HomeMy WebLinkAboutZurich Herald, 1936-10-08, Page 3N D Y
CH.OLESSON
THE SPOKEN AND THE WRIT-
TEN WORD --•-Acts 17;1--15; 1 Thes-
salons 2:112,
Printed Text ',Acts 17:11 5-11; 1
Thessalonians 2;7-12.
•
Golden Text -The word of God Is
living and a etive and sharper than
'any two-edged sword, Hebrews 4:12,
The Lesson in its Setting
Time—A.D, 51.
Place—Thessalonica on the Gulf of
Salonice in northern Greece, and
Beroea, forty mimes` from Thessa-
lonica somewhat inland.
The Plan of the Lesson
Subject: The Power of the Word
of God When Preached, the Right
Approach to Its Earnest Considera-
tion,
1, Now when they had passed
through Amphipolis and Apollonia.
Amphipolis was about thirty=three
miles from the city of Philippi, and
Apollonia was about thirty miles
farther on. These two cities, as
well as the next one mentioned, were
all. on the famous road called the
Via Egnatia, which extended for a
distance of over five hundred miles,
from the Hellespont to Dyrraehiure.
"It was really the continuation
through Macedonia of the Via Ap•
pia (see Acts 28:16) and it might
be truly said that when St. Paul was
on the Roman road from Troas to
Philippi he was on a road which led
to the gates of Rome." They came
to Thessalonica, where was a syna-
gogue of the Jews. Thessalonica was
the largest and the most populous
city in Macedonia.
5. But the Jews being moved with
jealousy. "When the Jews saw pros-
elytes and Gentiles, and many of the
leading women of the city, convinced
by St. Paul's teaching, they must
have felt that his influence was
silently undermining theirs. Took un-
to them certain vile fellows of the
rabble. The word here translated
"rabble" is from a word meaning "the
marketplace," and hence, "loungers
in the marketplace." And gathering
a crowd, set the city on an uproar.
The unfairness and deliberate base-
ness of these Jews is revealed here.
They went out and brought together
a great niob, which, of course, could
not bel controlled by reason; but
were driven on to do or.trageous
things under the power of mysterious
mob psycholugy. And assaulting
the house of Jason, they sought to
bring them" forth to the people. Of
this man Jason, we know nothing
further from the New ' ..estament
records; he may or niay not be the
on.: by the same name referred to
by the apostle Paul in Rornans 16:21.
6. And when they found ahem out,
they dragged Jason .ane certain
brethren before the "ruler: of the
city. The word here translated
"rulers" is the Greek word pout -
arches, a word that occurs in no
other place in the New Testament
and in no Greek classical writer.
The remarkable accuracy of the
author of Acts is again shown in
his use of this very word, for in this
very city of Thessalonica, an in-
scription on an arch spanning a
street of the city has .been preserved
an arch which is assigned to the
time'of Vespasian, on which this very
word -is to be found The inscrip-
tion itself wa:, placed by the British
council in 1876 and is now in the
British Museum in London. Crying,
These that have turned' the world
,upside down are come hither also.
What a magnificent tribute to the
power of the Christian faith within
our generation of the ascension of
our Lord!
7, Whom Jason hath received: and
these all act contrary to the decrees
of Caesar. "This may here refer to
the yuc:cessive decrees of the Emper-
ots against treason," Saying that
there is another king, on_ Jesus. This
was the charge, the political charge
of high treason, brought against the
'Lord himself by the Jews (Luke
23:2; John 19:12, 15).
8 And they troubled the multitude
and the rulers of the city, when they
heard these things. 9. And when
they had taken security from Jason
and the rest they let them go. "The
charge brought against Pau lwas
subt y conceived and most danger-
ous."
10. And the brethren immediately
sent away Paul and Silas by night
unto Beroea: who when they were
conte thither went into the syna-
gogue of the Jews. Beroea was about
forty miles from Thessalonica.
11. Now these were more noble than •
those in Thessalonica. The word here
translated "noble is: used elsewhere
by the apostle Pau] iii speaking .of
men who are noble born (1 Coe. le:26)
' It is. the word from which derives
`•Luke 19:12). Why they were more
noble Luke is about to tell us, . In
'that they received the word with all
readiness of mind. See Matt. 26: 41;
Mark 14:88; 2 'Cor. 8:11, 19; 9;2).
Examining the scriptures daily,
Whether these 'things were so. The
word. here translated "examining"
is. use,. elsewhere by St. Lupo of a
judicial inquiry on investigation
(Luka 23:14; Acts 4:9; 12:79; 28:18).
