_THE PREPARATION FOR CHRIST_ ‘And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, Whom I preach unto you, is Christ.’ Acts 17... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE STORY OF THE BEREANS_ ‘These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a fe... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE GREAT UNIVERSITY CITY OF THE WORLD_ ‘How while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, as he beheld the city full of idols.’ Acts 17:16 (R.V.) St. Paul was too sensitive to history and too loyal to learning to remain indifferent to the proud memories of this city... [ Continue Reading ]
_HISTORICAL CERTAINTY OF THE RESURRECTION_ ‘Jesus and the Resurrection.’ Acts 17:18 It is of vital importance, and especially at a time such as the present, to realise that the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ can be shown to be an historical fact as certain and indisputable as any event tha... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘STRANGE THINGS’_ ‘Thou bringest certain strange things to our ears.’ Acts 17:20 When St. Paul was speaking to the bystanders in the agora, the learned men of the Stoics and Epicureans sects, observing the gathering, asked what it meant. ‘What will this babbler say?’ was the question of some of... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘THE UNKNOWN GOD’_ ‘The unknown God.’ Acts 17:23 Let us pass from the streets of ancient Athens to the streets, and houses, and churches of modern England. What lessons have we brought with us? The Athenians loved to hear some new thing, especially in religion. So it is with many of us now. Ther... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE NEARNESS OF GOD_ ‘He is not far from each one of us.’ Acts 17:27 (R.V.) The words are taken from the great speech of St. Paul to the ‘men of Athens.’ Standing on Mars’ hill, in the metropolis of earthly wisdom, the Apostle discourses of the eternal wisdom, of the beginning of all real wisdom... [ Continue Reading ]
_‘IN HIM’_ ‘In Him we live, and move, and have our being.’ Acts 17:28 The subject is a very deep and very mysterious one. The words exceed all comprehension—this wonderful union—this almost identity of Christ and the Christian. I. LIVING.—When did you first begin to feel the power, the privilege... [ Continue Reading ]
_AN UNIVERSAL COMMAND_ ‘And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.’ Acts 17:30 The time of ignorance, during which there had been merciful Divine forbearance, had come to an end. There was much that was startling to an Athenian audience in the... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE RESURRECTION AND THE JUDGMENT_ ‘Whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead.’ Acts 17:31 On two thoughts—righteousness in _ God_ and responsibility in man—the judgment to come may be said to hinge. And it is to these two thoughts that the Resurrecti... [ Continue Reading ]
_THREE CLASSES OF HEARERS_ ‘Some mocked: and others said, We will hear Thee again of this matter.… Howbeit certain men clave unto Him, and believed.’ Acts 17:32; Acts 17:34 Since Christ spoke, this address of St. Paul’s at Athens is the most skilful utterance in the history of religious pleading.... [ Continue Reading ]
_THREE CLASSES OF HEARERS_ ‘Some mocked: and others said, We will hear Thee again of this matter.… Howbeit certain men clave unto Him, and believed.’ Acts 17:32; Acts 17:34 Since Christ spoke, this address of St. Paul’s at Athens is the most skilful utterance in the history of religious pleading.... [ Continue Reading ]