Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-09-10
SABBATH SCHOOL LESSON
For September II. Acts II.
BY DR.. MARION NH. HULL

and down through your city I found
an altar TO the Unknown God. "
Their altar may have been erected
for fear they might have overlooked
one in their desire to worship every
god; or there may have been in their
hearts a longing which none of the
others satisfied, and which they
hoped a god unknown to them could
and would satisfy. This was evident
Iy the way Paul took it, for he went
on, Him whom We worship in ig-
norance, l make known to you" Then
he spoke to them of Jehovah Elohim,
the self-existent and almighty GOD.
1t was He who had created the world;
it had not been formed by atoms just
coming together as the Epicureans
and Stoics believed He was also its
Lord who could not be confined in
temples made with hands (and Paul
made a gesture that took in all the
temples beneath him in the city,;
neither did he need for any one to
bring offerings to Him, since He
gave life and. breath and all things
to all. And, furthermore, He gov
erned the world so that even the
boundaries of Kingdoms are appointed
by Him; and the seasons are gov
erned by Him. CHere he refuted the
teachings of the Stoics that the
world is governed by laws inherent
in it's atoms). And all this govern
ment, Paul continued, was for the
purpose of making men realize His
nearness, since He is not far from
any one of US. (The Stoics must
have nodded at each other here, for
they believed in the imminence of
duty. And the Epicureans froWned
for they believed the Gods were
dwelling in spaces beyond the worlds).
None realized the truth that Paul
| made known that in Him we live
and move are. Their own poets had
recognized this-and~ Paul here
quoted from Aratus of Galicia, VINO
| get closer home. Until now, he de-
| clared, God had overlooked this ig
| norance, but now called upon men
! everywhere to repent since He had
appointed a Judge and a dav Of reck-
oning. The assurance of this had
/ been given by His raising Jesus from
| the dead-but here the speech was
interrupted and he never finished it
there. ,,,
1.-The resurrection of the dead"
Why, it is the most foolish thing in
the world, said the Epicureans; we
| believe in the continuation Of the
soul, but whoever heard of as fool
ish thing as believing that body
came to life again? And the Stoics
added, Death ends all; to think of
| absurd. But some of the Stoics just
| postponed the matter, for their doc
trines of purity of life, love toward
all men, and reverence toward God
found much in common with Paul's
story of the life of Jesus; and their
would draw them toward Him who
! was God manifest in the flesh, the
! Man whose life showed that He was
in tune with the universe.
On the other hand some believed,
among whom was DionySiuS, one of
the members of the supreme court,
| and a woman named Damaris; but
not enough to organize church then.
| Paul never came back to Athens; he
wrote no letter to them. But Gods
word never returns unto Him void
A church did grow up there under
the leadership of Dionysius. which
furnished it's quota of martyrs and
of bishops; and which has never
ceased to exist. In the sixth century
| the Parthenon on the Acropolis, just
above where Paul spoke, was dedicat-
ed to the Virgin Mary; and today the
Greek Catholic church still bears wit
ness to Him who was once 'The I'm
known God"
Teaching Points
| The true follower of Jesus Christ
is stirred by the sight of need.
conversational evangelism'-ta1k-
ing with with those you meet in the
market place, in your home, in. the
church, about Jesus and resurrection
is the normal way and the best way
of making Christ known everywhere.
PauPs speech a model introduction,
statement of purpose, explanation of
theme, and application-on1y he did
not get the chance to finish that
part.
Gods word never returns unto fstin
void-therefore preach the word.
He who has been appointed to
Judge the world is the same who died
to save you. If you have accepted
Him as YOUR Saviour, you have no
fear of Him JUDGE