But the sanhedrin did not possess the power of life and death.

Before Jesus could be executed, therefore, the findings of the

sanhedrin had to be confirmed by Pilate, the Roman procurator.

And at first Pilate was recalcitrant to the Jews' demands; he

was not able to find in Jesus any cause of death. John 18:28-38,

and parallels. In his perplexity, Pilate sent the prisoner to be

examined by Herod Antipas, the tetrarch of Galilee, who was at the

time in Jerusalem. Luke 23:6-12. But this hearing also was without

decisive result.

At last Pilate yielded, against his better judgment, to the

importunity of the Jewish leaders and the mad shouts of the crowds,

who had turned now against the One whom formerly they had honored.

Matt. 27:15-30, and parallels. Pilate delivered Jesus up to the will

of the Jews. Before the execution, however, the Prisoner was cruelly

scourged and mocked by the Roman soldiers. Then when a last effort

of Pilate had failed to placate the wrath of Jesus' enemies, John

19:4-16, our Lord was finally taken out of the city to be crucified.

Luke 23:26-33, and parallels.

The Prisoner at first was compelled to bear the cross on which he

was to be put to death, but when his strength gave way a certain

Simon of Cyrene was pressed into service. A crowd of people from

Jerusalem followed the Prisoner, and especially a number of women

who lamented. At last the place of execution was reached. It was

called "Golgotha," or according to the Latin translation of the

name, "Calvary." There they crucified our Lord. Matt. 27:33-56, and

parallels.

With him were crucified two thieves, of whom one repented at the

last hour, and received salvation. A number of sayings which Jesus

uttered on the cross are recorded in the Gospels. At the moment of

death, he cried, "It is finished." John 19:30. The meaning of that

saying is plain. The work for which our Lord came into the world at

last was done. The Lord of glory had died to wash away the sins of

all believers. The just penalty of sin had been borne by the One who

knew no sin.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XII

1. Summarize the teaching of Jesus on the last evening before

the crucifixion.

2. What happened in Gethsemane?

3. Describe the trial of Jesus before the sanhedrin and before

Pilate.

4. Why did the Jewish leaders put Jesus to death? Why did Jesus

consent to die?

5. Give an account of the crucifixion of our Lord.

LESSON XIII

The Resurrection

The death of Christ was the greatest event that history has ever

seen. By that event the grace of God triumphed over sin, and a lost

world was redeemed. Apart from Christ we all deserve eternal death.

But the Lord of glory, on Calvary, bore the guilt which belonged to

us, and made us children of God.

So great an event was accomplished without flare of heavenly

trumpets or blazing of heavenly light. To many, the death of Christ

seemed to be merely the execution of a criminal. But there were not

wanting some strange phenomena which marked the greatness of the

event. From twelve o'clock on the day of the crucifixion there was

darkness until three o'clock, when Jesus died. Then the veil of the

Temple was rent, there was an earthquake, and graves were opened.

Thus was nature made to recognize the suffering and the triumph of

her Lord.

After Jesus had died, his side was pierced by one of the soldiers

whom Pilate had sent at the instance of the Jews in order that those

who had been crucified should be killed and their bodies removed

before the Sabbath. From the body of Jesus there came out blood

and water. The event was witnessed by John the son of Zebedee, the

writer of the Fourth Gospel. John 19:31-42.

Matthew 27:57-66

Then, in the late afternoon of the same day Joseph of Arimathea, a

secret disciple of Jesus, removed our Lord's body from the cross

and placed it in a new tomb. Mark 15:42-46, and parallels. Another

secret disciple, or half-disciple, Nicodemus, came also to anoint

the body. John 19:39. Certain women also came to see where Jesus

was laid. Luke 23:55, 56, and parallels. The chief priests and

Pharisees, on the other hand, obtained a guard from Pilate, to watch

the tomb, lest the disciples of Jesus should steal the body of Jesus

away and say that he had risen from the dead. Matt. 27:62-66.

Matthew 28:2-4, 11-15

The next day was Saturday, the Old Testament Sabbath. The friends

of Jesus rested on that day. But very early on Sunday morning, the

women started to the tomb bearing spices in order to anoint the

body. But before they arrived, our Lord had already risen from

the dead. There had been an earthquake, an angel had rolled away

the stone from the sepulcher, and our Lord himself had risen. At

the sight of the angel, the soldiers of the guard, in their fear,

"became as dead men." Matt. 28:2-4. All that they could do was to

report the event to the chief priests who had sent them. Vs. 11-15.

Matthew 28:1, and Parallels; John 20:2; Matthew 28:5-10, and

Parallels

Then the women arrived at the tomb, and found it empty. Matt. 28:1,

and parallels. One of them, Mary Magdalene, went back to tell Peter

and John. John 20:2. The others remained at the tomb, and there

saw two angels who announced to them that Jesus was risen from the

dead. On their way back to the city Jesus himself met them, and they

fell down, grasped his feet, and worshiped him. Matt. 28:5-10, and

parallels.

John 20:3-18

Meanwhile, at the message of Mary Magdalene, Peter and John ran to

the tomb, found it empty, and believed that Jesus really was risen.

John 20:3-10. But Mary Magdalene, after they had gone, stood weeping

at the tomb; she supposed that some one had taken the body of her

Lord away. Then Jesus himself came to her, her sorrow was changed

into joy, and she joined her voice to that of the other women who

told the disciples of the glad event. Vs. 11-18.

I Corinthians 15:5; Luke 24:13-49; John 20:19-23

Thus far, Jesus himself had been seen only by the women. But now

he appeared to Peter, I Cor. 15:5; Luke 24:34, and to two of the

disciples who were walking to the village of Emmaus. At first the

two disciples did not know him; but they recognized him at Emmaus

when he broke the bread. Then, on the evening of the same Sunday, he

appeared to the apostles in Jerusalem. I Cor. 15:5; Luke 24:36-49;

John 20:19-23. All doubts were removed when he showed them the

wounds in his hands and his side, and partook of food in their

presence. Then he interpreted the Scriptures to them, as he had done

to the two disciples on the walk to Emmaus, showing them that it was

necessary that the Messiah should suffer. Finally he breathed upon

them, and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."

John 20:24-29

Thomas, one of the apostles, who had been absent from this meeting

with the risen Lord, refused to believe at the mere word of the

others. But Jesus dealt very graciously with the doubting disciple.

Again, one week later, he came to the apostles, the doors of the

room being shut, and presented to Thomas his hands and his side.

All doubts now melted away in the joy of meeting with the risen

Lord. Thomas answered and said unto him, "My Lord and my God." John

20:24-29.

John 21:1-24; I Corinthians 15:6; Matthew 28:16-20

The apostles then went back to Galilee in accordance with Jesus'

command, and in Galilee also Jesus appeared to them. First he

appeared to seven of the disciples on the shores of the Sea of

Galilee. Among the seven was John the son of Zebedee, who has given

an account of the event in his Gospel. John 21:1-24. Then there was

a great appearance of Jesus on a mountain. At that time, apparently,

not only the eleven apostles were present, but also five hundred

other disciples. I Cor. 15:6; Matt. 28:16-20. On the mountain Jesus

instituted the sacrament of baptism, and gave his disciples the

Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. The execution of

that commission has sometimes been attended with discouragements.

But the risen Lord promised always to be with his Church.

I Corinthians 15:7; Acts 1:1-11

After the appearances in Galilee, the apostles returned to

Jerusalem. It was no doubt in Jerusalem that Jesus appeared to

James, his own brother, I Cor. 15:7, who during the earthly ministry

had not believed on him. Other appearances also occurred there. At

one or more of these appearances Jesus commanded the apostles to

wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit should come upon them. Then,

said Jesus, they were to be witnesses of him "both in Jerusalem, and

in all Judæa and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth."

Acts 1:8. Finally, forty days after the resurrection, Jesus led his

disciples out to the Mount of Olives, on the way to Bethany, and

there he was taken from them in a cloud into heaven. The disciples

were saddened and bewildered by the departure of their Lord. But

their sadness was soon turned into joy. "Two men stood by them

in white apparel; who also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye

looking into heaven? this Jesus, who was received up from you into

heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into

heaven." Acts 1:10, 11. The disciples went then into the city, where

they were constantly in the Temple, praising God.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIII

1. Describe the burial of Jesus. How long did his body rest in

the tomb?

2. Enumerate the persons who saw the empty tomb.

3. Enumerate, so far as the facts are known, the persons who saw

Jesus after the resurrection.

4. In what books of the New Testament are the facts about the

resurrection mentioned?

5. What is the importance of the resurrection of Jesus for our

Christian faith?

6. Describe the change which the resurrection produced in the

early disciples of Jesus.

