The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1902-06-13
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
for June 10, 1902-PauI Crosses
to Europe,
THE LESSON TEXT.

| T.
| assays6 to go into Bithynia; but the Spirit
| suffered them not.
5. And they passing by Mysia came down
1 to Troaa
| night; There stood man OF Macedonia, and
prayed him, saying, Come over into Mace
| donia and help US
/ 10 And after he had seen the vision, i'm
mediately we endeavored to go into Mace
| donia, assuredly gathering that the Lord
| had called us for to preach the gospel unto
them.
| II. Therefore loosing from Troas, we
came with a straight course to Samothra-
ella, and the next day to Neapolis;
| IL. And from thence to Philippi, which
| is the chief city of that part of Macedonia
and a colony and we were in that city
| abiding certain days:
| L. And on the sabbath we went out of
| the city by river slos, where prayer was
wont to be made; and we sat down and
| spake unto the women which resorted
| thither.
a. And a certain woman named Lydia,
| a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira,
which worshiped God, heard us: whose
heart the Lord opened, that she attended
| unto the things which were spoken of
| Paul.
IS. And when she was baptized, and her
| household, she besought us, saying: If We
| have judged me to be faithful to the Lord,
come into my house and abide there. And
GOLDEN TExT.-Thou shalt be his
/ witness unto all men.-Acts 22I15.
| OUTLINE OF SCRIPTURAL SECTION.
| The disagreement. ...............Acts 10 SSH
Paul S new helper ................ ACTS 1o:l-5
| PauPs vision. ......'...'..'.... Acts 1910
| Conversion of Lydia. ........s....ActS 16:l3-l5
| Time.--A. d. 50-54.
| Place--Antioch. Lystra, Troas and
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
The Macedonian CALM vision
Paul saw a Macedonian and heard
him saying, Come over and help US"
The man represented all those who
lived in that heather country, few
of whom realized their great need.
His appeal was enforced by the COM
mand of the Saviour, $50 we there
fore, and make disciples of all the
nations (Matt. 28:19). That was a
call of heathenism to Christianity
call which now is as strenuous and
as obligatory as when Paul heard it.
The Disagreement.-The second
missionary journey was first planned
as visit to those who had entered
| the Christian life as result of the
former journey. The contention be-
tween Paul and Barnabas was unfor-
tunate, and probably both men were
at fault. Yet the disagreement real
ly gave two capable leaders the op-
portunity to work independently, in
stead of together.-Silasw was the man
who came as messenger from the
church in Jerusalem. His choice for
that errand proved that he had a
| 81 sv1A 13e
ciples.
Paul's New Helper.-Timothy had
! been instructed as a Jew e. Tim.
1:5; 3:15), but could not be circum-
cised as Jew because his father was
| a Gentle. But Paul now made him a
Jewish proselyte as well as Chris
tian teacher. Timothy was probably
quite young at this time-not over 20
years old. BY giving to the churches
the decision of the elders at Jeru-
salem, they gave them confidence and
courage and stirred them to zeal In
trying to win Gentiles.
Paul's Vision.-When Paul reached
Derbe, he wanted to go on, and so
travelled northward, probably doub-
ling back and forth under the pro-
hibition against going into Asia.
| This Asia was the western end of
| Asia Minor, the wealthiest and most
| populous part of the district. Paul
spent a great deal of time there aft
erwards. The direction indicated by
verses Z, s was northwest. Troas
Troa was the point from which trav-
elers usually set out for Europe The
vision which came to Paul was right
| ly regarded as a divine direction to
go into Europe. The change from
they" ". s. to ''we" (v. 10Y indicates
that Luke joined Paul at Troas. The
company thus had at least four mem
bers-Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke.
| Very likely there were others also.
Sought" indicates the necessity of
waiting until some vessel headed for
Europe should appear. Samothrace
Is an island midway of the course to
Neapolis, in whose harbor small YES
sells passed the night. Neapolis was
a small seaport tributary to Philip
| pi, and the missionaries passed on at
once to the larger city. Colonies of
Rome had the same standing in the
empire as the Italian cities, and most
of their landholders were Roman
citizens.
Conversion of Lydia.-No Jews
were met in Philippi and no syna-
gogue was found there. But even a
few Jews might assemble to pray on
the Sabbath without a synagogue.
Probably most of the women found
were proselytes rather than native
born Jewesses. The expression zone
that worshiped God" indicates that
Lydia was a converted Greek. She
had learned the Jewish doctrine in
Thyatira. Her action and the men
ton of her household indicate that
she had some property, and she may
have been rich. She was probably a
widow, Her Invitation was very cor
dial, expressing the feeling that its
| acceptance would be an honor and
an undeserved favor. Nh
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
/ No perfection without pain.
When the Holy Spirit closes one
door, it is that he may open another
and wider one.
Come over and help u.s. is the IN
voiced cry. of those who suffer the
miseries and degradation of heather
| ism