account of a visit to Jerusalem, generally thought to be the council visit which we are now studying. The standpoint of Paul's account is entirely different from that of Luke's. Paul is chiefly concerned to show that his own personal relationship to the Jerusalem apos tles was one of independence, and so he gives an inside view of that which Luke describes from the outside. This results in some differences of detail in the two accounts, but in no clear con tradictions. 2. Make three columns in your note-book, putting at the head of the first, "similarities," of the second, "dissimilarities," and of the third, "contradictions." Then compare the two accounts upon the following points, entering the results in the appropriate columns : (i) Who went up to Jerusalem? (2) Who sent them? (3) What was their business in Jerusalem? (Consider what was the salient feature of Paul's gospel which he went up to lay before them. Gal, 2 :2, 3,) (4) To whom did they submit their business? (Consider whether there is a place in Luke's account for the "private" meet ing mentioned by Paul, Gal, 2 :2, and in Paul's account for the public meeting mentioned by Luke, Acts 15 :4,) (5) What did their opponents in Jerusalem contend for? (6) Who were the principal Jerusalem disciples mentioned by name? (7) What was the result of the visit? In your judgment do both accounts refer to the same visit? 3. The foUowing is a paraphrase of the difficult verses, Gal. 2 :2-5 ; "I laid my gospel of salvation for Gentiles by faith alone, before a private meeting of the apostles and elders, because I feared that 67 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY g: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM Fifth Day: § 36. The Council at Jerusalem (concluded) in a great public meeting there might not be such opportunity for question and answer as would result in my position being clearly understood. In that case I feared they might decide against the acceptance of uncircumcised Gentiles, and so my missionary career of the present and past among the Gentiles be in vain (v,2). They did not, however, even ask for the circumcision of my asso ciate, Titus (v, 3), The question of his circumcision would never have been raised at aU, had it not been for certain men who had slipped into church membership without being genumely con verted ; who had joined the church simply to ascertain the degree of intercourse allowed between Jewish and GentUe Christians, and to use their influence against freeing Gentile Christiams from bondage to the Mosaic law (v. 4). You may be sure we stood firmly for your recognition as Christiams vrithout circumcision (V. 5)." Personal Thought: "They would that we should remember the poor," Gal. 2:10. Do the hardships of the poor appeal to your sympathies? Do you take pains to search out and do what you wisely can to relieve the poor about you? STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY g: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM Sixth Day: § 37. Report of the Council's Action to the Church in Antioch § 38. Peter's Visit to Antioch (t* be continued) I. The Antioch church must have been anxiously waiting for news from Jerusalem. Read § 37. What would have been the result in the Antioch church had the council decided in favor of circumcision? 2. The Pharisees that had protested against the reception of uncir cumcised Gentiles probably left the Jerusalem council with per sonal animosity added to their religious prejudice. They seem to have carried on a systematic campaign among the churches of South Galatia where Paul and Barnabas had admitted so many Gentiles (§§33-35), endeavoring with some success to secure the circumcision of Gentile converts. Cf. §47 (2), i 16-9; 3:1-4; 5:2-10; 6:12, 13. They were personally ambitious to report in Jerusalem large accessions of GentUe Christians to Judaism, §47 (2), 4:17; 6:13, and did not hesitate to attack Paul, denying his apostleship, §47 (2), i :i ; i :ii-i7, and his sincerity, §47 (2), 1:10; 5:11. 3, The only point really settled by the Jerusalem council was that Gentile Christians need not become Jewish proselytes. It was not clear to all whether Jewish Christians might have intimate social fel lowship with Gentile Christians or not. It was evident to Paul, Peter, Barnabas, and probably other apostles, that the recogni tion of Gentile believers as Christians involved their full reception into social Christian fellowship. An era of good feeUng began among the Antioch Christians in which many Jewish Christians caUed upon their Gentile brethren, and ate at their tables. 4. Read § 38. State exactly the fault for which Paul rebuked Peter in the public meeting. That is, in what did Peter's "dissembling" consist? These influential gentlemen from James' church in Jeru salem can hardly have been the ones that had been so success fully opposed by Paul, Barnabas and Peter in the council. Who, then, were they, and what were their views? Personal Thought: Are you sometimes deterred from doing what you know to be right, by dread of what influential persons may think of you? Jesus is an influential person. Try to reaUze His presence. STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY g: PAUL'S SECOND SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH, AND THE COUNCIL AT JERUSALEM Seventh Day: § 38. Peter's Visit to Antioch (concluded) I. Peter's failure to associate with Gentile Christians seemed to deny that their faith in Jesus Christ really constituted them thoroughly Christian disciples. In Paul's rebuke, therefore, he stated the fundamental truths of his gospel. The foUowing sug gestions may prepare the way for subsequent study of them, 2, (i) "Righteousness", in Pauline usage, is the state of being rightly related to God and men. There are two conceivable ways of attaining it. The first is by faultless obedience to law, which according to Paul no one has rendered ; the second is through faith in Jesus Christ (v, 16), He who has faith in Jesus Christ is rightly related to God and men, (2) ' 'Faith in Jesus Christ" is a personal relationship between the disciple and his Lord. It is believing Jesus to be what He represents Himself as being, namely, Lord and Christ, with aU power in heaven and on earth, and treating Him accordingly, namely, surrendering one's self to Him without reserve as Lord and Master. (3) "Justified by faith." The Greek word translated "to justify", is from the adjective translated "righteous." It means "to declare righteous." The man who takes Jesus as his Lord, that is, believes in Jesus, is declared by God to be righteous (v. 16). This declaration involves (a) God's recognizing the believer's present relation to God in Christ and to all men as a right one, and (b) treating him as kindly as though he had always been righteous in the past, that is forgiving him. It is followed up by taking means to keep him righteous in the future (v. 20). (4) All this is done by God in view of the death of Jesus Christ (v. 21), the reason for which death is not here given. 3. With these suggestions in mind read § 38 slowly several times. ¦Verses 15, 17, 18 wUl be discussed in Study 13. Personal Thoughts: "Christ liveth in me" (v. 20). Are you increasingly experiencing the purifying power of the personal friendship of Jesus? Do you take time each day to think of Jesus as a real personal presence? Is the Christ, who lives in you, getting expression for Himself in your life, so that you in some measure bring Christ to men? 70 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY lo: FROM SYRIAN ANTIOCH TO ATHENS, IN PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY Fiidt Day: § 39. The Dissension between Paul and Barnabas § 40. The Churches in Southern Asia Minor re-visited I. Read § 39, noting on the map the location of aU the countries mentioned.Why was Barnabas so anxious to take Mark along? §68(4), Col. 4:10. Why did Paul and Barnabas divide the territory as they did? (Cf. § 32 and § 21, Gal. i :2i.) Read what is said in § 36, v. 27 and § 37, v. 32, regarding the efficiency and reputation of Paul's new associate, and note in § 42, vv. 37-39, the evidence that he, like Paul, was a Roman citizen. The kindly way in which Paul speaks of both Barnabas and Mark in letters written after this occurrence, shows that there wais no ill wiU harbored in his heart. Read §50 (5), 9:6; §68 (3), v. 24; §68 (4), 4:10; §71, 4:11. 2. Read § 40, noting on the map the route by which Paul reached Derbe and Lystra. What are the two principal features of this South Galatian visit mentioned by Luke? Read the following references containing information about Paul's new associate. His mother and grandmother were pious Jewesses, §71, 1:5; he had been converted under Paul's preaching, §50 (5), 4:17; he was thought by his friends to have a great future before him, §69, 1:18; he was somewhat inclined to asceticism and was of a frail constitution, § 69, 5 :23 ; he manifested a rare devotion to the gospel and to Paul, §68 (2), 2:22, 23, whose most constant and trusted companion he was from this time on. Why did Paul circumcise Timothy? Did his case come under the decree of the council? Personal Thought: "Him would Paul have to go forth with him" (v. 3). Paul always desired and appreciated associates. Might it not be that your efficiency as a Christian would be largely increased if you were to cultivate the friendship of one or two Christian men, with whom you might have frequent prayer and conversation? Per haps you have already learned the value of such association. If so, recommend it to others. The adoption of the suggestion may mark the beginning of a new era in their Christian experience. 71 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY lo: FROM SYRIAN ANTIOCH TO ATHENS, IN PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY Second Day: § 41. The Journey to Troas, and the Vision of Paul § 42. The Beginning of the Gospel in Philippi (to be continued) I. Read § 41, using the map. Galatia is probably the southern part of the province Galatia, and not the northern part in which the cities Pessinus, Ancyra, and Tavium are situated. Asia is the province of that name, probably the western part of it on the coast. "Over against Mysia" probably means at a point where the Une of its southern boundary if prolonged eastward would have crossed their northward route. 2. A new and important step is now about to be taken in the execu tion of the program stated in § i, v. 8, in the course of events by which the gospel is to reach Rome. What is the evidence of divine direction and approval in connec tion with this new step? How do you suppose these communications from the Spirit are made? Observe the unusual designation of the Spirit in v. 7. What is the evidence afforded by v. 10 that Luke, the author of Acts, joins the party somewhere in this region? Perhaps he had been converted by Paul during Paul's first visit to Galatia. Luke was a physician (§68 (4), 4:14), and Paul had needed the services of a physician at that time (§47 (2), 4:13). The same pronoun has occurred once before in §35, v. 22, but hardly in such a way as to indicate the author's presence with Paul at that time. 3. Read § 42, using the map, and compeUing your imagination to produce the scenes described phrase by phrase. What evidence was there in the Philippian work that God approved of the new step taken by the missionaries in the exten sion of the kingdom? Personal Thought: ¦Vv. 6-10 present a picture of Paul uncertain for a time what his next work was to be, but nevertheless ultimately guided by the Spirit. We need to assure ourselves that, although we are not to be spared periods of uncertainty, the Spirit of God is watching PS, and will in due season send us to our work. 72 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY lo: FROM SYRIAN ANTIOCH TO ATHENS, IN PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY Third Day: § 42. The Beginning of the Gospel in Philippi (continued) I. Although Paul must have started for Macedonia with great expec tations in view of his remarkable call to the country, there was much to discourage him in the first city he visited. (l) It contained no synagogue, and apparently not even a Jewish prayer house. (V. 13.) (2) There were nomen present in the little audience by the river side. CV. 13.) (3) The first results were meagre. A synagogue Gentile named Lydia, a bazaar woman, acting as agent for some firm in Thyatira, an Asiatic city famous for its dyed stuffs, was the only convert for a time. Notice the absence of any such expression as that in § 43, v. 4. (4) Two of the missionaries suffered public disgrace. 2. Read vv. 16-18, and picture to yourself the scene they describe. Who were the four men constituting the group of missionaries? The young slave-girl had a "python-spirit," python being the name of the mythical dragon near Delphi which was supposed to influence the delirious utterances of the Delphic oracle. The name was probably used to describe any person subject to periods of delirium or demoniacal possession. According to Plutarch the name was applied to ventriloquists, who seem to have been regarded as possessing superhuman power of divination. How did she get the information for her daily advertisement (v. 17)? 3. Read w. 19-24, picturing the scene described. Note the con tempt expressed in vv. 20, 21. What was there in the charge that so enraged the multitude and horrified the Praetors? That is, what customs, unlawful for Romans, were the missionaries supposed to have set forth? Cf. § 43, v. 7. Why did Paul not declare his Roman citizenship as he did later (w. 37, 38. Cf. § 56, vv. 25-29)? Why were Luke and Timothy not imprisoned? 4. Read vv. 25-28, picturing the details. Many of these details would be more easily understood if we were familiar with the structure of the prison. On v. 27 cf. § 28, v. 19. Personal Thought: "Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God" (v. 25). There is no conceivable situation in which a Christian man has not abundant reason to praise God. Do you habitually think of the permanent reasons for gratitude that exist in your life? Take an inventory of them. Form the appreciative habit. 73 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY lo: FROM SYRIAN ANTIOCH TO ATHENS, IN PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY Fourth Day: § 42. The Beginning of the Gospel in Philippi (concluded) I. Read vv. 29-34. From what did the jaUor want to be "saved"? What led him to suppose that Paul and SUas could teU him how? That is, how much acquaintance had he had with their work in the city? What was it to "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 31)? What was it to "believe in God" (v. 34)? What was the "word of the Lord" (v. 32)? How were the jailor's household to be saved (v. 31)? 2. Read vv. 35-40. What had led the Praetors to order the release of the missionaries? In what respect was the attitude of the Praetors (w. 38, 39) advantageous to the Philippian disciples left behind by Paul? 3. The fact that in § 43, v. i, the pronoun "we" gives place to "they," indicates that Luke remained in Philippi to care for the disciples. It is significant that the pronoun "we" does not occur again until § 53 (1), vv. 5, 6, when Paul stops in PhiUppi on his return to Jerusalem after his third missionauy journey. Luke seems to have joined Paul at that time, and gone on with him to Jerusalem and afterward to Rome {^67, v. 16). This church in PhiUppi was one for which Paul always felt a spe cially tender affection. Read § 68 (2) ; i :3-i i ; 4 :i. Personal Thought: "What must I do to be saved?" If an earnest man were sud denly to confront you with this question, could you teU him clearly, step by step, how to proceed? Have you ever tried to prepare yourself to state clearly to a man unfamiliar with scrip tural phraseology exactly what it is to become a Christian? 