Evening star., 1921-09-03
Sunday School Lesson

supernatural events Of life. Paul wa,
not thinking of the open door to free
Not so the tailer, for he saw the hand
OF COO nghting the battles of the
apostles. SO after he had made Ger.
tain mat all his prisoners were Sc.
salvation. When Paul heard the
earnest agonizing request of the
tailer. who was trembling with fear
lest the wrath Of God would be
penalty for his severe treatment OF
the two prisoners, the apostle re-
Joiced at his sufcerings that enabled
him to teach his keeper to believe
saved, thou and thy house" This is
the same message that offers hope tc
men who. like the tailer, are con-
vsa.sa, visted Of their sin It involves two
ceptance of Christ as a Savior am
obedience Of His commands. He il
not only to be received as a redeemer,
but as pattern for all life's actfvi.
that the jaiIer and his family were
saved. He proved his faith by minis
tering unto the apostles, washing
their backs. that had been covered
then being baptized. After his pro-
fession of faith and baptism, the
tafler invited the prisoners into hisl
quarters. where he treated them as
hchoAc Gu 6uCSlS.
In the morning. when they were
/, offered their freedom, Paul and Silas
determined. for the sake of the dis
Giples; hat they had won for the
as Roman citizens. There. says p W.
Wilson. was first asserted the habeas
corpus act" After they had forced
the magistrates to recognize their re-
Roman citizens. they decided to leave
the church. evidently under the care
of Luke. since the I'VE" disappears
from the record. They recognized
that their stay would result in wan
tonly provoking opposition that would
be detrimental to the development %;
the brethren, whom they called to-
gether, comforted them and departed
for a new field of endeavor.
The church that they left behind
was Paufs 10y and crown" They
proved their love and devotion to him
by generous gifts. so that he thanked
the Lord at every remembrance ~
them.
Having established in Philippi a
base of supplies that never failed him
in his efforts to conquer Europe fos
Christ and His Church, Paul pushed
his battlefield 100 miles westward To
Thessalonica, which was the strategic
, center selected by the allies during
the world war for their base of oper
ations in southern Europe. There in
modern Salonica, after at least two
day journey over the great Roman
highway, the travel-stained army Of
invasion, having passed through Am
phipollis and Apollonia, where they
probably stopped and scattered the
seeds of the gospel, entrenched them
selves with the set determination to
capture it for Christ.
He started, as was his custom, with
the synagogue of the Jews, proclaim
ing to those assembled three PROPOSE
tions. which he proved by citations
from the Old Testament: First, that
the Scriptures showed that the Mes
siah must be a sufferer; secondly, the
thirdly, the historic Jesus did suffer
and rise from the dead, and. there
fore. he is the predicted Messiah" He
clinched his argument by his personal
testimony as an eyewitness of the
| reality of Christ's resurrection. He
supported himself SO that his mis-
sionary work was free from being
considered in any way a commercial
, proposition. His success was SO great
that it was not long before these
| three servants of the Lord Were
| charged with turning the world up
side down. Their success cut down
the support of the synagogue. aroused
bitter opposition, so that they were
! charged with treason, which was dis
| proved before the city rulers, or the
| politarchs. a title found in only one
other city.
i While the teacher of religion may
j be free of such charges, yet the mis-
| sionary has found it advisable in such
| circumstances to change the basis of
operations, SO Paul and his associates
proceeded to Berea, distance of
about sixty miles. where they opened
up a work that was marked by the
study of the Scriptures. 1t was one
of the happiest periods in Paurs min
istry. but when the news of his activi-
ties there reached Thessalonica his enc
mics followed him by sending agents to
stir up strife against Paul. This was
failure. for Paul proceeded to
Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy to
care for the Berean church and the
one at TheSSalonica.