NEW TESTAMENT LESSONS: JUNE, 1883.

(INTERNATIONAL.)

AT ICONIUM AND LYSTRA.-(ACTS xiv. 1-18.)

THE

HE opposition with which both our Lord, during His earthly sojourn, and His apostles had to contend was not confined to individuals. Bodies of men in their collective capacity opposed them. These classes disagreed in many respects, but coalesced in furtherance of an object so dear to them as hindering the spread of Christianity. Pilate and Herod, Jews and Gentiles, readily united in such a cause. The opposition at Iconium did not originate, as we might have expected, among the idolatrous Gentiles, but among the unbelieving Jews, whose minds, notwithstanding their religious light and privileges, were filled with prejudice and rancour. Sectarian zeal has often been a stronger barrier to the progress of the Gospel than heathen corruption. Their conduct is aggravated by the forbearance which the apostles showed in going to the synagogue at Iconium and preaching again to Jews, after the cruel ill-usage they had received from the Jews at Antioch. So penetrating was the power of the truth as to divide the community by a sharp line into classes, one actuated by sympathy, and the other by antipathy, the latter of which, though perhaps more wicked, is less likely to last than apathy. No state of mind is so disheartening to the preacher of the Word as inert indifference that will not inquire, and declines even to fight; it resembles the mud forts which French troops at one time attacked in Egypt-" If they were timber," they said, "we could burn them; if they were stone, we could batter them, but being of mud, our heavy iron sinks into them, and takes no effect." The division and fire which Christ brought among men must precede the peace and order which He will finally establish. Rage against the Gospel is a hopeful sign; it springs from a consciousness of a failing cause. The devil hath "great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time."

The spirit in which the Apostles confronted this opposition, and persisted in their course, is a model for all preachers to follow. Their courage rises with opposition, as the bold swimmer rises with the advancing billow. The intrigues of the Jews at Pisidian Antioch, as already stated, did not deter them from declaring their message among the same people at Iconium. The opposition of men could not cancel the commission which they had received from God. Persecution effected no change in them, except removal to another place. They coupled prudence with courage; their zeal was regulated by knowledge and discretion. "Their flight took place," as one observes-" (1.) After the conflict, not before, as with Jonah; (2.) in obedience to the Lord, and not from fear of man,

or carnal tenderness; (3.) with weapons in their hands, as the Apostles continue to preach with unbroken courage, not after having cast their weapons away; (4.) to a new field of conflict (Derbe and Lystra) not to rest." When the enemies of Christ came to lay violent hands upon Him before the time indicated in the plan of His Father, He withdrew into Galilee. When the idolaters so strangely abused the miracle which was intended to deal a blow to their idolatry. as to take occasion to practise it on the spot, they were filled with abhorrence. How high above all self-seeking was their conduct! An impostor or enthusiast would have accepted and even coveted the homage. Had they opened their minds to the Tempter they might have argued very plausibly; this regard for our persons may be utilised for the spread of our cause; the idea of the appearance of gods on earth may prepare the way for the doctrine of the Incarnation. But no, they protested with painful indignation against the proffered homage. They were full of delicate sensibility to everything which affected the claims of God, and any dishonour done to Him wounded most deeply their susceptibilities. Herod Agrippa had no word of protest when the people deified him; in a position similar to his the Apostles acted in quite an opposite manner. The language used to characterise their preaching is expressive. They "so spake, that a great multitude, both of the Jews, and also of the Greeks, believed." They preached with so much earnestness, point, and unction as to constrain attention and rivet conviction. The hearers were not able to resist the "wisdom and the spirit by which they spake." Some preachers imagine that they honour the truth most when they simply state its claims without any enforcement of them. They forget that that part of our nature which is called sensibility may move the judgment to consider and the will to choose, and the sensibility in the hearer's nature is more likely to be aroused when the sensibility of the preacher is aroused. The earnest presentation of truth often succeeds where learning and rhetoric fail. "In doing this," said Paul to Timothy, "thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." If we honour God by courageous witness bearing, He will honour us with blessing and success. When we open our mouths He stops the mouth of His enemies.

