Belington progressive. [volume] (Belington, W. Va.) 1912-1927, 1925-09-10
IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Slln1daySchool
' Lesson '
fBy REV. p. b FITzwATER. DID. DeaA
Of che Evening School. Moody Bible In
stitute Of Chicago)
(c. 1925. Western Newspaper Union.)
Lesson for September IS
PAUL IN THEssALoNlcA AND
BEREA
Lesson TEXT-Acta 17:1-1k.

| LESSON TEXT-Acts I7:1-15.
/ GOLDEN TEXT-"Prove all things;
hold fast that which is good Thess.
5:21.
PRIMARY TOPIC = Loving Gods
I Word
JUNIOR TOPIC - Studying Gods
Word.
INTERMEDIATE AND SENIOR TOP
1.-TWO Kinds of Hearers
YOUNG PEOPLE AND ADULT TOP
lC-Searching the Scriptures.
!. Paul Preaching in ThessaIonica
wv. 1-4).
l. His Method wv. I-2).
He observed the divine order, to
the Jews first wherever he went (Acts
%; Rom. 2:9-10) He. was exceeding
ly anxious for his kinsmen in the
flesh, but whenever they proved them
selves unworthy, he turned to the Cen
tiles. His own kinsmen first should
re the method of every missionary,
but should not stop there. He went
out on the Sabbath day so as to find
them assembled together.
2. His Message ". -.
His message was always and ever
the same, viz, that Jesus is the Christ.
To the Jew the essential thing was
TO be convinced from the Scriptures.
SO Paul expounded to them the Scrip
lures. This is the business of all min
listers, to expound the Scriptures, to
prove their positions by the Word.
Concerning the Christ. he set forth
three propositions
Q) The Scriptures prove that
Christ must be a sufferer w. 81. cit
behooved Christ to suffer-" No plain
er reference need be made than Isaiah
53, but it seems that the rabbits of
that time had explained away the fact
of suffering Messiah so that the
Jewish people were only looking for
glorious and powerful king to come;
therefore they rejected Christ because
of His lowly appearance The same
method of exegesis is employed by
many Bible teachers and preachers
today. Only the emphasis is placed
upon the literal suffering of the Mes
siah, while they spiritualize and al
legorize the teaching of the glorious
coming of the Messiah to judge His
enemies and to reign upon the earth
(II Sam, 1916; Isa So; Jer. % BIS;
Zech Ola; Luke lib; Acts 1911
17).
(2) That Christ Must Rise Again
From the Dead " 81.
This he proved by the Scriptures.
Ia
bodily resurrection of believers, needs
sound and practical exposition in our
churches today
(3) That the Historic Jesus Whom
He Proclaimed Did Suffer and Rise
From the Dead; Therefore, He Is
That Christ, the Predicted Messiah
", y.
II. The Attitude Of the Jews wv.
4-10a).
While some Jews believed and many
Greeks, the envy Of certain Jews was
so aroused at Paul's success that they
gathered together the worthless fell
lows of the town and set on foot a
riot They assaulted the house of
Jason and dragged him before the
rulers, having failed to get the mis-
sionaries. In theip Indictment of the
missionaries they uttered unwittingly
some great truths. They said: "These
that have turned the world upside
down." 1t is true that the gospel is
revolutionary, but it is not treason to
right government The real truth,
however, is that the world is now up
side down. The work of the gospel is
to set it right side up. They turned
the preaching of Paul into a specious
lie. He did preach the kingship OF
Jesus (see verse y, but not as they
endeavored to make it appear. Jesus
is most assuredly coming to reign on
This earth Cps. y. Let all men ac-
knowledge Him in humble submits
sion
III. Paul Preaching in Berea wv.
10b-15).
l. His Method ". 10Y.
He entered the Jewish synagogue
and preached Jesus unto them
2. The Reception of the Gospel by
the Bereans wv. 1112),
1t was with gladness of heart. The
message was just as new to these
Jews and just as counter to their way
of thinking as it was to the Thessa-
lonian Jews but they had a more
noble disposition. The success of the
gospel depends Altogether on the dis
position of the hearers. Two things
are said of them:
"a They received the message
gladly.
60 They searched the Scriptures
daily for the truthfulness of the
preaching. For this worthy act Paul
says they were more noble than those