The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1909-10-21
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INTERNATIONAL LESSON COM.
MENTS FOR OCTOBER ~.

~
MENTS FOR OCTOBER -.
| Festus and Agrippa, Acts 25:8-
12-Goldcn Text: = Tim. 1: IL
Commit Verses 90, 21-30
TIAIE.-A. D. 60 or 61.
| PLACE.-Caesarea.
| EXPOSITION. - /. Not Disobe-
dient Unto the Heavenly Vision, 10
23. Verse 10 contains the key to
| Paufs life and successes. Christ
smoke. Paul hearkened and obeyed.
The heavenly vision, the call OF
| Christ, comes sooner or later to every
mau. To hearken means blessing and
! Joy and victory; to refuse to hearken
! means wretchedness and ruin tcf.
Isa. 50:5). How Paul obeyed ap-
pears in Gal. 1: rs, 16. Heavenly Wis
ions are not to he triAed with. but
promptly, unquestioningly, exactly
obeyed. Paul began his testimony
right where he was. The apostles
i, were to begin in Jerusalem tLuke
24:4O, where they were. Paul was
in Damascus, so he began right there.
Paul was to be n foreign missionary,
but he proved himself first on the
spot where he was converted. The
| substance of Paul's message to Jew
and Gentle: Repent and turn to
| God and do works worthy of repent
ance' tcomn. CHI. 20:2D. TO repent
Is to radically change ones mind: to
change ones mind about God, about
sin, and especially about Christ; to
change from mind that loves sin to
a mind that hates sin: from a mind
that sDurns God to a mind that yields
joyfully to God; from a mind that re-
| iects Christ to a mind that accepts
Him as Saviour and as Lord. To turn
| to God is to turn our faces. which are
away from God in fear and dislike
! and disobedience. unio God in trust
and love and obedience. The works
worthy of repentance" are the works
which He commands in His word
tsee, e. G.. Luke 3:S. 11-14: 1878. 8:
,Eph. 4:17-30. The turning to God
is the inevitable outcome of repent
ance, and works worthy of repent
ance" are the fruit and proof of the
Senuineness OF the repentance and
! turning to God. For these causes
the Jews caught me in the temple.
| and went about to kill me- That
was \ strange cause to kill man for,
but the heart of the Jew was deceit
ful above all things and desperately
wicked" Ger. 17:9). And the heart
of the Gentle to-day, of every one
out of Christ. is just like it rom. s:
-. The man who breaches the plain.
unvarnished truth OF God is bound to
suffer in this God, hating and truth
hating world tJno. IS: 19. 20; 2 Tim.
3:12). But we can stand it II Paul
did. and Jesus did: yes, and rejoice
in ii, too Matt 5:1l- 12; Acts s.:
| Al There is a great utterance in
verse %: Having obtained the help
that is from God l stand" Angry.
. blood-seeking Jews against him, a
loving, sustaining God for him. That
was Paurs position So he stood. So
can we All we need is the help
which is from God" and that is at
our disposal tsee also V 16; cb. IA:
10, 20; 1926, 26: 1879, 10; Ps. IS:
AZ; 27:1-3; Ps. 124:1-3, s; . Cor. l.:
%; Neb. 4:16). Paul was now
standing before a governor, a prin-
cess and king, but he never forgot
the little ones of earth His testi-
| mony was to small" as well as
great" Many Of us think the wash
er woman, the servant girl. the boot
black and the coal HEAVIER beneath
our notice Not so Paul.
ii. Almost Persuaded, 24-29.
Festus was getting excited. The
Spirit OF God was gripping his heart
| Festus was unwilling to yield, so he
| called the preacher crank The devil
| has cheated many a man out of eter-
nal life in that way He has also
cheated many a Christian out Of a
larger life in the same way. We
! must expect to be called crazy. II we
| get our message from God That is
what they called Jesus (Jno. S:4S,
52). Note Paul's unfailing courtesy.
Many a man is loyal to the truth and
| is called mad for 1t, and then goes
TO scoring his traducers. But in Paul
urHinchinG fidelirv went hand in hand
with unfailing courtesy. Let lis learn
| p lesson. Paul now turns directly to
| , e~inDa with tremendous, startling
| 2"l SDnl-awakening question: King
| Agr'rpa, beii"vest thou the pro-
'-~.e?" IT war master stroke. 1t
| is ~ GCod question to put to the un-
| r,,r", .Is,! lew to-day. 1t is a good
| c"estion to nut also to unconverted
| e ,iilee. and then show them how
r'o"feTfuliv the prophecies have been
| fulSl1e'. The argument from prophecy
| Is unarswerable. Many are trying to
break its force, but they have failed
utterly. They have succeeded in
turning the eyes OF some foolish peo-
-, from the contents Of the pro-
| Dhecies to questions Of authorship,
| but II any one will study the prophe-
| cies themselves. instead Of wasting
| time in the endless jangle Of words
s6,.ut them. he will soon find that
| God is tie real author, that the posi-
ticr Of the destructive critics cannot
be true and that Jesus is che Christ,