As elsewhere, in these early scenes of Gospel work and triumph, a miracle is wrought to arouse attention to the message, and authenticate its divinity; although the success of the Apostles in this place did not depend entirely upon miracles, for their preaching had resulted in the conversion of many before any miracle took place. Miracles were more necessary, because they were driven by persecution from place to place. The wording shows that miraculous power was not always resident in the Apostles. It was communicated at certain times, and no apostle could work a miracle by himself. This miracle was more remarkable as the person would be well known, and the plea of imposition could not, with any show of truth, be advanced. This

is the third cure of a lame man recorded in the Acts of the Apostles (chap. iii. and ix. 33). "The lame man at Jerusalem," Lange remarks, "desired and expected nothing except to receive alms, even when Peter exhorted him to look on him and John (ch. iii. 3-5.) But this lame man, who was an attentive and earnest hearer of Paul, already possessed the believing confidence that Paul would help him. Then the apostle called aloud to him to stand up, and to walk erect on his feet. He does not, as Peter did, invoke the name of Jesus, on whose authority the call was issued, and in whose strength it could be obeyed; because the lame man had already learned from the preaching of Paul to recognise Jesus as the Saviour. Here, again, another distinction. At this call the lame man leaped up at once, and walked up and down. Here there is a third distinction; inasmuch as Peter took the lame man by the hand and lifted him up; whereas here this lame man, entirely without help, is able to leap up of himself." Paul having declined the homage of idolatry offered by his hearers, attempts, in an address full of instruction, to dislodge from their hearts the spirit of idolatry. 1. Emphasis is laid upon the name and idea of "the living God"-one of the most distinctive and glorious of the Divine names-in contrast with the gods of the heathen. 2. God is represented as Creator-a character in which He was unknown, alike to rude and cultivated heathenism-as a protest against the adoration of creatures. 3. The Gentiles were suffered for long ages to follow their own caprice and passions, without the teachings and restraints of a written law, in order to show conclusively to the world the insufficiency of reason as a guide in spiritual things, and the absolute need of a written law. 4. In the absence of such a revelation God exercised moral government over the heathen. They had not only the witness of conscience within them, but the witnesses of nature and Providence around them. God did not destroy them for their idolatry, as he did the Jewish nation, because they had no inspired teachers among them, and the Holy Scriptures; but that did not wholly excuse them, for there were other witnesses to His being and perfections, especially to the beneficence which crowns His character, and presides over all His works.

JOHN HUGH MORGAN.

In order that thou mayest be a reservoir (of the living water of divine truth), thou must first learn to be a channel: do not try to pour it out (in lessons or sermons) before thou thyself art well filled.

LET thy heart be made a temple of God, by reading, by prayer, and meditation. HE will never learn who is ashamed to be taught; and he will never teach who is angry with those whom he teaches.

LESSON OUTLINES, &c.

June 3-At Antioch.-ACTS xiii. 13-16, 43-52.

I. Their Journey from Cyprus.

How long the apostle and his companions remained at Paphos after the incidents considered in our last lesson, we are not told. When they did leave, instead of retracing their steps, they sailed from Paphos to Perga, in Pamphilia. This was northwest from Cyprus, and a port from which they could reach some of those parts of Asia Minor, in which the Gospel had not yet been preached; the region was somewhat retired and out of the way compared with places previously visited; but as it was contiguous to Cilicia, St. Paul's native province, he probably knew that in the cities he could reach by that route, there were important colonies of Jews, to whom he was anxious to preach the gospel; and also, he may have judged that the Gentiles of those places would be more accessible to the truth than those who had been brought into closer contact with the corrupting influences of Greece and Rome.

At Perga, Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. That he did so in a blameable manner, and for unworthy reasons, is evident from St. Paul's subsequently refusing to take him as companion on another missionary journey (chap. xv. 38). "The child of a religious mother, who had sheltered in her house the Christian disciples in a fierce persecution, he had joined himself to Barnabas and Saul when they travelled from Jerusalem to Antioch on their return from a mission of charity. He had been a close spectator of the wonderful power of the religion of Christ; he had seen the strength of faith under trial in his mother's home; he had attended his kinsman Barnabas in his labours of zeal and love; he had seen the word of Paul sanctioned and fulfilled by miracles; he had even been the 'minister' of apostles in their successful enterprise; and now he forsook them, when they were about to proceed through greater difficulties to more glorious success. We are not left in doubt as to the real character of his departure. He was drawn from the work of God by the attraction of an earthly home. As he looked up from Perga to the Gentile mountains his heart failed him, and he turned back with desire towards Jerusalem. He could not resolve to continue persevering in journeyings oft, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers.'”—Conybeare and Howson. This view of the case is in accordance with the pithy remark of Matthew Henry, "Either he did not like the work, or he wanted to go and see his mother." It was in fact a sad illustration of our Saviour's remark on putting one's hand to the plough and looking back (Luke ix. 62). How many have there been since that time who did work zealously in the Lord's vineyard for a while, but through yielding to some worldly influence did not continue in well-doing.