LESSON XIV

The Beginnings of the Christian Church

The Christian Church is founded on the fact of the resurrection

of Jesus; if that fact had not occurred there would be no Church

to-day. The disciples of Jesus of Nazareth were evidently far

inferior to him in spiritual discernment and in courage. Evidently

they could not hope to succeed if he had failed. And with his death

what little strength they may have had before was utterly destroyed.

In the hour of his trial they had deserted him in cowardly flight.

And when he was taken from them by a shameful death, they were in

despair. Never did a movement seem to be more hopelessly dead.

But then the surprising thing occurred. Those same weak, discouraged

men began, in a few days, in Jerusalem, the very scene of their

disgrace, a spiritual movement the like of which the world has

never seen. What produced the wonderful change? What was it

that transformed those weak, discouraged men into the spiritual

conquerors of the world?

The answer of those men themselves was plain. Their despair, they

said, gave way to triumphant joy because the Lord Jesus had risen

from the dead, and because they were convinced of his resurrection

by the empty tomb and by the appearances of Jesus himself. No other

real explanation has yet been discovered to account for the sudden

transformation of the despair of the disciples into triumphant

joy. The very existence of the Christian Church itself, therefore,

is the strongest testimony to the resurrection; for without the

resurrection the Church could never have come into being.

Acts 1:12-26

After the ascension of Jesus, which was studied in the last lesson,

the apostles returned to Jerusalem, and obeyed the command of Jesus

by waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. But the period of

waiting was not a period of idleness; it was spent, on the contrary,

in praising God and in prayer. One definite action was taken--the

place of Judas, the traitor, who had killed himself in his remorse,

was filled by the choice of Matthias. Acts 1:15-26. At that time,

certain women and a number of other disciples were gathered together

with the apostles, making a total of about one hundred and twenty

persons. It was upon that little company of praying disciples, or

rather upon the promise of Jesus which had been made to them, that

the hope of the world was based.

Acts, Chapter 2

At last, at the feast of Pentecost, fifty days after the passover,

the promise of Jesus was fulfilled; the Holy Spirit came upon the

disciples to fit them for the evangelization of the world. Acts

2:1-13. They were all together in one place; there was a sound as of

a rushing, mighty wind; cloven tongues, like tongues of fire, sat

upon each one of them; they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,

and began to speak with other languages as the Spirit gave them

utterance. When the crowd came together to see the wonderful thing

that had happened, Peter preached the first sermon of the Christian

Church. Vs. 14-36. At the preaching of Peter three thousand persons

were converted; the campaign of world conquest had begun. Vs. 37-42.

The campaign from the beginning was a campaign of witnessing, in

accordance with Jesus' command. Acts 1:8. The Christian Church was

to conquer the world, not by exhorting men to live a certain kind

of life, but by bringing them a piece of news. The Son of God, said

the Christian missionaries, died on the cross and then rose again.

That was the good news that conquered the world. Christianity from

the beginning was a way of life, but it was a way of life founded

upon a piece of news, a way of life founded upon historical facts.

The meaning of the facts was not revealed all at once, but it

was revealed in part from the very beginning, and throughout the

Apostolic Age the revelation came in greater and greater fullness,

especially through the instrumentality of Paul.

The life of the Early Church in Jerusalem was in some respects like

that of the Jews. The disciples continued to observe the Jewish

fasts and feasts and were constantly in the Temple. But a new joy

animated the company of believers. Their Lord was indeed taken from

them for a time, and they did not know when he would return, but

meanwhile he was present with them through his Spirit, and already

he had saved them from their sins.

Even in external observances the believers were distinguished from

the rest of the Jews. Entrance into their company was marked by

the sacrament of baptism, which signified the washing away of sin;

and their continued fellowship with one another and with the risen

Lord found expression in the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, which

commemorated the atoning death of Jesus. There were also common

meals. And those who had property devoted it, in a purely voluntary

way, to the needs of their poorer brethren. The disciples attended

diligently, moreover, to the teaching of the apostles, and engaged

constantly in prayer.

Acts, Chapter 3

The preaching of the apostles in Jerusalem was authenticated by

miracles. One notable miracle is narrated in detail in the book of

The Acts. Ch. 3. As Peter and John were going up into the Temple at

the hour of prayer, they healed a lame beggar, who was in the habit

of sitting at the gate. The miracle was the means of bringing to the

people something better than bodily healing; for when the crowd came

together in wonder at the healing of the lame man, Peter proclaimed

to them the good news of the salvation which Jesus had wrought.

Acts, Chapter 4

The Sadducees, the ruling class, being incensed at such a

proclamation, laid hands upon the two apostles, and brought them

before the sanhedrin. Acts 4:1-22. But even when Peter boldly

announced to them that the name of that Jesus whom they had put

to death was the only name which could bring salvation to men,

they were unable to do more than warn the recalcitrant preachers.

A notable miracle had been wrought, and they could not deny it.

When Peter and John came again to the company of believers, all the

company united in a glorious prayer of praise. The answer to the

prayer was plainly given. "The place was shaken wherein they were

gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit,

and they spake the word of God with boldness."

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIV

1. Show how the Christian Church is founded upon the fact of the

resurrection.

2. Describe the choice of Matthias.

3. Who were gathered together in the "upper room" in Jerusalem?

4. Describe the coming of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.

5. Was the speaking with other tongues on the Day of Pentecost

the same as the gift of tongues described in the First Epistle

to the Corinthians? If not, what was the difference?

6. Why were the Sadducees opposed to the preaching of Peter and

John?

LESSON XV

The First Persecution

Acts 5:1-11

The life of the early Jerusalem church was full of a holy joy. But

even in those first glorious days the Church had to battle against

sin, and not all of those who desired to join themselves to the

disciples were of true Christian life. One terrible judgment of God

was inflicted in order to preserve the purity of the Church. Acts

5:1-11.

A certain Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, had sold a possession, in

accordance with the custom of those early days, and had laid part of

the price at the apostles' feet that it might be distributed to the

poorer disciples. Part of the price was withheld, and yet Ananias

and his wife pretended to have given all. Ananias was not required

to sell his field, or to give all of the price after he had sold

it. His sin was the sin of deceit. He had lied to the Holy Spirit.

Terrible was the judgment of God; Ananias and Sapphira were stricken

down dead, and great fear came upon all who heard.

Acts 5:12-42

The apostles and the Church enjoyed the favor of the people--a

favor which was mingled with awe. Many miracles were wrought by the

apostles; multitudes of sick people were brought to be healed.

But the Sadducees made another attempt to put a stop to the

dangerous movement. Acts 5:17-42. They laid hands upon all the

apostles, as they had laid hands upon two of them once before, and

put them all in prison. But in the night the apostles were released

by an angel of the Lord, and at once, in obedience to the angel's

command, went and taught boldly in the Temple. When they were

arrested again, Peter said simply, "We must obey God rather than

men. The Jesus whom you slew has been raised up by God as a Prince

and a Saviour, and we are witnesses of these things and so is the

Holy Spirit." Vs. 29-32, in substance. It was a bold answer, and

the sanhedrin was incensed. But Gamaliel, a Pharisee, one of the

most noted of the Jewish teachers, advocated a policy of watchful

waiting. If the new movement were of God, he said, there was no use

in fighting against it; if it were of men it would fail of itself as

other Messianic movements had failed. The cautious policy prevailed,

so far as any attempt at inflicting the death penalty was concerned.

But the apostles before they were released were scourged. The

suffering and shame did not prevent their preaching. They rejoiced

that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name of

Jesus.

Acts 6:1-6

The early Jerusalem church was composed partly of Aramaic-speaking

Jews who had always lived in Palestine, and partly of Greek-speaking

Jews who were connected with the Judaism of the Dispersion. The

latter class murmured because their widows were neglected in the

daily ministrations. In order that the matter might be attended to

without turning the apostles aside from their work of teaching and

preaching, seven men were chosen to preside over the distribution of

help to the needy members of the church. Acts 6:1-6. But these seven

were no mere "business men." They were "full of the Spirit and of

wisdom," and at least two of them became prominent in the preaching

of the gospel.

Acts 6:7 to 8:3

One of these two was Stephen, a "man full of faith and of the

Holy Spirit." Stephen "wrought great wonders and signs among the

people," and also preached in the synagogues which were attended

by certain of the Greek-speaking Jews residing at Jerusalem. By his

preaching he stirred up opposition. And the opposition was of a new

kind. Up to that time the objection to the Early Church had come,

principally at least, from the Sadducees. But the Sadducees were a

worldly aristocracy, out of touch with the masses of the people, and

in their efforts against the Church they had been checked again and

again by the popular favor which the disciples of Jesus enjoyed.

Now, however, that popular favor began to wane. It became evident

that although the disciples continued to observe the Jewish fasts

and feasts, their preaching really meant the beginning of a new era.

The people were not ready for such a change, and especially the

leaders of the people, the Pharisees, who, since the crucifixion of

Jesus, had shown no persecuting zeal, came out in active opposition.