74 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY lo: FROM SYRIAN ANTIOCH TO ATHENS, IN PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURJTEY Fifth Day: § 43. The Planting of the Church in Thessalonica I. Thessalonica, Uke Philippi, was on the great Egnatian road, and was a city of great commercial importance. It was the shipping- port for a rich interior, and had commercial relations with all the ports of the Levant. Anything that happened in Thessalonica would soon be known in all that part of the world. Cf. i Thess. 1 :8 (p. 44, footnote). 2. Read § 43, together with the footnotes. Do you judge that the three missionaries stayed in the city longer than the period men tioned in V. 2? Cf. Phil. 4:16 (p. 44, footnote). Compare v. 4 with I Thess, i :9 (p, 44, footnote), and state the four classes of persons mentioned as constituting the membership of the new church. Which class predominated? What was the argument which Paul presented in the synagogue? Why did it "behoove" the Christ to die and rise from the dead? How did the missionaries pay their expenses in Thessalonica? See I Thess, 2:9; 2 Thess, 3:8; Phil, 4:16 (p, 44, footnotes). 3. Of what were the Jews jealous (v. 5)? Note the four or five steps taken by the Jews to get rid of the missionaries.What foundation was there for the charge that the missionaries were proclaiming another emperor (v. 7) ? What do you suppose they made Jason promise to do (v. 9)? Personal Thought: "There is another king, one Jesus" (v, 7), Is the kingship of the invisible Jesus so real a fact in your life that those who associate with you note it? Is there a devotedness of service, and a recognition of the supremacy of His will that emphasizes His kingship? 75 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY lo: FROM SYRIAN ANTIOCH TO ATHENS, IN PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY Sixth Day: § 44. Preaching in the Synagogue at Beroea § 45. Paul at Athens (to be continued) I. Paul was evidently in great danger. He had to leave Thessa lonica in the night. When the Thessalonian Jews came to Beroea, Paul instantly left the city, either conceaUng, or not hav ing decided upon, his ultimate destination (v, 14), The deputa tion of Beroeans that served as his body-guard did not think it safe to leave him until he reached Athens, It seemed scarcely safe to leave him alone then (v, 1 5), They probably feared assassination, 2. Read § 44, using the map, 3. Read vv, 16-21. Athens had passed its creative period, but was still an important university city. Paul seems to have intended to press on at once to the great commercial city of Corinth. Con sider the events of the past few months, and Paul's need of rest. To what three or four classes of persons did he present the Gospel? The word translated "babbler" (v. 18) is a slang term, describing one that has picked up a smattering of learning and is trying to air it. What was probably the substance of Paul's conversation with these university professors in the agora? 4. The word Areopagus sometimes designates a hUl close to the northwest corner of the Acropolis, and sometimes the court that held its final formal sessions upon this hill. Here it probably refers to the court and to a session held in the agora. The court had special jurisdiction in matters of reUgion, Paul had appeared as a possible advocate of a new religion, and although the officers doubted whether it were worth while to take him seriously, they seem to have brought him before the court for a preliminary, semi-official hearing. 5. Read w. 22-33, ^'id record what seem to you to be the three or four most prominent thoughts. How different this address is from the one in § 33, although both appeal for repentance. Personal Thought: "They received the word with aU readiness of mind" (v. 11). As this study proceeds do you find yourself receiving the word with^ readiness? Are you ready to be and do whatever the word requires, to adjust your plans to the demands made upon your life by this great movement whose history we are studying? 76 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY lo: FROM SYRIAN ANTIOCH TO ATHENS, IN PAUL'S SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY Seventh Day: § 45. Paul at Athens (concluded) I. Observe Paul's courteously tactful opening words. Adopt the alternative translation ' 'unusually religious" in v. 22. The inscrip tion "TO AN UNKNOWN GOD" probably did not express any vague longing for the Supreme Being, but the feeling that some deity might have been omitted in their worship. 2. The pertinence of this address does not fully appear until its statements are considered in connection with the religious ideas of the Stoics and Epicureans whom Paul was addressing. Read V. 24, considering its bearing upon (i) the impersonal pantheism of the Stoics, (2) the Epicurean idea that the gods lived far away among the stars having nothing to do with creation, (3) the mul tiplicity of deities, (4) the temple residences of the deities. Read V. 25, considering (i) the habit of leaving offerings in the Greek temples, and of caring for the statues of deities, (2) the Epicurean idea of the remoteness of the gods from men. Read v. 26, considering the Greek pride of culture and race. Read w. 27, 28, considering again the Epicurean idea of the remoteness of the deities. Read the plain but courteous state ment in V. 29, considering the statues of deities all about them. Read vv. 30, 31, considering the absence among both Stoics and Epicureans of all thought of personal accountability to deity, and of belief in a resurrection. 3. Note the impressiveness of v. 33. Many were amused; some felt a curious interest in the weird fancy of a resurrection ; a few believed. Only one believer was a woman (cf. § 43, v. 4 and § 44, V. 12), and one was a member of the court itself. 4. What does this address reveal of Paul's personality, thought, or style of expression that impresses you? Some have thought that I Cor. 2:1-5 (p. 47, footnote), describing the visit to Corinth which followed immediately after he left Athens, indicates Paul's dissatisfaction with his address to the Athenians. Personal Thought: "He commandeth men that they should aU everywhere repent" (v. 30). We are in danger of becoming so accustomed to the evil about us, that we forget God's ceaseless call to repent and prepare for the judgment. Think of the unsaved men you meet today as the objects of this call, and silently pray for them. 77 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY ii: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, AND LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS First Day: § 46 (i). The Planting of the Church In Corinth (2). Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (to be continued) I. Corinth was a great commercial city, midway between Rome and Ephesus. Its life was characterized by a combination of com mercial greed, superficial but conceited culture, and flagrant sen- suaUty, which made it by far the most difficult field Paul had yet entered. The power of the gospel was to be severely tested. 2. Read §46 (i), using the map and reading the footnotes except the reference to Note 5. Determine from v. 5, § 44, v. 15, and I Thess. 3 :i (p. 45, footnote), what Timothy (and possibly Silas) did after Paul left Beroea. What is meant by laeing ' 'constrained by the word" (v. 5), and what had the coming of his associates to do with it? Read §46 (2), 3:1-8, and note the distress of mind which Paul had been suffering. 3. The development of Paul's work, after he left the synagogue, was peculiarly exasperating to the Jews. He held his services in the house of a converted synagogue Gentile who lived next door to the synagogue, so that the crowds gathered to hear Paul on the Sabbath under the very eyes of the synagogue authorities (v. 7). Note in v. 8 other exasperating circumstances. That Paul was in great danger, and perhaps thought of giving up the work, is evident from the fact that he had one of the rare visions of the Lord granted him at critical junctures in his life (§ 56, 22:18, and § 57, 23:11), and that in it he was urged to con tinue preaching, and was assured of protection against personal violence (vv. 9, 10). 4. Read carefully, looking up all the references, as much of Note 5 on page 210 as you have time for. Personal Thought: "Be not afraid, but speak, * * * for I am with thee" (w. 9, 10). When the Spirit sends you to some friend to give your testimony as a witness, be assured that He whose witness you are, is with you, even as He was with Paul in that cesspool of lust and hate. He foresees results. You have simply, with the inspiration of His companionship, to give the testimony, 78 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY II : PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, AND HIS LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS Second Day: § 46 (2). Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (con tinued) I. If you did not finish Note 5 on p. 210 yesterday, do so now. 2. Read § 43 in order to bring back to your mind the history of the founding of the Thessalonian church. 3. Read the letter through thoughtfully, trying to view it as though you were now reading it for the first time. Read it aloud if you are alone in your room. At the close of your reading record your opinion regarding its purpose, and any of its thoughts that have impressed you. Personal Thought: "From you hath sounded forth the word of the Lord" (1:8). The faithful lives of believers constitute a proclamation of the gospel. The report of what was going on in the lives of certain people in Thessalonica was the best possible advertisement of Paul's gospel. He needed not to speak anything (i :8). Draw near to God before you go out into the day, and let Him use your life, hour by hour, as a proclamation of His word of love. 79 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY ii: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, AND HIS LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS Third Day: § 46 (2). Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (con tinued) I. This letter may be considered in three divisions. The first is I :i-2 :i6. — A defense of himself against current slanders, show ing by a brief summary of his life among them, his unselfish love and pure purposes. The 'Thessalonian Jews who drove Paul out of their city (§ 43, v. 5), and compeUed him to flee for his life from Bercea, (§44, vv. 13-15), endeavored to destroy his influence in Thessalonica after his departure by circulating slan derous charges. Paul appeals to those who know him in Thessa lonica in refutation of these charges. Read at this point 1:5, 6, 8, 9. The apologetic purpose becomes more marked in chapter 2. Paul had been accused of being a deluded fanatic ("error," 2 :3) ; of meeting his converts for the Ucentious practices so common in oriental society ("uncleanness," 2:3); and of being a sly, tricky man, who had some selfish purpose to serve ("guile," 2 :3). These slanderers told his converts that Paul had flattered them with the purpose of ultimately getting money out of them ("cloke of covetousness," 2 :5 ; 2 :5,9) ; that he liked to gather a company of followers over whom he could exercise authority (2 :6-8). In answer, Paul appealed to the Thessalonian Christians (2:10-12), and in 2:15, 16 paid his respects to his accusers, the Jews. Read carefully 1:1-2:16, and mairk aU phrases in which Paul defends himself. 2. The second division is 2:17-3:13. — Paul's longing for their persistence in spite of persecution, and joy because of Timothy's good report. The slanderers had said that Paul, after getting his followers into trouble, had heartlessly abandoned them, and that he was an adventurer whom they would never see again. Read 2 :i7-3 :i3, marking every expression of affection. Personal Thought: "Intrusted with the gospel" (2 :4). We are in some sense tms- tees of the gospel, those to whom God has intrusted the delivery of invitations into His Kingdom? Let there be no undelivered invitations found in your hand ! Simply put yourself at the dis posal of the Spirit without anxiety or worry. 80 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY ii: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, AND HIS LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS Fourth Day: § 46 (2). Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (continued) I. The third division is 4:1-5:28. Exhortations and Warnings. (i) Read 4:1, 2, regarding it as an appreciative preliminary state ment. (2) Read 4:3-8, regarding it as an injunction to chastity, made especially necessary by the licentious life out of which the Thessalonian believers had come. V. 4 means to get a woman ("vessel") as his own wife holily and honorably, that is, by marriage.' "V. 6 warns against doing wrong to another by inter fering with his wife. What two or three motives to holy living appear here? (3) What exhortations in 4:9, 10? (4) The appre ciative statement in w. 9, 10 prepares the way for the plain- spoken direction in 4:11, 12. Some of them, in misguided zeal and brotherly love, were gadding about among their brethren to the neglect of their own business. Some, perhaps, thinking that the Lord would soon return, may have entirely given up their busi ness. Others were lazy and wUling to be supported by the church. What two reasons does Paul give for strict attention to business? (5) Read 4:13-18. It gives comforting assurance that deceased believers will be present at the Lord's return. Some members of the church had died and their friends were sorrow fully supposing them consequently to have lost all chance of entering theKingdom of God which would be established when Jesus returned. These friends still held the current heathen view that death meant extinction of being, or an undesirable shade life in Hades. State briefly the substance of what Paul says in this paragraph. (6) 5:1-11. Exhortation to sober watchfulness for the Lord's coming. Read the paragraph. When will the Lord come to judge the world? Personal Thought: "Build each other up" (5:11). It is the wiU of God thatthe Christian life be developed by the mutual influence of believers upon each other's lives. Some are ready to build others up, but unwilling to let others build them up. Others are ready to receive but not to give. Are you ready to do both? 81 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY ii: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURITEY, AND HIS LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS Vifth Day: § 46 (2). Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (con cluded) (3). Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians (to be continued) I. Continue the analysis of the third division of the letter, (7) 5:12, 13. Read these verses, regarding them as teaching respect for the church officers. (8) 5:14, 15. Read these verses, regarding them as addressed to the church officers. (9) 5 :i6-28. Read these miscellaneous injunctions. Verses 19-21 indicate that the sober-minded had become displeased with the excess of enthusiasm displayed by some, — perhaps those instructed in 4:11 — and were in danger of discouraging some genuine manifestations of the Spirit. 