The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-10-06
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INTERNATIONAL LESSON CON-
MENTs FOR OCTOBER "a.

SUBJECT: Eau q Pr1SOner-Be1Ore
Festus and Agrippa, Acts 1856
12-Golden Text: 2 Tim. 1:12-
Commit Verses 20, 27-29.
TIME.-A. D. 60 or 81.
PLACE.-Caesarea.
EXPOSITION. - I. Not Disobe.
dent Unto the Heavenly Vision, 49,
%. Verse 10 contains the key to
Paul's life and successes. Christ
spoke, Paul hearkened and obeyed.
The heavenly vision, the call of
Christ, comes soone or later to every
man. To hearken means blessing and
joy and victory; to refuse to hearken
means wretchedness and ruin (cf.
lisa. 50:5). How Paul obeyed ap-
pears in Gal. lis, 16. Heavenly WIS.,
ions are not to be trifed with, but
promptly, unquestioningly, exactly
obeyed. Paul began his testimony
right where he was. The apostles
were to begin in Jerusalem (Luke
24:47), where they were. Paul was
in Damascus, so he began right there.
Paul was to be a 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" comp. CHI. 20:21). To repent
is to radically change ones mind; to
change ones mind about God, about
sin, and especially about Christ; to
change from a mind that loves sin to
a mind that hates sin; from a mind
that spurns God to a mind that yields
joyfully to God; from a. mind that re-
jects 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, unto God IN trust
and love and obedience. The works
worthy Of repentance" are the works
which He commands in His word
, (see, e. g., Luke 3:8, lila; 1873, 8;
'Eph. 4:17-32). The turning to God
Is the inevitable outcome of repent
ance, and works worthy of repent
ance'' are the fruit and proof OF the
genuineness of the repentance and
turning to God. Fer these causes
The Jews caught me in the temple,
and went about to kill me. That
was a strange cause to kill a man for,
out the heart of the Jew was deceit
full above all things and desperately
wicked" (Jer. 17:9). And the heart
If the Gentle to-day, of every one
out of Christ, is just like it (Rom. 8:
~. The mar who breaches the plain,
u~nvarnished truth Of God is bound to
suffer in this God, hating and truth
hating world (Jno: 1913, 20; Inn:
S:l2). But we can stand 1t II Paui
lid, and Jesus did; yes, and rejoice
in it, too Matt. 5:11, ~; Acts 5:
Az. There is a great ytterance IN
verse %: Having obtained the help
that is from God I stand" Angry,
b~lood-seeking Jews against him, a
owing, sustaining God for him. That
was Paul's position. So he stood. So
can we. All we need is 1.-The help
which is from Cod" and that is at
our disposal (see also v. 16; ch. IL:
10, 20; 1925, 26; 1879, 10; Ps. 49,:
II; 27:1-3; Ps. 124:1-3, 8; 2 Cor. !;
$40; 2 Tim. Alt, 1S; Jno. 1923,
30; Heb. 4:16). Paul was now
standing before a governor, a prin-
cess and a king, but he never forgot
the little ones Of earth. His test1-
mony was to small" as we'll as
great" Many Of us think the wash
or woman the servant girl, the boot
black and the coal HEAVIER beneath
Dur notice. Not so Paul. g.
II. Almost Persuaded, 24.29.
Festus was getting excited. Ine
Spirit of God was gripping MS neart.
Festus was unwilling to yield, 80 ne
called the preacher a 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
ret our message from God. That is
what they called Jesus (Jno. 8:4S'
b2). Note Paul's unfailing courtesy:
MANY a man is loyal to the truth d
is called mad" for it, and then goes
to scoring his traducers. But In Eau
unfiinching fidelity went hand in hand
with unfailinE courtesy. Let us iearn
a lesson. Paul now turns directly u
Agrippa with a tremendous, starring
and soul-awakening question: hlns
Agrippa, believest thou q pro.
nbets?" 1t was a master stroke. IL
is a good question to put to n un,
converted Jew to-day. 1t is a good
nuestion to put also to uncovered
Gentiles. and then show them now
wonderfully the prophecies have oeen
fulfilled. The argumentfrom prophecy
is unanswerable. Many are trying 10
hreak its force, but they have falled
utterly. They have IN
turning the eyes Of some foolisn peo-
ple from the contents Oh the pro
phecies to questions OF authorship
hut if any one will study the propne-
cies themselves, instead OF Wastlns
time in the endless jangle OF "ords
ahont them. he will soon find tnat
Cod is the real author, that the posi-
tion of the destructive critics cannot
he true. and that Jesus is the CHRIST,
the Son of Cod" Agrippa's answer
is full of suggestion: Almost tnou
nersnadest me to be a Chrlstlah.
While the Authorized Version is not
a literal translation Of the Original,
it comes far nearer to being a llteral
translation than the Revised version.
The literal translation is: In a ilttle
thou ~nersuadest me to make a Chris
tan" It is said that Agrippa said
this in sarcasm. Perhaps so; but,
like many another, the attempted jest
reveals the real state OF the heart.
Agrippa was deeply moved. He saw
the cost of further consideration OF
the claims of Christ.