Passaic City record., 1897-07-17
THE SABBATH SCHOOL.
INTERNATIONAL LESSON COMMENTS
FOR JULY l8.

Days Lesson by the Rev. ID. M. Stearns
1. 'Now, when they had passed through
Amphipolis and Apollonfa, they came to
Thessaionjca, where was q synagogue OF
the Jews" See this company Of men in
this world for God They have no aim but
to honor Him. Their one thought is to
magnify the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. L.,
20), and to this end they are under the
control of the Holy Ghost, passing through
this town or that and stopping only where
He directs. Whether in prison or in Lydia's
house, on the road or in the synagogue,
their one business is to glorify God and
make Him known. Thessalonica was about
100 miles southwest of Philippi, so that it
must have been several days journey; but,
as is usual in Scripture, the incidents of
the journey are omitted. They "passed
through" and "came to-
2. "And Paul, as his manner was went
in unto them, and three Sabbath days
reasoned with them out of the Scriptures
ssTo the Jew first' was ever PauI's prin-
ciple in going after the people with the
gospel (Rom. t., 16), and who can tell what
we are losing by not continuing to act on
this principle, both with the gospel and
with gifts for missions? He had but one
textbook, the Scriptures, which he fully
believed was sufficient to furnish any one
thoroughly for every good work (II Tim.
ill.,, 16, 10. He was not full of the opinions
of men; but, being the Lords messenger,
uc CdEII0u Iu0 LOIu u0SSdR0 (f1dS. l., 10
8. "Opening and alleging that Christ must
needs have suffered and risen again from
the dead, and that this Jesus whom preach
unto you is Christ" The Jews were look
ing for a Messiah to sit on David's throne
and subdue their enemies and make Israel,
as in the days Of Solomon, the first nation
on earth and in this expectation they were
perfectly right, for this was promised by
the prophets and will yet surely be fulfilled
Isa. tx, 6, z; Jer ill.,, IT, 18; Zech. xiv, 6, I'D.
But it was just as plainly foretold and fore
shadowed that the Messiah would also
suffer and die and rise from the dead be-
fore He would thus reign as David's son on
David's throne (Gen. ill.,, Is; lisa. liii.; Ps.
xvi. and XIII, etc.,.
4. "And some of them believed and con.
sorted with Paul and Silas,'' and multi
tude of men and women, the verse goes on
to say. Just as in Gen. H.. the Spirit moved,
God spake, and the work was done, so here
and SO always His word will accomplish His
pleasure and prosper in the thing whereto
He sends it Qsa. w.. ~. It is ours to be
faithful messengers, it is His to accomplish
the work. There is perfect rest in His work
when we are willing that He should do it
all and as He pleases, we believing in His
hand for His pleasure.
5. "But the Jews which believed not,
moved with envy, took unto them certain
lewd Fellows" Then followed mob and
riot and an assault, for the devil was losing
some of his property, and he was stirred
nightly, as at Philippi, to do somewhat to
resist the truth and the power of God, and
so for time the saints must suffer with
Christ. Fellowship with Him in suffering
is great privilege not appreciated by the
saints as it should be (phil. l., 20; ill.,, 10;
Col. l., 24).
6. ''These that have turned tho world up
side down have come hither Also Not
finding the apostles, they took Jason and
0th hos h~ak ~ osk IL
and other accusations 1t was surely quite
a compliment to say that these men had
power to turn the world upside down.
There ought to have been enough of the
supernatural in that to make them stop
and consider, but when men are blinded
by anger they consider neither their words
nor their deeds. The facts in the case are
that the world is in q sense upside down
because of sin, and Jesus, whom these men
preached, is the only one who can set it
right side up (Ez. xxi, 30.
Z. "These all do contrary to tho DEGREES
of Caesar, saying that there is another
king, one Jesus" Caesar is the earthly,
devil. Jesus is the heavenly, representing
the only living and true God, God manifest
in the flesh, and we must choose one or the
other. His own to whom He came chose
Caesar instead of Him (John XIX, 12), and
Cesar they have had from that day to this.
LILO WOIlu huQ Gu0 CuuICu, tuo WOItuly
person and the Christian, are as opposite
as darkness and light and can no more as
simulate than water and oil, but they some
times try desperately hard to mix up. See
Jas. w., 4; John H., 1917.
s, 9. "And they troubled the people and
the rulers of the city when they heard these
things" So, when Christ was born King
of the Jews, Herod and all Jerusalem were
troubled (Math. H., -, and when He shall
come in His glory the world lying in the
wicked one shall be greatly troubled (Rev.
j., 7; XII, 18), and their troubles may never
end, for all who die in their sins shall have
torment for ever and ever Grew. xiv, II;
Mark tx, 43, 40.
10. 'sAnd the brethren Immediately sent
away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea."
SO they move on in His name, witnessing
unto Him, and again we find them in a
synagogue OF the Jews. The Masters in
structions were to pass on when not want
ed duke x, 10; Math. K, 23), but some
find it hard even yet to obey these orders,
and the more they are not wanted the more
they seem to stay, to their own and others
discomfort and doubtless to the grief of the
Holy Spirit.
II. "These. were more noble than those in
Thessalonica in that they received the word
with all readiness of mind and searched the
Scriptures daily whether those things were
So" How foolish to have remained amid
the opposition of Thessalonica when this
open door awaited them where the people
were ready to hear and receive the wordi
What blessing those are missing who are
not willing to follow where He leadeth and
let Him manage as He pleaseth! No will
but His, and no way but His is the only
true way.
70. Therefore many of them believed;
also of honorable women which were, and
of men not a few This is almost the re-
verse of verse 4 as to men and women.
Again His word ACCOMPLISHED His pleas