The Coolidge examiner., 1939-04-13


foundation, and another buildeth there
| on. But let every man take heed how
he buildeth thereupon.-I Corinthians g.: TO-
Onward, Christian soldiers"
says the well-known hymn. thus ex-
! pressing the truth that Christianity
is engaged in a relentless warfare
| against the world, the flesh, and
the devil. Those who conceive OF
their relationship to the church as
a convenient and comfortable So
cial arrangement. with a bit of
spiritual flavor but no responsibility,
have none of the Spirit of Christ,
| or Of His bondserVant Paul, whose
life we are now studying. Phillips
Brooks was right when he said, IF
Christian faith does not culminate
in the effort to make Christ known
to all the world, that faith appears
to me to be thoroughly unreal and
insignificant thing, destitute of pow
er, and incapable of being convinc-
ingly proved to be true"
The constraining love of Christ
sent Paul and his co-workerS press
ing on from Cyprus to Antioch in
PiSidia. to Iccnium, to Lystra, and
to Derbe. Joy and sorrow, fellow
ship and hatred came and went,
but the witness for Christ went on.
Our lesson can best be considered
as study in contrasts.
|. Belief and Unbelief (vv. l, q.
'Multitudes both of the Jews and
Greeks believed" What JOY
that must have brought to the
preacher. "Unbelieving Jews" and
Gentiles with minds evil affected"
how sad such result made
Paurs heart. The same division
prevails today. There are only two
kinds of people in the world, the
believer and the unbeliever
ii. Popularity and Persecution
(v. A..
The multitude was divided"
Paul knew all about that, so does
every faithful teacher and preacher
of the gospel Paul and Barnabas
were thus made ready for the ex-
perience which they were to have
at Lystra where the healing Of the
crippled man first brought them
worship as gods. and then bitter
persecution. Few temptations are
more appealing to the Christian
worker than popularity. and posi-
bly, none is more treacherouS. Let
us labor to please God, not men,
and when men give us false acclaim
let us like Paul urge them to turn
from these vanities to the living
God" ". 15).
Ill. BOldness and Caution (vv.
3, 5. g..
The persecution at Iconium only
made the messengers bold in their
purpose to stay on ". 81, giving
testimony to Gods grace. The
Christian worker need not be afraid
of the devices of evil men so long
as God leads him to stand his
ground. Christian testimony calls
for courage! But wait, in verses 5
and 6 we find the preachers fleeing
to another city. Is their courage
gone? No. They are exercising
God-given judgment and caution.
Sometimes it is needful to fling
away your life for Jesus; but if it
can be preserved without shirking
Ir1fxy &c 20 .
die A voluntary martyr is a
suicide Heroic prudence should
ever accompany trustful daring,
and both are best learned in COM
munion with Jesus" alexander
Maclaren).
Nv. Death and Life wv. 10, 2O).
The persecution at Lystra culmi-
mated in the stoning of Paul and his
being left for dead Some believe
that he really died and had the
glorious experience recorded in II
Corinthians 1928 before he was
raised by God from the dead. Be
that as it may, God miraculouSly
brought the dead or apparently
dead man to full life and vigor, and
on he went to the city of Derbe.
Those of us who belong to Christ
and serve Him should recognize
that our very lives are in His
blessed hand. Our purpose should
be to glorify Him, whether by life
or by death.
v. Advance and Return (vv. 81
23).
The work of God is not completed
by the pioneering forward thrust
into the strongholds of Satan. That
work is necessary, and just now
men are desperately needed to do
such work in heather lands. Wom-
en- shame the men by their willing
ness to go where missionary boards
can only send men, who are all too
often lacking.
On the other hand, there is no
more important work than that of
confirming and establishing new
Christians in their faith. Paul and
BarnabaS were not making a re-
treat. They were courageously re-
turning to the stoning and the
hatred of the cities they had
served in order to give counsel and
encouragement to the believers.
Note that they ordained elders, evil
IDENTIFY consummating some form of
church OrOanizatiOn Sometimes