2. Indicate on the margin of your Bible at least the three main divi sions of I Thessalonians. Two or three words may be enough to suggest the theme. In your note-book record any especially impressive thoughts suggested by the epistle. 3. Read Note 6 on page 211. In some way, probably by letters from the church officers, Paul had heard more about the situation in Thessalonica (2 Thess. 3:11) and saw two serious dangers in it. The first was that many were losing their sober judgment and becoming excited under the impression that the Lord's return was immediately at hand. This view was being advocated by some ambitious or ill-balanced prophets who said it had been revealed to them through the Spirit ("by spirit", 2:2). It was advocated by others in their teaching ("word", 2 :2), and by still others who maintained either that Paul's first letter taught this, or who pretended that they had received a letter from him teach ing it (2 :2). The second serious danger lay in the fact that the brethren whom he had charged in i Thess. 4:11, 12 to resume their ordinary occupations and attend soberly to their own affairs, 82 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY II : PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, AND HIS LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS Fifth Day: § 46 (2). Paul's First Letter to the Thessalonians (con cluded) (3). Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians (to be continued) had not done so, but were stiU trying to live without work (2 Thess. 3:11). 4. Read 2 Thessalonians, having the following analysis in mind : (l) Chapter i. Encouragement to the continued endurance of persecution in view of the relief to be experienced at the Lord's coming. (2) Chapter 2. Warning against supposing the Lord's com ing to be immediately at hand, since certain preliminary events have not yet occurred. (3) Chapter 3. Stern measures for the repression of disorder and idleness enjoined. Personal Thought: "Eternal destruction from the face of the Lord and from the glory of His might" (2 Thess. i :9). The punishment of sin is to be shut away from the power and glory of Jesus, to be separated from the great achieving power of the universe, and to be eter nally incapacitated for aU real achievement. Thank God for the opportunity to achieve something today before "the face of the Lord," and "the glory of His might," 83 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY ii: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, AHD HIS LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS Sixth Day: § 46 (3). Paul's Second Letter to the Thessalonians (con tinued) I. Read c, 2, Paul quiets the excited Thessalonians by laying out a program of events that are to occur before the Lord's coming. (I) A mysterious lawlessness is already working (v. 7), but is being held in check by a restraining power described ais masculine in V, 7 and as neuter in v, 6, (2) This restraining power is to be removed (v, 7), (3) Then will occur an apostasy (v, 3) in connection with which the mysterious lawlessness will become "the man of lawlessness," "the son of destruction," "the lawless one," opposing God, yet representing himself as God in His temple (v, 4), energized by Satan, and working fatally deceptive wonders (w, 9, 10), (4) Then Jesus will come to destroy the lawless one, and judge all his followers (vv, 8, 12), 2. Note the following suggestions regarding this program : (i) What Paul meant by the "restraining power" and the "law less one," he had explained when in Thessalonica (v, 5), and he therefore presumes in his readers an acquaintance with his thought which we do not possess (v, 6), (2) Inasmuch as Paul thought the Lord's coming might occur in his own day, these preliminary events must be such as in his view might occur in his own day, (3) Paul was probably familiar with the teaching of Jesus, orally current in the Church at this time, and preserved for us in Matt, 24, and parallel accounts. Read Matt. 24. (4) Jesus had distinctly said that the apostles were not to be enlightened regarding the date of His coming (§ i,w,6,7). They were therefore left in the same uncertainty that we ourselves feel. Personal Thought: The effect upon the moral nature, of refusing to do the truth one knows, is that truth ceases to seem true to him (2:10,11). He is so made that he will lose his power to discriminate between truth and error. Any one who persistently refuses to do a recog nized duty is ruining his moral nature, 84 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY ii: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN CORINTH ON THE SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY, AND HIS LETTERS TO THE THESSALONIANS Seventh Day: § 46 (3). Second Letter to the Thessalonians (con cluded) (4). Paul before Gallio I. Remember that you are making only a general survey of these two letters, and must leave many details untouched. Read 2 Thess. c. 3 rapidly, and note (i) the evil it seeks to remedy, and (2) the remedy. Note that in v. 17 Paul writes a few words with his own hand. He seems usually to have done this near the close of every letter. Compare §47 (2), 6:11 ; § 50 (5), 16:21, One reason for this, according to the statement made here, seems to have been to guarantee the genuineness of the letter, and so to protect his readers against such a forgery as is possibly hinted at in 2 :2, 2, Indicate on the margin of your Bible the three main divisions of this letter as they are given in the fifth day's Study, 3, Record the most impressive thought or thoughts suggested to you by this letter, 4, About this time a new pro-consul, Gallio, brother of the philoso pher Seneca, came to Corinth. The Jewish authorities, exasper ated by Paul's success, hoped Gallio would be so eager to secure their good will at the beginning of his administration that he would dispose of Paul at their request. They accused Paul of introducing a new religion, hoping that Gallio would sentence him without much examination, Gallio, however, soon became convinced that Paul's doctrine could be classified as a feature of the Jewish religion which was tolerated by Roman law, and refused to give the matter any further attention. The populace, always glad of a chance to pitch upon the Jews, utilized this occasion to amuse themselves by beating one of the leading men of the Jewish community. Read §46 (4). Personal Thought: "The Lord shaU guard you from the evU one" (2 Thess. 3:3). The Almighty God stands over your heart and life guarding you from the malignant attacks of evil. Would you not succeed bet ter if you recognized the presence of this mighty Guard, instead of so often ignoring it and watching nervously to defend yourself? 86 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 12: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATLANS First Day: § 47 (i). From Corinth to Antioch in Syria (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (to be continued) I. Paul successfully contended with the great difficulties in the Corinthian situation for more than a year and a half. He then started for Syria, but before saiUng from Cenchreae, the eastern harbor of Corinth, he shaved his head, intending to shave it again at Jerasalem, and present in the temple in fulfilment of the "Nazirite Vow," the hair that had grown in the interim. Per haps Paul made this vow in gratitude for the successful conclusion to which he had brought his difficult Corinthian work. Possibly this vow and visit to Jerusalem were due to his desire to keep the Jewish and Gentile elements in the Church together. He wished to show the Jerusalem church that however ardently he contended for GentUe exemption from the Mosaic law, he himself had not discarded all of its provisions (Rendall). Cf. § 50 (5), 16:20. His partners in business (§46 (1), v, 3), Aquila and PrisciUa, now converted to Christianity, went with him as far as Ephesus, Here he probably changed ships, and utilized the Sabbath he hap pened to have in the city for preaching in the synagogue. He then sailed to Caesarea, went up to salute the church in Jerusa lem, and returned to his home church in Syrian Antioch, 2, Read § 47 (i), using the map, 3, In preparation for the study of the letter to the Galatians, read again (i) the history of the founding of the Galatian churches in Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe (§§ 33-35) ; (2) the account of the controversy in Jerusalem that arose because of the free admission into the Church of uncircumcised Gentile believers, especially in these Galatian churches (§§ 36, 37) ; (3) the account of Paul's second visitation of the Galatian churches after the Jemsalem controversy (§§ 39-41). Personal Thought: Paul's success in his difficult Corinthian work is an iUustration of what can be done by a man when God makes him persist in spite of great difficulties. If you feel a reasonable assurance that you are where God would have you, then regard difficulties not as dis couragements but as opportunities for God to exhibit His power. 86 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 12: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS Second Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Read the letter to the Galatians thoughtfully through, but do not stop at present to dweU upon any portion of it. If any phrase particularly attracts your attention, mark it for future consider ation. Try to read the letter as though you were now for the first time introduced to its contents. After reading it, record what seems to you to have been Paul's purpose in writing it. Personal Thought: "Paul, anapostle" (1:1), that is, "one sent forth". Paul never lost his sense of being sent forth by Jesus Christ on a distinct errand. Think of yourself today as one sent out into life to call the atten. tion of men in the most effective way possible to Jesus Christ, "As the Father hath sent me, so send I you." STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 12: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS Third Day: § 47 (2). Paul's letter to the Galatians (continued) I . Read note 7 on pages 212-2 16, and record as a result of your reading your opinion as to where and when the letter was written. Note particularly the statement of the so-called "South Galatian Theory" which is the one adopted in these Studies. Some recent writers regard Galatians as the earhest of the Pauline letters, supposing it to have been written in Corinth before Silas and Timothy arrived (§46(i),v.5) since their names do not appear in the address (i :i). One who holds this view suggests that the "marks of Jesus" branded on Paul'sbody (§47 (2),6:i7), were the scars of the PhUippian whipping recently received (§42, v. 22). Personal Thought: The letters of Paul are the letters of a busy missionary writing m the midst of arduous labors or sometimes in the enforced leisure of an imprisonment. Paul threw himself unsparingly into the work of meeting the needs of men without thought of Uterary fame, but because of the experience gained in this way, he was chosen by the Spirit of God to put the gospel into the Uterary form in which it has been most effectively presented to irreUgious men ever since. Is it not wise for us in making our life plauis to try simply to meet the sorest and most immediate need of men, regardless of possible fame or position? If there be any larger work for us, we can safely trast God to bring us to it. If we address ourselves to meeting the sorest evident need, we shall be in the line of such promotion as God maiy have for us. 8S STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 12: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS Fourth Day; § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Before going further, consider the situation of the South Galatian churches as implied in the foUowing references. 2. The churches are predominantly Gentile (4:8, 5:2). They are being taught that, in addition to accepting Jesus as Messiah, it is necessary to submit to Jewish circumcision and to the Mosaic law in order to attain the highest blessedness (4:21, 5 :i-7). Certain definite individuals are engaged in this Pharisaic crusade, (1:7,4:17,5:10,12). Are there many of them? (5:9.) They are outsiders, not members of the Galatian churches (4:17). Are they professing Christians? (i :6,7,9; 6:12). Have they achieved much success in unsettling the Galatian Christians? (1:6; 3:1; 4:10,11, 19-21; 5:7). 3. In order to discredit Paul's Gospel they attack Paul himself, probably representing him to be a late convert without an apostle's rank (i :i), and with no divine authority for his peculiar teaching (1:11,12). Perhaps they represent him to have been a mere dis ciple of the Jerusalem apostles (1:18-20; 2 :6-9), who has now departed from the apostoUc teaching. They are saying that he wishes to preach a popular gospel (i :io), and so when among Gentiles does not require circumcision, although when among Jews he preaches that circumcision is essential to salvation (5 :i i). What incident that had occurred in South Galatia could they per vert into proof of this? (§ 40, v. 3). 4. These disturbers are probably Jemsalem Pharisees. Paul had foreseen that the Pharisees that opposed him in the Jerusalem council would not accept its decision, and cease their opposition. Therefore when he visited South Galatia soon after the councU (§40,v.4-§ 4i,v.6) he warned the churches (Gal. i :9), and now, no long time after (Gal. i ;6), his fears are reaUzed. He sits down, therefore, in grieved indignation to write this letter to them. Personal Thought: We need to be on our guard lest the spirit of broad tolerance so happily characteristic of our age, deteriorate into indifference to fundamental truths. We are not to shrink from protesting with Pauline vigor against any gospel that dispenses with Jesus Christ. ,89 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 12: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATLANS Fifth Day: § 47 (2). Paul's letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Begin today an analysis of the letter, and be sure that you know the meaning of every word you use. Regard i :i-io as intro ductory. Read the verses thoughtfully, and make a list in your note book of the thoughts they contain. What is the most impor tant one? In V. 3 what does "grace" mean? Look it up in the dictionary. What result did Jesus wish to secure by dying (v. 4) ? In other words, what does "deliver us out of this present evU world" mean? 2. Who is it that "called" (invited) them (v. 6)? To what did he invite them? "Grace" in this connection is, as the Greek indicates, a beautiful kindness, especially kindness shown to one that does not deserve it. Here, as everywhere in the letter, Paul lays emphasis upon the grace of God manifested in Jesus as the source of their salva tion rather than any such connection with Mosaic ritualism as is being urged upon them by the missionaries of Pharisaism. 3. In V. 6 Paul seems to say that the Pharisees have so mutilated the gospel of God that they have really made it an entirely differ ent gospel. This seems to imply that it is stUl a gospel, and he hastens to correct this implication by adding (v. 7) that it is not really a gospel at all. They are in no sense preachers of a ^OJ^?