The result was at once evident. Stephen was arrested, and was

charged with revolutionary teaching about the Temple. The charge was

false; Stephen did not say that the Temple worship should then and

there be abandoned by the disciples of Jesus. But he did proclaim

the beginning of a new era, and the presence, in the person of

Jesus, of one greater than Moses. So, after a great and bold speech

of Stephen, he was hurried out of the city and stoned. As Stephen

was stoned, he called on Jesus, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my

spirit," and then kneeling down he prayed for forgiveness of his

enemies: "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." Acts 6:8 to 8:3

Thus died the first Christian martyr. The Greek word "martyr" means

"witness." Others had witnessed to the saving work of Christ by

their words; Stephen now witnessed also by his death.

When Stephen was stoned, the witnesses had laid "their garments at

the feet of a young man named Saul." Saul was to become the greatest

preacher of the faith which then he laid waste. But meanwhile he was

a leader in a great persecution.

The persecution scattered the disciples far and wide from Jerusalem,

though the apostles remained. But this scattering resulted only in

the wider spread of the gospel. Everywhere they went the persecuted

disciples proclaimed the faith for which they suffered. Thus the

very rage of the enemies was an instrument in God's hand for

bringing the good news of salvation to the wide world.

Acts 8:4-40

Among those who were scattered abroad by the persecution was

Philip, one of the seven men who had been appointed to care for

the ministration to the poor. This Philip, who is called "the

evangelist," to distinguish him from the apostle of the same name,

went to Samaria, and preached to the Samaritans. It was a step on

the way toward a Gentile mission, but the Samaritans themselves were

not Gentiles but half-Jews. When the apostles at Jerusalem heard of

the work of Philip, they sent Peter and John from among their own

number, and through Peter and John the Samaritans received special

manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Acts 8:4-25. Then Philip went

to a desert road leading from Jerusalem to Gaza. There he preached

the gospel to an Ethiopian treasurer, who despite his employment in

a foreign country may have been of Jewish descent. Vs. 26-40. Yet

the preaching to him was another preparation for the spread of the

gospel out into the Gentile world.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XV

1. What was the sin of Ananias and Sapphira? Was the relief

of the needy in the early Jerusalem church what is now called

communism or socialism? If not, why not?

2. What was the fundamental difference between the two first

imprisonments of apostles in Jerusalem, and the persecution

which began with the martyrdom of Stephen? Why was the latter

more serious?

3. Outline the speech of Stephen.

4. Describe the progress of the gospel in Samaria.

LESSON XVI

The Conversion of Paul

The work of the Early Church was at first carried on only among the

Jews. The Lord Jesus, it is true, had commanded the apostles to make

disciples of all the nations, but he had not made it perfectly plain

when the Gentile work should begin, or on what terms the Gentiles

should be received. Conceivably, therefore, the early disciples

might have thought it might be the will of God that all Israel

should first be evangelized before the gospel should be brought

to the other nations; and conceivably also the men of the other

nations, when they finally should receive the gospel, might be

required to unite themselves with the people of Israel and keep the

Mosaic Law. The guidance of the Holy Spirit was required, therefore,

before the gospel should be offered freely to Gentiles without

requiring them to become Jews.

But that guidance, in God's good time, was plainly and gloriously

given.

One of the most important steps in the preparation for the Gentile

mission was the calling of a leader. And the leader whom God called

was one upon whom human choice never would have rested; for the

chosen leader was none other than Saul, the bitterest enemy of the

Church.

Saul, whose Roman name was Paul, was born at Tarsus, a center of

Greek culture, and the chief city of Cilicia, the coast country in

the southeastern part of Asia Minor, near the northeastern corner of

the Mediterranean Sea. In Tarsus the family of Paul belonged by no

means to the humblest of the population, for Paul's father and then

Paul himself possessed Roman citizenship, which in the provinces of

the empire was a highly prized privilege possessed only by a few.

Thus by birth in a Greek university city and by possession of Roman

citizenship Paul was connected with the life of the Gentile world.

Such connection was not without importance for his future service as

apostle to the Gentiles.

Far more important, however, was the Jewish element in his

preparation. Although Paul no doubt spoke Greek in childhood, he

also in childhood spoke Aramaic, the language of Palestine, and his

family regarded themselves as being in spirit Jews of Palestine

rather than of the Dispersion, Aramaic-speaking Jews rather than

Greek-speaking Jews, "Hebrews" rather than "Hellenists." Both in

Tarsus and in Jerusalem, moreover, Paul was brought up in the

strictest sect of the Pharisees. Thus despite his birth in a Gentile

city, Paul was not a "liberal Jew"; he was not inclined to break

down the separation between Jews and Gentiles, or relax the strict

requirements of the Mosaic Law. On the contrary, his zeal for the

Law went beyond that of many of his contemporaries. The fact is of

enormous importance for the understanding of Paul's gospel; for

Paul's gospel of justification by faith is based not upon a lax

interpretation of the law of God, but upon a strict interpretation.

Only, according to that gospel, Christ has paid the penalty of the

law once for all on the cross. According to Paul, it is because the

full penalty of the law has been paid, and not at all because the

law is to be taken lightly, that the Christian is free from the law.

Acts 9:1-19, and Parallels

Early in life Paul went to Jerusalem, to receive training under

Gamaliel, the famous Pharisaic teacher. And in Jerusalem, when he

had still not reached middle age, he engaged bitterly in persecution

of the Church. He was filled with horror at a blasphemous sect that

proclaimed a crucified malefactor to be the promised King of Israel,

and that tended, perhaps, to break down the permanent significance

of the law. It is a great mistake to suppose that before he was

converted Paul was gradually getting nearer to Christianity. On the

contrary, he was if anything getting further away, and it was while

he was on a mad persecuting expedition that his conversion finally

occurred.

The conversion of Paul was different in one important respect

from the conversion of ordinary Christians. Ordinary Christians,

like Paul, are converted by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of

Jesus. But in the case of ordinary Christians human instruments are

used--the preaching of the gospel, or godly parents, or the like. In

the case of Paul, on the other hand, no such instrument was used,

but the Lord Jesus himself appeared to Paul and brought him the

gospel. Paul himself says in one of his Epistles that he saw the

Lord. I Cor. 9:1; 15:8. It was that fact which made Paul, unlike

ordinary Christians, but like Peter and the other apostles, an

actual eyewitness to the resurrection of Christ.

A wonderful thing, moreover, was the way in which Jesus appeared to

Paul. He might naturally have appeared to him in anger, to condemn

him for the persecution of the Church. Instead he appeared in love,

to receive him into fellowship and to make him the greatest of the

apostles. That was grace--pure grace, pure undeserved favor. It is

always a matter of pure grace when a man is saved by the Lord Jesus,

but in the case of Paul, the persecutor, the grace was wonderfully

plain. Paul never forgot that grace of Christ; he never hated

anything so much as the thought that a man can be saved by his own

good works, or his own character, or his own obedience to God's

commands. The gospel of Paul is a proclamation of the grace of God.

Paul saw the Lord on the road to Damascus, where he had been

intending to persecute the Church. Acts 9:1-19, and parallels. As

he was nearing the city, suddenly at midday a bright light shone

around him above the brightness of the sun. Those who accompanied

him remained speechless, seeing the light but not distinguishing the

person, hearing a sound, but not distinguishing the words. Paul, on

the other hand, saw the Lord Jesus and listened to what Jesus said.

Then, at the command of Jesus, he went into Damascus. For three days

he was blind, then received his sight through the ministrations of

Ananias, an otherwise unknown disciple, and was baptized. Then he

proceeded to labor for the Lord by whom he had been saved.

Soon, however, he went away for a time into Arabia. Gal. 1:17. It

is not known how far the journey took him or how long it lasted,

except that it lasted less than three years. Nothing is said, in the

New Testament, moreover, about what Paul did in Arabia. But even if

he engaged in missionary preaching, he also meditated on the great

thing that God had done for him; and certainly he prayed.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVI

1. Where was Paul born? Find the place on a map. What sort of

city was it.

2. What is known about Paul's boyhood home, and about his

education? In what books of the New Testament is the

information given?

3. Why did Paul persecute the Church?

4. Describe in detail what the book of The Acts says about the

conversion of Paul. Where does Paul mention the conversion in

his Epistles?

5. How did the conversion of Paul differ from the conversion

of an ordinary Christian? In what particulars was it like the

conversion of an ordinary Christian?

6. What did Paul do after the conversion?

LESSON XVII

The Gospel Given to the Gentiles

Saul of Tarsus was not only converted directly by the Lord Jesus;

he was also called just as directly by Jesus to be an apostle, and

especially an apostle to the Gentiles. But other instruments were

also used in the beginning of the Gentile mission. Even Peter, whose

work continued for a number of years afterwards to be chiefly among

the Jews, was led by the Holy Spirit to take a notable step in the

offering of the gospel freely to the whole world.

