The Red Cloud chief. [volume] (Red Cloud, Webster Co., Neb.) 1873-1923, 1916-07-13
LESSON Fer JULY IS
PAUL At ATHENS.
.rssoN TrxrAc,. ,7.,ea

WIFI. AtnC1S mas always epltOmlZcu
the acme OF intellectualism. culture,
art. and esthetic accomplishment.
Driven from Berea and alone. Paul fed
to the coast and taking ship crossed
over TO the Thessalorian peninsula.
Entering the city-ho beholds its stat.
uary, meets ITS philosophers and views
its moral degradation and its myriad
manifestations of heathenism. Out
wardly cultured. molding the thought
of the world. yet 1t passed from its
pinnacle of power because IL knew not
God. Paul saw the pantheism OF the
cultured Stoics and the Epicurea"s.
who because OF their distant and but
little concerned gods, enjoyed the
pleasure OF wealth and ease.
!. Paul Brought to Trial wv. 1920.
Such sights stirred the spirit OF Paul.
The marvel is how Indifferent we may
become in the presence OF the great
spiritual poverty of our time. His
spirit stirred within him. when ne saw
the city crowded with idols. AS Paul
followed his custom and began his
preaching in the synagogue he also
took advantage OF the opportunity to
do open.air work in the market place.
Here a small group and there another.
This he did daily until the teachers
". 49, began to take knowledge OF
his presence in their city. Some In
contempt called him a "babbler," while
others concluded that ne represented
some new religion, though he set be-
fore them the same message of saliva.
ton in Jesus Christ which had caused
such remarkable results elsewhere.
That they might hear him more fully
and without the interruption of the
mart Of trade. Paul is taken to the
Areopagus, or Mars Hill, where from
time immemorial the greatest Grim.
inals had been sentenced and the most
solemn questions OF religion set.
tied.
u. The Unknown Made Known, wv.
22-29). Such idle speculation ". 2D
was Of no value to the Athepians. This
Paul knew, yet he began his address
in q most conciliatory manner ". %
II. w. He would win their favorable
attention before he called them to re-
pentance. Keenly observant, Paul had
seen among the many inscriptions one
TO the unknown God" and this one
whom in ignorance they worshiped, he
would set forth. Many today are in
blindness, seeking to know God when
The has already been made manifest Ito
be seem. John 1:1S; John 500; John
1879; ii Cor. 4:6.) II Is mans own
fault II he does not know God from.
1902, 2S; ii Cor. 4:4), and no knowl.
edge is more important John 1879,
Paul's opening words in verse "a were
but to seize well.known object OF
their street decoration and discussions
and with IL to lead on to the great
truth he yearned to have them compre.
bend. This caught the philosophers
as well as the idle curious. God is not
a philosophic conception Of the mind.
He cannot be confined to temples
made with hands nor does he need the
services Of cur hands. seeing he Gre
ated all things and giveth to all things
life. Paul's next point was that HE
hath made Of one every nation OF
men," AS yet how little men really
believe that truth--witness the Euro.
pVoh SohhiSS uHA tho CSohOlhiSt
and social differences OF this land.
Negro segregation and Asiatic exclu.
sion are but illustrations OF our sepa-
ration from the teaching OF the broth.
erhood of man. But this brotherhood
Is not alone for altruistic service but
that they should seek God" This
was his great and glorious purpose in
creating the nations Of the earth, in
setting the seasons in motion, to min
lister to their needs, and in appointing
the bounds Of their habitations; yet
how far man has departed from that
ideal (Rcm. 1921. 1t Is Of the high
est importance that men should seek
God and he is not difficult to find for
those who seek him (Jcr 1919.
~. What the Athenlans Lacked
(vv. 30-34. Thus far Pauls auditors
must have followed him keenly, and
it was the goal toward which he
had been driving so relentlessly. Such
sublime conceptions, keen logic and
quotations from their writer's won
their attention. He then delivered a
keen thrust at this, the psychological
moment" by calling upon them to re-
pent.' The AtEeniaps lacked a realiz-
ing sense Of the personality Of God
that man could have personal and in
innate relations with God or that a
man could or had risen from the
dead.
Any candid seeker after truth who
will examine the evidence will be con.
WINGED of the truth that Jesus OF
Nazareth. crucifed upon a Roman
, cross, rose from the dead.
These Athenians also lacked the
ability to accept this fact and to yield
their lives In obedience to 1t, and so
some tried to sneer away the truth,
but that did not alter IL.
Some were amused, and some EVIL
denced curious interest. saying. I'VE
will hear this again." but certain men.
| Dionysius and Damaris, believed"