/. They are simply pestiferous agitators. Personal Thought: "Him that called you" (v. 6). Have you ever duly considered how significant a thing it is that you have received an invitation from the Almighty God? If you were to receive one from the President of the United States you would be certain that he was inviting you to something worthy of himself. He would not address you on any trivial matter. Think of yourself today as one that has received an invitation from God. 90 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 12: PAUL'S RETURN TO S'XRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS Sixth Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) Regard 1:11-2:14 as the first main division of the letter, and this as its subject : Paul's gospel received by him not from, man, but from God, and therefore never to be discarded. Proceed now to break this main division up into sub-divisions as follows : (i) 1:11,12. These verses contain the theme of the main divi sion as given above. Their meaning is not that Paul received a biography of Jesus like those in our four gospels by a revelation from God. Such facts he could easily learn in other ways. What God directly revealed to him was that Jesus was the Messiah, that GentUes could be saved by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ without becoming Jewish proselytes, and perhaps other traths such as the sigfnificance of the death of Jesus, the function of the Mosaic law, etc., etc. Some of these truths were probably revealed graduaUy, but they were revealed to him by God, and were not taught him by men. (2) 1:13,14. How do these verses show that in the period pre ceding Paul's conversion he did not receive his gospel from men? (3) I :i5-i7. How do these verses show the same of the period just after his conversion? (4) 1:18,19. How do these verses show the same of a later period? Go back to § 2 1 for a detailed account of this visit. (5) I •.lo-T.i,. How do these verses show the same? Personal Thought: "They glorified God in me" (i :24). A transformed life makes God seem glorious in the eyes of men. It is worth one's while to make the acquaintance of some men that have been saved from lives of flagrant sin. God's power is in such cases more evident, though no more really exercised, than in less pronounced conver sions. If there are such men in your circle of acquaintances, have them tell you about their experience. 91 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 12: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS Seventh Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Continue the analysis of the first main division, 1:11-2:14, the subject of which, as given yesterday, is Paul's gospel received hy him not from man but directly from God, and therefore never to be discarded. (6) 2 :i-io. How do these verses support this statement? Con sider particularly v. 6. Note also the length of time Paul had been independently preaching his gospel (2:1). Two other facts are incidently brought out in this paragraph which had probably been denied or obscured by the Pharisaic missionaries in South Galatia. First, Paul's peculiar GentUe gospel which he received independently from God, was heartily endorsed by the leading Jemsalem apostles, even in the concrete case of Titus (2 :2, 3). Second, leading Jerusalem apostles recognized that Paul was an apostle, to be ranked in the importance of his work along with Peter himself (2:7-9). Read again the paraphrase of 2:2-5 given in Study 9, fifth day (§ 36). What was the "grace" given to Paul (2:9)? (7) 2:11-14. Read these verses, and note that they show Paul's independence of the apostle most likely to be represented by the Pharisaic disturbers as his superior, and ais the teacher whose instructions he had perverted. Even Peter is called to account for not living in accordance with the principles of this Pauline gospel received from God. On the character of Peter's fault, see Study 9, sixth and seventh days (§ 38). Peter was practically compelling the Gentiles to live like Jews, by denying them all fellowship unless they would do so (v. 14). 2. Now read the whole of this first section, i :i 1-2:14, noticing tbe connection of all its parts with its general theme. Personal Thought: "The grace that was given unto me" (2:9). The gfrace, or exhibition of God's favor, given to Paul consisted in his appointment as an apostle to the Gentiles. We need to form the habit of considering every chance to work for God in any way as a favor. Look for a favor from God's hand today. 92 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATUNS (CONTINUED) First Day: § 47 (2), Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Paul's statement of his gospel begins logically in 2:15. The second division of the letter, therefore, is 2:15-5:12, Patd's Gospel of Righteousness through Faith. 2. The first sub-division of this second division is 2 :i 5-21, State ment of Paul's teaching that righteousness comes through faith. Read 2:15-21. See Study 9, seventh day, for a discussion of the principal words in these verses. 3. "Sinners" (v. 15) is the technical term by which the Jew described Gentiles and other outcast classes, and Paul here accommodates himself to the Jewish usage. In V. 17 Paul alludes to a criticism often made by Pharisees upon his gospel, namely, that it represented Christ as requiring all Jews to become sinners Uke the Gentiles in order to be saved, thus making Christ minister to the interests of Sin personified. Jews were not required to become sinners but to confess in penitent faith that they already were sinners! "Those things which I destroyed" (v. 18), that is, reliance on external acts of obedience to the Mosaic law as sufficient to con stitute one righteous. In reverting to the Mosaic law they were displeasing God, and so were sinning. It was the Pharisaic critic, not Paul, who was requiring men to become sinners. In V. 19 Paul represents the man as suffering the penalty of death pronounced by the law, namely, separation from God. The law is then through with him. He is dead to it. If he then cries out to God in penitent faith, God brings him to life in a new sphere where he is not left alone with law, but where a union of loving faith is formed between himself and the Almighty Christ (v. 20). In the strength of this new personal faith-relationship he lives a life that pleases God. What is the meaning of v. 21? Note each day this week, and preserve for presentation in class, all questions that arise in your study. Personal Thought: "The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up for me" (2:20). A true test of character is the way in which one responds to love. Let your life today be a continuous glad giving of yourself up to Jesus Christ. 93 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONTINUED) Second Day: §47(2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. In the second division (2:15-5:12) the first sub-division states the gospel of faith. The second sub-division is 3:1-5:12, Supe riority of Righteousness by Faith to Righteousness by Law. Remember that faith-righteousness is the right relation to God and men .^stained by him who has faith, that is, by him who has surrendered himself in love to God in Christ, and been forgiven; that law-righteousness is a right relation to God and men sustained by him who has obeyed the law of God absolutely without failure. 2. (i) Read 3:1-5, and state in what particular faith-righteousness is represented to be superior to law-righteousness. What does Paul regard as the disciple's chief glory? Faith has brought great spiritual blessing. Will the blessing be increased by a surgical operation of circumcision upon the flesh, and by a life of religious ceremonialism that has always faUed in the case of Jews to bring such blessing (3 :3)? What things had they suffered because of their adherence to faith? Compare, as suggestive, § 33, v. 50; § 34, v. 5 ; § 35, v. 22. Who is the one spoken of in 3 :5? The "miracles" are probably such as result from the Spirit's presence. Cf. §50(5) 12:9,10. (2) Read 3:6-9, comparing Gen. 15:6, 12:3. What point of superiority is mentioned here? The Pharisaic missionaries had probably said that none but circumcised persons could be Abra ham's descendants and legatees of his blessing. The following questions bring out the thought. What constituted the great Jew, Abraham, righteous? What constitutes one a descendant and legatee of Abraham? What is the blessing that Abraham's descendants inherit? (3 :i4). What are the two proofs that God planned to have uncircumcised Gentiles inherit this blessing? (3:2, 8. Cf, §25, v. 17). Personal Thought: "In thee shall all the nations be blessed" (3 :8)« This blessing, promised ages ago as something to maike aU men pure and glad, is intimate association with the Spirit of God. Is such association gp-owing to be as prominent a feature of your religious experience as it is of God's plan? 94 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONTINUED) Third Day: § 47 (a)- Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Continuing the study of the second sub-division (3 :i-5 :i2) of the second division (2:15-5:12), read its third puTagTsiph, 3:10-14, and state the point of superiority ascribed to faith-righteousness. The four Old Testament passages quoted here are Deut. 27 :26, (v, 10); Habakkuk 2:4, (v, 11); Lev, 18:5, (v, 12); Deut, 21:23, (v, 13), Imagine the Pharisee's amazement as he finds Paul proving from the law itself that God never regarded the law as a sufficient means of securing righteousness. The Pharisee thought that he kept enough of the law's command ments to constitute him, on the whole, righteous. Against this, Paul notes that the law says what? (v, 10), God, therefore, long ago provided another method of becoming righteous, which is what? (v, 11), In vv, 13, 14 it is said to be in view of the death of Jesus that the man of faith is regarded by God as righteous, that is, that the penitent man's past unrighteousness is forgiven, and he is granted the Spirit's presence to keep him from unrighteousness in the future. How the death of Jesus serves to secure this end is not here explained. The fact is asserted. The word "curse" (v, 13) is caught up by Paul from the quotation (v, 10), Jesus, by dying, made faith an available way for the Jew, cursed by the law, to become righteous, and proposed to do the same for the GentUe, who was equally able to exercise faith, and who, as everybody admitted, was also an accursed sinner. The Gentile thus became a legatee of Abraham, and received the Abrahamic legacy, which is what? (v, 14), ' 2. The fourth point of superiority possessed by faith-righteousness is set forth in 3 :i 5-22. Faith-righteousness with its promised blessing was instituted (in the case of Abraham) long before the law was given on Mt. Sinai, the law being added later only as a temporary measure, and not as a means of securing right eousness. Read 3:15-22 carefully, and underscore the sentences which express this thought. Prepare questions for class. Personal Thought: Close your eyes, and picture Christ hanging in naked shame between two desperadoes (3 :i). It was that you "might receive the promise of the Spirit" by accepting Him as Lord (3 :i4), 95 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONTINUED) Fourth Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Read again in yesterday's Study the theme of the fourth para graph, 3 :i5-22, and then read the paragraph itself. "I use an iUustration from human affairs. Even men do not try to alter a covenant after it has once been completed. Much less would God alter the terms of His great Abrahamic covenant. The whole transaction was solemnly closed on the basis of faith- righteousness 430 years before there was any Mosaic law !" (w. 15-18). P^x^s.'ca. had two kinds of seed {y. 16, Cf, Gen, 21 :i2, 13), The promise was made to one kind of seed only, namely, the faith-seed (Gen, 17:15-21), whose great representative is Christ, who includes within Himself all those that believe in Him (v, 29). 2. If the law is not a means of securing righteousness and blessing, what can it be for? (v, 19), Paul's answer is startling. It is "for the sake of," that is, to produce, transgressions! Cf. §52 (2), 5 :2o. It was given to make men's sinful disposition so evi dent to them in objective transgressions that they would feel the need of righteousness by faith, Cf, §52 (2), -j-.f. It was to make the presence of the fatal disease in their systems so evident that they would go to the doctor ! It did not at all alter the Abrahamic covenant. It was inferior to that covenant too, because the single personality of God was not directly engaged in giving it, as in making the covenant, God was represented by angels, and men by the mediator, Moses (w, 19, 20), "Did the law then annul the sacred covenant promise? By no means. If it did, we should have to look to the law for life and blessedness, but we know from the Scripture itself that the law cannot give these (cf. 3 :io, 1 1). The law puts us into Sin's prison, but with the beneficent purpose of making us appreciate the Abrahamic promise of blessedness to such as have faith in Jesus" (w. 21, 22). Now read 3:15-22 again, and prepare questions for class. Personal Thought: "No one maketh it void" (3:15). Realize the solid basis on which your association with His mighty Spirit rests. God Him self has covenanted it to you as a disciple of Jesus. 96 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONTINUED) Fifth Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. The fifth paragraph is 3 :23-29. Read it carefully and state the point of superiority ascribed to faith-righteousness. 2. The pasdagogus ("tutor") was a slave entrusted by a father with the general supervision of his boy during the period of the boy's minority. He was an inferior exercising a ieinporary authority. The theme of the paragraph, then, is — -The law was merely a pcedagogus training us up for, and in due season delivering us to, Jesus Christ and the faith in Him which constitutes right eousness. When it has served this function its authority ceases. 3. The law had authority for a while, though no one ever lived the sinless life requisite for law-righteousness (3:10, 11). Men were always saved by faith, that is, by penitently committing them selves to God, and receiving forgiveness. Still, in the pre-Chris tian period, it was appropriate that even though pronounced righteous by faith, they should try to keep the law with all its rites and ceremonies. The effort served to keep alive their sense of sinful failure, and so prepared them to appreciate Jesus Christ when He finally appeared as the ground and object of faith. Then its authority ceased. The Christian Pharisee denied this. He regarded faith as necessary but not as sufficient for the attain ment of the highest blessedness. To him the believing Jew was a higher type of Christian than the uncircumcised Gentile believer. Paul's view, not fully stated here, was that faith in Jesus involved such love to God and man as fulfilled all the essential part of the Mosaic law. Read §52 (2), 13:8-10; 3:31. 4. In yielding themselves to Jesus they passed out from childhood into sonship, leaving the paedagogus behind. By identifying themselves in faith with the Son of God, they shared His sonship (v. 26). In this union with Him, a circumcised Jewish believer is no better than an uncircumcised Gentile believer (v. 28). Being thus identified with Christ they claim the blessing promised to Abraham's seed, which blessing Christ inherits (v. 29). 