Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-09-08
Sunday School Lesson

He announced personal God against
the Greek belief in material deities. he
declared the unity of the godheah
against polytheism; he claimed the
creation of all things by Him against
the Epicurean theory of a fortuitOuS
concourse of atoms. against the stoical
doctrine of fate ana the EpiCurean
notion of indifference. He cited the
revelation that God had made in pro-
viding the possibility Of fellowship with
Him through the acceptance Of Jesus
Christ He called upon them to repent
Of their sins because the time to repent
had arrived. Now is the day of saliva
ton. Now is the accepted time" The
time of Judgment was approaching; and
Paul insisted that Jesus. whom God
had raised from the dead in token Of
the authority conferred upon Him. is to
be the universal Judge.
They did not wait until Paul had fin
ished his sermon. Some may consider
that the message and attempt to win
the intellcctuals was a failure, We
have the names Of two converts, Diony-
sius the Areopagite, and Damaric, who
was a woman of doubtful character for
Ramsay tells us that a reputable woman
would not be found in the crowd listen
ing to Paul'S address. There were other
LOILNIL lS bub VII CLlt way " N(pi nun lllI
apostle determined not to repeat the
message in the commercial capital of
Greece. There was only one message
for that corrupt and cosmopolitan city.
He stayed there for ID months. preach
ing Christ and Him Crucifled."
Paul in Corinth.
Corinth claims a conspicuous place
as the residence of the apostle during
his most critical contest both with the
Jews and Greeks, in defense of the very
essence of the Gospel It was the place
where he revealed his shepherd heart
by sending his first epistles, the two
letters to the Thessalonians, for they
are real letters Of a pastor to his peo-
pie, whom he loved. They outlined
with simplicity and force the Christian
faith and practice. They took up the
work of faith, the labor of love, the
the second coming of the Lord Jesus
as the hope of the church; but adj
vising them not to expect His second
coming too soon.
In his evangelistic work in Corinth,
Paul had the assistance of Silas and
Timothy. He was fortunate In securing
a home with Aquila and Priscilla, his
wife. both of whom we're natives of
POntus, a city near TarsuS. They had
been expelled from Rome with other
Jews, who had come to Corinth be-
cause it offered them an excellent
chance to make their living at tent
making. Both became converts to the
Christian faith and most helpful
"laborers together" with Paul in the
Gospel. They, perhaps, had been won
fnr. tho T nrI tx-loi al
side of them at his trade and spoke to
them while he worked and in their
home about the Lord Jesus They ac-
cepted Him. while others rejected the
GOSPEL that Paul preached with a di-
RICHNESS under the urge of the Holy
Spirit. The disappearing of the
Masters name by Jews in the syna-
gogue resulted in their opening up work
among the Gentiles in the house Of
Justus. Among those who publicly took
a stand for Christ was Crispus, ruler
of the synagogue. and his whole house
hold, who were moved by the OPPOSE
ton of Jews to Paul to publicly confess
Christ and be baptized.
While the converts came from the
lower classes of the Gentiles at the be-
ginning of the work in Corinth in the
house of Justus. the work grew and
many Corinthians were drawn to the
Lord Jesus and publicly professed faith
in Him. One source of Paul's success
was his vision of the Lord Jesus. whose
message must have filled the apostle
with courage and determination to car
ry on his work. He was urged not to
fear but to speak out boldly. for Christ
assured him that He was with him ano
that he would not be harmed This
made his muscles like iron and his
heart like flint, so that Paul continued
his missionary activities and ministry
In the heart of Corinth. winning new
converts for his Lord by his message
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.