Acts 9:31-43

During the period of peace which followed after the persecution at

the time of the death of Stephen, Peter went down to labor in the

coastal plain of Palestine. Acts 9:31-43. At Lydda he healed a lame

man, Æneas; at Joppa, on the coast, he raised Dorcas from the dead.

And it was at Joppa that he received the guidance of the Holy Spirit

as to the reception of Gentiles into the Church. Ch. 10.

Acts, Chapter 10

At midday Peter went up upon the flat housetop to pray. There he

fell into a trance, and saw a vessel like a great sheet let down

from heaven, and in it all kinds of animals which it was forbidden

in the Mosaic Law to use for food. A voice came to him: "Rise,

Peter; kill and eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord; for I have never

eaten anything that is common and unclean. And a voice came unto him

again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common.

And this was done thrice: and straightway the vessel was received up

into heaven."

The meaning of this vision was soon made plain. A Roman officer,

Cornelius, a devout Gentile, living at Cæsarea, which was a seaport

about thirty miles north of Joppa, had been commanded in a vision

to send for Peter. The messengers of Cornelius arrived at Peter's

house just after Peter's vision was over. The Holy Spirit commanded

Peter to go with them. Arriving at Cæsarea, the apostle went into

the house where Cornelius and his friends were assembled, and there

proclaimed to them the gospel of the Lord Jesus. While he was still

speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were present,

upon the Gentiles as well as upon the Jews. Then said Peter, "Can

any man forbid the water, that these should not be baptized, who

have received the Holy Spirit as well as we?" So the Gentiles were

baptized.

A very important step had been taken. Cornelius, it is true, was

a "God-fearer"--that is, he belonged to the class of Gentiles

frequently mentioned in the book of The Acts who worshiped the God

of Israel and were friendly to the Jews. Nevertheless, he was still

outside the covenant people, and under the old dispensation he could

not be received into covenant privileges until he united himself

with the nation by submitting himself to the whole Mosaic Law. Yet

now such restrictions were removed by the plain guidance of the

Spirit of God. Evidently an entirely new dispensation had begun.

Acts 11:1-18

At Jerusalem Peter's strange action in receiving Gentiles into the

Church without requiring them to become Jews gave rise to some

discussion. Acts 11:1-18. But the apostles had no difficulty in

convincing the brethren of the necessity for what he had done.

The guidance of the Holy Spirit had been perfectly plain. When

the brethren heard what Peter said, "they held their peace, and

glorified God, saying, Then to the Gentiles also hath God granted

repentance unto life."

The freedom of the Gentiles had not yet, however, fully been

revealed. For a time the case of Cornelius seems to have been

regarded as exceptional. The Holy Spirit had plainly commanded

Peter to receive Cornelius and his friends without requiring

them to be united to the people of Israel, but perhaps similar

definite guidance was required before others could be received. The

underlying reason for Gentile freedom, in other words, had not yet

fully been revealed.

The revelation, however, was not long delayed; it came especially

through the Apostle Paul. But meanwhile Paul was being prepared for

his work.

Acts 9:19-30, and Parallels

After the journey to Arabia, which was mentioned at the end of

Lesson XVI, Paul returned to Damascus, and preached to the Jews,

endeavoring to convince them that Jesus was really the Messiah.

His preaching aroused opposition, and the Jews, with the help of

an officer of King Aretas of Arabia, had tried to kill him. But

the brethren lowered him over the city wall in a basket, and so

he escaped to Jerusalem, Acts 9:23-25; II Cor. 11:31-33, where he

desired to become acquainted with Peter. No doubt he then talked

with Peter especially about the events of the earthly ministry of

Jesus and the appearances of the risen Christ. He also engaged in

preaching to the Greek-speaking Jews. But when these Greek-speaking

Jews sought to kill him, the brethren sent him away to Tarsus. He

was unwilling to go, being desirous of repairing the harm which

he had done to the church at Jerusalem; but a definite command of

the Lord Jesus sent him now forth to the country of the Gentiles.

Acts 9:26-30; 22:17-21; Gal. 1:18-24. He labored in or near Tarsus,

preaching the faith which formerly he had laid waste.

Acts 11:19-26

Meanwhile an important new step in the progress of the gospel into

the Gentile world was taken at Antioch. Acts 11:19-26. Antioch, the

capital of the Roman province of Syria, was situated on the Orontes

River, near the northeastern corner of the Mediterranean Sea. It was

the third greatest city of the empire, ranking immediately after

Rome and Alexandria. And among the great Gentile cities it was the

first which was encountered on the march of the gospel out from

Jerusalem to the conquest of the world.

At Antioch, certain unnamed Jews of Cyprus and Cyrene, who had been

scattered from Jerusalem by the persecution at the time of Stephen's

death, took the important step of preaching the word of God to the

Gentiles. Before, they had spoken only to Jews; here they spoke

also to the Gentiles. Gentiles were received no longer merely in

isolated cases like the case of Cornelius, but in large numbers.

To investigate what had happened, Barnabas, an honorable member of

the early Jerusalem church, Acts 4:36, 37, was sent from Jerusalem

to Antioch. Barnabas at once recognized the hand of God, and sent

to Tarsus to seek Paul. He and Paul then labored abundantly in the

Antioch church. At Antioch the disciples of Jesus were first called

"Christians"--no doubt by the Gentile population of the city. The

fact is not unimportant. It shows that even outsiders had come to

see that the Christian Church was something distinct from Judaism. A

distinct name had come to be required.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVII

1. Describe the conversion of Cornelius in detail. What was the

importance of the event?

2. What was the meaning of Peter's vision on the housetop at

Joppa?

3. What important step was taken at Antioch?

4. Trace the part of Barnabas in furthering the work of Paul.

5. Show how every successive step in the offering of the gospel

to the Gentiles was taken under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

LESSON XVIII

The First Missionary Journey and the Apostolic Council

Acts 11:27 to 12:25

After a time of rapid growth in the Antioch church, a prophet,

Agabus by name, came down from Jerusalem and prophesied a famine.

The disciples determined to send relief to their brethren in

Jerusalem. This they did by the instrumentality of Barnabas and

Paul. Acts 11:27-30.

Meanwhile the Jerusalem church had been suffering renewed

persecution under Herod Agrippa I, who, as a vassal of Rome, ruled

over all Palestine from A.D. 41 to 44. James the son of Zebedee, one

of the apostles, had been put to death, and Peter had escaped only

by a wonderful interposition of God, Acts, ch. 12.

Acts, Chapters 13, 14

After Barnabas and Paul had returned to Antioch from their labor of

love in Jerusalem, they were sent out, under the guidance of the

Holy Spirit, upon a mission to the Gentiles, which is called the

first missionary journey. Acts, chs. 13, 14. This missionary journey

led first through the island of Cyprus, then, by way of Perga in

Pamphylia to Pisidian Antioch on the central plateau of Asia Minor.

At Pisidian Antioch, as regularly in the cities that he visited,

Paul entered first into the synagogue. In accordance with the

liberal Jewish custom of that day, he was given opportunity to

speak, as a visiting teacher. The congregation was composed not

only of Jews but also of Gentiles who had become interested in

the God of Israel and in the lofty morality of the Old Testament

without definitely uniting themselves with the people of Israel--the

class of persons who are called in the book of The Acts "they that

feared God" or the like. These "God-fearers" constituted a picked

audience; they were just the Gentiles who were most apt to be won

by the new preaching, because in their case much of the preliminary

instruction had been given. But the Jews themselves, at Pisidian

Antioch as well as elsewhere, were jealous of the new mission to

the Gentiles, which was proving so much more successful than their

own. Paul and Barnabas, therefore, were obliged to give up the work

in the synagogue and address themselves directly to the Gentile

population. So it happened very frequently in the cities that Paul

visited--at first he preached to both Jews and Gentiles in the

synagogues, and then when the Jews drove him out he was obliged to

preach to the Gentiles only.

Being driven out of Pisidian Antioch by a persecution instigated

by the Jews, Paul and Barnabas went to Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe,

which, with Pisidian Antioch, were in the southern part of the great

Roman province Galatia, but not in Galatia proper, which lay farther

to the north. Then, turning back from Derbe, the missionaries

revisited Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch, strengthening the

disciples and appointing elders; and then returned to the church at

Syrian Antioch from which the Holy Spirit had sent them forth.