5. Read 3 :23-29 again, and, as usual, record any questions that arise. Personal Thought: "Ye are aU one in Christ Jesus" (3:28). Think today particu larly of the disciples in so-called heathen lands as gathering with you closely about the great personality of Jesus. Pray for them. 97 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONTINUED) Sixth Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. Read the sixth paragraph, 4:1-11, and then before reading further on this page, ascertain the point of superiority attributed to faith-righteousness. The law is no longer likened to the boy's paedagogus, but to the rudimentary instruction given to the boy. The law was simply a rudimentary preparation for the more mature state in which faith in Jesus is alone required of men. It was not only rudimentary but also worldly (4:3), that is, its ceremonies and paraphernalia were sensuous and material rather than spiritual. The law once afforded a useful training, though it was never a sufficient means of attaining righteousness. Now, since God has stood forth so clearly in Jesus Christ, the loving personal relationship of faith in Him is all-sufficient. God has clearly endorsed it by giving to uncircumcised GentUe believers the supreme blessing, namely, the Spirit (3:2, 4:6). The Phari saic missionaries urge that by accepting the Mosaic law in addi tion to faith, the South Galatian Christians will no longer be an annex of God's family but really members of it. Paul says that they are already full children of God by virtue of their connec tion with the Son of God, as is proven by the cry of His Spirit in their hearts (4:6). To accept the Mosaic law is to be reduced from full sonship to the state of minority which is like that of a bondservant (4:1). The Pharisee urges that Jesus was bom a Jew, and kept the law. Paul replies that this was in order effectually to get us out from under the law (4:4, 5). 2. In 4:1-3 the pre-Christian condition of the Jew is described; in 4 :8 that of the Gentile, whose religion had consisted largely in rites and festivals. To do now what the Pharisee urged, would be to take a step back toward the old heathen style of religious life. Some had already begun to yield (4:10). 3. Read again 4:1-11 and note for discussion in class every point you do not understand. Personal Thought: "Ye are sons" (4:6). Think of the dignity and privilege of your position. Feel like a son of God today. Let your heart cry, ' 'Father, Father I" Live like a son of God. Get your idea of how a son of God ought to live from the life of the Son of God. Remember 2 :20 1 98 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONTINUED) Seventh Day: §47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. The seventh paragraph, — 4 : 1 2-20 — is a parenthetical break in the statement of the points of superiority possessed by faith over the Mosaic law as a means of attaining righteousness and blessing, and consists of an impassioned appeal to the Galatians not to yield to the Pharisaic missionaries. Paul probably quotes in it expressions that have been by letter or verbal message reported to him as current in the Galatian churches, and the paragraph is consequently less intelligible to us than to them. A paraphrase will most briefly explain its many difficult points. 2. Compare the text with the paraphrase verse by verse. (12) "How strange it is that I, a Jew, who gave up all my proud connection with the Mosaic law at cost of friends and honor, to take my place aunong you Gentiles as a penitent sinner with nothing but faith for righteousness, must now beseech you to discard the Mosaic law and become Uke me ! I leam that you are now thinking somewhat unkindly of me (cf. v. 16), but certainly in all our past intercourse I have received only kindness at your hands. (13) Even on the occasion of the former of my two visits to you, when I was driven to your highlands by ill health, (14) and when I was in a state of physical weakness that might easily have tempted you to despise me, you received me as if I had been an auigel of God. You could not have done more for Jesus Christ Himself! (15) What has become of all the grateful blessing your hearts then pronounced upon me? I verily believe that then you would have dug your eyes out and given them to me, if it had been possible. (16) But now you regard me as an enemy! I am represented to you as one that would "shut you out" (cf. 17) from the higher blessedness you might gain by being circumcised and observing the Mosaic ceremonies so dear to some of the Christian Pharisees ! In any case, if you do regard me as aui "enemy", I have the satisfaction of knowing that it is not due to any lack of sincerity or frankness on my part. (17) I do not STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 13: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONTINUED) Seventh Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) beUeve the missionaries of Pharisaism among you can say as much. They may be very assiduous in their attention to you, but, I assure you, neither their purposes nor motives are worthy. They are the ones that are really ' 'shutting you out" from the highest blessedness, and their motive is the selfish desire to increase the number of those that look up to them as leaders. (18) It is far better to have as your leader one like myself who is always assiduously attentive to you, as much so when absent as when present, and always for your highest good. (19) My own dear children, you would not doubt my love for you if you could see what suffering your conduct causes me ! How I suffered during those months of danger in Galatia when I was bringing you to spiritual birth : And now by your relapse I am compelled to suffer birth pangs again, and I shall continue so to suffer untU I bring you to birth in that life which you can live by faith alone, and which will bring the indweUing Christ into your souls (cf. 2 :2o). (20) Would that I were with you so that I could see what effect my words produce, and change the tone of my appeal accordingly! Your strangely changing moods (cf. i :6) perplex me, 3. Now read the whole passage in the text, and note questions for discussion in class. Personal Thought: "Until Christ be formed in you" (4:19). Is the form of Christ, with slowly increasing distinctness, appear ing within you? Is He looking out through your eyes to see the things that interest Him, going on your feet to do the kindly things He used to like to do in Galilee? Is He loving with your heart? 100 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 14: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN [in ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONCLUDED) First Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. The eighth paragraph in this section (3:1-5:12) is 4:21-5:1. Faith-righteousness is superior to Pharisaic law-righteousness in that it produces freemen, not bondmen. This point is presented in the form of an allegory. In order to understand it, read Gen. 16:1-3, 15 ; 17 :i5-i9; 21 :i-i2. Perhaps the Pharisaic mission aries had cited this story as teaching that only circumcised believers were Isaac's children, and that all who believed in Jesus without circumcision were children of inferior grade, like the descendants of Hagar through Ishmael. Now read the paragraph in Galatians, remembering that this is the parallelism : Hagar, the slave-maid, Sarah, the wife, bearing by natural generation bearing by faith in God's promise Ishmael, a slave-boy, Isaac, a free son, represents represents the Sinaitic covenant the Abrahamic covenant producing bond-slaves, producing free children, whose whose home is Palestinian Jerusalem, home is the heavenly Jerusalem. Prefer the footnote reading in v. 25. It calls attention to the coincidence that Mt. Sinai is situated in Arabia, the home of Hagar's descendants. 2. ¦Verse 27 is a quotation from Is. 54:1, and contains another reference to oriental polygamous life, though not one that fits the case of Sarah and Hagar. A wife who bore her husband no children for a while, afterward bore more than her rival wife. In the period of the dominance of the Mosaic law, its capital city, Palestinian Jerusalem, seemed to be the favorite, and to bear the children, but now the heavenly Jerusalem has a multitude of faith- righteous as her children, and may be described in Isaiah's words. 3. To what incident in the life of Abraham's family does v. 29 refer? (Cf. Gen. 21 :9). To what in the Galatian situation does it refer? What action would entangle them in the yoke of bondage (5:1)? Note questions on obscure points for presentation in class. Personal Thought: "With freedom did Christ set us free" (5 :i). Christ has freed us from all that restricts growth. He has put us in condition to become the utmost that human personaUties can attain. 101 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 14: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONCLUDED) Second Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. The ninth paragraph in 3 :i-5 :i2 is 5 :2-i2, and is another per sonal appeal someyNhat like that in 4:12-20. Note its impres sive opening words, and read the whole paragraph. Before reading further here, determine the thought of vv. 2-6. 2. The thought of w. 2-6 is not that no circumcised man can be saved by Christ, for circumcision in itself considered is a wholly indifferent thing (v. 6), but that under the circumstances an acceptance of circumcision by the Galatians shows a fatal lack of confidence in the sufficiency of faith to bring the highest blessed ness. Two things the Pharisaic missionaries have not made clear, (i) Law-righteousness, of which circumcision is the sym bol, is available only in case of absolutely perfect obedience (5:3; cf. 3:10). (2) The adoption of circumcision, and the consequent reliance for righteousness upon obedience to the Mosaic law, involve giving up reliance upon faith in Christ as God's means of righteousness (5:2, 4). What does "grace" mean in 5 :4? "We are confidently expecting to be pronounced righteous in the judgment day, solely as a result of our faith and of the conse quent purifying influence of the Spirit" (5 :5). 3. " Running weU" (5:7), that is, prospering in the life of faith. When? To whom is reference made in 5 :8? What, in the Galatian situation, is represented by the yeast, and what by the lump of dough (5: 9)? Otherwise than what (5:10)? Paul has been slanderously said to preach circumcision as a means of attaining the highest righteousness. His constant experience of persecution by the Jews disproves this slander. Furthermore, if righteousness could be attained by circumcision and the law, there would be no need of a crucified Messiah so offensive to Jewish pride (5 :i i). Note questions for presentation in class. Personal Thought: "Faith working through love " (5 :6). The logical order of our lives is Jesus Christ, a heart of faith, a life of love. Is there such increasing kindliness in your life as to attract attention to your heart of faith and its Christ? 102 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 14: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONCLUDED) Third Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. The third main division of the letter is 5 :i3-6 :io, — The Freedom of the Faith-Righteous will manifest itself in mutual Love, not in License. Two things are made evident by this section of the letter, (i) The Pharisaic missionaries had represented that Paul's exemption of the Galatians from the requirements of the Mosaic law would lead to license, (2) Between the minority which had held firmly to the Pauline gospel, and the majority which had been more or less moved by the Pharisaic missionaries, there had been some hard feeling engendered by their discussion of the sufficiency of faith. Read the division, noticing these two points, 2. There are four paragraphs in the division. The first is 5 :i3-i5. Freedom from the Mosaic law involves the acceptance of the law of service. In discarding the Mosaic law the man is not left lawless, but accepts a higher law. Freedom consists in the ability to obey the highest law of one's being. Read the paragraph. What evidence is there that Paul means by " flesh ", not simply the material part of the man, but all that part of the personaUty that tends to evil (5 :i9-2i)? An "occasion" for what (v. 13)? In what sense is v, 14 true? 3, The second paragraph is 5 : 16-26, Freedom from the control of the Mosaic law does not leave one's evil nature uncontrolled, but is follo7ued by the control of the Spirit. We have paissed from the one to the other (v, 18), All that the law could do was to stand over against us, command, and punish. It could not secure obedience. Now a mighty personal force, the Spirit, has come into us, and secures the love that is the aim of all law. Read 5 : 16-26, In v, 21 Paul protests against the slanderous statement that he tolerates immorality. All the faith-righteous have laid off the dominion of that in them that tends to evU (v. 24), This must be made evident by peaceful relationships (w. 25, 26). Note questions for presentation in class. Personal Thought: Read v. 22 slowly, seeing what the Spirit proposes to produce in your life, and yielding yourself anew to Him for this purpose. 1C3 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 14: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONCLUDED) Fourth Day: §47(2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. The //5zr^ paragraph in this division is 6:1-5, The love of the faith-righteous is to be shown in their manner of correcting erring brethren. Those that had defended the Pauline gospel may have shown some arrogance and hard feeling toward those that had yielded to the Pharisees, They need warning. Read the paragraph. 2. "Ye which are spiritual" (v. I), that is, ye that are made right eous by faith through the Spirit, and not by law (cf. 5 : 16-26). "Bear ye one another's burdens" of temptation and weakness (v. 2). What is Christ's law? Notice the implication that the Mosaic law cannot claim this high title. If a man does not in meekness help his neighbors bear their bur dens, he is in danger of coming into the condition described in V. 3. Let each man carefully test his own work by high stan dards secretly, and take satisfaction in whatever good he finds without comparing himself with his neighbors (v. 4). For each must bear his own load of accountability to God, and his neigh bor's praise or blame will be of no avail (v. 5). 