first was three years after he joined the Church, when he spent two
weeks with Peter, and then had to flee for his life. The second was
when he accompanied the messengers who brought relief to the Saints in
Judea during the famine. That was the time Peter was sentenced to be
killed. Fifteen years had passed since he left Jerusalem for Damascus
with papers to arrest all Christians whom he found! Now he enters the
city as the defender of one of the greatest truths that the Christian
Church or the world can know; namely, that God is no respecter of
persons, but will bless every nation as it obeys the principles of life
and salvation.
IN COUNCIL WITH THE LEADERS
[Sidenote: Titus.]
He first met in council with Peter, James and John, and received for
the first time, so far as we know, "the right hand of fellowship" from
John the beloved disciple. Titus was with Paul as an example of those
who were Gentile converts.
[Sidenote: An Appeal to the Presidency.]
This visit was really an appeal to the Presidency of the Twelve, and
confirms the belief of the members of the Church today that Peter,
James and John were appointed leaders at that time just as three High
Priests are now chosen as the First Presidency of Christ's Church.
[Sidenote: An Important Meeting.]
At length the great meeting was called at which was to be settled once
and for all the standing of the Gentiles in the Christian Church. "It
was a scene of earnest debate, and perhaps, in its earlier portion, of
angry disputing"; but finally Peter addressed the assembly, and told
how God had revealed to him the fact that the Gentiles could accept the
Gospel without obeying all the Jewish ceremonies.
[Sidenote: Missionaries Testify.]
Then Paul and Barnabas spoke amidst great silence, while every eye
was riveted upon these two great missionaries who had first organized
branches of the Church among Gentile nations.
[Sidenote: The Decision.]
Finally, James, the brother of the Lord, who was known among the Jews
as "James the Just," arose and gave the decision of the council, which
established the union of the Jewish and the Gentile Christians.
PAUL RETURNS TO ANTIOCH
[Sidenote: Judas and Silas.]
Thus the controversy ended, and Paul's mission to the Gentiles was
authoritatively approved. When he started back to Antioch he was
accompanied by Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, "chief men among the
brethren." It seems that John Mark went with them also. They carried
with them the decree of the council to be read to the churches that had
been so disturbed by the controversy.
When they reached Antioch, the whole body of the church met together,
to hear the decision of the council. We can imagine with what interest
and consolation the saints listened to the decree that there should
not be one Church for the Jew and another for the Gentile; but that
everyone who sincerely believed in Christ, and obeyed the Gospel would
be saved.
[IMAGE: MAP, SAINT PAUL'S SECOND JOURNEY.]
Footnotes:
1. Merchant of Venice; Act 1, Scene 3.
2. Review entire experience.
LESSON 29
PAUL BEGINS HIS SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY
"Man should trust in God, as if God did all, and yet labor as earnestly
as if he himself did all."
[Sidenote: Paul Desires to Visit Branches.]
After Silas and Judas Barsabas had remained in Antioch a short time
"teaching and preaching the word of the Lord" with Paul and Barnabas
and "many others also," Judas returned presumably to Jerusalem, but
it "pleased Silas to abide there still." Two years had passed since
Paul and Barnabas had returned from their first mission, and Paul felt
impressed to visit again the churches they had established on that
memorable tour. So one day he said to Barnabas. "Let us go again and
visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the
Lord, and see how they do."
[Sidenote: Disagreement.]
To this Barnabas readily consented, but said, "Let us take my cousin
John Mark along with us." "No," answered Paul, "it is not good to take
Mark with us, because he turned back from us at Pamphylia, and went not
with us to the work."
[Sidenote: Separation.]
But Barnabas knew why Mark had done that, and was sure he would not
turn back this time. Paul, however, would not consent; so these two
great missionaries agreed to separate, and each take his own companion.
Barnabas chose John Mark, and Paul chose Silas. They probably also
agreed that Barnabas and Mark should go to the churches on the islands,
and Paul and Silas to those on the mainland.
We do not know that Paul and Barnabas ever met again, but Paul speaks
of him afterwards as of an apostle actively engaged in his Master's
service. Mark, too, in later years won Paul's confidence, for the
latter speaks of him as his "fellow-laborer," and one "profitable to
the ministry."
