Two Viewpoints

By REV. W. H. WETZEL
Pastor, Lemington Methodist Church

I came not to destroy, but to fulfill. Matt. 5:17.

Jesus came not to destroy but to fulfill, and it is this attitude which Christians assume towards the moral law of righteousness as it is set forth in the Old Testament Scripture. Christians have no interest in discrediting the Old Testament. It has a place beside the New Testament on the pulpit of the Christian church. Our libraries are filled with books in defense of the revelation of the Old Testament.

The Christian viewpoint is that God's revelation of Himself has been progressive and that it comes to perfection in Jesus. Writing to the Jews of his day, one of the New Testament writers says "God having of old time spoken unto the fathers in the prophets by divers portions and in divers manners hath at the end of these days spoken unto us in His Son."

The Christian has no controversy with Judaism. Judaism is the bud; Christianity is the flower. Judaism is the root; Christianity is the fruit. Judaism is the prophecy; Christianity is the fulfillment. "The law came by Moses, but grace and truth come by Jesus Christ." From this point of view let us follow through several steps of this completed revelation brought about by the Christian Gospel.

In the first place, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament revelation of God. There is in the Old Testament clear and certain light concerning the character of God, and from the Old Testament revelation we get a marvelous conception of his unity, his holiness, his power. The fact is that our modern world gets its conception of God from the New Testament. Gradually the Old Testament prophets approach the truth, that pureness of heart and not the observance of law or ritual found favor with God. Isaiah turned away from the sacrifices with disgust, and Micah said "What doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to have mercy and to walk humbly with thy God."

In the second place, Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament conception of a righteous social order.

There are transcendent views of a new social order in Judaism, but they float on the horizon of prophecy.

They are prefaced with the words "In that day."

The new order that was to be is a vision and a glorious vision of hope. Constantly the Jews of Jesus' day ask Him "Wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?" Jesus came proclaiming not the kingdom of Israel but the kingdom of God.

If a false zeal led to the Crusades and to race prejudice, a true zeal and a true understanding of the spirit of Christ leads to a social order where there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, and to the recognition of personality as the ultimate value in society, transcending race and language and color. Sin and suffering have always pressed heavily upon our race. The Old Testament struggles for a solution and before the close there is dawn upon the horizon, but that is all. The Book of Job, marvelous in its insight, leaves the problem in a measure unsolved. The book of Ecclesiastes touches life with cynicism and dyes it deep in pessimism. Jeremiah comes nearer to an understanding, but his life goes out in obscurity and silence.

What does it mean? If God is good, why should men suffer? It is the age-long problem of all who have thought deeply about life and the only solution that meets life's enigma is the solution that is found in Christ and His cross, where we stand face to face with the conquering power of suffering love.

No one can read the 53rd chapter of Isaiah and then turn to the story of the Gospel and the cross without feeling that they belong in the same stream of history.

--Unknown date and source.

Prisoner in the Castle

1916

LESSON TEXT — Acts 22.

GOLDEN TEXT — He is my refuge and my fortress. — Ps. 91:2.

Paul was rescued from the mob by the prompt action of Lysias, and was saved from scourging by revealing his Roman citizenship (21:27-22:29). Every true life, real social service, patriotism and national righteousness rest upon the value of conversion to Christ. The fundamental message of the Christian church must always be regeneration. With this message Billy Sunday is gripping the large cities, and Dr. John R. Mott is reaching the student life of the world.

I. Paul's Account of His Early Life (v. 1-5).

By his use of the Greek tongue he obtained permission to deliver this address, and by his wise use of the Jewish language he gained the attention of the excited crowd. Paul asserted his Jewish origin (Acts 21:39). Tarsus, where he was born, had a university which rivaled those of Athens and Alexandria, and Paul had probably heard its great philosophers. Paul was an educated man; he was brought up in Jerusalem from his early boyhood at the feet of Gamaliel its greatest teacher. Thus his religious training was according to the law of the fathers, and as "touching the righteousness which is of the law," he was blameless (Phil. 3:6). He was zealous for God, doing what he thought he would have him do even, when "persecuted this way," the way of forgiveness, salvation and righteousness. Jesus said, "I am the way." Paul was at this time an instrument in the hands of the rulers, carrying out their plans, but he exceeded them in his zeal for "the traditions of our fathers (Gal. 1:14). He was not at all like these Pharisees whom Christ condemned as "white sepulchers." He was not what we would term today, "a bad man."

