The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-12-12

bases his whole argument for Christianity
on the fact OF the resurrection OF Jesus
Christ attested not by others. but by his
own personal vision and personal COM
munion with. Him as living Messiah In
this particular sermon at Antioch, in Flsio1a,
he sees. as stephen had seen before, the
faces grow tense and hard before him. the
scowling of the Pharisees. and he breaks of,
as it were. in the middle Of his Discourse TO
utter words of condemnation hardly less
sharp and severe than those which stephen
had uttered and the utterance OF which had
aroused his own ire and made him par
ticipaSt in Stephens martyrdom.
But when he breaches to the pagans he
pursues a very different course. He does rot
refer to the Bible at all: He says little or
nothing about the Messiah. He speaks of
jesus. indeed: but the pagans know OF no
Messiah. they are not expecting any king
DOM they are not looking for any deliver
ance and Paul adapts his teaching to the
audience whom he addresses.
THE SERMON ON MARS HILL.
''The most notable of the sermons to the
pagans is the one delivered in Athens. .Ath-
ems as the center of a great university.
1t was also the center of Greek worship.
Petronious had said that it was easier to
find god than a man in Athens, and Pau
sanius, that there were more gods in Ath
ems than in all the rest of Greece combined,
and xenophon, that Athens was one great
votive offering to the gods. To this city
Paul comes and, finding this city worship
ing Idols and images, he grows disheartened
and discouraged, his heart is stirred within
him by the burden of theJgnorance and the
superstition which surrounds him. He talks
as he has opportunity, in the market place
in Athens. People listen. More people lis
ten. Still more. The crowds begin to gath
er about him. Then the university takes
the matter up. There was a council of the
university with some power just how much
we cannot tell, TO regulate religious teach
ing in Athens; and this council summons
Paul to give account of himself. He is not,
indeed, put to trial; he is not charged with
any crime. but the question What
right has he to teach? He is no scholar; he
is no graduate from any Greek school, and
II would seem he knows very little of Greek
philosophy. AT all events, the people COM
pare him to q little bird that picks UP a
crumb here and crumb there; a poet
plagiarizer they call him; and others, more
seriously, charge him with being q setter
forth or strange gods-a crime for which
Socrates had died four hundred years be-
fore And the council lay hold upon him
and take him up to the great platform
where the tribunals are wont to be held
ana surround him in circle and, standing
him in the midst, they ask him to give
account of himself and state what is his
66o onnS, tina, that they may consider whether
IN TINS university town. And this is his
answer:
re men OF Athens. in every point of view 1
For passing through your city and looking about
upon me objects OF your worship found here even
goa, Whom, therefore. without knowing him
mat msda t ni o DECLARE unto you The God
that is lord Of heaven and earth. in no hand de
served, as though ne needed a,ight He who him.
SELF gives life and breath and all things and
mas made Of one blood all the nations of the
earth that they may dwell together and has fixed
The appointed seasons and limits of their abode:
tnaL they should seek God if happy they might
1eel AFTER him. though he be not far from every
1 one OF us. For in him we live and move and
nave said; For we are also his Offspring In
ought not to think that the God head is like
unto soid or silver, or stone, craven by art and
God overlooked: he now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent because he hath appointed
that man whom he hath ordained giving as
sprance unto all in that he hath raised him from
You notce-and it is for this reason 7
nave read this sermon to you, of which,
doubtless. we have only brief report-ser-
mon, L call 1t, apology perhaps it should be
called, defense perhaps, statement Of doc
trlne, what you will-you notice with what
skill he approaches this council how he
commends them, commends their reverence
for the gods, quotes their poets and leads
them along towards that to which he would
direct them-the declaration of the manifes-
tation of God in Jesus Christ But when
he gets to. the resurrection of the dead they
will hear him no more, they laugh at him
and chaff him out of court. And so he goes
his way This sermon may be taken as a
type of PauPs spirit in dealing with the pa
gan world, as the other may be taken as a
type of Paufs dealing with the Jewish
world
THE CALL TO EUROPE.
with this message, the same message in
its outcome, though so different in it's APP
proach. he travels from city to city through
Greece. He finally comes to the Hellespont
He does not dare to cross. We are not to
think of Paul as one ,bristling with courage
and boiling over with enthusiasm that has
no caution and no discretion. He would
so to the south, but something prevents
him. He at last finds himself at the extreme
UaStarD rOint Of Craeca And fbon tho vi
sion comes to him-for he is a man of vi
BiOns. The vision clad in the costume of the
Europeans (for the costumes were widely
differently says, Cross and come over and
help u.s.. And so he passes the HelleSpont
and enters Europe.
1T was a strange beginning of European
Christianity. There is not in Philippi so
lnuch as "a Jewish synagogue. There is a
little grove by the waterside outside the
city, where a few Jewish women gather for
prayer. That is all the opportunity he has
lie goes where they are and talks to them
and one of them at least others probably,
accept the new way. There is no other
opening and there is no other chance until
by strange way the door is opened. There
IS a poor girl, possessed of an evil spirit.
What that means l will not stop to con-
slider here tonight. At all events, one
whom her master used TO make gain with,
using her as an instrument of false
prophesying And this girl follows after
Paul as he walks the streets Of the city and
ironically calls out after him and Silas:
Here be the men that show us the way;
here be the men that show us the living
Cod And the boys boot and the rabble
follow. You can picture the scene to your
self. Paul endures it, for he knows what
Will happen if he takes up the challenge
that is thrown down TO him. AT last he
endure it no longer and he turns upon
her and commands the evil spirit to come
out, and the girl is restored to sanity
Then the masters find their gain is gone
and that the laugh that was on their side
is now against them People then no more
than now like to have the laugh against
them. They have Paul and Silas arrested
and imprisoned-thrust into a lower
dungeon. There they sing their songs and
carry on their little prayer meeting, and
the other prisoners are listening to the sing
ing and praying. In the middle of the night
the earthquake comes and the walls are
shaken, and the jailer, fearing that his
prisoners will escape would have killed
himself, and Paul, intuitively knowing
miraculousiy perceiving, interpret it as you
will, recognizing at all events the peril to
the taller. cries out to him, DO myself no
harm; we are all here The jailer, aston
ished by the consideration for him, takes
Paul out of prison, washes his wounds and
becomes himself a follower of the Christ
And so the Christian church at Philppi be-
gins.
THE PLANTING OF THE SEED.
Europe has the mustard seed planted in
it. What a little seed. What a great tree
Paul goes on to Athens, to Corinth to
Ephesus, finally to Rome. Wherever he
goes he carries this message internreted nc