The Apostle does not appear to have made any stay at Perga, and a reason for that has been given with much probability, viz., that it was most likely the hot season, when the places along that coast are almost deserted, the inhabitants dwelling in summer retreats in a cooler climate, high up the mountains. The journey from Perga into Pisidia was one of the most trying and perilous it was possible to take, and it is considered that St. Paul must have had it specially in his mind when he wrote his description of the perils he passed through (2 Cor. xi. 26). "The lawless and marauding habits of the population of these mountains which separate the table-land in the interior of Asia Minor from the plains on the south coast, were notorious in all parts of ancient history." But there was also in the ravines and mountain gorges, through which they would have to pass, much danger from suddenly flooded rivers. Preserved, however, from all dangers by their Divine Protector, Paul and Barnabas at length reached the city for which they were bound, Antioch in Pisidia. The distinction between this place and the other and more celebrated Antioch should here be very carefully noted.

II.-Paul Preaches in the Synagogue.

When the Sabbath came Paul and Barnabas went according to their custom to the synagogue. Probably the appearance of any strangers in the synagogue at that remote place attracted the attention of the congregation. But there must have been something more than usually noticeable about these two, for, instead of giving the usual invitation to any person who felt disposed to speak a word of exhortation, the rulers of the synagogue sent down to Paul and Barnabas, expressly asking them to do so. Then Paul rose and preached one of those historical sermons with which we are familiar in the Acts of the Apostles, proving that Jesus of Nazareth is the true Messiah, and then stating the Gospel way of Salvation through faith in Him. In reading through this discourse we cannot fail to notice both the points of resemblance, and the contrasts between it and the discourses both of Peter and Stephen delivered in Jerusalem. They had to speak to the Jews, who were directly responsible for the death of Jesus, and they did not shrink from charging home that sin on their consciences in the strongest possible terms. But St. Paul, preaching to these Jews and proselytes so far away, who probably knew nothing of the events that had occurred in Jerusalem except by uncertain report, is very careful to allude to the conduct of the rulers there in delicate phraseology (ver. 27-29), such as would not be likely to give offence. It may be noted also that the concluding sentences of the discourse are specially Pauline, reminding one of some of the best known passages in the Epistles. They must have fallen with great force on the ears of the Jews who were thus so plainly told that the purpose of the Gospel was to give them justification from all transgressions, from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses (ver. 38, 39). The application (ver. 40, 41), must have come with great power after such a statement. For us this passage on justification is one of the best for young people to commit to memory as a Scripture proof of that great doctrine. The impression which the discourse produced on the audience is seen from what followed. Many Jews and proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas for further instruction in this new docrine, and some Gentiles, who possibly had stood listening at the entrance, requested that the word might be preached to them on the next Sabbath.

III. The Result of their Preaching.

During the week the tidings of the strange doctrine which had been preached spread throughout the place, and the excitement produced was so great that "almost the whole city "-Gentiles as well as Jews-was gathered together to hear the word of God. But the sight of the crowds roused the jealousy of the Jewish leaders, and the presence of the Gentiles especially kindled all their bigotry, so that they opposed the teachers whom they appeared previously willing to receive. "This was always the sin of the Jewish people. Instead of realising their position in the world as the prophetic nation for the good of the whole earth, they indulged in the self-exalting opinion, that God's highest blessings were only for themselves. Thus, in the Pisidian Antioch, they who on one Sabbath had listened with breathless interest to the teachers who spoke to them of the promised Messiah, were on the next Sabbath filled with a most excited indignation, when they found that this Messiah was a light to lighten the Gentiles,' as well as the glory of His people Israel.' They made an uproar, and opposed the words of Paul with all manner of calumnious expressions, contradicting and blaspheming.' The result of this was that Paul and Barnabas told them plainly that it had been necessary to preach the Gospel to them first--such were their Master's instructions-but as they rejected it, the great privilege which they had thrust from them (Revised Version) would be bestowed on the Gentiles. The gladness with which the Gentiles heard this should be specially noted. So great a success followed the labours of the apostles amongst the heathen inhabitants that the Jews were stirred up to greater enmity, and soon managed, by using their influence with those in authority, to get them expelled from the city. Obeying their Master's words, the servants of Christ shook off the dust of their feet as a testimony against them, and took their departure.