3. The fourth paragraph is 6:6-10, The love of the faith-righteous is to be shown in the proper support of pastors, and in generous giving to all. Read the paragraph. As a result of the sharp discussions among the Galatiain Chris tians, some pastors may have suffered, among other things, the loss of necessary financial support. Cf. § 50 (5), 9 :7-ii. Who ever pampers his selfishness ("the flesh"), wUl produce in himself death and decay, but whoever nourishes the spiritual, unselfish instincts of his nature, will find life (v, 8), This general principle is here applied particularly to the use of money in the support of paistors. Reflect upon the certain connection between selfishness and cor ruption. What is "corruption" in the case of a human personality? Why "especially" toward those mentioned in v, 10? Note questions for presentation in class. Personal Thought: "As we have opportunity" (6:10), Every opportunity to show unselfish kindness is an opportunity for increasing the measure of one's own life (6 :8). Watch today for these openings into larger life. 104 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 14: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONCLUDED) Fifth Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) I. The fourth main division of the letter is 6:11-18, Autograph Conclusion. Read it and note its principal thoughts, 2, The reference to coarse hand-writing (v. 11) together with 4:15 is sometimes thought to indicate that Paul's "thorn in the flesh" (§51 (2), 12 :7) was a weakness of the eyes. What is a "fair show in the flesh," and how would the circum cision of the Galatians contribute to it (v, 12)? Christianity had so thoroughly established itself that no Christian would any longer be persecuted by Jews for preaching a crucified Messiah, provided only that he required Gentile believers to become Jewish prose lytes (v, 12), "Verse 13 seems to imply that even the Pharisaic missionaries had ceased, in their own minds, to attribute any moral value to cir cumcision, since it did not any longer signify to them perfect law-keeping. Their motive was simply the desire to build up a ceremonial Judaism, to go back to Jerusalem with the prestige due to successful proselyting in South Galatia, Such selfish con siderations had no longer any place in Paul's thought. He thought only of the loving death of Jesus in view of which men of faith in Jesus could be pronounced righteous (v, 14). What does he mean by "the world" (v, 14)? 3, What is the "new creation" (v, 15)? (Cf, §51 (2), 5 :i4-i7,) Walk by what "rule" (v, 16)? Paul implies that the religious designation of the Jews, "God's Israel," belongs only to the faith-righteous.Verse 1 7 refers to the trouble that has been occasioned Paul by such denial of his apostleship and loyalty to Jesus as has been hinted at in the letter. The scars upon his body, received because of his loyal discharge of his apostolic duties, brand him unmis takably as Jesus' slave. Perhaps he refers to scars received in South Galatia (§ 35, v, 19), Is there some special significance to the word "grace" in the benediction? (Cf, 2:21; 5:4), Note questions for presentation in class. Personal Thought: "The marks of Jesus" (6:17), Is there in your life something that marks you as the property of Jesus? Take pride today in the fact that you belong to Him. 105 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 14: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONCLUDED) Sixth Day; § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (continued) Write on the margin of your Bible or of the text in Burton the analysis that has been given in the daily Studies. In some cases catch-words will be sufficient instead of full titles. The outUne of the analysis has been as follows : Introduction, i :i-io. I. I :i 1-2:14. I. I :ii, 12. 2. I :i3. 14- 3- 1:15-17. 4- 1:18, 19. n. 2:15-5:12. I. 2:15-21. 2. 3:1-5:12. (I) 3:1-5. (2) 3:6-9. (3) 3:10-14. (4) 3:15-22, in. 5:13-6:10. I. 5:13-15- 2. 5:16-26. 5- 1 :20-24. 6. 2:1-10. 7. 2:11-14, (5) 3:23-29. (6) 4:1-11. (7, 4:12-20. (8) 4:21-5:1. (9) 5:2-12. 3- 6:i-s. 4- 6:6-10. IV. 6:11-18. Personal Thought: "Through love be servants one to another" (5 :i3). It is easy to think of one's self as God's servant, because the office is dignified and, withal, somewhat vague. But our brother confronts us in definite form, and service to him is concrete. Think of yourself today as, in some real sense, a servant of those to whose happiness and welfare you have power to contribute in love. 106 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 14: PAUL'S RETURN TO SYRIA, AND THIRD SOJOURN IN ANTIOCH: THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS (CONCLUDED) Seventh Day: § 47 (2). Paul's Letter to the Galatians (concluded) Glance thoughtfully over the letter, recording in your note book (I) the most important thoughts the study of the letter has given you, and (2) the personal characteristics of Paul that appear in the letter. Personal Thoughts: "God sent forth His Son, bom of a woman" (4:4). We have realized only a little of the significance of the fact that the Son of God has stepped forth out of eternity in the attractive form of Jesus of Nazareth, and become a part of the human race. He is a member of the human race, with a human mother, human brothers and sisters, human friends. "I have called you friends" (John 15:15), was the message He left ringing in the ears of men as He disappeared again from human view. He acts as a great magnet among men, drawing all toward Himself, and carrying up into His own glory such as yield to the drawing, and attach themselves in faith to Him. Think of Him today as silently, ceaselessly drawing men over all the world to Himself, 107 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) First Day: § 48. The Churches of the Galatian Region and Phrygia Revisited § 49. Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth § 50 (1). Twelve disciples baptized by Paul § 50 (2). The Gospel preached in Ephesus, and made known in all Asia I. Read §48, remembering that these churches are the ones to which Paul had shortly before written the Galatian epistle. Probably the epistle had brought them back to their senses, though there was doubtless still need of "stablishing" them. 2. Read § 49. It is difficult to determine just how much Apollos knew, and why he had learned no more. Perhaps he had been instructed by some disciple of John Baptist, who had left Palestine early, before the death of Jesus. He had heard of Jesus' resur rection, and believed Him to be the Messiah, but knew nothing of Pentecost and subsequent history. In that case, he was preaching John's old message of repentance (v. 25) in prepara tion for the Messiah's return. 3. Read §50 (i), using the map. "Upper country'' means the higher regions of the interior as contrasted with the low coast country. The condition of these men seems to have been like that of Apollos, Do you think that they had known Apollos? 4. Read § 50 (2), According to one manuscript Paul occupied this lecture hall from 1 1 a, m, to 4 p, m. , that is, after the professor's regular hours. How were Paul's personal expenses met? (Acts 20:34, foot note, p. 60.) Perhaps the seven churches mentioned in § 76, 1 :i I were founded at this time (v. 10). How do you imagine the word to have been carried to these places? What expression in v. 10 shows Luke's general view-point? Personal Thought: "Instructed in the way of the Lord ;" "fervent in spirit" (§ 49, v. 25). Do not be afraid to cultivate an enthusiasm based on knowledge. See that you have such knowledge as will beget enthusiasm. Let every wise plan for the extension of God's kingdom have your enthusiastic support, 108 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) Second Day: § 50 (3). Miracles wrought, and opponents brought to confusion § 50 (4). Communication of Paul with Corinth, and plans for the future I. Paul generally worked in great cities, and § 50 (2), v. 10, indi cates at least one reason for this preference. Ephesus was a cen ter of magic and superstition, and Paul did there a kind of work calculated to impress the Ephesian mind. 2. Read § 50 (3). Look carefully through vv. 13-17 in order to detect Luke's purpose in citing this somewhat grimly humorous incident. Professional exorcists, like these vagrant Jews, are mentioned by Jesus, Matt. 12 :27, These men, who attempted to borrow Paul's formula, seem to have been related to the high- priest's family (v, 14), all members of that family being called "chief priests," Look carefuUy through vv, 18-20, and note Luke's purpose in mentioning this strange bonfire in the agora. If these 50,000 pieces of silver were denarii, then this sum was equal to 50,000 days' wages. Cf. Greek of Matt. 20:2. 3. Read the paragraph from Acts in § 50 (4). What light does this allusion to Rome throw on Luke's general purpose in Acts? Read the paragraph from i Cor., and state Paul's purpose in making this visit to Macedonia and Achaia. Paul might have taken ship and gone to Macedonia via Corinth. He proposed to come later and stay longer (v. 7). We shall see later that the Corinthian church was in a very bad condition, and that Paul wished to give them time to correct some serious disorders before he appeared among them. Cf. §51 (2), 1:23-2:2. Timothy was evidently sent on ahead to introduce- order, but Paul feared he might not succeed (vv. 10, 11). Personal Thought: "And burned them in the sight of all" (§ 50 (3), v. 19). This was cutting off all chance to return to these practices later. Db you find yourself sometimes unwilling to cut off all possibility of ever indulging again in some questionable practice? You will never have peace and power until you cease to provide for the possibihty of future indulgence. 109 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) Third Day: § 50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (to be continued) I. Read again in § 46 (i) the account of Paul's work in Corinth. 2. Paul wrote the letter we call i Corinthians in the spring of the year, about Passover time (5:7-8; 16:8). He had written them an earlier letter which has not come down to us (5 -.g), and had recently received one from them to which a part of our i Corinthi ans is a reply (7:1). Members of an influential family in the Ephesian or Corinthian church had recently brought from Corinth alarming news regarding the state of the church (i :il. Cf. also 16:15-17). With the Corinthian situation thus freshly before him he wrote this letter. See Burton, p. 217, last paragraph. 3. The church is split into factions that threaten its existence (i :ii ; 3:3, 4). A man has married his step-mother, and the church refuses to discipline him (5:1, 2). Members of the church are quarrelling and going into civil courts with their disputes (6:1). Low ideas regarding sexual purity are prevalent (6:15-18). An ascetic element in the church is questioning whether marriage is not wrong or inexpedient (7:1-3). There is a somewhat ill-natured discussion going on regarding the propriety of eating meat from an animal that has been connected with heathen sacrifices (8:1-3). A few are denying Paul's right to be called an apostle (9:1). The Christian women are appearing in meeting in bold, improper dress, Ukely to injure the reputation of the church (11:5, 6). The sacrament of the Lord's Supper is being observed in a scandalous fashion (1 1 :2o, 21). "There is an overestimate of cer tain particularly conspicuous "spiritual gifts" (14:1-5). The impossibility of a dead man's resurrection is being asserted by some (15 :i2). Personal Thought: The early Church was no aggregation of angels. We need to guard against failing to appreciate the present day Church, how ever painfully conscious we may be of ils glaring faults. ¦Wc need to get back to the apostles and the apostolic ideal, but not to the condition of the apostolic churches. 110 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) Fourth Day: § 50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. Begin now an analysis of the letter, following carefully the direc tions given below. Write out in your note book or on a separate sheet of paper the general outline of this analysis as you go on, so that you may have it all before you when you are through. 2. The introduction consists of i :i-9. Paul's mind was so continu ously under the domination of its greatest thoughts, that in his brief introductory sentences before he begins to discuss the speci fic matters in hand, these thoughts are quite apt to find casuaV expression. In our rapid survey of this letter we must be content to study the general trend of its thoughts, and to leave many detaUs untouched, but take time today to bring out the great thoughts of this introduction. Imagine yourself a member of the Corinthian church, and see what each phrase in this introduction probably meant to the average Corinthian church member. 3. Read the nine verses slowly, and let the following questions be among those you wiU raise. Use the dictionary if necessary. What is the meaning of "sanctified in Christ," and what are "saints" (v. 2)? Observe that it is the term Paul applies to Christians in general. What is the meaning of "the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus" (v. 4)? What in the "revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ" (v. 7), and what is His "day" (v. 8)? What is "fellowship, " and what is the "feUowship of His Son'' (V. 9) ? If you find these questions too deep for immediate answer, do not be discouraged, but let them simmer in your mind. Personal Thought: "I thank my God always concerning you" (v. 4). There would seem to be very little in their condition for which to thank God, but Paul's habit of mind was to take inventory of every good feature of a situation, and be thankful for it. Do you always have something for which you are thankful? Ill STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) Fifth Day: § 50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) 1. Continue the analysis. The first division is i :io-4:2i — Factions Rebuked. The strong, pugnacious individualism of the Greeks, their proverbial love of talk and of speculative philosophy, were evident in the Corinthian church. Sub-divide as follows : (l) 1:10-173. "/ exceedingly regret your factions and am thankful I did nothing to produce them. " Read these verses, and see whether the above is a true summary. The Jews admired Peter; others proudly said they were "of Christ." Do you see why Apollos was more attractive than Paul to some? Cf. 2:1, 4 and § 51 (2), 10:10 with §49, vv. 24, 25, 28. Were Paul and Apollos friendly (16:12)? (2) i:i7b-2:5. "My preaching was certainly not calculated either in thought {i:iS-2f) or in style (2:1-4), to gather a fcu- tion about me, for I laid supreme emphasis upon a crucified Jesus. To preach deUverance from sin through a Messiah who hung in naked shame upon a Roman cross, is offensive to the proud Jew looking for glorious signs, and is nonsense to the cultured Greek looking for something new in philosophy (i :22, 23). The over-wise world (l :2o, 21) certainly did not join your Corinthian church in large numbers (i :26-29). Yet the trans formed lives of those that accepted my message proved its wis dom and power (i :24, 30; 2:4, 5)." Read i :i7b-2:5. (3) 2 :6-i6. "Though my message is so unattractive philosophi cally, still among the truly mature (.3:6), it is recognized as the very wisdom of God (2:d-g), revealed to me by the Spirit of God (2:1 J, J 2). "The Spirit also teaches me how to present the spir itual truths of my message to spiritual men (2:13), and without His enlightening influence no one will ever rightly estimate me or my message (2:14, 15). How could he? No man, unaided by the Spirit, comprehends God's mind, and it is His mind that is expressed in our message (2 :i6)." Read 2 :6-i6. Personal Thought: "We have the mind of Christ" (2:16). You may not know your neig;hbor's thoughts, but you may know, if you will, what Jesus Christ is thinking about. Are you taking pains to form the habit of thinking the thoughts that were habitually in His mind? 112 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) Sixth Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. Proceed with the analysis of the first main division, 1:10-4:21. (4) 3:1-4. "The fact that you are not yet sufficiently developed spiritually to understand God's wisdom" — (remember how much was said of God's wisdom in chapter 2) — "is proved by the pres ence of factions." Read 3:1-4. Get an idea of what Paul means by "carnal" or "fleshly", and "spiritual", by reading §47(2), 5:19-23. (5) 3 :5-9. "There is no sense in your making any minister the head of a faction, for God is our common head, and all min isters are equally subordinate to him. " Read 3 :5-9. (6) 3:10-15. "It is necessary, however, that every minister be exceedingly careful how he teaches, for if he teaches that which is not true, he himself, as a disciple of Jesus, may indeed barely be saved, but his converts, who have accepted his false teaching, will be lost." .In their factious love of leaders they need to remember this. Read 3 : 10-15, observing that Paul is here talk ing about ministers. Consider carefully in this figure of a burn ing building, what is represented by the things mentioned in v. 1 2, that is, what constitutes the man's "work" which is to be tested in the judgment day. (7) 3:16,17. "Let the factious man beware, for in destroying the church, he is destroying that which is God's temple." Read 3:16,17. (8) 3:18-23. "Seek true wisdom, and cease to have the spirit of faction, for you all have an equal interest in everything, and yotc all belong to God." Read 3 :i8-23. (9) 4 ;i-s. "Ministers are simply God's faithful stewards, not to be fudged by men as your factions have been fudging me, but to be fudged by God alone." Read 4:1-5. On the functions of the oriental "steward", compare Luke 12:42-46. (10) 4:6-13. "Do not fall into factious boasting over any 113 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) Sixth Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) minister. It is sadly inconsistent with the lives of hardship and humiliation that we apostles are living." Read 4:6-13. The description of the Corinthians in w. 8 and 10 is the irony of grieved affection. (11)4:14-17. "/ have sent Timothy to remind you of my humbler spirit, which I desire to see displace your present factious temper. " Read 4:14-17. (12) 4:18-21. "Some, I understand, think I shall never dare to appear in Corinth again after all that has been said against me by the factioiis. I assure you, I shall come, and with stern rebuke unless you mend your ways," Read 4 : 18-21. 