02.29. Thessalonica and Berea
LESSON XXIX--Thessalonica and Berea.
Describe the release of Paul and Silas from prison in Philippi. Acts 16:35-39. What was the force of their being Romans?--Ans. It was a capital crime to scourge a Roman citizen, as the magistrates had scourged Paul and Silas.
Why was not Paul willing to be thrust out privately? Ans.--It would injure his reputation by causing persons to think that he was justly scourged and imprisoned.
After bidding farewell to the disciples in Philippi, (Acts 16:40) where did Paul and Silas next go? Acts 17:1. Why go to a place where was a synagogue of the Jews?
What is said of Paul’s preaching in that synagogue? Acts 17:2-3. How do you suppose he spent his time between the Sabbath days? See 2 Thessalonians 3:7-8. According to verse 3, what line of argument did Paul pursue? Ans.--He first proved that the Christ must, according to the prophesies, have suffered death and risen again, and then he showed that Jesus must be that Christ.
What class of persons constituted the converts? Acts 17:4. Who are meant by "devout Greeks"? Ans.--Greeks who, like Cornelius, had become converts to the Jewish religion. Why were these more easily convinced than the Jews?
What was done by the unbelieving Jews? Acts 17:5-7. How much truth was there in the charge of saying there is another king? How had the apostles turned the world upside down? Why were the people and the rulers troubled? Acts 17:8. Ans.--Because they feared that an insurrection was threatened which might cause bloodshed and suffering. What was done with Jason and the other brethren? Acts 17:9. After the uproar, what was done with Paul and Silas? Acts 17:10. Why by night? Why go into the synagogue again?
What comparison is made between the Jews of Berea and those of Thessalonica? Acts 17:11. How should men act toward the word in order to be noble?
What was the result of this course on the part of the Berean Jews? Acts 17:12. To what does Luke attribute their belief; to the direct power of the Holy Spirit, or to their searching the Scriptures? What difference in the relative number of Jews and Greeks who believed, here and in Thessalonica? Acts 17:12. Comp. Acts 17:4.
What terminated the labors of Paul in Berea? Acts 17:13-14. What did Silas and Timothy do and why? Acts 17:14. Did Paul preach the same gospel in these two cities? Is there evidence that God and the Holy Spirit worked more for the Bereans than for the Thessalonians? Why, then, did the latter believe more readily than the former? Acts 17:11. When the gospel, at the present day, is more successful in one place than in another, is the difference to be traced to what God does, or to what men do?