The Epistle of James

During the progress of the Antioch church and of the mission which

had proceeded from it, the church at Jerusalem had not been idle. At

the head of it stood James, the brother of Jesus, who was not one of

the twelve apostles and apparently during the earthly ministry of

Jesus had not been a believer, but who had witnessed an appearance

of the risen Lord. James was apparently attached permanently to

the church at Jerusalem, while the Twelve engaged frequently in

missionary work elsewhere. From this James there has been preserved

in the New Testament a letter, The Epistle of James, which is

addressed "to the twelve tribes which are of the Dispersion." This

letter was written at an early time, perhaps at about the time of

the first missionary journey of Paul. In the letter, James lays

stress upon the high moral standard which ought to prevail in the

Christian life, and he has sometimes been regarded as an advocate

of "works." But this judgment should not be misunderstood. The

"works" of which James is speaking are not works which are to be put

alongside of faith as one of the means by which salvation is to be

obtained; they are, on the contrary, works which proceed from faith

and show that faith is true faith. James does not, therefore, deny

the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Only he insists that

true faith always results in good works. Paul meant exactly the same

thing when he spoke of "faith working through love." Gal. 5:6. Paul

and James use somewhat different language, but they mean the same

thing. Faith, according to both of them, involves receiving the

power of God, which then results in a life of loving service.

Acts 15:1-35; Galatians 2:1-10

The wonderful success of the first missionary journey of Paul and

Barnabas caused great joy to the Antioch church. But the joy was

soon marred by certain persons, commonly called "Judaizers," who

came down to Antioch from Jerusalem and said that unless the Gentile

converts kept the Law of Moses they could not be saved. The demand

was directly contrary to the great principle of justification by

faith alone; for it made salvation depend partly upon human merit.

The entire life of the Church was in danger. But Paul, guided by a

revelation from God, determined to comply with the wishes of the

brethren at Antioch by going up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and

certain others, in order to confer with the leaders of the Jerusalem

church. Paul did not need any authorization from those leaders, for

he had been commissioned directly by Christ; nor did he need to

learn from them anything about the principles of the gospel, for the

gospel had come to him through direct revelation. But he did desire

to receive from the Jerusalem leaders, to whom the Judaizers falsely

appealed, some such public pronouncement as would put the Judaizers

clearly in the wrong and so stop their ruination of the Church's

work.

The conference resulted exactly as Paul desired. Acts 15:1-35;

Gal. 2:1-10. The Jerusalem leaders--James, the brother of the

Lord, Peter, and John the son of Zebedee--recognized that they had

absolutely nothing to add to the gospel of Paul, because he had been

commissioned by Christ as truly and as directly as the original

Twelve. Joyfully, therefore, they gave to Paul and Barnabas the

right hand of fellowship. God had worked for Paul among the Gentiles

as truly as he had worked for Peter among the Jews. With regard

to the propaganda of the Judaizers, the Jerusalem church, after

speeches by James and Peter presenting the same view as the view of

Paul, sent a letter to the Gentile Christians in Antioch and Syria

and Cilicia declaring them to be absolutely free from the Mosaic

Law as a means of salvation, and directing them to refrain, out

of loving regard for the Jews in the several cities, from certain

things in the Gentile manner of life which were most abhorrent to

Jewish feeling.

Such was the result of the "Apostolic Council," which took place at

about A.D. 49. It was a great victory for the Gentile mission and

for Paul, for it established clearly the unity of all the apostles

under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. No wonder the church at

Antioch rejoiced when the letter of the Jerusalem church was read.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XVIII

1. Describe in detail the release of Peter from prison in the

closing days of the reign of Herod Agrippa I.

2. Enumerate the visits of Paul to Jerusalem which have been

studied so far.

3. What happened, on the first missionary journey, at Paphos? at

Perga? at Pisidian Antioch? at Lystra?

4. Describe the Apostolic Council in detail. What was the

meaning of the letter which was sent out from the council?

LESSON XIX

The Second Missionary Journey

The Apostolic Council, which was studied in the last lesson, was

an important step in the progress of Christian liberty. By it the

Judaizers were definitely repudiated, and salvation was based upon

faith alone apart from the works of the law. But many practical

difficulties still remained to be solved.

Galatians 2:11-21

One such difficulty appeared at Antioch soon after the council. Gal.

2:11-21. The council had established the freedom of the Gentile

Christians from the Mosaic Law, but it had not been determined that

the Jewish Christians should give up the Law. No doubt the Jewish

Christians were inwardly free from the Law; they depended for

their salvation not at all upon their obedience to God's commands

as set forth in the Law of Moses, but simply and solely upon the

saving work of Christ accepted by faith. But so far as had yet

been revealed, it might conceivably be the will of God that they

should still maintain their connection with Israel by observing the

whole of the Law including even its ceremonial requirements. In

order, however, that the ceremonial requirements of the Law might

be observed, the Jews had always been accustomed to avoid table

companionship with Gentiles. What should be done, therefore, in

churches like the church at Antioch, which were composed both of

Jewish Christians and of Gentile Christians? How could the Jewish

Christians in such churches continue to observe the ceremonial law,

and still hold table companionship with their Gentile brethren?

This question faced the apostle Peter on a visit which he made

to Antioch after the Apostolic Council. At first he answered the

question in the interests of Gentile freedom; he allowed the unity

of the Church to take precedence over the devotion of Jewish

Christians to the ceremonial law. He held table companionship,

therefore, with the Gentile Christians, and he did so out of true

conviction with regard to the new Christian freedom. But when

certain men came to Antioch from James, Peter was afraid to be seen

transgressing the ceremonial law, and so began to withdraw himself

from table companionship with his Gentile brethren.

Peter's action, because of its inconsistency, endangered the

very life of the Church. Peter had given up the keeping of the

ceremonial law in order to hold table companionship with the Gentile

Christians. Then he had undertaken the keeping of the ceremonial law

again. Might not the Gentile Christians be tempted to do the same

thing, in order to preserve their fellowship with the greatest of

the original apostles? But if the Gentile Christians should begin

to keep the ceremonial law, they could not fail to think that the

keeping of the ceremonial law was somehow necessary to salvation.

And so the fundamental principle of Christianity--the principle of

salvation by Christ alone apart from human merit--would be given up.

The danger was imminent.

But God had raised up a man to fight the battle of the Church.

Absolutely regardless of personal considerations, devoted solely to

the truth, the Apostle Paul withstood Peter before the whole Church.

It is exceedingly important to observe that Paul did not differ from

Peter in principle; he differed from him only in practice. He said

to Peter in effect, "You and I are quite agreed about the principle

of justification by faith alone; why, therefore, do you belie your

principles by your conduct?" In the very act of condemning the

practice of Peter, therefore, Paul commends his principles; about

the principles of the gospel the two chief apostles were fully

agreed. Undoubtedly Peter was convinced by what Paul said; there was

no permanent disagreement, even about matters of practice, between

Peter and Paul. Thus did the Spirit of God guide and protect the

Church.

Acts 15:36 to 18:22

Soon afterward Paul went forth from Antioch on his "second

missionary journey." Acts 15:36 to 18:22. Journeying with Silas

by the land route to Derbe and to Lystra, where Timothy became

his associate, he then apparently went to Iconium and Pisidian

Antioch and then northward into Galatia proper, that is "Galatia"

in the older and narrower sense of the term. Finally he went down

to Troas, a seaport on the Ægean Sea. At Troas he must have been

joined by Luke, the author of The Acts, since the narrative in Acts

here begins to be carried on by the use of the first person, "we,"

instead of "they," thus showing that the author was present.

Setting sail from Troas, the apostolic company soon came to Philippi

in Macedonia, where an important church was founded. At last

Paul and Silas were imprisoned, and although they were released

through divine interposition and by the second thought of the city

authorities, they were requested by the authorities to leave the

city.

Arriving at Thessalonica, Paul preached in the synagogue, and

founded an important church, chiefly composed of Gentiles. But after

a stay shorter than had been intended, persecution instigated by

the Jews drove Paul out of the city. He went then to Athens, where

he preached not merely in the synagogue but also directly to the

Gentile passers-by in the market place.

At Corinth, the capital of the Roman province Achaia, embracing

Greece proper, large numbers of converts were won, and Paul spent

about two years in the city. Not long after the beginning of this

Corinthian residence, he wrote the two Thessalonian Epistles.

The First and Second Epistles to the Thessalonians

The First Epistle to the Thessalonians was written just after Paul

had received his first news from the Thessalonian church. He had

been obliged to leave Thessalonica before he had intended. Would his

work in that city be permanent? Would the converts remain faithful

to Christ? These were serious questions. The Thessalonian converts

were living in the midst of a corrupt paganism, and Paul had not had

time to instruct them fully in the things of Christ. Every human

probability was against the maintenance of their Christian life.

But at last Paul received his first news from Thessalonica. And the

news was good news. God was watching over his children; the great

wonder had been wrought; a true Christian church had been founded

at Thessalonica. The letter which Paul wrote at such a time is very

naturally a simple, warm expression of gratitude to God. At the

same time, in the letter, Paul comforts the Thessalonians in view of

the death of certain of their number, gives instruction about the

second coming of Christ, and urges the converts to live a diligent

and orderly life.

