The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-07-21
THE SABBATH SCHOOL,
INTERNATIONAL LESSON coMMENTS|
FOR JULY IS.

AeSsoH IeAt: aui fEedcuinS III -AthenS,
Acts xviii, 22-34-Golden Text: John
w., 24-Commentary on the Lesson Of
the Day by the Rev. D.. II. stearns.
%. "Then Paul stood in tho midst Of
Mars hill and said, Ye mel Of Athens, I
perstitious." The r. Y. margin says, Gre
ligious." It was something like much of
the religion OF to-day, which is described
in lisa. XXX, IS; Eek. Xxxiii., 81; Math.
XIV, TO, q Righteousness without any real
ity, without any forgiveness OF sins-all
outward formality. The peoples time was
spent in talking Of the news Of the day
Timothy to come to him from Berea (vcrses
Il to 16) he made good use of his time for
his Master, both in the synagogue and in
the marketplace, and every day preached
Jesus and the resurrection.
%. "Whom therefore we ignorantly wor-
ship Him declare I unto you" He said
this with reference to the altar to the un-
known God, for 1t would seem that In their
worship Of many gods or idols they had IN
altar for one whom possibly they might not
have heard of as yet, but II there was UGH
an one, they would like his favor also. Here
Is the one business OF the church, to make
known to those who never heard Of Him the
one only living and true God who alone Is
worthy to be ~worshiped.
e. uOu tudt muu6 tue WOElu duU Oil
things therein, seeing that He Is Lord Of
heaven n earth, dwelleth not in temples
made with hands" Prophets and apostles
dwelt much upon the great truth OF crea-
ton, and emphasized that 10 whom they
preached was the Creator Of all things.
See lisa. Xiv, "a; Jer. T., -; xxi, II;
Acts w., "a. People may know Of Him by
His works. But no one can truly know
Him except through Jesus Christ, who was
God manifest in the flesh (Math. XII, az;
John l., 49,; I Tim. ill.,, 16). Life eternal L.
to know Him John xviii. 81.
rs. "He giveth to all life and breath and
all things" Giving is His great character
istic, and His browning act was to give His
ownly begotten Son, or In other words, to
give Himself as a sacrifice for our sins:
Having given Himself, He has given all
things, for all things are In Him. The un-
cody are dependent upon him for the very
breath with which they ~blaspheme HIS
name, and the words OF Daniel to Bel.
shazzar are applicable to them-"The God
In whose hand thy breath Is and whose are
all thy ways has thou not glorifed." (Dan.
", 2S). 8
the earth" Not only has he determined
the bounds Of their habitation, but he has
done 1t with reference to His people Israel
(Deut. xxxii., 81, for 1t is His pleasure to
make Israel the centre and bless all nations
through them. As all on earth are His
creatures and he loved the world and gave
Himself for the world, surely 1t is the great
business Of those who know this to make It
known to those who know it not. What
else are we here for but to honor Him and
make Him known?
q. "That they should seek the Lord"
Look at lisa. w., 81 Zeph. H., 8; Jer. xxx,
IS, and Matt. vi, SO on seeking the Lord,
and observe everywhere that His great de-
sire is to have people tur to Him. BY sin
we have TUNED our backs upon Him, and
misjudge Him, and misunderstood Him,
and think and say hard things Of Him. The
Scriptures enliShten US about Him and lead
us to repent or change our mind about Him,
and when we Know Him many are glad to
receive Him (John l., II, 12).
%. "For in Him we live and move and
have our being" II there is one thing that
Is not known, 1t Is the goodness and love OF
God. Those who bear the name OF Christ
are not showing forth His goodness asthey
might day by day, but are too apt to com.
lead others to think that he Is not good.
God Is good, God Is love, and II these truths
were more manifest in His people more
would want to know Him, for the goodness
Of God leads to repentance (Rom. H., A.
20. "We ought not to think that the God.
head Is like unto gold or silver or stone,
craven by art and mans Device" For It
cannot be that what wo make made Us.
The work Of mems hands cannot be mans
creator, and, yet what millions seem to
think so as they bow down to idols OF wood
and stone. See the folly of this fully set
forth In Isa., Xiv, 9-19, n in verse 20 500
the reason Of such folly, ga deceived heart
hath t1rned him aside" %.
80. "And the times Of this ignorance God
winked at (R. V. overlooked), but now com.
mandeth all men everywhere to repent"
God never makes light OF. sin and
never passes 1t by as If it we're
nothing, but He is long suffering, slow to
anger, not willing that any should
perish Oh Pet. ILL.,, 9, 10). How It must
grieve Him to be misunderstood as He Is,
to be thought unkind and cruel when He Is
wholly and only love! Is it any wonder
that He commands all to repent. but is It
not q great wonder that He offers full and
free forgiveness to all who turn to Him2
CLOS, xiv, 4; Rom. ILL.,, 24.)
81. because He hath appointed O day In
which He will Judge the world In righteous
ness by that man whom He hath ordained"
The assurance Of this Is found in a risen
Christ at Gods. right hand. In reference
to this day we must remember that a day
sometimes means a thousand years FPS. xc.,
4; II Pet. ILL.,, 81, and from other scriptures
we gather that the period Of judgment will.
cover at least 1000 years; the saints and the
living nations being judged at the begin
ming, and the wicked dead at the end Of the
thousand years.
50. "And when they heard Of the resur-
rection- Of the dead some Knocked, and
others said, We will hear thee again OF this
matter" Tn greatest and the GROWING
eventin the work Of our Lord Jesus Christ
His resurrection from the dead, Is that
which seems to be the greatest stumbling
block. I Cor. XIV. sets forth very fully the
benefits Of His resurrection n what the
results would have been If He had not
risen. q.
SO, "a. $50 Paul departed trsm them.
Howbeit certain men clave unto Him n
believed" Thus he went from place to
place as a faithful witness, never expecting
to save all in any place, but seeking by all
means to save some Il Cor. tx, 22). he
understood that 1t was his commission to
bear the name Of Christ wherever the Spirit
OF Christ should lead him and be perfectly
sure that Gods word would always accom-
plish His pleasure and prosper In that
whereto He sends it lisa. w., ~. It Is q
happy thing for Us when We arc willing to
let our blessed Lord manage His " at
fairs and accomplish what Ho pleases
rather than what we please. When we arc
willing to fall in with Him in His clearly
revealed plans and purposes and Just dwell
with Him for His work, seeking only in all
things to be approved OF 9im-Iesaon
Helper.