II. Paul's Turning Point (vv. 6-21).

Paul seems to pick out three different crises in this rehearsal. (1) His interview with Christ, when he saw Jesus as he really was in his glory, a living risen Savior (1 Cor. 9:1; 15.8). He had positive proof of the resurrection from the dead. This proof convicted him of sin. He had heard Jesus call. He had asked Jesus what he would have him to do. He was ready to obey, and something was given him to do. The light which he met on that journey arrested him in his mad course. The voice gave him his directions. In obedience to the command, "Arise and go," he gained knowledge and skill. (2) He lights upon his interview with Ananias (v. 14) where he received personal help from an experienced Christian. In the darkness and conflict of those three days of loneliness the questions must have been: Could he leave rank, honor, friends? Could he enter the service of the despised one and suffer reproach, danger and death? During this conflict he must have had before him the vision of what God would have him do, and the work for which he chose him (vv. 16-18). His vision and commission constituted a strong motive for right decision. During the vision he came into the light, and confessed his faith by his baptism. As a result of those three days and his interview with Ananias he came to know God's will more fully. The next step was of course (3) his public avowal (See Acts 2:38; Heb. 10:22; Rom. 10:13; 1 Cor. 6:11). The purpose of Paul's whole life and mission was changed.

III. Paul's Dangerous Position (vv. 20-30).

The mob gave him audience until his words about the Gentiles. His declaration that God had commanded him to go upon a mission to the Gentiles was an offense to the Jews, and his words fell like a "spark upon an inflammable mass of fanaticism." They broke out into a frenzy of excitement, and made preparations to stone him. An Oriental mob is hideous beyond degree, howling, yelling, cursing, gnashing their teeth, flinging their arms, casting off their garments (v. 23), throwing dust into the air to relieve their excitement and to express their execration. It was a manifestation of their uncontrollable rage. The opposition of a mob is no proof that the person it curses is wrong.

Immediately preparations stopped. The commander was called, and, learning that Paul was a free-born Roman citizen, he had cause to be afraid that he had gone too far.

To assert Roman citizenship falsely was punishable with death.

The chief captain told Paul that with a great sum he had obtained his Roman citizenship, but Paul's reply was, "But I am Roman born."

Paul was well cared for after this, and, in order to find out why the Jews were so opposed to him, the captain summoned the Sanhedrin to meet the following day, thus unconsciously giving Paul another opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul indeed was ready to be bound, and also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.

He knew how his Lord had been bound (John 18:12), and he rejoiced in the fellowship of his sufferings (Phil. 3:10) yet he claims his right as a citizen for there is no need of morbidly seeking unnecessary disgrace or pain.

Lesson for October 1

1916

Plot that Failed.

LESSON TEXT — Acts 23.

GOLDEN TEXT — They shall fight against thee; but they shall not prevail against thee; for I am with thee, saith Jehovah, to deliver thee. — Jer. 1:19.

The stirring events of this lesson occurred in the Castle Antonia and the Sanhedrin hall, near the temple court of Jerusalem; also in Caesarea, the Roman capital of Judea, on the Mediterranean coast, in the year A. D. 57, just at the close of Paul's third missionary journey. The lesson pictures two successive days of strange adventures in which Paul was concerned, a narrow escape and the unexpected providences used in his deliverance. The day was inaugurated by Paul's magic words "I am a Roman citizen," which caused the commander, Lysias, to release him from the threatened scourging, and made him more than ordinarily careful in his treatment of Paul.

