Mansfield mirror. (Mansfield, Wright County, Mo.) 1908-1957, 1916-07-20
INTERNATIONAL
SONDNSQlO0L
LESSON
by E. o. SELLERS, Acting Director or
the Sunday School Course Of the Moody
Bible Institute. ChicagO.)
Copyright. 1915. Western Newspa per Union.)
LESSON FOR JULY %
PAUL At coRINTH.


bis Jewish countrymen. Aquila and
Priscilla were not only fellow Chris
tians but fellow craftsmen ". 81. Paul
supported himself. as Jesus did for
30 years, asa carpenter. This gave
opportunity to reach the people natu-
rally as m Of them. AT the same
time he set them the example Of do
ing good Il Cor. 1921; / Cor. 9:6-12;
II Thess. 2-9). Paul did not think 1t
a lack Of faith to do manual labor or
secular work for his own support be-
cause God had called him to preach.
In the midst Of his labors ". 81 Slas
and Timothy came to him from
Philippi and Berea. The Philippians
had sent him aid and brought news of
the abundant harvest of faith and
love in that church Paul was weak
and sick and detected in spirit III Cor.
2:3), probably bodily sickness. He
was also in want I'll Cor. II 10y. As
he meditated on the word, it had SO
got hold on him that ne could not
keep still. 1t overpowered him with
the thought that Jesus was the Christ
and that he must tell it out, but the
Jews were not willing to receive
his testimony. "They opposed them
selves and blasphemed." ". 81. The
good news these helpers brought en-
couraged him in his conflict ". 81.
II. Paul's compulsion. wv. 7-11).
The opposition of the Jews did not
prove his testimony to be untrue or
that it had been unwisely presented.
but rather it revealed the i~niQuity Of
the hearts of the men who were the
religious leaders. To their faces Paul
could exclaim, II mn Clean" ". 81. 1t
is u great thing for any mar to be
able to say this. and it is the priv
ilege Of every believer tActs 20 :28).
Then we can say with Paul: Il shrank
not from declaring unto you the whole
counsel of God" (R. w If we do not
declare unto men the way of life. then
their blood Is upon us Ezekiel 80 4. 8.
81. but are we indeed clean of the
blood of all in our W homes, in
our churches. in our Sunday school
classes, in our communities and in the
lands beyond the sea? This compul.
sion disconnected Paul from the false
1eligionists of his day. "From hence
forth l will go unto the Gentiles." The
advantage of the house of Justus was
(a) that the owner "a a proselyte,
not a born Jew. (b) The place was
close to the synagogue so that his
preaching would be n standing invita-
ton to the Jews. and (c) Justus WAS
evidently a Roman citizen, and Paul
would gain access through him to
the more educated people of the city.
Moreover he would have greater adj
vantage of the Romans than Of the
Jews for protection of the Christian
converts. We do not infer that he
left his lodgings in the home Of Aquila
and Priscilla nor ceased his work Of
tent making. At this critical time there
came to Paul another one Of those
visions which mark the course of his
development ". %, in which God spake
to him words of encouragement and
eNhortation not to hold his peace ".
1917. God is ready to speak to us,
but we do not need visions as Paul did,
for we have the revealed word which
we n carry around in the vest pocket.
and have him speak to US whenever
we will. Quite likely Paul was dis
couraged ut the seeming impossibility
of making an impression upon this
great city Of 100000 inhabitants. He
the magnitude of the struggle
(Eph. 6:12). 1--WE wrestle not against
Nowhere had the Gospel been
brought face to face with such world
illness nor had assigned to it u more
difficult task than in this city.
Perhaps Paul's scant success In Ath-
ems was to prepare him for this task.
because II rdisappointments and ap-
parent failures r sometimes the very
experiences by which we are enabled
both to glorify God and to bless hu-
manity.
Paul's testimony after Athens was
based only on the cross Il Cor. 81, p
and 1t was that which turned :"impure.
sinful souls into pure brides whom he
to Christ" tSee l Cor. 60
l1). This vision kept Paul In the city
he founded n of his strongest
classes wv. II. 1877.
~. PauI's Contest, wv. ,12-17).
the brother Of Seneca, listened
to the charges. but threw the accusa.
tons out of court tvv. II. 15). Sir
william Ramsey calls this decision the
charter Of Christian freedom" Free
dom of religious speech was granted
over the entire Roman empire SO far
rs Roman authorities concerned.
and the door was open for Paul to
make his way throughout the civilized
Thus we have further evidence
that all Of Corinth was no match for
The Lord had people there
who must be, called by the spoken
word, and Paul was the one to speak
tho word. The Lord only allows us
to be hurt when both we and the
work can be helped thereby. He
never really allows us to- be hurt
8:13; Isaiah 54:17@. Christian
workers v this land are confronting
the same Corinthian evils 10 every
great city; intemperance, crime. graft,
dishonesty, white slavery, oppression
the poor and other works Of the
flesh.
1t Is the business Of every preacher
and Christian to pray and teach and
work and live to save men from these
and to convert them to right.
There are also Corinthlan evils In
the heart. and in order to overcome
them We must put on the whole ar
NOR Of God, and be flled with the
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