The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians was written very soon after

the former Epistle. It reiterates the teaching of I Thessalonians,

with correction of a misunderstanding which had crept into the

church with regard to the second coming of Christ.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XIX

1. What practical question arose at Antioch after the Apostolic

Council?

2. How did Paul show the agreement in principle between himself

and Peter?

3. What was the inconsistency of Peter's action? Did Paul

necessarily condemn Jewish Christians who continued to observe

the ceremonial law? What principle was at stake at Antioch?

What does Paul in his Epistles say about Peter after this

time? Was there any permanent disagreement?

4. Why did Paul separate from Barnabas at the beginning of the

second missionary journey? What does Paul say afterwards about

Barnabas? Was there any permanent disagreement between Paul

and Barnabas or between Paul and Mark?

5. Describe what happened at Troas, Philippi, Thessalonica,

Berea, Athens, Corinth.

6. What was the occasion for the writing of I Thessalonians? of

II Thessalonians?

LESSON XX

The Third Missionary Journey. The Epistle to the Galatians

At Corinth, on the second missionary journey, the Jews made

charges before the Roman proconsul Gallio against Paul. But Gallio

dismissed the charges as concerning only the Jewish Law. It was

an important decision. Judaism was tolerated in the Roman Empire,

and if Christianity was regarded as a variety of Judaism it would

be tolerated too. Such was usually the practice of the Roman

authorities in the very early days; the Roman authorities often

protected the Christian missionaries against the Jews.

Finally leaving Corinth, Paul went by way of Ephesus, where he made

only a brief stay, to Palestine and then back to Syrian Antioch.

Acts 18:23 to 21:15

After having spent some time at Syrian Antioch, he started out on

his third missionary journey. Acts 18:23 to 21:15. First he went

through Asia Minor to Ephesus, apparently passing through Galatia

proper on his way. At Ephesus he spent about three years.

The Epistle to the Galatians

It was probably during this Ephesian residence that Paul wrote the

Epistle to the Galatians; and probably "the churches of Galatia" to

which the Epistle is addressed were churches in Galatia proper in

the northern part of the great Roman province Galatia. Another view

regards the Epistle as being addressed to the well-known churches

at Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe, which were in the

southern part of the Roman province. When this view is adopted, the

writing of the Epistle is usually put at a somewhat earlier time in

the life of Paul.

The occasion for the writing of the Epistle to the Galatians can

easily be discovered on the basis of the letter itself. After Paul

had left Galatia, certain other teachers had come into the country.

These teachers were men of the Jewish race, and they are usually

called "Judaizers." What they taught can be established fairly well

on the basis of Paul's answer to them. They agreed with Paul in

believing that Jesus was truly the Messiah, and that he had risen

from the dead. Apparently they had no objection to Paul's doctrine

of the deity of Christ, and they agreed, apparently, that faith in

Christ is necessary to salvation. But they maintained that something

else is also necessary to salvation--namely, union with the nation

of Israel and the keeping of the Mosaic Law. The Judaizers, then,

maintained that a man is saved by faith and works; whereas Paul

maintained that a man is saved by faith alone.

The Galatian Christians had been impressed by what the Judaizers had

said. Already they had begun to observe some of the Jewish fasts

and feasts. And they were on the point of taking the decisive step

of uniting themselves definitely with the people of Israel and

undertaking the observance of the Mosaic Law. It was to keep them

from taking that decisive step that Paul wrote the Epistle.

At first sight the question at issue might seem to have little

importance to-day. No one in the Church nowadays is in danger of

uniting himself with Israel or undertaking to keep the ceremonial

law. If Paul had treated the question in Galatia in a merely

practical way, his letter would be of no value to us. But as a

matter of fact Paul did not treat the question in a merely practical

way; he treated it as a question of principle. He saw clearly that

what was really endangered by the propaganda of the Judaizers

was the great principle of grace; the true question was whether

salvation is to be earned partly by what man can do or whether it is

an absolutely free gift of God.

That question is just as important in the modern Church as it was in

Galatia in the first century. There are many in the modern Church

who maintain that salvation is obtained by character, or by men's

own obedience to the commands of Christ, or by men's own acceptance

of Christ's ideal of life. These are the modern Judaizers. And the

Epistle to the Galatians is directed against them just as much as it

was directed against the Judaizers of long ago.

Paul refuted the Judaizers by establishing the meaning of the cross

of Christ. Salvation, he said, was obtained simply and solely by

what Christ did when he died for the sins of believers. The curse of

God's law, said Paul, rests justly upon all men, for all men have

sinned. That curse of the law brings the penalty of death. But the

Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of God, took the penalty upon himself by

dying instead of us. We therefore go free.

Such is the gospel of Jesus Christ as preached by Paul, and as

defended in the Epistle to the Galatians. That gospel, Paul said, is

received by faith. Faith is not a meritorious act; it simply means

accepting what Christ has done. It cannot be mingled with an appeal

to human merit. Christ will do everything or nothing. Either accept

as a free gift what Christ has done, or else earn salvation by

perfect obedience. The latter alternative is impossible because of

sin; the former, therefore, alone can make a man right with God.

But acceptance of the saving work of Christ means more than

salvation from the guilt of sin; it means more than a fresh start in

God's favor. It means also salvation from the power of sin. All men,

according to Paul, are dead in sin. Salvation, then, can come only

by a new creation, as Paul calls it, or, as it is called elsewhere

in the New Testament, a new birth. That new creation is wrought

by the saving work of Christ, and applied by the Holy Spirit. And

after the new creation has been wrought, there is a new life on the

basis of it. In the new life there is still a battle against sin.

But the Christian has received a new power, the power of the Holy

Spirit. And when he yields himself to that new power, he fulfills

in its deepest import the law of God. Only he fulfills it not by

obedience in his own strength to a law which is outside of him, but

by yielding to a power which God has placed in his heart. This new

fulfillment of the law on the part of Christians is what Paul means

when he speaks of "faith working through love"; for love involves

the fulfillment of the whole law.

Such was the gospel of Paul as it is set forth in the Epistle to the

Galatians. Paul had received it from the Lord Jesus Christ. Without

it the Church is dead. It need not be put in long words, but it must

be proclaimed without the slightest concession to human pride, if

the Church is to be faithful to the Saviour who died. We deserved

eternal death; the Lord Jesus, because he loved us, died in our

stead--there is the heart and core of Christianity.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XX

1. Describe Paul's first visit to Corinth.

2. Where did Paul go at the beginning of the third missionary

journey?

3. What was the occasion for the writing of the Epistle to the

Galatians?

4. What great principle is defended in the Epistle? What is

the meaning of the death of Christ? What is the meaning of

"justification by faith"?

5. Give an outline of the Epistle, showing the three great

divisions.

6. Why does Paul give, in the first part of the Epistle, a

review of certain facts in his life?

LESSON XXI

The Third Missionary Journey. The Epistles to the Corinthians and to

the Romans

Another Epistle, in addition to the Epistle to the Galatians, was

written by Paul at Ephesus on the third missionary journey. This was

the First Epistle to the Corinthians.

The First Epistle to the Corinthians

In I Corinthians, the details of congregational life are more

fully discussed than in any other of the Epistles of Paul. Paul

had received information about the Corinthian church partly

through what was said by the "household of Chloe," who had come to

Ephesus from Corinth, and partly by a letter which the Corinthian

church had written. The information was not all of a favorable

character. In Corinth, a Christian church was in deadly battle with

paganism--paganism in thought and paganism in life. But that battle

was fought to a victorious conclusion, through the guidance of an

inspired apostle, and through the Holy Spirit of God in the hearts

of believers.

First Paul dealt in his letter with the parties in the Corinthian

church. The Corinthian Christians were in the habit of saying, "I

am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ," I

Cor. 1:12; they seem to have been more interested in the particular

form in which the gospel message was delivered than in the message

itself. Paul treated the subject in a grand and lofty way. The party

spirit in Corinth was merely one manifestation of intellectual

pride. In reply, the apostle directed his readers to the true

wisdom. And if you would possess that wisdom, he said, give up your

quarreling and give up your pride.

Then there was gross sin to be dealt with, and a certain lordly

indifference to moral purity. In reply, Paul pointed to the true

moral implications of the gospel, and to the law of love which

sometimes, as in Paul's own case, causes a Christian man to give up

even privileges which might be his by right.

In chs. 12 to 14 of the Epistle, Paul dealt with the supernatural

gifts of the Spirit, such as prophecy and speaking with tongues.

These gifts were not continued after the Apostolic Age. But it is

important for us to know about them, and the principles which Paul

used in dealing with them are of permanent validity. The greatest

principle was the principle of love. It is in connection with the

question of gifts of the Spirit that Paul wrote his wonderful hymn

about Christian love. Ch. 13.