I. Before the Elders (vv. 1-12). By referring back to chapter 21, v. 13, we find the charge which really underlay all of Paul's trouble, his preaching, in the name of the Lord Jesus. Paul's defense is interesting. He gives us a rehearsal of his Christian life, laying emphasis upon its blamelessness and the fact that he is not an apostate Jew. The high priest speaks to silence him, but not gently. Although Paul for a moment seems to give way to his justifiable indignation, he quickly reveals his reverence for the rulers of the people. He then divides the Sanhedrin. Read carefully chapter 22:6-7, and compare with verses 17 and 18. The Sanhedrin could not explain this testimony of Paul, and were seeking to put aside the whole question. An interesting discussion would be to consider the insult to Paul. Was his indignation right and rightly expressed? Another question, the matter of Paul's apology. Just for what did he apologize? Is it ever wrong to speak evil of rulers? These were indeed days of stress and storm. Was Paul justified in dividing the Sanhedrin in order to conquer their opposition to him? Again, how God used these incidents in the furtherance of the gospel is a suggestive lesson for us all. It has been hinted that Ananias was not in his priestly garments, and therefore perhaps not readily recognized by Paul. Paul may never have seen him, as he was elected high priest after Paul had left the council. It is interesting to note that it is not said that anyone struck Paul or that Paul did not apologize for his words or deny them to be true, but only for their being spoken to the high priest. Read in this connection what Christ said to the Pharisees (Matt. 23:27). Paul apologized because he had broken the law found in Exodus 22:28. In the trial of Christ one of the officers struck Jesus with the palm of his hand, whereupon Jesus answered him, saying: "If I have spoken evil,. bear witness of the evil, but if well, why smitest thou me?" On the other hand, when Jesus was ill-treated by the common soldiers, he opened not his mouth.

II. The Plot and Deliverance (vv. 12-35). Paul's prospect was not a pleasant one. In his darkness God appeared to his faithful servant to cheer him (v. 11). Perhaps Paul was tempted to think he had made a mistake in coming to Jerusalem over the protests of his friends, but evidently the Lord heartily approved of his testimony there. A dangerous conspiracy was forming against him, but God was, as he always is, beforehand with his comfort and preparation for the crisis. We have often speculated as to what became of the forty men who entered into it (see v. 12) — whether they actually lived up to their oath. If they did, they must have died of starvation. They were determined men, willing to go any length, and fancied they were doing the will of God. There is no more dangerous man than he who fancies that he must be the judge as to who are God's friends and who are his foes, and that he is the appointed executioner of God's judgment. The plot was well laid, and seemed certain of success, but it failed miserably. (See Psalm 2:1-4; 64:1-10; Isaiah 41:10). The wicked, who leave God out of their plans, no matter how cunningly they plot, are doomed to failure (Rom. 8:31). These plotters co-operated with the priest. Ecclesiastics have often descended to the lowest villainy. Men are not murdered today, though their reputations are often blasted by unprincipled and hellishly impelled professed followers of the lowly Nazarene. Paul had friends in this city. His nephew's discovery and revelation, and the Gentile soldier, a colonel, effected his deliverance. In the boy's heart there must have been great admiration for the uncle. It would be well for teachers of boys to have them repeat in their own language this boy's story. Paul was not safe in Jerusalem. The Roman governor recognized the nature of the conspiracy, and the desperate character of the Jewish fanatics. and therefore sent him under a strong guard to Caesarea, which was reached after a journey on horseback, lasting through the night and the following day.

The Book of Jude

1902

Jude's is one of the briefest of all the letters in the New Testament, containing only twenty-five verses. It is, perhaps, the last of the epistles. Though the date is not infinitely settled, it was probably written after the destruction of Jerusalem, when most of the apostles had finished their work. There is a most delightful spirit of humility in the letter. The writer called himself a servant, and the bondsman of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, and that is a beautiful modesty, for, in fact, it is generally believed that he was the Lord's own brother and the son of Joseph and Mary.

To no particular church or people was the letter written, but the accounts make it especially applicable to us. It is very practical. The heart of Jude was stirred because certain men were denying God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, because of this, "I exhort you that you should contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints." That expression in the Greek, however, reads for the faith delivered "once and for all" to the saints. So the doctrine is the same today. — J. Wilbur Chapman.