[Sidenote: Barnabas and Mark at Cyprus.]
Barnabas and Mark left first, and sailed to Cyprus, Barnabas' native
island. Here Mark, too, would feel at home, for it was where he began
his work as a missionary. Here we will leave them among the newly-made
Christians, and follow Paul and Silas.
PROBABLE VISIT TO PAUL'S OLD HOME
These two missionaries started by land northward through "Syria and
Cilicia, confirming the churches." They had with them, of course, the
decision of the Council which no doubt, gave a great deal of comfort to
the Christian Gentiles in these branches.
[Sidenote: Paul and Silas.]
Just what particular cities Paul and Silas visited in Syria and
Cilicia, we do not know; but there was one which Paul certainly
would not pass by. Paul and That was his old home town Tarsus. If
he had succeeded in establishing a church there, with what joy and
satisfaction he would return to it now. Paul was always proud of
Tarsus, and spoke of it later as "no mean city." [1]
[IMAGE: TIMOTHY. "Instructed from childhood to read the scripture, and
to lead a pure life."]
AT DERBE AND OTHER TOWNS
[Sidenote: Derbe First.]
On his first mission, Paul and Barnabas visited in order Iconium,
Lystra, and Derbe, Now he and Silas approach these towns from the
opposite direction, and come to Derbe first, then to Lystra, then to
Iconium.
[Sidenote: Welcome at Lystra.]
At Lystra he was welcomed by that beautiful character Eunice who was a
Jewess, the mother of Timothy. Lois, her mother, would also greet Paul,
and extend the glad hand to his companion Silas.
CALL AND ORDINATION OF TIMOTHY
[Sidenote: Timothy True to Faith.]
From the brethren at Iconium and Lystra, Paul learned that these good
women and their noble young son Timothy had been true to the faith. He
already knew that Timothy had been instructed from childhood to repeat
the scripture and to live a pure life. Timothy had been one who had
stood by him when the mob dragged him from the city and left him for
dead, and now he finds still in the young man's heart the "unfeigned
faith which first dwelt in his grandmother Lois, and his mother
Eunice." No wonder Paul said to the women "I desire Timothy to go forth
with me."
[Sidenote: Timothy Ordained.]
The mother consented, and Timothy accepted the call, though scarcely
twenty years of age. Accordingly, a meeting was held, and Paul ordained
Timothy by "the laying on of hands" to be a missionary and servant
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul afterwards called this young man his
"own son in the Faith." [2] This instance tends to confirm the truth
of the Article of Faith which declares the belief of the Latter-day
Saints that "a man must be called of God, by prophecy and by the laying
on of hands, by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and
administer in the ordinances thereof."
[Sidenote: Towards Galatia.]
After baptizing many more converts and establishing the churches in the
faith, and undoubtedly visiting Antioch in Pisidia and other towns
on the mainland where he and Barnabas had organized branches of the
Church, Paul, Silas, and Timothy went in a northerly direction through
"the region of Galatia."
[Sidenote: Paul III.]
While passing through here Paul was taken sick. What kind of sickness,
whether it was "the thorn in the flesh" he mentions in one of his
epistles, or some other bodily ailment, is not stated. Paul calls it an
"infirmity of the flesh." [3] But he was very sick, and was detained
in Galatia seemingly against his will. In spite of sickness, however,
he preached the Gospel to the people and many believed. How he loved
the friends he made at that time, and appreciated their tender care,
can be partly understood from a letter he wrote to them in which he
said in effect, "When I was sick in your midst, ye despised me not, nor
rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.
What was then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that,
if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and
have given them to me." [4] In that same letter he calls them his
"little children," [5] and expresses a desire to be with them again to
strengthen them in the Gospel.
[Sidenote: Branches Established.]
Before the missionaries left Galatia, even though Paul suffered in
sickness, several new branches of the Church had been organized, and
Paul's letter to these churches now forms part of the New Testament.
[Sidenote: Westward.]
Leaving Galatia, the three travelers continued westward toward the
Aegean Sea, and "passing by Mysia came to Troas," the full name of
which was Alexandria Troas.