Paganism of thought was creeping into the Corinthian church in

connection with the doctrine of the resurrection. Paul dealt with

this question by appealing to the plain historical evidence for the

resurrection of Christ. That fact itself had not been denied in

Corinth. It was supported by the testimony not only of Paul himself,

but also of Peter, of the apostles, and of five hundred brethren

most of whom were still alive. Paul had received the account of the

death, the burial, the resurrection, and the appearances of Jesus

from Jerusalem, and no doubt from Peter during the fifteen days

which the two apostles had spent together three years after Paul's

conversion. In I Cor. 15:1-7 Paul is reproducing the account which

the primitive Jerusalem church gave of its own foundation. And in

that account Christianity appears, not as an aspiration, not as

mere devotion to an ideal of life, not as inculcation of a certain

kind of conduct, but as "a piece of information" about something

that had actually happened--namely, the atoning death and glorious

resurrection of Jesus our Lord.

The Second Epistle to the Corinthians

The First Epistle to the Corinthians did not end all difficulties

in the Corinthian church. On the contrary, after the writing of

that letter, certain miserable busybodies had sought to draw the

Corinthian Christians away from their allegiance to the apostle.

A brief visit which Paul had made to Corinth had not ended the

trouble. At last Paul had left Ephesus in great distress. He had

passed through a terrible personal danger, when he had despaired

of life, but more trying still was the thought of Corinth. Finding

no relief from his troubles he went to Troas and then across to

Macedonia. There at length relief came. Titus, Paul's helper,

arrived with good news from Corinth; the church had returned to its

allegiance. To give expression to his joy and thanksgiving, Paul

wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. In the Epistle he also

dealt with the matter of the collection for the poor at Jerusalem,

and administered a last rebuke to the Corinthian trouble makers.

In I Corinthians it is the congregation that is in the forefront of

interest; in II Corinthians, on the other hand, it is the apostle

and his ministry. In this letter, the Apostle Paul lays bare before

his readers the very secrets of his heart, and reveals the glories

of the ministry which God had intrusted to him. That ministry was

the ministry of reconciliation. God and men had been separated by

the great gulf of sin, which had brought men under God's wrath and

curse. Nothing that men could do could possibly bridge the gulf. But

what was impossible with men was possible with God. By the redeeming

work of Christ the gulf had been closed; all had been made right

again between God and those for whom Christ died.

The Epistle to the Romans

Arriving at Corinth Paul spent three months in that city. During

this time he wrote the Epistle to the Romans. Paul was intending to

visit the city of Rome. The church at Rome had not been founded by

him; it was important, therefore, that in order to prepare for his

coming he should set forth plainly to the Romans the gospel which he

proclaimed. That is what he does in the Epistle to the Romans. In

the Epistle to the Romans, the way of salvation through Christ is

set forth more fully than in any other book of the New Testament.

In Galatians it is set forth in a polemic way, when Paul was in the

midst of a deadly conflict against a religion of works; here it is

set forth more calmly and more fully.

In the first great division of the Epistle, Paul sets forth the

universal need of salvation. The need is due to sin. All have

sinned, and are under God's just wrath and curse. Rom. 1:18 to

3:20. But the Lord Jesus Christ bore that curse for all believers,

by dying for them on the cross; he paid the just penalty of our

sins, and clothed us with his perfect righteousness. Ch. 3:21-31.

This saving work of Christ, and the faith by which it is accepted,

were set forth in the Old Testament Scriptures. Ch. 4. The result

of the salvation is peace with God, and an assured hope that what

God has begun through the gift of Christ, he will bring to a final

completion. Ch. 5:1-11. Thus, as in Adam all died, by sharing in the

guilt of Adam's sin, so in Christ all believers are made alive. Vs.

12-21.

But, Paul goes on, the freedom which is wrought by Christ does not

mean freedom to sin; on the contrary it means freedom from the power

of sin; it means a new life which is led by the power of God. Ch.

6. What the law could not do, because the power of sin prevented

men from keeping its commands, that Christ has accomplished. Ch. 7.

Through Christ, believers have been made sons of God; there is to

them "no condemnation"; and nothing in this world or the next shall

separate them from the love of Christ. Ch. 8.

Toward the spread of this gospel, Paul goes on, the whole course of

history has been made to lead. The strange dealings of God both with

Jews and Gentiles are part of one holy and mysterious plan. Chs. 9

to 11.

In the last section of the Epistle, Paul shows how the glorious

gospel which he has set forth results in holy living from day to

day. Chs. 12 to 16.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XXI

1. What was the occasion for the writing of I Corinthians? of II

Corinthians? of Romans?

2. Give outlines of these three Epistles.

LESSON XXII

The First Imprisonment of Paul

After the three months which Paul spent at Corinth on the third

missionary journey, he went up to Jerusalem in order to help bear

the gifts which he had collected in the Gentile churches for the

poor of the Jerusalem church. He was accompanied by a number of

helpers, among them Luke, the writer of the Third Gospel and the

book of The Acts. Luke had remained behind at Philippi on the second

missionary journey, and now, several years later, he joined the

apostle again. The portions of the journey where Luke was actually

present are narrated in The Acts in great detail and with remarkable

vividness.

When Paul came to Miletus on the coast of Asia Minor, he sent to

Ephesus for the elders of the Ephesian church, and when they came he

held a notable farewell discourse. There was a touching scene when

he finally parted from those who loved him so well.

Acts 21:15 to 28:31

Despite prophecies of the imprisonment that awaited him Paul went

bravely on to Jerusalem. There he was warmly received by James

the brother of the Lord and by the church. Acts 21:15-26. But the

non-Christian Jews falsely accused him of bringing Gentiles with him

into the Temple. Vs. 27-40. There was an onslaught against him, and

he was rescued by the Roman chief captain, who took him into the

Castle of Antonia which the Romans used to guard the Temple area. On

the steps of the castle he was allowed to address the people, ch.

22:1-22, who listened to him at first because he used the Aramaic

language instead of Greek, but broke out against him again when he

spoke of his mission to the Gentiles.

An appeal to his Roman citizenship saved Paul from scourging, Acts

22:23-29; and a hearing the next day before the sanhedrin, ch. 22:30

to 23:10, brought only a quarrel between the Sadducees and the

Pharisees. That night Paul had a comforting vision of Christ. V. 11.

A plot of the Jews to waylay Paul and kill him was frustrated

by Paul's sister's son, who told the chief captain. The chief

captain sent the prisoner with an escort down to Cæsarea where the

procurator Felix had his residence. Acts 23:12-35. Hearings before

Felix brought no decisive result, ch. 24, and Paul was left in

prison at Cæsarea for two years until Festus arrived as successor

of Felix. Then, in order to prevent being taken to Jerusalem for

trial, Paul exercised his right as a Roman citizen by appealing to

the court of the emperor. Ch. 25:1-12. Accordingly, after a hearing

before Herod Agrippa II, who had been made king of a realm northeast

of Palestine by the Romans, v. 13; ch. 26:32, Paul was sent as a

prisoner to Rome, chs. 27:1 to 28:16.

On the journey he was accompanied by Luke, who has given a detailed

account of the voyage--an account which is not only perhaps the

chief source of information about the seafaring of antiquity, but

also affords a wonderful picture of the way Paul acted in a time of

peril. The ship was wrecked on the island of Malta, and it was not

until the following spring that the prisoner was brought to Rome.

There he remained in prison for two years, chained to a soldier

guard, but permitted to dwell in his own hired house and to receive

visits from his friends. Acts 28:16-31.

During this first Roman imprisonment Paul wrote four of his

Epistles--to the Colossians and to Philemon, to the Ephesians, and

to the Philippians. Colossians, Philemon, and Ephesians were all

written at the same time. Colossians and Ephesians were both sent by

the same messenger, Tychicus, and this messenger was accompanied by

Onesimus, who bore the Epistle to Philemon.

The Epistle to Philemon

Onesimus was a slave who had run away from Philemon, his master. He

had then been converted by Paul, and Paul was now sending him back

to his master. The little letter which the apostle wrote on this

occasion gives a wonderful picture of the way in which ordinary

social relationships like that of master and servant may be made the

means of expression for Christian love. Very beautiful also was the

relation between Philemon and the apostle through whom he had been

converted.

The Epistle to the Colossians

The church at Colossæ, to which the Epistle to the Colossians is

addressed, had been founded not by Paul but by one of his helpers,

Epaphras. A certain type of false teaching had been brought into

the church by those who laid stress upon angels in a way that was

harmful to the exclusive position of Christ. In reply, Paul sets

forth in the Epistle the majesty of Jesus, who existed from all

eternity and was the instrument of God the Father in the creation

of the world. This was no new teaching; it is always presupposed

in the earlier Epistles of Paul, and about it there was no debate.

