The Vinita weekly chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1902-1905, 1903-02-26
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lss.non In the International series
for march q, I00ss-lPnul AZ
L. EHheHaa. +
THE LESSON n EXT.
fAet. faffe-en


1s. Then certain OF tbs 'agabond Jews,
exorcista. took upon themt to call over
them which had evil Fpir its the name OF
the Lord Jesus. saying. We adjurs you
by Jesus whom Paul presiiheth.
IA And there were eaifen sons OF one
sceva, Jews and chief OF 1.-THE priests, wnieh
Is. Ana the evil spirit Al iswered and said.
Jesus know and Paul II know; but who
are ye2
ie And the man in wht,m the evil spirit
was ieaped on them, and ovcrcame them,
and prevailed against them. so that they
fleo out OF that house max Cd ana wounded.
n And this was known 20 all the Jews
and Greeks also dwsilinay at Ephesus; and
fear fell on them all, and the name OF the
LORD Jesus was magnified.
Is. And many that believed came, ana
confessed, and Showed their deeds.
ia Many OF them aiso which used curious
arts brought their botika together, and
burned them before all men; ana they
counted tho price OF them, ana found It
6Qo0o pieces OF silver.
20. 80 nightly grew the word Of Goa ana
GOLDEN TmxT.-rhs nams of che
Lord Jesus wss magntned. = Aeta
OUTLINE or SCRIPTURE SECTION.
Preaching In tn name OF Jsaupt Acts ls:s-i1.
Aejuring in tho name Of Jesus Acts isls-iS .
TIMn--A. d. ".
PLAcE.-EphsSusL
NOTES AND COMMENTS.
AZ usual, Paul began his work In
| Ephesus with the Jews and prose-
| lytes In the synagogue. Remember
| that II was here that the jews had
asked him TO stay longer when he
stopped on his way to Jerra@lsm after
the second journey. ae evidently
impressed them favorably, and that
/ may In part account for the fact that
he was able TO work with them longer
than usual before the rupture oc-
CURED. He preached in the synagogue
three months. In Ephesus, as on 9TH
er mission fields, Paul supported him-
SELF by working at his trade. When
Paul finally left the synagogue he
took number who had become Chris
tians with him. Ephesus, like Athens,
had its scholars and philosophers
who taught sometimes In a public hall
devoted 10 that use, and sometimes
in their own private lecture rooms 1t
Il not easy TO decide which was the
case here, for some OF the ancient
manuscripts read, the school of Ty-
rannua, es in the revised version, fa-
voring the view that the building was
public one, and called the "School
of Tyrannns,p while others read with
the common version, the school Of one
Tyrannua, meaning of a certain man
named Tyrnnnus. One Of the manu-
scripts says that Paul used the build
ing from IL o'clock till four, that Is.
after the regular lecturer was through
for the day. The teaching day at that
time began very early and closed an
hour before noon. Ramsay Itather
favors the second view, as probably
representing what Luke actually
wrote. Paut's work here continued
for two years, and influenced the
whole province Of Asia, for Ephesus
was . great commercial center. and
no better place could be found from
which to spread the Gospel. It is more
than likely that the seven Churches
Of Asia" addressed in Revelation, were
result of this period of Paul's work.
The work outside of the city was prob
ably pushed By his missionary slm-
panions and by many native helpers.
"strolllng Jews. exorcists:" The
practice of 'niagie," soealled. was
very common among the Jews In spite
Of the prohibitions in the Old Testa-
ment. These exorcists went about
from place TO place, claiming the
power 10 work miraculous cures, and
particularly TO cast out the demons
which In those days were supposed to
dwell in those whom to-day we should
call insane. They used charms Of
various kinds and repeated magical
, sentences, and evidently believed, from
what they had seen of Paul's work,
that the name Jesus was a magic word
of unusual power. The experience Of
two of the sons of Sceva, for only two
OF them seem to have been connected
with this incident, was a rebuie to
such superstition not soon to be for
E gotten.
'sMany also of them that had be-
. lieved." Showing how general such
I superstition had been in EpheEus.
! "Fifty thousand pieces Of ailyer;"
: These magic books, or rolls, aisde by
hand, OF course, have always been very
costly. The pieces Of silver were prob
ably denarii, and the denarius was the
average price of 3 days work. BY
burning their hooks the Christians
8 put temptation behind them. and pre-
!. vented the possibility Of returning TO
their demoralizing practices. showing
! their sincerity and their wisdom.
PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS.
a The more boldly one testifies for
|. | Christ the greater number Of convertk
he win secure.
People still need to be reasoned with
and persuaded aa to the things con-
/ cernIng the Kingdom Of God.
4 To invoke the name of Jesus insln-
cerely is to arouse evil, not 10 drive
II out.