2. If you have time, consider what have been the great motives or truths used so skillfully by Paul in this section to overcome the factious spirit. Personal Thought: "All things are yours" (3 :2i). We tbmk overmuch of God as one who demands things of us. He is a Father asking of His children such love as will enable Him to do all things for and through them. Ill STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 15: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (TO BE CONTINUED) Seventh Day: § 50 (5) . Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians(continued) I. The second main division is chapter 5. Church rebuked for failure to discipline a -man who had married his step-mother during his f cither's life time (§51 (2), 7 :I2). "Although you are so boastful and wise" — cf. 4:6, 8, 10 — "you have not had spiritual life enough to discipline a case of out rageous fornication. I have already in spirit met with you, and with apostolic authority called down upon the man some bodily suffering intended to destroy the power of his fleshly nature over him, and lead him to repentance" (5 :i-8). Read 5 :i-8. On 5 :5 compare Luke 13 :i6, and on 5 •."], Ex. 12:15. "You pretend to have understood my former letter to teach that you were to have no intercourse with any fornicator, but you must know that I meant any fornicator in the church. I can not discipUne those outside the church ! Do what I enjoined, and excommunicate this wicked man" (5 :9-i3). Read 5 :9-i3. 2. The third main division is 6:1-11. Church members rebuked for cheating each other, and seeking redress in heathen courts, rather than settling their difficulties within the church. Read 6:1-11. In vv. 2, 3 appears Paul's great thought that the believer is so closely related to Jesus Christ as to share all his achievements. Read § 68 (4), 3 :i-4. Are those "of no account in the church" (v. 4) humble members or heathen judges? 3. The fourth main division is 6 :i2-20. Protest against thepreva- lent view that fornication is as innocent a gratification of a bodily appetite as is eating food.. Ivead 6:12-20. Paul describes two kinds of actions, those not wrong in themselves but simply sometimes inexpedient, and actions always wrong. An illustration of the former is gratifying the appetite for food, which needs simply to be controlled. For nication was being put into this class even by some church mem bers ! Paul teaches that this sin peculiarly injures the spiritual nature, and destroys union with Christ. Personal Thought: "Such were some of you" (6 :ii). Paul never doubted the feasi bility of his ideal in the case of the most discouraging reality. The most degraded man you may meet is a possible son of God. 115 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i6: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) First Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. The fifth main division is chapter 7, Discussion of the circum stances under which marriage is desirable and undesirable, and of proper conduct in the marriage relation. 7:1-3. "A celibate's life is theoretically good, but because of a celibate's temptations it is better to marry," Read 7:1-3, The statement is general and introductory, 7 :4, 5. ' 'Let husband and wife so conduct themselves as to avoid temptation." Read 7 :4, 5. Evidently the letter asking Paul's advice (7:1) had been somewhat ascetic in tone, "] -.6, 7, "My advice simply permits marriage, it does not command it," Read 7:6, 7. 7 :8, 9, "Let unmarried men and widows remain so, if the temp tations of a celibate's life are not too great, ' Read 7 :8, 9, 7:10, II. "The commandment forbidding divorce, given by Jesus when on the earth, is in force in case both husband and vnfe are believers," Read 7 :io, 11. 7:12-16. "Jesus left no commandment for cases in which only one of the parties is a believer. Let such live together if the unbeliever is willing to do so. Otherwise the believer is under no obligation to insist upon the maintenance of the marriage relation. To do so might produce discord, and not result in the unbeHever's conversion, as you hope it would," Read 7 ;i2-i6. 7 : 17-24, "All merely human and temporary conditions like mar riage are comparatively unimportant," Read 7:17-24, "Use" what "rather" than what (v, 21)? 7:25-38. "In the case of marriageable daughters, the principle that change of state is at present undesirable, applies, but the father that gives his daughter in marriage does no wrong," Read 7 :25-38. Do vv. 26-29 '"efer to some special local distress in Corinth, or to the nearness of the Lord's coming in judgment? 7 :39, 40. ' 'A widow may marry again, but marry none but a believer, " Read 7 :39, 40, Personal Thought: "Ye were bought with a price" (v, 23), Are you making all your life plans with a view to being as profitable an investment as possible for Him who owns you? 116 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i6: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) Second Day: § 50 (5) . Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. The sixth main division of the letter is 8 :i-ii :i. Discussion of the propriety of eating meat used in heathen sacrifice. This large division breaks up into four sub-divisions, the second and third being parenthetical digressions from the main thought: (1)8:1-13; (2)9:1-23; (3)9:24-10:13; (4)10:14-11:1, (i) 8:1-13, It seems to have been customary to sell in the mar ket the meat of the animals that had been sacrificed in heathen worship, or to serve it at public feasts in the temples (8 :io). To some, among both Jews and Greeks, eating such meat seemed equivalent to taking part in heathen worship. Others, who knew better, were only impatient with this view. In w. 1-3 Paul addresses the element that is so puffed up with its superior knowl edge. Those in their frame of mind lack the first element of true knowledge. If they humbly love God, then God knows them and wiU give them true knowledge. Bear in mind that to "perish" (v. 11) is to lose eternal life, and that to "stumble" (v, 13) is to fall into such sin as results in the loss of eternal life, 3. Now read chapter 8 through thoughtfully, and write out careful answers to the following questions : Exactly what question had Paul been asked? What was his answer, and the reason for it? How, and in what sense, do they sin against Christ (v, 12)? Personal Thought: Do you think you have done your duty, when you have assured yourself that a given practice does you no harm? Is there any thing in your life which you do unharmed, which another would do at his peril, and which your example is Ukely to lead him to try to do? Is the practical effect of your life on any other Ufe, to tear down what Christ is building up? The fundamental question is, how completely do we sympathize with Jesus Christ in His love for our brother? 117 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i6: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHLANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) Third Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. The second paragraph in the sixth main division is a parenthetical digression along the following line: (2) 9:1-23. "The same principle that I have just applied to eating sacrificial meats, namely, that we should do nothing to hinder the gospel (w. 12-23), I have adopted in other matters (w. 5-22), especially in taking no pay for preaching (w. 5-18). My action has been misunder stood by some to imply that I am not an apostle, and have no right to that from which I abstain. Against this misunderstand ing I indignantly protest (w. 1-6)." Read 9:1-23. 2. State the four arguments or illustrations by which Paul justifies his right to take pay for preaching, as they are stated in vv. 7, 8, II, 13, 14. With V. 14 compare Luke 10:7. 3. What reason does Paul give m vv. 15-18 for waiving his right to take pay for preaching? In vv. 19-23 Paul gives a second reason for waiving this right. "I have waived my right to pay, and done many other things, in order to make the gospel as successful as possible. My supreme ambition has been to do everything for the gospel's sake, although hoping thereby to gain no greater reward than to share with all behevers in its salvation (v. 23)." Read vv. 19-23. 4. Among Jews, Paul conformed to the Jewish ceremonial law, though not regarding its observance as essential to righteousness. Among Gentiles he disregarded the laws prohibiting intercourse with GentUes, and associated freely with them. He Umited his liberty of action according to the needs of those weaker than him self (w. 19-22). Personal Thought: "That I may by aU means save some" (9:22). Are your habits and style of life adopted with a view to making your life as efficient as possible in bringing men under the influence of the gospel? Can you think of any alteration in your life that would increase your efficiency in this particular? Do you study to be one who can reach all classes of people? 118 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i6: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) Fourth Day: § 50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) 1. The third paragraph in the sixth main division is also a paren thetical digression. (3) 9 124- 1 o : 1 3. " We need to avoid every thing that might interfere with our attaining the eternal life promised us in the gospel (g:24-2f), especially such things as led the fathers to ruin (io:6-ij), in spite of their great opportunity (10: 1- f), particularly idolatry (10 :y), which we are discussing here." Read 9:24-10:13. In explanation of the historical allu sions in 10:1-5 read Exodus 13:21; 14:22; 16:15-35; 17:6; Numbers 14:29, 32, 35. 2. The fourth paragraph of the sixth division is 10:14-11 :i, and in it there is resumed the discussion of sacrificial meats, begun in chapter 8. The general principle there stated is now applied to certain particular cases. (4) 10:14-11:1. (a) 10:14-22. "To eat and drink at a public heathen feast, which constitutes a part of heathen worship, is improper for a Christian. He identifies himself with the object worshipped as we do in eating the Lord's Supper, or as do Jews in their sacrificial peace offerings. Although an idol is nothing, back of it to the heathen mind there is a divinity, and by taking part in heathen worship you acquiesce in this belief. The Lord will not tolerate such divided worship, and you are not strong enough to withstand His displeasure." Read 10:14-22. (b) 10:23-26. "Although eating meat at a heathen feast is wrong in itself, in certain other cases one may say that the act is entirely lawful, but expedient or inexpedient according to circumstances." (c) 10:27-30. Read the verses and state what direction Paul gives to the Christian that accepts an invita tion to his heathen neighbor's dinner party. "Conform your con duct to the other man's conscience, for why should your liberty to eat be condemned by another man as that which led him into sin? Or why should it be evil spoken of by him as something that was harmful to him?" (vv. 29, 30). (d) 10:31-11:1. Read and state the conclusion of the whole matter. Personal Thought: "Do aU to the glory of God" (10:31). Act in such a way as to make God seem glorious to men. Since the essence of God's glory is His love, let your treatment of others remind them of the love of God. 119 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPiSii.ES STUDY 16: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) Fifth Day: § 50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. The j^zf^w^^ main division is 11:2-16. Men in public meeting should pray with uncovered heads, but women with covered heads. With a new sense of Christian liberty or of the fact that there was "neither male nor female in Christ Jesus," some of the women in the churches were beginning to lay aside the oriental head cover ing common among modest Greek women, and to claim for them selves a liberty in dress that was common only among immoral women. The head covering seems to have been regarded as a sign of the husband's authority and protection (v. 10). To lay it aside brought such reproach upon the church and upon Chris tianity as necessitated Paul's discussion of the matter. The details of the section raise a great many difficult questions which cannot be discussed in this brief survey. Read the division. 2. The eighth main division of the letter is 11:17-34. The dis orderly and sacrilegious observance of the Lord's Supper rebuked. The Lord's Supper seems to have been observed in connection with a meal of which all the church partook. To this meal each contributed whatever he was able to bring, and all ate in common. In the Corinthian church the factious spirit was evident even on this sacred occasion (v. 18). Well-to-do people took the food they had brought, and ate it by themselves, while the poor man who had been able to bring little or nothing, stood by hungry and ashamed. Some drank perhaps even to excess (vv. 20-22). Read the division. 3. In V. 19 such disorders are representee to oe tests ol cnaracter giving opportunity to those that are of an orderly disposition to manifest h. Does v. 23. indicate that Paul received this informa tion from the Lord by direct revelation, or through the other apostles?What is meant by eating and drinking "unworthily" (v.27)? Cf. V. 29. Does v. 30 refer to actual sickness and death (sleep), or to spiritual conditions? Personal Thought: Have you ever given serious thought to the significance of the Lord's Supper? What does it mean to you? 120 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i6: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) Sixth Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. The ninth main division is chapters 12-14. The value, use and abuse of spiritual gifts, especially tongues and prophecy, and the supreme importance of love. The division breaks up into four sub-divisions: (i) 12:1-30; (2) 12:31-13:13; (3) 14:1-25; (4) 14 : 2 6-40. 