Paul had his face turned toward Europe and from this place could look
across the Aegean and see the "distant prospect of the Macedonian
hills."
[Sidenote: A Vision.]
One evening he went to bed, perhaps wondering about the people who
lived on the other side of the water and inspired with the feeling that
the Lord desired him to go to them. There appeared to him, that night,
a vision, in which "There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him,
saying,
"Come over into Macedonia, and help us."
[Sidenote: Luke.]
But before he took boat across, he and his companions had been joined
by another faithful convert to whom you must now be introduced. It may
be that Paul met him when Paul was sick, for the man was a physician,
and could be of great service to him in his affliction. This new
companion kept notes and afterwards wrote the "Acts of the Apostles" in
which we learn most of the things we are telling you about. His name
was Luke, called by Paul the "beloved Physician."
[Sidenote: Over to Macedonia.]
Paul told his vision to his brethren, and "immediately" Luke says, "we
endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had
called us for to preach the Gospel unto them."
They sailed from Troas "with a straight course" across to Samothracia
and "the next day to Neapolis; and from thence to Philippi, the chief
city of that part of Macedonia."
Footnotes:
1. Acts 21:39.
2. I Tim. 1:2.
3. Gal. 4:13.
4. Gal. 4:13-15.
5. Gal. 2:19.
LESSON 30
AT PHILIPPI
"The Gospel is the fulfillment of all hopes, the perfection of all
philosophy, the interpreter of all revelations, and a key to all
seeming contradictions of truth in the physical and moral world."
[Sidenote: By the River Side.]
Near the city of Philippi flowed the river Gaggitas. On its banks just
"out of the city" was built a plain enclosure probably open at the top,
in which a few people met to worship the Lord.
There was no synagogue in Philippi; and the few Jews who were there
went to this place "by the river side" to offer their prayers, and to
read the law. Most of those who did so were women.
When the first Sabbath day came after the elders had been in Philippi
several days, they went to this place of worship, "sat down, and spake
unto the women who resorted thither."
[Sidenote: Gospel Preached.]
No doubt evil minded men accused the missionaries in those days of
trying to lead the women astray, just as enemies accuse the elders of
the Church today. But lies and false accusations could not keep Paul
and his associates from doing their duty. To these women, they preached
the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and told them the story of His life. His
cruel death and His glorious resurrection.
LYDIA
[Sidenote: First in Europe to Accept Gospel.]
In the group that listened to the wonderful message was "a certain
woman named Lydia," who lived in Thyatira, but who was then in Philippi
attending to her business connected with the dyeing trade. She sold
purple dyes used by the rich and the nobility. The Lord gave her a
testimony of the truth as Paul explained it, and she applied for
baptism. She and "her household" were admitted into membership that
day. If Lydia was the first one baptized, then she has the distinction
of being the first person in Europe to accept Christianity. Whether
"her household" means she had children, or whether it refers to her
servants or to both we do not know, but they became the nuclueus of a
thriving branch of the Church in that city, and in Lydia's home town
as well.
After baptism, Lydia invited the missionaries to her home, saying, "If
ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and
abide there."
THE DAMSEL WITH THE SPIRIT OF DIVINATION
[Sidenote: Evil Spirit Rebuked.]
One day when the elders were going out to the place of prayer, they met
an unfortunate woman who caused them no little annoyance. She was a
damsel who seemed to be "possessed by some spirit of divination" which
her masters (for she had more than one) used for making money. When she
would meet the elders, she would cry out:
"These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us
the way of salvation."
After she had done this on several different days, Paul became
"grieved," not particularly because of what she said, but because he
knew the evil spirit was tormenting her. So he turned to her one day,
and said to the evil spirits:
"I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her," and
immediately she was healed.
[Sidenote: Effect.]
When her masters realized that their female slave had been cured, and
that the hope of their gains was gone, they became very angry. "They
caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the court unto the rulers."
But they were shrewd enough not to tell the magistrates the real reason
why Paul and Silas had been brought there. They didn't say "these
men cured our slave, and we cannot any longer fool the people for
money." No, they accused them of breaking the Roman law by introducing
"customs" and beliefs which it was unlawful for Romans to observe.