But in the Epistle to the Colossians, in view of the error that was

creeping in through false speculation, Paul took occasion to set

forth fully what in the former letters he had presupposed.

The Epistle to the Ephesians

The Epistle to the Ephesians is probably a circular letter addressed

to a group of churches of which Ephesus was the center. In this

letter the personal element is less prominent than in the other

Pauline Epistles; Paul allows his mind to roam freely over the

grand reaches of the divine economy. The Church is here especially

in view. She is represented as the bride of Christ, and as the

culmination of an eternal and gracious plan of God.

The Epistle to the Philippians

The Epistle to the Philippians was probably written later than

the other Epistles of the first captivity. The immediate occasion

for the writing of the letter was the arrival of a gift from the

Philippian church, on account of which Paul desires to express his

joy. Paul had always stood in a peculiarly cordial relation to his

Philippian converts; he had been willing, therefore, to receive

gifts from them, although in other churches he had preferred to make

himself independent by laboring at his trade. But the letter is not

concerned only or even chiefly with the gifts of the Philippian

church. Paul desired also to inform his Philippian brethren about

the situation at Rome. His trial is approaching; whether it results

in his death or in his release, he is content. But as a matter of

fact he expects to see the Philippians again.

Moreover, Paul holds up in the letter the example of Christ, which

was manifested in the great act of loving condescension by which he

came into the world and endured for our sakes the accursed death on

the cross. That humiliation of Christ, Paul says, was followed by

exaltation; God has now given to Jesus the name that is above every

name.

At the conclusion of the two years in prison in Rome, Paul was

released, probably in A.D. 63. This fact is attested not by the

book of The Acts, of which the narrative closes at the end of the

two years at Rome, but by the Pastoral Epistles of Paul and also

by an Epistle of Clement of Rome which was written at about A.D.

95. Clement says that Paul went to Spain. This he probably did

immediately after his release. He then went to the East again, for

it was in the East that I Timothy and Titus were written.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XXII

1. Outline the events in the life of Paul which occurred between

the departure from Corinth and the end of the first Roman

imprisonment.

2. What was the occasion for the writing of Colossians? of

Philemon? of Ephesians? of Philippians?

3. Give outlines of these Epistles.

LESSON XXIII

The Close of the Apostolic Age

The Pastoral Epistles

It was observed in the last lesson that Paul was released from

his first Roman imprisonment, and went then to Spain and then to

the East. At the time when I Timothy was written he has just left

Timothy behind at Ephesus when he himself has gone into Macedonia,

and now writes the letter with instructions for Timothy as to the

way of conducting the affairs of the church. Similarly, the Epistle

to Titus was written to guide Titus in his work on the island of

Crete.

After this last period of activity in the East, Paul was imprisoned

again at Rome. During this second Roman imprisonment he wrote II

Timothy, to encourage Timothy and instruct him, and to give to him

and to the Church a farewell message just before his own death,

which he was expecting very soon.

The two Epistles to Timothy and the Epistle to Titus, which are

called the Pastoral Epistles, are similar to one another in

important respects. They all lay stress upon soundness of teaching

and upon the organization of the Church. In the closing years of

his life Paul provided for the permanence of his work; the period

of origination was over and the period of conservation had begun.

It was not God's will that every Christian generation should have

revealed to it anew the whole of the gospel. What is true in one age

is true in all ages. It was a salutary thing, therefore, that the

Pastoral Epistles provided for the preservation of the faith which

was once for all delivered unto the saints.

Soon after the writing of II Timothy, Paul was beheaded at Rome.

This event, which is attested in altogether credible Christian

tradition outside of the New Testament, took place within the reign

of the Emperor Nero--that is, before A.D. 68. At the time of the

great fire at Rome in A.D. 64 Nero had persecuted the Christians, as

is narrated by Tacitus, the Roman historian. But at that time Paul

probably escaped by being out of the city; his execution probably

did not occur until several years later.

At about the time of the death of Paul disastrous events were taking

place in Palestine. James the brother of the Lord had been put to

death by the Jews in A.D. 62, according to Josephus the Jewish

historian, or a few years later according to another account. In

A.D. 66 the Jews rose in revolt against the Romans. In the war that

followed there was a terrible siege of Jerusalem. Before the siege

the Christians in the city had fled to Pella, east of the Jordan.

Jerusalem was captured by the Romans in A.D. 70, and the Temple

destroyed.

From that time on, the Church in Palestine ceased to be of great

relative importance; the gospel had passed for the most part to

the Gentiles. A number of the apostles remained for many years,

however, to guide and instruct the Church, and important books of

the New Testament were written in this period either by the apostles

themselves or by those who stood under their direction.

The Epistle to the Hebrews

Even before the destruction of the Temple, the original disciples

had begun to labor far and wide among the Gentiles. It was perhaps

during this early period that the Epistle to the Hebrews was

written. The name of the author is unknown, but the book is truly

apostolic--that is, it was written either by an apostle or by

one who wrote under the direction of the apostles. The Epistle

is intended to celebrate the all-sufficiency of Christ as the

great High Priest, who has made atonement by his own blood, as

distinguished from the Old Testament types that were intended to

point forward to him.

The First Epistle of Peter

Some years before the destruction of Jerusalem, the apostle Peter

left Palestine. In the course of his missionary journeys he went

to Rome, and it was perhaps from Rome that he wrote the First

Epistle of Peter, the word "Babylon" in I Peter 5:13 being perhaps

a figurative designation of Rome as the "Babylon" of that age.

The Epistle was addressed to Christians in Asia Minor, and was

intended to encourage the readers to Christian fortitude in the

midst of persecution. The gospel proclaimed in the Epistle is the

one great apostolic gospel of Christ's redeeming work which was also

proclaimed by Paul.

The Second Epistle of Peter; The Epistle of Jude

The Second Epistle of Peter was written by the apostle to warn his

readers against false teaching and urge them to be faithful to the

authority of the apostles and of the Scriptures. Closely related

to II Peter is the Epistle of Jude, which was written by one of

the brothers of Jesus. The apostle Peter, in accordance with a

thoroughly credible Christian tradition, finally suffered a martyr's

death at Rome.

The apostle John, the son of Zebedee, became the head of the Church

in Asia Minor, where, at Ephesus, he lived until nearly the end of

the first century. During this period he wrote five books of the New

Testament.

The Gospel According to John was written to supplement the other

three Gospels which had long been in use. It contains much of the

most precious and most profound teaching of our Lord, as it had been

stored up in the memory of the "beloved disciple"; and it presents

the glory of the Word of God as that glory had appeared on earth to

an eyewitness.

The Epistles of John

The First Epistle of John was written in order to combat certain

errors which were creeping into the Church in Asia Minor and in

order to present to the readers the true Christian life of love,

founded upon the Son of God who had come in the flesh, and begun by

the new birth which makes a man a child of God.

The Second Epistle of John is a very brief letter written to warn an

individual church of the same kind of error as is combated in I John.

The Third Epistle is addressed to an individual Christian named

Gaius, who is praised for his hospitality to visiting missionaries,

which was the more praiseworthy because it was in contrast to the

inhospitality of a certain Diotrephes. The little letter sheds a

flood of light upon the details of congregational life in the last

period of the Apostolic Age.

The Book of Revelation

The book of Revelation is based upon a revelation which the apostle

John had received during a banishment to the island of Patmos, off

the coast of Asia Minor, not far from Ephesus. Probably the book

itself was written on the same island. The book contains letters to

seven churches of western Asia Minor which are intended to encourage

or warn them in accordance with the needs of every individual

congregation. The whole book is a tremendous prophecy, which

strengthens the faith of the Church in the midst of persecutions

and trials by revealing the plan of God, especially as it concerns

the second coming of our Lord and the end of the world. Details of

future events, especially times and seasons, are not intended to

be revealed, but rather great principles both of good and of evil,

which manifest themselves in various ways in the subsequent history

of the Church. The prophecy, however, will receive its highest and

final fulfillment only when our Lord shall come again, and bring in

the final reign of righteousness and the blessedness of those whom

he has redeemed.

QUESTIONS ON LESSON XXIII

1. When, where, and why were the three Pastoral Epistles written?

2. Outline the life of Paul after his release from the first

Roman imprisonment.

3. What is known about the latter part of the life of Peter?

4. What was the occasion for the writing of I Peter? of II

Peter? of Jude? What are the characteristics of these letters?

5. What is known about the latter part of the life of John?

6. What were the date and the purpose of the Gospel According to

John; of the Epistles of John; of the book of Revelation?

* * * * *

Transcriber's note:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

Small capital text has been replaced with all capitals.

Variations in spelling, punctuation and hyphenation have been

retained except in obvious cases of typographical error.

The cover for the eBook version of this book was created by the

transcriber and is placed in the public domain.