2. (1)12 : 1-30. ' ' There is a variety of spiritual gifts, but all be stowed by the Spirit, all valuable, all for the service of the Church, and to be exercised by their possessors without pride or rivalry." These "gifts" were special manifestations of the Spirit's life. It is impossible to determine the exact meaning of aU the terms in vv. 8-1 1. Vv. 1-3 contain the preliminary statement that every Christian has the great honor of the Spirit's presence, and is not to be despised even though "ungifted". In v. 3 the common forms of abjuring and confessing the faith are given. Meaning of "anathema" ? Read vv. 1-3. 3. In vv. 4-1 1, spiritual gifts are represented as being of different kinds, but as all bestowed by the same Spirit for the service of the Church, and hence all honorable. Read vv. 4-1 1, and deter mine what verses express the main thought. "Faith" (v. 9) is evidently not the faith that all must have to be saved. Cf. 13 :2. "Discernings of spirits" (v. 10), ability to tell whether a prophet is really inspired by the Holy Spirit or not. "Kinds of tongues" (v. 10), unintelligible ejaculations uttered in a state of excitement produced by the Spirit's presence. "Interpretation of tongues", ability to discern and express in orderly language the emotion which is struggling for utterance in the man "speaking with tongues". 4. In vv. 12-30, individuals with different gifts are said to be to the Church like members of the body, all essential to the perfect body, each in some manner dependent upon the others, and none able to depreciate the functions of another. Readw. 12-30. What evidence that a spirit of rivalry and pride was in the church? Personal Thought: "Ye are the body of Christ" (v. 27). Your personality is that through which Christ would put His thought into action, just as the thought of the mind is put into action by some member of the body. 121 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY i6: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHUNS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) Seventh Day: § 50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians(continued) I. The second sub-division of the ninth main division is 12 :3i-i3 :i3. "It is proper to desire the more important spiritual gifts (i2:ji}, but there is something more important than any of them, without which all of them are worthless, and which is within the reach of all, namely, LOVE." Read 12 :3i-i3 :i3 very carefully, noting its three paragraphs after the introductory statement (12:31), the worthlessness of aU spirit ual "gifts" without love (13:1-3); love characterized (13:4-7); spiritual "gifts" temporary, love eternal (13:8-13). 2. Remembering the contents of chapters 1-4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 12, what was the peculiar propriety of saying these things to the Corinthiauis? 3. Write out a very careful paraphrase of vv. 4,5, using the diction ary if necessary, and thinking if possible of a concrete act in your own Ufe that would illustrate each phrase. For instance, bring out the fact that injured love (v, 4) does not simplv go its way in silence but is aggressively kind. It does not simply "let him alone", but approaches the injurer with kindness, "Taketh not account of evU" (v, 5), does not brood over wrongs, nor hold a grudge ; does not become sullen but remains sunny when iU-treated. Personal Thought: Do you really give to love, in your own thought, the high place given it here? Is an increase of unselfish love in your daily inter course with those you meet the thing you supremely desire? One needs to keep constantly in mind that he would be a moral zero without love, no matter what else he might be or have. 122 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 17: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONCLUDED) First Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. Continue the written paraphrase, taking up vv. 6, 7. Put the thought into other language, and think, if possible, of a concrete case in your life that would illustrate each phrase. 2. Read again vv, 8- 1 3, "In our present state of fragmentary knowl edge and imperfect attainment we must supplement each other's deficiencies by the exercise of spiritual gifts. When the church has outgrown this child-period of imperfection and incompleteness, there will be no longer need of these gifts. But love will never be out of date (vv, 8-1 1), The views of truth which we now have are like the obscure, distorted image that one gets in a metallic mirror. The views we shall have will be as clear as is the direct face-to face-view of a friend. We shall then know truth and God with the clearness of perception with which He now knows us (v, 12), There wiU never come a time when there will not be need of trustful faith in God and in one another. There will never be a time in the endless ages when there will not be something better yet ahead, something to hope for. There will never be a time when a man wiU not be able to put into exercise the highest faculty of his being, and love" (v, 13), In what sense do you think love is the greatest? Personal Thought: We get here the far view into the endless ages of attainment and achievement for which our daily lives are designed to prepare us. We are the children of eternity. How ought one who lives con stantly with such an outlook to behave himself today? 123 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 17: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONCLUDED) Second Day: §50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians(continued) I. The third sub-division in the ninth main division (chapters 12-14), is 14:1-25 — The gift of prophecy is superior to that of tongues. On "prophecy" see comment in Study 8, Fourth Day; and on "tongues" see Study 1, Sixth Day, Note that the over powering emotion was understood by God (v, 2), was of various kinds (vv, 14-16), and was valuable to the subject himself (w, 4, 18), but was profitless to the church unless an interpreter was present to read his mind and express his emotion in intelligible words. Read 14:1-25. 2. The thought of vv. 21-25 is this, "The gift of tongues is like the strange language of the foreign conquering armies that the Lord finally brought among His obdurate people in punishment for their failure to heed His teaching (Is. 28 :i i, 12). It is simply a sign, not for believers in a church meeting, but for obdurate unbelievers, and one which not even they will heed. Whereas if unbelievers hear a man prophesy intelligibly, their consciences will respond, and they will be converted." 3. The fourth sub-division of the ninth main division is 14:26-40 — Regulations designed to secure the orderly exercise of spiritual gifts in public meeting. Read vv. 26-33, au^i state the direc tions they contain. The implication in v. 30 is that if the Spirit moves a second prophet to begin, he wishes the first to stop. Read vv. 34-36, and state the direction they contain. In that age it brought reproach upon the church for a woman to do what then seemed so unwomanly. "Is it to you alone that God speaks, authorizing you to introduce a custom of which the rest of us have not heard" (v. 36). Read w. 37, 38. "If any one regards himself as spiritual, let him show his spirituality by endorsing what I have written. If any man is too ignorant to admit its truth, he will have to remain ignorant." Read w. 39, 40, and state the conclusion they express. Personal Thought: Do you find yourself chiefly desiring conspicuous or useful kinds of Christian service? In case a particular service happens to be both, is its useful or conspicuous aspect the more prominent in your thought? 121 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 17: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONCLUDED) Third Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. The tenth main division of the letter is chapter 1 5 — Discussion of ihe Resurrection. Some members of the Corinthian church seem to have been maintaining that death was the extinction of being, or possibly, that it was followed by a barren, hopeless, shadow existence from which the dead never come out. They held that there was no such thing as the resurrection of a dead person, and therefore no blessed future life, identifying the belief in the resurrection with belief in a blessed future life, as did Paul in his argument, and as did Jesus (Mark 12:26, 27). Some of them probably denied, as they logically had to, the resurrection of Jesus. Others may have admitted the resurrection of Jesus without realizing that His resurrection involved that of all believ ers. They thought that only such as were alive at His coming would escape death, and have eternal life in the Messianic King dom of God. 2. The chapter breaks up into two parts, (i) 15:1-34. There is to be a resurrection and, future blessedness of dead believers. (2) 15:35-58. In this resurrection they will receive a body superior to the -present body. 3. Now take up the different steps in the argument of vv, 1-34, (a) Vv, i-li, "The resurrection of Jesus Christ, foretold in the scriptures, and abundantly attested by witnesses (vv, 3-8), has been accepted by you as an essential part of the gospel" (w, i, 2, 11), Read w, i-il carefully, and make a list of the witnesses of the resurrection. This is the oldest account of the resurrection. (b) Vv. 12-19, "The fact that Christ was raised from the dead proves that there is such a thing possible as the resurrection of a dead person (v, 12), and to deny the possibility of such a resur rection involves the denial of Christ's resurrection (v, 13), which, in turn, leads to many untenable conclusions" (w, 14-19). 125 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 17: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONCLUDED) Third Day: §50(5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) Read w. 12-19, noting that wherever "resurrection of the dead" occurs "resurrection of dead persons" would be a more accurate translation. Paul is not here asserting that the resurrection of the single person Jesus proves that all persons wUl be resurrected, but only that it proves the possibility of such a thing as the resur rection of a dead person. Make a list of the consequences of denying Jesus' resurrection. (c) Vv. 20-28. ' 'The resurrection of Christ not only proves thatthe resurrection of a dead person is possible, but it is the beginning (v. 20) of the accomplishment of a plan to give resurrection Ufe to all the race, so far as the race is allied with Christ (w. 21-23). This plan involves the establishment by Jesus Christ of an undisputed, eternal Kingdom of God, in which all enemies of God and man shall be overcome, and a redeemed race be delivered to the Father (vv. 24, 25), One of these enemies is death (v, 26), the power of which is nuUified by the resurrection, " Read vv, 20-28 very carefully. Paul's argument here rests upon the assumption, so prominent in the teaching of Jesus, that whatever God does for Jesus, He wUl surely do for all the friends of Jesus, What is the significance of the word "first-fraits" (w. 20, 23)? Personal Thought: "They that are Christ's" (v. 23). Perhaps you have been think ing too exclusively of the duties and obhgations that rest upon you because you belong to Christ. Today think of the deathless glory and power that await you in the endless future because you are Christ's. 126 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 17: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONCLUDED) Fourth Day: §50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) I. Continue the analysis of 15 :i-34. (d) Vv. 29-32. ' 'The denial of the resurrection is inconsistent with the conduct of those of you that are baptized for the dead, and with my Ufe of constant perU." Readw. 29-32. Verse 29 is per haps best explained by supposing that, if a believer who was receiving a course of instruction preparatory to baptism died before he was baptized, some one of his friends was baptized for him. Paul does not commit himself to the approval of the practice. His argument is that if the dead man has ceased to exist, there surely is no sense in being baptized for him. Furthermore, if a man's hope of a blessed future depends upon his living until Jesus returns, it is exceedingly foolish for a man constantly to run the risk of losing his life (v. 30). The fighting with beasts is not to be taken literally, else it would surely have been included in the list of perils enumerated in § 51 (2), 1 1 :23-28. It perhaps refers to the fierce human opposition Paul encountered in Ephesus. (e)Vv.33,34, "These false views regarding the resurrection are the result of too intimate association with the world. Awake from this drunken delirium, and cease the sin of cherishing such delusions. It is sin, for some of those that cherish them have no knowledge of God, If they did they could not doubt that He would resurrect His own !" Read vv, 33, 34, Note that in aU this discussion Paul has had no occasion to mention the unrighteous dead. On this point compare § 59, v, 15, a. Follow now the analysis of the second part of the chapter, vv, 35-58, In the resurrection, believers will receive a new body superior to the present body. (a) V. 35. ' 'I understand your difficulty to be the impossibility of conceiving that there may be another body when the present one has decayed," Read v. 35. (b)Vv. 36-45. "God's ability to make a resurrection body different 127 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 17: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONCLUDED) Fourth Day: §50(5). PauPs First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) from, and superior to, the present one, is proved and illustrated by the various grades of being that have already been created by His power." The objectors seem to think God has exhausted His resources in creating the present body ! Notice in the last clause of Mark 12:24 that Jesus pointed out the same error. Read vv. 36-45. Record the four illustrations given in vv. 36-41 of God's power to make many kinds of beautiful bodies. So can He and will He provide a "spiritual" resurrection body far more glorious than the ' 'natural" body we now possess (vv.42-45). This is called "spiritual" because it will be better adapted to the uses of the highly developed spiritual natures we shall then posses. (c) Vv. 46-49, ' 'The possession of our present natural bodies pre cedes, and is the condition of, the possession of spiritual bodies," Read vv, 46-49. Personal Thought: "We shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (v.49), that is, of the heavenly man, Christ Jesus. We are to have not simply our Lord's moral glory, but to have also His glorious form of exist ence which is an appropriate external expression of His moral excellence. Reflect often today upon that to which Jesus Christ is saving you. 128 STUDIES IN THE ACTS AND EPISTLES STUDY 17: PAUL'S MINISTRY IN EPHESUS, AND THE FIRST LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS; IN THE THIRD MIS SIONARY JOURNEY (CONCLUDED) Fifth Day: § 50 (5). Paul's First Letter to the Corinthians (continued) t. Continue the analysis of 15 :3S-58.