When the mob cried out "That is so," the magistrates gave the elders no
opportunity to defend themselves, but condemned them to be taken out
and beaten.
SCOURGED AND IMPRISONED
[Sidenote: The "Inner Prison."]
With their hands tied, and their backs bared to the whip, the elders
were beaten "with many stripes." Bleeding and faint they were then
taken to the prison. As the jailor received them, he was ordered to
"keep them safely." Hearing this order and thinking the prisoners
must be wicked men indeed, the jailor took them and "thrust them into
the inner prison." The inner prison of a Roman jail was a dark, damp,
gloomy dungeon. One writer calls it a "pestilential cell, damp and
cold, from which the light was excluded, and where the chains rusted
on the limbs of the prisoners." But not content with shutting the
elders up in such a gloomy hole, "the jailor made their feet fast in
the stocks." In fastening only their feet, however, he showed a little
mercy for there were holes in the stock for the wrists and for the neck
also.
[Sidenote: Happiness in Gloom.]
With their backs sore and bleeding, their bodies chilled by the cold
and dampness, their legs cramped and aching, hungry and sleepless
and surrounded by the blackness of midnight, Paul and Silas who knew
they were suffering for the sake of the true Gospel, could rejoice
and praise the Lord. This they did at midnight by praying and singing
"praises unto God." Their voices rang out through the prison cells;
and prisoners, hard hearted and sinful, listened in surprise to the
first Christian hymn they had ever heard. The power of the Lord
manifested itself not only in the hearts of His true servants, but in
the entire prison and the town as well; for "suddenly there was a great
earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken." All the
bolts and bars at the doors fell from their sockets and the doors of
the prison flew open, and "every one's bands were loosed," but not a
prisoner tried to escape.
[Sidenote: The Jailor's Fear.]
Aroused from his sleep by the commotion and earthquake, the jailor
hurried to the prison only to find the doors wide open. Remembering his
injunction to "keep the prisoners safely," and knowing that he would
forfeit his life if any had escaped, he drew his sword to take his own
life, when Paul cried out:
"Do thyself no harm; for we are all here!"
[IMAGE: PAUL AND SILAS IN PRISON AT PHILIPPI. "Then he called for a light,
and sprang in and came trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas."]
"Then he [the jailor] called for a light and sprang in and came
trembling and fell down before Paul and Silas."
HIS CONVERSION
[Sidenote: An All-Important Question.]
Perhaps he had heard what the damsel had said, that "These men are
the servants of the most high God;" it may be that he had heard them
preach, or at least had been told by others what they preached.
Probably the earthquake itself had convinced him that these men not
only were innocent, but were servants of God. At any rate, he cried
out: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
That is the question everybody should ask, and the answer, when
truthfully given, everybody should obey.
[Sidenote: The Answer.]
Note the answer: "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved, and thy house." Then the servants of the Lord explained what a
true belief is, expounded the "word of the Lord," taught them faith
and repentance and baptism; and when the keeper of the prison and his
family said they believed the Gospel to be true, he led the elders out,
washed their stripes, and was baptized that same night, "he and all his
straightway."
Then he took them, not back to the dreary dungeon, but into his own
house, and set meat before them. We are told that his heart was filled
with rejoicing because he "believed in God with all his house."
By doing right he had opened the windows of his soul, and the sunshine
of pure happiness had radiated through his entire being. He was
experiencing the truth as expressed in the song:
"Doing good is a pleasure,
A joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love."
[Sidenote: Prisoners Released.]
The earthquake or something else had put fear in the hearts of other
men in that city, too, and among these were the magistrates who had
sentenced, uncondemned, two innocent men to be beaten and imprisoned.
Realizing their mistake they sent word early in the morning to the
jailor to "Let those men go."
[Sidenote: Paul Surprises the Jailor.]
Pleased with the message, the keeper of the prison hurried to Paul and
Silas crying: "The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore
depart, and go in peace."
He was surprised to hear Paul coolly answer, "No, they have beaten
us openly, uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison."
Now they want us to go out privily so that people will think we are
pestilent fellows who escaped from jail. "Nay verily, but let them come
themselves and fetch us out."