7. But wa were gentle in the midst
of you, as when a nurse cherisheth
her own children. (Cf.Matt. 23: 37).
The v,ord here translated. "cherish-
eth" is used in Eph. 5:29 and in
Dent. 22;6, It is used of the hen
bird setting over its ,young in the
nest,
8. Even so, being affectionately
desirous of you, we were well pleased
to impart unto you, not the gospel
of God only, but also our own souls
because ye were beco.ne very dear to
us. (Cf. Phil 2;17; 2 Cor. 12;15).
Note carefully how words expressing
love pile up in these verses.
9. For ye remember, brethren, our
labor and travail: working night and
day, that we might not burden any
of you, we preached into you the
gospel of God. Undoubtedly the
members of the early Thessalonian
church were poor, and Paul was de-
termined that he would not burden
them by making it necessary, while
he was in Thessalonica, for them
to support hint; consequently, he
worked through the week at the
handicraft, which he had undoubtedly
been trained in when 0 9oung elan;
before his conversion, the making
of haireloth tents, which are still r
in constant use in the Levant (see
Acts 18:;3; 20;34).
10. 'Xe are witness* and God
also, how holily and righteously and
unblamably we behaved ourselves toe
ward you that believe. The weed
""holily" has reference primarily to
one's relationship to God, and the
word "righteously" to one's honest
relationship to men; while the word
"unblarnably," of course, means that
the di scilles were so undeniably
living godly and upright lives that
no one could honestly pace any jeet
criticism against them.
11. As ye know how we dealt with
each one of you, as a father with his
own children, exhorting you, and en
couraging you, and testifying. "Ea
horting" is the general term forani-
matieg address; "encour.: ging is
the calm and consoling side of ex,
hortation as addressed to the afflic
ted or the weak 'Testifying' ('1seo
also in Gal. 5:3; Eph. 4':17) ekpress-
es its solemn warning element." One
can only testify about those things
concerning which one has a personal
experience.
12. To the end that ye should walk
worthily of God. Pau] lived what he
preached; ' he preached as he lived.
Who ealletb you into his own King,
dom and glory. "The meaning is that
God is the inviter to whom they owe
their' admission into the kingdom,
and that ...ey must habitually live in
a manner which befits such a privi-
lege (see 2 Thess. 7:14 ;1 Cor. 1:9;
Gal. 5 :8;, Coi.: 3:15; 1 Tim. 6:12)."
Ready For Tests Before Fyling Atlantic
The Caledonia, the first of long range flying boats being built for Transatlantic passenger service,
on the slipwaysbefore taking to the water for a series of test flights, Regular Transatlantic flights are
expected to be inaugurated next summer,
D-8
Hay! Bales of Fun!
Pretty farmerettes pitch in to make the annual h ay anddairy festival at Hynes, Cal,. interesting to
the visitors to the. world's ,largest hay market. • Th e gals look husky enough to shine at hay making.
Floats A New. Idea
Marney .Fry, sportsman and inventor, introduced this one for deep sea fishing off Venice, Cal. lle
calls it a hydrocycle. It is propelled by a paddle wheel, operated similarly to a bicycle, mounted be-
tween two 14 -foot pontoons. He claims a need pt 10 miles per hour:
Loyalists Attack Rebel Stronghold
With heavy losses reported to have boon inflicted on both sides, more loyalist troops arrive at Porto
Christo, 'Majorca, in Federal advance on Palma.
The Greatest Things
(Osman)
The best day: Today.
The greatest deceiver: One who
deceives himself.
The greatest mistake:
The most expensive
Hate.
The cheapest, stupidest, and easi-
est thing to do: Finding fault.
Giving up.
indulgence:
The greatest trouble maker: Talk
ing too much.
The worst bankrupt: The soul that
has lost its enthusiasm.
The best teacher: One who makes
you want to learn. one's relig
The best part of any
ion: Gentleness and cheerfulness.
The meanest feeling: Jealousy.
The greatest need: Common sense.
Farm Queries
Conducted by PROFESSOR HENRY G. BELL
With the Co -Operation of the Various Departments of the
Ontario Agricultural College
The business of farming is
yearly becoming more and more
dependent upon facts that have
been gathered regarding live-
stock and livestock management,
crop production, soil manage-
ment, disease and insect control
and business organization of the
farming industry. individual
problems involving one or more
of these ,and many other phases
of agriculture, engage the atter'•
tion of Ontario farmers from day
to day.
