Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1903-01-14
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
Lesson sn the International Se~ieA
for January ~, I0o3-raul at
ThessRionica and Brroea.
THE LESSON TEXT.

| the Jews;
unto 'hem. and three Sabbath days rea-
| 'ohed with them out OF the Scriptures,
. opening ana alleging that Christ must
nee~s have suffered. and risen again from
ne oeads and that this Jesus. whom I
preach unto YOU. l. Christ
4 And some OF them believed. and con-
| sorted with Paul and Si,as; and OF the de-
Nout Sreeks great multitude, and OF the
chIet women not n few
0 But the Jews which believed not.
movsG With envy. took unto them certain
| se~d Fellows or the baser sort. and gathered
| company. and set all the city on an up
| roar. anc, assaulted the house OF Jason. and
| sought to bring them out to the people.
| d And when they found them not they
| drew Jason ana certain brethren unto the
rulers OF the city. crying; These that have
| turned the world upside down are come
h!ther. also.
| Whom Jason hath received: and these
at 10 contrary to the DEGREES OF Caesar
| Jesus
And they troubled the people and the
things
| And when they had taken security OF
| Jason, and Of the other. they let them GO
~. Ana the brethren Immediately sent
| iMay faul and Silas by night. unto Berea:
| VINO coming thither went into the syna-
| gogue of the Jews
| H. These were more noble than those In
| Ihessa!onica. IN that they received the
WORD with all readiness OF mind. and
| ss"ched the Scriptures daily. whether
| those things were so.
| ~ Therefore. many OF them believed. also
| OF honorable women which were Greeks,
ana OF men not "a few
GOLDEN TENT.-Thy word o. n Ian p
/ unto my fect.-Ps. Ii0.IO5.
| ANALYSIS Oh SCRIPTURE SECTION.
| reasoning In the synagogue. Acts i1I-i
Dragged before the rulers. 80. Acts 1859
| examining the Scriptures. Acts 1:lo-l2.
| Driven from the city...........Acts IL :l2- To-
| Winter and spring A ID g.
| fLACE-Thess and Beroea.
| NOTES AND COMMENTS.
| Examining the Scriptures
Jews at Beroea were exceptional i'm
their reception of Paul's message.
lhey were open-minded. ready to re-
ceive the truth, whether IL conformed
to their previous opinions or not But
though they accepted II with all readi-
ness OF mind. they did not do so until
they had searched the Scriptures for
themselves. In searching the Scrip
lures they have set us an example.
II was 100 miles over the Roman rond
from Phiiippi to Thessalonica. Trace
the Journey on the may. They passed
through AmphipOlis and Apollonia.
perhaps because there were no syna-
gogues there. Paul had found that il
was best to begin work with the Jews
wherever il was possible, in spite of
the Tact that some of them usually
made trouble. Thessalonica, modern
Salonica.- was then. as II is now, an
important city, and had attracted n
large number of Jewish traders
Three Sabbath days." This was lust
the beginning of the work. Paul prob
ably remained about six months. and
the majority of his converts were not
Jews or persons whom he could have
reached in the synagogue. but out and
out Gentiles. "Reasoned from
the Scriptures" That is, from the
Old Testament. This would be effect.
i've with synagogue audience, but
not with the Gentiles. who knew moth.
ing of the Old Testament. "Opening
and alleging" Ramsay translates,
"opening their meaning, and quoting
to prove that it was proper that the
Amounted One (the CHRISTI should suf-
fer" etc. This idea of n suffering Mes.
siah was opposed to all Jewish ideas
and contrary to the letter Of much of
their most precious prophecy. which
had told them of Messiah who should
he glorious earthly king. and give
the Jews the supreme place among the
nations. Paul showed them that they
had missed the meaning of some of the
| prophecies, which spoke OF just such n
Messiah as Jesus. suffering and dying
for his people. "Devout Creeks"
These were heather by birth. who had
accepted in part the Jewish faith.
The trouble arose probably after
months of successful work, the last
part of il mostly among the Greeks.
Jews jealousy" Paul was
| winning men away from their ancient
faith: he was preaching the hateful
doctrine Of a crucified Messiah, he was
| declaring salvation TO be as free to I'M
| circumcised GentiIes as TO them: in
spite Of all they could do he was having
| great success: therefore they were
| jealous. THE rabble:" Instead Of
coming out and fighting in the open.
these cowardly Jews stirred up n mob
Of the rifraff OF the streets to do what
they dared not do alone.
When night had fallen. and II was
safe. the two missionaries. with the
help OF their faithful friends. escaped
from the city. and. leaving the Roman
| 7 Dad, struck ont in southwesterIy di-
rection for Beroea. so miles away.
This city was probably chosen because
Of its seclusion. Paul may have been
In Beroea several months. Note all
the facts given in verses 1912 about the
work Of the people. But Paul's enemies
were relentless and desperate. When
they appeared at Beroes he left i'm.
mediately. The disciples seem TO have
feared foul play Of some sort. and pa RI
Of their number went with him as a