[Sidenote: Magistrates Humbled.]
When the magistrates heard what Paul had said, and learned that Roman
citizens had been scourged and thrust into prison without even a trial,
they were very much afraid, for they realized that they might lose
their offices. So they came, and led Paul and Silas out of the prison,
and expressed a desire that the missionaries leave the city.
But the released prisoners had won a great victory; and while they did
not flaunt it in the face of their persecutors, they took occasion
to go to the house of Lydia, and meet all the Saints. Perhaps Paul
reminded the Saints of the night in Jerusalem when Peter was released
from prison and came to the house of Mary.
Whatever was said, we know that "when he had seen the brethren they
comforted them and departed."
Luke remained to strengthen and build up the Church in Philippi, and
Paul and his other companions went to Thessalonica.
LESSON 31
AT THESSALONICA AND BEREA
"A constant struggle, a ceaseless battle to bring success from
inhospitable surroundings, is the price of all great achievements."
"To banish, imprison, plunder, starve, hang, and burn men for religion
is not the Gospel of Christ, but the policy of the devil. Christ never
used anything that looked like force but once, and that was to drive
bad men out of the temple, not to drive them in."
It is easy enough to do right when in good company, but it is not easy
to defend the right when the majority of the crowd are opposing it; and
yet, that is the time to show true courage. The Prophet Joseph, for
example, was reviled and persecuted for saying that he had received a
vision, but he always remained true to his testimony. Though he "was
hated and persecuted yet he said it was true that God had spoken to
him, and
"_All the world could not make him think or believe otherwise_!"
Such is the courage and firmness everyone should have. When one knows
what is right one should always have the courage to defend it even in
the face of ridicule or punishment.
"It's easy enough to be virtuous
When nothing tempts you to stray;
When without or within
No voice of sin
Is luring your soul away;
But it's only a negative virtue
Until it is tried by fire:
And the soul that is worth
The praises of earth
Is the soul that resists desire."
In the matter of courage to preach the Gospel in the face of bitter
persecution, the missionaries at Thessalonica and Berea proved
themselves true heroes.
After the cruel treatment Paul had received in Philippi, he was
not in a condition to endure long travel, and hardship; yet he and
his companions traveled over one hundred miles before they reached
Thessalonica.
This city, the capital of Macedonia, towards which Paul had been
directing his course ever since he left Troas, was an important trading
center. "Indeed, in all Greece," "if we except Corinth, there is no
harbor with a finer situation; the anchorage is of the best; the
roadstead is as smooth as a lake, while the neighboring valleys give
access to highways leading into Epirus and upper Macedonia." [1]
[Sidenote: How Named.]
At one time the city was called Therma; but in the days of Alexander
the Great, it was named Thessalonica for Alexander's sister,
Thessalonica, the wife of one of Alexander's generals.
This name, slightly shortened clings to the city today. It is now
called Saloniki and is one of the centers of the great war that is,
at the present time, [2] wasting all Europe. In importance it is the
second city in European Turkey.
[Sidenote: Worn in Body; Fresh in Spirit.]
Tired and worn and penniless, Paul entered this great city. Tired
and worn in body, but fresh and vigorous as ever in spirit, he took
immediate steps to give to the people the glorious message of the
Gospel of the Redeemer.
[Sidenote: In the Synagogue.]
The first meeting was probably held in "the synagogue," for
Thessalonica was then, and has been since, a strong Jewish center. For
three successive weeks, Paul and Silas "reasoned with them out of the
scriptures; opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered
and risen again from the dead; and that this same Jesus, whom, he said,
'I preach unto you,' is Christ."
Nor was it only in the synagogue that these earnest missionaries
proclaimed their message, but in the street and in the workshop.
[Sidenote: With Jason.]
Paul and Silas lodged with a man named Jason, where Paul worked at the
trade he had learned in Tarsus. Paul says himself that he "labored
night and day, that he might not be burdensome to any of them." [3]
Thus "late at night, when the sun had long set on the incessant
spiritual labors of the day, the apostle might be seen by lamplight
laboring at the rough haircloth, that he might be chargeable to none."
[Sidenote: Aided by the Saints.]