Through this column farmers
may secure the latest informs•
tion pertaining to their difficult -
Address all inquiries to Farm
Problems Dept., Wilson Publish-
ing Co., Room 421, 73 Adelaide
St. W., Toronto, Ont.
Rothamsted mangold plots part of
the ground has had no farmyard
manure or any other organic manure
since 1843, while part receives farm-
yard manure every year. During
the recent dry seasons the plants
on this latter area started much
earlier and grew much better in the
early part of the season than those
without organic matter, partly at
any rate due to the better tilth and
the larger amount of soil moisture
retained where organic matter had
been given. The classical instance
of the unexplained effects of farm-
yard manure, however, is on Hoes
field at Rothamsted where a plot
that received farmyard manure from
] 852 to 1871, but nothing since still
gives nearly double the crop of bar-
ley obtained on the adjoining plot
that has been similarly treated since
1871, hut had received r.o farmyard
manure during the preceding 20
years. At the time of writing
(mid-July, 1934) tha barley on this
old manured plot is strikingly better
the that on the old unmanured land,
suggesting some benefit from the
farmyard manure given more than
60 years ago. We have not yet suc-
ceeded in accounting sal'sfaetorily
for this result."
When Ontario fanners fully ap-
preciate the great service., of organic
matter, much more attention will be
given to this important phase of
soil handling.
1. QUESTION: How important is
the organic matter or humus prob-
lem?
ANSWER: The humus or organic
matter supply in cultivated soils in
Ontario bids fair to become a major
problem. In some sections, farmers
are burning straw piles. In many
others they are keeping less and
less livestock which means a dimin-
ishing supply of manure. In still
other sections, they are growing cul-
tivated crops such as corn, potatoes
or sugar beets on the same soil year
after year without alternating with
crops such as clover on alfalfa, the
second growth of which can be
plowed under as green manure. All
too rarely are green manure crops
grown to be turned under as soil
improvers. The reason for this
seeming forgetfulness is not care-
lessness, but is simply an expression,
of the ambition of Ontario farmers
to make their soils return an in-
creasing interest on investment.
Nevertheless, forgetfulness to keep
up the Organic matter in the soil
has ruined many a good country-
side and it is inevitable that farms
where such neglect has been prac-
tised will face a deteriorating soil
which very quickly will mean loss
and less crops.
Ohio Experiment Station faced
this situation forty years ago. After
growing corn on the seine ground for
thirty years, the full amount of or-
ganic matter in the soil was ascer-
tained. It was found to be approx-
imately 1-8 of that which was in
the original soil. On the other hand,
where crops were grown in rotation,
and manures and fertilizers used
judiciously, the organic matter was
maintained and the ' soils were in-
creasingly, productive. Two out-
standing, and not fully explained in-
stances of the benefit of organic mat-
ter, were found at the Rothamsted
Station, England. The Journal of
the Royal Agricultural Society, Eng-
land in 1934 reported a, follows:
"Ono set of long continued experi-
ments brings out an important prop-
erty of the organic matter. On the
2. QUESTION: I fertilized for
sugar beets and lost the crop. Will
there be any plantfood left in the
oil from the fertiliser thee was ap-
plied?
ANSWER: If the soil is in good
condition, about neutral in reaction,
that is, neither sou" not sweet, there
should be a considerable amount of
phosphate and potash which vas ap-
plied for the beets still available in
the soils for crops of next year. In
all probability the rain and ':now
will have removed much o the sol-
uable nitrogen, but green crops or
corn which are grown or, this soil
next year should" find a co,ms:derathle
Help from the phosphate and potash,
which was added for the sugasa
beets.
3. QUESTION: What fertilizer
value has the waste from tomatoes?
Where we grew tomatoes this year,
quite a lot remained on the ground
after picking. We live near enough
to the canning factory so that we
can get considerable waste pulp and
skins of tomatoes. Have these any
value as fertilizer?
ANSWER: Tomato fruit contains
about 2 per cent. nitrogen, 7 per cent
phosphoric acid and 35 per cent. pot-
ash, while the leaves and stalks con-
tain about 35 per cent. nitrogen, 1
per cent phosphoric acid and 45 per
cent. potash. This will give you
a idea of the fertilizer value of this
material when it is left on thr
ground.
HENRY W. BELL,
Assoeiate Professor of Chemistry,
Ontario Agricultural College,